Deconstructor of Fun

Adam does a light dive on Diabo Immortal after playing it intensively since launch. Eric Kress breaks down the decline of the mobile games market by looking at the performance of top genres and titles. Eric Seufert analyzes Apple's update to SKAd Network. The crew also talks E3, Pokemon Go passing $6 billion in lifetime revenue, and Summer Game Fest with Geoff Keighlye. 

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Questions and Feedback

Sponsors:

Google, ironSource, Xsolla, Recur

Hosts:

Eric Kress, Adam Telfer, Eric Seufert and Laura Taranto

Though veteran game designer spacedog chooses to remain anonymous, trust us, you've played some of the hit free-to-play games she has contributed to. As one of the developers behind the upcoming blockchain game Void Runners, spacedog recently authored the whitepaper for the game and iterated on it in public with her discord community.  In this interview, we discuss Void Runners, the considerations behind writing a whitepaper for your game, and what it's like to work on your game’s design in public.

This interview is hosted by Ethan Levy, who currently serves as Executive Producer of Legendary: Heroes Unchained at N3TWORK.

The most comprehensive breakdown of the Battle Pass system in games. This analysis discusses best practices, biggest fumbles, and optimal ways to price and balance Battle Pass in your game. 

Host and Guest: Mishka Katkoff & Javier Barnes

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Questions and Feedback

Sponsors:

Google, ironSource, Xsolla, Recur

This episode is all about headwinds. The crew discusses the global mobile gaming market, which is according to Data.ai set to hit $222 billion this year. Eric Kress dissects Sony’s investor day. The crew also predicts Apex Mobile’s success, marvels Diablo Immortal, and discusses Catalyst Black as an example of why MOBAs just don’t work in the West.

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Questions and Feedback

Sponsors:

Google, ironSource, Xsolla, Recur

Lately, there's been a lot of talk about Xbox building an advertising program and the implications this program may have on both business and players. We're joined by Dave Madden, President of PlayerWON, to discuss the best practices for in-game ads within PC and console games. Dave has plenty of insights to share as his company, PlayerWON, is the pioneer of in-game ads in the free-to-play console and PC games.

Links: Dave Madden, PlayerWON, Deconstructor of Fun

Eric Kress dismantles the rumors of EA being for sale. Eric Seufert analyzes Snap's multiple lowered guidances. Laura Taranto looks into TikTok's push into gaming. Team also discusses recent two big mobile launches: APEX Legends from EA and Dislyte from Lilith. And what would be a TWIG episode without hearing the latest of Kress' son's basketball life...

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Sponsors:

Google, ironSource, Appsflyer, Xsolla, Recur

Before he joined L1 solution WAX as their Chief Gaming Officer, Michael Rubinelli had a long and accomplished career in gaming. Spanning companies including EA, THQ, Midway, Take Two, Disney, and Kixeye, Michael’s career has taken him across many gaming platforms and business model transitions. In this interview, we talk about how WAX is the L1 solution purpose-built for gaming, the challenges of transitioning to blockchain gaming, the success WAX Studios has seen with Blockchain Brawlers as well as its role in game development and publishing.

This interview is hosted by Ethan Levy, who currently serves as Executive Producer of Legendary: Heroes Unchained at N3TWORK.

The $600M GAMES FUND ONE, a16z’s inaugural fund dedicated to building the future of the games industry. A16Z has been investing in games for over a decade being the investor of the likes of Zynga and Oculus. 

We're joined by Jonathan Lai, General Partner at A16Z to discuss what makes GAMES FUND ONE stand out from the rest of the gaming and interactive media funds. 

Jonathan also breaks down what verticals the new fund is going after and how the fund evaluates founders. We also discuss the effect of the bear market on the games industry and the future of blockchain games.

links:

Jon Lai (@Tocelot)

Deconstructor of Fun (email)

We discuss why Ubisoft shifts attention to mobile amidst declining sales. Kress provides a breakdown of the AppLovin quarterly review, where the company put on a show of the ages and got rewarded with a 35% growth in their stock price. We talk about Bethesda's delayed games and the implication of this. Adam breaks down why brain trust, which sounds so amazing on paper, rarely if ever works in real life. 

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Questions and Feedback

Sponsors:

Google, ironSource, Appsflyer, Xsolla, Recur

If you’ve been following crypto news over the past few weeks, you’ve undoubtedly seen plenty about the dramatic collapse of the Terra ecosystem against the backdrop of the onset of crypto winter. 30 days ago, $LUNA was at $81.45 and is now under $0.0002. $UST was at $1.00. and is now $0.09. Today we are joined by special guest Kenrick Drijkoningen, General Partner at Play Ventures and an early investor in Terra to explain the collapse of Terra, and how this collapse should influence the choice of chain for your web3 game project.

Kenrick is joined in conversation by your regular hosts Ethan and Anton.