The Attention Drain (Ep. 28)
From Gamecraft by Mitch Lasky / Blake Robbins
April 22, 2026 · 1h 8m · Season 4 · Episode 3
About this episode
Blake and Mitch explore how the games business is losing attention to non-game interactive applications and the implications of this shift.
Blake and Mitch discuss the thesis that the games business is losing share of attention to non-game interactive applications. They discuss whether there is actually a defined market for interactive entertainment, and whether applications like TikTok should be considered "interactive." They discuss and try to quantify the impact of game-like retention and engagement mechanics being adopted by such disparate applications as Snap, Duolingo, Strava, Fan Duel, Polymarket, Tinder, and OnlyFans. They conclude that it is not only a problem of "share of day" -- the hours that are being devoted to these addictive, interactive apps -- but also "share of wallet" -- the disposable income they are harvesting. They discuss the structural change that they noticed coming out of the pandemic: that children in the pre-teen and teenage cohorts sought a different kind of pleasure in gaming during lockdown -- the pleasure of sociality . Mitch and Blake both feel that this change is endemic, and as this cohort has now aged into the key 18-34 demographic, that change is being reflected in gamer taste. They riff on some of the games and games-adjacent companies that anticipated or reacted quickly to this…
People in this episode
Hosts: Blake, Mitch
Topics covered
- attention economy
- interactive entertainment
- gaming trends
- social competition
- post-pandemic changes
Keywords
- games business
- interactive applications
- engagement mechanics
- sociality in gaming
- 18-34 demographic
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: TikTok, Snap, Duolingo, Strava, Fan Duel, Polymarket, Tinder, OnlyFans
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