⚠️ The Industry’s Dirty Little Secrets: Confessions from the UA Underground

🎙️ This might be the most dangerous podcast episode we’ve ever released.

An anonymous insider, voice-modulated for protection, joins us to expose the truth about mobile UA, ad network manipulation, and how millions are spent with zero payback logic. With voice modulation in place, our guest “Dr. Doom” reveals what happens behind the dashboards, network sales decks, and investor slides.

You’ll hear :

Dream Games' $50M brand campaign: brilliant market takeover or the dumbest ROI play of 2025?

Why are most UA managers glorified spreadsheet jockeys, and why can’t founders tell the difference?

The smoke-and-mirrors of cohort data, fake growth stories, and shady LTV curve manipulation.

Chinese game studios' 300-person creative teams, outworking and outspending the West with terrifying efficiency.

Rewarded traffic, fake installs, App Store gaming, everything still happens. We pretend it doesn’t.

Ad network manipulation — how early numbers are fluffed, forecasts are gamed, and management eats it up.

This episode is a gloves-off, bullshit-free reality check. No brand-safe talking points. Just raw, uncomfortable truth from someone who’s spent millions and seen the industry from every dirty angle.

Get our MERCH NOW: 25gamers.com/shop

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This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.

Panelists: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Matej Lancaric, Joseph Kim

Special guest: Dr. Doom (anonymous gaming industry legend)

Youtube: https://youtu.be/1Rb3L6gBK9E

Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-2um8eguhf-c~H9idcxM271mnPzdWbipg

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to the Podcast and Guest

04:57 The Overrated Studios in Mobile Gaming

06:40 Analyzing Dream Games' Strategy

12:39 Understanding User Acquisition Challenges

18:44 The Role of UA Managers and Internal Metrics

25:46 Understanding User Acquisition Campaigns

28:16 The Evolution of User Acquisition Strategies

30:15 The Importance of Community in User Acquisition

31:56 Creative Teams and Competitive Advantage

33:09 The Role of Chinese Studios in the Market

37:57 Challenges for Western Developers in Forex Games

42:00 The Impact of AI on Creative Processes

45:22 The Viability of Bot Downloads Today

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Matej Lancaric

User Acquisition & Creatives Consultant

⁠https://lancaric.me

Felix Braberg

Ad monetization consultant

⁠https://www.felixbraberg.com

Jakub Remiar

Game design consultant

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

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Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!

Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple!

Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me

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If you are interested in getting UA tips every week on Monday, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠lancaric.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & sign up for the Brutally Honest newsletter by Matej Lancaric