GameMakers

When you're at the office super late and hella tired, you do weird shit like starting a Vlog.   I'm Joseph Kim, CEO of Lila Games and we are trying to build a mobile gaming studio out of Bangalore, India.   SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS:  - Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/34hfOtv - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ - Don't miss an epi...

Mobile free-to-play game design experts from Naavik - Thomas Baker (former lead game designer at Electronic Arts and lead on Real Racing 3) and Eva Grillova (former game designer from Wooga and SocialPoint) - have written a super in-depth analysis on Garena Free Fire.   Find out how Free Fire was able to achieve success to become the world's most downloaded shooter game of all time! Further,...

We talk about a lot of hot topics people have been discussing in the games industry.  Topics: #1. The dramatic decline in user acquisition marketing - UA Apocalypse #2. Impact of global recession #3. Employee compensation SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS:  - Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/34hfOtv - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ - Don't m...

Joseph Kim and Brett Nowak talk about cultural installation (not just conveying or communicating culture) and about how to create incentive systems for employees.   SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS:  - Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/34hfOtv - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ - Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Game...

Will Harbin was CEO at Kixeye during the early 2010s when the company launched some of the most innovative games to the market at that time: Desktop Tower Defense, Backyard Monsters, War Commander, and Battle Pirates. The company was poised to become the next big gaming juggernaut but did not quite make the transition to mobile.    Today Will is making a comeback with Kixeye 2.0, his new...

Sebastian Park is a co-founder of the UGC publishing company Infinite Canvas and a venture partner at BITKRAFT Ventures. He was also formerly VP of eSports for the Houston Rockets and co-founded Clutch Gaming.   Seb talks about his beliefs on why user-generated gaming is the next frontier for the games industry.   SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS:  - Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/34hfOtv&n...

Three of the greatest experts on Entertainment IP in Games give perhaps the most in-depth discussion on impact, deal structure, issues, and advice.  You don't want to miss this if you have any interest of licensing IP in your game!   SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS:  - Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/34hfOtv - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substa...

After a career in product management at places like Zynga Natural Motion and Digital Chocolate, Akash Senapaty founded e-learning startup Vah Vah with 3 others from Zynga India.    What are the lessons learned? What was he able to translate from being a games PM at Zynga to entrepreneurship? What are his thoughts on the gaming companies and the opportunities in India?   SUBSCRIBE TO...

We discuss the current opportunity space for traditional game developers around Web3.    SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS:  - Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/34hfOtv - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ - Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersStudio  OUTLINE:  0:00 Introduction  1:51 Why Web3...

We talk about game studio fundraising and specifically Series A funding - what that means - and lessons, best practices, and mistakes based on my own experience with this current financing round.   Understand the difference between Seed and Series A.   Make sure you don't make the same mistakes I did. Don't be a lame CEO and make sure you take funding seriously!   SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEM...

Mr. Product Growth Guy himself Aakash Gupta and I discuss the details behind our recent report on the growth and Rise of Gaming in India.   Check out the full written analysis here: https://gamemakers.substack.com/p/the-rise-of-the-indian-gaming-market  SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ - Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameM...

How should companies think about retaining employees?  1. How much to invest in employees when they may wind up just leaving?  2. How to retain employees besides just wage escalation?  3. What should the attitude of employers be regarding the loss of employees?  4. How to think about matching competitive compensation vs. letting employees go?  5. Thinking about redundancy...

The Russia Ukraine war has had a dramatic impact on many people’s lives. Huge impact to society, to our economies, and to various industries in different ways.   How has video game development been impacted by the war?   Boris Kalmykov, CEO of Hypemasters is a Russian living in the UK but with most of his company formerly located in St. Petersberg.  - How have his company and other...

Today I’m here with my co-founder and CTO of LILA Games, Avinash Pandey.  Having a frank discussion about the games industry here in India and what it’s going to take for India to become a place where world-leading games studios emerge.   If China and Turkey can do it, why not India? SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS:  - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/  - Don't miss an episo...

We breakdown the mobile marketing activities of both Garena Free Fire Max and PUBG: New State, comparing and contrasting the user acquisition initiatives deployed in both games.    We first start with a high-level overview of the top 3 mobile shooter games: PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty Mobile, and Garena Free Fire.   Joining to review, discuss, and add meaningful insights to the presen...

What are the skills and kind of personality required to be a winning product manager?    In particular, what do you need to become a "needle-moving" PM instead of a minor cog that doesn't actually make much of a difference?   High-level outline  1. Organizational differences we often see in different gaming studios and talk about some of the ways in which, therefore - certain s...

We discuss the current state of mergers & acquisitions in the games industry.   Topics:  0:00 Introduction  4:13 Activision to Microsoft  12:16 Zynga to Take-Two  25:30 Current M&A Landscape  39:25 Potential Targets  48:17 Playtika Acquisition  51:52 Carve-Out Opportunities  1:01:03 Predictions   Speakers:  - Saad Choudri, CEO at Minic...

Some context:  - IDFA deprecation has created a -30% margin compression for many game studios against their game revenue  - With the deterioration of lookalike audiences CA submits that contextual and interest-based targeting will be more performant  - Consumer Acquisition performed over 25,000 multivariate tests on Facebook, Google, Tiktok, and Snap and have learned that 85-95% of...

A deep discussion on how we think about employee motivation to work. How should we think about it?    We cover topics such as key factors that contribute to higher motivation, the importance of desperation, how it's important to help some employees tie potential outcomes to the work they do, and the importance of creating the right incentive systems to align work motivation.   Read...

We discuss the best and worst of game dev in 2021.   Our awards crew:   Javier Barnes, Lead Game Designer at King  Josh Burns, Founder at DigitalDevConnect  Shannon Chang, Head of Operations at Trading. TV  Niklas Herriger, Executive Coach at 8 Bit Coaching  Matthew Kanterman, CFA, Senior Equity Research Analyst at Bloomberg LP  Eric Kress, Principal at Gossamer...

We talk about some of the biggest trends and lessons of 2021:   1. Rise of Personal Brands (and everyone now jumping on)  2. Power and Importance of Relationships  3. The Duality of Existence and Human Nature  4. The New New Thing   Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter

Today we discuss one of the most important topics for the success of a games studio, especially for startups and those working on new game projects: RECRUITING!   GUEST:  - Tayber Voyer , VP of Product - A Thinking Ape HOSTS:  - Joseph Kim , CEO at LILA Games - Brett Nowak , CEO at Liquid & Grit Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter

Bill Walsh, the Hall of Fame NFL coach, had a number of incredibly insightful and effective leadership philosophies as discussed in his book "The Score Takes Care of Itself."  One philosophy Walsh discusses is something he calls "Make Friends, Not Enemies."   We discuss this concept and as always the nuance and specific application. Check it out!   HOSTS:  - Joseph Kim , CEO at...

An in-depth discussion on how to technical leads at gaming companies can become great!    Super far-ranging conversation from the scope of work, biggest problems, transitioning from individual contributor to manager, how to spend day to day, biggest lessons learned, and more!   SPEAKERS:      - Niklas Herriger, Executive Coach, Founder of 8 Bit Coaching  &nb...

Companies globally require new ways of managing as they grapple with new working conditions from the coronavirus pandemic. As companies adapt to greater work-from-home environments, new problems have arisen.    Brett believes in a new world of remote work where those who don't adapt will not survive, JK believes that for "complex work" and for companies that are working in complex work e...