Former Nexon CEO Owen Mahoney joins Aaron Bush for a candid, wide-ranging conversation about the current and future state of the games industry. While Owen had a successful decade-long run leading one of Asia’s most important gaming companies, this episode explores what he’s been thinking about since stepping down – namely through his sharp (and sometimes spicy) essays critiquing industry norms and offering a vision for what comes next.

We discuss the realities of managing $100M+ budget decisions, the troubling positions of many Western publishers, the benefits of simplifying publisher strategies, and Owen’s bullishness on AI. Notably, despite slow industry growth at present, Owen explains why he thinks our industry could triple in size from here. Whether you’re an executive, founder, or just fascinated by how games are built and funded, this episode is packed with battle-tested insights and bold predictions.

We’d like to thank Lightspeed Venture Partners for making this episode possible! With its dedicated gaming & interactive media practice, the firm invests from an over $6.5 billion pool of early and growth-stage capital. If you’re interested in learning more, go to https://gaming.lsvp.com/.

We’d also like to thank Overwolf for making this episode possible! Whether you're a gamer, creator, or game studio, Overwolf is the ultimate destination for integrating UGC in games! You can check out all Overwolf has to offer at https://www.overwolf.com/.

If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co.

Who’s On:

Guest - Owen Mahoney: https://www.linkedin.com/in/owen-mahoney-11515/

Host - Aaron Bush: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-bush-846b8185/

Watch the episode: YouTube Channel

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Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

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