How can you foster a culture of innovation and diversity in mobile gaming?

Mobile phones are in the hands of humans everywhere. Most of humanity has access to mobile games. It turns out that humanity is pretty diverse, and representation, no matter how low the percentage, can make a huge difference. Having a diverse workforce is one thing, but encouraging all staff to share their perspective and to actually get the value from that is another. Good employee resource groups, to give people a voice is critical in pushing forward new ideas from many people. Getting feedback from every stage of development. Ensuring recruitment is fair and deliberate. Create a place that caters for disability, different working conditions, and in different regions wherever possible. Be rigorous in your approach to diversity.

In my experience, there's always a part of diversity that is somewhat neglected: age. Mixing people from different age groups in any game dev team, is increasing your chances at breakthrough innovation, lateral thinking, and fun. Studies show that if you take a 25-30 urbanite from Shanghai or Paris, their differences are not that big. They consume the same content, have a lot of common references and thinking paradigms. It's far less the case when you compare a 25 years old with 55, who worked on games since the 90s. They have seen the evolution of gaming since Atari days, they've been far more focused on efficient core loops and "finding the fun", with now antiquated tech capabilities. Make sure Senior staff is represented in your team

Os jogos digitais tem o poder de criar conex?es através dos seus protagonistas e storytelling. Esse impacto gera um engajamento que pode resultar em uma reten??o que pode se sustentar no longo prazo. Por isso, entender o público alvo é fundamental para poder impacta-lo de uma maneira original, localizada e assim criar o engajamento e reten??o necessários. E o smartphone tem o poder de impactar perfis de consumidores diferentes do console e computador, e que nos últimos anos se tornou uma das principais plataformas para consumo de jogos.

"Innovation and diversity matter. They are not just buzzwords" Narrator: Innovation and diversity turned out to be just buzzwords

In der Mobile Gaming-Branche ist eine Kultur der Innovation und Vielfalt entscheidend. Hier sind drei Ans?tze: 1. Vielf?ltige Teams: Stellen Sie Teams mit unterschiedlichen Hintergründen zusammen. Dies f?rdert neue Perspektiven und Ideen. 2. Offene Feedbackkultur: Ermutigen Sie zu offener Kommunikation und Feedback. Das bringt frische Ideen und f?rdert kontinuierliche Verbesserungen. 3. Experimentierfreudigkeit: F?rdern Sie die Bereitschaft, Neues auszuprobieren. Das kann in Form von Hackathons oder Innovationsworkshops geschehen. Eine solche Kultur führt zu kreativeren Spielen und spricht eine breitere Zielgruppe an. Das ist der Schlüssel, um im dynamischen Markt des Mobile Gaming erfolgreich zu sein. #MobileGaming #Innovation

Fostering innovation in the mobile gaming industry necessitates a multifaceted approach involving research, experimentation, and feedback. To stay ahead, developers need to closely monitor market trends, understand evolving player behaviors, and keep abreast of the best practices in mobile game development. This research helps in pinpointing both gaps in the market and potential opportunities for innovation. Experimentation is equally critical; exploring various genres, mechanics, platforms, and emerging technologies can lead to unique and engaging gaming experiences. This could involve delving into untapped genres, integrating cutting-edge technologies like augmented reality or exploring novel game mechanics.

Most mobile gaming companies are designing through KPIs like potential for acquisition and retention. It's creating a mold of relatively similar games, built to generate revenues. If you can afford it (by keeping a day job, and having a method to develop your game in a lean way), set different kind of success criteria/northern star that you strongly believe in, like "i want to prove mobile games can be strong for narrative", "i want to leverage the progress in AR for next gen family board games". If you are truly passionate by this vision, it will carry your work, and resonate with at least a niche of players, which might be enough to be sustainable. Innovation through vision, not following trends. This market needs fresh conviction.

1. Encourage experimentation: Create a safe space for employees to explore new ideas, prototype concepts, and fail without fear of repercussions. 2. Empower teams: Give teams ownership and responsibility for their projects, fostering a sense of initiative and problem-solving. 3. Stay informed: Encourage learning about emerging technologies, trends, and competitor innovations. Embrace data: Leverage data analytics to understand player behavior and iterate on game concepts based on feedback.

Fostering innovation in the mobile games industry is crucial to position a game and allow it to engage a multifaceted audience. We can do so by: - Researching: analysing trends, best practices and future developments to stay ahead of the game - Listening: Asking our communities. This is truly the best way to engage our audience, meanwhile learning from them what they would need to see to keep buying our games - Experimenting with different genres and implementing new mechanics. This helps us to innovate continuously - Hire diverse teams, so they can implement original ideas.

1. Build a diverse leadership team: Set an example by ensuring inclusivity and representation at all levels of the company. 2. Implement clear recruitment practices: Utilize unbiased hiring processes and target diverse talent pools. Create an inclusive workplace: Foster open communication, address biases, and provide anti-discrimination training. 3. Celebrate diversity: Highlight diverse voices within the company through internal and external communication channels.

It's very important to go beyond having "diversity" as a fashionable word to use everywhere without meaning it. We see it in many companies, some kind of "diversity-washing", ticking boxes containing buzz words we absolutely need to say to appear as inclusive and diverse. True diversity fostering, means being clear that some opinions that can lead to segregation and violence, and are not allowed. But once this framework is set, companies need to be ok and to protect employees having opinions that are different from what seem to be commonly accepted. By doing so, more employees will dare to express alternative ideas.

We can foster diversity adopting a pluralist approach, recognising diversity itself as a powerful tool for our businesses and embracing this concept at all levels of the organisation: - Creating a Diverse Leadership Team to encourage inclusive emnvironments and visions - Encouraging Inclusive HR practices: hiring diverse managers and hr teams and ensuring our job description, policies, lifestyles encourage a diverse pools of talents to apply. (Maternities and paternities leaves, hiring disabled people, allowing remote work and facilitating transitions and more) - Implementing a diverse Representation in our games, from art to mechanics, audio, etc - Working with no profits and organisations to learn how to improve our policies

1. Promote your games: Highlight innovative features, diverse characters, and storylines in marketing materials and gameplay trailers. 2. Recognize and reward employee contributions: Celebrate successful innovations and showcase employee stories with diverse backgrounds. 3. Participate in industry events: Share your innovations and commitment to diversity at conferences and workshops. 4. Collaborate with diverse partners: Partner with organizations or studios with different backgrounds and perspectives.

1. Go beyond ticking "innovation and diversity boxes", steer away from diversity-washing. You should be genuine, and it will be felt in how you showcase the diversity in your game. Think of how Ubisoft's latest Prince of Persia is using Persian lore and Farsi language as its backbone. This was not an after-thought to appear innovative or diverse. 2. Some games are "classic bug good". If you chase innovation and diversity, think "USP" (Unique Selling Point), or "Added Value", or "Spice". What makes your game unique compare to others? You should have this answer before you create anything, and then base your communication around it once the game is ready to be shown.

Fostering diversity in mobile gaming hinges on three core principles: inclusion, representation, and accessibility. It’s vital to integrate a range of voices and experiences in game content, ensuring characters, stories, and settings are diverse and inclusive. Equally important is representing various cultures, identities, and backgrounds in game design elements like art, music, and language. Finally, ensuring accessibility is key. This means making games playable across different devices and networks, and accommodating various user needs with features like adjustable screen sizes and font options. By prioritizing these elements, mobile games can appeal to a broader audience, enhancing both their cultural relevance and market reach.

Showcase your innovation and diversity avoiding stereotyping conversations. Allow your employees, your communities and fans to share their experiences and ideas. They should be encouraged to speak for themselves, so they can feel empowered and empowered others. The gaming community today is educated, they require brands to be transparent, honest and trustworthy.

1. Benchmark against successful studios: Analyze how other companies encourage innovation and diversity in their mobile game development. 2. Participate in industry communities: Connect with other developers, share experiences, and learn from best practices. 3. Attend talks and workshops: Gain insights from experts on fostering innovation and building diverse teams. 4. Create mentorship programs: Connect experienced developers with diverse talents to facilitate knowledge sharing and growth.

This is going to be a bit weird because, I basically learn stuff from others out of jealousy. Yes you heard it right. I always sit with people who are better than me. This makes me jealous and I somehow convert that jealousy into putting myself in to work and learn .

Learn from: developers, experts, communities, your audiences to improve. It is helpful to educate yourself attending webinars, courses, events, networking inside and outside the industry. Contamination of ideas and practices is a powerful way to learn and at the same time it is important to share our knowledge with a younger audience.

0. Before your game is out, protect it through "patent of the poor" and other ways to prove that it's your idea. 1. Learn from others even before your game is out. Think through who your "end player" is, and invite him/her to play your game as soon as you have a working proto, ideally a vertical slice. 2. Go to events like game jams, game networking events, and show your game to many. 3. Learn how to get unbiased feedback as if you were a user researcher: observe, let the players speak through what they say and how they play. Only at the end, you can ask questions and share your views.

1. Tackling unconscious bias: Address implicit biases in recruitment, decision-making, and feedback processes. 2. Providing resources and support: Offer programs and training to help diverse employees thrive and navigate potential challenges. 3. Balancing risk and innovation: Encourage calculated risks while providing guidance and support to manage failures constructively. 4. Staying adaptable: Be open to continuous learning, evolving with industry trends and player preferences.

Become your own manager. Don't depend on 1on1 and feedback from others ONLY (even though it's super important). Self-assess every week on a one pager, write down what you think you did good, can be improved, your doubts/questions/where you need help, and your future goals. Bonus point if you display this self-assessment one pager to the rest of the team. This will foster a culture of courage, of not being afraid to face challenges, track what was tried to overcome them, what is working, what is not, and what's next.

Adopt a Growth Mindset: Embrace challenges as opportunities for learning and growth. A growth mindset encourages resilience and adaptability, essential qualities for navigating the dynamic landscape of mobile gaming. Problem-Solving Approach: Develop a systematic approach to problem-solving. Break down large challenges into manageable tasks, and tackle them with clear strategies and creative solutions. Collaborative Attitude: A diverse team can bring a variety of perspectives and ideas, leading to more innovative and inclusive solutions. Seek External Support: Utilize your network, seek advice from peers and mentors, and engage with the broader gaming community. Utilize Resources and Tools: Leverage both online and offline resources.

Diverse Team Composition Inclusive Design Principles Continuous Learning and Education Community Engagement Data-Driven Decisions Encourage Creativity and Risk-Taking Flexible and Supportive Work Environment

The 3M's "15% rule" does work! Past the conception phase, even the smartest plan and organization can't prevent your team to go from tasks to tasks, fires to fires, and meetings to meetings. Time to market and budget constraints will force everyone to rush to a proto, an alpha, beta, and launching. In the end, even if you boast about innovation being a pillar of your culture, no one will have the time to even think about it. To counter this, dedicate half a day per week (Friday's afternoon as it's bad to generate builds before the weekend) to nudge everyone to take trainings, online courses, shadow other disciplines they like and work on side projects. This will introduce some distance with the daily race, which triggers innovation.

1. Integrate diversity and innovation into company values: Make them core principles reflected in all aspects of the company culture. 2. Lead by example: Leaders must consistently demonstrate commitment to both values through their actions and decisions. 3. Measure progress: Track key metrics related to diversity and innovation to identify areas for improvement and celebrate progress. By prioritizing both innovation and diversity, you can create a dynamic and successful mobile game development environment. Remember, it's an ongoing journey, but the rewards of building a diverse and innovative team are invaluable, leading to more engaging games, a thriving company culture, and a positive impact on the gaming industry as a whole.

Pessoas de grupos de diversidade trazem experiências e vis?es enriquecedoras que n?o existiriam em uma equipe n?o-diversa. Isso contribui para uma narrativa mais humana e representativa, além de fazer com que seu projeto se destaque e fuja do comum, já que será feito com base em perspectivas e repertórios pluralizados. No caso dos jogos, ter personagens diversos tem um caráter educativo para o grande público e um forte impacto representativo. Essa inclus?o deve ser feita por uma equipe diversa, para que esteja livre de qualquer estereótipo, preconceito estrutural e abordagem desrespeitosa. é papel da empresa criar um ambiente seguro e acolhedor para pessoas de grupos de diversidade, além de uma divulga??o cuidadosa do jogo.