What happens when autobattlers fail to monetize? We pull Arto Huhta into the cast and chat about Telegram’s pseudo-WeChat ambitions. Eric releases a distrack on Game Designer's obsessed social spaces, and Phil wants more blood from psychologists' nonsensical F2P "choice overload." Chris enleashes a model-meets-UGC experiment: a three-algorithm simulation that shows how recommendation systems distort consumer welfare and creator inequality.

\We discuss:

• How Arto sees the split between economy design, product management, and classical economics (hint: it's not what you think)
• Pets as permanent progression, and the design logic behind Nonstop Knight’s monetization turnaround
• Why creator inequality explodes under bad reinforcement
• A brewing debate on regulation that is just getting started...

Chapters 00:00 Journey to London: A Game Developer's Path 00:49 The Role of Economy Design in Gaming 01:20 From Academia to Game Development: Bridging the Gap 03:16 Experimentation in Game Design: Lessons Learned 05:22 The Intersection of Game Design and Economics 10:07 Understanding Game Development Roles 11:00 Monetization Strategies in Game Design 11:55 The Evolution of Publishing Models 12:42 Transitioning to Web 3: New Challenges 13:54 The Economics of Game Spending 18:27 Introduction to Game Economist Cast 19:06 Current Gaming Trends and Preferences 20:51 Game Modes and Player Engagement 22:03 The Future of Game Monetization 27:33 The Social Hub Experiment in Fighting Games 28:26 Street Fighter VI and Social Interaction 30:28 The Rise of HTML5 Games on Platforms 32:37 The Trend of Casual Games in Tech Companies 34:42 Telegram Games: A New Frontier 37:21 Challenges in Game Discovery on Telegram 38:52 User Engagement and Retention in Web3 Gaming 39:43 Consumer Welfare and Content Creation Dynamics 43:04 The Impact of Algorithms on User Experience 49:31 Heterogeneous Goods and Their Effects on Engagement 57:35 The Impact of Algorithms on Content Quality 59:04 Understanding Algorithmic Risks and User Retention 01:00:16 Exploring Algorithm Design in Gaming Platforms 01:01:54 The Role of User Choice in Content Discovery 01:04:29 The Future of Pricing Strategies in Free-to-Play Games 01:08:10 The Debate on Standardization and Market Forces

• (00:00:00) - The Cost of Free Speech
• (00:00:49) - Game of Connors Cast
• (00:01:16) - Meet Free-To-Play Designer Phil Rubin
• (00:02:43) - The Art of Being a Game Economist
• (00:03:59) - How to Get Out of Your Job
• (00:05:22) - Are You More of an Economist or a Designer?
• (00:07:51) - Candy Crush: Experimentation and Optimization
• (00:10:07) - Ex-Monetization Manager at King Publishing
• (00:12:30) - Have We Overreacted to Free-To-Play?
• (00:15:17) - Half-Off and the Price
• (00:18:27) - How To Make a Slop slideshow
• (00:18:56) - What Have You Been Playing?
• (00:20:35) - Clash Royale: The Future of Content
• (00:23:55) - How To Play Hearthstone With Re-rolling
• (00:25:59) - 2K XO: A Hardcore Fighting Game
• (00:29:37) - Fortnite vs. Monster Hunter: The Social Hub
• (00:30:29) - Are We Ready for Content in the Future?
• (00:34:24) - Facebook vs Instagram: What's The Difference?
• (00:34:57) - Telegram's plans for games
• (00:36:22) - How Telegram Could Make Games More Profitable
• (00:43:15) - The Probability of Encountering a Good
• (00:44:28) - Anatomy of Facebook's algorithm
• (00:49:53) - The Gini coefficient of content creators profit
• (00:54:30) - Measuring the social network's heterogeneous goods
• (00:58:58) - The Mix of Algorithms and Churn
• (01:01:07) - Do Algorithm Designers Care About Producer GENIE?
• (01:01:55) - What Should Roblox Do About Popularity?
• (01:03:51) - Too Much Choice in Online Content
• (01:05:56) - Is There Choice Overload in Mobile Games?
• (01:06:49) - What about discounts on hard currency purchases?
• (01:07:46) - Free-To-Play: Quantity Based Discounts
• (01:11:11) - USB 2.0: Standardization
• (01:12:11) - Roblox: Arto on UGC
• (01:13:27) - GIM economist cast episode 44