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Speaker Spotlight: Koron Studios CEO brings live ops expertise to PGC Digital #4

Pocket Gamer Connects Digital #4 takes place on November 9th - 13th

Speaker Spotlight: Koron Studios CEO brings live ops expertise to PGC Digital #4

Pocket Gamer Connects Digital has returned once again, set to bring together some of the finest voices in the games industry and beyond. 

PGC Digital #4 takes place on November 9th - 13th. To give you a taste of what to expect, we'll regularly be publishing interviews with the speakers at the show.

The conference spans across five days and will feature a broad selection of tracks, talks and speakers, as well as various fringe events and a new and improved meeting system. For more details on PGC Digital and to book a ticket, head to the website.

Today's spotlight is on Diego Diaz Perez, CEO and co-founder of Koron Studios. Koron is a small indie studio based in Spain, best known for its debut title 'Idle Death Tycoon'. Diaz Perez will be heading to PGC Digital 4 to talk about live ops in idle games, monetisation design, and adding fresh content to idle titles.

PocketGamer.biz: Tell us a bit about your company?

Diego Diaz Perez: We're a fusion of two projects that were born in the incubation period of Demium Games in Madrid. The union is strength, that is the key to Koron Studios.

At the beginning (February 2017) we started to develop small products until we specialised in Idle Games with the launch of Idle Death Tycoon in May 2018. Since then, we have developed 2 more products in the genre and we have been invested by Genera Games.

What does your role entail?

I manage the company and the products. I lead the part of the game design related to monetisation and live ops.

Why did you want to work in the games industry?

My two passions are business and video games and the mobile game industry seems to me to be the perfect ecosystem that combines these aspects.

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

The beginning is hard. To work in the industry you have to be at a high level and there are two ways to learn. With your own mistakes (hard and complicated path) or through several years in companies learning from other great professionals (the hard part is getting in and then staying there).

From my point of view, being humble and trying to learn day by day is the most important thing.

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

The last 12 months have been different, less personal contact and less fun but to be honest, we are a lucky industry and I think our income has not been affected by the COVID crisis.

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

I think the change in iOS 14 will change the way we work a lot. First the big companies will adapt and then it will be our turn (the small ones). Changes and new challenges are coming.

How has the games industry changed since you first started?

A lot has changed here in the last 6 years. The product vision is much more open and the aim is to keep a product alive for many years. In the beginning, a budget was closed and then launched on the market without thinking about improving it when it was alive.

If the game worked well it was great and if it worked badly it was a disaster. Now, you work, analyse and iterate a product until you reach profitability when the game is alive.

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

Honestly, giving my talk, listening to the feedback and connecting with other great professionals is the part I most want to do.

Want more?

The full conference schedule will be live very soon. Until then, we have a bunch of reasons to come along to PGC Digital #4 right here. You can also check out our other track rundowns and coverage of previous Pocket Gamer Connects conferences ahead of the event itself.

Register for Pocket Gamer Connects Digital #4 today!