About UNBOXING: Play & Profit for the Gaming Curious.
Joost crunches data. Laine rummages in archives. Together on UNBOXING, these two NYU professors unlock the secrets of the games business they share with their students and cover the games news for insiders and newbies alike. A weekly podcast for anyone curious about why games matter in today's economy, dropping every Friday. Logo by Moira Zhang, theeverdrift.cargo.site
Games Industry Growth, Bobby Kotick & the Fight for Games Journalism
This week on UNBOXING, Laine and Joost reunite after a brief hiatus to catch up on Renaissance Faires, Comic-Con, and why young people increasingly want to connect with each other in person. Then, they turn to two major stories shaping the games industry. First, Joost breaks down the debate over Newzoo’s latest market forecasts and Deconstructor of Fun’s inflation-adjusted analysis, questioning whether the industry is growing as strongly as headline figures suggest. With growth concentrated in a handful of companies and markets, the duo asks what industry-wide revenue numbers actually tell us—and how optimistic forecasts can become narratives that serve corporate interests. Then, they examine reporting on former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick’s attempts to challenge games journalism through legal threats. What happens when wealthy executives target independent reporters who lack the legal protections of major newsrooms? The conversation explores the growing precarity of games journalism, the erosion of media institutions, and the difficulty of holding powerful industry figures accountable.
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8 Oct 2026
Free-to-Play, Game Design & the AI Shakeup
This week on UNBOXING, Joost sits down with longtime games industry consultant Teut Weidemann for a wide-ranging conversation about free-to-play, monetization, and where the games industry is headed next. They dig into the myths surrounding conversion rates and other KPIs, and why metrics are often misunderstood or misused. They also discuss product positioning in an increasingly overcrowded market, the problems with designing games around monetization rather than players, and the strange ways gacha and gambling mechanics have become embedded in games. Finally, they look at AI and its potential to radically reduce development costs, enable smaller creative teams, and shift the industry's biggest bottleneck from making games to getting them noticed. Plus, a look at Weidemann' new book, I Teut You So: Why Fairness Wins in Free-to-Play.
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1 Oct 2026
The Kids Act, Consolidation & the Future of the Games Industry
This week on UNBOXING, Laine and Joost dig into two big questions facing the games industry: what happens when regulators start treating games as a space that needs protection for children, and what happens when the industry itself keeps getting bigger and more concentrated? First, they unpack the EU’s proposed Kids Act, which would introduce new rules around how online games engage with minors. They compare the EU’s approach with the more hands-off, parental-tools-focused approach in the US, and debate whether games risk being lumped in with social media, gambling, and other heavily regulated industries. Then, Joost breaks down his latest research into games industry consolidation, revealing that the top 10 game companies generated roughly $100 billion in publishing revenue in 2025 and now account for around 56% of the market. The duo digs into what’s driving that concentration, from rising development costs and acquisitions to economies of scale. Along the way, they debate whether market concentration actually tells us anything about the health of the industry. Plus, a preview of Joost’s upcoming research and a plug for ROM Chip’s upcoming talk on the history of Tetris.
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Never miss an update and listen to your favorite UNBOXING episodes wherever you get your podcasts:
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For the true fans, subscribe to our newsletter for weekly email updates and more!
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
8 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
26 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 42 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
50
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
85
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