PocketGamer.biz Podcast

Automated forecasting isn’t just about saving time and money. It’s about finding a gap in the market and going after it. With all the facts on the table, teams can decide early whether to keep, kill, or crank up the effort on a game. Ramp’s automated forecasting tool provided SpaceApe Games with the data to do just that. Angus Lovitt , Ramp CEO and Hong Nguyen , SpaceApe Games CFO, are back for pa...

Good forecasting is necessary to predict performance or make tough decisions about your game. But it's not just about the numbers. Winning demands a single source of truth, insights into real-time data and a departure from the timework tools and approaches that have allowed team members to pass the blame, not the benchmarks. Fortunately, this week's guests are uprooting traditional forecas...

Though there’s no algebraic algorithm that churns out games with guaranteed success, there are consistencies between top-ranking mobile games. The Gaming Spotlight Review 2023 from data.ai spotlights these similarities and delves into the data behind the success stories. Lexi Sydow , Director of Corporate Marketing & Insights at data.ai, joins our hosts again this week to highlight the heavy h...

Mobile remains the primary growth driver for digital games consumption despite a “softening in direct consumer gaming consumer spend.” But diversification rules as the strategy that will allow devs to generate revenues by ensuring their games are on all platforms and their monetization uses all formats and approaches -- especially rewarded video. This advice, and the stats to back it up, comes thr...

Diving into different game genres is no simple feat, especially as innovations in games call for new approaches to net valuable players from the get-go. The trick to coming out on top? Diversify your UA efforts as you diversify your portfolio, says this week’s guest. Ryan Davies , Head of Digital Marketing at Kwalee and recent 30 Under 30 performance marketer , joins us on this episode’s podcast....

PG Connects Toronto is done and dusted, and the PG.biz team is here for the recap. Dave Bradley, Steel Media COO, joins the show again this week to break down the high points of the event. Alongside Peggy and Brian, Dave details topics like getting more mileage out of your game and player retention. What’s more, he gives a view into upcoming PGC events and teases new locations. CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS...

To build a great gaming ecosystem, “Think global, act local,” says Anton Gorodetsky . Anton is the Head of Industry Relations at the leading European publisher and developer, MY.GAMES . He joins the podcast this week to explain how to build a comprehensive ecosystem dedicated to loyalty, branding, and retaining players that generates revenue years into a game’s lifecycle. He brings us behind the s...

Tactile Games’   User Acquisition Manager, Plamen Stefanov , joins our hosts, Peggy Anne Salz and Brian Baglow, to showcase how small teams can make big waves in the gaming community. You might recognize Tactile from its hit game, Lily's Garden, which has generated 517 million worldwide in lifetime player spending since it appeared on the market in 2019. Plamen cites cross-team collaboration a...

Mike Levine , founder and CEO of Mystic Moose , an indie game studio and publisher, joins us on the PG.biz Podcast to discuss Mystic Moose’s newest game, Mojo Melee — a cross-platform, multiplayer PVP auto chess game — that weaves together a strong narrative and player choice. In the episode, Mike describes how Mystic Moose paves the way for players to personalize and own digital collectibles -- o...

A longtime board game lover and superstar marketing strategist, Faith Price understands what drives user retention and how to coordinate a killer soft launch. She shares her launch expertise with the PG.Biz audience this week. In this episode, Faith, Director of Growth Marketing at DoubleDown Interactive , and our cohost, Peggy Anne Salz, discuss what shifts in soft launch strategy tell us about w...

Our guest rockets results and achieves sustainable success thanks to what co-host Brian Baglow calls the 4Ps: people, platform, partnerships, and personalisation. Tobias Edl , Director of Marketing & New Business at WHOW Games GmbH , joins Brian and Peggy Anne Salz in this episode to explain how WHOW's immersive tactics and attractive dual monetisation method create a loyal player base and...

Nicknamed by our cohost Peggy Anne Salz as the Medici Man for his numerous talents and cross-industry experience, our guest this week has worked on both the publishing and the development sides of gaming. He predicted that social connectivity and games would go hand in hand and anticipated the pay-off. He also helped create early prototypes for mobile gaming. Little wonder that Robert Burnett , CO...

SKIDOS , referred to by its CEO as “the Netflix of learning apps,”  sits at the intersection of gaming, learning, and kid-friendly technology by converting popular casual mobile app games into learning apps for children aged two to seven. With over two million kids playing SKIDOS games, plus a Family Choice Award and Best of Mobile Apps Silver Award under its belt, it’s clear that SKIDOS is an exp...

Matthew Zoern , Head of Studio at Solid Bash , outlines what developers can gain from identifying "the fun factor" — the core component of Solid Bash's "features-based iterative process."  Matthew reveals how his team meld aspects of old-school game development with new transformative techniques to ensure games are entertaining for the long term. Alongside our hosts, Peggy...

Gamers, developers, and gaming experts alike united at PG Connects Seattle last month. We’re here with Dave Bradley , COO of Steel Media Ltd. , to recap the exciting event. Dave tells our hosts, Brain Baglow and Peggy Anne Salz, that AI, indies, and blockchain games were on everyone's minds at this PGC gathering. Attendees were also lucky to experience the first-ever PG Connects recruitment af...

Blockchain gaming: a flash in the frying pan or an auspicious opportunity for the gaming industry? Gaming expert Martine Spaans leans toward the latter. In this episode, our cohosts, Peggy Anne Salz and Brian Baglow, sit down with Martine to discuss this controversial corner of the gaming world. As General Manager of the Dutch Games Association and Founder of Tamalaki Games, Martine sees blockchai...

Last week, we discussed the post-privacy world with a data carnivore. This week, we met with an ASO maestro. Claudia Trujillo, ASO expert at Gameloft, sits down with Peggy Anne Salz in this episode to bust myths and explain how she blends art and science to create a symphony of successful paid campaigns. From ASO's effect on UA visibility and performance to its AB test's impact on UA ads,...

“Targeting is becoming more and more of a problem,” says Piyush Mishra , Head of Growth Marketing At Product Madness , a top-grossing leader in social casino mobile games. The host of his podcast, In The Sandbox with Adam Smart, explains how consumer preference for privacy-centric practices pressures marketers to rethink targeting and embrace contextual clues. Alongside our hosts Peggy Anne Salz a...

According to Kooapps Co-Founder and CEO Chun-Kai (CK) Wang , ad monetisation needs to shift toward a more unified approach. Games need to monetise off ads and in-app purchases. Luckily, maximising the ad side of game revenue is easier than ever with in-app bidding. In this episode of The Groove at 5 O’Clock, Peggy Anne Salz discusses this advanced advertising method with CK and Shobeir Shobeiri ,...

Global game developer Outfit7 is reaching new audiences and taking control of its data with its unique approach to A/B testing. In this episode, Peggy Anne Salz meets with Nina Oblak , Outfit7 ASO Team Lead, to discuss how the company uses split testing beyond creatives and content to inform choices at every stage of the game cycle. Owning its data is a big part of Outfit7’s success. With the help...

A hit game doesn’t wait for user feedback until after publishing; a hit game integrates it during development. AppQuantum , a mobile free-to-play game publisher, collects that feedback. Whether through creatives testing, monetisation strategy, or by measuring session time, AppQuantum delivers user input at every stage of a game’s life cycle. In this episode, our cohosts, Peggy Anne Salz and Brian...

The PGC team is back from GDC 2023! In this episode, our cohosts, Peggy Anne Salz and Brian Baglow, regroup with Steel Media CEO Chris James and COO Dave Bradley to recap the latest and greatest in the world of gaming. The four discuss a new blockchain ecosystem, how AI is empowering storytellers and reshaping NPC interactions, and if the F2P era is coming to an end. Chris and Dave also share what...

Construct 3 is revolutionizing games creation and helping grow a new generation of content creators. Our hosts, Peggy Anne Salz and Brian Baglow, talk about the 2-D, block-based game engine with Construct co-founders Ashley and Tom Gullen . With Construct 3, anyone can build a game. The beginner-friendly design showcases game-making as an art form and an educational tool. The tool has an impressiv...

There's a hidden universe inside every narrative game just waiting to be discovered. The technology at Charisma has the power to unlock it. Charisma, a plug-ʼnʼ-play platform for creating interactive stories with believable virtual characters, redefines how we play games. In this episode, our hosts, Peggy Anne Salz and Brian Baglow, talk with Charisma Co-founder and CEO Guy Gadney about how Ch...

How can publishers boost retention and user acquisition efforts and bring stability to their game all in one step? Teis Anker Mikkelsen says you can have it all by joining Multiscription and offering Unleashd , a cross-publisher subscription service for free-to-play games, to your players. In this on-location chat with our co-host Peggy Anne Salz, Teis explains how his company leverages the “stren...