Interview

PGC Helsinki: Kay Gruenwoldt will be leading a session about changing business models in the games industry

"At the core of Paladin is the belief that our people are our strongest and most important asset"

PGC Helsinki: Kay Gruenwoldt will be leading a session about changing business models in the games industry

Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2019 will take place on October 1st to October 2nd. To give you a taste of what to expect, we'll regularly be publishing interviews with the speakers at the show.

For more details on PGC Helsinki and to book a ticket, head to the website here.

In this speaker profile, we caught up with Kay Gruenwoldt. Kay is back at Paladin's Round Table, in his new role as CEO. After having been with Paladin some years ago in his role as VP BD, he now manages the company’s day to day business. With a broad background in the entertainment industry for more than 25 years that includes executive positions in Marketing, Product Marketing, Sales, Design and Development on multiple platforms, Kay brings a breadth of experience to his role. Paladin Studios is currently working on a number of high profile IP for large, international mobile publishers, and continually develops its own IP as well.

At Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2019 he'll be giving a session entitled Changing Business Models in the Games Industry - Plotting a Path in Interesting Times.

Pocketgamer.biz: Could you tell us a bit about your company?

Kay Gruenwoldt: Paladin is an independent development studio with a team of 55 highly skilled individuals, working on mobile and console games. We are partnering with publishers, and also work on our own IP. At the core of Paladin is the belief that our people are our strongest and most important asset.

What does your role entail?

Day to Day management of all aspects of the company, and plotting our path for the future.

Why did you want to work in the games industry?

The love for games, acquired initially on a Commodore 64, and the desire to be a part of creating this magic.

What advice would you give to anyone looking to get into the industry?

Follow your own path, but learn from the failures of others. Make sure your passion matches your ambition, because this is an industry that inherently requires you to love what you do, if you want to be good at it.

What are your thoughts on the industry in the last 12 months?

It never gets boring, does it? A ton of new opportunities are opening up in all kinds of areas of the industry over the last year, be it tech, distribution or platforms. Also, finally an open discussion is starting on who we are as an industry, where we failed, and how we can plot a path to more inclusiveness and fairness.

What major trends do you predict in the next 12 months?

More consolidation, because it's getting harder to compete on the established platforms, with the established business models. Also, a new wave of creativity and 'crazy ideas' being able to turn into games, because the rise of subscriptions and hybrid-premium business models give more room to that, outside of the data driven, hyper competitive science of F2P.

How has the games industry changed since you first started?

A lot! From the early days of just making games to the extremely data (science) driven juggernauts of Free-to-Play it has been a massive transformation. Mobile did not exist back then kids, we put games in big cardboard boxes and sold them on shelves in actual stores.
Everything became a lot more professional, which is good, and was needed. But there's also still a crazy amount of passion which drives this industry across all levels, and enables us to keep innovating and pushing forward.

Which part of Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki are you most looking forward to?

The networking, and the feedback after my session.