Naavik Gaming Podcast

This episode covers the Naavik Digest newsletter published on Sunday, June 14th. In today’s issue, we discuss the current state of microdramas — a category which rapidly evolved from a niche Chinese entertainment phenomenon into one of the fastest-growing mobile content categories in the world — exploring the widening gap between audience expansion and monetization, a trend which raises important questions about the category’s long-term economics.

You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/the-microdrama-volume-vs-value-paradox 

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Gaming M&A is no longer just a story about strategics buying obvious hits. In this episode, Alexandra Takei, VP of Platform Revenue at Medal, sits down with Brogan Keane, Managing Partner at Double Black Capital, to unpack what actually happens when a game studio reaches the end of its company lifecycle: sale, exit, or recapitalization. The conversation breaks down who is buying game companies today, from private equity firms and Korean strategics to non-gaming entertainment companies looking for transmedia exposure. Brogan explains why PE buyers care most about profitability and risk mitigation, while strategics may pay more aggressively...

This episode covers the Naavik Digest newsletter published on Sunday, June 7th. In today’s issue, we shine a light on Embracer after the company recently announced it is splitting up again. We look back at the key strategic decisions the company has made and what they might mean for its future.

You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/embracer-splits-again 

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Keeping players playing is getting harder as player attention fragments and expectations rise, so understanding churn has become a core live-ops competency. Host Devin Becker sits down with Elad Levy, Founder & CTO of Dive, to break down how churn is defined (and when it’s actually “permanent”), the behavioral signals that players are drifting toward the exit, and the underlying causes teams can often address before it’s too late. They dig into practical interventions from in-session nudges, to win-back campaigns as well as what reacquisition can realistically accomplish. The conversation wraps with the dumbest reason players quit, the single m...

This episode covers the Naavik Digest newsletter published on Sunday, May 31st. In today’s issue, we dive deep into Scopely and the three titles which generate close to 95% of the company’s monthly in-app revenue, examining their current states and future prospects. 

You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/dissecting-scopelys-mobile-empire 

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In this episode, host Kalie Moore sits down with James Nicholls, Studio Director at Scriptic, to explore one of the most fascinating intersections emerging in entertainment today: true crime, interactive storytelling, streaming platforms, and AI-powered production. Scriptic’s breakout title, Scriptic: Crime Stories, became one of the top-performing games in Netflix Games history by turning players into detectives investigating crimes through phones, voice notes, chats, and digital evidence. James breaks down how the studio built a new category they call “narrative play,” where stories come first and gameplay is designed to feel invisible, intuitive, and accessible to audiences far beyond...

This episode covers the Naavik Digest newsletter published on Sunday, May 24th. This week, we take a closer look at Asha Sharma's progress and plans three months into her tenure as CEO of Xbox — reviewing her early moves and what she may need to do to reverse Xbox’s fortunes. 

You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/where-will-asha-sharma-take-xbox 

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Host Devin Becker sits down with Tom Gayner, CEO of Levellr, to dig into what it actually looks like to listen to players at scale, and how to turn the constant stream of feedback from places like Discord and Reddit into usable sentiment signals. Tom breaks down how Levellr gathers and organizes that data, what teams gain when they treat social channels as a living feedback layer, and how different communities or players tend to “slant” the conversation in different ways. They also get practical about workflows (dashboards and reports vs. hands-on collaboration), how to group feedback into meaningful play...

This episode covers the Naavik Digest newsletter published on Sunday, May 17th. This week, we conduct a focused case study within the highly competitive Merge-2 subgenre of the casual mobile F2P market, where certain Eastern developers are now consistently out-monetizing their Western counterparts while competing for the same audience pools. 

You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/the-eastern-playbook-for-dominating-western-audiences

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Most premium games are treated like opening-weekend businesses: if they do not spike, studios cut losses and move on. This episode challenges that instinct. Alexandra Takei, VP of Platform Revenue at Medal, sits down with Ian Fielding, CEO of Super Evil Megacorp, to discuss how studios can build durable premium games, manage back catalogs, and survive as independent AA companies in a market that increasingly punishes the middle.

The conversation traces SEMC’s evolution from Vainglory and Catalyst Black to its current cross-platform, IP-driven chapter with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate and Bloodline. Ian explains why SE...

This is the audio version of the Naavik Digest newsletter published on May 10th, 2026. This week, we dive deep into Savvy Games Group, exploring what the Saudi Arabian gaming holding company now owns, how it’s performed, and its endgame.

You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/inside-saudi-arabias-gaming-empire

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In this episode, host Kalie Moore sits down with Julia Palatovska, Co-Founder and CEO of Dorian, to explore one of the most underappreciated shifts in entertainment: the convergence of user-generated content, interactive storytelling, and female-first fandoms. As microdrama consumption explodes globally, Julia argues that the real opportunity isn’t just in passive viewing but in turning audiences into creators and stories into interactive, monetizable experiences. She breaks down how Dorian is building a no-code platform that enables creators from cosplayers to webcomic artists, to launch games, iterate in real time, and generate meaningful income through free-to-play mechanics typically reserved fo...

This is the audio version of the Naavik Digest newsletter published on May 3rd, 2026. This week, we examine what direction China’s gaming giants are taking following the decline of the traditional Anime-Gacha ARPG model.

You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/beyond-gacha-why-chinas-gaming-giants-are-pivoting-to-lifestyle-sims 

Meet with Naavik at the Nordic Game 2026: https://naavik.typeform.com/to/Jc5cl7eY 

Our most recent AI x Gaming newsletter: https://naavik.substack.com/p/kraftons-radical-ai-transformation 

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In this episode, host Kalie Moore sits down with Terry Lee, CEO of Fusebox Games, to unpack one of the most overlooked but powerful business models in mobile gaming: interactive fiction built on licensed IP. While much of the industry chases scale through mechanics or ads, Fusebox has quietly built a $30M+ business by turning hit TV shows like Love Island into living, evolving games with some of the highest payer conversion rates in mobile. Terry shares how the studio transformed from a one-season-per-year content cycle into a high-frequency content machine, why writing (not tech), is their true competitive...

This is the audio version of the Naavik Digest newsletter published on April 26th, 2026. This week, we dive into Unity’s ongoing turnaround, the promise of Vector (its ad platform), and what comes next as AI evolves game development.

You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/unitys-ad-driven-turnaround

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Host Devin Becker sits down with Nicolas Vizioli (Founder of Lemonade) to unpack what “AI coding for UGC in Roblox” actually looks like in practice, ranging from how Lemonade plugs into Roblox workflows to why Roblox is a uniquely interesting target compared to broader “vibe coding” for apps. Nicolas shares early results, where the product is (and isn’t) competitive with Roblox’s native tools, and how AI-assisted development has changed over the time he’s been building in this space. They also zoom out to where AI fits across UGC platforms, what impact it’s already having on Roblox creators...

This is the audio version of the Naavik Digest newsletter published on April 19th, 2026. We examine the exploding number of mobile games made with AI, exploring how advances in generative AI and vibe coding are affecting the market and whether these additions are still just “AI slop” games.

You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/is-the-era-of-mobile-ai-slop-games-here

Sensor Tower’s Action & Strategy Report: https://sensortower.com/report/gaming-deep-dive-action-and-strategy?utm_source=naavik&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=&utm_content=newsletter

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It can feel like modern game development competes to ship the best game with the smallest possible team. We constantly hear stories about breakout titles built by a handful of developers, but that narrative is often incomplete. Behind many “tiny teams” sits a much larger layer of co-development, outsourcing, and external support across engineering, art, QA, localization, and more. In this episode, host Alexandra Takei, VP at Medal, sits down with Ninel Anderson, founder and CEO of Devoted Studios, to go under the hood of that hidden layer of game development. 

The two unpack what co-development actually is, w...

This is the audio version of the Naavik Digest newsletter published on April 12th, 2026. We dig into the past, present, and future of music games – exploring the nuances of licensing, mobile winners, Fortnite’s music evolution, Duolingo’s new focus, the upcoming launch of Stage Tour, and more.

You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/music-games-and-the-setlist-problem 

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Host Devin Becker sits down with Aaron Bush (Managing Partner & Co-founder of Naavik) for a grounded look at how games are using AI today, separating real production wins from the hype. They map where the industry is right now and then dig into concrete examples across the pipeline: Capcom’s ideation and efficiency gains, Pearl Abyss using placeholder assets during development on Crimson Desert, Embark and Nexon’s work across experiential data, coding, and voice, and Krafton’s experiments with AI co-playable characters and workflow optimization. The conversation also covers the less glamorous (but high-impact) uses like Live Ops conten...

This is the audio version of the Naavik Digest newsletter published on April 5th, 2026. We explore Epic Game’s strategic shake-up in the wake of its latest layoffs, including its reorientation on UGC creators, Fortnite’s stagnation, the looming Disney IP implementation, and what else may come next.

You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/epics-strategic-shake-up 

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In this episode, host Kalie Moore sits down with Stephen Totilo, founder of Game File and a veteran games journalist with over two decades of experience across MTV News, Kotaku, and Axios to unpack how the media landscape around gaming is rapidly evolving. As traditional outlets shrink and more journalists go independent, Stephen shares what it actually looks like to build a sustainable, subscription-based publication and why he chose to bet on himself rather than join another institution. The conversation explores the shift from institutional media power to individual credibility, and how trust, audience relationships, and direct monetization are...

This is the audio version of the Naavik Digest newsletter published on March 22nd, 2026. We explore a slightly overlooked area of AI in game development: consumer research. We focus on recent studies aimed at leveraging the vast data within LLMs to replicate human behavior and how we can actually make use of these studies in a practical way. 

You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/llms-for-games-consumer-research 

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Host Devin Becker sits down with Sam Aune (Gaming Analyst at Sensor Tower) to break down Sensor Tower's State of Gaming 2026 report, which covers the current mobile, console, and PC gaming landscape. 

The conversation spans genre-level signals and platform shifts, such as why 4X strategy bucked mobile’s downward trend to what’s driving PC’s growth. Devin and Sam unpack recent outliers and inflection points like how creator-focused hits outperformed AAA, Battlefield 6’s comeback, the rising importance of cross-platform parity for shooters, and what GTA 6 could do to the broader “social” game landscape. They close with the biggest o...

This is the audio version of the Naavik Digest newsletter published on March 22nd, 2026. We look into the Korean games giant NCSoft’s 70% acquisition in the Berlin-based cash-reward gaming platform JustPlay. We unpack what this deal — the latest in a long string of M&A — might mean for the company’s future.

You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/ncsofts-200m-bet-on-cash-reward-gaming

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In this special GDC episode, host Kalie Moore sits down with Tiago Correia, the Founder of Save Point, and a longtime operator and investor at the intersection of gaming, media, and technology, to unpack the biggest themes emerging from this year’s Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco. They discuss the current mood across the industry, which remains cautiously optimistic but far from the exuberance of previous years. While AI dominated conversations across the conference, both note that gaming companies appear to be adopting AI more quietly than the broader tech ecosystem, in part because of the close re...

This is the audio version of the Naavik Digest newsletter published on March 8th, 2026. We take a look at the Japanese publisher Capcom, exploring how it has managed to sustain growth and success for years, and what its future might look like.

You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/unpacking-capcoms-win-streak 

Read our new State of UGC Games report here: https://naavik.co/deep-dives/the-state-of-ugc-games-2026 

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In this episode, host Kalie Moore talks with Bastian Bergmann, Co-founder & COO of Solsten, about the collision between gaming and branding, and why most companies still don’t know how to show up in games without feeling like an ad. With 3B+ people playing worldwide and gaming still capturing only ~5% of global ad spend, Bastian argues the opportunity isn’t awareness, it’s audience strategy. Kalie and Bastian break down why gaming is the only medium that truly spans every demographic, from Gen Alpha to “silver surfers,” and why brands fail when they lead with stereotypes or build empty “brand worlds...

This is the audio version of the Naavik Digest newsletter published on March 8th, 2026. We look at Nexon and how the success of ARC Raiders might transform the company’s future. 

Read our new State of UGC Games report here: https://naavik.co/deep-dives/the-state-of-ugc-games-2026 

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You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/the-arc-raiders-ification-of-nexon

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A new breed of “micro-indie” publisher is emerging: teams that fund sub-$200K games, ship fast, and treat releases like a portfolio. In this episode, host Alexandra Takei, VP at Medal, sits down with Kirill Akimkin, founder of Polden Publishing, to unpack the world of micro indies and discovery. In 2025, they shipped almost 8 games with $800K and plan to ship 20 titles in 2026. Kirill explains that much of their developer pipeline is inbound: a Telegram-led media presence brings developers to them, and that they are more “researchers” than experts, with strict KPIs for a game's release. We discuss their genre strategy...

This is the audio version of the Naavik Digest newsletter published on March 1st, 2026. We provide a snippet of our new deep dive covering all things UGC gaming. We break down the latest performance of leaders like Roblox, Fortnite Creative, Overwolf, and explore other notable trends and companies. You can read the full report here: https://naavik.co/deep-dives/the-state-of-ugc-games-2026 

Meet us at GDC 2026 by filling out this short form: https://naavik.typeform.com/to/gVDtj4UO 

Sensor Tower’s State of Gaming report: https://sensortower.com/report/state-of-gaming-2026?utm_source=naavik&utm_medi...

This is the audio version of the Naavik Digest newsletter published on February 22nd, 2026. We explore how niche subgenres – Block, Sort, and Screw – are reshaping the mobile puzzle market.

You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/how-niche-subgenres-are-reshaping-the-mobile-puzzle-market

Meet us at GDC 2026 by filling out this short form: https://naavik.typeform.com/to/gVDtj4UO 

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Medical training is still stuck in the arcade era: expensive, basement-bound simulators and outdated software that rarely capture the real stakes of clinical decision-making. In this episode, host Alexandra Takei, Studio Director at Ruckus Games, sits down with Sam Glassenberg, founder of Level Ex (now part of Relevate Health), to unpack how game developers can modernize healthcare learning by truly embracing the craft of video game design, not “gamification” lipstick. The opportunity and the market here are much bigger than you might assume. Healthcare is a trillion-dollar industry in the US alone, and if you can create products that save...

This is the audio version of the Naavik Digest newsletter published on February 15th, 2026. We explore Turkish game development in 2026, discussing what other countries can learn from its ascent and considerations for its next era.

You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://naavik.co/digest/why-turkish-game-development-matters-in-2026/ 

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After a volatile few months across games, tech, and public markets, it’s time for a grounded check-in on where the industry actually stands. Host Devin Becker is joined by Aaron Bush (Managing Partner & Co-Founder, Naavik) to unpack the latest signals – from AAA publisher performance and what recent EA earnings suggest for big franchises like Battlefield, to Ubisoft’s ongoing restructuring, studio closures, and the push to reframe its future through initiatives like Vantage Studios.

Next, they dig into Roblox’s continued growth and what its recent results imply, even as age-related scrutiny and safety conversations remain p...

This is the audio version of the Naavik Digest newsletter published on February 8th, 2026. We look into Project Genie — Google’s experimental AI that generates short, navigable 3D scenes — and explore the possible implications of world models for game engines and developers.

You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/square-enix-refutes-and-reframes 

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In this episode, host Kalie Moore talks with David Lee, Co-founder & CEO of Nex, to unpack one of the rarest success stories in modern gaming: launching a new consumer console and winning. In a category dominated for decades by the same three players, Nex broke through by rethinking who gaming hardware is for. Often compared to Wii or Kinect, Nex’s real innovation isn’t motion-based play alone, but a family-first platform built around physical activity, kid safety, and parental trust. In a down year for console sales, Nex sold over 650,000 units, expanded into thousands of retail stores, and capt...

This is the audio version of the Naavik Digest newsletter published on February 1st, 2026. We dive deep into the “fair” gacha Asian action RPGs to explore the performance of their unique monetization strategy and to see if prioritizing player fairness can lead to significant gains.

You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/evaluating-the-fair-gacha-games-experiment

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This is the audio version of the Naavik Digest newsletter published on January 25th, 2026. We examine Square Enix’s recent performance, explore what’s changed since the last time we checked in on the company, and take a look at its future.

You can read the newsletter (with even more sections and visual detail) here: https://www.naavik.co/digest/square-enix-refutes-and-reframes 

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The PC games “gray market” isn’t just a couple of shady websites. It’s an economic behavior that exploits regional pricing and promotion timing to siphon revenue away from publishers. In this episode, Our host, Alexandra Takei, Director at Ruckus Games, sits down with Vadim Andreev, CEO of Rokky (and former founder of PlayKey), to unpack how retail-era code resale evolved into today’s global key-arbitrage machine.

Vadim breaks down two core leak points: regional price arbitrage (buying keys in cheaper markets and reselling in premium ones) and promo stockpiling (buying deep-discount keys during sales, then reselling...