Giving the Game Away?: Recent Episodes
Admix
Bi-Weekly podcast exploring the gaming world with Sam and Ian at Admix. Admix is an In-Play advertising platform that lets you place ads inside your game scenes. Think replacing an in-game billboard with a real life advert - it generates revenue for the developer, but is as non-intrusive as a real life billboard is on a walk through a city. We're committed to helping devs however we can, and creating player friendly advertising solutions is a big part of that.
GameBake is a mobile game publisher and a fantastic distribution technology, and we were lucky enough to sit down with their CEO Michael Hudson to talk all things gaming. We touch on monetization, distribution, and the relationship between a publisher and a developer. And, of course, we had to ask Michael about In-Play too.
There are some fantastic tips in here for devs and publishers alike.
If you want to find out more about GameBake, check them out here: https://www.gamebake.io/
NFTs, or Non-Fungible-Tokens, are the hottest thing right now since... Well, not sliced bread because that IS fungible. Pokemon cards? Anyway, they're an amazing revolution in the digital space but where they are right now has a fatal flaw... Listen in to find out exactly what that is.
In another special interview episode, we sit down with the studio that brought you fantastic mobile games like Ultimate Car Driving Simulator, and Ultimate Offroad Simulator.
Caglar Bozkut, UA and Monetization Manager at SirStudios, discusses the history of the studio, the nature of making standout racing games on mobile, and his views on the future of mobile monetization.
It's a really fantastic listen, and we hope you enjoy.
A very exciting episode this week where Sam and Ian discuss Admix's new partnership with a global leader in ad verification: Integral Ad Sciences, or IAS.
"Ad verification?" you might be asking. "That sounds complicated, and something that I as a game developer just don't need to care about." Usually, you might be right. But with In-Play leading the way in ad verification in non-intrusive ad formats in games, you could be set to boost your revenue, brand interest in your games, and help to establish gaming as the next titan-sized media channel that it's already on the path to be.
You should listen to this one.
In this special Q&A episode, we sit down with Do Dreams and take a deep dive into the design and monetisation of Drive Ahead! We touch on everything from where the game began, to how Do Dreams are using In-Play ads to prepare for a cookie-less future, and even to Erik's personal secret to living a happier life.
Erik's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epkoski/
Do Dreams: https://dodreams.com/
Drive Ahead!: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dodreams.driveahead&hl=en_GB&gl=US
Into music:
Covert Affair by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3558-covert-affair
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
This week, Sam and Ian toss their collective hats into this hot topic with a unique perspective: that of a non-intrusive advertiser's. Admix as a company is dedicated to player first advertising, and - as an apparently pro-consumer move - the death of the IDFA must only be a great thing for us, right?
If only life were that simple...
This week, Sam and Ian talk about some of the fantastic publisher partnerships that Admix has had and the learnings that each one has given us along the way. Everything from amazing insights into In-Play retention to how non-intrusive advertising can pump up a game's LTV!
And perhaps the real learning is the friendships we made along the way...
It's mostly the data and statistics though.
That's right, the world's first in-depth look at the advertising solution of the future is here! In-Play is a game changer in so many ways, and this report dives into how working devs today feel about it. This podcast gives a behind the scenes breakdown of why we got the results we got.
Action games are a lot like hypercasual games when it comes to monetisation, but the people who play them are different in a couple of key ways. This week, we discuss the psychology of action game players and what that means for the business model of the entire genre.
Hypercasual games have always had challenges when it comes to retention. The business model is slowly changing because of that limitation, and we chat about how hypercasual will change on a design level AND monetisation level to beat that challenge. Will either of those changes hypercharge the genre's revenue?
2020 was a shockingly good year for player friendly advertising considering how awful it was otherwise. But that makes sense: people needed fun distractions more than ever, and they definitely didn't need intrusive ads. This week, Sam and Ian look back at 2020's In-Play progress and look forward to what 2021 might bring.
We talk about programmatic advertising in gaming all the time here, but we've never gotten into the nitty gritty of what programmatic means. What is programmatic advertising? Why is programmatic advertising so important for gaming? What is the future of programmatic advertising?
WOW do we love saying programmatic advertising, or what?
Games are changing, and some of them aren't even really games anymore but basically 3D versions of the internet.. Second Life was a pioneer in that, and Fortnite is a huge new name that's gone from a game to a place where people do all sorts of things.
In this podcast we talk about the big examples of games as platforms today, what qualities make them platforms,. and what the future of games as platforms might be.
In this week's Giving The Game Away? we talk about how social media is fading away, highlight some interesting sociology, AND talk about how gaming might fill the need that social media currently isn't.
As it turns out, people just don't seem to be craving tons of connections anymore. Gone are the days of needing endless friends, likes, and posts. Now, it seems that people want quality of connection over quantity, which makes gaming the perfect social media for tomorrow.
We're welcoming Paul West from the one and only Fumb Games today! Paul has some great insights on the world of monetisation, game dev, and an exciting new genre that Fumb Games calls 'hyperidle'.
Facebook recently forced Quest users to login and sign up with a Facebook account instead of their Oculus acount. This was not good news for a lot of people, but Quest 2 sales were still incredibly strong. What impact will this have in the long run? Is it even an issue at all?
All that and more, right here.
Somnium Space is an amazing platform using blockchain to create an incredible metaverse: a 3D joined space where you can socialise, create, build, and trade. Imagine a 3D internet.
In this episode, we talk Somnium Space, the multiverse of metaverses, and how monetising the world of the future HAS to be different. Plus, how the metaverse might be one of the best investments you can make...
Admix 2.0 is out! It’s been an amazing journey and this is a big update to our in-play solution, so we wanted to talk about the features and the history of Admix itself.
There are some surprises, there’s a lot of chat around non-intrusive advertising, and there’s even some lessons for any entrepreneurs listening.
A guide on how an indie dev can make a brand for their games, and why it might just be the best thing you do for your game.
Okay, that might seem like an extreme statement - but marketing plays such a huge part in an indie title’s success, and is one of the most overlooked departments in smaller studios. Be an indie that stands out, but you absolutely don’t need to spend any money to do that.
Brand advertising vs performance advertising. A surprisingly important topic for indie devs and large studios alike, and the balance that each one has between brand advertising and performance advertising can massively influence their success.
But before this description gets ahead of itself, this episode is all about what brand advertising vs performance advertising is, why they’re both important despite so much focus being on performance right now, and what devs can do try and find that balance.
Data. Scary? Maybe. Not scary? Also maybe. Love it or hate it, data is a defining part of our life in the modern world so why not make it work for you? For example, by choosing what game to make next with data driven methods…
This week, Sam and Ian discuss just that! They run through the tools and top tips to help you make a game with the best chance of success possible, and cheaply.
Mixed genre. Hybrid genre. Multi-genre. There are lots of names for what this week's topic is, and it only gets more complex when you start mixing actual game titles on top of that like Metroidvanias and Roguelikes/Roguelites.
These hybrid games don’t get much attention in the mobile gaming market, but they might be key for the future of the industry. More importantly, they are an amazing way for indie developers to stand out compared to the big dogs at the top of the app store charts.
And that’s exactly what Sam and Ian cover this time around.
The Apple vs Epic (vs Google) clash has sent ripples throughout the entire industry, and it just isn't stopping. From Apple accusing Epic of marketing the court case, to Epic accusing Apple of cherry picking data to suit their defence. There's no two ways about it, Epic vs Apple is one of the most discussed topics in the industry of late...
Which is why we're also discussing it! This week, we get into what the whole Epic vs Apple thing is, who is in the right, whether you can trust this antitrust, and the philosophy of this whole problem in the first place. It's an intense one.
This week Sam & Ian discuss 5 more psychology tips & tricks to entice users to play your game!
In a world where user acquisition is more important than ever, you NEED to know what makes someone play your game 🚀
What motivates gamers to actually play your game? Are gamers motivated differently and what models are there to measure that? How does gamer motivation change how you design and monetise your game?
Player motivation is one of the most important lesser-known parts of game design, and this week Sam and Ian give you the full run-down so you can be in the know!
Sam is joined by Mickey Torode from Perp Games this week to discuss, learn, and celebrate his place in the early days of in-game advertising.
Admix is absolutely not the first to be putting ads in games to give less intrusive advertising to players. We're doing things differently, but it's the history of the format that really highlights how interesting an option it is for modern devs. With experience of everywhere from Microtime to Perp Games, Mickey gives fantastic insight on in-game advertising that you really can't find anywhere else.
Idle games. Shockingly addictive number increasing simulators where most of the gameplay is, unsurprisingly, idle. But these idle games are incredible for engagement, retention, and monetisation, and we think their future is the exact opposite of idle.
This week, Sam and Ian give you the full rundown on idle games - the past, the present, the business, and the future.
In this week's episode of 'Giving The Game Away?', Sam and Ian chat the future of consoles & what to expect.
In this week's episode of 'Giving The Game Away?', Sam and Ian chat the future of advertising & the effects that Apple's latest IOS14 IDFA policy changes will have.
The history of game monetisation is a long one, starting way back in the arcades. Monetisation today seems to be in a crazy, chaotic place but history shows that it's actually just going in a huge circle - back to that arcade monetisation strategy.
In this week's episode of Giving The Game Away? Sam and Ian go through about 60 years of monetisation progress. And what do they find? That there hasn't been as much progress as you might think...
Hypercasual games are a huge industry. They're hyper-accessible, hyper-addictive, and hyper-profitable for studios who specialise in them. But hypercasual games have been losing growth lately, so can this titan of a genre survive for much longer?
In this week's episode of Giving The Game Away?, Sam and Ian chat the past, present, and likely future of hypercasual games.
Network Effects. Genuinely one of the most important things to big tech today, and most game devs haven't even heard of them. On Giving The Game Away? this week, Sam and Ian discuss what network effects are, why they matter, and how network effects are getting more and more important for game devs.
Giving The Game Away?
Sam and Ian discuss 5 of the biggest psychology tricks that a huge amount of successful mobile games use. The craziest part is just how subtle these psychology tricks are, with most players not even realising why they're tempted to spend money in games. Most devs aren't aware of them either because the tricks are now commonplace industry-standard monetisation design.
As soon as you know the tricks and the psychology behind them, you will notice them absolutely everywhere.