Deconstructor of Fun

By Deconstructor of FunLeisure Video Games

Deconstructor of Fun episodes

May 18, 2020 TWIG #82: Supercell vs. AppLovin: Clash of Cultures! Lessons vs. Legacy
Welcome to TWIG #82!
This week we cover:
#1. 10 LEARNINGS FROM 10 YEARS (Supercell Blog)
#2. Game of War developer Machine Zone acquired by AppLovin (gamesindustry.biz)
#3. Valorant and Twitch build symbiotic relationship of success (Venture Beat)
#4. Ubisoft says 11 games sold over 10 million copies each in PS4/Xbox One era (Venture Beat)

KEY LINKS:
Joe Kim's AppLovin post: I am AppLovin! Behind the company acquiring MZ

Do you have feedback or comments for us?
You can reach us on Twitter at:
Joseph Kim: @jokim1 (Twitter, Insta)
Eric Kress: @ekress
Adam Telfer: @adamwtelfer
Miska Katkoff: @m_katkoff

1 hr
May 13, 2020 TWIG #81: Supercell | 10 Years of Excellence
Welcome to TWIG #81!
This week we cover:
#1. Cloud Gaming: Why It Matters And The Games It Will Create
#2. Fortnite’s “Party Royale” mode ditches the guns, asks players to “chill”
#3. 10 Years of Excellence - Deconstruction of Supercell
#4. Design + Behavioral Economics = Apple
Do you have feedback or comments for us?
You can reach us on Twitter at:
Joseph Kim: @jokim1 (Twitter, Insta)
Eric Kress: @ekress
Adam Telfer: @adamwtelfer
Miska Katkoff: @m_katkoff
58 min
May 10, 2020 Your Analytics Are Not Even Scratching the Surface
We're joined by Joe Schaeppi who is the CEO of 12trait. 12traits is a different kind of tool to understand your players. It doesn't look that much at what they did. Instead 12traits focuses on understanding the players through deep psychological insights.
Why is understanding your players more intimately important? Well, it allows you to create experiences which optimize for healthy long-term engagement that in turn drives the LTV. After all, our players’s best interest is your company's best interest.

1 hr 7 min
May 05, 2020 TWIG #80: XBOX Game Pass 10M Subs, Super Evil Announces Catalyst Black, XBOX Series X - Games Could Be Delayed!
Welcome to TWIG #80!
This week we cover:
#1. Xbox Game Pass now has over 10 million subscribers
#2. SuperEvilMegaCorp Announces “Catalyst Black”
#3. Xbox Series X still set to launch on schedule, but games could be delayed
Do you have feedback or comments for us?
You can reach us on Twitter at:
Joseph Kim: @jokim1
Eric Kress: @ekress
Adam Telfer: @adamwtelfer
Miska Katkoff: @m_katkoff
47 min
April 30, 2020Social Casino 2020 | Genre Outlook
Two world class industry experts in mobile social casino talk to us today about the latest overview, updates, trends, and predictions for the market.
Our guests today include:
Brett Nowak, CEO of market research firm Liquid & Grit (www.liquidandgrit.com). Brett was formerly Lead PM on Zynga Poker at Zynga, and was a Director of Product at Blue Shell Games before starting Liquid & Grit. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-now...
Lloyd Melnick has an incredible background in social casino working at Merscom, Playdom, Disney, FiveOneNine Games, Spooky Cool Labs, Zynga, and The Stars Group.Lloyd is currently GM of Chumba Casino for VGW and a board member of MURKA. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lloydmeln...
The video version of this interview can be found here on the GameMakers YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/S2qIAYgr7Kw
Host:
Joseph Kim @jokim1 (Insta, Twitter)
Guests:
Lloyd Melnick @LloydMelnick (Twitter)

Brett Nowak @bnowak15 (Twitter)
50 min
April 27, 2020 TWIG #79: Supercell Battle Pass Talk, Three Questions to Level Up Battle Pass, Travis Scott Fortnite, and Epic Gives In to Google!
Welcome to TWIG #79, apologies we were off last week.
This week we cover:
#1. Clash of Clans: Bigger, Better Battle Pass
#2. Three questions to ask to level up your Battle Pass monetization
#3. Travis Scott's Fortnite Event Draws Record Audience
#4. Epic gives in to Google and releases Fortnite on the Play Store
Do you have feedback or comments for us?
You can reach us on Twitter at:
Joseph Kim: @jokim1
Eric Kress: @ekress
Adam Telfer: @adamwtelfer
Miska Katkoff: @m_katkoff
1 hr
April 24, 2020Survive and Thrive: Demiurge Studios and Marvel Puzzle Quest (> $100M Revenue)
Marvel Puzzle Quest was first launched back in 2013 and has been going strong for over 6 years now grossing over $100M in life of product revenue. Demiurge has had a bit of a roller coaster history and Al has successfully led the studio through both good and challenging times.
Find out more about the story behind it all including the most recent re-acquisition of the studio from SEGA and the future with founder Al Reed!
We cover:
#1. The history of Demiurge, the origin story and how it all started
#2. The story behind Marvel Puzzle Quest and what were the keys to the success of that title

#3. Selling Demiurge to SEGA and now re-acquiring the studio

#4. The biggest lessons learned over his career as an entrepreneur and head of a games studio

#5. What’s next both for Demiurge, Marvel Puzzle Quest, and for Al

Host:
Joseph Kim (@jokim1 - insta/Twitter)
Guest:
Albert Reed (@almnop, Twitter)
34 min
April 22, 2020TWIG #78: Facebook Takes on Twitch, Valve Success?, PS5 Limited Release, Is Fortnite the next Metaverse?
Welcome to TWIG #78, apologies we were off last week.
This week we cover:
#1. Valve: More games are finding success on Steam than ever before
#2. PS5 has limited release plans in 2020
#3. Silicon Valley is racing to build the next version of the Internet. Fortnite might get there first.
#4. Facebook to Introduce an App for Gaming

LINKS:
Google Play Updated Developer Policy: "Deceptive Behavior"

Facebook Updated Terms of Service "Data Use Terms for Advanced Mobile App Measurement"

Do you have feedback or comments for us?
You can reach us on Twitter at:
Joseph Kim: @jokim1
Eric Kress: @ekress
Adam Telfer: @adamwtelfer
Miska Katkoff: @m_katkoff
46 min
April 20, 2020Biggest Lessons from Gaming with Jori Pearsall (ex Scopely, GREE, Google)
Jori Pearsall now Chief Product Officer at mobile financial access firm Tala has had a stellar career in mobile gaming working at companies like GREE and then most recently leading Product at mobile giant Scopely.
What has Jori learned from his time working in mobile games and free to play? What can he apply from our industry to his new industry?
Listen to Jori speak on the biggest lessons he's learned and what's next for him in this fantastic discussion as he now transitions to his new industry.
Host:
Joseph Kim (aka K1min8r aka jdiggity aka JK aka J Money aka Joe Kim), Insta or Twitter @jokim1
Guest:
Jori Pearsall, Chief Product Officer at Tala, LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joripearsall/
Hit me up if you have any requests, comments, or feedback. Thanks!
47 min
April 16, 2020After Crisis: Games & Life In a Post COVID-19 World
Lots of coronavirus talk these days and especially about current impact to gaming, etc. We wanted to take a slightly different approach to this.
Let's talk deeper, let's talk long-term, let's talk about philosophical implications.
Today Niklas Herriger and I talk about:
#1. Long-term economic impact
#2. Dealmaking & psychology in crisis
#3. What do you do to adjust to the new reality?
#4. The dichotomy (societal and business model) exposed by coronavirus
#5. How gaming will be impacted longer term
This will not be your typical discussion so watch now!
More about Niklas: Best known as the founding CEO of Gondola, the offer optimization platform for games, and now founder of 8 Bit Coaching for tech talent, joins us today.
Speakers Twitter Contact:
Joe Kim: @jokim1

Niklas Herriger: @NHerriger
This discussion initially appeared in video format on the GameMakers YouTube channel on April 2, 2020: HERE!
56 min

About Deconstructor of Fun

From the publisher's feed

Deconstructor of Fun podcast is created by games professionals for games professionals. We explore the business side of the games industry with the goal of bringing listeners content that is relevant, insightful, and entertaining on a weekly basis.