Naavik Gaming Podcast

Mobile has spent the last decade perfecting paid acquisition, and often, paid UA comprises 99% of a mobile game’s marketing budget. PC and console gaming generate tens of billions of dollars in revenue, yet most studios have never tried performance marketing once. PC and console have always played in the field of brand, festivals, press, influencers, and content creators due to a variety of reason...

This episode covers the Naavik Digest newsletter published on Sunday, July 5th. In today’s issue, we discuss the underrated, emerging intersection of creators and DTC — and why creator codes specifically are becoming an increasingly low-cost, high-reward way to drive player engagement and monetization. You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik...

In this special episode of the Naavik Gaming Podcast, recorded live from the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, host Kalie Moore sits down with fellow Cannes Lions Gaming Jury member Cheryl Platz, author of The Game Development Strategy Guide, and former UX leader at Riot Games, Scopely, Microsoft, and Amazon. Together, they pull back the curtain on what it was actually like judgin...

This episode covers the Naavik Digest newsletter published on Sunday, June 28th. In today’s issue, we uncover two underrated mobile development regions that are flying under the radar — a downloads powerhouse and a small but mighty region punching above its weight.  You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/ two-underrated-mobile-dev...

In this episode, host Kalie Moore sits down with Angela Yu, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of StoReel, to explore one of the fastest-growing entertainment categories that gaming executives should be paying attention to: AI-native microdramas. While many still think of microdramas as shortened TV shows, Angela argues they have far more in common with mobile games, relying on retention loops, emotional hooks...

This episode covers the Naavik Digest newsletter published on Sunday, June 21st. In today’s issue, we dive deep into LEGO’s 30-year history, examining its roots, how it is quietly starting to change, and what comes next for the company in gaming.  You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/ thirty-years-of-gaming-at-lego   Want to exp...

This episode covers the Naavik Digest newsletter published on Sunday, June 14th. In today’s issue, we discuss the current state of microdramas — a category which rapidly evolved from a niche Chinese entertainment phenomenon into one of the fastest-growing mobile content categories in the world — exploring the widening gap between audience expansion and monetization, a trend which raises important...

Gaming M&A is no longer just a story about strategics buying obvious hits. In this episode, Alexandra Takei , VP of Platform Revenue at Medal , sits down with Brogan Keane , Managing Partner at Double Black Capital , to unpack what actually happens when a game studio reaches the end of its company lifecycle: sale, exit, or recapitalization. The conversation breaks down who is buying game compa...

This episode covers the Naavik Digest newsletter published on Sunday, June 7th. In today’s issue, we shine a light on Embracer after the company recently announced it is splitting up again. We look back at the key strategic decisions the company has made and what they might mean for its future. You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/dige...

Keeping players playing is getting harder as player attention fragments and expectations rise, so understanding churn has become a core live-ops competency. Host Devin Becker sits down with Elad Levy , Founder & CTO of Dive , to break down how churn is defined (and when it’s actually “permanent”), the behavioral signals that players are drifting toward the exit, and the underlying causes teams...

This episode covers the Naavik Digest newsletter published on Sunday, May 31st. In today’s issue, we dive deep into Scopely and the three titles which generate close to 95% of the company’s monthly in-app revenue, examining their current states and future prospects.  You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/ dissecting-scopelys-mobi...

In this episode, host Kalie Moore sits down with James Nicholls, Studio Director at Scriptic, to explore one of the most fascinating intersections emerging in entertainment today: true crime, interactive storytelling, streaming platforms, and AI-powered production. Scriptic’s breakout title, Scriptic: Crime Stories, became one of the top-performing games in Netflix Games history by turning players...

This episode covers the Naavik Digest newsletter published on Sunday, May 24th. This week, we take a closer look at Asha Sharma's progress and plans three months into her tenure as CEO of Xbox — reviewing her early moves and what she may need to do to reverse Xbox’s fortunes.  You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/ where-will-ash...

Host Devin Becker sits down with Tom Gayner , CEO of Levellr , to dig into what it actually looks like to listen to players at scale, and how to turn the constant stream of feedback from places like Discord and Reddit into usable sentiment signals. Tom breaks down how Levellr gathers and organizes that data, what teams gain when they treat social channels as a living feedback layer, and how differ...

This episode covers the Naavik Digest newsletter published on Sunday, May 17th. This week, we conduct a focused case study within the highly competitive Merge-2 subgenre of the casual mobile F2P market, where certain Eastern developers are now consistently out-monetizing their Western counterparts while competing for the same audience pools.  You can read the newsletter (with even more sections an...

Most premium games are treated like opening-weekend businesses: if they do not spike, studios cut losses and move on. This episode challenges that instinct. Alexandra Takei , VP of Platform Revenue at Medal , sits down with Ian Fielding , CEO of Super Evil Megacorp , to discuss how studios can build durable premium games, manage back catalogs, and survive as independent AA companies in a market th...

This is the audio version of the Naavik Digest newsletter published on May 10th, 2026. This week, we dive deep into Savvy Games Group, exploring what the Saudi Arabian gaming holding company now owns, how it’s performed, and its endgame. You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/ inside-saudi-arabias-gaming-empire Meet with Naavik at...

In this episode, host Kalie Moore sits down with Julia Palatovska, Co-Founder and CEO of Dorian, to explore one of the most underappreciated shifts in entertainment: the convergence of user-generated content, interactive storytelling, and female-first fandoms. As microdrama consumption explodes globally, Julia argues that the real opportunity isn’t just in passive viewing but in turning audiences...

This is the audio version of the Naavik Digest newsletter published on May 3rd, 2026. This week, we examine what direction China’s gaming giants are taking following the decline of the traditional Anime-Gacha ARPG model. You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/ beyond-gacha-why-chinas-gaming-giants-are-pivoting-to-lifestyle-sims  ...

In this episode, host Kalie Moore sits down with Terry Lee, CEO of Fusebox Games, to unpack one of the most overlooked but powerful business models in mobile gaming: interactive fiction built on licensed IP. While much of the industry chases scale through mechanics or ads, Fusebox has quietly built a $30M+ business by turning hit TV shows like Love Island into living, evolving games with some of t...

This is the audio version of the Naavik Digest newsletter published on April 26th, 2026. This week, we dive into Unity’s ongoing turnaround, the promise of Vector (its ad platform), and what comes next as AI evolves game development. You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/ unitys-ad-driven-turnaround Let us know what you think by...

Host Devin Becker sits down with Nicolas Vizioli (Founder of Lemonade ) to unpack what “AI coding for UGC in Roblox” actually looks like in practice, ranging from how Lemonade plugs into Roblox workflows to why Roblox is a uniquely interesting target compared to broader “vibe coding” for apps. Nicolas shares early results, where the product is (and isn’t) competitive with Roblox’s native tools, an...

This is the audio version of the Naavik Digest newsletter published on April 19th, 2026. We examine the exploding number of mobile games made with AI, exploring how advances in generative AI and vibe coding are affecting the market and whether these additions are still just “AI slop” games. You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/...

It can feel like modern game development competes to ship the best game with the smallest possible team. We constantly hear stories about breakout titles built by a handful of developers, but that narrative is often incomplete. Behind many “tiny teams” sits a much larger layer of co-development, outsourcing, and external support across engineering, art, QA, localization, and more. In this episode,...

This is the audio version of the Naavik Digest newsletter published on April 12th, 2026. We dig into the past, present, and future of music games – exploring the nuances of licensing, mobile winners, Fortnite’s music evolution, Duolingo’s new focus, the upcoming launch of Stage Tour, and more. You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/diges...