GameMakers

We compare two major gaming companies, Embracer and Ubisoft, on this episode of Pixels and Profits.

✅ Business performance

✅ Valuation

✅ Future outlook of both companies

We analyze their strategies, financials, and potential for growth.

Timeline Summary:

00:00 - Introduction to the topic and overview of Embracer's business

03:00 - Discussion of Embracer's financials and debt situation

10:15 - Embracer's restructuring efforts and asset sales

13:45 - Embracer's tabletop gaming business and profitability

16:20 - Outlook for Embracer's PC and console division

21:20 - Embracer's mobile gaming business and challenges

24:25 - Valuation and investment potential for Embracer

26:45 - Introduction to Ubisoft's business and strategy

29:55 - Ubisoft's financials and revenue per employee issues

37:10 - Ubisoft's upcoming titles for fiscal year 2024

42:40 - Ubisoft's future outlook and titles for fiscal year 2025

49:50 - Valuation and investment potential for Ubisoft

52:05 - Concerns about Ubisoft's development strategies and efficiency

56:10 - Ubisoft's mobile gaming efforts and challenges

58:30 - Closing thoughts on Embracer and Ubisoft's future prospects 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 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/

Ludovic Bodin is an entrepreneur, investor, and now author of the book Atomic Scaling. Ludovic has learned lessons from the titans of the games industry and created a framework he believes can be applied to any other industry. Learn more about the lessons from Supercell, Valve, Zynga, and others and how they can apply to your games studio or company outside of games. OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 1:20 How Ilkka Paananen, CEO of Supercell inspired Atomic Scaling - Keeping teams small for as long as possible 7:08 How Gabe Newell, CEO of Valve, further inspired Atomic Scaling - Lessons from the games industry are widely applicable 9:35 Ludovic’s great book endorsements, learning from game industry experts, and the sharing culture in gaming 12:21 Motivation to write Atomic Scaling 14:10 3Ps 3Rs framework explanation- People, Prediction, Playbook and Revenue, Reach, Retention 14:52 People principle 22:00 Prediction principle: prediction vs. prophecy - hypothesis, measurement, then change 34:22 Playbook principle - getting the team on the same page 42:13 Revenue, Reach, and Retention 44:05 LiveOps and the LOVE framework - Live product development, Organized event calendar, Very special sales & offers, Engagement and re-engagement 47:10 What should readers take away?

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!

Matthew Kanterman, Joseph Kim, and Brian Peganoff discuss Nvidia as well as gaming related offerings from the company:

• Nvidia business overview
• Future growth drivers
• Valuation
• Competitive landscape
• Future outlook

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/

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.

At most companies doing the hard thing is uncomfortable and we avoid addressing some of the most critical issues that can mean the difference between success and failure.

This is an audio read of my Philosophy Monday newsletter post. If you want to hear an audio version of those posts, let me know!

Go to gamemakers.substack.com and comment there and I'll do more of these in the future.

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

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).

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.

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

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

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

Epic vs. Apple articles:

• The house always wins

• Apple to collect fees from Epic Games

Supreme Court denied both sides' appeals of Epic v. Apple antitrust case. iOS will not have competing stores or payments. Apple releases new policy making 27% from external payments regardless.

JK + Tim Sweeney Interview: https://youtu.be/h6ClJxjuRvw?si=21bGX3Qv2LAgDc5U

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

What happened? Brawlstars after years of doing well, grew massively from December to January!

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

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

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?

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

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

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

Savvy Games Group: “Approximately 75 percent of our capital allotment has not yet been invested”

The future of iPhone gaming is in trouble

My personal rollercoaster of job hunting and growth in the games industry

Kim Kardashian: Hollywood mobile game to shut down

Netflix considers ways to make money from video games in potential pivot

Predictions for 2024’s gaming

Star Citizen has a $48,000 DLC??

Game Studio Shuts Down due to Cyberattacks

Season 2 of Arcane has been teased

We discuss game industry news for the past week: Joseph Kim and Arthur Trusov.

0:00 Intro - New Years Eve

2:52 Top Steam charts - Baldur’s Gate 3, Lethal Company, Elden Ring and Cyberpunk 2077 big jumps 

6:27 Top mobile charts - Ice Scream 8, 8 Ball Pool, Royal Match vs. Monopoly GO

9:40 8 Ball Pool Keeps Trucking from Gamemakers Newsletter, innovations and early history, opportunity in runner games

14:52 Sony Activision Riposte will involve mobile gaming from Reuters

20:27 from Owen Mahoney interview: “Nobody in the industry is happy” from Game File newsletter - game projects getting too big

32:11 Top 5 FPS mobile games for 2024: Polygon Arena, Rainbow Six Mobile, Warzone Mobile, Valorant Mobile, and Arena Breakout Season 2

40:30 China’s NPPA walks back some Chinese gaming restrictions on WeChat, approves over 100 game licenses in response to backlash

44:45 Bethesda’s Starfield reviews tank to mostly negative

50:55 Valve’s bestselling games of 2023

54:00 Nintendo’s best downloaded games on Switch for 2023: Suika + new Dragon Quest game

59:30 Ghost Runner is free on Epic Games

1:00:00 Layoffs in 2023

1:03:30 Thoughts on 2024

1:07:55 Games we’re playing: Diablo 4, Block Jam 3D, Ghostrunner

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

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)

From Game Over podcast. Dual publishing here until we get a bigger audience. Joseph Kim and Arthur Trusov talk top games by market charts, gaming news, and games we're playing.

Agenda:

0:00 Intro

2:11 Top Steam charts

3:25 Top Mobile charts

6:53 “Unity, I’m Done” - Fundamentally Games CEO quits Unity

13:56 Frost Giant’s Stormgate RTS fully funds Kickstarter

21:22 Sega’s new Super Game with an over $800M budget

25:50 GTA 6 Launch trailer and announcement

33:10 Day Before extraction shooter Top 10 worst rated game on Steam

37:50 EA’s old multiplayer games getting shut down

41:25 The Game Awards

47:14 What’re we playing? New Call of Duty Warzone map, Black Clover M, Spider Man 2, Alan Wake 2, Lethal Company  

If you were going to start a new games studio, how would you design the organization, the work environment, and work culture and values for the company? We speak with the co-founders of Gardens, who are building a shared fantasy adventure game from a veteran team that has worked on games such as Journey, Spider-Man, Skyrim, and many others. Gardens has recently announced an over $30M series A round, and we discuss how they are starting. - How are they designing their organization? Why did they make specific decisions on how to work and operate? Also joining us, is veteran game industry veteran Kristian Segerstrale. Co-founder of Glu Mobile, early investor in Supercell, cofounder and CEO of Playfish acquired by EA, senior exec at EA, and currently CEO of Super Evil Megacorp. OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 1:38 How to deal with cofounder relationships? 2:35 Meeting Lexi for the first time and starting the company with lots of preparation 6:06 How do you fight and disagree with each other? 8:54 Most important issues to figure out as an early startup - need to resolve disagreements in a good way and personal motivations 12:42 Industry trends over next 5-10 years vs. focusing internally - strategic product decisions (platform) and fundraising strategy 20:08 Validating assumptions and asking for help 20:50 Gardens game: “an online PVPVE fantasy action adventure survival sandbox” 23:53 How to green light/validate game concepts at Garden and convincing investors of funding from Seed to Series A through prototyping 29:00 How did they think about designing their organization and establishing company culture and values? 34:06 Will Garden’s employee-centric focus and support of “work-life-balance” hurt their ability to succeed? Is hard-core necessary? 40:50 How to be successful without working in office and without hardcore work ethic? 47:20 What are key concerns for success? Scaling/hiring 49:37 Hiring from 3 to 20 51:53 Objectives from Series A funding and overall ambition for the game project 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

There's a lot of context behind Unity's recent run-time fees and the big changes they rolled out on pricing. Find out more about Unity's business, issues & problems, and future outlook. OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 0:52 High-level overview of Unity’s business: 1. Create and 2. Grow 5:40 Financials overview: Create vs. Grow, revenue growth, impact from Ironsource 12:04 The new world requires a different management approach & dollar-based net expansion rate 21:30 The Unity China business - context behind JV 25:38 Unity management’s egregious stock-based compensation (SBC) 34:44 Overview of Unity M&A activity 38:40 Unity Run-time fees/pricing changes discussion 42:48 Understanding the historical context behind the Unity pricing changes 46:18 Impact of pricing changes to Unity’s business 52:30 Winners & losers 54:18 Applovin impact 55:27 Future outlook for Unity 1:05:43 Final words: Change or die! 👇 EPISODE LINKS: - JK's podcast on Twitter:    • Speculative Bull Case for Twitter: So...   - 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 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  

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  

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

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

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

OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 1:13 3x3 format explanation 2:40 To JK: How to balance work and family between SF and Bangalore? 11:00 How do you evaluate sacrifice to the potential gain? 15:06 To Mishka: Thoughts on entrepreneurial journey. Biggest highlight and lowlight? 30:00 To JK: What has been the hardest part of your journey? What did you not expect? 43:55 To Mishka: What has been your biggest lesson learned? What would you do over if you could? 1:02:36 To JK: What is your why, and what are your personal values? 1:09:55 To Mishka: What’s next for you? Would you consider doing another game studio? 1:18:16 Closing 👇 EPISODE LINKS: - Mishka Katkoff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michailkatkoff/

How do hit games use persona analysis to optimize feature design, do product validation, live ops, etc. Josh Rivers used data-oriented persona analysis while working on Eve Online at CCP. Nick Reinhart used persona analysis on Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes. Even if you prefer other methodologies, the persona analysis using the data-oriented approach by Josh and Nick should at least be understood by F2P game developers. OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 1:23 Definition of personas 5:57 Examples of persona types 13:47 Example of behaviors 17:56 Applications of personas in game development 29:18 Using data for personas before game launch/user data 34:45 How impactful is the use of personas for the success of games? 40:05 Thoughts on the use of personas conceptually rather than through data 43:40 Validating personas through data 50:33 Persona discovery through clustering of behaviors 54:13 Breakdown of a persona-based study for a game 1:05:43 How to optimize monetization based on personas? 1:11:00 Last words and contact info 👇 EPISODE LINKS: - Josh Rivers, former Head of UX Research at Solsten (currently Senior User Reearcher at Netease): https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-rivers/ - Nick Reinhart, Game Director at EA: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-reinhart-a32821b/ 😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! — • MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 • TWITTER → @jokim1 • LINKEDIN → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ 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 — 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

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

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

I spoke with Brewed Games, an 8-person indie PC game dev studio based in Bangalore, India, making a souls-like action RPG game. We cover their origin story, challenges, and future opportunity. Check it out! 👇 EPISODE LINKS: - Brewed Games: https://www.brewedgames.com/

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...  

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...  

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...  

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/

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...

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/

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...

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

• Podcast
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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

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...  

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

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/

Let's be real. Everyone is blaming IDFA! Listen to the top 3 reasons why any game failed over the past 6 months; it's always IDFA. How real is this? There is a narrative today that IDFA deprecation has destroyed mobile marketing growth and made new game launches dramatically more difficult to even impossible. The counter-narrative more often whispered in private conversations, is that the scapegoating of IDFA is false. Bad games, bad forecasts, and fundamental team problems are more to blame than IDFA. What's the truth? Find out now by tuning into this podcast! OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 1:05 The real impact of IDFA deprecation 8:47 Approaches to solving IDFA deprecation 16:18 Quantifying impact of IDFA deprecation by genre 21:48 Aren't we just all back to normal? 25:08 Has IDFA deprecation driven M&A activity? 29:08 Impact on UA teams from IDFA deprecation: big losses 36:13 Apple iOS vs. Google Play for UA 39:15 Operational changes to UA 41:01 The biggest future trends to watch for 👇 EPISODE LINKS: - Eran Friedman, CTO at Singular: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eranfried... - Levi Matkins, CEO at LifeStreet: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lmatkins/ - Warren Woodward, CGO at Upptic: https://www.linkedin.com/in/warrendwo... 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...  Chapters

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

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!

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?

OUTLINE: 0:00 Sequoia Capital India introduction 0:49 Intro to Shailesh Lakhani and Prachi Pawar 3:29 Type of investments and founders they seek 4:36 Surge pre-Series A program 5:30 Specific opportunities and trends in India 9:04 Gaming opportunity in India 13:51 Specific gaming investment opportunities they seek 14:59 Why did Sequoia India invest in Lila Games? 16:30 Current investment environment, macro factors 19:19 Advice to founders based on current trends 21:10 Outlook on Web3 22:51 Advice to founders who would pitch Sequoia 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:    / gamemakersstudio   👇 EPISODE LINKS: - Sequoia Capital India Website: https://www.sequoiacap.com/india/ - Shailesh Lakhani: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shailesh-... - Prachi Pawar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prachi-pa...

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

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/

Moritz Baier-Lentz is a partner at Lightspeed Gaming, heading up their gaming investment practice.

Today we discuss viewing life as a game and how to optimize your own goals towards life by thinking about life as a game and how to break the meta.

You won't want to miss this unique and interesting discussion, so check it out!

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 Introduction, the concept of life as a meta game

1:16 Explanation of "meta" and viewing life as a game

6:32 Moritz's background, career history

12:15 What are current metas for success in life? Breaking the meta

15:26 Breaking conventional wisdom, play as experimentation: work vs. play

23:00 Cross-combining different skills or industries to build a new meta

29:20 Approaching life as quest objectives, Moritz's framework for life

34:00 Details on Moritz's life framework

37:10 Examples of interesting life initiatives from Moritz, achievement by discipline

41:55 Using being "extreme" to accomplish goals, how to stand out

45:34 JK's weird dating example

46:45 How does someone pursue extremism?

52:30 The next chapter at Lightspeed Gaming for Moritz

55:55 What will become of Moritz's LA gaming parties?

👇 EPISODE LINKS:

- Moritz Baier-Lentz: https://www.linkedin.com/in/moritzbaierlentz/

😃 —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!

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/

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/   

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

Predicting a game's success during concept or development is an incredibly difficult problem. What are typical ways companies, especially big companies think about and manage their green light process?  

What kinds of corporate nonsense occurs that hurts game outcomes?

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

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

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/

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

Get the data and read the more in-depth take here: https://gamemakers.substack.com/p/will-dislyte-be-liliths-next-big

We talk about Lilith Games' latest mobile game: Dislyte. It's a "team battle" (game sub-genre) based mobile game that started strong but has recently slowed down. What are the chances of success?  

We bring on two experts who recently covered Dislyte 

#1. Harshal Karvande, Lead Game Designer at Rovio & Naavik Pro Contributor who wrote a deconstruction report on Dislyte and 

#2. Teemu Palomaki, Chief Game Analyst at GameRefinery who recently hosted a webinar on Dislyte. 

Finally, I asked Junde Yu from data.ai to show us the data associated with the game.  

OUTLINE: 

0:00 Intro 

1:33 Dislyte Data Report 

9:19 Performance Drivers 

21:12 IP & Other Risks  

29:02 Lilith Games Backstory  

33:24 Tech & Battle Mechanics 

38:42 PVE vs. PVP 

44:38 Longer Term Outlook 

50:00 Future Expectations   

😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! —  

• MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 

• TWITTER      → @jokim1 

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

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

Oh damn, I actually made another Vlog. Well, today I talk about the importance of discipline, drive, and details in execution and achieving successful outcomes. Further, I talk about how mental strength magnifies the 3Ds and how you can train for mental strength like a muscle.

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

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

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

Today I speak to Seb Park regarding how startups should incorporate "Bayesian Thinking" into their strategic decision-making process. This means how to incorporate new information for a startup best and how to use that to gain a massive competitive advantage.  

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

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

Mobile free-to-play game design experts from Naavik - Thomas Baker (former lead game designer at Electronic Arts and lead on Real Racing 3) and Eva Grillova (former game designer from Wooga and SocialPoint) - have written a super in-depth analysis on Garena Free Fire.  

Find out how Free Fire was able to achieve success to become the world's most downloaded shooter game of all time! Further, why has Free Fire dropped by over 30% since last year? What are the big risks and opportunities ahead for the game?  

SPECIAL OFFER FROM NAAVIK:  

🔥🔥🔥 Get the Garena Free Fire Pro report for FREE here: https://naavik.co/deep-dives/free-fire-world 🔥 🔥 🔥   

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 

2:11 Secrets to Success 

7:55 SEA Organization 

11:45 Localization Focus 

19:00 Competitive Landscape 

25:25 Revenue Decline 

26:47  Monetization Scheme 

34:30 Biggest Risks 

47:40 Impact of Free Fire Max 

52:10 Future Expectations  

👇 EPISODE LINKS:  

- Thomas Baker, Consulting Partner, Naavik Consulting 

- Eva Grillova, Game Design Consultant, Naavik Consulting 

- Naavik: https://naavik.co/ 

😃 —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 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

Joseph Kim and Brett Nowak talk about cultural installation (not just conveying or communicating culture) and about how to create incentive systems for employees.  

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 

2:01 Installing Culture (Not Just Communication of Culture) 

41:45 Employee Incentive Systems  

😃 —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

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

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

Three of the greatest experts on Entertainment IP in Games give perhaps the most in-depth discussion on impact, deal structure, issues, and advice.  You don't want to miss this if you have any interest of licensing IP in your game!  

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 

1:26 Speaker Backgrounds 

14:15 Impact of IP on Games 

32:52 Fitting Gameplay and IP 

39:45 Big Problems with IP 

45:47 Licensor Objectives 

48:44 Terms & Deal Structure 

57:10 Exclusivity 

1:00:34 Other IP Considerations 

1:04:28 Licenses Gone Wrong 

1:14:05 IP vs. Integration Deals 

1:22:48 Advice to Secure Deal  

👇 SPEAKER LINKS:  

- Ames Kirshen. VP, Studio General Manager & Creative Director at Atomic Arcade: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ameskirshen/

- Pete Wanat, Chief Creative Officer at Nifty Games: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pete-wanat-468089176/

- Ed Zobrist. USC Lecturer, Former Head of Publishing at Fortnite: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edzobrist/ 

😃 —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

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 discuss the current opportunity space for traditional game developers around Web3.   

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 Introduction 

1:51 Why Web3? 

6:20 What Does Web3 Mean? 

24:37 Axie Hack & Big Risks 

39:27 Emotional Web3 Devs 

46:08 Areas of Innovation 

1:00:49 Investment & Valuations  

1:06:42 Companies to Watch 

1:13:07 Community in Web3 

1:18:00 Last Word & Prediction  

🎤 SPEAKERS:  

- Jeremy Horn, VP of Innovation at FunPlus: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremyhorn/

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

- Niko Vuori, CEO of Blockstars: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikovuori/

- Chris Ye, CEO at UKEN Games: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cye/ 

😃 —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 game studio fundraising and specifically Series A funding - what that means - and lessons, best practices, and mistakes based on my own experience with this current financing round.  

Understand the difference between Seed and Series A.  

Make sure you don't make the same mistakes I did. Don't be a lame CEO and make sure you take funding seriously!  

SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: 

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

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

OUTLINE: 

0:00 Introduction 

1:43 Funding Environment 

13:13 What is a Series A?  

21:16 Investment Models 

34:59 Ideal Startup Profile 

44:01 Amount of Funding 

56:07 Investor Value Add 

59:16 Post vs. Pre-Money 

1:04:44 Investor Communication  

1:13:45 Having a Defined Process 

1:26:49 Biggest Mistake & Advice 

1:31:15 Wrap-Up & Contact  

👇 EPISODE LINKS:  

- Jobs at LILA Games: https://www.lilagames.com/jobs/ 💰 

LOOKING FOR FUNDING?: 

- BITKRAFT: https://www.bitkraft.vc/ (Led LILA's Seed and invested in Series A) 

- Galaxy Interactive: https://www.galaxyinteractive.io/ (invested in LILA's Seed and Series A) 

- Rainfall Ventures: https://www.rainfall.com/ (Led LILA's Series A)  

😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! —  

• MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 

• TWITTER      → @jokim1 

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

Mr. Product Growth Guy himself Aakash Gupta and I discuss the details behind our recent report on the growth and Rise of Gaming in India.  

Check out the full written analysis here: https://gamemakers.substack.com/p/the-rise-of-the-indian-gaming-market 

SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS 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/

How should companies think about retaining employees? 

1. How much to invest in employees when they may wind up just leaving? 

2. How to retain employees besides just wage escalation? 

3. What should the attitude of employers be regarding the loss of employees? 

4. How to think about matching competitive compensation vs. letting employees go? 

5. Thinking about redundancy or building an anti-fragile 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 

😃 —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 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/

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

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

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

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/

Some context: 

- IDFA deprecation has created a -30% margin compression for many game studios against their game revenue 

- With the deterioration of lookalike audiences CA submits that contextual and interest-based targeting will be more performant 

- Consumer Acquisition performed over 25,000 multivariate tests on Facebook, Google, Tiktok, and Snap and have learned that 85-95% of new creative concepts fail to outperform the best ad in an existing portfolio. Hence you may need 20-50 new concepts to find your next winning creative.  

To address the current market, Zynga's Creative Director Bradly Bifulco and Consumer Acquisition CEO Brian Bowman discuss how a structured process to creative development is absolutely critical to generating performant ad creatives.  

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

EPISODE LINKS:

- Malcolm Gladwell on "Choice, Happiness, and Spaghetti Sauce"

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/

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

We talk about some of the biggest trends and lessons of 2021:  

1. Rise of Personal Brands (and everyone now jumping on) 

2. Power and Importance of Relationships 

3. The Duality of Existence and Human Nature 

4. The New New Thing  

Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter

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

Bill Walsh, the Hall of Fame NFL coach, had a number of incredibly insightful and effective leadership philosophies as discussed in his book "The Score Takes Care of Itself."  One philosophy Walsh discusses is something he calls "Make Friends, Not Enemies."  

We discuss this concept and as always the nuance and specific application. Check it out!  

HOSTS: 

- Joseph Kim, CEO at LILA Games 

- Brett Nowak, CEO at Liquid & Grit

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

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!

Companies globally require new ways of managing as they grapple with new working conditions from the coronavirus pandemic. As companies adapt to greater work-from-home environments, new problems have arisen.   

Brett believes in a new world of remote work where those who don't adapt will not survive, JK believes that for "complex work" and for companies that are working in complex work environments especially those working on 0 to 1 products, in-office environments are best.  

Hear both sides including specific nuance, trends, themes, and analysis of remote vs. office work.  

What will be the future of work?  

HOSTS:

- Joseph Kim, CEO at LILA Games

- Brett Nowak, CEO at Liquid & Grit

LINKS:

• Managing Remote Work: The Problem with “Outcomes Not Hours” (Part 1 of 3)
• Managing Remote Work: Outcomes Gone Wild (Part 2 of 3)
• Managing Remote Work: Trust Isn't Enough! (Part 3 of 3)

Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ NEW VIDEOS EVERY WEEK! ***Click the notification bell so you don't miss any!***

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/

How should you make difficult decisions? What are common kinds of difficult decisions in the games industry? What are common decision-making models? What are important distinctions between types of decisions?   

Deep dive on this very important topic in great depth and with our typical philosophical approach!  

HOSTS: 

- Joseph Kim, CEO at LILA Games

- Brett Nowak, CEO at Liquid & Grit

LINKS:

• The Principles of Product Development Flow, by Donald Reinertsen
• Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win, by Jocko Willink
• Making Smart Choices: 8 Keys to Making Effective Decisions blog
• Win With Character, Win with Cruelty, Jim Harbaugh

Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter

We discuss the sustainability and economy behind the massive hit blockchain game Axie Infinity. Naavik has released a research report breaking down the economy and sustainability of the game (check out the link to the report below).   

Axie seems to have reached an inflection point in which the game may no longer be sustainable.  

Find out more about Axie, its economy, Sky Mavis and how they monetize Axie, and the potential future and sustainability of both Axie and Sky Mavis.  Btw, it's easy to cast stones, so we also take an optimistic look and discuss the potential solutions and upside of Axie and Sky Mavis.  

Check out this deep and very educational discussion now!  

LINKS: 

- Master the Meta newsletter: https://naavik.co/themetas

- Naavik Premium Research: https://naavik.co/premium

- Axie Infinity: Infinite Opportunity or Infinite Peril research report: https://naavik.co/business-breakdowns/axie-infinity 

PROMOTION:  

Check out the Naavik premium research service for games: https://naavik.co/premium

Use promo code NAAVIKGAMEMAKERS for a 10% discount off of the first 12 months of the subscription!

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/

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/

So today there are a lot of complaints about whether a 30% Apple or Google app store fee is fair. And even further, whether there should be competition and the ability to have an open ecosystem for alternative payments or even app stores.  

We have on with us today some folks who will talk about both the current situation behind App Store fees and speculate on where this is all potentially heading as well.  

SPEAKERS:  

- Chris Hewish, President of Xsolla. The company has solutions against alternative payments and payment solutions both on Web and for PC, but also increasingly with a focus on mobile.  https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrishewish/ 

- Matthew Kanterman, Senior Equity Research Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. Matthew in particular has a specific focus on gaming, Asia, mobile, and metaverse. https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-kanterman-cfa-b6345133/ 

- Brett Nowak, CEO of Liquid & Grit. Brett also coincidentally co-hosts a podcast series with me called Philosophy Friday.  https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-nowak-8920675/ 

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

Back at you with some deep thoughts on the challenges, difficulties, and potential solutions for one of the biggest problems at most companies:

- How to give employee feedback and do performance reviews

We deep people. Listen to this pod and let us know what you think!

LINKS:

- Airbnb System: The Power of Performance Reviews: Use This System to Become a Better Manager

- LILA Games Values Doc: (see slides on feedback)

Lol. We discuss the nuance in definitions and scope of work-life balance, differences between work-life balance and work-life integration, compensation issues for people working a lot at start-ups, and other touchy subjects.

I generally don't edit, but went way too far on this so we edited a bunch of stuff out. 

About Us:

- Joseph Kim, CEO, LILA Games

- Brett Nowak, CEO, Liquid & Grit

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

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/

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/

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/

We discuss the future outlook and potential emerging opportunities for blockchain gaming.  

Who better to discuss than:  

1. Chong Ahn, VP of Product at Mythical Games (Blankos Block Party) 

2. Brian Peganoff, Ex-Senior Dir of Corporate Development & Strategy at Glu Mobile 

3. Mitch Zamara, Lead Designer, Million on Mars  

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

With long histories in product management specifically in the games industry, we have a REAL discussion on what it takes to be a great PM.  

Hardcore and real talk from guys who have worked on very successful products. I led the #1 top-grossing game King of Avalon plus a lot of other shit. Brett was a lead PM on Zynga Poker which was contributing 22% of Zynga's revenue at the time.   Real talk you won't get anywhere else. This talk is for hardcore PMs only!   

Follow this channel if you want to hear more philosophy on current and important issues in the F2P games industry.  

The story behind JK getting assassinated: HERE  

Recommended Books on PM: 

1. The Principles of Product Development Flow by Donald G. Reinertsem 

2. Principles by Ray Dalio 

3. Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink 

4. The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz 

5. Atomic Habits by James Clear 6. The Score Takes Care of Itself by Bill Walsh  

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

Moonton's Chief Game Designer Skyhook talks about MOBAs and the keys to success for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang.  

Questions asked:  

0:00 Intro 0:25 Classification of MOBAs? 

2:14 Difference in design between MOBA and RTS? 

4:07 How did Mobile Legends succeed when other MOBAs failed? 

5:57 What was the hardest challenge in Mobile Legends' success?  

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

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/

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

Deep discussion on what global strategic game publishers like Stillfront, SEGA, and Scopely look for when expanding into India from a development or market perspective.  

Moderator:     

- Justin Keeling, General Partner, Lumikai Fund  

Speakers:     

- Alexis Bonte, Group COO, Stillfront Group    

- Saito Go, Executive Officer & Head of Japan Asia Publishing, SEGA Corporation    

- Justin Scarpone, SVP & GM Asia, Scopely  

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

Panelists discuss: 

1. How did you break into this industry? 

2. Gaming career choice versus traditional options? 

3. Different Roles? 

4. Sustained interest?  

Moderator:  

- Vik Agarwal, Lead PM, Zynga   

Speakers: -

 Poornima Seetharaman, Dir of Design, Zynga 

- Karan Gaikwad, Lead PM, Nukebox 

- Shilpa Gaur, Lead Marketing & Strategy, Cympl  

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

Paul Leydon LILA Games Chief Creative Officer and former lead game designer on multiple #1 top grossing titles like King of Avalon (FunPlus) and Game of War (MZ), discusses his design and research methodology. He discusses the importance of doing the work and depth in making a hit game.  

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

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

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/

We talk about the history and future opportunities for Instant Games. Joining us is Lars Doucet who wrote about this in his blog post (linked below) and Emily Greer, who as the former founder and CEO of Kongregate, has a strong perspective on this.  

LINKS: 

- Jon Lai, a16z partner, tweet on Instant Games: https://twitter.com/Tocelot/status/1404914355670437889

- Lars Blog Post "The Future of Games is an Instant Flash to the past": https://www.fortressofdoors.com/the-future-of-games-is-an-instant-flash-to-the-past/ 

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

Speakers:

- Lars Doucet, President of Level Up Labs: https://twitter.com/larsiusprime

- Emily Greer, CEO of Double Loop Games: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilygreer/

Moderator:

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

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

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

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

How do competitive PVP games manage and scale up their tech infrastructure? What did Riot do for Valorant? We spoke to arguably the best two people in the entire world to address this question Riot's Head of Infra & Live Ops Zach Blitz and Network Next CEO Glenn Fiedler. 

SPEAKERS:

   - Zach Blitz, Head of Infra and Live Ops, Riot Games

   - Glenn Fiedler, Founder & CEO, Network Next

Tobi Lutke and Brian Armstrong re-popularized the notion of companies as described as "families" or "high performance sports teams." This impacts 1. employee performance expectations, 2. how to deal with discussions of social issues at the workplace, and 3. dissociating personal vs. professional lives.   

Let's have a nuanced discussion with a strong cross-section of key people from the games industry.  

Speakers:

- Eden Chen, CEO Pragma.gg: 

- Drew Levin, Lead PM Zynga 

- Chong Ahn, Head of PM EA 

- Ken Landen, Sr. PM Blizzard

Relevant Links 

- Initial Netflix Culture document (this seems to be the original popularization of the team-focus theme)

- Tobi Lutke: We are not a family

- Brian Armstrong: Mission focused company

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

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

Speakers:

    - Joseph Kim. CEO, LILA Games 

   - Eric Kress. Principal, Gossamer

   - Chris Petrovic. CBO, FunPlus (former SVP & Head of Corporate Strategy, M&A and Business Development at Zynga) 

Content Overview:

• 1:15 Intro / Context 
• 4:15 EA's Acquisition of Glu 
• 11:16 Glu Reorganization
• 15:30 Zynga + AdTech
• 25:35 Industry Consolidation
• 38:40 Best M&A Targets
• 44:15 Smaller M&A Targets 
• 50:00 Final Words

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

As game companies become desperate for growth, what are the different strategies they will pursue?

Zynga, Applovin, Skillz, and Jam City represent 4 different growth paradigms in F2P gaming. This week I discuss their different approaches to growth and the potential risks these companies face.

LINKS:

   - Joseph Kim, CEO LILA Games

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

   - GameMakers YouTube Channel

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

Key advancements in data infrastructure tech are driving big new changes in game development studios' approach to liveops data.

We're seeing rapid adoption of technologies from companies like Snowflake, Grafana, Prometheus, etc. What are the technologies and companies we need to be aware of and how does this impact F2P game live ops?

Speaking on this we have world-class experts in André Cohen (Head of Data Science at Tilting Point), Gaurav Gupta (Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, board member Grafana), and Oliver Löffler (former CTO KOLIBRI).

CHECK OUT:

#1. This episode on YOUTUBE

#2. GameMakers Substack NEWSLETTER

Sign up for the newsletter everybody: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

JK talks about 5 big changes that will potentially cause huge structural shifts in the games industry all coming to a head in 2021:

#1. Post-COVID Renormalization

#2. Lack of M&A Targets for Growth

#3. Impact of IDFA Deprecation

#4. Game Studio + Ad-Tech Vertical Integration

#5. The Rise of China

RELATED LINKS:

- Game Biz #1: Chris Petrovic, Eric Kress, and I talk M&A in 2021

- Mobile Ad Revenue in 2021+: With Josh Chandley (Wild Card Games), Sofia Gilyazova (Social Point), and Offer Yehudai (Fyber)

- Modifying Payment Behavior in Games: Clash of Clans: Bigger, Better, Battle Pass by Eino Joas

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

Today we speak to Shahar Sorek to answer a core and fundamental question behind video games. We will discuss the question: Why do people play video games?

JK discusses how Shahar's concepts are very similar to the Japanese game design concepts around "user needs": basically that players will play games to fulfill some latent psychological need or desire manifested through playing games.

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. 

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.

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!

In this episode Joseph Kim, Paul Leydon, and Avinash Pandey the three co-founders of LILA Games talk about each of their personal reasons for wanting to create the new company.

In May of 2019, I (Joseph Kim) got fired (practically, although not "technically") from NBCUniversal as SVP of Games & Digital Platforms based on a mismatch of values, culture, and approach.

This was the beginning of a long road that eventually led to the formation of LILA Games with my co-founders Paul Leydon and Avinash Pandey.

A week after I was fired, my good friend Miska Katkoff hosted a podcast interview with me which we published on the Deconstructor of Fun podcast.

In this episode, I re-publish that interview from May 2019 to give you context on the initial stages of why I wanted to start a new company which eventually became LILA.

In which, Joseph Kim aka Joe Kim aka JK aka J-diggity-dog discusses the objective of starting this podcast.

Also catch:

The GameMakers YouTube Channel

The Deconstructor of Fun podcast

Your host:

Joe Kim (Twitter = @jokim1)