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Gamecraft: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Mitch Lasky / Blake Robbins
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 th
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- 1 weeks agoconversational51 min5-min read
Holy Grail, or Poison Chalice? (Ep. 33)
In the final episode of their season, Mitch Lasky and Blake Robbins examine a new wave of AI-enabled, user-generated content (UGC) gaming platforms like Astrocade, Sakai, and Spawn, questioning whether they represent a transformative opportunity or a speculative bubble. They analyze the historical context of casual game portals, the challenges of monetization and curation, and the competitive dynamics posed by incumbents like Roblox and UEFN.
- 2 weeks agoconversational55 min5-min read
Funding & Founding (Ep. 32)
The current funding environment for video game startups is the most challenging in modern history, driven by industry consolidation, poor returns from venture investments in pure content studios, and uncertainty introduced by AI. Despite this, opportunities exist through lean, AI-native studios, alternative funding models, and new value creation via IP and behavioral data.
- 3 weeks agoconversational1h 5m6-min read
A Theory of Fun
Mitch Lasky and Blake Robbins, hosts of the GameCraft podcast, argue that the video game industry’s overreliance on progression-based mechanics—such as battle passes, live ops, and long-term retention systems—has come at the expense of moment-to-moment fun. They suggest a cultural and market shift is underway, with indie and premium games emphasizing core gameplay mechanics and emotional engagement now gaining traction over bloated live-service titles that fail to deliver intrinsic pleasure.
- May 6, 2026conversational1h 18m6-min read
Navigating the AI Future (Ep. 30)
AI represents a paradigm shift in software and game development, not just a tool but a transformative force that will reshape workflows, costs, and value creation. The episode argues that while AI will dramatically lower prototyping and development costs, it will amplify existing power structures and make trust, context, distribution, curated taste, and liability the most valuable layers in the future of games.
- Apr 29, 2026conversational1h 6m5-min read
How Istanbul Won the Mobile Puzzle Wars (Ep. 29)
Istanbul has emerged as a global powerhouse in the mobile puzzle game industry, driven by operational excellence, government incentives, and a tightly knit ecosystem of talent and founders. Companies like Peak Games and Dream Games have achieved billion-dollar valuations not through radical content innovation, but through superior execution, monetization, and user acquisition strategies—leveraging currency arbitrage, state-backed UA subsidies, and deep genre expertise.
- Apr 22, 2026conversational1h 8m3-min read
The Attention Drain (Ep. 28)
The episode explores the thesis that video games are losing their monopoly on interactive entertainment as competing platforms like TikTok, sports betting, OnlyFans, and prediction markets capture users' time and spending, driven by sophisticated retention and monetization mechanics originally pioneered by games.
- Apr 15, 2026conversational1h 21m4-min read
Roblox (Ep. 27)
Roblox has emerged as one of the most significant platforms in gaming by uniquely combining game creation, user aggregation, play experience, and monetization into a single ecosystem, achieving 144 million daily active users and $6.8 billion in bookings in 2025. Despite skepticism due to its amateurish appearance and controversial creator economics, Roblox has sustained growth post-pandemic and built powerful network effects that position it as a dominant force in the future of interactive entertainment.
- Apr 8, 2026conversational1h 9m4-min read
2026 Trends & Specific Predictions (Ep. 26)
In the season four premiere of GameCraft, hosts Mitch Lasky and Blake Robbins reflect on seismic shifts in the software and gaming industries, driven by AI breakthroughs like OpenClaw and agentic coding tools that have drastically reduced software development costs. They identify six major trends shaping 2026: the collapse of venture funding for game studios, a return to one-time pricing, indie dominance, global competition, broken distribution models, and industry-wide stagnation. The episode closes with bold predictions, including AI-driven breakout games, Chinese games topping Western charts, and a potential platform fee reduction.
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About Gamecraft
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 th
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Gamecraft covers topics including Leisure, Business, Investing, Games, Video Games. Our AI identifies the specific themes in each episode and highlights what matters most to you.
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