Deconstructor of Fun

Call of Duty tanks so hard that even Battlefield feels bad for it. Valve unveils a cube that may or may not be the future of PC gaming, depending on which half of the internet you ask. Sexy cozy games are quietly eating the West, which sounds ridiculous until the revenue charts come out. Now everyone’s worried… And the triumphant return of a special guest. 00:51 Episode Overview 04:43 Amazon Game...

What if your company stopped chasing quarterly goals and spent an entire month training every employee on AI? That's exactly what AppsFlyer did, and it completely transformed how they approach innovation. In this episode, AppsFlyer down with Barak Witkovsky, Chief Product Officer of AppsFlyer, to discuss one of the boldest AI transformation experiments I've ever heard of. For four weeks, t...

This episode breaks down the real foundation of successful game development: clean data, aligned teams, and fast decision loops. Learn why most studios collect too much data, how to build a shared truth, and how AI changes the analyst’s role. Perfect for teams that want clarity, not more dashboards.

CPI is only one signal. In this episode, we show how top studios test appeal in prototypes, validate value in soft launch, and scale with confidence. A fast, practical guide to reading market signals at every stage of development.

Monetization isn’t a layer, it’s the outcome of understanding player motivation. This episode covers segmentation, pricing, LTV curves, and early warning signs of monetization failure. A concise breakdown of how sustainable revenue systems are built.

Most retention problems come from mismatched expectations, not flawed features. This episode teaches how to align creatives with gameplay, diagnose early vs. late churn, and use personalization to keep players engaged. Short, sharp retention truths every team should hear.

Epic vs Google stays stuck in limbo as the judge rejects the settlement, Duolingo’s stock finally breaks its streak, and Square Enix joins the wave of Eastern publishers restructuring their way into a new identity. Royal Match’s reported $200M ad spend shows just how hard you have to swing to own casual in 2025, while Chinese publishers quietly (and efficiently) conquer the entire merge genre with...

Welcome to the debut episode of Shooter Monthly, the podcast that’s never out of projectiles. Host Phillip Black (DICE) is joined by shooter Avengers, Christopher Anjos (EA, Timi, ATVI), Chris Sides (Bungie, Capital Games), and Feras Musmar (DICE, TTK Games) for a wide-ranging discussion on the current shooter landscape. We talk:Arena Breakout: Infinite’s Surprising Launch – Tarkov-style hit from...

Epic takes another swing at Google and wins, Unity cozies up with Epic in a surprising move, and Roblox continues to puzzle investors after a tough earnings call. We also dive into Arcadia Gaming Partners’ growing influence, and why Supercell pulled the plug on Squad Busters. 0:00 Welcome 01:26 Updates, Announcements, and Shills 07:06 Epic and Google Settlement Details 18:11 Unity and Epic Collabo...

Alex Siamantas of Holyday Studios reflected on eleven years of building a profitable idle-RPG studio as one of the island’s few Greek founders

Julia Lebedeva of WN Media Group spoke about launching the first Women in Games Cyprus event

Alexey Morozov of Horns Up Games shifted the tone completely. His project, Lord of Metal, is a festival-management sim built with the Swedish band Sabaton, combining the logistics of live events with the chaos of rock culture. It’s equal parts management game and love letter to heavy music.

GDCy founders Tim Fadeev and Andrey Ivashentsev shared the story of how a single pub meetup evolved into the region’s largest developer festival. They credit the island’s mix of sunlight, low taxes, and openness to business. Cyprus, they say, isn’t just a haven for founders - it’s starting to feel like Europe’s next creative cluster.

Leonid Zhuravskyi, CEO of MysteryTag, said he’s found Cyprus to have a rare sense of openness - competitors who still share notes over coffee or wine.

Andrey Feinberg (Kuznetsov), an independent advisor who’s seen the investment side of the story. Despite tougher global conditions, he says Cyprus remains busy, with founders rebuilding after relocation and finding stability in a global business that rarely offers it.

Aleksandr Bogdanov, CEO of Studio 42, spoke about Cyprus as a new mixing pot, with veterans from Turkey, Ukraine, and Russia now calling Limassol home. He believes the island could rival Istanbul as the next tech powerhouse.

Scaling hybridcasual games is like solving a puzzle with moving pieces: CPI, retention, and platform dynamics constantly shift. Samantha Benjamin explains why profit-sharing doesn’t guarantee profit, how the spray-and-pray era is over, and why scaling is now a perpetual process of adjustment and reinvestment.👉 Understand what it takes to grow efficiently when downloads plateau.

Monetization in hybridcasual is a balancing act: ads for early players, IAP for the committed ones. Maayan Eshkol dives into player segmentation, the real role of a game economist, and why monetization has to be part of the design loop from day one.👉 Learn how to integrate ads and IAP without sacrificing retention.

Pim De Witte, founder of General Intuition and Medal.tv, turned down a deal reportedly worth $500 million from OpenAI, and instead raised $134 million to build an AI lab rooted in games, not words. In this conversation, Michail Katkoff (Deconstructor of Fun) dives deep into:1) How world models could replace game engines2) Why games are the best simulation layer for developing intelligence3) What “...

We unpack Apple’s $2B legal battle, Halo’s surprise move to PlayStation, and EA’s latest earnings reality check, alongside Amazon Game Studios’ restructuring, AI’s growing impact on gaming investments, and a one-year look back at Pokémon TCG Pocket. From corporate chaos to console crossovers, it’s a packed week of insights, strategy, and sharp takes on the business of games.00:00 Welcome 03:09 Fam...

Great creatives don’t guarantee great traffic. Karen Levy unpacks how to scale UA with structured testing, controlled volume, and ruthless iteration. We explore the rise of AI-driven pipelines, why UGC-style ads dominate TikTok and Reels, and why authenticity outperforms glossy fakes. 👉 https://supersonic.com/

What makes a hybridcasual hit? Guy Agiv explains how to design a core loop that hooks instantly but also unfolds depth over time. We cover the milestones from prototype to scale, how publishers and developers shift roles across the journey, and why “simplicity beats complexity” when it comes to retention.👉 Discover why elegant design—not clutter—is the secret to replayability.

Hybridcasual isn’t just “hypercasual with IAP.” Igor Beraslavski (GM at Supersonic) breaks down how publishing has evolved from testing prototypes to becoming a full-stack partner in design, monetization, and live ops. We discuss what publishers look for, how to spot market trends before the herd, and why most me-too products never scale.👉 Learn how to build lasting partnerships and survive in th...

Ben Feder has done it all: CEO of Take-Two Interactive during the GTA and Red Dead years, President of Tencent’s International Partnerships, and board member at Epic Games and Bad Robot. Now he’s turned investor, running Tirta Ventures , a fund at the intersection of AI and gaming . In this conversation, Ben and Michail Katkoff explore what makes a great founder, why “operational VC” is a myth, an...

Jen Donahoe makes her triumphant return. She's joined by Eric Kress and special guest Stan Kwon from BetaHat. We dig into: Battlefield 6 corrections, marketing takeaways Android’s new payment-link era Unity’s cross-platform payments what General Intuition’s $134 M seed means for spatial reasoning and game data Rovio’s restructuring Football Manager deal with FIFA 00:00 Welcome 03:12 Jen's...