Genre-Defining Gaming Studios - with Michail ‘Mishka’ Katkoff

In today’s episode, we ask a very important question - how to build a studio that can make genre-defining hit games. Even though game mechanics are powerful forces, what can truly drive massive and sustainable growth are culture, processes and teams that comprise high-performing studios - a perspective that I’m excited to dig into today. I’m truly thrilled to get Mishka’s insights distilled from hundreds of games from tens of studios in our interview today.   

Key Highlights: 

🤔 Why is it important to know and understand how to build a successful studio, versus, say how to make successful game mechanics? 

🎮 The seven elements that make for a great studio.  

✅ Why ‘right sized’ teams are important to a great studio. 

👨🏻‍💻 Why Mishka values software and art over presentations. 

🎨 Why Mishka considers an art director a key early hire. 

❌ The one common characteristic of unsuccessful games.

📐 How engineers, designers and business people on teams look at problems from very different perspectives. 💭 Why a PM or businessperson-driven culture can find it hard to release anything genre-defining. 

✌️ How to change the composition and leadership of studio teams as a game matures. 

💯 How to think about being design driven vs. metrics driven.

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