Deconstructor of Fun

Game companies (with some exceptions like Nintendo) don't last! They are not long-term defensible. In tech, the FAANG companies are massively defensible. In fact,  Amazon today is the most valuable and most defensible company in the world.    In the video games industry, we don’t see the same level of long-term defensibility that we see in those industries.   After lots of great feedback and discussion after posting a blog post about this issue, we decided to bring some smart folks to talk about this.  Here's the written blog post  So the topic of our discussion today is as follows:      - #1. What are the current defensibility strategies of game companies today?      - #2. How defensible are gaming companies?       - #3. How can game companies build greater long-term defensibility?       - #4. How should management teams be thinking about building greater defensibility into their companies?      - #5. Which game company has the greatest defensibility in the market today?   And with us today to speak to all of these issues and more are:       - #1. Lloyd Melnick, GM of Chumba Casino at VGW    - #2. Kristian Segerstrale, CEO of Super Evil Megacorp - #3. Mark Sottosanti, SVP at Riot Games Your host/moderator: - Joe Kim, CEO of LILA Games, YouTuber at GameMakers, and DOF Podcast Co-host/Producer, Twitter/Insta: @jokim1

Welcome to TWIG #95! This week we cover: #1. Apple blocking Project xCloud and Stadia because it can't review every game (gamesindustry.biz) #2. Zynga acquires hypercasual game maker Rollic for $168M (Mobile Marketer) #3. Why Indies are struggling to be seen on the Switch eshop (MCV/Develop) SHOW LINKS: Guest Host: Kenny Liu from ggDigest, now DOF Digest! FEEDBACK?: Do you have feedback or comments for us? You can reach us on Twitter at: Joseph Kim: @jokim1 (Twitter, Insta)   Eric Kress: @ekress    Adam Telfer: @adamwtelfer    Miska Katkoff: @m_katkoff SPONSOR: This episode is sponsored by Beta Hat (www.betahatMR.com)

Indie mobile game developer WildCard Games has been developing mobile card games for the past 7 years launching games like Ultimate Cribbage, Cribbage, and Backgammon.   How does this 2 person studio get to the next level in growing their mobile game products?   Let's DIVE DEEP! We review mobile marketing strategy and discuss channels, campaigns, creative types.  Deep discussion on using Facebook's AEO and VO relative to other forms of marketing.   Great discussion with WildCard's Josh Chandley their Chief Operating Officer. https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshchandley   Expert UA Advisors: Nebo Radovic, N3twork: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nebojsaradovic/ Jon Lau, Weee!: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-y-lau/   TOPICS DISCUSSED: Intro to WildCard Studios Current Marketing Campaigns Initial Feedback Fluctuating ARPU Curve AEO and VO Considerations Creative Types Scale Considerations IDFA Considerations  Facebook Algorithms  Final Words of Advice

Welcome to TWIG #94! This week we cover: #1. Could Halo: Infinite be the last ever Halo title, as 343 calls it a “platform for the future” #2. EA Just had its best june quarter for Sales in 38 year history #3. Blizzard shows off new Diablo Immortal gameplay SHOW LINKS: Guest Host: Kenny Liu from ggDigest, now DOF Digest! FEEDBACK?: Do you have feedback or comments for us? You can reach us on Twitter at: Joseph Kim: @jokim1 (Twitter, Insta)   Eric Kress: @ekress    Adam Telfer: @adamwtelfer    Miska Katkoff: @m_katkoff

In today’s episode, we ask a very important question - how to build a studio that can make genre-defining hit games. Even though game mechanics are powerful forces, what can truly drive massive and sustainable growth are culture, processes and teams that comprise high-performing studios - a perspective that I’m excited to dig into today. I’m truly thrilled to get Mishka’s insights distilled from hundreds of games from tens of studios in our interview today.    Key Highlights:  🤔 Why is it important to know and understand how to build a successful studio, versus, say how to make successful game mechanics?  🎮 The seven elements that make for a great studio.   ✅ Why ‘right sized’ teams are important to a great studio.  👨🏻‍💻 Why Mishka values software and art over presentations.  🎨 Why Mishka considers an art director a key early hire.  ❌ The one common characteristic of unsuccessful games. 📐 How engineers, designers and business people on teams look at problems from very different perspectives. 💭 Why a PM or businessperson-driven culture can find it hard to release anything genre-defining.  ✌️ How to change the composition and leadership of studio teams as a game matures.  💯 How to think about being design driven vs. metrics driven.

Welcome to TWIG #93! This week we cover: #1. The 7 RPG player personas #2. Over half of US kids are playing Roblox, and it’s about to host Fortnite-esque virtual parties too #3. Microsoft Showcase #4. The Imminent Ragnarok of M&A in Mobile Gaming Space SHOW LINKS: Guest Host: Brett Nowak, CEO of Liquid & Grit FEEDBACK?: Do you have feedback or comments for us? You can reach us on Twitter at: Joseph Kim: @jokim1 (Twitter, Insta)   Eric Kress: @ekress    Adam Telfer: @adamwtelfer    Miska Katkoff: @m_katkoff

If the Metaverse is the next frontier? How should the economy be designed to help support a healthy and vibrant ecosystem for all players? Today we are joined by Tim Sweeney CEO of Epic Games  The focus of the discussion is how do we build an efficient and fair economy for this new platform.

We’re here today to talk about the current state of M&A aka mergers & acquisitions in the games industry. There’s been a lot of recent activity and there seems to be an open question now of whether the current trend can continue as Zynga seems to indicate or whether we’re likely going to see a major slowdown.   Specifically we’ll speak to:      - #1. What has driven the recent spate of M&A in the games industry?      - #2. Why has Zynga historically sucked at M&A and suddenly seem like they are amazing at it more recently?      - #3.  Who are the buyers in the market      - #4. Whoa are the acquisition targets  including speculation on WB?      - #5 Predictions on M&A trends short term/long term?   And with us today to speak to all of these issues and more are:      - #1. Saad Choudri, Chief Commercial Officer, at Miniclip: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saad-choudri-4691384/      - #2. Jeff Cohen, Research Analyst at Stephens Inc.: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-cohen-29930455/      - #3. Michael Metzger, Partner at investment banking firm DrakeStar Partners: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelmmetzger/ Originally aired on GameMakers.com YouTube channel HERE

Welcome to TWIG #92! This week we cover: #1. Microsoft to launch xCloud streaming free with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in September (The Verge) #2. China removes  Supercell’s Hay Day and 2500 other games from iOS app Store (Venture Beat) #3. Glu reloads its war chest for mobile game acquisitions (Venture Beat) SHOW LINKS: Watch the M&A YouTube video FEEDBACK?: Do you have feedback or comments for us? You can reach us on Twitter at: Joseph Kim: @jokim1 (Twitter, Insta)   Eric Kress: @ekress    Adam Telfer: @adamwtelfer    Miska Katkoff: @m_katkoff This episode is sponsored by Beta Hat (www.betahatMR.com)

Monumental changes are changes are coming to mobile games market.  First one to bear the hit is the performance marketing ecosystem. As Play Store follows suit, attribution platforms, ad networks and Facebook are struggling to adapt to the new reality. And as the shift happens, performance marketing teams will go through a rapid bottoms up change due to all the changes in the ecosystem.  In this episode we dive deeper into the implications of the changes to the marketing ecosystem. What happens to CPIs and CPMs? What is the role of cross-promotion going forward? Will IPs be a more important for games looking to grow? How about ad monetization?  We also discuss the future of various different type of mobile games companies from hypercasual publishers to mid-core developers, from startups to giants with large and diversified portfolios.  ---- Our guests: Eric Seufert www.linkedin.com/in/ericseufert Yevgeny Peres https://www.linkedin.com/in/yevgenyperes/