I really didn’t know what to expect when I was first writing about the ethical use of data in the gaming industry: On App Annie, Alternative Data, and the SEC Completely disregarding the potential for popularity, I actually first became interested in writing on the topic because: #1. I felt some of the outrage expressed in various public and private channels was a bit … [Read more...] about Philosophy #2: On The Ethical Use of Data
On Rooster Cages and Rise of The White Tiger: India F2P Games Conference
In the new age of F2P gaming, a power shift has been occurring, changing game development dynamics. Key Trends: Rise of Emerging Countries: Former game development geographies better known for low-cost production and content pipelines such as China, Turkey, and Poland have now become centers of excellence and clusters for world-class talentCost Structure: Lower … [Read more...] about On Rooster Cages and Rise of The White Tiger: India F2P Games Conference
Philosophy #1: How To Be A Great PM!
Brett Nowak, CEO of Liquid & Grit, and I believe that our industry needs more real conversations. As an experiment, we are launching a new content series called Philosophy Friday where we have informal but hopefully deep and contentious discussions about current topics related to the F2P gaming industry. Anyway, since both of us have fairly significant experience as … [Read more...] about Philosophy #1: How To Be A Great PM!
On Opposing Perspectives, Secrets, and The Future of Blockchain Gaming
In today’s newsletter, I’m happy to present to you a really great discussion on the future promise and opportunity of blockchain gaming… Hold up! “Didn’t you just present the bear case for blockchain gaming to us just last week?”, you may ask? On Opposing Perspectives Actually, yes. A really great discussion with one of the smartest guys I know Lars Doucet: Key … [Read more...] about On Opposing Perspectives, Secrets, and The Future of Blockchain Gaming
Key Challenges to Blockchain Gaming
Hey Blockchain gaming, meet the bear! Actually, in this case, the bear I’m talking about is one of the most insightful and smartest people in gaming I know: Lars Doucet. Even further, unlike your typical douche bag executive fast talker, Lars is conversely a deep thinking technologist with a really solid understanding of the technology and theory behind blockchain and … [Read more...] about Key Challenges to Blockchain Gaming
The Future of PC Gaming
We live in one of the most vibrant and exciting moments in history for gaming: The expansion of mobile gaming, the emergence of F2P and live-operated business models, the democratization of game development, cloud gaming, disks to digital, and much, much more. Amidst the massive changes occurring in the gaming industry, PC gaming has continued to thrive and grow. In … [Read more...] about The Future of PC Gaming
Lilith’s Farlight 84 – New Mobile/PC FPS Shooter in 2021 | LILA Reaction
Watch Now! Speakers We are joined by the LILA Co-founder team: Joseph Kim, CEO of LILA GamesPaul Leydon, CCO of LILA GamesAvinash Pandey, CTO of LILA Games Discussion Focus Hey folks, we're big fans of Lilith the makers of games such as Rise of Kingdoms and AFK Arena. They just released a trailer for what looks like the next huge battle royale shooter game … [Read more...] about Lilith’s Farlight 84 – New Mobile/PC FPS Shooter in 2021 | LILA Reaction
Trip Hawkins on The New High Score | Past and Future of Video Games
Netflix recently released a video series, High Score, covering the history of the video games industry. Although not the focus of the series, the documentary covered some of the iconic innovations from the industry’s past. Each of the major innovations covered dramatically increased the size of the video games market. What are some trends we can take away in … [Read more...] about Trip Hawkins on The New High Score | Past and Future of Video Games
LiveOps – F2P Sales Best Practices 2020
One of the biggest drivers for increasing existing player monetization and LTV is through F2P Sales. In this talk, I discuss a framework for Sales and Offers that has increased player LTV by 40%+ (and in some cases over 100%). As mobile game studios (and others), increasingly shift to a free to play and live operations model, sales can be your biggest driver of alpha and … [Read more...] about LiveOps – F2P Sales Best Practices 2020
An Epic Game of Chicken
Well that escalated quickly… Epic’s recent move to force competition in the Apple and Google App Stores has now gone full nuclear warfare. According to this court filing from Epic, Apple now not only threatens Fortnite but potentially any game using Unreal Engine: “By August 28, Apple will cut off Epic’s access to all development tools necessary to create … [Read more...] about An Epic Game of Chicken
Starting a New Game Studio | 3 CEOs Who Raised Millions!
Watch Now! Speakers We are joined by the founders and CEOs of 3 recently funded game studios: Antti Hattara, CEO of StarBerry ($1.3M led by ByFounders)Emily Greer, CEO of Double Loop ($2.5M led by London Venture Partners)Travis Boatman, CEO of Carbonated ($8.5M led by Andreessen Horowitz) Discussion Focus Today we’ll be talking about what it takes to start a … [Read more...] about Starting a New Game Studio | 3 CEOs Who Raised Millions!
The Economy of the Metaverse | Interview with Epic CEO Tim Sweeney
A lot has been written, and there has been a lot of discussion about, the potential for a huge new gaming and virtual world paradigm which many are calling the Metaverse. However, very little has been written or yet discussed about how such a platform needs to work. More specifically, in a future Metaverse platform, what kind of economy will be required to support a healthy … [Read more...] about The Economy of the Metaverse | Interview with Epic CEO Tim Sweeney
Mobile Marketing for Card Games | Growing Ultimate Cribbage
INTRODUCTION Indie mobile game developer WildCard Games has been developing mobile card games for the past 7 years launching games like Ultimate Cribbage, Cribbage, and Backgammon. How does this 2 person studio get to the next level in growing their mobile game products? Let's DIVE DEEP! We review mobile marketing strategy and discuss channels, campaigns, creative … [Read more...] about Mobile Marketing for Card Games | Growing Ultimate Cribbage
Investing in Game Startups | Venture Capital Panel
We’re here today to talk about the current investment environment for gaming studios. We’ll be more focused on mobile but certainly can try to speak a bit more to PC/console opportunities as well. Specifically we’ll speak to: What are investors investing in right now? What’s missing (from an opportunities perspective)? What are the biggest problems that need to be … [Read more...] about Investing in Game Startups | Venture Capital Panel
All About Battle Pass | Digital Conference
WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO SUCCESSFULLY IMPLEMENT A BATTLE PASS? As students of game design we wanted to bring together some experts to talk about how to implement a successful battle pass system. We have noticed that many battle pass systems were not very successful and yet there were also examples of good successes in some games such as Miniclip's 8-ball Pool and Supercell's … [Read more...] about All About Battle Pass | Digital Conference