Nyan Heroes is a team-based hero shooter featuring small cats piloting giant mechs. The studio was founded in Singapore in 2021 and is staffed by industry veterans from hit franchises like Marvel’s Avengers, Destiny, and Halo. Combining web3 and web2 elements, the game aspires to competitive gameplay and has already secured partnerships with top na…

What does it take to stand out and succeed as a games industry entrepreneur these days? And how should smart venture capitalists best identify and work with these best founders? To help answer these questions, host Aaron Bush is joined by David Kaye, serial entrepreneur and general partner of F4 Fund. We discuss why David believes 99% of games stud…

Epic Games paid $320 million to over 25,000 creators in the last 12 months and during that time saw UGC content capture a whopping 35% of total Fortnite engagement. That means there are over 1 million players engaging in UGC content on Fortnite during peak hours. With other top franchises like GTA and The Sims currently working to build out their o…

TikTok is undeniably changing the game for game developers and creating a new marketing and distribution playbook across mobile, console, and PC. In this discussion, Alexandra Takei, Director at Ruckus Games, speaks with Assaf Sagy, Head of Global Gaming at TikTok, and Rema Vasan, Head of Global Gaming Marketing at TikTok, about the impact TikTok h…

In the ever-evolving world of gaming, understanding and managing player interactions through technology is becoming increasingly critical. Host Devin Becker sits down with Solomon-Ruiz Lichter, Senior Director of Global Gaming at CleverTap, to delve into segmenting players, crafting personalized offers, and fostering a more engaging gaming environm…

There’s no shortage of conversation around how new technologies are changing the way games are made, but that technological change doesn’t end there. New platforms are also contending for player attention, and where and how games are distributed is all destined to evolve, likely in bigger ways than most people think. We all know about Roblox and UE…

Guild of Guardians, Immutable’s second major game after Gods Unchained, is one of the most anticipated web3 games of 2024. The game recently pivoted from a real-time RPG to an auto-battler, and is set for a May 15th global release. Guild of Guardians is one of the first games on Immutable’s new ZK-EVM blockchain, which Naavik covered in the January…

In this week's Roundtable, the squad takes a deep dive into the unique atmosphere of this year's Game Developers Conference (GDC), marked by a spirit of camaraderie and innovation amidst widespread industry layoffs. We then pivot to discuss the monumental acquisition of data.ai by Sensor Tower, setting the stage for what could become the definitive…

Finding success on Roblox can be very challenging. There are over 20 million experiences created every year, and the play patterns are quite different from their more traditional mobile and console counterparts. That’s why UGC games analyst, David Taylor, sat down with Xiang Shen, the CTO of Century Games, a top 20 mobile publisher and the creators…

After the meteoric rise - and equally meteoric fall - of Axie Infinity, the term “Play-to-Earn” lost much of its cachet, and web3 developers avoided the term throughout the 2022-23 crypto winter. Adjacent concepts such as “Play-and-Earn” or “Play-to-Own” proliferated instead while developers and investors largely ignored the genre, and P2E was effe…

In this week's Roundtable, the squad dives into the exciting news of a greenlit sequel to the Super Mario Brothers movie, with production once again helmed by Illumination. We speculate on the potential for spinoffs and the broader implications for video game adaptations. The conversation then shifts to Microsoft's landmark recognition of Activisio…

RallyHere builds on the back of years of experience in Live Service, before the term was even coined, as Hi-Rez Studios under the leadership of CEO Stewart Chisam. RallyHere bottles this expertise into a toolset that can provide a huge edge for teams that want to leverage the power of live services in games. Hi-Rez Studios is behind many popular an…

GRID has seen the value of data in esports since 2018 thanks to Founder and CEO Moritz Maurer's direct experience in the scene. Working directly with game developers, GRID is able to surface unmatched competitive game data from some of the biggest games like League of Legends, DotA 2, Valorant, PUBG, and Rainbow 6: Siege. GRID is leveling up the un…

Neopets has always been a metaverse, says Dominic Law, CEO of The World of Neopia. If you were born prior to the 2000s, you’ll remember how much Neopets took the internet world by storm. By 2011, Neopets had 35M unique users, amassed 1 trillion page views, and was responsible for compelling an entire generation of children to internet proficiency a…

In this week's Roundtable, the squad unpacks the seismic impact of Nintendo's legal victory, securing a $2.4M settlement against the Switch emulator Yuzu, a move that has dramatically reshaped the emulation landscape. We then pivot to Netflix's strategic foray into gaming, spotlighting its latest coup in bringing the critically acclaimed indie darl…

Studio369 is preparing to launch MetalCore, an open world player-versus-player mech combat game that combines the engagement of high-quality traditional gaming with true asset ownership via web3. It has been in the works for about three years, with the game expected to hit a closed beta by the end of March and an open beta test by May 2024. It’s be…

The games industry can no longer ignore the MENA region, encompassing markets like Israel, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, and more. With approximately 800 million people, a young and growing audience of gamers, expanding wealth, rising ARPUs, and emerging talent, it’s abundantly clear that MENA will be much more important to the games industry’s future …

In this week's Roundtable, the squad dives into the recent announcement of Age of Empires Mobile, sparking debates on whether it will meet the high expectations of its loyal fanbase or simply blend into the crowded market of 4x strategy games. We then shift gears to discuss the surprising success of Balatro, a poker roguelike game from a solo devel…

Do you believe that XR is the future of modern entertainment? Composed of a blend of AR, MR, VR, and spatial computing, XR is a major frontier for big tech. Meta has spent $40B on Reality Labs, and Apple has launched the world’s first “spatial computer” this past month. But is it a fit for entertainment and games? Join your host, Alexandra Takei, D…

In this week's Roundtable, the squad dives into the unexpected success of Helldivers 2, PlayStation Studios' first game to launch simultaneously on PlayStation and PC. We then shift gears to Microsoft's Xbox Business Event, which, despite its brevity, sparked a flurry of speculation regarding the company's strategy for porting "exclusives" to PlayS…

It is no secret that web3 gaming had bit of a down year in 2023. Many studios had to shut down, and venture funding was hard to come by. But where some see a valley of despair, others see opportunity. Midnight is scooping up talented web3 studios that have run out of funding in order to go after multiple opportunities at the same time with double A…

Today’s guest is Shanti Bergel, Founding General Partner and Managing Director of Transcend Fund, which has been a top decile performer since the firm was founded in 2020. Shanti is not just on the cutting edge of where the games industry is headed, but he’s also a veteran operator across much of the industry’s decades-long dynamism. In this episod…

The Super Mario Brothers Movie made $1.36B at the box office, shattering records and solidifying the power of gaming IP on the big screen. Transmedia across TV and Film is an active growth strategy for many gaming companies, and a high number of works are in the pipeline as Hollywood looks towards games as a fertile ground for untold stories. Alexa…

In this week's Roundtable, the squad dives into Disney's $1.5 billion investment in Epic Games, aiming to create custom Fortnite-related experiences. We speculate on what Disney's persistent world might look like, especially in light of its potential connections to Fortnite and the recent Lego collaboration. Then, we shift gears to discuss Mythical…

Trading card games (TCGs) have always been the most natural fit for web3. Their real-world analog cousins are inherently collectible, generally have a notion of rarity, and have a thriving secondary market. So it is no surprise that some of the earliest and most hyped entrants into web3 gaming have been TCGs, and perhaps none more so than Parallel,…

User-generated content (UGC) in games continues to grow in scale and impact, and staying on top of this dynamic market has never been more important. In this episode, Naavik analyst and consultant David Taylor joins Aaron Bush to discuss the most important trends and developments on Roblox, UEFN, and beyond. We discuss emerging patterns that make s…

In this week's Roundtable, the squad dives into the public reversal of China's proposed bans on game monetization tactics, plus ponders the future of these regulations and their impact on Chinese game stocks. We then shift focus to Tencent's CEO's candid reflections on the company's 2023 gaming performance and its hopeful outlook on AI for 2024. Th…

It is known that the gaming scene in CIS has political, legal, and regulatory challenges that make it hard to develop games or deploy investments into the region. But if you do it right, my guests, Maria Kochmola, Managing Partner at The Games Fund, and Arseny Lebedev, CEO and Co-Founder at Original Games, think it’s worth it. Today they both sit d…

In this week's Roundtable, the squad dives into the booming success of Palworld, a game that's been dubbed "Pokemon with guns," and explores why it's capturing everyone's curiosity. We then shift gears to discuss Riot's recent pullback (layoffs and game pivots) and what this could mean for other projects in the works. The conversation then heats up…

Immutable is one of the leaders in the web3 gaming space, as well as one of Australia’s fastest-growing companies. The business has raised AUD$400 million dollars and was most recently valued at AUD$3.5 billion (about US$2.5 billion). The company was founded by brothers Robbie and James Ferguson in 2018 when it was called Fuel Games, and they devel…

Venture markets – within and beyond gaming – soared in 2020-2021 and fell back to earth over the past couple of years, but what should we expect in 2024? And what may change about gaming VC longer-term? To answer these questions and more, host Aaron Bush is joined by Moritz Baier-Lentz, Partner and Head of Gaming at Lightspeed. Moritz shares his th…

In this week's Roundtable, the squad begins by discussing Stumble Guys' move to Xbox, which will now compete head-to-head with Fall Guys. We then shift gears to Valve's new initiative, testing an invite-only system that empowers developers to schedule their own daily deals, alongside a reverse in policy that now allows AI-utilizing games (given cer…

In this week's Roundtable, we explore the gaming highlights from the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show and joke about what trends are peaking in ridiculous ways (AI-powered egg cartons, anyone?). We then dive into a couple strategy changes being discussed by leading subscription businesses: first, how Netflix is reportedly rethinking ways to monetize …

Trading Card Games (TCGs) have always been a natural fit for Web3. Their real-world analog cousins are inherently collectible, generally have a notion of rarity, and have a thriving secondary market. For instance, the infamous Black Lotus card from Magic: The Gathering earlier in 2023 broke its own sales record at $540,000, and there is a long hist…

Owen Mahoney, CEO of Nexon, is back for another phenomenal conversation – this time on the heels of the announcement that Owen is soon stepping down from the CEO role after a decade of market-beating performance. He and host, Aaron Bush, discuss Owen’s legacy at Nexon, what he wished he knew about being CEO when he started, what goes into great suc…

In this week's Roundtable, the squad kicks off with a deep dive into the Game Awards' staggering 118 million viewers, surpassing even the Super Bowl, and what this means for gaming's place in mainstream culture. We then shift gears to a recent Omdia report revealing VR's struggles, debating why it's floundering and what could turn it around by 2026…

In this week's Roundtable, we follow up on the previous episode with this week’s Epic Games Store policy shift, highlighting the decision to create an Adults Only exception for web3 games, notably reinstating titles like Gods Unchained. The conversation then pivots to our final episode of the year celebration, packed with bold predictions and in-de…

Together with Dive, one of our Open Gaming Research Initiative partners, we’re exploring the topic of data and games through a limited podcast series called “Data Corner.” This episode is the final segment of this mini-series, so we decided to focus it on a fascinating future-facing topic — AI Analytics. According to Gartner’s Analytics Ascendancy …

Real, living pets have a fundamental problem - they have a limited lifespan and they die. Digital pets aren’t immortal either. Over 80 million Tamagotchis have been sold since their debut in 1996 - and how many of them are still around today? But what if your pets really could live forever, at least in the digital realm? With blockchain technology …

In this week's Roundtable, the squad dives into the successful collaboration between LEGO and Fortnite, discussing how LEGO's first successful Minecraft-like venture could potentially broaden both companies’ audiences. We then shift gears to Epic's recent legal triumph over Google, analyzing the stark differences from its Apple lawsuit and ponderin…

Together with Nexus, one of our Open Gaming Research Initiative partners, today we’re diving into the topic of content creator programs. Content creator programs are designed to incentivize and reward the creators in one’s community for driving attention towards a game. It isn’t the newest of growth strategies, but it's become increasingly popular …

Serial entrepreneurs that always win are a rare breed worth learning from, and we’re hosting one of those special people today as our guest. Dylan Collins is currently an investor but was the founder and CEO of DemonWare, Jolt, and SuperAwesome, which sold to Activision Blizzard, GameStop, and Epic Games, respectively. In this conversation, we expl…

In this week's Roundtable, the squad dives into the unexpected early leak and subsequent official release of the GTA VI trailer, which has taken the internet by storm. We then shift gears to discuss the burgeoning success of hybridcasual games, which surpassed $2B in revenue in 2023, and how Voodoo's bold claim of "hypercasual is dead" is playing o…

UEFN is gunning to be the next major Roblox competitor, but just how competitive is it? Today, your host, Alexandra Takei, Director at Ruckus Games, sits down with the founder of Bungie, Alex Seropian, now the current CEO of Look North World, and Amy Wu, the partner heading up the games and consumer practice at Menlo Ventures. Fortnite Creative 2.0…

In this week's Roundtable, the squad unpacks ByteDance's decision to wind down its gaming arm, Nuverse, and divest popular titles like Marvel Snap. The conversation then pivots to the legal drama at Neon Machine, where the directors of Shrapnel are suing its controlling shareholder in a contentious battle for control over the web3 FPS developer. We…

Welcome to the third and final part in our series covering all things Savvy Games Group, the Saudi-backed gaming giant in the making. In this episode, Aaron Bush sits down with Brian Ward, the CEO of Savvy Games Group, to discuss the company’s ambitions, including its goal of becoming the world’s largest gaming company and its plans to turn Saudi A…

In this week's Roundtable, we welcome Taylor Hurst from Konvoy Ventures, bringing a fresh investment perspective to our discussions. We kick off by dissecting the startling 68% YoY decrease in games VC funding reported by PitchBook for Q3, pondering the implications and where the funding might be redirected. The conversation then shifts to Epic Gam…

Game7, a community formed to accelerate the adoption of Web3 gaming, recognized that there had to date not been a comprehensive overview of the entire Web3 ecosystem, and decided to do something about. On November 13th, they released the very first truly comprehensive study that covers the past 6 years of Web3 gaming, using objective and neutral pr…

Neil Long used to be responsible for app rankings on the Apple iOS Store before founding Mobilegamer.biz, a site aimed at increasing mobile games coverage. Jason Schreier is a long-standing games journalist with a career spanning Wired, Kotaku, and now Bloomberg News; he's famous for exposing industry crunch, lobbying on behalf of the developer, an…

In this week's Roundtable, the squad tackles the contentious release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, scrutinizing Activision's bold pricing strategy for what many see as DLC-sized content. We then shift gears to the evolving stances of various companies regarding live service games, including noting where we are in the trend's hype cycle. The co…