Drew Angeloff

some of my thoughts after going through the article: Live Ops Scaling: Lessons from Gossip Harbor A recent AppMagic review shows something interesting, Gossip Harbor increased its Live Ops cadence from ~20 events/month in 2024 to nearly 100 events/month today. Yes… 100 events per month. Many teams might worry this creates player fatigue. But the data — and player behavior — tell a different story. Here’s why: 1. High event volume ≠ overwhelming players Players may feel there are many events, but active users will always choose the ones that resonate with them. What matters is choice, not forcing everyone through the same path. Giving players options actually reduces negative sentiment. 2. Multiple events serve different player segments Different players enjoy different things: competition, collection, progression, co-op, or just casual fun. A diversified event strategy meets each segment’s needs — keeping more players engaged, more often. 3. Live Ops events bring the community together Co-op, guild, and competitive events help unify different segments. When done well, they boost: • DAU stability • session frequency • long-term retention 4. Key takeaway: High-volume Live Ops isn’t about overwhelming players, it’s about offering freedom, personalization, and continuous engagement loops. The industry is shifting from “one event for all” to multi-track Live Ops ecosystems that let players choose their own journey. Curious to hear, how many events per month do you think is the sweet spot for a different genres? https://lnkd.in/gnzk7rru

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In her opening letter, Asha Sharma said she wanted to bring about a "return" to Xbox. Jez Corden asked exactly what that means, since it effectively implies that Xbox has begun to stray from what Xbox "is."

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Roblox is investing in AI-driven age estimation to enable more age-appropriate interactions, specifically for users 13 and older. At Karta, we get questions about safeguarding from our clients constantly. So it is great to see Roblox advancing safety with their new age-based communication features, announced yesterday. Read all about it here: https://lnkd.in/dsdxQwcv

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As I read more and more reports about the recent Xbox layoffs one thing becomes clearer about MSFT’s intent in this round: This wave was not driven by a desire to replace workers with AI as some have speculated. Instead I believe the intent was to “improve” a Span of Control KPI. What I notice is that a great number of the layoffs occurred among quite senior employees level 64-66 at the Director and Senior Director level. That is middle management. If this had been an AI replacement exercise MSFT would have kept more experienced people and fired mostly junior people as AI replacement tends to produce better results with more experienced humans in the loop. The driving out of experienced middle management, and I’m talking about some absolute legends in the industry, points to a different organizational goal: Span of Control. MSFT and many other tech firms have in recent years looked at the ratio of management to direct reports and sought to increase the number of reports each manager has as some measure of organizational efficiency. Misguided or not this is a trend that has been widely reported on before. It also doesn’t hurt that middle management is paid better and makes a juicer target for cost cutting when a business unit’s targets are not met. If you don’t make the margin goals Corporate needs you to make, you have to offer a tribute or face their wrath. And that is what I believe this is all about. Just my opinion. #xbox #gameindustry #gamedev

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Grateful for the chance to demo Powder at the Intel booth during Microsoft Build—huge thanks to Tonya, Bryan, and the entire Intel Corporation team for making it possible. Powder is shaping the future of real-time, edge AI content creation for gamers and creators worldwide. It was an honor to showcase what we’ve been building, live and in action, to so many talented developers in the Microsoft community. Special thanks to Nicolas, Jay, Eric, Shaun, and the entire Ubisoft team for letting us feature the breathtaking, cinematic world of Skull and Bones in the Powder demo and breakout sessions. Excited for what’s next as we continue pushing the boundaries of AI and gaming together! Catch a quick look at what we're building at Powder in the video below #Intel #Ubisoft #Powder #MSBuild #AIEditing #Microsoft #Windows #AIFoundry #EdgeAI #NPU #SkullAndBones 

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Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth has publicly addressed the recent VR layoffs and strategic shifts, stating that VR growth is "less quickly than we hoped". This has led to reduced investments, including the closure of VR game studios, the cancellation of projects like Batman: Arkham Shadow sequel, and the shutdown of Horizon Workrooms and Quest for Business. The strategy now pivots Horizon Worlds towards mobile platforms, while Meta's VR efforts will increasingly support third-party content. What are the potential implications of Meta's updated VR strategy for the broader immersive tech industry? #Meta #VRStrategy #IndustryNews #TechLayoffs #VoodooDEVR #explorewithquest #QuestCreatorPartner

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What a phenomenal RDC 2025!🔥 This year’s Roblox Developers Conference (held Sept 5–6 in San Jose) was packed with major announcements, and I couldn’t be more excited by the direction the platform is heading: • Roblox Moments: A built-in short-form video feed for capturing highlights and instantly sharing them across the platform, think a TikTok-style discovery tool tailor-made for Roblox. • Creator earnings boost: DevEx rates increased by 8.5%, putting more cash back into creators’ pockets. • Huge growth metrics: Over $1 billion paid out to creators in the past year, with daily active users climbing toward 112 million. • Emerging tech & safety upgrades: From acoustic simulation and hydrodynamic enhancements to emissive mapping, CSG on meshes, and server authority for anti-cheat measures • Infrastructure & community support: A new data center in São Paulo is now live, improving latency for Brazilian users, and the platform is reinforcing its commitment to safety with over 100 updates and better age-based moderation. This year, Lootbloc turned up with some unforgettable moments: • Partner Dinner: We hosted a special dinner for our 60+ partners, an opportunity to connect, eat great food, and relax after a long RDC weekend. • Claw Machine: We partnered with the Roblox Commerce team to have our Lootbloc-branded claw machine featured at their booth, where attendees could win merch • Luau Plushie Launch: We unveiled an exclusive Luau whale plushie with Roblox, themed after the Luau logo that attendees could earn by completing a scavenger hunt at the Luau booth • Co-hosting Quataun party Friday night at RDC where we gave away thousands of plushies, shirts, hats and more to fellow developers. Lootbloc is only continuing to grow by bringing on new partners this year like Piggy, Pls Donate, Murderers vs. Sheriff Duels, Twin Atlas and more! Bottom line: RDC 2025 wasn’t just about big tech announcements, it was a celebration of community and all of the successes this past year. I’m so excited by the possibilities ahead, and inspired by how platforms like Roblox and partners like Lootbloc continue to grow together. Here’s to next year, bigger, bolder, and even more connected.

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