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In a world where 5-year AAA production cycles often crash into 5-day culture cycles, shipping a great game is no longer the finish line. It is the opening bell of a survival race.

In this episode, Ben sits down with Shahar Sorek, the Chief Marketing Officer at Overwolf, to talk about why the "ship and pray" model is broken and how User-Generated Content (UGC) has become the industry's most powerful "immortality engine." Shahar brings over 15 years of experience as a studio founder, technology leader, and even a Hollywood creative producer to the table, offering a unique perspective on the convergence of media, tech, and community.

Together, they dive deep into the "Four Horsemen of the UGC Apocalypse"—the specific market pressures making traditional development obsolete—and why the creator has replaced the game itself as the new "atomic unit" of gaming relevance.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

What the "Four Horsemen of the UGC Apocalypse" are and why they are forcing a total rethink of game business models
Why the creator has replaced the game itself as the primary "atomic unit" of industry relevance
How to build a "Holy Trinity" between the gamer, the creator, and the studio to drive compounded growth
Why small indie teams should actually ignore UGC until they have mastered their core experience
How to manage the "chaos" of opening your IP to the public while maintaining brand safety and quality

If you're a leader in game dev who is tired of betting years of work on a market that changes before you ship, this conversation on building games that last is for you.

Learn more about our guest:

🔗LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/%F0%9F%90%B0-shahar-sorek-83ab299/

🔗 Imdb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1245854/

🔗 Medium: https://medium.com/@shaharsorek

🔗 Media360: https://media360.campaignlive.co.uk/shahar-sorek

🔗 Show Summit: https://www.show-summit.com/shahar-sorek/

🔗Rocket Reach: https://rocketreach.co/shahar-sorek-email_243056931

🔗 Design Rush Feature: https://news.designrush.com/gamers-hate-ads-overwolf-cmo-cracks-the-code-to-changing-this

Connect with us:

🔗Ben's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-carcich/

🔗BBG's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/building-better-games/

🔗Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildingbettergames/#

🔗Website: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg

🔗YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZpMT-dUwQR-R4Mb4uub6Sw

If you want me to help producers or studios build better games through effective systems and leadership, you can reach me at: info@valarinconsulting.com

#GameDev #UGC #CreatorEconomy #GamingIndustry #Overwolf #BuildingBetterGames