Listen to Adam Najberg talking the future of video games

I had the pleasure of interviewing / grilling Adam "Naj" Najberg, the Head of Comms and Content for Tencent Games Global, at an impromptu Web Wednesday in Bangkok on July 19th, 2023. 

If you missed it or want to review his revelations - some real gems! - then listen to the unedited audio recording below. The transcript is provided by the AI algorithms of Otter.ai. [Warning: like all AIs, it's not 100% correct and may occasionally hallucinate. But the repartee remained witty and human!]. 

 

Summary (With links to specific sections)

• Introduction to Naj 0:00

• Transition from journalist to PR exec. 1:17

  • Working for Chinese tech companies.

  • How an American journalist ended up working for Chinese tech companies.

• What does he do in Tencent Games?

• The rise and fall of mobile gaming.

• The evolution of the mobile gaming community.

Looking at the market in Southeast Asia. 8:22

• Thailand is a promising market.

• Mobile games are diverse.

How many of you play games? 10:41

• Interoperability is critical for the metaverse.

• The demographics of gaming in China.

• Why big gaming companies didn't see the metaverse coming.

• The problem with fads.

• The difference between chance and games of chance.

• Tencent is experimenting with digital currency.

The concept of Games as a Service. 17:00

• Tencent's investment in China.

• Breaking down the walls between Microsoft and Sony.

• Games as a Service, EA.

Getting caught up in the excitement. 22:54

• Getting caught up in the excitement of esports.

• Brands getting into esports.

• Selling to Gen Z players and brands.

• Authenticity and future proofing the business.

How to place ads in a game? 25:52

• The catch 22 of big brands.

• Partnerships and advertising.

• Using game streamers to engage the community.

• The gaming world getting carried away with AI.

AI for games is a thing. 31:11

• AI for GTA 5.

Working for Chinese companies. 33:40

• Working for Chinese companies and living in China.

• Challenges of working with Chinese authorities.

• Big data and privacy.

• Same sex marriage in games.

• How to deal with cultural norms.

Observations on how large movie studios are normalizing video games. 44:36

• The gaming industry is a small world.

• Building an ecosystem around the kernel of content.

• The siloed industry of video games.

• What makes Thailand interesting as a video gaming market? 51:39

  • Why hardware is a hard business.

  • The Next studio is always at the cutting edge.

  • Thailand is the 19th largest game market.

  • The money comes from sponsorships for big companies like Lenovo.