Journal

Can Elon Musk Really Make Games Great Again? Here’s My Two Cents. Elon Musk recently shared his vision of shaking up the gaming industry, arguing that big studios have too much control. His solution? Build a studio powered by AI.But if it succeeds, won’t it just become another mammoth studio, replicating the same industry dynamics we already see today?The real challenge for indie developers isn’t just competition, it’s the lack of resources and visibility:✅ High development costs✅ No organic traffic✅ No UA budgets✅ A discovery system that prioritizes revenue over quality1. Provide Free AI-Powered Tools for Indie DevelopersMany indie devs restrain their ideas due to limited resources. What if AI could change that?Imagine AI-powered art generators, monetization models, live-ops automation, AI-driven characters etc. all available for free (or in exchange for something simple, like X ads inside their games).This would […]

You should always do reference checks when bringing people, especially investors, on the cap table. They will be there for years, possibly decades, as part of the company. They don’t have vesting schedules like everyone else. Their behavior and reputation will become linked with your company. You should do the reference checks when an investor confirms their interest to invest. Be upfront about this. Just as investors will check your background, you should do the same. If I were a founder raising a round from investors, here's how I would conduct reference checks on these investors. Preparation I would find at least three previous founders who've raised from this investor, and get them to have a 30 minute call with me. I would go to lengths to pick people who raised from the investor who've had different outcomes. One that […]

In the last 5 years we have seen more than 10 Bil. downloads 🤑 being done by companies that have risen in Vietnam Mobile gaming scene. It seems the ecosystem there is positioned for great future and a new hot spot 🔥 for mobile gaming. Who are the key players 😎? Most of the revenue is coming from Ad monetization-based games that are in between the Ultra-casual to Hyper-casual to Hybrid-casual spectrum regarding their feature set. As for countries, this revenue 💸 is coming mainly from Tier2 and Tier3 countries such as Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Türkiye, Pakistan, etc. Even though some games have pretty high US download shares. It seems that they were able to find something 💎 that is no longer possible in the west, as most of the western companies are pivoting towards much heavier IAP monetization towards […]

💀 Devs laid off in 2025: 𝟭𝟭%• Hardest hit discipline: 𝗡𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 (19% of layoffs)• Second hardest hit: 𝗔𝗿𝘁, 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 (tied at 16%) Devs working on PC Games: 66% -> 80%Working on Browser games: 10% -> 16%Source: GDC's State of the Industry 2025 Report