two & a half gamers

This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session #20. Discussing the latest news, fun stuff and dropping knowledge. Don't forget, this is a 4am conference discussion vibe so let's not take it too seriously! Let’s dive in and enjoy. Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg, Matej Lančarič Youtube: https://youtu.be/dQLmWPIHPgk The Ants: Underground Kingdom base-building strategy game and moves the player's perspective to the underground ant kingdom, and the 3D realistic modeling of the game screen mixed with the real image of ants, so that players can recognize a variety of ant species while playing the game, this fresh and unconventional theme is really attractive.  The game offers a Rich Multilayered strategic gameplay and graphics experience. Unlike most modern games, it is lightweight in size, making it accessible for lots of players.  In this game, the Player is the Ultimate Ant Ruler who leads the Queen, Builds the Anthill, grows the colony, and defends against the enemies.  According to Sensor Tower, the fastest growing theme in terms of revenue was animal/insect, which generated $26.5 million in U.S., representing an increase of 904% year-over-year. Sensor Tower attributed the majority of this growth to The Ants: Underground Kingdom from StarUnion, which accounted for 89.6% of consumer spending. Agenda: 1:50 Gamesforum Berlin (kudos) 3:40 Intro about StarUnion Interactive 6:30 Are Ants a 4X game or not? 10:10 What stands behind the success of the game? 13:20 realistic life of ants creatives 17:00 levelup creative concepts 21:30 What kind of % is UA or GD behind the success? 27:00 Ant breeding concept 29:10 Hypercasual & competitors inspiration 31:00 No one complains about the Ant creatives 36:00 Female vs male oriented creatives 38:30 Which creative concept to start with?  39:45 What kind of theme has the lowest CPI?  Article with creatives - https://lancaric.me/deconstruction-of-the-ants-underground-kingdom-creatives/  Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me / lancaric.me

This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session #19. Discussing the latest news, fun stuff and dropping knowledge. Don't forget, this is a 4am conference discussion vibe so let's not take it too seriously! Let’s dive in and enjoy. Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg, Matej Lančarič Youtube: https://youtu.be/NS8KHTzuJuw Agenda 2:00 Vungle correction 4:30 The King info leak 15:25 5 Game design tips to level up your game Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me / lancaric.me

This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session #18. This week we continue with our new segment! The Mobile Gaming Company Happy Hour where we do a deep dive on a mobile gaming company from the perspective of Game Design, UA and Ad Mon. Don't forget, this is a 4am conference discussion vibe so let's not take it too seriously! Let’s dive in and enjoy it. Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg, Matej Lančarič Youtube: https://youtu.be/vD221MHe6SU Today we’ll be discussing King Before Diving in here’s some topline information about King: King of course as everyone knows is owned by ActivisionBlizzard Activision Blizzard posted $8.8bn in revenues in 2021 (highest ever) King made up 28% of that coming in at around $2.5bn which was their best year to date King grew an impressive by $416m in 2021 or by about 19% Interesting thing here Activision Blizzard grew by about $800m (10%) in 2021 This means that King was responsible for 50% of Activision Blizzard overall growth in 2021! In other words King is a beast Agenda 2:05 King topline information 4:00 Intro to King User Acquisition 4:45 UA general information 8:24 King doesnt love external UA 11:20 Top UA channels 12:00 Why Applovin makes a lot of sense 14:15 Interesting UA facts 16:40 Creatives 21:00 UA suggestions 24:30 Live ops fuels UA 25:20 King Admonetisation 27:30 Chink in the Royal armor 28:30 King selling inventory old way (no mediation) 30:00 Ad revenue assumptions 33:00 How could King increase ad revenue by 30%? 38:52 King & competitors in puzzle genre 41:45 King’s IAP revenue 44:20 Candy crush history & analysis 48:00 11k levels in Candy Crush - WOW 49:20 Candy crush soda saga analysis 50:45 What kind of games King launched in the last years? 52:00 Crash bandicoot 54:00 King killed games 56:30 Snowprint information 1:01:40 Knighthood 1:03:00 Phoenix games takes Knighthood & increase revenue Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me / lancaric.me

This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session #17. Discussing the latest news, fun stuff and dropping knowledge. Don't forget, this is a 4am conference discussion vibe so let's not take it too seriously! Let’s dive in and enjoy.  Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg, Matej Lančarič Youtube: https://youtu.be/Gs3YE6MJKIg    Agenda  2:55 Recession & mobile games 14:50 Apex Legends  21:34 The creative framework   40:40 5 secret tips where to get inspiration Describing creative process from scratch  competitor research + old creatives assessment, brainstorming, creative brief, production, testing, evaluation, iteration, new brainstorming,  all over again  What kind of tools to use for competitor research?   5 secret tips where to get inspiration  Youtube videos with millions of views (unboxing - chest openings)  Current situation (covid, EURO, seasonal creatives - although those suck balls)  Memes (drake, whatever else trending at the moment… )  Hype (Netflix series, …)  Different game genres Why are we making creatives for players and not art directors?  presentation with tips & examples  https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1azXidQYoAneJgEAaV-ylJ67c8XVFallrzY4OIHSE5B0/edit    Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me / lancaric.me

This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session #16. Discussing the latest news, fun stuff and dropping knowledge. Don't forget, this is a 4am conference discussion vibe so let's not take it too seriously! Let’s dive in and enjoy.  Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg  Youtube:  https://youtu.be/Ys7A3F7MFt4   Agenda 00.40 Matej missing in action after beach party 02.00 Introduction 03.36 Possible EA Acquisition 06.50 Marvel Snap  11.40 Ubisoft want Eur 60 per share 14.11 Tencent revenue growth slows 18.53 TikTok wants to release in-app games this year 23.00 Ad Monetization Secrets 24.00 All is a negotiation  26.00End cards from ads  29.00 X close button 32.00 Audio turning on 33.00 High placement price points 35.00 Vungle Bidder 36.30 Unity Latency  38.24 Admob Placements 40.51 Rewarded Video icons during holidays 7 Secrets of making more money with Ad monetisation   As an Admon person it’s your job to know as much as possible about as many networks as possible. This gives you the edge to make more ad revenue. So I learned all these things in a variety of ways. Ranging from being angry, making mistakes, and at 4 am at a conference bar. I’ll start with some general ones then network specific ones.    Everything when it comes to ad networks is a negotiation and you can negotiate anything!    The real first make or break moment comes when you’re able to get an AM in all the networks that you work with. Having this connection allows you to ask for all things  Bigger networks obviously listen less  End cards from ads   X’s to close ads   Audio Turning on when phone is muted  Placement Price Points are too high   Moving on to Network specific tips   Vungle - If you’re using Vungle on bidder and your average eCPM in the waterfall is higher than $26 you should move to Vungle Placements   Unity - Everyone talks about latency on the mediation side. On Unity you can also get latency if you have too many placements created on Unity that you’re not using.   Admob - This is a deadly tip but a bit of a double edged sword. The admob algo works by ramping up data in the first 3 days to feed its algo on price points.    Game Design for ads?  Change ad buttons every time there is a holiday (Christmas, Halloween etc).    Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me / lancaric.me

This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session #15. Discussing the latest news, fun stuff and dropping knowledge. Don't forget, this is a 4am conference discussion vibe so let's not take it too seriously! Let’s dive in and enjoy it. Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg, Matej Lančarič Youtube: https://youtu.be/BKyjxR8t_qg Agenda 1:30 Correction of Admon stuff from session #14 6:20 Applovin buys Wordle! (Modern cinderella story) 10:00 Mobile game revenue decreased for first time ever in Q1 2022 13:00 Despite record Q1 2022 for declared M&A, value of closed deals decreased Sell in May and then be away… 20:00 Ads in the metaverse Basics of UA 22:30 when to start working on UA? 23:20 How UA can help before game is built? What are the KPIs to look at? 24:20 video #10 marketability tests 25:00 technical stage & KPIs 26:15 Retention KPIs (game + UA) 27:45 What kind of budget to use? 30:50 Never kill a game based on only one channel 32:30 Proxy events dont work in reality 34:15 Scaling the game and profitable UA 34:45 Top 3 creative tricks 36:00 Golden cohorts 38:30 Use Soft launch data for global launch assumptions 40:20 Different optimisation methods (Purchase vs AdROAS) UA Myths 42:20 - UA can save your game 45:00 UA is the problem why your game is not working 46:00 how to see the UA is shit? 49:10 game will work without UA Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me / lancaric.me

Welcome dear listener! This is a 2.5 gamers podcast with an honest interviews segment #2. Asking tough questions, having fun and dropping some knowledge with gaming industry peeps.   Felix Braberg & Elena Egorova   Youtube: https://youtu.be/BFfe9djd7g0 Agenda 1:30 Elena intro  5:40 About Flexion mobile  9:00 M&A process (How do you find companies? How do you approach them?)  14:00 Initial due diligence = evaluation  20:00 How long does this process take? From scouting to popping the champagne?  22:30 Eye popping valuations - how are companies priced?   27:30 Multiples in gaming 31:20 acquiring a company (cash vs. stock deals)   36:00 What is earn-out? How is it structured?  39:30 golden handcuffs - how is it decided?  44:00 Failure rate in gaming M&A  50:45 M&A predictions (or not)  55:00 Model situation  Model Situation I run a mobile gaming company and I want to be bought. How do you go about it and what are some common pitfalls to avoid as the entity being acquired?   Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me / lancaric.me

This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session #14. Discussing the latest news, fun stuff and dropping knowledge. Don't forget, this is a 4am conference discussion vibe so let's not take it too seriously! Let’s dive in and enjoy it. Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg, Matej Lančarič Youtube: https://youtu.be/m8k9OhVghlw Agenda 4:40 Meta numbers 10:10 Rovio revenue increase & quarterly results 13:40 ATT numbers, player segmentation & ad monetisation 20:20 Is Ubisoft getting bought?  25:10 Activision numbers  31:30 How to read Ad mon data for beginners? How to look at the data? Applovin and iS don’t really have a good guide for how to use their platform as it’s not in their interests. So it’s not your fault you don’t know this, it's by design! They’re both great companies but the perfect client for MAX and iS is a dev who signs up and does nothing. This is a short guide for beginners on how to look at admon data. This presentation is for Applovin and I’ll do Ironsource another time. I actually have slides so for you listening I’ll try to narrate as best as I can. There’s 2 topics that I’d like to cover are “Advanced reporting” and “AB tests” with an extra bonus CYA topic on “Network Comparison” if we have time. Slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1KdQeSzYzi4Ty6yicYT1hh7HIcbQ8uqSOZwUT3MUWLOI/edit#slide=id.g11b4a57a28b_0_18 Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me / lancaric.me

This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session #13. This week we’re starting a brand new segment! The Mobile Gaming Company Happy Hour where we do a deep dive on a mobile gaming company from the perspective of Game Design, UA and Ad Mon. Don't forget, this is a 4am conference discussion vibe so let's not take it too seriously! Let’s dive in and enjoy it. Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg, Matej Lančarič Youtube: https://youtu.be/p-9ls_UOFPM Agenda 2:00 Intro 3:10 Topline information about Rovio 8:20 Game Design 16:00 Same game different IP 28:30 User Acquisition 31:00 Diversifying UA channels 43:00 AdROAS UA campaigns 44:25 Ad monetisation 45:00 LAT traffic 52:20 Brand lift studies 52:50 Best practices for pre-prompt ATT window 56:00 Takeaways & Summary Topline information about Rovio: 2021 Revenue Eur286.2 million that’s 5% up from 2020 but down 1% from 2019 Pretty flat revenue growth 2017 revenue (year went public) EUR297m 66% Revenue from USA, 21% from EMEA and 12% from Asia 80% IAP, 15% Ads, 3% Licensing deals, 2% other deals 5m Daily Active Users in 2021 Claiming a 93% global awareness of Angry birds “Put 10 people in a room and only 1 hasn’t heard of me. That’s probably the baby who doesn’t have the internet yet.” Rovio went public at around EUR11.80/share and is currently trading around EUR7.20/share which is up from about EUR5 in late 2021. MarCap is around EUR603 meaning that Rovio trades at about a 2.1x rev multiple. New Rovio CEO commits to making more acquisitions Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me / lancaric.me

This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session #12. Discussing the latest news, fun stuff and dropping knowledge. Don't forget, this is a 4am conference discussion vibe so let's not take it too seriously! Let’s dive in and enjoy it. Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg, Matej Lančarič Youtube: https://youtu.be/5eHUepqV_zE Agenda 2:50 Metacore 20 million TV ads & 65 millions loss in last year 11:30 Meta will charge creators fees of up to 47.5% (Animated Avarat cirkus) 16:00 US government says $600M Axie Infinity crypto-heist was pulled by North Korea 19:00 Peridot is an upcoming AR game from Niantic about breeding unique creatures 23:00 Sonic the Hedgehog is coming to a new platform: Roblox 27:20 CD Projekt Red's 2021 sales generated $207m in revenue 33:20 Industry Conference Guide Conferences went offline or no conference at all status during corona. What was the value of offline conferences? Did you attend any? Did you get any value? Now that matters are returning back to their original state, how do you plan conferences? Going on Lectures? Roaming through Expo? Scheduling meetings? Where to meet/ mingle with folks? 3rd party vendor section? Which were the conferences you get the biggest value out of? What are your favorite industry events? Any stories? Where to spend most of your time? Which parties to attend? Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me / lancaric.me