Journal

Creating "(Shareable) Moments of Joy": The New Formula to Viral and Socially Engaging Game Design? 🎮✨ In future's gaming landscape, simply delivering a high-quality game isn't always enough. With players craving more shareable, social experiences, developers need to consider how to foster “moments of joy”—gameplay that not only excites players but also encourages them to share, stream, and engage in a more community-driven way.Here’s where emergent gameplay and social mechanics come into play:📸 Encourage Shareable Moments:Players love to showcase unique, fun, or funny moments, especially in games that emphasize co-op or PvP elements. Designing gameplay that lends itself to unexpected, high-stakes, or humorous scenarios can help spark these moments. Imagine scenarios where players can collaborate or compete in ways that lead to share-worthy outcomes, encouraging organic social sharing.🤝 Create Cooperative and Social Experiences:Rather than pushing individual achievements, fostering co-op gameplay […]

Founder: "Everyone is like family here, Alexis"Founder: "Ok, actually we're struggling" CEOs should never confuse friendship with leadership.Period.I have managed 100s of A-players.Over the last 20 years..I see too many CEOs who hire fast.Build "fun" cultures, fully remote, casual Fridays.They run up a toxic "we're all friends" environment.Then mediocrity sets in.This is when they reach out to me.Team management should be done professionally.Instead of prioritizing being liked.↳ Prioritize building high-performing teams.With no structure, you have no excellence.↳ Dedicate 1 day a week to performance reviews.Need to turn things around in less than 3 months?↳ Then 2-3 days of active management.Building A-teams in 2024 doesn't have to be scary.It's not popular work, but it is crucial.If you avoid confrontation.If you hate setting boundaries.If you prefer being "the cool boss".Remember the CEO doesn't have to do it alone.Instead:a) Hire a full-time HR […]

Are you interested in game development?From where should you start? 🤔 I've got a quirky fix for this!Ever tried picking a game profession...by playing a game?You’re just a few easy questions away.Warning: May contain humor, sarcasm, cynicism and typos.Funny enough, I followed the path of 'Do you like to be alone'.Ended up as a Voice Actor. 🤷‍♂️I mean, come on, really? 😂So, let's flip the script.What's your profession?Let's game-ify this choice!

1 tip I learned running a 100+ gaming studio: Not having a roadmap causes immense pain.There’s nothing worse than not being able to fix yourmonthly run-rate, set a deadline and outline your milestones to run your business.Roadmaps are the heart and soul of it all.Without them you end up stuck and directionless.Without deadlines you stagnate. Without milestones you remain at square one.Imagine being able to:- Have a clear roadmap- Have the ability to hire on demand- Have the budget to move the business forwardHow much more would your business grow?For those who have a roadmap.Revisit it.Monthly.Think twice or pay the price.How often do you revisit your roadmap?

I see great studios burn from poor budgeting. Here's the 40-30-20-10 Rule:1/ Development (40%)2/ Marketing (30%)3/ Operations (20%)4/ Emergency Buffer (10%)The catch?This budget works IF you already have money.In reality, every business is different.And your budget should be too.The key?The review.As MD at Blizzard I had weekly budget meetings.Analyzing spend vs. performance.Moving money where data showed it worked best.Otherwise, you risk overfunding low-priority projects.1 practical step:Do you have a 𝗕𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸?15 minutes → Track actual vs. planned spend ↳ Adjust next week/month's allocationA financial pulse check.After managing $100M+ budgets, I can tell you:in 1 week, EVERYTHING can change.To survive the fire as a studio.Small regular adjustments.Don't get burnt!----I am doing a live podcast on this topic soon.Wednesday 6th November here on LinkedInThere will be an opportunity for Q&AWill be a pleasure to see you there.🗓️ Link to signup here: […]