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
GTA 6 finally has a price tag, Steam Machine lands with a $1,000+, and Tencent is quietly pulling out of Japan.
In this episode, we break down:
● Why GTA 6's $80/$100 pricing is good news for the industry
● What the deluxe edition actually includes (and what it's missing)
● The attach rate debate for GTA 6 on PS5 and Xbox
● Why Tencent is exiting its Japanese gaming investments
● Who's actually still buying game studios right now
● Unreal Engine 6 and what it means for developers
● Epic's new AI tools shown at Unreal Fest
● Tim Sweeney's "Team Open" pitch and his war on Roblox
● Who the Steam Machine is actually built for
● General Intuition's $320M raise and what it means for AI in gaming
● Roblox's new brand integration tax and why creators are worried
● Why Queen Digital Entertainment shut down after burning $50M
CHAPTERS:
00:20 Welcome and Agenda
02:14 Canada and World Cup Banter
03:40 Seattle Roundtable Plug
05:07 Mishka LinkedIn Apology
07:42 LA Roundtable Recap
10:15 Audience Polls and GTA Hype
11:38 GTA 6 Pricing Details
14:32 Deluxe Edition and Monetization
17:05 Attach Rate and Online Revenue
20:23 Tencent Divestment Rumors
22:22 Who Still Buys Studios
25:47 Bull Case and Buyouts
26:06 Tencent Strategy Shift
26:35 Unreal Fest Highlights
26:55 Unreal Engine 6 Roadmap
27:53 AI Tools in Unreal
28:36 Tim Sweeney vs Roblox
29:04 Team Open Vision
31:26 Interoperability Debate
35:00 Epic Reality Check
40:53 Valve Steam Machine Pricing
46:41 Who Is It For
48:05 General Intuition Funding
50:21 Roblox Brand Runtime Fees
54:38 Creator Impact and Risks
58:26 Queen Digital Shuts Down
01:00:14 Wrap Up and Goodbye
Andrew Bowell, CEO of Iconic, who spent 15 years at Havok and a decade at Unity, discusses the future of game development, AI integration, and the challenges of building new game engines. He shares insights on technological shifts, AI's role in creating immersive worlds, and why his company is building an engine to “craft intelligent, living worlds”.
https://iconicgames.io/
02:10— The shift toward dynamic, emergent, personalized gameplay
04:39— Why Iconic won’t end up in the “engine graveyard”
10:13— “Intelligent living worlds” explained
16:12— Dogfooding and building the engine through its own game
19:35— Deterministic vs open-ended gameplay
23:11— What Unity got right about AI
26:52— The real paradigm shift in gaming
37:59— Player-first, not technology-first
46:26— Where AI adoption in games stops today
51:56— Remote vs hybrid culture at Iconic
Roblox's Chief Safety Officer and VP of Safety Products join the podcast to answer the question every parent is asking: Is it actually safe?What's covered:● Why Roblox's safety chief uninstalled the app for his own daughter● The new Roblox Kids and Select accounts launching in June● How facial age verification works at scale, and how parents keep breaking it● AI moderating 150 million daily users across every server, every second● The "predator hunters" YouTube show that went viral, and why Roblox banned them anyway● How bad actors move kids off-platform to Discord and Snapchat, and what Roblox does about it● Why Roblox faces more scrutiny than TikTok or YouTube despite tighter restrictions
Microsoft is laying the groundwork to spin Xbox off, Supercell just cut 70% of Metacore's staff after burning through $180M. Meanwhile, EA just launched a real ad platform for sports games.
In this episode, we break down:
● Why Xbox keeps losing its top studio leadership
● Whether Microsoft is actually preparing to spin off Xbox
● What Sharma's first 100 days reveal about her real strategy
● Why Believer raised $55M to ship an AI plugin instead of a game
● How Supercell's Metacore acquisition turned into a 70% staff cut
● Why EA's new in-game ad platform might actually make sense, for once
● Why microdrama apps are growing fast but can't fix their retention
● Why Konami's eFootball is quietly beating FC Mobile in revenue
● Why Netflix's FIFA World Cup game became an instant disaster
● Why the consumer apps "threat" to gaming doesn't hold up under the data
CHAPTERS:
00:42 Topics Preview
02:04 Shills and Events
03:01 Roblox Safety Podcast
04:08 Puzzle Monthly Updates
06:05 Conference Island Recap
08:48 Xbox News Rundown
11:49 Kress on Xbox Spinout
20:07 Sharma 100 Days Analysis
25:32 Believer AI Plugin
29:40 Metacore Acquisition Fallout
33:38 EA Advertising Debate
35:02 Ads In Sports Games
36:34 Why In Game Ads Failed
38:08 Roblox Brand Detour
40:37 Micro Drama Boom
41:45 Retention And Monetization
44:18 Merge Drama And Subscriptions
47:57 Konami Strategy And Collabs
51:03 FIFA Netflix Game Rant
54:38 Consumer Apps Threat Myth
58:59 Attention CPI And Webshops
01:02:19 IDFA Rumor And Farewell
Gossip Harbor is beating Candy Crush, Merge Mansion is going to Supercell, and the Merge genre is at an inflection point.
In this episode of Puzzle Monthly, we break down the real state of Merge games in 2026, from the history of the genre to why Gossip Harbor succeeded where others failed, and what the next Merge hit might look like.
Topics Covered:
● The history of Merge — from Tripletown to Merge Dragons to Merge 2
● Merge 2 vs Merge 3: how the economies actually differ
● Why Gossip Harbor surpassed Candy Crush while Merge Mansion collapsed
● The no-fail-state problem and how live ops try to solve it
● Board clutter, storage frustration, and persistent board design
● Sensor Tower data: Travel Town vs Gossip Harbor vs Merge Mansion
● Hard order labeling and whether Match 3 lessons apply to Merge
● What the next Merge game should look like
CHAPTERS:
01:07 Merge Takes Center Stage
02:07 Origins of Merge Games
02:38 Merge Two vs Three
03:48 Core Loop Explained
06:03 Merge Mansion vs Gossip Harbor
07:54 Live Ops Without Fail States
09:40 Why Merge Feels Boring
11:51 Progress and Board Order
15:45 Dog Quest and Board Clutter
17:45 Persistent Boards and Storage
19:24 Monetization Paradox
20:11 What's Next for Merge
21:28 Soap Opera and Generator Ideas
22:12 Persistence Makes UX Hard
22:48 Persistent Boards Shift
23:32 Making Merge Feel Dynamic
24:28 Separate Boards Live Ops
25:06 Lucky Catch Event Design
26:02 Battle Pass Segmentation
26:38 Why Gossip Harbor Won
28:17 Merge Engine Under Hood
36:24 Next Genre Innovations
39:00 Cannibalization By Sequels
40:53 Hard Labeling For Orders
43:13 Generator Overcharge Ideas
44:04 Future Focus Areas
44:48 Wrap Up And Farewell
Nintendo's stock is getting hammered without a new Mario, Monopoly GO is going all-in on The Simpsons, and Liftoff is back on the public markets. Meanwhile, Xbox finally seems to be doing what it should have done years ago.In this episode, we break down:● Liftoff's IPO and the AppLovin challenge● Monopoly GO's Simpsons mega-event● How Scopely uses IP for reactivation● Apple's crackdown on low-quality apps● Xbox's biggest Summer Showcase in years● Why Xbox is bringing exclusives back● Fable, Gears, Persona 6, and Minecraft Dungeons 2● Nintendo Direct's biggest announcements● The growing mystery of missing Mario● Why Nintendo investors are getting nervous● Paramount's new gaming division● TMNT, Star Trek, Avatar, and Marvel projects● Why Hollywood struggles to make games● The missing mobile strategy at Paramount● Apple IDFA rumors and what they mean for UA● The future of AppLovin, Meta, and Google adsCHAPTERS:01:36 Minecraft Summer Parenting03:22 Quick Correction Bond Sales05:18 Liftoff IPO Breakdown06:41 UA Ecosystem and AppLovin08:37 Private Equity Red Flags10:41 Simpsons Takes Monopoly Go11:53 Why the Crossover Works15:20 UA Reactivation and Celebs19:12 Apple’s App Store Purge21:54 Xbox Showcase and Strategy25:57 Xbox Margin Unlock26:38 Platform Strategy Risks27:29 Minecraft Sales Reality28:30 Nintendo Direct Highlights30:42 Where Is 3D Mario36:12 Paramount Games Revealed38:17 Execution Over Press41:48 Mobile Missing Piece43:19 IDFA Rumor Rant46:20 If IDFA Returned48:10 Rumor Season Noise50:24 Closing The Episode
Two mobile games with a $500M annual run rate in just two years, with a fivefold revenue increase in the last 12 months alone. If you're building in mobile gaming or just want to understand what a genuine rocket ship looks like from the inside, this one's worth your time.Grand Games' founder Batuhan Çelebi built one of the fastest-growing mobile game studios in history. In this episode, Batuhan breaks down exactly how Grand Games did it: the multi-studio structure that keeps teams small and ownership real, the game greenlight process that filters out imitation before it starts, and why Turkish mobile gaming talent is pound-for-pound best in the world. We also get into the honest stuff. The capability gaps they're still closing, what happens if growth flattens, and brutal seasons of raising his first round.
Two thirds of Americans now play video games every week. That is more than 212 million people, the average player is 37, and among Boomers, more women play than men. These numbers come from the ESA's 2026 Essential Facts report, the kind of audience and demographic data most companies pay a lot of money for, free to anyone.
Jen Donahoe sits down with Stanley Pierre-Louis, President and CEO of the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the group that has represented the U.S. video game industry since 1994. He is a media and IP lawyer who leads the organization that defends games in Washington, runs the ESRB rating system, and makes the industry's case to lawmakers and parents.
In this episode:
Call of Duty is getting back to basics, Sony is pulling the plug on PC ports, and Bungie is laying off staff after Destiny 2's final update. Meanwhile, Summer Game Fest is here, and everyone has something to announce.
In this episode, we break down:
● Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4, kill blocks, DMZ is back, no last-gen SKUs
● Why dropping PS4 and Xbox One could hurt units but help revenue
● GTA 6 pricing debate, is $70 leaving money on the table?
● Sony State of Play, Wolverine, God of War's female lead, and first-party sales in freefall
● Why Sony killed PlayStation games on PC and whether that math makes sense
● Xbox's content problem and why Matthew Ball won't fix it
● Summer Game Fest and the new platform are trying to make marketing spend attributable
● Niko Partners Asia and MENA report; 13 markets, $103B by 2030
● Why Western publishers still can't crack Asia
● Female gamers now make up nearly half the market in regions that were 80% male five years ago
● 007 First Light, 1.5M units at launch, but does it pencil at $200M dev spend?
● Bungie layoffs, end of Destiny 2, and what happens to the studio next
● Forza 6 at 5M units and why the racing genre is basically spoken for
CHAPTERS:
01:52 Banter
02:55 Roundtables And Updates
06:01 Modern Warfare 4 Reveal
09:11 Dropping Old Gen Support
11:56 GTA Pricing Side Debate
14:16 Branding And Korea Setting
16:25 State Of Play Highlights
18:18 Sony Sales Charts Breakdown
19:04 PC Ports And Platform Math
26:43 Xbox Strategy Argument
30:03 Microsoft Content Crisis
30:55 Summer Game Fest Schedule
31:46 Player.gg Marketing Hub
35:49 Niko Asia MENA Report
38:02 D2C Mini Games AI
40:56 China Growth Debate
43:28 Why West Fails Asia
47:58 Racing Market Locked
50:44 Bond Game Economics
55:11 Bungie Layoffs Fallout
Most studios still treat influencer marketing as an experiment. Match Masters, a top 150 grossing game globally, has run it as a permanent growth pillar for 8 years. Jen Donahoe sits down with Candivore's Aviv Vidro and consultant Marion Balinoff to break down the playbook behind one of mobile gaming's most disciplined influencer programs.
Studios that treat influencer as a permanent pillar see compounding returns. The ones that test once and cut the channel watch their installs decline 2.7x faster. Aviv walks through Candivore's 8 year always on model, the blitz approach where 20 creators go live on the same day, and the product marketing funnel his three person team built around creators. Dedicated welcome pop ups, skill based leaderboard giveaways with tangible prizes, and retargeting mechanics that drive 6x higher in app purchases from returning players.
Marion breaks down why the standard 24 hour click window is broken for influencer content, why 7 days is the floor, and why day 365 installs run 75% higher than day 30. The two also tackle vertical testing (true crime crushed it for Match Masters with female audiences aged 30 to 55, tech reviewers flopped), country penetration strategy, why TikTok still doesn't work for performance, and where influencer marketing ends and UGC begins.
If you've ever been told influencer marketing doesn't work after a single test campaign, send this episode to your CMO.
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