Episodes 34
Avg. Duration 1h 6m
Activity Active
Apple Rating 4.8 (137)
Since Jan 2023
Latest Episode May 2026

Publishing Details

Schedule
Weekly
Format
Episodic
Consistency
100%
Hosting
rss.libsyn.com

Contact & Outreach

About This Podcast

Gamecraft is a limited series about the modern history of the video game business. Beginning in the early 1990's, the video game business began a radical transformation from a console and PC packaged goods business into the highly complex, online, multi-platform business it is today. Game industry legend Mitch Lasky and game investor Blake Robbins go on a thematic tour of the last 30 years of gaming, exploring the origins of free-to-play, platform-based publishing, casual & mobile gaming, forever games, user-generated content, consoles, virtual reality, and in-game economies across the eight episodes of Season 1. In Season 2, Mitch and Blake are back with a new series analyzing the state of the video game business in 2024. They start with a macro view of the current business, before looking at some hot topics in gaming: the rise of powerful independent game studios, emerging markets for games around the world, how innovations in artificial intelligence will change game creation, and the renewed importance of intellectual property in the game business.

Explore Statistics

Recent Episodes

S4E8 Holy Grail, or Poison Chalice? (Ep. 33)

May 27, 2026 51m

Mitch and Blake conclude Season 4 with a review of a new kind of games company that is getting significant attention from investors: casual game portals with integrated AI game generation engines,…

S4E7 Funding & Founding (Ep. 32)

May 20, 2026 55m

Blake and Mitch discuss the current environment for funding games and some of the challenges and opportunities for founders in the games space. They begin with a short survey of the current venture…

S4E6 A Theory of Fun

May 13, 2026 1h 5m

Blake and Mitch discuss the possibility that games -- mainly mobile and live service games -- have concentrated on providing fun through progression and engagement mechanics rather than fun in the…

S4E5 Navigating the AI Future (Ep. 30)

May 06, 2026 1h 18m

Mitch and Blake offer their thoughts about how to navigate the introduction and impact of large language model AI in the video game business. They begin by discussing their opinion that AI represents…

S4E4 How Istanbul Won the Mobile Puzzle Wars (Ep. 29)

Apr 29, 2026 1h 6m

Mitch and Blake discuss the rise of the Istanbul gaming scene, which has exploded in the last 15 years and come to dominate the incredibly lucractive "match 3" mobile puzzle genre -- a genre which…

S4E3 The Attention Drain (Ep. 28)

Apr 22, 2026 1h 8m

Blake and Mitch discuss the thesis that the games business is losing share of attention to non-game interactive applications. They discuss whether there is actually a defined market for interactive…

S4E2 Roblox (Ep. 27)

Apr 15, 2026 1h 21m

Mitch & Blake discuss one of their favorite companies in games, Roblox. They start by outlining Roblox's core competitive advantages, and how they are unique in providing creation, consumption,…

S4E1 2026 Trends & Specific Predictions (Ep. 26)

Apr 08, 2026 1h 9m

Blake and Mitch return! They begin with a discussion of the "Great Inflection" in software in the last several months. They then do some follow-up to last season, particularly their "deadpool"…

S4 The EA "LBO" (Ep. 25)

Oct 15, 2025 37m Bonus

In this Special Edition of the GameCraft podcast, Mitch and Blake discuss the $55 billion leveraged buy-out of Electronic Arts by the Private Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, Siliver Lake Partners,…

S3E8 The Sum of the Parts (Ep. 24)

May 21, 2025 1h 9m

Mitch and Blake explore the role of consolidation -- primarily through mergers and acquistions -- in building some of the biggest and most durable companies in gaming. They begin with a discussion…

S3E7 AI as a Platform (Ep. 23)

May 14, 2025 52m

Last season, Mitch and Blake discussed the implications of new Large Language Model Artificial Intelligence in games. In this episode, they return to the topic, this time focusing on games that are…

S3E6 Hasbro and Lego (Ep. 22)

May 07, 2025 44m

Mitch and Blake look at two of the largest toy companies in the world, Hasbro and Lego, and discuss their divergent but ultimately very successful forays into the games business as licensors of…

S3E5 The Venture Deadpool (Ep. 21)

Apr 30, 2025 1h 6m

Mitch and Blake address the unpleasant topic of how and why venture-backed games companies fail. They look first at the nature of venture financing and the inherent differences between venture and…

S3E4 China (Ep. 20)

Apr 23, 2025 56m

Mitch and Blake look at the current state of the vitally important Chinese gaming market, on the precipice of a bitter trade war resulting from the Trump tariffs. They review the history of the games…

S3E3 Valve (Ep. 19)

Apr 16, 2025 1h 1m

Mitch and Blake take an in-depth look at one of the most important companies in the global gaming business: Valve. They trace the company's origin as the developer of first-person shooter Half Life,…

S3E2 The Mobile Gaming Duopoly (Ep. 18)

Apr 09, 2025 59m

Mitch and Blake discuss the mobile duopoly in which Apple and Google exert extraordinary power by tying their app stores to hardware and software platforms. They warn that the inflexible and…

S3E1 Cycles & Survival (Ep. 17)

Apr 02, 2025 1h 23m

Mitch and Blake kick off Season 3 of the podcast with a high-level look at the current moment in the video game business, critiquing both the idea that the business is cyclical and we are in a…

S2E8 Artificial Intelligence (Ep. 16)

Mar 13, 2024 1h 13m

In their final episode of Season 2, Mitch and Blake take on the complex and highly speculative topic of the impact of recent improvements in artificial intelligence on the games business. Your hosts…

S2E7 Intellectual Property (Ep. 15)

Mar 06, 2024 1h 10m

Mitch and Blake look at the ins and outs of intellectual property licensing in games. After discussing the checkered history of the practice, they look at the creative and business reasons why…

S2E6 Distribution (Ep. 14)

Feb 28, 2024 1h 10m

In perhaps their most important episode of the series, Mitch and Blake explain what they mean when they use the term "distribution" and why it is so important to their understanding of how the video…

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does Gamecraft have?

Gamecraft has published 34 episodes since January 2023, covering topics in Business, Investing.

Is Gamecraft still active?

Gamecraft is currently active with new episodes weekly. Average episode length is 1h 6m.

How do I contact Gamecraft for sponsorship or guest appearances?

Sign up on Grep.FM to access contact details for Gamecraft, including email and social media links.

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