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Hi everyone, welcome to the A16Z podcast. I'm Lauren Murrow, editor of the consumer

team. Today I'm here with general partner Andrew Chen and deal partner John Lai, both avid gamers,

to talk about what they're calling next generation games, that is games that are cross-platform,

player-driven, self-published, and above all, incredibly

social.

We'll discuss how video games are dominating not only the entertainment industry, but also

popular culture through the rise of influencer gamers.

Finally, Andrew and John give inside advice for gaming entrepreneurs.

What are some common misconceptions in the gaming world that you'd like to

debunk? So I think there's a really big distinction between the vast majority of games that

have existed over the last two decades versus the small set of these franchises that are getting

built today. I think a lot of people will say, why are you even looking at this? Games is like

a hits-driven business, right? It's content. You're going to get this big spike and it's going

to go away. So there's a phrase called Games as a Service where you'll publish across console,

mobile, and PC, and you'll continually provide updates over time. We're very oriented around things that are really about building communities of people

that happen to have an activity at the center of it, uniting them.

Those are things that can last for a really long time.

I think the other one that I feel like was a thing for a long time was also just that a lot

...