Deconstructor of Fun

The evolution of art direction, the integration of AI in creative processes, and the balance between creativity and business acumen. That's on the menu as SciPlay's Sr. Art Director, Peter Franco, joins Michail Katkoff on the podcast. Read more about Peter's work on modernizing a top-grossing game: https://tinyurl.com/mn2bdweb Timestamps: 2:12 - Peter's journey into Social Casino 4:42 - Evolution...

Mobile publishing isn’t dead, it’s mutating! In this TWIG episode, we break down how Ares Interactive is trying to resurrect Glu with a $70M Series A and what that says about the current “publisher vs. studio” power balance. We also tackle Google’s new immersive world model, Genie 3, and the industry’s first defensive reflex: how do you keep the genie in the bottle when the bottle is an API? Phil...

The question nobody in the West wants to answer honestly: the biggest shooters in the world are not the ones you argue about on Twitter. This episode rips into Highguard’s shadow drop, the “beta that isn’t labeled beta” problem, and the stubborn reality that the shooter market has converged into two and only two genres: Battle Royale and tactical. We talk Highguard and Spectre Divide as case studi...

Sensor Tower Report 2026 breakdown with Jonathan Briskman. We unpack the biggest mobile app trends 2026 and mobile gaming trends 2026. We discuss monetization shifts (IAP vs ads), market localization strategies that actually move the needle, and the rise of AI-powered apps changing consumer behavior and competition. State of Mobile 2026: https://bit.ly/4bvjI2b Chapters: 02:13 - Downloads plateau,...

Ubisoft layoffs point to deeper problems in AAA, a16z fund performance shows VC money tightening up, and TikTok’s future as a growth channel for games looks far less certain — from ownership issues to slowing ads and algorithm risk. We talk about what this means for user acquisition, why AI video apps are starting to matter, concerns around GDC attendance and safety, The New York Times stepping in...

Zynga's EVP of Studio, Yaron Leyvan, shares his 13-year Zynga journey, from the early days to Zynga to today, where the company operates under Take-Two, and the acquisition strategy behind successful post-acquisition integration in mobile gaming. Yaron breaks down how Zynga builds forever franchises: sustainable games powered by live ops, repeatable game development, and disciplined iteration,...

Did someone say Liftoff? Ok, well, Jen and Eric don’t think so. Heartopia is here, with a dramatic cross-platform launch in 2026, but what does it need to do to monetize? Does Design Home hold the key? Bobby Kotick gets sued by Sweden, with Phil and Eric cosplaying Phoenix Wright and Manfred von Karma. But who is who? Jen explains what the top Roblox charts mean, Phil reflects on the near-silent s...

This week in games, we go all-in on the hottest industry shake-ups: Fortnite turns the monetization dial up, Meta slashes Reality Labs in a major XR reality check, and Pixel Flow emerges as a potential puzzle hit — if it can crack the retention challenge. We break down why strong core mechanics aren’t enough, spotlight the rapid rise of Turkish game studios, pull the most important takeaways from...

The sharpest operators in predictive modeling, signal engineering, and post-ATT user acquisition unpack what actually breaks when campaigns scale. This is a dive deep into ROAS curves, attribution loss, modeling vs reality, SKAN-era signal decay, and why UA performance often collapses right when it looks like you’ve cracked growth. A must-read or listen for founders, growth leaders, and UA teams....

From brilliant plays to questionable moves, embarrassing predictions to market reality checks, we’re handing out the most honest (and occasionally brutal) awards of the year in games — including a very special Limping Donkey Award for moments that… didn’t quite stick the landing. We cover the biggest wins, the hardest falls, and the trends shaping what comes next, with a deep dive into Roblox adve...

The crew discusses their off-air relationships, personal reflections, and New Year's resolutions. 00:00 New Year's Resolutions and Sarcasm 00:27 Introduction and Episode Overview 00:49 Listener Questions and Emotional Moments 01:46 Promoting CREs and Gen Alpha Insights 02:33 Supercell and Industry Dynamics 05:01 Predictions and Industry Trends 13:14 Off-Air Relationships and Dynamics 21:41 Running...

Hiring is one of the most underestimated competitive advantages in startups, and one of the fastest ways to break a company. In this episode, Michail Katkoff (Deconstructor of Fun), Joe Burridge (Head of Talent at Play Ventures), and Miki Blasko (Head of Talent at Deconstructor of Fun) break down what founders consistently get wrong about hiring, and how those mistakes quietly turn into culture, e...

Rocky (12) and Mickey (10) are back with Eric Kress and Jen Donahoe for the annual TWIG Jr segment, bringing unfiltered Gen Alpha opinions on everything from Roblox to the Switch 2. The kids don't hold back: hypercasual games are "mindless slop," Steal a Brain Rot is "ruining America," and Fortnite is running out of collabs. They break down what's actually hot at school...

Is Die Hard a Christmas Shooter Movie? Only this podcast would know! We discuss:- Call of Duty’s rare public admission of failure and what the end of back-to-back sub-franchise releases actually signals.- Marathon’s delay, $40 price point, and why fiscal calendars still distort launch strategy.- Why Valorant Mobile exploded in China, and why Western mobile shooters keep failing to break through.-...

Steam PC flops, Xbox layoffs return, Sony’s handheld dominates, investors flee games for apps, Roblox sees a $100M exit, China beats Turkey, PC indie rises, mobile teams pivot to apps. 01:01 Tribute to Vince Zampella 08:03 Biggest Game of the Year Predictions 08:09 GTA 6 and Its Impact 11:42 Other Major Game Predictions 14:13 Industry Macro Trends 18:50 VC Investments and Gaming 26:11 FIFA and Net...

In this Deep Dive, Jen drops into the pit with Sean “Clown” Crahan — co-founder of Slipknot , lifelong gamer, and unapologetic creative chaos agent. We go from masks to Minecraft , breaking down the origin story of VERNEARTH , why creator-led studios are having their moment, and how the things metal has always understood, culture, empathy, friction, and community, are now becoming core pillars of...

Brace yourself. Golden TWIG voting is open! https://forms.gle/b4HFZkaeczN41BsBA This isn’t a participation-trophy awards show. Nor some thinly veiled promotion of paid sponsors. Golden TWIG is the industry mirror we all pretend not to look into. Vote now and help us separate the gold from the garbage. 00:00 Welcome 00:24 Golden Twig Award Nominations00:58 Mishka of Arabia02:43 Upcoming Events and...

What actually happens after the hit games, the acquisitions, and the “success”? In this episode, Simon Hade, co-founder of Space Ape Games, walks through the uncomfortable middle of game company building: from Playfish → Space Ape → Supercell → NextBeat → Duolingo. This isn’t a victory lap. It’s a post-mortem on genre mastery vs. exploration, lean LiveOps, why copying the Supercell playbook breaks...

FNaF 2 crushes box office expectations, proving (again) that game IP owns Hollywood. We break down Matthew Ball’s take on the EA/PIF deal, why 93% ownership signals a sports-media empire play, not an LBO, and why the press got the story wrong. Then: the Nex Playground, a $200 kids’ console that quietly outsold PS5 in November. Is this the next underserved frontier in family gaming? We also tear in...

The dynamics of co-founder relationships, featuring Appcharge co-founders Roei Barassi and Maor Sason. They share insights on building a robust team, the significance of mentorship, and the importance of celebrating success. Learn about the challenges and strategies of scaling a company, raising capital, and maintaining a strong culture across global offices. Whether you're a first-time founde...

This week in games, the money moves got messy: Dream Games recalibrates everyone's ambitions while the Saudi shopping spree continues. We take a look at Where Winds Meet and what it really says about China’s next wave of global ambitions, and ask the uncomfortable question: how are indie studios actually surviving right now? Finally, we zoom out to the battlefield of 4X strategy, the genre’s c...

Loyalty platforms have evolved from sideline UA channels to commanding 25-50% of major studios' media budgets. In this deep dive, VYBS founder Ido Raz breaks down everything game developers need to know about loyalty apps—from the basics to advanced strategies for maximizing player quality and LTV. We cover the biggest misconceptions about incentivized traffic, why casual games benefit the mos...

Call of Duty’s worst launch in a decade collides with the rise of extraction shooters, and the balance of power inside the genre shifts. We dig into why Black Ops 7 cratered, how Battlefield 6 stole the spotlight, and why Arc Raiders is suddenly the most important new IP in shooters. Chris Sides and Feras return to map the fault lines, spar over SPMM, and weigh whether Tarkov’s disastrous Steam de...

The DoF crew break down everything: from Ubisoft’s endless identity crisis to Unity and Epic’s unexpected “Make the Metaverse Great Again” alliance. We get into Roblox CEO David Baszucki’s tense appearance on Hard Fork, the baffling randomness of The Game Awards nominations, Saudi Arabia’s PIF liquidity challenges, and why Turkey’s red-hot gaming scene may finally be overheating. Plus: a disagreem...

This isn't your typical "we raised $50M and exited" story. This is what happens when you have no choice but to figure it out yourselves. When the tripod refuses to fall. When you run out of everything except ideas. This is the story of Heroic Labs. About Heroic Labs: Core infrastructure for game studios. If you've played games from Zynga, Gram Games, or dozens of other studios, y...