How Games Make Money

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YouTuber and video producer Jake Baldino of Gameranx joins host Jeff Grubb this week to talk about that job. Jake explains how he came to accept the "YouTuber" job title over time. He also explains the back-and-forth relationship that Gameranx has with YouTube's algorithm, viewer expectations, and sponsorships. 

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Theme music:

Blippy Trance by Kevin MacLeod

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On this week's episode, host Jeff Grubb talks with Idil Canal, the general manager of Max at AppLovin. She oversees a product that enables developers to monetize their games with ads. She also explains how that process has improved over time and whether there's still room for innovation in mobile gaming. 

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Theme music:

Blippy Trance by Kevin MacLeod

Microsoft is releasing Gears Tactics for Windows 10, Xbox Game Pass for PC, and Steam next week, so host Jeff Grubb sits down with the company to talk about it. How did The Coalition settle on a PC-first Gears game? And what does Games Pass enable the studio to do that it otherwise wouldn't? We talk about all that and more. Join us!

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On this week's episode of How Games Make Money, host Jeff Grubb talks with developer Rootpew, who is the creator of prisoner's-dilemma simulator Split or Steal. While Split or Steal has found an audience, it's not a huge source of income for Rootpew. And he talks about how he overcame the costs of keeping the game up and running. 

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Over the last three weeks, 17 million people filed a jobless claim in the United States. The country is certainly in a recession (or even a depression) -- as is the rest of the world. But hey -- at least video games are "recession proof," right? That's the line Activision chief executive officer Bobby Kotick gave investors back in 2008. But indie developer Rami Ismail doesn't agree with that. Ismail is one half of indie studio Vlambeer, and the executive director of the online multilingual GameDev.World event. And this week he joins the How Games Make Money podcast to talk about all of that and more.

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This week host Jeff Grubb talks with Amber chief executive officer Mihai Pohontu. Amber is a game-development agency that produces its own games but also works with external companies to provide support services. That includes art assets, game design, engineering, and more. Mihai gets into how that business works. He also provides insight into what coronavirus and the COVID-19 pandemic mean for the future of making games. Mihai then tells the story of how Amber started a studio in Guadalajara, Mexico. Join us, won't you?

Email: games+podcast.com

Mobile gaming is a massive business that makes billions of dollars worldwide each year. On this week's episode, host Jeff Grubb speaks with Metamoki chief game designer Mitch Zamara (@IMakeDotFun). Mitch provides perspective on what it's like to work as a game designer within the  rapid-paced environment of mobile games. Join us, won't you!

Email: games+podcast.com

On this week's episode of the How Games Make Money podcast, Kahlief Adams of Spawn On Me (@kahjahkins) swoops in to talk about scraping by in the world of content creation. Kahlief makes a podcast about people of color in gaming. He's worked on Spawn On Me for the last six years. For this How Games Make Money, he talks about the costs involved with that project. 

Blippy Trance by Kevin MacLeod

Email: games+podcast.com

Making money in video games isn't just about developing games and tools. Sometimes it's about developing an audience that wants to hear you talk about PlayStation, Xbox, and more. That's exactly the business that Kinda Funny cofounder Greg Miller is in, and we talk about all of that and more on this week's episode of How Games Make Money. 

Blippy Trance by Kevin MacLeod

On this week's episode of How Games Make Money, host Jeff Grubb speaks with Out of the Park Developments chief operating officer Rich Grisham. Out of the Park is the name of the studio as well as its beloved baseball-management simulator, which has had a new release every year for the last two decades. While OOTP has always relied on selling their game as a product, things are starting to change. Now, the studio is getting into subscription services like EA Access, and it has even introduced microtransactions in its new Perfect Team mode. 

We talk about all of that and more. Join us, won't you?

Theme music:

Blippy Trance by Kevin MacLeod