Naavik Gaming Podcast

Max Child, CEO of Volley, discusses the AI in voice games, history of input design, and monetization strategies. They explore the reach of voice games on common devices, player demographics, and the future of inclusive voice games.

Mobile gaming is a tough business, but Voodoo has been able to evolve with the times. After years of pioneering hypercasual, the company has more recently set its sights on making casual mobile games with deeper metas and monetization tactics. This pivot sparked major changes across the organization, but it’s already led to major hits – the largest of which is Mob Control, which surpassed the $200M revenue barrier and is still climbing.In order to learn the full story of Mob Control, host Aaron Bush flew to Barcelona, Spain to meet with Miguel Santirso, a General Manager at Voodoo whose internal studio, Mambo Studio, has masterminded the game’s ascent. We discuss Voodoo’s unique culture, the origin story of Mob Control, and the key decisions that led to the game’s success. We also touch on what’s next for Mob Control and how the team is managing the next hit on its hands, Block Jam.This is a case study in mobile gaming excellence you certainly won’t want to miss.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.Who’s On:Guest - Miguel Santirso: https://www.linkedin.com/in/miguelsantirso/ Host - Aaron Bush: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-bush-846b8185/ Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

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.