Derk de Geus is CEO at Paladin Studios. At Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki from September 11th to 12th he'll be talking about agile live ops, focusing on method, team composition and how to foster high performance throughout an organisation.
Click here to find out more about the show and to buy your tickets.
Paladin Studios was founded in 2005 and is based in The Netherlands. With a fast-growing team of 50-plus, the company has worked on numerous titles including My Tamagotchi Forever, Stormbound and Amazing Katamari Damacy.
Paladin works with top global publishing partners like Bandai Namco, DeNA, Kongregate, and Kiloo.
PocketGamer.biz: What does your role at the company entail?
Derk de Geus: I am responsible for the general management of the company, primarily focusing on building a solid business across the board - people, culture, mission, strategy etcetera. I am also taking care of general business development.
What do you think have been the most exciting developments in gaming since the last Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki?
Battle royale on mobile is an interesting development, it's good to see that hardcore games manage to find a big audience.
On the other end of the spectrum is the rise of hypercasual games, which is a testament to the seemingly endless potential for continued innovations in gameplay. I love that mobile is covering an incredibly broad spectrum of successful games.
What are your thoughts on the way the industry has grown in the last 12 months?
The last 12 months have been good for us and all around me I see studios thrive. I hope that this growth is built on a sustainable foundation, and unfortunately I have some doubts in that area when it comes to loot boxes and the other aggressive monetisation tactics sometimes employed by F2P games.
What do you think the next 12 months in mobile gaming are going to look like?
I think we'll see more multiplayer games with slightly more 'hardcore' mechanics, whether that's battle royale or other online games.
The question now is whether truly hardcore controls and mechanics can survive without big brands attached.
Ourselves, we're on a continued quest to find the perfect balance between simple controls and deep gameplay - and I expect to see more in that direction in the upcoming year.
Which part of Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki are you most looking forward to and why?
Meeting with industry friends and making new ones - it's always a pleasure to catch up with fellow entrepreneurs and games people. The Pocket Gamer crowd is always excellent and I look forward to it!
About Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
In a few short days the whole mobile gaming industry is set to descend on Helsinki for Pocket Gamer Connects. The event, which runs from September 11th to September 12th, is packed full of talks, tracks, networking opportunities, and more. You can read about the full conference schedule here.
There are still tickets available for the show, and if you click this link right here you'll get all the information you need on how to buy them, and what's going to be happening in Helsinki over the two days.
