two & a half gamers

two & a half gamers

By Lancaric.meLeisureVideo Games
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two & a half gamers episodes

  • two & a half gamers session #26 - Unpacking Google ads "disaster", ASA Today's new ad, Google <3 MAX

    This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session #26. Discussing the latest news, fun stuff and dropping knowledge. Don't forget, this is a 4am conference discussion vibe so let's not take it too seriously! Let’s dive in and enjoy.

    Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg, Matej Lančarič

    Youtube: https://youtu.be/95lLVn4Q3q8

    Agenda:

    3:00 Better Ads Experiences by Google https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/12253906

    11:50 New App store ads in Today tab https://www.macrumors.com/2022/07/29/new-app-store-ads-today-tab/

    19:10 Google joins bidder on Max https://www.applovin.com/blog/google-joins-sdk-bidders-on-max/ 

    26:20 What would you ask surprise segment about fake ads, scaling games, VR, intrusive ads and more .. 

    Hit the Subscribe button on youtube, Spotify and Apple!

    Please share feedback and comments - [email protected] / lancaric.me

    56 min
  • two & a half gamers session #25 - Does Ubisoft give a F! about mobile games? GD, UA & Admon analysis

    This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session #25. This week we continue with our new segment! The Mobile Gaming Company Happy Hour where we do a deep dive on a mobile gaming company from the perspective of Game Design, UA and Ad Mon. Don't forget, this is a 4am conference discussion vibe so let's not take it too seriously! Let’s dive in and enjoy it.

    Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg, Matej Lančarič

    Youtube: https://youtu.be/i5uGERxrZMk

    Today we’ll be discussing Ubisoft

    1:18 Some general information on Ubisoft:

    Let’s dive into the first sets of numbers!

    • Ubisoft is as all of you know a French company which is also reflected in their 2021 annual financial statement. The cover page which you’re greeted by has a picture of two playable characters that are looking down on you with a look of sheer superiority.
    • Ubisoft was founded by Yves Guillemot, who still leads the company as its CEO and largest shareholder with an 18% stake.
    • 7:41 Felix speaks French about Ubisoft mobile

      8:21 Ubisoft mobile portfolio general info & revenues

      23:50 Insider South Park info

      25:00 Idle miner OG idle game + all other new IDLE games 

      29:00 Ubisoft non-mobile portfolio info

      32:20 User Acquisition intro

      33:20 UA spend

      34:08 Main UA channels

      36:10 Creatives FB vs Google

      38:20 UA suggestions

      42:00 Kolibri UA 

      42:30 Kolibri main UA channel

      44:00 Admon intro

      47:10 Kolibri Admon

      50:00 Greenpanda games admon

      50:30 1492 admon


      Please share feedback and comments - [email protected] / lancaric.me

      53 min
    • two & a half gamers session #24 - 1 year after IDFA Apocalypse. State of the UA, Admon & retargeting

      This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session #24. Discussing the latest news, fun stuff and dropping knowledge. Don't forget, this is a 4am conference discussion vibe so let's not take it too seriously! Let’s dive in and enjoy.

      Panelists: Kate Lovejoy, Niels Beenen, Felix Braberg, Matej Lančarič, 

      Youtube: https://youtu.be/2NE3ls6nVu4

      We will be discussing one year after the IDFA "apocalypse" & tectonic shifts happened. Everything UA, Ad monetisation, retargeting and Skan 4.0 related.  Whoop whoop! 

      Agenda:

      2:34 How did our day to day job changed after IDFA bullshit happened?

      8:05 Felix, you had some (secret) tips and tricks on how to increase it. Could you share? Why should companies test out pre-prompt windows?

      12:10 How do gaming companies look at retargeting in general? Or, how was it before IDFA and how is it now? Is it a significant % of their spend?

      13:20 How to incorporate retargeting spend into UA costs / CPIs?

      16:44 How do MMP approach retargeting? 

      19:47 Retargeting & control groups!

      20:16 How to approach retargeting on iOS?

      22:52 UA & Retargeting is dead

      24:06 Were companies pulling back spend on iOS? 

      26:27 Apple recently announced SKAN 4.0. Without going too geeky, what can we expect? How are these changes going to affect measurement?

      31:00 Tip for SKAN 4.0

      32:00 No SKAN no problem for retargeting

      32:30 Creative testing on retargeting

      33:30 Which game genres have the highest opt-in rates from what you can see? And why?

      35:00 Singular Product innovations for iOS

      36:50 IDFA dinosaurs vs Google privacy sandbox

      41:00 iOS LTV prediction

      42:00 last comments, tips & tricks, recommendations

      Please share feedback and comments - [email protected] / lancaric.me

      46 min
    • two & a half gamers session #23 - How to do a proper game performance audit? UA, Admon & GD

      This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session #23. Discussing the latest news, fun stuff and dropping knowledge. Don't forget, this is a 4am conference discussion vibe so let's not take it too seriously! Let’s dive in and enjoy.

      Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg, Matej Lančarič

      Youtube: https://youtu.be/7LIHLx4fWeU

      What should we look at?

      UA 

      Channel performance

      • Campaign structure / campaign type (AAA vs regular)
      • Targeting options (interests, broad vs LAL)
      • Optimisation structure (Purchase or VO? - mostly VO only)
      • GEOs
      • Creatives
      • Age segments
      • Android Device performance (exclusion list)
      • Creative history

        • What really worked and what really didnt? And WHY?
        • Types of creatives
        • Creative team and their process
        • Daily spend vs daily revenue

          Paid vs organic

          Data health check

          Admon

          • Do a sanity check
          • Fill
          • eCPM
          • Revenue
          • Network SoR v SoV
          • Waterfall
          • GD?

            • The Team
            • The Production
            • The Game
            • Please share feedback and comments - [email protected] / lancaric.me

              49 min
            • two & a half gamers session #22 - How to predict game performance? What is Tilting Point's secret?

              This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session #22. Discussing the latest news, fun stuff and dropping knowledge. Don't forget, this is a 4am conference discussion vibe so let's not take it too seriously! Let’s dive in and enjoy.

              Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg, Matej Lančarič & special guest Enric Pedró

              Youtube: https://youtu.be/Q2q6LKJ6QDQ

              Q&A

              How does Tilting point snipe companies? 

              • (Looks like you talked to almost every company out there) How does the BD strategy look? Is it connected to UA? How do you evaluate games before entering your portfolio?
              • We’ve heard from a banker that Tilting point shares are going for a hefty mark up in the secondary market - what’s TPs secret?

                “We get to be very good at predicting game performance.” said your CEO in one of the interviews. How exactly are you predicting the performance? Can you share the process?

                What is your UA process? How do you approach creatives?

                How do you structure your UA team? Based on games, platforms or channels?

                What is the long term goal of the company?

                How do you see the current game’s publishing environment and its evolution in recent years?

                “Web3 strategy is now one of our core strategic pillars.” says one of your blogs. Can you please elaborate a bit more? How can you help companies bridge games from Web2 to Web3?

                How can you help native Web3 game companies reach broader audiences? What is the UA strategy there?


                Please share feedback and comments - [email protected] / lancaric.me

                1 hr 3 min
              • two & a half gamers session #21 - How to run efficient UA on TikTok? TikTok's explosive growth

                This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session #21. Discussing the latest news, fun stuff and dropping knowledge. Don't forget, this is a 4am conference discussion vibe so let's not take it too seriously! Let’s dive in and enjoy.

                Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg, Matej Lančarič

                Youtube: https://youtu.be/0aHX6LQrhrs


                Agenda:

                1:30 Explicit ads (Breaker Fun 1 & 2 by MoGame)

                https://res1.applovin.com/o7e02c07/c90fed39eb8753b02925462885680884e45f69e9_v23_phone.mp4

                https://res1.applovin.com/o7e02c07/723bb9954d431db13fbbad23fc66e1546398d74b_v23_phone.mp4

                Google Play SDK Index - https://play.google.com/sdks

                6:30 Bobby Kotick voted to be re-elected to board by Activision Blizzard shareholders

                https://www.pocketgamer.biz/news/79039/bobby-kotck-voted-re-elected-board-activision-blizzard-shareholders/

                8:03 Meta Reveals VR Headset Prototypes Designed to Make VR ‘Indistinguishable From Reality

                https://www.roadtovr.com/meta-vr-headset-prototypes-visual-fidelity-indistinguishable-from-reality/

                11:20 TikTok’s ByteDance Generates $1 Billion From Mobile Games in One Year

                https://sensortower.com/blog/bytedance-mobile-games-one-billion-revenue

                16:50 Tiktok rocket ship

                Slope after hitting $10bn in revenue what happens after that

                • Report from May 2022 said Tiktok is on track to triple it’s ad revenue passing revenue of Twitter and Snap
                • Tiktok (only) triple from $3.8bn in 2021 to $11.6bn in 2022 (200% increase)
                • Those numbers don’t lie - you can't reach this scale without advertisers getting value
                • Thought that could be a nice segway into Matej doing a state of the tiktok
                • 19:20 Tiktok UA intro

                  20:15 Tiktok Fun facts (location targeting restrictions)

                  29:00 Pangle issues

                  33:00 UA best practices

                  39:00 US Purchase campaign (FB vs tiktok CPI comparison)

                  39:40 UA challenges

                  42:30 Initial campaign structure & targeting

                  44:00 "predictions"


                  Please share feedback and comments - [email protected] / lancaric.me

                  48 min
                • two & a half gamers session #20 - The Ants creative analysis. Which visual theme has the lowest CPI?

                  This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session #20. Discussing the latest news, fun stuff and dropping knowledge. Don't forget, this is a 4am conference discussion vibe so let's not take it too seriously! Let’s dive in and enjoy.

                  Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg, Matej Lančarič

                  Youtube: https://youtu.be/dQLmWPIHPgk


                  The Ants: Underground Kingdom base-building strategy game and moves the player's perspective to the underground ant kingdom, and the 3D realistic modeling of the game screen mixed with the real image of ants, so that players can recognize a variety of ant species while playing the game, this fresh and unconventional theme is really attractive. 

                  The game offers a Rich Multilayered strategic gameplay and graphics experience. Unlike most modern games, it is lightweight in size, making it accessible for lots of players. 

                  In this game, the Player is the Ultimate Ant Ruler who leads the Queen, Builds the Anthill, grows the colony, and defends against the enemies. 

                  According to Sensor Tower, the fastest growing theme in terms of revenue was animal/insect, which generated $26.5 million in U.S., representing an increase of 904% year-over-year. Sensor Tower attributed the majority of this growth to The Ants: Underground Kingdom from StarUnion, which accounted for 89.6% of consumer spending.

                  Agenda:

                  1:50 Gamesforum Berlin (kudos)

                  3:40 Intro about StarUnion Interactive

                  6:30 Are Ants a 4X game or not?

                  10:10 What stands behind the success of the game?

                  13:20 realistic life of ants creatives

                  17:00 levelup creative concepts

                  21:30 What kind of % is UA or GD behind the success?

                  27:00 Ant breeding concept

                  29:10 Hypercasual & competitors inspiration

                  31:00 No one complains about the Ant creatives

                  36:00 Female vs male oriented creatives

                  38:30 Which creative concept to start with? 

                  39:45 What kind of theme has the lowest CPI? 


                  Article with creatives - https://lancaric.me/deconstruction-of-the-ants-underground-kingdom-creatives/ 

                  Please share feedback and comments - [email protected] / lancaric.me

                  43 min
                • two & a half gamers session #19 - The King info Leak, 5 Game design tips to level up your game

                  This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session #19. Discussing the latest news, fun stuff and dropping knowledge. Don't forget, this is a 4am conference discussion vibe so let's not take it too seriously! Let’s dive in and enjoy.

                  Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg, Matej Lančarič

                  Youtube: https://youtu.be/NS8KHTzuJuw


                  Agenda

                  2:00 Vungle correction

                  4:30 The King info leak

                  15:25 5 Game design tips to level up your game


                  Please share feedback and comments - [email protected] / lancaric.me

                  51 min
                • two & a half gamers session #18 - How could King make 30% more revenue? Full UA, GD & Ads analysis!

                  This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session #18. This week we continue with our new segment! The Mobile Gaming Company Happy Hour where we do a deep dive on a mobile gaming company from the perspective of Game Design, UA and Ad Mon. Don't forget, this is a 4am conference discussion vibe so let's not take it too seriously! Let’s dive in and enjoy it.

                  Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg, Matej Lančarič

                  Youtube: https://youtu.be/vD221MHe6SU

                  Today we’ll be discussing King

                  Before Diving in here’s some topline information about King:

                  • King of course as everyone knows is owned by ActivisionBlizzard
                  • Activision Blizzard posted $8.8bn in revenues in 2021 (highest ever)
                  • King made up 28% of that coming in at around $2.5bn which was their best year to date
                  • King grew an impressive by $416m in 2021 or by about 19%
                  • Interesting thing here Activision Blizzard grew by about $800m (10%) in 2021
                  • This means that King was responsible for 50% of Activision Blizzard overall growth in 2021!
                  • In other words King is a beast

                  • Agenda

                    2:05 King topline information

                    4:00 Intro to King User Acquisition

                    4:45 UA general information

                    8:24 King doesnt love external UA

                    11:20 Top UA channels

                    12:00 Why Applovin makes a lot of sense

                    14:15 Interesting UA facts

                    16:40 Creatives

                    21:00 UA suggestions

                    24:30 Live ops fuels UA

                    25:20 King Admonetisation

                    27:30 Chink in the Royal armor

                    28:30 King selling inventory old way (no mediation)

                    30:00 Ad revenue assumptions

                    33:00 How could King increase ad revenue by 30%?

                    38:52 King & competitors in puzzle genre

                    41:45 King’s IAP revenue

                    44:20 Candy crush history & analysis

                    48:00 11k levels in Candy Crush - WOW

                    49:20 Candy crush soda saga analysis

                    50:45 What kind of games King launched in the last years?

                    52:00 Crash bandicoot

                    54:00 King killed games

                    56:30 Snowprint information

                    1:01:40 Knighthood

                    1:03:00 Phoenix games takes Knighthood & increase revenue

                    Please share feedback and comments - [email protected] / lancaric.me

                    1 hr 10 min
                  • two & a half gamers session #17 - the creative framework, tips for inspiration, recession & games

                    This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session #17. Discussing the latest news, fun stuff and dropping knowledge. Don't forget, this is a 4am conference discussion vibe so let's not take it too seriously! Let’s dive in and enjoy. 

                    Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg, Matej Lančarič

                    Youtube: https://youtu.be/Gs3YE6MJKIg   

                    Agenda 

                    2:55 Recession & mobile games

                    14:50 Apex Legends 

                    21:34 The creative framework  

                    40:40 5 secret tips where to get inspiration


                    Describing creative process from scratch 

                    competitor research + old creatives assessment, brainstorming, creative brief, production, testing, evaluation, iteration, new brainstorming,  all over again 


                    What kind of tools to use for competitor research?  


                    5 secret tips where to get inspiration 

                    Youtube videos with millions of views (unboxing - chest openings) 

                    Current situation (covid, EURO, seasonal creatives - although those suck balls) 

                    Memes (drake, whatever else trending at the moment… ) 

                    Hype (Netflix series, …) 

                    Different game genres


                    Why are we making creatives for players and not art directors? 


                    presentation with tips & examples 

                    https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1azXidQYoAneJgEAaV-ylJ67c8XVFallrzY4OIHSE5B0/edit   

                    Please share feedback and comments - [email protected] / lancaric.me


                    52 min

                  About two & a half gamers

                  From the publisher's feed

                  This is a no BS gaming podcast. We share insights, knowledge and fun gossip relating to the topics of User Acquisition, Game Design and Ad monetisation. You will find here actionable insights in a fun…

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