1
00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:11,040
Speaker 1: Welcome to Strictly Business, Variety's weekly podcast feature and conversations

2
00:00:11,080 --> 00:00:12,600
Speaker 1: with industry leaders about.

3
00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:14,240
Speaker 2: The business of media and entertainment.

4
00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:19,400
Speaker 1: I'm Jennifer Moz, Variety's senior business writer, TV and video games. Today,

5
00:00:19,520 --> 00:00:22,200
Speaker 1: my guest is Eric Wood, senior vice president of publishing

6
00:00:22,239 --> 00:00:25,680
Speaker 1: at mobile game giant scope Lee. Founding in twenty eleven,

7
00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:28,680
Speaker 1: Scopeley has already proven itself to be a major player

8
00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:32,040
Speaker 1: within the mobile gaming industry, but in May, the company

9
00:00:32,120 --> 00:00:35,360
Speaker 1: drew more eyes than ever when its worldwide hit Monopoly

10
00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:38,480
Speaker 1: Go became the fastest mobile game industry to surpass five

11
00:00:38,479 --> 00:00:41,880
Speaker 1: million dollars in lifetime revenue, doing so in just twenty

12
00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:45,760
Speaker 1: four months. Additionally, scop Lee recently closed the Nantic deal,

13
00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:49,000
Speaker 1: which brings another big hit into its full Pokemon Go,

14
00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:52,600
Speaker 1: among other games. Here to speak about the success that

15
00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:55,680
Speaker 1: Scopoly has experienced and where it's going in the future

16
00:00:55,720 --> 00:00:59,080
Speaker 1: within the larger mobile gaming industry is Eric Wood, Senior

17
00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:01,240
Speaker 1: vice president of publishing at scope Lay.

18
00:01:13,319 --> 00:01:16,200
Speaker 3: All right, well, thank you so much for joining me today, Eric,

19
00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:17,280
Speaker 3: I really appreciate it.

20
00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:19,280
Speaker 2: You're welcome, thanks for having me.

21
00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:23,679
Speaker 3: Of course, Well, we're going to go into you specifically

22
00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:26,160
Speaker 3: and all the inner workings at Scope Lay. But really

23
00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:29,440
Speaker 3: I just like to start off with one huge congratulations

24
00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:34,959
Speaker 3: on the five billion dollars in lifetime revenue that milestone

25
00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:38,440
Speaker 3: from Monopoly Go. That's truly a staggering number in twenty

26
00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:40,920
Speaker 3: four months. So I'd like to start there because that

27
00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:44,360
Speaker 3: was announced in May. That's a very recent milestone for

28
00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:46,240
Speaker 3: you all, and I just like to get an idea

29
00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:49,240
Speaker 3: first foremost what you think that means for scoply in general,

30
00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:52,800
Speaker 3: but also for the larger a larger mobile gaming industry

31
00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:54,320
Speaker 3: that hitting that milestone.

32
00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:57,800
Speaker 2: No thanks, I mean we've we're not only happy, but

33
00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:01,640
Speaker 2: phil incredibly blessed and fortunate. You know, we have a

34
00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:04,960
Speaker 2: to have a game that not only has reached that

35
00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:09,359
Speaker 2: major milestone, which is fantastic. But for us, I think

36
00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:13,560
Speaker 2: what's more important than the financial metric is it shows

37
00:02:13,639 --> 00:02:16,720
Speaker 2: us and tells us that, you know, players and consumers

38
00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:20,040
Speaker 2: are loving the game, right, they're loving it. They're they're

39
00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:22,720
Speaker 2: not only giving it, they're not only sort of giving

40
00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:25,840
Speaker 2: us there and in contributing their you know, their money

41
00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:28,359
Speaker 2: to the game, but more importantly, they're contributing their time. Right.

42
00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:30,359
Speaker 2: I think that's the thing that's most important to us,

43
00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:33,200
Speaker 2: Like we want to build experiences for consumers and for

44
00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:36,240
Speaker 2: fans that completely resonate with them and for them. They

45
00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:40,400
Speaker 2: have so many considerations. I would say, you know, when

46
00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:42,400
Speaker 2: you think about all the things that are coming at

47
00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:45,679
Speaker 2: them day after day, moment of the moment, whether it

48
00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:50,160
Speaker 2: be streaming to podcasts, what have you, which are all amazing,

49
00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:52,720
Speaker 2: but they give us just a little slice of their

50
00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:55,040
Speaker 2: time every day. And so with that we we are

51
00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:57,400
Speaker 2: so appreciative and grateful for.

52
00:02:57,360 --> 00:02:59,920
Speaker 3: Those who might not be familiar, which probably isn't as

53
00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:03,560
Speaker 3: because of that staggering five billion number. Can you give

54
00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:07,200
Speaker 3: a little overview of exactly what Monopoly Go is and

55
00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:10,799
Speaker 3: how you will have kind of incorporated partnerships and collaborations

56
00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:12,440
Speaker 3: that keep people coming back to the game.

57
00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:16,839
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would say, so Monopoly Go has really been

58
00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:20,280
Speaker 2: I would say a. I'll use the term labor of

59
00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:24,200
Speaker 2: love right for the team, and so I'll speak Hopeles.

60
00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:25,800
Speaker 2: It's okay, I'll speak on behalf of the team right

61
00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:29,360
Speaker 2: now when I say that the development team, and that

62
00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:32,320
Speaker 2: you know they were in development that project for many

63
00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:35,880
Speaker 2: many years because they were trying to find you know,

64
00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:37,760
Speaker 2: the fun. They were trying to find something that was

65
00:03:37,800 --> 00:03:40,200
Speaker 2: not just a game. There's lots of games that launch,

66
00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:42,120
Speaker 2: you know, every day, and all kinds of different platforms,

67
00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:44,840
Speaker 2: but it's like, what can resident really resonate, right, Like

68
00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:48,720
Speaker 2: what can appeal to to consumers that know and love

69
00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:51,640
Speaker 2: the Monopoly brand but also more importantly they feel like

70
00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:53,360
Speaker 2: they can come back to on a daily basis. And

71
00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:56,200
Speaker 2: so this game was in development for many, many years.

72
00:03:56,200 --> 00:03:59,080
Speaker 2: They had several design iterations within the game, but they

73
00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:04,320
Speaker 2: ultimately said, on an experience that is not your traditional

74
00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:09,840
Speaker 2: Monopoly experience, and kudos to Hasbro. Hasbro was very willing

75
00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:12,640
Speaker 2: to go on that journey with us. You know. You know,

76
00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:16,440
Speaker 2: sometimes we understand as an owner of a brand, you know,

77
00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:20,800
Speaker 2: especially a very large brand that's known around the world

78
00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:22,480
Speaker 2: and has been around for as long as this man

79
00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:26,760
Speaker 2: has excuse me, sometimes you know, you will have very

80
00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:30,120
Speaker 2: specific and strict rules when it comes to that brand, right,

81
00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:32,520
Speaker 2: and how consumers think about it and how they engage

82
00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:35,880
Speaker 2: with it. And of course has has that there are

83
00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:38,960
Speaker 2: some you know, hard and steadfast rules that you you know,

84
00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:41,840
Speaker 2: that mister Monopoly should never do or you know, things

85
00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:44,719
Speaker 2: like that, which makes sense. But they were very open

86
00:04:44,760 --> 00:04:46,600
Speaker 2: to go with us on the journey of figuring out,

87
00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:49,680
Speaker 2: like what new experiences we could bring to a Monopoly

88
00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:53,240
Speaker 2: game in the market. That sure leverages some of the

89
00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:57,359
Speaker 2: things that fans know and love about the brand, but

90
00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:00,560
Speaker 2: maybe you wouldn't expect when it comes to a mobile game.

91
00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:05,159
Speaker 2: So apologies, I think things like the fact that you

92
00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:08,560
Speaker 2: know you can go and attack a friend in the game.

93
00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:12,560
Speaker 2: From a digital acy perspective is it's not what you

94
00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:20,679
Speaker 2: do in physical Monopoly, meaning you play against each other competitively. Sorry,

95
00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:24,279
Speaker 2: apologies you, that's something coming through. You play against people competitively,

96
00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:27,760
Speaker 2: for sure, but this concept of you actually attack someone

97
00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:31,320
Speaker 2: and go after their actual landmarks, it creates this sort

98
00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:34,280
Speaker 2: of like it's a different game pattern, but it still

99
00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:37,640
Speaker 2: leans into the things that people love about Monopoly. Meaning

100
00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:40,360
Speaker 2: if I land on Park Avenue, you own Park Avenue,

101
00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:42,000
Speaker 2: you know, you have to pay me rent and then

102
00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:43,520
Speaker 2: I'm kind of upset about it because I have to

103
00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:46,320
Speaker 2: pay you money. You get you know, you get agitated

104
00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:47,920
Speaker 2: or irritating in the game. We just did it in

105
00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:50,320
Speaker 2: a much different way, And I would say, like I said,

106
00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:53,480
Speaker 2: Hasbro was fantastic to work for, and I think that's

107
00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:56,080
Speaker 2: really what resonated with fans. So when we launched the game.

108
00:05:56,200 --> 00:05:59,159
Speaker 2: Of course people saw it's like, oh it's Monopoly, like

109
00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:01,279
Speaker 2: people I love, let me, let me check it out.

110
00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:03,560
Speaker 2: But I think what's kept them around is the fact

111
00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:07,400
Speaker 2: that we really were creative and imaginative when it comes

112
00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:10,560
Speaker 2: to what you experience when you actually play Monopoly in

113
00:06:10,600 --> 00:06:11,960
Speaker 2: this form.

114
00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:14,520
Speaker 3: I'll say one thing, you know, Like as a family,

115
00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:19,039
Speaker 3: Monopoly is a very tense game for my group. It

116
00:06:19,279 --> 00:06:22,040
Speaker 3: normally needs to get put away before we even finish it.

117
00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:29,200
Speaker 3: But Monopoly good. Yes, we love it and you forget

118
00:06:29,320 --> 00:06:32,919
Speaker 3: and then you play. But Monopoly Go does have that

119
00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:35,880
Speaker 3: quality where I feel like I can do it every day,

120
00:06:36,279 --> 00:06:39,360
Speaker 3: and it doesn't. It's still that fury with would be.

121
00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:42,720
Speaker 3: But there's also so many promotions that you all do,

122
00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:46,640
Speaker 3: so many in game events and partnerships like that, and

123
00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:49,160
Speaker 3: I want to know, you know how those really come about.

124
00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:52,040
Speaker 3: You talked about, you know, things mister Monopoly would never do.

125
00:06:52,120 --> 00:06:54,680
Speaker 3: So thinking through what this brand is, who is a

126
00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:56,919
Speaker 3: good fit to partner with, and what makes sense for

127
00:06:57,000 --> 00:06:57,320
Speaker 3: you all.

128
00:06:57,920 --> 00:07:01,080
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think first and foremost when we think about brand,

129
00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:04,080
Speaker 2: let's say collaborations, right, which is what this is, because

130
00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:06,560
Speaker 2: this is not we already have a game in the

131
00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:08,640
Speaker 2: market where there is a brand that, you know, in

132
00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:11,760
Speaker 2: this case, Monopoly and mister Monopoly that's in it, and

133
00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:14,520
Speaker 2: then we start to think about does it make sense

134
00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:18,200
Speaker 2: to bring you know, a third party, let's just say it,

135
00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:21,160
Speaker 2: you know, in that way into this experience it, I think,

136
00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:24,960
Speaker 2: first and foremost it has to be authentic, right, like,

137
00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:27,600
Speaker 2: would it makes sense, Like sure you could. You could

138
00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:30,280
Speaker 2: do lots of different mashups of like just some amazing

139
00:07:30,320 --> 00:07:33,560
Speaker 2: brands you know in the marketplace, which people will be

140
00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:36,640
Speaker 2: go like, oh that's interesting, it's recognizable, but when they

141
00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:38,840
Speaker 2: show up, you want to make sure that it feels

142
00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:41,800
Speaker 2: authentic to both brands. And I think one of the

143
00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:45,880
Speaker 2: unique things that we have when it comes to Monopoly

144
00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:48,600
Speaker 2: is that mont Hasbro and Monopoly on the physical game

145
00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:52,120
Speaker 2: board side has a long history, right working with their

146
00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:56,320
Speaker 2: pretty brands many many different ones from Star Wars to

147
00:07:56,520 --> 00:07:59,920
Speaker 2: Friends to too many of the name right where they

148
00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:03,520
Speaker 2: actually have really sort of intermingled these sort of two

149
00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:06,680
Speaker 2: worlds together in a very authentic way. And so you know,

150
00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:09,720
Speaker 2: when we were thinking about the game, it wasn't something

151
00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:11,360
Speaker 2: that when we built the game, when we launched the game,

152
00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:13,120
Speaker 2: where we're like, oh, we're going to do you know

153
00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:16,800
Speaker 2: other through party ip collaborations. That was never the plan.

154
00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:19,800
Speaker 2: As the team was thinking about the roadmap for the game,

155
00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:21,880
Speaker 2: we were thinking about a lot of different angles, and

156
00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:24,040
Speaker 2: the marketing team was obviously thinking about things that we

157
00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:27,440
Speaker 2: could do, and what came up was what's authentic to

158
00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:29,880
Speaker 2: the brand? And that's when we're like, well, let's look

159
00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:32,280
Speaker 2: at what people think of when they think of physical

160
00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:34,080
Speaker 2: and they're like, what would make sense in our world?

161
00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:36,200
Speaker 2: And that's when sort of third party brands you know,

162
00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:38,280
Speaker 2: came about and we're like and we talked to Hasro

163
00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:40,439
Speaker 2: about it and they were like, yeah, actually we never

164
00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:43,400
Speaker 2: thought about that. That actually is super cool. Once again,

165
00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:48,040
Speaker 2: you're leaning into the fandom, right, the sort of history,

166
00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:51,280
Speaker 2: the ethos of the brand itself, and so that was

167
00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:53,200
Speaker 2: first and foremost we needed to make sure it felt

168
00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:56,400
Speaker 2: authentic to the actual the brand right itself. And then

169
00:08:56,559 --> 00:08:59,880
Speaker 2: the second thing is our marketing team, our community teams.

170
00:08:59,880 --> 00:09:03,760
Speaker 2: Be's a lot of time with the players and doing

171
00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:07,080
Speaker 2: constant sort of or having constant conversations with them about

172
00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:08,599
Speaker 2: where they like in the game, where they don't like

173
00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:10,680
Speaker 2: in the game, whichould they change, lots of feedback, which

174
00:09:10,679 --> 00:09:14,440
Speaker 2: we love feedback from our players, but specifically asking about

175
00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:17,360
Speaker 2: what would you like and one of the things you

176
00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:19,520
Speaker 2: because you gotta be careful about how you introduce or

177
00:09:19,559 --> 00:09:21,079
Speaker 2: talk to community because you don't want to kind of

178
00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:23,240
Speaker 2: tip your hat. But we were talking about just sort

179
00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:25,400
Speaker 2: of third party brands and what they resonate with and

180
00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:28,640
Speaker 2: that kind of stuff, and it was clear that the

181
00:09:28,679 --> 00:09:31,480
Speaker 2: fans of this game were excited about the idea of

182
00:09:31,559 --> 00:09:34,800
Speaker 2: us potentially partnering with different brands, and so we did

183
00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:36,600
Speaker 2: a lot of research, a lot of sort of consumer

184
00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:38,640
Speaker 2: insights work, and that's sort of how we got to

185
00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:41,040
Speaker 2: the place where we started to think about, okay, what

186
00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:42,760
Speaker 2: would be the you know, sort of first brands that

187
00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:45,240
Speaker 2: we would actually work with, and for us, you know,

188
00:09:45,280 --> 00:09:48,600
Speaker 2: we knew it would have to be globally recognizable brands,

189
00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:52,920
Speaker 2: you know, brands that once again resonate with I think

190
00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:55,439
Speaker 2: the Monopoly franchise right and have a history, and that's

191
00:09:55,480 --> 00:09:58,320
Speaker 2: obviously how we we landed in places like the first

192
00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:02,720
Speaker 2: collaboration last year was with with Marvel, which we actually executed,

193
00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:05,559
Speaker 2: which was fantastic. The Marvel team was amazing to work with.

194
00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:08,640
Speaker 2: I will say when we went to them and said,

195
00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:10,640
Speaker 2: what do you think about Monopoly Go. They were like

196
00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:14,000
Speaker 2: really like they were like one of those like it

197
00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:17,480
Speaker 2: never was obvious to them of us doing that, and

198
00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:19,400
Speaker 2: kudos to them once again. They were very open and

199
00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:21,400
Speaker 2: they're like, well, what would that even look like? And

200
00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:23,760
Speaker 2: we're like, here's how we think about honoring both brands,

201
00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:26,880
Speaker 2: and they're like, that's amazing. Uh, and you know, and

202
00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:29,680
Speaker 2: well we've done since then. The next one that we

203
00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:32,160
Speaker 2: did is Star Wars, which is now live in the game,

204
00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:36,240
Speaker 2: and I would say the fans have been responding so

205
00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:40,360
Speaker 2: positive to positively to that integration. They've done an amazing

206
00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:43,240
Speaker 2: They've they've you know, when it comes to their actual

207
00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:45,320
Speaker 2: engagement in the game, but also just what we hear

208
00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:48,800
Speaker 2: in social and through community channels, like they're all kind

209
00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:52,240
Speaker 2: of trying to anticipate what element or aspect of Star

210
00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:54,920
Speaker 2: Wars is going to show up next in the game itself,

211
00:10:54,920 --> 00:10:57,880
Speaker 2: which to us is that's rewarding because that means they're

212
00:10:57,960 --> 00:10:59,319
Speaker 2: enjoying it. They're loving it.

213
00:11:00,360 --> 00:11:02,920
Speaker 3: Now I've taken a step back here. You know, obviously

214
00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:05,440
Speaker 3: Monopoly Go is a huge one ferial, It's probably what

215
00:11:05,480 --> 00:11:07,880
Speaker 3: you're best known for at the moment, but looking at

216
00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:10,160
Speaker 3: Scopoly as a whole if you can, you kind of

217
00:11:10,160 --> 00:11:12,680
Speaker 3: give an over here what you guys do when you

218
00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:14,640
Speaker 3: came on the scene and what else do you have

219
00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:15,120
Speaker 3: to offer?

220
00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:19,080
Speaker 2: Yeah, specifically you're asking about IP collaborations.

221
00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:21,880
Speaker 3: No scope, Lee just in general as a company.

222
00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:25,319
Speaker 2: Oh, got it. Yes, I would say there's really a

223
00:11:25,400 --> 00:11:27,280
Speaker 2: couple of things that are really important to us, right

224
00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:31,079
Speaker 2: as a company. Obviously, we're the number one mobile game

225
00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:32,000
Speaker 2: company in the world today.

226
00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:32,200
Speaker 3: Right.

227
00:11:32,240 --> 00:11:34,160
Speaker 2: You talked about some of the actual major milestones that

228
00:11:34,160 --> 00:11:36,679
Speaker 2: we've had over the last couple of years, which is fantastic.

229
00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:39,559
Speaker 2: But I think the thing that for us is incredibly

230
00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:41,679
Speaker 2: important is that we want to make sure that we're

231
00:11:41,679 --> 00:11:47,160
Speaker 2: designing games that are blending narrative, you know, social mechanics

232
00:11:47,160 --> 00:11:49,959
Speaker 2: that make sense for different games, and then at the

233
00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:52,520
Speaker 2: end of the day, doing that for bloff print or

234
00:11:52,559 --> 00:11:55,800
Speaker 2: fan bases, right, and whether that's in working with other

235
00:11:56,120 --> 00:11:58,800
Speaker 2: IP partners. We have a long history right of working

236
00:11:59,120 --> 00:12:04,160
Speaker 2: with IP partners, right, everything from Hasro Mattel to Disney

237
00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:07,960
Speaker 2: to WWE to it feels kind of like you name it,

238
00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:10,000
Speaker 2: we've kind of have worked with them. And it doesn't

239
00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:12,839
Speaker 2: mean that we work with everyone, but we really kind

240
00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:16,480
Speaker 2: of try to figure out like, where are there extremely

241
00:12:16,679 --> 00:12:21,800
Speaker 2: passionate fans and consumers that love right in IP And

242
00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:23,840
Speaker 2: we figure out, like, Okay, how do we actually bring

243
00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:26,199
Speaker 2: what's important to us in great game making? Right has

244
00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:29,319
Speaker 2: great creative and then really bring those two things together

245
00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:32,640
Speaker 2: and marry them. I say that's one, and that's that's

246
00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:35,080
Speaker 2: you know, of utmost important to us. And then the

247
00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:37,520
Speaker 2: other thing is, you know, how do we actually do

248
00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:41,720
Speaker 2: that in a forever franchise sort of like manner, meaning

249
00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:45,160
Speaker 2: we're not looking to just build games and to build

250
00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:47,440
Speaker 2: games that like have a lifespan of three years or

251
00:12:47,480 --> 00:12:49,680
Speaker 2: four years. Our goal is like we want this game

252
00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:53,080
Speaker 2: to be around and not just around, but in consumers

253
00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:56,600
Speaker 2: lives for ten plus years. That is like the utmost

254
00:12:56,600 --> 00:12:59,040
Speaker 2: important to us. And we take a lot of pride

255
00:12:59,080 --> 00:13:01,480
Speaker 2: in that and and we were really committed to actually

256
00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:04,160
Speaker 2: doing that for fans on a daily basis.

257
00:13:05,640 --> 00:13:08,559
Speaker 3: I'd love to know about your background specifically, and then

258
00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:10,760
Speaker 3: if you can speak to you know what your role

259
00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:13,599
Speaker 3: as seen your vice president publishing at Scope looks like

260
00:13:13,679 --> 00:13:15,760
Speaker 3: on a day to day basis, what is your purview?

261
00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:19,640
Speaker 2: Sure exactly, I have no problem. So I have been

262
00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:23,559
Speaker 2: in the digital entertainment space, I would say for the

263
00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:27,400
Speaker 2: last twenty plus years. Started early in my career at

264
00:13:27,400 --> 00:13:30,320
Speaker 2: EA and worked at EA. I had the pleasure of

265
00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:32,760
Speaker 2: working at Disney for a period of time, and then

266
00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:35,240
Speaker 2: moved into the free to play gaming space with Zinga

267
00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:38,680
Speaker 2: back when Zinga was early days on Facebook. Think of

268
00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:42,760
Speaker 2: games like Farmville and Cityville, which was amazing when you

269
00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:44,800
Speaker 2: think about the move to free to play. I then

270
00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:46,600
Speaker 2: had a short departure where I left and went to

271
00:13:46,679 --> 00:13:48,880
Speaker 2: Nikate working in the digital and direct consumer space, and

272
00:13:48,920 --> 00:13:51,680
Speaker 2: then saw my way back the games that was missing

273
00:13:51,679 --> 00:13:55,040
Speaker 2: it and have spent now the last five and a

274
00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:57,600
Speaker 2: half years split between Activision Blizzard. In the last two

275
00:13:57,600 --> 00:13:59,199
Speaker 2: and a half years here at Scopoly.

276
00:14:00,760 --> 00:14:02,400
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, sorry, go ahead, you know.

277
00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:04,440
Speaker 2: From and then as far as my role and what

278
00:14:04,480 --> 00:14:07,600
Speaker 2: I'm responsible responsible for here at Scope Lee one, my

279
00:14:07,679 --> 00:14:10,880
Speaker 2: team works with all of our distribution relationships on a

280
00:14:10,920 --> 00:14:15,200
Speaker 2: day to day basis, so from everyone from Xbox, PlayStation, Steam,

281
00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:17,640
Speaker 2: you name it when it comes to distribution or contents.

282
00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:20,880
Speaker 2: I also lead our director consumer sort of operations for

283
00:14:20,920 --> 00:14:24,040
Speaker 2: the company, but also I'm responsible for everything we do

284
00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:27,520
Speaker 2: from a business development perspective, so obviously working with IP

285
00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:29,560
Speaker 2: partners on a day to day basis. Is one of

286
00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:32,240
Speaker 2: the main priorities that I am my team focus on.

287
00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:36,240
Speaker 3: As we've already mentioned a couple of times here, scope

288
00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:38,600
Speaker 3: ly is a giant in the mobile gaming industry, but

289
00:14:38,640 --> 00:14:42,560
Speaker 3: you all got even bigger with the Pokemon Go and

290
00:14:42,680 --> 00:14:46,040
Speaker 3: Nantech acquisition here, So I'd like to talk about that

291
00:14:46,120 --> 00:14:48,440
Speaker 3: and you know how you will see that in positioning

292
00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:51,800
Speaker 3: yourselves even further as a leader within the mobile gaming

293
00:14:51,840 --> 00:14:54,200
Speaker 3: industry and what you plan to do with that brand

294
00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:54,840
Speaker 3: moving forward.

295
00:14:55,560 --> 00:15:00,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, I look weird so excited about the being part

296
00:15:00,520 --> 00:15:04,440
Speaker 2: of the team. Obviously that brings part of that acquisition.

297
00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:08,080
Speaker 2: It brings a global, you know phenomenon when you think

298
00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:09,920
Speaker 2: about Pokemon Go. When think about when that game watched

299
00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:12,640
Speaker 2: in twenty sixteen, like it was everywhere and it still is.

300
00:15:12,680 --> 00:15:15,600
Speaker 2: It's a massive game. But it brings that game as

301
00:15:15,600 --> 00:15:18,640
Speaker 2: well as other great games to our portfolio, which is fantastic.

302
00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:24,040
Speaker 2: But those games attract today over one hundred million unique players, right,

303
00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:28,280
Speaker 2: That's that's an incredible privilege for us to bring that

304
00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:31,320
Speaker 2: into the portfolio and how we actually help serve them

305
00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:35,800
Speaker 2: on a daily basis. They have today over thirty million

306
00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:38,560
Speaker 2: in AU When you think about scale, and even just

307
00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:40,480
Speaker 2: looking at their business last year, it's been over a

308
00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:43,200
Speaker 2: billion dollars in revenue. Like so like when we talk

309
00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:46,520
Speaker 2: about some of the you know, success, I would say

310
00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:49,760
Speaker 2: that Scope Plays had recently, which is amazing. Then we're

311
00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:53,000
Speaker 2: pairing that the opportunity to pair that with another amazing

312
00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:56,000
Speaker 2: company that has some amazing franchises. It's like like, in

313
00:15:56,040 --> 00:15:58,160
Speaker 2: some ways it kind of pinch ourselves and say, I

314
00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:00,080
Speaker 2: can't believe that we actually get to partner together. The

315
00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:03,600
Speaker 2: other thing I would say is that's I think it's

316
00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:05,840
Speaker 2: why it's a great such a great fit is that

317
00:16:06,280 --> 00:16:08,520
Speaker 2: we focus on as a company. One of the things

318
00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:10,880
Speaker 2: we focus on as a company is player engagement, meaning

319
00:16:11,280 --> 00:16:14,360
Speaker 2: like how much how often do players play in the game,

320
00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:17,440
Speaker 2: and how often do they come back? Like not sure,

321
00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:19,760
Speaker 2: we're a business, and so revenue is obviously things that

322
00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:22,720
Speaker 2: have that keeps the lights on, but really if players

323
00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:25,320
Speaker 2: are giving us their time, right, that's the most important thing.

324
00:16:25,560 --> 00:16:28,320
Speaker 2: And when we look at Pokemon Go, I mean they

325
00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:30,920
Speaker 2: spend on average forty minutes in the game on a

326
00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:34,240
Speaker 2: daily basis. That is pretty phenomenal. And so once again

327
00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:37,000
Speaker 2: the idea of them coming into the into the mix

328
00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:40,040
Speaker 2: and being part of our portfolio is amazing and our

329
00:16:40,080 --> 00:16:42,560
Speaker 2: hope is that we we're going to be here to

330
00:16:42,560 --> 00:16:46,320
Speaker 2: support them, you know, help give them all the resource

331
00:16:46,480 --> 00:16:48,520
Speaker 2: or all the help that they can actually ever need

332
00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:51,680
Speaker 2: to hope they continue to notly you know, you know,

333
00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:54,520
Speaker 2: make fans appreciate the game, but hopefully grow that game

334
00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:56,480
Speaker 2: even more. So we're credibly excited about that.

335
00:16:56,840 --> 00:17:04,880
Speaker 3: We'll be backed more from Scopely after this break. When

336
00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:07,760
Speaker 3: you look at, you know, the the overall gaming industry

337
00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:09,480
Speaker 3: at the moment, you know, there's a lot that it's

338
00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:12,400
Speaker 3: gone through just in the past couple of years. There

339
00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:15,000
Speaker 3: was a pandemic boom, then there were changes, there was

340
00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:17,959
Speaker 3: a lot of stuff, and no one's really been immune

341
00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:20,040
Speaker 3: to that. But one thing I want to focus on

342
00:17:20,080 --> 00:17:22,440
Speaker 3: here is just the mobile gaming industry and the amount

343
00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:24,880
Speaker 3: of growth and the amount that that really takes up

344
00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:28,320
Speaker 3: within overall gaming. And I feel like that goes unnoticed

345
00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:30,879
Speaker 3: every now and then because we look at Splashy, Triple A,

346
00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:33,680
Speaker 3: we look at big titles, we look at big players,

347
00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:38,040
Speaker 3: and forget how much of the overall gaming is made

348
00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:40,359
Speaker 3: up by mobile. So I want to get kind of

349
00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:43,680
Speaker 3: your take, especially on a potential stigma there for what

350
00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:45,639
Speaker 3: mobile gaming is, because I know I'll talk to like

351
00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:48,439
Speaker 3: my parents when they're like, I'm talking about games with

352
00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:50,439
Speaker 3: them and they're like, oh, I don't game, and I'm like, okay,

353
00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:53,760
Speaker 3: the games you're playing on your phone those are games, guys.

354
00:17:53,760 --> 00:17:56,320
Speaker 3: And they're like, oh, okay, well then in that case, yes,

355
00:17:57,680 --> 00:18:00,400
Speaker 3: I'm a gamer. So I'd like to get your take

356
00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:00,679
Speaker 3: on that.

357
00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:04,439
Speaker 2: Look, I have similar story with my mom. I remember

358
00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:06,520
Speaker 2: years ago where she was we were talking about the

359
00:18:06,520 --> 00:18:09,120
Speaker 2: industry and she did she was like, I don't really understand.

360
00:18:09,119 --> 00:18:10,919
Speaker 2: She goes, I'm not a gamer, and I lily said, well,

361
00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:12,560
Speaker 2: open up your phone. What do you have on your phone?

362
00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:14,280
Speaker 2: And it was one of those and I can't remember

363
00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:15,960
Speaker 2: what she had, but she had a casual game on

364
00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:18,760
Speaker 2: her phone. I'm like, you are a Gamer's like, no,

365
00:18:18,920 --> 00:18:21,480
Speaker 2: i'm not. And I'm like, you are a gamer. I'm like,

366
00:18:21,480 --> 00:18:23,200
Speaker 2: why do you think that? She goes and she has

367
00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:25,639
Speaker 2: the stigma and that sort of like idea of like

368
00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:30,400
Speaker 2: a gamer looks like this and plays in this way.

369
00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:33,000
Speaker 2: You know, plays in front of a big screen, right,

370
00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:35,720
Speaker 2: plays on a console, plays on a PC, which, look,

371
00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:40,080
Speaker 2: those are amazing mediums to deliver amazing stories and franchises.

372
00:18:40,119 --> 00:18:43,520
Speaker 2: Like I there are some amazing games that I personally

373
00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:46,400
Speaker 2: my kids play on a on a constant basis. When

374
00:18:46,400 --> 00:18:48,480
Speaker 2: it comes to like Triple A, I would say, the

375
00:18:48,520 --> 00:18:51,960
Speaker 2: thing that makes mobile so unique, and specifically from a

376
00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:56,159
Speaker 2: gaming perspective is thinks are obvious, but it's on a

377
00:18:56,200 --> 00:18:59,840
Speaker 2: device that's in your pocket all day every day. It's accessible.

378
00:19:00,119 --> 00:19:02,560
Speaker 2: Everyone has it. Like while console on a PC is

379
00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:05,439
Speaker 2: amazing because it's amazing piece of hardware that can deliver

380
00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:10,080
Speaker 2: some fantastic experiences, it does have, you know, a barrier,

381
00:19:10,280 --> 00:19:13,520
Speaker 2: right when not everyone can actually afford it from a

382
00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:15,920
Speaker 2: pricing perspective, or just maybe they don't have like the

383
00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:19,760
Speaker 2: space or what have you. A phone is everyone has one.

384
00:19:19,920 --> 00:19:23,040
Speaker 2: It's democratized, right, And the fact that we can actually

385
00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:25,160
Speaker 2: leverage that piece of hardware and that device to actually

386
00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:29,840
Speaker 2: bring amazing experiences to consumers is it's amazing. Right. So

387
00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:33,639
Speaker 2: that sort of solves like the distribution scale problem when

388
00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:36,480
Speaker 2: you think about mobile. And then another thing that I

389
00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:40,439
Speaker 2: think makes mobile very unique is that you know, we

390
00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:44,960
Speaker 2: are focused on building amazing experiences. I would say sometimes

391
00:19:45,040 --> 00:19:48,760
Speaker 2: Triple A, they're amazing games, but they're very much focused

392
00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:52,560
Speaker 2: on the visual quality, right, which is great, I think

393
00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:55,439
Speaker 2: what mobile and we deliver great visual quality, but we

394
00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:58,000
Speaker 2: over index on I think is really are we making

395
00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:00,520
Speaker 2: sure that we engage the player? Like, what do the

396
00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:03,920
Speaker 2: behavior patterns that we see? Do players like this experience?

397
00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:06,520
Speaker 2: Does that actually motivate them to come back and give

398
00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:10,000
Speaker 2: us more time and play you know tomorrow? Well? And

399
00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:13,000
Speaker 2: so we have this, We're constantly iterating and testing different

400
00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:15,560
Speaker 2: concepts and ideas, and the goal for us is just like,

401
00:20:15,920 --> 00:20:18,000
Speaker 2: how are once again going to my twitarlier point, how

402
00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:20,600
Speaker 2: are consumers showing us that they love something with their time?

403
00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:23,520
Speaker 2: And I think that's the unique thing that mobile provides

404
00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:27,080
Speaker 2: us that maybe Triple A just does not. It's scale

405
00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:31,919
Speaker 2: right in democratization of actually access to the consumer. And two,

406
00:20:32,760 --> 00:20:34,760
Speaker 2: I would say that the patterns of play patterns for

407
00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:37,400
Speaker 2: consumers on mobile, or if it's my mom, your mom,

408
00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:41,320
Speaker 2: they're not expecting a Triple A sort of like experience

409
00:20:41,359 --> 00:20:43,960
Speaker 2: it needs to look and feel this way. They're much

410
00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:45,840
Speaker 2: more open to, you know, sort of what a game

411
00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:48,080
Speaker 2: will look like. And I think mobile game developers have

412
00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:50,479
Speaker 2: really leaned into that in a way and said, Okay,

413
00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:53,400
Speaker 2: a game doesn't have to look just like this, which

414
00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:55,400
Speaker 2: I think has allowed us to really sort of open

415
00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:56,200
Speaker 2: up play patterns.

416
00:20:57,600 --> 00:20:59,320
Speaker 3: One thing that I know can be a little bit

417
00:20:59,359 --> 00:21:01,640
Speaker 3: of a barrier to people who want to get into

418
00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:04,600
Speaker 3: mobile gaming is saying, like there's a million micro transactions.

419
00:21:05,200 --> 00:21:06,399
Speaker 3: I feel like I'm going to spend a lot of

420
00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:08,440
Speaker 3: money playing this game in order to enjoy the game

421
00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:10,920
Speaker 3: or to beat the game or whatever. So I'd like

422
00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:13,200
Speaker 3: to know how you all, let scopely look at handling

423
00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:16,280
Speaker 3: that what you give for free versus what's paywalled, and

424
00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:18,560
Speaker 3: then also kind of a sub question about how you

425
00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:20,880
Speaker 3: handle that when it comes to like younger players as well,

426
00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:22,640
Speaker 3: because I know there's people who are like, I can't

427
00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:24,320
Speaker 3: let me hip play this game. I don't know what

428
00:21:24,359 --> 00:21:24,800
Speaker 3: they're going to.

429
00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:27,760
Speaker 2: Spend on it. So yeah, yeah, I would say when

430
00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:30,760
Speaker 2: it comes to your first question, I would say, we

431
00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:33,800
Speaker 2: have a philosophy that anything you can pay for in

432
00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:35,520
Speaker 2: the game, you should also be able to earn it,

433
00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:38,320
Speaker 2: meaning you know, I mean, we're not going to block

434
00:21:38,359 --> 00:21:41,640
Speaker 2: you from progress only through payments, right, Like that's that's

435
00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:44,159
Speaker 2: a choice that a consumer makes, Like it's almost like

436
00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:47,840
Speaker 2: a you know, a value for money or time for money,

437
00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:50,360
Speaker 2: sort of like exchange right, Like, our view is that

438
00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:53,160
Speaker 2: it shouldn't be the sort of pay to win sort

439
00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:55,359
Speaker 2: of model. It's to be one that's really should be

440
00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:58,919
Speaker 2: enjoyable to everyone. If you decide that, you're like, listen,

441
00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:01,399
Speaker 2: I want to I want to be the best. I

442
00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:03,240
Speaker 2: want to top the leader boards, and I want to

443
00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:05,480
Speaker 2: be there first. I got want to do that first. Like,

444
00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:08,840
Speaker 2: that's my that's my goal. You're a maximizer, Fine, then

445
00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:11,880
Speaker 2: we'll give them the mechanisms to do that. That's their choice.

446
00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:13,400
Speaker 2: But if for someone who is like to your point,

447
00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:15,879
Speaker 2: like I will never pay. I mean, my mom's that way.

448
00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:17,640
Speaker 2: She's like, I will never pay. I think she actually has,

449
00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:20,639
Speaker 2: but she will tell me that, but I will never pay. Fine,

450
00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:24,200
Speaker 2: you should still have a great pleasurable experience. So I

451
00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:26,480
Speaker 2: think that's how we think about it. One is not

452
00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:31,119
Speaker 2: better than the other. It's choice, right from a consumer perspective.

453
00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:34,159
Speaker 2: And then apologies. Your second question was well again, oh.

454
00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:36,679
Speaker 3: Talking about younger players and how you have to handle that.

455
00:22:36,800 --> 00:22:40,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I would say first or foremost, if there's

456
00:22:40,600 --> 00:22:45,960
Speaker 2: a game that we think, uh and or we see

457
00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:49,520
Speaker 2: that is potentially resonating with kids, we take that very serious.

458
00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:52,320
Speaker 2: And so typically we're always implementing some type of age game, right.

459
00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:54,399
Speaker 2: I'll be honest, Like, if you think of my Monopoly Go,

460
00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:58,480
Speaker 2: we didn't think the target audience at all was going

461
00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:01,520
Speaker 2: to be kids. And not that we have a lot

462
00:23:01,520 --> 00:23:03,080
Speaker 2: of kids playing a game. I'm not saying we do,

463
00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:04,960
Speaker 2: but when you look at the data early on, we

464
00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:07,000
Speaker 2: saw that there was actually some younger, you know, kids

465
00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:09,239
Speaker 2: that were playing and we're like, oh geez, wow, And

466
00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:11,359
Speaker 2: we responded to it very quickly, said, okay, we need

467
00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:14,200
Speaker 2: to implement an age game right to make sure that

468
00:23:14,359 --> 00:23:17,000
Speaker 2: we are not surfacing certain features in the game that

469
00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:19,680
Speaker 2: would not be appropriate to someone of a certain age.

470
00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:22,239
Speaker 2: So we take it very serious. We want to make

471
00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:25,960
Speaker 2: sure that we are, you know, doing what's right by

472
00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:29,480
Speaker 2: the player based upon their age.

473
00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:34,640
Speaker 3: Going back to partnerships, talking about a different title from Monopolygo.

474
00:23:35,359 --> 00:23:37,679
Speaker 3: This episode of the podcast will come out just around

475
00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:39,879
Speaker 3: the Jurassic World release, and I know you guys have

476
00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:43,200
Speaker 3: a big partnership coming up with Stumble guys, so i'd

477
00:23:43,240 --> 00:23:45,000
Speaker 3: like to, you know, go into that a little bit,

478
00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:47,440
Speaker 3: how that came about and another reason why you feel

479
00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:49,440
Speaker 3: like that partnership is a good fit for the Scope

480
00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:49,920
Speaker 3: Lee brand.

481
00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:57,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, So excited to announce that we're collaborating with Universal

482
00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:00,840
Speaker 2: Products and Experiences and part of their digital team on

483
00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:03,040
Speaker 2: a Drastic World experience that's going to be coming to

484
00:24:03,119 --> 00:24:06,320
Speaker 2: stumble Guys next month. That's awesome, super excited about it.

485
00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:08,639
Speaker 2: We've been working with that team for for quite some

486
00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:11,840
Speaker 2: time now. The cool thing about it is it's going

487
00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:14,119
Speaker 2: to be timed with the release of the new film

488
00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:16,679
Speaker 2: that's in the franchise, which is going to be Drastic

489
00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:19,520
Speaker 2: World Rebirth. Super excited about that film film. I've been

490
00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:21,399
Speaker 2: seeing a lot of the trailers. I definitely will go

491
00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:24,359
Speaker 2: see with my kids, and that collaboration is going to

492
00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:28,480
Speaker 2: basically be aligned with the launch of the movie, and

493
00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:30,639
Speaker 2: we're going to The idea is that how we bring

494
00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:34,600
Speaker 2: that experience to life for players and for consumers within

495
00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:37,159
Speaker 2: the world of Stumble Guys. So we think it's going

496
00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:39,879
Speaker 2: to be amazing. It's obviously going to give us ability

497
00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:42,960
Speaker 2: to night a global audience that exists in Stumble Guys.

498
00:24:43,359 --> 00:24:48,879
Speaker 2: You bring the iconic sort of Drastic World cinematic storytelling adventure,

499
00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:51,920
Speaker 2: you know, drama. Like the idea that how we bring

500
00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:55,080
Speaker 2: that all to life. We're super excited. We think we

501
00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:57,360
Speaker 2: think the team is done on our side in partnership

502
00:24:57,359 --> 00:25:00,040
Speaker 2: with the Universal team, an amazing job of doing. I

503
00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:01,520
Speaker 2: mean that in a way that once again it's going

504
00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:05,080
Speaker 2: to feel authentic and of the time when you think

505
00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:08,760
Speaker 2: about the universe or the Jurassic Park franchise.

506
00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:13,119
Speaker 3: Asking just in general the mobile gaming space, you know

507
00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:15,880
Speaker 3: what scopely looks at in terms of continuing to own

508
00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:20,680
Speaker 3: that area when there are constantly others getting into that game.

509
00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:23,040
Speaker 3: Netflix is making a big push for that right now.

510
00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:25,880
Speaker 3: They have a lot of really strong IP but there's

511
00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:28,440
Speaker 3: only so much time that people have in a day,

512
00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:32,119
Speaker 3: and there's already so many titles. So I want to

513
00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:34,960
Speaker 3: know how you keep coming at people coming back to

514
00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:39,520
Speaker 3: Monopoly Go, keep coming people coming. And then also when

515
00:25:39,560 --> 00:25:42,119
Speaker 3: you look at developing new games, the ROI in that

516
00:25:42,280 --> 00:25:44,240
Speaker 3: are you really looking at you know, we already have

517
00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:46,679
Speaker 3: this good slate, let's invest in this, let's invest in

518
00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:49,640
Speaker 3: Pokemon Go that we now have, or do you look

519
00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:51,040
Speaker 3: to create new titles?

520
00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:54,240
Speaker 2: Yeah, when it comes to your first question about how

521
00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:57,080
Speaker 2: we bring them back daily, Look, I think this is

522
00:25:57,240 --> 00:26:00,600
Speaker 2: a combination and really a tight combination of partship between

523
00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:03,359
Speaker 2: both the game team constantly thinking about what's important to

524
00:26:03,400 --> 00:26:05,199
Speaker 2: the game that we think is going to be interesting

525
00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:10,320
Speaker 2: and fun and exciting, unique, right, inspiring for players. But

526
00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:13,359
Speaker 2: couple that with the marketing team and the community team

527
00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:16,920
Speaker 2: constantly talking to the actual player base. Now, it doesn't

528
00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:19,520
Speaker 2: mean we do everything the players tell us, because obviously

529
00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:22,639
Speaker 2: not everything makes sense, but I would say there's a

530
00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:24,720
Speaker 2: great marriage between the two of how we bring those

531
00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:27,120
Speaker 2: insights in from the consumers and from the players into

532
00:26:27,119 --> 00:26:30,320
Speaker 2: the product team. The product team's constantly thinking about, you know,

533
00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:32,960
Speaker 2: different inspiration that they get, not only from other games.

534
00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:36,320
Speaker 2: I think that's something that games have done many many years,

535
00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:38,600
Speaker 2: Like how do I take inspiration from either a game

536
00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:41,400
Speaker 2: that's in the market now or a game that's it

537
00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:43,160
Speaker 2: was in the market ten years ago that I loved

538
00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:45,760
Speaker 2: as a child? Right? Are there elements of those games

539
00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:48,280
Speaker 2: or mechanics in those games that I can bring forward

540
00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:50,960
Speaker 2: in this game, but maybe reimagine in a new way.

541
00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:52,560
Speaker 2: And then how do you couple that once again with

542
00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:56,240
Speaker 2: insights Like that's that's something that's constantly going on, and

543
00:26:56,280 --> 00:27:00,440
Speaker 2: we're I would say, always testing a b testing new

544
00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:03,600
Speaker 2: features and functionality for players to see what resonates. I

545
00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:05,560
Speaker 2: think that's also one of the things that is very

546
00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:09,119
Speaker 2: unique to mobile games versus Triple A is that we

547
00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:12,040
Speaker 2: have this ability to constantly and it's in our DNA

548
00:27:12,359 --> 00:27:15,520
Speaker 2: to kind of test and iterate versus like say, this

549
00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:17,440
Speaker 2: is what it is and that's what we're bringing the market.

550
00:27:18,119 --> 00:27:19,879
Speaker 2: You know, if we think something's great and we go

551
00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:23,000
Speaker 2: test it with like you know, basic consumers are like, eh,

552
00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:25,440
Speaker 2: it's not really resonating. It's like, okay, we go back

553
00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:27,480
Speaker 2: to the drawing board, right, and we get their feedback.

554
00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:30,800
Speaker 2: So that's definitely I would say a big priority for us.

555
00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:33,320
Speaker 2: And then on the second question again, what was it

556
00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:34,240
Speaker 2: that again? Sorry?

557
00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:39,439
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's looking at the ROI for existing franchises versus

558
00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:41,680
Speaker 3: developing a new game. You know, if I go explore

559
00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:43,440
Speaker 3: a new game created by Scope Play, that's the less

560
00:27:43,480 --> 00:27:45,240
Speaker 3: time I'm playing on Monopoly Go kind of thing.

561
00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:50,960
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think we look we continue to build forever franchises.

562
00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:54,200
Speaker 2: That's our big priority, right And that's why obviously the

563
00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:56,840
Speaker 2: the Niantic acquisition with Pokemon Go and there are other

564
00:27:56,920 --> 00:28:00,800
Speaker 2: franchise like Monster Hunter makes such a makes such made

565
00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:07,080
Speaker 2: so much sense. We are always thinking about new opportunities. Now,

566
00:28:07,359 --> 00:28:09,639
Speaker 2: it's not about we need to launch X number of

567
00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:13,040
Speaker 2: games per year. That's definitely not the priority for us.

568
00:28:13,119 --> 00:28:15,840
Speaker 2: It's more about, do we think there's a unique idea

569
00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:19,040
Speaker 2: and opportunity that a creative team on our side is

570
00:28:19,119 --> 00:28:22,679
Speaker 2: excited about that we think fills a need a void

571
00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:27,080
Speaker 2: right from a consumer perspective, from a genre perspective. And

572
00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:30,040
Speaker 2: do we have the right team, the studio team, the

573
00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:32,639
Speaker 2: right development team that actually we feel like do an

574
00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:35,920
Speaker 2: amazing job and bringing that to market. And so those

575
00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:38,800
Speaker 2: two things are incredibly important for us, even if it's

576
00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:41,920
Speaker 2: in a space that you could say is like maybe crowded, right,

577
00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:44,560
Speaker 2: because there's other gains in the space. If we have

578
00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:46,040
Speaker 2: a conviction around it, because we think we've come up

579
00:28:46,080 --> 00:28:48,400
Speaker 2: a really unique sort of angle and an idea that

580
00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:51,040
Speaker 2: a creative team is excited about, that we've sort of

581
00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:53,560
Speaker 2: validated with consumers. And then we have a team that

582
00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:56,880
Speaker 2: not just can build a game, but let's say I'm

583
00:28:56,880 --> 00:28:59,640
Speaker 2: making it up, it's like an RPG, right, Let's say genre,

584
00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:02,880
Speaker 2: what does that team have credibility? Do they have a

585
00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:07,520
Speaker 2: history of building great RPG games that fans love. When

586
00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:09,480
Speaker 2: we sort of bring those two things together, that's when

587
00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:11,480
Speaker 2: we know, like, okay, that makes sense for us to

588
00:29:11,560 --> 00:29:14,160
Speaker 2: invest in that project moving forward. Like I said, it's

589
00:29:14,160 --> 00:29:17,280
Speaker 2: not about having a specific slate where we have a

590
00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:19,800
Speaker 2: specific number of titles that we were launching every year,

591
00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:23,840
Speaker 2: because once again, our job is to really grow the

592
00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:26,280
Speaker 2: existing franchises we have. So for us, when we think

593
00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:29,040
Speaker 2: about any new project, it's really an opportunity cost right,

594
00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:31,760
Speaker 2: So we need to have really strong conviction that we

595
00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:34,560
Speaker 2: think that that project has a big opportunity to actually

596
00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:35,600
Speaker 2: really resonate with fans.

597
00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:38,640
Speaker 3: Well, those are all my questions for you today, Eric,

598
00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:40,480
Speaker 3: I just didn't know if there's anything else. Maybe you

599
00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:43,480
Speaker 3: feel like our listeners would want to know about you

600
00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:45,800
Speaker 3: all at this time, or something in particular we didn't

601
00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:46,040
Speaker 3: get to.

602
00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:50,719
Speaker 2: Yeah, look, I think I think we want our fans

603
00:29:50,760 --> 00:29:53,880
Speaker 2: and consumers to know that we appreciate everything that they

604
00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:56,040
Speaker 2: do when it comes to giving us their time and attention.

605
00:29:56,120 --> 00:29:59,280
Speaker 2: We think it's fantastic, and you know, we just can't

606
00:29:59,280 --> 00:30:02,800
Speaker 2: wait to deliver some amazing new experiences to consumers. We

607
00:30:02,800 --> 00:30:04,640
Speaker 2: have some new things in the works, and obviously stuff

608
00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:06,840
Speaker 2: that we can talk about now we'll see when it's written.

609
00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:09,320
Speaker 2: But you know, we have more stuff that's coming and

610
00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:12,240
Speaker 2: we're super excited about what that's gonna what that's gonna

611
00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:14,920
Speaker 2: look like, and so look, obviously for anyone that's interested,

612
00:30:15,120 --> 00:30:17,360
Speaker 2: just follow along, you know, follow us on LinkedIn, follow

613
00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:19,680
Speaker 2: us on scopey dot com, and you'll you'll get more

614
00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:20,920
Speaker 2: updates on everything that's coming.

615
00:30:21,440 --> 00:30:23,840
Speaker 3: All right, we'll talk when you can talk about that.

616
00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:30,280
Speaker 3: We'll talk when Monopoly gocrosses ten billion in revenue. So

617
00:30:28,720 --> 00:30:32,960
Speaker 3: thank you for your time today, Eric sounds good, Take.

618
00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:39,200
Speaker 4: Care, Thanks for listening. Be sure to leave us a

619
00:30:39,240 --> 00:30:43,160
Speaker 4: review at Apple Podcasts or Amazon Music. We love to

620
00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:46,239
Speaker 4: hear from listeners. Please go to Variety dot com and

621
00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:50,239
Speaker 4: sign up for the free weekly Strictly Business newsletter, and

622
00:30:50,360 --> 00:30:54,000
Speaker 4: don't forget to tune in next week for another episode

623
00:30:54,080 --> 00:30:55,600
Speaker 4: of Strictly Business