Game Economist Cast

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

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)

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)

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)

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

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 reasonsThe “market for lemons” problem in developer publisher relations: why developers can banbooze publishersSub to Eric and Chris' Substack here:https://substack.com/@ericguanhttps://substack.com/@chriseconomics00:00 Introduction and Free Trials in Drug Dealing00:28 Economics of Drug Dealing02:11 Personal Experiences and Data Collection03:24 Car Dealerships and Market Monopolies04:57 Gaming Industry Insights: Clash Royale19:08 Battlefield 6: Gameplay and Strategy27:11 Rollerblading Adventures28:36 Rollerblading Economics30:16 Web3 Gaming Struggles34:54 Understanding Play-to-Earn Mechanics43:42 The Market for Lemons52:24 Conflicting Data on Gen Z Spending56:51 The Importance of Reliable Economic Data01:05:43 Conclusion and Future Topics