How should you make difficult decisions? What are common kinds of difficult decisions in the games industry? What are common decision-making models? What are important distinctions between types of decisions?    Deep dive on this very important topic in great depth and with our typical philosophical approach!   HOSTS:  - Joseph Kim, CEO at LILA Games - Brett Nowak, CEO at Liquid & Grit LINKS: The Principles of Product Development Flow, by Donald Reinertsen Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win, by Jocko Willink Making Smart Choices: 8 Keys to Making Effective Decisions blog Win With Character, Win with Cruelty, Jim Harbaugh Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter

We discuss the sustainability and economy behind the massive hit blockchain game Axie Infinity. Naavik has released a research report breaking down the economy and sustainability of the game (check out the link to the report below).    Axie seems to have reached an inflection point in which the game may no longer be sustainable.   Find out more about Axie, its economy, Sky Mavis and how they monetize Axie, and the potential future and sustainability of both Axie and Sky Mavis.  Btw, it's easy to cast stones, so we also take an optimistic look and discuss the potential solutions and upside of Axie and Sky Mavis.   Check out this deep and very educational discussion now!   LINKS:  - Master the Meta newsletter: https://naavik.co/themetas - Naavik Premium Research: https://naavik.co/premium - Axie Infinity: Infinite Opportunity or Infinite Peril research report: https://naavik.co/business-breakdowns/axie-infinity  PROMOTION:   Check out the Naavik premium research service for games: https://naavik.co/premium Use promo code NAAVIKGAMEMAKERS for a 10% discount off of the first 12 months of the subscription!

We brought together a number of experts from across the gaming ecosystem to have a casual but deep and informed discussion about the future of mobile gaming.   In particular, what are key opportunities game developers should be aware of and what are the potential risks as we move into 2022 and beyond.   SPEAKERS:  - Nadav Ashkenazy, SVP Publishing Solutions, IronSource: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadav-ashkenazy-34083aba/ - Ron Rejwan, Co-founder/CEO of new gaming startup Sneaky Panda, Former Co-founder/CTO of Jelly Button the makers of Pirate Kings: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-rejwan-1124013/ - Lexi Sydow, Head of Insights, App Annie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexisydow/  0:00 Intro  1:40 Biggest Impact Change  9:19 Mid/Hardcore Insurgency  16:40 Services Drive Growth  27:24 Social Multiplayer Crypto  39:20 Metaverse   49:37 Data Wars  58:34 Chasing Quick Money  1:05:50 Global Financial Crisis  1:12:46 User Acquisition Costs   1:18:21 Final Words   Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

What kinds of planning do product managers do in game development?  We discuss the kinds of planning in concept/pre-production, production, and in live ops.    What kinds of revenue forecasting and analysis should you do?    How to plan for big innovations vs. incremental liveops beats?   GUEST:  - Adam Telfer, Senior Director of Product - Head of Central Product at WB Games: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamtelfer/  HOSTS:  - Joseph Kim, CEO at LILA Games: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ - Brett Nowak, CEO at Liquid & Grit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-nowak-8920675/  👇 CHECK IT OUT   GameMakers Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

So today there are a lot of complaints about whether a 30% Apple or Google app store fee is fair. And even further, whether there should be competition and the ability to have an open ecosystem for alternative payments or even app stores.   We have on with us today some folks who will talk about both the current situation behind App Store fees and speculate on where this is all potentially heading as well.   SPEAKERS:   - Chris Hewish, President of Xsolla. The company has solutions against alternative payments and payment solutions both on Web and for PC, but also increasingly with a focus on mobile.  https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrishewish/  - Matthew Kanterman, Senior Equity Research Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. Matthew in particular has a specific focus on gaming, Asia, mobile, and metaverse. https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-kanterman-cfa-b6345133/  - Brett Nowak, CEO of Liquid & Grit. Brett also coincidentally co-hosts a podcast series with me called Philosophy Friday.  https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-nowak-8920675/  Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

Back at you with some deep thoughts on the challenges, difficulties, and potential solutions for one of the biggest problems at most companies: - How to give employee feedback and do performance reviews We deep people. Listen to this pod and let us know what you think! LINKS: - Airbnb System: The Power of Performance Reviews: Use This System to Become a Better Manager - LILA Games Values Doc: (see slides on feedback)

Lol. We discuss the nuance in definitions and scope of work-life balance, differences between work-life balance and work-life integration, compensation issues for people working a lot at start-ups, and other touchy subjects. I generally don't edit, but went way too far on this so we edited a bunch of stuff out.  About Us: - Joseph Kim, CEO, LILA Games - Brett Nowak, CEO, Liquid & Grit Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

We discuss mobile ad revenue and monetization going into 2022 and beyond.    We initially talked about mobile ad revenue back in January and got a lot of great feedback. Check out the original video we did back in January: - Mobile Ad Revenue in 2021    So, what happened in 2021?  Why didn't CPMs collapse and what are we seeing now?  How did the market play out from our expectations back then going into IDFA to what actually happened?   Content Overview:  0:00 Intro  1:06 CPMs & Ad Rev  12:54 Contextual Ads  15:00 Programmatic  18:39 Genre + Hypercasual  23:31 Operational Changes  27:35 Data Transparency  36:00 Data Wars of 2021  52:19 Role of Admon Team  56:38 Data Strategy Role    59:55 Winners & Losers  1:05:37 Industry Implications  1:09:54 Predictions   Speakers:  - Josh Chandley, COO of WildCard Games - Sofia Gilyazova, Head of Ad Monetization, SocialPoint (TakeTwo's Mobile Games Division) - Offer Yehudai, Chief Marketing Officer, Digital Turbine/Fyber    Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

We discuss the Peter Thiel concept of 0 to 1 vs. 1 to N in the context of product management. We believe there is a pretty big distinction between new game development which is oriented around this 0 to 1 concept and the 1 to N or live-ops PM. Links: - Zero to One by Peter Thiel About Us: - Joseph Kim, CEO, LILA Games - Brett Nowak, CEO, Liquid & Grit Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

Today we discuss Data Usage & Ethics in Gaming.   It’s not just about what are acceptable practices when it comes to market intelligence, there’s a bigger picture around data that impacts privacy at the device level with Apple and Google impacting IDFA, and even further with the data by companies that may be in competitive situations to their customers. Note that it was just announced that Applovin has just acquired MoPub for example.   Regular Hosts:  - Joseph Kim, CEO of LILA Games: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ - Brett Nowak, CEO of Liquid & Grit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-nowak-8920675/  Guest:  - Lars Doucet, President of Level Up Labs. Twitter: @larsiusprime, Blog: https://www.fortressofdoors.com/  Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/