The Business of Video Games Podcast

Business Of Video Games Episode 35 - Deep Rock's Secrets - Soren Lundgard

Welcome to a new season of the Business of Video Games Podcast! Your host finally cut his hair, grew up and got himself a job (more on in a future episode)!
Meaning that this season we'll be bringing on a new co-host - Fernando Rizo - business developer extraordinaire - familiar to regular listeners. Expect monthly episodes this season and more behind the scenes materials for patreons - otherwise our format stays the same - the hardest hitting business interviews in the games industry.
In this episode we interview Soren Lundgard - CEO of Ghostship Games - developers of smash hit Deep Rock Galactic. We uncover the secrets of their success and how they are re-invest in the Danish games industry.

Business Of Video Games Episode 34 - The Rise and Fall of an Entreprenerd

Finally we arrive at the season finale! In this episode your's truly shares the story of trying, and failing, at starting a game studio. Why start a studio in this day and age? How did Shams go about doing and why did the studio endeavour end in shambles (but with a lot of learnings)?
If you want to see some screenshots of some of the prototypes have a look here:
 
https://shorturl.at/4BWAS
 
See you next season!

Business Of Video Games Episode 33 - Why some game companies succeed, while others fail - The Decline Phase - Kim Nordström

We arrive finally in the fifth and final episode in the series where we talk to Kim Nordström - games industry meganerd, veteran and author of "Up, Down, Up - why some game companies succeed while others fail. This episode delves into the final phase that companies go through before throwing in the towel - namely the "Decline Phase". We unpack why companies end up here and how you navigate out of these dreaded waters.
You can find more info about the book here: https://updownupbook.com/

Business Of Video Games Episode 32 - Why some game companies succeed, while others fail - The Mature Phase - Kim Nordström

After a short (!) hiatus we're back with Kim Nordström and "Up, Down, Up" - the ultimate book about why some game companies fail and others succeed. This time about the "Mature" phase. Sounds more risqué than it sounds - but still worth a listen - if you dare.
You can find more info about the book here: https://updownupbook.com/

Business Of Video Games Episode 31 - Becoming a Manor Lord - Hooded Horse

We return yet again to our home base this season - Indie publisher Hooded Horse. They recently release Manor Lords and it was a roaring success selling over 2M copies in less than 3 weeks. We talk to their CEO Tim Bender and Chief Marketing Officer Abhishek Chaudhry to understand what went right, wrong and what the team would do differently.
 
Find Manor Lords here https://store.steampowered.com/app/1363080/Manor_Lords/
And follow Hooded Horse here: https://x.com/HoodedHorseInc
 
 

Business Of Video Games Episode 30 - Survive Till 25 - Robert Bäckström

Times are grim in the games industry - at least they are if you're running a business looking for money. But there's light at the end of the tunnel! We think. The trick is just to survive until Gandalf comes riding back with backup. To discuss how to survive until 2025 when things might look better we invited Robert Bäckström - ex Fatshark, Raw Fury and much more to talk about survival strategies for game developers.
 
Visit Aurora Punks here: https://www.aurorapunks.com/
And Robert here: https://twitter.com/aurora_punker

Business Of Video Games Episode 29 - Why some game companies succeed, while others fail - The Growth Phase - Kim Nordström

We're back with another episode in the series where we explore the book - "Up, Down, Up - Why some game companies succeed while others fail" written by Kim Nordström. This time we talk about the growth phase of the companies journey. We delve into what characterizes this phase and how the focus of companies change during this phase. We talk about crazy concepts such as "Culture transfer rate" and other tricks of the dark arts.
You can find more info on it here: https://updownupbook.com/

Business Of Video Games Episode 28 - WINGS - investing in diverse indies - Astrid Refstrup

In this episode we had a chat with Astrid Refstrup - CEO of Tripletopping and now in charge of Developer Relation & Business Development at the games fund WINGS who invest in gender marginalized teams. Astrid shares war stories and we talk about WINGS modus operandi. We try to figure out how one balances business excellence with idealistic goals.
You can find Wings and their application process here: 
Wings: https://wingsfund.me/https://wingsfund.me/apply/And Astrid can be reached here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/astrid-mie-refstrup-344969136/https://twitter.com/Astridmrefstrup

Business Of Video Games Episode 27 - Why some game companies succeed, while others fail - The Startup Phase - Kim Nordström

We're back with another episode in the series where we explore the book - "Up, Down, Up - Why some game companies succeed while others fail" written by Kim Nordström. This time we talk about the startup phase of the companies journey. Kim shares insights and takeaways from other companies that mastered and flubbed this critical phase.
You can find more info on it here: https://updownupbook.com/

Business Of Video Games Episode 26 - The union of Art and Business - Finji - Rebekah Saltsman

In this extra long interview I had the privilege of talking to the illustrious leader of Finji - makers of Canabalt, Overland, Tunic and many more fun games. We delve into the details and get a good understanding of why Finji - being an artist centric developer - has managed to also build and grow as a business successfully over the years.
Finji makes some truly magical games - which you can find here: https://finji.co/
Rebekah can be found here: https://twitter.com/BexSaltsman