The Gaming Playbook w/ Harry Phokou

Building great teams is harder than building great products. Today, I sit down with Ionuț Codreanu, Head of Studio at Funcom and veteran of titles like Assassin’s Creed and Dune: Awakening, to break down what actually makes teams work in game development and beyond. We explore hiring mistakes founders make early, why “rockstar” employees often fail long-term, how to build a strong core team, and w...

How do you actually get your game discovered in 2026, without killing creativity? In this episode, I sit down with Frode Krisner, Founder and Co-CEO at Gameopedia, the hidden data layer powering discovery for YouTube, Google, Amazon, Samsung, and others, reaching over a billion gamers every year. We explore how game discovery really works, why genre is breaking down, how emotional data beats tags,...

The traditional game publisher model is breaking, and indie developers are feeling it first. Today, I'm joined by Dino Patti, co-founder of Playdead, creator of Limbo & Inside, and CEO of coherence. Dino explains why publishers are losing relevance, how developers can build momentum without giving away 50% of their revenue, and what the future of multiplayer games really looks like. If you...

What really happens when your game suddenly explodes to hundreds of thousands of players? Today, I sit down with Felix Oechsler, CTO and Managing Director at Nitrado, to unpack the brutal realities of launching and scaling multiplayer games. From Last Epoch’s massive launch to DDoS attacks, server costs, hyperscalers vs bare metal, and why most studios get infrastructure decisions wrong far too la...

What actually is a game brand, and why do so many studios still get marketing wrong? Today, I sit down with Edd Newby-Robson, a senior games industry marketing leader with 20+ years of experience across EA, Codemasters, Avalanche Studios, and iconic franchises like Need for Speed, Dirt, The Hunter: Call of the Wild, and more. We break down what brand really means in games, why marketing should sta...

What does it really take to build and lead a game studio that actually ships, without burning people out? Today, I'm joined by Joni Lappalainen, CEO and Co-founder of Dreamloop Games, who breaks down 10+ years of studio leadership, risk management, sustainable growth, and why overwork culture quietly destroys teams. We dive into time tracking, “hero complex,” healthy crunch, service leadership...

Today's guest is Joe Hills, an expert game marketer, ex-Blizzard, Supercell, Meta, Riot, and now Head of Gaming & Partnerships at Once Upon a Time. Also newly joined the Advisory Board for Great Ormond Street Hospital. We break down why studios obsess over launch day, how long you should actually market a game, why gut instinct vs data is misunderstood, and what indie devs consistently get...

Today's guest is Jenny Xu, a long-distance runner, Forbes 30 Under 30, and CEO of Talofa Games. Jenny breaks down her wild journey from making 100+ games as a kid to raising $6M and building Monster Walk, a genre-bending fitness RPG. We dig into founder focus, beating overwhelm, fundraising reality, personal identity, creative intuition, and the life moments that shaped her. If you’re building gam...

Today's guest is Simon Sundén, a veteran of the competitive gaming scene, CEO of Clutch Group, and the operator behind major esports productions like the GeoGuessr World Cup. We dig into the rise of esports from its origins in South Korea, how livestreaming changed the industry forever, and why most studios misunderstand what esports is actually for. Simon breaks down what makes a game truly compe...

Today's guest is Henri Lindgren, a veteran games industry leader, CEO of Kokoon Games, and former head of Lightneer. We unpack the real side of building and leading game studios, from scaling startups to shutting down companies, rebuilding from scratch, and mastering resilience as a founder. Henri shares insights about leadership, culture, and mental endurance in the turbulent games industry, alon...

In this episode, I sit down with Matt Hitchcock, co-founder of Other Things Agency, to break down what it really takes to market, launch, and revive games in 2025. From creating game trailers that actually sell, to fixing poor launches and standing out on Steam, this is the conversation every indie developer and studio marketer needs to hear. Matt shares insights from working on campaigns for Elde...

What does it actually take to build a career in games? In this episode, I sit down with Amir Satvat, Director of Business Development at Tencent and the creator of one of the biggest gaming career communities online. Amir’s helped almost 4,000 people land roles in games, all while juggling a full-time job. We talk about the real odds of getting into the industry, how he handled 2,000+ job rejectio...

Ever wondered why some indie games blow up without “doing any marketing”? And why that idea frustrates real game marketers? In this episode, I sit down with Andrew Pappas, founder of RenGen Marketing and host of Indie Game Movement podcast, to unpack what real marketing looks like for indie studios in 2025. Andrew has worked with countless devs across the world to help them understand how to conne...

Ever wondered how to scale a gaming studio to over 200+ staff without raising a single dollar of VC funding? In this episode, I sit down with Marcus Holmstrom, Co-Founder and CEO of The Gang, who shares how he built one of the world’s leading Roblox studios, and working with brands like FIFA, Netflix, Amazon, and Wimbledon, while pioneering the rise of UGC gaming. We talk about how Roblox develope...

Dreaming of breaking into the games industry or scaling your studio? In this episode, John Wright (CEO of Turborilla) shares his journey from leaving accountancy to leading a studio with 200M+ downloads, plus hard-earned lessons on leadership, mobile publishing, and scaling games in today’s competitive market. We cover everything from transferable skills and breaking into gaming, to user acquisiti...

In this episode of The Gaming Playbook, I sit down with Jon Hanson, founder of Skill Tree Marketing and former EA & Warner Bros. publishing exec, who left the AAA grind to help indie and AA studios thrive. Jon shares the unfiltered truth about indie game marketing: why most devs misunderstand it, how to validate your game without wasting years, and what it really takes to cut through the noise...

In this episode of The Gaming Playbook, I sit down with Charlie Czerkawski, veteran game designer behind Shadowgun Legends and Payday 3, and now part of Sharkmob’s design leadership team on Exoborn. Charlie is also the author of Game Economy Design, and he pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to build player-friendly yet profitable game economies. Expect deep dives into: - What game econ...

In this episode of The Gaming Playbook, I sit down with Matej Lancaric, one of the most successful solopreneurs in the gaming industry, who scaled his one-person consultancy past €1.6M in revenue. Matej shares the unfiltered reality of solopreneurship: why you can’t treat it as a backup plan, how to survive the risk of losing big clients, and what it really takes to build and keep a thriving solo...

In this episode, I sit down with Kate Edwards, CEO of Geogrify, culturalisation strategist, and former Executive Director of the IGDA, to unpack the hidden mistakes developers make when building games for a global audience. From Age of Empires getting banned in South Korea, to the backlash around Indiana Jones, to why inclusivity and allegorical distance matter more than ever, Kate breaks down the...

In this episode, I sit down with Ada Mockute Jaime, CMO at Nordcurrent (Cooking Fever, Airplane Chefs) to unpack what’s actually working in mobile game marketing in 2025. From UGC that turns into billion-view ads, to TikTok Lives that really convert to installs, Ada breaks down the tactics casual studios can copy tomorrow to scale faster and cheaper. We cover: - How to turn organic UGC into high-p...

Think raising VC is the best way to grow a game? Think again. In this episode, I sit down with Ridzki Syahputera — ex-VC and co-founder of PVX Partners — to unpack the truth about game funding, marketing, and scaling in 2025. Whether you're building your first game or working at a studio, this is the stuff nobody teaches: how user acquisition really works, when to raise money (and when to avoid it...

Discover how The Baby in Yellow, an indie horror game born from a game jam, exploded to over 300 million downloads — without any marketing budget or VC funding. In this episode, Greg Lee, co-founder of Team Terrible, shares how content creators, viral design strategies, and long-term thinking helped them turn a side project into a global hit. From leaving Rockstar to building a 12-person indie stu...

2025 Indie Game Publishing Playbook w/ Bobby Wertheim Looking to land a publishing deal for your indie game in 2025? In this episode, veteran game scout Bobby Wertheim breaks down the chaotic state of game publishing, what publishers are really looking for, and how devs can stand out in a saturated market. We cover everything from pitch mistakes, proving product-market fit, and surviving in an era...

Want to break into the gaming industry or level up your career fast? In this episode of The Gaming Playbook, Harry Phokou sits down with Alexander Brazie (World of Warcraft, League of Legends, Ori and the Will of the Wisps) to discuss how to actually get a job in games and get promoted quickly. From the power of playtesting and portfolios to insider hiring mindsets and the truth about nepotism, Al...

Want to turn your Discord community into a revenue-generating machine? In this episode of The Gaming Playbook, I sit down with Tom Gayner, CEO of Levellr, who’s helped Scopely, Krafton, and even the NFL build high-performing Discord communities. We dive into the most common mistakes studios make, why Discord users are 6x more valuable, and how AI is revolutionizing community management. If you’re...