Deconstructor of Fun

• TWIG #360 The Story of Two Steam Games, Where Winds Meet & The 4X Shake-Up

  This week in games, the money moves got messy: Dream Games recalibrates everyone's ambitions while the Saudi shopping spree continues. We take a look at Where Winds Meet and what it really says about China’s next wave of global ambitions, and ask the uncomfortable question: how are indie studios actually surviving right now? Finally, we zoom out to the battlefield of 4X strategy, the genre’s current health, the growing wave of female players, and whether a fresh face like Tile Survive can rewrite the rules. 00:00 Welcome00:22 Introduction and Shills04:26 Dream Games Budget Correction14:06 Bite Dance's Mobile Investments19:22 Arc Games Independence20:52 Where Winds Meet: A New Chinese Game29:17 The South Korea Deal and Blizzard's Business Model31:21 Success and Challenges of Indie Game Studios33:38 VC Investments in Gaming: A Tough Landscape36:12 PlayerUnknown Productions and Their New Game47:37 The State of 4X Strategy Games51:24 The Rise of Female Gamers in 4X Strategy55:48 Tile Survive: A New Contender in 4X Strategy59:56 Conclusion and Future Topics

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• 313. The Complete Guide to Gaming's Fastest-Growing UA Channel

  Loyalty platforms have evolved from sideline UA channels to commanding 25-50% of major studios' media budgets. In this deep dive, VYBS founder Ido Raz breaks down everything game developers need to know about loyalty apps—from the basics to advanced strategies for maximizing player quality and LTV.We cover the biggest misconceptions about incentivized traffic, why casual games benefit the most, and how to avoid the common mistakes that kill campaigns. Plus, Ido shares the single most overlooked KPI that changes how you evaluate traffic quality.CHAPTERS:00:00 Introduction02:39 How Loyalty Apps Differ from Offerwalls03:33 Business Model: From CPI to ROAS Optimization05:28 Can Loyalty Be a Primary UA Channel?11:25 Best Genres for Loyalty Platforms12:29 The Magic Myth: Why Loyalty Requires Specialization13:45 Are Loyalty Users Different from Traditional Players17:20 When Should Studios Start Using Loyalty Apps?18:54 The Cash Flow Advantage: 4 Months vs 2 Years21:00 Timeline to Success: 1 Week to 7 Weeks22:35 Patience vs Pressure: Learning Cycles26:30 Using Loyalty to Amplify Live Events27:53 Common Mistakes Studios Make29:52 The Unrealistic KPI Problem34:58 Loyalty vs App Store Competition36:07 AI's Impact on Loyalty Platforms40:36 Best Way to Spot Low-Quality Users44:46 What's Next for VYBS?

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• Shooter Monthly #2: Call of Duty Flops, Battlefield Hops, and Arc Raiders Pops

  Call of Duty’s worst launch in a decade collides with the rise of extraction shooters, and the balance of power inside the genre shifts. We dig into why Black Ops 7 cratered, how Battlefield 6 stole the spotlight, and why Arc Raiders is suddenly the most important new IP in shooters. Chris Sides and Feras return to map the fault lines, spar over SPMM, and weigh whether Tarkov’s disastrous Steam debut marks the ceiling for the genre’s original heavyweight.We discuss:Black Ops 7’s collapse and why marketing, futurism, and CPI pressure all convergedBattlefield 6’s surge, the RedSec flop, and why innovation is still missing in BR designThe extraction boom: Arc Raiders as the “PUBG moment” and its long-term retention risksPvE as the emerging driver of mainstream extraction demandSkill-based matchmaking as an economic problem, not a matchmaking oneTarkov’s failed 1.0 launch and what its country-mix reveals about stagnant reachWhether Embark should kill The Finals and move every resource into Arc Raiders

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• TWIG #359 Unity x Epic, Roblox Controversy, Saudi Money and Why The Game Awards Make No Sense

  The DoF crew break down everything: from Ubisoft’s endless identity crisis to Unity and Epic’s unexpected “Make the Metaverse Great Again” alliance.We get into Roblox CEO David Baszucki’s tense appearance on Hard Fork, the baffling randomness of The Game Awards nominations, Saudi Arabia’s PIF liquidity challenges, and why Turkey’s red-hot gaming scene may finally be overheating.Plus: a disagreement for Nordic tax schemes and a dispatch from Helsinki’s Slush Conference, home of the world’s most optimistic founders in a country with no economic growth.00:00 Welcome01:52 Slush Conference Insights05:06 Tax Benefits for Expats in Europe08:29 Shills09:24 Ubisoft and Tencent Deal12:28 Epic Games and Unity Partnership18:30 Roblox CEO's Podcast Appearance30:11 Game Awards Nominationss32:19 Most Anticipated Games Discussion34:23 Controversial Mobile Game Nominations39:22 Saudi Arabia's Gaming Investments47:12 Turkey's Booming Gaming Ecosystem54:43 Steam Machines and Market Challenges01:01:51 Concluding Thoughts and Thanksgiving Wishes

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• 312. How Three Engineers No One Wanted to Fund Built a $XXXM Company

  This isn't your typical "we raised $50M and exited" story. This is what happens when you have no choice but to figure it out yourselves. When the tripod refuses to fall. When you run out of everything except ideas. This is the story of Heroic Labs.About Heroic Labs: Core infrastructure for game studios. If you've played games from Zynga, Gram Games, or dozens of other studios, you've used their tech without knowing it. That's by design.📱 Follow for more founder stories that break the mold: www.deconstructoroffun.com/blogPIN THIS COMMENT:"The road you're in is a graveyard, full of skulls of previous dead companies." - Bing Gordon, Kleiner PerkinsTimestamps:00:00 Heroic Safari Adventures 01:24 Switching to Open Source04:14 Journey to Y Combinator 09:44 Life at Y Combinator 26:01 Demo Day and Investor Meetings 33:03 Heroic Bootstrapping 37:40 Remote Work and Team Dynamics 43:01  Founder Dynamics 50:19  Advice for Founders 01:03:55 Team Pride & Retention 01:13:04 Rapid Fire Questions

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