Naavik Gaming Podcast

Discover how Funcraft is thriving in the competitive world of casual word games, with insights on user acquisition, ad mediation, and profitable monetization. Hear from Michael Martinez on building a successful gaming business, team dynamics, and game development strategies.

Geeshan Willink, CEO of Nefta, discusses the shift to privacy-focused ads in AdTech. He explores balancing precision targeting with user privacy, effective ad targeting methods, and the challenges in implementing new approaches in the gaming industry. The conversation touches on the impact on player retention, ad inventory pricing, and predictions for the future of ad-supported gaming.

Chess is a business that has, without a doubt, been supercharged by linear media and has been booming since COVID-19. As one of the most tactically complex games ever designed, Chess has over 700 years of retention and history. But what is it like to build a chess empire? Chess.com, purchased by Erik Allebest and his co-founder for $55K in 2005, has built a web and mobile platform with over 170M raw accounts, 50M monthly active users, and 5-7M daily active users. Join our host, Alexandra Takei, Director at Ruckus Games, in a discussion with Erik that covers growing a team of two to 600 over 20 years, the monetization and engagement of a Chess platform, an overview of external acquisitions the company has made, and growing rapidly via what Erik calls a “great meme game”. We also discuss the pros and cons of not owning your IP and where the future of online Chess is headed! Checkmate! Also, big thanks to ZBD for making this episode possible! ZBD provides a plug-and-play API and SDK for seamless integration of instant, borderless, and low-fee payments using the Bitcoin Lightning Network. Want to better engage and monetize your global user base? Start for free at http://zbd.gg/https://grid.gg/?utm_source=naavik.co&utm_medium=media&utm_campaign=NaavikIf 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.

Yves Saada from Spin Master discusses their transition from toys to digital entertainment like PAW Patrol and Bakugan. They focus on partnerships with tech and gaming companies, targeting older audiences in gaming, and strategies on Roblox. Spin Master excels in user-generated content and collaborations in mobile games with massive user bases and brand tie-ins.

Josh Ye, a long-time reporter for gaming and tech in China, discusses China's massive gaming market evolution, domestic challenges, and international expansion strategies. Topics include Tencent, NetEase, regulatory challenges, and predictions for the future of the Chinese gaming industry.

Learn about the backbone of all video games with CEO Sid Dhulipalla and VP Steven Hartland as they discuss cloud infrastructure, player experience, and server orchestration. Dive into topics like bare metal, peer-to-peer, dedi servers, and the business dynamics of game launches. Discover the landscape of cloud providers, hybrid setups, and the critical role of predictability, cost, and flexibility in game development.

Explore the pivotal role of content creators in gaming with Justin Sacks, CEO of Nexus, and Bryan Herren, Director of Partnerships for Off Brand. They discuss working with diverse content creators, the evolving esports landscape, and challenges and opportunities in building around creators for Nexus and Off Brand.

Modding has long been a force of innovation and creativity in the games industry, but the emergence of cross-platform, premium mods is set to take modding to another level. Thanks to platforms like Overwolf’s CurseForge, studios and publishers can now enable all sorts of creators — even other professional studios — to build on top of their games and get rewarded for doing so. This new technical and economic unlock is poised to take UGC gaming to even higher heights and is a compelling growth opportunity for the entire industry.To best discuss this trend, host and Naavik co-founder Aaron Bush is joined by Uri Marchand, CEO of Overwolf, Jeremy Stieglitz, Co-Founder of Studio Wildcard, and Patrick Moran, Founder and COO of Look North World. Look North World, a young UGC-focused publisher and studio, is building a premium DLC on top of Studio Wildcard’s popular ARK: Survival Ascended, which is all enabled thanks to Overwolf’s CurseForge platform. The crew discusses how to operationalize premium mods, why the economics can be compelling, what cross-platform enablement unlocks, and big predictions for the future.We’d also like to thank Nexus for making this episode possible! Nexus’s creator program in-a-box makes it easy for game devs to build and manage a world-class creator program, driving significant growth in conversion, ARPPU, retention, and LTV. To learn more, go to http://nexus.gg/naavikIf 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 New York Times is one of the world’s most recognized newspapers and has been in circulation since 1851. With 10 million subscribers, the Times has a huge audience and an even larger cultural impact. But the Gray Lady isn’t content to just rest on her laurels and focus on news - other verticals in which the Times operates are product reviews (The Wirecutter), sports (through their 2022 acquisition of The Athletic), cooking, and, of course, games. In addition to their home-grown casual titles, the Times famously acquired viral sensation Wordle in early 2022 and since then has launched hit games Connections and most recently Strands (in beta).To learn more about the Times’ games strategy, your host Niko Vuori talks with Jonathan Knight, Head of Games at The New York Times. New York Times Games: https://www.nytimes.com/subscription/games. You can find Jonathan Knight on LinkedIn.We’d also like to thank Lightspeed Venture Partners for making this episode possible! With its dedicated gaming practice, "Lightspeed Gaming," the firm is investing from over $7B in early- and growth-stage capital — the by far largest fund focused on gaming and interactive technology. If you’re interested in learning more, go to https://gaming.lsvp.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. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

Christoffer Holmgard and Nathan Martz discuss the future of AI in quality assurance for game development, sharing insights on players as a service, functional load testing, and collaboration between humans and AI agents. They highlight the evolution of QA testing, successful partnerships with studios, and the potential of AI to revolutionize game development processes.