Building Better Games

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: [email protected] #GameDevLeadership #GameProduction #AgileGameDev #ProjectManagement #BuildingBetterGames  

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: [email protected] #GameDev #GameDevelopment #TripleA #GameIndustry #StudioLeadership  

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: [email protected] #GameDevLeadership #GameDevelopment #GameStudioManagement #LeadershipInGames #GameProduction  

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: [email protected] #GameDev #GameLeadership #StudioManagement #GameProduction #TeamCulture  

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: [email protected] #GameDev #GameDevelopment #GameDevLeadership #StudioCulture #CreativeDirection