Player Driven

What happens inside a studio when a game explodes past every projection on launch day? Jeremy Fielding, Community Manager and Narrative Coordinator at Stunlock Studios, was there when V Rising hit 150,000 concurrent Steam players — and he walked us through all of it: the chaos, the 60-hour weeks, the improvised official servers, and the feedback systems they built on the fly.Joined by Steve McLeod, founder of Feature Upvote, this conversation covers the full arc of community management at scale — from why every community manager is fundamentally a game developer, to how Stunlock built player trust through transparency, to why studio announcements largely don't work and what does instead.If you work in community, player support, or live ops — this one is packed.What We Cover:Why community managers are game developers (and why that framing matters)What it was actually like inside Stunlock during V Rising's early access launchHow to build feedback systems that scale before you think you need themThe case for private beta feedback boards — and the "Dracula pun" password strategyWhy AI bots in Discord often backfire — and what players actually want when they reach outHow transparency converts skeptical players into studio advocatesThe measurement problem: why community impact is real but hard to quantifyThe rise of the double-A studio and why mid-size teams have a community advantageGuests:Jeremy Fielding (Jeremy Berson online) — Community Manager & Narrative Coordinator, Stunlock Studios | playvrising.comSteve McLeod — Founder, Feature Upvote | featureupvote.com | LinkedInTimestamps:00:00 — Intro & warm-up02:00 — Are community managers game developers?05:30 — How game dev is really about solving problems you made yourself09:00 — Translating player feedback to dev teams — the middle seat13:00 — V Rising's early access launch: what 150K concurrent looks like from inside21:00 — AI in community support: when it helps, when it backfires27:00 — Why honesty builds the community that defends you30:00 — Feedback tools at scale: what to look for, what to avoid38:00 — Private beta feedback with Feature Upvote (and Dracula passwords)44:00 — Turning feedback into competitive advantage49:00 — Why studio trust is the new double-A advantage54:00 — Guest intros & where to find themConnect with Player Driven:Discord: https://discord.gg/zdwAqvgvfyNewsletter: Player DrivenYouTube: Player Driven

Episode Description (the version that goes in podcast players)New York City has tripled gaming industry jobs since 2008. The average wage is now 14% above the citywide average. Over half of NYC's game studios are indie teams of five or fewer. And almost nobody outside the city knows it.In this episode of Player Driven, Greg Posner sits down with Alia Jones-Harvey, Associate Commissioner of Education and Workforce Development at the New York City Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment, to talk about how the city is quietly building a connected gaming ecosystem — from K-12 students competing inside Minecraft, to CTE high schools running state-approved game design curriculum, to City College's bachelor's degree in game design housed in the school of arts. They cover Battle of the Boroughs, the NYC Video Game Festival on May 9, the Summer of Games initiative, and why community is the through-line that ties all of it together.If you work in gaming on the East Coast, this episode reframes what's possible.Topics coveredNYC gaming industry, NYC Video Game Festival, Battle of the Boroughs, Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment, MOME, NYC esports, game design education, K-12 gaming programs, Minecraft education, indie game development NYC, CTE schools, City College game design, Summer of Games NYC, Made in NY digital games, NYC workforce development gaming, East Coast gaming industry, gaming jobs NYC, indie studios New York, gaming community building, Convene Brookfield Place, collegiate esports NYCAbout the guestAlia Jones-Harvey is the Associate Commissioner of Education and Workforce Development at the New York City Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME). Her portfolio includes the Battle of the Boroughs program, the NYC Video Game Festival, the Made in NY digital games program, and the city's broader work supporting the indie game development community.About the showPlayer Driven is a podcast and media platform for gaming industry practitioners — community managers, player support leads, live ops professionals, trust and safety operators, and the people building the next generation of player communities. New episodes weekly. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.LinksNYC Video Game Festival Battle of the Boroughs / NYC Summer of Games2021 NYC Games Industry Economic Impact StudyPlayer DrivenTagsGaming, Esports, Education, Government, New York City, Indie Games, Game Development, Community, Workforce Development, Trade Publication