Story Mode by Sanlo

Sanlo Technologies
Story Mode by Sanlo

Story Mode is a weekly podcasts featuring exclusive insights into the gaming industry. Join Sanlo CEO, Olya Caliujnaia, as she delves into the compelling narratives of the most influential and innovative executives who are shaping the world of video games. Each episode is a deep dive into the experiences that have defined the careers of our guests. We explore their beginnings, the challenges they've faced, the industry's evolution, and the game-changing decisions that have led to major milestones in the gaming world.

  1. 11 DIC

    Investing in the Future of Games and Entertainment with Teppei Tsutsui, GFR Fund

    On this episode of Story Mode with Sanlo, Olya speaks with Teppei Tsutsui, General Partner at GFR Fund, about the VC, investment, and M&A outlook in 2025 and beyond. Teppei gives insights and advice to those looking to raise capital in gaming or who are interested in learning more about what VCs are looking for in the gaming sector. They touch on a wide range of topics, including: An overview of GFR’s investment strategy and some examples from their diverse portfolio The intersection of Entertainment & AI Investing in emerging platforms like Discord and Telegram The importance of founder-market fit in GFR’s investment strategy The big opportunities Teppei sees across streaming, anime, and virtual characters. Their focus on Gen Z through digital content. And much more. About Teppei Teppei has spent the past decade investing in the future of gaming, entertainment, and consumer technology. As General Partner at GFR Fund, he’s been instrumental in supporting companies like VRChat, Hiber, Freedom Games, and Omeda Studios, helping them shape the way we play, connect, and create. With his background spanning venture capital, corporate strategy, and even game development, Teppei brings a unique perspective to the evolving gaming landscape.

    43 min

  2. 26 NOV

    From Mobile to Multiplatform: Expanding to proven and experimental channels with Nikita Korzhavin from Nekki

    From Mobile to Multiplatform: Expanding to proven and experimental channels with Nikita Korzhavin from Nekki On this episode of Story Mode with Sanlo, Olya speaks with Nikita Korzhavin, Chief Business Development Officer at Nekki, about their shift from a mobile-only business to a multi-platform approach and the lessons they’ve learned. They touch on a wide range of insightful topics, including: • An overview of Nekki’s current game projects across mobile, PC, Console, and emerging platforms like Telegram. • The importance of their Shadow Fight IP franchise and how they’ve been able to build a strong following of loyal mobile gamers. • Why Nekki decided to build a brand new title for their platform expansion to PC/Console and Telegram, opposed to porting existing games. • The power of developing games in a specific niche with an existing engaged audience. • Why Nekki is experimenting with building games specifically for Telegram. • How Nekki views audiences across platforms and how audience trends and insights impact their decisions. • The opportunities for mobile games on alternative app stores outside Apple and Google, especially in China. • Why Nekki pivoted from developing their new title Fight Me for web3 to Telegram, and the regulatory issues around web3 and NFTs. About Nikita Nikita has been with Nekki for over seven years, playing a pivotal role in shaping their global business strategy. Nekki, as many of you may know, is the publisher behind the hit midcore game series Shadow Fight and other popular titles like Vector, which have collectively reached over 1 billion installs. Nekki is branching into the Console & PC market with their upcoming project - Spine. As Chief Business Development Officer, Nikita is responsible for everything from forging partnerships with major industry players to driving Nekki’s expansion efforts into new platforms.

    42 min

  3. 12 NOV

    Evolving UA for Games: Navigating Privacy, Automation, and New Channels with Saikala Sultanova

    On this episode of Story Mode with Sanlo, Olya speaks with Saikala Sultanova, a seasoned growth marketing executive with over a decade of experience in gaming. They dive into today’s growth marketing landscape, what has changed the most in UA over the years, and how to navigate the current ecosystem to drive results. They touch on a wide range of insightful topics, including: • An overview of the UA Society and some updates on their upcoming events. • The biggest differences in UA (today versus 10 years ago), including evolution of marketing mix, privacy changes, improved automation, better creatives and the emergence of machine learning. • How to approach building a growth marketing team for a gaming studio/publisher and which roles are most crucial. • The emergence of new platforms like AppLovin that have cracked ROI-positive marketing across iOS regardless of privacy challenges. • The stagnant growth of mobile gaming revenue and how that is impacting growth marketing and where marketers are experimenting. • The role of rewarded play platforms and why they are becoming more prevalent nowadays. • The new opportunities associated with 1st-party data and advertising platforms built on top of that data. • The role of influencers in game growth marketing, the role they play in the marketing mix, and why they are becoming more popular with marketers. • Tools and approaches that help developers understand product market fit and player insights. • The importance of qualitative research to identify the reasons why marketing is working or not working. • How UA approach differs based on the game and genre. • The common mistakes and blind spots across UA and growth marketing. • The importance of a single source of truth for marketing ROI data and clean, structured data analysis. • Saikala’s recommendation for how teams with small budgets should approach UA. • What Saikala is looking forward to in the near-future, including new methods for tracking and measuring marketing performance, the surge of hybrid casual games, the expansion of real-money gaming, and web shops. • The need for more mature and polished AI tools for UA marketers. • How game UA strategies can be applied to non-gaming apps and the power of gamification for consumer apps. About Saikala Saikala’s career spans leadership roles at top-tier companies like Ubisoft, Product Madness, Space Ape Games, and Miniclip, where she honed her expertise in user acquisition, mobile advertising, and growth strategy. Most recently, she served as SVP of Marketing at Ace Games, helping drive their vision of creating globally beloved mobile games.

    34 min

  4. 6 NOV

    Building and Selling: Lessons from Kongregate’s Journey in M&A and Team Building with Emily Greer

    On this episode of Story Mode with Sanlo, where we talk to executives about the video game industry, Olya chats with Emily Greer, Venture Partner at 1Up Ventures, about the lessons she learned building and operating Kongregate for a decade; and how that experience impacts how we sees the future playing out. Olya and Emily touch on a range of interesting topics, including: • Emily’s path into games and how she became a founder in gaming. • Learnings from the world of ecommerce that Emily brought to F2P gaming and how retail LTV prediction methods proved to be very effective in gaming. • Emily’s explanation of the evolution of Kongerate and why they expanded from a web browser game marketplace to a mobile F2P publisher. • M&A key learnings from Emily’s experience of selling Kongregate (twice) and acquiring five companies. • Tips for building a team for your startup or company, depending on your size and goals. • The balance between product and team and which is more important when predicting success. • Emily’s thoughts on the biggest inflection points in the gaming industry. • Why it’s highly unlikely that any change in gaming will eclipse the impact of the launch of the smartphone. • How Emily views the hype around VR/AR, E-sports, and gaming subscriptions models. • Why Emily believes there’s still room for growth in F2P mobile games using the emergence of the merge genre as an example. • Regions and markets that Emily sees as being the most exciting emerging opportunities in gaming. About Emily Emily is a veteran of the gaming industry and a trailblazer for women in leadership roles. She’s best known as the Co-Founder and former CEO of Kongregate, where she oversaw its transformation into a powerhouse in mobile game publishing. After leaving Kongregate, Emily founded Double Loop Games, a mobile games studio. Most recently, she’s transitioned into a venture partner role at 1Up Ventures, while also advising and investing in various game startups.

    57 min

  5. 16 OCT

    Building scalable live service video games with Eden Chen, CEO of Pragma

    On this episode of Story Mode with Sanlo, where we talk to executives about the video game industry, we chat with Eden Chen, Co-founder & CEO of Pragma, about building scalable live services games and the challenges and opportunities in that space. Olya and Eden touch on a range of interesting topics, including: • How Eden’s experience as a professional gamer inspired him to build Pragma. • The opportunities in the market that Eden and his team are tackling. • The criteria games studios use to decide what back-end infra they build in-house versus what they license from tech platforms like Pragma • Why Pragma focused on building a flexible engine opposed to a one-size-fits-all approach. • The market opportunities and total addressable markets for servicing mobile studios or PC/Console studios. • How Eden defines cross-platform and the evolution of cross-platform discovery and gameplay. • A checklist of what factors a studio should think through as they look to expand into cross-platform to define what tech and features they need. • How back-end solution needs differ depending on the type of game. • The biggest catalysts for cross-platform development and the role played by Epic Games and Fortnite. • The different era of gaming that is being led by GenZ players and their lack of loyalty to specific devices or platforms. • The role of analytics in deciding if and how to expand to multiple platforms. • The growing trend of mobile games expanding to PC and Console. About Eden Eden is the Founder and CEO of Pragma—a fully scalable and extensible backend engine that powers live service games. Eden and his team of engineering leaders—who previously built the platforms behind some of the largest games like League of Legends, Valorant, and Destiny 2—are focused on helping studios build successful live service games. Before Pragma, Eden co-founded Fishermen Labs, an AR and VR development studio that became one of the fastest-growing companies in Los Angeles. In addition to his work at Pragma, Eden has an impressive portfolio as an investor and advisor, backing game studios like Frost Giant, Mountaintop, and Lightforge Games.

    40 min

  6. 9 SEPT

    Growth marketing for different game lifecycle phases with Warren Woodward from Upptic

    In this episode of Story Mode, where we talk to executives about the video game industry, we chat with Warren Woodward, Co-founder & Co-Founder & Chief Growth Officer at Upptic. We tap into Warren’s extensive experience in the growth marketing space to learn all about the different phases of a game launch and the most crucial steps in each phase. Olya and Warren discuss a wide range of topics, including: • The different stages of mobile game launches and how to approach each one. • The learning tracks that should be conducted during soft launch (technical, retention, and monetization). • Why Upptic recommends a dumbed-down ad network mix for soft launch and why that’s the key to obtain clean data for an initial test. • Upptic’s typical scope and their approach for bolt-on marketing and UA for video games. • The key learnings mobile gaming can learn from PC and web3, and vice versa. • Why cross-platform is becoming the new norm and the prevalence of PC games branching into mobile. • The impact of AI on the role of growth marketers and the ways they work in gaming. • The paramount importance of data and measurement, and why some types of games and teams miss the mark there. About Warren Warren Woodward co-founded Upptic in 2019, where he has spearheaded full-stack growth marketing initiatives for leading games. With over a decade of experience in user acquisition and digital marketing, Warren has held key roles at companies like Nexon, Blastworks, and Wargaming, where he successfully launched and scaled multiple top-performing mobile games. I’m really excited to ask some questions and learn from Warren’s extensive background in growth and UA.

    43 min

  7. 27 AGO

    The evolution of the Midcore mobile with Boris Kalmykov, Co-founder & CEO, Hypemasters

    On this episode of Story Mode with Sanlo, Olya speaks with Boris Kalmykov, Co-founder & CEO of Hypemasters, about the evolution of the Midcore mobile games genre. They cover a wide range of topics, including: • The main shifts in player behavior that are impacting Midcore mobile games. • How Hypemasters shifted from hyper casual to midcore games. • The importance of marketability tests in the midcore development process. • Midcore monetization and retention on mobile versus PC (Steam). • Why midcore games are appealing for developers to build. • Why Hypemasters decided to build certain services, like LiveOps, in-house and why they use external vendors like Unity and Photon for their gaming engine and multiplayer engine. • The cross platform opportunities with midcore, how to understand if cross-platform is right for your game, and considerations to make when making a PC version of your mobile game. About Boris Boris co-founded Hypemasters in 2019, known for their hit PvP mobile game - World War Armies. With a background in strategic roles at Facebook, Unity Technologies, and Goldman Sachs, Boris brings a wealth of experience to Hypemasters, where his team focuses on creating legendary PvP games that resonate with players globally.

    37 min
  8. Building and operating mobile casual games in today’s industry with Starberry Games

    13 AGO

    Building and operating mobile casual games in today’s industry with Starberry Games

    On this episode of Story Mode by Sanlo, Olya speaks with Antti Hattara, CEO & Co-Founder at StarBerry Games, a free-to-play casual mobile games studio in Berlin. They discuss mobile casual games and what it takes to build and operate them in today’s landscape. They touch on a wide range of topics, including: • Today's definition of mobile casual and how it's evolved over the years. • How to find the right player personas and niche for a casual game • What's working today in UA and marketing, and what's off the table • Ad monetization versus IAP monetization and how a hybrid model can sometimes be a disadvantage when it comes to marketing and distribution. • The benefits of having a Discord community and how it can be successful and helpful even for casual games. About Antti Antti is a games industry veteran with over 20 years of experience. He began his games career in Product Management at Digital Chocolate, where he spent over 6 years making social games. He then joined Wooga as their Head of Studio, focusing on casual mobile game development for over 5 years. In 2017, he co-founded StarBerry Games, known for their hit mobile title Merge Mayor.

    37 min
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Story Mode is a weekly podcasts featuring exclusive insights into the gaming industry. Join Sanlo CEO, Olya Caliujnaia, as she delves into the compelling narratives of the most influential and innovative executives who are shaping the world of video games. Each episode is a deep dive into the experiences that have defined the careers of our guests. We explore their beginnings, the challenges they've faced, the industry's evolution, and the game-changing decisions that have led to major milestones in the gaming world.

Información

  • Creador
    Sanlo Technologies
  • Años de actividad
    2023 - 2024
  • Episodios
    38
  • Copyright
    © Sanlo Technologies 2023
  • Mostrar sitio web
    Story Mode by Sanlo

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