The Future of Game Publishing Is Player Ownership

Описание: In this episode, host Alexandra Takei, Director at Ruckus Games, sits down with Robert van Hoesel, co-founder and CEO of First Look, now part of Pragma, to explore how studios can own and scale their player relationships. Robert’s journey from founding a SaaS company to building First Look began with one simple insight: game studios are some of the most passionate users a software builder could serve, and the games industry desperately needs the dream stack for connected distribution, player communications, and analytics.

First Look acts as a CRM for games, helping studios streamline playtesting, gather player feedback, and grow grassroots communities. The pair discusses why these capabilities have become essential as publishers pull back, competition increases, and self-publishing becomes the norm. Robert shares how First Look enables small teams to punch above their weight by automating data capture across platforms like Steam and Discord, transforming scattered playtest feedback into actionable insights, and shares the full suite of offerings First Look provides for studios today.

They also unpack First Look’s acquisition by Pragma and what it means to unify the backend and frontend of game development. The episode closes with practical advice for studios: start community-building early, close the feedback loop with players, and reward engagement to create sustainable, loyal audiences.

00:00 - Start
01:13 - Intro
03:30 - Story of Crowded
08:08 - How did Robert move into gaming?
12:17 - What problem is First Look addressing?
22:40 - What is surprising about building CRM's for gaming?
29:40 - What's available on First Look when you sign up?
39:00 - White Gove support vs. Scale / Determining what to work on
47:57 - What are the risks to First Look?
50:28 - How might Roblox relate to First Look?
52:10 - Lessons in Entrepreneurship
58:39 - Integration between teams / changes
01:02:10 - Advice for studios building community from scratch

We’d also like to thank Levellr — the Discord community intelligence platform — for making this episode possible. Learn more about unlocking real-time community insights at levellr.com.

And as always, if you enjoyed the episode, make sure to subscribe and leave a like or comment!

Who’s On:
Guest: Robert van Hoesel:   / robertvanhoesel  
Host: Alexandra Takei:   / takeit-eazy  

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