What does it take to turn a gaming hobby into a six-figure salary? In this episode, Greg sits down with Sandi, a stay-at-home dad who taught himself to create mods for ARK: Survival Ascended and ended up building a UGC empire with over 80 million downloads. From his first furniture mod made for his daughter to launching blockbuster premium content, Sandi shares his incredible journey and the community-driven strategies that fueled his success.

We're also joined by Shahar Sorek, CMO of Overwolf, the platform at the heart of the in-game creator economy. Shahar breaks down why UGC is no longer optional for game studios, how Overwolf provides a "white glove" service to de-risk the process for developers, and why creators like Sandi represent the future of player engagement and retention. This is a must-listen for any developer, publisher, or community manager looking to understand the power of community-led growth.

Timestamps:

• (01:47) Sandi's Origin Story: From marketing professional to stay-at-home dad and accidental modder.
• (09:03) The Creator Economy: Shahar explains Overwolf's mission to turn in-game creation into a legitimate profession.
• (17:13) Building in Public: How Sandi uses Discord, X, and community feedback to decide what to build next.
• (22:50) The Tools of the Trade: Sandi and Shahar discuss the essential tools for a UGC creator, from Unreal Engine to analytics.
• (30:10) Getting Started: Actionable advice from both Sandi and Shahar for anyone who wants to start creating UGC.

Guest Bios:

• Sandi Fais a self-taught, professional mod creator for games like ARK: Survival Ascended and Hogwarts Legacy. He is one of the top creators on the CurseForge platform, with his mods collectively reaching over 80 million downloads. You can find his work on CurseForge and connect with him on X (formerly Twitter) .
• Shahar Sorek is the Chief Marketing Officer at Overwolf, the all-in-one platform that enables creators to build, distribute, and monetize in-game apps and mods. He is focused on empowering the in-game creator economy and fostering the relationship between studios, creators, and gamers. Connect with him on LinkedIn.

Key Topics:

• User-Generated Content (UGC) Monetization
• In-Game Creator Economy
• Community Building & Engagement
• Player Retention Strategies
• LiveOps and Content Pipelining
• Game Modding and Development
• Indie Game Discoverability
• The Future of Game Publishing

Relevant Links:

• Overwolf
• CurseForge
• ARK:
• Unreal Engine
• Tebex

Credits:

Hosted by Greg Posner, founder of Player Driven — a podcast about the business of games and how smart people scale them.