Deconstructor of Fun

Chris Petrovic joined Zynga as SVP and Head of Corporate Strategy, M&A, and Business Development all the way back in March of 2016 when Zynga stock was $1.88.   

Since Chris joined, basically ALL of Zynga's growth has come through mergers & acquisitions and helped drive increased share value to today's price of ~$8.70.  

During his time at Zynga, Chris oversaw the acquisitions of: PuzzleSocial, Harpan, Gram Games, Small Giant, Peak Games and most recently Rollic Games.   

Prior to Chris' involvement, Zynga had not been so successful at M&A.

     - What were the changes made at Zynga to help increase success?

    - What are key lessons learned and keys to success?

    - What should game companies look for when doing acquisitions?  

Speakers:

    - Host: Joe Kim, CEO of LILA Games    

    - Host: Eric Kress, Principal of Gossamer Consulting

    - Chris Petrovic, former SVP and Head of Corporate Strategy, M&A, and Business Development, Zynga

Welcome to TWIG #113!

Today we cover:

#1. MTG acquires Hutch – a leading developer and publisher of mobile racing games

#2. League of Legends: Wild Rift expanded to Europe and other territories

#3. Zynga-owned Rollic acquires  Onnect  from dev Chef Game Studio for $6 million

Hosts:

- Joe Kim (@jokim1)

- Adam Telfer (@adamwtelfer)

- Miska Katkoff (@m_katkoff)

Guest Host:

- Eric Seufert (@eric_seufert)

As always, pls feel free to send us feedback!

LINKS:

Check out Eric's Blog: https://mobiledevmemo.com/

YouTube Videos Referenced:

- Multiplayer Netcode

- Product Implications of IDFA 

However you want to slice it or dice it, Helsinki is the best city in the World for mobile games companies.

What makes it unique is the ecosystem that has developed organically over the years. Founders help each other. There’s a strong drive for collaboration and there's not much rivalry or competition. Founders inherently understand that success breeds more success. 

I'm joined by two of the most qualified people to talk about the Helsinki gaming ecosystem:

Triggered growth is a segment focusing on all matters of growth. This podcast is insightful, entertaining, and highly opinionated. We call it how we see it. 

Your hosts: Michail Katkoff and Eric Seufert

Hit us up for topics you'd like us to cover and how to improve.

Welcome to TWIG #112!

Today we cover:

#1. Sensor Tower: Genshin Impact brings in nearly $400 million in 2 months on mobile

#2. EG7 acquires Daybreak

#3. The promise and challenge of Roblox Future in China

LINKS:

Check out Joakim's Elite Game Developers website and podcast: https://elitegamedevelopers.com/

Check out Randy Nelson's Interview with Joseph Kim:

   - Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead to 2021 (SensorTower's Randy Nelson Interviews JK)

Hosts:

- Joe Kim (@jokim1)

- Adam Telfer (@adamwtelfer)

- Eric Kress (@ekress)

Guest Host:

- Joakim Achren (@joakim_a)

As always, pls feel free to send us feedback!

Israel has always been a hub for tech startups. It's where companies such as Monday, Wix, Fiverr and Waze - just to mention a few - were born. Today the country is also known for a massive gaming sector worth tens of billions with companies such as Playtika, Moonactive, Plarium, Crazy Labs, ironSource, AppsFlyer and Fyber driving the growth.

Who better to deconstruct the evolotion of the Israel's gaming ecosystem that Gigi Levy-Weiss, the Founding Parner of NFX (leading Israeli and Silicon Valley VC fund) and an early investor in Plarium and Playtika - among numerous other startups. 

The questions we cover are: 

How did the gaming sector get started and evolved into what it is today? How are Israeli companies doing so well in social casino when gambling is illegal in Israel? How does the Israel's a gaming ecosystem compares to the one we have here in Helsinki? How do companies stack up with needed talent? What is the VC and Angle scene like in Israel? What has gone right with the evolution of the gaming ecosystem in Israel - and what could have been done better and what will the future look like?

Growth Triggers is a new segment on Deconstructor of Fun podcast focusing on all matters growth. This podcast is definitely insightful, for sure entertaining and as always, highly opinionated. We call it how we see it.

Your hosts

Michail Katkoff and Eric Seufert

Welcome to TWIG #111!

Today we cover:

#1. Farlight 84 is an impressive and whacky looking battle royale that's heading for iOS, Android and PC next year

#2. Will Fortnite's Subscription Work?

#3. Supercell shutting down Hay Day Pop after less than a year

Check out JK and his co-founders from LILA Games break down the Farlight 84 trailer: Farlight 84 Reaction & Analysis

Hosts:

- Joe Kim (@jokim1)

- Adam Telfer (@adamwtelfer)

- Eric Kress (@ekress)

- Miska Katkoff (@m_katkoff)

As always, pls feel free to send us feedback!

Welcome to TWIG 110!

Today we cover:

#1. Embracer Group acquires 13 studios: Here's everything you need to know

#2. Apple will reduce App Store cut to 15 percent for most developers starting January 

#3. Roblox IPO & some financials ($1.2b bookings in 9M 2020)

Further, we are joined by guest host:

   - Jon Jordan, founder of Steel Media whom you probably recognize from many gaming articles on PocketGamer.biz and elsewhere

   - You should also check out Jon's Youtube Channel: Blockchain Gaming World

Regular Hosts:

   - Joe Kim (@jokim1) 

   - Adam Telfer (@adamwtelfer) 

   - Eric Kress (@ekress)

   - Miska Katkoff (@m_katkoff)

As always, pls feel free to send us feedback!

Three facts:

1. Marketability (CPIs) is the single most important metric of your business case

2. You can optimize marketability early on extremely cost-effectively 

3. Most of the gaming studios fail to understand the first point until it is too late and thus refuse to concentrate on the second point.

Marketability is perhaps the single biggest element of your game that you have direct control of and that can make - or break - your business case. Yet despite this, countless gaming studios fail to understand early enough who are their making their game for, how big is the target audience and what is costs to reach those players. 

In this episode I'm joined with Joe Schaeppi (CEO of 12traits) and Jesse Lempiäinen  (CEO of Geeklab) as we discuss the following topics:

👉   Why marketability matters and when should you start optimizing for it?

👉   How will the IDFA depreciation affect optimization of marketability?

👉   What alternative ways should publishers look into to create audiences?

👉   How is the measurement of creative performance going to change?

👉  Is the role of marketability more or less important post IDFA?