May 21, 2025
Mitch and Blake explore the role of consolidation -- primarily through mergers and acquistions -- in building some of the biggest and most durable companies in gaming.
They begin with a discussion of the four major strategic uses of mergers and acquisitions: economies of scale, entry into new markets, control of talent...
May 14, 2025
Last season, Mitch and Blake discussed the implications of new Large Language Model Artificial Intelligence in games. In this episode, they return to the topic, this time focusing on games that are using AI as a platform -- meaning, the games are predicated on the use of LLMs to manage gameplay in some way.
After...
May 7, 2025
Mitch and Blake look at two of the largest toy companies in the world, Hasbro and Lego, and discuss their divergent but ultimately very successful forays into the games business as licensors of intellectual property.
Your hosts discuss how both Hasbro and Lego tried to enter the games business directly as developers and...
Apr 30, 2025
Mitch and Blake address the unpleasant topic of how and why venture-backed games companies fail.
They look first at the nature of venture financing and the inherent differences between venture and publisher money. This leads to a conversation about how developers who were used to working with publishers treated venture...
Apr 23, 2025
Mitch and Blake look at the current state of the vitally important Chinese gaming market, on the precipice of a bitter trade war resulting from the Trump tariffs.
They review the history of the games business in China, discuss the reasons China is so competitive in the global gaming market, and look at how some of the...