PocketGamer.biz Podcast

Deceptive and disturbing ads are gutting your game. Recent reports found that nearly 60% of mobile gamers have encountered creatives that blatantly misrepresent gameplay and more than half of all games are uninstalled within 30 days. Simply put, bad ads are bad for business. Alex Yerukhimovich, Head of AppHarbr, likens locating and blocking these creatives as a game of whac-a-mole—exhausting, time-consuming, and ultimately something you can’t win on your own. To get you out of this spiral and back into the driver’s seat, AppHarbr manages and eliminates these ads for you before they hit the screen. Alex takes the mic this week to tell Peggy and Brian how AppHarbr's SDK and ad management platform, powered by GeoEdge, gives power back to the publishers, allowing them to control which ads appear alongside their games. He's joined by Vincent Février, CMO at TapNation. Together, the two break down the types of bad ads, how they affect game performance, and how AppHarbr helps publishers to police and put a stop to poor-quality ads before a user sees them.

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro 

03:20 - Types of bad ads

07:32 - Most harmful ads for publishers

12:12 - Side effects of bad ads 

20:25 - How AppHarbr helps publishers to police 

26:40 - Putting your foot down

30:05 -  AppHarbr's services to fight bad ads

32:47 - How to create ads policy and audit

35:55 - Games studios should make games

37:56 - Vincent's advice to publishers

40:10 - Favourite games Q&A

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** Let's Connect **

👉🏻 Twitter - https://twitter.com/pgbiz 

👉🏻 LinkedIn Group - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/144491/ 

��🏻 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PGbiz 

👉🏻 Website - https://www.pocketgamer.biz 

Check out more world-class speakers sharing their insights and expertise at one of our events. You can find details of our next event here - https://www.pgconnects.com/next-event

For smaller studios, building long-term relationships with ad networks is crucial. This means asking the right questions, leveraging the right data, and utilising all available resources effectively. Sergey Sukhov, Chief Business Development Officer at AdQuantum—a performance marketing agency that offers unique support to smaller game studios on top of traditional UA services—offers his advice for nailing all three in this episode. Alongside our hosts, Peggy Anne Salz and Brian Baglow, Sergey shares exactly what studios should bring to the negotiating table and how to obtain the right data from ad partners to know for certain whether to keep or kill your game. What's more, he breaks down Ad Quantum's bespoke solutions tailored to studios of all sizes and the creative format that outperforms all others.

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

02:17 - What does AdQuantum do?

04:35 - Tactics and questions for smaller studios

10:20 - Studios biggest challenges

12:15 - Navigating negotiations

15:20 - Building relationships with ad networks

20:35 - Get creative about creatives

24:15 - Formats that perform well

26:08 - AI for measurement

28:28 - Metrics that matter

30:00 - Emerging trends

32:20 - Favourite games Q&A

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** Let's Connect **

👉🏻 Twitter - https://twitter.com/pgbiz 

👉🏻 LinkedIn Group - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/144491/ 

👉🏻 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PGbiz 

👉🏻 Website - https://www.pocketgamer.biz 

Check out more world-class speakers sharing their insights and expertise at one of our events. You can find details of our next event here - https://www.pgconnects.com/next-event

Whether it’s webshops, alternative app stores or multiplatform, the race to find more ways to get your game in front of more users is real—and so is the competitive edge you achieve if the channels you choose put the player experience first. In this episode, we zoom in on InMobi Group’s Nostra, a platform revolutionising game publishing and development in Southeast Asia and India by creating snackable, instant gaming experiences—all on your phone’s lock screen. It’s a unique offering and a crowd-pleaser, according to the numbers. Nostra, powered by the Glance, dominates the region, boasting a roster of 500+ games and 100M+ monthly active users. Deepak Venkatramani, Vice President of Business & Operations at Glance, steps onto the show this week to tell Peggy and Brian how Nostra offers any game access to players anywhere in the world, allowing them to scale fast and win big. Felicity, a studio that gained 1M+ MAUs with a three-person team, shares its success story with Nostra. Felicity Founder and CEO Anurag Choudhary joins the episode to share how Nostra’s rapid feedback features and fee-free access to players across the globe literally change the game for his studio and hundreds more across the globe. 

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

03:55 - What is Nostra?

08:00 - How lock screen gaming increases engagement

10:00 - Nostra scaling games

14:15 - Rapid feedback affecting process

18:00 - Impact on developer ecosystem

22:20 - What makes Nostra different?

25:24 - Going global  

28:50 - Expanding the pie

33:24 - Advice for smaller studios

35:00 - Favourite games Q&A

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** Let's Connect **

👉🏻 Twitter - https://twitter.com/pgbiz 

👉🏻 LinkedIn Group - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/144491/ 

👉🏻 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PGbiz 

👉🏻 Website - https://www.pocketgamer.biz 

Check out more world-class speakers sharing their insights and expertise at one of our events. You can find details of our next event here - https://www.pgconnects.com/next-event

Monster IP may require a monster budget, but smaller studios can still tap into cultural trends to perform well in the app stores—provided they know the right questions to ask and licensors to pitch. Enric Pedró, SVP of Marketing at Tilting Point, gives us all the answers about IP ahead of his studio's upcoming release, Godzilla vs. Kong: Titan Chasers. From overlooked sources of IP to the tools you need to start integrating product placement in your games, Enric reveals everything studios need to consider when launching a game with intellectual property. Whether you’re an indie developer looking to make a splash or a seasoned pro looking for fresh strategies, this episode is packed with actionable insights to level up your studio and leverage IP in your mobile games.

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

01:28 - How Enric got into games

03:49 - Working with monster IP

05 - Smaller studios can leverage IP

10:31 - Value of IP

16:02 - Overlooked sources of IP 

22:18 - What do you need to start?

28:55 - How to talk to licensors

33:26 - Product placement

36:09 - Keeping your team on track

45:30 - Favourite games Q&A

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** Let's Connect **

👉🏻 Twitter - https://twitter.com/pgbiz 

👉🏻 LinkedIn Group - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/144491/ 

👉🏻 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PGbiz 

👉🏻 Website - https://www.pocketgamer.biz 

Check out more world-class speakers sharing their insights and expertise at one of our events. You can find details of our next event here - https://www.pgconnects.com/next-event

This week’s guest estimates that studios spend an average of $21 million and three years developing their own backend. With Metaplay, you can do it in two weeks. Peggy Anne Salz and Brian Baglow sit down with Teemu Haila, Co-Founder and CPO of Metaplay, to share how the brand scales smaller studios and saves them $1 million per year with one SDK.

Teemu dives into the tech, explaining how Metaplay’s solution offers the infrastructure to successfully scale live service Unity C# games, facilitates smooth real-time interactions, and ensures a safe and fair player experience by making your game 100% secure from cheaters and bots.

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

01:20 - Teemu's journey into games

05:46 - Scales as a service 

08:30 - 4 pillars of scaling  

11:57 - Strategies for a larger player base

15:20 - How studios succeed during layoffs

19:46 - Building around live-ops 

28:40 - A flexible studio culture

31:20 - A live-or-die market

33:18 - Metaplay's growth blueprint

36:29 - Making cheating impossible

39:32 - Working with Metaplay

43:15 - Favourite games Q&A

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** Let's Connect **

👉🏻 Twitter - https://twitter.com/pgbiz 

👉🏻 LinkedIn Group - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/144491/ 

👉🏻 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PGbiz 

👉🏻 Website - https://www.pocketgamer.biz 

Check out more world-class speakers sharing their insights and expertise at one of our events. You can find details of our next event here - https://www.pgconnects.com/next-event

A leaner team paves the way for a smarter UA strategy—a must-have for studios with a broad portfolio like Gazeus Games. Estela Dos Santos Rocha, Marketing Coordinator at Gazeus, tips her hand to share the savvier steps any marketer can take to make the most out of their tight-knit team, from attracting the awareness of attention whales to playing to the preferences of old and new users alike. After that, our host, Peggy Anne Salz, dives deep into growing and re-engaging mobile app consumers with Aman Sareen, CEO of Aarki. Aman breaks down the Aarki rebrand, reveals the metrics that really matter, and surprises us with his take on how many partners marketers should work with to move the needle on campaigns—and remain sane.

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Estela Intro

01:58 - Managing UA across a broad portfolio

05:30 - Attention whales

08:15 - What entices players?

09:18 - Estela in her own ads

10:30 - Making the most of a small team

12:48 - Appeasing new and old players

14:33 - What to pay attention to in A/B tests

16:55 - Small step, big career impact

19:25 - Maintaining motivation

21:10 - Aman Intro

22:20 - 3 pillars of the new Aarki

24:00 - More or less partners?

25:35 - What metrics matter?

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** Let's Connect **

👉🏻 Twitter - https://twitter.com/pgbiz 

👉🏻 LinkedIn Group - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/144491/ 

👉🏻 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PGbiz 

👉🏻 Website - https://www.pocketgamer.biz 

Check out more world-class speakers sharing their insights and expertise at one of our events. You can find details of our next event here - https://www.pgconnects.com/next-event

Hybrid monetisation is in, and relying solely on either in-app purchases or ad-driven revenue to power profitability is out. There’s no question that modern monetisation is merging and morphing, so we called in a professional to help us navigate the trends we need to be watching through the rest of the year. Daniel Tchnernahovsky, VP of Global Business Development at AppLovin, sees the games world from a different perspective and shares it all with Peggy Anne Salz and Brian Baglow. One trend on the top of his radar is maximising your LTV by customising your game to player spending habits. “The truth is that patterns of behaviour are a result of design,” Daniel says. The solution: design your game for high retention by sending users to a version of your game that resonates with their preferences. It can be heavy lifting, but Daniel has a few workarounds. To get the lowdown on all of his top trends and no-BS advice, listen in to this episode.

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

02:56 - The growing approach of hybrid monetisation

09:50 - Response from developers on hybrid monetisation

12:05 - How to implement hybrid effectively

16:41 - Non-negotiables on a high-value player

19:15 - Spread your investment

23:26 -  Enabling studios to move to hybrid

25:14 - A different game for every segment 

29:30 - Where else should marketers put their money?

33:20 - AI's place in innovation

36:05 - What is coming that will have a major impact on games?

38:51 - The mindset for hunting whales

41:30 - Favourite games Q&A

** Let's Connect **

👉🏻 Twitter - https://twitter.com/pgbiz 

👉🏻 LinkedIn Group - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/144491/ 

👉🏻 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PGbiz 

👉🏻 Website - https://www.pocketgamer.biz 

Check out more world-class speakers sharing their insights and expertise at one of our events. You can find details of our next event here - https://www.pgconnects.com/next-event

A hit game can harbour hope for an up-and-coming games company. But living up to the game's name and weathering the changing tides of player needs, industry upheavals, and privacy concerns can test the limits of any studio. In this episode, María Sayans, CEO of ustwo games peels back the layers of ustwo’s monumental success, Monument Valley—now celebrating its 10th anniversary and over 160m+ downloads—and offers indie developers concrete advice on cultivating a sustainable studio that can succeed despite any storm. She sheds light on how ustwo games adapts and evolves its keystone game to keep pace with changing player habits and how cross-platform is powering the studio’s success for years to come. 

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CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

01:30 - Who are ustwo games?

05:42 - How Monument Valley shaped games

07:58 - Biggest changes to games audiences

12:30 - Are boomers the biggest gamers?

16:57 -  How ustwo games evolved to match player need

21:08 - Would Monument Valley succeed if launched today?

25:09 - Maria's leadership model

29:00 - How ustwo’s company calendar builds company culture

32:19 - Is premium still a viable model?

35:55 - Why cross-platform?

40:07 - Ustwo’s upcoming releases

43:20 - Favourite games Q&A

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** Let's Connect **

👉🏻 Twitter - https://twitter.com/pgbiz 

👉🏻 LinkedIn Group - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/144491/ 

👉🏻 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PGbiz 

👉🏻 Website - https://www.pocketgamer.biz 

Check out more world-class speakers sharing their insights and expertise at one of our events. You can find details of our next event here - https://www.pgconnects.com/next-event

2024 is turning out to be the year of alternatives. We have the rise of alternative app stores, alternative ads, and a sharp focus on alternative monetization models to maximise revenue potential for gaming studios. Some are mashing up advertising and in-app purchases, while others are tapping strong IP to monetise players' eyeballs. This week, we’re talking about an alternative model that raises the bar for some studios and arguments amongst others—subscription. Teis Anker Mikkelsen, CEO and Co-Founder of Multisctiption—a company offering a cross-publisher subscription service for F2P games—joins hosts Peggy Anne Salz and Brian Baglow again in this episode for a sweeping discussion of subscriptions and how the model inherently increases retention, player re-entry, and in-app spend. He shares tips for creating a friction-free payment experience, addressing subscription fatigue, scaling, and a checklist to determine if a subscription model is the right fit for your game. 

00:00 - Intro

03:11 - Understanding subscriptions in apps

10:42 - Subscription increases retention

13:09 - Creating a friction-free payment experience

15:56 - Addressing subscription fatigue

19:56 - How to smooth the transition to subscription

23:36 - Who is a subscription model best for?

36:07 - How big can you scale subscriptions?

41:34 - How to adapt the model to different players

43:27 - Favourite games Q&A

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** Let's Connect **

👉🏻 Twitter - https://twitter.com/pgbiz 

👉🏻 LinkedIn Group - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/144491/ 

👉🏻 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PGbiz 

👉🏻 Website - https://www.pocketgamer.biz 

Check out more world-class speakers sharing their insights and expertise at one of our events. You can find details of our next event here - https://www.pgconnects.com/next-event

Great games start with a great understanding of gaps in the industry and the factors that play a pivotal role in predicting profitability. This week, we welcome a guest with a keen eye for both and a sixth sense for high-potential startups. Akin Babayigit, Co-Founder and President of Tripledot Studios joins our hosts, Peggy Anne Salz and Brian Baglow. The business side of games is baked into Akin's DNA—a talent that helped him build Tripledot from the ground up and go on to effectively scout out and scale lucrative studios like Dream Games and Luna Labs Limited. In this episode, he shares pages from his playbook on recognizing the signs of commercial success in a specific title and tells Peggy and Brian the specific data points that are most crucial to the decision-making process at Tripledot. Tune into the show for his insights into the unique opportunities for app marketers in Turkey and advice to embrace the new science of performance marketing.

**Chapters**

00:00 - Intro 

01:55 - Akin's background

07:52 - How Tripledot stands out

14:39 - Signs that a game will be a success

28:01 - Market conditions in Turkey

35:18 - Embrace the new science of performance marketing

42:15 - Favourite games Q&A

MENA is a fast-growing gaming territory with high-paying and highly engaged players, but what will it take for the region to gain recognition on the global stage? Our host, Peggy Anne Salz, sits down with a Saudi studio for an insider look into the local opportunities and challenges. Miikka Lindgren, VP of Publishing at Sandsoft—a studio making waves in MENA and displaying impressive growth in a growing industry—shines a light on Sandsoft’s strategic focus on global publishing and its innovative approach to data-driven decision-making that underscores their commitment to sustainable growth. He emphasizes the importance of product as marketing, balancing short-term metrics with long-term growth targets, and staying focused amidst numerous ideas and opportunities in the industry. Plus, he gives us a sneak peek into Sandsoft’s arcade simulation game, Business Dudes. 

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CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

01:14 - Opportunities in MENA

08:23 - Sandsoft grows despite downturns

11:13 - Balancing short-term metrics with long-term growth

13:17 - Don't be afraid to dream big

15:31 - What to learn from Chinese studios

21:44 - Alternative distribution platforms

23:21 - What's next in MENA and for Sandsoft?

30:39 - Favourite games Q&A

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** Let's Connect **

👉🏻 Twitter - https://twitter.com/pgbiz 

👉🏻 LinkedIn Group - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/144491/ 

👉🏻 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PGbiz 

👉🏻 Website - https://www.pocketgamer.biz 

Check out more world-class speakers sharing their insights and expertise at one of our events. You can find details of our next event here - https://www.pgconnects.com/next-event

MENA is a region ripe with opportunities for game industry professionals. Our host, Peggy Anne Salz, sits down with an expert on the area and headline speaker at the GameExpo Summit powered by PG Connects, Kadri Harma. Co-Founder of the investment fund and mentoring program, GameFounders, and Venture Partner at Sisu Game Ventures, Kadri brings her on-the-ground expertise to the show this week, lifting the lid on unlocking the MENA market. She shares the investment opportunities and player behaviour that make the region stand out, the government initiatives that empower the local industry, and the actions indie studios can take to attract the attention of the investor community. Listen in and register now for the GameExpo Summit on May 1-2. 

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

02:57 - Understanding the MENA market

07:57 - MENA's appeal

12:48 - Opportunities for investment

20:36 - Favourite games Q&A

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** Let's Connect **

👉🏻 Twitter - https://twitter.com/pgbiz 

👉🏻 LinkedIn Group - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/144491/ 

👉🏻 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PGbiz 

👉🏻 Website - https://www.pocketgamer.biz 

Check out more world-class speakers sharing their insights and expertise at one of our events. You can find details of our next event here - https://www.pgconnects.com/next-event

Acquiring valuable users is only half the battle. To truly power profitable growth, studios must focus on the smart strategies that retain their users for years rather than days. Faith Price, pioneers this approach in gaming as the Director of Growth Marketing at DoubleDown Interactive, a leading social casino and mobile games studio. She joins host Peggy Anne Salz in this episode to share how she uses lifecycle marketing to extend the lifespan of DoubleDown’s 13-year-old app—and the tips you can implement to do the same for your game. She opens up about her testing tactics and routine and reveals the three steps anyone can take to reinvent themselves during this industry downturn. 

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

01:50 - Determining the features that acquire vs retain

05:36 - Timing and testing communications and community

11:26 - What does the testing routine look like?

12:31- How to reinvent yourself in games

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** Let's Connect **

👉🏻 Twitter - https://twitter.com/pgbiz 

👉🏻 LinkedIn Group - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/144491/ 

👉🏻 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PGbiz 

👉🏻 Website - https://www.pocketgamer.biz 

Check out more world-class speakers sharing their insights and expertise at one of our events. You can find details of our next event here - https://www.pgconnects.com/next-event

In today's noisy, data-constrained market, studios can't afford to splash the cash on multiple soft launches. Instead, they must identify innovative ways to test and validate concepts while keeping their costs low. It's a path stacked with strategic decisions that can seem daunting for smaller studios or leaner teams. In this episode, Peggy Anne Salz links up again with Piyush Mishra, Director of Growth at Product Madness, to learn about his playbook for producing stellar games on a shoestring budget, from concept testing to global launch. He reveals the metrics that matter most when evaluating creative and the questions to ask to effectively greenlight games across genres.

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

03:22 - The creative metrics that matter

08:12 - Using UA to test and validate concepts

11:38 - Keeping costs down during testing

15:36 - Using UA to test gameplay creative

17:29 - Benchmarks for greenlighting a game 

23:15 - Marketing must be there from the start

27:28 - What genres does this work for?

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** Let's Connect **

👉🏻 Twitter - https://twitter.com/pgbiz 

👉🏻 LinkedIn Group - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/144491/ 

👉🏻 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PGbiz 

👉🏻 Website - https://www.pocketgamer.biz 

Check out more world-class speakers sharing their insights and expertise at one of our events. You can find details of our next event here - https://www.pgconnects.com/next-event

For smaller studios on shoestring budgets, diving deep into data can feel daunting. But having a leaner team doesn’t equate to less impressive results—if you have the right tools at your fingertips. When tasked with managing her studio’s UA and monetisation, Clary Xiaodan Zhang, Head of UAM at Elia Games, created a fully customisable, no-code automation system that transforms marketers’ time management and democratises data using two readily available, low-cost tools—Google Sheets and Notion. Clary joins us on this week's show alongside hosts Peggy Anne Salz and Brian Baglow. She explains how her system delivers on three fronts: It serves as a data analytics platform, matches specific actions with campaign performance, and sends smart alerts that tell marketers in minutes the campaigns that need their attention most. Clary reveals how she saves 50 hours/week integrating this automation and shares the blueprint that studios of all sizes can follow to build their own system in-house.

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

04:28 - Balancing UA and monetisation at the same time

05:58 - Clary's no-code solution

08:48 - How Clary's solution helps studios of all sizes

11:10 - AI strengths and weaknesses in UA & monetisation

16:01 - How AI is changing job descriptions

20:52 - Saving 50 hours/week with a no-code solution

24:12 - Disrupting the non-gaming industry

26:47 - Cultivating creativity with Clary's no-code AI

29:40 - How to build a system like Clary

34:48 - Favourite games Q&A

Players who relate to your game are easier to retain. But how do you pinpoint the story that enhances your game’s USP, resonates with your player base and sparks the desire to stay in the game? Deniz Kekeç, Performance Marketing Manager for casual simulation game Sunrise Village at Innogames, has cracked the code with a pioneering approach to UA that she calls “narrative marketing.” It’s a content-driven approach that involves writing a game’s story or enhancing an existing one “in a way that the user can bond with the product themselves.” And it works because the engaging narrative appeals to players’ emotions and builds their preferences into gameplay from the start. In this insightful episode with hosts Peggy Anne Salz and Brian Baglow, Deniz delves into the formula for success and how studios can determine, test and adapt the right narrative for their game. She should know—she tested several, including love stories, mystery yarns and a strange relative with secrets. Curious about the concept that excited players and transformed Sunrise Village’s reach and retention? Well, you’ll have to listen until the end for that. 

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

03:53 - What is narrative marketing?

06:59 - Determining the right narrative

11:33 - Testing the narratives

17:50 - Adapting the narrative to different UA channels

20:53 - Advice for getting started

26:12 - Yoga lessons in marketing

28:55 - What story won? 

30:22 - Favourite games Q&A 

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** Let's Connect **

👉🏻 Twitter - https://twitter.com/pgbiz 

👉🏻 LinkedIn Group - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/144491/ 

👉🏻 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PGbiz 

👉🏻 Website - https://www.pocketgamer.biz 

Check out more world-class speakers sharing their insights and expertise at one of our events. You can find details of our next event here - https://www.pgconnects.com/next-event

Extending a game’s lifespan is every studio’s grand objective, but the path to effective execution is packed with difficult decisions. Studios can lean into Live-Ops to keep content fresh and cultivate profitable partnerships to enhance their marketing mix, or they can centre community management and leverage audience listening. Or, like Innogames, they can do all of the above. Our hosts Peggy Anne Salz and Brian Baglow welcome three guests from Innogames for insider insights into how the studio successfully lengthens the lifespan of their legendary games, Tribal Wars and Forge of Empires, which just reached 20 years of play and hit the one billion lifetime value milestone, respectively, and continuously nets new audiences for both. Matthew Milligan (Product Head), Stefan Flinterhoff (Head of Game UA), and Thorsten Schankin (Senior Product Manager) dive into Innogames' unique approach to UA and company culture—one that puts games first and centres teams around titles instead of channels. They also chat about community engagement and sourcing inspiration from Forge of Empires’ million daily active users. From forecasting tools and Live-Ops to embracing power creep and integrating cross-platform before it was cool, this episode is loaded with useful information for indies and triple-As alike.

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

02:19 - Product and marketing come together

07:19 - Leaning on your community

11:13 - Cross-platform before it was cool

17:52 - In the case of power creep

19:50 - Forecasting tools

25:08 - Community starts internally

28:05 - Constantly testing new partners

30:37 - Staying novel

34:16 - A little more about Matt, Thorsten, and Stefan

38:15 - Favourite games Q&A

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** Let's Connect **

👉🏻 Twitter - https://twitter.com/pgbiz 

👉🏻 LinkedIn Group - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/144491/ 

👉🏻 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PGbiz 

👉🏻 Website - https://www.pocketgamer.biz 

Check out more world-class speakers sharing their insights and expertise at one of our events. You can find details of our next event here - https://www.pgconnects.com/next-event

In Guy Gadney’s eyes, implementing AI into your game development is like “cooking with eggs.” You can use it as an ancillary tool to optimise your current creative endeavours, or you can “make an omelette”, baking AI into your game from the beginning and establishing it as a fundamental component of character or world creation. The application options are endless—if guided by the right questions. Peggy Anne Salz welcomes Guy Gadney, Co-Founder and CEO of Charisma—a plug-and-play platform creating interactive stories with virtual characters—onto the show again to reveal what to ask to effectively apply AI to your creative process, revolutionise your entertainment experience, and “fundamentally change the art of storytelling.” After their dynamic discussion, Peggy chats with another AI expert and entrepreneur, Harry Holmwood. Harry describes how Magicave, a game company designing digital hobbies similar to Dungeons & Dragons and Warhammer, uses AI to transform data into real-time world-building with digital dice, characters, and tiles. Listen, learn, and love this episode as we talk about co-creating engaging experiences with players, implementing AI ethically, and how to navigate the machine learning minefield in 2024. 

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro 

00:51 - AI is like cooking with eggs

07:29 - Navigating compliance

10:19 -  AI will fundamentally change storytelling

13:10 - Using AI to create new worlds every day

17:41 - Copyright and fair IP

22:28 - Monetising and the Pay To Learn model

24:00 - Magicave's vision

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** Let's Connect **

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How did Yahtzee break revenue records? What’s up with webshops, and are subscription models shaping up to match past hype? We answer all these questions and more in this episode of the PocketGamer.biz Podcast live from the floor of PGC London. Host Peggy Anne Salz leads a captivating conversation with Steel Media Ltd. executives Chris James (CEO), Craig Chapple (Head of B2B Content), and Aaron Astle (News Editor). The group gets into the weeds about redefining customer relationships, advancing IP through AI, and how studios are saying sayonara to Apple’s near 30% commission fees. Tune in for our team’s hot takes and exclusive insights on gaming in 2024, and register today for PGC San Francisco!

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

01:08 - Show highlights

05:47 - Small changes make a big difference

08:23 - Advancing IP through AI

14:34 - Webshops and Apple's 27% commision

21:00 - Subscription models

23:02 - Favourite talks and tracks

29:02 - Favourite games Q&A

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** Let's Connect **

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Check out more world-class speakers sharing their insights and expertise at one of our events. You can find details of our next event here - https://www.pgconnects.com/next-event

Past predictions into mobile gaming foresaw an industry slowdown in 2024, but recent data reveals a different reality. Peggy Anne Salz welcomes two mobile mavens onto the show this week to lift the lid on the actual state of the market, and the trends studios should pay the closest attention to in the coming year. First, Karl Knights, Global VP of Customer Success at mobile data and analytics platform data.ai, digs into the latest data in the State of Mobile 2024 report. He shares surprising findings, reveals the monetisation methods dominating the app stores and walks us through the models that can predict future app performance. Then, Lirui Ding, Senior Associate at Transcend Fund—an audience-first gaming venture firm—dives deep into the rapidly evolving world of Esports. He details how game studios can use Esports to elevate engagement and community building and new ways VR is poised to revolutionise mobile gaming. 

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

00:50 - The truth about mobile growth and ad spend

05:49 - Breaking down successful games and subgenres 

12:09 - data.ai's MPS

14:05- The state of esports in 2024

19:40 - Effective community building

21:20 -  VR eSports

30:17 - Lirui’s hopes for 2024

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** Let's Connect **

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Check out more world-class speakers sharing their insights and expertise at one of our events. You can find details of our next event here - https://www.pgconnects.com/next-event

While some studios are cashing in their chips on hypercasual and casual games, a few future-focused brands are doubling down and winning big by placing their bets on rewarded play. Indeed, though once a taboo UA tactic, rewarded play now opens doors for lasting loyalty and long-term engagement. That’s why Mistplay, a leading loyalty platform for mobile apps, provides rewards that fit the bill for every player. Gabriel Lewis, Senior Director and Global Head of Accounts at Mistplay, joins Peggy Anne Salz in this episode of the PG.biz Podcast, where he explains how Mistplay goes beyond cashback offerings to deliver a variety of perks custom-matched to player interests. He says rewards are more than just bonuses but catalysts for continued gameplay. Tune into this show for insider tips on leveraging these turbo boosts—plus loyalty and LTV—in your game design and a look into the secret strategy that Mistplay mobilises to keep gamers glued to their screens.

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

00:41 - First impressions and exciting trends

02:30 - Mistplay and rewarded ads

08:34 - Designing for rewards types

12:37 - Rewarded ads in the years to come

15:29 - What's next for Gabe?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

** Let's Connect **

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Check out more world-class speakers sharing their insights and expertise at one of our events. You can find details of our next event here - https://www.pgconnects.com/next-event

In an industry where data-driven decision-making pays dividends and a deep content pool is the difference between customer churn and a long-term connection, game studios need a tool capable of gathering granular user data and satiating consumers' content cravings. NAK3D—a startup recently awarded for its innovation by the World Economic Forum—delivers on both ends. Kelly Vero, CEO and CTO of NAK3D joins Peggy Anne Salz for an on-the-ground interview into how the interoperable fashion marketplace leverages AI-developed data to provide developers a constant stream of new in-game content while empowering fashion and retail brands to establish a digital presence. She says the future of game commerce (or g-commerce as she calls it) lies in digital assets and putting the power back into the hands of the player. Few people are as daring, future-focused, and driven as Kelly, which is why major designer brands like Alexander McQueen and Lulu Guinness trust NAK3D to bridge the gap between digital and physical retail and deliver actionable insights into Gen Z and Gen Alpha audiences. Don’t miss out on this mega-meta episode—the first in a series of special live podcasts connecting you with the sharpest minds and savviest innovators in gaming.

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

01:54 - Davos, the metaverse, and trends in Asia

07:06 - The evolution of Nak3d

12:29 - The future of Gcommerce and information sourcing

19:30 - Digital death and the metaverse

26:28 - Look outside the games industry

29:03 - What is Kelly looking forward to most?

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** Let's Connect **

👉🏻 Twitter - https://twitter.com/pgbiz 

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Check out more world-class speakers sharing their insights and expertise at one of our events. You can find details of our next event here - https://www.pgconnects.com/next-event

To acquire valuable players and boost rank in the app stores, studios have to shift focus and budget to offer each user a customised experience that aligns with their unique player motivations. But the path to pinpointing player intent isn’t straightforward--especially in a privacy-first landscape that makes prediction more challenging than ever. It’s a perfect storm of conditions for revisiting and rethinking approaches that reward players for staying in the game.  Adam Jaffe, Founder and CEO of Mega Studio—an end-to-end gaming agency offering services in everything from product creation to marketing to monetisation—joins hosts Peggy Anne Samz and Brian Baglow to discuss how incentivised is powering UA and much more. Adam observes that rewarded approaches pay dividends, producing retention rates that are “40% higher” than those of non-incentivised users. This is because rewarded gives marketers bonus insights into player behavior. As Adam puts it, marketers know “exactly why” a user downloaded, allowing them to create a “railed environment” or direct path that users are nearly guaranteed to follow. He shares smart strategies to optimise this approach, from how to finetune features to create long-term users to where to place ads to maximise monetisation. Lastly, he offers advice on marrying product and marketing and explains why incentivised traffic can potentially become a critical data signal studios can harness to optimize everything. 

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

03:15 - Why gamification? 

05:44 - Biggest misconception about rewarded traffic

09:30 - The nuts and bolts of incentivised traffic

13:05 - Maximising monetisation

18:16 - Finding the incentivised sweet spot

24:18 - Optimising for player motivation

27:08 - The future of incentivised traffic

32:45 - Favourite games Q&A with Adam

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

** Let's Connect **

👉🏻 Twitter - https://twitter.com/pgbiz 

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Check out more world-class speakers sharing their insights and expertise at one of our events. You can find details of our next event here - https://www.pgconnects.com/next-event

Profitable UA is about connecting with the right players at the right time in the right context. Using traditional targeting tools, UA managers can manually parse through data to predict who is the best fit. But ultimately, this approach eats up marketers' time—and ad spend. Gamelight’s AI-powered algorithm cuts out the guesswork, locating only the players sure to produce high LTV and delivering 4x ARPU uplift in just a few days. Günay Aliyeva, Co-founder of Gamelight, a company that removes the heavy lifting from UA, joins host Peggy Anne Salz on the show this week. She says it's time to toss the timeworn targeting tools and embrace automation to revolutionise UA. She talks about trusting AI to optimise monetisation and how Gamelight’s self-learning algorithm builds upon itself to extract the most value from new and existing players. Finally, she shares how to level up your game and what it takes to establish a successful startup. She would know—she’s built three!

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

03:23 - AI optimising in-app purchases

06:48 - Perfecting player targeting and UA optimisation

14:05 - Learning to trust the algorithm

17:10 - What it takes to build a successful startup

21:46 - Build your app during launch, not before

24:34 - Favourite games Q&A with Gunay

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** Let's Connect **

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Check out more world-class speakers sharing their insights and expertise at one of our events. You can find details of our next event here - https://www.pgconnects.com/next-event

The games industry faced a brutal year in 2023, with unofficial layoff estimates reaching an alarming 10,000. The stakes remain high in 2024, and job seekers need to double down to secure a position amidst reduced hiring and increased competition. We learn how to “pimp our LinkedIn” and get the most out of networking opportunities in this episode with Oleg Paliy, CEO of Games Factory Talents, a recruiting agency that connects global talent with leading Finnish games studios. Joining our hosts Peggy Anne Salz and Brian Baglow, Oleg gives PG.biz Podcast listeners some tough love and expert advice on nailing your dream job in 2024. If you like what you hear in this show, don't miss out on your chance to connect with him in real life at PGC London, where Games Factory Talents will be hosting the career zone and giving attendees advice on their LinkedIn, resume and next career move.

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

02:38 - The layoff landscape for 2024

04:20 - How to "pimp" your LinkedIn

07:13 - How to capture a recruiter's eye

10:28 - The most in-demand positions of 2024 

14:51 - Hiring for soft skills 

20:39 - Are you a diver or a surfer?

24:05 - Connect with Games Talent Factory

28:33 - Favourite games Q&A with Oleg

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** Let's Connect **

👉🏻 Twitter - https://twitter.com/pgbiz 

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Check out more world-class speakers sharing their insights and expertise at one of our events. You can find details of our next event here - https://www.pgconnects.com/next-event

An evolving market calls for an evolved approach to user acquisition—one that treats players as individuals and weighs each user’s needs against all available acquisition tactics. When preparing to adopt this approach, though, game studios must consider one key question: Should they stick with the mainstream channels (META, Google, Apple, etc.) that provide reliability but unpredictable ROAS or focus their attention on alternative channels that bypass saturation and offer users that are 50% more likely to make in-app purchases? Studios face some tough choices in 2024, and this week’s guest encourages marketers to embrace the shift from “growth at all costs” to more targeted acquisition strategies yielding high-value users. We ring in the new year—and PG.biz podcast’s first anniversary with hosts Peggy Anne Salz and Brain Baglow— with digital marketing veteran and Fluent Cofounder and Chief Customer Officer Matt Conlin. In this insights-filled episode, Matt reveals where some studios are missing the mark and evaluates how game-changing UA trends (including rewarded discovery and influencer marketing) light the path to sustainable growth. He also shares his exclusive SWOT analyses of UA channels (both new and old), what games studios can learn from retail, and, most importantly, which tactics will power profitability in 2024 and which are better left in 2023. 

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Happy 1 year to the podcast

02:20 - Trends to watch in 2024 

08:00 - The incentivised player

12:18 - The value of rewarded discovery

15:28 - SWOT analysis on rewarded platforms

19:37 - SWOT analysis on influencer marketing

23:10 - The new mobile landscape

26:24 - What's on the radar for 2024?

29:40 - How Fluent navigates rapid change

31:10 - Favourite games Q&A with Matt

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

** Let's Connect **

👉🏻 Twitter - https://twitter.com/pgbiz 

👉🏻 LinkedIn Group - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/144491/ 

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Check out more world-class speakers sharing their insights and expertise at one of our events. You can find details of our next event here - https://www.pgconnects.com/next-event

The path to profitable growth is fraught with tough choices. Studios can net new audiences by pumping out new titles and features at the pace of change, or they can push the envelope (and extend the lifecycle of their legacy title) with content, Live Ops and real-life events. Or, in the case of Zynga, they can do all of the above. Yaron Leyvand, Executive VP at Mobile Studios at Zynga, joins hosts Peggy Anne Salz and Brian Baglow to share pages from the playbook that keeps the games giant growing amidst industry downturns and transformations. Yaron recalls the milestones in the journey that brought Zynga from a small gaming company with a start on Facebook to a leader in casual gaming with over 4 billion downloads and 200+ million monthly players worldwide. He also delves into Zynga’s unique approach to M&A—one that bolsters smaller studios and trusts in local talent. Don’t miss this info-packed episode as Yaron describes how Zynga and Take-Two are shaking up the industry with their landmark collaboration, and Peggy and Brian announce the biggest celebration in PG.biz history — the 10-year anniversary of PocketGamer Connects hosted at PGC London in January.

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - The must-attend event of the year

03:09 - Introducing Yaron

03:48 - Zynga's 2024 mentality

07:09 - Most innovative shift in puzzle games

11:43 - The secret to Zynga's success

14:46 - Zynga's acquisition approach

20:02 - The power of combining forces

25:37 - To license IP or not to license IP

27:56 - How to make a "forever franchise"

33:04 - Favourite games Q&A with Yaron

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

** Let's Connect **

👉🏻 Twitter - https://twitter.com/pgbiz 

👉🏻 LinkedIn Group - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/144491/ 

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Check out more world-class speakers sharing their insights and expertise at one of our events. You can find details of our next event here - https://www.pgconnects.com/next-event

Success starts with a great game, but profitable growth is fueled by ongoing engagement that treats players as individuals. And, although it’s not rocket science, the SuperScale report, Good Games Don’t Die, reveals this is where most studios miss the mark. Nearly 40% fail to deliver relevant and engaging content to their users. It’s also one reason 83% of games fail within three years of launch. How can gaming companies step up engagement to ensure their game (and audience) is thriving years down the road? Jim Laurain, Head of Growth at Aampe, a company that leverages AI to level up your communication stack, shares some smart approaches in this week’s show with our hosts Peggy Anne Salz and Brian Baglow. Jim reveals how 75% of top gaming apps fail to welcome new players and outlines how these same companies can significantly increase engagement in just one step. He also zeroes in on the stages where top games are getting their messaging and segmentation wrong. He wraps up with an experiment every game dev can run to gain a deeper understanding of their players and “massively increase their retention and activity” in the process. And this is one experiment you can do at home!

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

04:51 - 75% of apps miss this crucial step

10:11 - How are 25% of apps getting messaging wrong?

14:01 - Popular trends in messaging flow

22:28 - Tailor messaging based on player motivation

24:58 - An experiment to reveal player types and relevant messaging

33:05 - Using CRM data to shape UA

37:42 - How does Aampe help devs with messaging?

40:46 - Favourite games Q&A with Jim

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

** Let's Connect **

👉🏻 Twitter - https://twitter.com/pgbiz 

👉🏻 LinkedIn Group - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/144491/ 

👉🏻 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PGbiz 

👉🏻 Website - https://www.pocketgamer.biz 

Check out more world-class speakers sharing their insights and expertise at one of our events. You can find details of our next event here - https://www.pgconnects.com/next-event