Deconstructor of Fun

The $600M GAMES FUND ONE, a16z’s inaugural fund dedicated to building the future of the games industry. A16Z has been investing in games for over a decade being the investor of the likes of Zynga and Oculus.  We're joined by Jonathan Lai, General Partner at A16Z to discuss what makes GAMES FUND ONE stand out from the rest of the gaming and interactive media funds.  Jonathan also breaks down what verticals the new fund is going after and how the fund evaluates founders. We also discuss the effect of the bear market on the games industry and the future of blockchain games. links: Jon Lai (@Tocelot) Deconstructor of Fun (email)

We discuss why Ubisoft shifts attention to mobile amidst declining sales. Kress provides a breakdown of the AppLovin quarterly review, where the company put on a show of the ages and got rewarded with a 35% growth in their stock price. We talk about Bethesda's delayed games and the implication of this. Adam breaks down why brain trust, which sounds so amazing on paper, rarely if ever works in real life.  Links: Questions and Feedback Sponsors: Google, ironSource, Appsflyer, Xsolla, Recur

If you’ve been following crypto news over the past few weeks, you’ve undoubtedly seen plenty about the dramatic collapse of the Terra ecosystem against the backdrop of the onset of crypto winter. 30 days ago, $LUNA was at $81.45 and is now under $0.0002. $UST was at $1.00. and is now $0.09. Today we are joined by special guest Kenrick Drijkoningen, General Partner at Play Ventures and an early investor in Terra to explain the collapse of Terra, and how this collapse should influence the choice of chain for your web3 game project. Kenrick is joined in conversation by your regular hosts Ethan and Anton.

Patrick Carney (aka. Chief Pat) is the founder and CEO of Tribe Gaming, an esports and influencer company for mobile games with over 100M monthly views on YouTube. Together with Pat, we talk about how to be successful with influencer marketing on YouTube. We discuss finding the right influencer for your game and how to get these influencers to talk about your game in an authentic way. Pat also analyzes the impact of IDFA on the demand for influencer marketing. Tribe Gaming works with the likes of Activision, Tencent, and Supercell. This episode is guaranteed to be full of tangible insights for publishers and developers of all sizes. ps: check out the Tribe Mobile (https://imgur.com/a/DDrKjT2)

We discuss the crash of crypto and how it affects blockchain gaming. Dive deep into Space Ape's development process and compare it to the one Wooga used to unsuccessfully follow before the Playtika acquisition. Kress explains why FIFA is the one to lose out after the breakup with EA. Links: Questions and Feedback The Slack Group Hosts: Mishka Katkoff, Eric Kress, Adam Telfer and Ethan Levy, Eric Seufert Sponsors: Google, ironSource, Appsflyer, Xsolla

The recent launch of Moonbirds is shaping up to be the best NFT drop of 2022 yielding up to $280M. In this episode, we dive into why it worked so well, as well as the lessons learned and actionable takeaways for gaming.  The premium of Utility NFTs is growing rapidly, and we’re witnessing the growth in real-time with innovative projects like Moonbirds that build upon previous successful projects. Aligning communities, creators, tokens, and value is how you onboard people to crypto and build tokenized communities.  Hosts:  N3TWORK Executive Producer Ethan Levy - Play Ventures Principal Anton Backman -  Savage Games Studios CEO Michail Katkoff 

We discuss the mixed reviews of APEX Mobile. Congratulate Bernard Kim on his latest baller move. Doom Warcraft mobile. In this episode Kress also ponders why NewZoo keeps triggering him. Seufert updates us on the latest anti-trust charges Apple is facing.   Links: Questions and Feedback The Slack Group Hosts: Mishka Katkoff, Eric Kress, Adam Telfer and Ethan Levy, Eric Seufert Sponsors: Google, ironSource, Appsflyer, Xsolla

Shahaf started a company called ominously Web3 back in 2006. Since then he has been at the forefront of the adaptation of blockchain technology first within finance and now within games as the President of UnCaged Studios. In this episode, we discuss the reasons why blockchain and crypto broke into the mainstream last year. Why do investors remain bullish about blockchain gaming despite massive security hacks and lack of audience growth? As well as what is the most important part when assessing and predicting the success of a blockchain games company. 

Kress gets triggered by Newzoo's new report about the state of esports and live streaming. The team discusses ex-Riot and ex-Blizzard founding teams. Recap of why advertising in console games is not a good idea. Our take on Diablo Immportal coming to mobile and PC and analysis of why private equities are eying Ubisoft.  Links: Questions and Feedback The Slack Group Hosts: Mishka Katkoff, Eric Kress, Adam Telfer and Ethan Levy, Eric Seufert Sponsors: Google, ironSource, Appsflyer, Xsolla

Chris Heatherly’s long and accomplished career in the games industry spans toys, MMOs, mobile, free-to-play, and VR and includes work on some of the biggest brands in the world. He spent over 14 years at Disney where he worked on everything from leading smash-hit kid’s MMO Club Penguin, to leading their mobile initiative, to leading their toys business. After Disney, he joined NBCU to launch their games business where he developed games using world-famous brands including Jurassic Park, followed by a tour of duty at mobile, free-to-play developer N3TWORK leading Funko Pop! Blitz. Now, Chris has red-pilled on crypto and joined NFT collectibles startup Recur as their Head of Gaming & Engagement. Having already launched bespoke collecting experiences NFTU and Star Trek: Continuum, Recur is set to launch plenty more branded experiences as well as expand into play-to-earn gaming over the course of 2022. In this interview, learn why Chris red-pilled, what drew him to Recur, and how his experiences across toys, games, and kid’s MMOs influence his work building NFT experiences. This interview is hosted by Ethan Levy, who currently serves as Executive Producer of Legendary: Heroes Unchained at N3TWORK.