Naavik Gaming Podcast

In this Metacast episode, Anil Das-Gupta and Aaron Bush join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:   #1 Microsoft’s Xbox Mobile Storefront: Could Microsoft succeed where Epic Games didn’t? #2 Apple’s NFTs Guidelines: Will the guidelines kill blockchain mobile games? #3 Netflix Cloud Gaming: What’s behind Netflix’s cloud gaming strategy? #4 Silent Hill Announcements: Why revive the Silent Hill franch...

Anyone involved in web3 knows how lightning fast the space moves. Every single day there is some major new development, every week there is a new NFT project that comes along and captures a huge amount of mindshare and huge amounts of trading volume, and every month whatever the prevailing “meta” is, is totally upended and the rules of the game get rewritten by the next hot hotness.  In this episo...

In this episode, Björn Jeffery – serial entrepreneur (including Toca Boca), board member, technology columnist, and advisor – joins Naavik co-founder Aaron Bush to discuss: #1 Lessons learned and effective strategies on how to serve the kids market #2 His experiences from founding, scaling, and selling Toca Boca #3 What he’s thinking about today including “AI vs art,” breaking common conventions,...

In this Metacast episode, Anthony Pecorella , Tim Mannveille and Tom Kinniburgh join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:   #1 Why Riot Acquired Wargaming Sydney: What are the strategic goals behind the acquisition? #2 Magic Eden’s Optional Royalties: Why did the marketplace make creator royalties optional? #3 Xbox Game Pass on Meta Quest: Is Xbox Game Pass on Meta Quest a major step in VR games? #...

Do video games need the blockchain? Have you been asking yourself why traditional developers hate crypto OR have you been completely befuddled as to why the web2 gaming industry ISN’T welcoming crypto with open arms? Do you just not know what to think? If so, this episode is for you. I had the pleasure of refereeing an epic discussion on whether to crypto or not to crypto featuring Tim Morten, CEO...

In this episode, Emily Greer – co-founder and CEO of Double Loop Games (previously Kongregate) – joins Naavik co-founder Aaron Bush to discuss: #1 What Double Loop Games is building and how it aims to redefine the “casual” genre  #2 How the games industry’s venture ecosystem has changed since Kongragate raised capital in 2006-2010 #3 How Emily has improved as an entrepreneur when it comes to kicks...

In this Metacast episode, David Amor and Matej Lancaric join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:   #1 How to Scale iOS User Acquisition: What’s the latest strategy to scale UA on iOS? #2 Marketing Channel Diversification: How can small and big teams approach marketing channel diversification? #3 Crypto Mobile Gaming & UA: Do crypto games open new user acquisition strategies? Also, a big thanks...

In this Crypto Corner episode, John Osvald, President of Games at Gala Games, joins your host Niko to talk about Gala Games’ ambitious vision of building a web3 interactive entertainment brand for the mass market. If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co . We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!   And as always...

In this episode, Ryan Wyatt – CEO of Polygon Studios – joins Naavik co-founder Aaron Bush to discuss: #1 How Polygon Studios works, its grand ambitions, and why teams should consider using it as their layer 2 of choice #2 What Ryan learned about “excellence in scaling” at YouTube, and how running a web3 business presents unique challenges #3 What will unlock the next phase of growth for blockchain...

In this Metacast episode, Aaron Bush , Anil Das-Gupta and Lars Doucet join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:   #1 Rise of The Mega-Investors: What are Tencent and Savvy Gaming Group’s investment strategies? #2 Supercell and their Brutal Sunset of Games: Why has Supercell sunset yet another game? #3 Goodbye Stadia: Why did Stadia fail and what can tech giants learn from it? #4 Apple’s 30% Cut for...

On this week’s Crypto Corner, Disco.xyz CEO and Cofounder Evin McMullen joins BITKRAFT Partner Carlos Pereira and host Nico Vereecke for a conversation about Identity in the Metaverse Decentralized Identifiers & Verified Credentials The limitations of NFTs and Soulbound Tokens & More! If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik...

In this episode, Jacob Navok – the co-founder and CEO of Genvid – joins Naavik co-founder Aaron Bush to discuss: #1 What are Massively Interactive Live Events (MILEs), and why is this new form-factor of entertainment so promising? #2 What the team has learned from pioneering innovative projects like Rival Peak and The Walking Dead: Last Mile #3 Jacob’s vision of the future of MILEs, how the team w...

In this Metacast episode, Joost van Dreunen , Tammy Levy and Abhimanyu Kumar join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:   #1 X-Hero: Scam or Anti-Hero: What’s behind X-Hero’s success and is it sustainable? #2 Meta Mechanics in Casual Games: Is the hybrid-casual genre still relevant today? #3 Power Dynamics Between Platforms and Publishers: How have platforms and publishers changed in the past decade...

On this week’s Crypto Corner, Luda CEO and Cofounder Vijay Sundaram joins your host Nico Vereecke for a conversation about Community-driven IP creation The current state of Web3 Games How NFTs can be so much more than just ‘collections of 10.000’ What he’s building at Luda & More! Neo Fairies: https://world.neofairies.com/ If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related top...

In this Metacast episode, Anthony Pecorella and Matt Dion join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:   #1 Overwatch 2 - Sequel or Restructuring: Why is Overwatch 2 replacing the original game instead of maintaining both? #2 GTA VI Game Leak: Can game leaks be avoided? #3 Permanent Loss as a Game Design Tool: Is there a trend of increasingly using permanent loss in game design? Also, a big thanks to...

Was Loot a flash in the pan, or has it created a new way of human collaboration and IP development? Background on Loot: https://twitter.com/TimshelXYZ/status/1553072711529730049 On this week’s Crypto Corner, Loot builders Timshel , Threepwave and Loaf join your host Nico Vereecke for a conversation about Recap on Loot Decentralized IP Creation Decentralized Game Building What’s next for Loot &...

In this Metacast episode, Aaron Bush , Anil Das-Gupta and Sebastian Park join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:   #1 Scopely acquires Stumble Guys: What is behind the success of a Fall Guys clone? #2 Ubisoft’s Growth Strategy: How can a AAA behemoth unlock long-term growth? #3 Roblox & User-Generated Platforms: Is Roblox pursuing the most valuable bets? Also, a big thanks to data.ai for supp...

On this week’s Crypto Corner, we take a deep dive into one of the core DeFi primitives - liquidity pools. Laguna Games ’ Cofounder and CEO Aron Beierschmitt and Games Researcher/Angel Kiet Fong join your host Nico Vereecke for a conversation about What are Liquidity Pools? Why are they relevant to Web3 games like Crypto Unicorns ? What do game devs need to consider when setting them up? What are L...

In this Metacast episode, Abhimanyu Kumar , Tammy Levy and Tim Mannveille join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:   #1 Social Media Apps Downsize Games: Why is there a history of failed social app games? #2 Creativity Within IAPs: Why is creative exploration of IAPs still important in free-to-play games? #3 Xbox Game Pass Friends & Family: How does the new subscription tier influence Xbox’s m...

On this week’s Crypto Corner, Yield Guild Games ’ Gabby Dizon and Jeff Holmberg join your host Nico Vereecke for a follow-up conversation about Play-to-Earn Gaming Guilds. We discuss The state of Play-To-Earn The role of guilds in Web3 Gaming How Web3 Games should position themselves What makes guilds like Yield Guild stand out If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related to...

In this Metacast episode, Matt Dion and David Amor join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:   #1 AI Art Applied to Games: How will innovation disrupt game art pipelines? #2 Sony Acquires Savage Game Studios: What’s next for Sony’s mobile games? #3 AAA Crypto Games - gamescom: Is it meaningful for AAA games to integrate blockchain elements? Also, a big thanks to data.ai for supporting all of Naavik...

On this week’s Crypto Corner, Animoca Brands ’ Jesper Lundquest and MMA Gaming ’s Casper join your host Nico Vereecke for a conversation about Play-to-Earn Gaming Guilds. There seems to be a high chance that Play-to-Earn won’t work over the next years. What does this mean for the guilds whose existence depends on that business model? How can they reinvent themselves? If you would like us to discus...

In this Metacast episode, Anthony Pecorella and Tammy Levy join your host Abhimanyu Kumar to discuss:   #1 Space Ape Games and Beatstar: How Beatstar survived 24 killed prototypes in five years. Link #2 Mastering Uncertainty and Predictive Processing in Game Design: Exploring a new game design psychology study that was recently published. Link   #3 The Slow Games Movement: What they are and why it...

On this week’s Crypto Corner, we take a deep dive into Web3 Publishing and Growth. Quinn Campbell , VP of Growth at Sky Mavis , and Jon Hook , CMO at PlayEmber , join your host Nico Vereecke for a conversation about: - Differences between Web2 and Web3 Game Publishing - How Web3 will change the Publishing Model - Growth for Blockchain Games - Lessons learned from getting millions of players into t...

In this Metacast episode, Matt Dion , Joost van Dreunen , and David Amor , join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:   #1 Blizzard & NetEase Cancel WoW Mobile Game: Why was the World of Warcraft mobile game canceled? #2 AppLovin x Unity Merger Proposal: Will Unity swap ironSource for a merger with AppLovin? #3 Gaming Accessories Market: Will the gaming accessories market survive in a post-pande...