Deconstructor of Fun

12 years ago, Andrei van Roon was working in transportation modeling and analysis in New Zealand. But ever since seeing a job posting on the Riot Games forums, he has been on a meteoric ascent through the ranks of the League of Legends maker. Beginning as a Champion Designer, Andrei has worked his way up to his current post as a SVP and Head of the League Studio. In this wide ranger interview, Ethan and Andrei cover topics ranging from just how one runs a 700+ plus organization, the many considerations that go into creating and tuning Champions on one of the world's most popular live service games, the impact of the hit show Arcane on the League ecosystem, the lessons learned bringing LoL to mobile with Wild Rift and what Riot has learned about cross-platform development and play between LoL/Wild Rift and Teamfight Tactics. This insider look at what Andrei has learned from 12 years contributing to some of the biggest entertainment franchises in the world is one for the history books.

Sega buying Rovio for $775mm is just the tip of the iceberg in a jam packed episode. Phil explains how CoD's latest kerfluffle breaks the social contract with its players. Kress pull out the classic "two drunks holding each other up" catchphrase to describe the Rovio acquisition. Ethan implores you to remember Phantasy Star Online 2, and declares that Monster Hunter Go will be a surefire hit for Niantic. Laura cracks the code on both Makeover Match and Monopoly Go. And special guest Jayne Peressini makes her TWiG debut to break down what record breaking CS:GO skin sales do and do not say about the viability of marketplace royalties for web3 gaming. Just like the global box office dominating Super Mario Bros movie, this one is not to be missed!

This week Ethan is gushing with fanboy love for a hometown hero of his, Alex Seropian, founder of Bungie. Few people can claim the same amazing entrepreneurial accomplishments as Alex, having founded and "exited" three different game companies (Bungie, Wideload, Industrial Toys) to three very different, public, Fortune 500 companies (Microsoft, Disney, EA). But after some deep history on the origins of Bungie and their pre-Halo hits like Marathon and Myth, Alex explains how misleading the label "exit" is. Because when you sell your studio to another company, you haven't exited, you've only taken the next step on the entrepreneurial journey. This one is chock full of firsthand wisdom from an absolute legend of the games industry, so buckle up.

And if you enjoy this episode, check out Alex's new podcast The Fourth Curtain! Alex and co-host Aaron Marroquin talk with industry luminaries about the making of some of the biggest games of all time. If you like this interview, you'll love The Fourth Curtain.

Greetings, Twiggies! The crew is back to discuss all the latest and greatest in games industry news. Hot on the heels of the big Scopely acquisition, Laura gives us a deep look at all of Saudi Arabia's recent moves into the games industry. Phil talks Super Mario Bros. box office domination, Kress compliments New Zoo, and as always, Ethan is here for the quips. We also talk the impending LoTR game from EA Capitol Games, Resident Evil 4's terrifyingly good sales numbers and most excitingly, Laura's new couch. All that and more on the latest This Week in Games.

Kress gives his quick take on Savvy's $4.9B acquisition of Scopely.  He reviews the pros and cons on this first major acquisition by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

This week, one of the Erics says goodbye to TWiG, but which one? In the news, Kress mourns the end of E3 and regales us with a story of when PS4 was announced; Laura is already at the end of content of Dream Games’s new title Royal Kingdom and discusses their new social approach; an Economist article on “moviemaking and gamemaking are converging” triggers Phillip and Eric. Until next week, Twiggies!

Joining Ethan in conversation this week is long time games industry executive Chris Heatherly to discuss Chris's recent essay on LinkedIn about the death of the games-as-app era and the ascent of games-as-service. Chris argues that, fueled by "metaverse" hobbies such as Fortnite, Roblox and Minecraft, we are entering an era of reduced content creation cost where the next land rush in the industry is going to be creating hit games within other experiences, as opposed to standalone apps. In this thought provoking and wide ranging conversation, Chris avoids the hype and talks specifics about what this games-as-content transition means, and why we should all be installing Unreal Engine for Fortnite.

Eric, Ethan, Laura and Phil are back from GDC and are eager to share all that they learned during the week long celebration of all things game development. They talk the biggest news of the show, including Unreal Engine for Fortnite + Creator Economy 2.0, the surprise announcement of Counterstrike 2, CCP's massive raise for a AAA Web3 game and more. And most surprisingly, vests! Kress hates vests y'all! Mind your drip or else face Kress's wrath :)

The crew is back from Istanbul and what an event! Eric and Laura give Ethan and Phil major fomo about all the amazing people and sessions they missed at the gaming event of the year! We preview all the amazing Deconstructor of Fun content coming next week to GDC then get into the news. We talk about the further democratization of the Epic Games Store, Redemption Games' spin out of AppLovin', the total meltdown of Silicon Valley Bank and its effects on the gaming startup ecosystem, and the monster $55 million raise for the newly minted Believer Games.

Remember, if you see a member of the DoF family at GDC, make sure to say Mice Nuts 😂

Kress sits down with Moritz Baier-Lentz to talk about if fundamentals matter in VC investing and whether we will return to the speculative investments that were made during the mania of the past few years.  And asked what exactly is investable in the gaming space for early stage investors?