The Gaming Playbook w/ Harry Phokou

Why do 90% of games fail, even when the game itself is good?
Today, I sit down with Robbie Ferguson, Co-Founder at Immutable, to break down the real data-backed reasons most games never make their money back, and what the top-performing studios do differently.
Robbie shares insights from 690+ funded game launches, explains why Steam wishlists are often misleading, and reveals how pre-launch audience warming, cohort quality, and lifecycle marketing determine whether a game succeeds or dies quietly.
If you’re a game founder, marketer, indie dev, publisher, or investor, this is a must-watch breakdown of modern game economics and launch strategy.
Connect with Robbie:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robbieferguson/
Website: https://www.immutable.com/free-demo-campaign
Connect with Harry:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hphokou/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@hphokou
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hphokou
Join our industry events: https://hivemind.world/
Never run out of LinkedIn content ideas again: https://idea.phokou.com/c/system
Get exclusive podcast recaps & industry insights:
→ Subscribe to The Gaming Playbook Weekly at https://join.thegamingplaybook.com/
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:40 What Immutable actually does (beyond “Web3”)
02:59 690+ funded game launches & why most fail
03:38 Why Robbie is still obsessed with fixing game launches
05:24 Why marketing efficiency matters more than game quality
09:48 Why sending traffic straight to Steam is a mistake
13:01 Predicting player spend before launch
16:12 Doubling wishlists AND conversion rates
17:37 The #1 pre-launch mistake devs make
19:24 What an optimal modern marketing team looks like
21:25 Personalisation, AI, and player archetypes
23:19 What a “whale” actually looks like (surprising answer)
25:23 AI, oversupply, and the future of game distribution
27:10 Apple tax, margins, and why economics are changing
29:00 Why “Web3 games” is the wrong framing
32:14 Why AAA studios are shifting to influencer marketing
36:20 East vs West: how Asia builds and tests games differently
39:55 Using launch data to raise funding
44:09 Robbie’s hardest lessons building Immutable
47:20 Identifying and solving business constraints
52:36 Should founders spend time pitching publishers?
54:28 Robbie’s real motivation & long-term vision

Building great teams is harder than building great products.
Today, I sit down with Ionuț Codreanu, Head of Studio at Funcom and veteran of titles like Assassin’s Creed and Dune: Awakening, to break down what actually makes teams work in game development and beyond.
We explore hiring mistakes founders make early, why “rockstar” employees often fail long-term, how to build a strong core team, and what remote work during COVID really changed inside studios. You’ll also hear practical advice on hiring, culture, leadership conflict, market validation, and how aspiring developers can break into the industry today.
Whether you’re building your first team, scaling a game studio, or trying to break into game development, this episode gives you real, battle-tested insight; no theory, no fluff.
Connect with Ionut:
Website/LinkedIn: http://ionutcodreanu.ro/
Connect with Harry:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hphokou/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@hphokou
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hphokou
Join our industry events: https://hivemind.world/
Never run out of LinkedIn content ideas again: https://idea.phokou.com/c/system
Get exclusive podcast recaps & industry insights:
→ Subscribe to The Gaming Playbook Weekly at https://join.thegamingplaybook.com/
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
02:35 What a Head of Studio actually does day-to-day
04:52 What “building a team” really means in game studios
07:28 The biggest hiring mistake founders make
09:38 Culture fit vs skills: where most hires go wrong
16:34 Competitive personalities & cultural mismatch
17:30 Why hiring people “like you” works (and when it fails)
20:14 Profiling candidates: red flags, yellow flags, honesty
25:09 Rockstar employees: worth it or not?
26:47 When imperfect hires are unavoidable
28:31 How COVID & remote work changed team dynamics
34:33 What a “core team” really is (and why it matters)
36:38 Indie studios vs big studios: who’s actually right?
38:05 Producers, managers, and shipping games
39:30 Creative vs product conflict inside studios
41:58 How to handle disagreement without breaking teams
50:14 The biggest mistakes studios make
53:16 Why “fun” is the most misunderstood concept in games
58:41 Breaking into the games industry today
01:04:03 Unreal vs Unity & industry shifts
01:06:55 Final advice on leadership and team building

How do you actually get your game discovered in 2026, without killing creativity?
In this episode, I sit down with Frode Krisner, Founder and Co-CEO at Gameopedia, the hidden data layer powering discovery for YouTube, Google, Amazon, Samsung, and others, reaching over a billion gamers every year.
We explore how game discovery really works, why genre is breaking down, how emotional data beats tags, and how AI can amplify creativity instead of replacing it.
If you’re a game developer, founder, publisher, investor, or strategist, this episode will permanently change how you think about discovery, data, and creativity in games.
Hivemind: B2B Gaming Events
Curated roundtable mixers for founders and executives in the games industry.
Food and drinks provided.
2026 event calendar now live.
https://hivemind.world/
Connect with Frode:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frode-krisner-87692b6/
Website: https://gameopedia.com/
Lumos: https://asklumos.com/
Connect with Harry:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hphokou/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@hphokou
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hphokou
Get exclusive podcast recaps & industry insights:
→ Subscribe to The Gaming Playbook Weekly at thegamingplaybook.com
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
02:15 Why Gameopedia exists and what it actually does
04:03 How gaming saved Frode’s life
06:27 How data actually decides which games get discovered
09:16 Lumos: turning game data into real developer decisions
11:30 How Gameopedia actually works behind the scenes
14:04 How specific features shape a game’s success or failure
17:08 When data helps creativity — and when it ruins it
20:28 Why most developers compare against the wrong games
22:54 When data-driven thinking actually hurts innovation
25:33 How publishers and investors really judge games
26:32 Using data to strengthen your pitch (not fake it)
28:05 Catching fatal game mistakes before it’s too late
33:10 Why game tagging is broken (and genres don’t help)
38:34 Making serious game data accessible to indie devs
42:19 Why players don’t choose games by genre
48:48 How broken tagging systems hurt discovery
54:17 The Gameopedia flywheel explained
59:32 Building a company with extreme time and energy limits
01:06:01 Hiring great people (and what founders get wrong)
01:15:55 The best interview question founders should ask
01:18:51 Leadership, suffering, and self-reflection
01:24:03 Asking for help without losing authority
01:26:19 Facing fear to unlock growth
01:35:53 Why caring about people actually matters

The traditional game publisher model is breaking, and indie developers are feeling it first.
Today, I'm joined by Dino Patti, co-founder of Playdead, creator of Limbo & Inside, and CEO of coherence. Dino explains why publishers are losing relevance, how developers can build momentum without giving away 50% of their revenue, and what the future of multiplayer games really looks like.
If you’re an indie game developer, studio founder, or thinking about working with a publisher, this episode will save you years of mistakes.
Connect with Dino:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dinopatti/
X: https://x.com/DinoPatti
Website: https://coherence.io/
Connect with Harry:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hphokou/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@hphokou
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hphokou
Join our industry events: https://hivemind.world/
Never run out of LinkedIn content ideas again: https://idea.phokou.com/c/system
Get exclusive podcast recaps & industry insights:→ Subscribe to The Gaming Playbook Weekly at thegamingplaybook.com
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
02:20 Why the old publisher model is breaking
04:03 Publishers vs marketing agencies (hard truth)
05:34 What publishers actually do (and don’t)
08:09 Why VCs struggle to invest in games
11:00 The real cost of giving up 50% revenue
14:00 What developers need before asking for funding
15:55 Marketability, “spark,” and why most games fail
18:10 Feedback traps & why publishers aren’t validators
20:36 Survivor bias in indie success stories
22:44 Vampire Survivors multiplayer explained
25:55 Making single-player games multiplayer fast
27:12 The future of hybrid multiplayer games
31:54 Selling a studio, regret, and loss of purpose
37:09 Buying the studio back & what went wrong
39:44 The biggest mistake when choosing co-founders
43:25 Family businesses, trust & worst-case planning
46:49 Who shouldn’t start a company
47:39 Learning business without formal education
55:29 What’s next for coherence
57:04 Building companies that build companies
58:50 Final thoughts & where to find Dino

What really happens when your game suddenly explodes to hundreds of thousands of players?
Today, I sit down with Felix Oechsler, CTO and Managing Director at Nitrado, to unpack the brutal realities of launching and scaling multiplayer games. From Last Epoch’s massive launch to DDoS attacks, server costs, hyperscalers vs bare metal, and why most studios get infrastructure decisions wrong far too late.
This episode is essential viewing for indie developers, studio leads, and anyone building multiplayer games who want to avoid costly launch disasters, downtime, and player frustration. We go deep into real-world war stories, backend failures, scaling strategies, and why infrastructure decisions should be made way earlier than most developers think.
If you’re preparing for success or already feeling the pain of scale, this episode will save you time, money, and regret.
Connect with Felix:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/felix-oechsler-05589192/
Website: https://gamefabric.com/
Connect with Harry:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hphokou/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@hphokou
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hphokou
Join our industry events: https://hivemind.world/
Never run out of LinkedIn content ideas again: https://idea.phokou.com/c/system
Get exclusive podcast recaps & industry insights:
→ Subscribe to The Gaming Playbook Weekly at thegamingplaybook.com
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:19 What GameFabric is and why it exists
04:02 What happens when a game unexpectedly blows up
06:46 When developers should start thinking about infrastructure
08:38 Load testing mistakes studios keep making
09:55 Backend services developers forget to scale
11:01 Hidden infrastructure failures (logging, monitoring, costs)
13:16 Should developers even make multiplayer games anymore?
17:17 Hyperscalers vs bare metal: real cost breakdown
21:54 Why gaming-optimized infrastructure matters
24:07 What a DDoS attack actually is (plain English)
30:04 Is DDoS actually solvable?
34:11 Queues, lag, and why Fortnite does it right
37:17 Is there a limit to players on one server?
40:00 What makes a platform truly developer-focused?
44:08 Should studios build infrastructure in-house?
48:03 Career lessons going from engineer to CTO
50:38 Focus, leadership, and avoiding burnout
55:14 Trust, delegation, and scaling teams
58:32 Games Felix is playing right now
59:11 How to connect with Felix