Naavik Gaming Podcast

For years, AI in gaming has promised smarter NPCs, cheaper content creation, and more dynamic worlds. Yet few of these promises have translated into commercially viable player experiences. Our host, Alexandra Takei , VP at Medal & General Intuition , sits down with Brian Tanner , co-founder and CEO of Artificial Agency and former DeepMind leader, to explore the emergence of agentic gameplay an...

Three years after raising a $31.3M Series A off a prototype shown behind closed doors at GDC, Gardens Interactive still hasn’t announced a release date. Investors just put in another $35M+ anyway. In this episode, Kalie Moore welcomes back Stephen Bell and Chris Bell, two of Gardens’ three co-founders and the team behind Journey, Sky, What Remains of Edith Finch and Blaseball, following a Series B...

This episode covers the Naavik Digest newsletter published on October 18th. In this week’s issue, we look into Meta, exploring the company’s shift away from gaming-focused VR hardware towards AI and AR glasses, and its resurgent mobile advertising engine. You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://naavik.substack.com/p/metas-role-in-gaming-today-muse-vr-u...

Most studios have teams, funding, and a publisher behind them. Abe Train has a laptop and a handful of contractors. In this episode, Kalie Moore sits down with Abe, founder of Trainwreck Labs, to unpack how a former head of business intelligence at HelloFresh became one of the most successful independent developers in daily browser games. Abe quit his job on the last day of 2021 with about six mon...

This episode covers the Naavik Digest newsletter published on October 11th. In this week’s issue, we check in on CD Projekt, looking at the company’s current state, ongoing projects, and how the company has shifted its way of working to drive a more successful future. You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://naavik.substack.com/p/cd-projekts-best-days-m...

As cheating becomes more sophisticated, anti-cheat is increasingly shifting from detecting software to understanding player behavior. Host Devin Becker is joined by André Pimenta Ribeiro , CEO & Co-Founder of Anybrain, to discuss how behavioral anti-cheat analyzes player inputs, where it fits alongside traditional tools, and why some approaches avoid software access entirely. The conversation...

This episode covers Naavik’s AI x Gaming newsletter published on September 29th. In this week’s issue, we take a broader look at the entertainment landscape to map out what recent announcements from Disney, Hasbro, and miHoYo could mean for the future of gaming fandom. You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://naavik.substack.com/p/from-disney-to-mihoyo-...

This episode covers the Naavik Digest newsletter published on Sunday, September 27th. In this week’s issue, we take a look at how seasonal live-ops performs in 2026, analyzing a decade of Sensor Tower revenue and download data across 15 top mobile titles, alongside console and Roblox data. Want to explore working with Naavik? Shoot us a note: https://naavik.co/contact-us/   Let us know what you th...

AI is making game creation more accessible, but building reliable games that can reach players across multiple platforms requires more than simply prompting an LLM. Host Devin Becker welcomes Robby Yung , CEO of The Sandbox, to discuss Sandbox Studio and its approach to AI-assisted UGC development. Robby explains what the team learned from the original Game Maker, where Studio draws the line betwe...

This episode covers the Naavik Digest newsletter published on Sunday, September 20th. In this week’s issue, we dig into the data and assess to what extent external IP drives a video game’s success. You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://naavik.substack.com/p/the-real-value-of-licensed-ip   Want to explore working with Naavik? Shoot us a note: https://...

Gaming financing hit a 12-month high in Q2 2026, with over $2.5B raised across fewer than 100 rounds. In this episode, recorded in person at Gamescom, Kalie Moore sits down with Michael Metzger, Managing Partner at Drake Star Partners, to work out what that actually signals. Michael leads Drake Star's gaming and digital media practice and is behind the quarterly report the industry reads to track...

This episode covers the Naavik Digest newsletter published on Sunday, September 13th. In this week’s issue, explore the recent increase in notable indie game developers launching their own publishing businesses. You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://naavik.substack.com/p/the-new-money-behind-indie-games   Want to explore working with Naavik? Shoot us...

AI is rapidly changing user acquisition (UA), not just by speeding up creative production but by expanding how campaigns themselves can be managed. Host Devin Becker is joined by Amit Carmi , co-founder and CEO of Sett, to explore how AI is being used to combat creative fatigue, generate video and playable ads, and increasingly automate parts of the UA workflow. Amit breaks down where AI creative...

Live from Gamescom at the Xsolla Clubhouse in Cologne, Alexandra Takei , VP of Platform Revenue & Gaming at Medal and General Intuition, sits down with Ben Kvalo , Founder and CEO of Midwest Games , to unpack what she calls "new age publishing." With traditional deals no longer the only game in town, Ben explains why he built Midwest Games to run two publishing models under one roof: a classic...

This episode covers the Naavik Digest newsletter published on Sunday, August 30th. In this week’s issue, we explore the present and future of kids games through the lens of Netflix launching Netflix Playground and Haveli acquiring Budge Studios. You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://naavik.substack.com/p/the-future-of-kids-games   Learn more about Ap...

Game server hosting is the layer nobody thinks about until it breaks. In this episode, Kalie Moore sits down with Max Podkidkin, Co-Founder and CEO of BisectHosting, to unpack how a Minecraft server that went dark for three days turned into a 15-year infrastructure business serving hundreds of thousands of customers across more than 140 countries. Max put the first hardware on a credit card, recru...

This episode covers the Naavik Digest newsletter published on Sunday, August 23rd. In this week’s issue, we share our latest podcast episode and tackle how and why the mobile games industry keeps converging on best practices across genres — and what that means for the future. You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://naavik.substack.com/p/the-great-mobil...

Between 2018 and 2024, the turnover of Portuguese games companies went from around 5 million to nearly 100 million. In this episode, Kalie Moore sits down with Jefferson Valadares, Co-Founder and CEO of partNerd and President of the Portuguese Association of Game Development Companies, to unpack whether a country long known for exporting its best talent can become a home for original IP. Jefferson...

This episode covers the Naavik Digest newsletter published on Sunday, August 16th. In this week’s issue, we examine Roblox, which lost nearly a third of its value after it reported Q2 2026 results. We explore what the latest numbers might mean for the present and future of the company. You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/ roblo...

This episode covers the Naavik Digest newsletter published on Sunday, August 9th. In this week’s issue, we discuss the rising “friendslop" phenomenon, why it’s somewhat disrupting established live-ops practices, and whether it is sustainable long-term. You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/ friendslop-disrupting-the-live-ops-stat...

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-platfo...

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 ad...

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-onli...

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 Wo...

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...