Deconstructor of Fun

Laura gives off strong American Psycho vibes with her choice of recording venue. Eric makes us all jealous with his recap of the BITKRAFT conference. Ethan makes mood boards. But more seriously, we talk the latest Call of Duty reveal, Sims 4 going F2P, the big Grand Theft Auto 6 leak and how it will have no negative impact on the product’s eventual sales dominance. We go deep on Nintendo direct and Laura amazes us with her commitment to completing lengthy JRPGs. Ethan tells the story of ex-Rocksteady dev Kim MacAskill, who sets an amazing example in living her values …

more...

Tags:

Older Episodes

Tokenomics is back and what an absolute treat of an episode. This week, we're joined by two of the top VCs in the Web3 gaming space, [Anton Backman](https://twitter.com/retripaladin) of [Play Ventures](https://www.playventures.vc/) and [Nico Vereecke](https://twitter.com/NicoVereecke) of [BITKRAFT](https://www.bitkraft.vc/), who are here to give us an inside look of how VCs are approaching …

After 16 months in soft launch, Supercell’s Clash Quest has reached the end of its run. The game has not achieved the business objectives set by Supercell and the game will shut down. Following an excellent postmortem by [Laura Taranto](https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurataranto/), [Javier Barnes](https://www.linkedin.com/in/javier-barnes-8b0b5424/) and [Anette Staloy](https://www.linkedin.com/in/anetteds/), host [Ethan Levy](https://www.linkedin.com/in/famousaspect/) sits down …

Eric Kress and Laura Taranto celebrate the 200th Episode of TWIG with a special guest, Joe Kim. In this episode, we take a walk down memory lane remembering the start of TWIG, how and when the hosts joined, discuss Scopely’s acquisition of Stumble Guys, and a recap of Ubisoft’s most …

Eric Kress, Laura Taranto, and Eric Seufert discuss Apple’s growing ambitions with its advertising business, the latest wave of layoffs that hit companies like Snap and Bytedance as well as Tencent's investment into Ubisoft's parent company. Most importantly, in this episode you'll hear about Seufert's latest Uber debacle, an update …

Whether you know it for its role as a hub of the Flash game development scene or in its later incarnation as a F2P mobile publisher, you are likely familiar with Kongregate. They have been making a lot of moves in the blockchain space recently, between their [extension of The …

Despite the goodbyes, as both Mishka and Adam exit TWiG, this episode is filled with laughter and good times. Or maybe it is because the two fellas from the North are taking a hike? hosts: Eric Kress, Ethan Levy, Laura Taranto, Eric Seufert \--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/deconstructoroffun/message …

Right before heading out for our party at Gamescom, our very own Eric Kress sat down with Mishka Katkoff to talk about his long career in games, his biggest regrets, where his independency stems from, and why you can't really cancel him. Show Eric some love by sending him a …

While Kress, Laura, and Mishka were hosting a banging party at Gamescom, Ethan and Seufert carried the TWiG torch. The guys discussed 4 -day work weeks, flexible hours, and culture building for early-stage start-ups. They also talked about Embracer rolling up Lord of the Ring and The Hobbit into their …

This one is a treat! This week our stalwart host [Ethan Levy](https://www.linkedin.com/in/famousaspect/) interviews [Graeme Devine](https://www.linkedin.com/in/graemedevine/), a true game design legend. From his groundbreaking work on 7th Guest and 11th Hour to Doom 3, to Age of Empires III and Halo Wars, to Magic Leap, Graeme has found success across many …

The crew starts off by recapping Unity's rejection of AppLovin and why it went the way it did. Adam does an update on Supercell's games in soft launch now that Clash Quest became yet another could-be-hit in the company's soft launch graveyard. Finally, the guys debate what’s the right role …

It may be unthinkable for the Deconstructor of Fun audience, but people are still finding success with premium mobile games in 2022. It all depends on your aspirations and what your goals are. In this episode, [Ethan Levy](https://www.linkedin.com/in/famousaspect/) interviews fledgling game designer [Sophie Artemigi](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophie- artemigi-1166ba120/) whose freshman debut, the sex-positive …

Seufert is back from Europe and has a couple of words regarding last week’s analysis of the Hypercasual games' economy following Google’s ad changes. We’ll deep dive into AppLovin’s gangster move. JamCity’s massive layoffs and Roblox’s bookings miss. The gang also discusses why Blizzard and NetEase scrapped Warcraft Mobile and …

Art outsourcing can become a game changer or a hopeless money sink. To discuss how to outsource art in the smartest and most effective way, the Deconstructor of Fun podcast was joined by [Silver Saaremäel](https://www.linkedin.com/in/silver-saarem%C3%A4el-02049111/), co- founder and Art Director of a boutique art outsourcing studio [Fantastic Vagabonds](https://www.fantasticvagabonds.com/) (ex-Wooga & …

Special guest star, Matej Lancaric, a household name in the user acquisition circles and a podcaster extraordinaire (Two and a Half Gamers) joins the TWiG crew to give his view on Google’s latest Play Store policies and Apple’s new ad placements for advertisers. We also discuss whether Rockstar can get …

You know her from TV (That 70’s Show, Family Guy), Film (Book of Eli, Black Swan), and have probably even heard of her hit NFT collections ([Stone](https://twitter.com/stonercatstv)[ Cats](https://twitter.com/stonercatstv), [The Gimmicks](https://twitter.com/therealgimmicks)). But did you know that Hollywood star Mila Kunis is a closet World of Warcraft addict? And that her love …

As you may guess from his dadtastic body, the host [Ethan Levy](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ACoAAACfr9gB0d1Bq2QKRneXVX2JBX9Cx-xpJNw) is a big fan of Peloton’s bike and fitness platform. That’s why he literally jumped at the chance to speak with [Jim Green](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-green-games/) of Peloton Interactive about the present and future of gamified fitness on the Peloton platform. …

Ethan Levy is back to talk about the crypto Winter giving us an update from his blockchain snow castle. In addition to the latest high-school basketball news, Eric Kress analyzes Snap’s shares plunge. Mishka Katkoff discusses the pros and cons of having a transparent salary structure in a gaming company. …

The crew returns back to Unity’s merger with ironSource as Eric Seufert offers his view of the deal. There’s a conversation about the latest government ruling not to regulate loot boxes. Talk about Tesla’s new gaming initiative and Netflix’s latest batch of gaming veteran hires. We also talk about E3’s …

UnCaged Studios is pioneering AAA-quality Web3 gaming. Co-founded by seasoned Web3 and gaming experts, the studio has over a hundred years of combined experience designing and developing high production value, immersive gaming experiences with sustainable economies. Through its own platform, Game OS, the studio’s first release is an esports franchise …