If you're a leader in game dev who feels stuck, able to spot problems but struggling to make a real difference, there is a path forward that levels up your leadership and accelerates your team, game, and career. Sign up here to learn more: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6

If you're making progress but losing the goal, you aren't leading. You're optimizing for stagnation.

In this episode, Ben deconstructs the often-confused synonyms of authority in the games industry. Drawing from a GDC talk he was a part of, he explores why game development is currently "over-managed" and under-led. He provides a clear framework for deconflicting the roles of Leader, Manager, and Boss, while introducing five specific "stances" that allow you to develop your team's capacity and navigate the ever-shifting landscape of player preferences and market trends.

What You'll Learn In This Episode:

• Leader vs Manager vs Boss: change driver, system optimizer, org advocate
• Why game dev's "management bias" leads to stagnation
• The 5 development stances: Directing, Teaching, Advising, Mentoring, Coaching
• How to choose the right stance based on urgency vs growth
• Why professional coaching is an underused (and powerful) tool

If you're a leader in game dev who feels like you're constantly "chopping down trees" only to realize you might be in the wrong forest, this episode is for you.

Connect with us:

🔗Ben's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-carcich/

🔗BBG's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/building-better-games/

🔗Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildingbettergames/#

🔗Website: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg

🔗YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZpMT-dUwQR-R4Mb4uub6Sw

If you want me to help producers or studios build better games through effective systems and leadership, you can reach me at: [email protected]

#GameDevLeadership #GameDesignManagement #BuildingBetterGames #StudioCulture #LeadershipDevelopment

If you're a leader in game dev who feels stuck, able to spot problems but struggling to make a real difference, there is a path forward that levels up your leadership and accelerates your team, game, and career. Sign up here to learn more: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6

Is Game Design a Science or Just "Making an Omelet"?

Everyone has a "great idea" for a game, but having an idea is a far cry from the professional discipline of game design. In this episode, Ben sits down with veteran designer Alexander Brazie (World of Warcraft, League of Legends) to explore why being a designer is less about having all the answers and more about the rigorous process of turning ambiguity into action.

We dive into how leaders can diagnose a struggling design process and some helpful analogies that help teams find the deepest fun without drowning in limited resources.

What You'll Learn In This Episode:

• The difference between a real designer and a person with gameplay opinions
• Why great designers ask better questions instead of forcing solutions
• How to apply a Player-Centric Framework to every system
• How to tell if a designer is stuck or just in the creative process
• How to support a designer's mental health beyond work

Learn more & connect with our guest:

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-brazie/

🔗 Mastering Game Mechanics Bootcamp: https://gamedesignskills.com/courses/mechanics-bootcamp-scale-depth-alexander-brazie/

🔗 Wowpedia: https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Alexander_Brazie

🔗 Game Design Skills: https://gamedesignskills.com/author/alexander-brazie/

🔗 Moby Games: https://www.mobygames.com/person/257453/alexander-brazie/

Connect with us:

🔗Ben's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-carcich/

🔗BBG's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/building-better-games/

🔗Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildingbettergames/#

🔗Website: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg

🔗YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZpMT-dUwQR-R4Mb4uub6Sw

If you want me to help producers or studios build better games through effective systems and leadership, you can reach me at: [email protected]

#GameDevLeadership #GameDesignSkills #AIinGames #StudioManagement #BuildingBetterGames

If you're a leader in game dev who feels stuck, able to spot problems but struggling to make a real difference, there is a path forward that levels up your leadership and accelerates your team, game, and career. Sign up here to learn more: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6

Is your "AI First" strategy actually a house of cards waiting to collapse?

While CEOs are busy pumping the hype train, the practical reality of LLMs is looking a lot less rosy. In this episode, Ben explores why the current AI trajectory might be a "subprime crisis" in the making. We move past the Skynet fantasies to look at the four existential and human threats that LLMs pose to the games industry, from the "logarithmic curve of effectiveness" to the dangerous atrophy of our own ability to think deeply.

What You'll Learn In This Episode:

• What the "subprime AI crisis" is and why the current investment stack might be unsustainable.
• Why relying on "generative slop" leads to a generational decline in the value of information.
• How to identify when AI is capitalizing on your own cognitive biases and "sycophantic" needs for ego validation.
• How to balance using AI as a force-multiplier without atrophying the "slow thinking" required for high-level game production.

Reference Links:

🔗 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aec8352

🔗 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11324722-the-righteous-mind

🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p22QeLNHvlc

🔗 https://www.wheresyoured.at/the-subprime-ai-crisis-is-here/

🔗 https://metr.org/blog/2025-07-10-early-2025-ai-experienced-os-dev-study/

🔗 https://medium.com/@webteam.ybsvp/when-ai-gets-it-wrong-the-deloitte-scandal-and-the-question-of-reliability-86940bc9017a

🔗 https://tech.yahoo.com/ai/articles/mit-created-duplicate-ai-workers-185644013.html

🔗 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2604.01363

🔗 https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/06/google-microsoft-meta-amazon-ai-cash.html

🔗 https://www.fastcompany.com/91417492/deloitte-ai-report-australian-government

🔗 https://techcrunch.com/2024/07/24/model-collapse-scientists-warn-against-letting-ai-eat-its-own-tail/

🔗 https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Fast-Slow-Daniel-Kahneman/dp/0374533555

🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDL3Ch7Nz8c

Connect with us:

🔗Ben's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-carcich/

🔗BBG's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/building-better-games/

🔗Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildingbettergames/#

🔗Website: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg

🔗YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZpMT-dUwQR-R4Mb4uub6Sw

If you want me to help producers or studios build better games through effective systems and leadership, you can reach me at: [email protected]

#GameDev #ArtificialIntelligence #StudioLeadership #TechBubble #BuildingBetterGames

If you're a leader in game dev who feels stuck, able to spot problems but struggling to make a real difference, there is a path forward that levels up your leadership and accelerates your team, game, and career. Sign up here to learn more: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6

Is your job being replaced by an LLM, or are you just doing the wrong job?

The claim has been made that AI can handle 85% of management tasks. For game producers, this sounds like a death knell, but only if you believe your value lies in shuffling Jira tickets and taking meeting notes.

In this episode, we break down the fundamental misunderstanding of "productivity" in game dev. We explore why LLMs are masters of the "passing high school grade" and why the most vital, indirect value a producer provides remains entirely out of reach for even the most sophisticated AI.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

• Why "being busy" can actually hurt your career
• How to find the invisible value you uniquely bring
• The risk of using AI without real expertise
• Why producers must evolve beyond task tracking

Connect with us:

🔗Ben's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-carcich/

🔗BBG's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/building-better-games/

🔗Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildingbettergames/#

🔗Website: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg

🔗YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZpMT-dUwQR-R4Mb4uub6Sw

If you want me to help producers or studios build better games through effective systems and leadership, you can reach me at: [email protected]

#GameProduction #GameDevAI #ProjectManagement #StudioLeadership #BuildingBetterGames

If you're a leader in game dev who feels stuck, able to spot problems but struggling to make a real difference, there is a path forward that levels up your leadership and accelerates your team, game, and career. Sign up here to learn more: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6

Is your corporate strategy killing your "Golden Goose"?

It's the nightmare scenario for every creative leader: You catch the wave, your game is a runaway success, and then—the "adults" enter the room.

In this episode, we react to Jeff Kaplan's candid interview with Lex Fridman, where he reveals the internal fractures that derailed Overwatch, from "miscommunication by PowerPoint" to the soul-crushing moment a CFO leveraged a thousand jobs against a revenue target.

What you will learn in this episode:

• Why putting arbitrary dates in an executive deck hurts you
• How a money-focused lens creates efficient organizations that forget the player
• The danger of "bolting on" a league for monetization
• Why one bad decision by a senior executive can lose you twenty years of top-tier talent.
• Why leaning into live events and player happiness is often a better ROI than rushing a sequel

You may listen to the full audio podcast:

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/493-jeff-kaplan-world-of-warcraft-overwatch-blizzard/id1434243584?i=1000754728791

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/44oTEHDZdB7ITCB5dx88mB?si=6d45a2506a794ee8

Lex Fridman's YouTube Channels:

🔗 @lexfridman

🔗 @LexClips

Original Video: https://youtu.be/5imgkwupzAQ?si=cR8_WMo3eNmmks7d

Full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9rF1CSSh-w

If you are a creative leader tired of "walking towards the abyss," a developer who feels their autonomy is being eroded by spreadsheets, or anyone who wants to understand why the most successful games in the world can still fall apart from the inside, this episode is for you.

Connect with us:

🔗Ben's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-carcich/

🔗BBG's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/building-better-games/

🔗Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildingbettergames/#

🔗Website: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg

🔗YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZpMT-dUwQR-R4Mb4uub6Sw

If you want me to help producers or studios build better games through effective systems and leadership, you can reach me at: [email protected]

#GameDevLeadership #Overwatch2 #JeffKaplan #GamingIndustry #CreativeAutonomy #BuildingBetterGames

If you're a leader in game dev who feels stuck, able to spot problems but struggling to make a real difference, there is a path forward that levels up your leadership and accelerates your team, game, and career. Sign up here to learn more: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6

Is your team busy working, or are they just walking slowly toward the abyss?

It's a nightmare scenario: you're surrounded by world-class talent and burning through a budget in the 10s of millions, yet the game feels further away from shipping than ever . In this episode, Ben reacts to Lex Fridman's interview with Jeff Kaplan (former Overwatch Director) as they break down the "multifaceted failure" of Blizzard's Project Titan . We dive deep into the "hubris" that kills AAA projects, why "anticipatory hiring" is a trap, and the brutal courage it takes to tell your CEO to shut a project down.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why having a "cool idea" is actually waste
• How the "we can do no wrong" mentality after a hit like World of Warcraft leads to multifaceted failure
• Why overhiring creates "busy work" rather than progress.
• How to recognize when to inspire your team to think bigger and when to pull them back to focus on shipping
• Why every technical or art failure is, at its root, a failure of leadership

If you're a game developer who has ever felt the soul-crushing weight of "anticipatory hiring" and busy work, or a leader of a game development company who needs the courage to admit when a project has become a "money hole" before it's too late, this episode is for you.

You may listen to the full audio podcast:

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/493-jeff-kaplan-world-of-warcraft-overwatch-blizzard/id1434243584?i=1000754728791

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/44oTEHDZdB7ITCB5dx88mB?si=6d45a2506a794ee8

Lex Fridman's YouTube Channels:

🔗 @lexfridman

🔗 @LexClips

Original Video Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVaxD8veRIg

Full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9rF1CSSh-w

Connect with us:

🔗Ben's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-carcich/

🔗BBG's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/building-better-games/

🔗Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildingbettergames/#

🔗Website: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg

🔗YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZpMT-dUwQR-R4Mb4uub6Sw

If you want me to help producers or studios build better games through effective systems and leadership, you can reach me at: [email protected]

#GameDev #ProjectTitan #Overwatch #GameLeadership #BuildingBetterGames

If you're a leader in game dev who feels stuck, able to spot problems but struggling to make a real difference, there is a path forward that levels up your leadership and accelerates your team, game, and career. Sign up here to learn more: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6

Are we chasing unicorns into a graveyard, or is the "Black Hole" game the only way to survive 2026?

The math of game development is no longer adding up. As budgets soar into the hundreds of millions, the traditional "hit-driven" model is reaching a breaking point, forcing studios to choose between low-risk IP or the near-impossible gamble of creating the next "forever game."

In this episode, Ben sits down with Andrew Brownell, a veteran Game Director at Netflix with a pedigree spanning Blizzard's Warcraft III, Riot's League of Legends, and massive mobile strategy titles. Andrew pulls back the curtain on the "bleak" reality of modern development costs, the rise of hyper-efficient global competition, and how his own children's gaming habits have completely upended his philosophy on game design.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

• Why a 4x return on a $200M blockbuster is now considered a dangerous gamble.
• How titles like Fortnite and Roblox act as "attention monopolies" that leave only 15% of the market for everyone else.
• Why it's becoming increasingly difficult to justify US-based development costs against global talent pools.
• How the next generation of gamers—who have never known boredom—is forcing a total rethink of game mastery and strategy.
• The reason we are seeing a flood of Marvel and Star Wars games, and why even "hits" like Hogwarts Legacy are changing the investment landscape .

Learn More About Our Guest:

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ahbrownell/

🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ahbrownell/

🔗 Twitter: https://x.com/ahbrownell

🔗 ContactOut: https://contactout.com/Andrew-Brownell-3180561

🔗 Netflix LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/netflix/

🔗 Netflix Games YouTube: @NetflixGames

Notable game studios our guest has worked with:

🔗 @riotgames

🔗 @Blizzard

Connect with us:

🔗Ben's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-carcich/

🔗BBG's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/building-better-games/

🔗Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildingbettergames/#

🔗Website: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg

🔗YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZpMT-dUwQR-R4Mb4uub6Sw

If you want me to help producers or studios build better games through effective systems and leadership, you can reach me at: [email protected]

#GameDev #GamingIndustry #LiveService #IndieDev #VideoGameBusiness

If you're a leader in game dev who feels stuck, able to spot problems but struggling to make a real difference, there is a path forward that levels up your leadership and accelerates your team, game, and career. Sign up here to learn more: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6

What is the hidden pattern behind why world-class AAA studios, with hundreds of millions in budget, suddenly collapse?

In the last 12 months, the industry has watched high-profile projects from Mind's Eye, Ashes of Creation, and High Garden lead to layoffs, shutdowns, and lawsuits. While many blame "the market" or "toxic leadership," the reality is often found in five specific failure patterns that haunt studios of every size. In this episode, we strip away the headlines to look at the structural fragility that kills games and provide five essential questions every leader must ask to keep their project grounded in reality.

What You Will Learn in This Episode:

• Why projecting confidence can actually blind you to a project's impending failure
• How to move past "theater" playtesting and get real signals from players
• What game visions should do for your organization
• Why treating launch as the finish line instead of a milestone is a $200 million mistake
• How to empower your team to prove you wrong before the market does

If you're a leader in game dev who's ever protected the plan instead of facing reality, or felt pressure to project certainty when the game wasn't coming together, this episode is for you.

Connect with us:

🔗Ben's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-carcich/

🔗BBG's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/building-better-games/

🔗Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildingbettergames/#

🔗Website: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg

🔗YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZpMT-dUwQR-R4Mb4uub6Sw

If you want me to help producers or studios build better games through effective systems and leadership, you can reach me at: [email protected]

#GameDevLeadership #AAAGaming #GameIndustry #StudioManagement #BuildingBetterGames

If you're a leader in game dev who feels stuck, able to spot problems but struggling to make a real difference, there is a path forward that levels up your leadership and accelerates your team, game, and career. Sign up here to learn more: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6

If your day is nothing but back-to-back meetings, you might be busy, but are you really helping your team and game succeed. Senior leaders often grind 10–12 hour days yet still miss the most critical questions, such as: Are we building the right thing? What is the biggest risk we face?

In this episode, Ben breaks down why we treat thinking as a luxury we can't afford, and why that's exactly what's causing misalignment and waste in your studio.

What you'll learn from this episode:

• Why "fast thinking" habits are dangerous in a constantly evolving environment like game dev.
• The difference between "scraps of thinking" and structured, effortful "slow thinking".
• Three practical ways to build thinking back into your week.
• A 60-minute challenge to help you think about what matters instead of rushing into another one on one

If you're a senior leader buried in meetings, stuck in reaction mode, and worried your team is moving fast in the wrong direction, this episode is for you.

Connect with us:

🔗Ben's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-carcich/

🔗BBG's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/building-better-games/

🔗Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildingbettergames/#

🔗Website: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg

🔗YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZpMT-dUwQR-R4Mb4uub6Sw

If you want me to help producers or studios build better games through effective systems and leadership, you can reach me at: [email protected]

#GameDevLeadership #GameProduction #StudioManagement #ThinkingFastAndSlow #BuildingBetterGames

If you're a leader in game dev who feels stuck, able to spot problems but struggling to make a real difference, there is a path forward that levels up your leadership and accelerates your team, game, and career. Sign up here to learn more: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6

Is your "culture fit" interview actually just a trap for hiring clones?

We tackle the paradox of culture in game development. While many studios are abandoning "culture fit" to avoid echo chambers and bias, ignoring it entirely can lead to toxic hires that destroy trust and decision-making.

Ben breaks down the two distinct types of culture—Taste vs. Operating System—so you can hire for high-stakes collaboration without sacrificing diversity of thought.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why hiring "clones" feels good short-term, but creates blind spots that stall real problem-solving
• How to separate Taste Culture (optional vibes) from Operating System Culture (non-negotiables that ship work)
• How different decision-making and feedback models work, and how to choose the right one for your studio

If you're a lead or founder torn between team diversity and everyone "just getting it," this episode gives you a clear framework to balance both—protecting your team's operating system without creating an echo chamber.

Connect with us:

🔗Ben's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-carcich/

🔗BBG's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/building-better-games/

🔗Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildingbettergames/#

🔗Website: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg

🔗YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZpMT-dUwQR-R4Mb4uub6Sw

If you want me to help producers or studios build better games through effective systems and leadership, you can reach me at: [email protected]

#GameDevLeadership #StudioCulture #GameIndustryHiring #TeamBuilding #BuildingBetterGames