エピソード

  • Steam Wishlist Scanner: The games that matter by Jakub Remiar
    2025/12/24

    In this Steam Scanner episode, Jakub breaks down the most wishlisted games on Steam right now and explains why wishlist data is one of the strongest early indicators of future hits. From co-op horror and cozy games to chore sims and Survivor-style IP plays, this episode is about spotting demand before charts do.


    What you’ll learn

    • Why Steam wishlists predict success

    • How Donut County inspired Hole.io

    • Why co-op horror keeps exploding

    • Which games are perfect for mobile translation

    • Why chore sims scale so well

    • Why cozy games never die

    • How art style impacts CPI

    • Which Steam hits should not go mobile


    Key takeaway

    Steam isn’t just a PC platform; it’s the best early warning system for future mobile hits.


    Get our MERCH NOW: 25gamers.com/shop

    --------------------------------------

    PVX Partners offers non-dilutive funding for game developers.

    Go to: https://pvxpartners.com/

    They can help you access the most effective form of growth capital once you have the metrics to back it.

    - Scale fast

    - Keep your shares

    - Drawdown only as needed

    - Have PvX take downside risk alongside you

    + Work with a team entirely made up of ex-gaming operators and investors

    ---------------------------------------

    For an ever-growing number of game developers, this means that now is the perfect time to invest in monetizing direct-to-consumer at scale.

    Our sponsor FastSpring:

    Has delivered D2C at scale for over 20 years

    They power top mobile publishers around the world

    Launch a new webstore, replace an existing D2C vendor, or add a redundant D2C vendor at fastspring.gg.

    ---------------------------------------

    This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.

    Panelists: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jakub Remia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠r,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Felix Braberg, Matej Lancaric⁠


    Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-2um8eguhf-c~H9idcxM271mnPzdWbipg


    Chapters

    00:00 — Why Steam wishlists matter

    02:10 — Donut County → Hole.io: why wishlists predict hits

    05:00 — Co-op horror wishlist explosion

    08:10 — Chore sims as perfect mobile candidates

    11:20 — Cozy games & long-tail demand

    14:10 — Art style, CPI & visual signals

    16:40 — Warhammer Survivors & IP leverage

    18:40 — What should (and shouldn’t) go mobile

    20:20 — Final takeaways & predictions


    ---------------------------------------

    Matej Lancaric

    User Acquisition & Creatives Consultant

    ⁠https://lancaric.me

    Felix Braberg

    Ad monetization consultant

    ⁠https://www.felixbraberg.com

    Jakub Remiar

    Game design consultant

    ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar

    ---------------------------------------

    Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!

    Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple!

    Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me

    ---------------------------------------

    If you are interested in getting UA tips every week on Monday, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠lancaric.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & sign up for the Brutally Honest newsletter by Matej Lancaric

    Do you have UA questions nobody can answer? Ask ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Matej AI⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - the First UA AI in the gaming industry! https://lancaric.me/matej-ai

    続きを読む 一部表示
    21 分
  • The Art of Scaling games: The Creative arms race
    2025/12/22

    In this episode, we break down why modern mobile UA is no longer won by great ideas, but by systems that can ship hundreds or thousands of creatives every month. With real data, real examples, and hard truths, this is a deep dive into the creative arms race dominating mobile games.


    What you’ll learn

    • Why creative velocity beats creative talent

    • Why “new creatives in last 30 days” predicts scale

    • How games produce 23,000 creatives per month

    • How Meta allocates traffic to new uploads

    • Why testing frameworks break at scale

    • Why CEOs underinvest in creative production

    • How one hit creative can change everything

    • Why UA financing matters more than ever


    Key takeaway

    If you can’t ship fast, you can’t win, no matter how good your ideas are.

    Improve your creatives: https://payhip.com/b/tu4nk


    Get our MERCH NOW: 25gamers.com/shop

    --------------------------------------

    PVX Partners offers non-dilutive funding for game developers.

    Go to: https://pvxpartners.com/

    They can help you access the most effective form of growth capital once you have the metrics to back it.

    - Scale fast

    - Keep your shares

    - Drawdown only as needed

    - Have PvX take downside risk alongside you

    + Work with a team entirely made up of ex-gaming operators and investors

    ---------------------------------------

    For an ever-growing number of game developers, this means that now is the perfect time to invest in monetizing direct-to-consumer at scale.

    Our sponsor FastSpring:

    Has delivered D2C at scale for over 20 years

    They power top mobile publishers around the world

    Launch a new webstore, replace an existing D2C vendor, or add a redundant D2C vendor at fastspring.gg.

    ---------------------------------------

    This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.

    Panelists: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jakub Remia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠r,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Felix Braberg, Matej Lancaric⁠

    Special guest: Ridzki Syahputera/

    https://www.linkedin.com/in/ridzkisyahputera/


    Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-2um8eguhf-c~H9idcxM271mnPzdWbipg


    00:00 — Why creative talent no longer wins

    04:10 — The real bottleneck: creative velocity

    08:10 — Meta’s algorithm & why new creatives get boosted

    12:40 — How games ship 23,000 creatives per month

    18:30 — Why testing frameworks fail at scale

    23:55 — Data proof: revenue vs creative volume

    29:45 — Why CEOs don’t understand creative costs

    34:20 — The myth of Pareto creatives

    38:10 — Financing the creative arms race

    41:20 — Final takeaway


    ---------------------------------------

    Matej Lancaric

    User Acquisition & Creatives Consultant

    ⁠https://lancaric.me

    Felix Braberg

    Ad monetization consultant

    ⁠https://www.felixbraberg.com

    Jakub Remiar

    Game design consultant

    ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar

    ---------------------------------------

    Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!

    Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple!

    Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me

    ---------------------------------------

    If you are interested in getting UA tips every week on Monday, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠lancaric.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & sign up for the Brutally Honest newsletter by Matej Lancaric

    Do you have UA questions nobody can answer? Ask ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Matej AI⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - the First UA AI in the gaming industry! https://lancaric.me/matej-ai

    続きを読む 一部表示
    43 分
  • 🚨📢 BREAKING NEWS: Unity Fee Drama, Netflix vs WB, Casino Games Everywhere 🤯
    2025/12/19

    This week in mobile gaming and entertainment:

    Unity risks another developer revolt with a new Enterprise fee, Warner Bros rejects a $108B Paramount bid in favor of Netflix, and Sensor Tower data shows casino, 4X and Solitaire hybrids dominating both revenue and downloads.


    What we cover:

    • Unity’s new Enterprise Minimum Commitment Program

    • Why developers are calling it “blackmail”

    • How much Unity may charge top studios ($250k–$2M/year)

    • Netflix vs Paramount: who controls Warner Bros

    • Why streaming platforms now dictate entertainment power

    • US vs Global IAP revenue differences

    • Why 4X dominates globally

    • Why Solitaire & hybrid mashups are exploding in downloads

    • DAU charts that reveal ad-monetization giants


    Get our MERCH NOW: 25gamers.com/shop

    --------------------------------------

    PVX Partners offers non-dilutive funding for game developers.

    Go to: https://pvxpartners.com/

    They can help you access the most effective form of growth capital once you have the metrics to back it.

    - Scale fast

    - Keep your shares

    - Drawdown only as needed

    - Have PvX take downside risk alongside you

    + Work with a team entirely made up of ex-gaming operators and investors

    ---------------------------------------

    For an ever-growing number of game developers, this means that now is the perfect time to invest in monetizing direct-to-consumer at scale.

    Our sponsor FastSpring:

    Has delivered D2C at scale for over 20 years

    They power top mobile publishers around the world

    Launch a new webstore, replace an existing D2C vendor, or add a redundant D2C vendor at fastspring.gg.

    ---------------------------------------

    This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.

    Panelists: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jakub Remia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠r,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Felix Braberg, Matej Lancaric⁠


    Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-2um8eguhf-c~H9idcxM271mnPzdWbipg


    Chapters

    00:00 — Unity Enterprise fee backlash

    03:30 — Unity’s broken incentives

    05:20 — Netflix vs Paramount for Warner Bros

    07:30 — US revenue weather

    09:00 — Global trends & DAU growth


    ---------------------------------------

    Matej Lancaric

    User Acquisition & Creatives Consultant

    ⁠https://lancaric.me

    Felix Braberg

    Ad monetization consultant

    ⁠https://www.felixbraberg.com

    Jakub Remiar

    Game design consultant

    ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar

    ---------------------------------------

    Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!

    Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple!

    Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me

    ---------------------------------------

    If you are interested in getting UA tips every week on Monday, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠lancaric.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & sign up for the Brutally Honest newsletter by Matej Lancaric

    Do you have UA questions nobody can answer? Ask ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Matej AI⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - the First UA AI in the gaming industry! https://lancaric.me/matej-ai

    続きを読む 一部表示
    12 分
  • Creative trends November 2025: Players don’t care. Platforms don’t care. Only performance matters.
    2025/12/18

    This episode is a pure creative trend reality check for November 2025.


    The big truth that runs through the entire discussion:

    Players don’t care. Platforms don’t care. Only performance matters.


    Across dozens of examples, the episode shows how AI, trend theft, playable abuse, fake ads, and extreme creative volume have become the default winning strategy.


    Key themes:


    King Shot is no longer a game - it’s a creative genre


    AI-generated creatives are now indistinguishable from real UGC


    Creative success = copying what’s scaling right now


    Playables no longer need to match gameplay - they need to match trends


    Century Games-level volume is becoming the new minimum bar


    Ethics, originality, and “gameplay match” arguments are effectively dead


    This episode is less about what’s trending and more about why the rules changed.


    Get our MERCH NOW: 25gamers.com/shop

    --------------------------------------

    PVX Partners offers non-dilutive funding for game developers.

    Go to: https://pvxpartners.com/

    They can help you access the most effective form of growth capital once you have the metrics to back it.

    - Scale fast

    - Keep your shares

    - Drawdown only as needed

    - Have PvX take downside risk alongside you

    + Work with a team entirely made up of ex-gaming operators and investors

    ---------------------------------------

    For an ever-growing number of game developers, this means that now is the perfect time to invest in monetizing direct-to-consumer at scale.

    Our sponsor FastSpring:

    Has delivered D2C at scale for over 20 years

    They power top mobile publishers around the world

    Launch a new webstore, replace an existing D2C vendor, or add a redundant D2C vendor at fastspring.gg.

    ---------------------------------------

    This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.

    Panelists: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jakub Remia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠r,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Felix Braberg, Matej Lancaric⁠

    Podcast:


    Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-2um8eguhf-c~H9idcxM271mnPzdWbipg


    00:00 — Intro, Christmas chaos & why nobody cares

    04:00 — Golden Goblins & King Shot becoming a genre

    09:00 — AI creatives reach “can’t tell anymore” level

    14:30 — JigSolitaire & Solitaire playables hijacking UA

    19:30 — Fake ads, gross hooks & emotional manipulation

    25:30 — Century Games creative volume insanity

    31:30 — The real meta: steal fast, iterate faster, ship more


    ---------------------------------------

    Matej Lancaric

    User Acquisition & Creatives Consultant

    ⁠https://lancaric.me

    Felix Braberg

    Ad monetization consultant

    ⁠https://www.felixbraberg.com

    Jakub Remiar

    Game design consultant

    ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar

    ---------------------------------------

    Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!

    Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple!

    Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me

    ---------------------------------------

    If you are interested in getting UA tips every week on Monday, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠lancaric.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & sign up for the Brutally Honest newsletter by Matej Lancaric

    Do you have UA questions nobody can answer? Ask ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Matej AI⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - the First UA AI in the gaming industry! https://lancaric.me/matej-ai

    続きを読む 一部表示
    38 分
  • Why is mobile mediation broken? Jim Payne: Here is whats next!
    2025/12/17

    In this episode of Two & a Half Gamers, Felix, Jakub, Jim Payne and Dan Sack go deep on the future of mobile ad monetization. From MoPub to MAX to CloudX, this conversation explains why mediation is outdated, why publishers are trapped in black boxes, and how AI-driven supply-side tools can finally put control back in publishers’ hands.


    What you’ll learn

    • Why classic mobile mediation is a legacy workaround

    • How mobile ads differ fundamentally from desktop advertising

    • Why publishers can’t see or trust most auctions today

    • What “monetization as code” actually means

    • How AI agents can automate pricing & floor optimization

    • Why fair, inspectable auctions matter

    • Why retention-focused publishers are underserved

    • Who CloudX is built for (and who it’s not)


    https://www.cloudx.io/

    Special guests:

    Jim Payne https://www.linkedin.com/in/jpayne/

    Dan Sack https://www.linkedin.com/in/dansack/


    Get our MERCH NOW: 25gamers.com/shop

    --------------------------------------

    PVX Partners offers non-dilutive funding for game developers.

    Go to: https://pvxpartners.com/

    They can help you access the most effective form of growth capital once you have the metrics to back it.

    - Scale fast

    - Keep your shares

    - Drawdown only as needed

    - Have PvX take downside risk alongside you

    + Work with a team entirely made up of ex-gaming operators and investors

    ---------------------------------------

    For an ever-growing number of game developers, this means that now is the perfect time to invest in monetizing direct-to-consumer at scale.

    Our sponsor FastSpring:

    Has delivered D2C at scale for over 20 years

    They power top mobile publishers around the world

    Launch a new webstore, replace an existing D2C vendor, or add a redundant D2C vendor at fastspring.gg.

    ---------------------------------------

    This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.

    Panelists: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jakub Remia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠r,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Felix Braberg, Matej Lancaric⁠

    Podcast:


    Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-2um8eguhf-c~H9idcxM271mnPzdWbipg


    Chapters

    00:00 — Why mobile mediation is broken

    08:20 — Publisher-first philosophy

    16:55 — AI agents & monetization as code

    24:10 — Auction transparency & trust

    33:30 — Who wins in the next era

    ---------------------------------------

    Matej Lancaric

    User Acquisition & Creatives Consultant

    ⁠https://lancaric.me

    Felix Braberg

    Ad monetization consultant

    ⁠https://www.felixbraberg.com

    Jakub Remiar

    Game design consultant

    ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar

    ---------------------------------------

    Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!

    Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple!

    Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me

    ---------------------------------------

    If you are interested in getting UA tips every week on Monday, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠lancaric.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & sign up for the Brutally Honest newsletter by Matej Lancaric

    Do you have UA questions nobody can answer? Ask ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Matej AI⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - the First UA AI in the gaming industry! https://lancaric.me/matej-ai

    続きを読む 一部表示
    42 分
  • JigSolitaire Review: The Jigsaw “Solitaire” ad-monetization monster
    2025/12/15

    JigSolitaire might be the most deceptive (and brilliant) ad-monetized puzzle game of 2025.

    Zero solitaire.

    Full jigsaw.

    11M downloads.

    2.3M DAU.

    $0 IAP.

    $130k–$150k/day in ads.

    We break down how Gaming Cat pulled it off.


    What you’ll learn

    • Why this “Solitaire” game contains no solitaire

    • How the jigsaw core is polished enough to scale

    • Why auto-fuse, auto-switch & level pacing matter

    • How banners + interstitials = $100k/day

    • Why the game’s UA is pure bait-and-switch genius

    • Why the lack of creatives is shocking

    • Why AppLovin upload-only is printing money

    • How this scales in 2025’s ad econ

    Get our MERCH NOW: 25gamers.com/shop

    --------------------------------------

    PVX Partners offers non-dilutive funding for game developers.

    Go to: https://pvxpartners.com/

    They can help you access the most effective form of growth capital once you have the metrics to back it.

    - Scale fast

    - Keep your shares

    - Drawdown only as needed

    - Have PvX take downside risk alongside you

    + Work with a team entirely made up of ex-gaming operators and investors

    ---------------------------------------

    For an ever-growing number of game developers, this means that now is the perfect time to invest in monetizing direct-to-consumer at scale.

    Our sponsor FastSpring:

    Has delivered D2C at scale for over 20 years

    They power top mobile publishers around the world

    Launch a new webstore, replace an existing D2C vendor, or add a redundant D2C vendor at fastspring.gg.

    ---------------------------------------

    This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.

    Panelists: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jakub Remia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠r,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Felix Braberg, Matej Lancaric⁠

    Podcast:


    Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-3bckldvr8-8PXvzciMWdheOzED9hq0SA


    Chapters

    00:00 — JigSolitaire intro

    03:00 — Gameplay & fusing

    05:40 — Monetization

    09:40 — Daily challenge & albums

    15:00 — UA, creatives & scaling

    ---------------------------------------

    Matej Lancaric

    User Acquisition & Creatives Consultant

    ⁠https://lancaric.me

    Felix Braberg

    Ad monetization consultant

    ⁠https://www.felixbraberg.com

    Jakub Remiar

    Game design consultant

    ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar

    ---------------------------------------

    Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!

    Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple!

    Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me

    ---------------------------------------

    If you are interested in getting UA tips every week on Monday, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠lancaric.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & sign up for the Brutally Honest newsletter by Matej Lancaric

    Do you have UA questions nobody can answer? Ask ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Matej AI⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - the First UA AI in the gaming industry! https://lancaric.me/matej-ai

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    28 分
  • 🚨📢 BREAKING NEWS: Netflix heartbroken after WB, Disney AI fun, Meta losing $70B 🤯
    2025/12/12

    This week’s episode breaks down the biggest global entertainment + gaming business stories: Netflix vs Paramount fighting over Warner Bros, Disney investing $1B into OpenAI, Duolingo partnering with Genshin, Pokémon TCG’s $1B year, Activision slowing CoD, Merge Mayor’s real AI use cases, Rockstar layoffs, Meta abandoning the Metaverse, and Google bringing Gemini to ads.


    What you’ll learn

    • Why Warner Bros could reshape streaming power

    • Why Paramount’s hostile $108B bid might win

    • Why Netflix still has no gaming strategy

    • Why Disney opening 200 IPs to OpenAI is historic

    • Duolingo’s shift from learning → gamified reward engine

    • Pokémon TCG’s billion-dollar year

    • Why CoD is slowing down releases

    • How Merge Mayor actually uses AI the right way

    • Rockstar’s union conflict

    • Meta’s $70B metaverse collapse

    • Google Gemini for ads (2026)


    Get our MERCH NOW: 25gamers.com/shop


    This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.

    Panelists: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jakub Remia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠r,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Felix Braberg, Matej Lancaric⁠

    Podcast:


    Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-2um8eguhf-c~H9idcxM271mnPzdWbipg


    Chapters

    00:00 — WB bidding war

    04:20 — Disney × OpenAI

    08:10 — Duolingo + Pokémon TCG

    12:45 — Activision + AI

    17:30 — Rockstar layoffs, Meta cuts, Google ads


    ---------------------------------------

    Matej Lancaric

    User Acquisition & Creatives Consultant

    ⁠https://lancaric.me

    Felix Braberg

    Ad monetization consultant

    ⁠https://www.felixbraberg.com

    Jakub Remiar

    Game design consultant

    ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar

    ---------------------------------------

    Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!

    Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple!

    Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me

    ---------------------------------------

    If you are interested in getting UA tips every week on Monday, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠lancaric.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & sign up for the Brutally Honest newsletter by Matej Lancaric

    Do you have UA questions nobody can answer? Ask ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Matej AI⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - the First UA AI in the gaming industry! https://lancaric.me/matej-ai

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    11 分
  • Sunday City Review: GTA or Casino? Sunday City’s INSANE Onboarding
    2025/12/11

    Sunday City looks like GTA… but it’s actually one of the most brilliant social casino reveals of 2025.

    In this episode, we break down how Kefir built a perfect illusion onboarding, why the casino core is so polished, why the LiveOps/meta is shockingly advanced, and what the studio must fix (creatives!) to scale into the next Top Tycoon-level monster.


    What you’ll learn

    • Why the GTA illusion onboarding is top-3 of the year

    • How Sunday City hides → reveals → embraces its casino core

    • Why this is Social Casino 3.0, not a clone

    • LiveOps structure: yoga, cruise ship, treasure digging, Wheel of Wonders

    • Why albums, star upgrades, and idle chips matter

    • What Kefir got right — and wrong — about creatives

    • Why they need 2× the creative output to compete with Chinese giants


    💡 KEY TAKEAWAY

    Sunday City isn’t just clever — it’s a genre evolution.

    The next wave of Social Casino is illusion → reveal → retention.


    Get our MERCH NOW: 25gamers.com/shop

    --------------------------------------

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    Go to: https://pvxpartners.com/

    They can help you access the most effective form of growth capital once you have the metrics to back it.

    - Scale fast

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    + Work with a team entirely made up of ex-gaming operators and investors

    ---------------------------------------

    For an ever-growing number of game developers, this means that now is the perfect time to invest in monetizing direct-to-consumer at scale.

    Our sponsor FastSpring:

    Has delivered D2C at scale for over 20 years

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    Launch a new webstore, replace an existing D2C vendor, or add a redundant D2C vendor at fastspring.gg.

    ---------------------------------------

    This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.

    Panelists: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jakub Remia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠r,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Felix Braberg, Matej Lancaric⁠

    Podcast:


    Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-2um8eguhf-c~H9idcxM271mnPzdWbipg


    Chapters

    00:00 — Kefir intro & Sunday City overview

    04:30 — GTA illusion → casino reveal

    10:20 — Core loop breakdown

    17:40 — Social Casino 3.0 meta

    27:30 — Creative analysis & UA

    ---------------------------------------

    Matej Lancaric

    User Acquisition & Creatives Consultant

    ⁠https://lancaric.me

    Felix Braberg

    Ad monetization consultant

    ⁠https://www.felixbraberg.com

    Jakub Remiar

    Game design consultant

    ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar

    ---------------------------------------

    Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!

    Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple!

    Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me

    ---------------------------------------

    If you are interested in getting UA tips every week on Monday, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠lancaric.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & sign up for the Brutally Honest newsletter by Matej Lancaric

    Do you have UA questions nobody can answer? Ask ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Matej AI⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - the First UA AI in the gaming industry! https://lancaric.me/matej-ai

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    53 分