GameMakers – Details, episodes & analysis

We dive deep into the fierce competition between Tencent and NetEase—two titans shaping the global gaming landscape. Discover how these companies are navigating the challenges of the Chinese market and their strategies for international expansion. We also share our personal experiences about Tencent and provide insider insights you can't find anywhere else. Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more industry insights! 🚀 #Gaming #Tencent #NetEase #GameIndustry #PixelsAndProfits OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 1:50 Tencent business overview 4:50 Tencent margins & operational efficiency 8:06 Tencent internal studios 10:30 How Tencent worked with Glu - Brian and JK personal stories 18:15 The Tencent game dev model 21:08 Potential IP conflicts - Apex Legends Mobile case study 23:40 Tencent as bully 25:22 Tencent game company holdings 27:16 Tencent key growth opportunities 33:50 Tencent key challenges 40:55 Geo-political factors involved with Tencent 47:07 Tencent valuation 51:51 Netease business overview 54:21 Brian’s take on new Netease survival game 56:00 Netease internal studios 57:34 Netease growth opportunities 1:01:55 Netease valuation 1:02:55 Netease challenges 1:04:03 Tencent vs. Netease future outlook SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ 😃 —CONNECT WITH ME! — • MY INSTAGRAM → @jokim1 • TWITTER → @jokim1 • LINKEDIN → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ — POPULAR CONTENT — 🤑 Economy of the Metaverse with Tim Sweeney https://youtu.be/h6ClJxjuRvw ℹ️ How to Build the Amazon of Game Companies https://youtu.be/bkd2TOpKt4I 🔮 Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead at 2021 https://youtu.be/NejFzHtpiZI 🖥️ The Future of PC Gaming https://youtu.be/_QT7O3Wxi2s 🔴 Games Industry M&A https://youtu.be/65nyPk6WNrs 🔴 Netcode for Multiplayer Games https://youtu.be/tHq3PzmjhLw 🔴 IDFA Deprecation Product Impact https://youtu.be/Ojec4wGKpso 🔴 Trip Hawkins on the New High Score https://youtu.be/5egTSQ6AiRA 🔴 LiveOps F2P Best Practices https://youtu.be/tmzqqnYbjNY

Anton Bernstein, CEO of Pocket Worlds, discusses the intricacies of cosmetics monetization in free-to-play games. Learn about player motivations, game design considerations, primary vs. secondary markets, and cultural differences in monetization strategies. Gain valuable insights on key metrics and best practices for successful cosmetic-based revenue in games like Fortnite, CS:GO, and High Rise. OUTLINE: 0:00 Intro 0:45 Most important topics around cosmetics monetization 2:11 Anton Bernstein background and Pocket World business 3:17 The kinds of games that sell cosmetics well: 6:20 How does Fair to play vs. free to play impact cosmetics sales 11:48 How necessary is high engagement to cosmetics sale? 14:16 How does 1st vs. 3rd person perspective impact kinds of cosmetics sales? 16:38 How does motivation around vanity vs. speculation impact cosmetics sales? 21:00 The best games to study for F2P cosmetics monetization 23:40 ARPU and spend depth for cosmetics sales 27:50 Form of cosmetics sales that perform best: Battle pass, loot box, etc. 31:50 The importance of big IP and scale to sell cosmetics well 35:00 Player motivations behind buying cosmetics 38:55 Cosmetics monetization East vs. West 45:00 Primary vs. secondary markets - developer business model 52:47 KPIs and metrics to watch for cosmetics sales 55:50 Dangers of selling cosmetics 57:32 Final message and contacting Anton 👇 EPISODE LINKS: - Anton Bernstein, CEO of Pocket Worlds: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antonber/ - Pocket Worlds: https://www.pocketworlds.com/ SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.com/

We are seeing severe impacts around privacy and the ability to measure any post-device ID kind of fingerprinting world. So, we wanted to put together a five-part series helping advertisers understand the measurement crisis and the different tools and measurement signals available. #1. The first podcast in the series will be the overview of the measurement crisis. #2. The second podcast will be the actual state of last touch and the real value that last touch is bringing you. #3. The third podcast will educate on incrementality testing and how it can be leveraged in a privacy-first world. #4. The fourth one will be the promise of MTA 2. 0 and data clean rooms. So you understand some of the more fringe benefits of tools coming to you that may impact last touch. #5. The last podcast is a summary roadmap to measurement success, helping you, the advertiser, take everything you've been educated on, turn it into action and succeed. OUTLINE: 0:00 New series: State of Measurement in a Privacy-first World introduction 2:24 Intro to the Measurement Crisis in mobile user acquisition (UA) 4:30 Recap on why we have problems attributing installs today 8:17 How incentives exacerbate the measurement problem 11:42 What is the actual impact of IDFA deprecation to UA? 16:43 Andrew believes that incrementality shows that the impact of IDFA may be a perceived rather than actual problem 22:12 Warren's dynamic polling approach, how to make goal based buying work, and overview of IDFA workarounds 31:16 What does Kwalee and other game studios do for UA now? 33:30 How to react to loss of fingerprinting 40:00 What are limitations of MMM or incrementality? 46:35 Who will be impacted most by loss of fingerprinting? 47:40 What does the future state of measurement look like? SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.com/

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

Bill Walsh, the Hall of Fame NFL coach, had a number of incredibly insightful and effective leadership philosophies as discussed in his book "The Score Takes Care of Itself."  One philosophy Walsh discusses is something he calls "Make Friends, Not Enemies."  

We discuss this concept and as always the nuance and specific application. Check it out!  

HOSTS: 

- Joseph Kim, CEO at LILA Games 

- Brett Nowak, CEO at Liquid & Grit

Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

An in-depth discussion on how to technical leads at gaming companies can become great!   

Super far-ranging conversation from the scope of work, biggest problems, transitioning from individual contributor to manager, how to spend day to day, biggest lessons learned, and more!  

SPEAKERS:     

- Niklas Herriger, Executive Coach, Founder of 8 Bit Coaching     

- Tommy Krul, CTO Super Evil Megacorp     

- Avinash Pandey, CTO LILA Games  

HOST:    

- Joseph Kim, CEO, LILA Games.   

Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter!

Companies globally require new ways of managing as they grapple with new working conditions from the coronavirus pandemic. As companies adapt to greater work-from-home environments, new problems have arisen.   

Brett believes in a new world of remote work where those who don't adapt will not survive, JK believes that for "complex work" and for companies that are working in complex work environments especially those working on 0 to 1 products, in-office environments are best.  

Hear both sides including specific nuance, trends, themes, and analysis of remote vs. office work.  

What will be the future of work?  

HOSTS:

- Joseph Kim, CEO at LILA Games

- Brett Nowak, CEO at Liquid & Grit

LINKS:

• Managing Remote Work: The Problem with “Outcomes Not Hours” (Part 1 of 3)
• Managing Remote Work: Outcomes Gone Wild (Part 2 of 3)
• Managing Remote Work: Trust Isn't Enough! (Part 3 of 3)

Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ NEW VIDEOS EVERY WEEK! ***Click the notification bell so you don't miss any!***

We talk to some really dope superstars in the games industry to discuss this issue:  

- Gigi Levy-Weiss, Partner NFX  

- Brian Peganoff, former Corp Dev at Glu, VP at Deutsche Bank  

- Kristian Segerstrale, CEO Super Evil Megacorp   

Content Overview: 

0:00 Intro 

2:26 Role & Time of the CEO 

14:31 Product Oriented CEOs 

19:22 Examples of Great CEOs 

26:52 Required Qualities 

32:36 Three Views of the CEO 

38:24 CEO by Company Stage 

44:57 Finding Weak Points 

49:22 Society + CEO Role

Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/

How should you make difficult decisions? What are common kinds of difficult decisions in the games industry? What are common decision-making models? What are important distinctions between types of decisions?   

Deep dive on this very important topic in great depth and with our typical philosophical approach!  

HOSTS: 

- Joseph Kim, CEO at LILA Games

- Brett Nowak, CEO at Liquid & Grit

LINKS:

• The Principles of Product Development Flow, by Donald Reinertsen
• Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win, by Jocko Willink
• Making Smart Choices: 8 Keys to Making Effective Decisions blog
• Win With Character, Win with Cruelty, Jim Harbaugh

Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter

We discuss the sustainability and economy behind the massive hit blockchain game Axie Infinity. Naavik has released a research report breaking down the economy and sustainability of the game (check out the link to the report below).   

Axie seems to have reached an inflection point in which the game may no longer be sustainable.  

Find out more about Axie, its economy, Sky Mavis and how they monetize Axie, and the potential future and sustainability of both Axie and Sky Mavis.  Btw, it's easy to cast stones, so we also take an optimistic look and discuss the potential solutions and upside of Axie and Sky Mavis.  

Check out this deep and very educational discussion now!  

LINKS: 

- Master the Meta newsletter: https://naavik.co/themetas

- Naavik Premium Research: https://naavik.co/premium

- Axie Infinity: Infinite Opportunity or Infinite Peril research report: https://naavik.co/business-breakdowns/axie-infinity 

PROMOTION:  

Check out the Naavik premium research service for games: https://naavik.co/premium

Use promo code NAAVIKGAMEMAKERS for a 10% discount off of the first 12 months of the subscription!