Levelup

What’s it like to build a blockchain company from the ground up? Hear it straight from the source. David Amor, CEO at Playmint - a blockchain gaming company founded in 2021 - discusses what it's like to be on the frontline of the blockchain gaming revolution.  David is interviewed by Melissa Zeloof, VP Marketing at ironSource, Anton Backman, Principal at Play Ventures, and Kenrick Drijoningen, General Partner at Play Ventures, where they explore building his company, modern blockchain gaming technology, and comparing blockchain vs traditional gaming. Tune in here or keep reading for the edited highlights: https://www.is.com/community/podcasts/levelup/blockchain-ceo-playmint/

We’re back for the second episode of our blockchain gaming mini-series - this time we’re exploring how online communities are set to shape the future of blockchain games. Join Melissa Zeloof, VP Marketing at ironSource, along with Anton Backman and Kenrick Drijoningen from Play Ventures, and our guest Jon Jordan, Consultant at Playmint, for the conversation.  Together they explore the ins and outs of Discord communities, the biggest challenge traditional game developers have in the space, and the dichotomy between performance marketing and community building.   Tune in here or keep reading for the edited highlights: https://www.is.com/community/podcasts/levelup/blockchain-communities-playmint/

It’s the buzzword on everyone’s lips: blockchain games. Melissa Zeloof, VP Marketing at ironSource, kicks off the first episode in a new mini-series all about blockchain gaming, along with Anton Backman and Kenrick Drijoningen from Play Ventures - a games VC with promising blockchain games in their portfolio.  Together, they review clear and concise definitions of key blockchain gaming terms, top companies to watch in the space, trends and predictions for the future, as well as the practicalities of producing a blockchain game.  Tune in here or keep reading for the edited highlights:  https://www.is.com/community/podcasts/levelup/blockchain-fundamentals-playeventures

In the fifth episode of our "What I Wish I Knew When" series for indie developers, Melissa Zeloof is joined by Emily Greer, founder and CEO of Double Loop Games, who also co-founded Kongregate over a decade ago with her brother. Emily discusses her experience establishing a new games studio and key tips for developers looking to do the same.

In the fourth episode of “What I Wish I Knew When...”, our series for indie developers, Melissa Zeloof is joined by Bozo Jankovic, who heads up Business Development at GamesBiz Consulting. Bozo and his team spend a lot of time working with indie developers to strengthen their game's monetization performance, so we thought it would be a good idea to pick his brains on this topic and discuss what he wishes he knew about game monetization earlier on in his career, to help devs who are just started out themselves get on the right track.

Sally Lu, Director of Customer Success at Unity, joins Melissa Zeloof to discuss the role of Unity and gametech more generally in the games industry, and what we might expect for the future.

Simon Davis, Co-Founder and CEO at Mighty Bear Games, joins Melissa Zeloof in our "What I wish I knew when..." series to talk about his process for identifying and evaluating new game concepts, the learning curve he's experienced, and how to avoid bias

Host Melissa Zeloof is joined by Nate Morgan, Global Gaming Lead at Facebook Audience Network, to discuss the rise of in-game ads and the key innovations in this space, the shift to hybrid monetization models, and the opportunities in-app bidding opens up for developers.

Melissa Zeloof is joined by Spike Laurie, Venture Director at Hiro Capital, and Mario Lu, VP at Barclays and Lead Analyst for video game stocks. We’ll be talking about the game investment landscape, the gaming industry and its relationship to gametech, and how gametech is spilling over to other industries.

This is the second episode in our series for indie developers called, “what I wish I knew when.” Host Melissa Zeloof welcomes Antti Hattara, the CEO and co-founder of Starberry Games, the developer behind the hit idle game, Coffee Corp, and winner of ‘Best Indie Developer’ Award at the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards in 2019. We’ll be talking about what he wishes he knew when first pitching to investors and getting funding for his startup.

Oliver Kern, Chief Commercial Officer at Lockwood Publishing, who are behind the hit mobile game Avakin Life, joins Melissa Zeloof to discuss the challenges of building a “virtual world” game (how does one integrate a live music concert from a real life pop star into a mobile game?!), how they scaled their daily active users to 1.5M, the metaverse, and games as the new social media.

Melissa Zeloof is joined by Ric Cowley, Editor of PocketGamer.biz, and Shannon Liao, reporter at CNN Business, to discuss the key happenings and trends in the gaming industry and in the gametech ecosystem behind it. As journalists covering gaming, they have a special inside-outside view of the industry, which made this a fascinating discussion. We cover gaming’s role in the entertainment world, how it adapted so well to COVID-19, Apple vs Epic Games, the importance of gametech, and much more.

Eitan Reisel, former lead in Google’s gaming division and founder of VGames, an investment firm focused specifically on unearthing the next generation of Israeli and Eastern European gaming unicorns, joins to discuss the investment opportunities in these ecosystems, the biggest trends in gaming, the importance of gametech, and much more.

This is the first episode in our new series for indie developers called, “what I wish I knew when.” Host Melissa Zeloof welcomes Gabriel Coriiu, Co-Founder of Seenax Oy and the developer behind the hit game, Hide and Seek. Gabriel will be talking about what he wishes he knew when choosing a publisher and about his journey to launching a hit hyper-casual game.

Newzoo's CEO Peter Warman, and Market Lead of Game Developers and Publishers, Tyler Long, discuss the rapidly growing gametech ecosystem, how they mapped it out, and where it's headed.

Melissa Zeloof welcomes Noa Eckstein, Director of Creative Performance at Playworks, to discuss all things in-ad data, including Playworks' process for optimizing ad creatives for some of the industry's biggest names.

Elad Gabison, Creative Lead at Playworks, discusses his process for sparking ideas and producing ad creatives for world class mobile games. Read the transcript: https://www.ironsrc.com/podcasts/how-to-be-a-creative-sponge/

Dan Greenberg, Chief Design Officer at ironSource and founder of its in-house ad creative studio Playworks, discusses the world of ad creatives in the gaming industry, where it is headed, and how he built a world-class creative team that’s produced over 4,000 creatives for games ranging from Call of Duty Mobile to Homescapes. Read the transcript: https://www.ironsrc.com/podcasts/how-to-build-a-world-class-creative-team/

This is the fifth episode in our Emerging Markets mini-series, co-hosted with Tom Wijman, Senior Games Market Analyst at Newzoo. Founded in 2007, Newzoo is an intelligence provider for the games and eSports industries, providing data across both global and local markets. Our guest this episode is Douglas Ogeto, Co-Founder and CEO at LudiqueWorks, Africa’s fastest-growing game publishing company. LudiqueWorks is also a game development accelerator and dedicated game fund for the African market. Listen to the podcast or skim the edited highlights: https://www.ironsrc.com/podcasts/gaming-in-sub-sarahan-africa/

Catch Melissa Zeloof chatting with VP Growth Yevgeny Peres all about Step 3 of the Growth Loop - optimizing monetization and maximizing LTV. Yevgeny explains which KPIs are important to track and when, best practices for optimizing engagement and revenue, a better way to look at ad monetization products (hint: it's not all about the money), and guidelines for setting up meaningful A/B tests. Listen here or read the transcript: https://www.ironsrc.com/podcasts/step-3-growth-loop-optimize-monetization/