The learning network for the people who design, run, and rebuild live games. Climb from learning the craft to leading the room.
Everyone moves through all three stages at some point in their journey. What level are you at right now?
You want to plug into what operators are actually talking about — now.
Start in the room. Player Driven Live every Thursday, the Discord, and the network everywhere else — one front door into the community.
Enter the community →L02 · LEARNYou want to get sharper at the craft, on your own time.
Listen, read, watch. The podcast, the Design Desk essays, and the nine discipline guides — how the best operators actually work.
Browse the guides →L03 · LEVEL UPYou want the work to count toward where your career goes next.
Make the climb mean something. The stage where everything you've watched and read turns into proof — see the summit below.
Meet the Academy ↓Or skip the rungs and browse everything → Explore the map
A credential built by operators, scored by operators. Stack credits from the shows you already watch, complete two studio briefs, get certified.
Make-A-Wish has granted >650,000 wishes to critically ill kids, and Stallings sheds light on why gaming-related requests are at the heart of one of the nonprofit’s four wish categories
We help the companies building tools for games — trust & safety, player support, voice moderation, community — actually land with the studios they're built for.
Positioning, pricing, and a pitch that survives a room full of skeptical operators — not a recycled SaaS playbook that's never shipped a game.
The docs and rollout that get your tool adopted across a studio, instead of stalling in a six-month pilot nobody finishes.
Operator-side research — with Lewis Ward, sixteen years an analyst at IDC — on what studios actually need, budget for, and buy.
We're not guessing what studios want — we're in the room with them every week, through the show, the community, and the intel desk. References available on request.
Start a conversation →Three things every Tuesday: the week's best essay, the next live drop, and one thing we're still arguing about internally.