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Game Economist Cast

Phillip Black

44 episodes

2 weeks ago

Send us a text Eric covers the economy and the system’s design of Ukraine’s Drone squadron. What does economy balancing look like in the face of war? Phil can’t stop gushing about Heroes of History, but there's one economy design piece holding it up. The crew descends into a John Maynard Keynes debate as a 4* or 5* character. Chris covers the economic impact of the UK’s new obligation for internet providers, potentially transforming UGC as we know it. https://ericguan.substack.com/p/ukraine-...

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Send us a text Eric covers the economy and the system’s design of Ukraine’s Drone squadron. What does economy balancing look like in the face of war? Phil can’t stop gushing about Heroes of History, but there's one economy design piece holding it up. The crew descends into a John Maynard Keynes debate as a 4* or 5* character. Chris covers the economic impact of the UK’s new obligation for internet providers, potentially transforming UGC as we know it. https://ericguan.substack.com/p/ukraine-...

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Episodes (20/44)

Game Economist Cast

E40: The Best Web3 Arguments (w/Yat Siu, Cofounder of Animoca Brands)

Send us a text Yat Siu, Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Animoca Brands, steps cast to defend Web3 against @Eric and @Phil’s vigorous skepticism. @Chris just want to know why gamers don’t get it. Is Web2 fundamentally incapable of grasping the promise of open markets? What is and should be promised to token holders? We discuss: Laying down Web3’s steelman caseWhy the West still doesn't get Web3 like the EastExamining the original token sin, where did it all go wrong?Do digital prope...

1 week ago

1 hour 10 minutes

Game Economist Cast

E39: Law & Economic Order, A Game Economist Investigation

Send us a text Pokémon's patent of spherical objects throwing of cartoon creatures threatens Palword's lifeblood, while Tim Sweeney has lifted, at least a percentage point, in total gaming GDP with its injunction success. How does Apple's rent-seeking rate change in the face of this ruling? Should Apple lower its rate to 15%, like it did in subscriptions? Remember, it faced competition primarily from "webstores" too. We premier a new segment: SOLVE that for EQUILIBRIUM. We discuss the margi...

1 month ago

1 hour 10 minutes

Game Economist Cast

E38: Economics of Game Innovation & AI's Now Proof

Send us a text What is the GDP-maximizing set of copyright protections? 10 years? 5 years? None at all? Chris, Eric, and I debate the relevance of patents and copyright protections and the gains to network effects of knowledge. Does the "gentlemen's agreement" to avoid patent protections on game design help or hurt the industry? Chris talks about Monster Hunter's lineage and woeful service, while Eric introduces a novel use of AI in game design. Phil believes the Gini coefficient is und...

2 months ago

39 minutes

Game Economist Cast

GEC BONUS EP: What's up at GDC 2025 (w/Charlie Hsu)

Send us a text Phillip & Eric navigate the strangely subdued landscape of GDC 2025, pondering if there really is such a thing as a free lunch. Chris dials in, wondering if his absence is secretly the key to Eric's roundtable success. They dissect the talks, the conference economics, the rise of mobile's respectability, and a guest in economy designer, Charlie Hsu. In this episode: Is the game industry actually shrinking, or just taking a nap? And if Web3 isn't the savior, what's lef...

2 months ago

36 minutes

Game Economist Cast

E37: Is Gaming Better Than Everyone at Experimentation? (w/Dr.Julian Runge)

Send us a text The best tech firm experimentation seems to offer thousands of button color experiments. Dr.Runge has a better approach, which changes at every game development stage. We debate gaming's broken relationship with science, the proper experimentation framework, and how much you'd bet on yourself to complete Cousera assignments. Read Dr.Runge's new paper NOW! Showlinks: Julian Runge Gaming Companies Run Thousands of Experiments a Year Game Data Pros How to use games to build rel...

3 months ago

1 hour 11 minutes

Game Economist Cast

E36: Pokémon Pocket's Gimped Trading and Matthew Ball's State of Gaming

Send us a text Pokémon TCG Pocket is one of a handful of games to implement P2P trading on mobile. Yet it sucks. On purpose. As @Eric explains, their game economy needs high sinks to combat hourly sourcing of card packs. Without the nearly 80% trading tax, prices would tend toward $0. However, that's secondary to a UX that is so gimped it makes Friend Codes look seamless by comparison. We deconstruct Matthew Ball's new State of Gaming report slide by slide (or at least curated slides.) @Chris...

4 months ago

1 hour 13 minutes

Game Economist Cast

E35: In Defense of Loot Boxes (w/Dr. Matthew McCaffrey)

Send us a textLoot boxes have all the markings of a moral panic. Dr.McCaffrey reviewed the emerging literature, and like the research on video game violence, it's destined for methodological malfunction. We discuss why everything isn't a loot box, the apathetic interest of economists in games, what George R.R. Martin's economic equilibrium teaches us, and how to get more people interested in economics.Follow Dr.McCaffrey on Twitter [1], see him on video games [2], and read his loot box and A ...

5 months ago

1 hour 22 minutes

Game Economist Cast

E34: A Theory of Optimal Economic Balance

Send us a textIs game balance bullshit? The crew goes toe-to-toe debating Sirland’s Don't Use Math in Balancing Games. Chris emerges from his Roblox hibernation, Eric tells us Street Fighter is more accessible than platform fighters, and Phil goes bonanza for All in Hole.

6 months ago

1 hour 20 minutes

Game Economist Cast

E33: Halo's Economist & Player Price Experiment Complaints? (w/Dr.Jason Arentz)

Send us a textAnti-cheat economics, web3 property rights, Deirdre McCloskey, institutional incentives, Halo UGC, and the if single player games have a natural advantage outside the West. Oh my.Dr.Jason Arentz finally guest stars, and he's bringing the econ juice, finally striking a 50/50 web3 split on the case. Zynga Car Price Experiment: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/zynga-apologizes-for-random-dlc-pricing-experiment

7 months ago

1 hour 10 minutes

Game Economist Cast

E32: Should more firms be like Valve? (w/Dr. Peter Klein)

Send us a textEconomist Dr.Peter G. Klein joins the cast to discuss Why Managers Matter: The Perils of the Bossless Company. We debate Valve's organizational structure, the evidence for manager economic impact, and Sweden's success. Read more about Dr.Klein here and find his book below:https://hankamer.baylor.edu/person/peter-g-klein-0https://www.amazon.com/Why-Managers-Matter-Bossless-Company/dp/1541751043/15:37 Why Managers Matter22:29 CEOs35:22 Valve

8 months ago

55 minutes

Game Economist Cast

E31: Potty Mouth & "That" Levitt-King Paper

Send us a textPhil and Chris return from Asia, and it's gachupon from here in-out. Eric talks vertical progression in single player games, while Chris actually agree on the future of web 2.5. The economics of unions weigh heavily: within or between professions? The crew finally makes it to THE KING PAPER; Eric and Chris make surprising revalation.Quantity discounts on a virtual good: The results of a massive pricing experiment at King Digital Entertainment

8 months ago

1 hour 11 minutes

Game Economist Cast

E30: The Economics of Game Development

Send us a textEric develops an economic model to explore or exploit game development decisions, while Phil wants a block-grant style gate process to align incentives. Chris is back at Marvel Snap, and boogies with some new social casino mechanics.The team reviews a new Call of Duty matchmaking paper with some surprising and revealing data...

9 months ago

1 hour

Game Economist Cast

E29: Can a Stick of Butter Keep You Sober?

Send us a textCan a stick of butter keep you sober during high-stakes diplomatic meetings? Eric is sure to tell us. Chris provides a compelling theory for the death of mods, while Phil undergoes a Supercell detox after analyzing Squad Buster's launch. The crew gets back in touch with their microeconomic selves and looks at one of the most interesting explanations for the gender pay gap.ONE COHORT AT A TIME: A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON THE DECLINING GENDER PAY GAP

11 months ago

1 hour 17 minutes

Game Economist Cast

E28: B-A-N-A-N-A!

Send us a textPlay to earn hits Steam, and the crew is here to dissect the phenomenon. Why now, and why bananas? Phil is back into the economics of social casinos, while Chris develops a progression model for Darts. Eric and Phil debate the externalities of bots, while Chris solves for equilibrium.

12 months ago

58 minutes

Game Economist Cast

E27: The Best Game Economy of All-Time

Send us a textThe crew convenes to square off on....what counts as a store of value? Is Match3 the best game economy of all time? Is progression a wage rate? Will Chris buy digital Gloomhaven? Was Eric among the five people who watched Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire? Will Phil get the crew on a regular posting schedule? E27 IS HERE!

1 year ago

1 hour 4 minutes

Game Economist Cast

E26: Price Theorists Battle Behavioralists for Marvel Snap

Send us a textPhil gets Eric pilled into a trio of roguelikes, where we prime the pump for Squad Buster's eventual shake-up of the genre. Chris ran another NFT sale and lived to tell about it. We Snap our fingers for Eric's take on Snap's doubling cube mechanic. Should all ranked systems use it? Should the bet limit expand to infinity? We conclude with a discussion of Eurovision's political economy.https://ericguan.substack.com/https://chriseconomics.substack.com/

1 year ago

1 hour 5 minutes

Game Economist Cast

E25: The Veblen Goods Model That Explains Web3 (w/Dr.Sam Rosen)

Send us a textDr. Sam Rosen of Temple University finally unleashes the Veblen Goods model for which every Game Economist yearns. We discuss:Why don't sold-out artists raise ticket prices?Why do NFT projects go boom or bust?Should auction-based goods mask demand for their products?What types of Pokémon are optimal for collecting in Go?Dr.Rosen's paper, co-authored with Dr.Anthony Lee Zhang & Sebeom Oh, is out now!

1 year ago

56 minutes

Game Economist Cast

E24: Tragedy of the UGC Commons & Gold Bugs

Send us a textEric reminds us that The Wizard of Oz is a heated monetarism debate, while Chris goes six layers deep on enforcing royalties. Phil thinks Warzone Mobile is a good executive Powerpoint math muddled with poor execution, but good economics secured him Taylor Swift tickets. Subscribe to Chris' Substack and Eric's SubstackLimit Break's New ERC standard

1 year ago

1 hour 3 minutes

Game Economist Cast

GEC BONUS EP: What's up at GDC 2024?

Send us a textEric Guan on the economics of the video game job marketPhillip Black on why big gaming co. employees are frustratedDr. Julian Runge build a theory of persona and personalization in an Uber to the airportChristopher Kaczmarczyk-Smith solve for the missing web3 UGC gamePlus, a GEC After Hours on the state of San Francisco.

1 year ago

49 minutes

Game Economist Cast

E23: Four Game Economists Walk into a Social Casino (w/Dr.Matt Melnyk)

Send us a textMatthew Melnyk joins the crew to finally tell us what's social about social casinos. Eric discovers a genre outside of CCG roguelikes...Psych, this time, it's Cobalt Core. Chris bends the supply survey backward to explain progression windfalls, while Phil tries to connect the dots between leaderboards and auction systems.

1 year ago

51 minutes