Deconstructor of Fun

Headlines: Blizzard president out in wake of discrimination lawsuit and employee walkout Tencent tanks after Chinese media calls online gaming ‘opium’ as regulatory concerns mount Riot Games' mobile titles generate over $100m Links: Send us Questions and Feedback Deconstructor of Fun Newsletter Deconstructor of Fun Slack Group Hosts: Mishka Katkoff , Eric Kress , Adam Telfer and Eric Seufert

Headlines: Activision Blizzard Sued Over Frat Boy Culture, Harassment Mark in the Metaverse Tilting Point Raises $235 Million to Fuel Expansion and Acquisitions Links: Send us Questions and Feedback Deconstructor of Fun Newsletter Deconstructor of Fun Slack Group Hosts: Mishka Katkoff , Eric Kress , Adam Telfer and Eric Seufert

Headlines: Netflix Hires Facebook Gaming Executive Mike Verdu Peloton plans to launch an in-app video game No IDFA. No Problem. Apple Can’t Kill Gaming Links: Send us Questions and Feedback Deconstructor of Fun Newsletter Deconstructor of Fun Slack Group Hosts: Mishka Katkoff , Eric Kress , Adam Telfer and Eric Seufert

How Call of Duty Mobile went from concept to soft-launch. How the game broke all the records with 135M installs during launch month. What caused the turnaround in 2021 after revenues declined post-launch. What is the future of Call of Duty Mobile and Activision Mobile as a whole? Guest: Chris Plummer , Head of Mobile at Activision Matt Lewis , VP of Mobile, GM of Call of Duty Mobile Join Acti...

Headlines: WoW Disappointment, Plus Twitch, Start Mass Exodus Into Final Fantasy XIV Google expands ad targeting in mobile games amid pandemic gaming boom NoPixel and Grand Theft Auto V Links: Send us Questions and Feedback Deconstructor of Fun Newsletter Deconstructor of Fun Slack Group Hosts: Mishka Katkoff , Eric Kress , Adam Telfer and Eric Seufert

Launching a mid-core game with high production values, competitive gameplay and strong multiplayer core requires a long and thorough soft launch.  I'm joined by Volkan Ediz , Chief Revenue Officer at Super Evil Megacorp, as we discuss how they've approached soft launch for their latest title Catalyst Black . What countries and platforms they chose, what has been their marketing budget, how do...

Welcome everybody to This Week In Games! News for today: Drake Star Partners: Game deals surpassed $60B in the first half of 2021 Supercell's secret for growing Brawl Stars to a $1 billion success Ubisoft’s next Assassin’s Creed will be a live service game Links: Deconstructor of Fun Newsletter Deconstructor of Fun Slack Group Hosts: Mishka Katkoff , Eric Kress , Adam Telfer and Eric Seufert

According to the book No Rules Rules, Netflix's culture is ruthless - both in terms of execution and in the way they treat their employees. In this episode, Sophie Vo , Joakim Achren , and Yours Truly discuss the merits and the challenges of the Netflix culture in a games company setting. We also talk about the pitfalls many companies face as they attempt to introduce pieces of the Netflix culture...

Welcome everybody to This Week In Games! News for today: #1 Duolingo filed to go public #2 Self-publishing is key to attracting VC money for mobile gaming studios #3 EA continues to spend big on mobile games with $1.4 billion Playdemic acquisition LINKS: TWIG Newsletter Slack Group Hosts: Mishka Katkoff , Eric Kress , Adam Telfer and Eric Seufert

Arnd Benninghoff (EVP, Modern Times Group) and Shaun Rutland (CEO, Hutch) join the podcast to discuss MTG's corporate strategy. MTG is one of the top consolidators in the industry having acquired companies like Hutch, Inno Games, and ESL. MTG refers to their consolidation activities as   "family building". Their growth strategy is founded around acquiring resilient game studios that have...

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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...

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

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 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...

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

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...

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 )