Deconstructor of Fun

Welcome to TWIG #114! Today we cover the best and worst of 2020 in the Games Industry! Hosts: - Miska Katkoff (@m_katkoff) - Joe Kim (@jokim1) - Eric Kress (@ekress) - Adam Telfer (@adamwtelfer) As always, pls feel free to send us feedback! LINKS: Future of UA Mobile Marketing Conference (Free Signup): https://futureofua.splashthat.com/ Event will be held on 1/14/2021 (Thursday) at 10AM.  Everybody (PMs, Execs, and Marketers) sign up for this now! 

The topics covered in the episode are: What are the biggest differences in how the big companies and the indie ones build their games? How to decide what the project is going to be balancing between data and intuition  How to choose the right monetization model for your game How to drive sustainability through updates, new player acquisition, and reactivating lapsed ones What are the main shifts in player behaviour post-2020: Shoutout to the Googler Martin Svoboda who interviewed me

Which genres gained the most and which trailed behind? What were the effects of the lockdowns? What are the trends for user acquisition, in-app purchases, and in-app adds going into 20201? Which countries were overlooked? guests: Randy Nelson - head of mobile insights Brian Murphy - head of gaming Tim O'Neil - strategic account executive

Growth Triggers is a segment focusing on all matters of growth. In this episode, we focus on; How much info will I have about where the players are coming from post IDFA what happens to a/b testing and offers? What happens to soft-launching Ad monetization? LTV curve vs. LTV curves Are fake ads done?  how can product teams help the marketing team? Your hosts Michail Katkoff and Eric Seufert

Chris Petrovic joined Zynga as SVP and Head of Corporate Strategy, M&A, and Business Development all the way back in March of 2016 when Zynga stock was $1.88.    Since Chris joined, basically ALL of Zynga's growth has come through mergers & acquisitions and helped drive increased share value to today's price of ~$8.70.   During his time at Zynga, Chris oversaw the acquisitions of: PuzzleSocial, Harpan, Gram Games, Small Giant, Peak Games and most recently Rollic Games.    Prior to Chris' involvement, Zynga had not been so successful at M&A.      - What were the changes made at Zynga to help increase success?     - What are key lessons learned and keys to success?     - What should game companies look for when doing acquisitions?   Speakers:     - Host: Joe Kim, CEO of LILA Games         - Host: Eric Kress, Principal of Gossamer Consulting     - Chris Petrovic, former SVP and Head of Corporate Strategy, M&A, and Business Development, Zynga

Welcome to TWIG #113! Today we cover: #1. MTG acquires Hutch – a leading developer and publisher of mobile racing games #2. League of Legends: Wild Rift expanded to Europe and other territories #3. Zynga-owned Rollic acquires  Onnect  from dev Chef Game Studio for $6 million Hosts: - Joe Kim (@jokim1) - Adam Telfer (@adamwtelfer) - Miska Katkoff (@m_katkoff) Guest Host: - Eric Seufert (@eric_seufert) As always, pls feel free to send us feedback! LINKS: Check out Eric's Blog: https://mobiledevmemo.com/ YouTube Videos Referenced: - Multiplayer Netcode - Product Implications of IDFA 

However you want to slice it or dice it, Helsinki is the best city in the World for mobile games companies. What makes it unique is the ecosystem that has developed organically over the years. Founders help each other. There’s a strong drive for collaboration and there's not much rivalry or competition. Founders inherently understand that success breeds more success.  I'm joined by two of the most qualified people to talk about the Helsinki gaming ecosystem: Harri Manninen, founding partner of Play Ventures and a board member of every single prominent gaming startup in the city, and Joakim Achren, co-founder of Next Games and a person who has singlehandedly helped more gaming founders than anybody else in the business through the content on Elite Game Developers.

Triggered growth is a segment focusing on all matters of growth. This podcast is insightful, entertaining, and highly opinionated. We call it how we see it.  Your hosts: Michail Katkoff and Eric Seufert Hit us up for topics you'd like us to cover and how to improve.

Welcome to TWIG #112! Today we cover: #1. Sensor Tower: Genshin Impact brings in nearly $400 million in 2 months on mobile #2. EG7 acquires Daybreak #3. The promise and challenge of Roblox Future in China LINKS: Check out Joakim's Elite Game Developers website and podcast: https://elitegamedevelopers.com/ Check out Randy Nelson's Interview with Joseph Kim:    - Gaming Trends | A Look Ahead to 2021 (SensorTower's Randy Nelson Interviews JK) Hosts: - Joe Kim (@jokim1) - Adam Telfer (@adamwtelfer) - Eric Kress (@ekress) Guest Host: - Joakim Achren (@joakim_a) As always, pls feel free to send us feedback!

Israel has always been a hub for tech startups. It's where companies such as Monday, Wix, Fiverr and Waze - just to mention a few - were born. Today the country is also known for a massive gaming sector worth tens of billions with companies such as Playtika, Moonactive, Plarium, Crazy Labs, ironSource, AppsFlyer and Fyber driving the growth. Who better to deconstruct the evolotion of the Israel's gaming ecosystem that Gigi Levy-Weiss, the Founding Parner of NFX (leading Israeli and Silicon Valley VC fund) and an early investor in Plarium and Playtika - among numerous other startups.  The questions we cover are:  How did the gaming sector get started and evolved into what it is today? How are Israeli companies doing so well in social casino when gambling is illegal in Israel? How does the Israel's a gaming ecosystem compares to the one we have here in Helsinki? How do companies stack up with needed talent? What is the VC and Angle scene like in Israel? What has gone right with the evolution of the gaming ecosystem in Israel - and what could have been done better and what will the future look like?