Episode 67: Relearning the Rules – Player Motivations and Understanding Audiences with Carlos Salvado

Introduction

Jon Jordan: Hello and welcome to the Mobile Games Playbook. Thanks for tuning in for another episode. This podcast is all about what makes a great mobile game, what is and isn’t working for mobile game designers, and all of the latest trends. I’m your host, Jon Jordan, although in this special episode, my hosting duties are somewhat truncated.

In the host seat, asking the hard questions, we have Brendan Fraher, General Manager at Liftoff Intelligence. He will be talking to former Rovio Insights lead, Carlos Salvado. They’ll be discussing the indispensable role of player motivation and market intelligence in making a successful mobile game. Okay, Brendan, take it over.

Brendan Fraher: Hello everyone. Welcome to the podcast. I’m Brendan, General Manager here at GameRefinery, and today we’re diving into some of the biggest topics shaping the mobile gaming world in 2025 and beyond.

I have a very special guest with me today: Carlos Salvado. We’ve known each other for many, many years. I know you have unique skills and experience from many different areas and teams, but can you first introduce yourself to the audience so they can understand a little bit more about you?

Meet Carlos Salvado: Insights from 15 years in gaming

Carlos Salvado: Absolutely. My name is Carlos Salvado. I’ve been a professional in gaming for the last 15 years, across mobile, PC, and console. I’ve worked in several crafts such as advertising, product management, game design, and economy design, so I know my way around games inside and out.

Basically, I’m here to tell you that with all the experience I’ve accumulated, the mobile game ecosystem is evolving constantly. You always need to relearn everything you knew in the past. New business models, new tech, new AI integrations, and new opportunities that can actually drive revenue for most companies are not only focused on the products themselves but on the whole ecosystem that the games provide—IP licensing, et cetera.

Hopefully, I can share a little bit of that information with you today, and let’s see how it goes.

Why do all games look the same? Hybridization explained

Brendan Fraher: Wonderful. As always, every time it’s a great conversation with you, Carlos. I know we’ve got a great agenda today, touching on many of the main challenges top of mind for developers; web stores, live events, and so on. But one thing we were speaking about off-camera was game hybridization. You had a very interesting phrase, which many audiences ask, ‘why do all games look the same?’

Carlos Salvado: I think the mobile games industry recently is going through a creative bankruptcy to some extent. We’ve foregone trying to be unique to trying to make things work dynamically similar across several different games, sometimes even across genres.

This is not just on mobile; you can see this across the board. There’s a lot of talk of Company X copied from Company Y, et cetera, but we need to be upfront and understand that imitation is a way forward, a way for developers to learn how to create better products for their own audiences. What keeps them around? What keeps them engaged? How can you make known and unknown audiences actually opt into those products and continue to play across the board?

This doesn’t mean you’ll be fixated only on one particular game. It can be your available portfolio, it can be cross-platform, it can be digital content. At the end of the day, we’re making products for new clients and old fans—people that don’t know the brand, people that want to tap into the brand, people that just want a different experience.

Carlos Salvado: So, I like to give an example of hybridization just to clarify exactly what I mean. I like to use the match-three souls-like type of game. That’s two genres that usually do not mix.

Brendan Fraher: Not the first thing that usually comes to mind, right?

Carlos Salvado: But it raises the question of casual audiences versus core gamers. Would it be possible to create that game if you design it consciously? You can find that sweet spot where two worlds meet, and you have an awesome product that you can provide, with a lot of creative space for people to tap in and experience something new.

That is what I defend, at least: the creative process around the imitation itself.

Brendan Fraher: I agree… even surprise breakout hits like Vampire Survivors show how unexpected combinations can resonate. Luck plays a role, but so does identifying a niche and timing.

Audience understanding and market timing

Carlos Salvado: I can even add onto what you were saying, Brendan, with one example. Recently there’s been a big boom with the remaster of Oblivion from Bethesda Softworks. A lot of younger gamers saw the game for the first time through the remake and are now on board with new experiences.

So once you have a concept or an app, you just need to cater that same product toward the audiences you want to reach.

Oblivion engages older fans who loved the original and younger players discovering it for the first time. You can actually be creative even with an old product—you just need to add the features those audiences are looking for.

Basically, context matters. Adapt to it, and you will see a big impact on whatever IP you have.

Brendan Fraher: Absolutely—but “just understand your audience” is easier said than done. Where should people start?

Direct-to-Consumer, web stores, and the future of monetization

Carlos Salvado: Let’s segue into an example. On mobile right now there’s a big topic of direct-to-consumer. Studios want solutions that help provide cheaper experiences to players by offering platforms where they can buy at a large discount.

This can be good or bad. On the good side, a web store lets a publisher control what they put in front of players—products, bundles, portfolio titles, even merchandise. You also get direct communication with your audience instead of relying on a third party.

Most companies nowadays are offering steep discounts on every purchase through these platforms. That’s the good part.

But then there’s the murky part:

How will platform holders react?

How will payment processors handle refunds?

What about compliance?

It’s complex, especially at scale across a portfolio.

Brendan Fraher: And yes, for listeners, we’re talking about web stores here. And you’re right—the evolution is happening fast. Companies are experimenting, and nobody has fully cracked the payment experience yet. But it’s definitely not going away.

Carlos Salvado: Absolutely. And regional cases like what’s happening in Japan with anime and manga payment processors is a preview of how these tensions may play out globally.

But again: know your audience. Tailor your offering. Use the data.

Knowing your players: motivation, CRM, and evolving audiences

Brendan Fraher: Right—and that’s why we built audience insights tools. Motivators help guide UA and creatives. But audiences evolve constantly, and trends shift. That’s hard for developers to keep up with.

Carlos Salvado: It is. And only now is the mobile industry catching up to other industries in how they engage with customers.

CRM isn’t just a marketing tool. It’s central intelligence.

It helps you talk to players, understand what resonates, and build trust—inviting them into early access, asking for feedback, and turning them into long-term fans.

This emotional connection is the foundation of personalised service.

Brendan Fraher: And it’s fascinating that definitions like “gamer” have changed so much. The biggest audience in gaming is casual mobile players—female, 35+.

Meanwhile, core genres skew male, 25–45.

User bases are diverse and growing.

Carlos Salvado: Exactly. And launching a game is not the end—it’s when the real work begins. Studios must constantly engage, iterate, and understand what motivates their audience.

AI’s expanding role in creatives, UA, and LiveOps

Brendan Fraher: And that gets us into UA and creatives. We now have AI-generated creatives… and AI-assisted UA. How do you view this shift?

Carlos Salvado: AI helps with faster iterations. More creatives. Faster testing.

But how it impacts UA costs is still unclear.

In LiveOps, AI can support content generation, but humans must still review everything to ensure quality and fit. Today, the most impactful work is still human creativity—AI just removes grunt work.

Brendan Fraher: Exactly. Especially for cross-platform HD games where assets are expensive. AI could be a massive force multiplier. Iteration speed matters.

Carlos Salvado: Yes. Faster iteration leads to better launches and more effective improvements. But again, you must understand your audience to know what to aim for.

Social currency, sharing, and cross-platform player behavior

Brendan Fraher: And then there’s another angle—player expression and social currency.

We’ve seen huge customization demand in mid-core and competitive games.

And casual genres have unexpected competitive behaviours too.

Carlos Salvado: It’s human nature. People want to show their achievements.

Steam profiles, screenshots, hours played—this is the new social currency.

Players want cross-platform visibility, ways to show off characters, mods, or moments in-game.

Hardware makers literally added “Share” buttons to controllers because this matters.

Brendan Fraher: Absolutely. And in an AI-driven world, authentic experiences—moments worth sharing—matter even more.

LiveOps, regulation, and the complexity of modern game development

Carlos Salvado: Almost every aspect of game development is now being regulated:

Digital fairness acts, monetization transparency, influencer marketing, and more.

Companies can’t just throw money at problems. They need to understand how platforms intersect—business, UA, product, LiveOps.

Influencer marketing is powerful, but attribution is weak. We still can’t fully track the user journey from influencer content to installs. This gap exists across gaming, movies, retail—every digital industry.

Brendan Fraher: Yes—and many companies try to “shout louder” instead of listening more. Surveys alone aren’t enough. Real audience understanding requires behavioural data, motivators, and analysis.

The power of audience insights, regional nuance, and IP activation

Carlos Salvado: Start with demographics and regions. Culture can kill a business if you ignore it.

Then layer on behaviours:

Are they collectors? Competitors? Completionists? Decorators?

Shape your LiveOps, economy, and features around that.

Studios must also recognize limits—audiences can only be convinced so many times. So LiveOps teams need constant feedback loops. Talk to your best players. Watch social media.

GameRefinery is an excellent starting point, but always verify insights across your own data and channels.

Brendan Fraher: And we can’t forget IPs and regional resonance.

Carlos Salvado: Absolutely. Price localization matters.

Cross-media activation—TV series, films—can skyrocket interest.

Fallout, Cyberpunk, Arcane—perfect examples.

Hybridization isn’t just mixing genres; it’s blending pop culture with game design.

When you combine audience understanding with the right cultural trigger, the results can be explosive.

Brendan Fraher: And that’s exactly why motivators and audience insights matter so much. Best-of-breed features work across genres if you understand why.

Closing thoughts and where to learn more

Brendan Fraher: I know we’re running out of time. There are always more questions than answers. Carlos, where can people reach you?

Carlos Salvado: LinkedIn is the best place. If you have challenges in market insights, advertising, product management—anything you want to brainstorm—feel free to reach out.

Brendan Fraher: Fantastic. You’ve worked across so many teams and disciplines, tying everything together—the ultimate cat herder.

And I love your advice: Shout less, listen more.

Carlos Salvado: Thank you for the invite. Always happy to help.

Brendan Fraher: Awesome. Thank you so much. Bye, folks.

Jon Jordan: Great work. Thanks to Brendan and Carlos for their insight. Don’t forget, every episode we are talking to the people who are taking the mobile games industry forward to new and exciting places. So, don’t miss out. Do subscribe, and we’ll see you next time.