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a16z Podcast

a16z

Science, Innovation, Business, Entrepreneurship, Culture, Disruption, Software Eating The World, Technology

4.4 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 25 July 2024

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Gaming is not just entertainment—it's a revolution reshaping our culture, technology, and economy. a16z’s Jonathan Lai and Andrew Chen dive into the current gaming renaissance and its future impact. Joining them are Michael Chow, CEO and Steven Snow, CPO of The Believer Company, and Eros Resmini, Founder and Managing Partner of The Mini Fund. They explore the intersection of tech, art, psychology, and design in gaming, discussing how startups can navigate intense competition, distribution challenges, and high production costs. With insights from these industry leaders, this episode covers the transformative potential of AI, the importance of player feedback, and strategies to stand out in a crowded market. Recorded during Speedrun, a16z’s extensive games accelerator, this episode offers a glimpse into the strategies and innovations driving the gaming industry forward.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Right now, we're in the stock market
0:01.7	that throw it in the end of a gaming in Renaissance.
0:04.4	We'll see gaming ultimately dominate
0:06.4	and become the primary entertainment medium for the future.
0:09.8	I love the intersection of tech and art and psychology and design and how they interact.
0:20.3	It's just the coolest industry in the world.
0:23.0	Over the past few decades,
0:25.0	gaming has undergone a radical transformation.
0:28.0	From one-off experiences I came on a disk,
0:31.0	to viral mobile games, to now intricate, seemingly never-ending online universes
0:36.4	that actually feel like they have more in common with movies or social media than the video games
0:41.1	we might remember in the 90s.
0:43.0	E-sports tournaments, Phil Stadems,
0:45.0	games inspire major TV series
0:48.0	and the money spent on gaming content alone
0:50.0	is five times what is spent on the movie box office.
0:54.0	So with all that said, leveling up as a game company should be a breeze, right?
1:00.0	Well, it's not that easy.
1:02.0	With intense competition, distribution challenges, and high production costs,
1:06.0	gaming startups are used to playing on hard mode. But they're also pioneers of innovation,
1:11.6	leading the pack when it comes to the adoption of everything from smartphones to
1:15.2	virtual reality, and these hard-won lessons offer insights that can help startups across the
	...

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