Henry Lee

Good games often feel simple to play. Making them is hard work. I recently spoke at Gamesforum in SF. The conference brought together experts to discuss user acquisition and monetization strategies for mobile games. I had the chance to share insights from running a chess learning platform Chess.ing and learned valuable lessons from industry leaders. I discussed using Discord for activities. I explained how parents plan for after school. This means they often prefer annual payments over monthly ones. I also talked about chess. For chess, curriculum should adapt to each student. Girls and boys approach problems differently, and we adjust our curriculum to match these learning styles. More girls are playing online now than two years ago, which reflects broader changes in how young people engage with competitive activities. The conference taught me how much testing shapes successful games. Games that seem polished today went through years of iteration. Players are tired of generic ads that break immersion, dah no surprise! Advertising can enhance rather than interrupt gameplay when it aligns with the story and offers genuine rewards. This was hard to believe until I saw a few. Two metrics came up repeatedly in conversations. ROAS measures how much revenue each dollar of advertising generates. ARPUU tracks revenue per paying user, helping teams understand which players contribute most to sustainability. Segmentation matters more than I expected. There are countless ways to group users based on behavior, preferences, and engagement patterns. The best teams keep experimenting with different segments to find what works for their specific audience. Everyone at the conference talked about AI and personalization. I also met Devin Becker who was terrific. He suggested teaching chess by starting with endgames rather than openings. Most curricula begin with how pieces move and opening principles. Starting from endgames might help students understand the purpose behind each move earlier in their learning journey. Chess combines art, science, and sport in ways that few other activities do, and each conversation reminded me how many approaches exist to teach it well. Thank you Josh Vowles, Mariam Ahmad, Joe S., and the entire Gamesforum team for putting it all together 🎉 

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I personally believe there's a growing zeitgeist of Canadian identity in all media, not just games, and it's both surreal yet meaningful to feel being a part of it. Whether or not the specific setting of Retroronto hampers its marketing potential to the world at large, the game and my opportunities with it would've never gotten anywhere without representing Canada's financial capital. It leaves me admittedly rather conflicted, especially after much of the meetings I had during XP Summit (of which I'm super grateful, for the time given and connections made during). I do want to thank CBC again for interviewing me at this past XP Summit, especially considering my current situation lining up with the story at large. It's given me an opportunity to deeply consider mine and my game's future, as well as the overall Canadian identity in the videogame industry and market!

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For those of you who might be interested, I am giving 3/4 of a talk at GDC this year along with Brad Hendricks, the CEO of Blind Squirrel. Our talk is about "building a global development team" and my part of the exercise details some of the production practices we use to manage our different teams in different locales around the world in a consistent manner. In particular, I'll be deep diving into how we capture and utilize KPI's from our teams to try and avoid issues in advance of them occurring. The date and time of this extravaganza is: Thursday, March 12 | 11:50am - 12:50pm. Location: Room 3002, West Hall. I hope to see you there!

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What a phenomenal RDC 2025!🔥 This year’s Roblox Developers Conference (held Sept 5–6 in San Jose) was packed with major announcements, and I couldn’t be more excited by the direction the platform is heading: • Roblox Moments: A built-in short-form video feed for capturing highlights and instantly sharing them across the platform, think a TikTok-style discovery tool tailor-made for Roblox. • Creator earnings boost: DevEx rates increased by 8.5%, putting more cash back into creators’ pockets. • Huge growth metrics: Over $1 billion paid out to creators in the past year, with daily active users climbing toward 112 million. • Emerging tech & safety upgrades: From acoustic simulation and hydrodynamic enhancements to emissive mapping, CSG on meshes, and server authority for anti-cheat measures • Infrastructure & community support: A new data center in São Paulo is now live, improving latency for Brazilian users, and the platform is reinforcing its commitment to safety with over 100 updates and better age-based moderation. This year, Lootbloc turned up with some unforgettable moments: • Partner Dinner: We hosted a special dinner for our 60+ partners, an opportunity to connect, eat great food, and relax after a long RDC weekend. • Claw Machine: We partnered with the Roblox Commerce team to have our Lootbloc-branded claw machine featured at their booth, where attendees could win merch • Luau Plushie Launch: We unveiled an exclusive Luau whale plushie with Roblox, themed after the Luau logo that attendees could earn by completing a scavenger hunt at the Luau booth • Co-hosting Quataun party Friday night at RDC where we gave away thousands of plushies, shirts, hats and more to fellow developers. Lootbloc is only continuing to grow by bringing on new partners this year like Piggy, Pls Donate, Murderers vs. Sheriff Duels, Twin Atlas and more! Bottom line: RDC 2025 wasn’t just about big tech announcements, it was a celebration of community and all of the successes this past year. I’m so excited by the possibilities ahead, and inspired by how platforms like Roblox and partners like Lootbloc continue to grow together. Here’s to next year, bigger, bolder, and even more connected.

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Some of the numbers in this year's GDC State of the Industry report really hit me hard. 28% of all respondents have been laid off in the last two years. 33% in the US. Two thirds of them came from AAA studios. And half of those happened in just the last 12 months. When I see numbers like that, I don't just see numbers. I see mortgages. I see families. I see people who moved across the country for a dream job and now have to move back. A few things I think we need to talk about after sitting with this for a few hours: AAA is still amazing and it will always be amazing. But I don't think it should be the only goal anymore. Funny enough, quite a few of the younger animators I'm meeting through REKiNDLED Studios , our codev studio, actually don't want to work at AAA. They want flexibility. Multiple projects. A safety net if one project blows up. The AI fear is much much bigger than the reality. 81% of devs use AI for research and brainstorming. Only 19% for asset generation. Students are the ones I worry about most. 74% feel their future in this industry is at risk. Senior level animators are taking mid level jobs just to pay the rent, which means juniors are competing against people with 10x their experience for the same seats. The path is harder but It is not closed. The opportunities are still out there for anybody willing to specialise, ship something, and put their work in front of the world. I broke the whole report down on YouTube with my honest take after 20 plus years in this industry. Link in the comments. If you got laid off recently or can relate with this drop a line below.

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Over just a few months, Meta, Netflix, Ubisoft and Xbox have all closed studios and laid off thousands of talented people. Developers with passion and expertise. As I see it, this is yet another indicator that the speculative bubble of the early 2020s has certainly deflated, taking with it many talented developers. While very different teams, Ubisoft, Xbox, Netflix, and Meta's woes have their origins in individual shared decisions and a wider market recalibration. Ubisoft's issues come down to budget overruns brought on by unwieldy large studios, complex multi departmental bureaucracies, and series fatigue. Annualized series are not making the returns they once did, and the advantages of re-using assets and game systems haven't yielded the same cost saving advantages. At the same time a number of big bets have fizzled in a world were players are overwhelmed with choice. Quality can no longer be guaranteed. After bloated development cycles that can no longer be maintained, mixed score titles are being released left and right. Xbox is no longer a major player in the "console wars." While I was never a fan of the term, it seems Microsoft has given up competing with Nintendo and Sony on selling hardware, even going so far as giving up exclusives. Xbox X sales are flatlining due to an unclear value proposition. Developing games and funding exclusives no longer provides a clear advantage in the new Game Pass era. The $69 Billion (nice) purchase of Activision can recoup itself in a decade or two, born on the back of COD IAPs and Candy Crush fans, but until then it's a massive hole in their pocketbook. Regular premium COD releases no longer have the same cultural cashet as they once did, making it unclear how they will meaningfully improve the value add of Gamepass (if that was even worth the price of acquisition to begin with). Netflix and Meta lacked clear strategies going into the decade. Speculative hype was rampant across the industry, and both sides have sunk millions into founding studios with the goal of building value through games. With hindsight we can see that this was a mistake. VR is still a tiny niche that hasn't meaningfully increased over time. Few use Netflix's game services, and most don't understand how it works. Both also attempted to produce premium titles, Netflix ended up selling it's MMO Spirit Crossing back to the devs, while Meta's first party titles did not generate profit. The future of 2026 will see more layoffs and closures, especially for the non gaming companies that dipped their toes into into the industry, and smaller teams trying to stay afloat. Throwing money and hoping it sticks is no longer a good bet, careful research is key. For those looking to navigate the industry there are some facts to keep in mind, (Continued in Comments) https://lnkd.in/gFXuxBrB https://lnkd.in/gAy7v6yw https://lnkd.in/gp39rpyk https://lnkd.in/gSrnXrzv

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During development, it is common to support your team in a role that you originally didn't intend to have. In our current project Lady Umbrella, I dedicated some of my spare time to the production and implementation of particle VFXs. It was a great opportunity to learn how Unreal's Niagara System worked. Since I'm a Technical Designer, art has never been my main focus, and I need to find little excuses to tinker with its systems. The following is an electric bullet VFX that uses particle collisions to create electric arcs with the scenery. The number, length and color of the arcs is parametrized, and the whole effect is very efficient as it is mostly computed in the GPU.

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🎮 Take-Two invests in AI. Then removes its AI leadership. That gap is hard to ignore. Take-Two Interactive is the publisher behind GTA and one of gaming’s biggest players. What actually happened inside their AI division: 🔹 Take-Two laid off its Head of AI along with an undisclosed number of team members 🔹 The company has publicly positioned AI as part of its long-term innovation strategy 🔹 No clear AI-driven impact in shipped games has been demonstrated so far What this signals about AI inside AAA studios: 🔹 Internal AI teams are now judged on shipped outcomes, not long-term vision 🔹 Strategic priorities shift quickly when results stay invisible to players "Over the past 6 years—first leading Zynga's game services division in central tech, then spending the last 2 years building out the AI team at Take-Two—we pushed the edge of what's possible, applying emerging technologies to real game development problems. That chapter has come to a close, as shifting priorities from upper management have impacted my team and me." Studios are not walking away from AI. They are cutting anything that doesn’t translate into visible player value fast enough. #AIForGaming #GameIndustry #Gaming #TakeTwo #AI Link in first comment 👇

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''Artificial intelligence now allows for rapid track creation, but it also increases the risk of fraud on music streaming platforms. Édouard Demotes-Mainard, a student at Mila, has developed an AI-based detector of fraudulent behavior for LANDR, a Montreal flagship in music creation and distribution.''

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There was a recent(ish) article in Canada highlighting how indie studios in Canada are faced with critical coverage gaps with their insurance. To be honest, you can probably replace Canada with any country. Indie studios are usually created by people who have a passion for making games, but are not always aware of the potential risks it involves. The article says: " Smaller developers – especially those operating with lean teams and limited budgets – often struggle to find comprehensive packages that address the full spectrum of exposures they face. Cyberattacks, intellectual property disputes, and business interruption events can all hit indie studios hard, particularly when they don’t have the scale or reserves to absorb a significant loss". It also goes onto say "The industry has yet to deliver flexible, right-sized solutions for this segment – a missed opportunity given how central indie development is to Canada’s gaming ecosystem." Well. . . . I disagree. What's missing is a fundamental understanding on how games studios operate, the complex challenges they face and how to translate that into the potential risks. Which is why we see time and again, companies being categorised under "generic tech policies" which ultimately wont pay out if they need to be activated. The cost for this kind of cover for small teams isn't high, finding someone who can arrange the right cover for them can be. That's the precise reason we exist, year on year, more companies trust us to protect them and they stay with us. If you want a quick chat to go through your studios cover and what you should think about when taking out insurance. I'm here all day, every day :) https://lnkd.in/eYEAPyyk  

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Next Monday I’m sharing zero cost strategies on how to announce your game and measure performance for investors / publishers.

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This week in Montréal the industry marked two serious milestones: the launch of Montreal Games Week and the return of MIGS 25. This is not just about one conference anymore. It is about a full week of games, business, culture and collaboration. For anyone in devs, publishing or services: - Week-long events equal more chances to engage, learn and network beyond the standard format. - Multiple formats (indie showcases plus B2B plus services) signal that external development and partnerships are front of mind. - Montréal continues to hold global relevance as a place for serious industry conversation and deals. Think about how you show up in this broader industry week, not just the big call event. #GameDev #Publishing #MIGS #MontrealGames #GamingIndustry

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I sat in on a great panel yesterday during the 1st day of the Montreal International Game Summit (MIGS): “Visions of the Future for the Canadian Video Game Business”, hosted by John Nguyen and featuring Joshua Nilson, Christopher Chancey, and Lysane Perreault. It was an insightful and grounded conversation which gave a clear snapshot of where the Canadian industry stands today. Some of my key takeaways from the talk were the following: - After a tough 18 months or so, the market seems to be stabilizing with new projects and studios emerging, but the tone is more measured. - There’s a shift towards a stronger focus on productivity, profitability, and marketing. While the creative drive is still there, it's now more often being paired with business discipline. - Funding and publishing are shifting as risk tolerance is down, but that also means developers who prove traction (like strong wishlists or engaged audiences) enter those conversations with larger leverage. - Smaller, focused teams are becoming the new normal with a return to building steadily, rather than scaling recklessly. What stood out most to me was the emphasis on treating games as both creative and commercial ventures. I've written about this a few times already. That balance has always been a challenge for our industry but it’s exactly where long-term sustainability lives. A big thanks to the panelists for a candid and forward-looking discussion! I for one very much enjoyed it.

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With all the Ubisoft news this week, I needed a little time to process a thought that's been a long time forming. I have a lot of love for Ubisoft; I've worked in the Vancouver, Newcastle and Toronto studios, representing a sizable chunk of my gaming career. I want to see them do well and the news we're getting is all part of that process. Speaking dispassionately, and including the larger industry so as not to focus entirely on Ubisoft, its pretty clear that optically, its an unwinnable position. To make large organizational pivots, there will always be a human cost component. The optics of this will always be terrible. Then again, doing nothing at all will also look terrible. So what to do? I see this same dilemma with GDC. They could also not change anything and slowly wither away. Whether we agree with it or not, we surely agree that not trying is infinitely worse. For organizations to change, leadership needs to change. You can't expect different outcomes while retaining the elements that consistently steer you into struggle. The ethical ways of doing this are a larger debate that I wont wade into. It's not capability that will move the needle. Its willingness to work differently. My real concern is the sweeping statements about building smaller teams to be more creative and more efficient. Define smaller. I've worked on 'small teams' of 100-200 people. To be clear, this is not about capability, but a culture of bloat. Through my work with indies, my interpretation of the word small now means 2-10 developers doing anything it takes, owning multiple roles, In stark comparison to the 'not my job' vibe you get from bloated siloed teams. You can restructure over and over, but nothing changes until you address the cultural hangover from a time when it seemed the money would never run out. "End-to-end responsibility" sounds great until you realize your teams have never had to think/work this way. How are they expected to deliver this? So what to do? This requires new cultural attitudes towards production as well as the product itself, and those are calcified through decades of habit. New POVs from new leaders who have worked on actual small teams experienced in end to end ownership. It will require refreshing at the highest levels. The smartest thing anyone in this position can do is embrace the truth. Tell the truth about your sales, the health of your creative teams, about your plans and their impact on your people. Own your mistakes; Repair the trust that's been damaged between leadership, staff & customers. We've all known these changes were coming. They are needed (their execution notwithstanding). The proposed changes being sound correct though brutal and dramatic. Time will tell if they are able to shift culture. I want the best for Ubisoft. It gave me some of my most fun years and best friends in the biz. I want so much to see them succeed. I'm waiting and watching with the rest of you (perhaps a bit more optimistically).

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To be ambitious in a volatile market is a sign of joyful resilience. 😽 Simply Sweet Games has been completely bootstrapped because we believe people want stimulating games, social games, and games they can play with their family. As a team, we are placing our faith in values much bigger than simply 'making a game', too. Thanks to the Entertainment Software Association of Canada, we can be even louder about the puzzle market, which is valued at $30 billion (U.S.) worldwide. I have great respect for tech founders, especially those who understand that being inclusive and the opposite of boring is how small teams will succeed in the gaming space. <3 #gamesindustry #entrepreneurs #puzzle #entertainment #canadianmedia #smallbusiness

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While the traditional hubs are contracting, the map of gaming talent is being redrawn. 🗺️ 📍 Canada is bucking the trend with 20% growth, and Eastern Europe remains gaming’s "secret weapon" for high-end technical leadership. The most "critical" hires often exist outside your local time zone. But global talent brings global complexity: from compliance to cultural fit. At Game Recruiter, we don't just look in the usual places. We go where the growth is, ensuring your studio has access to the best minds on the planet, not just the best minds in your city. #GlobalTalent #CanadaTech #EasternEurope #GameRecruiter

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Did you know that 70% of critical gaming roles are never publicly advertised? High-stakes, strategically important positions are almost always filled through industry networks and specialized 'Surgical Recruitment' partners. If you’re relying solely on job boards to find your next Lead or VP, you’re missing out on the top 30% of the talent pool that isn't actively looking but is open to the right move. The best talent isn't looking for you; you have to look for them. #Networking #ExecutiveSearch #GamingIndustry #SurgicalRecruitment #HiddenJobMarket #GameRecruiter

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