PocketGamer.biz Podcast

The best and brightest gaming professionals gathered in Helsinki this September to share their thoughts, tips, and predictions about the latest gaming trends and what teams need to know to make their mark in the marketplace. Listen in as Steel Media CEO Chris James and COO Dave Bradley recap the candid conversations that took place in Finland’s capital city last month. From IP as a brand and revenue tool to the abundant opportunities for expansion in the Middle East to alternative monetisation methods that give smaller studios a spot in the market, our PG.biz team provides the in-depth industry information you need to succeed.  CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro to Helsinki 03:58 - Indie competitions and audience choice champions 06:00 - The defining parts of Helsinki 2023 09:40 - Is mobile gaming struggling? 12:23 - Alternative monetisation and advertising methods 14:05 - Attracting audiences with PC and cross-platform play 17:00 - Wielding IP as a brand and revenue tool 20:14 - Opportunity in the Middle East 24:41 - Updates on Scottish Games Week  26:30 - Upcoming PGC events * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  ** 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 

Angus Lovitt, CEO of Ramp, and Hong Nguyen, CFO of SpaceApe Games, discuss the benefits of automated forecasting in making data-driven decisions. They highlight how accurate forecasting helped SpaceApe Games increase investments and achieve success on the App Store. The podcast also explores the future of forecasting and the importance of regularly updating data. The hosts express gratitude and wrap up the show with contact information.

Good forecasting is necessary to predict performance or make tough decisions about your game. But it's not just about the numbers. Winning demands a single source of truth, insights into real-time data and a departure from the timework tools and approaches that have allowed team members to pass the blame, not the benchmarks. Fortunately, this week's guests are uprooting traditional forecasting practices for a more democratized, innovative and granular cohorts-based approach. "Fundamentally, [forecasting] is a process of alignment," says Angus Lovitt, Co-Founder of Ramp, a startup that integrates data across departments to provide studios with unified and accurate forecasts. In this first episode of a special two-part series, Angus and Hong Nguyen, CFO at SpaceApe Games, teach the entire team —from devs to marketers to finance —how to make better decisions informed by data. CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 02:03 - Where is everyone going wrong with forecasting? 04:38 - Why is forecasting innovation important now in the gaming industry?  09:01 - Bad forecasting is more than a bad formula 13:40 - How Angus disrupted the gaming industry for three years 16:52 - How does RAMP reenvision forecasting? 21:40 - The benefit of a single source of truth 25:46 - What does automation bring to forecasting? * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  ** 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

Though there’s no algebraic algorithm that churns out games with guaranteed success, there are consistencies between top-ranking mobile games. The Gaming Spotlight Review 2023 from data.ai spotlights these similarities and delves into the data behind the success stories. Lexi Sydow, Director of Corporate Marketing & Insights at data.ai, joins our hosts again this week to highlight the heavy hitters in mobile gaming and simplify the strategies that shot them to the top. Alongside Peggy Anne Salz and Brian Baglow, she breaks down data.ai’s composite metric, the mobile performance score (MPS), and describes the “new gamer” that defies demographic stereotypes and will redefine the mobile industry. CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Peggy's garden intro 01:24 - Four components of the mobile performance score 05:38 - Making waves with Monopoly GO 09:37 - FIFA Soccer fights its way to the top 13:12 - Royal Match ranks highly  16:16 - What do successful games have in common? 20:38 - Who is the "new gamer" to watch out for? 25:36 - Q&A with Lexi Gaming Spotlight Review 2023 - https://www.data.ai/en/go/gaming-report-idc-2023/ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  ** 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

Lexi Sydow, gaming trends and ad formats expert, gives insights on shifting player tastes, emerging genres, and the importance of contextual market data in overcoming ad fatigue. Monetization techniques, challenges in in-game ads, and user preferences are also discussed.

Diving into different game genres is no simple feat, especially as innovations in games call for new approaches to net valuable players from the get-go. The trick to coming out on top? Diversify your UA efforts as you diversify your portfolio, says this week’s guest. Ryan Davies, Head of Digital Marketing at Kwalee and recent 30 Under 30 performance marketer, joins us on this episode’s podcast. An expert in creating campaigns that crush it on all platforms, he chats with our hosts Peggy Anne Salz and Brian Baglow about pathways to profitable growth in hypercasual, hybrid, and casual games. He also discusses genre commonalities that transcend platforms and shares life lessons to help you lead teams, rely on your intuition and embrace risk. CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 04:15 - Key skills to be a great UA manager 06:50 - Maintaining growth across different genres 08:45 - Is this the end of hypercasual games? 10:42 - Marketing tactics to match the metamorphosis of hypercasual games 13:43 - Navigating UA challenges on console and browser 19:20 - Ryan’s biggest lesson from six years in UA 22:45 - Balancing the qualitative and the quantitative and embracing risk 27:13 - Incentivising AI ideas 28:20 - Q&A with Ryan * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  ** 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

PG Connects Toronto is done and dusted, and the PG.biz team is here for the recap. Dave Bradley, Steel Media COO, joins the show again this week to break down the high points of the event. Alongside Peggy and Brian, Dave details topics like getting more mileage out of your game and player retention. What’s more, he gives a view into upcoming PGC events and teases new locations. CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 01:16 - PG.biz Save The Dates 06:50 - Some PGC Toronto attendees 10:21 - Gaming tech beyond gaming 13:40 - A chance to win an audience choice award 19:42 - Recapping PGC Dubai 22:00 - New locations for PG Connects 24:30 - Reflecting on the growth of the games industry 28:18 - Wrapping up the international tour with Scottish Games Week * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  ** 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

To build a great gaming ecosystem, “Think global, act local,” says Anton Gorodetsky. Anton is the Head of Industry Relations at the leading European publisher and developer, MY.GAMES. He joins the podcast this week to explain how to build a comprehensive ecosystem dedicated to loyalty, branding, and retaining players that generates revenue years into a game’s lifecycle. He brings us behind the scenes of cultivating relationships that matter and one influencer partnership that raked in a 20% DAU increase and 6 million MAUs. CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro & MY.GAMES’ expansion 05:17 - Communication is key  09:27 - A collaboration that paid dividends 13:01 - Building a cohesive ecosystem 21:16 - New audiences, not new games 25:23 - InvestGame--your guide to gaming deals 27:46 - Q&A with Anton * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  ** 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

Tactile Games’  User Acquisition Manager, Plamen Stefanov, joins our hosts, Peggy Anne Salz and Brian Baglow, to showcase how small teams can make big waves in the gaming community. You might recognize Tactile from its hit game, Lily's Garden, which has generated 517 million worldwide in lifetime player spending since it appeared on the market in 2019. Plamen cites cross-team collaboration and a testing ecosystem that feeds itself as two contributors to this success. Listen to Peggy, Brian, and Plamen’s conversation for a peek behind the curtain of Tactile Games’ scaling skills and for Plamen’s top three tips for someone passionate about pursuing UA. CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 03:30 - From B2B marketing to games advertising  07:17 - UA beyond ROAS optimisation 08:44 - Is there room for creativity in data-driven UA? 11:47 - Suffering sells 14:53 - Everything feeds into everything else 19:35 - UA team Product team  22:26 - AI for efficiencies, not decision making 26:00 - Q&A with Plamen  * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  ** 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

Mike Levine, founder and CEO of Mystic Moose, an indie game studio and publisher, joins us on the PG.biz Podcast to discuss Mystic Moose’s newest game, Mojo Melee — a cross-platform, multiplayer PVP auto chess game — that weaves together a strong narrative and player choice. In the episode, Mike describes how Mystic Moose paves the way for players to personalize and own digital collectibles -- on their terms. This smart approach bypasses the Web 3 backlash and, more importantly, employs a “choose your own adventure” approach to user education. “We believe in the power of Web3 to empower players,” says Mike. “But it’s [just] a feature for those who wanna take advantage of it in our game.” CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Peggy and Brian: Back in the studio! 02:00 - What makes Mojo Melee magic?  06:40 - Plant-based creatures, clans, and scouts 08:59 - Finding your niche in Web3 12:59 - Designing digital collectibles differently  15:12 - Cross-platform creativity 21:27 - Advice for indie startups 23:14 - Is it time for AR in gaming?  25:42 - Choose your own adventure user education  29:33 - 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