──PLAYER DRIVEN · DESIGN DESK

Operators worth reading twice.

19 ESSAYS

UPDATED WEEKLY

CURATED + GATED FOR MEMBERS

ARCANIX’s Oscar Clark on the EU’s DFA, Lightning Lessons, and the Primacy of Player Value, Part 1

MUST READ

↳ FEATURED ESSAY

ARCANIX’s Oscar Clark on the EU’s DFA, Lightning Lessons, and the Primacy of Player Value, Part 1

The veteran gaming industry exec, speaker, and author is acutely attuned to the interplay of ethics and regulation

L01 Foundations

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↳ DEPTHAll19 L01 Foundations4 L02 Operator13 L03 Lead1↳ PILLARAll Live Ops2 Community1 Trust & Safety1 UGC & Creators3 Player Psychology2 Game Design8

Mediating Irreconcilable Differences with Behavioral Game Economist Catalin Alexandru, Part 2

MEMBERS

· THEORY· GAME DESIGN

Mediating Irreconcilable Differences with Behavioral Game Economist Catalin Alexandru, Part 2

The consulting vet offers hot takes on what’s derailed Web3 gaming, SDT’s upsides, and the importance of bridging the gap between game design and production processes

L02 OperatorDESIGN +2

↳ 4 TAKEAWAYS

Lewis WardMAY 26, 2026

Navigating Irreconcilable Differences with Behavioral Game Economist Catalin Alexandru, Part 1

MEMBERS

· GAME DESIGN

Navigating Irreconcilable Differences with Behavioral Game Economist Catalin Alexandru, Part 1

He’s always surfing the next big, sexy, dangerous, and psychologically meaningful logarithmic or asymptotic curve

L02 OperatorDESIGN +2

↳ 4 TAKEAWAYS

Lewis WardMAY 15, 2026

Utrecht University’s Dr. Joost Vervoort on Gaming’s Potential to Help Build a Better Future, Part 2

MEMBERS

· PROFILE· GAME DESIGN

Utrecht University’s Dr. Joost Vervoort on Gaming’s Potential to Help Build a Better Future, Part 2

Forces in the EU are working to tap into video games’ latent potential to make the real-world a better place for everyone and the environment

L01 FoundationsDESIGN +1

↳ 4 TAKEAWAYS

Lewis WardMAY 8, 2026

Utrecht University’s Dr. Joost Vervoort on Gaming’s Potential to Help Build a Better Future, Part 1

MEMBERS

· PROFILE· GAME DESIGN

Utrecht University’s Dr. Joost Vervoort on Gaming’s Potential to Help Build a Better Future, Part 1

He's helping to shape Speculative Agency's strategic deck-builder, All Will Rise, to be a means toward that end

L01 FoundationsDESIGN +1

↳ 4 TAKEAWAYS

Lewis WardMAY 1, 2026

Quantic Foundry’s Nick Yee on Gamer Motivations, Part 2

MEMBERS

· PROFILE· PLAYER PSYCHOLOGY

Quantic Foundry’s Nick Yee on Gamer Motivations, Part 2

The consultancy’s Gamer Motivation Model is like a Swiss Army knife for understanding what motivates video game players

L02 OperatorDESIGN +1

↳ 4 TAKEAWAYS

Lewis WardAPR 24, 2026

Quantic Foundry’s Nick Yee on Gamer Motivations, Part 1

MEMBERS

· PROFILE· PLAYER PSYCHOLOGY

Quantic Foundry’s Nick Yee on Gamer Motivations, Part 1

The company’s model of twelve motivations is a window into the hearts and minds of “the gamer” and helps explain and predict their behaviors

L02 OperatorPRODUCT +2

↳ 4 TAKEAWAYS

Lewis WardAPR 17, 2026

GDC 2026: Riot Games’ Stone Librande on Game Design

MEMBERS

· FIELD NOTES· GAME DESIGN

GDC 2026: Riot Games’ Stone Librande on Game Design

The veteran designer helped lead workshop participants through two exercises that connected video game design elements to positive emotional and psychological outcomes for players.

L02 OperatorDESIGN

↳ 4 TAKEAWAYS

Lewis WardAPR 2, 2026

NYU Professor Eric Zimmerman On Game Design's Deep and Broad Potential

MEMBERS

· PROFILE· GAME DESIGN

NYU Professor Eric Zimmerman On Game Design's Deep and Broad Potential

From Diner Dash and Balatro to redesigning capitalism, Zimmerman is interested in creating, iterating, and playing with systems that deliver "mouthfuls of delicious meaning"

L01 FoundationsDESIGN +1

↳ 4 TAKEAWAYS

Lewis WardMAR 19, 2026

Player Support at Schell Games with Laura Hall

MEMBERS

· PROFILE· LIVE OPS

Player Support at Schell Games with Laura Hall

Among other insights, Hall highlights why AI-based tools such as ToxMod add significant valuable in a Live Ops gaming context

L02 OperatorLIVE OPS +2

↳ 5 TAKEAWAYS

Lewis WardMAR 17, 2026

Meet Christina Camilleri, Netflix Games' "Chaos Gremlin" and "Safety By Design" Champion

MEMBERS

· PROFILE· TRUST & SAFETY

Meet Christina Camilleri, Netflix Games' "Chaos Gremlin" and "Safety By Design" Champion

From a dedicated MapleStory player to an "ethical hacker" to the Head of Trust and Safety at Netflix Games, Camilleri has blazed a unique trail across the digital community support landscape

L02 OperatorTRUST & SAFETY +2

↳ 5 TAKEAWAYS

Lewis WardMAR 12, 2026

The Steelier Side of Amir Satvat's Games Community Success

MEMBERS

· PROFILE· COMMUNITY

The Steelier Side of Amir Satvat's Games Community Success

I started Amir Satvat’s Games Community because I saw members of the games community losing their jobs and needing help. I remembered everything I had gone through trying to get into the industry and thought I could do something with the skill sets I had. It all began with our first resource, now one of 13, which was a games jobs workbook. - Amir Satvat

L03 LeadCOMMUNITY +1

↳ 5 TAKEAWAYS

Lewis WardMAR 9, 2026

How Focused Player Psychology, Design, and Post-launch Process Sets the Stage for Live Ops Success

MEMBERS

· PROFILE· LIVE OPS

How Focused Player Psychology, Design, and Post-launch Process Sets the Stage for Live Ops Success

ArenaNet’s Crystin Cox, a veteran Live Ops video game designer, director and publisher, warns that Games-as-a-Service overthinking can spell doom

L02 OperatorLIVE OPS +2

↳ 5 TAKEAWAYS

Lewis WardFEB 26, 2026

A Discussion With James Au, Author of Making a Metaverse That Matters

MEMBERS

· PROFILE· GAME DESIGN

A Discussion With James Au, Author of Making a Metaverse That Matters

The 20-year metaverse vet shares his thoughts on what's gone right and what's gone wrong relative to the Snow Crash vision

L02 OperatorPRODUCT +2

↳ 4 TAKEAWAYS

Lewis WardFEB 11, 2026

Gamefam's Joe Ferencz On Roblox's Metaverse Potential

MEMBERS

· PROFILE· UGC & CREATORS

Gamefam's Joe Ferencz On Roblox's Metaverse Potential

The CEO of Gamefam, Ferencz has had a front row seat to Roblox Corp's wild rise and ride across the metaverse's ever-shifting terrain for 7+ years

L02 OperatorLIVE OPS +1

↳ 5 TAKEAWAYS

Lewis WardFEB 4, 2026

A Window Into Alex Seropian's UGC-based Studio, Look North World

MEMBERS

· PROFILE· UGC & CREATORS

A Window Into Alex Seropian's UGC-based Studio, Look North World

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a studio working to fly in someone else's sky!

L02 OperatorLIVE OPS +2

↳ 4 TAKEAWAYS

Lewis WardJAN 27, 2026

Profiling the Pariah Teenage Guild Leader

A cautionary tale for social economy designers and participants: don't let your "foxes" run the "henhouse"

Lewis WardJAN 20, 2026

Meet Francisco "Sandi" Montaño, Overwolf's Poster Child For PC Game Mod Breadwinners

MEMBERS

· PROFILE· UGC & CREATORS

Meet Francisco "Sandi" Montaño, Overwolf's Poster Child For PC Game Mod Breadwinners

For many months last year, Sandi's ARK: Survival Ascended mods cleared >$15,000

L02 OperatorLIVE OPS +1

↳ 5 TAKEAWAYS

Lewis WardJAN 8, 2026

MEMBERS

· PROFILE· GAME DESIGN

Nine Seconds to Fun

Mark Otero built Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes into a $1.4B mobile franchise by obsessing over one metric: time-to-fun. Tracing his path from a South Korean village to EA Capital Games reveals how personal obsession, financial modeling, and a camera-angle insight reshaped the collectibles RPG genre.

L02 OperatorDESIGN +2

↳ 4 TAKEAWAYS

Lewis WardDEC 29, 2025