Game Economist Cast

GEC BONUS EP: What's up at GDC 2026?

Phillip Black — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 09:53:36 +0000

Takes so hot that they were recorded late at night after a long day on the GDC floor, and couple whiskeys. Phil, Eric, and Chris crew unpack what actually mattered at GDC 2026, and what didn’t.

We discuss:

A sharper critique of industry thinking
- Too many taxonomy talks, not enough opinions
- Why game talks should behave more like economics seminars

AI’s role on the show floor and conference
- Shift from generative art hype to code generation and workflows
- Why survey data understates actual usage and masks revealed preferences
- AI present but muted, Web3 effectively gone
- Novelty hardware, indie creativity, and a clear tech pullback
The collapse of production costs and what replaces them
- Near-zero fixed costs leading to infinite content supply
- Discovery, marketing, and CAC as the new binding constraints
Why incumbents may strengthen, not weaken
- Ad spend and distribution advantages widening the moat
- Counterpoint: new channels still create pockets of disruption
Hardware, interfaces, and “convergent evolution”
- Why controllers standardized and what that says about optimal design
- Failed alternatives and the persistent friction of interaction

Chapters

(00:00:00) - GDC 26: The Highlights and Disappointments
(00:03:50) - Did You Play With The Rubik's Cube Mini-Screen?
(00:05:08) - In the Elevator With Microsoft's Kinect
(00:07:53) - Are Game Controllers Like Crabs?
(00:10:54) - Nintendo's Live-Service Revenue
(00:11:36) - Crypto: Should You Interact or Prevent a Regulatory Violation
(00:12:59) - GDC 2017: Indie Games, Virtual Reality Games
(00:14:58) - The Future of Generative Code
(00:19:58) - Roblox's Conference on AI
(00:25:15) - GDC 2017: Playing a Game Inside Your Talk
(00:26:46) - Don't Make a Taxonomy Talk at GDC 2022
(00:30:39) - Crypto Is a Decentralized Guild
(00:30:55) - GDC 2013: A Food Budget
(00:32:41) - GDC gift cards: Who is laundering the money?
(00:34:46) - At Tech Conference 2017, China and the Future
(00:35:16) - Indie Game Making
(00:36:51) - Phil on the Floor at GDC 2014

E48: Ozempic, 2XKO and ARPDAU For Wild Takes

Phillip Black — Sun, 15 Feb 2026 16:02:28 +0000

If the majority of mobile casuals' target audience takes Ozempic, what effect does that have on games? No one's asking these questions, so welcome to the Game Economist Cast. Weight loss drugs, AI copilots, and gambling apps dominated the most expensive media real estate on earth, and games were barely in the frame. In this episode, we unpack what that signal means for interactive entertainment, Eric uncovers Riot’s 2XKO downsizing to Google’s Genie 3, and the future of engines. Phil previews his GDC talk on the economics of a billion-dollar cosmetic economy, Chris breaks down his attempt to design and publish a trading board game, and we ask a harder question: in a world of Ozempic and infinite AI supply, what actually happens to gaming demand? We discuss: • The 2XKO reset and the economics of niche within niche genres • Team size, burn rate, and why a 160-person fighting game team changes the break-even math • Free to play cosmetics versus box price DLC in a capped DAU genre • Why betting apps can out-monetize most games on ARPDAU • How appetite suppression might reallocate time, spending, and loop sensitivity • Genie 3 and the cost curve of game production • Engines as rule governance layers in a probabilistic content world • Cosmetic economies as foundational theory • Scarcity, signaling, and equilibrium pricing in digital status markets • Price discovery, private information, and turning trade into tabletop play Listen now!

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Do Dicks Make You Smarter?
(00:03:14) - the economics of a billion-dollar game economy
(00:05:21) - The Economics of Cosmetics
(00:06:29) - Let's Talk Economics with Game Developers
(00:08:36) - 2xKo Cut Their Team In Half
(00:09:42) - 2xKO: A Niche Within a Niche
(00:12:23) - On 2xK's Failed Fight
(00:15:53) - Brawlhalla's $200 Million Run Rate
(00:18:48) - How to Find Your Love of Gaming
(00:20:59) - Do You Think Every Minute Played Playing Video Games Is Being Used for
(00:21:49) - Tunic: A Masterclass in Game Design
(00:23:41) - June's Journey: The Most Complex Game Ever Made
(00:24:24) - June's Journey: The Hidden Objects Theme
(00:26:20) - Phil Philonomics: No One Plays Games Together
(00:30:28) - I Made a Board Game Without Money
(00:33:16) - Super Bowl Gambling
(00:34:29) - The Future of AI Ads
(00:36:47) - Weight Loss Pills and Gaming
(00:43:24) - Do You Think Being a Whales Is Harder Than Being a
(00:44:01) - Gambling Apps vs. Sports Betting
(00:47:42) - Is AI a Threat to Video Game Companies?
(00:54:05) - Will AI Make Games More Cost Effective?
(01:00:23) - B2B vs. Mainstream
(01:00:39) - Game Economics

E47: Iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma, Social Norms Go Astray, and Why Game Economy Needs Math

Phillip Black — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 08:37:36 +0000

Chuck E. Cheese is still alive, and so is the analytics-to-product pipeline. @Amanda Cesario analytics lead turned product leader, joins @Phillip Black, Eric, and @Christopher Kaczmarczyk-Smith argue for embedded analytics, sharper language, and game systems that actually produce cooperation instead of a cosplay community.
We discuss:
• The missing vocabulary for economy design in live service, and how it's harmed the entire industry
• Why office ball pits best start-up ping pong tables
• The analyst’s real job: explaining “why,” then realizing the only way to fix it is to own the lever
• Embedded analytics vs centralized service orgs; who beats who
• Roblox as a laboratory: aspirational visibility, server “neighborhoods,” and system norms that communicate more than art
• Iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma, Axelrod’s tournaments, and why tit-for-tat is a design principle
• Monopoly Go partner events as rare, genuine, cooperation-through-repeated-interaction design
• Why Discovery Zone died, but Chuck E. Cheese prints money anyway

Chapters

(00:00:00) - In the Elevator With Chuck E. Cheese
(00:00:52) - The Ball Pit
(00:03:23) - How to Turn From Analyst to Product Designer
(00:05:02) - Peter Feuerstein on Becoming Product Manager for Madden
(00:13:09) - What Do Data Scientists Need to Know to Be a Product Manager?
(00:15:07) - Have You Got What it Takes to Lead an Analytics Team?
(00:20:16) - Analytics and Product Incentives
(00:22:11) - Bee Swarm Simulator
(00:28:38) - Roblox's Impact on the Game Industry
(00:34:35) - Game Money vs. Positive Monetization
(00:36:48) - Have We Reached a Turning Point in Video Gaming?
(00:40:01) - Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma
(00:45:14) - Tick for Tat in Minecraft
(00:51:51) - Dark Souls 2
(00:55:29) - How to Design a Board Game
(00:58:42) - Board Games: Found Your Love of Gaming
(01:03:57) - Game Economy in a Vocabulary
(01:10:13) - Amanda Zario on Game of Economics

E46: Economics of Sweepstakes, Vertical Word Game Progression, and UXR Failure

Phillip Black — Sun, 14 Dec 2025 22:07:49 +0000

Is fair matchmaking actually bad design? And how exactly did gaming companies fumble the bag when it came to the army of PhD psychologists they employ? We talk: • Sweepstakes, social casino, velocity, and why most players never cash out • Why Wordle feels flat to some designers and why elegance is not the same as progression • Surveys as UX, not truth machines, and how to extract signal without lying to yourself • Compensating differentials, handicaps, and why 50 percent win rates kill progression • Bots, deception, and whether games are magic shows or fraud

Chapters

(00:00:00) - In the Case of Moral Utility
(00:00:41) - The Game Economist Cast
(00:01:42) - Phil vs. Wordle
(00:05:57) - The Need for Difficulty in Word Games
(00:10:39) - Total War: An Absurd 4x Game
(00:13:34) - How Sweeps Are Getting Around the Gambling Laws
(00:17:43) - Are Loot Boxes Legally Gambling?
(00:21:29) - How Social Casino Works Without Sweeps
(00:23:48) - How To Win at MMOs
(00:27:03) - How to Win on Surveys
(00:32:38) - The Cognitive Task of Food Preferences
(00:36:24) - Have Surveys Ruined Mobile Games?
(00:38:22) - People's feelings in 'Star Wars': Are they reliable?
(00:39:22) - Battlefield 1: Skill Based Matchmaking
(00:44:48) - What's The Argument for No Skill Based Matchmaking
(00:48:45) - Is Bots Bad for Content Ethics?
(00:53:58) - Rejecting Kantian Ethics

E45: Autobattler Econ, WILD UGC Algo & A Currency Debate for the Ages (w/Arto Huhta) Autobattler Econ, WILD UGC Algo & The Big Currency Question (w/Arto Huhta)

Phillip Black — Sun, 23 Nov 2025 20:26:24 +0000

What happens when autobattlers fail to monetize? We pull Arto Huhta into the cast and chat about Telegram’s pseudo-WeChat ambitions. Eric releases a distrack on Game Designer's obsessed social spaces, and Phil wants more blood from psychologists' nonsensical F2P "choice overload." Chris enleashes a model-meets-UGC experiment: a three-algorithm simulation that shows how recommendation systems distort consumer welfare and creator inequality.

\We discuss:

How Arto sees the split between economy design, product management, and classical economics (hint: it's not what you think)
Pets as permanent progression, and the design logic behind Nonstop Knight’s monetization turnaround
Why creator inequality explodes under bad reinforcement
A brewing debate on regulation that is just getting started...

Chapters 00:00 Journey to London: A Game Developer's Path 00:49 The Role of Economy Design in Gaming 01:20 From Academia to Game Development: Bridging the Gap 03:16 Experimentation in Game Design: Lessons Learned 05:22 The Intersection of Game Design and Economics 10:07 Understanding Game Development Roles 11:00 Monetization Strategies in Game Design 11:55 The Evolution of Publishing Models 12:42 Transitioning to Web 3: New Challenges 13:54 The Economics of Game Spending 18:27 Introduction to Game Economist Cast 19:06 Current Gaming Trends and Preferences 20:51 Game Modes and Player Engagement 22:03 The Future of Game Monetization 27:33 The Social Hub Experiment in Fighting Games 28:26 Street Fighter VI and Social Interaction 30:28 The Rise of HTML5 Games on Platforms 32:37 The Trend of Casual Games in Tech Companies 34:42 Telegram Games: A New Frontier 37:21 Challenges in Game Discovery on Telegram 38:52 User Engagement and Retention in Web3 Gaming 39:43 Consumer Welfare and Content Creation Dynamics 43:04 The Impact of Algorithms on User Experience 49:31 Heterogeneous Goods and Their Effects on Engagement 57:35 The Impact of Algorithms on Content Quality 59:04 Understanding Algorithmic Risks and User Retention 01:00:16 Exploring Algorithm Design in Gaming Platforms 01:01:54 The Role of User Choice in Content Discovery 01:04:29 The Future of Pricing Strategies in Free-to-Play Games 01:08:10 The Debate on Standardization and Market Forces

Chapters

(00:00:00) - The Cost of Free Speech
(00:00:49) - Game of Connors Cast
(00:01:16) - Meet Free-To-Play Designer Phil Rubin
(00:02:43) - The Art of Being a Game Economist
(00:03:59) - How to Get Out of Your Job
(00:05:22) - Are You More of an Economist or a Designer?
(00:07:51) - Candy Crush: Experimentation and Optimization
(00:10:07) - Ex-Monetization Manager at King Publishing
(00:12:30) - Have We Overreacted to Free-To-Play?
(00:15:17) - Half-Off and the Price
(00:18:27) - How To Make a Slop slideshow
(00:18:56) - What Have You Been Playing?
(00:20:35) - Clash Royale: The Future of Content
(00:23:55) - How To Play Hearthstone With Re-rolling
(00:25:59) - 2K XO: A Hardcore Fighting Game
(00:29:37) - Fortnite vs. Monster Hunter: The Social Hub
(00:30:29) - Are We Ready for Content in the Future?
(00:34:24) - Facebook vs Instagram: What's The Difference?
(00:34:57) - Telegram's plans for games
(00:36:22) - How Telegram Could Make Games More Profitable
(00:43:15) - The Probability of Encountering a Good
(00:44:28) - Anatomy of Facebook's algorithm
(00:49:53) - The Gini coefficient of content creators profit
(00:54:30) - Measuring the social network's heterogeneous goods
(00:58:58) - The Mix of Algorithms and Churn
(01:01:07) - Do Algorithm Designers Care About Producer GENIE?
(01:01:55) - What Should Roblox Do About Popularity?
(01:03:51) - Too Much Choice in Online Content
(01:05:56) - Is There Choice Overload in Mobile Games?
(01:06:49) - What about discounts on hard currency purchases?
(01:07:46) - Free-To-Play: Quantity Based Discounts
(01:11:11) - USB 2.0: Standardization
(01:12:11) - Roblox: Arto on UGC
(01:13:27) - GIM economist cast episode 44

E44: Incentive UGC Determinism for the Future of Gaming (w/Alex Seropian)

Phillip Black — Mon, 29 Sep 2025 05:00:00 +0000

UGC is about to change forever. In the same way all technologies govern and enable the creative, MTX will do the same for Fortnite. Or will it? Alex Seropian (Look World North, The Forth Curtain) joins the cast to discuss UEFN's ability to enable creators to monetize islands directly.

We discuss:

What new games will emerge with MTX?
Is UGC IP defensible?
What exactly is the endgame for UGC studios?
What's the maximum a Roblox studio earns?

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to UEFN and Guest Background

03:48 UEFN's New Features and Developer Impact

07:22 Comparing UEFN with Roblox

10:23 The Future of IP in Gaming

17:47 Epic's Strategic Vision and Development Tools

21:04 The Evolution of UGC Platforms

22:53 Challenges in User-Generated Content

26:27 Monetization Models in Gaming

28:01 The Joy of Game Development

30:46 The Future of Fortnite's Economy

39:16 China's Role in UGC Development

41:40 Feedback Loops in Game Development

Chapters

(00:00:00) - He Was The Math Pirate
(00:00:33) - Utility and the UEFN Platform
(00:01:01) - Biased Interview: The Math Pirate
(00:03:25) - Epic's UCLUE Announcement
(00:07:32) - UEFN vs. Roblox: What's The Difference
(00:12:30) - Phil Jackson on Roblox's Ephemeral IP
(00:17:24) - Unveiling UE6 & Epic's Vision
(00:21:23) - GTA: The Dark Horse in the UGC Wars
(00:23:31) - The Witcher 3 and Overwolf
(00:26:12) - How Will Monetization Change the Game Industry?
(00:27:43) - What Was It Like Developing a Halo 2 on UEFN
(00:31:21) - Epic's Fortnite Economy Announcement
(00:35:34) - Epic Games' Developer Revenue Share
(00:36:38) - Fortnite's Incentive Determinism
(00:39:30) - Where Is China in the UGC Race?
(00:41:46) - What's It Like to Develop on PC and Mobile?
(00:44:22) - Interview
(00:45:39) - Meet Alex the Economics Student

E43: Bentham's Body, Hypothesis Testing & Marginal ROAS (w/Eric Seufert)

Phillip Black — Sun, 14 Sep 2025 20:00:00 +0000

Eric Seufert joins to dissect AI hype, marginal ROAS, Jeremy Bentham's legacy, and managing a multi-million-dollar marketing budget that falls empirically short. WE discuss:

How do you evaluate an “AI startup” in 90 seconds without being duped?
Can LLM-driven hypothesis testing replace the Monday creative meeting and outperform it?
If marginal ROAS is the real constraint, why do teams still optimize to averages?
When should a Battlefield-scale launch actually spend less on day one and wait two weeks?
Why did free-to-play economics conquer games but stall on platforms like Twitch or Spotify?
Will AI-driven volatility make electricity markets funky?

E42: Vertical Progression Is Gaming's Sex & Finally A Web3 Hope

Phillip Black — Mon, 01 Sep 2025 21:00:00 +0000

Forget the endless autopsies on why Web3 gaming flatlined, @Chris gets past the clichés and gets into the real pathology: a misdiagnosis of what “play-to-earn” was ever good for.

@Eric & @Phil on vertical progression is the most important retention driver for several specific reasons
The “market for lemons” problem in developer <> publisher relations: why developers can banbooze publishers

Sub to Eric and Chris' Substack here:

https://substack.com/@ericguan
https://substack.com/@chriseconomics

00:00 Introduction and Free Trials in Drug Dealing
00:28 Economics of Drug Dealing
02:11 Personal Experiences and Data Collection
03:24 Car Dealerships and Market Monopolies
04:57 Gaming Industry Insights: Clash Royale
19:08 Battlefield 6: Gameplay and Strategy
27:11 Rollerblading Adventures
28:36 Rollerblading Economics
30:16 Web3 Gaming Struggles
34:54 Understanding Play-to-Earn Mechanics
43:42 The Market for Lemons
52:24 Conflicting Data on Gen Z Spending
56:51 The Importance of Reliable Economic Data
01:05:43 Conclusion and Future Topics

E41: Karl Marx as a 5* Character & Ukrainian Drone Economy Design

Phillip Black — Mon, 04 Aug 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Eric covers the economy and the system’s design of Ukraine’s Drone squadron. What does economy balancing look like in the face of war? Phil can’t stop gushing about Heroes of History, but there's one economy design piece holding it up. The crew descends into a John Maynard Keynes debate as a 4* or 5* character. Chris covers the economic impact of the UK’s new obligation for internet providers, potentially transforming UGC as we know it.

https://ericguan.substack.com/p/ukraine-gamified-drone-warfare

E40: The Best Web3 Arguments (w/Yat Siu, Cofounder of Animoca Brands)

Phillip Black — Mon, 16 Jun 2025 11:00:00 +0000

Yat Siu, Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Animoca Brands, steps cast to defend Web3 against @Eric and @Phil’s vigorous skepticism. @Chris just want to know why gamers don’t get it. Is Web2 fundamentally incapable of grasping the promise of open markets? What is and should be promised to token holders?

We discuss:

Laying down Web3’s steelman case
Why the West still doesn't get Web3 like the East
Examining the original token sin, where did it all go wrong?
Do digital property rights actually hold back economic growth?

E39: Law & Economic Order, A Game Economist Investigation

Phillip Black — Mon, 12 May 2025 13:00:00 +0000

Pokémon's patent of spherical objects throwing of cartoon creatures threatens Palword's lifeblood, while Tim Sweeney has lifted, at least a percentage point, in total gaming GDP with its injunction success.

How does Apple's rent-seeking rate change in the face of this ruling? Should Apple lower its rate to 15%, like it did in subscriptions? Remember, it faced competition primarily from "webstores" too. We premier a new segment: SOLVE that for EQUILIBRIUM.

We discuss the marginal *monetization* effects and debate the benefits of personalization opportunities (hint: there are none) with webstores.

@Chris is intrigued by Joost's piece on rising game costs, while AI's effects on the industry are measured in the Solow model. @Phil insists rising game costs mean rising revenue and stable margins, while Eric has his own doubts.

Eric's on IP Laws: https://substack.com/home/post/p-161276950
Joost's On Gaming Costs: https://superjoost.substack.com/p/gamings-billion-dollar-gamble

E38: Economics of Game Innovation & AI's Now Proof

Phillip Black — Mon, 21 Apr 2025 14:00:00 +0000

What is the GDP-maximizing set of copyright protections? 10 years? 5 years? None at all? Chris, Eric, and I debate the relevance of patents and copyright protections and the gains to network effects of knowledge. Does the "gentlemen's agreement" to avoid patent protections on game design help or hurt the industry?

Chris talks about Monster Hunter's lineage and woeful service, while Eric introduces a novel use of AI in game design. Phil believes the Gini coefficient is underutilized for measuring live-ops-driven revenue.

GEC BONUS EP: What's up at GDC 2025 (w/Charlie Hsu)

Phillip Black — Sun, 06 Apr 2025 16:00:00 +0000

Phillip & Eric navigate the strangely subdued landscape of GDC 2025, pondering if there really is such a thing as a free lunch. Chris dials in, wondering if his absence is secretly the key to Eric's roundtable success.

They dissect the talks, the conference economics, the rise of mobile's respectability, and a guest in economy designer, Charlie Hsu.

In this episode:

Is the game industry actually shrinking, or just taking a nap? And if Web3 isn't the savior, what's left besides... sweeps?
Is GDC just a cleverly disguised wealth transfer from sponsors to developers
What's the latest "reasonable" pitch for Web3 in games?
What's the economic model behind those San Francisco walk-up shops overflowing with candy bars right next to the register? High margins? A tourist trap? Something... else

E37: Is Gaming Better Than Everyone at Experimentation? (w/Dr.Julian Runge)

Phillip Black — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 08:00:00 +0000

The best tech firm experimentation seems to offer thousands of button color experiments. Dr.Runge has a better approach, which changes at every game development stage. We debate gaming's broken relationship with science, the proper experimentation framework, and how much you'd bet on yourself to complete Cousera assignments.

Read Dr.Runge's new paper NOW!

Showlinks:
Julian Runge
Gaming Companies Run Thousands of Experiments a Year
Game Data Pros
How to use games to build relationships with your customers

E36: Pokémon Pocket's Gimped Trading and Matthew Ball's State of Gaming

Phillip Black — Mon, 10 Feb 2025 09:00:00 +0000

Pokémon TCG Pocket is one of a handful of games to implement P2P trading on mobile. Yet it sucks. On purpose. As @Eric explains, their game economy needs high sinks to combat hourly sourcing of card packs. Without the nearly 80% trading tax, prices would tend toward $0. However, that's secondary to a UX that is so gimped it makes Friend Codes look seamless by comparison.

We deconstruct Matthew Ball's new State of Gaming report slide by slide (or at least curated slides.) @Chris thinks we're failing to keep pace with inflation, putting the industry at risk, while @Phil wants to know why TikTok is winning at the margin. Is gaming becoming LESS compelling relative to social media?

E35: In Defense of Loot Boxes (w/Dr. Matthew McCaffrey)

Phillip Black — Sun, 19 Jan 2025 20:00:00 +0000

Loot boxes have all the markings of a moral panic. Dr.McCaffrey reviewed the emerging literature, and like the research on video game violence, it's destined for methodological malfunction.

We discuss why everything isn't a loot box, the apathetic interest of economists in games, what George R.R. Martin's economic equilibrium teaches us, and how to get more people interested in economics.

Follow Dr.McCaffrey on Twitter [1], see him on video games [2], and read his loot box and A Song of Fire and Ice papers here [3].

E34: A Theory of Optimal Economic Balance

Phillip Black — Sun, 01 Dec 2024 17:00:00 +0000

Is game balance bullshit?

The crew goes toe-to-toe debating Sirland’s Don't Use Math in Balancing Games. Chris emerges from his Roblox hibernation, Eric tells us Street Fighter is more accessible than platform fighters, and Phil goes bonanza for All in Hole.

E33: Halo's Economist & Player Price Experiment Complaints? (w/Dr.Jason Arentz)

Phillip Black — Mon, 04 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Anti-cheat economics, web3 property rights, Deirdre McCloskey, institutional incentives, Halo UGC, and the if single player games have a natural advantage outside the West. Oh my.

Dr.Jason Arentz finally guest stars, and he's bringing the econ juice, finally striking a 50/50 web3 split on the case.

Zynga Car Price Experiment: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/zynga-apologizes-for-random-dlc-pricing-experiment

E32: Should more firms be like Valve? (w/Dr. Peter Klein)

Phillip Black — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 20:00:00 +0000

Economist Dr.Peter G. Klein joins the cast to discuss Why Managers Matter: The Perils of the Bossless Company. We debate Valve's organizational structure, the evidence for manager economic impact, and Sweden's success.

Read more about Dr.Klein here and find his book below:
https://hankamer.baylor.edu/person/peter-g-klein-0
https://www.amazon.com/Why-Managers-Matter-Bossless-Company/dp/1541751043/

15:37 Why Managers Matter
22:29 CEOs
35:22 Valve

E31: Potty Mouth & "That" Levitt-King Paper

Phillip Black — Sun, 06 Oct 2024 21:00:00 +0000

Phil and Chris return from Asia, and it's gachupon from here in-out. Eric talks vertical progression in single player games, while Chris actually agree on the future of web 2.5. The economics of unions weigh heavily: within or between professions?

The crew finally makes it to THE KING PAPER; Eric and Chris make surprising revalation.

Quantity discounts on a virtual good: The results of a massive pricing experiment at King Digital Entertainment

E30: The Economics of Game Development

Phillip Black — Sun, 15 Sep 2024 22:00:00 +0000

Eric develops an economic model to explore or exploit game development decisions, while Phil wants a block-grant style gate process to align incentives. Chris is back at Marvel Snap, and boogies with some new social casino mechanics.

The team reviews a new Call of Duty matchmaking paper with some surprising and revealing data...

E29: Can a Stick of Butter Keep You Sober?

Phillip Black — Sun, 14 Jul 2024 22:00:00 +0000

Can a stick of butter keep you sober during high-stakes diplomatic meetings? Eric is sure to tell us. Chris provides a compelling theory for the death of mods, while Phil undergoes a Supercell detox after analyzing Squad Buster's launch. The crew gets back in touch with their microeconomic selves and looks at one of the most interesting explanations for the gender pay gap.

ONE COHORT AT A TIME: A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON THE DECLINING GENDER PAY GAP

E28: B-A-N-A-N-A!

Phillip Black — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 15:00:00 +0000

Play to earn hits Steam, and the crew is here to dissect the phenomenon. Why now, and why bananas?

Phil is back into the economics of social casinos, while Chris develops a progression model for Darts. Eric and Phil debate the externalities of bots, while Chris solves for equilibrium.

E27: The Best Game Economy of All-Time

Phillip Black — Sun, 09 Jun 2024 13:00:00 +0000

The crew convenes to square off on....what counts as a store of value? Is Match3 the best game economy of all time? Is progression a wage rate? Will Chris buy digital Gloomhaven? Was Eric among the five people who watched Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire? Will Phil get the crew on a regular posting schedule? E27 IS HERE!

E26: Price Theorists Battle Behavioralists for Marvel Snap

Phillip Black — Sun, 19 May 2024 22:00:00 +0000

Phil gets Eric pilled into a trio of roguelikes, where we prime the pump for Squad Buster's eventual shake-up of the genre. Chris ran another NFT sale and lived to tell about it. We Snap our fingers for Eric's take on Snap's doubling cube mechanic. Should all ranked systems use it? Should the bet limit expand to infinity? We conclude with a discussion of Eurovision's political economy.

https://ericguan.substack.com/
https://chriseconomics.substack.com/

E25: The Veblen Goods Model That Explains Web3 (w/Dr.Sam Rosen)

Phillip Black — Sun, 28 Apr 2024 20:00:00 +0000

Dr. Sam Rosen of Temple University finally unleashes the Veblen Goods model for which every Game Economist yearns. We discuss:

Why don't sold-out artists raise ticket prices?
Why do NFT projects go boom or bust?
Should auction-based goods mask demand for their products?
What types of Pokémon are optimal for collecting in Go?

Dr.Rosen's paper, co-authored with Dr.Anthony Lee Zhang & Sebeom Oh, is out now!

E24: Tragedy of the UGC Commons & Gold Bugs

Phillip Black — Sat, 13 Apr 2024 15:00:00 +0000

Eric reminds us that The Wizard of Oz is a heated monetarism debate, while Chris goes six layers deep on enforcing royalties. Phil thinks Warzone Mobile is a good executive Powerpoint math muddled with poor execution, but good economics secured him Taylor Swift tickets.

Subscribe to Chris' Substack and Eric's Substack
Limit Break's New ERC standard

GEC BONUS EP: What's up at GDC 2024?

Phillip Black — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Eric Guan on the economics of the video game job market
Phillip Black on why big gaming co. employees are frustrated
Dr. Julian Runge build a theory of persona and personalization in an Uber to the airport
Christopher Kaczmarczyk-Smith solve for the missing web3 UGC game

Plus, a GEC After Hours on the state of San Francisco.

E23: Four Game Economists Walk into a Social Casino (w/Dr.Matt Melnyk)

Phillip Black — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 04:00:00 +0000

Matthew Melnyk joins the crew to finally tell us what's social about social casinos. Eric discovers a genre outside of CCG roguelikes...Psych, this time, it's Cobalt Core. Chris bends the supply survey backward to explain progression windfalls, while Phil tries to connect the dots between leaderboards and auction systems.

E22: Airdropping The Missing Web3 Palworld Take

Phillip Black — Tue, 20 Feb 2024 16:00:00 +0000

No Palword take is too late; something is not lost on the Game Economist Cast crew. Eric beguiles us with Cassette Beasts' analysis, while Chris reminds us of web3's oft-forgotten but newly popular Airdrop mechanics. Bonk? Phil can't get over the post-COVID decline in weekly gaming hours, but Eric cooks on a theory that a growing leisure pie might save us all.

[1] Sub to Eric and Chris's Substack!
[2] It's a bubble, it's a market, it's an Airdop!
[3] The Tremendous Yet Troubled State of Gaming in 2024

E21: Subs, Doms, Surprise, and Suspense

Phillip Black — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 08:00:00 +0000

Eric starts 2024 with a new paper on League of Legends published by leading researchers. Is there an optimal amount of excitement in matches, and if so, where is it? Chris returns from Italy, and holy cannoli, did he have a "time" while Phil laments subscription-based pricing as the antithesis of game monetization. The crew agrees to spend money on Magic The Gathering this year.

E20: Game Inflation is Misunderstood

Phillip Black — Sun, 10 Dec 2023 14:00:00 +0000

Inflation is a wild word, with everyone playing fast and loose with the definition of in-game economies. Eric isn't convinced inflation is the evil Friedman claims it is, while Chris defends the honor of game tokens from Phil's stablecoin inquisition. The crew debates the meaning of game inflation: in what units and for whom? The answer is not as clear as first thought.

E19: Why Doesn't Apple or Steam Use Regional Pricing? (w/Bill Grosso)

Phillip Black — Sun, 26 Nov 2023 22:00:00 +0000

Price discrimination is the economist "duh," yet few firms engage in the *welfare* enhancing practice. What's with that? Dr. Bill Grosso, CEO of Game Data Pros, joins the crew to tell us that sometimes it's just about more columns in the database... We cover his efforts to build price personalization at scale, community pushback, the pricing power of brands, and the best things about game economists.

[1] A two-armed bandit theory of market pricing

E18: Internet Spaceships Are Serious Business (w/Dr.Eyjolfur Gudmundsson)

Phillip Black — Mon, 13 Nov 2023 05:00:00 +0000

It's finally here...the EVE episode. The crew speaks to one of the world's first Game Economist, Dr.Gudmundsson, who helped manage and advise on one of gaming's most durable and well-known game economies...ever. We cover the origin of E.V.E. (a simulation!?), his biggest wins at CCP, the role of game economists, and if crypto has a future.

E17: Regressions, Gin Rummy, and a VERY Special Guest (w/David Nelson)

Phillip Black — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 05:00:00 +0000

Somehow, the cast wrings another guest, David Nelson, the former VP of Experimentation at King. Christopher Kaczmarczyk-Smith runs a regression on negative price, while Eric Guan explains the economic dynamics of rewarded video - bots and all. The crew debates how to solve the F-99 monetization problem and checks out what the NEW Experimentation Group is up to.

E16: Should Match-3 Players Choose Their Difficulty? (w/Dr.Julian Runge)

Phillip Black — Mon, 25 Sep 2023 04:00:00 +0000

You won’t want to miss this episode of Game Economist Cast.

Guest! Finally! Dr.Julian Runge is here to add some much-needed seasoning to the regular crew, bringing the takes. We discuss the role of art, science, and academia, analytic organization structures, the role of flow in retention, the role of sales versus personalization, and the best theories of difficulty.

We cover a lot of PUBLICLY published research in this episode (most by Dr.Runge!) that most industry venters haven’t seen!

[1] Getting ML-Based App Personalization Right: The Engagement Engineering Framework
[2] Price Promotions for “Freemium” App Monetization
[3] Why Free-to-Play Apps Can Ignore the Old Rules About Cutting Prices
[4] Quantity discounts on a virtual good: The results of a massive pricing experiment at King

E15: Video Game Monetary Policy Real Talk

Phillip Black — Sun, 10 Sep 2023 15:00:00 +0000

Chris wants to close the loop on game economies, while Eric compares Pikmin to Marx's Labor Theory of Value. Phil thinks Hawked is the next evolution of extraction shooter but doesn't understand why Indiana Jones needs to be involved. The American Time Use Survey is in, and... surprise, the crew plays Magic but can't decide to dust or auction cards.

E14: Hayekian Emergent Gameplay & Reddit Gone Wild

Phillip Black — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 19:00:00 +0000

Chris beguiles us with tales of Disc Golf, while Eric describes, in detail, the "fully modeled genitalia" of Baldur's Gate 3. Phil is too busy brushing up his Redditor voice which will surely get him canceled. The crew laments the declining utility of cosmetic economies but doubles down on the mechanics of emergent gameplay.

E13: Rank Inflation, Chris' New KPI, and Defending the Indefensible

Phillip Black — Sun, 13 Aug 2023 14:00:00 +0000

Eric brings us to the streets of Vegas for EVO while Phil finds solace in another hypercasual hit. Chris has a new metric for web3, and the crew laments inflation: it got ranked systems. The crew debates taking a bullet for millionaire execs who desperately need the help.

E12: Bots, Battlebit, Brawl Stars, and Battlestar Galactica

Phillip Black — Mon, 24 Jul 2023 09:00:00 +0000

Chris takes another swing at mid-2010 gaming with an update on his Brawl Stars experience. Eric takes us to Vietnam for League of Legends game patching while Phil laments the very slow, not-so-fast F2P Revolution. Battlebit made waves as a low-poly indie shooter at $15 -- should they have gone free-to-play?

[1] Battlebit utilizes Low-Poly to beat Battlefield at their own game

E11: Game Economist's Creed Meets Midwest Web3 Farming

Phillip Black — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 09:00:00 +0000

The crew celebrates July 4th with a travel mishap, poor driving, and a lack of Sam Adams. Eric chooses Guile to explain Street Fighters' live service attempt, while Phil demands a blood oath from the crew. Chris is glued to ads and won't let go.

E10: Monetizing Reddit, Fortnite Into The Bloodstream, & Game Thesis

Phillip Black — Tue, 27 Jun 2023 18:00:00 +0000

Chris discovers a small indie title called Fortnite, Eric throws salt on Diablo's big numbers, while Phil peddles his Game Thesis. The group tries to understand Reddit monetization while Phil tallies another win for the supply-siders.

Talked about links:

E09: Regressive & Progressive UGC Taxes

Phillip Black — Mon, 29 May 2023 08:00:00 +0000

The economics of platform success, taxation, and lots of autochess. Definition and implications of the metaverse.

E08: Voluptuous Consumer Surplus

Phillip Black — Sun, 21 May 2023 23:00:00 +0000

GEC BONUS EP: What's up at GDC 2023?

Phillip Black — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 07:00:00 +0000

E07: The Mailbag Episode

Phillip Black — Tue, 28 Mar 2023 14:00:00 +0000

The mailbag has arrived with all the weirdness you'd expect;

Can we get a little bit about each of your backgrounds? We know that Chris' parents believe that Pokemon is the devil's creation, but what else is there?
What are some actual new models where play to earn can work?
How many swords do you own? Follow up:....why?
What examples of innovative or unique approaches to game economies have you seen in recent years?

E06: What's the deal with markets anyways?

Phillip Black — Tue, 14 Mar 2023 11:00:00 +0000

NEXT EPISODE IS ALL MAIL. We'll read and respond on air. SEND QUESTIONs/COMMENTs to mail@gameeconomistcast.com!

The full crew is back after a stealth EP5 drop.
We refuse to stop talking about Hogwarts, earn our economist bread & butter discussing Eric's new piece on markets, and try to solve for a $6M Super Bowl ad.

E05: Korv, Deluxe Edition Theory, & Market Power

Phillip Black — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 08:00:00 +0000

Eric had to leave early, we’ll see more of him next episode!
Mail episode: only two away! We have 12 messages; the next episode is the last reminder. Lots of crypto questions.
Phil talks Harry Potter and Deluxe Editions, while Chris talks double auctions and market efficiency.

E04: Costco Hot Dogs, Matchmaking, & More Snap

Phillip Black — Mon, 30 Jan 2023 01:00:00 +0000

The crew returns for the most irregular cadence yet. We talk about the price of Costco Hot Dogs, go under the matchmaking hood, and obsess over the progression problems of Marvel Snap.

Send mail to mail@gameeconomistcast.com. Mailbag E07 is coming!

E03: Land, Where's the Beef?

Phillip Black — Sun, 08 Jan 2023 21:00:00 +0000

The crew is back to think about the 2023 web3 meta, and digital Georgism, before closing with our most exciting games of 2022.

Remember to send in mail. On episode 7, we’ll read it and respond. Thanks to those who already sent mail in.

E02: Fork & Knife

Phillip Black — Mon, 05 Dec 2022 10:00:00 +0000

Phil, Chris, and Eric talk about buying organs, cookie art, and a game that's not quite as good as Hades.
We dive into the economics of subscriptions, what makes a marketplace fun, and the line between games and gamification.
- Learn more about Eric's analysis of fun marketplaces here.

NOW WITH HATE MAIL.

Send comments, questions, or concerns to mail@gameeconomistcast.com.
We will have a mailbag episode soon!

E01: And we're live

Phillip Black — Mon, 21 Nov 2022 02:00:00 +0000