Publications

This section provides an overview of my Publications.

Summary

Game Production Community Podcast Director & Host

2021 – Present ^

Our Game Production Community Discord is a thriving place full of folks interested in exchanging experiences & insights. To this purpose, I support them in organising panels and community events to facilitate our collectively becoming better at what we do — helping our teams build fantastic player experiences in a healthy, sustainable way while at the same time doing great business!

Topics covered by our community to date are as follows, and can be found on the Game Production Community Podcast, with many more in the pipeline.

  • Production Professionals Interview Series with Isabelle Bismuth
  • Production Professionals Interview Series with Wendy Young
  • Production Professionals Interview Series with Jay Myung
  • Production Professionals Interview Series with Marchi Loen
  • Production Professionals Interview Series with Anya Zielińska
  • Production Professionals Interview Series with Kimberly Rodatos
  • Production Professionals Interview Series with Linda Tiger
  • How to Break the Burnout Culture with Katie Rössler, LPC
  • Lifting a tip of the veil: The Production Interview Process with Mae Mierop
  • Production Professionals Interview Series with Claire Bromley
  • Mentorship – Level up the leaders of tomorrow: Igniting growth in the Game Industry
  • Cultural Inclusion with Tina Merry
  • Even Tom Hanks thinks he’s a Loser sometimes (on Imposter Syndrome) by Scott Davidson
  • The Importance of Networking by Demi Mark
  • Playtesting Masterclass by Steve Bromley
  • A Day in the Life of… Community Managers! Panel
  • A Day in the Life of… Producers! Panel
  • Games Industry Recruitment Panel
  • Scrum & Agile Practices in Game Development
  • Entrepreneurship & Games

Project Butterfly Initiator & Host

2025 – Present ^

Project Butterfly sessions feature three pitches from external development studios from emerging regions, receiving live feedback from two leading developers. Led by EA’s Juney Dijkstra and our panel of top-tier game developers, external development studios will gain crucial insider knowledge on crafting pitches that truly resonate with clients. This session offers valuable insights for up-and-coming studios growing their external development pipelines, highlighting opportunities for growth in emerging regions.

  • Live @ Game Dev Meet Up Larisa
  • Live @ Level Up KL!
  • Live @ XDS

Games Talks Live 2026 Speaker

2026, March ^

As game development grows more complex, doing everything in-house is no longer a sign of strength—it’s a constraint. This talk explores the limits of self-sufficiency and how focus, specialisation, and collaboration enable teams to build lasting advantage in a hyper-competitive industry.
The recording for “The Limits of Self-Sufficiency: Why Focus Builds Lasting Teams” is available here.

IndieGameBusiness Deep Dive Production 2025 Moderator

2025, December ^

Game projects don’t get made in a straight line. In this session, “Milestones, Mishaps, and Moving Parts: Production in Practice”, we’ll explore how the producer’s role shifts across art, features, publishing, and external development—and why producers are essential to each. Our panelists will compare what their day-to-day looks like, the backgrounds that help most, how success is measured, and where the biggest challenges lie. Whether you’re curious about indie projects or AAA blockbusters, get ready for an honest, side-by-side look at what it really takes to keep teams—and games—moving forward.

The recording can be found here.

Africa Games Week 2025 Panelist

2025, December ^

In this session, “Build the Bridge: How African Studios Can Become Reliable AAA Outsourcing Partners”, we’re going to explore what it really takes for African studios to compete, and more importantly partner, at a global AAA level. And not just AAA, but for AA or Indie as well. From production pipelines and quality standards to communication, trust, and long-term relationship building, we’ll dig into what works, what’s missing, and what African teams can start doing today.

The recording will be made available at a later date.

DevGAMM Lisbon 2025 Roundtable Host

2025, November ^

Working with colleagues from around the globe has its rewards—and its challenges. Join this interactive session as we share real-world tactics for overcoming cultural barriers, from managing time zones and languages to building trust across borders. Discover how to turn differences in feedback, hierarchy, and communication style into strengths, and leave with ideas to help your team thrive in a multicultural environment.

DevGAMM Madeira 2025 Roundtable Host

2025, November ^

Join a select group of industry leaders for an interactive executive roundtable focused on the critical crossroads facing game studio executives as they chart their next phase of growth. This session will delve into the strategic decisions and cultural priorities that separate thriving studios from those that lose their way amidst rapid expansion and global pressures.

GlobalLink Next EMEA 2025 Panelist

2025, September ^

Studios are shipping more content across more platforms with tighter budgets. This candid panel, “Gaming Panel: Scaling with External Partners”, looks at when and how to use external development to scale without losing quality or control. We start with the market drivers of the last two years and how they differ for indie, AA, and AAA. Then we get practical: the onboarding flows, shared tooling, and incentive models that make partnerships truly scalable. We cover the most common pitfalls and how to avoid them, plus the KPIs and review rhythms that keep multiple partners aligned without micromanagement. Finally, panelists share a three to five year outlook on the tech and collaboration models most likely to become standard and what teams should do now to prepare.

The recording will be made available at a later date.

IQPC Game Publishing & Marketing 2025 Speaker

2025, September ^

This was an adjusted version of “Leveraging External Development for Small Teams”, tuned towards a general audience.

A healthy, sustainable but also profitable studio needs to leverage external partners to be successful. Teams with dreams can’t escape the reality of not being able to offer in-house stability & continuity for every discipline required to breathe life into their unique projects. You can enable your team to do what they do best by choosing to work with partners that complement skills available in-house.

In this talk, I ran through several case studies of expert partners I’ve leveraged over the course of my career, in the hopes of inspiring you to reframe your thinking: Every need you have is an opportunity to create truly collaborative, long term partnerships with experts you can learn from for years to come!

The recording will be made available at a later date.

DGA Talks: Generative AI 2025 Host

2025, June ^

Generative AI is transforming creative workflows, but what does that mean for our industry? How are Dutch game studios integrating these tools, and where do we draw the line when it comes to ethics, ownership, and originality?

Join us for a focused DGA Talks where speakers share their experiences, concerns, and questions around the use of generative AI in game development. What are the real-world applications, what dilemmas do we face, and how can you approach this technology responsibly?

INDIGO 2025 Host

2025, May ^

INDIGO is the premier business event for the Benelux game industry, bringing together game developers, publishers, investors, and industry professionals for a day of networking, showcases, and knowledge sharing. As the leading platform for business opportunities and industry connections, INDIGO provides unparalleled access to key stakeholders looking to invest in, publish, and support innovative game projects.

Among other components, the event consisted of a two day, two-track conference with national and international speakers. I hosted the main track opening and closing blocks, introducing speakers and guiding them through live Q&A.

gamescom latam 2025 Moderator

2025, May ^

In “Navigating Challenges: Empowering Global LATAM Studio Success”, we shared ways to help boost the dynamic LATAM game industry, where challenge meets opportunity! Leading regional studios will review the global market & talent competition, navigating and leveraging emerging technologies & geopolitics, and unique LATAM developer advantages. Learn to use your studio reach, local associations & global allies to conquer regional hurdles and grow our international market force.

The recording will be made available at a later date.

GameDev Summit 2025 Moderator

2025, February ^

In this inspiring panel, “Developer Panel: Riding SEA waves: Successfully engaging with an SEA partner”, industry experts uncover treasured insights to creating thriving collaborations involving an SEA partner. Dive into the dynamic SEA region, exploring the region’s unique specialties and emerging trends that present exciting opportunities for growth. Learn how to avoid getting stranded on the complexities of working across oceans, time zones, and cultures, from the initial pitch to production. Discover how leveraging SEA’s rich social and cultural tapestry can blow wind in the sails of external development relationships, setting the stage for unparalleled success!

The recording can be found here.

GameDev Summit 2025 Moderator

2025, February ^

In the Mythbusters Series: Breaking Barriers in Southeast Asian Game Development, industry experts from international companies with regional presence debunked myths about Southeast Asia’s game development capabilities. Discover the region’s talent, creativity, and potential for growth, and learn how to effectively collaborate and advocate for SEA’s thriving industry. Gain tools to challenge misconceptions and engage with global partners and local representatives to elevate SEA’s presence in the game development world.

The recording can be found here.

IndieGameBusiness Deep Dive 2024 Speaker

2024, December ^

In this revisited and polished version of “Unlocking Me / We / Us: Every Challenge is an Opportunity”, I ran the audience through a vulnerable series of personal unlocks that have proven to be catalysts for my career, my teams & organisations, and the game industry at large. If anything, I hoped to inspire the realisation that every time you feel intimidated or overwhelmed by a challenge, it’s a signal of a high likelihood of personal growth & development in your near future!

The recording can be found here.

Col 4.0 2024 Moderator

2024, October ^

Join us for an empowering panel featuring expert guests from Electronic Arts’ renowned franchises such as FC, The Sims, and EA Mobile. Discover how our diverse Quality, Verification & Standards team helps create the highest quality gaming experiences. Hear personal stories of passion and growth, learn about the vibrant cultural influences that drive collaboration, and explore how you can play a pivotal role in creating excellent games. Whether you’re a student or a mid-level professional, this session will outline achievable career paths and inspire you to make your mark in the gaming industry. Explore whether this could be the next step in your adventure!

The recording for “Level Up Your Career: Inspiring Journeys of Achieving High Quality Game Experiences at EA” can be found here.

Dutch Game Day 2024 Host

2024, October ^

Dutch Game Day powered by Control is a conference with national and international speakers. The conference covers subjects such as art, (game) design, programming, but also some business aspects of making games. This edition included speakers from, among others, Larian Studios, Sumo Digital, Pearl Abyss, Amanita Design, and Behaviour Interactive.

Among other components, the event consisted of a two-track conference with national and international speakers. I hosted the main track afternoon block, introducing speakers and guiding them through live Q&A.

XDS 2024 Moderator

2024, September ^

Join us for an enlightening panel discussion on the nuances of cross-cultural partnerships, doing a deep dive into conflict resolution and prevention. Our expert panellists bring unique perspectives from different cultures and lived experiences, and will share both humorous and heartfelt anecdotes that highlight the varied approaches to global business. Gain valuable insights and practical tips on navigating and thriving in the complex landscape of international game development collaborations.

The recording for “Bridging Cultures: Resolving & Preventing Cross-Cultural Conflict in External Development – 2024 Edition” can be found here.

gamescom latam 2024 Panelist

2024, June ^

This panel discussed the current trends in Co-Development and why it matters for Publishers and Studios. What’s the difference between Outsourcing and Co-Development? What are the key factors publishers consider when deciding on a studio? What’s the impact of AI on game development in general and on Co-Development? Is LATAM prepared to surf the Co-Development wave?

The recording for “Co-Development: Insights from big publishers” can be found here.

gamescom latam 2024 Indie Pitch Judge

2024, June ^

Five studios from Latin America compete in this incredible session, pitching their games to a jury of industry experts! Whose game is the best, and more importantly, can they sell it?

Together with experts Chloe Giusti (Xbox) and Mike Foster (PlayStation), I was invited by industry veteran and pitch session host Jason Della Rocca to have the honour of judging indie pitches from local developers, providing feedback and selecting the inaugural gamescom latam 2024 Indie Pitch winner!

The recording can be found here.

GDS 2024 Speaker

2024, February ^

This was an adjusted version of “Leveraging External Development for Small Teams”, tuned towards a general audience.

A healthy, sustainable but also profitable studio needs to leverage external partners to be successful. Teams with dreams can’t escape the reality of not being able to offer in-house stability & continuity for every discipline required to breathe life into their unique projects. You can enable your team to do what they do best by choosing to work with partners that complement skills available in-house.

In this talk, I ran through several case studies of expert partners I’ve leveraged over the course of my career, in the hopes of inspiring you to reframe your thinking: Every need you have is an opportunity to create truly collaborative, long term partnerships with experts you can learn from for years to come!

The recording for “Leveraging External Development Creatively” can be found here.

GDS 2024 Moderator

2024, February ^

In this engaging panel discussion, “Setting SEA Developers up for Success with International Publishers”, three seasoned game industry professionals share their expertise on doing business globally. From understanding the state of the industry pertaining to publishers & developers and your potential publisher’s place therein, to navigating the nuances of the SEA region, this session will provide indispensable insights for game developers looking to succeed on the international stage.

The recording for “Setting SEA Developers up for Success with International Publishers” can be found here.

PLAYCON 2023 Panelist

2023, November ^

In the panel, “Our National Nexus: The Value of Fostering Connections Within the Malta Game Dev Community”, host and moderator Luke Ambrogio (Director of Technology Solutions at EPAM) interviewed panelists Nick Porsche (Founder & Managing Director at Dorado Games), Francesco Sapio (CEO & Lead Programmer, Red Hog Studio), Christopher Mifsud (Founder & Creative Director at Play On Words) on building, growing and maintaining an online & offline network. We discussed the meaningful added value of in person and virtual communities, which key players can contribute and how, and how to set member groups up for long term diverse success.

The recording for “Our National Nexus: The Value of Fostering Connections Within the Malta Game Dev Community” can be found here.

Mentorship – Level up the leaders of tomorrow: Igniting growth in the games industry Host

2023, October ^

Our latest panel looks uniquely at a chain of three mentors/mentees as mentorship knowledge is passed down and refined across three generations. With Shams mentoring Maria and Maria mentoring Alex, the three panelists discuss their experiences and takeaways from mentorship across the spectrum of professional experience while giving you a framework (and a slight nudge) for taking on your own mentee(s)! The panel is also an excellent opportunity for mentees to understand how to leverage their relationship with their mentor effectively.

  • Maria Cornelius, COO at Arrowhead Games Studios, bulldozer for positive change with a passion for developing the leaders of tomorrow.
  • Shams Jorjani, Chairman of the Board at Hooded Horse, Shams ran business development for the better part of a decade at Paradox. Today he’s the Chairman of publisher Hooded Horse and is about to start a new games studio. Somehow he still finds time to host a podcast about the business of the video games industry.
  • Alex Bolle, Lead Producer at Arrowhead Games Studio, used to tame chaos at Ubisoft (lately on Assassin’s Creed Mirage), and gave a lot of love for indies in other studios.

The recording for “Level up the leaders of tomorrow: Igniting growth in the games industry” is available here.

Dutch Game Day 2023 Host

2023, October ^

Dutch Game Day powered by Control is a conference with national and international speakers. The conference covers subjects such as art, (game) design, programming, but also some business aspects of making games. Previous editions included speakers from, among others, DICE, BioWare, Naughty Dog, Guerrilla, CD Projekt Red, 11 Bit Studios, Frontier, and Bungie.

Among other components, the event consisted of a two-track conference with national and international speakers. I hosted the main track morning block, introducing speakers and guiding them through live Q&A.

BIG Festival 2023 Speaker

2023, July ^

In our increasingly international industry, we regularly partner with cultures unlike our own. Our differences uniquely enable the creation of meaningful, diverse and rewarding partnerships, but they also occasionally pose challenges! Brazilian culture is unique. We explore how it can be leveraged advantageously, and potential hurdles to keep in mind, when navigating international collaboration.

In “Sunny Greetings from Brazil: Peeling the Cross-Cultural Collaboration Pineapple”, I interviewed Brazillian game industry professionals Andreza Rocha from Kokku and Luiza Calderan from DX Gameworks about the impact of Brazillian culture on their professional life. The recording can be found here.

Fifteen Seconds Festival 2023 Speaker & Host

2023, June ^

In my talk, “Unlocking Me / We / Us: Every Challenge is an Opportunity”, I ran the audience through a vulnerable series of personal unlocks that have proven to be catalysts for my career, my teams & organisations, and the game industry at large. If anything, I hoped to inspire the realisation that every time you feel intimidated or overwhelmed by a challenge, it’s a signal of a high likelihood of personal growth & development in your near future!

The recording is available on request.

At Fifteen Seconds Festival, I also hosted the Sports & Health Stage, and interviewed eSports talent Jeannail Carter in a fireside chat.

exec(ut) 2023 Host

2023, March ^

exec(ut) is an event organised by Stichting Sticky. It is a conference for and by students, offering a glimpse at the wondrous world of IT beyond the university. They strive to provide a diverse programme and show how exciting conferences can be.

This one has a special place in my heart: exec(ut) is the spiritual successor to Indievelopment, the independent game development conference I started & organised for four years during my Utrecht University years. I was asked to host the lecture track featuring 7 excellent speakers from companies like Google, Electronic Arts, IJsfontein, as well as several univerities, with an audience of ~250.

India GDC 2022 Speaker

2022, November ^

This was an adjusted, polished version of “Leveraging External Development for Small Teams”, tuned towards a general audience.

A healthy, sustainable but also profitable studio needs to leverage external partners to be successful. Teams with dreams can’t escape the reality of not being able to offer in-house stability & continuity for every discipline required to breathe life into their unique projects. You can enable your team to do what they do best by choosing to work with partners that complement skills available in-house.

In this talk, I ran through several case studies of expert partners I’ve leveraged over the course of my career, in the hopes of inspiring you to reframe your thinking: Every need you have is an opportunity to create truly collaborative, long term partnerships with experts you can learn from for years to come!

The recording for “Leveraging External Development Creatively” is available here.

Dutch Game Day 2022 Speaker

2022, October ^

Producers are at their best when they go unnoticed, and perform their job most effectively when they continuously make themselves redundant in pursuit of further challenges to clear for their team to be able to create the player experience it’s set out to develop. That means a great producer makes herself hard to justify: Performing at her best, it’s tricky to see the value she adds to your bottom line!

That’s why we did this panel. Through three micro talks, three brilliant, enthusiastic ladies will take you on a journey of producer-driven bottom line value add from pre-production to Gold, followed by a series of topics that drive home why having a producer in your team is a necessity for your most smooth, optimised, organised & prioritised end game.

The recording for our “Producer Panel: Elevating your team to the next level” is available here (the first few minutes are unfortunately inaudible).

Transitioning into the Game Industry: How a Nurse, Make Up Artist and Private Investigator got into Game Production Host

2022, September ^

In this session, I interviewed a panel of three game production professionals who successfully transitioned into the game industry: Michelle Velez of Electronic Arts, Giulia Carlotta Zamboni of Gamera Interactive, and Ariana Marchigiano of Blackbird Interactive, who discussed their background before transitioning into the game industry, what motivated them to make the switch, and how they made it. They’ll talk about what skills they were able to take with them from their previous careers, share some of the hurdles they had to overcome, and discuss what they’ve learned about what it’s like to work in games coming from very different industries.

The recording for “Transitioning into the Game Industry: How a Nurse, Make Up Artist and Private Investigator got into Game Production” is available here.

Indigo 2022 Speaker

2022, June ^

A healthy, sustainable but also profitable studio needs to leverage external partners to be successful. Teams with dreams can’t escape the reality of not being able to offer in-house stability & continuity for every discipline required to breathe life into their unique projects. You can enable your team to do what they do best by choosing to work with partners that complement skills available in-house.

In this talk, I ran through several case studies of expert partners I’ve leveraged over the course of my career, in the hopes of inspiring you to reframe your thinking: Every need you have is an opportunity to create truly collaborative, long term partnerships with experts you can learn from for years to come!

The recording for “Leveraging External Development for Small Teams: Enabling your team to do what they do best” is available here.

XDS Ignite 2022 Moderator

2022, March ^

In this Table Topic, Thinking Outside the Box: Leveraging External Development Creatively, we explored external development relationships beyond what’s on the tin: Our partners are jam-packed with creative talent that we’re not utilizing as effectively & efficiently as we could!

Building new relationships is challenging, time-consuming and risky, and while there are plenty of reasons to do so, it’s also worth having a closer look to see if we can expand & deepen existing relationships in a low risk, time efficient and effective way. Could QA help save your producers time? Could your art partner offer UI design? Could your porting team pitch for DLC development?

Participants had a look at the services their existing partners (could?) offer, brought their thinking hat, and got creative about external development!

IndieGameBusiness March 2022 Speaker

2022, March ^

Success (and sometimes failure) always brings GROWTH. Which generally is painful. This session delves into common pitfalls, mistakes and screwups any games company experiencing growth will face and maybe a few tips on how to avoid them. Inevitably your games company will experience growth – either in headcount, projects or within its people. Hopefully it’ll be born out of success. But you’ll find that what made things tick back in the day won’t work quite as well when you’ve added more people to the company and find yourself with changed dynamics. Underestimating planning for growth or fully realizing what it is and how it’ll impact you will at best hamper your success, or at worst spell your doom.

In this session I interviewed former Paradox Interactive Chief Business Development Officer Shams Jorjani, now CEO of his new adventure Fools Quest, on common mistakes Shams has experienced first hand while growing companies or working closely with others.

The recording for “Failing While Scaling – Common Pitfalls Growing Your Company” is available here.

IndieGameBusiness March 2022 Panelist

2022, March ^

An all-out AMA to get any questions you have about game production, project planning, budget estimation, and more.

Panelists included Heather Chandler, Founder at Heather Makes Games, Sarah Spiers, Senior Producer at PUBG, and myself!

The recording for the “Game Production AMA” is available here.

Accessibility as Success Criteria: Building accessibility from the Ground Up Host

2022, February ^

In this panel, host Juney invites four experienced accessibility professionals to guide us through the process of planning, budgeting, implementing and testing accessibility features from the ground up in both new and ongoing projects to make better and more welcoming experiences.

Panelists included Brannon Zahand, Senior Gaming Accessibility Program Manager at Microsoft, Ally McLean, Senior Producer at Mighty Kingdom, Tabby Rose, UX Director at Mighty Yell, and Jonas Lundqvist, Senior Development Director at Respawn.

The recording for “Accessibility as Success Criteria: Building accessibility from the Ground Up” is available here.

Fireside Chat with Maria Cornelius, Operations Manager at Spotify Host

2021, November ^

During this Fireside Chat, I invited our guest Maria Cornelius, Operations Manager at Spotify, to talk about supporting and scaling large teams & organizations in ever-changing industries.

We discussed the good, the bad 𝘢𝘯𝘥 the ugly on topics such as:

  • Intro & transitioning into and out of the game industry
  • Supporting & scaling large teams and organisational development
  • Personal development & growth

The recording for my Fireside Chat with Maria Cornelius, Operations Manager at Spotify is available here.

XDS Adapt 2021 Speaker

2021, September ^

While it may be said that the client is king, true leadership involves setting teams up for success by enabling them to perform without having to face needless obstacles. Developers may inadvertently hinder their external partners through inefficient communication and processes, while making infeasible demands and setting unrealistic standards. This can result in partners delivering less than their true potential in delivery time, cost and quality.

A publisher has invited several panelists to the stage, representing companies providing a variety of services, each with a unique cultural background, focus, scope and perspective. She will ask them to share best practices that she, and other publishers & developers, can engage in to improve the seller-buyer relationship from RFP to sign off, to support their partners in delivering their best work effectively, efficiently, healthily and sustainably.

Panelists included Blandine Prost, Client Partner at Keywords, Alberto Lopes, Director of Production at Kokku and Andrii Titov, CTO at Stepico.

The recording for “Help Us Help You: Best Practices from RFP to Sign Off” is available on request.

Gamecity Hamburg Game Starter on Production & Project Management 2021 Panelist

2021, September ^

In this AMA Panel by Gamecity Hamburg, three game industry professionals in production & project management disciplines go through their road into the industry, experience to date, and their day-to-day workflow, challenges and what they would have liked to know when starting out.

The recording is available here.

Indigo Talks 2021 Host

2021, June ^

INDIGO is the leading game business and showcase event in the Netherlands. Organized annually by Dutch Game Garden, INDIGO brings together the game industry from the Netherlands and beyond!

The TALKS conference contained 24 development and business talks, featuring 38 speakers in total. I hosted several talks in the development track, introducing speakers and rounding up their sessions with live Q&A from the audience.

The Indigo Talks 2021 are available here.

Maker Faire Galicia 2021 Panelist

2021, June ^

This panel had four game industry professionals share their wildly varying roads into different roles in the industry, and discuss how the industry has changed over time as well as where they see it heading.

The recording for “Game Makers from 80’s to 20’s” is available here.

ID@Xbox Game Dev Q&A 2021 Host

2021, May ^

Agostino Simonetta, Director of Global Partnership management at ID@Xbox, gave our Game Production Community & myself the chance to ask questions that will help our community and their teams develop and deliver great player experiences for everyone, and now we’re sharing in the hopes it’ll help you, too!

Topics range from being approved to publish on Xbox through post-launch best practices, from marketing & sales, to community management & engagement. The Q&A contains something of interest for games in every stage of development!

The recording for the “ID@Xbox Game Dev Q&A” is available here.

Jamaica Game Developer Society 2021 Speaker

2021, May ^

In this AMA, I shared a bit about my road into the industry, from programming to production, from product to publishing, and beyond, before opening up the floor to audience questions on any topic of their particular interest.

The recording for “From Programing to Production, Product to Publishing, and beyond!” is available here.

Steam Business Team Q&A 2021 Host

2021, March ^

The Steam Business team from Valve were joined by our Game Production Community Discord in a casual group Q&A session to help you get the most out of shipping your game on Steam. They covered questions submitted by developers on topics ranging from how the Steam Store works and how particular Steam features work, to best practices and even technical topics. Questions were submitted ahead of time, to help the Valve team be better prepared to make the most out of the time we had. During the session, the community was also be able to ask clarifying questions along the way or pose new topics for an open Q&A session at the end.

A summary of the “Steam Business Team Q&A” is available here.

D-Stars Connects 2021 Speaker

2021, March ^

In this casual chat titled “Let’s talk about Game Production”, Giulia Zamboni (Producer at Gamera Interactive) and I talked about our road to and journey through game development so far, highlighting key differences between our roles.

IndieGameBusiness Winter 2020 Speaker

2020, December ^

Jay Powell from Powell Group Consulting invited me to interview developer Gwen Frey on the future of the game industry & distributed working for their Winter 2020 online conference.

Session brief: “Gwen’s career has spanned online games (Marvel Heroes Online), AAA games (BioShock Infinite), and indie games (The Flame in the Flood). Recently she founded an indie micro studio and launched the narrative puzzler Kine on every console, the Epic Games Store, and Google Stadia, and has since proceeded to win the AT&T Unlocked competition with currently in development puzzler Lab Rat.

In this fireside chat, Juney invites Gwen to discuss how the industry has changed over the past decade and to share her vision for distributed, remote game development.”

The recording for “A Fireside Chat with Gwen Frey” is available here.

XDS Adapt 2020 Speaker

2020, October ^

I was invited to speak at XDS Adapt 2020, the External Development Summit, the only annual, international games industry event advancing external development. Together with Daniel Monastero, CEO & founder at Garage 227 Studios, we presented a case study of our growing external and co-development partnership over the course of 4+ years, in a session called “From 911 to Speed Dial: A Case Study in Partnership Evolution”.

Session brief: “As an external developer, you’re often required to show proof of experience to land a work-for-hire contract, but where do you get started, when you have little? As a publisher, how do you find the right developer for your work-for-hire project, and build trust and understanding? This session features a case study of the steadily growing partnership between a publisher and a developer. We’ll walk you through how we met, started working together, and have seen our collaborations grow in frequency and size over a timespan of three years.

Key takeaways:

  • Publisher & developer perspective of getting a work-for-hire relationship started, and building trust and understanding over time
  • A developer’s approach to flexibly managing resources
  • A publisher’s experiences maximising opportunities with a reliable partner.”

The recording for “From 911 to Speed Dial: A Case Study in Partnership Evolution” is available on request.

IndieGameBusiness San Francisco Summer Edition 2020 Speaker

2020, August ^

Jay Powell from Powell Group Consulting invited me to speak at their San Francisco Summer Edition 2020 online conference, and I provided a deep dive into a publisher assessment of a potential new project.

Session brief: “You’ve pitched successfully, your potential publisher is interested, and both sides feel they may have found a match. It’s time to have an in-depth conversation about your team, project, and their future potential, in the attempt to achieve mutual understanding and alignment. What could a publisher ask, and care to know?

In this talk, I’ll focus on a series of topics I investigate when signing new potential development partners for SOEDESCO. In the past five years, I’ve learned a thing or two about positive signs, as well as signs of risk, to be on the lookout for during our pre-sign deep dive phase, and hope you’ll take away some insights into the inner workings of one publisher’s approach to pitch assessments.”

The recording for “A Deep Dive into a Publisher Assessment: What Happens After Your Elevator Pitch w/ Juney Dijkstra” is available here.

IndieGameBusiness Podcast 2019 Guest

2019, October ^

Jay Powell from Powell Group Consulting invited me for an interview on bi-weekly podcast IndieGameBusiness to talk about services publishers provide that often fly under the radar.

The interview recording for “The Untold Value of a Good Publisher w/ Juney Dijkstra from Soedesco” is available here.

Game Connection Europe 2019 Speaker

2019, October ^

Game Connection Europe 2019 in Paris offered me the chance to zoom in to a particular section of a session I first hosted several months prior, discussing best practices in leading a variety of people and teams by asking the audience for their thoughts and feedback on my approaches. The goal was for the shared suggestions to help not just me, but everyone in the audience, become a little bit better at what we do.

The slides for “(Teach me) How to steer a team of cats, unicorns and other unique creatures” are available to download here.

Game Quality Forum Global 2019 Speaker

2019, June ^

At Game Quality Forum Global 2019 in Amsterdam, I hosted a session where I presented several of the soft skill challenges I’ve faced in my first five years in the game industry, and asked the audience to provide their thoughts and feedback on how to tackle these challenges. The goal was for the shared suggestions to help not just me, but everyone in the audience, become a little bit better at what we do.

The slides for “(Teach me) How to be a better {jobtitle}” are available to download here.