

Naavik Gaming Podcast
Naavik
The Naavik Gaming Podcast is a business-focused exploration of the companies, trends, strategies and leaders that are defining the future of games. To learn more and see other great content visit www.naavik.co.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Dec 13, 2022 • 58min
Land Speculation & Economies - Crypto Corner
Why are there housing crises in online games, and how did a plot of “virtual land” go for $4M in Sandbox’s Metaverse last year? What is a land economy, and how do you run it? We bring on Lars Doucet, virtual land economy consultant and author of “Land and Why It Matters” and Khaled Alroumi, Head of Monetization at Big Time Studios to discuss the concept of land economies, whether land should be a primary or secondary driver of your game economy, what to do about taxes and rent, and the do’s and don’ts of running one. Hosted by Alexandra Takei.Lars Doucet “Land is a Big Deal”: https://landisabigdeal.com/Khaled Alroumi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/khaled-alroumi-70b222b7/And don't forget to check out Polkastarter's GAM3 Awards that airs on December 15th, 3pm UTC: https://gam3awards.comIf you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too! And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!TLDListen?: Episode summaryWatch the episode: YouTube video Join the discussion: Naavik DiscordRead more: Naavik DigestWatch more: YouTube channelGo premium: Naavik ProFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.

Dec 9, 2022 • 56min
Cross-Platform Strategy / Moore’s Law Revival / Gwent Sunset - Roundtable
Should studios lean away from an all-in mobile strategy and pursue cross-platform? What is the impact of Intel’s vision to revive Moore’s Law? We dive into the latest game business news with Tammy Levy, David Amor, and your host Maria Gillies.00:00 - Start03:25 - Playmint’s Open Source Web3 Tech10:11 - Moore’s Law Revival17:05 - Limit Break’s Free Super Bowl NFT Mint25:00 - Gwent’s End of Development30:47 - Lean Away From Mobile, Lean Into Consoles & PC?55:05 - OutroAlso, 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 would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your feedback! And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Use the promo code METACAST to save 10%.TLDListen?: Episode summaryWatch the episode: YouTube video Join the discussion: Naavik DiscordRead more: Naavik DigestWatch more: YouTube channelGo premium: Naavik ProFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

Dec 6, 2022 • 1h 7min
Open vs Closed Economies in Web3 Games - Crypto Corner
One of the promises of web3 is the opening up of in-game economies, and for players to retain some kind of residual value for all the hours they put into a game. In web2, the developer and the platform on which a game is played retain 100% of the economic value - web3 changes this, at least in theory, and allows players to retain an economic interest in their gaming digital assets, both the non-fungible ones - the unique NFTs they own - and the fungible ones - the in-game currencies they accumulate through time spent, trading with other players, and skilled gameplay. In this episode, your host Niko Vuori talks to two game economy specialists - Mete Gultekin (Vader Research) and Kiefer Zang (Economics Design) - to discuss the pros and cons of an open economy design in web3 games. Vader Research: https://defivader.medium.com/ Economics Design: https://economicsdesign.com/ If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too! And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!TLDListen?: Episode summaryWatch the episode: YouTube video Join the discussion: Naavik DiscordRead more: Naavik DigestWatch more: YouTube channelGo premium: Naavik ProFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.

Dec 2, 2022 • 51min
China’s Console Market / Web3 Investment / Cosy Games - Roundtable
Should console studios target mainland China’s market? Is building a web3 gaming studio still an investment advantage? We dive into the latest game business news with Anthony Pecorella, Alex Takei, Joost van Dreunen, and your host Maria Gillies.00:00 - Start02:50 - What are cosy games?05:20 - Australia’s Loot Box Bill11:40 - Will Mobile Replace Consoles?18:20 - Mainland China’s Console Market Analysis35:40 - Is Web3 Still an Investment Advantage?49:53 - OutroAlso, 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 would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your feedback! And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Use the promo code METACAST to save 10%.TLDListen?: Episode summaryWatch the episode: YouTube video Join the discussion: Naavik DiscordRead more: Naavik DigestWatch more: YouTube channelGo premium: Naavik ProFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

Nov 29, 2022 • 59min
Future of UGC (and does it need the blockchain?) - Crypto Corner
“UGC Gaming is Gaming 3.0” says Uri Marchand, CEO and co-founder of Overwolf, a software platform that powers one of the biggest modding communities in the world and recently signed a massive partnership with EA for the Sims4. In this episode, your host Alex Takei chats all things UGC, the role of IP in creating the metaverse, centralization and moderation in a creator economy, and whether any of this really needs the blockchain.Uri Marchand: https://www.linkedin.com/in/urimarchand/If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too! And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!TLDListen?: Episode summaryWatch the episode: YouTube video Join the discussion: Naavik DiscordRead more: Naavik DigestWatch more: YouTube channelGo premium: Naavik ProFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.

Nov 25, 2022 • 57min
Blizzard x NetEase / Google Play Competition / Gameloft Strategy - Roundtable
Why didn’t Blizzard renew its partnership with NetEase? How will they return to mainland China’s market? We dive into the latest game business news with Matt Dion, David Amor, Marie Mejerwall, and your host Maria Gillies.00:00 - Start05:20 - Gameloft’s Cross-Platform Strategy08:55 - Generative AI’s Valuable Disruption17:40 - Embracer Group Earnings Analysis19:20 - Sony Patent For NFT and Blockchain Technology23:52 - Blizzard Does Not Renew Contract with NetEase40:12 - Google Struck Deals to Prevent Play Store Competition56:46 - OutroAlso, 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 would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your feedback! And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Use the promo code METACAST to save 10%. TLDListen?: Episode summaryWatch the episode: YouTube video Join the discussion: Naavik DiscordRead more: Naavik DigestWatch more: YouTube channelGo premium: Naavik ProFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

Nov 22, 2022 • 1h 6min
Building the Web3 Marketing Stack - Crypto Corner
In web2, the marketing stack is rich in every area that matters - when a marketer wants to spend on a game, they have many places to do it, they can scale budget up and down as needed, they have the tools to measure how effective the spend is by channel, they can measure revenue events and many other different kinds of downstream activity for days, weeks, months and even years down the line. They have the analytics tools to segment and understand their player personas, and can effectively target these users across a wide variety of channels that serve particular niches. Incredibly accurate LTV models can be built from the data available, and ROAS can be calculated even on a long time horizon. And none of this is true in web3! The anonymity and pseudonymity of web3 makes segmentation and understanding of personas hard if not impossible, and while everything on-chain is by default completely transparent and open, having the wallet and the tokens it contains be the primary identifier is severely limiting. In this episode, your host Niko Vuori talks to three leading minds in web3 marketing - Quinn Campbell (VP of Growth at Sky Mavis), Justin Vogel (Co-Founder at Safary) and Warren Woodward (Co-Founder at Upptic) about the challenges web3 marketers face, the tools that need to be built and the current tactics that need to be employed to grow a web3 game. Sky Mavis: https://www.skymavis.com/ Safary: https://www.safary.club/ Upptic: https://upptic.com/ The ~80 web3 marketing leaders tracked by Safary: https://twitter.com/Safaryclub/status/1580235410147377158 If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too! And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!TLDListen?: Episode summaryWatch the episode: YouTube video Join the discussion: Naavik DiscordRead more: Naavik DigestWatch more: YouTube channelGo premium: Naavik ProFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.

Nov 18, 2022 • 1h 8min
Unity, Krafton, Nintendo Earnings / Future of Community Play - Roundtable
What can we learn from Unity, AppLovin, Roblox, Krafton and Nintendo earnings? What’s the next evolution of community play? We dive into the latest game business news with Aaron Bush, Tammy Levy, Elyssa Goldberg, and your host Maria Gillies.00:00 - Start03:12 - Unity Earnings Analysis05:27 - NewZoo Forecasts Market Decline13:41 - AppLovin Earnings Analysis15:26 - Roblox Earnings Analysis20:10 - Impacts of FTX on Gaming29:14 - Krafton Earnings Analysis35:46 - Nintendo Earnings & Strategy Analysis55:19 - Future of Community Play01:07:20 - OutroAlso, 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 would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your feedback! And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Use the promo code METACAST to save 10%. TLDListen?: Episode summaryWatch the episode: YouTube video Join the discussion: Naavik DiscordRead more: Naavik DigestWatch more: YouTube channelGo premium: Naavik ProFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

Nov 15, 2022 • 1h 4min
How to Choose a Blockchain + FTX!? - Crypto Corner
Should you build your game on Solana or Polygon? L1, L2, or sidechain? What are the technical, financial, ideological, and game design frameworks a web3 developer should think about when making this decision? In this week’s episode, your host, Alex Takei, talks all things chain choice with Aron Beierschmitt, CEO of Laguna Games, the studio responsible for Crypto Unicorns, and Sridhar Muppidi, co-founder of YesGnome, a skill based mobile gaming company. PLUS hot takes on the FTX debacle and what implications it might have for Solana given SOL is Alameda’s second largest token ecosystem holding.Aron Beierschmitt: https://twitter.com/abearschmittSridhar Muppidi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sridharmuppidi/If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too! And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!TLDListen?: Episode summaryWatch the episode: YouTube video Join the discussion: Naavik DiscordRead more: Naavik DigestWatch more: YouTube channelGo premium: Naavik ProFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.

Nov 13, 2022 • 54min
Alexis Bonte: Stillfront’s Strategy, Synergies & Future
In this episode, Alexis Bonte – COO of Stillfront Group – joins Naavik co-founder Aaron Bush to discuss:#1 His journey as an entrepreneur and executive, and how he ended up at Stillfront#2 How Stillfront operates, including how it provides autonomy to studios while still creating synergies across the entire organization#3 Stillfront’s M&A strategy, including lessons learned after 18 acquisitions#4 The future of Stillfront (and whether Stillfront is thinking about web3)To learn more, make sure to visit Stillfront’s website, investor relations page, and you can find Alexis on LinkedIn and Twitter.As always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Check out the link to request a demo, and use the promo code METACAST to save 10% on your first payment. TLDListen?: Episode summaryWatch the episode: YouTube channelJoin the discussion: Naavik DiscordFree newsletter: Naavik DigestGo premium: Naavik ProFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.


