The Metacast by Naavik: Recent Episodes
Naavik
The Metacast by Naavik is a business-focused exploration of the companies, trends, strategies and leaders that are defining the future of games. To learn more and see other great content visit www.naavik.co.
In 2011, Sean Ryan was hired to build out Facebook’s nascent gaming business just as Zynga and other social gaming start-ups were gaining traction on the platform. A decade later, Sean’s responsibilities eventually encompassed numerous other initiatives, including Facebook’s forays into blockchain. In this episode, Sean explains why he felt compelled to leave Facebook to start his own web3 gaming company, why he believes the notion of digital ownership is as big of a watershed moment as free-to-play mobile or the move from physical to digital, who he thinks will prevail in the blockchain wars, and how he sees the web3 ecosystem evolving.
To learn more, make sure to visit https://aqua.xyz. You can find Sean Ryan on LinkedIn.
We’d also like to thank Nexus for making this episode possible! Nexus’s creator program in-a-box makes it easy for game devs to build and manage a world-class creator program, driving significant growth in conversion, ARPPU, retention, and LTV. To learn more, go to nexus.gg/naavik
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 Channel
For more episodes and details: Podcast Website
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
Just about all games that currently integrate blockchain technologies in some way are either on Ethereum, most likely via a Layer 2 solution such as Polygon or Immutable X, or are building on a more scalable, but less decentralized, Layer 1 chain such as Solana or Binance Smart Chain. Bitcoin, the granddaddy of blockchains, has not attracted much attention from game developers, and for good reason - on-chain transactions on Bitcoin are very, very slow. This is where the Bitcoin Lightning Network comes in. Originally conceived of in 2015, the Lightning Network is designed to overcome the scalability issues inherent with Bitcoin by opening up a series of bidirectional payment channels without delegating custody of funds. In this episode, your host, Niko Vuori, talks with Ben Cousens, Chief Strategy Officer at Bitcoin Lightning Network payment solutions provider Zebedee about what the technology can offer game developers.
To learn more, make sure to visit https://lightning.network/ and https://zebedee.io. You can find Ben Cousens on LinkedIn.
This episode is brought to you by our partners at Gamesight. Gamesight provides full-service campaign management, taking charge of consulting, influencer discovery, relationship management, billing, and reporting, leaving you free to focus on your core business.
With their measurement platform and creator-focused programs, Gamesight helps brands grow, increase revenue, and ensure player satisfaction worldwide. And since the company draws from almost a decade of battle-tested experience -- including with notable customers like Bungie, Capcom, Ubisoft, Warner Brothers, and hundreds more -- Gamesight's attribution platform meets the unique needs of PC, Console, and Web3 games.
Notably, Gamesight brings display, social, influencer, and affiliate marketing into one dashboard for easy comparison. Marketing attribution for PC & console games is complicated, but whether your game is free-to-play, premium, or supported by DLCs, Gamesight has you covered.
To learn more about how Gamesight has served other games teams and how it can help yours, simply visit https://gamesight.io/ - or check out the link in the show notes. And with that, let's jump into the episode.
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 Channel
For more episodes and details: Podcast Website
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
The House of Blueberry is creating its own line of digital fashion, addressing a market that is expected to be $2.5B in size by 2028. It began via character customization in RPGS, took center stage in design and life simulation games like The Sims, and exploded with the onset of the pandemic and UGC platforms like Roblox and Zapeto. The TLDR: drip is going digital. Ashley Hopkins (Chief Creative Officer) and Emily Eitches (Head of Business Development) join us to discuss the trends of self expression, the importance of brands and communities, and lifestyle and fashion in digital worlds as well as how the House of Blueberry plays a role in this space, their recent partnership with the Clueless IP, and how they support platforms like Roblox, Zapeto, and Second Life.
This episode is brought to you by ZEBEDEE, which provides a plug-and-play API and SDK for seamless integration of instant, borderless, and low-fee payments using the Bitcoin Lightning Network. You too can unlock the potential of borderless transactions to better engage and monetize your global user base. Start for free at zebedee.io.
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 Channel
For more episodes and details: Podcast Website
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
In this week’s Roundtable, the squad gives an update on Baldur’s Gate 3 success metrics and Dark and Darker’s continuing renegade journey. We explore the seeming free fall of Free Fire through Sea Limited’s expansion struggles. We dig into cloud streaming with a Playstation Portal update and Microsoft handing streaming rights for Activision/Blizzard over to Ubisoft to make regulators happy. Finally we dive into strategic reasons why NetEase continues to acquire western game developers. Join us for all the latest games business news with Anil Das-Gupta, Matt Dion, Aaron Bush and host Devin Becker.
We’d also like to thank Dive for making this episode possible! Dive is a fully outsourced BI-as-a-Service solution that provides an enterprise-grade data platform and services for gaming studios on all platforms. It also saves studios hundreds of thousands of dollars yearly. To learn more, go to: https://bit.ly/3NRlX3i
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 Channel
For more episodes and details: Podcast Website
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
100 Thieves is a premier lifestyle brand and gaming organization that’s building a highly unique ecosystem of products and services. This now includes esports, content creators, apparel, premium keyboards and peripherals (via Highground), energy drinks (via Juvie), and even game development (on UEFN and with Project X).
In this episode, Naavik co-founder Aaron Bush is joined by John Robinson, 100 Thieves’ President and COO to discuss why the organization’s aspirations are so wide and how they manage this “business of businesses.” They dive into how esports will become more sustainable, how the company is uniquely positioned for game development, the broader branding strategy, and lessons learned from running so many unique business lines.
This episode is brought to you by Overwolf. Whether you're a gamer, creator, or game studio, Overwolf is the ultimate destination for integrating UGC in games! You can check out all Overwolf has to offer at overwolf.com.
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 Channel
For more episodes and details: Podcast Website
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
In this week’s Roundtable, the squad discusses Play Ventures raising at least $78 million for its third venture fund and Savvy Games Group as the financier behind the $2 billion Embracer deal that fell apart. We dive into the early international reception for the new Gran Turismo movie and where it falls under Sony's ongoing transmedia strategy. We dissect the information Zynga released about its new web3 gaming ecosystem, Sugartown, and whether Zynga is really a good fit. Finally, we dig into Netflix’s newest gaming test, which uses a phone as a virtual controller. Join us for all the latest games business news with Jonathan Anastas, Dave Elton, and host Devin Becker.
This episode is brought to you by Lightspeed Venture Partners. With its dedicated gaming practice, "Lightspeed Gaming," the firm is investing from over $7B in early- and growth-stage capital — the by far largest fund focused on gaming and interactive technology. If you’re interested in learning more, go to gaming.lsvp.com.
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 https://www.data.ai/en/?utm_source=naavik
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 Channel
For more episodes and details: Podcast Website
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
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 the “Data Corner”.
Today’s episode is the first one that covers the topic of “the data nightmare that the gaming industry faces”. Games, in general, generate tons of player data every day, and within that data exists a ton of harvestable insight that can be used to drive better decision making, so as to drive more revenue, and eventually drive better game making. But such large data pools also require time, money and people to analyse and harvest from it, and that keeps many game developers from spending their resources on data analysis to help them make better games. This tension is at the heart of the data nightmare the gaming industry faces today, and this conversation with Elad Levy, founder and CEO of Dive, is focussed on unpacking that tension a bit more. It is a wide ranging conversation that covers what the nightmare is all about, why the gaming industry is unique in facing it versus other industries, how game developers should navigate the problem, what are they leaving on the table if they don’t navigate the problem, and more.
So hope you enjoy episode #1 of the Data Corner, and do send me (your host, Abhimanyu Kumar) your thoughts, feedback and questions so that I can address it all as I continue to build this limited series out.
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Read more: Naavik Digest
Learn more: Naavik’s Open Gaming Research Initiative
Work with us: Naavik Consulting
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
There are more than 3 billion gamers in the world, but the number of gaming professionals interested in business and development content pales in comparison, with approximately 300,000 people employed in the U.S. games business, according to IBIS World. Niche content curation and content creation companies like Deconstructor of Fun, Gamemakers, Elite Game Developers, Naavik, and more cover the space and, importantly, compete with each other for mindshare across this small pool of professional game developers.
Is it possible to build a profitable enterprise off this type of organization, and if so, how and through what revenue streams? We bring together a super team of games podcasting and blogging: Joakim Achren, Joseph Kim, and our very own Aaron Bush to discuss.
This episode is brought to you by Pragma. Pragma is a Backend Game Engine that powers services like accounts, matchmaking, and player data for the world’s most ambitious live service games. To learn more, head here.
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this week’s Roundtable, the squad discusses the massively successful launch Baldur’s Gate 3. Sebastian shares a story around monetizing Dota 2 Arcade mods under the nose of Valve’s lawyers in light of the recent Arcade shutdown. We also have an earnings discussion covering Playstudios and Playtika that leads to a deep exploration of the future of the social casino genre on mobile. Finally, we dig into the new web3 fighting game Wreck League from Animoca Brands subsidiary nWay, and discuss whether it has a chance in the market. Join us for all the latest games business news with Manyu Kumar, Maria Gillies, Sebastian Park, and host Devin Becker.
This episode is brought to you by Coda Payments. Coda helps developers collect some of their revenues outside the app stores, keeping more of the income they generate for themselves. To learn more, head to https://www.codapayments.com/naavik?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=webpage&utm_campaign=naavik
This episode is also brought to you by our partners at Gamesight, which provides full-service campaign management, taking charge of consulting, influencer discovery, relationship management, billing, and reporting, leaving you free to focus on your core business. To learn more, simply visit https://gamesight.io/
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 Channel
For more episodes and details: Podcast Website
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
As virtual worlds become more immersive and widespread, how we all represent ourselves – via avatars – becomes all the more important. That’s why Naavik co-founder Aaron Bush sat down with Genies founder and CEO Akash Nigam to discuss the future of avatars and Genies’ rising role in it. The two of them discuss Genies’ history and focus, why XR will unleash a new wave of avatar use cases, what avatar ecosystems will ultimately look like, what the games industry underrates regarding avatars, and how the team is looking to kickstart avatar interoperability.
This episode is brought to you by CleverTap Gaming, the all-in-one platform for creating personalized player experiences. Visit clevertap.com/gaming for more details.
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 Channel
For more episodes and details: Podcast Website
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
In this week’s Roundtable, the squad discusses Inworld AI raising $500 million for AI NPCs in games and Playtika acquiring Youda instead of developing new titles. After a short discussion on EA’s earnings report revolving around key franchises, we discuss the end of physical games at retail chains like Tesco and possibly even Gamestop. Finally, we peel apart the success of Battlebit Remastered to figure out what other game developers can learn from this surprise hit and debate whether graphic fidelity really matters for success. Join us for all the latest games business news with Aaron Bush, Tammy Levy, and host Devin Becker.
This episode is brought to you by our partners at Windwalk. Windwalk builds digital communities and the technologies necessary to accelerate them through their flagship software, Harbor. To learn more about this end-to-end community software product, simply head to https://www.harbor.gg/
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 Channel
For more episodes and details: Podcast Website
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
Mythical Games is one of the busiest operators in the web3 ecosystem, with a finger in many pies. The company is the creator of the licensed mobile football game NFL Rivals, which crossed 1 million downloads just a couple of months after its launch earlier this year, and Blankos Block Party, a multiplayer universe available on the Epic Games Store. In addition, Mythical operates the Mythos Foundation, on which it partners with other traditional game developers, web3 developers, and esports and guild operators. It also operates its own Mythical Platform, through which Mythical publishes third-party games.
There’s also the $MYTH ecosystem token, and the small matter of about $300 million raised in venture funding over the past couple of years, including $37 million in a Series C extension announced in late June of this year. In this episode, host Niko Vuori talks with Mythical founder and CEO John Linden about the company's various initiatives, its roadmap going forward, and how web3 hooks drive improved monetization and retention.
To learn more, make sure to visit https://mythicalgames.com. You can find John Linden on LinkedIn.
This episode is brought to you by Lakestar - one of the leading European venture capital firms. If you're interested in learning more or getting in contact with the Lakestar’s Games and Media team, simply go to lakestar.com
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 Channel
For more episodes and details: Podcast Website
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
Influencer houses, influencer agencies, and influencer campaigns — these are some of the most important forces in gaming distribution. Nadia Bubbenikova, Head of Agency at Famesters, walks us through two campaigns on a Rust Expansion Pack in Dying Light and an Eastern European user acquisition play in Mobile Legends Bang Bang.
We learn how a campaign comes together, what types of games qualify for influencer representation, the difference between platforms like Twitch and YouTube (and when you might choose one over the other), and KPI performance metrics both influencers and campaigns are measured against. Influencer marketing, in Nadia’s words, is something that is always changing — playbooks are refreshed by the minute. We dive into the fascinating and complicated world of influencers, hear the top three mistakes game studios typically make when they pursue an influencer strategy, and laugh a good bit about the behind-the-influencers’ scenes.
Air Correction Edits: Merge Mansion ran a campaign including Pedro Pascal, not Homescapes
This episode is brought to you by ZEBEDEE - which provides a plug-and-play API and SDK for seamless integration of instant, borderless, and low-fee payments using the Bitcoin Lightning Network. Learn more and start for free at zebedee.io.
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 Channel
For more episodes and details: Podcast Website
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
In this week’s Roundtable, the squad discusses Tencent becoming a majority shareholder of Techland and what Blizzard bringing some of its games to Steam could mean for the company pre and post-acquisition. Then we explore how CD Projekt making workforce cuts could affect its plans going forward for franchises like The Witcher and Cyberpunk. We dig into how big brand changes can affect future success with a contrast of Twitter becoming X and FIFA 24 becoming FC24. Earnings updates for Ubisoft and Stillfront lead to Aaron warming up for a victory lap and an analysis of where the market is heading with acquisition strategies. Join us for all the latest games business news with Aaron Bush, Anil Das-Gupta, Jonathan Anastas, and host Devin Becker.
This episode is brought to you by Overwolf. Whether you're a gamer, creator, or game studio, Overwolf is the ultimate destination for integrating UGC in games! You can check out all Overwolf has to offer at overwolf.com.
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 https://www.data.ai/en/?utm_source=naavik
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 Channel
For more episodes and details: Podcast Website
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
Chris Bell and Stephen Bell have been involved in several defining games like Journey, Sky: Children of the Light, What Remains of Edith Finch, and Blaseball. However, their new project is tackling a whole new level of ambition. In this episode, Naavik co-founder Aaron Bush joins the Bell brothers to discuss their new company Gardens, its unique game in development, and how this project both builds on insights from previous projects and comes with fresh challenges. They also dig into life as first-time founders, goals for their company’s culture, and how they managed Gardens’ recent $31.3 million Series A.
This episode is brought to you by Nexus. Nexus’s creator program in-a-box makes it easy for game devs to build and manage a world-class creator program, driving significant growth in conversion, ARPPU, retention, and LTV. To learn more, go to nexus.gg/naavik
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 Channel
For more episodes and details: Podcast Website
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
In this week’s Roundtable, the squad discusses the latest news on how mobile platforms are enacting blockchain policies. In particular, we hit on Google Play’s new blockchain policy, how it differs from Apple’s App Store policy, how these rules affect mobile game design, and the overall current blockchain game development sentiment. Then we discuss how AI game development studios are gaining funding traction and dive into a spicy debate about new models of game development. Join us for all the latest games business news with Matt Dion, Felipe Mata, and host Maria Gillies.
This episode is brought to you by Lightspeed Venture Partners. With its dedicated gaming practice, "Lightspeed Gaming," the firm is investing from over $7B in early- and growth-stage capital — the by far largest fund focused on gaming and interactive technology. If you’re interested in learning more, go to lsvp.com.
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 Channel
For more episodes and details: Podcast Website
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
Zach Dixon is the co-founder and CEO of Player’s Lounge, an app and service that allows players to bet on themselves across games like FIFA, Madden, NBA2k, Apex, and Valorant. Many of us know the story of Skillz, the real-money gaming and esports company that was building betting rails for casual mobile games, and may be dubious of how player betting fits into the gaming ecosystem. However, in this episode, we discover the nuances between "head-to-head" and "against-the-house" betting, the business models associated with them, and the operational challenges that come with the two formats. Those include how to verify outcomes, the function of prop bets, what betting in-game currency “means,” and how to balance bets to skill payouts. We also cover some of the distinctions between “betting” and “gambling."
To learn more, you can check out both Player’s Lounge’s products on sports here and on Valorant and Apex Legends here.
This episode is brought to you by Pragma. Pragma is a Backend Game Engine that powers services like accounts, matchmaking, and player data for the world’s most ambitious live service games. To learn more, head to https://pragma.gg/
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 Channel
For more episodes and details: Podcast Website
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
In this week's Roundtable, we discuss the FTC losing its court case to block Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard and explore what Xbox Game Pass means for developers. We also touch on Meta's new social network Threads hitting 100 million users and Final Fantasy 16's supposedly “disappointing” 373,790 in sales after two weeks as a $70 PS5 exclusive. With 87% of games before 2010 being inaccessible to the average gamer, we ask what can be done to improve game archiving. Lastly, we dive into a lawsuit over generative AI technology using book content without permission and how it could affect gaming. Join us for all the latest game business news with Aaron Bush, Sebastian Park, Dave Elton, and host Devin Becker.
This episode is brought to you by Coda Payments. Coda helps developers collect some of their revenues outside the app stores, keeping more of the income they generate for themselves. To learn more, head here.
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 Channel
For more episodes and details: Podcast Website
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
David Gardner, co-founder and co-chairman of The Motley Fool, is not just a legendary investor, but he has also pulled off something special: successfully embedding game design into his life and business. In this episode, Naavik co-founder Aaron Bush joins David to ask how gamification can level up anyone’s life or business. They also discuss how David’s “Rule Breaker Investing” principles can apply to the games industry, why conscious capitalism deserves more attention, and end with a fun game of “Buy, Sell, or Hold.” If you are at all interested in investing, company-building, and the unconventional use of game design, this episode is a must-listen.
If you want to learn more from David, make sure to tune into his weekly podcast - Rule Breaker Investing. Also, check out his favorite game of 2023 - Ark Nova.
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 Channel
For more episodes and details: Podcast Website
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
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 https://www.data.ai/en/?utm_source=naavik
Watch the episode: YouTube Channel
For more episodes and details: Podcast Website
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
Sound 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 Channel
For more episodes and details: Podcast Website
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
Sound 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 Channel
For more episodes and details: Podcast Website
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
We dig into the panelists' thoughts on how things have gone so far in 2023, and what the rest of the year might hold. What were some of the standout game releases this year? News items, events and trends defining the game industry in 2023. What’s over and under hyped right now in games? Games, companies, tech and trends to watch closely over the next six months. Join us for all the latest games business news and discussions with Aaron Bush, Anil Das-Gupta, Jonathan Anastas, 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 https://www.data.ai
Watch the episode: YouTube Channel
For more episodes and details: Podcast Website
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
Sound 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 Channel
For more episodes and details: Podcast Website
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
Sound 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 https://www.data.ai
Watch the episode: YouTube Channel
For more episodes and details: Podcast Website
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
“Move-to-earn” pioneer Stepn exploded in popularity in the first half of 2022, peaking at 3m MAU, 800k DAU and generated $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, your host, Niko Vuori, talks to Stepn’s 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 Channel
For more episodes and details: Podcast Website
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
Sound 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 Channel
For more episodes and details: Podcast Website
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
Sound 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 https://www.data.ai
Watch the episode: YouTube Channel
For more episodes and details: Podcast Website
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
Sound 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 Channel
For more episodes and details: Podcast Website
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
In this week’s Roundtable, Huuuge Games' Q1 results provide us with some insight into the ongoing impact of user acquisition changes on the mobile gaming business. We also tackle the driving force behind the growth surge in the MENA region’s gaming and esports sectors and Supercell's uncharacteristic release strategy with its betas for Flood Rush and Squad Busters. Lastly, we wrap up by discussing the rationale behind EA's decision to integrate Nike NFTs into its sports games, as well as the significance of the SEC lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase and what they might mean for web3 gaming. Join us for all the latest games business news with David Kaye, Tammy Levy, Abhimanyu Kumar, 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 https://www.data.ai
Watch the episode: YouTube Channel
For more episodes and details: Podcast Website
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
Azra Games has raised more than just about any other web3 game developer — with a $25 million seed round led by a16z — to build its ambitious vision for what the company is calling a “web3-sensitive” RPG. Founder & CEO Mark Otero joins your host, Niko Vuori, to talk about why he sees RPGs as a good fit for web3, how Azra is incorporating NFTs and web3 elements into their game design, and how they see the current web3 gaming environment evolving.
To learn more, make sure to visit https://azragames.com/. You can also find Mark Otero 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 Channel
For more episodes and details: Podcast Website
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
“UGC Gaming is Gaming 3.0” says Uri Marchand, CEO and co-founder of Overwolf, a software platform that powers one of the biggest modding communities in the world and recently signed a massive partnership with EA for the Sims4. In this episode, your host Alex Takei chats all things UGC, the role of IP in creating the metaverse, centralization and moderation in a creator economy, and whether any of this really needs the blockchain.
Uri Marchand: https://www.linkedin.com/in/urimarchand/
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
Why didn’t Blizzard renew its partnership with NetEase? How will they return to mainland China’s market? We dive into the latest game business news with Matt Dion, David Amor, Marie Mejerwall, and your host Maria Gillies.
00:00 - Start
05:20 - Gameloft’s Cross-Platform Strategy
08:55 - Generative AI’s Valuable Disruption
17:40 - Embracer Group Earnings Analysis
19:20 - Sony Patent For NFT and Blockchain Technology
23:52 - Blizzard Does Not Renew Contract with NetEase
40:12 - Google Struck Deals to Prevent Play Store Competition
56:46 - Outro
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your feedback!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Use the promo code METACAST to save 10%.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
In web2, the marketing stack is rich in every area that matters - when a marketer wants to spend on a game, they have many places to do it, they can scale budget up and down as needed, they have the tools to measure how effective the spend is by channel, they can measure revenue events and many other different kinds of downstream activity for days, weeks, months and even years down the line. They have the analytics tools to segment and understand their player personas, and can effectively target these users across a wide variety of channels that serve particular niches. Incredibly accurate LTV models can be built from the data available, and ROAS can be calculated even on a long time horizon.
And none of this is true in web3! The anonymity and pseudonymity of web3 makes segmentation and understanding of personas hard if not impossible, and while everything on-chain is by default completely transparent and open, having the wallet and the tokens it contains be the primary identifier is severely limiting.
In this episode, your host Niko Vuori talks to three leading minds in web3 marketing - Quinn Campbell (VP of Growth at Sky Mavis), Justin Vogel (Co-Founder at Safary) and Warren Woodward (Co-Founder at Upptic) about the challenges web3 marketers face, the tools that need to be built and the current tactics that need to be employed to grow a web3 game.
Sky Mavis: https://www.skymavis.com/
Safary: https://www.safary.club/
Upptic: https://upptic.com/
The ~80 web3 marketing leaders tracked by Safary: https://twitter.com/Safaryclub/status/1580235410147377158
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
What can we learn from Unity, AppLovin, Roblox, Krafton and Nintendo earnings? What’s the next evolution of community play? We dive into the latest game business news with Aaron Bush, Tammy Levy, Elyssa Goldberg, and your host Maria Gillies.
00:00 - Start
03:12 - Unity Earnings Analysis
05:27 - NewZoo Forecasts Market Decline
13:41 - AppLovin Earnings Analysis
15:26 - Roblox Earnings Analysis
20:10 - Impacts of FTX on Gaming
29:14 - Krafton Earnings Analysis
35:46 - Nintendo Earnings & Strategy Analysis
55:19 - Future of Community Play
01:07:20 - Outro
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your feedback!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Use the promo code METACAST to save 10%.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
Should you build your game on Solana or Polygon? L1, L2, or sidechain? What are the technical, financial, ideological, and game design frameworks a web3 developer should think about when making this decision? In this week’s episode, your host, Alex Takei, talks all things chain choice with Aron Beierschmitt, CEO of Laguna Games, the studio responsible for Crypto Unicorns, and Sridhar Muppidi, co-founder of YesGnome, a skill based mobile gaming company. PLUS hot takes on the FTX debacle and what implications it might have for Solana given SOL is Alameda’s second largest token ecosystem holding.
Aron Beierschmitt: https://twitter.com/abearschmitt
Sridhar Muppidi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sridharmuppidi/
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this episode, Alexis Bonte – COO of Stillfront Group – joins Naavik co-founder Aaron Bush to discuss:
1 His journey as an entrepreneur and executive, and how he ended up at Stillfront
2 How Stillfront operates, including how it provides autonomy to studios while still creating synergies across the entire organization
3 Stillfront’s M&A strategy, including lessons learned after 18 acquisitions
4 The future of Stillfront (and whether Stillfront is thinking about web3)
To learn more, make sure to visit Stillfront’s website, investor relations page, and you can find Alexis on LinkedIn and Twitter.
As always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Check out the link to request a demo, and use the promo code METACAST to save 10% on your first payment.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube channel
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
What can we learn from Take-Two and EA’s earnings? Are we observing an increase in VC capital deployment? We dive into the latest game business news with Aaron Bush, Seb Park, and your host Maria Gillies.
00:00 - Start
02:10 - What’s Next for eSports?
05:40 - Japan’s PC Gaming Market
07:03 - China’s Declining Mobile Gaming Market
08:30 - Unity x ironSource Deal Closed
11:12 - Embracer Closed Former Square Enix Montreal
12:56 - Dapper Labs and Mythical Layoffs
22:20 - Take-Two Earnings Analysis
40:35 - EA Earnings Analysis
50:18 - Increasing Deployment of VC Capital
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Use the promo code METACAST to save 10%.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
In just a single year since launching, NFT marketplace Magic Eden has grown to dominate on Solana, with over 85% of the trading market share, and increasingly taking share from OpenSea on Ethereum as well. They started with digital collectibles, but very early on made a bet on gaming NFTs as their second major vertical. Now, they sport a $1.6 billion valuation in their latest funding round, and have recently announced that they will be making direct minority equity investments in gaming companies.
In this episode, your host Niko Vuori talks to Zhuoxun Yin, Co-founder & COO of Magic Eden and Tony Zhao, who leads gaming investments at Magic Eden about why Magic Eden is pushing so hard on gaming, where they see web3 gaming trends going and what the role of an NFT marketplace is as it relates to promoting and elevating games.
Magic Eden Games: https://magiceden.io/games
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this episode, Caro Krenzer – co-founder and CEO of Trailmix, the company behind Love & Pies – joins Naavik co-founder Aaron Bush to discuss:
1 Caro’s games industry origin story and what led her to found Trailmix
2 How Love & Pies pivoted away from a failed game mechanic and turned into a hit
3 Lessons in inclusive game design, including how to build a great company culture that supports it
4 What Caro learned from working at King, how Supercell supports Trailmix as an investor, and what she’s excited about next
To learn more, you can visit Trailmix’s website or find Caro on LinkedIn.
As always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Check out the link to request a demo, and use the promo code METACAST to save 10% on your first payment.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube channel
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
What can we learn from Microsoft, Meta, Sony and Rovio’s earnings? What does Meta’s tanking stock mean for VR/AR Gaming? We dive into the latest game business news with David Amor, Matt Dion, and your host Maria Gillies.
00:00 - Start
03:33 - Sony/PlayStation Earnings
06:50 - TikTok Playable Games Tab
08:20 - Netflix Acquires Spry Fox
11:30 - Rovio Earnings
13:33 - Microsoft/Xbox Earnings
31:17 - Meta Earnings & VR/AR Market
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Use the promo code METACAST to save 10%.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
Why does a Rioter go start a web3 studio? Today’s episode is with Adam Hensel, CEO of Battlebound and the web3 studio making Evaverse, a universe of competitive racing and battler games. We chat the woes of web3 publishing, how he’s thinking about revenue share between the developer and player, and what’s next for Battlebound as he and his team build games that envision players adopting blockchain technology in a low friction and “less NFT hate” environment.
Battlebound Discord: https://discord.com/invite/battlebound
Evaverse: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1628750/Evaverse/
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this episode, Jason Chapman – co-founder and managing partner of Konvoy Ventures – joins Naavik co-founder Aaron Bush to discuss:
1 The origins, present state, and core theses of Konvoy Ventures
2 What technology and platform trends Jason is excited about
3 What attributes the Konvoy team looks for in the teams and founders it backs
4 The current state of the venture market, including where we are in the latest web3 cycle
5 Lessons learned in scaling an investment firm
To learn more, make sure to follow Jason on Twitter. You can also visit Konvoy’s website here, as well as read the team’s great weekly newsletter here.
As always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Check out the link to request a demo, and use the promo code METACAST to save 10% on your first payment.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube channel
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
In this Metacast episode, Anil Das-Gupta and Aaron Bush join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:
#1 Microsoft’s Xbox Mobile Storefront: Could Microsoft succeed where Epic Games didn’t?
#2 Apple’s NFTs Guidelines: Will the guidelines kill blockchain mobile games?
#3 Netflix Cloud Gaming: What’s behind Netflix’s cloud gaming strategy?
#4 Silent Hill Announcements: Why revive the Silent Hill franchise now?
#5 Marvel Snap Mobile Launch: What are the early indicators of Marvel Snap’s launch?
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at maria@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Use the promo code METACAST to save 10%.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
Anyone involved in web3 knows how lightning fast the space moves. Every single day there is some major new development, every week there is a new NFT project that comes along and captures a huge amount of mindshare and huge amounts of trading volume, and every month whatever the prevailing “meta” is, is totally upended and the rules of the game get rewritten by the next hot hotness.
In this episode, your host Niko Vuori talks to two independent web3 analysts who cover the space. Thomas Pan writes a daily web3 newsletter called “Web3 with TPan,” which provides a fun and entertaining analysis of what is driving the web3 news of the day. Chris Sotraidis writes a newsletter called “Spatial Awareness,” which is less frequent but goes really deep on topics, especially as it relates to established web2 brands engaging with, and building in, web3.
Web3 with TPan: https://tpan.substack.com/
Spatial Awareness: https://spatialawareness.substack.com/
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this episode, Björn Jeffery – serial entrepreneur (including Toca Boca), board member, technology columnist, and advisor – joins Naavik co-founder Aaron Bush to discuss:
1 Lessons learned and effective strategies on how to serve the kids market
2 His experiences from founding, scaling, and selling Toca Boca
3 What he’s thinking about today including “AI vs art,” breaking common conventions, and advice for successful boards
To learn more, make sure to follow Björn on Twitter. You can also view Toca Boca’s website here.
As always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Check out the link to request a demo, and use the promo code METACAST to save 10% on your first payment.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube channel
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
In this Metacast episode, Anthony Pecorella, Tim Mannveille and Tom Kinniburgh join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:
#1 Why Riot Acquired Wargaming Sydney: What are the strategic goals behind the acquisition?
#2 Magic Eden’s Optional Royalties: Why did the marketplace make creator royalties optional?
#3 Xbox Game Pass on Meta Quest: Is Xbox Game Pass on Meta Quest a major step in VR games?
#4 Voice Acting & AI: What role could AI play in the games voice acting business?
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at maria@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Use the promo code METACAST to save 10%.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
Do video games need the blockchain? Have you been asking yourself why traditional developers hate crypto OR have you been completely befuddled as to why the web2 gaming industry ISN’T welcoming crypto with open arms? Do you just not know what to think? If so, this episode is for you. I had the pleasure of refereeing an epic discussion on whether to crypto or not to crypto featuring Tim Morten, CEO of Frostgiant and ex-production director of Starcraft vs. Ethan Levy, Deconstructor of Fun’s Crypto Kid and Web3 founder with a surprise cameo from Nico Vereecke, BITKRAFT investor and FOGDAO founder.
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this episode, Emily Greer – co-founder and CEO of Double Loop Games (previously Kongregate) – joins Naavik co-founder Aaron Bush to discuss:
1 What Double Loop Games is building and how it aims to redefine the “casual” genre
2 How the games industry’s venture ecosystem has changed since Kongragate raised capital in 2006-2010
3 How Emily has improved as an entrepreneur when it comes to kickstarting, scaling, and setting an exit strategy for a business
4 Tactics and advise when it comes to cultural and diversity efforts
To learn more, check out Double Loop Game’s website and LinkedIn. You can also follow Emily on Twitter.
As always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Check out the link to request a demo, and use the promo code METACAST to save 10% on your first payment.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube channel
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
In this Metacast episode, David Amor and Matej Lancaric join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:
#1 How to Scale iOS User Acquisition: What’s the latest strategy to scale UA on iOS?
#2 Marketing Channel Diversification: How can small and big teams approach marketing channel diversification?
#3 Crypto Mobile Gaming & UA: Do crypto games open new user acquisition strategies?
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at maria@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Use the promo code METACAST to save 10%.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
In this Crypto Corner episode, John Osvald, President of Games at Gala Games, joins your host Niko to talk about Gala Games’ ambitious vision of building a web3 interactive entertainment brand for the mass market.
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe
In this episode, Ryan Wyatt – CEO of Polygon Studios – joins Naavik co-founder Aaron Bush to discuss:
1 How Polygon Studios works, its grand ambitions, and why teams should consider using it as their layer 2 of choice
2 What Ryan learned about “excellence in scaling” at YouTube, and how running a web3 business presents unique challenges
3 What will unlock the next phase of growth for blockchain games, advice to teams during “crypto winter,” and why he doesn’t worry about educating gamers
4 As a venture partner at BITKRAFT, what other trends in gaming excite him
To learn more, check out Polygon Studios’ website and Twitter, and you can follow Ryan on Twitter.
As always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Check out the link to request a demo, and use the promo code METACAST to save 10% on your first payment.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube channel
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
In this Metacast episode, Aaron Bush, Anil Das-Gupta and Lars Doucet join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:
#1 Rise of The Mega-Investors: What are Tencent and Savvy Gaming Group’s investment strategies?
#2 Supercell and their Brutal Sunset of Games: Why has Supercell sunset yet another game?
#3 Goodbye Stadia: Why did Stadia fail and what can tech giants learn from it?
#4 Apple’s 30% Cut for In-App NFT Sales: How does this affect blockchain game design and its revenue potential?
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at maria@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Use the promo code METACAST to save 10%.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
On this week’s Crypto Corner, Disco.xyz CEO and Cofounder Evin McMullen joins BITKRAFT Partner Carlos Pereira and host Nico Vereecke for a conversation about
- Identity in the Metaverse
- Decentralized Identifiers & Verified Credentials
- The limitations of NFTs and Soulbound Tokens
& More!
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this Metacast episode, Joost van Dreunen, Tammy Levy and Abhimanyu Kumar join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:
#1 X-Hero: Scam or Anti-Hero: What’s behind X-Hero’s success and is it sustainable?
#2 Meta Mechanics in Casual Games: Is the hybrid-casual genre still relevant today?
#3 Power Dynamics Between Platforms and Publishers: How have platforms and publishers changed in the past decade?
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at maria@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Use the promo code METACAST to save 10%.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
On this week’s Crypto Corner, Luda CEO and Cofounder Vijay Sundaram joins your host Nico Vereecke for a conversation about
- Community-driven IP creation
- The current state of Web3 Games
- How NFTs can be so much more than just ‘collections of 10.000’
- What he’s building at Luda
& More!
Neo Fairies: https://world.neofairies.com/
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this Metacast episode, Anthony Pecorella and Matt Dion join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:
#1 Overwatch 2 - Sequel or Restructuring: Why is Overwatch 2 replacing the original game instead of maintaining both?
#2 GTA VI Game Leak: Can game leaks be avoided?
#3 Permanent Loss as a Game Design Tool: Is there a trend of increasingly using permanent loss in game design?
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at maria@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Use the promo code METACAST to save 10%.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
In this Metacast episode, Aaron Bush, Anil Das-Gupta and Sebastian Park join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:
#1 Scopely acquires Stumble Guys: What is behind the success of a Fall Guys clone?
#2 Ubisoft’s Growth Strategy: How can a AAA behemoth unlock long-term growth?
#3 Roblox & User-Generated Platforms: Is Roblox pursuing the most valuable bets?
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at maria@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Use the promo code METACAST to save 10%.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
On this week’s Crypto Corner, we take a deep dive into one of the core DeFi primitives - liquidity pools. Laguna Games’ Cofounder and CEO Aron Beierschmitt and Games Researcher/Angel Kiet Fong join your host Nico Vereecke for a conversation about
- What are Liquidity Pools?
- Why are they relevant to Web3 games like Crypto Unicorns?
- What do game devs need to consider when setting them up?
- What are Liquidity Bootstrapping Pools?
& More!
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
On this week’s Crypto Corner, Yield Guild Games’ Gabby Dizon and Jeff Holmberg join your host Nico Vereecke for a follow-up conversation about Play-to-Earn Gaming Guilds. We discuss
- The state of Play-To-Earn
- The role of guilds in Web3 Gaming
- How Web3 Games should position themselves
- What makes guilds like Yield Guild stand out
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this Metacast episode, Matt Dion and David Amor join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:
#1 AI Art Applied to Games: How will innovation disrupt game art pipelines?
#2 Sony Acquires Savage Game Studios: What’s next for Sony’s mobile games?
#3 AAA Crypto Games - gamescom: Is it meaningful for AAA games to integrate blockchain elements?
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at maria@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Use the promo code METACAST to save 10%.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
On this week’s Crypto Corner, Animoca Brands’ Jesper Lundquest and MMA Gaming’s Casper join your host Nico Vereecke for a conversation about Play-to-Earn Gaming Guilds. There seems to be a high chance that Play-to-Earn won’t work over the next years. What does this mean for the guilds whose existence depends on that business model? How can they reinvent themselves?
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this Metacast episode, Anthony Pecorella and Tammy Levy join your host Abhimanyu Kumar to discuss:
#1 Space Ape Games and Beatstar: How Beatstar survived 24 killed prototypes in five years. Link
#2 Mastering Uncertainty and Predictive Processing in Game Design: Exploring a new game design psychology study that was recently published. Link
#3 The Slow Games Movement: What they are and why it’s significant?
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at maria@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Use the promo code METACAST to save 10%.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
On this week’s Crypto Corner, we take a deep dive into Web3 Publishing and Growth. Quinn Campbell, VP of Growth at Sky Mavis, and Jon Hook, CMO at PlayEmber, join your host Nico Vereecke for a conversation about:
-
Differences between Web2 and Web3 Game Publishing
-
How Web3 will change the Publishing Model
-
Growth for Blockchain Games
-
Lessons learned from getting millions of players into the Axie Ecosystem
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this Metacast episode, Matt Dion, Joost van Dreunen, and David Amor, join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:
#1 Blizzard & NetEase Cancel WoW Mobile Game: Why was the World of Warcraft mobile game canceled?
#2 AppLovin x Unity Merger Proposal: Will Unity swap ironSource for a merger with AppLovin?
#3 Gaming Accessories Market: Will the gaming accessories market survive in a post-pandemic world?
#4 Microsoft x Unity Partnership: Why aren’t there more game engine competitors?
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at maria@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Use the promo code METACAST to save 10% on your first payment.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
(Apologies for Mic Quality issues in the last 2 minutes!)
On this week’s Crypto Corner, StriderDAO cofounder and CEO Andrew Green joins your host Nico Vereecke for a deep dive into Strider - a web3 platform and toolset that helps harness the creative power of communities to build new game and entertainment IP.
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this episode, Sophie Vo – founder of Rise and Play, as well as a game / studio lead – joins Naavik co-founder Aaron Bush to discuss:
1 What is conscious leadership and why does it matter
2 How to best lead teams among change – remote work, studio restructuring, layoffs, and more – as well as how to make teams antifragile
3 How she assesses conscious leadership in founders as an early stage investor
4 Book recommendations! Antifragile; The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership; Reinventing Organization; The Daily Stoic; Fusion: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World's Greatest Companies
To learn more, make sure to check out Sophie’s website https://www.riseandplay.io/.
As always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review! And if you have any questions or suggestions, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co.
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Check out the link to request a demo, and use the promo code METACAST to save 10% on your first payment.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube channel
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
In this Metacast episode, Aaron Bush, Anil Das-Gupta and Lars Doucet, join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:
#1 Earnings Update: What’s next for Activision Blizzard and Ubisoft?
#2 Google’s Interstitial Ads Rules: Do the new rules spell doom for the hyper-casual mobile genre?
#3 TikTok’s Mini-games: How do games help deliver TikTok’s strategy?
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at maria@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Use the promo code METACAST to save 10% on your first payment.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
On this week’s Crypto Corner, Play Ventures’ Anton Backman and Konvoy Ventures’ Philip Collins join your host Nico Vereecke for discussion about how we see the Web3 Gaming space evolve over the next 2 years. We go into:
- Building Games vs building Tooling/Infrastructure
- Innovation on Gameplay Design vs Tokenomics
- What types of Games will be most successful
- And more!
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this episode, Matthew Ball – brilliant thinker, prolific essayist, active investor, founder of Ball Metaverse Research Partners, a producer of media, and now a published author – joins Naavik co-founder Aaron Bush to discuss:
1 His new book, The Metaverse: And How It Will Revolutionize Everything, which can be purchased here: https://www.amazon.com/Metaverse-How-Will-Revolutionize-Everything/dp/1324092033/
2 How virtual worlds and virtual world platforms could take their first steps to connect and interoperate
3 Why he’s excited about Massive Interactive Live Events (MILEs), and what he’s learned as a producer of one
4 The convergence of tech, media, and gaming – and more!
To learn more, make sure to read Matthew’s book and follow along at his website, www.matthewball.vc.
As always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review! And if you have any questions or suggestions, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co.
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Check out the link to request a demo, and use the promo code METACAST to save 10% on your first payment.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube channel
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
In this Metacast episode, Anthony Pecorella, David Amor and Tim Mannveille, join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:
#1 Web Forums vs Discord Social Hubs: Are web forums a thing of the past?
#2 Misleading Ads - Innovation or Scourge: Should misleading UA ads be incentivized?
#3 Polygon Announce zkEVM: What does the new tech bring to blockchain game development?
#4 UK Government Loot Boxes Self-Regulation: Can the games industry self-regulate?
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at maria@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Use the promo code METACAST to save 10% on your first payment.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
On this week’s Crypto Corner, BreederDAO Cofounder and CEO Renz Chong joins your host Nico Vereecke for a no-nonsense discussion about Play-to-Earn/Play-and-earn, inter-game arbitrage, NFT-based Breeding Ponzi’s and the future of the Web3 Metaverse.
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this Metacast episode, Matt Dion and Tammy Levy, join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:
#1 Benefits and Challenges of Player Polls: How does player polling affect Old School RuneScape? Based on NME’s article.
#2 Russia’s National Game Engine: How could national game engines shape the world?
#3 Unity x ironSource Merger: How does the merger benefit both companies?
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at maria@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Use the promo code METACAST to save 10% on your first payment.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
On this week’s Crypto Corner, Magicave cofounders Harry Holmwood and Ste Curran your host Nico Vereecke for a conversation about the future of Digital Toys. Magicave is crafting digital hobbies centred around beautiful, playful, tactile virtual items, which sit at the heart of an ecosystem of games, apps, players and creators. The company's first project, dNo (short for ‘d-Number’), marries collectible virtual dice with figures, tiles, stories and worlds, making innovative use of game and blockchain technology to nurture a truly unique digital hobby.
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this episode, Raph Koster – legendary game designer, author of Theory of Fun for Game Design, and CEO of Playable Worlds – joins Naavik co-founder Aaron Bush to discuss:
1 How to evolve and grow as a game designer
2 The mission of Playable Worlds, what it means to build a “metaverse platform,” and the future of MMORPGs
3 His advice about metaverse standards, player-owned economies, and digital land
To learn more, visit Raph’s blog and Twitter account, as well as Playable World’s website and Twitter account.
As always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review! And if you have any questions or suggestions, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co.
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Check out the link to request a demo, and use the promo code METACAST to save 10% on your first payment.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube channel
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
In this Metacast episode, Abhimanyu Kumar and Aaron Bush, join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:
#1 M&A and Growth by Acquisition: Who could still make billion-dollar acquisitions during a market downturn? What future awaits companies that rely on growth by acquisition strategies?
#2 Market Cycle in Full Swing: What consequences are we seeing from the market downturn?
#3 Crypto Gaming’s Second Wave: Will the crypto winter kill blockchain games or will they come back stronger than before?
#4 Studios Founded by Diverse Teams: Will we see an accelerated pace of new studios founded by diverse teams?
#5 Console’s Recession Resilience: Could console games prevail in a market downturn after all?
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at maria@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Use the promo code METACAST to save 10% on your first payment.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
On this week’s Crypto Corner, Anton Bernstein, CEO and co-founder of Pocket Worlds, joins your host Nico Vereecke for a conversation about the future of social connectivity and play. Pocket Worlds is the creator of Highrise and Everskies, two leading mobile Metaverses with a combined userbase of more than 15 million players. We discuss his entrepreneurial journey, learnings from creating highly successful Metaverse Economies, and what role Web3 technology will play in the virtual worlds of the future.
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this Metacast episode, Anthony Pecorella, Anil Das-Gupta and Matt Dion, join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:
#1 Investing in Interestingness: Could setting goals actually be counterproductive when creating innovative games?
#2 Fully On-Chain Games: Is this a direction the industry should go towards, or is it just an academic curiosity?
#3 Traditional Console Developers and Mobile: Considering the success of Fire Emblem Heroes, why are traditional console developers not maximizing their mobile market potential?
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at maria@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Use the promo code METACAST to save 10% on your first payment.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
Winter is here.
On this week’s Crypto Corner, BITKRAFT Crypto Team members Carlos Pereira and Jamie Wallace join your host (and their colleague) Nico Vereecke to discuss the current state of Web3 fundraising. Now that expectations have come back to earth, what’s the best way forward for Studio Founders? What do you do when the price of your token is unfairly low? How should you approach fundraising today? What lessons are to be learned from the previous bull cycle?
Want to get in touch with BITKRAFT? Send an email to pitch@bitkraft.vc!
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this episode, Eric Kress, principal of Gossamer Consulting Group and co-host of the Deconstructor of Fun podcast, joins Naavik co-founder Aaron Bush to discuss:
1 What’s driving negative games industry growth rates and where there’s underlying strength
2 How this recession may play out differently from previous ones for gaming companies
3 His analysis on companies including Microsoft, Embracer, Take-Two Interactive, Electronic Arts, Roblox, and more
As always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review! And if you have any questions or suggestions, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co.
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Check out the link to request a demo, and use the promo code METACAST to save 10% on your first payment.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube channel
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Free newsletter: Naavik Digest
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
In this Metacast episode, Brett Nowak, Anil Das-Gupta and Matt Dion, join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:
#1 Solana’s Web3 Mobile Phone: What problems is Solana solving by developing a web3 phone?
#2 Miniclip Acquires Sybo: How does the acquisition benefit both Miniclip and Sybo?
#3 Are Games Recession Proof: Could the impacts vary depending on game platform and monetisation models?
#4 Fortnite Tests Play Style Tags: Should all game studios have at least one data scientist?
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at maria@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Use the promo code METACAST to save 10% on your first payment.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
The Future of Gaming is fully decentralized and is built on Autonomous Worlds and Digital Physics.
On this week’s Crypto Corner, tech pioneer Justin Glibert shares his vision with your host Nico Vereecke. Justin heads up the ‘Autonomous Worlds’ division at 0xPARC, a foundation promoting R&D and Infrastructure around Decentralized Platform. 0xPARC is currently best known for its significant contributions to games like Dark Forest. During our conversation, we go deep into why we need Autonomos Worlds, what Digital Physics are, and what the Metaverse will look like.
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this Metacast episode, Joost van Dreunen, and Aaron Bush, join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:
#1 Diablo Immortal Game Launch Results: Did the P2W uproar affect the game’s launch results?
#2 Offroad Unchained Launch: What’s this fun new racing game and why could it struggle with performance?
#3 Meta Doubles Down on VR and Gaming: What has changed with Meta’s Reality Labs over the past few months?
#4 Can the Digital Age Truly Bring New Ideas?
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at maria@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including free-to-play and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Use the promo code METACAST to save 10% on your first payment.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
Chris Clay has been working on games for over two decades. He has spent the last 3 years building and operating one of the most popular and sustainable Blockchain Games in the world, Gods Unchained. Together with Alex Takei, he joins your host Nico Vereecke for a deep dive into Gods Unchained, learnings from 3 years of Web3 game building, advantages and disadvantages of using Blockchain technology, & more.
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this Metacast episode, Abhimanyu Kumar, Lars Doucet and Tim Mannveille, join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:
#1 Riot x Game Pass: What’s in it for Riot and will it affect their monetisation strategy?
#2 Who Is Savvy Gaming Group: Why did they invest in Embracer Group?
#3 Dark Forest Research Sneak Peak: How did Dark Forest develop a game fully on-chain?
#4 Apple Says “Fingerprinting is Never Allowed”: How are privacy changes affecting the games we develop?
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at maria@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including f2p and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Use the promo code METACAST to save 10% on your first payment.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
What are the differences between 1 and 2 token models for games? How can you leverage them to make a sustainable economy? Tokenomics experts Nat Eliason and Defi Vader join your host Nico Vereecke for a deep dive.
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this Metacast episode, David Amor, Yon Raz-Fridman and Aaron Bush, join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:
#1 Axie Infinity’s First UGC Games: How does the Sky Mavis UGC programme benefit Axie Infinity? Could the revenue share model sustain builders’ costs of development?
#2 Diablo Immortal’s $100k+ to Max a Character: What is the game mechanic with enough spend depth for $100k+ per character? Does this power progression affect players who don’t spend as much?
#3 Apex Legends’ Mobile Launch Results: How did the launch compare to other popular mobile battle royales such as Call of Duty?
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at maria@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including f2p and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Use the promo code METACAST to save 10% on your first payment.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
What do fungible tokens bring to video games? What do you need to keep in mind when designing a game economy with tokens? How will tokens & games evolve over time? Tokenomics expert Jeremy Parris and everyone’s favorite crypto-skeptic Lars Doucet join your host Nico Vereecke for a deep dive.
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this Metacast episode, Anil Das-Gupta and Matt Dion, join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:
#1 Sony’s Transmedia Announcements: Are we in the golden age for successful big screen adaptations of games?
#2 When Does Consolidation Mania End: Why are game giants interested in being acquired? What does consolidation mean to the creativity of game development?
#3 Some Players Don’t Want Fair Matchmaking: Popular FPS players and content creators are asking for easy PvP lobbies so they can entertain with crushing wins. Should games optimize their matchmaking design for retention instead of near-perfect skill matching? We dive into Ethan Davison’s ‘Video game developers want fair online games. Some players really don’t.’
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at maria@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including f2p and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Use the promo code METACAST to save 10% on your first payment.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
Blocklords is a Web3 Medieval Strategy MMO with asymmetric gameplay facilitating a (potentially) sustainable Play-and-Earn economy. Their CEO, David Johansson joins your host Nico Vereecke for a deep dive.
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this Metacast episode, Nicolas Vereecke, David Amor and Abhimanyu Kumar, join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:
#1 EA’s Rumored Sale or Merger: How would NBCUniversal, Disney, Apple or Amazon benefit from acquiring EA? Why are none of these game companies?
#2 Merit Circle DAO Proposal to Remove YGG Seed Investor: What instigated the proposal and is it fair? Are we witnessing how DAOs could change investment partnerships? YGG issued an official statement.
#3 Is Crypto Gaming Broken? We Don’t Think So: We dive into Nat Eliason’s ‘Crypto Gaming is Broken. How Do We Fix It?’ article to explore the listed problems and suggested solutions.
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at maria@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Go premium with Naavik Pro to access an ever-growing library of deep exclusive research including f2p and blockchain game deconstructions, and market analysis. Use the promo code METACAST to save 10% on your first payment.
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
What does Blockchain Gaming look like on the other side of a crypto bear market?
That is the question we are discussing on this week’s Crypto Corner. Sebastian Park and Ryan Foo join your host Nico Vereecke to go into
1 Blockchain Gaming in a Crypto Bear Market
2 We Expect too Much out of Blockchain Games (more reading here)
3 Common Errors in Assessing Probabilities for Success in Entrepreneurship
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co or metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this Metacast episode, Anton Gorodetsky, Nicolas Vereecke and Aaron Bush, join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:
#1 Luna/UST Crash: Why did Luna and UST crash? What are the impacts on currency owners, crypto markets and blockchain games? Nico recommended this source for all the Luna crash details. Naavik shared this blog resource for an in-depth analysis of pros/cons for the most popular blockchain solutions.
#2 Bear Markets: Is there a generalized bear market? What were the triggers? Have we seen impacts in our day-to-days?
#3 InvestGame’s Q1 2022 Report: Results of this quarter’s game industry investment activities. To dive into the details the full report can be downloaded from InvestGame’s website.
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
Robbie Ferguson is Co-founder at Immutable, builder of the first Layer 2 for NFTs on Ethereum. Immutable has also created the Blockchain Games Gods Unchained and Guild of Guardians. He joins your host Nico Vereecke today to discuss all things Blockchain Gaming. We go into
1 Why Game Devs should work with Immutable
2 Ethereum Scaling: Zero-Knowledge Rollups
3 What Blockchain brings to games
4 Practical Tips on designing a Blockchain-Powered Game Economy
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this Metacast episode, Abhimanyu Kumar, Matt Dion and Anil Das-Gupta, join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:
#1 Fortnite Returns to iOS: How does the Xbox Cloud Streaming partnership benefit Fortnite and Microsoft?
#2 China’s Underage Streaming Regulations: What are the roles of game developers and regulation in protecting minors and adults from the potential negative impacts of games?
#3 EVE Online Roadmap: What’s next for EVE Online now that it’s nearly celebrating 20 years since its release?
#4 Stop Comparing Web3 Games to Free-to-Play: What are the potential problems web3 game teams could face when stuck in comparing web3 with f2p games? We dive into Joe Lee’s article.
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
TLDListen?: Episode summary
Watch the episode: YouTube video
Join the discussion: Naavik Discord
Read more: Naavik Digest
Watch more: YouTube channel
Go premium: Naavik Pro
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
Big Brain Time! In this episode, we take a deep dive into Treasure - a DAO that’s building On-Chain bridges between Metaverses. Treasure Co-founder and Core team member John and Karel join you host Nico Vereecke to discuss
1 Treasure and $Magic
2 On-Chain Economic Primitives
3 Incentivizing Game Builders
4 Managing a Gaming DAO
YouTube video: Available here
Episode Summary here
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Watch more: YouTube
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this Metacast episode, David Amor, Matej Lancaric and Miikka Ahonen, join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:
#1 Bored Ape’s Virtual Land Sale: Could the Ethereum gas war have been avoided? What could other companies learn from Yuga Labs’ experience?
#2 Web2 vs Web3 UA: What are the current differences between web2 and web3 user acquisition? Will this change as web3 gaming matures?
#3 Warcraft Arclight Rumble Announcement: What is Blizzard’s new mobile game? Was the development strategy ‘build and they will come’?
#4 Embracer Acquires Square Enix’s Western Studios: What could be behind the $300M price tag? How does this acquisition benefit Embracer Group’s strategy? Is Tomb Raider a valuable IP?
Key Resources: Episode summary | YouTube video
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Watch more: YouTube
Go premium: Naavik Premium Research
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
Philip La is the Game Product Lead at Sky Mavis, the makers of Axie Infinity. He joins your host Nico Vereecke today to discuss all things Blockchain Gaming. We go into
1 What makes Axie Infinity special
2 Axie Origin
3 Axie Land Gameplay
4 The future of Play-to-Earn
YouTube video: Available here
Episode Summary here
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Watch more: YouTube
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this Metacast episode, Matt Dion, Abhimanyu Kumar and Nicolas Vereecke, join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:
#1 Ubisoft Attracts Buyout Interest: Why could Ubisoft be exploring a buyout? Are there parallels to be drawn between Ubisoft and Activision Blizzard’s acquisition?
#2 Meta Struggles to Recover Market Value: Is it possible for Meta to recoup their metaverse investment considering the competitive landscape?
#3 Playable Worlds Raise: What is Playable Worlds developing? If there’s someone to trust to develop a sandbox MMO game it's Raph Koster.
#4 STEPN: Move-to-Earn or Ponzinomics?: Is STEPN’s tokenomics sustainable or is the product walking the same path as Axie Infinity? Does reduced token value mean a game’s unsuccessful? What could be the future of move-to-earn?
Key Resources: Episode summary | YouTube video
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Watch more: YouTube
Go premium: Naavik Premium Research
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
Omri Bouton is a Blockchain, Crypto/NFT & Web3 Lawyer at Sheridans. He joins your host Nico Vereecke today to discuss the legal and regulatory side of Web3. We go into
1 What is a DAO?
2 Security vs Utility Tokens
3 IP on the Blockchain
& More!
YouTube video: Available here
Episode Summary here
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Watch more: YouTube
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this Metacast episode, Anil Das-Gupta, Abhimanyu Kumar and Tom Hammond, join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:
#1 Transmedia as a Game Dev Strategy: Why are there numerous IPs going from games to the big screen and vice-versa? How does transmedia impact storytelling?
#2 Xbox In-game Ads for F2P Games: Why is Microsoft considering in-game ads for Xbox? Will they consider video rewarded ads? How effective are in-game billboard ads?
#3 Coda Payments Raises $690m: What are the benefits of games integrating with third party stores and payment products? Does iOS play ball with these products?
#4 Fortnite’s Zero Build Mode: Could significantly reducing player skill gaps bring churned and new players back to a competitive game?
Key Resources: Episode summary | YouTube video
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Watch more: YouTube
Go premium: Naavik Premium Research
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
Charli Cohen is founder and CEO of RSTLSS, a Digital Fashion Brand for the Multiverse. She joins Faye Maidment and Nico Vereecke to discuss
1 Identity & self-expression in Web3
2 Fashion in the Metaverse
3 Digital vs traditional Fashion
YouTube video: Available here
Episode Summary here
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Watch more: YouTube
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this Metacast episode, David Amor and Matt Dion, join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:
#1 Ghost Recon Breakpoint Sunset: Did Ubisoft experiment introducing NFTs into a live game because Ghost Recon Breakpoint was due to sunset? Could players use those NFTs in other Ubisoft games?
#2 Epic x LEGO Collaboration: Are they the perfect partners to build a metaverse? Why did Sony invest $1B towards this goal? How could the Epic x LEGO metaverse compare against Meta’s creator fees?
#3 Miniclip Pivots From Web Browser Games: Is Miniclip uniquely positioned to carve a strong mobile market in this post-IDFA world? Could negative ROAS and cross-promotion be a viable UA strategy?
#4 Take-Two’s Public Offering: Flash knowledge share of what senior notes are and what they mean for Take-Two Interactive.
Key Resources: Episode summary | YouTube video
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Watch more: YouTube
Go premium: Naavik Premium Research
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
In this Crypto Corner episode, BITKRAFT Crypto Team members Carlos Pereira and Jamie Wallace join your host Nico Vereecke to discuss
1 A Ronin Exploit Update
2 Different Business Models in Web3 Gaming
3 The Future of Web3 Gaming Economies
4 Fun and Work in the Metaverse
YouTube video: Available here
Episode Summary here
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Watch more: YouTube
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this Metacast episode, Aaron Bush and Thomas Baker, join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:
#1 Naavik Pro Deconstruction: How did Garena’s Free Fire succeed in the red ocean market of battle royale games? How can you sell player power without making the game pay to win? How can tech debt impact your game’s revenue?
#2 Mobile Game Earnings - Q1 2022: Sensor Tower reported that mobile game earnings were down 7% during Q1 2022. Should mobile game developers prepare for doom and gloom?
#3 Bloodborne Kart: Lilith Walther — creator of the popular Bloodborne PSX demake — announced her new fan project: Bloodborne Kart. Could game mods become popular across gaming platforms?
Key Resources: Episode summary | YouTube video
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Watch more: YouTube
Go premium: Naavik Premium Research
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
In this Crypto Corner episode, Lars Doucet, Anil Das-Gupta and Chong Ahn join your host Nico Vereecke to talk about the Recent Ronin exploit and what it means for the future of Axie Infinity. We discuss;
1 What a blockchain bridge is
2 The details of the Ronin Hack
3 What will happen next
4 The new Axie game
5 The future of Axie Infinity
YouTube video: Available here
Episode Summary here
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Watch more: YouTube
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this Metacast episode, Anil Das-Gupta, Aaron Bush and Chong Ahn, join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:
#1 Axie Infinity’s Ronin Sidechain Hack: How could the hack help shape the team structure and tech stack of web3 game studios? What does the hack mean for Sky Mavis’ future? Nico will be hosting a technical deep dive into Ronin’s hack in the next Crypto Corner episode.
#2 Deep Dive - New PlayStation Plus Subscriptions: What are the new PlayStation Plus subscription tiers? Does their subscription model compete with Xbox Game Pass? Whose strategy could win the long game - PlayStation or Xbox?
#3 Miniclip Exceeds 4 Billion Downloads: We celebrate this major achievement and discuss how Miniclip influenced current game genres and people who now develop games. How did Miniclip build such a long lasting, influential game company?
Key Resources: Episode summary | YouTube video
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Watch more: YouTube
Go premium: Naavik Premium Research
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
In this Crypto Corner episode, Will Brooke, Gaming Lead at OpenSea, and Seb Park, Co-Founder at Infinite Canvas, join your host Nico Vereecke to talk about:
1 OpenSea
2 Gaming NFTs
3 The Future of Web3 Monetization
4 Blockchain Gaming at GDC
Key Resources: YouTube video
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Watch more: YouTube
Go premium: Naavik Premium Research
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this Metacast episode, Nicolas Vereecke, David Amor and Fawzi Itani, join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:
#1 What We Learned at GDC 2022: Special episode dedicated to our learnings from GDC 2022. We talk about our individual experiences and what we learned based on our different game industry roles; and whether attending GDC is worth the investment.
Key Resources: Episode summary | YouTube video
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Watch more: YouTube
Go premium: Naavik Premium Research
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
In this Crypto Corner episode, Swagtimus and Yoni, the pseudonymous builders behind MatchboxDAO join your host Nico Vereecke to take a deep dive in:
1 Zero-Knowledge Proofs
2 The Advantages ZK Rollups bring to gaming
3 The Disadvantages of ZK Rollups
4 The Most Exciting Matchbox Projects
Key Resources: Episode summary | YouTube video
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Watch more: YouTube
Go premium: Naavik Premium Research
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this Metacast episode, Aaron Bush, Anil Das-Gupta and Matt Dion join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:
#1 Thatgamecompany’s 160M USD Investment: Could the investment scale the company to explore games that are emotional experiences across mediums? Will we see more games developed as art? Do companies need to tackle artistic versus revenue-focused projects differently?
#2 EA’s Lootbox Fine Overturned: How can companies keep up and adapt their games to the individual regulations of each country? Could the legal decision have been different if it were a crypto game?
#3 Ukraine and the Games Industry: We discuss how games exiting from Russia could affect the global games industry and we hope that everyone in Ukraine can find safety and peace.
Key Resources: Episode summary | YouTube video
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Watch more: YouTube
Go premium: Naavik Premium Research
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
In this Crypto Corner episode, Michael Sanders, Co-Founder and Chief Storyteller at Horizon Blockchain Games, joins your host Nico Vereecke to discuss
1 What Blockchain brings to Gaming
2 The next generation of Blockchain Gaming wallets with Sequence
3 Blockchain Trading Card Games with Skyweaver
4 The future of Gaming
YouTube video: Available here
Episode Summary here
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Watch more: YouTube
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this Metacast episode, David Amor, Abhimanyu Kumar and Matt Dion join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:
#1 Realistic Characters for Virtual Worlds: Inworld AI raised 10M USD to create “brains for virtual characters in immersive realities”. Why are realistic characters important for virtual worlds? Could third party AI solutions lower game development costs? What other AI applications could we see in games?
#2 Genshin Impact’s User Generated Content: Why is HoYoverse developing UGC content for Genshin Impact? Is this a signal of what’s to come next in their “virtual world of immersive entertainment”? Could we see more games adopt UGC features?
#3 Four-Day Work Weeks: Can game studios, notorious for crunch, widely adopt 4-day work weeks? What could be the pros and cons of this benefit?
Key Resources: Episode summary | YouTube video
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Watch more: YouTube
Go premium: Naavik Premium Research
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.
In this Crypto Corner episode, Robby Yung, CEO at Animoca Brands, joins your host Nico Vereecke to discuss:
1: What Animoca Brands is
2: The biggest advantages of Blockchain in games
3: The future of Blockchain Gaming
4: Animoca’s strategy & value proposition
5: Interoperability
Key Resources: Episode summary | YouTube video
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Watch more: YouTube
Go premium: Naavik Premium Research
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this Metacast episode, Aaron Bush and Fawzi Itani join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:
#1 Evolution of Digital Game Sales: Will digital games overtake physical copies, and are digital sales a long-term strategy for console developers?
#2 Playtika’s 2022 Strategy: Playtika went public in January 2021 and they recently announced they’re considering a sale of the company. We discuss the possible ‘whys’ behind the decision based on their 2021 earnings and game portfolio.
#3 Steam Deck’s Release: We discuss whether Steam Deck – a handheld gaming PC - could become a success based on early product reviews, Valve’s addressable market and handheld competitors.
Key Resources: Episode summary | YouTube video
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Watch more: YouTube
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this Crypto Corner episode, Nico Vereecke, Devin Becker and Ethan Levy join your host Maria Gillies to get back to basics on Crypto Games. We discuss:
Web3 vs Crypto Games vs Blockchain Games
Different types of Crypto Integration in Games
Different types of Blockchains, Layer 1s and Layer 2s
Fungibility
Composability
Governance Tokens vs Utility Tokens vs NFTs
Staking
YouTube video: Available here.
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Watch more: YouTube
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this Metacast episode, Matt Dion and Sebastian Park join your host Maria Gillies to discuss:
1 How to Prioritize New Game Ideas: You have a list of new game ideas but you’re not sure which one to pursue first? We discuss how to prioritize them and whether finding the perfect idea is required before getting started.
2 Costs of Buggy Game Launches: We share our opinions about how buggy game launches could affect player purchasing behavior, and if there’s a line to be drawn between perfection and game launch. Based on Rob Fahey’s opinion article.
3 YouTube’s NFTs: We talk about how this feature could affect the future of content creation from a game’s perspective.
Episode summary available here.
YouTube video available here.
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too.
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Watch more: YouTube
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this Crypto Corner episode, Nicholas ‘Captain Kix’ Kneuper - co-founder of Crypto Raiders - and Naavik collaborator Devin Becker join your host Nico to take a deep dive into Crypto Raiders.
Crypto Raiders is a pixel dungeon crawler game, RPG, & ecosystem with gamified DeFi elements utilizing tokens & NFTs. The game is built on the Polygon Network. In Crypto Raiders, players use NFT characters to loot dungeons, defeat bosses, and earn tokens.
YouTube video: Available here.
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Watch more: YouTube
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this Metacast episode, Anton Gorodetsky, David Amor and Yonatan Raz-Fridman join your host Maria Gillies to discuss -
1 Roblox Results: Roblox reported their Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2021 results. We dive into the reported numbers, discuss Roblox’s strategy and their secret sauce, and what challenges must be solved to keep reaching towards their ambitions.
2 Global Gaming Deals Activity in 2021:We talk about why “2021 proved to be yet another record-smashing year for the Video Games industry” according to InvestGame’s report, and if we’ll continue to see significant investment in blockchain throughout 2022.
3 Nintendo Direct:We briefly share our favorite Nintendo Direct announcements.
Episode summary available here.
YouTube video available here.
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at maria@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
In this Metacast Crypto Corner episode, timshel, LordOfaFew and Threepwave, join your host Nico to take a deep dive into how world building happens within the Lootverse.
We talk about what the Lootverse is, what makes it special, who decides what ‘Canon’ is in Loot, what it means to build fully on-chain and much more.
Full episode summary available here.
YouTube video available here.
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Sound design by Gavin Mc Gabe.
Episode Summary
In this Metacast episode, Matej Lancaric, Chong Ahn and Nico Vereecke join your host Maria Gillies to discuss -
Network Effects
Animoca Brands investment strategy has a “rising tide lifts all boats” approach explored in Naavik’s newsletter Master the Meta: https://naavik.co/themetas/animoca-2022
We discuss network effects, flywheel effects and if we’ve seen other examples of these strategies applied in games.
User Acquisition Fundamentals
If you’re thinking about starting your own games company without having user acquisition experience then this topic may be of interest to you. Matej, Naavik’s in-house UA expert lays out the fundamental principles and best practices in user acquisition.
F2P vs Web3 UA
Our user acquisition discussion leads us into exploring the similarities and differences between UA for free-to-play and Web3 games.
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at maria@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Episode Summary
Trading Card Games lend themselves well to Blockchain Technology. Digital Trading cards are an easy concept to grasp, as they are already in-use and reflect characteristics of scarcity similar to their physical counterparts.
In this Metacast Crypto Corner episode, Chris Clay - Game Director for Gods Unchained at Immutable and David “Mzo” Becker - Games Commentator & Researcher, join your host Nico to take a deep dive into Blockchain-Based Trading Card Games. They discuss
- The Current State of Blockchain TCGs
- Gods Unchained & Immutable X
- How NFT TCGs release new cards
- Gods Unchained Token Design
- The Problem of Bots
- Balancing an NFT TCG Ecosystem
- The Future of Gods Unchained
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Episode Summary
This episode of the Roundtable sees Florian Ziegler, Matt Dion, and Maria Gillies joining your host Nico to discuss DAOs and their application in the gaming space, endgame design, and the big news this week on Sony’s acquisition of Bungie.
Riffing off Matt’s deep-dive into the nascent landscape of gaming DAOs on Naavik, our guests discuss what DAOs are and how they operate, particularly in the context of games. We then turn our attention to the criticality of endgame design for the overall success of any game, and what strategies and tools can help game developers navigate this challenge. Finally, the episode concludes with keen observations on Bungie’s recent acquisition by Sony.
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Summary here
Play-to-earn Gaming Guilds are Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) that buy game assets (usually yield-earning NFTs) and loan them out to guild members through scholarships.
Because of their size and rapid growth (they often represent tens of thousands of gamers and have $100m+ treasuries), they have a significant impact on how blockchain games are designed and where the industry is going.
In this Metacast Crypto Corner episode, Gabby Dizon - Co-Founder @ Yield Guild Games and Matt “MobileMatt” Rutledge - Co-Founder @ BAYZ join your host Nico to take a deep dive into how these guilds work. They discuss
- What P2E Gaming Guilds are
- How their Tokenomics work
- How they choose games to invest in
- What differentiates one guild from another
- Gaming Guilds vs esports
- The Future of Gaming & Web3 distribution
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Summary here
In this Metacast episode, Maria Gillies, Jayne Peressini and Aaron Bush join your host Nico to discuss -
#1: Naavik’s The Sandbox Deconstruction
TL;DR - The Sandbox is currently:
-
More expensive than you think
-
Less decentralized than you think
-
Less censorship-resistant than you think
You can find the teaser deconstruction here. And the full deconstruction here!
#2: Women in Games
More diversity within the games industry will lead to better games. We discuss some things organizations can do to foster Diversity, Inclusion, Belonging and Success.
#3: What’s Next for Dapper Labs
Jayne shares more about Dapper Labs’ plans moving forward, and what she has learned from her job as VP of Growth.
Key links: Dapper Labs | UFC Strike x Dapper Labs collaboration
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out to nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Learn more: Newsletter or Go Premium
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Summary here
In this Metacast Crypto Corner episode, Ryan Foo and Tender join your host Nico to take a deep dive into Crabada, a fully decentralized Play-and-Earn Idle Game on the Avalanche network.
Set in an undersea world filled with fierce fighting Hermit-Crabs called Crabada. Players are invited to breed, lend, rent, and battle crabs represented by on-chain NFTs to earn cryptocurrencies with real value.
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Learn more: Newsletter or Go Premium
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
In this Metacast episode, Sebastian Park, Miikka Ahonen and David Amor join your host Nicolas Vereecke to discuss -
#1: Microsoft buys Activision Blizzard for $68.7B
For context, find the article here.
#2: OpenSea Raises $300M at $13.3B Valuation
For context, find the article here. And some other referenced links: OpenSea | Fractal | Coinbase NFT | LooksRare
#3: Turkish Studio’s are Raising Big
Specially, we discuss Spyke's and Dream Games' raises.
If you would like us to discuss any other gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Learn more: Newsletter or Go Premium
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
In this Metacast Crypto Corner episode, Joost van Dreunen, Miko Matsumura and Chong Ahn join your host Nico to talk about what’s going to happen in the Blockchain Gaming world in the year to come.
If you would like us to discuss any another blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Learn more: Newsletter or Go Premium
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
In this Metacast episode, Yonatan Raz-Fridman, Devin Becker and Abhimanyu Kumar join your host Nicolas Vereecke to discuss -
#1: Take-Two buys Zynga for $12.7B
For context, here is the press release.
#2: Is Roblox Exploiting Young Game Developers?
We discuss the first and second videos released by People Make Games.
And as this week’s bonus segment, we are making bold predictions about M&A in 2022.
Other key links referenced in the discussion:
- EA buys Glu - Link
- GTA Online recurring revenue - Link
- Zynga's experience porting IP to mobile - Link
- Max Payne Mobile (I don't think Manyu knew!) - Apple & Google
- Take-Two's purchase of SocialPoint - Link
- Supersocial (gotta plug Yon!) - Link
- CORE - Link
- Robux DevEx FAQ - Link
If you would like us to discuss any another gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Learn more: Newsletter or Go Premium
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Over the past months, we’ve seen a significant backlash from the gaming community when gaming companies announced they were experimenting with NFTs in their games.
In this Naavik Metacast Crypto Corner episode, Lars Doucet and Ethan Levy join your host Nico to have an open-minded discussion about whether these concerns are really valid, and what the blockchain gaming community can do to address them.
If you would like us to discuss any other blockchain gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Learn more: Newsletter or Go Premium
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
For many in the games industry, 2021 was a rollercoaster ride. We saw Roblox going public, Apple’s ATT come into effect, discriminatory practices in the largest game companies come to light, play-to-earn burst onto the scene and so much more.
In this special Metacast Roundtable episode, Fawzi Itani, Ryan Foo and Florian Ziegler join your host Nicolas Vereecke to look back at 2021 and share their biggest learnings.
If you would like us to discuss any another gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Learn more: Newsletter or Go Premium
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
In this Metacast Crypto Corner episode, Khaled Alroumi, Anton Backman and Sebastian Park join your host Nico to take a deep dive into the complexities of Blockchain Games and high level competition + esports.
If you would like us to discuss another blockchain gaming-related topic, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Learn more: Newsletter or Go Premium
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
In this Metacast episode, Chong Ahn, David Amor and Florian Ziegler join your host Nicolas Vereecke to discuss;
#1: The Rise of Blockchain Gaming Ecosystem Funds
All over the Crypto Gaming space, blockchains are partnering up with Venture Capital funds to create Blockchain Gaming Ecosystem funds. The goal of these funds is to support games teams to build on these respective blockchains. This is a solid strategy to kickstart network effects, but we are wary of these ecosystems becoming too closed off from the rest of the Blockchain Gaming world.
#2: Rec Room Raises $145M
Rec Room, the social gaming and UGC platform, has seen 450% MAU growth over the past year, which explains the valuation of $3.5b only nine months after raising $100m at a $1.25b valuation. The company is on a strong growth trajectory, and will now need to focus on providing great experiences and tools for its creators to sustain it.
#3: Amazon Prime Gaming Partners with Blankos Block Party to give NFTs to its Subscribers
After linking their account, subscribers of Amazon Prime Gaming were able to receive a free Blankos Block Party NFT to play with on the Blankos platform. Chong, VP of Product at Mythical Games, walks us through the rationale behind the partnership, and its results.
As this week’s bonus segment, we are predicting the major topics in the games industry for 2022.
If you would like us to discuss any another gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Learn more: Newsletter or Go Premium
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
In this Metacast Crypto Corner episode, Derek Lau and LordOfAFew join your host Nico to take a deep dive into how we’ll scale Blockchain Games.
If you would like us to discuss another blockchain gaming-related topic, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Learn more: Newsletter or Go Premium
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
In this Metacast episode, Aaron Bush, Yonatan Raz-Fridman and Miikka Ahonen join your host Nicolas Vereecke to discuss;
#1: PlayStation Spartacus
Sony is (allegedly) planning a new subscription service to compete with Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass. The service will allow PlayStation owners to pay a monthly fee for access to a catalog of modern and classic games.
Launch expected in spring, the service will merge Sony’s two existing subscription plans, PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now.
#2: Tencent to Increase Supercell Stake
Supercell has seen revenue fall nearly every year since Tencent’s acquisition of a majority stake in 2016. The Information now reports that the Chinese internet giant is to boost that stake in Supercell at a valuation of roughly 11b. This is 10% higher than the valuation in 2016.
It will do that by buying some of the shares held by the partners that bought in back in 2016.
Note - our recording happened minutes before this went live.
#3: The Game Awards
The Game Awards is an award show honoring the best video games of the year. It was held in LA on Thursday last week, and was live streamed globally. I Takes Two won Game Of The Year, but we feel that the awards are very niche and too focused on AAA console/PC games. Aaron now plans to launch the Naavik Games Industry Awards Show.
And as this week’s bonus segment, we are predicting what will be the most successful game of 2022.
If you would like us to discuss any another gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Learn more: Newsletter or Go Premium
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
In this Metacast Crypto Corner episode, your host Nico is joined by Ryan Foo and Oweh Soh to take a deep dive into the Wolf Game phenomenon.
If you would like us to discuss another blockchain gaming-related topic, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Learn more: Newsletter or Go Premium
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
What is a MMOCG or Massively Multiplayer On-Chain Game? How does it work? What can we do with it? Is this going to be a thing?
Find out this and more in this week’s roundtable!
In this Metacast episode, Florian Ziegler, David Amor and Matej Lancaric are joined by your host Nicolas Vereecke to discuss;
Massively Multiplayer On-Chain Games
MMOCGs are games that are both Open-Source and Open-State. The whole game lives completely on the blockchain, which has some profound and interesting consequences.
Ubisoft takes a first step into NFTs
Ubisoft announced the first implementation of blockchain technology into one of its games with the addition of NFTs to the PC version of Ghost Recon Breakpoint. The response was overwhelmingly negative, and the company removed the announcement video from YouTube. The move feels like a conservative experiment into NFTs, and we can only applaud Ubisoft for being the first AAA publisher to do it.
Moon Active raises $300m at a $5b valuation
Moon Active, the maker of Coin Master, is killing it. The company is not afraid to experiment with different types of games, and it’s paying off. We’re curious to see what they’ll do with this war chest!
As this week’s bonus segment, we are giving bold predictions about Ubisoft.
If you would like us to discuss any another gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
In this Metacast CryptoCorner episode, your host Nico is joined by Lars Doucet, Ryan Foo and Miko Matsumura to discuss the sustainability of Play-to-Earn Economies.
If you would like us to discuss another blockchain gaming-related topic, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Learn more: Newsletter or Go Premium
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
In this Metacast CryptoCorner episode, your host Nico is joined by Joost Van Dreunen, Antubel Moreda and Sebastian Park to discuss the next steps in bringing Blockchain Gaming to the masses.
We talk about what the biggest challenges still are, who the next gamers will be, and what companies will thrive in this space.
If you would like us to discuss another blockchain gaming-related topic, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Learn more: Newsletter or Go Premium
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
In this Metacast episode, Miikka Ahonen, Matej Lancaric and Anton Gorodetsky are joined by your host Nicolas Vereecke to discuss;
InvestGame’s Gaming Deals Activity Report Q1-Q3 2021
Find the report here
Brands in Games
Nike and Roblox partnered to bring Nikeland onto the platform. We discuss how brands look at games, how they can build exposure within them and what games companies can do to facilitate that.
Facebook/Meta Reveals Haptic Gloves
Meta has silently been working on haptic technology to augment the Oculus VR Experience. We discuss how it works, the potential of this technology and the roadblocks ahead.
As this week’s bonus segment, we are giving bold predictions about Gaming Industry deals.
If you would like us to discuss any another gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Salone Sehgal is a general partner at Lumikai, India’s first gaming and interactive media fund. She previously founded her own gaming startup and served as a GP at London Venture Partners. We chat about the India games market — its potential to bring gaming to the next 1B users — key macro market trends, and specialized gaming VCs. Enjoy!
In this Metacast episode, Yonatan Raz-Fridman and Chong Ahn are joined by your host Nicolas Vereecke to discuss;
Roblox
Roblox saw impressive revenue growth over the past quarter, even without
Forte & the rise of Blockchain Gaming Infrastructure Companies
Forte differentiates itself from other infrastructure providers by offering an all-in one cross-chain solution. Because what they’re building is so ambitious, they’ll be able to make very good use of the $750m they just rasied.
Riot Forge announces/drops 4 games
Riot is killing it these days, and the company is on its way to build the first games-first global multi-media IP.
As this week’s bonus segment, we are giving bold predictions about Riot Games
If you would like us to discuss any another gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
“Loot is a time machine into the future of human collaboration and work. We are building the Star Wars of the next generation”
In this Metacast CryptoCorner episode, your host Nico is joined by Timshel and LordOfAFew to take a deep dive into the Lootverse.
What emerges from the conversation is a mind boggling journey into the Hyperverse. The Hyperverse is a place where hundreds of builders are collaborating in a trustless, permissionless, distributed, global, pseudonymous and asynchronous way. It’s not clean. It’s not pretty. It might not go anywhere. But no one can stop them, and what might emerge could change the way we look at how humans work and collaborate.
If you would like us to discuss another blockchain gaming-related topic, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Learn more: Newsletter or Go Premium
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Naavik is launching a new research service dedicated to blockchain games, and this episode is a discussion about our pilot report that was written by Jimmy, Lars, Anthony, Aaron and Manyu.
The team is joined by Nico to discuss important industry developments and dig deep into Axie Infinity. We walk through the game's history, game design, tokenomics, economic issues, future roadmap, and how we think the development team can set itself up for greater success.
Remember, if you wish to make us your personal blockchain games research department, go to naavik.co/premium and use the promo code "METACAST" in the next 30 days at checkout to save 25% for the first year subscription.
If you would like us to discuss any another gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
Why did Facebook change its name to Meta? Does it make sense? More importantly - will it work?
Find out in this week’s roundtable!
In this Metacast episode, Aaron Bush and Carlos Pereira are joined by your host Nicolas Vereecke to discuss;
Facebook going full Meta
Quarterly earnings reports of
- Sony
- Microsoft
- Ubisoft
- Activision Blizzard
If you would like us to discuss any another gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
In this debut Crypto Corner episode, Michael Wagner, Co-Founder & CEO of Star Atlas, is joined by our own Nicolas Vereecke.
Star Atlas is a space-themed video game metaverse of grand strategy, open world exploration, territorial conquest, and political domination. The underlying technology consists of the latest in hi-fidelity game development, Unreal Engine, stunning visuals, and a blockchain base layer utilizing Solana.
We discuss Star Atlas’ vision, roadmap and technology, and dig deep in the potential of blockchain-enabled gaming plus what it will mean for the Metaverse.
If you would like us to discuss another blockchain gaming-related topic, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Learn more: Newsletter or Go Premium
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
!WARNING! the Metacast team is ‘winging it’ this week
In this Metacast episode, Aaron Bush and Abhimanyu Kumar are joined by your host Nicolas Vereecke to discuss;
The current state of Loot
NFT galleries (check out Nico’s)
Founder-lead gaming companies
As this week’s bonus segment, we are giving bold predictions about whatever we feel like!
If you would like us to discuss any another gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
How is Roblox doing 6 months after its IPO? What are some key design decisions when building an NFT-based game economy?
Answer to this and more in this week’s roundtable!
In this Metacast episode, Aaron Bush , Yonatan Raz-Fridman and Miikka Ahonen are joined by your host Nicolas Vereecke to discuss;
The Present and Future of Roblox
Roblox is betting big on multiple angles:
-
Higher immersion through voice chat, better textures & more lifelike avatars
-
More & better developer tooling
-
Monetization through limited items & royalties
It is successfully innovating on different fronts, and thereby impressively deepening its competitive moat.
NFTs and player-run Game Economies
MobileDevMemo article
According to the article:
-
The promise of NFTs for games lies in the fact that the game marketplace is not controlled or operated by the game developer, that there is transparency and that there is potential for fractional ownership.
-
Essential requirements are that the value of in-game assets is not determined by an inflow of new players, NFTs contribute to core gameplay, and NFTs need to be freely accessible to all players.
-
Some design choices that fulfill these requirements are; items are non-permanent (they can degrade or be lost upon death), there is derived scarcity (based on land for example), and items need intrinsic utility beyond speculation.
The above is a solid starting point for a comprehensive framework around NFT-based economies, but lacks some flexibility.
As this week’s bonus segment, we are sharing bold predictions about game economies!
If you would like us to discuss any another gaming-related topics, do reach out at nicolas@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
Join the discussion: Discord
Read more: Newsletter
Follow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website
In this Metacast Interview episode, Scott Reismanis, Founder & CEO of mod.io, is joined by our own Aaron Bush.
Mod.io is building a platform that gives studios fully integrated and cross-platform mod solutions for their games. We discuss Scott’s history with Mod DB, why modding has failed to cross the chasm, why and how that might change, and how mod.io will be part of the solution. I learned a lot and expect you will too - enjoy!
If you would like us to interview anyone else (or you have something interesting to share), do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
If you’d like to join the discussion, feel free to join our Discord!
What are Social Tokens and why should you care about them? Why is Paris Hilton building an experience in Roblox? What did we learn from the Twitch Leaks?
Answer to this and more in this week’s roundtable!
In this Metacast episode, Chong Ahn , Anton Gorodetsky and David Amor are joined by your host Nicolas Vereecke to discuss;
The Twitch Leaks1. Streamer earnings are concentrated at the top, and will remain there
-
A potential Steam competitor by Amazon will likely need to successfully leverage
-
Deep pockets
- Exclusive, high-quality games
- Integrations with Twitch/Amazon
Overall, not likely to happen
Paris Hilton builds a Roblox Experience
Celebs & brands will increasingly use games to find more points of contact with their audiences
Social tokens
Are a new way for content creators to
- Do early fundraising
- Build and reward their community
- Cut out middlemen like Twitch, Patreon etc.
Expect a large number of creators to start issuing Social Tokens over the next years
More info here: https://digitalnative.substack.com/p/social-tokens-and-creator-centric
As this week’s bonus segment, we are making bold predictions about game streamers!
If you’d like to join the discussion, feel free to join our Discord!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
If you’d like more content, check us out at www.naavik.co. You can also find us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
Matej’s piece: https://lancaric.me/how-to-save-millions-with-marketability-testing/
What are some best practices when creating a new game from scratch? And how can you include marketability testing in that process?
Also - why is Honor of Kings the first Mobile Game to reach $10b in player spending?
Answer to this and more in this week’s roundtable!
In this Metacast episode, Miikka Ahonen, Matej Lancaric and David Amor are joined by your host Nicolas Vereecke to discuss;
-
New Game Creation best practices
-
Honor of Kings reaches $10b in lifetime revenue
-
Facebook messes up (again)
As this week’s bonus segment, we are making bold predictions about mobile games!
If you’d like to join the discussion, feel free to join our Discord!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
If you’d like more content, check us out at www.naavik.co. You can also find us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
In this Metacast Interview episode, Gabby Dizon, Co-founder of Yield Guild Games, is joined by our own Nicolas Vereecke.
They discuss what Yield Guild is, how Blockchain is changing the Games Industry and how Games Companies can take advantage of it.
If you would like us to interview anyone else (or you have something interesting to share), do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
If you’d like to join the discussion, feel free to join our Discord!
What is the real opportunity behind Blockchain Games? Why is everyone so bullish?
Also - what is the so-called Creator Economy and where is it going?
Answer to this and more in this week’s roundtable!
In this Metacast episode, Aaron Bush, Matej Lancaric and David Amor are joined by your host Nicolas Vereecke to discuss;
-
The Opportunity behind Blockchain Games
-
The rise of the Creator Economy and its implications for games
As this week’s bonus segment, we are making bold predictions about the creator economy!
If you’d like to join the discussion, feel free to join our Discord!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
If you’d like more content, check us out at www.naavik.co. You can also find us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
What are the differences between On-Chain game assets (NFTs) and regular in-game assets? What is up with Raph Koster’s new MMO? Is this the top of the NFT bubble?
Answer to this and more in this week’s roundtable!
In this Metacast episode, Abhimanyu Kumar and Miikka Ahonen are joined by your host Nicolas Vereecke to discuss;
-
The debate: On-chain vs Off-chain game assets
-
Raph Koster reveals tech for Playable Worlds
-
Statespace raises $50 million
As this week’s bonus segment, we are making bold predictions about the NFT space!
If you’d like to join the discussion, feel free to join our Discord!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
If you’d like more content, check us out at www.naavik.co. You can also find us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
In this Metacast Interview episode, Miska Katkoff, co-founder & CEO of Savage Game Studio’s and Founder of Deconstructor of Fun, is joined by our own Nicolas Vereecke.
They discuss what it takes to be a good Product Manager in the Games Industry, how to build a new Games Studio, and why learning in public is a Superpower.
If you would like us to interview anyone else (or you have something interesting to share), do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
If you’d like to join the discussion, feel free to join our Discord!
Why is an NFT of a Destroyed Diamond being sold for $18.000? What’s next for Epic and Apple? Why is Plants versus Zombies 3 going into soft launch, again?
Answer to this and more in this week’s roundtable!
In this Metacast episode, Matej Lancaric, David Amor and Chong Ahn are joined by your host Nicolas Vereecke to discuss;
-
Epic versus Apple, end of Chapter 1
-
Plants vs Zombies 3 going into soft launch, again
-
The Destroyed Diamond NFT (prepare to get you mind blown)
As this week’s bonus segment, we are doing another round of ‘Would you rather?’
If you’d like to join the discussion, feel free to join our Discord!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
If you’d like more content, check us out at www.naavik.co. You can also find us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
*Correction: Loot is an ERC721 token, NOT an ERC20 token
If you’re in the gaming industry and haven’t heard of Loot, stop what you’re doing and listen to this episode. As a bonus, you’ll get some fantastic insights into Blockchain and Games!
In this Blockchain-heavy Metacast roundtable, Jayne Peressini, David Amor and Chong Ahn are joined by your host Nicolas Vereecke to discuss;
-
Loot (for adventurers)
-
Scalability for Blockchain Games
-
Best Practices in Blockchain and Games
As this week’s bonus segment, we are doing another Bold Predictions round, and we stay on the blockchain hype train.
If you’d like to join our discord to join the discussion, feel free to sign up for our newsletter at www.naavik.co.
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
If you’d like more content, check us out at www.naavik.co. You can also find us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
We had the pleasure of interviewing Uri Marchand, Founder and CEO of Overwolf.
Overwolf is a modding-as-a-service platform that enables game developers to build a UGC strategy, and creators to easily build and scale mods and apps for their favourite games. We discuss why Uri is so bullish on creators, the future of modding, learnings from building a company, and much more. Enjoy!
If you would like us to interview anyone else (or you have something interesting to share), do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
If you’d like more content, check us out at www.naavik.co. You can also find us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
Why is Netflix launching 2 Stranger Things games in Poland? How impactful are Apple’s recent concessions, really? What are the implications of China’s recent gaming ban?
Answers to this and a whole lot of laughs in this week’s Roundtable!
In this Metacast episode, Abhimanyu Kumar, Matej Lancaric and Anton Gorodetsky are joined by your host Nicolas Vereecke to discuss;
-
Netflix’s baby steps into gaming
-
Apple’s loosening of its App Store rules
-
China’s ban of more than 3 hours of gaming per week for minors.
As this week’s bonus segment, we reintroduce Pitch your dream game. Panelists get a short time to pitch the game they would love to play, regardless of current technological limitations.
If you have a question you’d like answered on the podcast, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
If you’d like more content, check us out at www.naavik.co. You can also find us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
Why did Google pay developers to publish only on the Google Play Store? How can a fully remote team successfully build something as complex as a video game? How fun is Supercell’s new game?
Answers to this and much more in this week’s Roundtable!
In this Metacast episode, Jayne Peressini, Miikka Ahonen and Yonatan Raz-Fridman are joined by your host Nicolas Vereecke to discuss;
-
Google’s response to Epic Games with ‘Project Hug’
-
How to successfully build a fully remote organisation
-
Supercell’s new game Everdale
As this week’s bonus segment, we introduce Pitch your dream game. Panelists get a short time to pitch the game they would love to play, regardless of current technological limitations.
If you have a question you’d like answered on the podcast, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
If you’d like more content, check us out at www.naavik.co. You can also find us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
In this Metacast Interview episode, we had the pleasure of interviewing Josh Williams, CEO of Forte. Forte is building end-to-end infrastructure solutions that enable game developers to more easily build, launch, and manage blockchain games. We discuss why blockchain games matter, how Forte works, the company’s vision and plans for the future, and best practices for designing blockchain games.
Enjoy his conversation with Naavik's own Aaron Bush!
If you would like us to interview anyone else (or you have something interesting to share), do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
If you’d like more content, check us out at www.naavik.co. You can also find us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
Will Activision Blizzard be able to correct its culture issues? What does Android need to do to overtake iOS? What’s up with Ariana Grande and Fortnite? Why should Ubisoft and Spotify merge??
Answers to these questions, and a whole lot of very bold predictions in this week’s Roundtable!
In this Metacast episode, Aaron Bush, Matej Lancaric and Yonatan Raz-Fridman are joined by your host Nicolas Vereecke to discuss;
-
Activision’s Q2 results
-
Android’s moves in the mobile gaming industry
-
Ariana Grande in Fortnite
As this week’s bonus segment, we do another round of Would you rather? In the games industry
If you have a question you’d like answered on the podcast, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
If you’d like more content, check us out at www.naavik.co. You can also find us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
Talewind is a new, UK studio building a social sandbox RPG that’s exclusive to the Roblox platform. Founded by Mike Allender and Georgina Felce at the beginning of the year, the studio completed the Roblox Accelerator program and closed an Angel investment round of $800k to support their ambitions to build high quality, professional games for metaverse platforms. In this conversation, Mike & Georgina discuss why they’re building Roblox, the importance of social-first games, and how to build a strong company culture and community.
If you would like us to interview anyone else (or you have something interesting to share), do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
If you’d like more content, check us out at www.naavik.co. You can also find us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
Why is Ubisoft investing in Free-to-Play games? What were the biggest games deals for the first half of this year? Why did Jam City REALLY cancel its SPAC?
Answers to these questions and more in this week’s Roundtable!
In this Metacast episode, Nicolas Vereecke is joined by Aaron Bush, Anton Gorodetsky and Grigory Bortnik to discuss;
-
Ubisoft’s shift in strategy
-
InvestGame’s H1 2021 Game Deal Report
-
Jam City’s cancelled SPAC
As this week’s bonus segment, we introduce the popular party game “Would you rather?” inthe games industry
If you have a question you’d like answered on the podcast, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
If you’d like more content, check us out at www.naavik.co. You can also find us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
In this first Metacast Interview, we have the pleasure of speaking with Moritz Baier-Lentz, partner at BITKRAFT Ventures, with Nicolas Vereecke hosting.
We start our conversation with Moritz’s experiences as a professional esports athlete and investment banker in the gaming industry. We then shift our focus to his work at BITKRAFT. Moritz lays out BITKRAFT’s thesis around “Synthetic Reality”, business models he’s particularly interested in, and technologies he’s keeping an eye on. Finally, he shares some tips for aspiring gaming entrepreneurs, gives us his view on the future of gaming, and ends with a spicy prediction.
If you would like us to interview anyone else (or you have something interesting to share), do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
If you’d like more content, check us out at www.naavik.co. You can also find us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
What are the different ways to invest in the Play-to-Earn space? Should Facebook’s Metaverse aspirations concern us? How big is the threat of the Chinese Government? Answers to these questions and more on this week’s Roundtable!
In this Metacast episode, Nicolas Vereecke is joined by Piers Kicks, Abhimanyu Kumar and Yonatan Raz-Fridman to discuss;
-
How investors can gain exposure to the booming #Playtoearn space
-
Why Facebook wants to become a Metaverse company, and whether that's a good thing
-
The threat of the Chinese government over games companies
As this week’s bonus segment, we do another round of bold predictions!
If you have a question you’d like answered on the podcast, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
If you’d like more content, check us out at www.naavik.co. You can also find us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
Why is Netflix moving into games? Will the Steam Deck be successful? How do you acquire users for a Blockchain game? Find out on this week’s roundtable!!!
In this Metacast episode, Nicolas Vereecke is joined by Jayne Peressini, Matej Lancaric and Aaron Bush to discuss;
-
Netflix’ entry into video games.
-
Valve’s announcement of the Steam Deck, a handheld gaming PC.
-
How to approach User Acquisition for Play-to-Earn games like Axie Infinity or Gala Games.
If you have a question you’d like answered on the podcast, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
If you’d like more content, check us out at www.masterthemeta.com. You can also find us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
How sustainable is the Play-to-Earn business model? Is it a Ponzi Scheme? Or is it the future of gaming? Find out on this week’s Roundtable episode!
In this Metacast episode, Nicolas Vereecke is joined by David Amor, Miikka Ahonen, Florian Ziegler and Anton Gorodetsky to discuss;
-
The sustainability of the Play-to-Earn model with games like Axie Infinity
-
The past and future of instant games
As today’s bonus segment, we have some more Bold Predictions, where panelists give us their spicy takes on the future of the video game industry.
If you have a question you’d like answered on the podcast, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
If you’d like more content, check us out at www.masterthemeta.com. You can also find us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
This week's Metacast episode is a banger!
We are proud to debut crypto expert and BITKRAFT's own Piers Kicks as part of our roundtable team! He's joined by Gala Games' Jayne, and Naavik's Aaron and Nico to discuss:
-
The newly emerging Play-to-Earn model, focusing on companies like Axie Infinity and Gala Games
-
The big moves Facebook is making in the VR space race
As today’s bonus segment, we introduce Bold Predictions, where panelists make a prediction about the future of the video game industry.
If you have a question you’d like answered on the podcast, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
If you’d like more content, check us out at www.masterthemeta.com. You can also find us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
In this Metacast episode, Nico is joined by David and Florian to discuss;
-
The benefits and drawbacks of using Blockchain in games
-
E3: The good, the bad and the ugly
-
Gaming subscriptions, the future of game monetization?
As today’s bonus segment, we play 'Pitch the game, mobile version'!
If you have a question you’d like answered on the podcast, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
If you’d like more content, check us out at www.masterthemeta.com. You can also find us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
In this Metacast episode, Nico is joined by Manyu, Matej and Florian to discuss -
-
First Time User Experience (FTUE), what HD/Console game developers can learn from Mobile games best practices
-
The future of Cloud gaming and Massive Interactive Live Events
-
Trends in the development of Ad Creatives
We also introduce a new bonus segment, a game called 'Overrated/Underrated'.
You find the post Matej refers to here. And our deep dive on MILEs here.
If you have a question you’d like answered on the podcast, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
If you’d like more content, check us out at www.masterthemeta.com. You can also find us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
In this Metacast episode, Nico is joined by Aaron, Yon and Anton to discuss -
-
The future of Roblox and why video game developers might consider building on UGC platforms
-
How different companies build ecosystems around their offerings and leverage them to succeed in bigger way
-
Embracer Group's last earnings report, plus the sustainability of its M&A-focused growth strategy
We also introduce a new segment, called 'Pitch the game', where the panelists try to convince Nico to try out a game of their choosing.
If you have a question you’d like answered on the podcast, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
If you’d like more content, check us out at www.masterthemeta.com. You can also find us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
In this marketing heavy Metacast episode, Nico and Manyu are joined by Jayne, Matej and Florian to discuss -
- How Player Networks might hold the key to User Acquisition growth in a post-IDFA world
- How UA can be used to validate game concepts in the early stages of game development and derisk the business overall
If you have a question you’d like answered on the podcast, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
If you’d like more content, check us out at www.masterthemeta.com. You can also find us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
In The Metacast’s maiden episode, Nico is joined by Aaron, Manyu and Sergey to discuss -
- The data gold mine unveiled in the Apple vs Epic court case
- Is content king in the gaming industry? The power of platforms and ecosystems
- A future outlook on AppLovin
If you have a question you’d like answered on the podcast, do reach out at metacast@naavik.co. We’d love to hear your general thoughts and feedback too!
And as always, if you like the episode, you can help others find us by leaving a rating or review!
If you’d like more content, check us out at www.masterthemeta.com. You can also find us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.