“Is this going to be my life for the next 30 years?” with Henri Bazire

Today’s guest is Henri Bazire, who leads community work as Social Media Editor at ARTE, the French-German TV network with a dedicated video games division. Henri’s path into community management is far from traditional—he started in molecular biology before pivoting into marketing and eventually landing an internship at Ubisoft, where his passion for the games industry took root. We talk about what it takes to enter the games industry from a non-gaming background, and the emotional, strategic challenges of working on games that tackle heavy subjects—like Wednesdays, a narrative game about recovery after sexual abuse. Henri shares how he handled potential backlash, navigated platform-specific audience reactions (X vs. Bluesky), and why authenticity matters when discussing taboo topics through games. We also dive into how Henri stays sharp in his role: from Discord groups to free GDC talks on YouTube. Games mentioned in this episode: Wednesdays 30 Birds Gris Neva Claire Obscur: Expedition 33 Blue Prince Find Henri on: LinkedIn TikTok