by Phillip Black
What does the new wave of open economies mean for monetization? Will negative externalities overcome cosmetic 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 toolkit.
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Publishing Since
11/21/2022
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April 28, 2026
The entire theory of games is underpinned by this one theory, but how far can it's explanitory power be pushed? Phillip Black, Christopher Kaczmarczyk-Smith, and Eric Guan talk cozy Pokemon habitats, merge-game economics multipliers, AI labor-market irony, and Edward Castronova's foundational work on virtual worlds. We talk: Pokopia as the Pokemon cozy game: short production chains daily-quest systems without free-to-play monetization pressure Multipliers as the key merge-game innovation: a gas pedal on spend per hour faster energy drain faster story progression a new way to price acceleration Narrative as reward subsidy or tax: story can make the next meta milestone worth chasing story can also break flow for players who just want the core loop AI and the game-industry labor market: layoffs look more like a post-2021 correction longer unemployment spells in information work may be the cleaner AI signal AI may suppress hiring before it shows up as direct separations Castronova's virtual-world economics: challenge labor-leisure tradeoffs property rights platform dictatorships price controls why MMOs looked like the future in 2003 The player contract: games rarely grant formal property rights players still behave as if they own skins, items, and progress developers often compensate players even when the legal right is weak
March 18, 2026
Takes so hot that they were recorded late at night after a long day on the GDC floor, and couple whiskeys. Phil, Eric, and Chris crew unpack what actually mattered at GDC 2026, and what didn’t. We discuss: A sharper critique of industry thinking Too many taxonomy talks, not enough opinions Why game talks should behave more like economics seminars AI’s role on the show floor and conference Shift from generative art hype to code generation and workflows Why survey data understates actual usage and masks revealed preferences AI present but muted, Web3 effectively gone Novelty hardware, indie creativity, and a clear tech pullback The collapse of production costs and what replaces them Near-zero fixed costs leading to infinite content supply Discovery, marketing, and CAC as the new binding constraints Why incumbents may strengthen, not weaken Ad spend and distribution advantages widening the moat Counterpoint: new channels still create pockets of disruption Hardware, interfaces, and “convergent evolution” Why controllers standardized and what that says about optimal design Failed alternatives and the persistent friction of interaction
February 15, 2026
If the majority of mobile casuals' target audience takes Ozempic, what effect does that have on games? No one's asking these questions, so welcome to the Game Economist Cast. Weight loss drugs, AI copilots, and gambling apps dominated the most expensive media real estate on earth, and games were barely in the frame. In this episode, we unpack what that signal means for interactive entertainment, Eric uncovers Riot’s 2XKO downsizing to Google’s Genie 3, and the future of engines. Phil previews his GDC talk on the economics of a billion-dollar cosmetic economy, Chris breaks down his attempt to design and publish a trading board game, and we ask a harder question: in a world of Ozempic and infinite AI supply, what actually happens to gaming demand? We discuss: • The 2XKO reset and the economics of niche within niche genres • Team size, burn rate, and why a 160-person fighting game team changes the break-even math • Free to play cosmetics versus box price DLC in a capped DAU genre • Why betting apps can out-monetize most games on ARPDAU • How appetite suppression might reallocate time, spending, and loop sensitivity • Genie 3 and the cost curve of game production • Engines as rule governance layers in a probabilistic content world • Cosmetic economies as foundational theory • Scarcity, signaling, and equilibrium pricing in digital status markets • Price discovery, private information, and turning trade into tabletop play Listen now!
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What does the new wave of open economies mean for monetization? Will negative externalities overcome cosmetic 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 toolkit.
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