The main thing for the week (June 18 - 24)

The World Health Organization has recognized gaming addiction as a mental disorder; Valve has started an open beta test of publishers’ pages on Steam; the development of a 16-year-old designer has become the game of the day in the App Store; — this and not only in the digest of the main events of the gaming industry from App2Top.ru .

1. WHO has recognized gambling addiction as a mental disorder
The World Health Organization (WHO) has added video game addiction to the list of mental illnesses.

The description of the new disease was added to the 11th edition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) along with 55 thousand other disorders, injuries and other ailments.

The story was immediately continued. Gaming associations almost immediately opposed the inclusion of gaming addiction in the list of diseases.

2. Major breakthroughs of the mobile market: May 2018
The other day, App Annie published an index of mobile applications for May.

With an eye on him, we note which games were the main breakthroughs of last month in terms of downloads and sales.

3. The author of PUBG recognized the use of purchased assets in the game
The Royal Battle of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds uses assets purchased in online stores on its maps, said the creator of the game Brendan Green.

According to him, this is done so that the art department of the development team can concentrate on more important aspects of the maps.

4. The list of finalists of the Indie Game Cup St. Petersburg 2018 has been published
White Nights is hosting the Indie Game Cup for the tenth time.

This is an indie games competition held as part of a business conference. Yesterday, June 18, the organizing committee named the projects that entered the second round of the competition. About the projects and those who will judge them — in our publication.

5. Valve has started an open beta test of publishers’ pages on Steam
The pages of publishers and developers of video games have appeared on Steam.

They contain lists of published titles, links to official pages on social networks and other information about companies. The innovation is still in open beta testing mode.

6. The development of a 16-year-old designer has become the game of the day in the App Store
Abstract arcade game Torus, which was made by 16-year-old Brandon Kynoch from Johannesburg alone, was chosen as the game of the day in the App Store.

During the day, the game was downloaded a hundred thousand times.

7. Valve has suspended the sale of game items for CS:GO and Dota 2 in the Netherlands because of the law on loot boxes
Valve has disabled the ability to sell and exchange game items in online games Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2 in the Netherlands.

The reason was the country’s law prohibiting the circulation of virtual items that can be sold for real money or played as a prize in a gambling game with money bets.

8. AdColony has released an analysis of the audience of mobile games in the Middle East
Mobile market analysts from AdColony and On Device Research conducted a sociological study on players in major Middle Eastern countries.

As it turned out, gamers in Saudi Arabia spend less time on games on average than residents of Egypt and the UAE, but they are more willing to make in-app purchases.

9. Polygon edition has found out why gaming companies are afraid of politics
Games are increasingly addressing specific political and social issues in their plots and settings.

However, major publishers seem embarrassed to admit this and constantly insist that their titles are not a political statement. The Polygon publication discussed with industry workers and experts why this is happening.

10. AdColony told App2Top.ru how to work with playable ads
What is a playable advertisement (or, as it is also called, the interactive format of Playables)?

What is it customary to do? What kind of games is it suitable for? I answered these and other questions in an article for App2Top.ru Alexander Dyudyuk, AdColony user engagement specialist.

11. A note about what makes game items valuable?
We have published a translation of an article by English developer Will Wilson on how to ensure that players easily read the value of game items.