Naavik Gaming Podcast

Nexon is one of the largest and best-performing companies in the gaming industry, but too few Western onlookers fully know why the business excels. That changes today. Nexon CEO Owen Mahoney joins Naavik co-founder Aaron Bush to discuss his journey in games, what he’s learned from leading a large global business, and how Nexon builds long-lasting virtual worlds. They also discuss the importance of antifragility, what “weird” new initiatives could define Nexon’s future, and why companies often face internal resistance to innovation.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. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

In this week's Roundtable, the crew discusses what M.O.B.A. Network's acquisition of Wargraph for $54 million means for indie Overwolf projects. We also dive into the FTC's temporary restraining order halting Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal in addition to Roblox's new mature content system and whether it might hurt user retention. Also on the agenda: Hidden Door's playtest of a generative AI-driven narrative game using the Wizard of Oz IP and a discussion on what EA splitting up its sports entertainment divisions means for the company. Join us for all the latest games business news with Felipe Mata, Matt Dion, and host Devin Becker.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.Also, a big thanks to data.ai for supporting all of Naavik's mobile data needs. If your team requires a market and competitive intelligence tool for tracking the mobile games industry, monitoring KPIs, and spotting opportunities across games, check out data.ai's robust platform. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

“Move-to-earn” pioneer Stepn exploded in popularity in the first half of 2022, peaking at 3 million MAU and 800,000 DAU while generating $123 million in Q2 2022 profit alone. The mobile app, which rewards users who “wear” the company’s NFT sneakers, was a major driver in onboarding users into web3, but growth has stalled during the current crypto winter. In this episode, host Niko Vuori talks to Stepn COO Shiti Manghani about what’s next for the company, their ambitions to build an entire ecosystem around $GMT, the native Stepn cryptocurrency, and why Stepn views itself as a game rather than a fitness or lifestyle app.To learn more, make sure to visit https://stepn.com/. You can also find Shiti Manghani on LinkedIn.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. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

Games are a force for fun, but what if they could be a force for good, too? We sit down with Laura Carter, the founder of Longleaf Valley developer TreesPlease Games,  and Jenny Xu, founder of Run Legends developer Talofa Games, to discuss launching and fundraising for studios with corporate social responsibility missions. Are green games sustainable, and which business models work when you have a “third” actor sharing the bottom line? STEPN created a craze for running games, but how does the fitness gaming industry move forward with a “lighter web3 touch” or move away from it entirely? What learnings have both founders had in their early soft launches and alphas, and how did they tackle early user acquisition on mobile? We also discuss a variety of social initiatives that AAA and mainstream gaming could do to make the world a better place.To learn more, make sure to download Run Legends and Longleaf Valley from either the App Store or Google Play. You can also find Jenny Xu and Laura Carter on LinkedIn.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. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

In this week's Roundtable, we discuss the biggest news from the Not-E3 showcases hosted by major game publishers like Microsoft and Ubisoft. We also debate if Embracer’s announced restructuring will help the company in the long run. Other topics on the agenda include whether the FTC can stop Microsoft from acquiring Activision Blizzard at the last second, the gritty details on how hurdle rates could be influencing investments, and what impact Apple’s Vision Pro and the Meta Quest 3 might have on XR gaming. Additionally, we touch on Reddit's controversial policy changes that led to widespread and ongoing subreddit blackouts and discuss if this protest movement might make a difference. Join us for all the latest games business news with Sebastian Park, Dave Elton, Aaron Bush, and host Devin Becker.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.Also, a big thanks to data.ai for supporting all of Naavik's mobile data needs. If your team requires a market and competitive intelligence tool for tracking the mobile games industry, monitoring KPIs, and spotting opportunities across games, check out data.ai's robust platform. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

Piers Kicks, founding partner of Delphi Ventures and venture partner at BITKRAFT, joins host Aaron Bush to discuss their most anticipated web3 games. The duo also discuss the realities of leaving school early to kickstart investing careers and how the best modern-day founders are different from previous eras, followed by a fun game to capture Piers’ pulse on a variety of gaming and web3 topics.To learn more, make sure to check out Piers’ essay Into the Void: Where Crypto Meets the Metaverse as well as Naavik and Delphi’s joint report The Great Reset: Your 2023 Guide to Web3 Games. You can also find Piers on Twitter.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. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

In this week’s Roundtable, Huuuge Games' Q1 results provide us with some insight into the ongoing impact of user acquisition changes on the mobile gaming business. We also tackle the driving force behind the growth surge in the MENA region’s gaming and esports sectors and Supercell's uncharacteristic release strategy with its betas for Flood Rush and Squad Busters. Lastly, we wrap up by discussing the rationale behind EA's decision to integrate Nike NFTs into its sports games, as well as the significance of the SEC lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase and what they might mean for web3 gaming. Join us for all the latest games business news with David Kaye, Tammy Levy, Abhimanyu Kumar, and host Devin Becker.This episode is brought to you by Coda Payments. Coda helps developers collect some of their revenues outside the app stores, keeping more of the income they generate for themselves. To learn more about how Coda Payments' solution can help take your game to the next level, head to codapayments.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.Also, a big thanks to data.ai for supporting all of Naavik's mobile data needs. If your team requires a market and competitive intelligence tool for tracking the mobile games industry, monitoring KPIs, and spotting opportunities across games, check out data.ai's robust platform. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

Azra Games has raised more than just about any other web3 game developer — with a $25 million seed round led by a16z — to build its ambitious vision for what the company is calling a “web3-sensitive” RPG. Founder & CEO Mark Otero joins your host, Niko Vuori, to talk about why he sees RPGs as a good fit for web3, how Azra is incorporating NFTs and web3 elements into their game design, and how they see the current web3 gaming environment evolving.To learn more, make sure to visit https://azragames.com/. You can also find Mark Otero on LinkedIn.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. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

The esports world is starting to teeter, the NYT wrote last month. Today, we get perspective on whether that’s true or not. Evil Geniuses is an esports organization with over 14 million followers across the globe, and it harkens back to the 90s when it was known as Quake Clan in Canada. We sit down with Nicole LaPointe Jameson, a CEO with an insatiable consumer passion for gaming but also a background in distressed assets — or in normal person speak, companies that desperately need optimization and cost tuning to turn them profitable. Is esports a financial endeavor that can be righted from the realm of negative operating income, and where will EG’s edge come from? Furthermore, what can esports do to ameliorate some of the toxicity in games, and how has EG been playing a role in fostering a healthier community for players of all backgrounds? To learn more, make sure to visit https://evilgeniuses.gg/. You can also find Nicole LaPointe Jameson on LinkedIn.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. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

Sony showcased new games, PSVR 2, and an emphasis on live service games, including Bungie bringing back its original franchise Marathon. We dig into Capcom’s understated recent successes, like the new Street Fighter 6 release. Does Last of Us delaying its multiplayer update mean it might end up scrapped? We take a look into what CD Projekt is up to and what the future of Cyberpunk and The Witcher could be. NVIDIA provided a brief glimpse at AI dialogue in games, but how realistic was it? Join us for all the latest games business news with Anil Das-Gupta, Aaron Bush, Jonathan Anastas, and host Devin Becker.This episode is brought to you by Coda Payments. Coda helps developers collect some of their revenues outside the app stores, keeping more of the income they generate for themselves. To learn more about how Coda Payments' solution can help take your game to the next level, head to codapayments.com.Also, a big thanks to data.ai for supporting all of Naavik's mobile data needs. If your team requires a market and competitive intelligence tool for tracking the mobile games industry, monitoring KPIs, and spotting opportunities across games, check out data.ai's robust platform.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. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.