The Secret to Building Forever Franchises: Owen Mahoney

Secret Stash

Gaming isn’t about blockbuster budgets or flashy graphics - it’s about fun. And somewhere along the way, we’ve forgotten that. In this episode of Secret Stash, hosts Justin Kan and Archie Stonehill sit down with former Nexon CEO Owen Mahoney to unpack what’s gone sideways in the gaming industry and how to fix it. Here’s what you’ll hear: ⭐ How game development costs are driving up licensing deals ⭐ Why fun is losing out to graphics fidelity in a battle no one asked for ⭐ The ultimate debate between distribution vs. product ⭐ Owen’s two favorite M&A deals at EA (and the one mistake everyone should avoid) ⭐ How to build forever franchises instead of wannabe blockbusters Owen calls it like he sees it, and the result is a refreshingly honest take on what gaming can and should be. Read the highlights here: https://dev.stash.gg/blog/secret-stash-ep-7-owen-mahoney 0:00 - Intro 1:41 - Getting into gaming 3:14 - What EA did right 7:30 - Licensing and development costs 13:08 - Poor man’s Hollywood 20:15 - Distribution vs product 25:05 - Nexon is misunderstood 32:08 - EA’s 2 best M&A deals 37:41 - The biggest M&A mistake 41:31 - Forever franchises