Gamecraft

QF Update: World Cup Consumer Guide (Ep. 36)

R32 Update: World Cup Consumer Guide

World Cup Consumer Guide (Ep. 34)

The 2026 FIFA World Cup, hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, introduces a significant shift in tournament structure with an expansion to 48 teams. This format change dilutes the traditional "group of death" intensity while introducing new tactical dynamics and complex seeding implications. Although FIFA’s ...

Holy Grail, or Poison Chalice? (Ep. 33)

Funding & Founding (Ep. 32)

The video game funding environment currently faces its most difficult period in the 21st century, driven by industry consolidation, poor returns from previous venture investments, and the disruptive influence of AI. Traditional studio models requiring massive upfront capital are increasingly obsolete, as investors now ...

A Theory of Fun

The modern video game industry has over-indexed on progression-based retention mechanics at the expense of emotionally resonant, moment-to-moment play. True game design success stems from bottom-up construction where mechanics generate immediate emotions like joy or anticipation, rather than relying on external narrati...

Navigating the AI Future (Ep. 30)

AI represents a fundamental paradigm shift in the video game industry, demanding a strategic embrace of new technologies to remain competitive. This transition will likely hollow out the middle tier of game development, consolidating influence among top-tier incumbents who possess proprietary data, established IP, and ...

How Istanbul Won the Mobile Puzzle Wars (Ep. 29)

Istanbul has emerged as a global powerhouse in the mobile puzzle genre, driven by a unique industrialization of game development rather than traditional content innovation. This ecosystem relies on four compounding arbitrages: the devaluation of the Turkish lira against dollar-denominated revenue, government-backed sub...

The Attention Drain (Ep. 28)

The video game industry faces a structural threat as non-game interactive platforms increasingly capture user time and spending. Historically, games held a monopoly on interactive entertainment, but services like TikTok, sports betting, and adult content platforms now deploy sophisticated retention and progression mech...

Roblox (Ep. 27)

Roblox functions as a unique, integrated platform that simultaneously manages game creation, user aggregation, play experiences, and monetization at massive scale. By operating as a virtual economy with its own currency, the company effectively locks in developers and players, creating a powerful, self-reinforcing flyw...

2026 Trends & Specific Predictions (Ep. 26)

The software and gaming industries are currently experiencing a "Great Inflection," characterized by a tectonic shift in development productivity driven by AI-powered coding tools. While venture capital for traditional game studios has largely dried up, the market faces a saturation of content and a breakdown in tradit...

The EA "LBO" (Ep. 25)

The acquisition of Electronic Arts by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, alongside Silver Lake and Affinity Partners, signals a shift toward content consolidation rather than the radical modernization initially anticipated. Despite the $55 billion price tag and substantial debt service requirements, the retentio...

The Sum of the Parts (Ep. 24)

Consolidation serves as a primary engine for enterprise value creation in the video game industry, functioning through four distinct strategic pillars: achieving economies of scale, securing key talent and intellectual property, entering new markets, and acquiring proprietary technology. Successful M&A requires clear s...

AI as a Platform (Ep. 23)

In this episode of the Gamecraft podcast, Mitch Lasky and Blake Robbins delve into the transformative potential of AI as a platform for game development, revisiting their previous discussions and examining how AI can fundamentally reshape gaming experiences. They explore various AI-driven games and interactive experien...

Hasbro and Lego (Ep. 22)

The Venture Deadpool (Ep. 21)

China (Ep. 20)

In this episode of the Gamecraft podcast, Mitch Lasky and Blake Robbins delve into the modern video game business in China, highlighting its rise to global superpower status. They discuss China's competitive advantages, including its large, skilled labor pool, early adoption of free-to-play models, and government restr...

Valve (Ep. 19)

Valve has transformed from a pioneering game developer into the most powerful, yet often overlooked, gatekeeper in the PC gaming industry. By leveraging early content successes like Half-Life and its modding community, the company built Steam into a dominant distribution platform that now serves as the primary go-to-ma...

The Mobile Gaming Duopoly (Ep. 18)

Mobile gaming faces a crisis point defined by a stagnant duopoly that stifles content innovation and forces developers into predatory monetization strategies. The consolidation of distribution through Apple and Google has shifted the industry away from creative experimentation toward high-ROI categories like casino and...

Cycles & Survival (Ep. 17)

The video game industry’s current stagnation stems from a simultaneous decline in three interdependent forces: content, technology, and distribution innovation. Rather than a simple cyclical downturn or a result of corporate greed, the industry faces a structural "three-body problem" where the lack of a major distribut...