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The Business of Games
The Business of Games: A podcast for developers, publishers, and executives navigating the ever-changing game industry.
From monetization models to player behavior, from platform shifts to emerging markets, The Business of Games is your guide to all the things transforming how games are built, marketed, and scaled.
Hosted by Chris Hewish and Lia Ballentine, each episode blends strategic insight, cinematic storytelling, and candid conversations with the people driving the business of play. You’ll hear from top executives inside studios and strategic partners across the ecosystem who are uncovering the ideas, tactics, and trends shaping tomorrow’s opportunities.
Whether you’re launching your first game or scaling a global studio, you’ll find practical strategies, future-forward thinking, and real-world examples you can act on right away.
The Business of Games is brought to you by Xsolla, your strategic partner behind the scenes. We bring together “All the Things” to help you simplify operations, unlock new revenue, reach more players, and launch fast.
Visit xsolla.com to learn more, connect with our team, and access all the things you need to level up your business of play. Want to join the conversation? Follow and comment on our LinkedIn page at The Business of Games Podcast, where we’ll be sharing updates, highlights, and continuing the discussion. And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, review, and share the podcast with friends and colleagues who want to learn more about the business of games.
The Business of Games
Discoverability is the new retail: how games get found, bought, and sustained
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Welcome to The Business of Games Podcast, powered by Xsolla.
In this episode, Lia Ballentine talks with Adam Krause and TJ Consunji, Managing Partners and Co-Founders of Miniboss Solutions, about how game retail actually works today and why being discoverable now matters more than ever.
Game retail is no longer about shelves, launch days, or a single sales spike. With more than 20,000 games released each year, the challenge is getting noticed and staying visible. Algorithms, storefront placement, wishlists, and ongoing updates now shape when and how players decide to buy.
Drawing on experience across PlayStation, Ubisoft, Capcom, and both AAA and indie launches, Adam and TJ explain how retail has shifted from a final step in the process to something that affects development, marketing, and long-term planning from the start.
They break down why many studios are moving away from traditional holiday launches, how to think about wishlist quality instead of raw volume, and what smaller teams need to do differently when they cannot rely on massive budgets to recover from mistakes.
The conversation also looks at modern publishing realities, including release timing, competition for attention, and why sustained engagement often matters more than a strong launch week.
The takeaway is simple. Retail success today is not about winning a single moment. It is about building a plan that keeps a game visible and relevant over time.
What you’ll learn:
- Why discoverability now matters more than shelf space
- How digital storefronts changed release timing and planning
- What wishlist quality actually tells you about demand
- Why some studios avoid holiday launches altogether
- How smaller teams can apply disciplined, AAA-style planning
Let’s get into it.
For more insights and resources, visit xsolla.com/podcast. Want to join the conversation? Follow and comment on our LinkedIn page at The Business of Games Podcast. That’s where we’ll be sharing updates, highlights, and continuing the discussion. And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, review, and share the podcast with friends who want to learn more about the business of games.
