TWIG #404: AI Game Mashups Go Viral, Google Launches Playground and Mobile Studios Are Cheap Again
AI-made mashups of games like Skate 3 and Modern Warfare II took over social media, and publishers responded with takedowns. Google launched...
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Deconstructor of Fun
A podcast about everything and anything in Free-to-play games. Just like the blog ( Deconstructor of Fun podcast dives deep into the business side of free-to-play games in search of what ma...
Episodes
20 of 833 episodes
351. Why Great Hires Fail at Startups | Garry Hill, Makers Fund
Most startup hiring mistakes come down to two things: hiring too fast and hiring too narrow. Garry Hill, head of talent at Makers Fund, sees...
TWIG #403: The Market Only Grew 2%, Friendslop Hits the PC Charts and China Drafts Off GTA VI
Strip out inflation and the games market has barely grown in a decade. This week we dig into Newzoo's latest numbers and what they say about...
Shooter Monthly #10: War Dogs Sells 2.2M, Cash Economy Breakdown and the 1v1v1 Debate
War Dogs sold 2.2 million copies in four days and nobody saw it coming.This episode we break down Bulkhead's early access hit. A hardcore mi...
350. Zynga Founder Mark Pincus: Why Your Favourite Ideas Are Almost Always Wrong
Mark Pincus founded Zynga that was later acquired of $12.7B by TakeTwo and still thinks he misplayed the hand. On this episode he unpacks th...
TWIG #402: Xbox Bets on Kojima, Halo Gets Handed to CoD and AppLovin Hits the Road
Xbox is cutting niche studios and signing a niche Kojima project in the same month. We try to make it make sense.Sony pulled funding on Phys...
Puzzle Monthly #6: Disney Solitaire's Big Win, Playtika's Earn-Out Trap and Solitaire vs Puzzle
Disney Solitaire is one of the biggest launches of the year, and it might be too successful for its own parent company.This episode breaks d...
From Zero Offers To Record Revenue I Michael Martinez, CEO of FunCraft
Michael Martinez, co-founder and CEO of FunCraft, tried to sell his mobile game studio in 2025. Trusted people said "don't do it yet". He ch...
TWIG #401: Blizzard Goes All In, Roblox Breaks Out of Its Own App and Aniimo Nails Launch Day
Gaming is back, and this week had a lot to talk about.BlizzCon delivered the biggest slate of announcements Blizzard has had in years, but t...
348. Why None of Us Saw Cyberpunk Coming Apart I Michal Nowakowski. joint CEO, CD PROJEKT RED
Cyberpunk 2077 sold 13 million copies in ten days, then Sony pulled it from the PlayStation Store. CD Projekt Red joint CEO Michal Nowakowsk...
TWIG #400: Is the Game Industry Actually Crashing, OpenAI's Astra and 8 Years of Hot Takes
400 episodes in, and yes, we swear more than anyone will admit.This is the big one. Before the retrospective, we tear apart the latest "vide...
347. Questions Istanbul Founders Stopped Asking I Akin Babayigit, Arcadia Gaming Partners
McKinsey, the United Nations, Skype, Rocket Internet, Facebook, King. Then Akin Babayigit co-founded Tripledot, spun out Luna Labs, and now...
TWIG #399: GTA VI Breaks Netflix, EU Targets Roblox and Zero Company's Studio Implodes
GTA VI just proved it can break Netflix, the EU just put Roblox under its strictest rulebook, and one of the best reviewed games of the year...
Shooter Monthly #9: Battlefield's Hot Streak, Gears Goes Helldiving, and the Battle Pass Plateau
Shooters are having one of their best summers in years, and every major franchise still can't agree on what to do about it.The crew runs thr...
346. Why Mattel Wants Studios to Pitch the Uncomfortable
Mattel owns Barbie, Hot Wheels, UNO, Masters of the Universe and Street Sharks. Marcus Liassides runs its digital business, which now Roblox...
TWIG #398: Gaming's 2026 Reality Check, The GTA 6 Leak Nightmare and Why Jobs Are Still Vanishing
Rockstar is fighting a leak it cannot plug, and the leaker has turned the whole thing into a token economy.Episode 398 covers a week where t...
345. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of UA Financing
Everyone's telling you cohort financing is free money to scale. It's not, and the contract fine print is where that story falls apart.Josh C...
344. The Truth About Taking Over A Company
In March 2025, Jon Bellamy became CEO of Jagex and Alexis Bonte became CEO of Stillfront. Both inherited companies with legacy, scale, and a...
TWIG #397: Roblox Under Fire, Apple’s EU App Store Shake-Up and Netflix Games’ Studio Retreat
Crew breaks down another packed week in games. Roblox faces mounting pressure over child safety as Congress launches an investigation, Apple...
343. WEBTOON Is Bigger Than Monopoly Go: Inside a New Game Marketing Channel
Jen sits down with WEBTOON and Square Enix to break down a channel that reaches mobile, PC, and console at once.UA is saturated and everyone...