Building Positive Game Communities: Insights from the Arctic Game Masterclass with Supercell

The Masterclass consisted of an initial presentation from Vlad and Lavinia, which opened up to questions before local studios were invited to present their games for feedback & community management advice. Later, visitors were treated to a real northern experience: an open-fire feast prepared by local chef Vilda Kocken at the base of Vitberget.

The talks from Vlad and Lavinia gave a fascinating insight into how world-famous studios interact with their audiences. At times their presentation covered the high-end methods one would expect from such a studio, but for the most part, their learnings were charmingly down-to-earth.

Both spoke largely about how the core role of a Community Manager is to encourage positivity and create a sense of “belonging” around your game(s). This means, effectively becoming an expert of your game & understanding what will be exciting to your audience. A good rule of thumb is, “if something excites you, it’s always a sign that you’re going in the right direction”

The Supercell representatives highlighted that you often need to keep experimenting to see what resonates, but, ultimately, they highlighted you first need to be passionate about the content you’re pushing.

To keep your community positive, they had one simple piece of advice:

Instead, always ask if an interaction is a productive use of your time. Seek out more constructive engagement and always be present. By doing all of this, individuals will learn that being toxic won’t get a response.

The Masterclass was well-attended with local talent from Skellefteå, Boden, Umeå and Jörn present, but, the rare chance to hear from leading industry experts drew out spectators from even Gävle and Finland.

Presenting studios displayed how vibrant and prosperous the Nordic games industry is, with many jumping at the chance to spontaneously showcase their games. Represented studios included Gold Town Games, Cold Sector, Crypto Rogue Games, The Gang, Kitka Games, Sparrowland and Spinoff Games.

All in all, the talks offered a refreshing look into how community management needn’t be overcomplicated. Just being able to read the room and address the current vibe is a big part of the job.

And if one piece of advice should be taken from the Masterclass, perhaps it should be this. Reflecting on the daily goal of a Community Manager, Vlad simply stated:

Written by Harry Heath