Happy New Year from The Metacast We are ringing in 2023 with Yat Siu, the founder of the Crypto & Blockchain titan Animoca Brands. We focus the Animoca origin story, how they found Crypto Kitties, their investment strategy (and why it’s totally different than a traditional VC), digital property rights, and more. It’s a new year, a fresh start for crypto, and there’s no better place to begin than the OGs. Yat Siu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yatsiu/ If you would like us to discuss any other b...
Jan 03, 2023•1 hr 5 min
What are the trends when looking back at 2022’s gaming deals? What were our highlights of the year? We dive into the latest game business news with Abhimanyu Kumar , Anthony Pecorella , Matt Dion , Anton Gorodetsky , and your host Maria Gillies . 00:00 - Start 07:30 - 2022 Gaming Deals Trends Review 17:40 - Highlights Awards: Game of the Year 37:15 - Highlights Awards: The Good 51:03 - Highlights Awards: The Bad 01:01:02 - Highlights Awards: The Unicorn 01:16:49 - Outro Also, a big thanks to dat...
Dec 23, 2022•1 hr 18 min
There is a ton of hype around the notion of the metaverse, with no shortage of companies trying to build it. We have legacy operations that have been around for years like Second Life. We have huge tech giants like Meta trying to brute force their way to the metaverse by spending billions on it. We have medium sized players that target a particular consumer like Roblox does for kids. We have newer start ups like Decentraland and The Sandbox that are building on blockchain and embracing web3. But...
Dec 20, 2022•54 min
What’s the funding environment going into 2023? Can mobile be conquered by studios with short runways? We dive into the latest game business news with Aaron Bush , Anil Das-Gupta , Joakim Achrén , and your host Maria Gillies . 00:00 - Start 10:20 - Console Acceleration 20:26 - Mobile Growth or Decline 38:35 - Multi-Core-Gameplay Genre 45:00 - Mainstream Blockchain Gaming 59:24 - M&A and Funding Environment 01:05:30 - Generative AI 01:10:43 - Outro Also, a big thanks to data.ai for supporting...
Dec 16, 2022•1 hr 12 min
Why are there housing crises in online games, and how did a plot of “virtual land” go for $4M in Sandbox’s Metaverse last year? What is a land economy, and how do you run it? We bring on Lars Doucet, virtual land economy consultant and author of “Land and Why It Matters” and Khaled Alroumi, Head of Monetization at Big Time Studios to discuss the concept of land economies, whether land should be a primary or secondary driver of your game economy, what to do about taxes and rent, and the do’s and ...
Dec 13, 2022•58 min
Should studios lean away from an all-in mobile strategy and pursue cross-platform? What is the impact of Intel’s vision to revive Moore’s Law? We dive into the latest game business news with Tammy Levy , David Amor , and your host Maria Gillies . 00:00 - Start 03:25 - Playmint’s Open Source Web3 Tech 10:11 - Moore’s Law Revival 17:05 - Limit Break’s Free Super Bowl NFT Mint 25:00 - Gwent’s End of Development 30:47 - Lean Away From Mobile, Lean Into Consoles & PC? 55:05 - Outro Also, a big th...
Dec 09, 2022•56 min
One of the promises of web3 is the opening up of in-game economies, and for players to retain some kind of residual value for all the hours they put into a game. In web2, the developer and the platform on which a game is played retain 100% of the economic value - web3 changes this, at least in theory, and allows players to retain an economic interest in their gaming digital assets, both the non-fungible ones - the unique NFTs they own - and the fungible ones - the in-game currencies they accumul...
Dec 06, 2022•1 hr 7 min
Should console studios target mainland China’s market? Is building a web3 gaming studio still an investment advantage? We dive into the latest game business news with Anthony Pecorella , Alex Takei , Joost van Dreunen , and your host Maria Gillies . 00:00 - Start 02:50 - What are cosy games? 05:20 - Australia’s Loot Box Bill 11:40 - Will Mobile Replace Consoles? 18:20 - Mainland China’s Console Market Analysis 35:40 - Is Web3 Still an Investment Advantage? 49:53 - Outro Also, a big thanks to dat...
Dec 02, 2022•51 min
“UGC Gaming is Gaming 3.0” says Uri Marchand, CEO and co-founder of Overwolf, a software platform that powers one of the biggest modding communities in the world and recently signed a massive partnership with EA for the Sims4. In this episode, your host Alex Takei chats all things UGC, the role of IP in creating the metaverse, centralization and moderation in a creator economy, and whether any of this really needs the blockchain. Uri Marchand: https://www.linkedin.com/in/urimarchand/ If you woul...
Nov 29, 2022•59 min
Why didn’t Blizzard renew its partnership with NetEase? How will they return to mainland China’s market? We dive into the latest game business news with Matt Dion , David Amor , Marie Mejerwall , and your host Maria Gillies . 00:00 - Start 05:20 - Gameloft’s Cross-Platform Strategy 08:55 - Generative AI’s Valuable Disruption 17:40 - Embracer Group Earnings Analysis 19:20 - Sony Patent For NFT and Blockchain Technology 23:52 - Blizzard Does Not Renew Contract with NetEase 40:12 - Google Struck De...
Nov 25, 2022•57 min
In web2, the marketing stack is rich in every area that matters - when a marketer wants to spend on a game, they have many places to do it, they can scale budget up and down as needed, they have the tools to measure how effective the spend is by channel, they can measure revenue events and many other different kinds of downstream activity for days, weeks, months and even years down the line. They have the analytics tools to segment and understand their player personas, and can effectively target...
Nov 22, 2022•1 hr 6 min
What can we learn from Unity, AppLovin, Roblox, Krafton and Nintendo earnings? What’s the next evolution of community play? We dive into the latest game business news with Aaron Bush , Tammy Levy , Elyssa Goldberg , and your host Maria Gillies . 00:00 - Start 03:12 - Unity Earnings Analysis 05:27 - NewZoo Forecasts Market Decline 13:41 - AppLovin Earnings Analysis 15:26 - Roblox Earnings Analysis 20:10 - Impacts of FTX on Gaming 29:14 - Krafton Earnings Analysis 35:46 - Nintendo Earnings & S...
Nov 18, 2022•1 hr 8 min
Should you build your game on Solana or Polygon? L1, L2, or sidechain? What are the technical, financial, ideological, and game design frameworks a web3 developer should think about when making this decision? In this week’s episode, your host, Alex Takei, talks all things chain choice with Aron Beierschmitt, CEO of Laguna Games, the studio responsible for Crypto Unicorns, and Sridhar Muppidi, co-founder of YesGnome, a skill based mobile gaming company. PLUS hot takes on the FTX debacle and what ...
Nov 15, 2022•1 hr 4 min
In this episode, Alexis Bonte – COO of Stillfront Group – joins Naavik co-founder Aaron Bush to discuss: #1 His journey as an entrepreneur and executive, and how he ended up at Stillfront #2 How Stillfront operates, including how it provides autonomy to studios while still creating synergies across the entire organization #3 Stillfront’s M&A strategy, including lessons learned after 18 acquisitions #4 The future of Stillfront (and whether Stillfront is thinking about web3) To learn more, mak...
Nov 13, 2022•54 min
What can we learn from Take-Two and EA’s earnings? Are we observing an increase in VC capital deployment? We dive into the latest game business news with Aaron Bush , Seb Park , and your host Maria Gillies . 00:00 - Start 02:10 - What’s Next for eSports? 05:40 - Japan’s PC Gaming Market 07:03 - China’s Declining Mobile Gaming Market 08:30 - Unity x ironSource Deal Closed 11:12 - Embracer Closed Former Square Enix Montreal 12:56 - Dapper Labs and Mythical Layoffs 22:20 - Take-Two Earnings Analysi...
Nov 11, 2022•1 hr 1 min
In just a single year since launching, NFT marketplace Magic Eden has grown to dominate on Solana, with over 85% of the trading market share, and increasingly taking share from OpenSea on Ethereum as well. They started with digital collectibles, but very early on made a bet on gaming NFTs as their second major vertical. Now, they sport a $1.6 billion valuation in their latest funding round, and have recently announced that they will be making direct minority equity investments in gaming companie...
Nov 08, 2022•58 min
In this episode, Caro Krenzer – co-founder and CEO of Trailmix, the company behind Love & Pies – joins Naavik co-founder Aaron Bush to discuss: #1 Caro’s games industry origin story and what led her to found Trailmix #2 How Love & Pies pivoted away from a failed game mechanic and turned into a hit #3 Lessons in inclusive game design, including how to build a great company culture that supports it #4 What Caro learned from working at King, how Supercell supports Trailmix as an investor, a...
Nov 06, 2022•45 min
What can we learn from Microsoft, Meta, Sony and Rovio’s earnings? What does Meta’s tanking stock mean for VR/AR Gaming? We dive into the latest game business news with David Amor , Matt Dion , and your host Maria Gillies . 00:00 - Start 03:33 - Sony/PlayStation Earnings 06:50 - TikTok Playable Games Tab 08:20 - Netflix Acquires Spry Fox 11:30 - Rovio Earnings 13:33 - Microsoft/Xbox Earnings 31:17 - Meta Earnings & VR/AR Market Also, a big thanks to data.ai for supporting all of Naavik's mob...
Nov 04, 2022•54 min
Why does a Rioter go start a web3 studio? Today’s episode is with Adam Hensel, CEO of Battlebound and the web3 studio making Evaverse, a universe of competitive racing and battler games. We chat the woes of web3 publishing, how he’s thinking about revenue share between the developer and player, and what’s next for Battlebound as he and his team build games that envision players adopting blockchain technology in a low friction and “less NFT hate” environment. Battlebound Discord: https://discord....
Nov 01, 2022•57 min
In this episode, Jason Chapman – co-founder and managing partner of Konvoy Ventures – joins Naavik co-founder Aaron Bush to discuss: #1 The origins, present state, and core theses of Konvoy Ventures #2 What technology and platform trends Jason is excited about #3 What attributes the Konvoy team looks for in the teams and founders it backs #4 The current state of the venture market, including where we are in the latest web3 cycle #5 Lessons learned in scaling an investment firm To learn more, mak...
Oct 30, 2022•51 min
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 franchise now? #5 Marvel Snap Mobile Launch: What are the early indicators of Marvel Snap’s launch? Also, a ...
Oct 28, 2022•1 hr 14 min
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 episode, your host Niko Vuori talks to two independent web3 analysts who cover the space. Thomas Pan write...
Oct 25, 2022•1 hr 12 min
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, and advice for successful boards To learn more, make sure to follow Björn on Twitter . You can also ...
Oct 23, 2022•54 min
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? #4 Voice Acting & AI: What role could AI play in the games voice acting business? Also, a big thank...
Oct 21, 2022•1 hr 11 min
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 of Frostgiant and ex-production director of Starcraft vs. Ethan Levy, Deconstructor of Fun’s Crypto...
Oct 18, 2022•1 hr 37 min
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 kickstarting, scaling, and setting an exit strategy for a business #4 Tactics and advise when it comes to ...
Oct 16, 2022•58 min
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 to data.ai for supporting all of Naavik's mobile data needs. If your team requires a market and compe...
Oct 14, 2022•59 min
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, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review! TLDListen?: Epis...
Oct 11, 2022•1 hr 3 min
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 games, advice to teams during “crypto winter,” and why he doesn’t worry about educating gamers #4 A...
Oct 09, 2022•44 min
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 In-App NFT Sales: How does this affect blockchain game design and its revenue potential? Also, a big ...
Oct 07, 2022•1 hr 15 min
