Building Better Games

Hosted by Benjamin Carcich

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170

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Oct 2026

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About the show

Leadership in game dev is hard. I can't make it easy, but I can make it a heck of a lot better. My name is Benjamin Carcich, and this podcast helps leaders in game dev who feel stuck, ignored, and out of options find their path to success. I've spent the last several decades studying and leading in environments ranging from the U.S. Army through to game development. I want to share what I've learned. Better leadership is a huge opportunity in the games industry. Let's make it better together. Better leaders build better games.

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October 13, 2026Episode 1511 hr 21 min

E151: Why Players Judge Your Game by Its Worst Part

Learn to apply Agile to Game Dev: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg/agilefundamentals Is your game building on solid foundations or building on mud? Building a game from scratch is brutally difficult, and game developers often debate how much to invest in genre fundamentals versus chasing new, shiny innovations during early pre-production. While some push for an ultra-lean approach to reach the experimental phase faster, skipping or rushing core genre foundations creates an unstable prototype, misleads early player validation, and forces massive, costly technical rewrites later in development. In this second installment of our ongoing episode series with Leif, Leif and Ben dissect why mastering "minimum lovable" genre foundations early is essential for setting up innovation, shielding player credibility, and maintaining team momentum. What You'll Learn in This Episode: What genre foundations are and why they act as the essential Legos for game design Why lean genre fundamentals take on profoundly more risk than building them up front How shoddy technical and gameplay foundations create a massive tax on new ideas When to stop iterating on a genre fundamental using the "not distracting" quality razor What separates a minimum viable product from a minimum lovable experience Why early player feedback can be deeply flawed if core fundamentals are janky How small teams can tackle genre fundamentals efficiently without overstaffing How game development leaders can balance humility and direction when guiding subject matter experts If you're a leader in game dev who wants to de-risk early pre-production and build games on rock-solid fundamentals before chasing new ideas, this episode is for you! 🔗Connect with Leif on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leif-johansen-52139141/ 🔗 Watch the first install of this series here: https://youtu.be/woOMalag9MA 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 help leading teams and studios to better games players love, you can reach me at: info@valarinconsulting.com #GameDev #GameDesign #GameProduction #IndieDev #PreProduction

October 6, 2026Episode 15036 min

E150: Why AAA Experience Is Working Against Game Dev Leaders

Learn to apply Agile to Game Dev: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg/agilefundamentals Are we witnessing a total structural collapse of North American AAA game development, or is the industry simply burning away its own excess to make room for a scrappy, highly efficient new era? In this episode of Building Better Games, host Ben Carcich sits down with Leif Johansen to unpack the current state of game development. They dive deep into why US AAA studios are disproportionately suffering from massive lay-offs, how years of easy funding and ballooning team sizes created a culture of "poisonous success," and why the future of gaming belongs to generalists, AA studios, and scrappy fundamentals. What You'll Learn: What caused the structural brittleness and "boom-time" atrophy across US AAA studios Why the global games industry outside the US is weathering the current economic storm much better How hyper-specialization, bloated scopes, and "do you know who I am" executive energy distorted game greenlighting What lessons modern game studios need to learn from the resilience of Japanese game dev Why AA developers, indies, and multi-skilled generalists are positioned to become the industry's next leaders How the end of cheap capital, Game Pass distortions, and speculative fads are forcing studios back to fundamentals This conversation marks Part 1 of a multi-part series exploring how to make games effectively, so if you're a leader in game dev who is trying to navigate industry restructuring, unlearn bloated AAA habits, and build efficient, resilient teams, subscribe! This episode and this series are for you. 🔗Connect with Leif on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leif-johansen-52139141/ 🔗Learn to apply Agile to Game Dev: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg/agilefundamentals 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 help leading teams and studios to better games players love, you can reach me at: info@valarinconsulting.com #GameDev #AAA #GameDevelopment #GamingIndustry #IndieDev

September 29, 2026Episode 14922 min

E149: Why ONE of Your Game Teams Decides Your Ship Date

Level up your leadership: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6 Are you optimizing four out of five teams on your project, only to find your final ship date hasn't moved a single day? In game development, when multiple teams or disciplines are working toward a release, exactly one of them will decide when you ship: the long pole. If you can't identify which team is that long pole, you may be wasting critical leadership attention on teams that don't need it while leaving the bottleneck unsupported. In this episode of Building Better Games, Ben Carcich breaks down how to identify the effort that truly dictates your timeline, measure real pace instead of stacking expert guesses, and focus your leadership energy where it actually changes your ship date. What you'll learn in this episode: What the "long pole" concept is and why it determines your actual ship date Why relying on expert guesses and stacking assumptions ruins project plans How to use historical team data and pace to project realistic release timelines How long poles show up across multi-team projects, discipline pipelines, and sprint dependencies Why pushing teams that aren't the long pole can waste time when the ship date matters How to prevent hiring in the wrong places when trying to solve velocity problems How to focus support on the bottleneck team without resorting to micromanagement or crunch Why vision, culture, and prioritization matter far more than perfecting a plan If you're a leader in game dev who is tired of guessing ship dates, drowning in complex Gantt charts, or pushing teams faster without seeing the final release date move, 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 help leading teams and studios to better games players love, you can reach me at: info@valarinconsulting.com #GameDevLeadership #GameProduction #AgileGameDev #ProjectManagement #BuildingBetterGames

September 22, 2026Episode 14825 min

E148: Why AAA Game Studios Won't Save Themselves

Level up your leadership: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6 North American AAA isn't just struggling in a downturn. It is actively choosing to die. With record budgets and elite talent, senior leaders continue to reach for quick fixes like AI, outsourcing, and layoffs while ignoring the true rot: broken leadership incentives, political empire-building, and a refusal to adapt. In this episode, Benjamin Carcich breaks down why the industry's current survival strategies are failing, why the leaders who can fix the problem are being pushed out, and what the future of game development looks like for those willing to build something better. What You'll Learn in This Episode: What the North American games industry reset reveals about the shifting balance of global development power Why AI, outsourcing, and headcount cuts aren't fixing the real problems inside struggling studios How bad incentives and politics keep studios stuck Why fear of accountability can make risky decisions harder to challenge even when the warning signs are obvious How emerging studios can adapt by staying smaller longer, facing reality earlier, and prioritizing shared vision over sheer output If you're a leader in game dev who sees the structural flaws in traditional AAA and wants to build adaptable, high-performing teams for the future of the industry, this episode is for you. 🔗Watch my reaction to ShadowHand's video here: https://youtu.be/HCeqGKcMcLY 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 help leading teams and studios to better games players love, you can reach me at: info@valarinconsulting.com #GameDev #GameDevelopment #TripleA #GameIndustry #StudioLeadership

September 15, 2026Episode 14728 min

E147: Stop Demanding More Visibility From Your Game Team

Level up your leadership: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6 Are you frequently seeking more visibility from your dev teams because there is a ton you don't know? As game dev studios scale, senior leaders often fall into the trap of confusing visibility with control. They end up using reports to soothe their own anxiety about uncertainty. But demanding more visibility does not always fix problems; it can turn you into a decision-making bottleneck, it can disempower your talent, and it can slow production down. In this episode, Benjamin Carcich breaks down why your hunger for visibility might be sabotaging your studio and what you should focus on instead. What You'll Learn in This Episode: The hidden cost of "just in case" data, and how over-reporting can quietly slow your team down and hurt morale Why more visibility doesn't always mean better decisions and leadership How excessive reporting can turn into micromanagement, disempowering teams How to replace centralized control with local autonomy What leaders should focus on instead: building a strong culture, reinforcing a clear vision, and removing the larger challenges If you're a leader in game dev who feels overwhelmed by the constant need to monitor every detail and wants to build a high-trust, fast-moving studio culture, this episode is for you. 🔗Watch Part 1 here: https://youtu.be/A2L3ROBFlGc 🔗Watch Part 2 here:https://youtu.be/5J3p96_FyvM 🔗Access the trust audit here: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg/trust-audit 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 help leading teams and studios to better games players love, you can reach me at: info@valarinconsulting.com #GameDevLeadership #GameDevelopment #GameStudioManagement #LeadershipInGames #GameProduction

September 8, 2026Episode 14633 min

E146: The 4 Reasons You Don't Trust Someone On Your Game Team

Level up your leadership: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6 Have you ever found yourself re-checking a team member's work, taking over their tasks to avoid an awkward conversation, or secretly worrying they're going to derail your project? In game development, a lack of trust rarely gets addressed directly. Instead, leaders build workarounds, approval gates, and defensive processes that slow down production and erode team culture. In this episode, Benjamin Carcich breaks down the four core root causes of mistrust in game studios and shares actionable strategies to diagnose, resolve, or eliminate them. What You'll Learn In This Episode: The four ways trust can break down:Malice, Lack of Expertise, Unreliability, and Misalignment … and how to identify which one is affecting your team Why not every trust problem is personal and how confusing a skill or alignment issue with bad intent can create a toxic work environment How misdiagnosing trust issues leads to micromanagement How to rebuild trust The one type of trust breakdown you can't fix — and how recognizing it early can help your team and studio succeed If you're a leader in game dev who is tired of babysitting performance, constantly double-checking work, or feeling like your team is pulling in four different directions, this episode is for you. 🔗Watch Part 1 here: https://youtu.be/A2L3ROBFlGc 🔗Access the trust audit here: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg/trust-audit 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 help leading teams and studios to better games players love, you can reach me at: info@valarinconsulting.com #GameDev #GameLeadership #StudioManagement #GameProduction #TeamCulture

September 1, 2026Episode 14529 min

E145: Why Nobody At Your Game Studio Will Make A Decision

Access the trust audit here: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg/trust-audit Are you accidentally building a studio culture where no one makes a move without your permission? In game development, leaders often demand high agency and creative ownership, yet unknowingly build low-trust systems designed entirely around control. Over time, adding process after process to prevent mistakes doesn't just eliminate bad outcomes; it kills your team's best ideas. In this episode, Benjamin Carcich breaks down the spectrum between high-trust and low-trust studio systems, why alignment decays over time, and how to spot which direction your studio is drifting before your best talent walks out the door. What You'll Learn: What high-trust vs. low-trust systems actually look like in game development Why tightening control to prevent rare mistakes unknowingly chops off the top end of your studio's creative potential How to realign misaligned team members through targeted questions instead of default administrative control Two simple sentences you can listen for today to instantly diagnose your studio's true trust level If you're a leader in game dev who wants a self-driven team that takes ownership, but you keep finding yourself stuck in endless decision bottlenecks, this episode is for you. Level up your leadership: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6 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 help leading teams and studios to better games players love, you can reach me at: info@valarinconsulting.com #GameDev #GameDevelopment #GameDevLeadership #StudioCulture #CreativeDirection

August 25, 2026Episode 1441 hr 11 min

E144: Why Every Game Has Narrative, Even the Ones With No Story

Level up your leadership: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6 Why is game narrative so frequently dismissed, despite its responsibility for player connection? In this episode, we sit down with industry veteran Richard Dansky to break down why story isn't just dialogue - it's a core framework that helps gameplay make sense. Richard's the former central Clancy writer for Ubisoft with 27 years in game narrative and he joins the show to dismantle common myths about game writing. They dive deep into the essential separation between writers and narrative designers, why late-stage story changes cost studios massive amounts of time and money, and how proper leadership can empower narrative teams to drive long-term player investment. What You'll Learn In This Episode: What game narrative really is How everything from environmental storytelling to enemy barks helps shape the player's experience Why treating narrative as a late-stage "flavor pass" often leads to budget overruns, production headaches, and disconnected experiences How narrative can strengthen design, art, and gameplay when it's integrated from the start How successful studios structure their narrative teams How game leaders can embed narrative early in development If you're a leader in game dev who wants to build games players care about, but struggles to integrate narrative into your core production pipeline, this episode is for you. Learn more about our guest: 🔗LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-dansky-9b899a/ 🔗Website: http://richarddansky.com/ 🔗Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B001JRRLDC 🔗Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/RichardDansky 🔗IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3835598/ 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 help leading teams and studios to better games players love, you can reach me at: info@valarinconsulting.com #GameDev #GameDesign #NarrativeDesign #GameDevelopment #GamingIndustry

August 18, 2026Episode 14351 min

E143: The Framework We Used At Riot To Build Champions

Access the Cohesion Quadrant here: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg/cohesion-quadrant Why do games crafted by world-class designers, artists, and writers still fail to connect with players? When design, story, and art don't agree, players feel the friction immediately, even if they can't put it into words. In this episode, Benjamin Carcich breaks down the DNA Framework (Design, Narrative, Art) developed on the League of Legends champion team. Discover why polishing individual assets won't fix a disjointed game, how to establish a clear priority stack for your project, and how leaders can maintain true vision cohesion from ideation to launch. What You'll Learn in This Episode: What the DNA Framework really is and how Design, Narrative, and Art work together to create cohesive player experiences Why great work can still fail when teams work in silos How to spot misalignment early before it turns into bigger problems for the project How to get your entire team moving in the same direction and turn great individual work into one unified game If you're a leader in game dev who is tired of watching high-quality assets fail to come together into a cohesive whole, this episode is for you. Learn how to diagnose hidden friction between design, art, and story before it impacts your players. Level up your leadership: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6 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 help leading teams and studios to better games players love, you can reach me at: info@valarinconsulting.com #GameDev #GameDesign #GameDevelopment #GamingIndustry #Leadership

August 12, 2026Episode 1421 hr 34 min

E142: What Roblox Devs Know About Attention That AAA Doesn't

Level up your leadership: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6 Have you ever wondered if the secret to game marketing isn't a massive budget, but rather mastering the content flywheel and understanding how algorithms actually work? In this episode of Building Better Games, Ben sits down with Zach Letter (Wonder Works Studio) for a deep dive into organic user acquisition, content creation, and the evolution of modern game marketing. Zach breaks down the distinct strategies behind three of his studio's major hits—Overlook Bay, SpongeBob Tower Defense, and Duck Duck—explaining how to co-develop with your audience, leverage YouTube and TikTok creators without paying for sponsored posts, and manufacture viral moments that scale. What You'll Learn in This Episode: What algorithm-driven distribution really requires, and why treating platforms as partners can be the key to scaling your game Why one-off influencer sponsorships often fail How to build a content flywheel that keeps creators talking about your game organically How to manage player expectations without overpromising or setting yourself up for post-launch burnout How real-time player feedback can shape your live-ops roadmap Why "under-promise and over-deliver" matters when building long-term trust with your players If you're a leader in game dev who wants to stop burning budget on traditional ads and master organic, creator-led growth strategies, this episode is for you. Learn more about our guest: 🔗LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachary-letter-0769b893/ 🔗Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aviatorgaming/?hl=en 🔗YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AviatorGaming 🔗Wikitubia: https://youtube.fandom.com/wiki/AviatorGaming More about Duck Duck: 🔗 Games Beat Article: https://gamesbeat.com/team-behind-robloxs-top-earning-licensed-game-launchesd-duck-duck/ 🔗 Roblox: https://www.roblox.com/games/135486323963203/Duck-Duck 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 help leading teams and studios to better games players love, you can reach me at: info@valarinconsulting.com #GameDev #GameMarketing #RobloxDev #IndieGameDev #GameDesign