The Naavik Gaming Podcast is a business-focused exploration of the companies, trends, strategies and leaders that are defining the future of games. To learn more and see other great content visit www.naavik.co.
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Today, host Devin Becker is joined by Sam Means, Founder of Wavlake , and Ben Cousens , Chief Strategy Officer of ZBD , for an exploration of alternative payment systems for creators in the music and gaming industries. The conversation dives into how Wavlake leverages Bitcoin to revolutionize artist payments and music distribution, offering unique benefits over traditional platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. Sam shares the story behind Wavlake, its current mission, and how its collaboration ...
In this episode of the Naavik Gaming podcast, host Niko Vuori interviews Álvaro Pinto , co-founder and COO of Aptoide, an independent app store with over 430 million users and 10 billion downloads. They discuss the evolution of app distribution, the concept of decentralization, and how Aptoide has grown and adapted over the years. Álvaro shares insights into the company's revenue model, user demographics, and the impact of blockchain technology through their AppCoins initiative. The conversation...
One of UEFN's biggest strengths is that it is a melting pot of intellectual property. Jeremy Pedron , Lead Game Designer at JOGO Studios , calls it “a vast childhood playroom”, a place where you can combine playing with Batman while also playing with Legos. As creative costs go down to zero, the modern gaming market is undergoing a transformation in how IP is created. In summary, IP has never been more adaptable. Host, Alexandra Takei , Director at Ruckus Games , sits down with Kevin Mariano , C...
Host Devin Becker is joined by Zach Nass , Head of Gaming at nSure.ai , to discuss the complex and evolving landscape of payment fraud prevention in gaming. Zach shares insights into why payment fraud in gaming has become such a critical issue today, the unique challenges posed by game-specific economies and marketplaces, and the importance of nuanced, adaptable solutions to secure transactions. We unpack how AI and machine learning are used to identify patterns and predict fraudulent payment ac...
Host Niko Vuori and guest George Isichos , core contributor at Game7 , discuss the current state of web3 gaming, focusing on the latest Game7 x Naavik research report (which you can download here ). They explore the evolution of the ecosystem, the impact of platforms like Telegram and Epic Games Store, and emerging economic models such as Play-to-Airdrop. The conversation also addresses the challenges posed by bots in gaming and the shifting geographic distribution of players. The discussion the...
If you’re reading this, you’re probably one of LinkedIn’s 1B+ global users. You might have also noticed some of your professional connections playing one of LinkedIn’s new games — Queens , Pinpoint , Crossclimb , or Tango — and may even be wondering "why are there games on LinkedIn?" Host Alexandra Takei , Director at Ruckus Games , sits down with Lakshman Somasundaram , Director of Product Management at LinkedIn, to discuss the strategic intent behind games on LinkedIn and their unique approach...
A new frontier is emerging with the advent of "web shops," also known as direct-to-consumer distribution methods. Alexandra Takei , Director at Ruckus Games , sits down with Chris Faught , the CEO and founder of Neon , a direct-to-consumer payments service currently working with Space Ape, Metacore, and Theorycraft to build customizable web shops and geography-specific payment systems, challenging the traditional distribution models of Apple and Google. We explore the evolving landscape of mobil...
Host Aaron Bush welcomes Shahar Sorek , CMO of Overwolf, and Nick Tuosto , co-founder of Griffin Gaming Partners and GoodGame Advisors, to discuss the growing – and increasingly interconnected – impact of transmedia and modding on the gaming industry. As beloved entertainment IPs partner with more types of game creators, we examine how these transmedia efforts are reshaping consumer behaviors and evolving the market, especially with the younger UGC-native generation and as UGC creation gets more...
Fortnite has paid out roughly $500 million to creators since UEFN and Creator Economy 2.0 launched in March of 2023. These payouts, which have increased 32.5% YoY (measured from March through September), are showing no signs of slowing down. However, Fortnite Creative engagement as a proportion of total Fortnite engagement has actually declined as Epic has launched more successful modes like 'Reload.' What will it take for Epic's $500 million investment to turn into a thriving UGC ecosystem that...
In this episode, host Niko Vuori and guest Sean Ryan delve into the emerging category of social sweepstakes, a gaming model that barely existed as recently as 2017 but has rapidly evolved into a multi-billion dollar industry. In 2023, social sweeps generated almost $6 billion in revenue, and this number is expected to double to nearly $12 billion by next year, 2025. What are social sweeps? When a gaming product offers users real-world prizes without the element of consideration. Removal of consi...
Sebastian Park , co-founder of Infinite Canvas and a favorite recurring guest, joins host Aaron Bush to dive into the fascinating topic of building games on new platforms and with new technologies. They discuss how Infinite Canvas rapidly iterates, uses off-the-shelf LLM tech, and what the team has learned lately from building on Discord, Twitch, and Telegram. If you want to better understand how emerging AI-based tools will increase the baseline requirements for competing in game development an...
In this episode, SciPlay's Chief Strategy Officer Danny Moy provides an in-depth look into the social casino gaming market. He explores how SciPlay leverages its connection to Light and Wonder's real-money gaming IP to attract both traditional casino fans and casual players, emphasizing the importance of live operations and meta-features for retention. Moy also touches on the challenges of user acquisition in a post-IDFA landscape, the cross-pollination between social and real-money gaming, and the emerging role of AI in game design, highlighting the sector's continued growth and innovation.
What is culture, and why does it matter? Seth Sivak , the founder and ex-CEO of Proletariat, a studio most known for its title Spellbreak, joins our host, Alexandra Takei , Director at Ruckus Games , to discuss the importance of organizational culture in the gaming industry. Proletariat was founded in 2012 by Seth and four other co-founders and went through various era of growth: scaling up to 80 people in person, 130 people remote during the pandemic, everyone brought back in person again, and ...
With metagames becoming a key component of player engagement and monetization, it’s more important than ever to get them right. Host Devin Becker welcomes Christopher Molozian , CEO of Heroic Labs , to discuss the evolving landscape of metagame systems and the technology that powers them. Christopher explains how Heroic Labs' platform integrates seamlessly into games, enabling developers to enhance live operations with scalable metagame features. The conversation also explores how metagame eleme...
When designing content creation tools for the masses, most platforms have to make trade-offs across accessibility, ease of use, capability, and power of the toolsets. However, AI has the potential to provide the best of both worlds. For instance, co-pilot technology empowers non-technical creators to write code, and 3D gen-AI enables entire environments to be created from simple command line prompts. We’re seeing a number of companies emerge that are taking advantage of AI in order to compete wi...
“AAA is not in crisis; it is in a moment of change.” In this episode, Kate Kellogg, the COO of EA Studios, joins our host, Alexandra Takei , Director at Ruckus Games , to discuss game launches, EA's strategic approach, and how EA staffs and organizes itself to win. We discuss the challenge of aligning development resources with performance expectations and delve into EA's strategic pillars of Play, Watch, Create, and Connect. We explore why this strategy is not only well-suited for the current g...
It's no secret that distribution across all major gaming platforms is virtually inaccessible to all but the most deep-pocketed developers. The go-go days of being able to bootstrap a studio or raise a modest amount of funding to grow and scale a title are long gone, and there have been very few emerging platforms that show outsized promise. But is that about to change? Telegram games have exploded onto the scene over the past few months. Top titles like Hamster Kombat, with deceptively simple ye...
In recent years, there’s been considerable discourse about the game industry’s challenges. However, according to today's guest, Jiten Dajee, one core element has been missing from the conversation: the root technical causes underlying many of today’s business woes. After all, game tech shapes the way games are developed and managed, which in turn drives business outcomes. Jiten, General Partner at Rendered VC, joins host Aaron Bush to discuss how the state of game tech is holding developers back...
If you are into fantasy sports, Dream 11 is a household name. Boasting over 220M active users, it is one of the most popular fantasy sports platforms in the world. But what you might not know is that Dream 11 is just one part of the Dream Sports Group, which aspires to be a full 360 sports experience beyond fantasy (including merchandise, travel, streaming, live experiences, and, of course, video games). Rohit Gupta , Founder and CEO of Dream Games Studios , joins our host, Alexandra Takei , Dir...
Over the last few years, brands have increasingly gravitated to platforms like Roblox as a way to reach younger audiences. In 2023 alone, we saw 240 brand activations on Roblox, which doubled from the year prior. In terms of revenue, this contributed to over $80 million in brand spend, which equates to roughly 10% of Roblox's developer earnings for 2023. From the brand perspective, results can vary greatly depending on the execution. As advertisers, the cost per play session in a branded experie...
The gaming industry is currently facing an identity crisis, with widespread layoffs, escalating budgets, and a flood of new games hitting the market. In light of these macro trends, game studios and platforms need to find ways to leverage their existing strengths or develop new strategies for long-term success. Ben Feder , Managing Partner at Tirta and former CEO of Take-Two, and Ken Wee , former CSO of Activision Blizzard King, join host Alexandra Takei, Director at Ruckus Games , to delve into...
UGC is hot, hot, hot right now. Roblox is on track to pay out half a billion USD to creators - annually - and never has it been more possible for young, individual creators to make a meaningful living as “game developers.” But is Roblox the only place for such creators? HiberWorld, a platform that's empowering anyone to build and share their own 3D worlds, is trying to change that by making making it as easy possible for anyone, at any age, and anywhere in the world to build their own virtual wo...
On August 28th, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a Wells Notice to OpenSea, notifying the largest NFT marketplace that it is under investigation for operating as an unlicensed exchange, labeling the NFTs traded on the platform as securities. Founder & CEO of OpenSea, Devin Finzer, posted that “[t]his is a move into uncharted territory. By targeting NFTs, the SEC would stifle innovation on an even broader scale: hundreds of thousands of online artists and creatives are at risk, a...
Hasbro is known for iconic properties like Dungeons and Dragons and Monopoly, but is sometimes overlooked as the licensor of incredible video game successes such as Baldur's Gate III and Monopoly Go! In the last 12 months, Hasbro's licensed games have generated a staggering $3.25 billion, making it the largest entertainment IP licensor in video games, and almost doubling the revenue of the next largest licensor, Disney, which includes powerhouse franchises like Marvel and Star Wars. David Taylor...
Today, we explore what it takes to build the next big video game franchise powered by user-generated games. It's a daunting task as Epic Games paid roughly $320 million to creators in the past year in order to incentivize creators to build new experiences on its platform. That's enough money to develop and market a new AAA franchise every year. However, that hasn't discouraged start-up studios like Build a Rocket Boy and OCP from diving headfirst into the space. Build a Rocket Boy recently close...
Animoca has been an unwavering web3 cheerleader since day one, with a stated goal of leveraging blockchain technologies to “deliver digital property rights to consumers around the world and to help to establish the open metaverse.” The company develops and publishes a broad portfolio of both original and licensed IP, and has its finger in about as many web3 pies as anyone on the planet, through its over 450 investments in some big names like Yuga Labs, Axie Infinity, Consensys, Magic Eden, OpenS...
One of the biggest web3 hits of 2022, the horse racing game Pegaxy, generated over $200 million in sales, second only to Axie Infinity during that period. After building heads down during the crypto bear market through the end of the 2023, the company behind Pegaxy, Mirai Labs, is ready to ride again, now with its second game, Petopia, a top-down roguelite shooter. With its fresh and innovative take on guilds, fractional ownership of teams, and passive income, Petopia is looking to invigorate th...
There are 3B gamers in the world, and many of those players have disabilities. Often called “accessibility” or “adaptive gaming”, this is one of the most important topics (and markets) in the gaming industry. From mobility, visual, and hearing impairments to cognitive and speech impairments, the industry has begun making strides in addressing how we can enable as many people as possible to access gaming experiences, plus interpret and perceive the content as intended. Alexander Dunn , Founder an...
Online safety for kids has only become more important over time, and it's become a thorny compliance topic for games teams to wrestle with. Fortunately, talented entrepreneurs are creating solutions that make it easier for games teams (and beyond) to tackle these challenges. To help explore this nuanced topic, host Aaron Bush is joined by Kieran Donovan , co-founder and CEO of k-ID (which recently raised a $45M Series A, led by Lightspeed and a16z), as well as Dylan Collins , serial entrepreneur...
Voice games have had a quiet history compared to mobile, console, and the PC gaming arena. However, Lightspeed and Microsoft’s M12 Ventures see Volley Games as a leader and game changer in the space, co-leading a $55M Series C on the backs of solid MAU and ARR. Our host, Alexandra Takei , Director at Ruckus Games , speaks with Max Child , CEO and Co-Founder of Volley, about the history of voice games, the current market, and the AI inflection point that enables experiences that were once hindere...
