The Community Lounge

Today’s guest is Nicolas Nottin, a seasoned community developer with over 15 years of experience in the video game industry. Nico is currently the Lead Community Developer at Tribo Games in Germany. His career spans major studios including Square Enix, Creative Assembly, and InnoGames, where he’s cultivated deep expertise in building and managing vibrant gaming communities. We chat about the disti...

Today’s guest is Hichem Taleb, a seasoned community professional experienced in managing communities for notable games like Lego Builder’s Journey, Microsoft Flight Simulator, and Ghost Recon Wildlands. Currently, Hichem provides mentorship and consulting to indie studios and solo developers. In this episode, we define the role of a Community Marketing Manager, a blend of community management, mar...

Today’s guest is Thomas Schramm, Community Manager at Sky E Red in Germany, where he’s helping shape the launch of their debut game, Battle Frontier . Thomas’s path into the games industry is anything but typical—what began as a childhood hobby in online Halo communities eventually turned into a full-time career in community management. We talk about what it’s like to build a community from scratc...

Today’s guest is Erik Jakobsson, a community manager at Paradox Interactive in Sweden, where he leads a team of ambassadors. Erik's journey into the gaming industry is unique—he started by running a fan Discord server that was eventually acquired by Paradox, leading to his first role in community management. We chat about growing and moderating large online communities, the challenges of keeping a...

Today’s guest is Kayla Goullaud, an experienced community manager who has worked on EverQuest 2, Forza Motorsport, and the Forza Horizon franchise. She also spent years with the Xbox Live Policy and Enforcement team, tackling everything from player bans to community safety. We chat about the complexities of game community management, the challenges of player moderation, and the importance of conte...

This is a very short episode to announce that we've reached the end of season one. SEASON TWO IS COMING SOON! Thank you to everybody involved. Thank you to the eight guests who gave very freely and generously of their time to be on the show. Thank you for listening and thank you to anybody who helped share the word about what I'm doing with the Community Lounge. Make sure to SUBSCRIBE in your podc...

Today’s guest is Carolin Wendt, author of The Pocket Mentor for Game Community Management , and currently Lead International Community at CD PROJEKT RED . We chat about why and how Carolin wrote her book on community management. And Carolin gives some great tips for people wanting to break into community management. Games mentioned in this episode : Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher, GWENT, Dragon Age:...

Today I chat with Florian Rohde, currently Community & Player Support Lead at YAGER . We talk about how as a community manager, you can support your colleagues to do their job in the best way possible while shielding them from all the unnecessary noise. Games mentioned in this episode :  The Cycle, The Cycle: Frontier, CrossFire Europe, Summoners War, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Yakuza series F...

Today I chat with Ellinor Bergman, CEO & Co-Founder of Speldosa Interactive . Ellinor tells us her journey into community management - and how a crisis situation at her previous job led her - somewhat unexpectedly - into her current role as CEO. Games mentioned in this episode :  MonsterWash , Project Shoreline, Totally Accurate Battle Simulator (aka TABS), Content Warning, Passpartout 2, Dead...

Today I chat with Christian Jürgensen, currently working as a community management specialist at InnoGames . Christian's story into community management is unique. Christian was working as a film producer in LA, he moved to Brazil, and then he was brave enough to jump at an opportunity that let him start a new career in community management. Games mentioned in this episode : Tribal Wars, Grepolis,...

In today's chat, Lyn Dang and I talk about the danger of burnout for community managers, about streaming with authenticity, and about appearing at physical events. And Lyn tells us her 3 rules for community management. Games mentioned in this episode : Summoner's War, Palia,  Emberward Find Lyn on LinkedIn . If you are a student aspiring to be in the industry, you can find Lyn over at BobaTalks as...

Today Gabriel Sanchewski tells us about his journey from avid gamer to community manager. Gabriel and I talk about how he even before he was officially a community manager, he would just roll up his sleeves and create the community resources he noticed were missing. And we hear about how Gabriel came to create and run The Break Room, a private Discord server for community managers. Games mentioned...

Today's guest is Jeremy Fielding, currently working at Stunlock Studios on  V Rising , a vampire survival action RPG. Jeremy and I chat about how community management took him from Florida to a small city in Sweden, how you learn to be a community manager, and what the upward career path for community managers can look like. Games mentioned in this episode : V Rising, Battlerite, Shogun Showdown F...

Today my guest is James Croucher, currently working at tinyBuild on games such as DUCKSIDE , Sand, and the Hello Neighbor series. James talks about running a community where everyone is a subject matter expert, what he looks for when hiring a community manager, and why he prefers serving the community on games that he actually plays. Games mentioned in this episode : DUCKSIDE, Sand, Hello Neighbor...

The trailer for season 1 of The Community Lounge. The Community Lounge is a podcast where community managers from video games studios and publishers tell their story of how they got into the role, talk about the challenges they face, and share tips to help other community managers.