Naavik Gaming Podcast

In this week's Roundtable, the crew discusses whether Sony may open up its PlayStation audience to Roblox, Unity's new AI tools Sentis and Muse alongside its new AI marketplace, and Scopely's acquisition of Tag Games. We also touch on why Niantic laid off a quarter of its staff after announcing multiple new games and what its reorganization means for Pokémon Go. Also on the agenda is Square Enix introducing a new CEO and the future of the company's long-term franchises like Final Fantasy, as well as interesting revelations from the FTC lawsuit against Microsoft to block its Activision Blizzard acquisition. Join us for all the latest games business news with Aaron Bush, Matt Dion, Mario Stefanidis, and host Devin Becker.If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback, shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co.Also, a big thanks to data.ai for supporting all of Naavik's mobile data needs. If your team requires a market and competitive intelligence tool for tracking the mobile games industry, monitoring KPIs, and spotting opportunities across games, check out data.ai's robust platform. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

Most Web3 game economies, even the most successful ones from the earliest days of the genre, have struggled in recent quarters, in part due to fundamentally unsustainable economics / tokenomics. But in this episode, we’re discussing one of the more notable exceptions: the France-based fantasy sports game Sorare. Launched on Ethereum in 2019, the game generated nearly $350 million in secondary market volume in 2022, and almost $90 million for the first 5 months of 2023. In this episode, your host, Niko Vuori, talks to Sorare’s Head of Growth, Brian O’Hagan, about how Sorare maintains  a “sustainable” economy, how they secured the crucial initial licenses for football (soccer), why they chose not to launch their own token, expanding into additional sports to tap into the US market, and what’s next for the company, among many other topics. Niko is joined by Naavik contributor Devin Becker, who covered Sorare in the June 22, 2023 issue of the Naavik Digest. To learn more, make sure to visit https://sorare.com/, and read Devin’s coverage of Sorare on the Naavik website. You can find Brian O’Hagan and Devin Becker on LinkedIn.If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

Is greenlighting really that different? Who leads innovation, and who fast follows? Should you accept your gaming startup offer? Lee Reed is Studio Product Lead at Infinity Ward, and Jess Adepoju is a Lead Producer at Bad Robot Games and consultant at The Indie Intellectual. In this episode, we frame gaming studios and incumbents in the Innovator’s Dilemma of “low-end versus new market disruptions;" compare and contrast the differences between production, greenlighting, and hiring between ex-AAA studios and AAA; and share what to consider if you’re a game industry professional looking to make the leap either way.To learn more, make sure to visit http://the-indie-intellectual.com/. You can also find Lee Reed and Jess Adepoju on LinkedIn.If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

We’re halfway through 2023, so let’s pause, reflect, and think about the future. This episode’s panelists – Aaron Bush, Anil Das-Gupta, Jonathan Anastas, plus host Devin Becker – discuss their standout games of 2023 so far, what trends have defined the industry lately, what’s currently over- and under-hyped, and what they’re watching closely as the rest of the year unfolds. This wide-ranging conversation covers lots of ground and is filled with spicy takes.If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback, shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co.Also, a big thanks to data.ai for supporting all of Naavik's mobile data needs. If your team requires a market and competitive intelligence tool for tracking the mobile games industry, monitoring KPIs, and spotting opportunities across games, check out data.ai's robust platform. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

Nexon is one of the largest and best-performing companies in the gaming industry, but too few Western onlookers fully know why the business excels. That changes today. Nexon CEO Owen Mahoney joins Naavik co-founder Aaron Bush to discuss his journey in games, what he’s learned from leading a large global business, and how Nexon builds long-lasting virtual worlds. They also discuss the importance of antifragility, what “weird” new initiatives could define Nexon’s future, and why companies often face internal resistance to innovation.If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

In this week's Roundtable, the crew discusses what M.O.B.A. Network's acquisition of Wargraph for $54 million means for indie Overwolf projects. We also dive into the FTC's temporary restraining order halting Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal in addition to Roblox's new mature content system and whether it might hurt user retention. Also on the agenda: Hidden Door's playtest of a generative AI-driven narrative game using the Wizard of Oz IP and a discussion on what EA splitting up its sports entertainment divisions means for the company. Join us for all the latest games business news with Felipe Mata, Matt Dion, and host Devin Becker.If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback, shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co.Also, a big thanks to data.ai for supporting all of Naavik's mobile data needs. If your team requires a market and competitive intelligence tool for tracking the mobile games industry, monitoring KPIs, and spotting opportunities across games, check out data.ai's robust platform. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

“Move-to-earn” pioneer Stepn exploded in popularity in the first half of 2022, peaking at 3 million MAU and 800,000 DAU while generating $123 million in Q2 2022 profit alone. The mobile app, which rewards users who “wear” the company’s NFT sneakers, was a major driver in onboarding users into web3, but growth has stalled during the current crypto winter. In this episode, host Niko Vuori talks to Stepn COO Shiti Manghani about what’s next for the company, their ambitions to build an entire ecosystem around $GMT, the native Stepn cryptocurrency, and why Stepn views itself as a game rather than a fitness or lifestyle app.To learn more, make sure to visit https://stepn.com/. You can also find Shiti Manghani on LinkedIn.If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

Games are a force for fun, but what if they could be a force for good, too? We sit down with Laura Carter, the founder of Longleaf Valley developer TreesPlease Games,  and Jenny Xu, founder of Run Legends developer Talofa Games, to discuss launching and fundraising for studios with corporate social responsibility missions. Are green games sustainable, and which business models work when you have a “third” actor sharing the bottom line? STEPN created a craze for running games, but how does the fitness gaming industry move forward with a “lighter web3 touch” or move away from it entirely? What learnings have both founders had in their early soft launches and alphas, and how did they tackle early user acquisition on mobile? We also discuss a variety of social initiatives that AAA and mainstream gaming could do to make the world a better place.To learn more, make sure to download Run Legends and Longleaf Valley from either the App Store or Google Play. You can also find Jenny Xu and Laura Carter on LinkedIn.If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

In this week's Roundtable, we discuss the biggest news from the Not-E3 showcases hosted by major game publishers like Microsoft and Ubisoft. We also debate if Embracer’s announced restructuring will help the company in the long run. Other topics on the agenda include whether the FTC can stop Microsoft from acquiring Activision Blizzard at the last second, the gritty details on how hurdle rates could be influencing investments, and what impact Apple’s Vision Pro and the Meta Quest 3 might have on XR gaming. Additionally, we touch on Reddit's controversial policy changes that led to widespread and ongoing subreddit blackouts and discuss if this protest movement might make a difference. Join us for all the latest games business news with Sebastian Park, Dave Elton, Aaron Bush, and host Devin Becker.If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback, shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co.Also, a big thanks to data.ai for supporting all of Naavik's mobile data needs. If your team requires a market and competitive intelligence tool for tracking the mobile games industry, monitoring KPIs, and spotting opportunities across games, check out data.ai's robust platform. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

Piers Kicks, founding partner of Delphi Ventures and venture partner at BITKRAFT, joins host Aaron Bush to discuss their most anticipated web3 games. The duo also discuss the realities of leaving school early to kickstart investing careers and how the best modern-day founders are different from previous eras, followed by a fun game to capture Piers’ pulse on a variety of gaming and web3 topics.To learn more, make sure to check out Piers’ essay Into the Void: Where Crypto Meets the Metaverse as well as Naavik and Delphi’s joint report The Great Reset: Your 2023 Guide to Web3 Games. You can also find Piers on Twitter.If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.