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
True ownership, transferable assets: Jan Roessner on the future of direct-to-consumer
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Welcome to The Business of Games Podcast, powered by Xsolla.
Direct-to-consumer strategies are usually measured by what they remove — platform fees, intermediaries, friction at checkout. But what happens when the asset itself becomes the channel?
In this extended cut, host Lia Ballentine sits down with Jan Roessner, CEO and co-founder of One Earth Rising, to explore a new layer of the developer-player relationship: one built not on storefronts, but on ownership that travels with the player across games and platforms. His company has done something the industry hasn't seen before, and as of this recording, they have the patent to prove it.
Jan brings a background that defies easy summary: military officer, digital marketing agency founder, indie game developer, and now builder of cross-platform infrastructure that's already live in the market. The conversation is grounded, optimistic, and full of examples that make an abstract idea feel concrete.
We dive into:
- What ownable game assets actually are and how they work in practice
- Why One Earth Rising deliberately avoids leading with blockchain
- What a Walmart campaign reveals about DTC beyond the storefront
- How social impact is baked into the infrastructure itself
- Why the future of DTC will be defined by the user, not the provider
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.
