Deconstructor of Fun

Every studio says it wants a franchise. Luis de la Camara, who has led marketing on Angry Birds, Candy Crush and Sonic, says most can’t define one. His test is simple: an IP only becomes a franchise once it has carried more than one product, and no IP will ever fix a bad game.He walks through Rovio’s CPI tests. Putting Angry Birds art on a new prototype brought CPI down, and redesigning the game to feel like real Angry Birds brought it down further. He also explains how Sonic pulled in curious fans who installed, tried the game and left, which sank day-1 retention. Plus why meeting player expectations matters more than having mascots, why Playrix has an IP even if its team doesn’t think so, how ad creative can stretch a brand without damaging it, and whether a $20M studio should spend on brand or on margins.CHAPTERS:00:00 What Franchise Means01:11 Core Franchise Assets02:25 How Far IP Can Stretch04:03 IP Versus Franchise Line06:39 Characters Lore Transmedia08:32 Overrated Versus Underrated11:51 Transmedia Flywheel Reality16:42 IP Impact On UA19:43 Brand Versus UA Tension26:37 Setting Brand Pillars27:28 Nike Identity Lessons28:09 Brand Pillars Sandbox29:42 Franchise Decay And Product32:39 UA Overinvestment Trap33:34 CTV Attribution Mess36:53 Incrementality Reality Checks37:50 Paid Search Brand Defense46:28 Kill Fast With Data48:23 Valuing Franchise In M&A51:53 Advice For $20M Studios54:17 Define Pillars And Wrap

Half of Roblox’s 2025 revenue came from steal games, and the platform can’t seem to quit them.This week we debate whether steal mechanics are a passing trend or the real engine behind Roblox’s growth, ahead of an earnings call that will likely reward the algorithm rollback. Tim Sweeney says AI will bring a golden age of gaming, while Steam data shows AI-disclosed releases tripling and players pushing back with their wallets. We compare PocketGamer.biz’s top mobile makers against Sensor Tower revenue, break down Modern Warfare 4’s design bets and launch numbers, and unpack a chaotic week at Xbox: a rumored private equity bid, 60,000 voluntary exit offers, a failed Netflix deal and a COO who lasted three months. We close on Rockstar turning Miami into Vice City three weeks before GTA VI.Topics Covered:• Steal games drove half of Roblox’s 2025 revenue.• Roblox earnings could rebound after the algorithm rollback.• Tim Sweeney bets Epic’s future on AI.• AI-disclosed Steam releases jumped from 10% to 34%.• Disclosure labels are hurting sales on Steam.• PocketGamer.biz and Sensor Tower disagree on mobile’s top 10.• Turkey and China dominate the mobile charts.• Modern Warfare 4 wins back sentiment but may miss the numbers.• Apex attachments and the gunnery advisor reshape progression.• Private equity eyes a $100B+ Xbox buyout.• Microsoft offers exit packages to 60,000 employees.• Netflix walks away from a $500M Xbox IP deal.• Helen Chiang leaves Xbox three months after becoming COO.• Rockstar reskins Miami as Vice City.CHAPTERS:00:00 Welcome and lineup00:32 What we are covering today02:12 What everyone is playing05:12 WoW Forever debate06:46 Discord interview takeaways10:15 Roblox revenue chart debate19:17 Tim Sweeney on AI future23:51 Steam AI disclosures data34:35 Mobile Top Maker Debate36:41 Pocket Gamer vs Sensor Tower39:34 Modern Warfare 4 Breakdown56:35 Xbox Rumors and Restructuring01:03:28 Netflix Deal and IP Value01:05:08 GTA VI Miami Marketing Blitz01:07:26 Wrap Up and Sign Off

Discord spent years saying it would never run ads. Now it sits on 90 million daily users who mostly play games with friends, and Chief Business Officer Jules Shumaker, who previously built ad businesses at EA, Zynga and Unity, is turning that audience into a growth channel for game makers.She walks through why players linked through the Social SDK retain 31% better by D28, why Nitro subscribers opt into ads more than non-payers, and how Discord brings lapsed players back for under $2 each. Plus the social commerce launch where 41% of Marvel Rivals purchases were gifts, the push into mobile, and the self-serve ad manager coming next.Chapters:00:00 - Meet Jules Shumaker00:45 - From EA and Zynga to Discord09:00 - What Discord offers game developers13:20 - Social SDK and the retention lift17:15 - Bringing the social layer to mobile20:30 - How Discord started doing ads26:30 - Social commerce and gifting31:00 - Winning back lapsed players39:50 - Video Quest and self-serve ads43:10 - Building a Discord growth strategy

Is Steal an Egg the real engine behind Roblox’s revenue?This week the crew argues over a Konvoy piece saying Roblox should go private. With the stock well off its highs, $6B in cash and a long-term HD strategy that Wall Street keeps punishing, is a buyout the only way out of the brainrot cycle? We also look at the AI-driven surge of first-time creators on Roblox, Arc Raiders’ new big-update content model, the Liquid Swords shutdown and which genres GTA VI is about to hit hardest.Topics Covered:• Takeaways from our interview with Riot’s CFO• Why Riot’s China revenue mostly benefits Tencent• GDC moves to four days and adds dealmaking space• Gen Alpha plays to be seen, not to disappear• Creator activations and the UA content they feed• 20% of top mobile spenders are looking for their next game• Roblox leads PC and console playtime• Should Roblox go private?• Steal an Egg and revenue concentration on Roblox• AI tools bring a 10x jump in first-time Roblox creators• What Liquid Swords’ closure teaches indie AAA founders• Arc Raiders’ content update and Steam free weekend• GTA VI’s launch threatens shooters, sports and racing gamesCHAPTERS: 00:00 Intro01:21 Banned Topics and AI Jokes01:53 Riot CFO Interview Takeaways02:50 Riot China Revenue Reality10:07 Sponsor Shoutouts Sensor Tower14:14 Roundtable Recap Gen Alpha20:32 Whales as Free Agents Stat23:42 Roblox29:30 Replace Dave Or Go Private31:03 AAA Pivot And Moral Debate34:37 Algorithm And Revenue Concentration37:49 AI Flood Of New Roblox Games44:01 Indie AAA Studio Collapse50:04 Arc Raiders57:35 GTA Launch Shockwave01:02:38 EA Bioware Closure

Riot shipped one game in ten years, then four in the next two. Mark Sottosanti, CFO of Riot Games, was there for all of it. He joined in 2012 as head of monetization after running a hedge fund, and has been at Riot ever since.We start with how Riot went from League of Legends to a multi-game publisher. That covers the 10th anniversary reveal, why five of its seven launches worked, and what Legends of Runeterra and 2XKO taught the team. Then we get into the business side, discussing regional strategy, Korea’s PC cafes, mobile and China, Valorant on console, and why Valorant still has no loot boxes.Mark also explains the real math behind Arcane and how Season 2 broke even, how Riot uses AI today, where he sees the industry heading, and why Riot has never bought revenue.CHAPTERS:00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro01:09 Why Riot Now02:07 Mark Joins Riot04:01 From One Game to Many08:55 Greenlighting and Results13:54 Global Offices Strategy17:54 Mobile Shift and China22:55 Wild Rift and Console25:24 Monetization Philosophy26:39 Arcane and Transmedia ROI34:54 Industry Outlook and Hiring37:18 Hybrid Work and CFO Advice39:36 Wrap Up and Whats Next

Xbox has a franchise problem, and Gears of War E-Day just made it obvious.This week we look back on Mobidictum in Istanbul and argue about why Turkey became the puzzle capital while Sweden didn’t. Then we pull apart Aream’s Q3 report: the M&A number is inflated by the EA deal, the IPO window stays shut, and seed funding is at a five-year low. We also cover the EU’s new action against ten game companies over virtual currency and dark patterns, the panic over US console sales, and Xbox’s new XP division. We finish with the Aniimo launch and why FunPlus held back on monetization.Topics Covered:• Mobidictum takeaways and the Sweden vs Turkey debate• US console sales hit record lows ahead of GTA VI• EU targets ten companies over virtual currency bundles• Aream Q3 report and the real M&A numbers• No IPO market for gaming• AI infrastructure money counted as gaming VC• Steam growth and new IP winning on PC• Mobile installs down and the frozen top charts• Turkey stands out in IAP growth and early stage deals• Gears of War E-Day and the cost of losing the console war• Xbox launches XP for film, TV and products• Aniimo launch numbers and its core loop• Why Aniimo skipped direct creature gachaCHAPTERS:01:58 Istanbul Takeaways04:18 Sweden vs Turkey Debate08:02 Cyprus Event Plug13:47 EU Targets Virtual Currency19:00 Areem Q3 Report34:59 Gears E-Day Franchise Autopsy41:31 Xbox XP48:21 Aniimo Launch and Core Loop52:38 Aniimo Monetization and Costs

Retrofitting AI into a 1,300-person company and building one around it from day one are different problems. Mishka Katkoff sits down with Liaz Kamper, AI Experience Architect at AppsFlyer, and Maor Cohen, CTO of Vibes, to compare the two.00:00 — AI-first vs. AI-native companies06:19 — Transforming an established company with AI16:22 — Building an AI-native organization20:40 — Coordination and shared context26:12 — Building the company’s “AI brain”32:27 — Earning customer trust in an AI-powered world37:40 — Success in AI-native teams45:03 — AI as a tool, not the goal51:48 — Token costs58:56 — How AI is changing jobs66:02 — Closing thoughts on the two paths to AI transformation

AI-made mashups of games like Skate 3 and Modern Warfare II took over social media, and publishers responded with takedowns. Google launched Playground, joining Roblox and Meta in the race to build prompt-to-game platforms. New InvestGame data shows 2026 already has more deals than any year since 2022, but buyers are paying less for each dollar of revenue, and the market has reopened on their terms. We also look at whether the Resident Evil movie actually sold games, and where Xbox is headed after its latest “we’re not selling” statement.Topics Covered:• AI mashup mods go viral and publishers issue takedowns.• Jagex pulls a RuneScape trailer after players spot generative AI.• Google launches Playground, with Unity Spark coming soon.• Roblox Build, Meta Horizon Create and the race for AI UGC platforms.• Gaming M&A picks up, but it’s a buyer’s market.• Circle Games raises a $25M Series A led by Tencent.• Resident Evil engagement jumps 50% after the movie, but the back catalog gets the lift.• The GTA VI cloud streaming deal and Xbox’s “we’re not selling” statement.• SNL’s GTA vs Zelda sketch and Mike Tomlin’s Minecraft city.• Aion 2 is eating someone’s life.CHAPTERS: 00:00 Welcome and lineup02:30 Gaming hits pop culture11:10 Xbox sale talk and hardware woes14:36 AI Mods & Mashups23:14 Google Playground prompt games33:08 Marketing Versus Product Reality40:04 Investments54:07 Resident Evil Engagement58:01 Aion 2 MMO Recommendation59:18 Wrap Up And Next Week

Most startup hiring mistakes come down to two things: hiring too fast and hiring too narrow. Garry Hill, head of talent at Makers Fund, sees both across a portfolio of 130+ companies. Before Makers Fund, he recruited at SpaceX, Amazon, Blizzard, PlayStation and Reddit.

We start with the hires who looked perfect on paper and still failed, from pedigreed engineers who burned out at Blizzard to SpaceX's weekend interviews, and how those company cultures really compared. Then we get practical about hiring for game studios and startups discussing referral, interview processes, culture, and how to tell what a big-tech candidate is a fit or not for a startup.

Garry also explains why senior talent should consider fractional roles, how talent needs change from seed to Series A to Series C, what good onboarding looks like, and the "truth serum" question he uses when interviewing co-founders.

A vital listen to anyone hiring or getting hired in startups-

chapters:

00:00 Blizzard, SpaceX, Amazon: the hires who looked great and failed
12:05 What a head of talent does at Makers Fund
14:59 Too fast, too narrow: common founder hiring mistakes
19:56 Culture add, not culture fit
24:53 Vetting big-tech hires: what did you actually do?
31:09 Startup life and going fractional
35:03 Seed, Series A, Series C: how talent needs change
44:36 Testing co-founders and the truth serum question
52:26 Gaming founders vs. tech founders
1:00:18 The tell that a co-founder will actually build

Strip out inflation and the games market has barely grown in a decade.

This week we dig into Newzoo's latest numbers and what they say about where growth comes from: mature Western markets, existing players and five giant companies taking almost all of it. Then we look at how cheap social games like Big Walk and How to Fish cracked the top 10 PC revenue chart, what Naughty Dog's new Last of Us tease means, and why Chinese developers are rushing GTA-style mobile games out ahead of GTA VI.

Topics Covered:

• Mark Pincus and the $400M Supercell deal that almost happened
• Why 2021 is the wrong benchmark for the market
• Real growth after inflation is closer to 2% a year
• Growth comes from mature markets and existing players
• China's advantage at home and abroad
• CPIs keep climbing while mobile installs fall
• Five companies drove almost all of 2025's growth
• Big publishers retreat to their core franchises
• Friendslop games break into the PC top 10
• Naughty Dog confirms more Last of Us
• Chinese GTA-style games launch ahead of GTA VI
• Why nobody can compete with GTA head on

CHAPTERS:

00:00 Intro
01:01 Ethan Returns Industry Layoffs
01:34 Upcoming Events and Newsletter
03:15 Mark Pincus Interview Scoop
09:45 Newzoo Outlook Beyond COVID
11:37 Growth From Mature Markets
15:58 Inflation and Real Growth Math
23:28 Mobile Revenue vs Installs CPI Surge
27:03 Growth Concentrated in Five Giants
29:49 Publishers Retreat to Core Franchises
31:04 PC Market Reality Check
32:53 Friend Slop Breakouts
47:43 Last of Us Future Talk
01:00:54 Why GTA Has No Rivals

War Dogs sold 2.2 million copies in four days and nobody saw it coming.

This episode we break down Bulkhead's early access hit. A hardcore milsim with three teams, no matchmaking and a $40 price tag beat Helldivers 2's launch curve on Steam, and its peak concurrents grew every day of launch week. We get into the persistent cash economy that might be the teamwork fix Battlefield never found, why the 1v1v1 format splits the panel, and whether a sub-100 person studio can pull off a live service with extraction and PvE modes on the way.

Topics Covered:

• War Dogs launch numbers and who is playing
• The persistent cash economy and how it kills gear fear
• How cash rewards fix Battlefield's teamwork problem
• The 1v1v1 format debate
• Metal Gear Solid V and the lineage of in-round economies
• The risks of a cross-mode economy with extraction
• Marketplaces and gambling mechanics in shooters
• Bulkhead's go-to-market and the 5,000 player promise
• Where War Dogs ranks on Steam a year from now

CHAPTERS:

00:00 War Dogs Shock Success
01:42 Sales Metrics Breakdown
08:03 Persistent Cash Economy
16:19 Milsim Critiques and Vision
33:46 Economy Lineage Discussion
34:38 Progression Beyond Cosmetics
35:25 CEO Vision And New Modes
36:45 Cross Mode Economy Risks
39:03 Stakes Gambling And Chaos
40:36 Marketplaces In Shooters
45:15 Launch Strategy And Trust
51:20 Marketing Constraints And Nostalgia
52:23 One Year Predictions Debate
01:01:05 Wrap Up And Next Episode

Mark Pincus founded Zynga that was later acquired of $12.7B by TakeTwo and still thinks he misplayed the hand. On this episode he unpacks the playbook behind Life at the Speed of Play: why all new fails, how to run a company as a democratic dictatorship why anyone lecturing you about culture has a team rolling their eyes behind them.

Life at the Speed of Play: https://www.lifeatthespeedofplay.com/

Key timestamps:

00:00 — Intro
1:30 — Why Mark wrote Life at the Speed of Play
8:49 — How to test instincts: proven, better, new
15:45 — “Know your goal or suffer death by a thousand compromises”
20:36 — The “democratic dictatorship” approach to leadership
26:59 — Getting people to do the right things when you’re not in the room
29:34 — Getting teams to take bold risks and innovate
36:14 — Why CEOs should spend time on product
39:15 — What Pincus would do differently at Zynga
44:04 — Reflecting on the games industry and missed opportunities
50:40 — ADHD as a feature for product makers, anchored by a singular vision
52:14 — Why most MVPs don’t succeed

Xbox is cutting niche studios and signing a niche Kojima project in the same month. We try to make it make sense.

Sony pulled funding on Physint after budget concerns, and Xbox picked it up as a franchise with film and TV rights attached. Meanwhile Microsoft keeps restructuring into clean verticals, with Halo moving under Activision and Obsidian joining Bethesda, which has us asking whether Xbox is getting organized to sell. We also look at Build A Rocket Boy closing after roughly $250M raised and one troubled launch, Apple's new ATT prompt in Europe, and why AppLovin's CEO is suddenly on every stage talking about a $50B mobile ad market.

Topics Covered:

• Apple rewrites the ATT prompt in five EU countries.
• Sony ends Physint funding and Xbox picks it up.
• The transmedia bet behind Xbox's Kojima deal.
• Halo moves to Activision in the latest Xbox cuts.
• Is Microsoft packaging Xbox to spin off or sell?
• Build A Rocket Boy closes after MindsEye.
• What big gaming losses do to investor sentiment.
• AppLovin's buyback, Axon and the fingerprinting debate.
• Why AppLovin's CEO is on a speaking tour.

CHAPTERS:

00:00 Intro
01:35 DICE Athens Hometown Events
03:07 LA Games Conference Plug
04:36 Roundtables and Global Meetups
05:41 Newsletter and Founder Story Tease
10:08 Apple ATT Prompt Changes EU
13:30 Kojima
27:41 Microsoft Restructure and Halo Shift
30:06 CoD Studios Under Pressure
33:45 Can Xbox Be Sold Off
36:10 Halo Moved to Activision
46:34 Build A Rocket Boy Collapse
51:05 AppLovin Stock and Axon
53:58 Fingerprinting Cheating Debate
58:01 Why the CEO Is Touring
01:02:25 Wrap Up and Sign Off

Disney Solitaire is one of the biggest launches of the year, and it might be too successful for its own parent company.

This episode breaks down how SuperPlay turned a solitaire game into a Disney-powered hit, why Playtika's debt and earn-out deal could push it to sell, and how Disney Solitaire stacks up against Tiki Solitaire, Grand Harvest and Candy Crush Solitaire. We also look at the full solitaire market, the live ops gap between Disney and everyone else, and whether solitaire can ever rival puzzle.

Topics Covered:

• Why games that scale in tier two and three markets struggle in tier one
• Playtika's debt, the SuperPlay earn-out and a possible sale
• Revenue dropping slower than downloads as a health signal
• How big the solitaire market actually is
• MobilityWare and the ad-only solitaire model
• Disney Solitaire as a reskin of Domino Dreams
• Why the second game in an IP is half the size of the first
• The social casino pay-to-play economy in Tiki Solitaire
• Candy Crush Solitaire's hold slot and card design choices
• How Disney Solitaire handles its IP and meta
• Near wins and a puzzle-style level funnel
• Disney's 25 to 30 live events per week versus competitors
• Why IP owners may not be the best builders of their own games
• Is solitaire coming for puzzle?

CHAPTERS:

0:00:00 Introduction & Tier 1 Market Performance
0:03:12 Why Playtika May Have to Sell Disney Solitaire
0:09:31 The History & Size of the Solitaire Market
0:10:58 Why Solitaire Has Struggled to Monetize
0:16:20 Disney Solitaire vs. Domino Dreams
0:21:12 How Solitaire Games Monetize: The Casino Mechanic
0:24:51 Tiki, Grand Harvest & Candy Crush Solitaire
0:28:23 What Disney Solitaire Does Differently
0:33:41 Live Ops, Streaks & the Disney Advantage
0:36:51 Why IP Owners Struggle to Extend Their Games
0:38:02 Is Solitaire Coming for Puzzle?
0:40:00 Final Thoughts & Outro

Michael Martinez, co-founder and CEO of FunCraft, tried to sell his mobile game studio in 2025. Trusted people said "don't do it yet". He chose otherwise. A banker pitched the company to 40 buyers. Zero offers. Then the company doubled to a $50M run rate with just 15 people.

Rejection like that either breaks a founder or forces a better business. For FunCraft, it did the second.

In this episode, Michael breaks down what went wrong in the M&A process, what a failed sale really costs, and how a 15-person team shifted its focus from valuation to profit.

Essential viewing for founders thinking about selling, buyers looking at lean and profitable studios, and anyone in mobile gaming, UA, or ad monetization.

00:00 — Funcraft’s failed sale attempt
06:27 — Why Michael wanted to sell
13:37 — Building a successful business first
18:16 — Launching games in just six weeks
23:20 — Platform and user acquisition risks
29:14 — Balancing growth and profitability
34:45 — Building a high-trust remote culture
43:12 — Rebuilding the game engine with AI
46:18 — Staying focused while scaling

Gaming is back, and this week had a lot to talk about.

BlizzCon delivered the biggest slate of announcements Blizzard has had in years, but the timelines and team sizes raise real questions about what Microsoft pressure is doing to the studio. Roblox used RDC to push standalone apps, browser play and a developer wallet, and we debate whether any of it actually improves discoverability. Plus Kojima's Physint moves from PlayStation to Xbox, a heated ad revenue argument over hybrid casual, a surprise 2 million sales hit from Wardogs, and first impressions of FunPlus's Aniimo as it passes 125K CCU on Steam.

Topics Covered:

• Roblox unveils standalone apps and browser play at RDC
• Why Roblox standalone apps may struggle with UA
• BlizzCon brings Diablo V, a StarCraft shooter and three WoW SKUs
• Microsoft pressure behind Blizzard's bold timelines
• Kojima's Physint jumps from PlayStation to Xbox
• Savvy Games Group to oversee EA and PIF assets
• The ad revenue debate around hybrid casual
• WoW Forever and Blizzard's subscription strategy
• Wardogs hits 2 million sales
• Aniimo passes 125K CCU on Steam launch day

CHAPTERS:

00:00 Intro
01:42 Industry Layoffs Talk
02:59 Mishka Podcast Spotlight
06:12 Roblox Standalone Apps Debate
13:12 Blizcon
15:17 Microsoft Pressure Concerns
20:03 WoW Monetization Debate
21:50 Kojima Physint Switch
26:27 EA Merger
39:47 Warcraft Forever
43:44 War Dogs Surprise Hit
47:11 Aniimo Launch
51:31 Monetization and Wrap Up

Cyberpunk 2077 sold 13 million copies in ten days, then Sony pulled it from the PlayStation Store. CD Projekt Red joint CEO Michal Nowakowski was the one taking the calls.

He walks through what actually broke, why the investors weren't the reason, and how the studio went from a Polish box distributor to owning The Witcher outright. Plus the transmedia strategy, the move to Unreal Engine 5, and why Poland built the strongest gaming ecosystem in Europe.

Chapters

00:00 From Polish distributor to a global studio
04:43 Buying The Witcher rights
08:15 Why owning the IP was non-negotiable
14:12 Poland's coding culture and the talent pipeline
18:54 Scaling to 350 developers on The Witcher 3
26:16 The Cyberpunk 2077 launch and the hardest week
34:03 The decision to fix the game instead of cutting losses
39:14 Unreal Engine 5 and rebuilding production
43:51 Transmedia, Netflix, and keeping games at the center
49:49 What makes the Polish gaming ecosystem work

400 episodes in, and yes, we swear more than anyone will admit.This is the big one. Before the retrospective, we tear apart the latest "video game industry is crashing" clickbait using actual employment data, then get into what OpenAI's new Astra model means for teams already shipping with AI. Then we open the vault: eight years of TWIG, the origin stories nobody remembers the same way twice, and the predictions that aged well or badly.Topics Covered:• Why the "worst crash since the 1980s" headline doesn't hold up• AAA budgets ballooning past 400 million and the indie boom it's fueling• OpenAI's Astra model and how mobile teams are actually using it• How TWIG started and how the cast came together over 8 years• The calls the hosts got right, from Ubisoft to Roblox• The calls they got embarrassingly wrong, from Call of Duty Mobile to Blizzard leadership• Who swears the most and who never does• Eight years of TWIG's biggest arguments and running jokesCHAPTERS: 02:33 Shills04:14 Industry Doom & Gloom Clickbait10:04 Consolidation Not Doom20:45 400th Retrospective Setup22:39 Origin Stories29:35 How The Pod Evolved31:32 Memorable Moments37:33 Owning Bad Takes39:11 League Revenue Debate40:19 Things We Nailed43:02 Product Calls And Patterns45:35 Monopoly Go Inside Scoop47:01 Streaming And Xbox Caps48:19 Biggest Misses Confession56:14 Blizzard Leadership Reversal01:04:47 Who Argues The Most?01:08:17 Kress: The Cussing GOAT01:09:24 Mice Nuts & Other TWIG Mainstays

McKinsey, the United Nations, Skype, Rocket Internet, Facebook, King. Then Akin Babayigit co-founded Tripledot, spun out Luna Labs, and now runs Arcadia Gaming Partners, a $100M fund he deploys alone.He left Türkiye at sixteen and never moved back, which makes him one of the few people who can talk about Istanbul as both an insider and an outsider. We get into how the ecosystem was built, why Sidar Şahin still shapes it years after disappearing, why payback windows are the wrong lens, and what he told a room of Turkish founders that they did not want to hear.Chapters 02:42 Leaving Türkiye 06:23 Building Tripledot 08:51 The Sidar myth 18:21 One trick? 20:47 First mover advantage 23:25 Payback versus IRR 28:32 What AI changes 31:43 The AppLovin dependency 40:07 fal and Layer 42:22 What Türkiye lacks 49:28 The unsexy work 54:24 After gaming 1:05:20 Türkiye and Israel

GTA VI just proved it can break Netflix, the EU just put Roblox under its strictest rulebook, and one of the best reviewed games of the year is already falling apart behind the scenes.The crew breaks down the numbers behind GTA VI's Netflix trailer drop and what it means for pre-orders, why PlayStation is quietly winning the entire hype cycle, and how rising RAM prices could delay the PS6. They also cover Gamescom's attendance numbers and the shift toward Eastern exhibitors, the EU's new Roblox designation, Star Wars Zero Company's strong launch undone by a founder lawsuit, Brian Ward's exit from Savvy Games Group, Tencent's new AI tool portfolio and NCSoft's $300 million mobile studio buying spree.Topics Covered:• GTA VI's Netflix trailer drop and the pre-order numbers behind it• Why PlayStation is quietly winning the GTA VI hype cycle• Rising RAM prices and what they mean for the PS6• Gamescom 2026 attendance and the shift toward Eastern exhibitors• The EU designates Roblox a very large online platform• Star Wars Zero Company's strong launch and Metacritic scores• The founder lawsuit quietly sinking developer Bit Reactor• Brian Ward steps down as Savvy Games Group CEO• Tencent's new AI tool portfolio for game development• NCSoft's $300 million mobile studio buying spreeCHAPTERS:01:24 Episode 400 Teaser02:08 Shills and New Content03:59 Gamescom Stats Recap07:03 Mishka Gamescom Takeaways09:28 Cologne Logistics and Hotels11:20 GTA VI x Netflix Drop17:14 PlayStation Wins the Cycle21:28 EU Targets Roblox24:56 EU Market Fragmentation28:38 Star Wars Zero Company Launch32:16 Studio Furloughs Lawsuit36:46 Savvy CEO Steps Down49:18 China AI Platform Bets54:36 NCSoft Strategy Skepticism56:10 Episode 400 Tease Wrap