In this episode, Soren interviews Owen Mahoney, who served first as the CFO and then as the CEO of Nexon. They discuss what the transition to free-to-play meant for game design, how to make sure your company has the right type of shareholders, and how close Nexon came to buying Riot. This episode was recorded on March 11, 2026, and was engineered by Michael Hermes.
Games discussed: Pong, Spacewar, Choplifter, RobotWar, QuizQuiz, MapleStory, KartRider, Stellaris, League of Legends, Minecraft, ARC Raiders, Lethal Company
https://www.idlethumbs.net/designernotes/episodes/owen-mahoney
I appreciate the focus on how free-to-play shifted design thinking. The shareholder angle is often overlooked—companies chasing the wrong investors can end up chasing the wrong metrics. Also curious how close the Riot acquisition really was.