Deconstructor of Fun

Leisure EN ↓ 801 episodes

Deconstructor of Fun podcast is created by games professionals for games professionals. We explore the business side of the games industry with the goal of bringing listeners content that is relevant, insightful, and entertaining on a weekly basis. Hosts:Michail Katkoff www.linkedin.com/in/michailkatkoff/Eric Kress www.linkedin.com/in/erickress/Phillip Black www.linkedin.com/in/phillip-black-economist/Jen Donahoe www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferdonahoe

Author

Deconstructor of Fun

Episodes

TWIG #138: Disney's resurgence into games & E3 Review 24.06.2021 58:10

Welcome everybody to This Week In Games! News for today: #1 E3 Review #2 Disney's resurgence into video games is only just beginning LINKS: TWIG Newsletter Slack Group Hosts: Mishka Katkoff , Eric Kress , Adam Telfer and Eric Seufert

How to Make a Hyper Successful Idle Game 21.06.2021 48:24

This episode discusses idle games from all angles. Together with Rimmy Spanjer, who is the Managing Director of Games at Hyper Hippo , we cover concept validation, the development process, best monetization practices, and live services strategies in idle games. We also discuss why you should or shouldn't make an idle game and predict the future of the genre.

TWIG #137: Deep Dive into NFT and Netflix Games + Special Guest Star! 17.06.2021 1:12:31

Welcome to This Week in Games!  We discuss NFTs in games with Ethan Levy, who also talks about his recent Deconstructor of Fun article - How Netflix could become the 'Netflix of Gaming' . LINKS: Level Up 2021 Hosts: Mishka Katkoff , Eric Kress , Adam Telfer and Eric Seufert

Making the Business Case for VR Games with Chris Pruett (Oculus) 15.06.2021 45:43

In this episode, I'm joined by Chris Pruett , Director of Publishing at Oculus. We discuss the latest VR hardware and the overall adaptation rate of the platform. The Oculus ecosystem and the type of content that has reached financial success on it. As well as the future of virtual and augmented reality.

TWIG #136: Apple's WWDC, Valorant goes Mobile, Space Ape snags Boom Beach from Supercell 09.06.2021 49:54

Welcome everybody to This Week In Games! News for today: #1 Dark Horse Comics started a gaming division #2 Valorant is coming to phones and mobile platforms #3 WWDC LINKS: Level Up 2021 Hosts: Mishka Katkoff , Eric Kress , Adam Telfer and Eric Seufert

TWIG #135: EA Mobile breakdown, Apple's battle against Microsoft and Epic 02.06.2021 1:00:21

Welcome everybody to This Week In Games! News for today: #1 Tim Cook faces harsh questions about the App store from Judge in Fortnite Trial #2 why Apple says Microsoft's xCloud game streaming isn't on the iPhone #3 EA Mobile LINKS: Level Up 2021 Hosts: Mishka Katkoff , Eric Kress , Adam Telfer and Eric Seufert

TWIG #134: Netflix Goes Games, Garena Free Fire Financials and Jam City SPAC 27.05.2021 53:57

Welcome everybody to This Week In Games! News for today: #1 Netflix Looking for Exec to Oversee a Push Into Gaming #2 Garena Free Fire - Q1 2021 Results #3 Jam City SPAC LINKS: Level Up 2021 Lilith's CEOs interview Hosts: Mishka Katkoff , Eric Kress , Adam Telfer and Eric Seufert

Life Post Acquisition with Lou Fasulo, CEO of Starform (previosly Z2) 24.05.2021 1:11:17

Zynga, Playtika, Tencent, Stillfront, Embracer, and many more are achieving fantastic growth through M&A. In many ways, acquiring gaming studios has become the norm for growth for successful gaming companies. Yet we tend to forget how volatile M&A tends to be. According to research and a recent Harvard Business Review report, the failure rate for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) sits bet...

TWIG #133: Scopely's Game Acquisition Approach, Our Analysis of Zynga, Ubisoft goes F2P, Xbox Partners with Timi 18.05.2021 1:00:34

Welcome everybody to This Week In Games! News for today: #1 Ubisoft's free-to-play turn could be the new normal for big franchises #2 Xbox teams up with Tencent’s Honor of Kings maker Timi Studios #3 HOW SCOPELY TRIES TO DO GAME ACQUISITIONS THE RIGHT WAY #4 Zynga Quarterly Earnings Call LINKS: Secrets of Game Growth with Deconstructor of Fun, Mobile Dev Memo & Twitter Level Up 2021 Hosts: Mis...

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team 14.05.2021 1:15:08

the book: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team   the author : Patrick Lencioni  the hosts: Joakim Achren , Sophie Vo and Michail Katkoff

TWIG #132: Zynga Acquires Chartboost, Metacore's $150M Credit Line and Division Aims at Mobile 11.05.2021 1:05:17

Welcome everybody to This Week In Games! News for today: #1 Metacore secures €150m credit line from Supercell #2 Ubisoft Reveals Free Tom Clancy’s The Division Game with Heartland #3 Zynga Buys chartboost to drive online ads, reports record quarterly revenue LINKS: Level Up 2021

Newzoo’s 2021 Trends to Watch in Games 07.05.2021 1:02:06

Newzoo is the world's most trusted source for games and esports analytics and market research. They have a fantastic team of experts providing insights and expertise that helps developers, publishers, and platforms around the World. In this episode, we discuss Newzoo's services and dive deep into their latest cloud gaming and mobile gaming reports.  Kudos to Candice Mudrick and Tom Wijman for...

TWIG #121: APEX Mobile, Fortnite Made $9B, Call of Duty Gets a New General Manager 06.05.2021 52:15

Welcome everybody to This Week In Games! News for today: #1. Respawn reveals details on Apex Legends Mobile #2. Fortnite made more than $9 billion in revenue in its first two years #3. Johanna Faries named new Call of Duty general manager LINKS: Level Up Academy Modern Mobile Marketing at Scale

Facebook's Games Marketing Insights for 2021 02.05.2021 25:35

2020 was a monumental year for mobile gaming. Facebook's Games Marketing Insights for 2021 report provides several new and unique insights that will help you plan for the year ahead. The report dives into changing player behavior, demographics, motivations, preferences, and spending habits. To save you time, we recorded a podcast episode with Stephen Gray, Ph. D., Consumer Research Manager at Face...

Growth Triggers #9 iOS 14, the Creative Paralysis and the Android Safe Havens 29.04.2021 49:54

In this episode, we discuss iOS 14, whether Android can provide safe havens, and the future of creatives post-ATT. Check out the latest growth strategy course: ios14strategy.com code: DT50 Your hosts: Michail Katkoff ( twitter ) and Eric Seufert ( twitter )

TWIG 130: EA's New Battlefield Game, Epic vs. Apple, New Leadership for Overwatch 27.04.2021 56:38

Welcome everybody to This Week In Games! News for today: #1. EA announced its new Battlefield game #2. Fortnite’s Mastermind Goes to Battle With Apple #3. New Leadership for Overwatch LINKS: - LILA Games Job Opportunities: https://www.lilagames.com/jobs/ - JK's New Investment Podcast: SUPER STONK BROS: APPLOVIN IPO BREAKDOWN - Get Notified of GameMakers Events!

TWIG 129: Applovin Falls 19%, Playstation IP to Mobile, Square Enix M&A Rumors, JK Retiring! 20.04.2021 57:29

Welcome everybody to This Week In Games! News for today: #1. AppLovin Shares Fall 19% in Market Debut #2. Sony wants to bring its top PlayStation franchises to mobile #3 . Multiple potential buyers interested in Square Enix reporting JK's NEW INVESTMENT PODCAST: - SUPER STONK BROS: APPLOVIN IPO BREAKDOWN SPONSOR: - Betahat : Reading the pulse of the consumer is at the heart of everything we do. Wi...

Games That Last a Decade with Ken Go, CEO & Founder of DECA Games 19.04.2021 56:38

Which one is more important - to ship a good game or to grow a good game? DECA Games founded by Ken Go is a truly unique gaming company. They became highly successful by reversing the steps to success. Instead of developing new games, the company started off by first growing live games. Only after proving successful in operating decade-old titles have they taken a step towards developing and one-d...

Blockchain Basics In Gaming Explained | Upland's Dirk Lueth 17.04.2021 32:39

Dirk Lueth Co-founder of Upland Explains Blockchain Basics and How It's Used in Games SPONSOR: - XSOLLA: Xsolla Funding Club is a complimentary matching service that puts video games like yours in front of multiple publishers and investors. Join Xsolla Funding Club today at Xsolla.com/funding . Your host: - Joe Kim (@jokim1) Speaker: - Dirk Lueth , Co-founder Uplandme UPLAND: Upland Website

TWIG 128: Epic Will Lose $300M on Epic Games Store, Epic Raises $1B for Metaverse, Could Apple/Google Kill F2P? 15.04.2021 1:08:24

Welcome everybody to This Week In Games! News for today: #1. Epic will lose over $300M on Epic Games Store exclusives, is fine with that #2. EPIC Games raises $1B for long-term metaverse plans, with $200M from Sony #3. Could Apple and Google pull the plug on mobile game monetisation? #4. Wild Rift is League of Legends p r e dictions SPONSOR: - XSOLLA: Xsolla Funding Club is a complimentary matchin...

How War Robots Grossed $500M with Vladimir Krasilnikov, CPO at Pixonic 12.04.2021 1:07:07

War Robots is the largest tactical shooter on mobile having grossed $500M since launch. Despite the massive success, the beginning of the game's journey was very rough. The game launched as a barebone version boasting KPIs that were unimpressive at best. Yet with hard work, smart decisions, determination, and having their back against the wall the team at Pixonic was able to not only turn the gam...

The Dos and Don'ts of Cross-Platform Development with Maxwell Zierath 08.04.2021 55:52

Cross-platform makes all the sense on the paper. More platforms increase your games' reach and will limit your dependency on a single platform. Yet despite all the tools, cross-platform development remains extremely difficult and thus incredibly risky. In this episode, we discuss the following questions: How do you approach cross-platform development? Do you focus on one platform? If so, which one...

TWIG 127: Clash of Clans 3 New Games, Tencent Timi $10B in 2020, Manticore Raises $100M 07.04.2021 1:00:56

Welcome everybody to This Week In Games #127. News for today: #1. Exclusive: Tencent's Timi gaming studio generated $10 billion in 2020, sources say #2. Manticore Games raises $100M for user-generated games in the ‘multiverse’ #3. Clash Of Clans Reveals Three New Games: Clash Quest, Mini, & Heroes #4. Wild Rift is League of Legends for everyone (We didn't really cover this) SPONSOR: - The Indu...

Growth Triggers #8 Latest ATT Drama, Digital Turbine's Shopping Spree, Working with Celebrities and the Most Expensive Ad 02.04.2021 1:03:26

Growth Triggers is a segment focusing on all matters of growth.  In this episode, we discuss Digital Turbine's shopping spree, the latest in ATT, Warpath's launch trailer, and working with celebrities. Your hosts: Michail Katkoff ( twitter ) and Eric Seufert ( twitter ) + Christian Calderon

TWIG #126: Rocket League Mobile, League of Legends Wild Rift, & Tencent Regulatory Compliance 31.03.2021 1:02:43

Welcome everybody to This Week In Games #126. News for today: #1. Rocket League Coming to Mobile #2. The 'League of Legends: Wild Rift' Open Beta Is Out Now in the Americas on iOS and Android alongside Version 2.2 #3. Tencent Stresses Regulatory Compliance as Profits From Gaming, Payments Surge News that Triggered Eric: #1 . Qualcomm is reportedly developing a Switch-like Android gaming device #2....