{"podcast":{"title":"Deconstructor of Fun","slug":"deconstructor-of-fun-223878","podcast_index_feed_id":223878,"rss_url":"https://anchor.fm/s/500026c/podcast/rss","website_url":"https://www.deconstructoroffun.com","image_url":"https://d3t3ozftmdmh3i.cloudfront.net/staging/podcast_uploaded_nologo/738867/738867-1707997600386-9686d82cf1bc9.jpg","author":"Deconstructor of Fun","episode_count":793,"summary":"Deconstructor of Fun podcast is created by games professionals for games professionals. We explore the business side of the games industry with the goal of bringing listeners content that is relevant, insightful, and entertaining on a weekly basis. Hosts: Michail Katkoff www.linkedin.com/in/michailkatkoff/ Eric Kress www.linkedin.com/in/erickress/ Phillip Black www.linkedin.com/in/phillip-black-economist/ Jen Donahoe www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferdonahoe","last_synced_at":"2026-06-16T02:22:37.907775+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/deconstructor-of-fun-223878"},"episode":{"title":"State of Gaming 2026: What’s Really Winning Now","slug":"state-of-gaming-2026-what-s-really-winning-now","published_at":"2026-03-17T17:16:13+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/deconstructor-of-fun-223878/state-of-gaming-2026-what-s-really-winning-now","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/deconstructor-of-fun-223878","url":"https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/deconstructoroffun/episodes/State-of-Gaming-2026-Whats-Really-Winning-Now-e3gj788","audio_url":"https://anchor.fm/s/500026c/podcast/play/117070536/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-2-17%2F420214451-44100-2-0fcbee0ea7221.mp3","summary":"Sam Aune from Sensor Tower breaks down the State of Gaming 2026 - from Battlefield 6 proving premium is far from dead, to why free-to-play is getting harder to break into, and how social indie games are driving viral success. In this episode, we go deep on mobile’s slowdown, strategy games dominating revenue, and how Chinese publishers are out-executing the West across both midcore and casual. CHAPTERS: 00:00 Welcome and Report Setup 00:43 State of Gaming Goes Beyond Mobile 03:22 Trend One Battlefield Six Dominates 05:05 Premium vs Free to Play Reality Check 07:10 Hybrid Pricing and Live Ops Middle Ground 09:01 Battlefield Six Marketing Playbook 11:53 Indie Breakouts Repo and Peak 12:31 Why Social Games Go Viral 16:12 AAA Response and GTA Six Outlook 18:08 Mobile Market Maturity and Consolidation 20:37 Why Growth Stalls IDFA Saturation 23:34 Strategy Genre Wins Worldwide 26:41 Regional Genre Opportunities and New Hits 28:00 Free Fire US Surge 28:30 China Social Extraction 28:52 Why China Wins 31:47 Century Games Playbook 34:23 How West Competes 38:35 Indie Focus Advantage 43:21 Web Store Incentives 46:38 App Store Search Wars 49:46 SEO Naming Strategy 51:22 Report Wrap Up","meta_description":"Sam Aune from Sensor Tower breaks down the State of Gaming 2026 - from Battlefield 6 proving premium is far from dead, to why free-to-play is getting hard…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3224,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/deconstructor-of-fun-223878/episodes/state-of-gaming-2026-what-s-really-winning-now/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/deconstructor-of-fun-223878/state-of-gaming-2026-what-s-really-winning-now.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}