Stay ConnectedDeconstructor of Fun podcast is created by games professionals for games professionals. We explore the business side of the games industry with the goal of bringing listeners content that is relevant, insightful, and entertaining on a weekly basis.
Hosts:
Michail Katkoff www.linkedin.com/in/michailkatkoff/
Eric Kress www.linkedin.com/in/erickress/
Phillip Black www.linkedin.com/in/phillip-black-economist/
Jen Donahoe www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferdonahoe
Copyright: © Deconstructor of Fun
With Miska downing soju faster than meat off a KBBQ grill, Eric and Jen lay down the law on Monopoly Go's UA numbers. Laura celebrates Apple's end-of-year awards, while Phil tells developers to hide yo' kids, hide yo' wife; Fortnite is coming for your genre. The crew talks about Epic's court victory that produced Tim Sweney's only natural smile to date.
Want to catch your Data.ai 2024 predictions in a TWIG-like format? We got you covered! Jen Donahoe, Michail Katkoff, Brett Nowak and Eric Kress hosted by Lexi Sydow, deconstructed the gaming market while planting several jabs at each others' predictions.Topics discussed:
How do you acquire your very first players without a marketing budget? What guerrilla marketing tactics work for games, and how can you execute them creatively?
Host, Jen Donahoe asks Julie Bonnecarrère and Pavel Afanasiev, co-founders of Northern Lights Entertainment (NLE), about their journey to soft launching on mobile under extreme budget constraints.
NLE is developing Nebulae (https://nebulae.world/) - a 4x strategy MMO for mobile & PC, where politics is a core gameplay component, and where players collectively control numerous political regimes - in space!
The not-so-Fabulous Five are right back at it discussing GTA 6 trailer that broke the internet. We recap Slush, the latest boondoggle with Mishka and Phil. Predict what the console gaming market will be in 2024 and get our engines revved up by the latest Forza Customs and Chrome Valley Customs.
Connect with the TWIG Cast to give feedback and keep the conversation going!
Philip Black, Jen Donahoe, Eric Kress, Laura Taranto & Mishka Katkoff
Ethan's back, and so is Kress telling him to "Get the F Out of here!" Laura breaks down June's Journey $1B revenue milestone with Ethan chiming in with a history lesson on Hidden Object games. Jen covers the nominees for the gam3.gg Web 3 awards. Kress gives a state of mobile games industry update and the team talks about the state SKAN4 and the upcoming SKAN5.
Connect with the TWIG Cast to give feedback and keep the conversation going (in alphabetical order)
Philip Black, Jen Donahoe, Eric Kress, Ethan Levy, Laura Taranto
What is the role of Product Marketing Managers (PMMs) in gaming? The discussion emphasizes two key aspects that PMMs enable: Firstly, facilitating the identification of product-market fit early in the development phase, thereby preventing costly pivots after the game's launch Secondly, they allow Product Managers and Game Directors to concentrate on enhancing key performance indicators (KPIs) and team efficiency by serving as the primary liaison between the game team and internal/external marketing and user research teams. The episode delves into questions about what to expect from a PMM, how to identify a good one, the evolving nature of their role post-privacy changes, and optimal placement within a company's organizational structure. Jesse Lempiäinen, the CEO and Founder of Geeklab, a platform for efficiently testing product/market fit, provides insights and answers to these inquiries.
We have a full house and lots of topics to cover! The talk of the week is Scopely's Monopoly Go crossing $1B in revenue in just 7 months. We have a Esports smackdown and we also talk a bit about Web3 to keep things spicy.
Kudos to our sponsors: Heroic Labs, Xsolla, AppsFlyer, and Data.ai
In the heyday of 2022, there was an unprecedented surge in investment in Web3 games, capturing nearly half of all investment in both dollars and raw numbers. However, the excitement and speculation didn't translate into quality games, resulting in numerous failures within the industry. Warren Woodward, CCO and co-founder of Upptic, a leading growth agency for games, joins the podcast to explain what happened to the Web3 gaming dream and what the future entails.
Kress embraces grouchiness and brings the fire to today's podcast. Phil gets triggered by behavioural economics delivering an epic rant. Mishka weakly defends his “China” point and Jen talks about the latest Call of Duty that got drowned by the worst score in the history of the franchise.
The crew discusses why console developers are backtracking from the Games-as-a-Service model and announces the Deconstructor of Fun Gaming Awards. The episode is capped by Zynga’s Match Factory breakdown.
In the latest podcast, Mishka delves into an all-encompassing discussion with Chris Hewish, President and interim CEO of Xsolla. Chris boasts an impressive gaming career that spans iconic companies like Skydance, Survios, DreamWorks, and includes a substantial 13-year stint at Activision.
Topics discussed:
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