Naavik Gaming Podcast

Hosted by Naavik

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Episodes

453

Latest episode

Jun 2026

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About the show

The Naavik Gaming Podcast is a business-focused exploration of the companies, trends, strategies and leaders that are defining the future of games. To learn more and see other great content visit www.naavik.co.

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60 recent

June 14, 202622 min

Naavik Digest: The Microdrama Volume vs. Value Paradox

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 Want to explore working with Naavik? Shoot us a note: https://naavik.co/contact-us/ Let us know what you think by sending us a note at podcast@naavik.co.Watch our episodes: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

June 9, 20261 hr 5 min

Lessons from Real M&A Transactions: Getting Studios Bought

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 for IP, portfolio gaps, genre expertise, or future revenue replacement.The episode also gets practical for founders. Alexandra and Brogan discuss what makes a studio acquirable, why the “million units sold” threshold matters, and why founders should focus on one valuable IP rather than distracting side projects. They also walk through deal structure, including upfront cash, retention-based earnouts, performance earnouts, and why headline deal values are often misleading.We’d also like to thank Medal.tv for making this episode possible. If you're a PC gamer and want to clip your moments or a studio, publisher, or marketer looking to reach a high-quality gaming audience and get your game in front of the right players, check out all Medal has to offer at https://grow.medal.tv.If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

June 7, 202614 min

Naavik Digest: Embracer Splits Again

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 Want to explore working with Naavik? Shoot us a note: https://naavik.co/contact-us/ Let us know what you think by sending us a note at podcast@naavik.co.Watch our episodes: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

June 2, 202657 min

How to Reduce Churn and Keep Players Playing

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 most important retention move, and a game Elad thinks nails it.We’d like to thank Overwolf for making this episode possible! Whether you're a gamer, creator, or game studio, Overwolf is the ultimate destination for integrating UGC in games! You can check out all Overwolf has to offer at https://www.overwolf.com/.If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website

May 31, 202616 min

Naavik Digest: Dissecting Scopely's Mobile Empire

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 Want to explore working with Naavik? Shoot us a note: https://naavik.co/contact-us/ Let us know what you think by sending us a note at podcast@naavik.co.Watch our episodes: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

May 26, 202654 min

True Crime, Now Playable: Inside Scriptic's Cross-Platform Bet

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 traditional gamers.They also dive into why true crime became the perfect genre to unlock mass-market interactive storytelling, how Scriptic’s TikTok strategy generated over 100 million views, and why platforms like YouTube Playables and streaming-first gaming represent a major shift in distribution. Along the way, James shares how Scriptic uses AI across its production pipeline without sacrificing human storytelling craft, and how the future of entertainment may blur the line between watching a prestige drama and stepping inside it yourself.We’d also like to thank Dive for making this episode possible! With its fully managed analytics and LiveOps platform built for game studios, 95% of their clients grow revenue in one year. All of that without having to hire an in-house data team. Learn more here: https://www.dive.games/scale/.If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co.Who’s On:Guest - James Nicholls: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-nicholls-3814759/Host - Kalie Moore: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaliemoore/ Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.Link Mentioned: https://www.scriptic.com/

May 24, 202615 min

Naavik Digest: Where will Asha Sharma take Xbox?

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 Want to explore working with Naavik? Shoot us a note: https://naavik.co/contact-us/ Let us know what you think by sending us a note at podcast@naavik.co.Watch our episodes: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

May 20, 202657 min

Listening to Players at Scale

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 player personas, when proactive outreach makes sense, where social sentiment shines (and where research methods like focus groups still matter), and what the next 3–5 years of player feedback might look like as tools, and player expectations, keep evolving.We’d like to thank Heroic Labs for making this episode possible! Thousands of studios have trusted Heroic Labs to help them focus on their games and not worry about gametech or scaling for success. To learn more and reach out, visit https://heroiclabs.com/?utm_source=Naavik&utm_medium=CPC&utm_campaign=Podcast We’d also like to thank Neon – a merchant of record with customizable webshops optimized for conversion – for making this episode possible! Neon is trusted by some of the biggest names in gaming and can help you sell direct without the typical overhead. To learn more, visit https://www.neonpay.com/?utm_source=naavik If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

May 17, 202620 min

Naavik Digest: The Eastern Playbook for Dominating Western Audiences

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-audiencesWant to explore working with Naavik? Shoot us a note: https://naavik.co/contact-us/ Let us know what you think by sending us a note at podcast@naavik.co.Watch our episodes: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.

May 14, 20261 hr 3 min

Premium: Driving Back Catalogue, DLC, and the Long Tail

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 SEMC moved away from large-scale PvP free-to-play, how it operates a fully remote mid-size studio across multiple live titles, and why proprietary tech still gives the company an edge. The core case study is TMNT: Splintered Fate, which has grown years after launch through disciplined platform expansion, meaningful DLC, free updates, cross-play, bundles, and smart use of licensed IP. The episode ultimately explores a harder question: what does it take for an independent, multi-project studio to keep games alive, grow audience over time, and avoid betting the company on one giant moonshot?We’d like to thank Overwolf for making this episode possible! Whether you're a gamer, creator, or game studio, Overwolf is the ultimate destination for integrating UGC in games! You can check out all Overwolf has to offer at https://www.overwolf.com/.If you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co. Watch the episode: YouTube ChannelFor more episodes and details: Podcast WebsiteFree newsletter: Naavik DigestFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | WebsiteSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.