Purpose Made Podcast

For anyone tracking where the money in games is going: Benjamin Kratsch of Levelz Gaming Group in Riyadh on Saudi Arabia's games and esports strategy.Ben has spent four years inside Saudi Arabia's push to build the world's biggest games and esports publisher. He has worked with PIF on the national games and esports strategy, on M&A and pipeline, and on bringing publishers to the table for Gamers8 and the Esports World Cup. He explains what the kingdom wants from its $55bn buyout of EA, why distribution is king, and where the capital goes next.In this conversation:- Why Qiddiya is being built as a theme park destination for gaming- The maths pulling publishers back to single-player: a $200m game returning $750m at launch, against a live service chasing a $3bn case- 007 First Light's roughly 4 million sales on a $200m budget, why Ben thinks it deserved 10 to 20 million more, and what Amazon's next Bond could do for the franchise- Phil Spencer's Netflix-of-gaming bet, and how Asha Sharma's data-driven Xbox differs- The licensing logic behind the EA deal, and why EA F1 has more room to grow than EA Sports FC- Why PIF won't buy Xbox- How a Game Pass playtime KPI shaped Doom: The Dark AgesCHAPTERS0:00 Intro0:52 Four years inside Saudi's national games strategy2:41 From "why Saudi?" to "how can we partner?"7:29 Qiddiya and the case for gaming theme parks10:28 The maths pulling publishers back to single-player15:06 007 First Light and the distribution gap18:42 Phil Spencer, Asha Sharma and the Netflix-of-gaming problem25:52 Battlefield x Top Gun and EA's Hollywood pipeline31:00 Why PIF wanted EA: football clubs and F1 teams33:48 Serve the core fans first: Battlefield Labs and Dragon Age36:26 EA's back catalogue, Titanfall 3 and the next wave of M&A49:14 Why PIF won't buy Xbox52:38 When playtime became the KPI54:24 What Netflix should do with games1:05:01 Giving developers real upsideABOUT BENJAMINBenjamin Kratsch is Chief Business Development Officer at Levelz Gaming Group, building the games and esports ecosystem in Saudi Arabia, with a focus on venture capital. He has spent 15 years in media and marketing, building content products for IDG and Red Bull Media House, consulting on games and esports TV for NBC Universal and NBC Sports, and running campaigns for brands including Samsung, Aston Martin and Aramco. In Saudi Arabia he worked with PIF on the national games and esports strategy and served as Creative Director on Gamers8, which drew 3 million visitors over two months.LINKSBenjamin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminkratsch/Levelz Gaming Group: https://www.linkedin.com/company/levelz-gg/Esports World Cup: https://esportsworldcup.com/enRelated episode: Shawn Layden on platforms and publishers (Ep 97): https://youtu.be/afg_CbpKvw8Pitch a guest: purposemadepodcast.co.uk/guest-pitchABOUT PURPOSE MADEThe Purpose Made Podcast is hosted by Peter Bell, founder of Purpose Made, a franchise architecture and IP strategy consultancy. Long-form conversations with the people who build games, films and the IP around them.FOLLOWInstagram: @thepeterbellLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/peter-george-bellWebsites: https://purposemade.uk | https://purposemadepodcast.co.uk/Discord: discord.gg/5VdPZnjCsYEnjoying the show? Follow and leave a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It really helps other people find us.We're also building a Purpose Made community on Discord for people who love games, film, TV and the IP behind them. Come and join us: https://discord.gg/vvtV6ZHKGK

For writers and game makers: Danny Bilson, co-writer of The Rocketeer, former EA and THQ executive and Chair of USC Games, on 50 years in film and games.Danny co-wrote The Rocketeer with Paul De Meo, ran The Flash for CBS in 1990, spent the 2000s running franchises at EA, then became EVP Core Games at THQ. He co-wrote Da 5 Bloods for Spike Lee. He explains why games are the harder craft, why he quit EA mid-project over a Bond game, and why the studios behind his biggest successes never invited him back.In this conversation:- How The Rocketeer got made: Dave Stevens' free option and Jim Cameron's tip-off- Fixing The Sims, and demoing the first Harry Potter game to its author- THQ, Saints Row III, Darksiders and executives who don't play- The unannounced AAA extraction shooter he is writing now, and the two things every story needsWatch the video version with full chapters on YouTube: https://youtu.be/S9X6Ct97UIkTIMESTAMPS:0:00 Introduction3:20 Why sequels dominate film and games5:17 "They don't want the old voice": locked out of The Flash and The Rocketeer12:40 How The Rocketeer got made: Jim Cameron's tip and Dave Stevens' free option25:23 Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and the opening weekend that killed it28:47 A card dropped on a script: EA, fixing The Sims and the franchise years36:18 Quitting EA over the Goldfinger vs Dr. No game41:23 Demoing the first Harry Potter game to the author in black and white46:53 Nightfire, Judi Dench and Viggo's Elvish dictionary56:14 The THQ years: Saints Row III, uDraw and executives who don't play1:01:23 The unannounced AAA extraction shooter and the two things every story needs1:07:42 Da 5 Bloods: Oliver Stone, Spike Lee and the Milius seminar1:28:22 Write the movie you want to see the mostConnect: Danny Bilson LinkedIn | USC School of Cinematic ArtsPete Bell: LinkedIn | InstagramPurpose Made is hosted by Pete Bell, gaming industry consultant and interviewer of the people who shaped the games, films, and culture you love.Know someone who's shaped games, film, or culture? Pitch a guest: https://purposemadepodcast.co.uk/guest-pitchThe Daily Digest, daily intelligence for the people shaping the future of franchises: https://www.thedailydigest.co.uk/Topics Covered: Danny Bilson, The Rocketeer, franchise IP, game development, screenwriting, EA, THQ, Da 5 Bloods and more.This podcast was produced by Purpose Made.Enjoying the show? Follow and leave a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It really helps other people find us.We're also building a Purpose Made community on Discord for people who love games, film, TV and the IP behind them. Come and join us: https://discord.gg/vvtV6ZHKGK

For anyone who cares where PlayStation and Xbox go next: former PlayStation leader Shawn Layden on platforms, publishers and creative risk.Shawn spent 32 years inside Sony, from writing founder Akio Morita's speeches at 29 to running Worldwide Studios. He explains why Xbox must choose between being a platform and being the biggest publisher in the world, and why data-driven greenlighting is producing games nobody remembers.In this conversation:- Why triple-digit-million budgets have crushed risk tolerance- Getting laughed out of Hollywood with The Getaway, then founding PlayStation Productions 16 years later- Why Pokémon out-earns Mickey Mouse and Marvel- How the Insomniac acquisition came out of a dinner with Ted Price- Three predictions: shorter narrative games, a standard game format, and the end of the 6-to-8-year development cycleTIMESTAMPS:0:00 Introduction1:39 Xbox's Choice: Platform or the Biggest Publisher in the World7:55 Triple-Digit Budgets and the Death of Risk Tolerance14:35 Writing Speeches for Akio Morita at 2919:35 Three Concentric Circles: Games, Film and TV, Music25:02 GTA 6's Blast Radius and Gaming's Inverse Social Impact28:28 "Every 60 Years the Forest Has to Burn Down"36:12 Laughed Out of Hollywood with The Getaway43:28 Why Pokémon out-earns Mickey Mouse and Marvel49:34 Scarcity, Storefronts, and the Carousel Choke Point52:37 The Insomniac Acquisition: "Let's Just Put a Ring on It"55:25 Prince of Persia, Kutaragi, and the Birth of PlayStation1:00:05 "Where's the Fun Part?"1:02:26 Three Predictions for Where Gaming Goes Next1:06:31 Wrap-UpFollow Shawn Layden:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawn-layden/Girls Make Games: https://www.girlsmakegames.com/Purpose Made is hosted by Pete Bell — gaming industry consultant and interviewer of the people who shaped the games, films, and culture you love.Website: https://purposemade.ukFollow Pete Bell:LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/peter-george-bellInstagram: @thepeterbellThis podcast was produced by Purpose Made.Enjoying the show? Follow and leave a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It really helps other people find us.We're also building a Purpose Made community on Discord for people who love games, film, TV and the IP behind them. Come and join us: https://discord.gg/vvtV6ZHKGK

For studio leaders and investors: Richard Browne, formerly of Universal Interactive, THQ and Digital Extremes, on why the AAA model has stopped working.Richard has spent 38 years in the video game business. He ran production at Universal Interactive, ran external development at THQ for the best part of a decade, and set up the publishing operation for Digital Extremes alongside Warframe. Now he advises studios on funding and survival.In this conversation:- Why you cannot spend $300 million and five years on a new IP, and the case for a $10 to $20 million beachhead and a ten-year, three-game plan- Why he calls Game Pass "cancer" for the business- How his kids play differently, Roblox as the modern playground, and why photorealism stopped growing the market- The Championship Manager origin story, the 35 games he has shut down, and the Concord post-mortemCHAPTERS0:00 Cold open: "It's in dire straits"0:30 38 years in: from the BBC Micro to consulting the industry1:33 Why the market is in dire straits, and the COVID live-service hangover2:53 "Dad's IP": why kids won't touch Star Wars, Doom or Gears5:32 The broken maths of AAA, and the $10–20M beachhead5:58 The ten-year, three-game plan every IP needs8:23 Why a 15-hour game is enough, and the GameStop trap9:39 What he plays, and how his kids play completely differently11:50 Coding at home again: AI, Steam and where Minecraft came from13:11 Roblox as the modern playground, and the Payday conversion problem16:11 Why photorealism stopped growing the market18:24 The Microsoft mess and the Gears exclusivity mistake26:04 Nintendo and the power of generational IP27:47 Do we even need a PS6? The end of the visual arms race29:08 What investors want now, and why it doesn't build games that last30:50 The Championship Manager origin story33:16 Low risk, high reward: Crash, Among Us, and community first37:01 Killing games: Concord, ego, and the 35 he shut down38:24 Character vs world: The Last of Us and the God of War pivot43:11 "I think it's cancer": the case against Game Pass51:54 Netflix games, streaming latency, and what actually works56:28 Why Xbox can't build a studio system you can't live without59:30 How US studios survive now: small core, global outsourcing1:03:38 GTA 6's blast radius, what he's hyped for, and the takeawayGuest: Richard Brownehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/brownerichard/Purpose Made Podcast, hosted by Pete Bellhttps://purposemadepodcast.co.uk/https://purposemade.uk/Subscribe for long-form conversations with the people building games, entertainment and IP.Enjoying the show? Follow and leave a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It really helps other people find us.We're also building a Purpose Made community on Discord for people who love games, film, TV and the IP behind them. Come and join us: https://discord.gg/vvtV6ZHKGK

For artists and creators thinking about owning their own IP: Marvel cover artist Marko Djurdjevic on building the Orken transmedia universe.Marko produced 82 Marvel covers in his first year and ran 23 consecutive issues on Daredevil. His concept art fed the early MCU, and his studio SIXMOREVODKA held a seven-year exclusive partnership with Riot Games on League of Legends. After 30 years of client work he is funding Orken himself: novels, illustrated editions, graphic novels and a video game built with Demagog Studio. This episode was released just before the Orken Kickstarter and free Steam demo, both due on 26 February.In this conversation:- The viral X-Men redesign that brought Marvel calling- Degenesis: 3,000 free downloads per release against 80 sales, and what that failure taught him- 1,400 pages, 350 illustrations and two heart surgeries in 16 months- Why indie storytelling depends on small, real communities rather than viral momentsTimestamps: 00:00 Building a multimedia IP from scratch01:14 Meet Marko Djurdjevic02:35 No books at home: drawing as survival and 80s influences04:30 Why The Last Unicorn still hits after 40 years05:21 What's wrong with modern storytelling?07:15 The anatomy book that changed everything at age 1108:41 The viral X-Men redesign that brought Marvel calling10:15 82 covers, cancelled titles, and the art of keeping deadlines13:10 Beyond Marvel: the MCU pipeline and building a studio15:32 Riot and League of Legends: seven years of exclusivity19:17 2008 was peak cinema and he never went back20:13 Orken's visual DNA: cultures the games industry ignores23:01 Why creator-owned work dies in large teams25:00 Degenesis: 3,000 downloads, 80 sales, and pulling the plug27:35 How failure shaped Orken's transmedia architecture29:11 Novels, graphic novels, illustrated editions, and a video game30:49 The real motivation: autonomy, mastery, and running out of time32:54 1,400 pages, two heart surgeries, and a Kickstarter36:39 Working with his wife while betting against her instincts42:19 The future of indie storytelling43:55 Closing thoughtsOrken Kickstarter (live February 26th)Wishlist Orken on Steam (free demo February 26th)SIXMOREVODKADiscord: https://discord.com/invite/sixmorevodkaHost: Pete Bell Guest: Marko DjurdjevicThis podcast is produced by Purpose Made.Enjoying the show? Follow and leave a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It really helps other people find us.We're also building a Purpose Made community on Discord for people who love games, film, TV and the IP behind them. Come and join us: https://discord.gg/vvtV6ZHKGK

Pete and Russell Binder of Striker Entertainment pick the TV, games and films from 2025 worth your time, and what they are looking forward to in 2026.In this conversation:- Why Severance was 2025's most relevant show, and why everyone should watch Slow Horses- The Last of Us, Fallout and why video game adaptations work- Netflix's $83 billion Warner Bros acquisition and what it means for entertainment- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Kingdom Come Deliverance II and the year's best games- Jake Paul vs AJ and boxing's credibility problem- 2026: Judas, GTA 6 and what we are actually excited about━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━TIMESTAMPED CHAPTERS:00:00 Year-End Reflections 202500:25 The TV Shows That Earned Your Time02:47 Films That Stuck With Us (And Why)08:22 Netflix’s Empire Building & The Streaming Wars11:49 Boxing, Jake Paul & Sports as Spectacle15:34 Gaming’s Defining Moments of 202519:02 The Podcasts & Books Worth Your Attention22:14 2026 Preview: What We’re Actually Excited About26:33 Final Thoughts: Why Stories Still Matter━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━FEATURED SHOWS & GAMES:📺 Slow Horses • Severance • The Last of Us • SAS Rogue Heroes🎮 Kingdom Come Deliverance II • Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 • Hollow Knight • Planet of Lana • NBA 2K • PGA Golf • Mafia: Old Country • Wanderstop🎬 Masters Of The Universe • Street Fighter • 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple🔮 Coming in 2026: Judas • GTA 6━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━Subscribe for entertainment analysis that goes deeper than hot takes📺 Watch Next: Ken Levine on Why He Spent 10 Years Making His Most Personal Game ( • "My Atari Was My Best Friend" - BioShock C... )💬 Drop a comment: What was YOUR moment of 2025? The show, game, or film that you can’t stop thinking about? And what you’re most looking forward to in 2026.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━2025 reminded us that great storytelling transcends medium. Whether it’s Slow Horses proving spy thrillers can be character studies, Kingdom Come Deliverance II showing historical games can be art and some of the best storytelling ever in games, or how Netflix is reshaping the entire entertainment landscape with aggressive acquisitions, this year challenged our assumptions about what entertainment can be. This conversation explores why certain games, shows, and films broke through when most content disappeared into the algorithmic void and what that tells us about where entertainment is heading in 2026. EnjoyEnjoying the show? Follow and leave a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It really helps other people find us.We're also building a Purpose Made community on Discord for people who love games, film, TV and the IP behind them. Come and join us: https://discord.gg/vvtV6ZHKGK

For anyone who loves story-driven games: BioShock creator Ken Levine on Judas, Narrative LEGO and why he walked away from BioShock to start again.Ken is creative director of Ghost Story Games and founder of Irrational Games. He created the BioShock series and System Shock 2. After BioShock Infinite he closed a 200-person studio, started over with a small team, and spent the last decade on Judas, a game where characters track hundreds of your choices and change how they feel about you.In this conversation:- Why his Atari 2600 was his best friend growing up- "We were lost for 5 years": the hard middle of making Judas- What George Orwell's 1984 taught him about game design- Why games give people a refuge- Adapting games to other mediaTIMESTAMPED CHAPTERS:(00:00) Introduction to Ken Levine and His Work(00:59) Ken Levine's Journey and Inspirations(03:23) The Concept of Narrative Lego(08:13) Building Complex Relationships in Games(09:52) Challenges and Evolution in Game Development(14:15) Influences and Reflections on the Gaming Industry(29:51) Philosophical and Literary Influences(34:38) Exploring Horror as Metaphor(35:07) Family Dynamics in Storytelling(35:51) Political Themes and Personal Reflections(37:29) The Role of Ideology in Games(42:56) Character Development and Narrative Depth(44:29) Challenges and Rewards of Game Development(1:00:07) Adapting Games to Other Media(1:03:59) Final Thoughts and ReflectionsFollow Ken Levine:Ghost Story Games - https://www.ghoststorygames.com/Watch the Judas Official Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5_r-un--bAKen's GDC Talk on Narrative LEGO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58FWUkA8y2QPlay the BioShock Series: https://store.steampowered.com/agecheck/sub/127633WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/i3ueLqpU6K8?si=wVIL2W0aWuObmkfWSubscribe for more deep dives with legendary game creators📺 Watch Next: The REAL Reason Hollywood Only Makes Sequels Now - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJJ29cn0XZw&t=24s💬 Drop a comment: What game world gave you a place to escape to when you needed it most?Ken Levine's approach to game development has always prioritized deep narrative design and player agency. From his early work on System Shock 2 to the critically acclaimed BioShock series, Levine has consistently pushed boundaries in video game storytelling. His new project, Judas, represents a decade of game development focused on creating dynamic character relationships through innovative Narrative LEGO systems. The BioShock creator's journey from Irrational Games to Ghost Story Games showcases how AAA game development can embrace experimental design while maintaining immersive sim traditions. This interview explores game design philosophy, the creative process behind building revolutionary AI-driven character systems, and why emotional storytelling in games matters more than ever.#KenLevine #BioShock #GameDevelopment #Judas #GhostStoryGamesEnjoying the show? Follow and leave a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It really helps other people find us.We're also building a Purpose Made community on Discord for people who love games, film, TV and the IP behind them. Come and join us: https://discord.gg/vvtV6ZHKGK

For anyone who wants the long view on the games business: Stefan Lampinen on 40 years in games, from Xbox 360 in Russia to Minecraft's war room.Stefan opened a game store at 18, launched Xbox 360 in Russia when people said it couldn't be done, watched the rise and fall of Nokia, and was in the room when Minecraft turned down buyers flying in from around the world.In this conversation:- Inside Minecraft's war room, shielding the team from would-be buyers- Why he thinks GTA 6 will take players and money from everything else- Why Sweden became gaming's best sandbox- Europe's struggling studios, The Last of Us on TV, and Saudi Arabia's move into gamesTIMESTAMPS:0:00 – The Gift from Bill Gates.2:45 – 18 years old. Opens game store, becomes Nordic's gaming gateway.8:30 – Xbox 360: How they beat PlayStation to digital.15:20 – "Russia was impossible" - How he conquered it anyway.22:15 – Nokia beat iPhone by 4 years (and still failed spectacularly. Why)28:40 – Why Sweden is gaming's best sandbox.35:10 – Inside Minecraft's war room (shielding them from the world's buyers).42:30 – "The industry just hit maturity" - What that actually means.48:15 – GTA 6 will eat EVERYTHING (The industry doesn't understand what's coming).52:40 – Europe's studios are dying - The exodus nobody's discussing.58:20 – The Last of Us changed the game (Hollywood finally gets it).1:04:00 – Saudi Arabia's power play (it's not what you think).1:08:30 – His #1 career lesson after 40 years.KEY REVELATIONS"People were flying in from all over the world wanting to buy Minecraft. My job was to shield them.""GTA 6 is going to take enormous amounts of players and money from EVERYTHING. The industry doesn't understand what's coming.""Sweden had 70% gaming penetration because we don't dub. We had to learn English. We had to think global from day one."WATCH ON YOUTUBE BEFORE FIVE ON FRIDAY NEWSLETTER 📫Sign up: / before-5-on-friday-7244349280012886020 GET IN TOUCH🌍 Our website: https://www.purposemade.uk/Enjoying the show? Follow and leave a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It really helps other people find us.We're also building a Purpose Made community on Discord for people who love games, film, TV and the IP behind them. Come and join us: https://discord.gg/vvtV6ZHKGK

For anyone into video game adaptations: Story Kitchen (Sonic, Tomb Raider, Streets of Rage) on why game movies fail and what makes them work."There was never a video game curse. Just bad producers who didn't play or respect or appreciate games." Dmitri M. Johnson and Mike Goldberg of Story Kitchen explain why adaptations thrive when the people making them respect the games, with 3 billion players worldwide waiting.What You’ll Learn:> 0:28 – Sonic’s 10-year fight to the screen> 5:14 – Passion-driven IP picks> 12:39 – Netflix’s adaptation boom> 21:49 – Future game franchises to watch> 28:31 – Tomb Raider’s evolution> 33:31 – Keys to killer creative teams> 46:32 – Next big game-to-screen hitsLove games or films? Comment your dream adaptation - Mass Effect, Payday, or A Plague Tale?Watch on YouTube for the best experienceShare and subscribe!Enjoying the show? Follow and leave a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It really helps other people find us.We're also building a Purpose Made community on Discord for people who love games, film, TV and the IP behind them. Come and join us: https://discord.gg/vvtV6ZHKGK