Maria Maunula is a jack-of-all-trades.

She is focusing on community management at Nitro Games by building the bridge between players and developers, ensuring quality content for the community by bringing in the most engaging Influencers and collaborating with content creators around the globe.

Maria has taken the role to improve and boost our player experience from support funnel to the localization and quality assurance as it all together closes the circle of how players enjoy the game.

We caught up with her to talk about community management, working in small teams and the courage that the games industry has given her.

PocketGamer.biz: Could you tell us a bit about Nitro Games?

Maria Maunula: Nitro Games is a free-to-play mobile game developer from Finland.

With two offices and small teams, we build and develop new games for our own releases as well as for other companies.

What does your role entail?

As a community manager I make sure that players have something to engage with, have the power to affect our roadmaps and a way to connect with us.

This includes events, tournaments, influencer campaigns, a bit of marketing and of course, collaborating with the content creators and core community in daily basis.

As a jack-of-all-trades, I do also oversee our quality of support, localization and quality assurance partners. You know, small teams, a lot of tasks.

Why did you want to work in the games industry?

I have over ten years of experience in customer service, and it took me way too long to realise that I can combine my experience and my hobbies together - players also need support and care.

I'm highly versatile when it comes to skills such as photography, videography, story writing, character design, cosplay, and such - the games industry is the one and only where I can combine it all together!

What advice would you give to anyone looking to get into it?

Gain success in the industry - it's essential to be able to adapt, learn, and make things happen quickly.

It requires skill to balance your personal life, work, and workload, and it ain't always easy, but as long as you are determined, you can do it!

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

For the first time in my life, I feel like I'm on the fast lane towards new goals, I can truly be proud of my achievements and have an excellent industry community around that support each other!

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

Mobile esports will keep growing, media and marketing will splinter and scope to a wider variety of platforms, and nano influencers will gain more power.

Chinese games will move their way to Europe, and European game developers will quickly learn how to adapt the tricks from Asian markets.

How has the games industry changed since you first started?

It made me more determined, independent and self confident. I knew I had the resourcefulness in me, I was just not using it before.

Which part of the Connects event are you most looking forward to and why?

Overcoming one of my fears, speaking in front of other people in a foreign language. It will be one more "mark on the wall" of how this industry helped me to gain more courage.

I also want to learn more from other community managers and bring what I've learned back home.

At Pocket Gamer Connects London 2020, Maria Maunula will be part of a panel called "Best practices to work with influencers, while maintaining your brand authenticity?"

To find out more about the show and to buy your tickets, click here.