PocketGamer.biz Podcast PGbiz Podcast

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 **

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👉🏻 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

Brian Baglow, Daniel Griffiths and Paige Cook from the PocketGamer.biz team discuss the latest mobile games industry news from the past week.

We cover ByteDance's latest plans for its $4 billion acquisition of Mobile Legends developer Moonton, remote work and leadership skills challenges, UGC investment opportunities, and ask if Unity developers really are over the runtime fee.


** Let's Connect **

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

👉🏻 LinkedIn Group - https://www.linkedin.com/company/pocketgamer-biz/

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

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

👉🏻 Pocket Gamer Connects - https://www.pgconnects.com

👉🏻Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards - https://www.mobilegamesawards.com

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



* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

** 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

Brian Baglow, Craig Chapple, Daniel Griffiths and Paige Cook from the PocketGamer.biz team discuss the latest mobile games industry news from the past week.



We cover the Xbox mobile games store and whether it's doomed to fail, the AppLovin and Unity financials nearly two years after the acquisition drama, and analyse a survey that claims Gen Z love bitcoin.



** Let's Connect **

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

👉🏻 LinkedIn Group - https://www.linkedin.com/company/pocketgamer-biz/

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

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

👉🏻 Pocket Gamer Connects - https://www.pgconnects.com

Brian Baglow, Craig Chapple, Daniel Griffiths and Aaron Astle from the PocketGamer.biz team discuss the latest mobile games industry news from the past week.


We cover the news that Xbox has closed Bethesda studios including Arkane Austin, Alpha Dog Games and Tango Gameworks, and discuss Microsoft's troubled games business and Game Pass strategy.



We also dive into Krafton's comments about using generative AI in game development, and Apple's iPad problem.


** Let's Connect **

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

👉🏻 LinkedIn Group - https://www.linkedin.com/company/pocketgamer-biz/

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

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

👉🏻 Pocket Gamer Connects - https://www.pgconnects.com

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