@TroyEdward - I hope you enjoyed it lasting as long as it did, which means it ended for you with the very recent (days) discontinuation of the A/B video test.
For many people,
our video ad "shock and awe" now with chests that do not go away and blink all the time,
ended over 6 months ago in 2022, much like yours just did now.
Many of us thought that there might have been some extended value for the spending we did in FoE's "formative growth years" and that was our immunity. Not so - and we're all now equal again. You got your shock a lot later, but it's here now.
Inno's mantra of "
what have you done for us lately" is where we're at. If you step back and look at all the things being developed and released, quietly, and out in the open too - the path is clear. Fragmentation, reduction of buildings to generate diamonds, reduced diamond winning probability, etc.
Video ads are annoying to some, but not to others. Hopefully they help keep the lights on, courtesy of those that click on them, or pay to turn them off - BOTH personal decisions.
Inno need to secure revenue and add profit to change the curve to back up. Look at FoE in the chart below. It was a nice smooth classic growth curve - no hiccups. Including the bump (help) from Covid making people isolate @ home. That's now gone - and it's actually reversed for them. People are going OUTSIDE to be social and re-balance their real life and on-line time after 2-3 years of "work at home" and reduce person-to-person contact.
Can you wonder what happened in 2022? I don't think it's a mystery.
So now, there is a "drop" in revenue and profits from the peak, and they don't want to make it a TREND, which it might just be - 2 years in a row.
Inno needs to renew their emphasis on retaining players here, but more importantly, getting them to open their wallets to fund ongoing development.
Their plan is what you see happening in all segments of the game that was once "a lot more" FREE
They are us asking to pay for features we've long asked them for. or want from the game.
I know it's painful to hear that, because FoE has this game quality that it's "home" and the city is your 10 year investment. We all feel that way. But there is a huge cost for engineering, content development, support, and infrastructure to host servers around the world.
I hate to think of what happens as the game "lights" start to dim...