The Business of Games

What we learned: the business of going direct

Welcome to The Business of Games Podcast, powered by Xsolla. Over the past few months, hosts Chris Hewish and Lia Ballentine have been testing a single idea against the real world: that direct-to-consumer isn't a channel or a tactic — it's a commitment to building a business around the player relationship. In this season finale, Chris and Lia come back to where it all started — five pillars, five guests, three episodes — and ask the question: did the framework hold up? You'll hear how the marketing episode reframed what it means to own a player relationship, why channels don't equal connection, and how going direct changes the weight of every message a studio sends. How the infrastructure episode revealed that the stack underneath the strategy is more complex than most teams realize, and why the order of decisions matters enormously. And how the monetization episode made the case that the best direct-to-consumer model isn't the most aggressive one. It's the most earned. If you've been following along all season, this one's for you. And if you're just tuning in, consider this your invitation to go back to the beginning. Let's get into it. For more insights and resources, visit xsolla.com/podcast [http://xsolla.com/podcast]. Want to join the conversation? Follow and comment on our LinkedIn page at The Business of Games Podcast [https://www.linkedin.com/company/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.

From the Air Force to infinite worlds: Jan Roessner on stoicism, interoperability, and the future of game assets

Welcome to Coffee.Press.Play., brought to you by The Business of Games Podcast, powered by Xsolla. Recorded live at GDC 2026 inside the Xsolla Clubhouse, this series puts a twist on the traditional interview format: guests play a round of a classic video game against our Xsolla host and the outcome determines whether they face an easy question or a hard one. In this episode, host Ed Lin sits down with Jan Roessner, CEO and co-founder of One Earth Rising — a company building cross-platform infrastructure to make game assets interoperable and bring real-world brand and IP engagement into the digital world of games. Jan's path into the industry runs through 13 years as an Air Force officer, and the leadership philosophy he built there still drives how he builds teams and sets goals today. Now he's applying that same clarity of purpose to one of the more ambitious ideas in the games business: a future where achievements travel between titles, where watching a TV show can unlock in-game content, and where the boundaries between game worlds start to disappear. What you'll hear: * How military service shaped Jan's approach to leadership and decision-making * Why the technology foundation for true asset interoperability is finally here * What a future built on cross-platform, cross-media game engagement could look like Let's get into it. Coffee.Press.Play. is an ongoing mini-series, and more conversations with our GDC guests are on the way. Listen on your favorite podcast platform or watch full episodes on our YouTube channel [https://www.youtube.com/@XsollaPodcast]. Missed us at GDC 2026? Stay tuned to our LinkedIn page [https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-business-of-games-podcast] for announcements on where we'll be next. And catch up on recent episodes at xsolla.com/podcast [http://xsolla.com/podcast]. For more insights and resources, visit xsolla.com/podcast [http://xsolla.com/podcast]. Want to join the conversation? Follow and comment on our LinkedIn page at The Business of Games Podcast [https://www.linkedin.com/company/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.

From “Link” to director: Alex Reed on 25 years in games and the winding road that got him there

Welcome to Coffee.Press.Play., brought to you by The Business of Games Podcast, powered by Xsolla. Recorded live at GDC 2026 inside the Xsolla Clubhouse, this series puts a twist on the traditional interview format: guests play a round of a classic video game against our Xsolla host and the outcome determines whether they face an easy question or a hard one. In this episode, host Ed Lin sits down with Alex Reed, Director of Production at House of How for a candid, personal reflection on a career that defies the standard trajectory. Alex’s mother was a Disney animator. He grew up wanting to be like Bruce Lee and spent his childhood going on solo adventures — the kind that made him feel like he'd been born to play Zelda. He started in television and film before arriving at Electronic Arts in 2000. Since then, he's spent 25 years in games, and 36 years total in the entertainment industry. The throughline? Never following the linear path. Just asking what's around the next corner. What you'll hear: * Why Alex describes his entire career through the lens of The Legend of Zelda * How growing up as a loner shaped his relationship with games and storytelling * What makes video games different from TV and film — and why that difference matters to him * How 36 years in entertainment led him to where he is today at House of How Let's get into it.Coffee.Press.Play. is an ongoing mini-series, and more conversations with our GDC guests are on the way. Listen on your favorite podcast platform or watch full episodes on our YouTube channel [https://www.youtube.com/@XsollaPodcast]. Missed us at GDC 2026? Stay tuned to our LinkedIn page [https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-business-of-games-podcast] for announcements on where we'll be next. And catch up on recent episodes at xsolla.com/podcast [http://xsolla.com/podcast]. For more insights and resources, visit xsolla.com/podcast [http://xsolla.com/podcast]. Want to join the conversation? Follow and comment on our LinkedIn page at The Business of Games Podcast [https://www.linkedin.com/company/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.

Skin in the game: Derek Rathbun on real money gameplay as the next frontier of direct-to-consumer monetization

Welcome to The Business of Games Podcast, powered by Xsolla. Direct-to-consumer monetization is usually a conversation about where players spend: web shops, platform margins, owned storefronts. But what if the more interesting question is what they spend on — and what changes when real money is actually on the line? In this extended cut, host Lia Ballentine sits down with Derek Rathbun, Co-Founder and CEO of Gamers.bet, to explore a monetization layer most studios haven't seriously reckoned with yet: native real money wagering built directly into the game itself. Derek's path here runs through automotive technology, a front-row seat to the legalization of sports betting in 2018, and a series of conversations with retired industry veterans who confirmed the category was wide open. When Disney reversed course and launched ESPN Bet in late 2023, the cultural shift became hard to ignore — and the question of who would move first in games became a lot more urgent. We dive into: * Why real money gameplay is already happening at scale, and what it costs publishers who don't control the experience * How native wagering opens up a new design surface, not just a new revenue line * Why this monetization layer is most powerful when it's considered at the conceptualization stage * How peer-to-peer wagering reaches players that traditional DTC models — cosmetics, battle passes — simply don't convert * Why cross-border settlement required a new approach to payments infrastructure entirely * How responsible gaming and age compliance can be enforced without disrupting the core experience If the broader context of direct-to-consumer monetization is something you want to go deeper on, check out our episode, “Direct-to-consumer: making money without the middleman,” where Lia and Chris Hewish explore this territory alongside Derek and Arron Goolsbey of Mythical Games. Whether you're a studio founder thinking about your next investment pitch, a product lead exploring new revenue models, or just someone watching the business of games evolve in real time, this conversation offers a clear-eyed look at where monetization is headed next. Let's get into it. For more insights and resources, visit xsolla.com/podcast [http://xsolla.com/podcast]. Want to join the conversation? Follow and comment on our LinkedIn page at The Business of Games Podcast [https://www.linkedin.com/company/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.

Earned, not extracted: how direct-to-consumer changes monetization design

Welcome to The Business of Games Podcast, powered by Xsolla. In this episode, hosts Chris Hewish and Lia Ballentine get into the part of the direct-to-consumer conversation that most studios either rush past or get wrong entirely: monetization. The default framing is simple: cut out the platform, keep more margin. But the studios actually building direct-to-consumer monetization well aren't running a web shop as a side channel. They're rethinking how value gets created, how offers get structured, and how a purchase fits into a longer relationship with the player. To explore what that looks like in practice, Chris and Lia are joined by two leaders operating at very different frontiers: Derek Rathbun, Co-Founder and CEO of Gamers.bet, who navigates what it means to give publishers control over real-money player engagement in a space where ignoring direct monetization has visible, immediate consequences; and Arron Goolsbey, Chief Operating Officer of Mythical Games, where direct-to-consumer isn't a feature that was added — it's the foundation the entire business was built on. Together, they make the case that the barrier to going direct is lower than most teams assume, the cost of waiting is higher than it appears, and the best monetization in a direct-to-player model isn't the most aggressive — it's the most earned. You'll hear why ceding the player relationship, even passively, costs more than it shows up on any balance sheet; why direct-to-consumer is really about owning identity, payments, and inventory as a unified system rather than a checkout flow; how data becomes a decision engine rather than a reporting function when those foundations are in place; and why designing monetization around what players earn, rather than what they're willing to pay, is what separates durable businesses from ones that plateau. What you'll learn: Why ignoring direct monetization is a cost, not just a missed opportunity * What the foundational tech stack for direct-to-consumer actually requires and what studios shouldn't build themselves * How to treat data as a decision system, not a dashboard * Why the best monetization design starts at the moment of install, not at the web shop * How emerging models like player-to-player economies are expanding who can participate and how Let's get into it. For more insights and resources, visit xsolla.com/podcast [http://xsolla.com/podcast]. Want to join the conversation? Follow and comment on our LinkedIn page at The Business of Games Podcast [https://www.linkedin.com/company/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.