Live Service Gaming North America Summit

Ahead of the Live Service Gaming North America Summit 2025, we had the opportunity to speak with Joe Alread, Executive Producer, Live Operations at Gamefam

Joe shares how Gamefam keeps live service games thriving with continuous updates, smart monetization, and strong player engagement strategies.

1) What are the key elements of game design that keep players engaged over time, and how do you ensure live service games stay fresh with updates, events, and new content?

A game needs to have a fully enforced “core loop” that a live service can reinforce with the tools it has available to it. A game team should at all times be able to fully articulate what its players’ goals are, and how it can help a player realize those goals with its content and updates. 

2) How do you create monetization strategies that encourage deeper spending while maintaining a positive player experience and community trust?

Monetization can’t happen in a vacuum. The “narrative” of your game can’t be that you’re selling power 24/7 and nothing else. Ask yourself how you can foster positive play sentiment while aggressively pursuing monetization at the same time. What are the new gameplay mechanics players are excited about? What other new content can players acquire without paying? A quality live service will have these tools available to flex on when it needs while going deeper with monetization at the same time.

3) How does storytelling and IP integration influence player engagement and monetization? What lessons have you learned from working with major IPs like Sonic Speed Simulator?

Story is critical when managing a live service. I think something that may get lost in the shuffle in games is that while storytelling is critical, not every story has to be a huge one. Major events and IP collaborations such as a movie release (e.g., The Garfield Movie) or a sporting event (e.g., Super Bowl) are major drivers for live service but being able to create and take advantage of smaller stories is just as important. Something as small as Sonic’s birthday, or the anniversary of an old Sonic game, are great stories to bring out and use as justifications for a fun event in your game to draw players back into it.I often tell my game teams you don’t need a big story all the time, but even a small one can be a tailwind for you when it comes time to review your KPIs.

The bigger picture is that Gen Z and Alpha enjoy brand and IP-driven stories on Roblox when they’re done right and enhance the core gameplay experience. With the next generations spending 2+ hours per day on Roblox (more than TikTok, YouTube or Instagram), brands need to be thinking about a Roblox strategy to ensure relevance not just today, but for decades to come. This is the platform where the future of media consumption is happening, and it's enduring popularity proves it’s here to stay.

4) How do you work with product teams to maintain creative vision while ensuring development stays on time, on budget, and at high quality? What best practices help streamline processes without stifling innovation?

5) What strategies have you found most effective in rallying game teams around key milestones and product goals, ensuring alignment across design, marketing, and community teams while keeping the process fun and rewarding?

We all enter this field because we want to work in a space we’re passionate about and make a living from it. It’s a fun industry and while the work can be challenging, we do everything we can at Gamefam to keep the work fun. To keep team members excited throughout the entire game dev process, we deploy a few tactics:

1. Make major decisions as a team, not as individuals

2. Ensure open communication where no opinions are wrong or shut down

3. Offer opportunities for colleagues to learn from other game teams – keep skills fresh and ensure they’re working on games they’re most passionate about

4. Set goals and ensure we’re steering toward that north star at all times – best of all, celebrate when you hit those goals and set new, higher ones!

Join Joe at the Live Service Gaming North America Summit! Download the agenda here and see what is lined up for this event.

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