GameMakers (Joseph Kim)

Today we will be talking about the current state of Game Company Growth and the various growth strategies being deployed by different game companies.  

SPEAKERS:

- Joseph Kim, CEO, LILA Games

- Eric Kress, Principal, Gossamer Consulting

- Chris Petrovic, Chief Business Officer, FunPlus

LINKS:

- Four Growth Paradigms on GameMakers Newsletter Part 1

- Four Growth Paradigms on GameMakers Newsletter Part 2

Does a gaming smartphone make sense? Can a gaming publisher or other company launch a successful phone that competes with iPhone or Android phones? What do you think? OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 2:30 Existing gaming smartphones 3:01 Argument for a Nintendo smartphone 9:15 Argument for a Tesla smartphone 👇 EPISODE LINKS: - Pixels & Profits Play List: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQNQpqdo6_6ERZd901Sdxo9bnSqCmXo2d - Matthew Kanterman, Director of Research Roundhill Investments: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-kanterman-cfa-b6345133/ - Joseph Kim, CEO Lila Games: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ - Brian Peganoff, Founder Timber Advisors: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-peganoff/ SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ 😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! — • MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 • TWITTER → @jokim1 • LINKEDIN → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ — POPULAR CONTENT — 🤑 Economy of the Metaverse with Tim Sweeney https://youtu.be/h6ClJxjuRvw ℹ️ How to Build the Amazon of Game Companies https://youtu.be/bkd2TOpKt4I 🔮 Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead at 2021 https://youtu.be/NejFzHtpiZI 🖥️ The Future of PC Gaming https://youtu.be/_QT7O3Wxi2s 🔴 Games Industry M&A https://youtu.be/65nyPk6WNrs 🔴 Netcode for Multiplayer Games https://youtu.be/tHq3PzmjhLw 🔴 IDFA Deprecation Product Impact https://youtu.be/Ojec4wGKpso 🔴 Trip Hawkins on the New High Score https://youtu.be/5egTSQ6AiRA 🔴 LiveOps F2P Best Practices https://youtu.be/tmzqqnYbjNY

I speak to Rahul Chowdhri, an investor at Stellaris Venture Partners, about the venture capital market in India, the current state of investment here, and his outlook on investments in gaming in India.  

OUTLINE: 

0:00 General landscape of venture capital in India 

2:20 Specialist vs. generalist VCs, the definition of micro-VC 

3:35 Sudden investment interest in gaming in India 

4:48 Should investors invest early in gaming or wait for talent to emerge? 

5:17 Info on Stellaris and what they look for from a pitch? 

6:25 Typical funding for Seed vs. Series A in India 

7:13 Expectations for Series A 

8:09 What do you look for in an entrepreneur/CEO? 

12:11 How should entrepreneurs consider the global economy in their fundraising? 

14:36 Advice for entrepreneurs who want to pitch Stellaris   

👇 EPISODE LINKS:  

- Stellaris Venture Partners: https://www.stellarisvp.com/

- Rahul Chowdhri: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulchowdhri/ 

SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: 

- Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

- Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersStudio

A deep dive into the most pressing topics in gaming with industry veterans discussing recent developments, challenges, and future outlooks. ⏱️ Timeline/Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction 01:05 - Ubisoft's Current State & Challenges 14:35 - Unity's Turnaround Story 31:20 - AppLovin Deep Dive 39:15 - China Gaming Market Update 49:40 - Microsoft-Activision Deal Impact 56:10 - Roblox & Hindenburg Report Discussion 📝 Description: Join us for an in-depth discussion of the hottest topics in gaming! Industry veterans break down recent developments at major gaming companies and what they mean for the future of the industry. We analyze Ubisoft's ongoing struggles, Unity's attempted turnaround under new leadership, AppLovin's rising dominance in mobile advertising, China's gaming market dynamics, and the implications of Microsoft's Activision acquisition. Plus, a quick take on the recent Roblox controversy. Topics include: • Why Western AAA game development is struggling • Unity's technical improvements and business challenges • AppLovin's market dominance in mobile advertising • China gaming market outlook and geopolitical risks • Microsoft's Game Pass strategy and the future of gaming subscriptions • Latest industry M&A activity and valuations Whether you're a game developer, industry executive, or just interested in the business of gaming, this discussion provides valuable insights into where the industry is headed in 2024 and beyond.

Recorded mid December 2023. We discuss the current and future outlook of Roblox with a focus on financials. OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 1:11 Overview of the business 5:00 Being a social network vs. gaming platform 5:43 Financial overview 7:06 How does Roblox turn around their profitability? Biggest expense buckets 11:51 Structure and components of Roblox business, 3 primary parts: client, studio, and cloud and 8 groups 14:30 Roblox creator economics and definition of a creator 17:45 Growth opportunities: where will Roblox find user or revenue growth? 37:12 AI applications and opportunities for Roblox 43:35 Regulation risk 44:19 Biggest challenges = social competition 46:55 Roblox’s stock based compensation problem 51:17 Future outlook SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ 😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! — • MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 • TWITTER → @jokim1 • LINKEDIN → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ — POPULAR CONTENT — 🤑 Economy of the Metaverse with Tim Sweeney https://youtu.be/h6ClJxjuRvw ℹ️ How to Build the Amazon of Game Companies https://youtu.be/bkd2TOpKt4I 🔮 Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead at 2021 https://youtu.be/NejFzHtpiZI 🖥️ The Future of PC Gaming https://youtu.be/_QT7O3Wxi2s 🔴 Games Industry M&A https://youtu.be/65nyPk6WNrs 🔴 Netcode for Multiplayer Games https://youtu.be/tHq3PzmjhLw 🔴 IDFA Deprecation Product Impact https://youtu.be/Ojec4wGKpso 🔴 Trip Hawkins on the New High Score https://youtu.be/5egTSQ6AiRA 🔴 LiveOps F2P Best Practices https://youtu.be/tmzqqnYbjNY

We discuss mobile ad revenue and monetization going into 2022 and beyond.   

We initially talked about mobile ad revenue back in January and got a lot of great feedback. Check out the original video we did back in January:

- Mobile Ad Revenue in 2021   

So, what happened in 2021? 

Why didn't CPMs collapse and what are we seeing now? 

How did the market play out from our expectations back then going into IDFA to what actually happened?  

Content Overview: 

0:00 Intro 

1:06 CPMs & Ad Rev 

12:54 Contextual Ads 

15:00 Programmatic 

18:39 Genre + Hypercasual 

23:31 Operational Changes 

27:35 Data Transparency 

36:00 Data Wars of 2021 

52:19 Role of Admon Team 

56:38 Data Strategy Role   

59:55 Winners & Losers 

1:05:37 Industry Implications 

1:09:54 Predictions  

Speakers: 

- Josh Chandley, COO of WildCard Games

- Sofia Gilyazova, Head of Ad Monetization, SocialPoint (TakeTwo's Mobile Games Division)

- Offer Yehudai, Chief Marketing Officer, Digital Turbine/Fyber   

Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

Excerpt from GameMakers full interview: Pixels & Profits #2. Watch the full discussion here: https://youtu.be/fi0RCUiCnfE SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

We talk to some really dope superstars in the games industry to discuss this issue:  

- Gigi Levy-Weiss, Partner NFX  

- Brian Peganoff, former Corp Dev at Glu, VP at Deutsche Bank  

- Kristian Segerstrale, CEO Super Evil Megacorp   

Content Overview: 

0:00 Intro 

2:26 Role & Time of the CEO 

14:31 Product Oriented CEOs 

19:22 Examples of Great CEOs 

26:52 Required Qualities 

32:36 Three Views of the CEO 

38:24 CEO by Company Stage 

44:57 Finding Weak Points 

49:22 Society + CEO Role

Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

OUTLINE:

0:00 Intro 

0:33 The "brutal" game dev environment  

2:11 Current market environment vs. before 

3:50 More about Funcraft and the business situation 

8:15 Funcraft's biggest challenge 

9:40 How do you determine what game to make? 

11:52 Biggest lessons and challenges of startups vs. big companies to achieve success 

14:54 Challenge of new game dev from big companies 

17:20 Lessons for mobile gaming startups in current market environment 

19:50 Focus vs. "don't bet the farm" 

22:12 Keep going or do you tap out? When to pivot or quit? 

26:55 The benefit of just being alive 

28:20 Current primary challenges 

31:45 Thoughts around selling your company  

34:10 Advice to new entrepreneurs in F2P gaming 

36:30 Thoughts on current marketing challenges 

39:40 Future trends and opportunities 

41:50 Final thoughts on state of market and overall market outlook 

43:05 How to reach Michael

👇 EPISODE LINKS:

- Michael Martinez, CEO of Funcraft: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinezmichaelj/

- FunCraft: https://www.funcraft.com/

SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS:

- Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/34hfOtv

- Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i

- Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

- Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersStudio

Today we discuss one of the most important topics for the success of a games studio, especially for startups and those working on new game projects: RECRUITING!  

GUEST: 

- Tayber Voyer, VP of Product - A Thinking Ape

HOSTS: 

- Joseph Kim, CEO at LILA Games

- Brett Nowak, CEO at Liquid & Grit

Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter

LILA Games CTO Avinash Pandey discusses key tech challenges in scaling mobile F2P games with Epic Games' Technology Evangelist Arvind Neelakantan.  

Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

Watch it on the GameMakers YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersStudio

Coming off of one of the toughest months in my career, I reflect on how lucky I am to be faced with problems. It's only through problems and major challenges that you can learn how to get better. Adversity, therefore, is a gift!  As Ray Dalio wrote in Principles: Pain + Reflection = Progress  It's tough, but I hope you realize as I have that we are fortunate to have the challenges we face.   

SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: 

- Apple Podcast:

https://apple.co/34hfOtv

- Spotify Podcast:

https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i

- Newsletter:

https://gamemakers.substack.com/

- Don't miss an episode on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersS...

😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! —  • MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 • TWITTER      → @jokim1 • LINKEDIN      →

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/

— POPULAR CONTENT — 🤑 Economy of the Metaverse with Tim Sweeney

https://youtu.be/h6ClJxjuRvw

ℹ️ How to Build the Amazon of Game Companies

https://youtu.be/bkd2TOpKt4I

🔮 Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead at 2021

https://youtu.be/NejFzHtpiZI

🖥️ The Future of PC Gaming

https://youtu.be/_QT7O3Wxi2s

🔴 Games Industry M&A

https://youtu.be/65nyPk6WNrs

🔴 Netcode for Multiplayer Games

https://youtu.be/tHq3PzmjhLw

🔴 IDFA Deprecation Product Impact

https://youtu.be/Ojec4wGKpso

🔴 Trip Hawkins on the New High Score

https://youtu.be/5egTSQ6AiRA

🔴 LiveOps F2P Best Practices

https://youtu.be/tmzqqnYbjNY

Today we are going to be talking about game publishing, the strategy behind consolidated studio organizations, and the future of the industry.   

Our speakers include:

  - Alexis Bonte, Group COO, Stillfront

  - Nadir Khan, COO, Candywriter

  - Tobias Kringe, Founder and Managing Director, Bytro Labs

Our hosts include

  - Joseph Kim, CEO, LILA Games

  - Eric Kress, Principal, Gossamer Consulting

  - Chris Petrovic, Chief Business Officer, FunPlus

An in-depth discussion on how to technical leads at gaming companies can become great!   

Super far-ranging conversation from the scope of work, biggest problems, transitioning from individual contributor to manager, how to spend day to day, biggest lessons learned, and more!  

SPEAKERS:     

- Niklas Herriger, Executive Coach, Founder of 8 Bit Coaching     

- Tommy Krul, CTO Super Evil Megacorp     

- Avinash Pandey, CTO LILA Games  

HOST:    

- Joseph Kim, CEO, LILA Games.   

Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter!

Everyone's saying mobile is dead. Then how do you explain these 5 blow-out mobile game launches over the past year? Lol. Matej Lancaric from 2.5 Gamers and I reviewed the data, launch strategies, and more for each of these Top 5 mobile game launches over the past year. OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 6:30 Honkai Star Rail 14:49 Monopoly Go 27:00 Survivor!.io 36:03 Marvel Snap 45:48 Frozen City 52:09 JK + Matej Top 5 rankings 👇 EPISODE LINKS: - two & a half gamers YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@2.5gamers - Matej Lancaric: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matejlanc... - Matej's Consulting Practice: http://lancaric.me/ SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

Livestreaming trends: 1. Which genres are the best? 2. Nostalgia for Baldur's Gate and Fortnite "OG" 3. Indies benefit 4. Multi-platform simulcasting e.g., Ninja Esports: 1. Esports rising again in 2023 2. 5 most watched titles: League of Legends, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, CS:GO, Dota 2, and Valorant Get the report here: Gaming, Esports, & Social Trends Report | 2024: https://insights.streamhatchet.com/2024-gaming-esports-social-trends-report

Excerpt from GameMakers full interview: Pixels & Profits #1. Watch the full discussion here: https://youtu.be/2G539NGHfVI SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ 😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! — • MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 • TWITTER → @jokim1 • LINKEDIN → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ — POPULAR CONTENT — 🤑 Economy of the Metaverse with Tim Sweeney https://youtu.be/h6ClJxjuRvw ℹ️ How to Build the Amazon of Game Companies https://youtu.be/bkd2TOpKt4I 🔮 Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead at 2021 https://youtu.be/NejFzHtpiZI 🖥️ The Future of PC Gaming https://youtu.be/_QT7O3Wxi2s 🔴 Games Industry M&A https://youtu.be/65nyPk6WNrs 🔴 Netcode for Multiplayer Games https://youtu.be/tHq3PzmjhLw 🔴 IDFA Deprecation Product Impact https://youtu.be/Ojec4wGKpso 🔴 Trip Hawkins on the New High Score https://youtu.be/5egTSQ6AiRA 🔴 LiveOps F2P Best Practices https://youtu.be/tmzqqnYbjNY

We deep dive on eSports. Current market and growth projections, what kinds of games do well, business model, structure, prize pools, key trends, geographic differences, and more! Join us with our esteemed group of speakers: Ilaria Caputo (EA), Matthew Kanterman (Ball Metaverse Research Partners), and Hugo Tristao (Newzoo). Speaker links below.

👇 EPISODE LINKS:

Ilaria Caputo, https://www.linkedin.com/in/ilaria-caputo/

Matthew Kanterman, https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-kanterman-cfa-b6345133/

Hugo Tristao, https://www.linkedin.com/in/tristaohugo/

Will games become more like movies and music with focus on subscription rather than ownership? An Ubisoft director thinks so.

Excerpt from GameMakers full interview: Pixels & Profits #1. Watch the full discussion here:    • Where is the Game...   SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ 😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! — • MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 • TWITTER → @jokim1 • LINKEDIN → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ — POPULAR CONTENT — 🤑 Economy of the Metaverse with Tim Sweeney    • Economy of the Me...   ℹ️ How to Build the Amazon of Game Companies    • Building the Amaz...   🔮 Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead at 2021    • Mobile Gaming Tre...   🖥️ The Future of PC Gaming    • Future of PC Gami...   🔴 Games Industry M&A    • Games Industry M&...   🔴 Netcode for Multiplayer Games    • Netcode for Multi...   🔴 IDFA Deprecation Product Impact    • Apple IDFA Deprec...   🔴 Trip Hawkins on the New High Score    • Trip Hawkins | Th...   🔴 LiveOps F2P Best Practices    • LiveOps - F2P Sal...  

Join us for an in-depth discussion on the Game Developers Conference 2025 with industry veterans as they share their perspectives and what was learned during GDC on the current state of the gaming industry. This candid conversation explores attendance trends, market challenges, investment landscapes, and what's next for game developers in a changing economy.

Our panel discusses:

⭐ GDC attendance trends and the shift to more exclusive, executive-focused events

⭐ The "age of efficiency" and austerity measures affecting game studios

⭐ Investment challenges and the evolving VC landscape for gaming

⭐ Platform dynamics between developers and companies like Apple and Google

⭐ AI's current and potential impact on game development

⭐ Unity's latest developments and challenges

⭐ The changing nature of GDC itself and its future prospects

Featured Speakers:

🗣️ Eric Kress, Principal at Gosser Consulting and host on the Deconstructive of Fun podcast

🗣️ Brett Novak, CEO from Liquid and Grit

🗣️ Solomon Lichter Ruiz, Senior Director Global Gaming at CleverTap

🗣️ Joseph Kim (Host), GameMakers & CEO of Lila Games

Recorded March 2025 following the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.

#GameDevelopment #GDC2025 #GamingIndustry #GameDev #GameDesign #AI #MobileGames #GameInvesting

Timestamps:

00:00 - Intro and GDC attendance discussion

04:00 - San Francisco city impressions

06:30 - Event format changes and networking dynamics

12:40 - Industry challenges and the "age of efficiency"

20:00 - Platform dynamics (Apple/Google)

30:00 - AI in gaming discussion

36:00 - Event highlights and notable gatherings

42:00 - Bing Gordon's insights

47:00 - Final thoughts on GDC's future

We breakdown the mobile marketing activities of both Garena Free Fire Max and PUBG: New State, comparing and contrasting the user acquisition initiatives deployed in both games.   

We first start with a high-level overview of the top 3 mobile shooter games: PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty Mobile, and Garena Free Fire.  

Joining to review, discuss, and add meaningful insights to the presentation from SocialPeta we have 2 of the best mobile marketers in the world.  

SPEAKERS: 

- Matej Lancaric, current UA consultant but formerly from SuperScale and a bunch of other companies, has launched a ton of mobile games throughout his career 

- Nebo Radovic,  formerly from a bunch of really great game companies that did mobile marketing but currently at Zynga  

Note: SocialPeta examined the UA activity in both games and they created the report covered in the video.  

👇 EPISODE LINKS:  

- SocialPeta: https://socialpeta.com/

- Matej: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matejlancaric/

- Nebo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nebojsaradovic/ SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: 

Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

- Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersStudio

Sebastian Park is a co-founder of the UGC publishing company Infinite Canvas and a venture partner at BITKRAFT Ventures. He was also formerly VP of eSports for the Houston Rockets and co-founded Clutch Gaming.  

Seb talks about his beliefs on why user-generated gaming is the next frontier for the games industry.  

SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: 

- Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/34hfOtv 

- Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i 

- Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ 

- Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersStudio  

OUTLINE: 

0:00 Context and Intro to Seb Park 

3:45 Why User Generated Gaming is the Next Frontier? 

9:35 How Does UGC Manifest in Games?  

12:50 Biggest Opportunity in UGC? 

19:25 Infinite Canvas Publishing Model 

21:22 UGC Discovery 

24:35 Value Proposition of a UGC Publisher 

27:10 Examples of Good UGC Creators 

33:25 Are UGC Platforms Winner-take-all? 

👇 EPISODE LINKS:  

• Seb Park on Twitter: @SebPark 

😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! —  

• MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 

• TWITTER      → @jokim1 

• LINKEDIN      → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/    

— POPULAR CONTENT 

— 🤑 Economy of the Metaverse with Tim Sweeney https://youtu.be/h6ClJxjuRvw 

ℹ️ How to Build the Amazon of Game Companies https://youtu.be/bkd2TOpKt4I 

🔮 Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead at 2021 https://youtu.be/NejFzHtpiZI 

🖥️ The Future of PC Gaming https://youtu.be/_QT7O3Wxi2s 

🔴 Games Industry M&A https://youtu.be/65nyPk6WNrs 

🔴 Netcode for Multiplayer Games https://youtu.be/tHq3PzmjhLw 

🔴 IDFA Deprecation Product Impact https://youtu.be/Ojec4wGKpso 

🔴 Trip Hawkins on the New High Score https://youtu.be/5egTSQ6AiRA 

🔴 LiveOps F2P Best Practices https://youtu.be/tmzqqnYbjNY

Pocketgamer reported on GDC's State of the Industry report held every year before GDC. 3,000 game devs input about various topics.

We cover:

• Concerns about AI
• Where AI is being used
• Game engine usage

In this deep conversation with Lars, we were able to speak to the key challenges that remain behind blockchain and crypto in gaming. 

Key problems discussed: 1. Degraded Blockchain Problem, 2. Some Problems with Play to Earn, and 3. The Problem with Land Sales.  

Links: 

- Lars Blog- The Fortress of Doors

- Degraded Blockchain Article (Lars post from Fortress of Doors)

- Land Speculators Will Kill Your Game's Growth (Game Developer)

Also check out the original, full interview with Lars that has a wider ranged discussion on Bitcoin and cryptocurrency on Super Stonk Bros here 

Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

Taken From: Mobile Growth: IDFA Deprecation Scapegoat or Reality?

• Podcast
• YouTube

Drew Levin is currently Director of Product at Riot Games and before that a Director of Product Management at Zynga.  

Zynga vs. Riot: two companies with wildly different approaches to game development, decision-making, and a culture of debate and discussion. Even more, Drew worked as a political campaign manager before game development.  

I believe Drew is uniquely experienced in speaking very deeply about different cultures and approaches to having constructive debates within a corporate context.  However, more broadly, in our talk today, we discuss the following:     

- #1. The problem at many companies focused on winning vs. discussion and seeking truth     

- #2. Impact of company culture      

- #3. Specific techniques to facilitate more constructive discussions     

- #4. Ideas and ways in which we can improve discussions

👇 EPISODE LINKS:  

- Drew Levin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drew-levin-7a225626/

- Adam Grant, "How to Argue about Abortion": https://adamgrant.bulletin.com/how-to-argue-about-abortion/

- Paul Saffo on Strong Opinions, Weakly Held: https://www.saffo.com/02008/07/26/strong-opinions-weakly-held/

- AORs by Asana: https://wavelength.asana.com/workstyle-aors/ 

SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: 

- Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/34hfOtv

- Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i

- Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

- Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersStudio

Oliver Jones is an OG game maker in India having worked at 2 of India's biggest companies like Zynga and co-founded Moonfrog (sold to Stillfront for $100M). He has now co-founded a new games studio called Bombay Play focusing on a new breed of games called "hyper social" games.   

Why did Oli come to India in the first place? How were companies like Zynga and Moonfrog like during the early days? How has the Indian game dev ecosystem evolved over the years? How and why did he found Bombay Play? And, what are hyper social games?  

Find out RIGHT NOW!

SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS:

- Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/34hfOtv

- Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i

- Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

- Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersStudio 😃

—CONNECT WITH ME! —

• MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1

• TWITTER      → @jokim1

• LINKEDIN      → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/

— POPULAR CONTENT —

🤑 Economy of the Metaverse with Tim Sweeney

https://youtu.be/h6ClJxjuRvw

ℹ️ How to Build the Amazon of Game Companies

https://youtu.be/bkd2TOpKt4I

🔮 Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead at 2021

https://youtu.be/NejFzHtpiZI

🖥️ The Future of PC Gaming

https://youtu.be/_QT7O3Wxi2s

🔴 Games Industry M&A

https://youtu.be/65nyPk6WNrs

🔴 Netcode for Multiplayer Games

https://youtu.be/tHq3PzmjhLw

🔴 IDFA Deprecation Product Impact

https://youtu.be/Ojec4wGKpso

🔴 Trip Hawkins on the New High Score

https://youtu.be/5egTSQ6AiRA

🔴 LiveOps F2P Best Practices

https://youtu.be/tmzqqnYbjNY

In an industry where development costs have skyrocketed, and market success has become increasingly challenging, understanding the true drivers of successful game development has never been more crucial.

In this discussion with Ben Carcich from Building Better Games, we highlight the counter-intuitive patterns of success and practical frameworks for modern game development leadership.Key Focus Areas:

🔑 Why the most successful games often emerge from the most visibly challenging development processes

🔑 How premature scaling and uncertainty avoidance doom projects before launch

🔑 Critical success patterns observed across AAA and indie studios

🔑 Practical approaches to balancing creative vision, technical execution, and business reality

Listen to this episode for actionable insights that challenge conventional wisdom about building successful games in 2024.OUTLINE:0:00 Intro1:45 How costs impact game success6:05 Other major problems with game success10:30 Zero sum time problem and the rise of live operated games11:40 Success from China and small devs12:30 Importance of delivering on a player experience14:35 The Alignment problem15:24 Fighting to expand the percentage of new game time18:25 How bigger production cost impacts decision making20:15 Major production problems - comfort with uncertainty24:35 Fear and pride25:55 Game projects with big problems succeed more often29:40 Pride and Insecurity31:52 The rush to production39:45 Obsession with planning42:20 Importance of development speed44:25 What derails planning: the wrong person and bad decisions47:09 The problem with the creative auteur49:52 Decision analysis vs. prioritization54:15 Scope creep: The ooh ooh ooh idea problem1:00:50 Taking lessons from the military and football1:04:52 Why do great lessons come from military and sports1:13:42 The problem with big plans1:14:37 Why you shouldn’t “always have an answer”1:19:00 The #1 rule: common sense rules1:22:34 How to find time to think deeply1:24:43 You don’t need to solve every problem1:30:02 How to think about long-term issues1:37:12 What are characteristics from successful game studios1:58:12 You should push when you’re young2:01:01 More about Building Better Games consultancy👇 EPISODE LINKS: - Building Better Games: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg/- Ben Carcich: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-carcich/SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS:- Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i- Newsletter: https://gamemakers.com/😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! — • MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1• TWITTER → @jokim1• LINKEDIN → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/

I interview Matthew Emery aka "The Games Consultant" about what it means to build a F2P liveops "Playbook."  

Listen to this Q&A between me and Matt!  

SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: 

- Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/34hfOtv

- Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i

- Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

- Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersStudio 

OUTLINE: 

0:00 Intro 

1:01 Matt's 19-Year Background & Current Business 

2:24 High-Level Framework for Thinking About LiveOps: How to Survive?
7:10 How to Deal With Low KPI Metrics? ROI-First Approach 

12:57 Coming Up With Improvement Initiatives 

15:39 How to Gauge Initiative Impact Through Multi-Variate/Split Testing? Stat-sig or Not? 

19:00 New Game Dev vs. Live Operated Games 

21:50 What Should a Live-ops "Playbook" Include? 

27:12 Biggest Mistakes & Learnings from Matt's Experience 

30:10 Recommendations on Critical Best Practices / High ROI Areas 

33:48 Why Aggressiveness is Critical in Multivariate Testing? 

37:38 Final Recommendations - Need to Understand UA, Why CPI Goes Up?  

👇 EPISODE LINKS:  

- Matt Emery: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewemery/

- IAP Merchandising Playbook #1| Special Offers that Sizzle: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/iap-merchandising-playbook-part-1-special-offers-matthew/

- IAP Merchandising Playbook #2| Visual Hierarchy: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/iap-merchandising-playbook-part-2-visual-hierarchy-matthew/

- IAP Merchandising Playbook #3| MVP Store Design: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/iap-merchandising-playbook-part-3-mvp-store-design-matthew/?trackingId=vtcxmGEzQWK04H3PDuD2lw%3D%3D 

😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! —  

• MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 

• TWITTER      → @jokim1 

• LINKEDIN      → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/

Discussion with Kylan Gibbs, Chief Product Officer at Inworld AI and Travis Boatman, CEO at Carbonated. We discuss Inworld's AI services around AI NPCs / conversational AI for games. OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 2:00 Inworld AI origin story and application areas of relationships and progression 9:27 Roleplaying is biggest application area for social simulation and emergent storytelling 13:47 How Travis thinks about AI for his games at Carbonated 17:50 Personalizing content for players 20:09 JK’s nice to have (tips/guide, loneliness, strange attractor) vs. fundamental integration of AI perspective 22:24 Kylan on building a personal relationship with characters and game world 25:14 Unexpected application: companion characters for FPS or MMO 26: 05 New game designs: social simulators 27:00 Interaction-focused role-playing games 27:55 Biggest area is detective-style games 28:40 Emerging application: show/game hybrid 29:32 Characterization of the market opportunity for conversational AI - gaming is core focus 31:47 Can you use AI to be a DM in a D&D campaign? 36:01 AI enables creatives to focus on story and core game 38:45 Economics of conversational AI - How much? Who pays? Cloud vs. on-device 45:06 JK and Travis on mitigating and justifying costs using AI as a dev 50:13 AI NPCs competitive landscape and how to differentiate between vendors 56:46 Addressing AI risks concerning IP ownership and data provenance 1:02:39 What other AI applications will have biggest impact to gaming? Which companies? 👇 EPISODE LINKS: - Inworld AI: https://inworld.ai/ - Carbonated Games: https://www.carbonated.com/ - Kylan Gibbs: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylangibbs/ - Travis Boatman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/travis-boatman-3bb593/ SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ 😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! — • MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 • TWITTER → @jokim1 • LINKEDIN → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ — POPULAR CONTENT — 🤑 Economy of the Metaverse with Tim Sweeney https://youtu.be/h6ClJxjuRvw ℹ️ How to Build the Amazon of Game Companies https://youtu.be/bkd2TOpKt4I 🔮 Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead at 2021 https://youtu.be/NejFzHtpiZI 🖥️ The Future of PC Gaming https://youtu.be/_QT7O3Wxi2s 🔴 Games Industry M&A https://youtu.be/65nyPk6WNrs 🔴 Netcode for Multiplayer Games https://youtu.be/tHq3PzmjhLw 🔴 IDFA Deprecation Product Impact https://youtu.be/Ojec4wGKpso 🔴 Trip Hawkins on the New High Score https://youtu.be/5egTSQ6AiRA 🔴 LiveOps F2P Best Practices https://youtu.be/tmzqqnYbjNY

Welcome, everyone; this week, we are doing a new format called What If? We want to speculate on several scenarios and evaluate the pros and cons and potential strategic and financial implications based on these hypothetical scenarios. In this episode, we discuss the potential and hypothesize the impact of an Xbox console business carve-out from Microsoft We recorded this episode in 3 parts: #1. Xbox carve-out #2. Gaming smartphone #3. M&A scenarios Stay tuned for future episodes! OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 0:57 Console economics from Microsoft disclosures 9:30 Xbox unitary economics 12:15 Positive trends for Xbox business 13:10 Attractiveness of Xbox business 16:00 Leadership for Xbox business 20:26 Should Gamepass and Xbox be together? 24:48 Xbox viability of carve-out and business valuation 33:55 Potential acquirers for Xbox business SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ 😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! — • MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 • TWITTER → @jokim1 • LINKEDIN → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ — POPULAR CONTENT — 🤑 Economy of the Metaverse with Tim Sweeney https://youtu.be/h6ClJxjuRvw ℹ️ How to Build the Amazon of Game Companies https://youtu.be/bkd2TOpKt4I 🔮 Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead at 2021 https://youtu.be/NejFzHtpiZI 🖥️ The Future of PC Gaming https://youtu.be/_QT7O3Wxi2s 🔴 Games Industry M&A https://youtu.be/65nyPk6WNrs 🔴 Netcode for Multiplayer Games https://youtu.be/tHq3PzmjhLw 🔴 IDFA Deprecation Product Impact https://youtu.be/Ojec4wGKpso 🔴 Trip Hawkins on the New High Score https://youtu.be/5egTSQ6AiRA 🔴 LiveOps F2P Best Practices https://youtu.be/tmzqqnYbjNY

Learn the insider strategies from industry legends Frank Yan (Brawl Stars), Dafna Ben Onn (SciPlay), and Ivan Trancik (Superscale) on mastering mobile game operations!

📍 Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction to LiveOps Fundamentals 2:15 - Frank Yan: Rapid Content Deployment Strategies 4:30 - The Art of Player Segmentation 7:00 - Dafna Ben Onn: Optimizing Rewards and Retention 10:45 - Balancing Monetization and Player Experience 14:20 - Ivan Trancik: Analytics and Experimentation Stages 18:30 - Building a Data-Driven Game Development Machine 22:00 - Key Takeaways and Future of LiveOps

🔑 Key Insights:

• How to update games instantly without client updates
• Personalization techniques that keep players engaged
• Building a robust analytics infrastructure
• Experimental strategies for game growth

💡 Perfect for:

• Mobile game developers
• Product managers
• Game studios looking to optimize performance
• Entrepreneurs in the gaming industry

Today I’m here with my co-founder and CTO of LILA Games, Avinash Pandey. 

Having a frank discussion about the games industry here in India and what it’s going to take for India to become a place where world-leading games studios emerge.  

If China and Turkey can do it, why not India?

SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: 

- Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ 

- Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersStudio

In today’s episode, Randy Nelson from Sensor Tower interviews me (Joseph Kim) about gaming trends in 2020 and potential impacts for the future including 2021 specifically.

In this discussion we talk about not only the defining trends of 2020 and what will be the longer term impacts from 2020 into 2021 and beyond but in addition:

• The nature of the firm
• Building not only product, but also organizational advantage
• How to think about and build structural advantage
• How we view India from the perspective of LILA Games
• Release schedules
• Remote work
• How to think about Multiplayer games
• How to pick game markets and knowing a secret
• Impact of gaming on kids and future opportunity
• Changes to game studios in 2021 including the adoption of better scenario analysis and building framework to deal with unexpected events, and a potential rationalization of the market
• Trends to midcore games
• Game communities and influencers
• Facebook gaming

So a SUPER wide ranging conversation... don't miss it!

What kinds of planning do product managers do in game development? 

We discuss the kinds of planning in concept/pre-production, production, and in live ops.   

What kinds of revenue forecasting and analysis should you do?   

How to plan for big innovations vs. incremental liveops beats?  

GUEST: 

- Adam Telfer, Senior Director of Product - Head of Central Product at WB Games: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamtelfer/ 

HOSTS: 

- Joseph Kim, CEO at LILA Games: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/

- Brett Nowak, CEO at Liquid & Grit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-nowak-8920675/ 

👇 CHECK IT OUT  

GameMakers Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

The Pixel & Profit bros discuss the long history of the console market and the primary players in the market today: Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. We trace back the history from the 6th generation to today and talk "profits." Meaning the key games and market history and dynamics thus far and outlook into the future. OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 1:05 Console market overview: Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft 9:37 Determinants of success for the console market 12:53 6th Generation: 1998 - 2013 17:18 7th Generation: 2005 - 2017 23:10 8th Generation: 2012 - 2020 29:58 9th Generation: 2021 - Present Day 33:29 Console makers differences in strategy 👇 EPISODE LINKS: - Matthew Kanterman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-k... - Joseph Kim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ - Brian Peganoff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-peg...

The Russia Ukraine war has had a dramatic impact on many people’s lives. Huge impact to society, to our economies, and to various industries in different ways.  

How has video game development been impacted by the war?  

Boris Kalmykov, CEO of Hypemasters is a Russian living in the UK but with most of his company formerly located in St. Petersberg. 

- How have his company and other companies with employees in Russia and Ukraine been impacted? 

- What about the impact on big companies with employees in Russia and Ukraine like Playrix and Plarium? 

- What is the impact of sanctions and how much worse can it get? 

- What is the potential for Ukrainians and Russians to work together in the future? 

- What is the outlook for Ukrainian and Russian game development companies?  

SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: 

- Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/34hfOtv

- Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i

- Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

- Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersStudio 

👇 EPISODE LINKS:  

Crisis Management at Hypemasters: https://medium.com/hypemasters/crisis-management-at-hypemasters-eb80518c1f74 

🤝 GOOD NEWS! LILA Games just hired our first Ukrainian, hired by our Russian Art Director. 

If you are Ukrainian or Russian apply to LILA: https://www.lilagames.com/jobs/

😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! —  •

 MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 

• TWITTER      → @jokim1 

• LINKEDIN      → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/

We are seeing severe impacts around privacy and the ability to measure any post-device ID kind of fingerprinting world. So, we wanted to put together a five-part series helping advertisers understand the measurement crisis and the different tools and measurement signals available. #1. The first podcast in the series will be the overview of the measurement crisis. #2. The second podcast will be the actual state of last touch and the real value that last touch is bringing you. #3. The third podcast will educate on incrementality testing and how it can be leveraged in a privacy-first world. #4. The fourth one will be the promise of MTA 2. 0 and data clean rooms. So you understand some of the more fringe benefits of tools coming to you that may impact last touch. #5. The last podcast is a summary roadmap to measurement success, helping you, the advertiser, take everything you've been educated on, turn it into action and succeed. OUTLINE: 0:00 New series: State of Measurement in a Privacy-first World introduction 2:24 Intro to the Measurement Crisis in mobile user acquisition (UA) 4:30 Recap on why we have problems attributing installs today 8:17 How incentives exacerbate the measurement problem 11:42 What is the actual impact of IDFA deprecation to UA? 16:43 Andrew believes that incrementality shows that the impact of IDFA may be a perceived rather than actual problem 22:12 Warren's dynamic polling approach, how to make goal based buying work, and overview of IDFA workarounds 31:16 What does Kwalee and other game studios do for UA now? 33:30 How to react to loss of fingerprinting 40:00 What are limitations of MMM or incrementality? 46:35 Who will be impacted most by loss of fingerprinting? 47:40 What does the future state of measurement look like? SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.com/

Joseph Kim (Oldie but Goodie) and Arthur Trusov (Young Blood) discuss top charts and gaming news.

0:00 Intro

2:22 Top Steam charts

5:05 Top mobile charts

7:45 China to curb gaming spend: Netease and Tencent plunge

10:13 China regulator to study concerns about the new gaming curbs

12:45 Take-Two Bet $12B Just as mobile games tumbled

19:33 Valorant Mobile Game

25:30 Insomniac Games major hacking leak

29:30 GTA hacker sentenced

30:45 More layoffs at Sony, may close studio

32:35 Steam Winter sale up to 60% off on games and other gaming deals

38:03 What’re we playing? Ready or Not, Wild Rift, Coop games

Arthur Trusov and Joseph Kim discuss the latest gaming news from the past week.

Layoffs:

• Unity to lay off 1,800 staff as it continues company reset

• Twitch is cutting one-third of its staff

• Playtika to cut 300 - 400 more jobs in latest rounds of layoffs

• Discord is laying off 17 percent of employees

• 11 Days Into 2024 And 2700+ Video Game Layoffs Have Been Announced

Nacon exec says industry's problem is "too many games"

UE5-Powered New Halo Reportedly in Development at 343 Industries – Rumor

Epic finally claims top spot for publisher MAU share on console

The State of UGC Games (2024)

SAG underfire for supporting AI game voice actors

AI took stage of CES and was a mess!

China easing fears of another video game crackdown

Cheating accessory — GameShark — is back.

Steam broke its concurrent user record over the weekend

We talk about game development methodologies and best practices with how to structure and execute game development.   

SPEAKERS:  

   - Chris Cobb, co-founder and CTO of Pragma Platform, who also formerly worked as an engineering lead at Riot Games, and held software development roles at both Popcap and Microsoft.  

   - Noemi Rouleau, Associate Producer at Square Enix Montreal. Noemi also worked in production at Ubisoft on games like RainbowSix Siege , For honor, and Assassin’s Creed Origins  

   - Xiang Shen, CTO at Century Games. Century is a multi-billion revenue Beijing-based games developer and publisher. Xiang also formerly founded mobile games studio Outact, and was formerly a technical director at Roblox, and worked in software engineering at Tencent, EA, and Ubisoft.    

TOPICS: 

0:00 Intro 

1:18 Team Structure 

9:00 Dev Team Roles 

20:40 Game Dev Phases 

36:18 Engineering Practices (CI, Code Review, Coding Standards) 

50:27 Dev Methodology 

1:03:18 Sprint Estimates  

1:14:10 Final Message

Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter!

Conversation with Joe Byrne Director of Business Development and Strategy at SciPlay one of the world’s biggest and most successful social casino game companies.

Topics:

#1. How do the most sophisticated game companies use market intelligence data to inform their product strategy?

#2. How given new changes because of IDFA deprecation for example would create new requirements for the kinds of insights from the data that we look for? 

#3. Strategic insights on how the social casino genre is evolving and new trends for that genre.  

This conversation was facilitated in partnership with AppAnnie who is currently rolling out an update to their gaming taxonomy. Thanks App Annie!  

Speaker:

    - Joe Byrne, Director of Business Development and Strategy at SciPlay

Dive into the future of AI in game development with this insightful panel from GDC featuring Aaron Farr (CTO at Jam and Tea Studios) and Liam Dean (Principal Analyst, Games at Omdia).

They explore AI-native games, emergent gameplay, development acceleration, and how AI is transforming both game creation and player experiences.

Essential viewing for game developers, executives, and anyone interested in how AI will reshape the gaming landscape.Timestamps0:00 - Introduction and panel overview1:50 - How revolutionary will AI be for gaming?3:30 - Current limitations of AI in game development5:10 - The concept of "AI native games" explained8:00 - Retail Mage: A real example of an AI native game11:10 - Emergent gameplay with AI - The painting IOU story14:20 - AI games vs. multiplayer games comparison17:40 - The controversy around AI in the games industry18:50 - Ethics of AI in game development22:20 - Who wins and loses with AI in game development?24:40 - The "organizational meta" and how AI will reshape studio structure27:40 - AI's impact on product development velocity30:20 - How traditional game studios will adapt (or fail)34:00 - Behind the scenes of an AI-native studio36:10 - How AI dramatically reduces development time (8 weeks vs 4 years)38:10 - The AI Dungeon Master example43:30 - Practical AI applications available right now47:10 - Q&A: Examples of AI-native games in the market49:30 - Q&A: Impact on staffing and team sizes52:40 - The future of game development organizationsSUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS:- Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! — • MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1• TWITTER → @jokim1• LINKEDIN → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/

Purnendu Mukherjee, CEO of Convai, shares insights into innovative approaches to developing human-like AI characters that can intelligently interact with users, perform actions, and engage in natural and responsive conversations. This discussion sheds light on the future of interactive gaming, educational tools, and real-world applications of AI NPCs, from Mukherjee's personal journey, which sparked his deep interest in the mechanics of the human mind and AI, to the technical challenges and societal impacts of integrating AI within virtual spaces. OUTLINE: 0:00 Introduction to Convai and AI NPCs 1:19 Purnendu's background and how he got into working on AI NPCs 04:22 - Current limitations of AI NPCs and what's needed to make them indistinguishable from humans 5:00 - Technical Challenges and Innovations 07:34 - Overcoming latency issues with AI NPCs 08:50 - Potential AI applications in gaming and why AI NPCs are attracting significant funding 15:17 - Differentiating factors and focus areas for Convai compared to competitors 19:19 - Steps for developers to integrate Convai's technology into a game 24:12 - Comparing effort and impact of using AI NPCs vs traditional dialogue trees and behavior trees 29:25 - Economics and business model of Convai - pricing for different types of games 34:31 - Bringing down costs for games with massive usage and appeal to global audiences 38:48 - Early traction and use cases Convai is seeing from customers today 43:18 - Potential for AI to enable new kinds of gaming experiences 47:55 - Feasibility of doing a fully AI-driven Dungeons & Dragons game with current technology 50:16 - Optionality if Convai solves AI NPCs for gaming to expand to other domains 53:14 - Purnendu's entrepreneurial learnings and the meaningful suffering of a startup journey 59:04 - Constructive criticism from GDC and Convai's commitment to enabling great art 59:55 - Conclusion 👇 EPISODE LINKS: - Conv.ai: https://conv.ai/ - Purnendu Mukherjee: https://www.linkedin.com/in/purn3ndu/
SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.com/ 😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! — • MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 • TWITTER → @jokim1 • LINKEDIN → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/

We discuss the Peter Thiel concept of 0 to 1 vs. 1 to N in the context of product management. We believe there is a pretty big distinction between new game development which is oriented around this 0 to 1 concept and the 1 to N or live-ops PM.

Links:

- Zero to One by Peter Thiel

About Us:

- Joseph Kim, CEO, LILA Games

- Brett Nowak, CEO, Liquid & Grit

Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

The Pixel bros are joined by Eric Kress from the Deconstructor of Fun podcast to talk everything Take-Two Interactive! OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 2:45 Take-Two Fundamentals 6:25 The $5.5B to $8B guidance in bookings 7:12 What could be driving $8B in bookings 10:30 Comparing King acquisition vs. Zynga 13:07 Rockstar and 2K Overview 15:38 Kress’ take on T2 business 20:57 Zynga Overview 23:15 Eric: Why Zynga was the worst acquisition ever 29:50 Why some investors ignore T2 longer-term risk 30:40 Bull case for T2 31:38 Why GTA6 will not sell as much as GTA5 32:48 The PC case for GTA6 33:38 Product portfolio strategy discussion: broad vs. focused 37:49 Overall outlook 38:25 T2 acquisition scenarios 40:25 Growth opportunities 46:52 Why did T2 buy Zynga and what are the ramifications? 53:37 Conclusions 👇 EPISODE LINKS: - Eric Kress: https://www.linkedin.com/in/serkantoto/ - Matthew Kanterman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-kanterman-cfa-b6345133/ - Joseph Kim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ - Brian Peganoff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-peganoff/ SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.com/ 😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! — • MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 • TWITTER → @jokim1 • LINKEDIN → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ — POPULAR CONTENT — 🤑 Economy of the Metaverse with Tim Sweeney https://youtu.be/h6ClJxjuRvw ℹ️ How to Build the Amazon of Game Companies https://youtu.be/bkd2TOpKt4I 🔮 Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead at 2021 https://youtu.be/NejFzHtpiZI 🖥️ The Future of PC Gaming https://youtu.be/_QT7O3Wxi2s 🔴 Games Industry M&A https://youtu.be/65nyPk6WNrs 🔴 Netcode for Multiplayer Games https://youtu.be/tHq3PzmjhLw 🔴 IDFA Deprecation Product Impact https://youtu.be/Ojec4wGKpso 🔴 Trip Hawkins on the New High Score https://youtu.be/5egTSQ6AiRA 🔴 LiveOps F2P Best Practices https://youtu.be/tmzqqnYbjNY

Mayur Bhimjiyani is the CEO and co-founder of Hypernova, an India-based F2P games studio building a GTA-like game focusing on the Indian market. Mayur speaks about his background, the history behind Hypernova, and why they are building Mayanagari, a game Mayur hopes to become as successful as GTA. OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 1:02 Why do so many Indian game devs call Hypernova the most exciting game studio in India? 4:45 Why build Mayanagari - the GTA for India? 16:33 The history behind Hypernova 22:07 Mayanagari stage and launch plans 26:10 Mayanagari monetization model 33:30 The evolution of the India games industry- RPGs 35:38 New game dev vs. liveops in India (Zynga vs. Hypernova) 40:07 Positive areas and areas of improvement for new game dev in India 44:30 What do you look forward to from India game dev market? 45:20 How to contact Mayur or find out more about Mayanagari?

We discuss key themes & trends, critical takeaways, GDC panels/talks, and rumors from GDC 2024.

OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 2:35 VC, publisher investment in gaming is down 3:50 Moving to tighter efficiency in game development 7:05 More pain coming, 3-6 more months of industry rationalization 15:30 UA deterioriation since beginning of year 17:17 AI & Liveops key areas of focus 21:40 Importance of marketing and UA for mobile game success 23:45 Sensor Tower acquisition of data.ai 30:45 GDC Talks 37:10 Frank + Frank Supercell Brawlstars talk 41:20 King’s AI Talk - how they improve liveops on Candy Crush Soda Saga 43:15 Epic’s UEFN talks 49:05 Ken’s GDC tips 55:10 Key takeaways 1:05:40 GDC rumors SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

Dive into the future of game development with Joseph Kim as he interviews Ben James, CEO of Atlas, a groundbreaking company at the forefront of integrating AI into the creative process of game design. In this exclusive interview, discover how Atlas's cutting-edge technology is transforming 2D reference images into fully-realized 3D models, propelling the development of immersive 3D MMO worlds into new realms of efficiency and creativity. What You'll Learn: ✔️ The innovative AI technology behind Atlas and its ability to revolutionize the creation of 3D assets. ✔️ How Atlas's platform is making the game development process faster, more efficient, and boundlessly creative. ✔️ The practical applications of Atlas technology in early game concept testing and beyond. ✔️ Ben James's insights on the potential for AI to augment rather than replace human creativity in game development. ✔️ The future of game design and how Atlas is positioning itself to empower developers with new tools for creative expression. Key Takeaways: 🔑 Understand the capabilities and advantages of using AI in game design and asset creation. 🔑 Discover how Atlas is enhancing the workflow of game developers and artists with its AI-driven platform. 🔑 Explore the ethical and practical considerations of AI in creative industries, with a focus on collaboration between human creativity and artificial intelligence. Whether you're a game developer, artist, or enthusiast excited about the future of game creation, this interview offers valuable insights into how AI technology is set to redefine the landscape of game development. Join us as we explore the cutting edge of gaming innovation with Joseph Kim and Ben James. 🎮 Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 01:30 Atlas's Mission and Technology 05:00 Transforming 2D Images into 3D Worlds 10:00 The Impact on Game Development Workflows 15:00 AI's Role in Creative Processes 20:00 Future Possibilities and Ethical Considerations 25:00 Q&A with Viewers

Subscribe to our channel for more insights into game development, interviews with industry leaders, and the latest trends in game technology. Don't forget to hit the like button and share this video with fellow gaming aficionados. Your support helps us bring more exciting content your way! #GameDevelopment #AIInGaming #AtlasTech #3DModeling #GameDesignInnovation

We discuss the current state of mergers & acquisitions in the games industry.  

Topics: 

0:00 Introduction 

4:13 Activision to Microsoft 

12:16 Zynga to Take-Two 

25:30 Current M&A Landscape 

39:25 Potential Targets 

48:17 Playtika Acquisition 

51:52 Carve-Out Opportunities 

1:01:03 Predictions  

Speakers: 

- Saad Choudri, CEO at Miniclip 

- Michael Metzger, Partner at Drake Star Partners 

- Chris Petrovic, Chief Business Officer at FunPlus  

👇 CHECK IT OUT  

Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

GameMakers Podcast: https://anchor.fm/gamemakers 

😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! —  

• MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 

• TWITTER → @jokim1 

• LINKEDIN → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/

Today we discuss Data Usage & Ethics in Gaming.  

It’s not just about what are acceptable practices when it comes to market intelligence, there’s a bigger picture around data that impacts privacy at the device level with Apple and Google impacting IDFA, and even further with the data by companies that may be in competitive situations to their customers. Note that it was just announced that Applovin has just acquired MoPub for example.  

Regular Hosts: 

- Joseph Kim, CEO of LILA Games: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/

- Brett Nowak, CEO of Liquid & Grit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-nowak-8920675/ 

Guest: 

- Lars Doucet, President of Level Up Labs. Twitter: @larsiusprime, Blog: https://www.fortressofdoors.com/ 

Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

Eve Chang shares her invaluable experiences and lessons from working on iconic mobile games like Temple Run and Bejeweled Blitz. Get ready for a session full of actionable insights and strategies that could redefine your approach to game development and live operations. Outline: [00:00] Introduction to Eve Chang and Overview [01:10] Eve Chang's Journey in Game Development [02:10] Eve's Approach to LiveOps [06:55] Designing and Product Decisions for Live Games [13:45] Biggest Lessons Learned from LiveOps [22:55] Eve's Take on the Current Market Environment [26:35] Final Thoughts and Where to Find Eve Online Key Highlights: 🔑 Eve reveals her strategic framework for LiveOps, emphasizing market analysis, player desires, and aligning game objectives. 🔑 Insights on making design and product decisions that resonate with players while enhancing game longevity. 🔑 Eve shares candid lessons from her extensive career, including successes and missteps that have shaped her approach to LiveOps. 🔑 A look into the current state of the mobile gaming market and advice for developers navigating these challenging times. Links: Eve Chang LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evechang/ Subscribe to our channel for more insights from industry leaders and game development veterans. Don't forget to like, share, and comment below with your thoughts or questions for Eve!

Will Harbin was CEO at Kixeye during the early 2010s when the company launched some of the most innovative games to the market at that time: Desktop Tower Defense, Backyard Monsters, War Commander, and Battle Pirates. The company was poised to become the next big gaming juggernaut but did not quite make the transition to mobile.   

Today Will is making a comeback with Kixeye 2.0, his new company Global Worldwide which recently launched Kingdom Maker.  Don't miss this fascinating discussion, outlined below.  

SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: 

- Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/34hfOtv

- Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i

- Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

- Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersStudio 

OUTLINE: 

0:00 Intro 

0:46 Will on Kixeye's Controversial Past 

3:05 Kixeye's Famous Recruitment Video 

5:50 Social vs. Transitioning to Mobile 

10:45 How Losers on Social Like Supercell Won on Mobile 

15:25 The Early Mobile F2P Market 21:40 The F2P Gaming Market Today 

24:24 "Full Economic Mastery" 

25:15 The Story of Kingdom Maker and Global Worldwide aka Kixeye 2.0 

33:20 On Kixeye Culture 38:00 Why Did Will Believe in Kingdom Maker for 6 Years? 

42:25 Product Validation Approach 46:00 On Game Publishing and Scopely 

51:10 View on Current F2P Gaming Landscape  

👇 EPISODE LINKS:  

- Will Harbin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/willharbin/ 😃 

—CONNECT WITH ME! —  

• MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 

• TWITTER      → @jokim1 

• LINKEDIN      → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/   

— POPULAR CONTENT — 

🤑 Economy of the Metaverse with Tim Sweeney https://youtu.be/h6ClJxjuRvw

ℹ️ How to Build the Amazon of Game Companies https://youtu.be/bkd2TOpKt4I

🔮 Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead at 2021 https://youtu.be/NejFzHtpiZI

🖥️ The Future of PC Gaming https://youtu.be/_QT7O3Wxi2s

🔴 Games Industry M&A https://youtu.be/65nyPk6WNrs

🔴 Netcode for Multiplayer Games https://youtu.be/tHq3PzmjhLw

🔴 IDFA Deprecation Product Impact https://youtu.be/Ojec4wGKpso

🔴 Trip Hawkins on the New High Score https://youtu.be/5egTSQ6AiRA

🔴 LiveOps F2P Best Practices https://youtu.be/tmzqqnYbjNY

We talk about real-world data and the implications of IDFA deprecation.

Now there has been a lot of VERY BAD information being published on this topic. So today we have with us 3 real-world practitioners and some real data about what’s actually happening.

More specifically we will discuss:

#1. Real world data and impact of IDFA Deprecation

#2. Specific changes to how we do UA and Marketing based on the effects of IDFA Deprecation

#3. Implications to product and monetization design

#4. Who are likely winners & losers from these changes?

SPEAKERS:

1. Brian Bowman, CEO of Consumer Acquisition:

2. Matej Lancaric, Independent UA & Marketing Consultant:

3. Warren Woodward, Co-founder and Chief Growth Officer at Upptic

Overview: 

0:00 Intro 

2:15 Games Impact: Real Data 

12:02 Winners, Models, Supercell 

16:47 Algo Instability, Lookalikes  

20:43 Google Performance 

23:35 Unity Perf Explained 

26:20 ROAS Loss 

30:05 Specific Marketing Changes 

36:43 SKAdnetwork Conversion Value 

43:17 Creative Testing on iOS 

44:43 Reactivation Campaigns  

46:13 Strategic Maneuvering 

48:56 CPG Marketing 

53:20 Product Implications 

56:42 Winners & Losers

IDFA deprecation and the end of fingerprinting *in theory* would end targeting and the ability to do user acquisition as well as in the past. What is the current state of the market and what will the impact of new changes - meaning the end of fingerprinting - have on mobile game companies?We talk to Matej Lancaric, mobile user acquisition specialist and podcast host on 2 and a half gamers for his take on what is going to happen. OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 2:00 History of UA spend 3:00 UA spend data points - growth vs. profitability 6:15 UA terms explanation: Payback period, ROAS, bad modeling, AEO/VO 9:00 Will the end of fingerprinting kill off event optimization? 11:24 Max and why Applovin has a major advantage as an ad network 14:44 Back to the history of UA spend - current day 15:55 Current market comps for UA spend - G5 17:00 Current UA strategies 21:30 Demand vs. supply side explanation 22:50 Applovin vs. Ironsource 24:14 End of fingerprinting: Will changes in UA cause publishers to push games now? 28:28 What is the impact of end of fingerprinting? 29:57 Is Apple’s ad network good for industry? 31:49 How does web shops impact UA? 33:05 Typical UA budgets for new game launches 35:55 What’s driving success for games Matej is pushing? 38:10 Asia gamedev strength before the rest of the world 39:30 Last words from Matej 👇 EPISODE LINKS: - Matej Lancaric: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matejlancaric/, www.lancaric.me- Matthew Kanterman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-kanterman-cfa-b6345133/- Joseph Kim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/- Brian Peganoff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-peganoff/ SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ 😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! — • MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 • TWITTER → @jokim1 • LINKEDIN → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ — POPULAR CONTENT — 🤑 Economy of the Metaverse with Tim Sweeney https://youtu.be/h6ClJxjuRvw ℹ️ How to Build the Amazon of Game Companies https://youtu.be/bkd2TOpKt4I 🔮 Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead at 2021 https://youtu.be/NejFzHtpiZI 🖥️ The Future of PC Gaming https://youtu.be/_QT7O3Wxi2s 🔴 Games Industry M&A https://youtu.be/65nyPk6WNrs 🔴 Netcode for Multiplayer Games https://youtu.be/tHq3PzmjhLw 🔴 IDFA Deprecation Product Impact https://youtu.be/Ojec4wGKpso 🔴 Trip Hawkins on the New High Score https://youtu.be/5egTSQ6AiRA 🔴 LiveOps F2P Best Practices https://youtu.be/tmzqqnYbjNY

Join us as we explore the future of user-generated content (UGC) in gaming with Playmakers, diving into why community-created content converts 30% better than studio content and how AI fits into the UGC ecosystem. Essential insights for game developers looking to scale content creation through community engagement. #GameDev #UGC #gaming Co-hosted with Anton Bernstein, CEO at Pocket Worlds. OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 0:40 Best game examples of UGC cosmetics 1:20 How cosmetics work in Counterstrike 3:05 The Playmakers UGC platform business 6:52 Dealing with the biggest UGC problem: Time To Penis (TTP) 9:10 Other problems: Trademarks and duplicates 10:18 Economics of enabling a UGC cosmetics platform 12:06 Balancing professional content vs. UGC content in a game 13:52 The kinds of games better adapted for UGC content 16:10 AI as a complement or competition to UGC: UGC vs. AGC vs. UGAC 20:37 In a world of infinite free content, how to give UGC items value 22:40 Biggest concerns to integrating UGC content in their games 24:40 Integration issues for integrating UGC in games 26:16 The functions required for a UGC platform 27:48 Getting over the cold-start problem getting creators to start making UGC 32:40 Can UGC content be cross-game content? 34:00 Big upcoming UGC macro trends 37:15 Depth vs. shallowness of UGC support Roblox vs. Minecraft 39:20 The trend of UGC remixing 41:35 Future Playmakers roadmap 👇 EPISODE LINKS: - Playmakers: https://www.playmakers.co/ SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ 😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! — • MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 • TWITTER → @jokim1 • LINKEDIN → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ — POPULAR CONTENT — 🤑 Economy of the Metaverse with Tim Sweeney https://youtu.be/h6ClJxjuRvw ℹ️ How to Build the Amazon of Game Companies https://youtu.be/bkd2TOpKt4I 🔮 Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead at 2021 https://youtu.be/NejFzHtpiZI 🖥️ The Future of PC Gaming https://youtu.be/_QT7O3Wxi2s 🔴 Games Industry M&A https://youtu.be/65nyPk6WNrs 🔴 Netcode for Multiplayer Games https://youtu.be/tHq3PzmjhLw 🔴 IDFA Deprecation Product Impact https://youtu.be/Ojec4wGKpso 🔴 Trip Hawkins on the New High Score https://youtu.be/5egTSQ6AiRA 🔴 LiveOps F2P Best Practices https://youtu.be/tmzqqnYbjNY

What are the skills and kind of personality required to be a winning product manager?   

In particular, what do you need to become a "needle-moving" PM instead of a minor cog that doesn't actually make much of a difference?  

High-level outline 

1. Organizational differences we often see in different gaming studios and talk about some of the ways in which, therefore - certain skills and personality traits would be more critical than others.   

2. General discussion about what are the kinds of skills PMs should have in order to be effective.  

3. Talk about personality. In particular, specific traits good PMs should have.   

4. Just for fun, we talk and potentially argue about what is most critical if we’re prioritizing different skills or personality traits for a PM to be #winning 

SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: 

- Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

- Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersStudio

Anton Bernstein, CEO of Pocket Worlds, discusses the intricacies of cosmetics monetization in free-to-play games. Learn about player motivations, game design considerations, primary vs. secondary markets, and cultural differences in monetization strategies. Gain valuable insights on key metrics and best practices for successful cosmetic-based revenue in games like Fortnite, CS:GO, and High Rise. OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 0:45 Most important topics around cosmetics monetization 2:11 Anton Bernstein background and Pocket World business 3:17 The kinds of games that sell cosmetics well: 6:20 How does Fair to play vs. free to play impact cosmetics sales 11:48 How necessary is high engagement to cosmetics sale? 14:16 How does 1st vs. 3rd person perspective impact kinds of cosmetics sales? 16:38 How does motivation around vanity vs. speculation impact cosmetics sales? 21:00 The best games to study for F2P cosmetics monetization 23:40 ARPU and spend depth for cosmetics sales 27:50 Form of cosmetics sales that perform best: Battle pass, loot box, etc. 31:50 The importance of big IP and scale to sell cosmetics well 35:00 Player motivations behind buying cosmetics 38:55 Cosmetics monetization East vs. West 45:00 Primary vs. secondary markets - developer business model 52:47 KPIs and metrics to watch for cosmetics sales 55:50 Dangers of selling cosmetics 57:32 Final message and contacting Anton 👇 EPISODE LINKS: - Anton Bernstein, CEO of Pocket Worlds: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antonber/ - Pocket Worlds: https://www.pocketworlds.com/ SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.com/

Excerpt from GameMakers full interview: Pixels & Profits #1. Watch the full discussion here: https://youtu.be/2G539NGHfVI SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ 😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! — • MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 • TWITTER → @jokim1 • LINKEDIN → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ — POPULAR CONTENT — 🤑 Economy of the Metaverse with Tim Sweeney https://youtu.be/h6ClJxjuRvw ℹ️ How to Build the Amazon of Game Companies https://youtu.be/bkd2TOpKt4I 🔮 Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead at 2021 https://youtu.be/NejFzHtpiZI 🖥️ The Future of PC Gaming https://youtu.be/_QT7O3Wxi2s 🔴 Games Industry M&A https://youtu.be/65nyPk6WNrs 🔴 Netcode for Multiplayer Games https://youtu.be/tHq3PzmjhLw 🔴 IDFA Deprecation Product Impact https://youtu.be/Ojec4wGKpso 🔴 Trip Hawkins on the New High Score https://youtu.be/5egTSQ6AiRA 🔴 LiveOps F2P Best Practices https://youtu.be/tmzqqnYbjNY

In this podcast episode, Joseph Kim, Matej Lancaric, and Summer Liu discuss the profitability of the game Monopoly Go. They explore the controversy surrounding the game and the lack of a widely accepted definition of profitability in the industry. The conversation covers data analysis, marketing strategies, and the use of different creatives. The hosts also discuss the importance of understanding CPIs and the impact of scaling up advertising spend. The conversation delves into the topic of profitability in the mobile games business, exploring the nuances and challenges of defining and achieving profitability. It discusses the importance of maintaining scale and KPIs in order to sustain profitability. The conversation also highlights the differences between operational profitability and UA modeled payback profitability. Additionally, it touches on the LTV curves and payback periods in different game genres. The conversation concludes with a discussion on the profitability of Monopoly Go and the need for a clear definition of profitability. Takeaways The games industry lacks a widely accepted definition of profitability, leading to confusion and conflation of different issues. Monopoly Go has achieved significant success, with high revenue and a large number of downloads. The game utilizes various marketing strategies, including video and playable ads, to attract and engage players. Understanding CPIs and the impact of scaling up advertising spend is crucial for evaluating the profitability of a game. Maintaining scale and KPIs is crucial for sustaining profitability in the mobile games business. Profitability in the mobile games industry can be defined differently, including operational profitability and UA modeled payback profitability. LTV curves and payback periods vary across different game genres and can impact profitability. There are nuances and tricks in game profitability, including accounting practices and adjusting costs. Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Background 03:00 Defining Profitability in the Games Industry 09:00 Data Analysis and Revenue 23:00 Marketing Analysis 32:00 Creative Strategies and CPIs 43:04 Maintaining Scale and KPIs 44:03 Defining Profitability in the Mobile Games Business 45:57 Operational Profitability vs. UA Modeled Payback Profitability 49:46 LTV Curves and Payback Periods 53:56 Nuances and Tricks in Game Profitability 59:46 Is Monopoly Go Profitable?

We brought together a number of experts from across the gaming ecosystem to have a casual but deep and informed discussion about the future of mobile gaming.  

In particular, what are key opportunities game developers should be aware of and what are the potential risks as we move into 2022 and beyond.  

SPEAKERS: 

- Nadav Ashkenazy, SVP Publishing Solutions, IronSource: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadav-ashkenazy-34083aba/

- Ron Rejwan, Co-founder/CEO of new gaming startup Sneaky Panda, Former Co-founder/CTO of Jelly Button the makers of Pirate Kings: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-rejwan-1124013/

- Lexi Sydow, Head of Insights, App Annie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexisydow/ 

0:00 Intro 

1:40 Biggest Impact Change 

9:19 Mid/Hardcore Insurgency 

16:40 Services Drive Growth 

27:24 Social Multiplayer Crypto 

39:20 Metaverse  

49:37 Data Wars 

58:34 Chasing Quick Money 

1:05:50 Global Financial Crisis 

1:12:46 User Acquisition Costs  

1:18:21 Final Words  

Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

I'm back after a few months. Here are some recent thoughts on dealing with adversity that has come up this year. I really thought 2023 was gonna be easy! Lol. FORTUNATELY, I'm still struggling with challenges which is making me a better person. As my wife recently told me: "Don't focus on what we can't do or can't have, let's focus on what we can do." LFG everybody. Hope you're all killing it!

This week I share thoughts from my years in game development about why teams often struggle with addressing their most critical problems.

I discussed this with Ben Carcich in a pod I published a couple of weeks back: the "Building Better Games" episode.

Some questions came up and I wanted to try something new, a bit of a rant on this topic.

Is it lame? Is it useful? Let's try it and find out.

Today we are going to be talking about the Solana Blockchain, the Metaverse, and how it all ties to games.

To speak to these issues we spoke to Michael Wagner, co-founder and CEO of Star Atlas, the company making a Metaverse game using the Solana blockchain.

SPEAKER:

- Michael Wagner, CEO Star Atlas

LINKS:

- Upcoming Star Atlas drops: http://play.staratlas.com/

- Star Atlas Social Links: Twitter | Telegram | Medium | Youtube | Instagram | Discord | Reddit | Facebook | Linkedin

- Joseph Kim, CEO LILA Games

- LILA Games: We're Hiring! Especially Systems & Economy Designer, Product Manager, and Level Designer!

- GameMakers YouTube Channel

We discuss the best and worst of game dev in 2021.  

Our awards crew:  

Javier Barnes, Lead Game Designer at King 

Josh Burns, Founder at DigitalDevConnect 

Shannon Chang, Head of Operations at Trading.TV 

Niklas Herriger, Executive Coach at 8 Bit Coaching 

Matthew Kanterman, CFA, Senior Equity Research Analyst at Bloomberg LP 

Eric Kress, Principal at Gossamer Consulting Group, LLC K

en Landen, Lead Product Manager at Scopely 

Brian Peganoff, Ex. Senior Director, Corporate Development & Strategy at Glu Mobile  

AWARDS CATEGORIES:  

Biggest winner: Which games industry company was the biggest winner in 2021?  

Biggest loser: Which games industry company was the biggest loser in 2021?  

Best Game (HD or mobile)  

Worst Game (HD or mobile)  

Biggest Surprise   

Biggest Comeback  

Biggest Missed Opportunity  

Biggest News  

Game or Big Game Update You're Most Looking Forward To

Like the rest of the world, the games industry has undergone many changes! The impact of the end of ZIRP, global macro trends, and the end of the age of excess leads to many changes. We discuss where we are today, the M&A outlook, and the outlook for major public game companies. M&A discussion - Scopely/Savvy - Rovio/SEGA - Activision/Microsoft Public Companies: - AI + @NVIDIA (NVDA) - Embracer (EMBRAC-B) - Ubisoft (UBSFF) - Take Two (TTWO) - EA (EA) - Unity (U) - Applovin (APP) OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 3:19 Where are we as a games industry? 7:20 Are games recession-proof? 8:53 JK take on rise of Asia, age of efficiency 13:48 State of M&A 23:06 Rovio + @SEGA 29:08 Scopely + Savvy 32:32 Outlook on Activision acquisition by Microsoft 37:33 AI x Nvidia 47:35 Large vector to small vector game development 50:59 Embracer 52:50 Speculation on lost $2B deal by Embracer 54:50 Ubisoft 59:43 Take-Two 1:06:49 Unity 1:13:25EA 1:16:48 Applovin 👇 EPISODE LINKS: - Matthew Kanterman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-k... - Joseph Kim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ - Brian Peganoff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-peg... 😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! — • MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 • TWITTER → @jokim1 • LINKEDIN → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/

Stoffer Touborg was a lead game designer on Eve Online at CCP, led Wild Rift at Riot, and currently acts as Executive Producer on Bitcraft Online for Clockwork Labs.  

Stoffer is one of the most thoughtful game industry executives I know, and I regularly ask Stoffer for advice on leadership, organizational principles, and recruiting.  

Today we talk about not just about coming up with a desired set of company values and culture, but how to actually implement or install these within a company.   

SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: 

- Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/34hfOtv

- Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i

- Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

- Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersStudio 

OUTLINE: 

0:00 Intro 

2:13 Stoffer Touborg Background 

3:07 Definition of Company Culture and Warning for New Employees 

6:06 Values vs. Culture Definition 

9:10 Employees Need to Confirm Cultural Fit, Values Need to be Good, Given Context, and Fair 

14:16 Installing Values/Culture in a Company, Communication vs. Implementation 

16:47 Values Manifestation Board 20:45 Why is Company Culture Critical? Sometimes Values Don't Matter 

25:40 How to Deal with Employee Cultural Misalignment 

31:34 Executive Accountability for Culture Mismatches 

32:15 Recruiting for Culture Fit 36:30 How to Deal with Culture Exceptions for a Specific Need - "The Dennis Rodman Rule"   

👇 EPISODE LINKS:  

Stoffer Touborg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristoffertouborg/

The Game Stoffer is Working on, Bitcraft Online: https://bitcraftonline.com/ 

😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! —  

• MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 

• TWITTER      → @jokim1 

• LINKEDIN      → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/   

3 days before launching Palworld, Takuro Mizobe from Pocket Pair, published a blog post with the riveting story behind Palworld.

Mistakes, lessons learned, and much more.

Check it out: https://note.com/pocketpair/n/n54f674cccc40#2251bc9e-24bc-4539-8c0c-df500654bf43

Riz Virk is Executive Director of Play Labs @MIT.

Prior to that Riz has had a very successful entrepreneurial career as part of the founding team of TapJoy and CEO and co-founder of GameView Studios (makers of TapFish) that was sold to DeNA.

More recently in addition to his work at MIT Riz has written three books:

#1. Treasure Hunt: Follow Your Inner Clues to Find True Success

#2. Startup Myths and Models: What you Won’t Learn in Business school

#3. An MIT computer scientist shows why AI, Quantum Physics and Eastern Mystics all agree we are in a video game

In addition to his books, Riz writes articles including most recently a piece for NBC News titled “Trump uses TikTok and WeChat to challenge China. Welcome to a new conflict: The app wars.”

In this far ranging discussion we talk about App Wars, why Riz believes we live in a simulation/video game, and critical start-up lessons and how they can apply to game start-ups today.

We discuss the impact, economics, and advantages of mobile web stores in a deep discussion with Gil Tov-ly, the CMO of AppCharge, a company that partners with game studios to build optimized web stores. OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 1:13 Motivation and economics of mobile web stores: Huge 20-30% total revenue lift 3:42 Amount of transactions through web stores vs. direct IAP, what impacts more web store transactions? 9:34 How web stores can support VIP spenders 10:40 Typical web store support provided by companies like AppCharge 11:40 impact of web stores 13:48 The player experience with web stores 18:32 breakdown of support services to help developers roll out a web store 25:25 How to evaluate webstore partners 28:25 Current legal and regulatory environment around web stores - what are the limitations? 31:18 Rise of alternative app stores and side-loading 32:30 Building direct relationships with customers by having your own web store 36:25 What does the future look like for player monetization channels in 5-10 years 39:30 More info about AppCharge - what is their promotional pitch? 👇 EPISODE LINKS: - AppCharge: https://appcharge.com/ - Gil Tov-ly: https://www.linkedin.com/in/giltovly/ SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ 😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! — • MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 • TWITTER → @jokim1 • LINKEDIN → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ — POPULAR CONTENT — 🤑 Economy of the Metaverse with Tim Sweeney https://youtu.be/h6ClJxjuRvw ℹ️ How to Build the Amazon of Game Companies https://youtu.be/bkd2TOpKt4I 🔮 Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead at 2021 https://youtu.be/NejFzHtpiZI 🖥️ The Future of PC Gaming https://youtu.be/_QT7O3Wxi2s 🔴 Games Industry M&A https://youtu.be/65nyPk6WNrs 🔴 Netcode for Multiplayer Games https://youtu.be/tHq3PzmjhLw 🔴 IDFA Deprecation Product Impact https://youtu.be/Ojec4wGKpso 🔴 Trip Hawkins on the New High Score https://youtu.be/5egTSQ6AiRA 🔴 LiveOps F2P Best Practices https://youtu.be/tmzqqnYbjNY

A deep discussion on how we think about employee motivation to work. How should we think about it?   

We cover topics such as key factors that contribute to higher motivation, the importance of desperation, how it's important to help some employees tie potential outcomes to the work they do, and the importance of creating the right incentive systems to align work motivation.  

Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

Tom Kalinske has had a career as the King of Brands.

Tom first became well known for marketing Flintstone vitamins and then reviving Barbie and Hot Wheels at Mattel and then Launching Masters of the Universe.

In the games industry and perhaps most famously Tom’s efforts to turn around SEGA of America were chronicled in the book and recent CBS documentary Console Wars.

Tom famously turned around the SEGA console business growing SEGA of America from $72M to more than $1.5B in revenue.

Learn the lessons of how Tom revitalized the old, and created new massive hit brands. 

More Layoffs:

• Layoffs confirmed at Choices: Stories You Play maker, Pixelberry Studios
• Google lays off 1,000+ employees in stealth as AI takes on the workload
• Report: Behaviour Interactive lays off 45 employees
• Youtube Chief Gaming Guy Laid Off

Doom loops are a cycle of self reinforcing negative decisions and behaviors that lead to bad outcomes.

In this episode I talk about my own experience trying to break my doom loop impacting both my professional and personal life.

We talk about a lot of hot topics people have been discussing in the games industry.  Topics:

#1. The dramatic decline in user acquisition marketing - UA Apocalypse

#2. Impact of global recession

#3. Employee compensation

SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: 

- Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/34hfOtv

- Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i

- Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

- Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersStudio 

OUTLINE: 

0:00 Intro 

2:50 UA Apocalypse 

16:35 Product Validation 

35:10 Impact of Global Recession 

1:01:10 Employee Compensation  

😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! —  

• MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 

• TWITTER      → @jokim1 

• LINKEDIN      → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/   

— POPULAR CONTENT — 

🤑 Economy of the Metaverse with Tim Sweeney https://youtu.be/h6ClJxjuRvw

ℹ️ How to Build the Amazon of Game Companies https://youtu.be/bkd2TOpKt4I

🔮 Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead at 2021 https://youtu.be/NejFzHtpiZI

🖥️ The Future of PC Gaming https://youtu.be/_QT7O3Wxi2s

🔴 Games Industry M&A https://youtu.be/65nyPk6WNrs

🔴 Netcode for Multiplayer Games https://youtu.be/tHq3PzmjhLw

🔴 IDFA Deprecation Product Impact https://youtu.be/Ojec4wGKpso

🔴 Trip Hawkins on the New High Score https://youtu.be/5egTSQ6AiRA

🔴 LiveOps F2P Best Practices https://youtu.be/tmzqqnYbjNY

The market dynamics, strategy, and future outlook of console gaming: Sony vs. Microsoft vs. Nintendo. Microsoft is all in on Game Pass. Is this the last generation of Xbox? OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 0:56 Impact of PC gaming to console gaming market 4:51 Why Microsoft's console business is in danger 6:26 Microsoft may not care about Xbox and hardware, Starfield will be a good test 7:43 Microsoft = Game Pass or BUST! 10:12 Impact of live services and F2P to console gaming 16:14 Does live service concentrate the market? 19:00 How important is mobile gaming to console makers - come on! 25:49 Primary growth drivers for console market 30:10 Outlook for console wars - the potential impending doom of Microsoft 👇 EPISODE LINKS: - Matthew Kanterman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-k... - Joseph Kim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ - Brian Peganoff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-peg...

Today's focus will be on the F2P game design discipline. How it’s evolved, what does it take to be successful as a game designer, the tools and practice of a F2P game designer, and where does John think the future is headed for F2P game design.

👇 EPISODE LINKS:  

- PlaySimple Games: https://playsimple.in/

- John Kelly LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-kelly-99b3966/ 

SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: 

- Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

- Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersStudio

We speak to Serkan Toto to get his take on the top Japanese and Korean game companies. Serkan is considered by many to be the foremost expert on the Japanese video games space. Check out more from Serkan: - https://www.serkantoto.com/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/serkantoto OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 1:25 Key Asian gaming trends, including crypto 4:45 Serkan’s take on the console wars 8:18 Matthew’s take: Mobile never killed console 9:22 Serkan: Traditional Asian game companies killing it on mobile 10:55 Live services from Asian game companies 14:20 Nintendo 25:28 Will Nintendo ever push mobile? 31:36 Sony 40:30 Mobile for Sony 43:00 Sony first party 48:28 Square Enix 55:51 Nexon 1:03:29 NCSoft 1:12:52 Netmarble 1:19:47 Other remaining Japanese and Korean gaming companies: Watch out for Capcom! 1:26:26 SEGA + Rovio 1:30:42 Leads-based model for Asia to grow Western audience 1:32:00 Chinese invasion of Japanese talent 👇 EPISODE LINKS: Special Guest Serkan Toto: https://www.linkedin.com/in/serkantoto/ - Matthew Kanterman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-k... - Joseph Kim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ - Brian Peganoff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-peg... SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ 😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! — • MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 • TWITTER → @jokim1 • LINKEDIN → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ — POPULAR CONTENT — 🤑 Economy of the Metaverse with Tim Sweeney    • Economy of the Me...   ℹ️ How to Build the Amazon of Game Companies    • Building the Amaz...   🔮 Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead at 2021    • Mobile Gaming Tre...   🖥️ The Future of PC Gaming    • Future of PC Gami...   🔴 Games Industry M&A    • Games Industry M&...   🔴 Netcode for Multiplayer Games    • Netcode for Multi...   🔴 IDFA Deprecation Product Impact    • Apple IDFA Deprec...   🔴 Trip Hawkins on the New High Score    • Trip Hawkins | Th...   🔴 LiveOps F2P Best Practices    • LiveOps - F2P Sal...  

When you're at the office super late and hella tired, you do weird shit like starting a Vlog.  

I'm Joseph Kim, CEO of Lila Games and we are trying to build a mobile gaming studio out of Bangalore, India.  

SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: 

- Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/34hfOtv

- Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i

- Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

- Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersStudio 😃 

—CONNECT WITH ME! —  

• MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 

• TWITTER      → @jokim1 

• LINKEDIN      → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/   

— POPULAR CONTENT — 

🤑 Economy of the Metaverse with Tim Sweeney https://youtu.be/h6ClJxjuRvw

ℹ️ How to Build the Amazon of Game Companies https://youtu.be/bkd2TOpKt4I

🔮 Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead at 2021 https://youtu.be/NejFzHtpiZI

🖥️ The Future of PC Gaming https://youtu.be/_QT7O3Wxi2s

🔴 Games Industry M&A https://youtu.be/65nyPk6WNrs

🔴 Netcode for Multiplayer Games https://youtu.be/tHq3PzmjhLw

🔴 IDFA Deprecation Product Impact https://youtu.be/Ojec4wGKpso

🔴 Trip Hawkins on the New High Score https://youtu.be/5egTSQ6AiRA

🔴 LiveOps F2P Best Practices https://youtu.be/tmzqqnYbjNY

From Wargaming, Anton Kolkovskiy founded Bulberry Studio to build mid-core F2P mobile games. As war broke out between Russia and Ukraine, Anton was unable to raise a follow-on round of funding and eventually shut down the studio he had spent so much time, energy, and effort into. What were the lessons he learned from the start to launch to attempting to save the company? What would he do differently knowing what he knows now? Phylicia Koh is a partner at Play Ventures, and while Play did not invest in Bulberry, she was aware of Bulberry and shared her thoughts about Bulberry's path. What advice would Phylicia give Anton? What would it have taken for Phylicia to invest in Bulberry? Further, what is the market like today, and given new market dynamics, what would she fund today? OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 4:24 Anton’s story starting Bulberry Studio from Wargaming. 8:25 What do VCs look to invest in then vs. now. 13:21 Initial funding from My.Games, deal structure, initial investment thesis, pitch to My.Games, and initial soft launch experience. 19:30 Initial testing experience, what they focused on, how to approach initial testing. 21:30 Typical approach for testing from Phylicia. 22:25 Strategic investments: company structure considerations 26:05 How do you know if you are succeeding on retention or deadline? Lessons learned from Anton. The line between confidence and being wrong. 29:30 What was the actual process/approach to their initial testing vs soft launch phase? 35:44 Initial soft launch metrics. 37:00 going to investors with metrics with small cohorts. Window dressing cohorts. 42:03 What could you have done to change the outcome of what happened? 46:31 The biggest fire. 47:56 Impact of global macro, the Russia-Ukraine war impact on Bulberry Studio. 59:50 How to extend runway when things go bad? 1:02:02 Psychological impact on founders for startups in trouble. 1:05:02 What would it take to invest in a troubled game deal from Play Ventures? 1:10:12 What should investors look for in the new investment environment? 1:23:22: How much global macro awareness should leadership teams be aware of? 👇 EPISODE LINKS: - Anton Kolkovskiy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anton-kol... - Phylicia Koh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phyliciakoh/ SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/34hfOtv - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ - Don't miss an episode on Youtube:    / gamemakersstudio   😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! — • MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 • TWITTER → @jokim1 • LINKEDIN → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ — POPULAR CONTENT — 🤑 Economy of the Metaverse with Tim Sweeney    • Economy of the Me...   ℹ️ How to Build the Amazon of Game Companies    • Building the Amaz...   🔮 Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead at 2021    • Mobile Gaming Tre...   🖥️ The Future of PC Gaming    • Future of PC Gami...   🔴 Games Industry M&A    • Games Industry M&...   🔴 Netcode for Multiplayer Games    • Netcode for Multi...   🔴 IDFA Deprecation Product Impact    • Apple IDFA Deprec...   🔴 Trip Hawkins on the New High Score    • Trip Hawkins | Th...   🔴 LiveOps F2P Best Practices    • LiveOps - F2P Sal...  

OUTLINE:

0:00 Bloomberg article on stack ranking at Blizzard

1:01 Introduct to speakers: Matthew Kanterman, Drew Levin, and Brett Nowak

1:48 High level thoughts on stack ranking as a practice

5:33 Stack ranking poll results - Majority are against

7:30 JK hypothetical situations to use stack ranking

25:40 Character vs. cruelty in stack ranking during recruiting

36:30 Management rationale behind stack ranking

39:27 Should the Blizzard manager have been fired?

47:10 Stack ranking ties to capability of management layer

50:45 Stack ranking for performance evaluation

1:07:10 Why employees should get close to company value creation to avoid layoffs

1:08:40 JK's crazy stack ranking performance evaluation idea - investing virtual $ in co-workers

1:26:40 Final thoughts on getting canceled

👇 EPISODE LINKS:

- Matthew's reference to The Office Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wqQXu13tLA

- Matthew Kanterman, Director of Research at Roundhill Investments: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-kanterman-cfa-b6345133/

- Drew Levin, Director of Product at Riot Games: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drew-levin-7a225626/

- Brett Nowak, CEO at Liquid & Grit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-nowak-8920675/

SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS:

- Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/34hfOtv

- Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i

- Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

- Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersStudio

😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! —

• MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1

• TWITTER → @jokim1

• LINKEDIN → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/

— POPULAR CONTENT —

🤑 Economy of the Metaverse with Tim Sweeney https://youtu.be/h6ClJxjuRvw

ℹ️ How to Build the Amazon of Game Companies https://youtu.be/bkd2TOpKt4I

🔮 Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead at 2021 https://youtu.be/NejFzHtpiZI

🖥️ The Future of PC Gaming https://youtu.be/_QT7O3Wxi2s

🔴 Games Industry M&A https://youtu.be/65nyPk6WNrs

🔴 Netcode for Multiplayer Games https://youtu.be/tHq3PzmjhLw

🔴 IDFA Deprecation Product Impact https://youtu.be/Ojec4wGKpso

🔴 Trip Hawkins on the New High Score https://youtu.be/5egTSQ6AiRA

🔴 LiveOps F2P Best Practices https://youtu.be/tmzqqnYbjNY

OUTLINE:

0:00 Intro 

0:50 Jordan Phang self intro 

1:35 Mobile shooter game market size 

2:53 Competitive concentration in mobile shooter and Asia

 4:25 Success in China 

5:40 US market and games to watch out for 

6:50 Adapting games for specific markets like Japan and China 

8:25 Naavik's shooter taxonomy and problems with classification 

12:52 Explanation of extraction shooter sub-genre 

14:15 Current extraction shooter games: Lost Light, Arena Breakout 

15:22 The thesis behind extraction shooter as the next big subgenre in mobile shooters 

17:18 Monetization of shooter games 

21:50 The future mobile shooter games to watch out for 

23:38 Warzone Mobile 

24:38 Players looking for something new 

27:00 Problems with Apex Legends Mobile (we recorded this in Jan 2023, before the shutdown announcement) 

28:15 Outlook for 2023: Get excited!

👇 EPISODE LINKS:

- Get the free Naavik Pro report on Mobile Shooters here: https://naavik.co/deep-dives/genre-report-shooter-preview?rq=mobile%20shooters

- Jordan Phang: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-phang-8137b710/

Sarah Thomson is a long-time games industry veteran, having had an extremely successful career in business development at companies like IUGO, Gree, Sony (PlayStation), Google, and most recently at Bad Robot Games. We discuss her experience and thoughts on female diversity in the gaming industry. Get ready for a real discussion where we try to address topics more meaningfully. OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 1:30 How should women be treated in the workplace, if differently from men? 6:45 JK's experience with diversity in India 9:41 Male-to-male vs. male-to-female engagement 14:50 Importance of being open on both sides | Focus on intent, understand emotions 27:30 How to give feedback when bias occurs? 31:17 Risks of giving feedback and retaliation? 36:50 Why is the games industry so male-dominated? 41:14 Benefits of different perspectives and female diversity 48:45 How to encourage diversity? 53:23 Diversity in startups vs. large organizations | Is JK copping out on diversity? 59:37 Is diversity vs. efficiency a false trade-off? The impact of macroeconomy on diversity 1:05:36 Contacting Sarah/final message from Sarah 👇 EPISODE LINKS: • Sarah Thomson LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahthomson/ • Iron Galaxy Studios: https://irongalaxystudios.com/ • Bad Robot Games: https://www.badrobotgames.com/ SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/34hfOtv - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ - Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersStudio 😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! — • MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 • TWITTER → @jokim1 • LINKEDIN → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ — POPULAR CONTENT — 🤑 Economy of the Metaverse with Tim Sweeney https://youtu.be/h6ClJxjuRvw ℹ️ How to Build the Amazon of Game Companies https://youtu.be/bkd2TOpKt4I 🔮 Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead at 2021 https://youtu.be/NejFzHtpiZI 🖥️ The Future of PC Gaming https://youtu.be/_QT7O3Wxi2s 🔴 Games Industry M&A https://youtu.be/65nyPk6WNrs 🔴 Netcode for Multiplayer Games https://youtu.be/tHq3PzmjhLw 🔴 IDFA Deprecation Product Impact https://youtu.be/Ojec4wGKpso 🔴 Trip Hawkins on the New High Score https://youtu.be/5egTSQ6AiRA 🔴 LiveOps F2P Best Practices https://youtu.be/tmzqqnYbjNY

We partnered with Liquid & Grit to discuss the Brawl Stars Godzilla event, which had a massive impact on Brawl Stars' revenue and downloads.

- Highest weekly revenue ever

- 59% revenue increase and 107% downloads increase 3Wo3W

We review the event and discuss the implications and lessons learned.

Discussion Outline:

00:00 - Introduction of the roundtable, Joseph Kim, and the participants.

00:12 - Introduction of Joseph Kim and his work.

01:18 - Overview of Brawl Stars and its game modes.

02:07 - Discussion on the popularity of Brawl Stars among kids.

03:08 - Joseph Kim discusses game design and the success of isometric games.

03:50 - Comparison between Brawl Stars and Wild Rift in terms of game depth and modes.

04:42 - Observations on the female player base in Brawl Stars.

05:50 - Insights on why kids prefer Brawl Stars, focusing on game modes

.06:37 - Discussion on the decline of Fortnite and its impact on Brawl Stars.

07:33 - Introduction to the Godzilla event, its content, and game modes.

09:38 - Analysis of the event's impact on revenue and downloads.

11:18 - Explanation of event mechanics, including Monster Eggs and mutations.

13:02 - Discussion on player reactions to the temporary nature of mutations.

14:52 - Community reactions to pay-to-win elements and their temporary nature.

16:26 - Speculation on the potential return of the Godzilla event in the future.

17:18 - Discussion on the game mode experience and its balance.

18:40 - Participant's experience with the event and mutations.

20:53 - Discussion on club engagement and the club event mechanics.

21:46 - Description of the Godzilla City Smash game mode.

23:36 - Thoughts on the choice of the Godzilla IP for the event.

25:55 - In-depth discussion on the temporary nature of mutations and player perceptions.

27:04 - Considerations on event mechanics and their impact on player engagement and revenue.

28:30 - Speculations on legal implications of temporary in-game purchases.

30:17 - Discussion on the complexity of the event and its execution.

32:14 - Participant's views on the event's entertainment value and economic impact.

52:05 - Final thoughts on the event's design, economy, and player engagement.

53:41 - Closing remarks and thanks to participants.

(0:00) Introduction (1:00) Overview of AppLovin vs Unity market situation since 2022(2:10) Discussion of current mobile UA market conditions(6:30) Introduction to AppLovin vs Unity topic(9:00) How AppLovin gained advantage through Max mediation platform(11:10) The data advantage of first-party data in AppLovin's ecosystem(13:20) The lock-in effect of AppLovin's mediation and UA offerings(17:30) The snowball effect of AppLovin's market dominance(19:40) How AppLovin captured MoPub market share(22:20) Unity's execution issues after Iron Source merger(25:00) Cultural conflicts within Unity and algorithm problems(29:00) Discussion of Unity's "Vector" AI initiative(32:40) Unity's disappearing account managers and weak sales culture(35:20) AppLovin's focus on high-value customers and resource allocation(38:20) Increasing margin for AppLovin as market share grows(40:40) Unity's potential comeback strategy with Vector(45:10) The challenge for any network to compete with AppLovin(48:40) The "must use" nature of AppLovin for ad-monetized games(52:00) The risks of having 70-80% of UA budget on AppLovin(54:30) Potential industry alternatives to AppLovin(57:00) Discussion of emerging competitors like Moloco and Integral(1:01:30) The possible path forward for Unity to compete(1:05:40) Predictions for the future of mobile UA in two years(1:10:00) Speculation about AppLovin's TikTok acquisition bid(1:14:20) Wrap-up and conclusionSUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS:- Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/😃 —CONNECT WITH JK! — • INSTAGRAM → @jokim1• TWITTER → @jokim1• LINKEDIN → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/

Epic's Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) potentially presents a huge new platform rivaling Roblox. Why are some of the most experienced developers in the world like Alex Seropian (founder of Bungie and Industrial Toys/EA) and Pete Hawley (100 Thieves) so excited by UEFN? What does a former Roblox developer, Arthur Trusov, think about the platform especially in comparison to Roblox? Find out now! OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 1:45 Why UEFN? How big is this opportunity? 8:30 Leaving Roblox and comparing Roblox to UEFN as a dev platform 11:35 Technical limitations of UEFN 12:50 Veterans going creator platforms, young guys going to professional development platforms 13:19 Potential developer economics from UEFN 16:16 Alex on the longer term opportunity with UEFN 17:57 Pete on the difference between console vs. UEFN development, how 100T ties UEFN + AAA dev together 22:00 developing around UEFN’s challenges 24:07 Arthur on how Roblox devs would think about UEFN economics 27:19 What are the good parts of developing on UEFN vs. Roblox 31:30 What improvements to UEFN should Epic work on next? 37:37 Did UEFN launch too early? 40:34 What is keeping Roblox devs to jump to UEFN? 43:05 Future predictions for UEFN 48:07 Team sizes and time for UEFN games 50:18 Company intros and final message 👇 EPISODE LINKS: - Pete Hawley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petehawley/ - Alex Seropian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander... - Arthur Trusov: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arthurtru... SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ 😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! — • MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 • TWITTER → @jokim1 • LINKEDIN → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ — POPULAR CONTENT — 🤑 Economy of the Metaverse with Tim Sweeney    • Economy of the Metaverse | Fortnite C...   ℹ️ How to Build the Amazon of Game Companies    • Building the Amazon of Game Companies...   🔮 Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead at 2021    • Mobile Gaming Trends in 2021 | Joe Ki...   🖥️ The Future of PC Gaming    • Future of PC Gaming | David Brevik, S...   🔴 Games Industry M&A    • Games Industry M&A: Keys to Success w...   🔴 Netcode for Multiplayer Games    • Netcode for Multiplayer Games | Glenn...   🔴 IDFA Deprecation Product Impact    • Apple IDFA Deprecation: Product & Too...   🔴 Trip Hawkins on the New High Score    • Trip Hawkins | The New High Score (Pa...   🔴 LiveOps F2P Best Practices    • LiveOps - F2P Sales Best Practices 2020  

Dive deep into Battle Pass design with industry experts discussing Overwatch 2's approach, player psychology, and monetization strategies. Learn essential insights about progression systems, player choice, and value perception from game developer Ted Park and former Riot meta-systems expert Chris Cobb, hosted by Joseph Kim of Lila Games.Content Overview0:00 - Introduction and Battle Pass Overview3:35 - Hero-Based Games: The Main Character Problem7:20 - Battle Pass Progression and Grindiness13:15 - Value Perception and Premium Options18:40 - Customization vs Production Realities24:10 - Battle Pass Currency and Mythic Rewards System31:25 - Loot Boxes: Their Surprise Return38:15 - IP Integration and Themed Content43:50 - Ideal Battle Pass Design: Expert Recommendations52:15 - Conclusion and Key TakeawaysSUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS:- Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

Supercell's Brawl Stars recently had a huge surge in downloads and daily revenue. How did they do it?

We discuss with Matej Lancaric and Jakub Reimar from 2.5 Gamers and Ken Landen (former Kongregate, Scopely, Blizzard, and Hit Factor PM).

Are you a workaholic grinder like me? Well, it finally got the best of me and totally jacked up my back and face. Health is critical! I talk about a big problem, trying to fix my health, and the results of my plan to get better in this video.

SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS:

- Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/34hfOtv

- Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i

- Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

- Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersStudio 😃

—CONNECT WITH ME! —

• MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1

• TWITTER      → @jokim1

• LINKEDIN      → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/

— POPULAR CONTENT —

🤑 Economy of the Metaverse with Tim Sweeney

https://youtu.be/h6ClJxjuRvw

ℹ️ How to Build the Amazon of Game Companies

https://youtu.be/bkd2TOpKt4I

🔮 Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead at 2021

https://youtu.be/NejFzHtpiZI

🖥️ The Future of PC Gaming

https://youtu.be/_QT7O3Wxi2s

🔴 Games Industry M&A

https://youtu.be/65nyPk6WNrs

🔴 Netcode for Multiplayer Games

https://youtu.be/tHq3PzmjhLw

🔴 IDFA Deprecation Product Impact

https://youtu.be/Ojec4wGKpso

🔴 Trip Hawkins on the New High Score

https://youtu.be/5egTSQ6AiRA

🔴 LiveOps F2P Best Practices

https://youtu.be/tmzqqnYbjNY

We explore AI's significant impact in tech, especially game development. Let's discuss adapting to AI as a major technological shift, a technological change potentially as big as the impact of the Internet.

Feedback and performance evaluation for employees is one of a company's most challenging, political, and sensitive topics. However, without this practice done well, it will be tough to hold performance standards or see improvement in a team or company. I would argue that if you are not doing this well, your team/company is doomed over the long term. I discuss with industry experts and ex-Riot production leaders Ben Carcich and Aaron Smith from Valarin who are some of the most thoughtful and deep thinkers on leadership, production, and best practices. OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 3:50 Why feedback and performance evaluation is so bad at companies, toxic kindness 10:16 How to flip the script on feedback, why feedback is viewed negatively 14:45 Misunderstanding of psychological safety 19:40 Formal systems vs. informal systems 27:00 What did you say when you told them? 30:15 Why informal systems are more effective 30:45 How to optimize feedback delivery, shit sandwich and Impact model 40:00 How to proactively prevent having to give feedback, importance of setting expectations 45:44 Reducing feedback because feedback is overhead 48:40 Some people just can’t give feedback 53:18 Techniques to train people to give feedback - this takes time! 56:45 Time + risk of training someone to give feedback, are you creating a team-wide problem? 57:17 Performance evaluation 58:15 Importance of performance evaluation and how it can be counter-productive 1:00:40 Thinking about performance evaluation from foundational objectives 1:07:00 How to setup a performance evaluation system for your company 1:12:00 Different types of performance evaluation systems: Skills vs. performance targets vs. OKRs vs. stack ranking 1:28:58 Start, Stop, Continue 1:31:40 How to keep performance evaluation systems uniform 1:46:10 Final words of advice and contacting Ben and Aaron 👇 EPISODE LINKS: - Building Better Games: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg/ - Building Better Games podcast: https://pod.link/1559448378 - Ben Carcich: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-... - Aaron Smith: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doublearo... SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ 😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! — • MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 • TWITTER → @jokim1 • LINKEDIN → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ — POPULAR CONTENT — 🤑 Economy of the Metaverse with Tim Sweeney    • Economy of the Me...   ℹ️ How to Build the Amazon of Game Companies    • Building the Amaz...   🔮 Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead at 2021    • Mobile Gaming Tre...   🖥️ The Future of PC Gaming    • Future of PC Gami...   🔴 Games Industry M&A    • Games Industry M&...   🔴 Netcode for Multiplayer Games    • Netcode for Multi...   🔴 IDFA Deprecation Product Impact    • Apple IDFA Deprec...   🔴 Trip Hawkins on the New High Score    • Trip Hawkins | Th...   🔴 LiveOps F2P Best Practices    • LiveOps - F2P Sal...  

Epic Games recently announced MetaHuman Creator, a cloud streamed application that enables the creation, live captured animation, and potentially, in the future, fully AI capable life-like NPCs.  What are the implications of this new technology to games? In terms of cost, capabilities, and production value?  

SPEAKER: 

   - Arvind Neelakantan, Tech Evangelist at Epic Games: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arvind-ne... 

HOSTS:  

  - Joseph Kim, CEO at LILA Games: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ 

  - Avinash Pandey, CTO at LILA Games: https://www.linkedin.com/in/avinash-p...

LINKS:

#1. Sign up for the GameMakers Newsletter

#2. Check out the GameMakers YouTube Channel

Mukul Deora is a modern-day Renaissance man. He has found success in business, music, movies (as the producer for The White Tiger), and today he's tackling tech entrepreneurship in social media. The White Tiger movie encapsulates many of my personal beliefs and aspirations of what people are capable of if they change their mindset and are given the opportunity. In this discussion with Mukul, we discuss: #1. Living a life well-lived, #2. Mukul's journey and how he's found success in diverse areas, and #3. the future of opportunity for India. Definitely check out this conversation and let us know what you think! OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 0:55 What does it mean to live a life well lived? 1:20 The concept of the rooster coop 2:30 JK’s interpretation of a life well lived: an interesting story and achieving potential/meaning 4:37 The story that we tell ourselves 5:49 Interpreting the rooster coop 8:10 Learn about yourself by doing 10:10 How does Mukul value his life? 11:52 Mukul’s religious views 13:40 Not living with regret 15:10 How has Mukul been successful in many different industries 22:55 Summarizing Mukul’s entrepreneurial lessons 26:35 Being an “unreasonable man” and persisting in making The White Tiger movie 32:00 Being a dreamer that persists and succeeds vs. just dreaming 38:15 The Rise of The White Tiger: The future of opportunity in India 40:45 Opportunity lies with the yellow skin man and the brown skin man 46:25 Rich men are born with opportunities they can waste 52:10 JK’s thesis behind India based on Nvidia’s success 👇 EPISODE LINKS: - Mukul Deora on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mukul-deora-8234bbb6/ SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ 😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! — • MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 • TWITTER → @jokim1 • LINKEDIN → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ — POPULAR CONTENT — 🤑 Economy of the Metaverse with Tim Sweeney https://youtu.be/h6ClJxjuRvw ℹ️ How to Build the Amazon of Game Companies https://youtu.be/bkd2TOpKt4I 🔮 Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead at 2021 https://youtu.be/NejFzHtpiZI 🖥️ The Future of PC Gaming https://youtu.be/_QT7O3Wxi2s 🔴 Games Industry M&A https://youtu.be/65nyPk6WNrs 🔴 Netcode for Multiplayer Games https://youtu.be/tHq3PzmjhLw 🔴 IDFA Deprecation Product Impact https://youtu.be/Ojec4wGKpso 🔴 Trip Hawkins on the New High Score https://youtu.be/5egTSQ6AiRA 🔴 LiveOps F2P Best Practices https://youtu.be/tmzqqnYbjNY

Happy Thanksgiving! 

I'm in India this year and had a Mexican burrito bowl in the office by myself. Lol.

As I sat in the office late at night, I recorded another cringe and weird video for my kids.

Too many people undervalue opportunity! I just wanted to let you know that I'm grateful this Thanksgiving for the opportunity to try to build something meaningful. It's not looking good right now, but that's what entrepreneurship is all about: how do we take a low-probability scenario and turn it into a high-probability outcome? 

LFG!

In this conversation, we have some of India’s top game industry leaders.   

Speakers: 

#1. Manish Agarwal, CEO of Nazara

#2. Amit Hardi, CEO of Nukebox

#3. Salone Sehgal, Genera. Partner at Lumikai

#4. Anuj Tandon, Head of Corp Dev India & MENA at Krafton

The focus of the conversation is oriented around India as a game development ecosystem. We talk about What’s keeping India from becoming the next China or Turkey, what are the strengths of the Indian game dev scene, and how do we accelerate the local Indian gaming market.  This was the first of 5 sessions from the India F2P gaming conference. Be sure to check this out as well as some of the other sessions.   

Moderator: 

- Joseph Kim, CEO of LILA Games 

And you can always read about it in the GameMakers newsletter and get alerted to new events in the future: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

After a career in product management at places like Zynga Natural Motion and Digital Chocolate, Akash Senapaty founded e-learning startup Vah Vah with 3 others from Zynga India.   

What are the lessons learned? What was he able to translate from being a games PM at Zynga to entrepreneurship? What are his thoughts on the gaming companies and the opportunities in India?  

SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: 

- Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

- Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersStudio 

👇 EPISODE LINKS:  

- Akash Senapaty, Co-founder at Vah Vah: https://www.linkedin.com/in/senapaty/ 

😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! —  

• MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 

• TWITTER      → @jokim1 

• LINKEDIN      → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/   

— POPULAR CONTENT — 

🤑 Economy of the Metaverse with Tim Sweeney https://youtu.be/h6ClJxjuRvw

ℹ️ How to Build the Amazon of Game Companies https://youtu.be/bkd2TOpKt4I

🔮 Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead at 2021 https://youtu.be/NejFzHtpiZI

🖥️ The Future of PC Gaming https://youtu.be/_QT7O3Wxi2s

🔴 Games Industry M&A https://youtu.be/65nyPk6WNrs

🔴 Netcode for Multiplayer Games https://youtu.be/tHq3PzmjhLw

🔴 IDFA Deprecation Product Impact https://youtu.be/Ojec4wGKpso

🔴 Trip Hawkins on the New High Score https://youtu.be/5egTSQ6AiRA

🔴 LiveOps F2P Best Practices https://youtu.be/tmzqqnYbjNY

We dive deep into the fierce competition between Tencent and NetEase—two titans shaping the global gaming landscape. Discover how these companies are navigating the challenges of the Chinese market and their strategies for international expansion. We also share our personal experiences about Tencent and provide insider insights you can't find anywhere else. Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more industry insights! 🚀 #Gaming #Tencent #NetEase #GameIndustry #PixelsAndProfits OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 1:50 Tencent business overview 4:50 Tencent margins & operational efficiency 8:06 Tencent internal studios 10:30 How Tencent worked with Glu - Brian and JK personal stories 18:15 The Tencent game dev model 21:08 Potential IP conflicts - Apex Legends Mobile case study 23:40 Tencent as bully 25:22 Tencent game company holdings 27:16 Tencent key growth opportunities 33:50 Tencent key challenges 40:55 Geo-political factors involved with Tencent 47:07 Tencent valuation 51:51 Netease business overview 54:21 Brian’s take on new Netease survival game 56:00 Netease internal studios 57:34 Netease growth opportunities 1:01:55 Netease valuation 1:02:55 Netease challenges 1:04:03 Tencent vs. Netease future outlook SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ 😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! — • MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 • TWITTER → @jokim1 • LINKEDIN → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ — POPULAR CONTENT — 🤑 Economy of the Metaverse with Tim Sweeney https://youtu.be/h6ClJxjuRvw ℹ️ How to Build the Amazon of Game Companies https://youtu.be/bkd2TOpKt4I 🔮 Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead at 2021 https://youtu.be/NejFzHtpiZI 🖥️ The Future of PC Gaming https://youtu.be/_QT7O3Wxi2s 🔴 Games Industry M&A https://youtu.be/65nyPk6WNrs 🔴 Netcode for Multiplayer Games https://youtu.be/tHq3PzmjhLw 🔴 IDFA Deprecation Product Impact https://youtu.be/Ojec4wGKpso 🔴 Trip Hawkins on the New High Score https://youtu.be/5egTSQ6AiRA 🔴 LiveOps F2P Best Practices https://youtu.be/tmzqqnYbjNY

Game over podcast Episode #3.

Joseph Kim and Arthur Trusov talk top game charts, gaming news, and games we're playing.

Overview:

0:00 Intro

2:19 Top Steam charts

4:32 Top Mobile charts

6:10 Netflix future games strategy

10:30 Epic Games hits all time records with Fortnite

13:12 TikTok hits over $10B in mobile IAP revenue

15:45 Epic Games wins verdict against Google for monopolistic behavior

21:40 Max Payne voice actor passed away

22:50 First home game console turns 50 years old

24:00 Sony patents dynamically adjusting game difficulty

26:09 Tencent shuts down Team Kaiju studio

28:28 E3 games conference shutting down

33:36 Twitter allowed “Artistic Nudity”, backlash 

38:40 Games we’re playing: Block Jam 3D (mobile), Asgard’s Wrath 2 (Oculus), Grand Theft Auto Online (PC)