The Business of Games

Xsolla

The Business of Games: A podcast for developers, publishers, and executives navigating the ever-changing game industry.  From monetization models to player behavior, from platform shifts to emerging markets, The Business of Games is your guide to all the things transforming how games are built, marketed, and scaled. Hosted by Chris Hewish and Ed Lin, each episode blends strategic insight, cinematic storytelling, and candid conversations with the people driving the business of play. You'll hear from top executives inside studios and strategic partners across the ecosystem who are uncovering the ideas, tactics, and trends shaping tomorrow's opportunities. Whether you're launching your first game or scaling a global studio, you'll find practical strategies, future-forward thinking, and real-world examples you can act on right away. The Business of Games is brought to you by Xsolla, your strategic partner behind the scenes. We bring together "All the Things" to help you simplify operations, unlock new revenue, reach more players, and launch fast. Visit xsolla.com to learn more, connect with our team, and access all the things you need to level up your business of play. Want to join the conversation? Follow and comment on our LinkedIn page at The Business of Games Podcast, where we’ll be sharing updates, highlights, and continuing the discussion. And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, review, and share the podcast with friends and colleagues who want to learn more about the business of games.

  1. Jul 17

    One fortuitous connection: Derek Rathbun on how a chance meeting with Nolan Bushnell led to Gamers.bet

    Welcome to Coffee.Press.Play., brought to you by The Business of Games Podcast, powered by Xsolla. Recorded live at GDC 2026 inside the Xsolla Clubhouse, this series puts a twist on the traditional interview format: guests play a round of a classic video game against our Xsolla host and the outcome determines whether they face an easy question or a hard one. In this episode, host Ed Lin sits down with Derek Rathbun, CEO and co-founder of Gamers.bet, who takes on a round of Super Smash Bros. and earns himself the easy question. Derek's path into games didn't start in games at all. He spent about 20 years in technology, primarily in the automotive space, before an acquisition sent him looking for what was next. Through a mutual friend, he found himself in conversation with a former president of Atari and Sega, who brought in none other than Nolan Bushnell, the founder of Atari himself, to talk through where gaming might be headed. What came out of those conversations was the idea that real-money gameplay had never been made truly native to games, and Derek realized he had the technology background to build it. That idea became Gamers.bet, and he hasn't looked back since. What you'll hear: How two decades in automotive tech led Derek to an unexpected introduction to Nolan BushnellWhy Derek landed on "fortuitous" as the one word that captures his path into gamingHow a casual conversation about the next evolution of competition turned into a businessWhy Derek believes real-money gameplay can benefit both players and the games themselves as a new monetization layerCoffee.Press.Play. is an ongoing mini-series, and more conversations with our GDC guests are on the way. Listen on your favorite podcast platform or watch full episodes on our YouTube channel. Missed us at GDC 2026? Stay tuned to our LinkedIn page for announcements on where we'll be next. And catch up on recent episodes at xsolla.com/podcast. For more insights and resources, visit xsolla.com/podcast. Want to join the conversation? Follow and comment on our LinkedIn page at The Business of Games Podcast. That’s where we’ll be sharing updates, highlights, and continuing the discussion. And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, review, and share the podcast with friends who want to learn more about the business of games.

    One fortuitous connection: Derek Rathbun on how a chance meeting with Nolan Bushnell led to Gamers.bet

  2. Jul 3

    From job sites to game studios: Xander Agosta on grit, mentorship, and backing into a career in games

    Welcome to Coffee.Press.Play., brought to you by The Business of Games Podcast, powered by Xsolla. Recorded live at GDC 2026 inside the Xsolla Clubhouse, this series puts a twist on the traditional interview format: guests play a round of a classic video game against our Xsolla host and the outcome determines whether they face an easy question or a hard one. In this episode, host Ed Lin sits down with Xander Agosta, Director of Marketing and Partnerships at Upptic, a growth marketing company working with the world's top games. Xander takes an easy round of Super Smash Bros. against Ed and earns himself an easy question, but his answer opens up a career path that wasn't easy at all. Raised in San Francisco and surrounded by the tech industry his whole life, Xander spent years feeling like an outsider looking in. A construction job, an unlikely mentor, and a leap of faith later, he found his way into web development, marketing, and eventually the games industry he'd wanted to be part of since childhood. What you'll hear: Why growing up next to Silicon Valley didn't make the tech industry feel any less intimidatingThe mentor who convinced Xander to bet on himselfHow a detour through construction became the unlikely start of a marketing careerXander's take on why persistence, not pedigree, is what gets you into the games industryLet's get into it. Coffee.Press.Play. is an ongoing mini-series, and more conversations with our GDC guests are on the way. Listen on your favorite podcast platform or watch full episodes on our YouTube channel. Missed us at GDC 2026? Stay tuned to our LinkedIn page for announcements on where we'll be next. And catch up on recent episodes at xsolla.com/podcast. For more insights and resources, visit xsolla.com/podcast. Want to join the conversation? Follow and comment on our LinkedIn page at The Business of Games Podcast. That’s where we’ll be sharing updates, highlights, and continuing the discussion. And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, review, and share the podcast with friends who want to learn more about the business of games.

    From job sites to game studios: Xander Agosta on grit, mentorship, and backing into a career in games

  3. Jun 26

    When to step in: Ivan Carrillo on ownership, publishing, and saving a studio in trouble

    Welcome to Coffee.Press.Play., brought to you by The Business of Games Podcast, powered by Xsolla. Recorded live at GDC 2026 inside the Xsolla Clubhouse, this series puts a twist on the traditional interview format: guests play a round of a classic video game against our Xsolla host and the outcome determines whether they face an easy question or a hard one. In this episode, host Chris Hewish sits down with Ivan Carrillo, Managing Partner at Joystick Ventures — an investment fund and publisher supporting indie studios around the world. Ivan's portfolio speaks for itself: a track record of successful releases, with more on the way. But before getting into any of that, he had to face Chris across a game of Super Smash Bros. — and came out on the losing end. That meant the hard question. And Ivan's answer was more honest than most would offer in front of a camera. What you'll hear: How Joystick Ventures operates as both an investment fund and a publisher for indie studios worldwideWhat happened when a portfolio studio wasn't delivering — and why Ivan chose not to write off the investmentWhat it actually means to "take over" development as a publisher, and what that costs in time, money, and trustWhy the studio Ivan stepped in to help is better off for it — and what that outcome reveals about how Joystick Ventures worksLet's get into it. For more insights and resources, visit xsolla.com/podcast. Want to join the conversation? Follow and comment on our LinkedIn page at The Business of Games Podcast. That’s where we’ll be sharing updates, highlights, and continuing the discussion. And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, review, and share the podcast with friends who want to learn more about the business of games.

    When to step in: Ivan Carrillo on ownership, publishing, and saving a studio in trouble

  4. Jun 19

    New thinking, real results: Wes Morton on Gen Z, AI-powered marketing, and building Creative Company

    Welcome to Coffee.Press.Play., brought to you by The Business of Games Podcast, powered by Xsolla. Recorded live at GDC 2026 inside the Xsolla Clubhouse, this series puts a twist on the traditional interview format: guests play a round of a classic video game against our Xsolla host and the outcome determines whether they face an easy question or a hard one. In this episode, host Ed Lin sits down with Wes Morton, CEO and co-founder of Creative Company — a marketing technology firm serving media, entertainment, and tech brands across three practice areas: brand PR, digital products, and consumer insights. When we asked Wes who has influenced his decision-making most, he pointed to his own team — specifically the Gen Z employees who are bringing new technologies, new campaign strategies, and an entirely different relationship with work to the table every day. For a founder building a company from the ground up, that kind of bottom-up influence isn't just refreshing. It's structural. The conversation gets specific fast. Wes shares how one of his youngest employees, with no formal technical background, coded a fully functional front-end interface for EA client work using Vercel's AI tools — then handed it to the CTO, who said they could use all of it. That moment kicked off a company-wide conversation about AI coding tools, enterprise licensing, and what it means when non-technical people can ship technical work. What you'll hear: Why Wes looks to his Gen Z team — not industry veterans — as his primary source of influenceHow Creative Company is using large language models to reinvent consumer research in an industry that hasn't fundamentally changed since the 1940sWhat a single Vercel-powered prototype from a junior employee revealed about the future of technical workWhy staying culture-forward matters as much in marketing technology as it does in the games themselvesLet's get into it. Coffee.Press.Play. is an ongoing mini-series, and more conversations with our GDC guests are on the way. Listen on your favorite podcast platform or watch full episodes on our YouTube channel. Missed us at GDC 2026? Stay tuned to our LinkedIn page for announcements on where we'll be next. And catch up on recent episodes at xsolla.com/podcast. For more insights and resources, visit xsolla.com/podcast. Want to join the conversation? Follow and comment on our LinkedIn page at The Business of Games Podcast. That’s where we’ll be sharing updates, highlights, and continuing the discussion. And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, review, and share the podcast with friends who want to learn more about the business of games.

    New thinking, real results: Wes Morton on Gen Z, AI-powered marketing, and building Creative Company

  5. Jun 12

    Legacy, LiveOps, and the long game: Takaya Segawa on how Sega is building for a global future

    Welcome to The Business of Games Podcast, powered by Xsolla. Few companies in gaming carry more history than Sega. But in this special episode, the conversation isn't about the past — it's about what comes next. In this extended cut, Xsolla President Chris Hewish sits down with Takaya Segawa, Sega’s Executive Vice President and Head of JA Studios 2nd Business Unit. The conversation is a rare look inside a company that has shaped the games industry for generations — and is now writing one of its most consequential chapters yet. Sega's legacy speaks for itself. But what Segawa-san shares here is something less often discussed: the operational philosophy, the cultural conviction, and the business decisions that have allowed Sega to keep players engaged — in some cases, for over two decades — while building toward a more direct, data-driven relationship with a global audience. From the development of SegaCon, Sega's emerging direct-to-consumer marketing platform, to a portfolio that spans Persona, Phantasy Star Online 2, Puyo Puyo Quest, and Project Sekai, Segawa-san walks through what it means to build for longevity in live services — and why the next frontier for Sega runs through esports, global commerce infrastructure, and a deeper connection with players worldwide. We dive into: How Sega is approaching direct-to-consumer — and what's being built to support itWhat decades of live service titles reveal about Sega's long-term engagement philosophyWhat developers often get wrong about regional and cultural differencesWhy Japanese cultural identity can be a global asset, not a barrierHow esports fits into Sega's broader growth strategyWhat it actually takes to operate direct-to-consumer at a global scaleThis is a conversation that doesn't come along often — an honest, substantive dialogue with a leader who has been at the heart of one of gaming's most enduring companies. Let's get into it. For more insights and resources, visit xsolla.com/podcast. Want to join the conversation? Follow and comment on our LinkedIn page at The Business of Games Podcast. That’s where we’ll be sharing updates, highlights, and continuing the discussion. And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, review, and share the podcast with friends who want to learn more about the business of games.

    Legacy, LiveOps, and the long game: Takaya Segawa on how Sega is building for a global future

  6. Jun 5

    From floppy disks to the AI era: Garry Edwards on the industry's biggest shift yet

    Welcome to Coffee.Press.Play., brought to you by The Business of Games Podcast, powered by Xsolla. Recorded live at GDC 2026 inside the Xsolla Clubhouse, this series puts a twist on the traditional interview format: guests play a round of a classic video game against our Xsolla host and the outcome determines whether they face an easy question or a hard one. In this episode, host Ed Lin sits down with Garry Edwards, Head of Business Development at Mindera — a global software services company helping game studios build back-end infrastructure, pipelines, and live ops without overloading their internal teams. Garry has been in the industry for more than 20 years, with stops at Electronic Arts, TT Games, and Warner Bros., where he spent nearly a decade running business development. He's seen the industry transform from floppy disks to streaming and cloud — and he makes the case that what's happening right now, the convergence of AI, consolidation, and a fractured mid-tier, is the biggest transitional shift the business has ever seen. What you'll hear: Why the current moment — AI, industry consolidation, and the shrinking mid-tier — is unlike anything Gary has seen in 20+ yearsHow Mindera helps studios of all sizes build infrastructure without expanding headcountWhy the democratization of game development shifted the challenge from creation to discoverabilityWhat Garry learned from his boss at EA about negotiating deals and leading without egoWhat it looks like to build an entirely new gaming vertical from the ground upLet's get into it. Coffee.Press.Play. is an ongoing mini-series, and more conversations with our GDC guests are on the way. Listen on your favorite podcast platform or watch full episodes on our YouTube channel. Missed us at GDC 2026? Stay tuned to our LinkedIn page for announcements on where we'll be next. And catch up on recent episodes at xsolla.com/podcast. For more insights and resources, visit xsolla.com/podcast. Want to join the conversation? Follow and comment on our LinkedIn page at The Business of Games Podcast. That’s where we’ll be sharing updates, highlights, and continuing the discussion. And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, review, and share the podcast with friends who want to learn more about the business of games.

    From floppy disks to the AI era: Garry Edwards on the industry's biggest shift yet

  7. May 29

    What we learned: the business of going direct

    Welcome to The Business of Games Podcast, powered by Xsolla. Over the past few months, hosts Chris Hewish and Lia Ballentine have been testing a single idea against the real world: that direct-to-consumer isn't a channel or a tactic — it's a commitment to building a business around the player relationship. In this season finale, Chris and Lia come back to where it all started — five pillars, five guests, three episodes — and ask the question: did the framework hold up? You'll hear how the marketing episode reframed what it means to own a player relationship, why channels don't equal connection, and how going direct changes the weight of every message a studio sends. How the infrastructure episode revealed that the stack underneath the strategy is more complex than most teams realize, and why the order of decisions matters enormously. And how the monetization episode made the case that the best direct-to-consumer model isn't the most aggressive one. It's the most earned. If you've been following along all season, this one's for you. And if you're just tuning in, consider this your invitation to go back to the beginning. Let's get into it. For more insights and resources, visit xsolla.com/podcast. Want to join the conversation? Follow and comment on our LinkedIn page at The Business of Games Podcast. That’s where we’ll be sharing updates, highlights, and continuing the discussion. And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, review, and share the podcast with friends who want to learn more about the business of games.

    What we learned: the business of going direct

  8. May 22

    From the Air Force to infinite worlds: Jan Roessner on stoicism, interoperability, and the future of game assets

    Welcome to Coffee.Press.Play., brought to you by The Business of Games Podcast, powered by Xsolla. Recorded live at GDC 2026 inside the Xsolla Clubhouse, this series puts a twist on the traditional interview format: guests play a round of a classic video game against our Xsolla host and the outcome determines whether they face an easy question or a hard one. In this episode, host Ed Lin sits down with Jan Roessner, CEO and co-founder of One Earth Rising — a company building cross-platform infrastructure to make game assets interoperable and bring real-world brand and IP engagement into the digital world of games. Jan's path into the industry runs through 13 years as an Air Force officer, and the leadership philosophy he built there still drives how he builds teams and sets goals today. Now he's applying that same clarity of purpose to one of the more ambitious ideas in the games business: a future where achievements travel between titles, where watching a TV show can unlock in-game content, and where the boundaries between game worlds start to disappear. What you'll hear: How military service shaped Jan's approach to leadership and decision-makingWhy the technology foundation for true asset interoperability is finally hereWhat a future built on cross-platform, cross-media game engagement could look likeLet's get into it. Coffee.Press.Play. is an ongoing mini-series, and more conversations with our GDC guests are on the way. Listen on your favorite podcast platform or watch full episodes on our YouTube channel. Missed us at GDC 2026? Stay tuned to our LinkedIn page for announcements on where we'll be next. And catch up on recent episodes at xsolla.com/podcast. For more insights and resources, visit xsolla.com/podcast. Want to join the conversation? Follow and comment on our LinkedIn page at The Business of Games Podcast. That’s where we’ll be sharing updates, highlights, and continuing the discussion. And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, review, and share the podcast with friends who want to learn more about the business of games.

    From the Air Force to infinite worlds: Jan Roessner on stoicism, interoperability, and the future of game assets
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

The Business of Games: A podcast for developers, publishers, and executives navigating the ever-changing game industry.  From monetization models to player behavior, from platform shifts to emerging markets, The Business of Games is your guide to all the things transforming how games are built, marketed, and scaled. Hosted by Chris Hewish and Ed Lin, each episode blends strategic insight, cinematic storytelling, and candid conversations with the people driving the business of play. You'll hear from top executives inside studios and strategic partners across the ecosystem who are uncovering the ideas, tactics, and trends shaping tomorrow's opportunities. Whether you're launching your first game or scaling a global studio, you'll find practical strategies, future-forward thinking, and real-world examples you can act on right away. The Business of Games is brought to you by Xsolla, your strategic partner behind the scenes. We bring together "All the Things" to help you simplify operations, unlock new revenue, reach more players, and launch fast. Visit xsolla.com to learn more, connect with our team, and access all the things you need to level up your business of play. Want to join the conversation? Follow and comment on our LinkedIn page at The Business of Games Podcast, where we’ll be sharing updates, highlights, and continuing the discussion. And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, review, and share the podcast with friends and colleagues who want to learn more about the business of games.

Information

  • Creator
    Xsolla
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    53
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Xsolla
  • Show Website
    The Business of Games