GameMakers

Joseph Kim, CEO of Fundamentally Games, discusses quitting Unity. Other topics include the Stormgate RTS Kickstarter, Sega's $800M Super Game, GTA 6, the Game Awards, and what games they are playing.

Co-founders of Gardens, a startup games studio building a shared fantasy adventure game, discuss their organization design and decision-making process. They are joined by industry veteran Kristian Segerstrale. Topics include cofounder relationships, validating game concepts, industry trends, and building a successful game studio with employee-centric values.

This podcast discusses Unity Software's business, financials, pricing changes, and future outlook. It explores the impact of recent pricing changes, compares Unity's management to Twitter's inefficiency, and emphasizes the need for change and management realignment in public gaming companies.

Legendary developers including Alex Seropian, founder of Bungie and Industrial Toys/EA, and Pete Hawley from 100 Thieves discuss their excitement for Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) and its potential as a rival to Roblox. They compare the technical limitations and advantages of UEFN and Roblox, explore the economic opportunities for developers, and discuss the importance of collaboration, diversity, and community in game development. They also address the switch from Roblox to UEFN and the reasons why some developers are hesitant to make the jump.

IDFA deprecation and the end of fingerprinting *in theory* would end targeting and the ability to do user acquisition as well as in the past. What is the current state of the market and what will the impact of new changes - meaning the end of fingerprinting - have on mobile game companies?We talk to Matej Lancaric, mobile user acquisition specialist and podcast host on 2 and a half gamers for his take on what is going to happen. OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 2:00 History of UA spend 3:00 UA spend data points - growth vs. profitability 6:15 UA terms explanation: Payback period, ROAS, bad modeling, AEO/VO 9:00 Will the end of fingerprinting kill off event optimization? 11:24 Max and why Applovin has a major advantage as an ad network 14:44 Back to the history of UA spend - current day 15:55 Current market comps for UA spend - G5 17:00 Current UA strategies 21:30 Demand vs. supply side explanation 22:50 Applovin vs. Ironsource 24:14 End of fingerprinting: Will changes in UA cause publishers to push games now? 28:28 What is the impact of end of fingerprinting? 29:57 Is Apple’s ad network good for industry? 31:49 How does web shops impact UA? 33:05 Typical UA budgets for new game launches 35:55 What’s driving success for games Matej is pushing? 38:10 Asia gamedev strength before the rest of the world 39:30 Last words from Matej 👇 EPISODE LINKS: - Matej Lancaric: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matejlancaric/, www.lancaric.me- Matthew Kanterman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-kanterman-cfa-b6345133/- Joseph Kim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/- Brian Peganoff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-peganoff/ SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ 😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! — • MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 • TWITTER → @jokim1 • LINKEDIN → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ — POPULAR CONTENT — 🤑 Economy of the Metaverse with Tim Sweeney https://youtu.be/h6ClJxjuRvw ℹ️ How to Build the Amazon of Game Companies https://youtu.be/bkd2TOpKt4I 🔮 Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead at 2021 https://youtu.be/NejFzHtpiZI 🖥️ The Future of PC Gaming https://youtu.be/_QT7O3Wxi2s 🔴 Games Industry M&A https://youtu.be/65nyPk6WNrs 🔴 Netcode for Multiplayer Games https://youtu.be/tHq3PzmjhLw 🔴 IDFA Deprecation Product Impact https://youtu.be/Ojec4wGKpso 🔴 Trip Hawkins on the New High Score https://youtu.be/5egTSQ6AiRA 🔴 LiveOps F2P Best Practices https://youtu.be/tmzqqnYbjNY

The Pixel bros are joined by Eric Kress from the Deconstructor of Fun podcast to talk everything Take-Two Interactive! OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 2:45 Take-Two Fundamentals 6:25 The $5.5B to $8B guidance in bookings 7:12 What could be driving $8B in bookings 10:30 Comparing King acquisition vs. Zynga 13:07 Rockstar and 2K Overview 15:38 Kress’ take on T2 business 20:57 Zynga Overview 23:15 Eric: Why Zynga was the worst acquisition ever 29:50 Why some investors ignore T2 longer-term risk 30:40 Bull case for T2 31:38 Why GTA6 will not sell as much as GTA5 32:48 The PC case for GTA6 33:38 Product portfolio strategy discussion: broad vs. focused 37:49 Overall outlook 38:25 T2 acquisition scenarios 40:25 Growth opportunities 46:52 Why did T2 buy Zynga and what are the ramifications? 53:37 Conclusions 👇 EPISODE LINKS: - Eric Kress: https://www.linkedin.com/in/serkantoto/ - Matthew Kanterman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-kanterman-cfa-b6345133/ - Joseph Kim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ - Brian Peganoff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-peganoff/ SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.com/ 😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! — • MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 • TWITTER → @jokim1 • LINKEDIN → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ — POPULAR CONTENT — 🤑 Economy of the Metaverse with Tim Sweeney https://youtu.be/h6ClJxjuRvw ℹ️ How to Build the Amazon of Game Companies https://youtu.be/bkd2TOpKt4I 🔮 Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead at 2021 https://youtu.be/NejFzHtpiZI 🖥️ The Future of PC Gaming https://youtu.be/_QT7O3Wxi2s 🔴 Games Industry M&A https://youtu.be/65nyPk6WNrs 🔴 Netcode for Multiplayer Games https://youtu.be/tHq3PzmjhLw 🔴 IDFA Deprecation Product Impact https://youtu.be/Ojec4wGKpso 🔴 Trip Hawkins on the New High Score https://youtu.be/5egTSQ6AiRA 🔴 LiveOps F2P Best Practices https://youtu.be/tmzqqnYbjNY

Mukul Deora is a modern-day Renaissance man. He has found success in business, music, movies (as the producer for The White Tiger), and today he's tackling tech entrepreneurship in social media. The White Tiger movie encapsulates many of my personal beliefs and aspirations of what people are capable of if they change their mindset and are given the opportunity. In this discussion with Mukul, we discuss: #1. Living a life well-lived, #2. Mukul's journey and how he's found success in diverse areas, and #3. the future of opportunity for India. Definitely check out this conversation and let us know what you think! OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 0:55 What does it mean to live a life well lived? 1:20 The concept of the rooster coop 2:30 JK’s interpretation of a life well lived: an interesting story and achieving potential/meaning 4:37 The story that we tell ourselves 5:49 Interpreting the rooster coop 8:10 Learn about yourself by doing 10:10 How does Mukul value his life? 11:52 Mukul’s religious views 13:40 Not living with regret 15:10 How has Mukul been successful in many different industries 22:55 Summarizing Mukul’s entrepreneurial lessons 26:35 Being an “unreasonable man” and persisting in making The White Tiger movie 32:00 Being a dreamer that persists and succeeds vs. just dreaming 38:15 The Rise of The White Tiger: The future of opportunity in India 40:45 Opportunity lies with the yellow skin man and the brown skin man 46:25 Rich men are born with opportunities they can waste 52:10 JK’s thesis behind India based on Nvidia’s success 👇 EPISODE LINKS: - Mukul Deora on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mukul-deora-8234bbb6/ SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ 😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! — • MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 • TWITTER → @jokim1 • LINKEDIN → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ — POPULAR CONTENT — 🤑 Economy of the Metaverse with Tim Sweeney https://youtu.be/h6ClJxjuRvw ℹ️ How to Build the Amazon of Game Companies https://youtu.be/bkd2TOpKt4I 🔮 Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead at 2021 https://youtu.be/NejFzHtpiZI 🖥️ The Future of PC Gaming https://youtu.be/_QT7O3Wxi2s 🔴 Games Industry M&A https://youtu.be/65nyPk6WNrs 🔴 Netcode for Multiplayer Games https://youtu.be/tHq3PzmjhLw 🔴 IDFA Deprecation Product Impact https://youtu.be/Ojec4wGKpso 🔴 Trip Hawkins on the New High Score https://youtu.be/5egTSQ6AiRA 🔴 LiveOps F2P Best Practices https://youtu.be/tmzqqnYbjNY

OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 1:13 3x3 format explanation 2:40 To JK: How to balance work and family between SF and Bangalore? 11:00 How do you evaluate sacrifice to the potential gain? 15:06 To Mishka: Thoughts on entrepreneurial journey. Biggest highlight and lowlight? 30:00 To JK: What has been the hardest part of your journey? What did you not expect? 43:55 To Mishka: What has been your biggest lesson learned? What would you do over if you could? 1:02:36 To JK: What is your why, and what are your personal values? 1:09:55 To Mishka: What’s next for you? Would you consider doing another game studio? 1:18:16 Closing 👇 EPISODE LINKS: - Mishka Katkoff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michailkatkoff/

How do hit games use persona analysis to optimize feature design, do product validation, live ops, etc. Josh Rivers used data-oriented persona analysis while working on Eve Online at CCP. Nick Reinhart used persona analysis on Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes. Even if you prefer other methodologies, the persona analysis using the data-oriented approach by Josh and Nick should at least be understood by F2P game developers. OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 1:23 Definition of personas 5:57 Examples of persona types 13:47 Example of behaviors 17:56 Applications of personas in game development 29:18 Using data for personas before game launch/user data 34:45 How impactful is the use of personas for the success of games? 40:05 Thoughts on the use of personas conceptually rather than through data 43:40 Validating personas through data 50:33 Persona discovery through clustering of behaviors 54:13 Breakdown of a persona-based study for a game 1:05:43 How to optimize monetization based on personas? 1:11:00 Last words and contact info 👇 EPISODE LINKS: - Josh Rivers, former Head of UX Research at Solsten (currently Senior User Reearcher at Netease): https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-rivers/ - Nick Reinhart, Game Director at EA: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-reinhart-a32821b/ 😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! — • MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 • TWITTER → @jokim1 • LINKEDIN → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/34hfOtv - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ - Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersStudio — POPULAR CONTENT — 🤑 Economy of the Metaverse with Tim Sweeney https://youtu.be/h6ClJxjuRvw ℹ️ How to Build the Amazon of Game Companies https://youtu.be/bkd2TOpKt4I 🔮 Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead at 2021 https://youtu.be/NejFzHtpiZI 🖥️ The Future of PC Gaming https://youtu.be/_QT7O3Wxi2s 🔴 Games Industry M&A https://youtu.be/65nyPk6WNrs 🔴 Netcode for Multiplayer Games https://youtu.be/tHq3PzmjhLw 🔴 IDFA Deprecation Product Impact https://youtu.be/Ojec4wGKpso 🔴 Trip Hawkins on the New High Score https://youtu.be/5egTSQ6AiRA 🔴 LiveOps F2P Best Practices https://youtu.be/tmzqqnYbjNY

Does a gaming smartphone make sense? Can a gaming publisher or other company launch a successful phone that competes with iPhone or Android phones? What do you think? OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 2:30 Existing gaming smartphones 3:01 Argument for a Nintendo smartphone 9:15 Argument for a Tesla smartphone 👇 EPISODE LINKS: - Pixels & Profits Play List: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQNQpqdo6_6ERZd901Sdxo9bnSqCmXo2d - Matthew Kanterman, Director of Research Roundhill Investments: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-kanterman-cfa-b6345133/ - Joseph Kim, CEO Lila Games: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ - Brian Peganoff, Founder Timber Advisors: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-peganoff/ SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ 😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! — • MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 • TWITTER → @jokim1 • LINKEDIN → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ — POPULAR CONTENT — 🤑 Economy of the Metaverse with Tim Sweeney https://youtu.be/h6ClJxjuRvw ℹ️ How to Build the Amazon of Game Companies https://youtu.be/bkd2TOpKt4I 🔮 Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead at 2021 https://youtu.be/NejFzHtpiZI 🖥️ The Future of PC Gaming https://youtu.be/_QT7O3Wxi2s 🔴 Games Industry M&A https://youtu.be/65nyPk6WNrs 🔴 Netcode for Multiplayer Games https://youtu.be/tHq3PzmjhLw 🔴 IDFA Deprecation Product Impact https://youtu.be/Ojec4wGKpso 🔴 Trip Hawkins on the New High Score https://youtu.be/5egTSQ6AiRA 🔴 LiveOps F2P Best Practices https://youtu.be/tmzqqnYbjNY