PocketGamer.biz Podcast

Want a winning formula to pick your winning ad creative and streamline your A/B testing? In this episode of the PocketGamer Podcast, our hosts Brian Baglow and Peggy Anne Salz chat with Trailmix’s Senior UA Manager Philippa Layburn on how she is changing the ads playbook with constant creatives analysis. Part of her secret: think outside the box and measure success using a metric blend that makes sense for their game. This episode isn’t one you want to miss as Philippa details hook rates (her new metric, by the way) and how she hacked Google Ads using UGC. 00:00 - The PGB Podcast Mini Class 03:51 - Introducing Phillipa 06:11 - Your narrative should go beyond written words 07:29 - Influencing ad spends with good creative 11:36 - Hook rate: the key to understanding why your ad works 16:20 - Phillipa “called out” her gameplayers…and it worked 18:11 - Cultivate a team mindset of iterating to reduce CPI 23:55 - Your ads need to include real gameplay 25:14 - Don’t be afraid to break the playbook 28:23 - Peggy and Brian’s wrap-up ** 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 

Building and maintaining a great game doesn't require a big budget. Take it from Larry Hsieh, Principal Product Manager at MobilityWare. In this episode, Larry joins our partners in crime, Peggy Anne Salz and Brian Baglow, to share his tips and tricks on engaging and retaining users through customized events and live ops. By capitalizing on Santa, building scalable tools, and designing a flexible system with multiple variables, anyone can create a game on par with those from the top 50 developers. 00:00 - A new pair on the PG Biz Podcast 04:39 - Introducing Larry Hsieh: Lover of Live Ops 09:03 - Solitaire meets Monopoly in a strategic partnership for ultimate gameplay 12:33 - Attracting and retaining users with push notifications, segmentation, and flexible targeting 18:39 - Santa's "Naughty or Nice" list as a case study in event customization 23:07 - Personalizing customer touch points and in-app messaging with Leanplum 25:03 - Reduce, reuse, reimagine: a mantra for indie studio success 27:32 - "Use your engineers to build scalable tools" 29:59 - What's in store for the PG Biz Podcast in 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

The global games market is becoming ever more competitive, with increasing numbers of developers, publishers, and games all vying for attention. In such challenging market conditions, how can game creators make sure that their hard work and creativity is supported by a robust launch strategy? To answer this question and more, the PocketGamer.biz team spoke with Jen Lui, Senior Product Manager at Google, who leads Google’s advertising solutions for games. “What’s the saying - you only get one chance to make a first impression?” Lui said. “The same can be said for mobile game launches, particularly today. With mobile phones, everyone’s a gamer, pretty much anyone can play any game anywhere, and switching costs are pretty low - if you don’t like one game, you can move onto the next one just like that. “Because you only get that one chance, it’s critical to have a strong launch strategy to set up your game for success and get a headstart towards driving installs and revenue within the first week or month after game launch.” Google is on the case, with a whole range of solutions for studios - at every stage of development, to maximise the return on their investment and ensure their game has the best chance to make that vital first impression. Tune in now to learn how your next game could benefit.

The PocketGamer.biz podcast is back with a bang - with a whole new team on board for the journey! We welcome on board two of the new PG.biz editorial team, in the shape of Iwan and Lewis, who join Brian to talk about their experience so far in the world of mobile games. As former console and PC gamers, how are the team finding the world of hybrid monetisation, alternative app stores and hypercasual hits? Brian then speaks with Nick Button-Brown. Investor, advisor, board member, executive - Nick has been part of the mobile games world from the outset, working with studios, publishers and organisations across the games ecosystem. From tools and technology to emerging trends, Brian and Nick drill down into the challenges and opportunities facing game creators, publishers - and players - as the sector continues to evolve. As the global games market breaks the $200 billion mark in 2022, where do we go from here? Tune in and find out… Follow Nick Button-Brown on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickbuttonbrown/ And Twitter: https://twitter.com/nickbuttonbrown The Games Angels website: https://thegamesangels.com/ Remember to subscribe to the PocketGamer.biz newsletter for daily summarises of the latest mobile gaming news.

Welcome back, podcast pals. Our deep dive into development continues in this episode as we talk to the entirely excellent Riley Andersen, the CEO of Umami Games. Umami is an indie development studio in Copenhagen in Denmark, which has established an enviable reputation in the hypercasual market. The creator of hits such as ABC Runner, Umami describes itself as a ‘metrics-driven’ studio which values innovation and fun. Find out more at its LinkedIn and Twitter pages. Our host Brian (managing editor of PocketGamer.biz) speaks to Riley about the studio’s formation and the challenges of working in such a challenging environment as hypercasual. The interview takes in Riley’s passion for games, the studio’s ambition in other genres and the realities of a studio operating at the cutting edge of mobile games. Riley has spoken several times at our Pocket Gamer Connects conferences too. If you’ve been lucky enough to hear her, you’ll know she encapsulates a genuine love for making games, with deep insight into the market.  In 2022, in hypercasual, is it enough to "make what you love" and hope for the best? Listen, learn, love! Umami Games - Online / LinkedIn / Twitter What makes everlasting hypercasual experiences - PG.biz The common missteps of an indie hypercasual studio - PG.biz

In this episode of the PG.biz podcast, we explore the reality of building and running a mobile games studio with the wholly awesome Jackie Jin. Jackie is the founder and CEO of Squid Games, a casual games studio based in the Bay area. From design and development to monetisation and recruitment, Jackie and Brian discuss the challenges and opportunities for the studio and developers worldwide. In a market which is evolving and changing so rapidly, how can a small games studio compete? Does company culture play a role? In 2022 can a developer afford to focus on design and development, or does every studio need to engage with monetisation, lifetime value and user acquisition? Back in the first episode of season two, we went big, speaking to Greg Hartrell, the head of Android and Google Play at Google, which claims over three billion players around the world. In this episode, we’re focusing on the journey of a new games studio, working on its first title and exploring the challenges and opportunities facing game creators working on their first title. Enjoy.

Welcome to season two of the PocketGamer.biz podcast, your porthole into the ever-growing world of mobile games. Things move pretty quickly in mobile. From the explosive growth of hypercasual to the deep monetisation of more traditional role-playing games, the sheer scale of the market means there's something out there for everyone, whether they're using a $20 Android or a $1,000 iPhone.  And today we're back with a new podcast season! This time around we'll be bringing you even more insight and updates from the people and organisations across the whole mobile ecosystem. From the pioneers and founders to the creators and makers, we'll be talking to the folk who are redefining fun, games and everything beyond. This is the place where you can listen to - and learn from - people who are engaged in making the mobile scene so incredibly exciting. In this episode, we start at the very top. We speak to Greg Hartrell, the product director of Android and Google Play. As the person responsible for making games available to over three billion gamers around the world, Greg has a lot to say about the state of the mobile market. From what drives players, through to the opportunities for ever more cross-platform gaming, it's incredible insight from the company which is opening up gaming to the next billion gamers in the world.  Plus, the PocketGamer.biz editorial team discuss the state of mobile gaming in 2022 and ask if we're anywhere near 'peak gaming'. We're glad to be back. We look forward to exploring more fascinating and fun areas of mobile gaming and hope you can join us for the journey.  Listen in. 

Hello world! Welcome to episode six of the PocketGamer.biz Podcast, your regular round-up of the world of mobile gaming. In this episode, we have a world exclusive chat with the ‘supergroup’ studio Original Games. Founded by veterans and executives from Machine Zone and Rovio, the developer has just raised a significant amount of money and plans to take their merge game mechanic into the big time. Listen in to find out more and hear from co-founders Ville Heijariand and Arseny Lebedev. (11m:45s) The team also dive into the recent news, with a focus on funding and finance. According to Drake Star partners, the amount of investment in 2021 to date is already double that from the whole of 2020, with 844 individual deals identified, with a total value exceeding $71 billion. The PG team explores where this is taking us… (01m:37s) Useful links: https://originalgames.io/ https://www.pocketgamer.biz/asia/news/77206/mobile-premier-league-raises-150-million/ https://www.pocketgamer.biz/news/77342/homa-games-raises-50-million/ https://www.pocketgamer.biz/news/77333/mygames-venture-capital-invests-tworogue-wideview/ https://www.pocketgamer.biz/asia/news/77337/nazara-raises-42-million-to-fund-growth-initiatives-and-acquisitions/ https://www.pocketgamer.biz/news/77335/bitkraft-ventures-75-million-fund-blockchain-gaming/ https://www.pocketgamer.biz/news/77308/original-games-6-million-seed-funding/ https://www.pocketgamer.biz/news/77328/zynga-closes-starlark-acquisition/ https://www.pocketgamer.biz/news/77327/applovin-buys-mopub-from-twitter-1-billion/ We also run down the forthcoming events, conferences, pitches, parties and rap battles coming from the team at Steel Media. (36m:27s) With thanks again to Ville, Arseny and the Original Games team. Do check out Merge Inn on your devices of choice. We hope you’re enjoying the podcast. If you are, please let us know. You can drop us an email directly to: podcast@pocketgamer.biz or leave a comment on Twitter where we are @PGBiz.  If you can leave a comment and a review for the podcast on whatever platform you’re listening to, we would truly appreciate it. It’s a fast, simple way to help us get the word out to a wider audience and helps us make the podcast better, faster, shiner and ever more fabulous. Thanks again for listening.

Welcome to episode five of the PocketGamer.biz podcast. This is our regular roundup of the global mobile games market, and deep dive into the issues that matter to you, whatever your role and wherever you are. In this episode we’re talking about the current key trends in the games market. Apple, Epic, China. Lawsuits, launches and limitations. Is the app store opening up? Are restrictions on gaming in China going to profoundly impact the country’s developers and publishers. And what about esports? The PocketGamer team ponders. We also welcome a new sister site to the PG.biz family, with the launch of Beyond Games. What does the future hold? You can find out here. (02m:30s) Our special guest interview for this episode is the amazing Imran Khan, the sales lead for Facebook Audience Network in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. We’re talking about monetisation. Where it is, where we’re going and how game developers and publishers are going to be able to take advantage of the change and evolution occurring across the industry. Whether you’re an independent developer, a growing studio, or an experienced publisher, trust us, you are not going to want to hear more about the changes and trends that are changing the way your games make money. From waterfall bidding to cloud gaming, hybrid monetisation and more, we dive into Facebook Audience Network’s new Future of Monetisation Report: http://fb.me/AMIO (13m:30s) We also run down the biggest events heading your way from Steel Media, from our flagship PocketGamer Connects Digital #8 (September 27th - October 1st) and our next Big Indie Pitch for PC & console developers (September 28th), we have brought together the brightest, best and most brilliant speakers, panellists from around the world. We combine that with all of the opportunities to meet, network and do business with the people important to you and your company. Show Notes Apple, Epic Lawsuit judgement - the saga continues China imposes new restrictions Chinese youth respond Mobile Mavens Respond BeyondGames.biz launches Facebook Audience Network AMIO Report PocketGamer Connects Digital #8 The Big Indie Pitch (PC & Console Edition) We love recording the podcast and we hope you’re enjoying it too. If you are, please let us know. You can drop us an email directly to: podcast@pocketgamer.biz or leave a comment on Twitter where we are @PGBiz. If you can leave a comment and a review for the podcast on whatever platform you’re listening to, we would truly appreciate it. It’s a fast, simple way to help us get the word out to a wider audience and ensure we’re bringing you the very best the global mobile market has to offer. Thanks again for listening.

Welcome to the world of tomorrow! Yes on episode four of the world’s favourite PocketGamer.biz podcast - and that’s official - we’re looking at the future of mobile games. In this show we’re talking about the current key trends in the games market. More mergers, more acquisitions, more money. New studios and new games hitting that incredible billion mark. Whether it’s in dollars, or downloads, that’s a LOT of games. (02m:00s) We cover the growing number of members in the Billions club. Whether it’s downloads or dollars, more and more companies across the mobile games market are pulling in some seriously big numbers. (07m:25s) We also mention music in the metaverse. With news of new tours, greater gigs and online album launches, are Fortnite and Roblox now the best place to catch the biggest acts and the new hot up-and-coming artists? (10m:00s) Our special guest in episode four is the astonishing, epic and riveting - in every sense of the word - Kelly Vero. Games industry veteran, media expert, futuregazer and self confessed creative badass, Kelly explores the past, present and future of the games industry. We discuss the changing role of developers, the opportunities and challenges facing game creators. Streaming games, the metaverse and much, much more. (13m:30s) Whatever your role in games. Whether you’re a creator, a publisher, a producer or a player, you’re not going to want to miss this one. We also run down the biggest events heading your way from Steel Media, from our Big Indie Pitch, to our next round table, exploring how to create the next big hypercasual hit. Once again, we’ve done the heavy lifting for you. All the topics, all the talks, all the top tips and talent you could possibly need, piped directly into your ears for your comfort and convenience. We hope you’re enjoying the podcast. If you are, please let us know. You can drop us an email directly to: podcast@pocketgamer.biz or leave a comment on Twitter where you can reach us @PGBiz. And we always appreciate your reviews, ratings, likes, loves, shares, tweets and general enthusiasm for what we’re doing here. Until next time - lots of love The PG.biz team