Jeff STARGAZY Sheen

@[email protected]
93 Followers
187 Following
412 Posts

Since 2009, STARGAZY has made innovative games.

Democracy 4 / Democracy 3 Africa / Prison Architect

🔗https://linktr.ee/stargazy
Jeff STARGAZY SheenNov 12, 2024

https://pca.st/episode/930014bb-02f2-48b3-8280-d3cc2c3a486d?t=3422

Timestamped link to Business of Video Games episode that gives exec summary of the current funding landscape by Uwu (Callum Underwood)

Business Of Video Games Episode 36 - The Return of the Biz Dev Samurai - Uwu biz - The Business of Video Games Podcast

Welcome to the Business of Video Games Podcast. A podcast where we try to shed a bit of light on the inner workings of the games industry. We give you the why, how, who and what the hell?! on business decisions, publishing calls, steps and missteps that go on behind the scenes. Basically - the inside view on how and why things are ACTUALLY done the way they are. Not just guesswork on 4Chan. The podcast is hosted by Daniel Goldberg (former Chief Marketing officer at Paradox Interactive) and Shams Jorjani (former Chief Business Development Officer at Paradox Interactive). In every episode, we invite a guest from the industry to unpack an interesting decision or event, share their learnings and wisdoms, or just explain why all of us armchair experts got things wrong (or right!) again. We previously hosted and ran the Paradox Interactive Podcast for some 4 years - you can find those episodes on most podcast platforms of note.

Pocket Casts
Jeff STARGAZY SheenNov 9, 2024

Overbold in the UFO 50 collection is so good.

Smash TV-like w/ great enemy designs that each encourage different tactics, & more in combination with each other.

Brilliant push your luck economy with varied power-ups in the shop randomly incentivised.

Show threadJeff STARGAZY SheenNov 9, 2024

In the short to medium term, expect to need to show near-finished game slices with proof of market interest to unlock good funding deals from a reduced number of funders.

This market requires developers to assume more risk before being able to access runway capital.

Show threadJeff STARGAZY SheenNov 9, 2024

Though, relative to 2009-2022, not many speculative businesses will be started with IRL loans at 5.5%+

I think the funding landscape in games will recover slowly next year from the mass retraction over the past 2 years, but will be far from the levels of investment 4 years ago.

Jeff STARGAZY SheenNov 9, 2024

US election result was already priced into forward FED interest rates.

2Y is 4.2%

10Y is 4.4%

i.e. loan markets are expected to be flat over the next 5Y+

Smart money should exit cash positions into higher yielding corporations with proven business models.

Show threadJeff STARGAZY SheenNov 7, 2024
- Ship small budget games frequently, so that individual experiences can be sold at a modest price, but your audience can spend far more in aggregate by playing your deep catalogue (which also has algorithmic store discovery benefits)
Show threadJeff STARGAZY SheenNov 7, 2024
- N.B. this conservative, pragmatic approach may improve developer sustainability, but publishers prefer to sign developers who are willing to risk everything on a moon shot (they don't care about the continued operation of creators, only the opportunity of the product to be an outlier hit)
Show threadJeff STARGAZY SheenNov 7, 2024
- Design a game that suitably fulfills a player fantasy using linear narrative and MVP systems that don't require iteration
- Give yourself as many bailout points in the production plan that would still result in a commercial product
Jeff STARGAZY SheenNov 7, 2024

https://pca.st/episode/2afb3213-88c0-4363-ad7c-5c499d5e9809

Xalavier Nelson discusses Sustainable Development.

TLDR:

- Above all, survive by shipping
- Ship by making all production decisions in terms of a set project budget (i.e. nil sum game)
- Aggressively scope the project to reduce risk by minimising unknowns from the start

Sustainable Game Development with Xalavier Nelson Jr. - The AIAS Game Maker's Notebook

A series of in-depth conversations between video game makers on the business and craft of interactive entertainment, exploring the core tenants of D.I.C.E. (Design. Innovate. Communicate. Entertain.)

Pocket Casts
Jeff STARGAZY SheenOct 19, 2024

Initially reticent to listen to the Eggplant Show's UFO 50 game-per-week episodes, worried about Barbuta's secrets being spoiled (it's the 1st game).

Now I've gotten over that hump, I can recommend listening if you're playing UFO 50.

Insightful design analysis.

https://eggplant.show/ep-a-year-of-ufo-50-introduction

The Secret Lives of Games: EP: A Year of UFO 50 - Introduction

We introduce Eggplant Presents: A Year of UFO 50 - our new 1-year weekly show covering every game in the UFO 50 collection. Join us! Next week: Barbuta, with guest co-hosts Xalavier Nelson Jr. and Gabe Cuzzillo.