GameMakers
By Joseph Kim
GameMakersJan 11, 2024
Embracer vs. Ubisoft: A Deep Dive into Two Struggling Gaming Giants (Pixels & Profits)
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
Game Developer Conference (GDC) 2024 Recap: Themes, GDC Talks, Takeaways, and Rumors
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/
Atomic Scaling with Ludovic Bodin | Lessons From the Games Industry to the World!
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?
Liveops Lessons from Temple Run & Bejeweled Blitz ft. Eve Chang
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!
Nvidia - On the way to becoming the world's most valuable company | Pixels & Profits #9
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
The Measurement Crisis (in mobile UA) | #1 of 5 in State of Measurement Series
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/
Philosophy: Escaping the doom loop
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.
Philosophy: Doing the hard thing
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.
Gaming x AI: How Atlas makes models for 3D worlds 200X faster! (ft. CEO Ben James)
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
How Brawl Stars 6X'ed daily revenue ft. 2.5 Gamers + Ken Landen
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).
Job losses everywhere except AI - Don't fight it, embrace AI!
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.
Palworld's Takuro Mizobe on Lesson's Learned (from Pocket Pair Blog)
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
Stream Hatchet's Livestreaming & Esports report - Key trends!
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
Ubisoft exec views future of games is subscription not ownership
Will games become more like movies and music with focus on subscription rather than ownership? An Ubisoft director thinks so.
The latest in the Epic vs. Apple wars
Epic vs. Apple articles:
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
Key findings from GDC State of the Industry Report 2024
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
Supercell's Brawl Stars goes Nuclear - After years revenue goes over 4X from Dec 5, '23 to Jan 6, '24
What happened? Brawlstars after years of doing well, grew massively from December to January!
More layoffs - Pixelberry, Google AI threat, Behavior Interactive, YouTube Games
GameOver #7: '24 Layoffs!, "Too many games," New Halo, Epic #1 on Console, State of UGC, AI, China, Steam Breaks Records
Arthur Trusov and Joseph Kim discuss the latest gaming news from the past week.
Layoffs:
- 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
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
How Profitable is Monopoly Go? (Is #1 really #1?)
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?
Roblox (RBLX): Business Overview and Future (What you need to know!)
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
AI NPCs in Gaming with Inworld AI ft. Travis Boatman, Carbonated
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
Savvy Games $30B?, iPhone gaming in trouble, Game Industry Job Hunting, Netflix, Predictions | GO #6
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
Star Citizen has a $48,000 DLC??
8 Ball Pool. Sony MIcrosoft Riposte mobile M&A in '24?, Owen Mahoney, Top 5 FPS Games, Starfield "Mostly Negative", Top Steam and Nintendo Games of '23, Layoffs in '23 | GO #5
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
China regulations tank Netease and Tencent, Take-Two's $12B Zynga bet tumbles, Valorant Mobile, Insomniac Games leak, More layoffs, Winter sale and gaming deals | GO #4
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
Netflix game strategy, Fortnite breaks records, Tiktok breaks $10B, Epic vs. Google, and more! | Go #3
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)
"Unity, I'm done," Stormgate RTS Kickstarter, Sega's $800M Super Game, GTA 6, Game Awards | GO #2
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
Gardens: Building a Startup Games Studio for success (makers of Journey, Spider-Man, Skyrim)
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
Unity Software (U): Huge Problems, Negative Outlook, Big Changes Required
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
Why legendary developers are jumping onto Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN)!
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
Mobile UA Landscape Impact on Gaming Companies (Pixels & Profits #7) ft. Matej Lancaric
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
Take-Two Interactive Financial Deep Dive (Pixels & Profits #6) ft. Eric Kress
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
Rise of the White Tiger | Life, Entrepreneurship, and Rise of India & Opportunity ft. Mukul Deora
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
Game Startups & Life | 3x3 ft. Mishka Katkoff at Deconstructor of Fun
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 Hit Games Use Persona Analysis! | Experience from Eve Online and Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes
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
What If? Nintendo Smartphone? Who can make a great gaming smartphone? | Pixels & Profits #4 (Part 2 of 3)
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
What If? Microsoft Carved Out Xbox Business | Pixels & Profits #4 (Part 1 of 3)
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
GameDev Story: Brewed Games builds a Souls-like Action RPG game Winds of Arcana for PC
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 & Performance Evaluation | ft. Ben Carcich & Aaron Smith from Building Better Games
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...
Serkan Toto on Top Japanese and Korean Video Game Companies | Pixels & Profits #3
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...
Lessons Learned: Gaming Startups & New Global Risks
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...
Top 5 Mobile Game Launches: Honkai Star Rail, Monopoly Go, Survivor!.io, Marvel Snap, Frozen City
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/
Console Wars: Microsoft is All-in on Game Pass, Is this Game Over? | Pixels & Profits #2 (Part 2 of 2)
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...
What Drove Success in the PlayStation vs. Xbox vs. Nintendo Console Wars?
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/
Console Wars: Microsoft vs. Sony vs. Nintendo | Pixels & Profits #2 (Part 1 of 2)
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...
No IDFA, No Excuses - Why The Narrative Behind IDFA Deprecation Destroying Mobile Growth is Wrong!
Where is the games industry today? Less risk, higher cost of capital, bifurcation of winners & losers
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
The Rise of China: Dominant western game developers may fall to Asian competitors like HoYoverse
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...
Why Nvidia (NVDA) stock jumped and the impact of AI to gaming | AI X Gaming!
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
Where is the Game Industry Today? - M&A and Public Game Companies | Pixels & Profits #1
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/