PocketGamer.biz Podcast

Game studios face tough choices in 2024 with user acquisition. Matt Conlin from Fluent discusses shifting from 'growth at all costs' to targeted strategies for high-value users. He evaluates game-changing UA trends, shares exclusive SWOT analyses of UA channels, and highlights tactics for profitability in 2024. The podcast also touches on third-party app stores, retail challenges, and favorite games. The hosts thank listeners and look forward to future episodes.

Yaron Leyvand, Executive VP at Zynga, shares Zynga's strategy for growth and success in the gaming industry. They focus on live ops and content, explore innovative changes in puzzle games, and emphasize the importance of player engagement. The podcast also discusses Zynga's approach to acquisitions and their collaboration with Take-Two. Finally, they mention the upcoming 10-year anniversary celebration of PocketGamer Connects.

Success starts with a great game, but profitable growth is fueled by ongoing engagement that treats players as individuals. And, although it’s not rocket science, the SuperScale report, Good Games Don’t Die, reveals this is where most studios miss the mark. Nearly 40% fail to deliver relevant and engaging content to their users. It’s also one reason 83% of games fail within three years of launch. How can gaming companies step up engagement to ensure their game (and audience) is thriving years down the road? Jim Laurain, Head of Growth at Aampe, a company that leverages AI to level up your communication stack, shares some smart approaches in this week’s show with our hosts Peggy Anne Salz and Brian Baglow. Jim reveals how 75% of top gaming apps fail to welcome new players and outlines how these same companies can significantly increase engagement in just one step. He also zeroes in on the stages where top games are getting their messaging and segmentation wrong. He wraps up with an experiment every game dev can run to gain a deeper understanding of their players and “massively increase their retention and activity” in the process. And this is one experiment you can do at home! CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 04:51 - 75% of apps miss this crucial step 10:11 - How are 25% of apps getting messaging wrong? 14:01 - Popular trends in messaging flow 22:28 - Tailor messaging based on player motivation 24:58 - An experiment to reveal player types and relevant messaging 33:05 - Using CRM data to shape UA 37:42 - How does Aampe help devs with messaging? 40:46 - Favourite games Q&A with Jim * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  ** Let's Connect ** 👉🏻 Twitter - https://twitter.com/pgbiz  👉🏻 LinkedIn Group - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/144491/  👉🏻 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PGbiz  👉🏻 Website - https://www.pocketgamer.biz  Check out more world-class speakers sharing their insights and expertise at one of our events. You can find details of our next event here - https://www.pgconnects.com/next-event

John Wright, Vice President of Mobile Publishing at Kwalee, discusses the importance of player loyalty, creating memorable user experiences, and increasing Kwalee games' LTV. They also touch on the evolution of the gaming industry, hybrid casual games, and the decline of hypercasual games. The guest shares their current obsession with Monster Hunter and their favorite games of all time: Final Fantasy VI and Final Fantasy VII.

There’s no shortage of benefits that games bring to players, from increased creativity to developing interpersonal skills to greater self-confidence. Yet, gaming popularity grows, so do the silent risks posed to children online. Fortunately, there is an organisation leading the fight against child abuse and developing safe game design guidelines. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is the UK’s leading children’s charity, protecting and advocating for youth in the UK and Channel Islands for 139 years. Joining host Peggy Anne Salz on the show this week is NSPCC’s Head of New Product Development and Innovation, Andy Sallnow, and Gaming and Digital Disruption Consult, Kevin Antao. Andy and Kevin discuss how children experience games differently, channels that pose the greatest threat to young users, and the Safe Games Festival. From February 5-11, 2024, at a state-of-the-art eSports venue and featuring live streaming, safeguarding workshops, and a fierce eSports competition, this festival joins parents, youth professionals, young gamers, and industry leaders to celebrate games and “promote safer gaming through design, production, and education.” CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 03:25 - How has social gaming impacted children? 08:03 - Safe game design 14:06 - Research into harm in the metaverse 17:35 - Is privacy-first harmful for children? 20:26 - Game Safe Festival 24:08 - The Games Bundle 26:05 - How to get involved in preventing child abuse 29:10 - Impactful NSPCC partnerships and resources 34:26 - Favourite games Q&A with Andy and Kevin * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  ** Let's Connect ** 👉🏻 Twitter - https://twitter.com/pgbiz  👉🏻 LinkedIn Group - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/144491/  👉🏻 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PGbiz  👉🏻 Website - https://www.pocketgamer.biz  Check out more world-class speakers sharing their insights and expertise at one of our events. You can find details of our next event here - https://www.pgconnects.com/next-event

Elena Grigorian, CEO of MY.GAMES, shares strategies for success in the gaming industry, including centralizing marketing, leveraging diversification, and embracing diversity. She discusses her journey to becoming a female CEO and MY.GAMES' efforts to empower women. Elena also talks about riding the industry's highs and lows and highlights the development she's most excited about.

Good games offer great experiences, and accurate and timely issue resolution is imperative to keeping LTV high and your game in good graces with its users. And it’s not just a must to please your players. App store algorithms have begun to rank games based on performance metrics and can punish games that go on the fritz. But, as all devs know, pinpointing the source is complicated, especially since most resolution tools either lack the data to determine the real cause or the holistic view of the player journey to check if other factors, like low bandwidth during the commute, are the real culprit. Years of frustration trying to figure out the root cause of the problem during his years as a co-founder of Scopely motivated Eric Futoran to build Embrace. The mobile-only monitoring solution effectively removes the guesswork by providing a “play-by-play of each user experience,” so your team can spend less time pointing fingers and more time building a #1 game. Eric joins host Peggy Anne Salz in this week’s episode to explain how Embrace “collects [an app’s] exhaust” and walks us through the key features that empower engineers to find solutions and, more importantly, take their seat at the decision-making table. “My goal at Embrace is to [prevent] you from constantly thinking about crashes and ANRs,” Eric says. “And allow you to get back to building games and making your users happy.”  CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 03:06 - When you're forced to release a game 07:29 - Eric's lessons from his time at Scopely 10:47 - Give engineering a seat at the table 14:18 - Performance metrics now affect your ranking 17:30 - The need for proactive tools 21:39 - How does Embrace empower engineers? 26:30 - Examples of Embrace's effectiveness 33:07 - Eric's vision powering Embrace 35:48 - Can UA teams use Embrace? 37:29 - Advice to mobile studios + devs 41: 05 - Favourite games Q&A with Eric * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  ** Let's Connect ** 👉🏻 Twitter - https://twitter.com/pgbiz  👉🏻 LinkedIn Group - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/144491/  👉🏻 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PGbiz  👉🏻 Website - https://www.pocketgamer.biz  Check out more world-class speakers sharing their insights and expertise at one of our events. You can find details of our next event here - https://www.pgconnects.com/next-event

If your ASO strategy isn’t motivated by real-time data insights that dive deeper than traditional tools to provide hourly insights into hot keywords and trends, you’re missing a massive opportunity. This is top-of-the-list advice from Mike Rhodes, CEO and Founder of ConsultMyApp, an app marketing agency with awards from Top CRM Consulting Company UK to Most Effective Use of Data 2022. ConsultMyApp believes in democratising ASO knowledge and that quality data “shouldn’t only be available to people [able] to spend thousands of dollars a year.” That’s one of the reasons Mike developed tools like APPlyzer that studios of all sizes can use to up their game and even have some fun exploring new keyword universes. Mike takes centre stage on this week’s show to share how studios can combine acquisition and engagement to increase monthly organic install volumes 10-15x and reveals the four things studios need to start doing now to end Q4 with a bang.  CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 01:36 - Mike's journey 05:15 - How apps across verticals can all benefit from data 08:59 - What's the next big change in games? 11:07 - A tool to democratise data 14:46 - What APPlyzer tells you that other tools can't 20:32 - Uplift expectations for devs 21:29 - How to end Q4 with a bang 35:18 - Keeping high energy and staying on top 37:39 - Favourite games Q&A with Mike * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  ** Let's Connect ** 👉🏻 Twitter - https://twitter.com/pgbiz  👉🏻 LinkedIn Group - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/144491/  👉🏻 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PGbiz  👉🏻 Website - https://www.pocketgamer.biz  Check out more world-class speakers sharing their insights and expertise at one of our events. You can find details of our next event here - https://www.pgconnects.com/next-event

The PG.biz Podcast team has known that games can be used for more than just entertainment. We’ve discussed charity and climate action use cases, but what about self-care, mental development, and skills improvement? Trail-blazing gaming company Skillprint enhances all three. Skillprint combines neuroscience and AI to create adaptive and personalised games that equip devs and players with actionable insights into player personality and behaviour. Skillprint’s CEO and Co-Founder, Chethan Ramachandran, joins Peggy Anne Salz to discuss how Skillprint transforms the way game developers “find, keep, and monetise their audience” and “gives the power of a massive LiveOps team to every game developer in the world.”  You don’t want to miss out on this episode as Peggy and Chethan delve into the company’s latest report on the cognitive and psychological benefits of gaming and how devs can harness this data to understand their games and dramatically increase engagement and retention.  CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 01:15 - What is Skillprint? 04:30 - Chethan's personal journey 10:12 - Altering the playing field for devs 13:18 - How are Skillprint customers using the data? 15:51 - Will I become a couch potato? 18:41 - Games Can Be Good For The Mind Report 25:53 - Games as meditation 29:04 - What's next for Skillprint? 34:49 - Favourite games Q&A with Chethan * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  ** Let's Connect ** 👉🏻 Twitter - https://twitter.com/pgbiz  👉🏻 LinkedIn Group - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/144491/  👉🏻 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PGbiz  👉🏻 Website - https://www.pocketgamer.biz  Check out more world-class speakers sharing their insights and expertise at one of our events. You can find details of our next event here - https://www.pgconnects.com/next-event

It’s already known that games can positively impact mental health, but did you know they can positively impact the planet, too? Lisa Pak, Sustainability Consultant and Project Manager at Playing for the Planet, joins host Peggy Anne Salz to describe how, with its superpower reach, the games industry can wield the power of play in the fight against the climate crisis. Lisa brings her passion for sustainability to Playing For The Planet, a global alliance supported by the United Nations Environment Programme that unites and supports game studios and trade bodies in reducing carbon emissions and implementing green activations in games. Through planet-powering programs, campaigns, and the annual Green Game Jam, Playing for the Planet members bring a new meaning to gaming for good — and so can you! CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 01:44 - What is Playing for the Planet? 05:38 - Lisa's journey to Playing for the Planet 08:45- Green Game Jam 11:45 - Saving the Harlequin toads with games 14:27 - How to get involved in the Green Game Jam 17:31 - Integrating sustainability into game ads 20:27 - How to start being green at your game company 25:02 - Farming with friends 28:45 - Favourite games Q&A with Lisa * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  ** Let's Connect ** 👉🏻 Twitter - https://twitter.com/pgbiz  👉🏻 LinkedIn Group - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/144491/  👉🏻 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PGbiz  👉🏻 Website - https://www.pocketgamer.biz  Check out more world-class speakers sharing their insights and expertise at one of our events. You can find details of our next event here - https://www.pgconnects.com/next-event