Deconstructor of Fun

Eric Seufert is a one-of-a-kind marketing expert. He has headed marketing at Rovio, Wooga, and N3TWORK. He has built Mobile Dev Memo into the leading site for marketing professionals. He became a venture capitalist after founding Heracles Capital. In this podcast, Eric Seufert returns back to the podcast to discuss predictions for mobile marketing. A must-listen for all of us! sign-up to our PGC e...

Happy New Year, and welcome to the first podcast of 2024! After checking in on the holiday activities, the cast digs into the big news hitting the Chinese game industy. Kress makes predictions about how companies around the world will react to the proposed China game regulations (limiting daily spend, removing loot boxes, etc). Phil pulled out key insights from the Insomniac leak, and the cast dis...

Which company took the most damage in 2023? What was the most disappointing game of the year? Who had the worst layoffs what were some of our most inaccurate takes? Tune in to the realest awards show in the industry and hear our picks for each category on many more! --- Join us at PGC London >>> VIP Roundtables

In-app ads are either important or crucial depending on the genre of games you’re making. In this episode, I’m joined by Felix Braberg, a true ad monetization expert. Together we discuss the effect of privacy changes on ad monetization, practical ways for games to double their ad revenue, the efficacy of different ad formats, and the changes onset by Apple, Amazon, and Google to the whole ad monet...

Host Jen Donahoe sits down with Xsolla's Interim CEO and President, Chris Hewish , to get the juicy facts from Xsolla's State of Play Report. The insights apply to all platforms and regions, so be sure to listen in. They cover 4 key topics: - The rise of real-time payments - Alternative Payments - Web shops with new data from the top 100 companies - The upcoming EU DMA and side-loading in...

With Miska downing soju faster than meat off a KBBQ grill, Eric and Jen lay down the law on Monopoly Go's UA numbers. Laura celebrates Apple's end-of-year awards, while Phil tells developers to hide yo' kids, hide yo' wife; Fortnite is coming for your genre. The crew talks about Epic's court victory that produced Tim Sweney's only natural smile to date.

Want to catch your  Data.ai  2024 predictions in a TWIG-like format? We got you covered!  Jen Donahoe ,  Michail Katkoff ,  Brett Nowak  and  Eric Kress  hosted by  Lexi Sydow , deconstructed the gaming market while planting several jabs at each others' predictions. Topics discussed: Are we seeing gaming bottom out, or is the market on the up? Which areas in gaming are growing and why? What ar...

How do you acquire your very first players without a marketing budget? What guerrilla marketing tactics work for games, and how can you execute them creatively? Host, Jen Donahoe asks Julie Bonnecarrère and Pavel Afanasiev , co-founders of Northern Lights Entertainment (NLE), about their journey to soft launching on mobile under extreme budget constraints. NLE is developing Nebulae ( https://nebul...

The not-so-Fabulous Five are right back at it discussing GTA 6 trailer that broke the internet. We recap Slush, the latest boondoggle with Mishka and Phil. Predict what the console gaming market will be in 2024 and get our engines revved up by the latest Forza Customs and Chrome Valley Customs. Connect with the TWIG Cast to give feedback and keep the conversation going! ⁠Philip Black⁠ , ⁠Jen Donah...

Ethan's back, and so is Kress telling him to "Get the F Out of here!" Laura breaks down June's Journey $1B revenue milestone with Ethan chiming in with a history lesson on Hidden Object games. Jen covers the nominees for the gam3.gg Web 3 awards. Kress gives a state of mobile games industry update and the team talks about the state SKAN4 and the upcoming SKAN5. Connect with the T...

What is the role of Product Marketing Managers (PMMs) in gaming? The discussion emphasizes two key aspects that PMMs enable: Firstly, facilitating the identification of product-market fit early in the development phase, thereby preventing costly pivots after the game's launch Secondly, they allow Product Managers and Game Directors to concentrate on enhancing key performance indicators (KPIs) and...

We have a full house and lots of topics to cover! The talk of the week is Scopely's Monopoly Go crossing $1B in revenue in just 7 months. We have a Esports smackdown and we also talk a bit about Web3 to keep things spicy. Kudos to our sponsors: Heroic Labs, Xsolla, AppsFlyer, and Data.ai

In the heyday of 2022, there was an unprecedented surge in investment in Web3 games, capturing nearly half of all investment in both dollars and raw numbers. However, the excitement and speculation didn't translate into quality games, resulting in numerous failures within the industry. Warren Woodward, CCO and co-founder of Upptic, a leading growth agency for games, joins the podcast to explai...

Kress embraces grouchiness and brings the fire to today's podcast. Phil gets triggered by behavioural economics delivering an epic rant. Mishka weakly defends his “China” point and Jen talks about the latest Call of Duty that got drowned by the worst score in the history of the franchise.  The crew discusses why console developers are backtracking from the Games-as-a-Service model and announce...

In the latest podcast, Mishka delves into an all-encompassing discussion with Chris Hewish, President and interim CEO of Xsolla. Chris boasts an impressive gaming career that spans iconic companies like Skydance, Survios, DreamWorks, and includes a substantial 13-year stint at Activision. Topics discussed: Macroeconomics vs. Game Investments Console Gaming: Challenges & Opportunities Behaviora...

With Miska resuming his jet-set life, Jen reviews hygiene at Blizzcon, while Kress tells us his opinion on the unexpected departure of PlayStation CEO and reminds us of the difference between Trekkies and fans. Laura and Phil go deep on Brawl Stars' new announcement - it's due or die. Phil can't understand The Finals, and neither can Eric. Omega Strikers is dead, and the team performs...

Are you ready for the Merger & Acquisition Masterclass? Learn from Chris Petrovic, former Zynga Head of Corporate Strategy, why game companies venture into M&A, what are the biggest challenges and reasons leading to failed deals, current M&A trends, and more.

As Microsoft reorgs Xbox leadership, we debate who could be the perfect person to replace Bobby Kotick as the CEO of Activision. We also discuss why our industry has all the layoffs in the middle of breaking sales records. And we also talk about games: Mario Wonder, Supercell's Mo. Co and Wonder Blast from Good Game Studios. shoutout to our world-class spornsors: AppsFlyer, Xsolla, Heroic Labs...

In this episode, we explore the unique challenges and successes of a remarkable woman CEO in the gaming industry. Our guest, Carol Miu, has shattered glass ceilings and achieved incredible milestones throughout her career. We'll dive deep into her journey, discussing gender disparities in the CEO role, her most memorable achievements in maintaining work-life balance, industry evolution, and he...

How do game companies get press for their new games, big company moments, or new hires? We ask Neil Long, founder and editor of Mobilegamer.biz , for tips and tricks on how to approach game media to get press. Neil Long is the founder and editor of mobilegamer.biz, a new site for the mobile games business. He started out in games industry journalism almost 20 years ago, and before launching mobile...

The non-sick trifecta of Kress, Phil, and Jen hold down the fort. Kress pushed back on the India opportunity, arguing it's only for the top-of-the-top games. The gang revisits the Unity runtime fee news with new insights and quotes reported by Mobilegamer.biz . Shameless speculation ensues about Microsoft's declining success with Game Pass, meaning they might want to cancel it. What happen...

How to deal with negative feedback? And the importance of self-esteem, self-awareness, self-reflection, and self-evaluation.  In today’s Episode joined by my friend and former colleague, Sophie Vo. Sophie comes with 15 years of experience in the games industry working at companies like Gameloft, Wooga, Rovio, Voodoo, and Savage Game Studios. Sophie is perhaps best known for her Rise & Play pod...

According to Niko Partners , the India games market is projected to generate almost $900M in 2023 with almost ½ a billion players.  That's growth of 21% YOY from 2022 for revenue and 12% for the number of players. Probably the most interesting stat is that 97% of India’s gamers play on smartphones. To dig in, we got the platform experts to come and highlight the various opportunities, from ove...

Laura and Phil deep dive into Monster Hunter's early positive numbers in Japan before arguing over Warcraft Rumble's design and art choice. Jen and Kress put the Activision and Microsoft merger to rest while setting up their fantasy drafts for new CEOs of Activision, post-Bobby Kotick's departure at the end of 2023, and Unity, post-John Riccitiello's departures. Finally, the team r...

Is there an opportunity for AR gaming on mobile after all the attention coming to AR from the Meta Quest 3 and Apple Vision Pro? Here to unpack that topic is Asad J Malik, CEO of Jaru AR. Asad is an augmented reality pioneer whose critically acclaimed narrative storytelling projects positioned him as a visionary in the space before completing his undergraduate degree. He has directed next-generati...