Exploring the impact of AI advancements on the games business, from creative efficiencies to potential disruptions in the labor force. Delving into the dark arts of customer acquisition through behavioral analysis and ad personalization. Examining the bull and bear cases for game AI and its implications for the future of the industry.

Mitch and Blake delve into the world of intellectual property licensing in games, discussing the value of licensed IP and sharing secrets to finding gems for licensing. They dissect EA Sports' success in licensing real teams and players, and explore the recent Epic/Disney partnership for a massive re-engagement scheme. The podcast touches on celebrity endorsements vs. IP licensing and the challenges faced in the gaming industry with licensing deals.

Exploring the importance of distribution in the video game industry, discussing the evolution of distribution costs from physical to digital era, and analyzing the impact of platforms like Steam. Delving into the transformation of distribution platforms within the gaming sector, discussing profitability, curation, and innovative marketing approaches. Highlighting Netflix's strategic venture into the gaming industry with a bundled game subscription service.

Discussions on the expansion of gaming in emerging markets like Middle East, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. Insights on the challenges of introducing games in diverse regions and the importance of localization. Exploring the growth potential of Indian gaming market and the regulatory impact on China's gaming industry.

Exploring the definition and origins of indie game developers, the impact of digital distribution platforms, and the success story of Minecraft. Discussing the rise of indie game publishers and the emergence of indie developers on platforms like Roblox and Unreal Engine Fortnite. Exploring monetization opportunities and the importance of the independent games movement in driving innovation.

The podcast discusses the emergence of game-enabling software platforms like Epic, Unity, AppLovin, Discord, and Roblox. It explores their strategies, market value, and Wall Street response. The evolution of Epic Games and Unity is explored, highlighting their adaptability and success. The rise of Apple Oven in the ads business and Discord's evolution into a communication platform are also discussed. The hosts reflect on the pitfalls of industry maps and offer advice for entrepreneurs.

Mitch and Blake discuss game financing, including publishing financing and venture capital. They explore the trade-offs of securing funding and the promises made to venture capitalists. They also discuss aqua hiring, innovation in distribution, spending money in game studios, going public, and the current state of venture investing in the game industry.

The hosts discuss the paradoxical state of the games business, comparing it to the post-pandemic video streaming industry. They explore the implications of increasing consolidation, the end of the ten year surfeit of cheap money, and the over-investment of private capital into studios. They also cover topics such as the evolving definition of gaming, challenges faced by gaming studios, and the impact of COVID-19 on valuation and growth. Additionally, they touch upon the challenges faced by the gaming industry in China.

Mitch and Blake take on the complex topic of in-game economies. They discuss how the endemic problems of trust and arbitrage were present in the earliest in-game economies of the late 1980 and how they have persisted to the present web3 economies. They look at the concept of mudlfation, a unique economic problem of massively multiplayer online games, and the strategies for controlling it, as well as the idea of economic play. Mitch talks about how gold farming and real-money trading were early antecedents of play-to-earn, before taking a look at early web3 economies. They end the episode with a discussion of the speculator problem in web3 gaming, and Mitch explains the trust and gifting based economy of Jenova Chen's Sky. The Story of Habitat Axie Infinity hack Raph Koster on "fun" in virtual economies Under a Killing Moon "Mudflation" 'Flation (Koster) Play Money (Dibbell 2007) Castronova on Everquest GDP CS:GO Skin Economy Explained EVE Online (How Money Works) Is Crypto VC Strategy Securities Fraud? Sorare Sky economy

Mitch and Blake discuss the recurring industry obsession with the idea of virtual reality, beginning in the mid-1980s. Mitch recounts a story about his encounter with VPL and the weird world of digital artists and promoters in the early days of personal computing. They look at the second failed wave of VR investment in the 1990s and the importance of Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash. Mitch talks about how Linden Lab's Second Life anticipated many of the ideas of the modern metaverse. They then look at the Oculus, and Facebook's decade-long failure to generate momentum behind a new wave of virtual reality, and what Apple's entry into the market may mean. They conclude with a look at the idea of the metaverse and its challenges. Links and Show Notes: Mondo 2000 magazine Mark Pauline - Survival Research Labs Neuromancer (William Gibson, 1984) “Spawn of Atari” (Wired Magazine) VPL “Murder She Wrote” VR Episode Hasbro’s Toaster VR Project Snow Crash (Neal Stephenson, 1993) Ready Player One (Ernest Cline, 2011) Beat Saber The Metaverse (Matthew Ball, 2022) Raph Koster’s “real talk about a real metaverse”