Will Harbin on Lessons from Kixeye and Making a Comeback

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/ 😃 

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