The Business of Games

Xsolla
  • 5.0 (4)
  • BUSINESS

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 Lia Ballentine, 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. The executive summary: what GDC 2026 revealed about the future of games

    1D AGO

    The executive summary: what GDC 2026 revealed about the future of games

    Welcome to The Business of Games Podcast, brought to you by Xsolla. Every March, the games industry makes its pilgrimage to San Francisco. GDC isn't a fan show. It's where developers, executives, investors, and platform teams talk to each other about what's actually happening in the business of games. In this episode, Lia Ballentine flips the script. Xsolla President, Chris Hewish, freshly back from GDC 2026, takes the guest seat to share what he heard on the show floor, inside the Xsolla Clubhouse, and in the conversations between sessions that rarely make it into recap posts. The mood at GDC this year was what Chris describes as cautiously constructive. The turbulence of the past few years — layoffs, studio closures, a hard reset after pandemic-era expansion — hasn't disappeared from memory. But the tone has shifted. Developers have accepted the new market reality and are asking sharper, more practical questions: How do you build sustainably? How do you reach players directly? How do you harness AI without losing what makes games human? Chris walked those halls and had those conversations. In this episode, he brings those insights to life, including perspectives from developers and industry voices he connected with on the ground. What you'll learn: Why GDC 2026 felt different and what "cautiously constructive" actually means for the industryHow AI has moved from theoretical to practical inside real production pipelinesWhy direct-to-player kept surfacing as a through-line across sessions and conversationsWhat the investment climate looks like now, and where capital is starting to flow againHow the most forward-looking studios are shifting from linear development to parallel workflowsWhat one takeaway from GDC 2026 should shape how you build your games business in the year aheadLet'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.

    18 min
  2. Authenticity at scale: Mac Marshall on what direct-to-consumer really means for brand and comms

    MAR 13

    Authenticity at scale: Mac Marshall on what direct-to-consumer really means for brand and comms

    Welcome to The Business of Games Podcast, brought to you by Xsolla. Direct-to-consumer is often framed as a distribution or monetization decision. But for someone who has spent more than two decades building brand voice and managing player relationships, the more important shift is cultural, and it starts with whether a studio is actually willing to listen. In this extended cut, host Lia Ballentine sits down with Mac Marshall, a veteran marketing and communications leader whose career spans Activision Blizzard, Sierra Entertainment, Codemasters, and most recently Turtle Beach Corporation, where he spent 11 years shaping one of gaming's most recognized hardware brands. Mac brings a perspective grounded in the trenches of brand building: what it takes to earn trust with a gaming audience, how to show up authentically in the channels that matter, and why the human element of communication is harder to replace than most teams realize. The conversation covers what direct-to-consumer really means when you strip away the economics; and the answer, for Mac, is simpler than most frameworks suggest: genuine two-way conversation, a willingness to engage even when the news is bad, and the self-awareness to know when to step back. We dive into: Why direct-to-consumer is ultimately about inclusion and giving fans a real sense that their voice is being heardHow to turn detractors into fans through direct, human engagementWhat Mac's career-long post-it note rule reveals about good communication instinctsWhy AI works best in service of the human element, not as a replacement for itHow over-communication is one of the most common ways brands erode trustWhat "main character syndrome" looks like for a brand and how to avoid itWhy creator partnerships have become the new prime-time TV spotWhere to start when building a direct-to-consumer foundation from scratchWhether you're leading comms at a major publisher or figuring out how to build a brand voice for the first time, Mac's instincts offer a grounding reminder: the tools and channels will keep changing, but the basics of honest, human communication never do. 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.

    38 min
  3. Curation, control, and connection: David Pava on the real work of direct-to-consumer marketing

    MAR 13

    Curation, control, and connection: David Pava on the real work of direct-to-consumer marketing

    Welcome to The Business of Games Podcast, brought to you by Xsolla. Marketing a game used to end at launch. In this extended cut, host Chris Hewish sits down with David Pava, Senior Director of Marketing for World of Tanks Modern Armor at Wargaming, to explore what happens when studios stop thinking in campaigns and start thinking in relationships. David brings a career path unlike most, from webmaster for World Championship Wrestling in the early days of the internet to marketing console games for millions of players on PlayStation and Xbox. Along the way, he's developed a philosophy rooted in feedback loops, curation, and earning trust at every touchpoint. In this conversation, he makes the case that direct-to-consumer is fundamentally about eliminating friction — between a studio and its audience, between data and decisions, between messaging and meaning. And he draws some surprising parallels between live service games and the world of professional wrestling to prove it. We dive into: Why direct-to-consumer is really about two things: curation and controlHow World of Tanks Modern Armor tripled its Twitch audience, and why that matters as much as DAUsThe 60-factor player segmentation model that shapes how the team targets and experimentsWhy AI accelerates your existing systems (for better or worse), and why authenticity is the antidoteHow an eight-week season pass cadence creates a build-test-learn loop that compounds over timeWhat new marketing teams should prioritize first when building a direct-to-consumer foundationWhether you're running a live service title, building your first owned channel strategy, or just trying to understand what it actually means to own the player relationship, David's perspective offers hard-won clarity. 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.

    46 min

  4. MAR 6

    From campaigns to trust: what direct-to-consumer really means for marketing

    Welcome to The Business of Games Podcast, powered by Xsolla. In this episode, hosts Chris Hewish and Lia Ballentine explore one of the most consequential shifts in modern game marketing: what happens when studios stop renting attention and start owning the relationship. Direct-to-consumer strategies are often framed around economics: margins, platform fees, and monetization control. But the deeper change shows up somewhere else entirely. When studios own player identity, communication, and data, marketing stops being a function optimized for scale and becomes something responsible for trust, relevance, and long-term engagement. To explore that shift, Chris and Lia draw from conversations with two leaders navigating it firsthand: David Pava, Senior Director of Marketing for World of Tanks Modern Armor at Wargaming, who has spent years building direct relationships with millions of players across PlayStation and Xbox, and Mac Marshall, a seasoned marketing and brand leader with experience across some of the industry's most recognized names, including Activision Blizzard and Turtle Beach. Together, they unpack how direct-to-consumer changes the role of marketing from campaign-driven acquisition to audience-first relationship building and explore what it actually takes to make that shift stick. You'll hear how owned channels change the weight of every message a studio sends; why data and segmentation have moved from strategic advantage to operational expectation; how AI accelerates whatever system you already have in place (for better or worse); and why monetization, in a direct relationship model, can no longer be separated from brand and trust. The through-line is simple: in a direct-to-consumer world, marketing isn't just how players find your game. It's how they come to trust it, stay connected to it, and choose to invest in it over time. 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.

    31 min

  5. FEB 27

    Direct to player: the five principles reshaping the business of games

    Welcome to The Business of Games Podcast, brought to you by Xsolla. In this episode, hosts Chris Hewish and Lia Ballentine lay the foundation for a special series this season on direct-to-consumer (DTC) strategies in games. Chris unpacks the difference between DTC as a commercial motion and his concept of "Direct to Player" — a structural operating model that goes beyond the transaction and shifts the organizing principle of a game business from platform-centric to player-centric. Chris introduces five principles of Direct to Player drawn from decades of industry experience, covering everything from who owns the player relationship to how trust is built over time. Together, they form a system; and as Chris makes clear, that's exactly the point. These principles only work when they reinforce each other. This episode sets the foundation for the season's exploration into DTC strategies, including marketing and audience building, technology and infrastructure, monetization design, player engagement, and more.  Direct to Player isn't a channel. It's a commitment to building games around players, not platforms. 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.

    15 min
  6. Retail, rewired: gift cards, payments, and the business of access

    JAN 30

    Retail, rewired: gift cards, payments, and the business of access

    Welcome to The Business of Games Podcast, powered by Xsolla. Game commerce isn’t just about platforms and storefronts. It’s about who can actually pay. In this episode, Lia Ballentine speaks with Michael Jedrzejczak, Program Manager and Gift Card Consultant at Xsolla, about how payment methods, gift cards, and retail access continue to shape who can buy and play games. Michael brings over 15 years of experience building and scaling game commerce, from early digital key stores to large-scale gift card programs that connect physical retail with digital games. He explains why digital keys, vouchers, and gift cards aren’t interchangeable and how each one influences buying behavior in different ways. Most digital purchases are made for yourself. Most gift cards are bought for someone else. That simple distinction helps explain why physical retail still matters, especially during the holiday season. Michael shares how Q4 continues to drive 2–3x sales spikes, why October is a hard deadline for gift card launches, and what studios often underestimate about fraud, compliance, and global payments. The takeaway is straightforward: expanding how players can pay often matters as much as where games are sold. For studios looking to grow, access isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s a competitive advantage. What you’ll learn: Why digital keys, vouchers, and gift cards play different rolesHow physical retail still drives gifting and impulse buyingWhy October matters more than December for holiday commerceWhat teams underestimate about payments, fraud, and complianceWhen outsourcing commerce makes more sense than building itLet’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.

    32 min
  7. Discoverability is the new retail: how games get found, bought, and sustained

    JAN 23

    Discoverability is the new retail: how games get found, bought, and sustained

    Welcome to The Business of Games Podcast, powered by Xsolla. In this episode, Lia Ballentine talks with Adam Krause and TJ Consunji, Managing Partners and Co-Founders of Miniboss Solutions, about how game retail actually works today and why being discoverable now matters more than ever. Game retail is no longer about shelves, launch days, or a single sales spike. With more than 20,000 games released each year, the challenge is getting noticed and staying visible. Algorithms, storefront placement, wishlists, and ongoing updates now shape when and how players decide to buy. Drawing on experience across PlayStation, Ubisoft, Capcom, and both AAA and indie launches, Adam and TJ explain how retail has shifted from a final step in the process to something that affects development, marketing, and long-term planning from the start. They break down why many studios are moving away from traditional holiday launches, how to think about wishlist quality instead of raw volume, and what smaller teams need to do differently when they cannot rely on massive budgets to recover from mistakes. The conversation also looks at modern publishing realities, including release timing, competition for attention, and why sustained engagement often matters more than a strong launch week. The takeaway is simple. Retail success today is not about winning a single moment. It is about building a plan that keeps a game visible and relevant over time. What you’ll learn: Why discoverability now matters more than shelf spaceHow digital storefronts changed release timing and planningWhat wishlist quality actually tells you about demandWhy some studios avoid holiday launches altogetherHow smaller teams can apply disciplined, AAA-style planningLet’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.

    49 min
  8. Retail in games: from holiday peaks to always-on strategy

    JAN 16

    Retail in games: from holiday peaks to always-on strategy

    Welcome to The Business of Games Podcast, powered by Xsolla. In this episode, Lia Ballentine is joined by special co-host Lauren Baca, Global VP of Marketing at Xsolla Ads, to explore how retail strategy in games has fundamentally changed and what the most recent holiday season reveals about where the industry is headed next. For decades, the holidays were the defining moment in game retail. Physical shelves, launch windows, and a single make-or-break sales peak shaped how studios planned their entire year. But in a digital-first world, that model has flattened. Stores never close. Campaigns never truly end. And player expectations don’t reset with the calendar. Joining the conversation are Michael Jedrzejczak (Program Manager and Gift Card Consultant at Xsolla) and Adam Krause and TJ Consunji (Managing Partners and Co-Founders of Miniboss Solutions), who bring firsthand insight into how publishers, platforms, and developers now operate in an always-on retail environment. Together, they unpack how peak moments like the holidays have become stress tests rather than centerpieces and reveal where infrastructure bends, where strategy breaks, and where smart planning creates lasting advantage. You’ll hear how player buying behavior has evolved in a frictionless, global marketplace; why many studios are avoiding traditional Q4 launches altogether; and how live-ops, regional calendars, and continuous optimization are reshaping the meaning of “retail success” in games. By the end, one thing is clear: the holidays still matter, but they’re no longer the moment that defines the business. In today’s games industry, retail isn’t a season. It’s a system. What you’ll learn: Why digital storefronts turned retail into an always-on operationHow holiday behavior mirrors everyday player expectationsWhat peak moments reveal about pricing, payments, and infrastructureWhy release timing matters more than release traditionHow modern retail strategy is becoming inseparable from developmentLet’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.

    15 min
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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 Lia Ballentine, 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
    34
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Xsolla
  • Show Website
    The Business of Games

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