Deconstructor of Fun

Welcome to TWIG #112! Today we cover: #1. Sensor Tower: Genshin Impact brings in nearly $400 million in 2 months on mobile #2. EG7 acquires Daybreak #3. The promise and challenge of Roblox Future in China LINKS: Check out Joakim's Elite Game Developers website and podcast: https://elitegamedevelopers.com/ Check out Randy Nelson's Interview with Joseph Kim:    - Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead to 2021 (SensorTower's Randy Nelson Interviews JK) Hosts: - Joe Kim (@jokim1) - Adam Telfer (@adamwtelfer) - Eric Kress (@ekress) Guest Host: - Joakim Achren (@joakim_a) As always, pls feel free to send us feedback!

Israel has always been a hub for tech startups. It's where companies such as Monday, Wix, Fiverr and Waze - just to mention a few - were born. Today the country is also known for a massive gaming sector worth tens of billions with companies such as Playtika, Moonactive, Plarium, Crazy Labs, ironSource, AppsFlyer and Fyber driving the growth. Who better to deconstruct the evolotion of the Israel's gaming ecosystem that Gigi Levy-Weiss, the Founding Parner of NFX (leading Israeli and Silicon Valley VC fund) and an early investor in Plarium and Playtika - among numerous other startups.  The questions we cover are:  How did the gaming sector get started and evolved into what it is today? How are Israeli companies doing so well in social casino when gambling is illegal in Israel? How does the Israel's a gaming ecosystem compares to the one we have here in Helsinki? How do companies stack up with needed talent? What is the VC and Angle scene like in Israel? What has gone right with the evolution of the gaming ecosystem in Israel - and what could have been done better and what will the future look like?

Growth Triggers is a new segment on Deconstructor of Fun podcast focusing on all matters growth. This podcast is definitely insightful, for sure entertaining and as always, highly opinionated. We call it how we see it. Your hosts Michail Katkoff and Eric Seufert

Welcome to TWIG #111! Today we cover: #1. Farlight 84 is an impressive and whacky looking battle royale that's heading for iOS, Android and PC next year #2. Will Fortnite's Subscription Work? #3. Supercell shutting down Hay Day Pop after less than a year Check out JK and his co-founders from LILA Games break down the Farlight 84 trailer: Farlight 84 Reaction & Analysis Hosts: - Joe Kim (@jokim1) - Adam Telfer (@adamwtelfer) - Eric Kress (@ekress) - Miska Katkoff (@m_katkoff) As always, pls feel free to send us feedback!

Welcome to TWIG 110! Today we cover: #1. Embracer Group acquires 13 studios: Here's everything you need to know #2. Apple will reduce App Store cut to 15 percent for most developers starting January  #3. Roblox IPO & some financials ($1.2b bookings in 9M 2020) Further, we are joined by guest host:    - Jon Jordan, founder of Steel Media whom you probably recognize from many gaming articles on PocketGamer.biz and elsewhere    - You should also check out Jon's Youtube Channel: Blockchain Gaming World Regular Hosts:    - Joe Kim (@jokim1)     - Adam Telfer (@adamwtelfer)     - Eric Kress (@ekress)    - Miska Katkoff (@m_katkoff) As always, pls feel free to send us feedback!

Three facts: 1. Marketability (CPIs) is the single most important metric of your business case 2. You can optimize marketability early on extremely cost-effectively  3. Most of the gaming studios fail to understand the first point until it is too late and thus refuse to concentrate on the second point. Marketability is perhaps the single biggest element of your game that you have direct control of and that can make - or break - your business case. Yet despite this, countless gaming studios fail to understand early enough who are their making their game for, how big is the target audience and what is costs to reach those players.  In this episode I'm joined with Joe Schaeppi (CEO of 12traits) and Jesse Lempiäinen  (CEO of Geeklab) as we discuss the following topics: 👉   Why marketability matters and when should you start optimizing for it? 👉   How will the IDFA depreciation affect optimization of marketability? 👉   What alternative ways should publishers look into to create audiences? 👉   How is the measurement of creative performance going to change? 👉  Is the role of marketability more or less important post IDFA?

Welcome to TWIG 109. Today we cover: #1. Apple is astonishingly confident in its new M1 Mac processors #2. Virtual Influencers Make Real Money While Covid Locks Down Human Stars #3. The argument for simpler games, in an industry obsessed with complexity Further, we are joined by guest host Ernest Wong to discuss Bringing more franchises to mobile is Activision Blizzard's biggest opportunity, says COO (from TWIG 107) Hosts: Joe Kim (@jokim1) Adam Telfer (@adamwtelfer) Kenny Liu Ernest Wong (@ErnestWongBWM) Hey people, LILA Games is hiring for a badass new F2P shooter game for mobile. We're hiring especially in Bengalaru, India: https://www.lilagames.com/job-openings/ We need PMs, designers, artists, and engineers. We especially need an AD!

The Chinese mobile market is expected to reach 21 billion Dollars in 2020 growing a staggering 17% year-over-year. In addition to having this massive - and from the Western perspective nearly impenetrable - home market, Chinese publishers have been having ever more success in the West.  Deconstructor of Fun podcast is joined by Daniel Ahmad, Yang Liu, and Eric Kress to discuss the characteristics of the Chinese mobile games market and how Western developers could better compete against their Chinese counterparts. The topics covered are:  Why are Chinese games are succeeding in the West when hit titles from Korea and Japan are struggling? Most Western hits haven’t become big in China. Why is that? Is there a moat that Western publishers can build against Chinese rivals in the West? What policies can be made to even out the competition? What is the market going to look like in 3 - 5 years?

Valorant's Game Director, Joseph Ziegler, and Lead Producer, Paul Belezza join the Deconstructor of Fun podcast to spill the beans on Valorant's origin story - from an idea to a game played and streamed by millions of fans around the World. We dive deep into Riot's creative process from the developer's perspective, talk team sizes, launch strategies, live services, community, and working with and for the passionate community. The game is growing and the team has an awesome pipeline of new content. They're looking for folks to help them realize the full potential of the game. And rumor says that listening to this episode can get you a step closer to working on one of the best tactical shooter ever made...

Ok people, this episode is just me (JK) and Miska. We lost some of our co-hosts when we very last minute audibled a change in news coverage. Anyway, as always, we sometimes may say things for dramatic effect. Hopefully none of you take things too personally as we are, in the end, fans of all game companies. Here are the specific news items we covered: Zynga’s acquisitions push it to record bookings of $628 million for Q3 2020 Why Glu Mobile Stock Skyrocketed Today EA revenues fall 14% to $1.15 billion for Q3 2020