Member Info for lootgaloot

Hi riosurfer, I agree there is no way of knowing the small print of the agreement which may indeed involve some utilisation of a programmatic marketplace. But at the same time there is no reason to believe that the deal is anything other than a direct agreement between a large sporting franchise and a popular gaming company without any bidding process.

My concern is that these direct relationships are the rule rather than the exception and that programmatic advertising is more suited to small gaming companies who wish to find revenue for relatively up and coming games. Once a game achieves any level of popularity the gaming company no longer needs the likes of BIDS.

It is interesting that you come from a sponsorship/advertising background. Do you think that all major sporting franchises will jealously protect their relationship with sponsors. Surely major sporting franchise will insist a gaming company who uses their brand can only use advertising space for one of their approved sponsors.

Thank you riosurfer. I wish there were more posters with your ability to put personal motives to one side and to judge events/news objectively. Not every bit of news has to be good news. Nor does one bit of bad news signal the end of the road for BIDS. The picture is evolving and every day is a new opportunity to assess the merits of each of our investments.

Sorry martbmth but your suggestion that FOM are supplying 'advertising space' to Codemaster simply doesn't make sense. Instead, F1 will have a number of commercial sponsors; typically consumer brands who advertise their merchandise on the F1 franchise. It is this advertising inventory which is supplied to Codemaster. Codemaster already have the 'advertising space' which it will use to graphically display these advertisements.

It appears that nobody can offer a satisfactory explanation as to how BIDS are involved whereas it is far more likely that deals of this nature exist for the exclusion of middlemen like BIDS. This is not to say that the BIDS business model is rubbish however it is very much an indication that the relationships between large gaming companies and sporting franchises will continue to be the normal channel. Is there enough additional business to support BIDS and similar middlemen; that remains to be seen.

Thanks for the explanation martbmth.

However, FOM do not appear to have bid for advertising space via the mechanism you describe. Rather, it appears that Codemaster and FOM have entered a more direct relationship whereby FOM provide the advertising inventory and Codemaster display it in-game.

Do you see any need for BIDS in this arrangement?

neon, thanks for the reply.

I could be wrong but my reading of the announcement is that codemasters have taken advertising inventory DIRECTLY from FOM and therefore there is no BIDS involvement.

Game developers are perfectly able to programatically add advertising to their games. They do not need BIDS SDK to do this. By going straight to the inventory provider (in this case FOM) codemasters also do not require the services of BIDS to provide advertising inventory.

So it looks to me that not only are BIDS not involved but it shows that bypassing BIDS as a middleman is a viable option for Codemaster.

Can somebody comment further on the Codemasters/FOM deal. This sounds like Codemasters are dealing direct with FOM thereby cutting out the need for BIDS. This was always my fear that the gaming companies can always receive advertising inventory straight from the advertiser. Cutting out the middle man i.e. BIDS.

Yes, it defies belief....

Covid-19 impact on revenue YTD -1%
Covid-19 impact on share price YTD -50%

The Amazon link took me by surprise. The future is ‘big data’ and the AWS Snowcone demonstrates just how Amazon are anticipating the possibilities. I think it was inevitable that FW would be collaborating with companies like Amazon; I just didn’t expect announcements so soon. To be honest, the whole idea of a portable data centre didn’t even enter my head. Duh!

And if we are collaborating with Amazon on the Snowcone then what other projects are active. I expect the other FANG tech companies will not want to be left behind. It feels like this is the beginning of a ‘news rich’ period. Let’s hope so.

I agree that the hardest part will be staying patient. It helps if you have a portfolio with many individual stocks. It’s easier to have a few that you view as long term. But if you only have a handful of stocks in your portfolio it’s easy to get a bit frustrated with stocks like ALM which may not fully reflect the true underlying value.

Peace out!

Apology accepted. You need to see this as a five year investment. At some stage FW will 'outgrow' ALM and we will get our big pay day with an IPO on NASDAQ. Between now and then FW will release several milestone announcements that will make a material impact on the value of the ALM share price. But between those big announcements there will be long periods where the share price will appear to be doing very little. You are doing yourself no favours by fretting over the day-to-day.

Nucky, you shouldn't really be spending your pocket money on things you don't understand.

I was thinking intelligent satellites; no longer confined to a single orbit. Imagine a satellite capable of roaming around fixing other satellites or seeking out and collecting space debris. I was also thinking off-shore O&G, antarctic weather stations, the possibilities are limitless. This is the future and 5G is starting to make sense to me now.

FW provide services that could potentially be used by AWS competitors. Any takeover by AWS would be seen as anti-competitive and therefore not allowed by regulators imo.

Nice video explains the AWS Snowcone...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9euPWOLtzuw

Why is my motivation of interest to you or anybody else? Either my arguments make sense to you or they don't. You are free to ignore my posts. You are also free to check my posting history and draw conclusions on my character from that.

FW making deals with customers like Amazon on vital services for Amazon core business is as pleasing as it was predictable*. This is just the beginning.

* Predictable to everyone except NucktyT.

That’s exactly what I expect the General to do. He will likely sell the asset to the same Chinese company that bought the other 50% from Diogo Cavaco.

Why hasn’t he done it yet? Well the ink is barely dry on the Supreme Court ruling, Nothing could be done before that ruling as the Chinese were waiting for that to happen as a prerequisite.

The Supreme Court ruling was a surprise to me, you and PFP but make no mistake, the General, his partner Cavaco and the Chinese bidder have known this ruling was in the bag for the past year. His sudden change of heart and willingness to enter discussions with PFP were a perfect smokescreen, a diversion tactic. This is a military General with tactical training and experience on outmanoeuvring his enemy.

Soon International travel will be allowed and the Chinese will be able to visit Moz. You will then get the answer to your question faster than you imagine.

Also, I’m not sure how familiar you are with General Veloso but this guy is a serious national hero and one-time senior member of the current ruling party. He is their version on Michael Collins but unlike MC, he is not shy when it comes to pulling rank for personal gain. Welcome to Africa.

Any number of parties could, of course, make life difficult for the General; but they would need to be very careful that their actions do not interfere with the Generals rights of ownership. Of course, we all know that the Moz government could make life difficult but one thing this whole saga has proven is that the General is not short of friends within the corridors of power.

I think it very unlikely that anyone in Moz will stand in the way of a well-connected General and a valued strategic partner such as the Chinese. In fact it is much more likely that the government in Moz will facilitate wherever possible.

There may be one or two civil servants who find the whole affair a bit embarrassing but I think the likes of Sir Humphries are few and far between in Moz.

By the way, I think you can rest at ease. I’m not suggesting the General is coming after you for libel. I’m just making the point that the Supreme Court ruling has a material affect on what PFP can or cannot say or do going forward.

The Moz government are also subordinate to the Moz Supreme Court on this issue. People need to understand what a Supreme Court ruling actually means.

You assume that the eventual developer of the mine will be from a "First World" country. I'd wager that the General will have more than enough interest from China. I don't think the Chinese will give a fig. Also,you do realise that referring to the licence as "stolen" is now libellous.

Yes, that is the gravity of the Supreme Court ruling. PFP need to be very careful that they do not interfere with the General's right to enjoy the proceeds from his property. PFP could find themselves in hot water if they were to stand in the way of negotiations between the General and anybody he wishes to do business with.

I don't think that people on this board have fully grasped the full implication of the Supreme Court ruling. PFP do however have the right to appeal the Supreme Court ruling and they may have to do this, not because they intend to see the process through, but it may be the only way that their continuing claims of ownership would not be deemed as vexatious and therefore leave themselves open to being sued by the General.

My guess however is that PFP will divert their attention to another project and accept that there really is no point in continuing their current claims of ownership.