This episode covers the Naavik Digest newsletter published on Sunday, August 2nd. In this week’s issue, we discuss the decline of platform-led gaming in China through the lens of Alibaba’s likely sale of Lingxi Games, the studio behind Three Kingdoms Tactics.

You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/the-structural-failure-of-platform-led-gaming-in-china

Meet with Naavik at Gamescom: https://naavik.typeform.com/to/qE3Yw6pa?typeform-source=www.dropbox.com 

Want to explore working with Naavik? Shoot us a note: https://naavik.co/contact-us/ 

Let us know what you think by sending us a note at [email protected].

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Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe

As studios contend with layoffs, hiring freezes, longer development cycles, and a growing supply of experienced talent outside traditional roles, fractional work is emerging as a potential middle ground between full-time hiring and conventional consulting. Host Devin Becker is joined by Aaron Bush, co-founder and Managing Partner of Naavik, to discuss why the company expanded from research and advisory into fractional talent, what meaningfully separates fractional leadership from contracting or staff augmentation, and how these engagements work in practice. 

They examine which roles fit the model, why senior talent dominates the supply pool, how studios retain knowledge after an engagement ends, and whether increased reliance on fractional experts could weaken the industry’s pipeline for developing junior talent. The conversation also considers whether this is a temporary response to the current employment cycle or an early sign of studios becoming smaller permanent teams supported by flexible specialists.

Check out Naavik's Fractional Talent Network: https://naavik.co/fractional-talent/ 

We’d like to thank Dive for making this episode possible! With its fully managed analytics and LiveOps platform built for game studios, 95% of their clients grow revenue in one year. All of that without having to hire an in-house data team. Learn more here: dive.games/scale 

If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at [email protected].

Watch the episode: YouTube Channel

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Free newsletter: Naavik Digest

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Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

This episode covers the Naavik Digest newsletter published on Sunday, July 26th. In this week’s issue, we examine how a new generation of creators and internet-native IP — sometimes memes or worlds that no one owns — are starting to take the entertainment world by storm in new ways.

You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/how-online-fandom-is-rewriting-the-ip-playbook

Check out Naavik’s fractional talent network: https://naavik.co/fractional-talent/ 

Meet with Naavik at Gamescom: https://naavik.typeform.com/to/qE3Yw6pa?typeform-source=www.dropbox.com 

Want to explore working with Naavik? Shoot us a note: https://naavik.co/contact-us/ 

Let us know what you think by sending us a note at [email protected].

Watch our episodes: YouTube Channel

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Free newsletter: Naavik Digest

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Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

Fourteen years after launch, Subway Surfers is still one of the biggest games in the world. In this episode, Kalie Moore sits down with Mathias Gredal Nørvig, CEO of SYBO, to unpack how a mobile game launched in 2012 continues to attract between 100 and 150 million monthly players while nearly every other hit from its era has faded away. They explore the philosophy behind Subway Surfers' iconic World Tour live operations, why empowering artists and designers has kept the game feeling fresh for more than a decade, how community ideas have directly shaped new characters and game modes, and why collaborations with games like Brawl Stars have become some of the studio's most successful partnerships. Mathias also shares how Subway Surfers Cities evolved from years of experimentation, why SYBO deliberately avoided cannibalizing its flagship title, and what they're still learning as they build the franchise's next chapter.

The conversation also dives into one of gaming's most remarkable organic marketing stories: how Subway Surfers became one of TikTok's biggest gaming phenomena without spending on user acquisition, why SYBO gives its social team extraordinary creative freedom, and how the studio thinks about virality, platform expansion, and community-first marketing. Mathias shares SYBO's measured approach to AI, lessons from becoming part of Miniclip and Tencent, why the company stepped back from large-scale licensing despite nearly five billion downloads, and how sustainability, accessibility, and healthy gameplay have become core parts of the studio's long-term vision. The episode offers a rare look inside one of mobile gaming's most enduring success stories and what it takes to build an evergreen franchise that continues to evolve without losing what made it special.

We’d also like to thank Heroic Labs for making this episode possible! Thousands of studios have trusted Heroic Labs to help them focus on their games and not worry about gametech or scaling for success. To learn more and reach out, visit https://heroiclabs.com/?utm_source=Naavik&utm_medium=CPC&utm_campaign=Podcast 

If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at [email protected].

Who’s On:

Guest - Mathias Gredal Nørvig: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noervig/

Host - Kalie Moore: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaliemoore/ 

Watch the episode: YouTube Channel

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Free newsletter: Naavik Digest

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Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe

Links mentioned:

• https://sybogames.com/
• https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gaming-Good-Unlocking-Create-Better-ebook/dp/B0CSDHG8KC/
• https://www.goodgame.club/

This episode covers the Naavik Digest newsletter published on Sunday, July 19th. In this week’s issue, we shine a light on the memo that undid 10 years of Xbox strategy, focusing on what CEO Asha Sharma is actually trying to achieve. 

You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/the-memo-that-undid-ten-years-of-xbox-strategy

Meet with Naavik at Gamescom: https://naavik.typeform.com/to/qE3Yw6pa?typeform-source=www.dropbox.com 

Want to explore working with Naavik? Shoot us a note: https://naavik.co/contact-us/ 

Let us know what you think by sending us a note at [email protected].

Watch our episodes: YouTube Channel

For more episodes and details: Podcast Website

Free newsletter: Naavik Digest

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Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

Direct-to-consumer (DTC) is moving from an experimental monetization channel toward a more established part of game publishing, but adoption remains uneven. Host Devin Becker is joined by David Stelzer, CSO of Appcharge, to discuss findings from the company’s recent report and what they reveal about the current state of DTC. They examine why more than half of studios are still making few meaningful changes, what separates the small group of innovators pulling ahead, and where developers continue to misunderstand web stores, player behavior, and the operational demands of running DTC effectively. The conversation also looks ahead to dedicated DTC teams, standardized technology stacks, broader adoption beyond games, and what winning in DTC could look like over the next three to five years.

We’d like to thank Medal.tv for making this episode possible. If you're a PC gamer and want to clip your moments or a studio, publisher, or marketer looking to reach a high-quality gaming audience and get your game in front of the right players, check out all Medal has to offer at https://grow.medal.tv.

If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at [email protected].

Watch the episode: YouTube Channel

For more episodes and details: Podcast Website

Free newsletter: Naavik Digest

Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website

Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

This episode covers the Naavik Digest newsletter published on Sunday, July 12th. In today’s issue, we evaluate the memory boom’s effect on the present and future of gaming hardware.

You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/the-ai-boom-is-repricing-gaming-hardware-and-rewiring-the-console-business

Meet with Naavik at Gamescom: https://naavik.typeform.com/to/qE3Yw6pa?typeform-source=www.dropbox.com 

India’s State of Play report: https://mixiglobalinv.com/report/upload/indias-state-of-play-260708.pdf 

Want to explore working with Naavik? Shoot us a note: https://naavik.co/contact-us/ 

Let us know what you think by sending us a note at [email protected].

Watch our episodes: YouTube Channel

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Free newsletter: Naavik Digest

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Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

Mobile has spent the last decade perfecting paid acquisition, and often, paid UA comprises 99% of a mobile game’s marketing budget. PC and console gaming generate tens of billions of dollars in revenue, yet most studios have never tried performance marketing once. PC and console have always played in the field of brand, festivals, press, influencers, and content creators due to a variety of reasons that we unpack in this episode. 

Alexandra Takei, VP of Platform Revenue at Medal, sits down with Jules Baculard, founder and CEO of AdZap, to unpack why PC performance marketing has lagged behind mobile and what it would take to build a real acquisition stack for Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox. The conversation covers the structural challenges: thin desktop inventory, cross-device attribution, Steam’s limited data visibility, long purchase windows, and the uncomfortable reality that many Steam purchases are never played. Jules explains how AdZap built their performance platform using mobile ad infrastructure, Steam’s companion app, landing pages, signal engineering, and retargeting to drive qualified traffic and wishlist growth. The episode also digs into real case studies across indie and Ubisoft titles, incrementality testing, CPI benchmarks, and why wishlists still matter, even if they are an imperfect KPI.For any studio trying to make every marketing dollar work harder, this is a tactical look at PC performance’s next frontier

We’d also like to thank Medal.tv for making this episode possible. If you're a PC gamer and want to clip your moments or a studio, publisher, or marketer looking to reach a high-quality gaming audience and get your game in front of the right players, check out all Medal has to offer at https://grow.medal.tv.

If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at [email protected].

Watch the episode: YouTube Channel

For more episodes and details: Podcast Website

Free newsletter: Naavik Digest

Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website

Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

This episode covers the Naavik Digest newsletter published on Sunday, July 5th. In today’s issue, we discuss the underrated, emerging intersection of creators and DTC — and why creator codes specifically are becoming an increasingly low-cost, high-reward way to drive player engagement and monetization.

You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/the-next-wave-of-creator-led-growth

Want to explore working with Naavik? Shoot us a note: https://naavik.co/contact-us/ 

Let us know what you think by sending us a note at [email protected].

Watch our episodes: YouTube Channel

For more episodes and details: Podcast Website

Free newsletter: Naavik Digest

Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website

Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

In this special episode of the Naavik Gaming Podcast, recorded live from the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, host Kalie Moore sits down with fellow Cannes Lions Gaming Jury member Cheryl Platz, author of The Game Development Strategy Guide, and former UX leader at Riot Games, Scopely, Microsoft, and Amazon. Together, they pull back the curtain on what it was actually like judging one of the world's most prestigious creative awards programs, from the multi-stage evaluation process to the debates that shaped the final winners. They discuss the challenges of evaluating gaming campaigns across vastly different audiences, genres, and markets, and share lessons for brands, agencies, and developers looking to create work that genuinely resonates with players.

The conversation explores some of the most memorable campaigns from this year's competition, including a deep dive into Supercell's big year. Kalie and Cheryl unpack why Copycat's Welcome earned the coveted Grand Prix, how Pocket-Sized Halftime Show won Gold and dominated the conversation across all entertainment conversations, and what these campaigns reveal about creativity, player insight, and measurable impact. They also discuss Skittles' viral gaming flute, Silent Clean's horror game for a century-old cleaning brand, and campaigns that used gaming to tackle organ donation, wildfire prevention, and medical education. The episode offers a rare inside look at how creative excellence is judged at the highest level and what the future of brand integration in games might look like.

We’d also like to thank Dive for making this episode possible! With its fully managed analytics and LiveOps platform built for game studios, 95% of their clients grow revenue in one year. All of that without having to hire an in-house data team. Learn more here: dive.games/scale..

If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at [email protected].

Who’s On:

Guest - Cheryl Platz: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cherylplatz/

Host - Kalie Moore: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaliemoore/ 

Watch the episode: YouTube Channel

For more episodes and details: Podcast Website

Free newsletter: Naavik Digest

Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website

Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe

Links mentioned:

• https://www.cherylplatz.com/
• https://www.gamedevelopmentstrategyguide.com/
• https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/enduring-play-a-game-development-podcast/id1826460395?l=es-MX
• https://www.lovethework.com/en/awards/winners-shortlists/cannes-lions/entertainment-lions-for-gaming?tag=publication+dates%40%40year%40%402026