Game Economist Cast
What does the new wave of open economies mean for monetization? Will negative externalities overcome cosmetics economies in the long run? What exactly does a game economist do?
Game Economist Cast is a roundtable discussion of the latest developments in mobile, HD, and crypto games through a bunch of people figuring it out using the economic tool kit.
Podcasting since 2022 • 39 episodes
Game Economist Cast
Latest Episodes
E37: Is Gaming Better Than Everyone at Experimentation? (w/Dr.Julian Runge)
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 experimentat...
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1:11:34
E36: Pokémon Pocket's Gimped Trading and Matthew Ball's State of Gaming
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, pr...
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1:13:44
E35: In Defense of Loot Boxes (w/Dr. Matthew McCaffrey)
Loot 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, th...
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1:22:32
E34: A Theory of Optimal Economic Balance
Is 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 t...
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1:20:45
E33: Halo's Economist & Player Price Experiment Complaints? (w/Dr.Jason Arentz)
Anti-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 th...
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1:10:21
