Story Mode by Sanlo Sanlo Technologies

On this episode of Story Mode with Sanlo, where we talk to gaming founders and executives about the gaming industry, Olya speaks with Craig Chapple, Head of B2B Content at PocketGamer.biz. They discuss the state of gaming journalism today and tips to use PR and game journalism to drive success for your brand.

They cover a wide range of topics including:

- The role of journalists in the gaming industry
- Tips on how to cultivate fruitful relationships with game journalists
- Do's and Don't's when pitching your company and story to a journalist
- How to drive success by making journalists job easier and helping produce good stories.
- A great press kit template from Rami Ismail - https://dopresskit.com/

About Craig
Craig has been a writer and editor for the last 13 years. He’s a games industry analyst and journalist, specializing in the mobile games sector. He joined PocketGamer.biz as the head of B2B Content in 2023, and previously held roles at Deconstructor of Fun, Raptor PR, Sensor Tower, and Nintendo.

On this episode of Story Mode with Sanlo, where we talk to gaming founders and executives about the gaming industry, Olya speaks with Kristian Segerstrale, CEO at Super Evil Megacorp. They discuss today's video games industry and what it takes today to start a new studio or gaming business.

They cover a wide range of topics including:

- Kristian's start in gaming and lessons he learned from founding Play Fish, selling to EA, and starting Initial Capital where he invested in Supercell.
- The current robust opportunity to experiment with different business models
- Moving from the "platform era" in gaming to the "account era," a player-centric approach where the game is the focus opposed to the platform or device.
- Advice on navigating the cyclical tough times and down markets in gaming and the importance of making tough decisions with confidence.
- The importance of designing and building a company culture and embracing taking risks when making games.

About Kristian
Kristian Segerstrale is a prominent figure in the video game industry, known for his work in gaming - as a founder, operator and investor. He co-founded Glu Mobile and Playfish in 2007, both which were acquired by Macrospace and EA respectively. In 2010 he co-founded Initial Capital - an early-stage VC that focuses on technology companies with a focus on tech and games and was a seed investor in Supercell in 2010. In 2014 he joined Super Evil Megacorp, where he became CEO in 2017.

On this episode of Story Mode with Sanlo, where we talk to gaming founders and executives about the gaming industry, Olya speaks with Ryan Cash, Founder & CEO at Snowman. They discuss building games for several different distribution platforms and how Snowman has navigated new platforms and opportunities.

They cover a wide range of topics including:

- The founding story of Snowman.
- Why Snowman shifted from developing only mobile games to building games across many distribution platforms and devices.
- How Snowman views different business models, monetization methods, and the thinking they use to determine their next opportunity.
- How Ryan built a team capable of building award-winning games for iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch, Steam, Netflix, Apple Arcade, and the Epic Games Store.
- And some Marketing & PR tips for launching games on many platforms.

About Ryan
For the last 12 years, Ryan has been CEO at Snowman, an independent game studio who creates games that are played across the App Store, Google Play, Apple Arcade, Nintendo Switch, Steam, Netflix, and the Epic Game Store. Snowman has developed award-winning and critically acclaimed titles like Laya’s Horizon, Lucky Luna, and Alto’s Odyssey.

On this episode of Story Mode with Sanlo, Olya Caliujnaia talks to Dennis Leong, Co-founder & COO at Nightmarket Games. Nightmarket Games (fka as Epic Interactive Games). In this episode they talk all about branding and IP and the impact they can make on your games and studio.

About Dennis
Dennis co-founded Nightmarket Games in 2017. He and his team create mobile action puzzle games like Slug It Out 2 and Beyblade Burst Rivals. Before Nightmarket, Dennis spent over 8 years as a Producer & Software Developer at various media and entertainment companies like Wild Brain and Nerd Corp Entertainment.

On this installment of of Story Mode with Sanlo, Olya Caliujnaia talks to Volkan Gurel, Co-founder & CEO of Layer AI & Michael Cheal, Art Lead at LBC studios, about the power of AI when it comes to creativity and production efficiency for game development.

They cover a wide range of topics, from Layer AI's approach to provide high quality art with ethical, private and compliant AI solutions, how LBC Studios uses AI to improve their creativity and efficiency, advice for gaming companies who are looking into using AI for art and game development, and exciting new project updates from both companies.

About Volkan
Volkan is an MIT engineer who spent 16 years working in AI building B2B & B2C products. He’s held senior engineering roles at places like Hunch, which was one of the first ever AI startups, Airware, and Coinbase. He went on to co-found Layer AI in 2020.

About Michael
Michael has an extensive background in creative production with 14 years of experience across the graphic design and video games industries. Before leading LBC Studios’s entire art production for the past 6 years, he has worked on a variety of games at EA and IUGO. At LBC Studios he has helped ship 4 titles reaching over 20 million players.

On this installment of of Story Mode with Sanlo, Olya Caliujnaia talks to Bob Slinn, VP of Business Development at FunPlus, about their evolution into cross-platform gameplay. They cover a wide range of topics, including: why FunPlus is moving from a mobile-only model to cross-platform, mainly focusing on PC; the player behaviors and other motivations that led FunPlus to a cross-platform approach; the important role of webshops and a unified ID system, the business impact they are already seeing; and much more.

About Bob

Bob has worked in the gaming and entertainment industries for 20 years at brands like EA, Facebook and Yahoo. He’s led Business Development at FunPlus for close to 3 years, where he focuses on the company’s Western market strategic business development efforts, including global IP partnerships, platform relationships, and strategic investment and M&A activities.