Deconstructor of Fun

Two world class industry experts in mobile social casino talk to us today about the latest overview, updates, trends, and predictions for the market. Our guests today include:   Brett Nowak, CEO of market research firm Liquid & Grit (www.liquidandgrit.com). Brett was formerly Lead PM on Zynga Poker at Zynga, and was a Director of Product at Blue Shell Games before starting Liquid & Grit. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-now...  Lloyd Melnick has an incredible background in social casino working at Merscom, Playdom, Disney, FiveOneNine Games, Spooky Cool Labs, Zynga, and The Stars Group.Lloyd is currently GM of Chumba Casino for VGW and a board member of MURKA. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lloydmeln... The video version of this interview can be found here on the GameMakers YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/S2qIAYgr7Kw Host: Joseph Kim @jokim1 (Insta, Twitter) Guests: Lloyd Melnick @LloydMelnick (Twitter) Brett Nowak @bnowak15 (Twitter)

Welcome to TWIG #79, apologies we were off last week. This week we cover: #1. Clash of Clans: Bigger, Better Battle Pass #2. Three questions to ask to level up your Battle Pass monetization #3. Travis Scott's Fortnite Event Draws Record Audience #4. Epic gives in to Google and releases Fortnite on the Play Store Do you have feedback or comments for us? You can reach us on Twitter at: Joseph Kim: @jokim1 Eric Kress: @ekress Adam Telfer: @adamwtelfer Miska Katkoff: @m_katkoff

Marvel Puzzle Quest was first launched back in 2013 and has been going strong for over 6 years now grossing over $100M in life of product revenue. Demiurge has had a bit of a roller coaster history and Al has successfully led the studio through both good and challenging times. Find out more about the story behind it all including the most recent re-acquisition of the studio from SEGA and the future with founder Al Reed! We cover: #1. The history of Demiurge, the origin story and how it all started #2. The story behind Marvel Puzzle Quest and what were the keys to the success of that title #3. Selling Demiurge to SEGA and now re-acquiring the studio #4. The biggest lessons learned over his career as an entrepreneur and head of a games studio #5. What’s next both for Demiurge, Marvel Puzzle Quest, and for Al Host:  Joseph Kim (@jokim1 - insta/Twitter) Guest: Albert Reed (@almnop, Twitter)

Welcome to TWIG #78, apologies we were off last week. This week we cover: #1. Valve: More games are finding success on Steam than ever before #2. PS5 has limited release plans in 2020 #3. Silicon Valley is racing to build the next version of the Internet. Fortnite might get there first. #4. Facebook to Introduce an App for Gaming LINKS: Google Play Updated Developer Policy: "Deceptive Behavior"  Facebook Updated Terms of Service "Data Use Terms for Advanced Mobile App Measurement" Do you have feedback or comments for us? You can reach us on Twitter at: Joseph Kim: @jokim1  Eric Kress: @ekress  Adam Telfer: @adamwtelfer  Miska Katkoff: @m_katkoff

Jori Pearsall now Chief Product Officer at mobile financial access firm Tala has had a stellar career in mobile gaming working at companies like GREE and then most recently leading Product at mobile giant Scopely.  What has Jori learned from his time working in mobile games and free to play? What can he apply from our industry to his new industry? Listen to Jori speak on the biggest lessons he's learned and what's next for him in this fantastic discussion as he now transitions to his new industry. Host: Joseph Kim (aka K1min8r aka jdiggity aka JK aka J Money aka Joe Kim), Insta or Twitter @jokim1 Guest: Jori Pearsall, Chief Product Officer at Tala, LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joripearsall/ Hit me up if you have any requests, comments, or feedback. Thanks!

Lots of coronavirus talk these days and especially about current impact to gaming, etc.  We wanted to take a slightly different approach to this.  Let's talk deeper, let's talk long-term, let's talk about philosophical implications.   Today Niklas Herriger and I talk about:   #1. Long-term economic impact  #2. Dealmaking & psychology in crisis  #3. What do you do to adjust to the new reality?  #4. The dichotomy (societal and business model) exposed by coronavirus  #5. How gaming will be impacted longer term    This will not be your typical discussion so watch now!   More about Niklas: Best known as the founding CEO of Gondola, the offer optimization platform for games, and now founder of 8 Bit Coaching for tech talent, joins us today. Speakers Twitter Contact: Joe Kim: @jokim1 Niklas Herriger: @NHerriger This discussion initially appeared in video format on the GameMakers YouTube channel on April 2, 2020: HERE!

At its core, improving marketability means the increase of IPM (installs per 1000 impressions), which in turn leads to decreased CPI (cost per install). In lame man terms: the better your ad and your App Store page performs, the cheaper it is to acquire players. But while the formula is straightforward, increase of marketability doesn't necessarily result in positive effects. In fact, incorrect use of the data may very well lead you astray creating a scenario where you're acquiring the wrong players more effectively. Companies like Geeklab and Splitmetrics provide a platform that allow developers and publishers to test the marketability of their games and game concepts early and often. They will help you to answer questions around your theme, your art style and your unique selling points before you lay a single line of code. They will also help you to continuously improve your marketing message and test creative ideas with the target audience. Geeklab www.geeklab.app/dof/ Splitmetric www.splitmetrics.com www.twitter.com/SplitMetrics  www.facebook.com/splitmetrics

What do you know about the Latin America gaming market?  Well find out about the key players, specifics of the market, and how to achieve success in LATAM with guest speakers from Jam City, Jairo Nieto and Alejandro Gonzalez, and with Lockwood Publishing's (Avakin Life) Carlos Estigarribia!   Hosts: Joseph Kim @jokim1 Josh Burns Youtube video of the podcast: GameMakers YouTube

AppAnnie recently published a report on The Impact of Coronavirus on the Mobile Economy. In this podcast, we speak to AppAnnie's Lexi Sydow and Amir Ghodrati (again!) to go over key takeaways from their report. In particular we cover: #1. Download impact on games and other key verticals #2. Top games, types of games #3. Biggest winners and losers #4. Differences between China and the US Host: Joe Kim: @jokim1 Insta, Twitter Eric Kress: @ekress Twitter And we have special guests: Amir Ghodrati, Director, Market Insights AppAnnie Lexi Sydow, Data Analytics, Market Insights AppAnnie

Welcome to TWIG 77! This week we cover: #1. Riot Games’ Teamfight Tactics Surpasses 4.5 Million Downloads on Mobile #2. Amazon Pushes Into Making Video Games, Not Just Streaming Their Play #3. Microsoft: Staggered launch would hurt Xbox Series X #4. The Kick-Ass Founding Team Do you want to come on the podcast with us? Do you have feedback or comments for us? You can reach us on Twitter at: Joseph Kim: @jokim1 Eric Kress: @ekress Adam Telfer: @adamwtelfer Miska Katkoff: @m_katkoff