Building Better Games by Benjamin Carcich

June 16, 202626 min

E134: Why "Don't Rock the Boat" Fails Game Dev Teams

Level up your leadership: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6 Is keeping your head down killing your game? Many game dev leads survive by following a simple, unwritten rule: don't rock the boat. But staying silent when you see a broken system isn't "playing it smart," it's dodging your responsibility. True leadership isn't about having a perfect record or a flawless game plan; it's about having the courage to stand in the public square, plant a flag, and risk being wrong for the sake of your team. In this episode, Benjamin Carcich breaks down the uncomfortable reality of what it actually means to lead in an agency-based industry like game dev. He exposes the two primary traps leaders fall into when trying to avoid vulnerability - hiding in plain sight or forcing absolute compliance - and shares a personal story of failure that forced him to choose between self-preservation and the work. What You'll Learn in This Episode: What genuine leadership looks like when the deck is stacked in your favor, and why it demands courage rather than structural power Why game development inherently requires an "agency-based" framework instead of a "compliance-based" model to thrive A simple question to check if you're acting out of fear and failing to lead What the two extreme survival traps look like and how both destroy team trust How to build comfort with the unknown so you can confidently tell your team, "I don't know, let's figure it out." If you're a leader in game dev who is tired of fighting change resistance, feels caught between the demands of senior stakeholders and the needs of your developers, or is endlessly worried that your next big decision might miss the mark and make you look dumb, this episode is for you. Connect with us: 🔗Ben's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-carcich/ 🔗BBG's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/building-better-games/ 🔗Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildingbettergames/# 🔗Website: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg 🔗YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@buildingbettergames If you want me to help producers or studios build better games through effective systems and leadership, you can reach me at: info@valarinconsulting.com #GameDevLeadership #GameIndustry #ProducerLife #GamingStudio #BuildingBetterGames

June 9, 20261 hr 32 min

E133: Everyone Said Dispatch Would Fail. 4 Million Players Disagree.

Level up your leadership: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6 Can you defy the industry experts by refusing to compromise on your creative vision? When the entire gaming industry declares a genre dead and claims nobody is buying narrative-driven games anymore, most studios pack up and pivot. But the team at Adhoc Studio did the exact opposite; they stuck to their guns, bet on their passion, and shattered every single expectation. Their debut game, Dispatch, blew past the skeptics to achieve a 97% overwhelmingly positive rating on Steam and over four million copies sold worldwide. Bridging the gap between two fiercely distinct creative worlds, Nick Herman (Co-founder and COO) and Natalie Herman (Head of Production) joined Ben to break down how they pulled off this "magic trick" of a launch. Bringing a masterful blend of creative grit and operational expertise, Nick and Natalie pull back the curtain on what happens when you dare to build a studio on an original IP. In this conversation, they share the raw reality of navigating intense launch crises, managing the brutal push-and-pull of high-fidelity pre-rendered animation, and evolving from hands-on individual contributors into leaders who empower their team to shine. What You'll Learn in This Episode: How to combine a game development pipeline with a TV animation pipeline—even when the two systems were never designed to work together. Why putting story ahead of gameplay can create stronger emotional connections and make players care more about your characters. The secret to building a thriving remote studio culture without micromanaging your team. What happens behind the scenes when a major release gets hit by massive leaks—and how to keep your team focused through the chaos. How to identify hidden talent, give people real ownership, and build a team that stays with you for years. The biggest lessons learned from creating story-driven games that challenge conventional design rules. Why trust, autonomy, and creative freedom often outperform rigid management processes. The leadership principles that helped scale a studio while maintaining a strong creative culture. If you're a leader in game dev who is tired of copy-pasting the same safe mechanics and is ready to fight for an unconventional vision despite what the publishers say, this episode is for you. Learn more about Dispatch: 🔗 Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2592160/Dispatch/ 🔗 Imdb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt34996965/ 🔗 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl0lwcDCTPL2LALusiS_xmw AdHoc Studio: 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-adhoc-studio/ 🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theadhocstudio/ Learn more about our guests: Nick Herman: 🔗LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-herman-2b370b28/ 🔗Imdb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2550705/ 🔗Mobygames Profile: https://www.mobygames.com/person/255829/nick-herman/ 🔗Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_nickherman_/ 🔗X: https://x.com/nickherman?lang=en Natalie Herman: 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalie-a-herman/ 🔗 Imdb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6048997/ 🔗Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/funkthefake/ 🔗X: https://x.com/funkthefake Connect with us: 🔗Ben's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-carcich/ 🔗BBG's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/building-better-games/ 🔗Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildingbettergames/# 🔗Website: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg 🔗YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@buildingbettergames If you want me to help producers or studios build better games through effective systems and leadership, you can reach me at: info@valarinconsulting.com #GameDevLeadership #StudioCulture #NarrativeDesign #IndieGameDev #BuildingBetterGames

June 5, 202643 min

E132: Why Helping Every Team Is Making Your Game Studio Worse

Level up your leadership: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6 Is your calendar a graveyard of back-to-back "team rituals" for 4 different orgs while your actual strategic work gathers dust When you are a game dev leader straddling multiple layers of a studio, it is incredibly easy to fall into the "comfort trap" of doing what you already know how to do: running local team meetings, fixing immediate processes, and trying to play hero for every unstaffed team underneath you. But when you try to be everything to everyone, you aren't actually helping—you are stretching yourself to a breaking point and starving your organization of the high-level leadership it desperately needs to survive. In this episode, Benjamin Carcich breaks down why doing less direct work for your teams is actually the ultimate force-multiplying move. You'll learn how to shift your mindset from a localized team manager to a scaled "team of teams" leader, how to ruthlessly audit your calendar, and why learning to hold a firm "no" will build more trust with your studio than any standup ever could. What You'll Learn in This Episode: The "serve everyone all the time" trap that keeps leaders from scaling their impact Why great team leads often fail when promoted to higher leadership roles A simple 4-step audit to align your time with what matters most When to empower devs - no matter their discipline - to run processes without you How to grow your leadership influence through solving broader problems than your team If you're a leader in game dev who is drowning in cross-team meetings, covering unstaffed producer slots, and feeling too exhausted to actually steer the ship, this episode is for you. Connect with us: 🔗Ben's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-carcich/ 🔗BBG's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/building-better-games/ 🔗Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildingbettergames/# 🔗Website: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg 🔗YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@buildingbettergames If you want me to help producers or studios build better games through effective systems and leadership, you can reach me at: info@valarinconsulting.com #GameDevLeadership #ProducerLife #GameIndustry #StudioManagement #ForceMultiplier

May 26, 202637 min

E131: The Efficiency Trap That's Killing Your Game

Level up your leadership: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6 Are you running your game studio fast, or are you actually moving it forward? In this episode, we break down one of the most destructive traps in modern game development: confusing efficiency with effectiveness. It's incredibly easy to measure velocity, count assets, or point to a rising graph on your screen. But if your team is flawlessly hitting its milestones and the game still isn't any fun to play, your chosen metrics are a farce. We explore why game dev is uniquely unsuited for pure manufacturing efficiency, how localized optimizations choke your pipelines, and why real organizational value requires the courage to slow down, leave room for messy learning, and build a clear, shared North Star. What You'll Learn in This Episode: The difference between efficiency and effectiveness How busy work and overproduction happen when teams execute without clear goals Ways to identify and eliminate bottlenecks through better cross-team collaboration Why prototyping, failing fast, and retrospectives drive long-term success If you're a leader in game dev who is tired of watching your team burn out to clear massive backlogs, only to realize the core game loop still isn't landing with players , this episode is for you. Connect with us: 🔗Ben's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-carcich/ 🔗BBG's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/building-better-games/ 🔗Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildingbettergames/# 🔗Website: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg 🔗YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@buildingbettergames If you want me to help producers or studios build better games through effective systems and leadership, you can reach me at: info@valarinconsulting.com #GameDev #StudioLeadership #AgileGameDevelopment #GameProduction #ProductivityVsValue

May 12, 202637 min

E129: 6 Lessons from the Worst Failure of My Game Dev Career

Level up your leadership: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6 What happens when your dream job becomes a political nightmare? Making games is hard, but leading the people who make them can be even harder, especially when you realize that "doing the right thing" isn't always going to get you accolades or even support. In this episode, Ben shares the raw details of his biggest game dev failure, a career-defining moment where he was ejected from a team after trying to fix systemic leadership issues. He breaks down the painful lessons learned about dehumanization, organizational politics, and why your self-worth should never be in the hands of your boss. What You'll Learn in This Episode: What it actually looks like to fail as a leader, even when your intentions are 100% about helping the team and the product Why "dehumanizing" your opponents—even the ones you think are the problem—is a dangerous path How to identify the "delta" between a company's explicit culture and its implicit reality Why you must stop "outsourcing your self-worth" to the studio to start leading with true confidence instead of leading scared If you're a leader in game dev who feels like you're bearing the burden of a struggling team alone and wondering if your "dream job" is starting to feel like a trap, this episode is for you. Connect with us: 🔗Ben's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-carcich/ 🔗BBG's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/building-better-games/ 🔗Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildingbettergames/# 🔗Website: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg 🔗YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZpMT-dUwQR-R4Mb4uub6Sw If you want me to help producers or studios build better games through effective systems and leadership, you can reach me at: info@valarinconsulting.com #GameDevLeadership #GameIndustryCulture #LeadershipFailure #GameProduction #BuildingBetterGames

April 28, 202642 min

E127: Game Dev's Leadership Problem: Too Many Managers

If you're a leader in game dev who feels stuck, able to spot problems but struggling to make a real difference, there is a path forward that levels up your leadership and accelerates your team, game, and career. Sign up here to learn more: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6 If you're making progress but losing the goal, you aren't leading. You're optimizing for stagnation. In this episode, Ben deconstructs the often-confused synonyms of authority in the games industry. Drawing from a GDC talk he was a part of, he explores why game development is currently "over-managed" and under-led. He provides a clear framework for deconflicting the roles of Leader, Manager, and Boss, while introducing five specific "stances" that allow you to develop your team's capacity and navigate the ever-shifting landscape of player preferences and market trends. What You'll Learn In This Episode: Leader vs Manager vs Boss: change driver, system optimizer, org advocate Why game dev's "management bias" leads to stagnation The 5 development stances: Directing, Teaching, Advising, Mentoring, Coaching How to choose the right stance based on urgency vs growth Why professional coaching is an underused (and powerful) tool If you're a leader in game dev who feels like you're constantly "chopping down trees" only to realize you might be in the wrong forest, this episode is for you. Connect with us: 🔗Ben's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-carcich/ 🔗BBG's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/building-better-games/ 🔗Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildingbettergames/# 🔗Website: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg 🔗YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZpMT-dUwQR-R4Mb4uub6Sw If you want me to help producers or studios build better games through effective systems and leadership, you can reach me at: info@valarinconsulting.com #GameDevLeadership #GameDesignManagement #BuildingBetterGames #StudioCulture #LeadershipDevelopment

April 21, 202657 min

E126: Why Game Designers Fail (and How to Help Them)

If you're a leader in game dev who feels stuck, able to spot problems but struggling to make a real difference, there is a path forward that levels up your leadership and accelerates your team, game, and career. Sign up here to learn more: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6 Is Game Design a Science or Just "Making an Omelet"? Everyone has a "great idea" for a game, but having an idea is a far cry from the professional discipline of game design. In this episode, Ben sits down with veteran designer Alexander Brazie (World of Warcraft, League of Legends) to explore why being a designer is less about having all the answers and more about the rigorous process of turning ambiguity into action. We dive into how leaders can diagnose a struggling design process and some helpful analogies that help teams find the deepest fun without drowning in limited resources. What You'll Learn In This Episode: The difference between a real designer and a person with gameplay opinions Why great designers ask better questions instead of forcing solutions How to apply a Player-Centric Framework to every system How to tell if a designer is stuck or just in the creative process How to support a designer's mental health beyond work Learn more & connect with our guest: 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-brazie/ 🔗 Mastering Game Mechanics Bootcamp: https://gamedesignskills.com/courses/mechanics-bootcamp-scale-depth-alexander-brazie/ 🔗 Wowpedia: https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Alexander_Brazie 🔗 Game Design Skills: https://gamedesignskills.com/author/alexander-brazie/ 🔗 Moby Games: https://www.mobygames.com/person/257453/alexander-brazie/ Connect with us: 🔗Ben's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-carcich/ 🔗BBG's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/building-better-games/ 🔗Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildingbettergames/# 🔗Website: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg 🔗YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZpMT-dUwQR-R4Mb4uub6Sw If you want me to help producers or studios build better games through effective systems and leadership, you can reach me at: info@valarinconsulting.com #GameDevLeadership #GameDesignSkills #AIinGames #StudioManagement #BuildingBetterGames

April 16, 202649 min

E125: 4 AI Threats That Matter More Than Skynet

If you're a leader in game dev who feels stuck, able to spot problems but struggling to make a real difference, there is a path forward that levels up your leadership and accelerates your team, game, and career. Sign up here to learn more: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6 Is your "AI First" strategy actually a house of cards waiting to collapse? While CEOs are busy pumping the hype train, the practical reality of LLMs is looking a lot less rosy. In this episode, Ben explores why the current AI trajectory might be a "subprime crisis" in the making. We move past the Skynet fantasies to look at the four existential and human threats that LLMs pose to the games industry, from the "logarithmic curve of effectiveness" to the dangerous atrophy of our own ability to think deeply. What You'll Learn In This Episode: What the "subprime AI crisis" is and why the current investment stack might be unsustainable. Why relying on "generative slop" leads to a generational decline in the value of information. How to identify when AI is capitalizing on your own cognitive biases and "sycophantic" needs for ego validation. How to balance using AI as a force-multiplier without atrophying the "slow thinking" required for high-level game production. Reference Links: 🔗 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aec8352 🔗 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11324722-the-righteous-mind 🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p22QeLNHvlc 🔗 https://www.wheresyoured.at/the-subprime-ai-crisis-is-here/ 🔗 https://metr.org/blog/2025-07-10-early-2025-ai-experienced-os-dev-study/ 🔗 https://medium.com/@webteam.ybsvp/when-ai-gets-it-wrong-the-deloitte-scandal-and-the-question-of-reliability-86940bc9017a 🔗 https://tech.yahoo.com/ai/articles/mit-created-duplicate-ai-workers-185644013.html 🔗 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2604.01363 🔗 https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/06/google-microsoft-meta-amazon-ai-cash.html 🔗 https://www.fastcompany.com/91417492/deloitte-ai-report-australian-government 🔗 https://techcrunch.com/2024/07/24/model-collapse-scientists-warn-against-letting-ai-eat-its-own-tail/ 🔗 https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Fast-Slow-Daniel-Kahneman/dp/0374533555 🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDL3Ch7Nz8c Connect with us: 🔗Ben's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-carcich/ 🔗BBG's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/building-better-games/ 🔗Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildingbettergames/# 🔗Website: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg 🔗YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZpMT-dUwQR-R4Mb4uub6Sw If you want me to help producers or studios build better games through effective systems and leadership, you can reach me at: info@valarinconsulting.com #GameDev #ArtificialIntelligence #StudioLeadership #TechBubble #BuildingBetterGames

April 7, 202623 min

E124: AI Can't Replace Game Producers. So Why Are They Getting Cut?

If you're a leader in game dev who feels stuck, able to spot problems but struggling to make a real difference, there is a path forward that levels up your leadership and accelerates your team, game, and career. Sign up here to learn more: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6 Is your job being replaced by an LLM, or are you just doing the wrong job? The claim has been made that AI can handle 85% of management tasks. For game producers, this sounds like a death knell, but only if you believe your value lies in shuffling Jira tickets and taking meeting notes. In this episode, we break down the fundamental misunderstanding of "productivity" in game dev. We explore why LLMs are masters of the "passing high school grade" and why the most vital, indirect value a producer provides remains entirely out of reach for even the most sophisticated AI. What You'll Learn in This Episode: Why "being busy" can actually hurt your career How to find the invisible value you uniquely bring The risk of using AI without real expertise Why producers must evolve beyond task tracking Connect with us: 🔗Ben's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-carcich/ 🔗BBG's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/building-better-games/ 🔗Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildingbettergames/# 🔗Website: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg 🔗YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZpMT-dUwQR-R4Mb4uub6Sw If you want me to help producers or studios build better games through effective systems and leadership, you can reach me at: info@valarinconsulting.com #GameProduction #GameDevAI #ProjectManagement #StudioLeadership #BuildingBetterGames

March 31, 20261 hr 2 min

E123: How Corporate Strategy Breaks Game Development

If you're a leader in game dev who feels stuck, able to spot problems but struggling to make a real difference, there is a path forward that levels up your leadership and accelerates your team, game, and career. Sign up here to learn more: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6 Is your corporate strategy killing your "Golden Goose"? It's the nightmare scenario for every creative leader: You catch the wave, your game is a runaway success, and then—the "adults" enter the room. In this episode, we react to Jeff Kaplan's candid interview with Lex Fridman, where he reveals the internal fractures that derailed Overwatch, from "miscommunication by PowerPoint" to the soul-crushing moment a CFO leveraged a thousand jobs against a revenue target. What you will learn in this episode: Why putting arbitrary dates in an executive deck hurts you How a money-focused lens creates efficient organizations that forget the player The danger of "bolting on" a league for monetization Why one bad decision by a senior executive can lose you twenty years of top-tier talent. Why leaning into live events and player happiness is often a better ROI than rushing a sequel You may listen to the full audio podcast: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/493-jeff-kaplan-world-of-warcraft-overwatch-blizzard/id1434243584?i=1000754728791 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/44oTEHDZdB7ITCB5dx88mB?si=6d45a2506a794ee8 Lex Fridman's YouTube Channels: 🔗 @lexfridman 🔗 @LexClips Original Video: https://youtu.be/5imgkwupzAQ?si=cR8_WMo3eNmmks7d Full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9rF1CSSh-w If you are a creative leader tired of "walking towards the abyss," a developer who feels their autonomy is being eroded by spreadsheets, or anyone who wants to understand why the most successful games in the world can still fall apart from the inside, this episode is for you. Connect with us: 🔗Ben's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-carcich/ 🔗BBG's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/building-better-games/ 🔗Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildingbettergames/# 🔗Website: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg 🔗YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZpMT-dUwQR-R4Mb4uub6Sw If you want me to help producers or studios build better games through effective systems and leadership, you can reach me at: info@valarinconsulting.com #GameDevLeadership #Overwatch2 #JeffKaplan #GamingIndustry #CreativeAutonomy #BuildingBetterGames

Building Better Games

About the show

Listen to episodes

E134: Why "Don't Rock the Boat" Fails Game Dev Teams

E133: Everyone Said Dispatch Would Fail. 4 Million Players Disagree.

E132: Why Helping Every Team Is Making Your Game Studio Worse

E131: The Efficiency Trap That's Killing Your Game

E129: 6 Lessons from the Worst Failure of My Game Dev Career

E127: Game Dev's Leadership Problem: Too Many Managers

E126: Why Game Designers Fail (and How to Help Them)

E125: 4 AI Threats That Matter More Than Skynet

E124: AI Can't Replace Game Producers. So Why Are They Getting Cut?

E123: How Corporate Strategy Breaks Game Development

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