PocketGamer.biz Podcast

It used to be that big wins demanded deep pockets. Now, achieving success on a shoestring budget isn’t the exception but the rule. It all comes down to one question: how much are you spending on your backend? This week’s guest estimates that studios spend an average of $21 million and three years developing their own backend. With Metaplay, you can do it in two weeks. Peggy Anne Salz and Brian Baglow sit down with Teemu Haila, Co-Founder and CPO of Metaplay, to share how the brand scales smaller studios and saves them $1 million per year with one SDK. Teemu dives into the tech, explaining how Metaplay’s solution offers the infrastructure to successfully scale live service Unity C# games, facilitates smooth real-time interactions, and ensures a safe and fair player experience by making your game 100% secure from cheaters and bots. CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 01:20 - Teemu's journey into games 05:46 - Scales as a service  08:30 - 4 pillars of scaling   11:57 - Strategies for a larger player base 15:20 - How studios succeed during layoffs 19:46 - Building around live-ops  28:40 - A flexible studio culture 31:20 - A live-or-die market 33:18 - Metaplay's growth blueprint 36:29 - Making cheating impossible 39:32 - Working with Metaplay 43:15 - Favourite games Q&A * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  ** 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

Experts from PocketGamer.biz discuss the EU potentially fining Apple, the history and future of mobile games industry, including AR-VR developments, acquisitions, top downloaded games in Japan, and Major Nelson's move to Unity.

A leaner team paves the way for a smarter UA strategy—a must-have for studios with a broad portfolio like Gazeus Games. Estela Dos Santos Rocha, Marketing Coordinator at Gazeus, tips her hand to share the savvier steps any marketer can take to make the most out of their tight-knit team, from attracting the awareness of attention whales to playing to the preferences of old and new users alike. After that, our host, Peggy Anne Salz, dives deep into growing and re-engaging mobile app consumers with Aman Sareen, CEO of Aarki. Aman breaks down the Aarki rebrand, reveals the metrics that really matter, and surprises us with his take on how many partners marketers should work with to move the needle on campaigns—and remain sane. CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Estela Intro 01:58 - Managing UA across a broad portfolio 05:30 - Attention whales 08:15 - What entices players? 09:18 - Estela in her own ads 10:30 - Making the most of a small team 12:48 - Appeasing new and old players 14:33 - What to pay attention to in A/B tests 16:55 - Small step, big career impact 19:25 - Maintaining motivation 21:10 - Aman Intro 22:20 - 3 pillars of the new Aarki 24:00 - More or less partners? 25:35 - What metrics matter? * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  ** 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

Experts from PocketGamer.biz discuss Netflix's gaming division shakeup, campaign against sexist ads in user acquisition, Apple's ChatGPT integration, and iOS updates. They also cover Monster Hunter, upcoming events, Xbox handheld possibility, game development updates, acquisitions, and Zenless Zone Zero's impressive pre-registrations.

Daniel Tchnernahovsky, VP of Global Business Development at AppLovin, talks about the importance of hybrid monetization in gaming, customizing games for high retention, spreading investments, and the impact of AI in innovation. He also discusses the mindset for attracting high-value players and the future trends in the gaming industry.

Craig Chapple, Daniel Griffiths, Paige Cook, and Aaron Astle from PocketGamer.biz discuss the Star Wars: Hunters launch by Zynga, the challenges of mobile MOBAs in the West, and rumors about Microsoft's Xbox handheld. They also touch on AppsFlyer's potential IPO and growth, insights into the mobile game industry, recent layoffs at Dead by Daylight developer Interactive, and a new match-three game featuring Monster Hunter cats.

Industry experts Brian Baglow, Craig Chapple, Daniel Griffiths, and Paige Cook discuss the global launch of Supercell's Squad Busters, compare Steam's discoverability with Apple and Google, and debate the potential success of YouTube Playables in the mobile games industry.

A hit game can harbour hope for an up-and-coming games company. But living up to the game's name and weathering the changing tides of player needs, industry upheavals, and privacy concerns can test the limits of any studio. In this episode, María Sayans, CEO of ustwo games peels back the layers of ustwo’s monumental success, Monument Valley—now celebrating its 10th anniversary and over 160m+ downloads—and offers indie developers concrete advice on cultivating a sustainable studio that can succeed despite any storm. She sheds light on how ustwo games adapts and evolves its keystone game to keep pace with changing player habits and how cross-platform is powering the studio’s success for years to come.  * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 01:30 - Who are ustwo games? 05:42 - How Monument Valley shaped games 07:58 - Biggest changes to games audiences 12:30 - Are boomers the biggest gamers? 16:57 -  How ustwo games evolved to match player need 21:08 - Would Monument Valley succeed if launched today? 25:09 - Maria's leadership model 29:00 - How ustwo’s company calendar builds company culture 32:19 - Is premium still a viable model? 35:55 - Why cross-platform? 40:07 - Ustwo’s upcoming releases 43:20 - Favourite games Q&A * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  ** 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

Mobile games industry experts from PocketGamer.biz discuss ByteDance's $4bn Moonton plans, tips for working with the games media, and devs' views on Unity's runtime fee. They also cover leadership challenges in the industry, UGC investment opportunities, and PlayStation's move into mobile gaming.

2024 is turning out to be the year of alternatives. We have the rise of alternative app stores, alternative ads, and a sharp focus on alternative monetization models to maximise revenue potential for gaming studios. Some are mashing up advertising and in-app purchases, while others are tapping strong IP to monetise players' eyeballs. This week, we’re talking about an alternative model that raises the bar for some studios and arguments amongst others—subscription. Teis Anker Mikkelsen, CEO and Co-Founder of Multisctiption—a company offering a cross-publisher subscription service for F2P games—joins hosts Peggy Anne Salz and Brian Baglow again in this episode for a sweeping discussion of subscriptions and how the model inherently increases retention, player re-entry, and in-app spend. He shares tips for creating a friction-free payment experience, addressing subscription fatigue, scaling, and a checklist to determine if a subscription model is the right fit for your game.  00:00 - Intro 03:11 - Understanding subscriptions in apps 10:42 - Subscription increases retention 13:09 - Creating a friction-free payment experience 15:56 - Addressing subscription fatigue 19:56 - How to smooth the transition to subscription 23:36 - Who is a subscription model best for? 36:07 - How big can you scale subscriptions? 41:34 - How to adapt the model to different players 43:27 - Favourite games Q&A * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  ** 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