Drew Levin is currently Director of Product at Riot Games and before that a Director of Product Management at Zynga. Zynga vs. Riot: two companies with wildly different approaches to game development, decision-making, and a culture of debate and discussion. Even more, Drew worked as a political campaign manager before game development. I believe Drew is uniquely experienced in speaking very deeply about different cultures and approaches to having constructive debates within a corporate context. ...
Sep 03, 2022•1 hr 6 min
I talk about why I'm sacrificing so much to try and make Lila Games a successful company. Also, how much of my thinking was influenced by the Clayton Christensen essay (there's a book as well, which I haven't read yet) "How Will You Measure Your Life?"
Aug 24, 2022•13 min
Get the data and read the more in-depth take here: https://gamemakers.substack.com/p/will-dislyte-be-liliths-next-big We talk about Lilith Games' latest mobile game: Dislyte. It's a "team battle" (game sub-genre) based mobile game that started strong but has recently slowed down. What are the chances of success? We bring on two experts who recently covered Dislyte #1. Harshal Karvande, Lead Game Designer at Rovio & Naavik Pro Contributor who wrote a deconstruction report on Dislyte and #2. T...
Aug 24, 2022•54 min
Coming off of one of the toughest months in my career, I reflect on how lucky I am to be faced with problems. It's only through problems and major challenges that you can learn how to get better. Adversity, therefore, is a gift! As Ray Dalio wrote in Principles: Pain + Reflection = Progress It's tough, but I hope you realize as I have that we are fortunate to have the challenges we face. SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/34hfOtv - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7...
Aug 13, 2022•9 min
Oh damn, I actually made another Vlog. Well, today I talk about the importance of discipline, drive, and details in execution and achieving successful outcomes. Further, I talk about how mental strength magnifies the 3Ds and how you can train for mental strength like a muscle. SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/34hfOtv - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ - Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Ga...
Aug 07, 2022•12 min
Oliver Jones is an OG game maker in India having worked at 2 of India's biggest companies like Zynga and co-founded Moonfrog (sold to Stillfront for $100M). He has now co-founded a new games studio called Bombay Play focusing on a new breed of games called "hyper social" games. Why did Oli come to India in the first place? How were companies like Zynga and Moonfrog like during the early days? How has the Indian game dev ecosystem evolved over the years? How and why did he found Bombay Play? And,...
Aug 06, 2022•35 min
Are you a workaholic grinder like me? Well, it finally got the best of me and totally jacked up my back and face. Health is critical! I talk about a big problem, trying to fix my health, and the results of my plan to get better in this video. SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/34hfOtv - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ - Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersStudio 😃 —CONNECT WITH ME!...
Jul 27, 2022•12 min
Today I speak to Seb Park regarding how startups should incorporate "Bayesian Thinking" into their strategic decision-making process. This means how to incorporate new information for a startup best and how to use that to gain a massive competitive advantage. SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/34hfOtv - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ - Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersStudio 😃 ...
Jul 19, 2022•29 min
When you're at the office super late and hella tired, you do weird shit like starting a Vlog. I'm Joseph Kim, CEO of Lila Games and we are trying to build a mobile gaming studio out of Bangalore, India. SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/34hfOtv - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ - Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersStudio 😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! — • MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 • TWITTER → ...
Jul 17, 2022•7 min
Mobile free-to-play game design experts from Naavik - Thomas Baker (former lead game designer at Electronic Arts and lead on Real Racing 3) and Eva Grillova (former game designer from Wooga and SocialPoint) - have written a super in-depth analysis on Garena Free Fire. Find out how Free Fire was able to achieve success to become the world's most downloaded shooter game of all time! Further, why has Free Fire dropped by over 30% since last year? What are the big risks and opportunities ahead for t...
Jul 15, 2022•1 hr 2 min
We talk about a lot of hot topics people have been discussing in the games industry. Topics: #1. The dramatic decline in user acquisition marketing - UA Apocalypse #2. Impact of global recession #3. Employee compensation SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/34hfOtv - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ - Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersStudio OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 2:50 UA Apocalypse 16:...
Jul 11, 2022•1 hr 13 min
Joseph Kim and Brett Nowak talk about cultural installation (not just conveying or communicating culture) and about how to create incentive systems for employees. SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/34hfOtv - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ - Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersStudio OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 2:01 Installing Culture (Not Just Communication of Culture) 41:45 Employee Incen...
Jul 09, 2022•1 hr 6 min
Will Harbin was CEO at Kixeye during the early 2010s when the company launched some of the most innovative games to the market at that time: Desktop Tower Defense, Backyard Monsters, War Commander, and Battle Pirates. The company was poised to become the next big gaming juggernaut but did not quite make the transition to mobile. Today Will is making a comeback with Kixeye 2.0, his new company Global Worldwide which recently launched Kingdom Maker. Don't miss this fascinating discussion, outlined...
Jun 29, 2022•55 min
Sebastian Park is a co-founder of the UGC publishing company Infinite Canvas and a venture partner at BITKRAFT Ventures. He was also formerly VP of eSports for the Houston Rockets and co-founded Clutch Gaming. Seb talks about his beliefs on why user-generated gaming is the next frontier for the games industry. SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/34hfOtv - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ - Don't miss an episode on You...
Jun 23, 2022•38 min
Three of the greatest experts on Entertainment IP in Games give perhaps the most in-depth discussion on impact, deal structure, issues, and advice. You don't want to miss this if you have any interest of licensing IP in your game! SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/34hfOtv - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ - Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersStudio OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 1:26 Speaker...
Jun 20, 2022•1 hr 27 min
After a career in product management at places like Zynga Natural Motion and Digital Chocolate, Akash Senapaty founded e-learning startup Vah Vah with 3 others from Zynga India. What are the lessons learned? What was he able to translate from being a games PM at Zynga to entrepreneurship? What are his thoughts on the gaming companies and the opportunities in India? SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ - Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/...
May 01, 2022•33 min
We discuss the current opportunity space for traditional game developers around Web3. SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/34hfOtv - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ - Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersStudio OUTLINE: 0:00 Introduction 1:51 Why Web3? 6:20 What Does Web3 Mean? 24:37 Axie Hack & Big Risks 39:27 Emotional Web3 Devs 46:08 Areas of Innovation 1:00:49 Investment & ...
Apr 24, 2022•1 hr 22 min
We talk about game studio fundraising and specifically Series A funding - what that means - and lessons, best practices, and mistakes based on my own experience with this current financing round. Understand the difference between Seed and Series A. Make sure you don't make the same mistakes I did. Don't be a lame CEO and make sure you take funding seriously! SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ - Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameM...
Apr 18, 2022•1 hr 37 min
Mr. Product Growth Guy himself Aakash Gupta and I discuss the details behind our recent report on the growth and Rise of Gaming in India. Check out the full written analysis here: https://gamemakers.substack.com/p/the-rise-of-the-indian-gaming-market SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ - Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersStudio 😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! — • MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 • TWITTER → @jokim1 • LINKEDIN → https://www.linkedin...
Apr 16, 2022•59 min
How should companies think about retaining employees? 1. How much to invest in employees when they may wind up just leaving? 2. How to retain employees besides just wage escalation? 3. What should the attitude of employers be regarding the loss of employees? 4. How to think about matching competitive compensation vs. letting employees go? 5. Thinking about redundancy or building an anti-fragile company? SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/34hfOtv - Spotify Podcast: https:/...
Apr 10, 2022•1 hr 11 min
The Russia Ukraine war has had a dramatic impact on many people’s lives. Huge impact to society, to our economies, and to various industries in different ways. How has video game development been impacted by the war? Boris Kalmykov, CEO of Hypemasters is a Russian living in the UK but with most of his company formerly located in St. Petersberg. - How have his company and other companies with employees in Russia and Ukraine been impacted? - What about the impact on big companies with employees in...
Apr 08, 2022•45 min
Today I’m here with my co-founder and CTO of LILA Games, Avinash Pandey. Having a frank discussion about the games industry here in India and what it’s going to take for India to become a place where world-leading games studios emerge. If China and Turkey can do it, why not India? SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ - Don't miss an episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersStudio
Mar 27, 2022•26 min
We breakdown the mobile marketing activities of both Garena Free Fire Max and PUBG: New State, comparing and contrasting the user acquisition initiatives deployed in both games. We first start with a high-level overview of the top 3 mobile shooter games: PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty Mobile, and Garena Free Fire. Joining to review, discuss, and add meaningful insights to the presentation from SocialPeta we have 2 of the best mobile marketers in the world. SPEAKERS: - Matej Lancaric, current UA consu...
Mar 19, 2022•1 hr 6 min
What are the skills and kind of personality required to be a winning product manager? In particular, what do you need to become a "needle-moving" PM instead of a minor cog that doesn't actually make much of a difference? High-level outline 1. Organizational differences we often see in different gaming studios and talk about some of the ways in which, therefore - certain skills and personality traits would be more critical than others. 2. General discussion about what are the kinds of skills PMs ...
Mar 11, 2022•52 min
We discuss the current state of mergers & acquisitions in the games industry. Topics: 0:00 Introduction 4:13 Activision to Microsoft 12:16 Zynga to Take-Two 25:30 Current M&A Landscape 39:25 Potential Targets 48:17 Playtika Acquisition 51:52 Carve-Out Opportunities 1:01:03 Predictions Speakers: - Saad Choudri, CEO at Miniclip - Michael Metzger, Partner at Drake Star Partners - Chris Petrovic, Chief Business Officer at FunPlus 👇 CHECK IT OUT Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ G...
Mar 08, 2022•1 hr 7 min
Some context: - IDFA deprecation has created a -30% margin compression for many game studios against their game revenue - With the deterioration of lookalike audiences CA submits that contextual and interest-based targeting will be more performant - Consumer Acquisition performed over 25,000 multivariate tests on Facebook, Google, Tiktok, and Snap and have learned that 85-95% of new creative concepts fail to outperform the best ad in an existing portfolio. Hence you may need 20-50 new concepts t...
Mar 02, 2022•39 min
A deep discussion on how we think about employee motivation to work. How should we think about it? We cover topics such as key factors that contribute to higher motivation, the importance of desperation, how it's important to help some employees tie potential outcomes to the work they do, and the importance of creating the right incentive systems to align work motivation. Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/
Jan 24, 2022•53 min
We discuss the best and worst of game dev in 2021. Our awards crew: Javier Barnes, Lead Game Designer at King Josh Burns, Founder at DigitalDevConnect Shannon Chang, Head of Operations at Trading.TV Niklas Herriger, Executive Coach at 8 Bit Coaching Matthew Kanterman, CFA, Senior Equity Research Analyst at Bloomberg LP Eric Kress, Principal at Gossamer Consulting Group, LLC K en Landen, Lead Product Manager at Scopely Brian Peganoff, Ex. Senior Director, Corporate Development & Strategy at G...
Jan 16, 2022•1 hr 41 min
We talk about some of the biggest trends and lessons of 2021: 1. Rise of Personal Brands (and everyone now jumping on) 2. Power and Importance of Relationships 3. The Duality of Existence and Human Nature 4. The New New Thing Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter
Dec 31, 2021•1 hr 1 min
Today we discuss one of the most important topics for the success of a games studio, especially for startups and those working on new game projects: RECRUITING! GUEST: - Tayber Voyer , VP of Product - A Thinking Ape HOSTS: - Joseph Kim , CEO at LILA Games - Brett Nowak , CEO at Liquid & Grit Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter...
Dec 25, 2021•1 hr 41 min
