TDC #04: From Shark Tank to Steam with Lior Hadashian

Lior Hadashian, co-founder and CTO of Gavra Games, joins Yuri and Amit to talk about building and shipping Warriors Rise to Glory — a turn-based gladiator fighting game inspired by a goofy Flash game from the internet's ugly years. What followed was five years of bootstrap chaos: a Bilibili influencer blowing up the game overnight, a Chinese localization done in one week, a main font that turned out to be stolen, two appearances on Israeli Shark Tank, and a mobile pivot that never happened.They also go deep on the realities of indie investment — what it actually means to raise money, why turning down $130k on live television was the right call, and what "alive but not kicking" looks like for a studio winding down.The back half gets technical: Unity version upgrades and why they break in exactly three places every time, Google's ongoing war with Unity Package Manager, and Amit's experience upgrading a 4-year production project to Unity 6.3.Lior is working on something new. He won't say what it is. He's on Unity 6.4.Topics covered:Warriors Rise to Glory — the game, the inspiration, the Venn diagram problem of turn-based fighting gamesLaunching on Steam without localization infrastructure, then scrambling to add 10 languagesHow a BiliBili influencer caused a Chinese localization crisis in week one of early accessThe font that was illegal (and why you can't just pay for it)Israeli Shark Tank — declining the first deal, coming back with receipts, and closing the secondWhat $40k of initial investment and $257k in gross revenue actually gets youWhy going mobile fell apart (the chicken-and-egg problem of mobile talent and capital)Unity upgrade pain: asset bundles, TextMesh Pro, shaders, and Google's UPM situationSwap Heroes — Amit's game, go download it, leave a review (constructive preferred)"Your brain is the product"Time Codes:00:17 – Cold open: what are you playing08:32 – Meet Lior / Warriors Rise to Glory14:33 – The Venn diagram problem15:13 – Localization: the full saga (BiliBili, 20% refunds, one week, illegal font)37:36 – Shark Tank: twice, one rejection, one deal47:52 – The numbers, the aftermath, the pizza1:00:00 – Mobile, burnout, and the end of Gavra Games1:05:37 – Unity upgrades: what always breaks1:15:23 – What's nextGuest: Lior HadashianEpisode URL: https://tech-debt.club/episodes/4-tdc-04-from-shark-tank-to-steam-with-lior-hadashian