Modes of Play (Page 2)

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Beyond the Numbers – Using Qualitative Signals in Game Development

Data as North Star

Beyond the Numbers – Using Qualitative Signals in Game Development

How to Manage Up, Down, and Across in Game Product Management

Working with series

How to Manage Up, Down, and Across in Game Product Management

In data-driven mobile game development, great ideas can fail if the people around them aren’t aligned. Whether you’re pitching a new feature to executives or coordinating with peers in art, design, analytics, marketing, and engineering, your success as a product manager depends on how well you manage up

Designing Your Product Management Career Roadmap (Not Just Your Next Job)

Career Advice Featured

Designing Your Product Management Career Roadmap (Not Just Your Next Job)

✨ TL;DR: Don’t treat your career like a to-do list of titles. Build it like a product roadmap—anchored to a clear vision, aligned to your values, and open to iteration. Most PMs think about their careers in terms of job titles: Associate, PM, Senior PM, Lead PM, Director.

The Role of A/B Testing in Live Service Games

Data as North Star

The Role of A/B Testing in Live Service Games

Defining the Right Metrics: Leading vs Lagging KPIs for Game PMs

Data as North Star

Defining the Right Metrics: Leading vs Lagging KPIs for Game PMs

TL;DR: Metrics guide your team’s decisions, but the wrong ones can mislead. This post breaks down how to define the right KPIs and structure them effectively for live-service games. Series: Data as a North Star – Part 2 of 5 In live-service games, strong metrics help teams prioritize, evaluate

How to Craft Better Hypotheses in Game Product Management

Data as North Star

How to Craft Better Hypotheses in Game Product Management

TL;DR: Every great experiment starts with a great question. A clear hypothesis keeps your team focused on learning — not just launching. This post breaks down how to write sharper, testable hypotheses in the messy world of live games. Series: Data as a North Star – Part 1 of 5 Most

Why Defining Outcomes Drives Product Success in Games

Data as North Star

Why Defining Outcomes Drives Product Success in Games

Most teams ship features without knowing what success looks like. Then they scramble to interpret results after launch. But what if you could define your success criteria before you even start building? Expected Outcomes aren’t just a reporting tool — they’re a leadership mindset. They create clarity, drive alignment,

The Line I Drew, Then Had to Cross

The Line I Drew, Then Had to Cross

Last updated: February 2026 I made a vow early in my career. Then the industry evolved, and I had to figure out what my principles actually meant when tested against reality. The Line I Drew, Then Had to Cross I made a vow early in my career. Then the industry

How to Build a Culture of Learning in Game Product Management

Data as North Star

How to Build a Culture of Learning in Game Product Management

Mobile gaming has become one of the most data-heavy product spaces, and today leaders are expected to champion this shift—not just tolerate it. Data-driven decision making isn’t a nice-to-have; it’s table stakes for live-service mobile teams. But what does it really look like in practice, and how

What Game Product Managers Actually Do (and Don’t)

What Game Product Managers Actually Do (and Don’t)

Most writing about product management focuses on B2B software: roadmap ownership, stakeholder alignment, and clean feature delivery. B2C PMs enter the conversation through the lens of growth funnels, A/B testing, and conversion optimization. But game PMs—particularly those working on live service titles—occupy a distinct niche: one that

10 Things I Wish I Knew Before Becoming a Game Product Manager

10 Things I Wish I Knew Before Becoming a Game Product Manager

...and none of them are "play more games." Becoming a Game PM isn’t just about knowing how to spec a feature or track KPIs. It’s about operating in chaos, managing egos, translating half-formed ideas into roadmaps, and doing it all while balancing player empathy with business

Why I Started Modes of Play

Why I Started Modes of Play

Last Updated: March 2026 The Gap I Could Not Stop Seeing After more than a decade leading product in mobile games, across Zynga, Jam City, Scopely, and the startups in between, I kept running into the same problem. The knowledge that actually matters in this industry lives inside people'