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Deconstructor of Fun

Deconstructor of Fun podcast is created by games professionals for games professionals. We explore the business side of the games industry with the goal of bringing listeners content that is relevant, insightful, and entertaining on a weekly basis.

Hosts:
Michail Katkoff www.linkedin.com/in/michailkatkoff/
Eric Kress www.linkedin.com/in/erickress/
Phillip Black www.linkedin.com/in/phillip-black-economist/
Jen Donahoe www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferdonahoe

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33 episodes
a few times a week
Avg 58 min
English

Episodes 33

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July 20 · 1 hr 8 min
339. The Most Honest AI Adoption Story in Gaming
InnoGames didn't reach for AI to chase a trend. They reached for it because the alternative was shutting down a game people love.Thomas Lehr walks through how InnoGames kept Sunrise Village alive after the business case stopped working, taking the team from 25 people down to 3 and stabilizing a title that was slipping. This is the rare AI adoption story told with actual numbers, actual workflows, and no hiding the parts everyone else leaves out. No people pushed out, no game handed to the agents, no hype. Just a methodical breakdown of where the time went and what AI could realistically take off the table.Topics Covered:• Why the game was declining and what options were on the table before AI• What happened to all 25 people on the team• Going from 25 humans to 3 humans plus AI without killing the game• Decomposing the production pipeline to find where time actually goes• The six-step AI stage designer covering story, quests, balancing, maps, placement, and cinematics• Why building custom tooling beats subscribing to 15 shiny products• Sticking with GPT-4o for years while the pipeline just worked• What it actually costs to run the pipeline every month• The 84% of developers who reject AI at any stage, and the pushback inside the company• A direct playbook for a stuck studio making 500k a month
July 16 · 59 min
TWIG #392: Pokémon’s Gamble, World Cup WHAT & the Monetization Debate
Jen, Eric, and Phil break down a week where EA torched a premium launch, Sony declared the disc dead, and Riot reminded everyone that nostalgia is still the most reliable growth lever in games. Monetization is the throughline all the way down: who actually has a lever left to pull, and how badly you can blow it up when you pull it wrong.Topics Covered:• League of Legends Classic and the nostalgia playbook• Why WoW Classic and Fortnite OG print money• Whether a Classic mode can actually monetize• eFootball and FC Mobile riding the World Cup• FIFA leaving interactive money on the table• Ultra local live ops and the halftime spike• Pokemon Champions and Nintendo's monetization ceiling• EA College Football 2027 and its pay to progress disaster• The Battlefront II lesson EA forgot• Phil's gunpowder model for monetization backlash• Why premium publishers have no lever left but ARPU• Sony killing the physical disc by 2028CHAPTERS: 00:00 Welcome and Hosts00:23 Episode Agenda01:12 Euro Summer Banter02:42 Seattle Roundtable Plug04:20 Corrections and Clarifications05:27 Xbox Bethesda Strategy10:08 League Classic Nostalgia17:31 Classic Modes Monetization21:57 World Cup Game Boost27:40 Ultra Local Live Ops30:56 Pokemon Champions Reveal31:32 Pikmin and Pokémon Benchmarks32:17 Why Monetization Falls Flat33:42 Switch SKU and Tencent Playbook34:31 EA College Football Backlash40:02 Marketing vs Design Debate43:20 Phil’s Gunpowder Model48:10 Premium Games Need ARPU51:20 Sony Ends Physical Discs56:00 Digital Wins and Final Wrap
July 13 · 30 min
338. The Mobile vs Web User Acquisition: What Nobody's Talking About
AppsFlyer just took attribution off mobile and put it on the open web, and it might be the biggest unlock D2C web shops have seen yet.Josh Chandley talks with Adam Smart, Global Director of Product for Gaming at AppsFlyer, about the company's new web attribution product and its bigger bet on becoming a "Modern Marketing Cloud" spanning web, PlayStation, Xbox, and Oculus.Topics Covered:• AppsFlyer's new web attribution product• The shift from MMP to Modern Marketing Cloud• Why D2C web shops are the biggest day one unlock• Mobile UA mindset vs web UA mindset• Fraud and accountability on mobile vs web• Connecting web attribution to in-app ad networksCHAPTERS: 00:19 Why Web Attribution Matters00:33 Modern Marketing Cloud Vision03:28 Web vs Mobile Measurement Basics03:59 Neutral Attribution and ROAS Truth05:59 Why Launch Web Now08:13 D2C Web Shops and Growth11:49 Day One Studio Changes13:38 Mobile vs Web Mindsets15:15 Accountability and Fraud Reality17:37 Connecting Web and In App Ads19:54 Modern Marketing Cloud Explained23:42 Future of UA with AI28:32 AI Agents and Automation in Outlier29:30 Wrap Up and Where to Learn More
July 9 · 56 min
TWIG #391: Xbox's 4,800 Cuts, Apex Predator Playbook, and the 6% Problem Killing New Games
Xbox just got torched, and the math says new games can't win.Jen and Eric (two for TWIG this week) break down the biggest restructuring in Xbox history: 4,800 jobs cut, Asha Sharma unwinding Phil Spencer's entire studio buying spree, and King and Minecraft pulled in to report directly to her. Is this the setup for an Activision Blizzard 2.0 spin-out? Then they dig into fresh Newzoo data on why only 6% of the market is open to new IP, why forever games keep winning, and how growth has become an ARPU story instead of a new-player story.Topics Covered:• Microsoft cuts 4,800 jobs and 20% of Xbox's workforce• Sharma's memo and the "apex predator" restructuring playbook• King and Minecraft reporting straight to Sharma• Compulsion and Double Fine go independent with their IP• Helen Chang named Xbox's first COO, and what a single P&L signals• The spin-out theory and Activision Blizzard 2.0• Game Pass is stuck at 30 million and devaluing the $80 game• Why only 6% of the market is open to new IP• 60% of revenue coming from games five years or older• Growth as an ARPU story in the West and China• Last War, Whiteout Survival and Kingshot are proving the UA arbitrage gameCHAPTERS:00:00 - Werlcome & Agenda01:57 - World Cup Keeper Highlights03:35 - Kress's New Setup & Family Updates05:42 - NYT Games Shill07:30 - Xbox Rumors to Reality10:51 - Layoffs & Studio Shuffles13:26 - GamePass Stalls at 30 Mil14:45 - King, Mobile, and Minecraft Blindspots19:40 - Vanity Metrics Reality Check21:52 - COO PnL and Platform Model Critique24:22 - Booty Portfolio Shrinks & Next Steps25:46 - Gamepass Devalues Games27:01 - Publishers abandon Xbox28:25 - Spinout and Activision 2.030:04 - Microsoft & King Strategy32:29 - Embracer Parallel Lessons36:14 - Easy Cuts & Creative's Hard Work46:28 - Pipeline Worries for New Hits50:27 - ARPU & GTA Monetization53:11 - Mobile UA Arbitrage Reality54:58 - What Could Save the Industry
July 6 · 50 min
337. Inside New York Times Games: Why Killing 96% of New Ideas Is the Win
Zoe Bell is the Executive Producer of Games at The New York Times. If you've played Wordle, Connections, Spelling Bee, Strands, Letter Boxed, the Mini, or the Crossword, you've played something she helped build or bring to life. NYT has nearly 13 million subscribers, which includes the game business that features some ads but no in-app purchases and no battle pass.The players run from your group chat to the Vatican. The Pope has mentioned doing the Wordle in interviews, and Carol Burnett's celebrity Wordle group, including Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Charlize Theron, went on Jimmy Kimmel to accuse her of cheating. Her defense: there's no way to cheat at Wordle, and solving it in one guess is just an accident.Zoe sits down with Jen Donahoe to explain how a newspaper that has run for 175 years became one of the biggest names in games. They get into why the team kills 96% of the games it tries, how a subscription model reshapes the way they design and measure success, and what it takes to launch Crossplay, a full multiplayer layer on games that are fundamentally solo.They also talk about making every puzzle by hand while the rest of the industry automates, and where AI earns a place when human craft is the whole point. For anyone building games, this one is a window into the economics and the discipline behind one of the most envied portfolios in the business.CHAPTERS:00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro01:03 From Zynga to Times03:40 Culture Shock at NYT05:53 Respecting Game Expertise07:36 Apps and Platforms10:13 Subscription Monetization14:13 Who Plays These Games18:31 Democratic Game Ideation21:13 Greenlight to Launch Pipeline24:36 Testing Markets and Kill Rate26:00 Killing Prototypes Fast26:37 Morale With Low Hit Rates28:43 Testing Before Soft Launch29:19 KPIs And Portfolio Fit30:31 UA In Subscription Games36:46 Streaks And Crossplay Bonds39:14 AI Human Puzzles First46:32 What’s Next And Submissions48:17 Hiring And Tech Stack
July 3 · 1 hr 5 min
TWIG #390: Destiny Ends, Xbox's Biggest Layoff Ever, and Google Play's New Fee Chaos
Destiny is dead, Xbox is about to make the largest layoff in gaming history, and Google Play just completely changed how it charges developers.In this episode, we break down:• Why Sony's $3.6B Bungie acquisition was doomed from the start• What Destiny's gradual player decline actually looked like on the data• Where hundreds of laid-off Bungie developers go from here• Which five Xbox studios are being closed or sold• Why Xbox raising the Series X to $750 might be the final nail in the coffin• The unionization debate: is now the worst time to organize?• Google Play's new fee structure explained • Why Kress thinks Apple and Google wasted 20 years of developer goodwill• How a 2-person team sold 10 million copies of Mecha Chameleon in 16 days with zero marketing spend• Why the Adidas x Brawl Stars collab may have just hurt Supercell's brand• Ubisoft's surprising new hire from Amazon GamesCHAPTERS:00:00 Mobile Giants Rant00:16 Show Intro and Agenda02:39 Soccer Sidetrack04:03 Quick Shills and Corrections07:04 Sony Cuts Bungie13:15 Destiny Trends and Mobile15:37 Where Talent Goes Next17:25 Xbox Layoffs Rumors19:51 Strategy Behind Closures26:03 Unionization Debate29:51 Xbox Price Hike Fallout33:21 Console Pricing Speculation34:24 Switch Sales And Price Hikes36:09 Google Play Changes Breakdown38:53 New Vs Existing Install Fees40:33 Web Billing And Rankings41:18 Why So Complicated44:08 Level Up Program Requirements45:26 Sidekick Overlay And Data46:24 Rollout Dates And Reactions49:20 Stores Value And 30 Percent53:22 Steam Viral Hit Mecha Chameleon55:49 VC Project Financing Debate58:50 Ubisoft Hires Amazon Games GM01:00:18 Adidas Brawl Stars Marketing Lesson01:03:30 Wrap Up And Next Topics
June 29 · 51 min
Puzzle Monthly #4: $60M Marketing, $65M Revenue, What Happened to Good Job Games?
In this episode of Puzzle Monthly, we trace Good Job Games' path from two clean exits to a struggling Match 3 launch, and break down why the studio that built Zen Match and sold its hypercasual portfolio for billions in downloads can't get Match Villains to monetize like Royal Match. Topics Covered: • Good Job Games' history, from hypercasual hits to Zenmatch's $100-150M exit • Wonder Blast and why it never escaped soft launch purgatory • Match Villains' aggressive difficulty curve and the push to shorten payback period • Why polish alone didn't save Match Villains, and what Royal Match actually got right • Royal Match vs Royal Kingdom vs Match Villains vs Piggy Kingdom • Whether Good Job Games is actually out of money, and what comes next CHAPTERS: 00:01 - Intro 00:40 - Good Job Games' History and Two Exits 09:11 - Match Villains Launches with $83M Raised 13:27 - Wonder Blast and the Soft Launch Trap 19:41 - Match Villains Gameplay Breakdown 21:58 - Aggressive Funnels and Payback Period Pressure 30:31 - Royal Match vs Royal Kingdom vs Match Villains 41:14 - Sensor Tower RPD Data Comparison 47:56 - Is Good Job Games Running Out of Money
June 25 · 1 hr 1 min
TWIG #389: GTA 6 Pricing, Tencent Pulls Back from Japan, and Steam Machine Flops at Launch
GTA 6 finally has a price tag, Steam Machine lands with a $1,000+, and Tencent is quietly pulling out of Japan. In this episode, we break down: ● Why GTA 6's $80/$100 pricing is good news for the industry ● What the deluxe edition actually includes (and what it's missing) ● The attach rate debate for GTA 6 on PS5 and Xbox ● Why Tencent is exiting its Japanese gaming investments ● Who's actually still buying game studios right now ● Unreal Engine 6 and what it means for developers ● Epic's new AI tools shown at Unreal Fest ● Tim Sweeney's "Team Open" pitch and his war on Roblox ● Who the Steam Machine is actually built for ● General Intuition's $320M raise and what it means for AI in gaming ● Roblox's new brand integration tax and why creators are worried ● Why Queen Digital Entertainment shut down after burning $50M CHAPTERS: 00:20 Welcome and Agenda 02:14 Canada and World Cup Banter 03:40 Seattle Roundtable Plug 05:07 Mishka LinkedIn Apology 07:42 LA Roundtable Recap 10:15 Audience Polls and GTA Hype 11:38 GTA 6 Pricing Details 14:32 Deluxe Edition and Monetization 17:05 Attach Rate and Online Revenue 20:23 Tencent Divestment Rumors 22:22 Who Still Buys Studios 25:47 Bull Case and Buyouts 26:06 Tencent Strategy Shift 26:35 Unreal Fest Highlights 26:55 Unreal Engine 6 Roadmap 27:53 AI Tools in Unreal 28:36 Tim Sweeney vs Roblox 29:04 Team Open Vision 31:26 Interoperability Debate 35:00 Epic Reality Check 40:53 Valve Steam Machine Pricing 46:41 Who Is It For 48:05 General Intuition Funding 50:21 Roblox Brand Runtime Fees 54:38 Creator Impact and Risks 58:26 Queen Digital Shuts Down 01:00:14 Wrap Up and Goodbye
June 22 · 56 min
336. Why Most Game Engines Die, and How AI Builds "Living Worlds"
Andrew Bowell, CEO of Iconic, who spent 15 years at Havok and a decade at Unity, discusses the future of game development, AI integration, and the challenges of building new game engines. He shares insights on technological shifts, AI's role in creating immersive worlds, and why his company is building an engine to “craft intelligent, living worlds”. https://iconicgames.io/ 02:10— The shift toward dynamic, emergent, personalized gameplay 04:39— Why Iconic won’t end up in the “engine graveyard” 10:13— “Intelligent living worlds” explained 16:12— Dogfooding and building the engine through its own game 19:35— Deterministic vs open-ended gameplay 23:11— What Unity got right about AI 26:52— The real paradigm shift in gaming 37:59— Player-first, not technology-first 46:26— Where AI adoption in games stops today 51:56— Remote vs hybrid culture at Iconic
June 19 · 54 min
335. My Wife Uninstalled Roblox. Then I Talked to Their Safety Team.
Roblox's Chief Safety Officer and VP of Safety Products join the podcast to answer the question every parent is asking: Is it actually safe?What's covered:● Why Roblox's safety chief uninstalled the app for his own daughter● The new Roblox Kids and Select accounts launching in June● How facial age verification works at scale, and how parents keep breaking it● AI moderating 150 million daily users across every server, every second● The "predator hunters" YouTube show that went viral, and why Roblox banned them anyway● How bad actors move kids off-platform to Discord and Snapchat, and what Roblox does about it● Why Roblox faces more scrutiny than TikTok or YouTube despite tighter restrictions
June 18 · 1 hr 4 min
TWIG #388: Xbox's Spinout Plan, Metacore's Mass Layoffs and Netflix's FIFA Flop
Microsoft is laying the groundwork to spin Xbox off, Supercell just cut 70% of Metacore's staff after burning through $180M. Meanwhile, EA just launched a real ad platform for sports games. In this episode, we break down: ● Why Xbox keeps losing its top studio leadership ● Whether Microsoft is actually preparing to spin off Xbox ● What Sharma's first 100 days reveal about her real strategy ● Why Believer raised $55M to ship an AI plugin instead of a game ● How Supercell's Metacore acquisition turned into a 70% staff cut ● Why EA's new in-game ad platform might actually make sense, for once ● Why microdrama apps are growing fast but can't fix their retention ● Why Konami's eFootball is quietly beating FC Mobile in revenue ● Why Netflix's FIFA World Cup game became an instant disaster ● Why the consumer apps "threat" to gaming doesn't hold up under the data CHAPTERS: 00:42 Topics Preview 02:04 Shills and Events 03:01 Roblox Safety Podcast 04:08 Puzzle Monthly Updates 06:05 Conference Island Recap 08:48 Xbox News Rundown 11:49 Kress on Xbox Spinout 20:07 Sharma 100 Days Analysis 25:32 Believer AI Plugin 29:40 Metacore Acquisition Fallout 33:38 EA Advertising Debate 35:02 Ads In Sports Games 36:34 Why In Game Ads Failed 38:08 Roblox Brand Detour 40:37 Micro Drama Boom 41:45 Retention And Monetization 44:18 Merge Drama And Subscriptions 47:57 Konami Strategy And Collabs 51:03 FIFA Netflix Game Rant 54:38 Consumer Apps Threat Myth 58:59 Attention CPI And Webshops 01:02:19 IDFA Rumor And Farewell
June 15 · 46 min
Puzzle Monthly #3: Merge vs Match-3, Gossip Harbor's Rise, and the Future of Merge
Gossip Harbor is beating Candy Crush, Merge Mansion is going to Supercell, and the Merge genre is at an inflection point. In this episode of Puzzle Monthly, we break down the real state of Merge games in 2026, from the history of the genre to why Gossip Harbor succeeded where others failed, and what the next Merge hit might look like. Topics Covered: ● The history of Merge — from Tripletown to Merge Dragons to Merge 2 ● Merge 2 vs Merge 3: how the economies actually differ ● Why Gossip Harbor surpassed Candy Crush while Merge Mansion collapsed ● The no-fail-state problem and how live ops try to solve it ● Board clutter, storage frustration, and persistent board design ● Sensor Tower data: Travel Town vs Gossip Harbor vs Merge Mansion ● Hard order labeling and whether Match 3 lessons apply to Merge ● What the next Merge game should look like CHAPTERS: 01:07 Merge Takes Center Stage 02:07 Origins of Merge Games 02:38 Merge Two vs Three 03:48 Core Loop Explained 06:03 Merge Mansion vs Gossip Harbor 07:54 Live Ops Without Fail States 09:40 Why Merge Feels Boring 11:51 Progress and Board Order 15:45 Dog Quest and Board Clutter 17:45 Persistent Boards and Storage 19:24 Monetization Paradox 20:11 What's Next for Merge 21:28 Soap Opera and Generator Ideas 22:12 Persistence Makes UX Hard 22:48 Persistent Boards Shift 23:32 Making Merge Feel Dynamic 24:28 Separate Boards Live Ops 25:06 Lucky Catch Event Design 26:02 Battle Pass Segmentation 26:38 Why Gossip Harbor Won 28:17 Merge Engine Under Hood 36:24 Next Genre Innovations 39:00 Cannibalization By Sequels 40:53 Hard Labeling For Orders 43:13 Generator Overcharge Ideas 44:04 Future Focus Areas 44:48 Wrap Up And Farewell
June 12 · 51 min
TWIG #387: LiftOff IPO, Xbox pulls out the bangers, and The Simpsons take over Monopoly GO!
Nintendo's stock is getting hammered without a new Mario, Monopoly GO is going all-in on The Simpsons, and Liftoff is back on the public markets. Meanwhile, Xbox finally seems to be doing what it should have done years ago.In this episode, we break down:● Liftoff's IPO and the AppLovin challenge● Monopoly GO's Simpsons mega-event● How Scopely uses IP for reactivation● Apple's crackdown on low-quality apps● Xbox's biggest Summer Showcase in years● Why Xbox is bringing exclusives back● Fable, Gears, Persona 6, and Minecraft Dungeons 2● Nintendo Direct's biggest announcements● The growing mystery of missing Mario● Why Nintendo investors are getting nervous● Paramount's new gaming division● TMNT, Star Trek, Avatar, and Marvel projects● Why Hollywood struggles to make games● The missing mobile strategy at Paramount● Apple IDFA rumors and what they mean for UA● The future of AppLovin, Meta, and Google adsCHAPTERS:01:36 Minecraft Summer Parenting03:22 Quick Correction Bond Sales05:18 Liftoff IPO Breakdown06:41 UA Ecosystem and AppLovin08:37 Private Equity Red Flags10:41 Simpsons Takes Monopoly Go11:53 Why the Crossover Works15:20 UA Reactivation and Celebs19:12 Apple’s App Store Purge21:54 Xbox Showcase and Strategy25:57 Xbox Margin Unlock26:38 Platform Strategy Risks27:29 Minecraft Sales Reality28:30 Nintendo Direct Highlights30:42 Where Is 3D Mario36:12 Paramount Games Revealed38:17 Execution Over Press41:48 Mobile Missing Piece43:19 IDFA Rumor Rant46:20 If IDFA Returned48:10 Rumor Season Noise50:24 Closing The Episode

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