Building Better Games

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► Tell us about you and your podcast

We believe that holistic leadership is the key to shipping video games that delight players. This is for those leaders.

My co-host and I are industry veteran triple-A game developers. We've built, shipped, and turned around a plethora of large-scale products and taught other leaders how to do the same. Now we consult with many other studios and meet new leaders along the way, all the while building upon our leadership model and sharing it with others.

Building Better Games is built for those leaders on the front lines, working for players every day. We will turn upside down every assumption, challenge every bad habit, give every secret, and rest upon a reliable model for games' industry leadership. It won't just be philosophy, it'll be practical tools you can use to help your teams and products TODAY. Together we'll build a community with a new standard that can level up our entire industry.
 

► Why & how did you start this podcast? 

Right now our industry just isn't where it needs to be. We're failing launches, shipping bugs, upsetting players, and struggling with a mediocre reputation. For us, that comes back to leadership. We need leaders who can build the right culture, product, and finally process to level-up our games and once again make happy players.

Most of us could be doing something else, perhaps making more money elsewhere. We chose games because we want to follow our passion for the products and give the gift of joy to others that we had when we were growing up. Some days though it feels that we're not meeting that promise to players. That's what we want to change.
 

► How'd you find the time and funding to do this podcast?

We release an episode every 2 weeks. It typically takes us about 1 hour to create an outline (another several if we bring on a guest and need to coordinate that), 2 hours for a recording session, and about 5-8 hours total in post. We have various folks who help at different parts of the process that we trust.

Finding the time is hard, there are moments where we struggled wondering if we'd be able to keep on. Sometimes when growth is slow or you aren't getting feedback you question yourself as a creator and doubt whether you're doing a good job or whether you can maintain the pace. We cope with a couple of tools.

1. Get ahead and work off inspiration. Don't be afraid to record multiple at the same time, and when you're inspired push it to a recording session as soon as you can. Don't wait for a rigorous process to tell you when.
2. Use that inspiration to "Get ahead" and get ammo in the chamber for when you need to release. That way your focus on production can ebb and flow and you're not always scrambling at the last minute to "get something out"
3. Stay committed. It feels a lot like going to the gym to me. Some days, no matter how well prepared, you're going to feel like you don't want to do it. You have to though. Chin up, record, and learn. Repetition here is key.

We spend about 500/month podcasting right now, and that's just for editing and post. We do all of the marketing ourselves and all of the expenses come out-of-pocket for us. It's hard when you're running a business that sometimes doesn't pull in enough revenue and these are the things you are tempted to cut. Don't.

► What do you gain from podcasting?        

We don't currently have any sponsors but will look to find creative (and mission-centric) ways to monetize in the future.

Don't have one yet.

There are a lot of rules-of-thumb here around how big you need to be sponsors, but this is a half-truth. If you have significant exposure in a tight-niche you can be very valuable to sponsors. For us as an example, game-companies that are looking for top-tier leaders who "get it" and want recruiting exposure have reached out to us about sponsorship. We don't have a ton of downloads yet but those we do have are from the exact audience they want. Additionally there are other ways to monetize by building your own products and using your podcast as a CTA for those who are loyal followers and want deeper exposure.

Podcasting has been an extremely effective way for Ben/I to network, enrich ourselves, grow our teaching ability, and also to learn and grow as presenters and speakers. We still have much more we can do still but I would never give back that journey, even if the thing never makes a dime.
 

► How does your podcasting process look like? 

We use audacity to create .wav files for each participant, and google hangouts/zoom to record video for calls. We have avoided riverside, squadcast, and others for various reasons (that my partner would be better suited to walk you through).

We prepared each episode with a very focused and "transformation oriented" outline so we get max value for the listener and don't wander/meander. Then after recording it goes to post where we clean up the sound and do major content edits to get it within our 35-50 minute time bracket.

See above.
 

► How do you market your show?

We do a ton of TDE (ex: hey I heard you ask a question in this discord about leadership topic X - here's a podcast on that topic that might help) to build our audience. It's slow and effort-intensive, but new people usually stay and our retention is quite high. Currently we do not have a listener acquisition breakdown. That would be useful data for us.

Discord and targeting specific communities has been best. Also word-of-mouth through our consulting clients (game studios and producers in games) has been great for "high-retention" listeners.

Also have got big bumps from credible guests and promotion swapping with other podcast hosts who share our goals/vision.
 

► What advice would you share with aspiring (new) podcasters?

Building a community isn't about "marketing" in the traditional sense, it's about making meaningful connections with people who share your beliefs and providing them with value.

Hard work is overrated when it comes to starting ventures, but it is necessary. If you don't enjoy the process, even when it's hard, you may not make it. Stay focused and record even when things feel crappy.

Build your podcast on a deep set of beliefs and a change you want to see in the world. Oftentimes you'll be connecting with people on those things in a market that is SUPERsaturated. What keeps them around and keeps them intrigued will be those beliefs.

Resources: Kevin Chamblain's Grow the Show (GTC) is unbelievable. We wouldn't be half as far if we didn't have his mentorship and support.

► Where can we learn more about you & your podcasts?

Connect with us on Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/doublearon00/), our website (https://valarinconsulting.com/), or follow us on twitter/instagram. Also Email us through the website if you have any additional questions about our consulting business where we help game studios level up.