We discuss the impact, economics, and advantages of mobile web stores in a deep discussion with Gil Tov-ly, the CMO of AppCharge, a company that partners with game studios to build optimized web stores.OUTLINE:0:00 Intro1:13 Motivation and economics of mobile web stores: Huge 20-30% total revenue lift3:42 Amount of transactions through web stores v…

A deep dive into the most pressing topics in gaming with industry veterans discussing recent developments, challenges, and future outlooks.⏱️ Timeline/Chapters:00:00 - Introduction01:05 - Ubisoft's Current State & Challenges14:35 - Unity's Turnaround Story31:20 - AppLovin Deep Dive39:15 - China Gaming Market Update49:40 - Microsoft-Activision Deal …

Warren Woodward, co-founder and CMO at Upptic, provides real, no-nonsense advice about the current state of mobile performance marketing. What are the current problems and issues in the market and how can studios grow their player base through mobile user acquisition today?OUTLINE:0:00 Intro0:47 Why Warren is great to talk to about UA2:00 Current s…

We dive deep into the fierce competition between Tencent and NetEase—two titans shaping the global gaming landscape. Discover how these companies are navigating the challenges of the Chinese market and their strategies for international expansion. We also share our personal experiences about Tencent and provide insider insights you can't find anywh…

Anton Bernstein, CEO of Pocket Worlds, discusses the intricacies of cosmetics monetization in free-to-play games. Learn about player motivations, game design considerations, primary vs. secondary markets, and cultural differences in monetization strategies. Gain valuable insights on key metrics and best practices for successful cosmetic-based reven…

We partnered with Liquid & Grit to discuss the Brawl Stars Godzilla event, which had a massive impact on Brawl Stars' revenue and downloads. - Highest weekly revenue ever - 59% revenue increase and 107% downloads increase 3Wo3W We review the event and discuss the implications and lessons learned. Discussion Outline: 00:00 - Introduction of the roun…

0:00 Intro1:42 Background on FunPlus2:35 Embracer Group - Historical context and current status, including breakup6:06 Why did Embracer break up? What form of game industry consolidation makes sense?7:40 When do company synergies make sense for game studio consolidation?9:40 Comparison of Zynga vs. Embracer M&A strategy, Zynga’s historical M&A cont…

Purnendu Mukherjee, CEO of Convai, shares insights into innovative approaches to developing human-like AI characters that can intelligently interact with users, perform actions, and engage in natural and responsive conversations. This discussion sheds light on the future of interactive gaming, educational tools, and real-world applications of AI NP…

We compare two major gaming companies, Embracer and Ubisoft, on this episode of Pixels and Profits. ✅ Business performance ✅ Valuation ✅ Future outlook of both companies We analyze their strategies, financials, and potential for growth. Timeline Summary: 00:00 - Introduction to the topic and overview of Embracer's business 03:00 - Discussion of Emb…

We discuss key themes & trends, critical takeaways, GDC panels/talks, and rumors from GDC 2024. OUTLINE:0:00 Intro2:35 VC, publisher investment in gaming is down3:50 Moving to tighter efficiency in game development7:05 More pain coming, 3-6 more months of industry rationalization15:30 UA deterioriation since beginning of year17:17 AI & Liveops key …

Ludovic Bodin is an entrepreneur, investor, and now author of the book Atomic Scaling. Ludovic has learned lessons from the titans of the games industry and created a framework he believes can be applied to any other industry.Learn more about the lessons from Supercell, Valve, Zynga, and others and how they can apply to your games studio or company…

Eve Chang shares her invaluable experiences and lessons from working on iconic mobile games like Temple Run and Bejeweled Blitz. Get ready for a session full of actionable insights and strategies that could redefine your approach to game development and live operations.Outline:[00:00] Introduction to Eve Chang and Overview[01:10] Eve Chang's Journe…

Matthew Kanterman, Joseph Kim, and Brian Peganoff discuss Nvidia as well as gaming related offerings from the company: Nvidia business overview Future growth drivers Valuation Competitive landscape Future outlook

We are seeing severe impacts around privacy and the ability to measure any post-device ID kind of fingerprinting world. So, we wanted to put together a five-part series helping advertisers understand the measurement crisis and the different tools and measurement signals available.#1. The first podcast in the series will be the overview of the measu…

Doom loops are a cycle of self reinforcing negative decisions and behaviors that lead to bad outcomes. In this episode I talk about my own experience trying to break my doom loop impacting both my professional and personal life.

At most companies doing the hard thing is uncomfortable and we avoid addressing some of the most critical issues that can mean the difference between success and failure. This is an audio read of my Philosophy Monday newsletter post. If you want to hear an audio version of those posts, let me know! Go to gamemakers.substack.com and comment there an…

Dive into the future of game development with Joseph Kim as he interviews Ben James, CEO of Atlas, a groundbreaking company at the forefront of integrating AI into the creative process of game design. In this exclusive interview, discover how Atlas's cutting-edge technology is transforming 2D reference images into fully-realized 3D models, propelli…

Supercell's Brawl Stars recently had a huge surge in downloads and daily revenue. How did they do it? We discuss with Matej Lancaric and Jakub Reimar from 2.5 Gamers and Ken Landen (former Kongregate, Scopely, Blizzard, and Hit Factor PM).

We explore AI's significant impact in tech, especially game development. Let's discuss adapting to AI as a major technological shift, a technological change potentially as big as the impact of the Internet.

3 days before launching Palworld, Takuro Mizobe from Pocket Pair, published a blog post with the riveting story behind Palworld. Mistakes, lessons learned, and much more. Check it out: https://note.com/pocketpair/n/n54f674cccc40#2251bc9e-24bc-4539-8c0c-df500654bf43

Livestreaming trends:1. Which genres are the best?2. Nostalgia for Baldur's Gate and Fortnite "OG"3. Indies benefit4. Multi-platform simulcasting e.g., NinjaEsports:1. Esports rising again in 20232. 5 most watched titles: League of Legends, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, CS:GO, Dota 2, and ValorantGet the report here: Gaming, Esports, & Social Trends R…

Will games become more like movies and music with focus on subscription rather than ownership? An Ubisoft director thinks so.

Epic vs. Apple articles: The house always wins Apple to collect fees from Epic Games Supreme Court denied both sides' appeals of Epic v. Apple antitrust case. iOS will not have competing stores or payments. Apple releases new policy making 27% from external payments regardless. JK + Tim Sweeney Interview: https://youtu.be/h6ClJxjuRvw?si=21bGX3Qv2LA…

Pocketgamer reported on GDC's State of the Industry report held every year before GDC. 3,000 game devs input about various topics. We cover: Concerns about AI Where AI is being used Game engine usage

What happened? Brawlstars after years of doing well, grew massively from December to January!

More Layoffs: Layoffs confirmed at Choices: Stories You Play maker, Pixelberry Studios Google lays off 1,000+ employees in stealth as AI takes on the workload Report: Behaviour Interactive lays off 45 employees Youtube Chief Gaming Guy Laid Off

Arthur Trusov and Joseph Kim discuss the latest gaming news from the past week. Layoffs: Unity to lay off 1,800 staff as it continues company reset Twitch is cutting one-third of its staff Playtika to cut 300 - 400 more jobs in latest rounds of layoffs Discord is laying off 17 percent of employees 11 Days Into 2024 And 2700+ Video Game Layoffs Have…

In this podcast episode, Joseph Kim, Matej Lancaric, and Summer Liu discuss the profitability of the game Monopoly Go. They explore the controversy surrounding the game and the lack of a widely accepted definition of profitability in the industry. The conversation covers data analysis, marketing strategies, and the use of different creatives. The h…

Recorded mid December 2023. We discuss the current and future outlook of Roblox with a focus on financials.OUTLINE:0:00 Intro1:11 Overview of the business5:00 Being a social network vs. gaming platform5:43 Financial overview7:06 How does Roblox turn around their profitability? Biggest expense buckets11:51 Structure and components of Roblox business…

Discussion with Kylan Gibbs, Chief Product Officer at Inworld AI and Travis Boatman, CEO at Carbonated. We discuss Inworld's AI services around AI NPCs / conversational AI for games. OUTLINE:0:00 Intro 2:00 Inworld AI origin story and application areas of relationships and progression9:27 Roleplaying is biggest application area for social simulatio…

Joseph Kim and Arthur Trusov talk top game charts, game industry news, and games we're playing. Savvy Games Group: “Approximately 75 percent of our capital allotment has not yet been invested” The future of iPhone gaming is in trouble My personal rollercoaster of job hunting and growth in the games industry Kim Kardashian: Hollywood mobile game to …

We discuss game industry news for the past week: Joseph Kim and Arthur Trusov. 0:00 Intro - New Years Eve 2:52 Top Steam charts - Baldur’s Gate 3, Lethal Company, Elden Ring and Cyberpunk 2077 big jumps 6:27 Top mobile charts - Ice Scream 8, 8 Ball Pool, Royal Match vs. Monopoly GO 9:40 8 Ball Pool Keeps Trucking from Gamemakers Newsletter, innovat…

Joseph Kim (Oldie but Goodie) and Arthur Trusov (Young Blood) discuss top charts and gaming news. 0:00 Intro 2:22 Top Steam charts 5:05 Top mobile charts 7:45 China to curb gaming spend: Netease and Tencent plunge 10:13 China regulator to study concerns about the new gaming curbs 12:45 Take-Two Bet $12B Just as mobile games tumbled 19:33 Valorant M…

Game over podcast Episode #3. Joseph Kim and Arthur Trusov talk top game charts, gaming news, and games we're playing. Overview: 0:00 Intro 2:19 Top Steam charts 4:32 Top Mobile charts 6:10 Netflix future games strategy 10:30 Epic Games hits all time records with Fortnite 13:12 TikTok hits over $10B in mobile IAP revenue 15:45 Epic Games wins verdi…

From Game Over podcast. Dual publishing here until we get a bigger audience. Joseph Kim and Arthur Trusov talk top games by market charts, gaming news, and games we're playing. Agenda: 0:00 Intro 2:11 Top Steam charts 3:25 Top Mobile charts 6:53 “Unity, I’m Done” - Fundamentally Games CEO quits Unity 13:56 Frost Giant’s Stormgate RTS fully funds Ki…

If you were going to start a new games studio, how would you design the organization, the work environment, and work culture and values for the company?We speak with the co-founders of Gardens, who are building a shared fantasy adventure game from a veteran team that has worked on games such as Journey, Spider-Man, Skyrim, and many others. Gardens …

There's a lot of context behind Unity's recent run-time fees and the big changes they rolled out on pricing. Find out more about Unity's business, issues & problems, and future outlook.OUTLINE:0:00 Intro0:52 High-level overview of Unity’s business: 1. Create and 2. Grow5:40 Financials overview: Create vs. Grow, revenue growth, impact from Ironsourc…

Epic's Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) potentially presents a huge new platform rivaling Roblox. Why are some of the most experienced developers in the world like Alex Seropian (founder of Bungie and Industrial Toys/EA) and Pete Hawley (100 Thieves) so excited by UEFN? What does a former Roblox developer, Arthur Trusov, think about the platform e…

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 specialis…

The Pixel bros are joined by Eric Kress from the Deconstructor of Fun podcast to talk everything Take-Two Interactive!OUTLINE:0:00 Intro2:45 Take-Two Fundamentals6:25 The $5.5B to $8B guidance in bookings7:12 What could be driving $8B in bookings 10:30 Comparing King acquisition vs. Zynga13:07 Rockstar and 2K Overview15:38 Kress’ take on T2 busines…

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 …

OUTLINE:0:00 Intro1:13 3x3 format explanation2:40 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 T…

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 …

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 Intro2:30 Existing gaming smartphones3:01 Argument for a Nintendo smartphone9:15 Argument for a Tesla smartphone👇 EPISODE LINKS: - Pixels & Profits Play List: https://www.y…

Welcome, everyone; this week, we are doing a new format called What If? We want to speculate on several scenarios and evaluate the pros and cons and potential strategic and financial implications based on these hypothetical scenarios.In this episode, we discuss the potential and hypothesize the impact of an Xbox console business carve-out from Micr…

I spoke with Brewed Games, an 8-person indie PC game dev studio based in Bangalore, India, making a souls-like action RPG game.We cover their origin story, challenges, and future opportunity. Check it out!👇 EPISODE LINKS: - Brewed Games: https://www.brewedgames.com/

Feedback and performance evaluation for employees is one of a company's most challenging, political, and sensitive topics.However, without this practice done well, it will be tough to hold performance standards or see improvement in a team or company.I would argue that if you are not doing this well, your team/company is doomed over the long term.I…

We speak to Serkan Toto to get his take on the top Japanese and Korean game companies. Serkan is considered by many to be the foremost expert on the Japanese video games space.Check out more from Serkan:- https://www.serkantoto.com/- Twitter: https://twitter.com/serkantotoOUTLINE:0:00 Intro1:25 Key Asian gaming trends, including crypto4:45 Serkan’s…

From Wargaming, Anton Kolkovskiy founded Bulberry Studio to build mid-core F2P mobile games. As war broke out between Russia and Ukraine, Anton was unable to raise a follow-on round of funding and eventually shut down the studio he had spent so much time, energy, and effort into.What were the lessons he learned from the start to launch to attemptin…

Everyone's saying mobile is dead. Then how do you explain these 5 blow-out mobile game launches over the past year? Lol.Matej Lancaric from 2.5 Gamers and I reviewed the data, launch strategies, and more for each of these Top 5 mobile game launches over the past year.OUTLINE:0:00 Intro6:30 Honkai Star Rail14:49 Monopoly Go27:00 Survivor!.io36:03 Ma…