x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

Naavik Gaming Podcast

The Naavik Gaming Podcast 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.

business video games

All Episodes

60:21

Web3 Innovation with Mirai Labs

Naavik Gaming Podcast ·

2024/08/02

One of the biggest web3 hits of 2022, the horse racing game Pegaxy, generated over $200 million in sales, second only to Axie Infinity during that period. After building heads down during the crypto bear market through the end of the 2023, the company behind Pegaxy, Mirai Labs, is ready to ride again, now with its second game, Petopia, a top-down roguelite shooter. With its fresh and innovative take on guilds, fractional ownership of teams, and passive income, Petopia is looking to

en

59:25

The State of Adaptive Gaming

Naavik Gaming Podcast ·

2024/07/26

There are 3B gamers in the world, and many of those players have disabilities. Often called “accessibility” or “adaptive gaming”, this is one of the most important topics (and markets) in the gaming industry. From mobility, visual, and hearing impairments to cognitive and speech impairments, the industry has begun making strides in addressing how we can enable as many people as possible to access gaming experiences, plus interpret and perceive the content as intended. Alexander Dunn,

en

53:15

The Past, Present, & Future of KidTech

Naavik Gaming Podcast ·

2024/07/19

Online safety for kids has only become more important over time, and it's become a thorny compliance topic for games teams to wrestle with. Fortunately, talented entrepreneurs are creating solutions that make it easier for games teams (and beyond) to tackle these challenges. To help explore this nuanced topic, host Aaron Bush is joined by Kieran Donovan, co-founder and CEO of k-ID (which recently raised a $45M Series A, led by Lightspeed and a16z), as well as Dylan Collins, serial

en

67:44

The Next Era of Voice Games

Naavik Gaming Podcast ·

2024/07/12

Voice games have had a quiet history compared to mobile, console, and the PC gaming arena. However, Lightspeed and Microsoft’s M12 Ventures see Volley Games as a leader and game changer in the space, co-leading a $55M Series C on the backs of solid MAU and ARR. Our host, Alexandra Takei, Director at Ruckus Games, speaks with Max Child, CEO and Co-Founder of Volley, about the history of voice games, the current market, and the AI inflection point that enables experiences that were once

en

51:42

Inside Voodoo’s #1 Hit: The Story of Mob Control’s...

Naavik Gaming Podcast ·

2024/07/09

Mobile gaming is a tough business, but Voodoo has been able to evolve with the times. After years of pioneering hypercasual, the company has more recently set its sights on making casual mobile games with deeper metas and monetization tactics. This pivot sparked major changes across the organization, but it’s already led to major hits – the largest of which is Mob Control, which surpassed the $200M revenue barrier and is still climbing.In order to learn the full story of Mob Control, host

en

63:41

Building a Thriving Casual Word Games Business in a...

Naavik Gaming Podcast ·

2024/07/05

Casual word games is a tough, tough category to compete in on mobile. Not only is it a very crowded red ocean, but casual games are notoriously hard to monetize effectively through IAPs, making user acquisition even more difficult than it already is in the post-IDFA world. That said, Funcraft is making it work in their favor, building a thriving, growing business with an expanding portfolio of games and with the ability to spend profitably, at scale, on user acquisition. With a small team

en

46:53

AdTech Evolution: Navigating the Privacy-First Frontier

Naavik Gaming Podcast ·

2024/07/02

Between Apple’s policy changes and growing government regulations, privacy concerns have sparked a significant shift in AdTech strategies. This episode investigates the potential for privacy-focused ads, exploring how companies are adapting to new regulations while still striving for effective targeting. Host Devin Becker is joined by Geeshan Willink, CEO of Nefta, to dig into the complexities of maintaining anonymity and its implications for the gaming industry.Geeshan shares insights on

en

55:33

Queen’s Gambit: The Big Business of Chess.com

Naavik Gaming Podcast ·

2024/06/29

Chess is a business that has, without a doubt, been supercharged by linear media and has been booming since COVID-19. As one of the most tactically complex games ever designed, Chess has over 700 years of retention and history. But what is it like to build a chess empire? Chess.com, purchased by Erik Allebest and his co-founder for $55K in 2005, has built a web and mobile platform with over 170M raw accounts, 50M monthly active users, and 5-7M daily active users. Join our host, Alexandra

en

43:47

Toys x Games (with Spin Master)

Naavik Gaming Podcast ·

2024/06/25

Major toy companies like Spin Master, Mattel, and Hasbro have all been expanding their influence beyond traditional toys for many years. Spin Master, in particualr, is known for launching popular entertainment properties like PAW Patrol and Bakugan, which have seamlessly transitioned into digital formats in the form of TV series, movies, and video games. Spin Master has also been unafraid to acquire properties when it sees a strategic opportunity, such as its 2016 acquisition of Toca Boca,

en

53:19

The State of China’s Gaming Market

Naavik Gaming Podcast ·

2024/06/21

China is the second largest video game market in the world, and even though its industry has faced domestic challenges, China’s global impact on gaming continues to rise. However, if you’re an outsider, figuring out what’s happening in China can sometimes be opaque. That’s why host Aaron Bush is joined today by Josh Ye, a long-time reporter for all things gaming and tech in China.We dig into how China’s gaming market became massive over the past couple decades and how its current ecosystem

en

66:42

The Business of Cloud and Game Servers

Naavik Gaming Podcast ·

2024/06/14

Apex Legends is known for having one of the most “boring” game launches in history in the best of ways. Jokingly called Uptime Legends, Apex pursued a multi-tiered cloud infrastructure that helped EA deliver one of the smoothest PvP launches in history. Sid Dhulipalla, CEO and Co-Founder of Hathora, and Steven Hartland, VP of Engineering at Rocket Science, join our host, Alex Takei, Director at Ruckus Games, to discuss the role of cloud and server orchestration in the distribution of modern

en

56:28

Content Creators Influence Game Dev

Naavik Gaming Podcast ·

2024/06/11

As the world of gaming matures, the influence of content creators and influencers is increasingly important. In this episode, host Devin Becker sits down with Justin Sacks, CEO of Nexus, and Bryan Herren, Director of Partnerships for Off Brand, to dive into the pivotal role of content creators in shaping the gaming ecosystem. The conversation kicks off with an exploration of the origins and current endeavors of Nexus and Off Brand. As the discussion unfolds, Justin and Bryan illuminate the

en

58:08

The Next Era of Modding - with Overwolf, Studio...

Naavik Gaming Podcast ·

2024/06/07

Modding has long been a force of innovation and creativity in the games industry, but the emergence of cross-platform, premium mods is set to take modding to another level. Thanks to platforms like Overwolf’s CurseForge, studios and publishers can now enable all sorts of creators — even other professional studios — to build on top of their games and get rewarded for doing so. This new technical and economic unlock is poised to take UGC gaming to even higher heights and is a compelling

en

46:50

New York Times Games, From Strength to Strength

Naavik Gaming Podcast ·

2024/06/04

The New York Times is one of the world’s most recognized newspapers and has been in circulation since 1851. With 10 million subscribers, the Times has a huge audience and an even larger cultural impact. But the Gray Lady isn’t content to just rest on her laurels and focus on news - other verticals in which the Times operates are product reviews (The Wirecutter), sports (through their 2022 acquisition of The Athletic), cooking, and, of course, games. In addition to their home-grown casual

en

68:06

AI-Powered Quality Assurance

Naavik Gaming Podcast ·

2024/05/31

Quality assurance is one of the most crucial aspects of game development to ensure the game functions as intended and to provide a positive player experience. Around $300M in funding has been directed towards AI “efficiency tools for creators” and Christoffer Holmgard, Founder of Modl.AI, and Nathan Martz, Founder of Agentic, are pushing the frontier of how AI can enhance and streamline QA processes. From “players as a service” to functional load testing, your host Alexandra Takei, Director

en

57:25

Yuga Labs: 1 Year After Dookey Dash

Naavik Gaming Podcast ·

2024/05/28

Yuga Labs, the heavyweight behind some of the biggest Web3 IP, including Bored Ape Yacht Club, CryptoPunks, and Meebits, made its first foray into games just over a year ago with its toilet-themed infinite runner, Dookey Dash. Now Yuga is here with a sequel called Dookey Dash: Unclogged, and there are a lot of innovations from the original - the most important of which are that it is not token-gated, and it is mobile. The game was developed in partnership with one of the earliest Web3 game

en

55:59

Unpacking Krafton’s Strategy: PUBG, New IPs,...

Naavik Gaming Podcast ·

2024/05/24

Krafton is one of the world’s premier video game publishers. After experiencing the explosive success of PUBG in the late 2010s, Krafton rebranded in 2018, went public in 2021, and has since been working to not just extend the PUBG brand to new games, platforms, and regions but also kickstart new IPs with innovative playstyles and partner with emerging developers around the world.To dig into the details, host Aaron Bush is joined by Maria Park, who currently serves as Head of Corporate

en

55:50

Mastering the Roblox Meta

Naavik Gaming Podcast ·

2024/05/22

Roblox is approaching 350M monthly active users. It’s a platform that generated $3.3B in bookings last year and paid $740M to its developers and creators. The low barriers to entry for developers and immediate access to an audience of 350M players has made it an appealing proposition for indie developers. According to Roblox’s most recent estimate, however, there are over 5M developers on Roblox, which makes it incredibly competitive and difficult to stand out. Furthermore, the nuanced

en

56:59

Mastering Crowdfunding Campaigns

Naavik Gaming Podcast ·

2024/05/17

In an era of games where the financing sources are slim and marketing and community can make or break your game launch, your host Alexandra Takei, Director at Ruckus Games, welcomes Tim Morten and Cara LaForge, CEO and Director of Business Operations respectively at Frost Giant Studios, to discuss their experiences in running a widely successful crowd financing campaign on Kickstarter ($2.4M, 2280% over target, with >$28K backers for an average wallet size of $85) and a crowd equity

en

54:16

Guild of Guardians, Immutable’s Next Web3 Flagship Game?

Naavik Gaming Podcast ·

2024/05/14

Guild of Guardians is Immutable’s second major game after Gods Unchained, and is one of the most anticipated web3 games of 2024 - Immutable has called it their new “flagship game” and has been preparing for a global May 15th launch. After starting out as a real-time RPG, the game pivoted to a more casual auto-battler 15 months ago, driven by Gods Unchained and formerly Magic the Gathering: Arena Design Director Chris Clay. Guild of Guardians is one of the first games on Immutable’s new

en

413 results

Similar Podcasts

TaxTalent.com The Golden Rule Podcast

Adam Golden

TaxTalent.com Podcast

Tony Santiago

Handelsblatt Crime - spannende Streitfälle der deutschen Wirtschaft

Ina Karabasz, Solveig Gode, Sönke Iwersen

Deffner und Zschäpitz – Der Wirtschafts-Talk von WELT

WELT

Black Box - La scatola nera della finanza

Guido Brera e Gian Luca Comandini -...