📖 Episode Summary:

This episode of Player Driven, in collaboration with Community Clubhouse, dives into the future of kids' gaming and digital safety. Greg speaks with Karin Johnson, co-founder of Magic Potion Games and a former leader at Club Penguin and Fortnite, along with Kieran Donovan, founder of K-ID and a regulatory compliance expert. Together, they explore how studios can build engaging, age-appropriate games while staying ahead of global compliance challenges. From the development of Imagine Island to the regulatory maze K-ID helps developers navigate, this is a must-listen for anyone creating games for younger audiences.

🔑 Key Topics Covered:

 * The rise of Imagine Island as a spiritual successor to Club Penguin
 * Why building “kids-first” (not just kid-appropriate) matters
 * How K-ID simplifies global compliance across age bands, chat, and monetization
 * Best practices for launching safe online games with embedded trust and safety
 * The business value of early compliance and community-focused design
 * How emerging web game platforms are helping studios reach more players

💡 Highlight Quotes:

“We’re not just building a safe game, we’re building one our own kids would play.” – Karin Johnson
“Compliance is no longer optional. It’s a foundation for smart monetization and trust.” – Kieran Donovan
“The rules are evolving fast. One week it’s Europe, the next it’s Indonesia. Studios need to plan now.” – Greg Posner

📌 Resources & Links:

 * Magic Potion Games [https://www.magicpotiongames.com/]
 * K-ID [https://www.k-id.com/]

🎯 Who Should Listen:

 * Game designers building for Gen Alpha
 * Studio leads exploring COPPA and GDPR-K compliance
 * LiveOps and trust and safety professionals
 * Community managers seeking to scale safe social play
 * Parents curious about the future of kid-friendly gaming

📣 Call to Action:

Enjoyed the conversation? Subscribe to Player Driven for more episodes that blend player experience, safety, and smart business strategy. Leave a review and share this episode with fellow game developers, educators, and community leads.

From Club Penguin to Imagine Island: Building Games That Last a Generation

Guest: Julie Banta, Director of Engineering, Build & Release at Respawn Entertainment

Summary:
In this episode of Player Driven, Greg sits down with Julie Banta, Director of Engineering at Respawn, to explore the underappreciated world of build and release operations. From her unlikely start in finance and insurance to helping manage one of the world’s top live service games, Julie shares her unique journey, the role of real-time feedback in LiveOps, and how a great team culture can make or break success.

They discuss:

 * What Build & Release actually does in a live service game like Apex Legends
 * Navigating fast-turnaround bug fixes and cross-platform coordination
 * How to connect your past experiences to break into the gaming industry
 * Leadership, burnout, and the importance of a people-first team
 * The need for diversity and inclusivity in both dev teams and the games themselves

Timestamps:

 * 07:00 – From finance to EA: career pivots and transferable skills
 * 16:00 – The pressure and complexity behind LiveOps launches
 * 29:00 – Fast feedback loops and using Reddit as a QA tool
 * 40:00 – How Julie leads her team with empathy and trust
 * 46:00 – Women in gaming and why representation matters
 * 54:00 – Advice for indie devs and those breaking into the industry

Links:

 * Connect with Julie on LinkedIn
 * Learn more about Respawn and Apex Legends
 * More episodes at playerdriven.io/podcast

Managing LiveOps at Scale: Inside Respawn’s Build & Release Team with Julie Banta

Mike Pappas discusses Modulate's Toxmod, a sophisticated voice AI that analyzes emotional nuance and behavioral dynamics in online interactions. Initially focused on combating toxicity and promoting positivity in gaming, the technology is now expanding to address fraud and challenges like deepfakes. Mike emphasizes the importance of transparency with users, collaboration with studios based on their codes of conduct, and a privacy-centric approach focusing on behaviors, not individuals.

Key Themes & Insights:

 * Advanced  Voice Analysis: Toxmod interprets emotion, nuance, and behavioral impacts in voice, not just words, to identify harmful or positive interactions.
 * Studio Collaboration & Transparency: Modulate tunes Toxmod to studio-specific guidelines, with studios making final decisions. Open communication with players about moderation is crucial.
 * Privacy-Conscious Moderation: The system focuses on identifying harmful or positive behaviors exhibited by users, rather than building profiles of individuals.
 * Expanding Beyond Gaming: Originally for gaming toxicity, Modulate's tech is now being applied to detect fraud and improve interactions in other sectors, like call centers.
 * Addressing Evolving Threats: The technology can help identify synthetically generated audio often used in scams, treating it as a form of fraud when coupled with problematic behavior.

Resources Mentioned:

 * Modulate: modulate.ai [https://modulate.ai/]

Subscribe to Player Driven for more insights and share this episode!

The Sound of Safety: How Modulate is Cleaning Up Voice Chat & Beyond with Mike Pappas

📖 Episode Summary:

In this episode, we delve into the evolving landscape of mobile game monetization with Chip Thurston, Head of Gaming at FastSpring. We explore the implications of the Apple vs. Epic ruling, the shift towards direct-to-consumer (DTC) strategies, and how webshops are becoming essential for game studios aiming to retain more revenue and foster stronger player relationships.

🔑 Key Topics Covered:

 * Impact of the Apple vs. Epic ruling on mobile payments
 * Transition from app store reliance to DTC models
 * Advantages of integrating webshops for game studios
 * Understanding the Merchant of Record model
 * Strategies for scaling monetization efforts

👤 About Our Guest:

Chip Thurston is the Head of Global Partnerships at FastSpring, a leading e-commerce platform for software and digital products. With extensive experience in digital monetization, Chip provides valuable insights into optimizing revenue streams for game developers.

📌 Resources & Links:

 * FastSpring Official Website [https://fastspring.com/]
 * Meet Chip on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/thurstonchip/]

📣 Call to Action:

Enjoyed the episode? Subscribe to our podcast for more insights into the gaming industry's evolving monetization strategies. Don't forget to leave a review and share this episode with fellow developers and industry professionals.

30% No More? Why Every Studio Should Be Rethinking Mobile Monetization

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.

🔗 Resources & Mentions:

 * The Devhouse Agency [https://www.thedevhouseagency.com/]
 * Trash Heist on Steam COMING SOON!
 * Jim Welch on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/welchjim/]

🙌 Thanks for Listening!

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to Player Driven on your favorite podcast app and share it with someone building their own path in the game industry. For more conversations with creators, founders, and innovators in gaming, visit playerdriven.io [https://www.playerdriven.io/].

From Sound to Studio – Building Devhouse with Jim Welch

📖 Episode Summary:

In this episode of Player Driven, Greg chats with two standout voices in gaming operations—Heidi Christine, CMO and Head of Community at Pixels, and Conor McGinley, Customer Support Lead at Twin Harbor Interactive. Together, they unpack what it really takes to grow and sustain vibrant communities while also delivering high-quality support at scale. From automation and self-service to the role of Discord and the realities of Web3 toxicity, this conversation delivers actionable insights for studios of any size.

Whether you’re trying to balance support load with growth, make Discord less chaotic, or simply empower your community to help itself, this is the episode you’ve been waiting for.

🔑 Key Topics Covered:

 * Why support and community must be separated—until they’re not
 * How Pixels scaled from chaos to structure using Discord, Intercom, and "Farmhands"
 * Conor’s take on automation, AI, and when bots actually make sense
 * Handling burnout in small teams and building flexible support flows
 * How Web3 changes the intensity of player behavior and expectations
 * Empowering internal teams and community leaders to move fast without asking for permission
 * Why retention starts with understanding why players spend their time with you

💬 Notable Quotes:

“When you’re growing, Discord becomes chaos fast. It’s not built to handle 100 tickets a day.” – Heidi Christine
“Automation works best when you still own the voice. My bots sound like me.” – Conor McGinley
“Why are players spending their precious hours with us? That’s the question we need to ask every day.” – Heidi Christine

👥 About the Guests:

Heidi Christine is the CMO and Head of Community at Pixels, a Web3 studio known for its vibrant MMO-style farming sim. She’s built a thriving, global player base with decentralized strategies, high player trust, and real-world crypto integration.

Conor McGinley leads customer support at Twin Harbor Interactive, creators of longform strategy games like Supremacy 1914 and Call of War. He’s known for his analytical approach to ticket flows, bot frameworks, and scalable support systems.

📌 Resources & Mentions:

 * Pixels Game [https://www.pixels.xyz/]
 * Twin Harbor Interactive [https://www.bytro.com/]
 * Community Clubhouse [https://www.communityclubhouse.gg/]
 * Imagine Island - Magic Potion Games [https://www.magicpotiongames.com/]
 * HelpShift [https://www.helpshift.com/]

🎯 Who Should Listen:

 * Support and CX leads looking to improve efficiency
 * Community managers overwhelmed by Discord
 * Indie and Web3 studios scaling fast with limited headcount
 * Devs interested in retention, LiveOps, and community-led growth
 * Anyone balancing automation with authentic player connection

📣 Call to Action:

Enjoyed the episode? Be sure to follow Player Driven for more practical takes from the people who power the games you love. Share this with a community lead, support agent, or founder who could use a smarter way to scale.TBD

From Discord to Durable: Scaling Player Support and Community Without Burning Out

Episode Summary

In this episode of Player Driven, host Greg engages in an insightful conversation with Josh Plotnek, Head of Content at Keewano, diving deep into the significance of actionable insights derived from game data analytics. The discussion highlights how understanding player behavior through data can drastically improve player experience and game performance. Josh shares practical tips for studios of all sizes, emphasizing how AI-driven analytics can help uncover hidden issues, transforming raw data into meaningful actions.

Guest Information

 * Name: Josh Plotnek [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-plotnek/]
 * Role: Head of Content at Keewano
 * Expertise: Data Analytics, Content Strategy, Game Development Insights
 * Company: Keewano [https://keewano.com/]

About Keewano

Keewano is a groundbreaking analytics platform that leverages advanced AI to provide actionable insights into player behavior, enabling gaming studios of any size to enhance player experience, retention, and engagement.

Key Takeaways

 1. Data Alone Isn't Enough (07:35)
    Collecting data is the starting point; real value comes from understanding the "why" behind player behavior to make impactful decisions.
 2. Recognizing Frustration vs. Engagement (20:08)
    Player frustration can be either positive (engaging) or negative (leading to churn). Analyzing "recovery behaviors" helps studios differentiate and respond effectively.
 3. Start Small, Then Scale Your Analytics (14:39)
    Smaller studios can utilize accessible tools like Unity Analytics and Firebase, gradually scaling to more sophisticated AI-driven analytics solutions as they grow.
 4. Leveraging AI to Uncover Hidden Issues (11:27)
    Advanced analytics powered by AI can identify complex problems within games, such as pinpointing an item missed in earlier levels that causes significant churn later on.
 5. Future of Analytics: Conversational and Accessible (49:34)
    The future of data analytics is making complex insights conversational, allowing anyone on the team to ask direct questions and receive clear, actionable answers.

Resources Mentioned

 * Keewano Blog
 * Unity Analytics
 * Firebase

Listen and Learn

Tune into the full episode to discover more about turning your game data into powerful insights and actionable strategies to enhance player satisfaction and loyalty.

How AI Analytics Can Boost Your Player Retention with Josh Plotnek

 Guest: Ayla Derrick, Founder & Creative Director at Cave Bear Games
️ Host: Greg Posner


🔹 Episode Summary:
What happens when a former teacher with no game dev background builds a studio of junior developers and releases a cozy solarpunk game on Steam? You get Plantasia — a passion-driven project built on heart, hustle, and clear values.

Greg sits down with Ayla Derrick to talk about the origin of Cave Bear Games, the lessons learned from launching on Steam, and the importance of leading with empathy in the indie space.

🔑 Key Topics & Timestamps:

[00:02:00] From Teacher to Game Developer: Ayla’s Unlikely Start
Discover how Ayla Derrick pivoted from teaching to game dev and built a successful studio with no prior experience.

[00:07:00] Building a Studio of Juniors — and Making It Work
Learn how a team of junior developers created a game on Steam under Ayla’s leadership, proving that passion beats pedigree.

[00:13:00] Designing Plantasia for the Bottom Third of Your Screen
Explore the design of Plantasia, a solarpunk idle game intentionally built to sit on the bottom of your screen.

[00:20:00] Going Viral, Going Live: The Early Access Launch Story
Hear the inside story of how Cave Bear’s Plantasia launched on Steam after a viral moment turned their studio real.

[00:27:00] Leadership by Teaching: Why Studio Culture Matters
Discover how Ayla applies classroom leadership to studio culture and why it keeps her team motivated and growing.

🗣️ Quotes:

“We didn’t mean to become a studio. We just went viral, and suddenly we had to be one.”

“The pillars were communication, education, and passion. That’s what kept us together.”

🔗 Links:

 * Cave Bear Games [https://cavebeargames.com/]
 * Wishlist Plantasia on Steam
 * Ayla on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayla-derrick/]

How Ayla Derrick Built a Junior-Led Game Studio and Launched Plantasia

🧠 Episode Description:

In this episode of Player Driven, we sit down with Jason Wasserman and Vincent Nguyen, the co-founders of Nice Gang, to dive into their journey from major animation studios like Blue Sky (Ice Age, Rio, Ferdinand) to launching their own game studio and original IP, Eighth Era.

With Season 2 of Eighth Era launching today, Jason and Vincent share how lessons from animation shaped their game design approach, the importance of creative partnerships, and why building a long-term community matters more than ever.

If you care about worldbuilding, player loyalty, and creating original stories in a crowded market, this episode is a must-listen.

🗝️ Key Takeaways:

 * How experience at Blue Sky and Disney influenced the way Nice Gang operates today.
 * The real skills Jason (business, scaling) and Vincent (visual worldbuilding) bring to the team.
 * Why original IP is the foundation of everything they are building with Eighth Era.
 * How they see opportunities for Eighth Era to expand beyond gaming (animation, collectibles, more).
 * Their approach to growing a loyal community for the long-term, not just at launch.

🕒 Timestamps:

 * 00:00 – Intro + Season 2 Launch
 * 02:00 – Meet Jason and Vincent: Backgrounds + Skills
 * 07:00 – Lessons from Animation: What Carried into Game Development
 * 15:00 – Founding Nice Gang: The Why and How
 * 22:00 – Building a Creative Partnership That Lasts
 * 28:00 – Worldbuilding Eighth Era: Staying Original
 * 36:00 – Thinking Beyond the Game: The Future of the IP
 * 43:00 – Building a Long-Term Player Community
 * 48:00 – Final Advice and Where to Follow Nice Gang

From Ice Age to Eighth Era How to Build Games That Outlast Trends

Summary:
In this episode, Greg chats with AJ Leece, the founder of Brekade, a studio transforming security training into engaging, story-driven video games. From his roots in ethical hacking to building games like “Fishing Expedition” and “SecOps Chaos,” AJ shares how he's gamifying the most dreaded parts of corporate training—and why that's the future of workplace education.

Key Takeaways:

 * Gamifying corporate training turns passive learners into active participants.
 * Boring topics (like InfoSec) come to life when wrapped in story and play.
 * You don’t need to be a full-stack developer to build great games—just curiosity and courage.
 * Player feedback = gold. AJ evolved his product based on student reactions.
 * “Productive laziness” is a feature, not a bug—automate the boring to unleash creativity.

Top Moments:

 * 04:52 — The D20 That Started It All: How AJ turned a dull compliance class into a D&D-inspired tabletop game.
 * 13:44 — Goombas and Burnout: A sneak peek at “SecOps Chaos,” AJ’s synthwave burnout simulator for security pros.
 * 19:40 — Cheap Wings, Big Ideas: AJ’s midweek pub sessions and the notebook that fuels his creativity.
 * 25:34 — Changing Perception, One Game at a Time: Why mid-sized companies are the sweet spot for gamified training.
 * 42:26 — Turning Weakness into a System: AJ shares how he built an app to capture ideas on the fly—his secret weapon against creative blockers.

Guest Links:

 * Brekade Website [https://www.brekade.com/]
 * AJ Leece on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajleece]

Gamifying Corporate Culture: Turning Boring Training into Playable Stories w AJ Leece

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.

Greg

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