Welcome to The Business of Games Podcast, powered by Xsolla.

In this episode, hosts Chris Hewish and Lia Ballentine explore one of the most consequential shifts in modern game marketing: what happens when studios stop renting attention and start owning the relationship.

Direct-to-consumer strategies are often framed around economics: margins, platform fees, and monetization control. But the deeper change shows up somewhere else entirely. When studios own player identity, communication, and data, marketing stops being a function optimized for scale and becomes something responsible for trust, relevance, and long-term engagement.

To explore that shift, Chris and Lia draw from conversations with two leaders navigating it firsthand: David Pava, Senior Director of Marketing for World of Tanks Modern Armor at Wargaming, who has spent years building direct relationships with millions of players across PlayStation and Xbox, and Mac Marshall, a seasoned marketing and brand leader with experience across some of the industry's most recognized names, including Activision Blizzard and Turtle Beach.

Together, they unpack how direct-to-consumer changes the role of marketing from campaign-driven acquisition to audience-first relationship building and explore what it actually takes to make that shift stick.

You'll hear how owned channels change the weight of every message a studio sends; why data and segmentation have moved from strategic advantage to operational expectation; how AI accelerates whatever system you already have in place (for better or worse); and why monetization, in a direct relationship model, can no longer be separated from brand and trust.

The through-line is simple: in a direct-to-consumer world, marketing isn't just how players find your game. It's how they come to trust it, stay connected to it, and choose to invest in it over time.

Let's get into it.

For more insights and resources, visit xsolla.com/podcast. Want to join the conversation? Follow and comment on our LinkedIn page at The Business of Games Podcast. That’s where we’ll be sharing updates, highlights, and continuing the discussion. And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, review, and share the podcast with friends who want to learn more about the business of games.

Welcome to The Business of Games Podcast, brought to you by Xsolla.

In this episode, hosts Chris Hewish and Lia Ballentine lay the foundation for a special series this season on direct-to-consumer (DTC) strategies in games. Chris unpacks the difference between DTC as a commercial motion and his concept of "Direct to Player" — a structural operating model that goes beyond the transaction and shifts the organizing principle of a game business from platform-centric to player-centric.

Chris introduces five principles of Direct to Player drawn from decades of industry experience, covering everything from who owns the player relationship to how trust is built over time. Together, they form a system; and as Chris makes clear, that's exactly the point. These principles only work when they reinforce each other.

This episode sets the foundation for the season's exploration into DTC strategies, including marketing and audience building, technology and infrastructure, monetization design, player engagement, and more. 

Direct to Player isn't a channel. It's a commitment to building games around players, not platforms.

Let's get into it.

For more insights and resources, visit xsolla.com/podcast. Want to join the conversation? Follow and comment on our LinkedIn page at The Business of Games Podcast. That’s where we’ll be sharing updates, highlights, and continuing the discussion. And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, review, and share the podcast with friends who want to learn more about the business of games.

Welcome to The Business of Games Podcast, powered by Xsolla.

Game commerce isn’t just about platforms and storefronts. It’s about who can actually pay. In this episode, Lia Ballentine speaks with Michael Jedrzejczak, Program Manager and Gift Card Consultant at Xsolla, about how payment methods, gift cards, and retail access continue to shape who can buy and play games.

Michael brings over 15 years of experience building and scaling game commerce, from early digital key stores to large-scale gift card programs that connect physical retail with digital games. He explains why digital keys, vouchers, and gift cards aren’t interchangeable and how each one influences buying behavior in different ways.

Most digital purchases are made for yourself. Most gift cards are bought for someone else. That simple distinction helps explain why physical retail still matters, especially during the holiday season. Michael shares how Q4 continues to drive 2–3x sales spikes, why October is a hard deadline for gift card launches, and what studios often underestimate about fraud, compliance, and global payments.

The takeaway is straightforward: expanding how players can pay often matters as much as where games are sold. For studios looking to grow, access isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s a competitive advantage.

What you’ll learn:

• Why digital keys, vouchers, and gift cards play different roles
• How physical retail still drives gifting and impulse buying
• Why October matters more than December for holiday commerce
• What teams underestimate about payments, fraud, and compliance
• When outsourcing commerce makes more sense than building it

Let’s get into it.

For more insights and resources, visit xsolla.com/podcast. Want to join the conversation? Follow and comment on our LinkedIn page at The Business of Games Podcast. That’s where we’ll be sharing updates, highlights, and continuing the discussion. And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, review, and share the podcast with friends who want to learn more about the business of games.

Welcome to The Business of Games Podcast, powered by Xsolla.

In this episode, Lia Ballentine talks with Adam Krause and TJ Consunji, Managing Partners and Co-Founders of Miniboss Solutions, about how game retail actually works today and why being discoverable now matters more than ever.

Game retail is no longer about shelves, launch days, or a single sales spike. With more than 20,000 games released each year, the challenge is getting noticed and staying visible. Algorithms, storefront placement, wishlists, and ongoing updates now shape when and how players decide to buy.

Drawing on experience across PlayStation, Ubisoft, Capcom, and both AAA and indie launches, Adam and TJ explain how retail has shifted from a final step in the process to something that affects development, marketing, and long-term planning from the start.

They break down why many studios are moving away from traditional holiday launches, how to think about wishlist quality instead of raw volume, and what smaller teams need to do differently when they cannot rely on massive budgets to recover from mistakes.

The conversation also looks at modern publishing realities, including release timing, competition for attention, and why sustained engagement often matters more than a strong launch week.

The takeaway is simple. Retail success today is not about winning a single moment. It is about building a plan that keeps a game visible and relevant over time.

What you’ll learn:

• Why discoverability now matters more than shelf space
• How digital storefronts changed release timing and planning
• What wishlist quality actually tells you about demand
• Why some studios avoid holiday launches altogether
• How smaller teams can apply disciplined, AAA-style planning

Let’s get into it.

For more insights and resources, visit xsolla.com/podcast. Want to join the conversation? Follow and comment on our LinkedIn page at The Business of Games Podcast. That’s where we’ll be sharing updates, highlights, and continuing the discussion. And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, review, and share the podcast with friends who want to learn more about the business of games.

Welcome to The Business of Games Podcast, powered by Xsolla.

In this episode, Lia Ballentine is joined by special co-host Lauren Baca, Global VP of Marketing at Xsolla Ads, to explore how retail strategy in games has fundamentally changed and what the most recent holiday season reveals about where the industry is headed next.

For decades, the holidays were the defining moment in game retail. Physical shelves, launch windows, and a single make-or-break sales peak shaped how studios planned their entire year. But in a digital-first world, that model has flattened. Stores never close. Campaigns never truly end. And player expectations don’t reset with the calendar.

Joining the conversation are Michael Jedrzejczak (Program Manager and Gift Card Consultant at Xsolla) and Adam Krause and TJ Consunji (Managing Partners and Co-Founders of Miniboss Solutions), who bring firsthand insight into how publishers, platforms, and developers now operate in an always-on retail environment.

Together, they unpack how peak moments like the holidays have become stress tests rather than centerpieces and reveal where infrastructure bends, where strategy breaks, and where smart planning creates lasting advantage.

You’ll hear how player buying behavior has evolved in a frictionless, global marketplace; why many studios are avoiding traditional Q4 launches altogether; and how live-ops, regional calendars, and continuous optimization are reshaping the meaning of “retail success” in games.

By the end, one thing is clear: the holidays still matter, but they’re no longer the moment that defines the business. In today’s games industry, retail isn’t a season. It’s a system.

What you’ll learn:

• Why digital storefronts turned retail into an always-on operation
• How holiday behavior mirrors everyday player expectations
• What peak moments reveal about pricing, payments, and infrastructure
• Why release timing matters more than release tradition
• How modern retail strategy is becoming inseparable from development

Let’s get into it.

For more insights and resources, visit xsolla.com/podcast. Want to join the conversation? Follow and comment on our LinkedIn page at The Business of Games Podcast. That’s where we’ll be sharing updates, highlights, and continuing the discussion. And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, review, and share the podcast with friends who want to learn more about the business of games.

The business of games is evolving, and in Season 2, we’ll explore what’s driving the industry forward.

We’ll dive into the shifts reshaping how games are built, launched, and scaled as the industry moves through 2026 and beyond. From AI and direct-to-consumer strategies to the human decisions behind development, this season cuts through the noise to focus on what matters.

Featuring insights from developers, technologists, and industry leaders across the ecosystem, Season 2 offers a clear view of what’s emerging, what’s accelerating, and what’s worth your attention.

New episodes of The Business of Games Podcast coming soon.

For more insights and resources, visit xsolla.com/podcast. Want to join the conversation? Follow and comment on our LinkedIn page at The Business of Games Podcast. That’s where we’ll be sharing updates, highlights, and continuing the discussion. And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, review, and share the podcast with friends who want to learn more about the business of games.

Welcome to The Business of Games Podcast, brought to you by Xsolla.

In this episode, hosts Chris Hewish and Lia Ballentine close out the year with a special look back at 2025 and a forward look at the trends that will define 2026.

Instead of a single topic, this one pulls together voices from across the games ecosystem, from studios to platforms to service partners:

• Arron Goolsbey (COO, Mythical Games)
• David Kim (Publishing & Marketing Leader, Web3 Advisor)
• Jenny Xu (Founder & CEO, Talofa Games)
• Lauren Baca (Global VP of Marketing, Xsolla)
• Mark Long (CEO, Villain Studios)
• Olivier Perbet (Chief Marketing & Revenue Officer, IO Interactive)
• Travis Anderson (Global Head of Business Development, Xsolla Ads)

Together, they help map out how the business of games is changing, from regulation and revenue models to AI workflows, creator ecosystems, and the emotional realities of building games through another turbulent year.

We start with 2025 in review: platform rules shifting after Epic v. Google, the surprising rise of younger creators, the erosion of AAA’s monopoly, and the pressure facing studios as layoffs and pivots ripple through the industry.

From there, we turn to five key predictions for 2026:

• How regulation and open ecosystems could finally rebalance power between platforms and developers
• Why mobile is becoming the entry point to cross-device, transmedia game universes
• How AI will quietly become the creative “engine room” behind smaller, faster, more focused teams
• Why web shops will evolve from off-platform checkout pages into full player hubs and loyalty layers
• How the line between player and creator will dissolve as communities help shape both development and business models

Finally, we close with the human side of change: candid reflections on mental health, resilience, imposter syndrome, and gratitude for the careers and communities that make all of this possible.

By the end, you’ll have a clear snapshot of what 2025 actually changed and a practical sense of where to focus as 2026 begins.

Let’s get into it.

For more insights and resources, visit xsolla.com/podcast. Want to join the conversation? Follow and comment on our LinkedIn page at The Business of Games Podcast. That’s where we’ll be sharing updates, highlights, and continuing the discussion. And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, review, and share the podcast with friends who want to learn more about the business of games.

Welcome to The Business of Games Podcast, brought to you by Xsolla.

In this episode, hosts Chris Hewish and Lia Ballentine close out our three-part series on Web3 in games. Part 1 explored the promise. Part 2 confronted the chaos. Now, in Part 3, we look ahead and ask what happens if the industry finally gets Web3 right.

Joining us are Brian Murphy, Head of Gaming and GTM at AppsFlyer, and Arron Goolsbey, COO at Mythical Games, who are two leaders shaping Web3’s second act.

Together, they unpack how the next generation of blockchain games is being rebuilt: more scalable, more seamless, and more player-first. From invisible infrastructure to better onboarding, we explore how developers can make ownership meaningful, reduce friction, and rebuild trust after the hype.

You’ll hear why scalability and adoption were the “two boss fights” that broke early Web3, how invisible systems can make blockchain feel as natural as multiplayer or cloud saves, and what happens when interoperability finally lets digital items, and player progress, travel freely between worlds.

By the end, we lay out the roadmap for a smarter, more sustainable Web3: one where players don’t think about the tech at all. They just play.

What you’ll learn:

• Why scalability and adoption are Web3’s biggest hurdles
• How early Web3 models confused speculation with participation
• What “invisible infrastructure” really means for game design
• How ownership and interoperability can boost player loyalty
• Why Web3’s future depends on fairness, not decentralization

Let’s get into it.

For more insights and resources, visit xsolla.com/podcast. Want to join the conversation? Follow and comment on our LinkedIn page at The Business of Games Podcast. That’s where we’ll be sharing updates, highlights, and continuing the discussion. And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, review, and share the podcast with friends who want to learn more about the business of games.

Welcome to The Business of Games Podcast, brought to you by Xsolla.

In this Extended Cut, host Lia Ballentine talks with Arron Goolsbey, Chief Operating Officer at Mythical Games, about how the next generation of Web3 games is moving beyond labels to focus on fun, fairness, and lasting player value.

A 25-year veteran of the industry, Arron has led global publishing and technology efforts at Activision Blizzard, Meta, and Hasbro. Now at Mythical, he’s helping bridge traditional game development and blockchain innovation and creating ecosystems where players truly own and shape their digital worlds.

Arron shares how Mythical is blending proven free-to-play design with player ownership, why “Web3” should become invisible to players, and how openness and interoperability will define gaming’s next chapter.

Across the discussion, Arron and Lia explore:

• Why Web3 should be an invisible technology, not a marketing label
• How Mythical Games is blending studio development with an open digital-economy platform
• What an “open garden” model looks like: safe, curated, but free
• How early Web3 games confused speculation with participation
• Why rebuilding trust starts with fun and fairness
• The role of ownership and interoperability in long-term engagement
• How AI and new tools are collapsing the gap between players and creators
• What the “next version of the internet” means for developers big and small

Whether you’re a developer, publisher, or just curious about the evolution of digital ownership, this conversation unpacks how Web3 can move from buzzword to backbone and shape a more open, player-driven future for games.

For more insights and resources, visit xsolla.com/podcast. Want to join the conversation? Follow and comment on our LinkedIn page at The Business of Games Podcast. That’s where we’ll be sharing updates, highlights, and continuing the discussion. And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, review, and share the podcast with friends who want to learn more about the business of games.

Welcome to The Business of Games Podcast, brought to you by Xsolla.

In this Extended Cut, host Lia Ballentine talks with Brian Murphy, Head of Gaming and GTM at AppsFlyer, about how the first wave of Web3 games went from hype to hard lessons and what a more practical, sustainable future might look like.

A long-time gamer and early crypto adopter, Brian reflects on his journey from the early days of Ethereum to today’s more measured view of blockchain’s role in gaming. He explains how speculation and complexity slowed progress, and why the next generation of developers is focusing on making games fun first, with ownership and transparency built in.

Across the discussion, Brian and Lia explore:

• Why early Web3 games struggled to retain players
• How “Web 2.5” models combine traditional and blockchain economies
• Lessons from Upland and Mythical Games
• Why having an in-game economist matters
• The challenges of measuring engagement in a decentralized world
• How simpler systems and interoperability could speed adoption
• Why major publishers may acquire Web3 studios to expand their reach

Whether you’re curious about blockchain or already experimenting with it, this episode unpacks what’s real, what’s next, and how Web3 can find its footing in the business of games.

For more insights and resources, visit xsolla.com/podcast. Want to join the conversation? Follow and comment on our LinkedIn page at The Business of Games Podcast. That’s where we’ll be sharing updates, highlights, and continuing the discussion. And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, review, and share the podcast with friends who want to learn more about the business of games.