Specific techniques to focus on seeking truth and Riot vs. Zynga discussion with Drew Levin Trevor stopped suddenly. His breathing was a little uneven, and he was distraught. Trevor looked up, and as his eyes scanned the faces of the other people involved in the discussion, his eyes met mine for a brief moment. As he looked away, I could see an expression of embarrassment … [Read more...] about How to Argue Constructively (Philosophy Friday #20)
Building a F2P Liveops “Playbook” ft. Matt Emery
Matt Emery "The Mobile Games Consultant" shares his secrets to driving meaningful improvements in F2P liveops Back in November of 2010, during the early days of F2P gaming, Zynga sued Playdom for stealing its trade secrets, specifically Zynga’s Liveops “playbook.” Last fall Zynga sued rival gaming developer Playdom (recently acquired by Disney) for an array of … [Read more...] about Building a F2P Liveops “Playbook” ft. Matt Emery
Will Dislyte Be Lilith’s Next Big Mobile Gaming Hit?
Features expert analysis from Harshal Karvande (Lead Game Designer Rovio/Naavik Pro Contributor), Teemu Palomaki (Chief Game Analyst, Japan at GameRefinery), and Junde Yu (GM Gaming at data.ai) Lilith Games has been one of the few companies capable of releasing multiple top-grossing hits, one after the other. From the original DOTA Legends (aka Dot.Arena aka SoulHunters), … [Read more...] about Will Dislyte Be Lilith’s Next Big Mobile Gaming Hit?
Why Bombay Play Believes in “Hyper-social” Games ft. Oliver Jones
Mr. Oliver Jones! Oliver was one of the earliest foreigners coming to India to work on F2P game development. He also worked as an early employee or co-founder at two of India's biggest F2P game companies: Zynga and Moonfrog. One of my pleasant surprises coming to India has been meeting with several wonderful game dev folks like Oliver. You really can't beat the … [Read more...] about Why Bombay Play Believes in “Hyper-social” Games ft. Oliver Jones
Bayesian Thinking for Startups ft. @SebPark
How startups need to incorporate new information better to build competitive advantage! Y’all remember Bayes’ Theorem right? Lol. For most of us who don’t remember, Bayes’ Theorem “describes the probability of an event, based on prior knowledge of conditions that might be related to the event.” Seb Park (Infinite Canvas, BITKRAFT) believes more startups, including … [Read more...] about Bayesian Thinking for Startups ft. @SebPark
Garena Free Fire: Secrets to Success & Analyzing the Fall
The World's Most Downloaded Shooter Game Faces Major Headwinds This Year Garena Free Fire has become one of the most successful F2P mobile games of all time. Some highlights: Launched September 2017 on mobile before FortniteAchieved 1 billion downloads by December 20211Set a record of over 150M daily active users in August of 20212$4.33B life-of-product gross revenue … [Read more...] about Garena Free Fire: Secrets to Success & Analyzing the Fall
Why User-Generated Content is the Future of Games
Sebastian Park believes user-generated content (UGC) will drive the next frontier in gaming. He’s betting on this belief with the new startup he cofounded, Infinite Canvas: a user-generated content publisher. Let’s use the McKinsey SCR (situation-complication-resolution) framework to characterize his thesis on UGC gaming. Or at least my interpretation of his … [Read more...] about Why User-Generated Content is the Future of Games
Entertainment IP in Games | Learn from the Best!
Hold up! How did Epic get Batman shooting guns in Fortnite?What are some of the biggest mistakes licensees make with big IP?What do typical IP deal structures look like?What are some crazy horror stories of IP gone wrong?How do you even get a big IP deal? Do you want the answers to these questions, plus a lot more, and war stories from some of the most experienced and … [Read more...] about Entertainment IP in Games | Learn from the Best!
The Path to Mastery: How to Become a Kensei (剣聖)
There was a time I wondered: “What do I ultimately want to do with my life?” Does having an easy job, a nice family, and a big house define a life well lived? Is that success? There was a time when two roads diverged in my career, and I considered: “Should I choose the path of difficulty or comfort.” Many of you may be making a similar decision in your own life. Should … [Read more...] about The Path to Mastery: How to Become a Kensei (剣聖)
Game Industry M&A in 2022
Is Game Industry M&A in 2022 in Trouble? Last year, I believed that the nature of game industry consolidation was at the cusp of significant change. Two posts that addressed some of the significant changes occurring: The Warning | Game Companies Face Structural Transition in 2021Four Growth Paradigms: Zynga, Applovin, Skillz, and Jam City Part 1 and Part … [Read more...] about Game Industry M&A in 2022
Creating Highly Performant Mobile Ads | The Ad Concept Model
In the new world since post-Apple IDFA deprecation, mobile marketing has become more difficult than ever. According to Consumer Acquisition, a leading marketing services company, consider the following key issues: Margin Loss: IDFA deprecation has created a -30% margin compression for many game studios against their game revenue.Loss of Lookalike Audiences: With … [Read more...] about Creating Highly Performant Mobile Ads | The Ad Concept Model
Philosophy #12: On Employee Motivation
It was 3 AM in a taxi on a dusty road coming from the Bangalore airport. I was traveling with my co-founder Paul Leydon, and it was the first time we’d been to this city which will soon become our company’s headquarters. Suddenly, he asked me the following question: Do you want to go skiing? Strange question to open with at the time, I thought. But the conversation … [Read more...] about Philosophy #12: On Employee Motivation
Market Intelligence Firm(s) Under Investigation by SEC | Dominos!
Last year, I wrote about the SEC action being enforced at that time against App Annie for the use of material, non-public information aka “MNPI”: Click the image above to read the post. I highly recommend you read it to understand the nuances and potential implications of what happened. BREAKING NEWS: As foreshadowed in that post from last year, I’m hearing that one … [Read more...] about Market Intelligence Firm(s) Under Investigation by SEC | Dominos!
Philosophy #11: 2021 Key Trends and Lessons Learned
To All: I’m sure you’re all sick 🤮 of yet another 2021 recap. I am too. But you’re gonna want to check out this one. Because I’m dope, and I think about dope shit. On January 1st, your Philosophy bros Brett Nowak and I discussed what we believe were some of the biggest trends and lessons learned from last year. 1. Rise of Personal Brands (and everyone now … [Read more...] about Philosophy #11: 2021 Key Trends and Lessons Learned
GameMakers 2021 Game Awards Results
To All, We had a really fun time talking about the best and worst of F2P games in 2021. There are definitely a lot of really great riffs you definitely don’t want to miss so check it out! The Best Burp of 2022 Let’s begin with what may wind up to be the best burp award for 2022 on a podcast: GameMakers Drunk Awards for 2021 Our awards crew: Javier Barnes, … [Read more...] about GameMakers 2021 Game Awards Results