The five pillars of perseverance in game development teams

Rovio took 51 attempts to make a hit game before landing on Angry Birds. Meanwhile, Supercell famously kills its games before shipping hits like multi-billion dollar blockbuster Brawl Stars.

The thing those teams have in common is perseverance, says former Lightneer design director Jaakko Sarno.

Dungeon master

Speaking at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2024, Sarno said that a game team’s success is not just reliant on skill, but the ability to keep pushing on.

He offered the five key pillars for perseverance in a games team, while stressing the importance of a game lead to be the ‘dungeon master’ - the person responsible for the story and vision. 

Meanwhile, a team needs key players in different roles to collaborate efficiently. 

“If you start answering wrong questions, you can end up in the wrong places,” he said.

He added: “The roles need to challenge each other to push boundaries, fueled by ambition, while the overarching story keeps the team focused.”

The five key pillars Sarno outlined to for perseverance were:

• Interest: These teams are interested in pursuing the best possible game. They have passion for the game they are creating and are continuously ready to learn how it would work better.
• Effort: These teams relentlessly pursue the best possible game. They’re adaptable, ready to build and test, and eager to learn from data.
• Purpose: The game holds value for the team. Creating it feels meaningful for them, and they want to play it themselves. They see their game serving an audience beyond the team.
• Hope: These teams know that they can do it, they know that they have enough skills and experience to make something that they are proud of.
• Growth Perspective: These teams have a growth mindset - they are ready to adjust their work when they learn new viewpoints. They are able to grow and improve as a team.

On purpose, Sarno elaborated that of the games he enjoyed working on and was excited for, three of them became hits. Of the games he didn’t believe in? None of them were hits.