Player Driven

In this episode, Greg and Colan break down the surprising success of Hytale after its departure from Riot Games, the strategic restructuring at Ubisoft, and the evolving multi-platform future of Xbox. Colan provides a deep-dive "dissertation" on the three eras of Riot Games publishing and explains why the studio may be "trapped by its own success".

• The Buyback: After Riot Games effectively shuttered the project, the original founders bought back the rights and launched into Early Access.
• Market Dominance: Within its first weeks, Hytale ranked #4 in search and #9 on Twitch, commanding roughly 2.5% of the total gaming market.
• The China Factor: Colan highlights the massive "opportunity cost" for Riot/Tencent, noting that Hytale could have been a native competitor to Minecraft in a Chinese market with over 700 million accounts.

• The Golden Era (2019-2020): Riot enjoyed a historic run with "heaters" like Valorant, Teamfight Tactics, and Legends of Runeterra.
• The "Trapped" Success: Colan argues that Riot is now bloated by the weight of its own success; the immense resources required to maintain massive live-service hits prevents them from taking bold risks on new IP.
• Riot Forge Lessons: Why Riot’s attempt to release smaller "love letters" to the community failed to act as a funnel for new players.

• Cancellations & Restructuring: Ubisoft has canceled six games, including the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake, while mandating a 5-day return-to-office policy.
• The Global Shift: An analysis of why game development is shifting from expensive hubs like California to subsidized regions like Riyadh.

• Highguard’s Attention Deficit: Despite viral memes, the game lacks measurable player attention, making it a high-risk launch in a genre dominated by Apex and Overwatch.
• The Case for Marathon: Colan remains "bullish" on Bungie’s Marathon, predicting it will successfully claim a "bronze medal" spot in the extraction shooter hierarchy.

• Colan’s Newsletter: Subscribe to "Patch Notes" on Substack or LinkedIn for the full dissertation on Riot's publishing history.
• Player Driven Workshop: Sign up for next week’s player experience session at PlayerDriven.io.
• DICE Summit 2026: Catch Greg and Colan live in Las Vegas next month.

Is the gaming industry entering a "negative flywheel"? This week, we dive into the staggering reports of Black Ops 6 underperforming and what it means for the future of Microsoft Gaming and potential layoffs. We also tackle Jeff Bezos’ controversial take on the death of the PC and why "anti-appliance" gaming is the future—even if latency remains our biggest enemy. Plus, we explore the "Whales of Gaming": why middle-aged millennials just dropped $650 on Pokemon Legos and how nostalgia is driving a new premium tier in the industry.

Join the Community: https://discord.gg/ycdYB3mUUm

• The Microsoft Dilemma: If the biggest game of the year reportedly loses $300M, how does the industry pivot to save costs without a "tailspin" of layoffs?
• The Cloud vs. The Box: Why Jeff Bezos thinks your local PC is going away, and the "speed of light" problem holding back cloud gaming for competitive players.
• Nostalgia as a Business Model: How Pokemon and Lego are "teaming up" to capture the high-disposable income of adult collectors while the younger generation sticks to free-to-play.
• Crypto Farmers' Last Laugh: Why the hardware once used for mining is now the most valuable asset in the AI revolution.

• 00:00 – Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and the $300M Microsoft "Loss"
• 02:55 – Jeff Bezos vs. PC Gamers: Is the hardware era ending?
• 04:40 – The Latency Problem: Why cloud gaming can't beat the speed of light
• 08:20 – The $1,000 Gaming Machine: Why hardware costs are skyrocketing
• 11:30 – Lego Pokemon & The "Whale" Audience: Why we can't let go of childhood
• 18:30 – The Five-Headed Dragon: How Pokemon conquered every medium
• 24:30 – Personal Faves: Our "Mount Rushmore" of Pokemon

• Greg Posner: Playerdriven.io
• Colan Neese: SVP of Gaming at Screen Engine ASI. Find him on LinkedIn or subscribe to his newsletter, Patch Notes, on Substack.
• Join the Community: https://discord.gg/ycdYB3mUUm

In this episode of Player Driven, Greg Posner sits down with Laura Norwicke Hall, Senior Player Support Specialist at Schell Games, to unpack what modern player experience really looks like when games scale.

Laura shares her unconventional journey from managing communications at a zoo to building player support and trust & safety systems for games like Among Us 3D and I Expect You to Die. Along the way, she breaks down how studios should think about moderation, community feedback, AI, and player trust not as reactive systems, but as core product infrastructure.

This is a practical, behind-the-scenes conversation for anyone building or operating live games, platforms, or digital communities.

Laura explains why soft skills, empathy, and cross-team communication often matter more than industry-specific experience, and how a growth mindset enabled her transition into game development.

Player support isn’t just about closing tickets. Laura walks through how player feedback becomes:

• Early bug detection
• LiveOps prioritization
• Internal advocacy for players
  And why every report deserves due diligence until proven otherwise.

The conversation dives deep into:

• Why Schell Games implemented voice moderation post-launch
• How AI-powered tools reduced toxicity by over 60%
• Why bans alone weren’t enough and how muting changed player sentiment
• The challenge of moderating reclaimed language and contextual speech

Laura shares lessons learned from player backlash around moderation in private spaces and how Schell Games introduced opt-in unmoderated private lobbies with clear guardrails for safety and youth accounts.

Rather than chasing hype, Laura talks about using AI responsibly to:

• Learn faster
• Validate sources
• Improve response quality in player support
  While still maintaining human judgment and nuance.

The episode closes with a forward-looking discussion on:

• Where AI fits into player experience next
• How studios should think about trust, safety, and community long-term
• Why listening systems will matter more than moderation systems alone

• Schell Games: https://www.schellgames.com
• Follow Player Driven for more conversations on the business of games, community, and player experience

What does it actually take to build a media and events business that survives multiple platform shifts, economic cycles, and industry hype waves?

In this episode of Player Driven, Greg sits down with Chris James, CEO of Steel Media and the force behind Pocket Gamer and Pocket Gamer Connects, to break down two decades of hard-earned lessons at the intersection of games, media, business, and live events.

Chris shares how Steel Media evolved from traditional games journalism into a global conference platform, why focus beats scale early, and why in-person connections still matter in a Zoom-first world. This conversation is packed with practical insights for founders, operators, and anyone building a long-term business in games or tech.

Whether you are running a studio, launching a startup, or trying to scale a media brand, this episode cuts through hype and gets real about what actually works.

• Building a focused media business instead of trying to do everything
• The hardest moments of running a company and knowing when to cut losses
• Why live events still drive trust and real business outcomes
• Hiring decisions that unlock the next stage of growth
• The long-term outlook for games despite short-term industry negativity

1) Focus beats ambition early
Trying to be everything to everyone kills momentum. Sustainable growth starts with doing one or two things exceptionally well.
⏱️ 00:00 – 02:45

2) Knowing when to shut things down matters
Sunk cost fallacy is real. Closing projects, even good ones, is often the most responsible leadership decision.
⏱️ 02:55 – 05:15

3) The games industry is bigger than the doom narrative
Despite layoffs and turbulence, gaming continues to grow as both a business and a creative medium.
⏱️ 06:30 – 08:40

4) In-person events still create trust faster than digital
Meetings, shared spaces, and real conversations remain critical for deal-making and long-term relationships.
⏱️ 11:00 – 15:30

5) Hiring should remove bottlenecks, not add comfort
Your first hires should unlock growth by covering gaps, not cloning your own skill set.
⏱️ 35:15 – 37:45

If you care about the business of games, the future of media, and how to build something that lasts longer than the current hype cycle, this episode is for you.

🎧 Listen now and join the Player Driven community for more conversations like this.

In this special encore presentation, we revisit one of our earliest and most popular conversations. Originally recorded two years ago, Greg Posner sits down with Beau Button, the visionary CTO and Co-Founder of Atlas Reality.

Beau breaks down how Atlas Reality is merging the digital and physical worlds through a "virtual real estate" metaverse that actually drives foot traffic to brick-and-mortar retail. From the transition from enterprise software to gaming to the "guerrilla warfare" of shipping a product, Beau offers a transparent look at the highs and lows of building a location-based gaming powerhouse.

• The Bridge to Physical Retail: Discover how Atlas Reality uses a patent-pending, card-linked reward system to motivate players to shop at physical stores, turning gaming into a powerful marketing engine for retail.
• A Pragmatic View of Web3: Why Atlas Reality identifies as a Web2 game inspired by Web3 tenets. Beau explains why "ownership" and "equity" matter more than buzzwords like blockchain or NFTs.
• The Reality of Startup Growth: Beau shares the "hard way" lessons of scaling from a 12-person startup to a 30+ person company, including the transition from "just get it out the door" to sustainable engineering.
• Community as a Founder: The mental health toll and strategic value of a founder personally managing Discord and Reddit communities during the first six months of a launch.
• The Future of Work: Why low-code, no-code, and generative AI aren't threats to engineers, but tools that turn great developers into "rockstars" by handling the boilerplate work.

• Atlas Reality: atlasreality.com
• Connect with Beau Button: LinkedIn
• Connect with Greg Posner: LinkedIn

What does ambition really look like inside modern game development?

In this episode, Greg sits down with Jack Burrows to unpack how level designers think, work, and stay motivated across massive franchises and creative constraints. From AAA pipelines to indie dreams, this conversation explores how great games are built through framing, intention, and small wins, not ego or crunch culture.

Jack shares firsthand insight from working on major titles, breaking down how big ideas flow from leadership to designers, how constraints actually unlock creativity, and why great level design is more about flow and emotion than visuals alone. Along the way, they dig into ambition, burnout, discipline, and those rare “wow moments” that stick with players for life.

This episode is a must-listen for level designers, game developers, creative leaders, and anyone curious about how worlds are shaped to guide players without ever saying a word.

• How developers learn to “turn off” their designer brain and play like real players
• Why ambition can fuel creativity or become a curse if unmanaged
• The difference between freedom and guidance in level design
• How studios pass big ideas down while still empowering individual creativity
• Why constraints are essential for great design
• How small wins build long-term momentum
• Using environment, flow, and shape language to tell stories without dialogue
• What aspiring designers actually need to learn before entering the industry

00:02:40 – Willpower Is a Limited Resource
Jack explains why creative energy must be managed intentionally and how small daily wins help sustain long-term ambition.

00:14:30 – How Ambition Shows Up in Level Design
Ambition isn’t about scale. It’s about taking something familiar and flipping it just enough to reignite player curiosity.

00:21:05 – Why Constraints Create Better Designers
Great leadership gives creatives a frame, not half-finished ideas. Knowing the box is what allows designers to thrive inside it.

00:27:25 – Teaching Players Without Telling Them
Jack breaks down how games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Deus Ex: Human Revolution use visual language to guide players naturally.

00:48:00 – Letting Environments Tell the Story
Using examples like BioShock and Halo: Combat Evolved, Jack explains how emotion, scale, and atmosphere replace exposition.

🎮 Games & References Mentioned

• Metroid Prime
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
• Marvel Rivals
• Gears of War
• Skyrim
• Balatro

This conversation isn’t about tools or engines. It’s about craft.

It’s about understanding players as humans, designing with intention, and finding joy in progress rather than perfection. Whether you’re building worlds, managing teams, or just trying to stay motivated in a creative industry, this episode offers grounded insight from someone deep in the work.

In this episode, Greg sits down with Jim Welch, a composer turned developer turned studio founder whose creative journey spans Dragon Ball Z trailers to launching a party game in the spirit of Jackbox. We explore Jim’s path from audio to entrepreneurship, the founding of The Devhouse Agency, and why his team is now investing in original IP. From creative leadership to WebGL distribution strategy, this episode is packed with insights for anyone building in games, immersive tech, or creative services.

🧠 Key Takeaways:

• 01:22 – Starting with Sound: Jim shares his journey from composing for anime at Funimation to learning code through game jams.
• 07:27 – Founding Devhouse: Why starting a co-dev studio wasn’t a single moment, but a gradual realization built from side projects and passion.
• 09:32 – Hiring to Solve Pain: Early hires were engineers just like Jim, generalists who could help him scale his overloaded client work.
• 14:18 – Specialist vs. Generalist: How Devhouse learned to brand and position its skills clearly as the business matured.
• 20:30 – First Clients Came from Network: Jim leveraged relationships with former collaborators and positioned himself affordably as a solo founder.
• 26:29 – Why Build Original IP Now: Diversification and creative satisfaction. Jim didn’t want Devhouse to only live or die by service contracts.
• 29:02 – Trash Heist — Devhouse’s New Game: A phone-based party game with competitive chaos and second-screen play. Inspired by Jackbox, built to bring people together.
• 32:54 – Distribution Strategy: WebGL makes cross-platform play possible. Steam is the starting point, but smart TVs and casting are in the conversation.
• 35:33 – Balancing Client Work and Passion Projects: Dedicated internal teams and careful scoping allow for parallel development of games and service work.
• 37:16 – Founder Lessons: Sales and people management were the biggest curveballs. Learning to lead and let go is a continuous process.
• 40:10 – Where Gaming is Headed: Shrinking AAA budgets, a rise in small studio bets, and the growing importance of authentic community building.
• 45:19 – Call to Action: Trash Heist is dropping soon — Jim encourages listeners to check it out and support indie innovation.

🙌 Thanks for Listening!

Check out our Discord by Clicking Here

The discussion defines the metaverse as a vast, immersive virtual world with five core features, including highly customizable avatars and a link to the real-world economy . Au argues that to succeed, a platform must be fun immediately in a multiplayer context, operating as a "third space" where socialization is easy . He contends that Mark Zuckerberg's approach damaged the ideal of the metaverse by focusing too much on hardware and ignoring crucial lessons on community and regulation . The history of Second Life (SL) serves as a critical case study, showing that while strong community allows a platform to survive economic crises and bad onboarding, financial stability requires tightly regulated markets, learned through scandals like the implosion of virtual banks and the ban on unregulated gambling . Ultimately, the key to a thriving metaverse is prioritizing community, fostering diversity, and making creation easy .

Core Metaverse Definition

• A true metaverse is defined by Immersiveness, Customization (avatars/tools), Scale (millions of people), a Real-World Economy Link, and Off-World Tech Integration (for accessibility) .

• Avatars and Identity (05:51): Highly customizable avatars are critical for users to experiment with identity and personality . The Proteus Effect shows that an appealing avatar can boost real-world confidence.
• The "Fun First" Rule (15:40): Metaverse experiences must be fun immediately in a multiplayer setting (the Third Space concept) . This is why Roblox and Fortnite succeed.
• Meta's Misstep (10:26): Mark Zuckerberg caused "tremendous damage" to the concept by defining it around the Quest headset and ignoring lessons on managing toxic behavior, like the initial sexual harassment incidents on Horizon Worlds .

• Community Precedes Commerce (29:44): Platforms must succeed as communities first. Focusing only on profit (the "Cryptoverse" issue) causes virtual worlds to fail .
• Second Life's Stability (22:31): SL's active user base is stable at 600,000. The paradox is that if a user survives the long onboarding, they "never leave" due to the community.
• Regulation is Necessary (40:53): SL's banking and gambling scandals forced Linden Lab to impose tight regulation . This proves that a tightly regulated economy is essential for user trust and stability.

• 03:30 The Five Core Features of the Metaverse
• 05:51 Avatars and the "Proteus Effect"
• 10:26 Why Meta Damaged the Metaverse Concept
• 15:40 The Critical Rule: Why Metaverse Must Be Fun First
• 22:31 Second Life's Paradox: Why users never leave

References

Dive deep into the strategic mindset of level design, the shift from AAA development to indie studio entrepreneurship, and a radical new business model for creating innovative "Cocktail Games."

• Beyond Architecture: Willem, a former level designer at Velan (Knockout City) and Zynga (Star Wars Hunters) , defines level design not as architecture, but as the execution of the game's intent and vision. You are the "great implementers" who build the playground for the core mechanics.
• Finding the Fun: Execution requires risk-taking. Good levels break the traditional norms—like the restrictive three-lane structure in some shooters —to find unexpected fun and keep the experience fresh.
• Inspiration Outside the Engine: To avoid creative blocks, step outside your comfort zone. Willem found inspiration for a level in Knockout City (Rooftop Rumble) by listening to Pink Floyd and used JFK assassination podcasts to conceptualize Darth Vader's Castle.

• Be Proactive & Self-Taught: The number one required mentality is knowing that no one will hold your hand. You must be passionate and proactive in your job search and skill development.
• Master the Editors: Don't just be proficient in Unity or Unreal Engine 5. Learn multiple, even difficult, editors like Hammer (Source SDK). Experience with proprietary tools (like those used for Knockout City) is invaluable.
• Go Primal: Start creating content immediately. Use basic primitives and geometry (like brushes and gizmos) to block out your ideas. Don't get stuck in tutorials.

• Why Start a Studio Now? Willem felt the Western game industry was approaching development wrong, relying too much on "new coats of paint" over true R&D. He seeks to optimize costs and focus on brand new, innovative products.
• The "Cocktail Game" Strategy: This is OCI's business model. Instead of reinventing a genre (e.g., Gin + Tonic), they take the components that made a genre successful and combine them with an entirely different, unexpected element. This approach is versatile and cost-effective.
• The Ideal Team: OCI looks for people who are agile, passionate about making games more than playing them, and aren't scared of any new editor or software.
• The AAA Reset: Willem is optimistic, predicting the era of the $700 million-dollar budgeted game is over. The power is shifting back to smaller, agile creative teams, like Respawn and Media Tonic, where passion and risk-taking lead to great games.
• AI as a Tool: AI is exciting and should be embraced, but it will not replace the unique vision and creativity of a human mind (e.g., Kojima, Ken Levine, Todd Howard).
  
  Connect
• Willem Kranendonk on Linkedin
• Odyssey Cocktail Interactive (OCI): Check out their website at OdysseyCocktailInteractive.com. They will be present at GDC!

Forget the old ways of game development. The Roblox platform isn't a sandbox—it's a brutal, high-frequency, algorithmic battleground.

In this deep dive, we break down why traditional "AAA" development strategies are being crushed by low-fidelity, quick-to-market viral hits. We analyze the metrics that Roblox’s discovery algorithm actually cares about (it’s not just downloads), the new pressure on developers, and the commercial gold rush driving this new age of digital product. If you're building software, an app, or a game, this is a masterclass in platform leverage and virality.

• The Algorithm as a Gatekeeper: Understand the core metrics that determine success on Roblox (Retention, Monetization, and Engagement) and how they reflect the priorities of any major platform (Apple App Store, Google Play, YouTube).
• The Two-Tiered Development Strategy: Contrasting the high-budget, polished approach with the fast, data-driven methodology of viral developers—and why the latter often wins.
• Minimal Viable Fun (MVF) > Minimum Viable Product (MVP): How the "low-poly, high-concept" trend proves that speed and novelty often beat engineering polish when facing a discovery-focused algorithm.
• Monetization as a Discovery Signal: Why high-ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) games are disproportionately rewarded by the algorithm and what that means for your product's design.

• 01:30 The 'Gold Rush' Archetype: Why Roblox is the Wild West of modern game dev.
• 05:45 The Core Algorithm: What Roblox's discovery engine actually measures. (Hint: It’s all about the money flow).
• 12:10 Case Study: Viral Low-Fi vs. AAA Polish—The data behind the death of the polished demo.
• 18:05 Designing for the Metrics: The blueprint for building a game that the algorithm will push.
• 24:45 Takeaways for SaaS/App Developers: Applying the Roblox virality playbook to enterprise and consumer products.

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