Deconstructor of Fun

We discuss the mixed reviews of APEX Mobile. Congratulate Bernard Kim on his latest baller move. Doom Warcraft mobile. In this episode Kress also ponders why NewZoo keeps triggering him. Seufert updates us on the latest anti-trust charges Apple is facing.   Links: Questions and Feedback The Slack Group Hosts: Mishka Katkoff , Eric Kress , Adam Telfer and Ethan Levy, Eric Seufert Sponsors: Goo...

Shahaf started a company called ominously Web3 back in 2006. Since then he has been at the forefront of the adaptation of blockchain technology first within finance and now within games as the President of UnCaged Studios . In this episode, we discuss the reasons why blockchain and crypto broke into the mainstream last year. Why do investors remain bullish about blockchain gaming despite massive s...

Kress gets triggered by Newzoo's new report about the state of esports and live streaming. The team discusses ex-Riot and ex-Blizzard founding teams. Recap of why advertising in console games is not a good idea. Our take on Diablo Immportal coming to mobile and PC and analysis of why private equities are eying Ubisoft.  Links: Questions and Feedback The Slack Group Hosts: Mishka Katkoff , Eri...

Chris Heatherly ’s long and accomplished career in the games industry spans toys, MMOs, mobile, free-to-play, and VR and includes work on some of the biggest brands in the world. He spent over 14 years at Disney where he worked on everything from leading smash-hit kid’s MMO Club Penguin, to leading their mobile initiative, to leading their toys business. After Disney, he joined NBCU to launch thei...

Heated take on the mobile market downturn. Discussion about Microsoft's move into the in-game ads business. What does a co-CEO mean for Huuuge games and why does the newest World of Warcraft expansion matters.  Links: Questions and Feedback The Newsletter The Slack Group Hosts: Mishka Katkoff , Eric Kress , Adam Telfer and Ethan Levy, Eric Seufert Sponsors: Google , ironSource , Appsflyer , X...

News: Meta’s Horizon worlds monetization Sensor Tower: Q1 2022 mobile games spending dropped 7.1% to $21 billion Metaverse Articles (NFT Avatars, DOgs, and Epic + LEGO Metaverse) Check out: Avatar Platform for Cross-App Metaverse with Timmu Tõke, CEO of Ready Player Me , and Javier Barne's exquisite talk on game economies Links: Questions and Feedback The Newsletter The Slack Group Hosts: Mishka K...

I'll be honest. Before sitting down with Uri Marchand the most I knew about Overwolf is the ridiculous story that the company is going full remote and setting up their offices in the metaverse of Roblox. Based on that Roblox story I knew we'd hit it off. After all, I too love pranking Web3 fanatics. I'm happy I got to talk to Uri and Lee McNeil . There are simply no better people to discuss user-g...

News: With E3 2022 Canceled, Is It Time to Cancel E3 for Good? Gaming agency Loaded raises $20M in funding Why Netflix Should Sell Ads Links: The Istanbul Event Questions and Feedback The Newsletter The Slack Group Hosts: Mishka Katkoff , Eric Kress , Adam Telfer and Ethan Levy, Eric Seufert Sponsors: Google , ironSource , Appsflyer , PlayerWon HELP UKRAINIANS: For refugees fleeing to Poland: Poli...

It’s the biggest hack in crypto history. As reported in The Verge et all, a hacker stole $625 million from the blockchain behind NFT game Axie Infinity . In this episode, we wanted to really dig into the mechanics of the Ronin sidechain, the Ronin bridge, and the likely form the attack took in order to explain the hack in simple, easy to understand terms. We end up referencing Ocean’s 11… a lot. W...

Many of us know how to develop a game. Many of us are experienced in running live operations. Yet only a few of us truly know how to successfully navigate through a soft launch and ship a modern mobile game. In this episode,  Annelie Biernat  (Game Director at Wooga) and  Aaron Hiscox  (Business Development Manager at Google Play) shared their insights and learnings on how to s...

If you’ve been following the blockchain space, the “blue chip” NFT project Bored Ape Yacht Club is inescapable. And as BAYC owner Yugalabs has progressed, it is clear that gaming is central to their future ambitions. There’s been a flurry of news recently, from their partnership with Animoca Brands to P2E game Benji Bananas to the launch of ApeCoin and the leaked investor deck pitching their big m...

News: Bored Ape Yacht Club creator raises $450 million to build an NFT metaverse CD Projekt confirm The Witcher is coming back for a new game Sony Interactive Entertainment To Acquire Haven Entertainment Studios Inc. Links: The Istanbul Event Questions and Feedback The Newsletter The Slack Group Hosts: Mishka Katkoff , Eric Kress , Adam Telfer and Ethan Levy, Eric Seufert Sponsors: Google , ironSo...

Joshua Wilson is the CEO of SciPlay, a publicly-traded gaming company with a strong social casino portfolio. In this episode, we discuss the CEO's role in building a culture and how to successfully continue scaling an organization with hundreds of employees worldwide. We also get to talk about what's the best and the worst thing about being a CEO of a publicly-traded games company. Links: The Ista...

HELP UKRAINIANS: For refugees fleeing to Poland: Polish Humanitarian Action , or the Polish Center for International Aid . For medical assistance on the ground in Ukraine: Médecins Sans Frontières or the Ukrainian Red Cross . News: NFT game sales hit $5.17B in 2021 FIFA Ultimate Team cards aren’t gambling, Dutch court says Links: The Istanbul Event Questions and Feedback The Newsletter The Slack G...

Christian Ress is the CEO and co-founder of PlaytestCloud , a platform I’ve been using for 8 years. PlaytestCloid is an essential platform for any and all mobile game developers. It allows us to conclude all kinds of playtests easily, quickly, and with great targeting. In this podcast Christian shares valuable insights on how to use playtest on your trail to successful game launch and beyond. Link...

It’s the 2.5-hour documentary railing on NFTs that everyone on your Twitter feed pretended to watch but merely skimmed. With over 6m views, Dan Olson’s Line Goes Up is a fantastic and wide-ranging video essay railing against NFTs, Web3, and all things crypto. The Tokenomics crew has watched the whole thing so you don’t have to, and in this episode we discuss Line Goes Up and where we agree and dis...

HELP UKRAINIANS: For refugees fleeing to Poland: Polish Humanitarian Action , the Polish Association for Legal Intervention for refugee rights, the Polish Center for International Aid . For medical assistance on the ground in Ukraine, Médecins Sans Frontières or the Ukrainian Red Cross . News: Backbone raises $40 million to bring console and PC games to mobile 'loot boxes' in computer games are no...

PLEASE HELP UKRAINIANS: For refugees fleeing to Poland: Polish Humanitarian Action , the Polish Association for Legal Intervention for refugee rights, the Polish Center for International Aid . For medical assistance on the ground in Ukraine, Médecins Sans Frontières or the Ukrainian Red Cross . News: Games industry rallies behind Ukraine Playtika Announces Exploration of Strategic Alternatives Gab...

Free-to-Play and Play-to-Earn seem to be two contradicting business models. But what if you could make a game that takes the best of both worlds? A game with infinite upside while being scalable, never-ending, and generally fun to play. Enter Thetan Arena... Links: The Istanbul Event Questions and Feedback The Newsletter The Slack Group Hosts: Mishka Katkoff , Ethan Levy, Javier Barnes Sponsors: i...

In this episode, we're joined by Andrew Green , co-founder, and Gabby Dizon , co-founder of Yield Guild Games. Hold on to your metaverse seats, because this is one high-flying conversation! Strider, recently raised $3 million to enable creators to take control of their projects through blockchain-based decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). Yield Guild Games is a play-to-earn gaming guild,...

News: IMX token tumbles as GameStop appears to dump $42 million from Immutable X grant Activision to Delay Next Year’s Planned Call of Duty Game Call of Duty: Mobile fires past $1.5 billion in consumer spending Links: The Istanbul Event Questions and Feedback The Newsletter The Slack Group Hosts: Mishka Katkoff , Eric Kress , Adam Telfer and Ethan Levy, Eric Seufert Sponsors: Google , ironSource ,...

Can you raise capital without touting Web3 and blockchain? What's the difference between Angel Investor, a VC, and a strategic investor? When to choose a generalist fund over a gaming fund? What do investors look for in investees? Where do VCs look for investees? How to pitch over a video connection versus on-site? This and many more are answered in this podcast by the powerful Joakim Achren .&nbs...

News: Matthew Wolf interview: Why Zynga is diving into blockchain games Are Our Best Days Behind Us or Ahead of Us? × Supercell Links: The Istanbul Event Questions and Feedback The Newsletter The Slack Group Hosts: Mishka Katkoff , Eric Kress , Adam Telfer and Ethan Levy Sponsors: Google , ironSource , Appsflyer , PlayerWon ,

Timmu Tõke is the CEO of Ready Player Me, a platform that creates cross-game avatars for the metaverse. In this podcast, we discuss the philosophy of the open metaverse, interoperability, cross-game services, the current state of NFTS among many other fascinating topics. Links: Timmu Tõke: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timmutoke/ Crypto Punks: https://punks.readyplayer.me/ Ready Player Me: https://w...

News: Google reportedly aims to pivot Stadia into wider streaming market   The Unnerving Rise of Video Games that Spy on You Links: Send us Questions and Feedback Deconstructor of Fun Newsletter Deconstructor of Fun Slack Group Hosts: Mishka Katkoff , Eric Kress , Ethan Levy and Eric Seufert Sponsors: Google , ironSource , Appsflyer , PlayerWon ,