Player Driven

Greg
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  • МЕНЕДЖМЕНТ
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Welcome to Player Driven, the hub where gaming insights and community collide.We believe that behind every great game is a thriving community and an unforgettable player experience. Whether it’s building inclusive environments, exploring the latest tech, or diving into the art of storytelling, our mission is simple: to empower the creators, communities, and players that make the gaming world extraordinary.What We’re About:🎮 Insightful Conversations – Through our podcast and community clubhouse, we bring industry leaders, creators, and innovators together to explore the cutting-edge of gaming.🌍 Player-Centric Focus – From accessibility to trust and safety, we champion the initiatives that keep players at the heart of the industry.📈 Data Meets Creativity – With a knack for combining KPIs with compelling narratives, we highlight strategies that don’t just work but resonate.🤝 Community Building – We celebrate what makes the gaming community special: its people. From indie developers to AAA veterans, every voice matters here.Join us as we explore what drives games, empowers communities, and defines success in the ever-evolving gaming landscape.Your Game. Your Story. Your Community.

  1. From Stay-at-Home Dad to Six-Figure Modder: Why Your Next Big Hire is Already Playing Your Game

    -2 ДН.

    From Stay-at-Home Dad to Six-Figure Modder: Why Your Next Big Hire is Already Playing Your Game

    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 PublishingRelevant Links: Overwolf CurseForge ARK: Unreal Engine TebexCredits: Hosted by Greg Posner, founder of Player Driven — a podcast about the business of games and how smart people scale them.

    54 мин.

  2. 9 СЕНТ.

    Balancing Family, Career, and Community in the Games Industry with Amir Satvat

    Episode SummaryHow do you break into the games industry later in your career? And once you’re in, how do you build a meaningful life and community without burning out? In this episode, Greg is joined by Amir Satvat, a Business Development leader at Tencent and the winner of the "Game Changers" award. Amir is one of the industry's most important connectors, having built a community that has helped thousands find jobs and opportunities. Amir shares his incredible journey from finance at Goldman Sachs to gaming in his late 30s, offering a practical playbook for career pivots. He breaks down his disciplined, non-negotiable approach to balancing a high-stakes job with being a present father and husband, and reveals why true networking is a 12-month game of building relationships, not a last-minute job hunt. This conversation is packed with wisdom for anyone looking to build a sustainable and impactful career in games. Timestamps (01:55) The Pivot: Amir details his unconventional path from banking and healthcare into the games industry. (11:00) The Non-Negotiable Framework: How Amir uses rigorous time-blocking to protect family time and avoid burnout. (25:49) Confronting Ageism: Amir discusses the industry's challenge with retaining and valuing older talent. (32:25) The #1 Networking Mistake: Why you need to build relationships long before you need them. (39:40) The Financial Modeling Trap: How a finance-first mindset can be both a powerful tool and a creativity killer in game development.Guest BioAmir Satvat is a leader in Business Development and Strategy at Tencent and the founder of a professional gaming community that has helped thousands of people. Known as one of the industry's most important connectors, his work is driven by a deep passion for helping others succeed. LinkedIn: Amir Satvat Community Hub: amirsatvat.comKey Topics Breaking into the games industry mid-career Effective networking strategies for long-term success Balancing a demanding career with fatherhood and family life Transferable skills from other industries (finance, tech, healthcare) Community building and the power of trust Continuing education and staying relevant Industry challenges: ageism, the future of consoles, and business modelsRelevant Links Amir's Community Website Tencent

    1 ч. 2 мин.
  3. Navigating the Indie Apocalypse: A Publisher's Playbook for Survival and Success

    2 СЕНТ.

    Navigating the Indie Apocalypse: A Publisher's Playbook for Survival and Success

    A deep dive into the evolving landscape of video game publishing, offering invaluable insights for indie developers on how to thrive in a crowded market. This episode of the Player Driven Podcast features an in-depth conversation with Ben Kvalo, founder of Midwest Games, and Alex Joseph, CEO of the revived Acclaim. From the importance of a well-crafted pitch to the nuances of monetization and discoverability, this fireside chat covers the essential strategies for developers looking to partner with a publisher. Ben and Alex share their unique perspectives on the current state of the gaming industry, the resurgence of AA titles, and the future of interactive entertainment. Key Discussion Points:The conversation delves into the operational realities of running a publishing house, the art of negotiation, and the critical factors that can make or break a game in today's competitive environment. Ben and Alex also touch on the significance of their respective companies, Midwest Games and the new Acclaim, in fostering the next generation of games and developers. This episode provides a rare look behind the curtain of the gaming industry, offering practical advice and strategic insights for anyone passionate about the business of video games. Podcast Show NotesThis episode of the Player Driven Podcast brings together two titans of the new era of game publishing: Ben Kvalo of Midwest Games and Alex Joseph of the revitalized Play Acclaim. In a candid conversation, they explore the challenges and opportunities facing indie developers today. From securing funding to navigating the treacherous waters of discoverability, this episode is a masterclass for anyone looking to make their mark in the gaming world. In this episode, you'll learn: The Rebirth of an Era: How Midwest Games and the new Acclaim are channeling the spirit of classic gaming into the modern age. The Publisher's Perspective: What Ben and Alex are currently playing and what excites them about the future of gaming. Monetization & The AA Revival: A nuanced discussion on game pricing, in-game purchases, and the resurgence of the "buy-to-play" model. The UGC Revolution: Is user-generated content a golden opportunity or a distraction for developers? The Discoverability Dilemma: Strategies for standing out in a market flooded with new releases and the potential of web-based games. The Art of the Pitch: What developers need to know before approaching a publisher, from crafting a compelling pitch to understanding the business side of their creative endeavor. Building a Lasting Partnership: The importance of relationships, trust, and finding the right publisher for your game. A Day in the Life: What it's really like to be the CEO of a game publishing company. Conference Survival Guide: Tips for developers on how to make the most of industry events like Gamescom and MDEV.

    1 ч. 33 мин.

  4. 26 АВГ.

    From Sneakers to Startups: ASICS Ventures' Joe Pace on Building a VR Sport from Scratch

    In this episode of Player Driven, Greg talks with Joe Pace, VP at ASICS Ventures, about the company’s surprising leap into virtual reality with DISC, a brand-new competitive sport built for Meta Quest. They explore what it means to build community before code, how fitness and gaming are converging, and what studios can learn from a 70-year-old brand embracing LiveOps. If you're thinking about building something new — or building it differently — this episode is for you. Timestamps: 02:00 – Why ASICS is getting into gaming (and why now) 06:00 – The DISC origin story: air hockey meets VR 16:30 – Why they launched on Discord before they launched the game 21:00 – Surprising lessons from the VR community 38:00 – What’s next: arcade mode, cosmetics, and social scalingGuest Bio:Joe Pace is the VP at ASICS Ventures, where he leads new product strategy across emerging digital platforms. Previously at Runkeeper, LL Bean, and Legendary Entertainment, Joe’s work spans fitness, technology, and innovation. LinkedIn Key Topics: VR game development Community-first strategy Meta Quest platform Fitness and gamification LiveOps in non-traditional gaming studios Social dynamics in VR ASICS’s innovation model Building new sports for virtual platformsRelevant Links: disc.asics.comCredits:Hosted by Greg Posner, founder of Player Driven — a podcast about the business of games and how smart people scale them.

    34 мин.
  5. Love, Power, Wealth: The True Drivers of Player Behavior

    19 АВГ.

    Love, Power, Wealth: The True Drivers of Player Behavior

    Episode Summary:Mark Otero (CEO of Azra Games, creator of Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes) joins Player Driven to break down the real reason most games fail — they ignore what players actually want. In this raw, philosophical, and brutally honest conversation, Mark introduces the Hierarchy of Fun — a 5-layer model for building long-lasting emotional engagement in games. From escaping poverty through fantasy as a child in South Korea, to scaling a yogurt shop to fund his first game studio, to building billion-dollar RPGs at EA, Mark’s story is a masterclass in design thinking, human behavior, and creative conviction. He also shares why AI will either multiply your creativity or expose your culture — and how his new title Ungodly aims to reset the bar for 4th-gen RPGs. This episode is for game devs, LiveOps leaders, publishing execs, and anyone asking: Why do some games stick... and others don’t? 📌 Key Takeaways1. The Hierarchy of FunMark breaks down his 5-layer framework for sustainable game engagement: First impression Core loop Progression Meta mastery Emotional connectionEach layer must make the player feel something — and if you flip it, it becomes your funnel for long-term retention.2. Design for Primal Desires, Not PersonasMark argues that all player motivation maps back to love, power, or wealth. Most games try to broaden appeal and end up designing for no one. Pick one fantasy — and serve it ruthlessly. 3. 4th-Gen RPGs and the 9-Second RuleWith mobile phones now as powerful as last-gen consoles, we’ve entered a new generation of RPGs. Ungodly is designed to immerse players in 9 seconds, not 9 minutes — a 60x improvement over the old model. ⏱️ Timestamps01:00 — Mark’s origin story: poverty, fantasy, and Dungeons & Dragons as a lifeline 14:00 — The Hierarchy of Fun: a new model for player experience 31:00 — Why most games fail when they abandon their core fantasy 44:00 — What makes a 4th-gen RPG, and how Ungodly is redefining immersion 58:00 — AI, culture, and the edge small studios have (if they move fast) 🧠 SEO Keywords (for search + episode description) game design philosophy hierarchy of fun player motivation design RPG design frameworks mobile RPG engagement Azra Games Ungodly retention in game design AI in game development game publishing strategy Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes insights🎙️ GuestMark OteroCEO & Founder of Azra Games. Former GM at EA Capital Games, creator of Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes. Veteran in collectible RPGs and systems design.🔗 Azra Games🔗 Mark on LinkedIn

    1 ч. 11 мин.
  6. From Chaos to Control: Christina Camilleri on Building Safer Games by Design

    12 АВГ.

    From Chaos to Control: Christina Camilleri on Building Safer Games by Design

    Episode Summary:Christina Camilleri leads trust and safety product strategy at Netflix Games — but her journey started as a shy kid finding refuge in online worlds. In this deeply human conversation, Christina shares how her love for hacking, community, and chaos turned into a mission to build safer systems in gaming. We talk about safety by design, the monetization myth, building meaningful controls, and why your systems are only as strong as the people behind them. If you care about retention, LiveOps, or what makes a game feel safe (but still intense), this episode is for you. Timestamps:00:03:00 — Christina’s hacker origin story and gaming as escape00:12:00 — Why safety in games is getting harder (and why it matters more)00:19:00 — League of Legends, low-trust users, and the culture of competitive games00:33:00 — Safety is a retention strategy: what the data actually says00:45:00 — Feedback loops, reputation systems, and when reports fail players Guest Bio:Christina Camilleri leads trust and safety product strategy at Netflix Games. She’s a former ethical hacker and security engineer, with experience spanning BAE Systems, Riot Games, and now Netflix. Christina is passionate about building safe, inclusive player experiences — and believes good design can create both tension and trust.🔗 LinkedIn Key Topics: Safety by design in game development Player behavior and trust systems Reputation scoring and false reporting Game moderation tooling Accessibility through player control Real-time safety vs. reactive systems Why toxic behavior kills retention Community-led systems that scaleCredits Line:Hosted by Greg Posner, founder of Player Driven — a podcast about the business of games and how smart people scale them.

    58 мин.

  7. 5 АВГ.

    The Devs Who Came Before Us: And Why We Need Their Stories Now

    🎮 Episode SummaryWhat can a former QA tester at EA, a punk-rock producer at Midway, and the exec who helped launch No Man’s Sky teach us about today’s game industry? In this episode, Adam Boyes (founder of Vivrato and longtime industry vet) joins Greg to talk about why handcrafted games still matter, how studios can ask for help before it’s too late, and what happens when we actually listen to the people who’ve shipped the games we love. 🧠 What We Cover– From Floppy Disks to LiveOps:How QA used to be “log bugs by hand and pray,” and what that taught Adam about modern workflows and AI. – Midway Was Punk Rock:Inside stories from Blitz, Slugfest, and the golden era of arcade innovation — where game feel was religion. – The No Man’s Sky Redemption Arc:What went wrong, what went right, and why Hello Games stuck the landing where others didn’t. – The Quiet Crisis in Game Dev:Discoverability. Burnout. Studios not knowing when to ask for help. Why Vivrato was built to change that. – Why Every Studio Needs a “What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?” MomentReal talk on vision, identity, and how to build games that last longer than the launch window. 🔥 Pull Quotes“There’s an art to talking to people who’ve made games before. Those are the stories we need to share and learn from.”“They’d sneak into arcades and swap out boards just to watch how players reacted. That’s how they tuned gameplay.”“We logged bugs on paper and stored them on floppy disks. Now we have AI. But the craft still matters.”“No one knows what they’re doing. Game development is improv. The secret is doing it together.”📌 Episode Timestamps [00:00] Intro and 90s QA stories [05:00] AI tools vs. handcrafted game design [10:30] Midway memories: Blitz, Jam, and chaos [17:00] Game feel and the obsession with precision [24:00] Nostalgia meets the digital era at Capcom [33:00] Vivrato: Helping studios find their path [40:00] No Man’s Sky and the power of second chances [47:00] What we’re playing now + retro game pain [51:00] Why the future of gaming is built on collaboration🎧 Listen & Follow🎙️ Listen now on Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube🌐 More episodes and insights at playerdriven.io📩 Want to share your story? Reach out to Greg on LinkedIn or Twitter 🔍 SEO TagsAdam Boyes interview Vivrato consulting Midway game design game studio struggles No Man’s Sky story game feel arcade era game discoverability

    56 мин.
  8. The Economics of Gaming: How One Player Broke an MMO and Launched a Career

    29 ИЮЛ.

    The Economics of Gaming: How One Player Broke an MMO and Launched a Career

    Guest: Andrew Wagner, Author of Economics of Online Gaming and Founder of Wagner Road CapitalCoHost: Lewis Ward, Research Director @ IDC 🎙 Episode SummaryWhat happens when a high schooler treats an MMORPG like a business case study? Andrew Wagner joins Player Driven to share how his time playing Eternal Lands turned into a crash course in economics, strategy, and systems thinking. From building a ruthless guild to influencing the game’s developer roadmap, Andrew didn’t just play — he disrupted. We talk about market incentives, reputation management, and the blurry line between capitalism and corruption, both in games and in the real world. If you’re building economies, managing communities, or just love a good player-driven story, this one’s for you. 🧠 Highlights with Timestamps 2:34 — Learning economics through RuneScape-style gameplayAndrew shares how Eternal Lands introduced him to core economic principles like supply and demand, specialization, and market incentives — all before he took a single college class. 7:59 — Embracing the villain role to change the gameInstead of rebuilding his guild’s reputation, Andrew leaned into their “bad guy” image, creating a strategy that ignored perception and focused purely on market disruption. 14:16 — How gaming shaped his real-world investment careerFrom managing a guild to managing portfolios, Andrew explains how the lessons from in-game economies now guide how he evaluates companies and competition in the financial world. 30:10 — Building an in-game advisory board of real expertsWith rocket engineers and bankers in his guild, Andrew leveraged real-world insights to refine his strategy — proving that the best guilds function like startups. 49:50 — When players capture the dev teamAndrew recounts how a former guild member joined the dev team and created a secret mine just for them, triggering a real example of regulatory capture inside the game. Check out Andrews Book: https://www.amazon.com/Economics-Online-Gaming-Introduction-Economic-ebook/dp/B084Z77PSW Andrews Website: https://www.wagnerroadcm.com/ Andrews Substack: https://wagnerroadcm.substack.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/atwagner/🎧 CTAIf you’ve ever seen the real world reflected in your favorite game, this episode will stick with you. Subscribe to Player Driven and share your favorite lesson learned from gaming.

    1 ч. 1 мин.
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Welcome to Player Driven, the hub where gaming insights and community collide.We believe that behind every great game is a thriving community and an unforgettable player experience. Whether it’s building inclusive environments, exploring the latest tech, or diving into the art of storytelling, our mission is simple: to empower the creators, communities, and players that make the gaming world extraordinary.What We’re About:🎮 Insightful Conversations – Through our podcast and community clubhouse, we bring industry leaders, creators, and innovators together to explore the cutting-edge of gaming.🌍 Player-Centric Focus – From accessibility to trust and safety, we champion the initiatives that keep players at the heart of the industry.📈 Data Meets Creativity – With a knack for combining KPIs with compelling narratives, we highlight strategies that don’t just work but resonate.🤝 Community Building – We celebrate what makes the gaming community special: its people. From indie developers to AAA veterans, every voice matters here.Join us as we explore what drives games, empowers communities, and defines success in the ever-evolving gaming landscape.Your Game. Your Story. Your Community.

Информация

  • Автор
    Greg
  • Годы выхода
    2023 - 2025
  • Выпуски
    118
  • Ограничения
    С ненормативной лексикой
  • Сайт подкаста
    Player Driven

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