Building Better Games

E120: The Hidden Pattern Behind 3 AAA Studio Collapses


Listen Later

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

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Building Better GamesBy Benjamin Carcich

  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5

5

10 ratings


More shows like Building Better Games

View all
Exchanges by Goldman Sachs

Exchanges

977 Listeners

The a16z Show by Andreessen Horowitz

The a16z Show

1,105 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

113,121 Listeners

Deconstructor of Fun by Deconstructor of Fun

Deconstructor of Fun

102 Listeners

Game Maker's Notebook by Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences

Game Maker's Notebook

193 Listeners

Game Dev Advice: The Game Developer's Podcast by The HP Video Game Podcast Network - John JP Podlasek

Game Dev Advice: The Game Developer's Podcast

50 Listeners

The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway by Vox Media Podcast Network

The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway

5,610 Listeners

All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg by All-In Podcast, LLC

All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg

10,254 Listeners

Triple Click by Maximum Fun

Triple Click

1,164 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

16,525 Listeners

The Four Horsemen by Last Free Nation

The Four Horsemen

19 Listeners

Risky Business with Nate Silver and Maria Konnikova by Pushkin Industries

Risky Business with Nate Silver and Maria Konnikova

263 Listeners