Deconstructor of Fun

Blog and podcast deconstructing success in games, game businesses, and apps. Created by game industry professionals.

[Deconstructor of Fun @DeconFun]

80% say AI made them more productive. Only 37% say it moved company EBIT.

Studios buy tools, skip the rewiring. Our $1M split: 30% change management, 25% UA creatives, 25% code, and expect the real bill to run 30%

Full breakdown: https://t.co/OMNJcAwHg6

[Deconstructor of Fun @DeconFun]

Full breakdown, and join nearly 15K games insiders: https://t.co/qYDtsdQKA8

[Deconstructor of Fun @DeconFun]

"A famous logo tells you nothing about how someone performs."

20,000 interviews in, Garry Hill's trick: ask a candidate who their mentor was. Then ask them to spell the name. A reference in real time.

Why great hires fail at startups. Link below.

[Deconstructor of Fun @DeconFun]

"Your instincts are right 95% of the time. Your ideas, 25% at best." @markpinc

In 2012 he shook hands on buying Supercell for $400M. His board said no. SoftBank later valued it at $3B.

5 lessons from the Zynga founder. Join ~14K insiders:
https://t.co/KKllgmHghj

[Deconstructor of Fun @DeconFun]

Gaming's biggest year ever, $213.9B. Feels like a recession.

Real growth after inflation: 2-3%/yr.
5 companies took nearly all mobile growth.
Downloads -25%. CPI +30%.

Your existing players are the growth plan.

Join ~14K insiders on our newsletter:
https://t.co/wA9P8yJSaL

[Deconstructor of Fun @DeconFun]

147.2K views last month. Top 25% of creators our size on YouTube.

That's all you. Thank you for watching, sharing, and arguing with us in the comments.

If you're not subscribed yet, we'd love to have you:
https://t.co/adcFSADocf

[Deconstructor of Fun @DeconFun]

Merge-2 made $536M in Q4 2025, second only to match-3 (Sensor Tower). Microfun's Gossip Harbor wears the crown. Century Games, fresh off Tasty Travels, sends in Just Desserts. Can it take the top spot?

Join ~14K insiders on our newsletter:
https://t.co/kOd8n5JXuu

[Deconstructor of Fun @DeconFun]

Disney Solitaire did $142m in a quarter. Playtika's stock still fell 25% in two days.

Not an earnout problem. A way out of $2.41bn in debt costing ~$200m a year.

Selling SuperPlay might fill that hole forever.

Join ~14K insiders on our newsletter:
https://t.co/geCfOXYRZR

[Deconstructor of Fun @DeconFun]

Our most fun episode ever. And one of the most useful.

FunCraft's Michael Martinez: 40 buyers, zero offers. Now $50M run rate, profitable, 16 games a year from 15 people.

Burn the boats. Only way is forward.

Join ~14K insiders on our newsletter:
https://t.co/5NppOGV71z

[Deconstructor of Fun @DeconFun]

Scenario: ~20 people, near-zero churn, profitable before Series A. Retention is the flex, not ARR theater.

American ambition + European grounding.

AI gap = workflow adoption. Incumbents aren’t debating. They’re pulling away.

https://t.co/b73KxRFr5e

@emmanuel_2m

[Deconstructor of Fun @DeconFun]

Blizzard: 4 years of roadmap, one night.
Roblox: destination → engine.
FunPlus: mobile → PC, and the numbers show up.

Operators ship through the cycle.
TWIG #401 → https://t.co/zp977KkmqV

[Deconstructor of Fun @DeconFun]

Same install base. ~10× value per user.

Super Light Ball was the spark. The events rebuild was the engine.

Nine-year-old Toon Blast, still teaching the category:
https://t.co/nIvpP0KBss

[Deconstructor of Fun @DeconFun]

Payback is a survival metric dressed up as discipline.

A cohort you acquire today can pay for five years. Optimize for six-month payback and you underspend on exactly the users worth having.

Akin Babayigit, unfiltered:
https://t.co/JeFHiefF38

@akinbabayigit

[Deconstructor of Fun @DeconFun]

@BancroftVR Hope our spice podcast warms your soul 😘

[Deconstructor of Fun @DeconFun]

@Scapes Sad to see you go, Evan. It’s the dog in us.

[Deconstructor of Fun @DeconFun]

🎮 Looking back at 2022 https://t.co/fhoOUT10Ng

[Deconstructor of Fun @DeconFun]

🎮 Predicting the Future of Supercell’s Brand New Studio https://t.co/y9BCczswUc

[Deconstructor of Fun @DeconFun]

🎮 Playtika goes from social casino to casual - and that’s not good https://t.co/4pvHdjWUlO

[Deconstructor of Fun @DeconFun]

🎮 Why Zynga Helsinki is Closing Down https://t.co/bRsUqO9jv4

[Deconstructor of Fun @DeconFun]

🎮 The unmissable learnings from Call of Duty Online! https://t.co/rnJS1VUiZm