Lewis Ward

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

Profiling the Pariah Teenage Guild Leader

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

Nine Seconds to Fun