GCM Podcast: Game Community Management

Ever wonder what the different forms of community management are? Us too!  Join our host Joseph Woo as we discuss how community efforts can be broken down into four general types, the goals of each community's efforts, and more tips from Cattie Thompson!

Many indie developers take on multiple roles within their studio, and Justin is no different. And yet even with all that he has going on, he is still a huge advocate for community building and encourages other indie developers to do the same. Join us in this podcast as Justin shares how his community has helped him along the way, and what steps you can take to start yours now.

How do you foster loyal advocates within your player base,  you may wonder? Well, join us as we chat with Chris Hohbien, Head of Community and Social at Hutch, and he shares some strategies that he has implemented there, as well as the thought processes behind them!

From managing social media channels to organizing community events, Community Managers are known for mastering the art of juggling multiple hats. In this podcast, we take a dive into all the ones Alana has to balance, how she goes about doing it, and some tips on productivity to help you achieve your own goals. Have a question for one of our guests? Reach out to them in our GCM Slack Group! And of course, don’t miss the social media management spreadsheet Alana mentions: find it here!

Supercell's Jumpei Oki shares what he's learned over a decade working at big-name games. Join our host, Joseph Woo, in a friendly and insightful chat with this awesome industry vet and learn how marketing and community management teams can work together to help your game and community grow.

From passionate hobby to business venture, Alex “Bagman” began as an eager recruit for the then small FPS mobile gaming group, Team No Shots Missed. Now, he leads the charge as CEO and community manager, sprouting a passionate hub and community of casual and professional competitive players for a growing library of mobile FPS. Join us as we chat about Team NSM, the craft of competitive gameplay, and why community plays an integral role in eSports.

Host: Joseph Woo Listener: “Hold up, did you say ‘cult leader’?” Us: “Yes. Yes, we did.” Ida-Emilia “Blackthorn” Kaukonen isn’t your ordinary Community Manager. She’s so much more. Join us for the GCM Podcast: Episode No. 13 as we talk to Blackthorn-community consultant, coach, and cult leader-about her 17 years experience as a CM, her journey as a business owner, and definitely, how she has used this knowledge to create a successful, gamified, and growing socially positive cult.  Talk about thinking outside of the box. Seriously, take notes.

From PC games to mobile F2P FPS, Finnish development company Nitro Games went from a small team in 2007 to a development and publishing house of 40+. A company who is also listed on the NASDAQ First North Growth Market.  Join our call with Community Manager, Maria Maunula, as we listen to her share her experiences entering into the games industry and role as a Community Manager, what it’s like wearing assorted hats of responsibility in a small studio, and working with her Hero Squad to grow and keep the success and excitement of Heroes of Warland fresh.

There's both a beauty and detriment to the anonymity the online world allows us to pursue. On the one hand, it means that we're able to shield our identities to varying degrees as we engage with content and other people. On the opposite side of the same hand, it leaves everyone and everything we believe in open to masked criticism, harassment, and attacks. Tune into GCM Podcast episode 11 as we talk to Kelvin, Director of Player Experience, and Steve, Player Support Manager, about online safety, their roles at Jagex, and efforts to maintain a safe and toxicity free environment within the Runescape community.

The excitement and chaos are bustling at Gamescom 2019, but we’ve managed to find a quiet(ish) place to chat and chink steins with industry veteran and Community Wizard

Twitch is a place for players to get direct, unfiltered constant contact with creators and developer teams.  By using Twitch Streams as a means to provide such access, you can engage your audience in whole new ways. Join us as Ella discusses how she’s gone about it and learned to grow and interact with her player base through this digital medium to forge deep and meaningful player to developer interactions.

To counter the narrative portrayed by the article “Why Community Manager Is a Dead-End Job — and What to Do About It” we invited Mathew Anderson onto the show. He discusses his 15-year history of Community Management in the industry and shares his insights into where the community should sit in an organization and why it continues to be a place and position that excites him as he looks to the future. Stay up to date with our free newsletter. Get the latest scoop delivered straight to your inbox every month, full of insider tips, tricks and trade secrets for Games Community Management.

Feedback: It’s a community managers job to collect it, determine its priority and relevance and relay it to the team when applicable. It can be good, it can be bad, and sometimes it can be downright ugly. Though it differs across platforms there is one thing that remains the same across the board: it comes from a place of passion. Even when it’s ugly, it’s important to remind yourself it’s just as personal to them as it is to you. Listen to GCM podcast episode seven as Darcy, Community Manager at League of Geeks and Project Lead for Armello, touches upon his various experiences with players who have reached their defining moment within a game to leave a good, bad, or ugly review.   Stay up to date with our free newsletter. Get the latest scoop delivered straight to your inbox every month, full of insider tips, tricks and trade secrets for Games Community Management.

For Mobile F2P it is impossible to drive a continuous and increasing profit margin and always give players what they want. It’s a business after all. In episode six we take a seat with Community Manager for Uken Games, Nick Van Vugt, and talk about how his team combined the best of both Product data analysis and Community-lead qualitative and emotional feedback to generate profit-boosting results. Learn the method behind the success that drove a 100% increase in revenue and a 40% increase in retention.

Listen to episode five of the GCM podcast as we're joined by Kings Group's Senior Community Manager, Hugo Ludewig. Following his massive success with King of Avalon and Guns of Glory, we ask Hugo to share his experiences building and managing the ultimate Mod Squad, and growing communities across multiple platforms using proactive messaging.

  Join us for episode four as we talk to Henry Fong, CEO, and founder of the global games publisher, Yodo1. Henry discusses his team’s work on Transformers: Earth Wars (China edition) and how they designed and executed community events to retain and remonetize their most valued players, from minnows to super whales.

On episode three of the GCM Podcast, we talk to the multi-talented Jaymee Mak. We discuss her journey into games community management and the importance behind Hempire’s full-time community-first approach.

On this episode, Nicolas Nottin, a veteran of community management talks about the evolution of community management in gaming and shares his 3 steps strategy for developing the right community around your game.

Listen to this episode to get to know what GCM Hub is, why we started it and why we think that game community management is more important now than ever before. Game on!