GameMakers

We talk to some really dope superstars in the games industry to discuss this issue:  

- Gigi Levy-Weiss, Partner NFX  

- Brian Peganoff, former Corp Dev at Glu, VP at Deutsche Bank  

- Kristian Segerstrale, CEO Super Evil Megacorp   

Content Overview: 

0:00 Intro 

2:26 Role & Time of the CEO 

14:31 Product Oriented CEOs 

19:22 Examples of Great CEOs 

26:52 Required Qualities 

32:36 Three Views of the CEO 

38:24 CEO by Company Stage 

44:57 Finding Weak Points 

49:22 Society + CEO Role

Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

How should you make difficult decisions? What are common kinds of difficult decisions in the games industry? What are common decision-making models? What are important distinctions between types of decisions?   

Deep dive on this very important topic in great depth and with our typical philosophical approach!  

HOSTS: 

- Joseph Kim, CEO at LILA Games

- Brett Nowak, CEO at Liquid & Grit

LINKS:

Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter

We discuss the sustainability and economy behind the massive hit blockchain game Axie Infinity. Naavik has released a research report breaking down the economy and sustainability of the game (check out the link to the report below).   

Axie seems to have reached an inflection point in which the game may no longer be sustainable.  

Find out more about Axie, its economy, Sky Mavis and how they monetize Axie, and the potential future and sustainability of both Axie and Sky Mavis.  Btw, it's easy to cast stones, so we also take an optimistic look and discuss the potential solutions and upside of Axie and Sky Mavis.  

Check out this deep and very educational discussion now!  

LINKS: 

- Master the Meta newsletter: https://naavik.co/themetas

- Naavik Premium Research: https://naavik.co/premium

- Axie Infinity: Infinite Opportunity or Infinite Peril research report: https://naavik.co/business-breakdowns/axie-infinity 

PROMOTION:  

Check out the Naavik premium research service for games: https://naavik.co/premium

Use promo code NAAVIKGAMEMAKERS for a 10% discount off of the first 12 months of the subscription!

We brought together a number of experts from across the gaming ecosystem to have a casual but deep and informed discussion about the future of mobile gaming.  

In particular, what are key opportunities game developers should be aware of and what are the potential risks as we move into 2022 and beyond.  

SPEAKERS: 

- Nadav Ashkenazy, SVP Publishing Solutions, IronSource: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadav-ashkenazy-34083aba/

- Ron Rejwan, Co-founder/CEO of new gaming startup Sneaky Panda, Former Co-founder/CTO of Jelly Button the makers of Pirate Kings: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-rejwan-1124013/

- Lexi Sydow, Head of Insights, App Annie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexisydow/ 

0:00 Intro 

1:40 Biggest Impact Change 

9:19 Mid/Hardcore Insurgency 

16:40 Services Drive Growth 

27:24 Social Multiplayer Crypto 

39:20 Metaverse  

49:37 Data Wars 

58:34 Chasing Quick Money 

1:05:50 Global Financial Crisis 

1:12:46 User Acquisition Costs  

1:18:21 Final Words  

Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

What kinds of planning do product managers do in game development? 

We discuss the kinds of planning in concept/pre-production, production, and in live ops.   

What kinds of revenue forecasting and analysis should you do?   

How to plan for big innovations vs. incremental liveops beats?  

GUEST: 

- Adam Telfer, Senior Director of Product - Head of Central Product at WB Games: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamtelfer/ 

HOSTS: 

- Joseph Kim, CEO at LILA Games: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/

- Brett Nowak, CEO at Liquid & Grit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-nowak-8920675/ 

👇 CHECK IT OUT  

GameMakers Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

So today there are a lot of complaints about whether a 30% Apple or Google app store fee is fair. And even further, whether there should be competition and the ability to have an open ecosystem for alternative payments or even app stores.  

We have on with us today some folks who will talk about both the current situation behind App Store fees and speculate on where this is all potentially heading as well.  

SPEAKERS:  

- Chris Hewish, President of Xsolla. The company has solutions against alternative payments and payment solutions both on Web and for PC, but also increasingly with a focus on mobile.  https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrishewish/ 

- Matthew Kanterman, Senior Equity Research Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. Matthew in particular has a specific focus on gaming, Asia, mobile, and metaverse. https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-kanterman-cfa-b6345133/ 

- Brett Nowak, CEO of Liquid & Grit. Brett also coincidentally co-hosts a podcast series with me called Philosophy Friday.  https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-nowak-8920675/ 

Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

Back at you with some deep thoughts on the challenges, difficulties, and potential solutions for one of the biggest problems at most companies:

- How to give employee feedback and do performance reviews

We deep people. Listen to this pod and let us know what you think!

LINKS:

- Airbnb System: The Power of Performance Reviews: Use This System to Become a Better Manager

- LILA Games Values Doc: (see slides on feedback)

Lol. We discuss the nuance in definitions and scope of work-life balance, differences between work-life balance and work-life integration, compensation issues for people working a lot at start-ups, and other touchy subjects.

I generally don't edit, but went way too far on this so we edited a bunch of stuff out. 

About Us:

- Joseph Kim, CEO, LILA Games

- Brett Nowak, CEO, Liquid & Grit

Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

We discuss mobile ad revenue and monetization going into 2022 and beyond.   

We initially talked about mobile ad revenue back in January and got a lot of great feedback. Check out the original video we did back in January:

- Mobile Ad Revenue in 2021   

So, what happened in 2021? 

Why didn't CPMs collapse and what are we seeing now? 

How did the market play out from our expectations back then going into IDFA to what actually happened?  

Content Overview: 

0:00 Intro 

1:06 CPMs & Ad Rev 

12:54 Contextual Ads 

15:00 Programmatic 

18:39 Genre + Hypercasual 

23:31 Operational Changes 

27:35 Data Transparency 

36:00 Data Wars of 2021 

52:19 Role of Admon Team 

56:38 Data Strategy Role   

59:55 Winners & Losers 

1:05:37 Industry Implications 

1:09:54 Predictions  

Speakers: 

- Josh Chandley, COO of WildCard Games

- Sofia Gilyazova, Head of Ad Monetization, SocialPoint (TakeTwo's Mobile Games Division)

- Offer Yehudai, Chief Marketing Officer, Digital Turbine/Fyber   

Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

We discuss the Peter Thiel concept of 0 to 1 vs. 1 to N in the context of product management. We believe there is a pretty big distinction between new game development which is oriented around this 0 to 1 concept and the 1 to N or live-ops PM.

Links:

- Zero to One by Peter Thiel

About Us:

- Joseph Kim, CEO, LILA Games

- Brett Nowak, CEO, Liquid & Grit

Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/