Jonathan Shroyer | Leaders in Gaming | Exeleon Magazine

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CONTENTS

CONTENTS

Jonathan Shroyer

Customer interaction is everything when it comes to building a brand or growing a business. It possesses so much power that it can either take a business to the zenith of success or weaken its core and bring it down right to its roots. This interaction is even more pronounced in industries like gaming, which solely revolve on the connection between the player and the virtual world they participate in. One mishap or a negative outlook can put a strain on this delicate bond, which can lead businesses to lose their player base and get into their competitor's hands.

That's why pioneers such as Jonathan Shroyer advocate implementing the right form of customer experience when it comes to running or sustaining a business. And with Arise Gaming, Jonathan envisions creating an amazing experience for the players, not just on a customer service level but rather at every step of the way. He calls the players 'superfans', and through Arise Gaming, wants to elevate their experience as they are an essential component of the gaming industry today and in the future.

CX IN THE GAMING INDUSTRY

One of the early gaming memories Jonathan has is of taking charge of Mario, collecting in-game coins, and rescuing the princess from the villain Bowser on his 8bit Nintendo.

Mario Bros is the classic example of the right implementation of CX that players long remember even after three decades.

Taking cues from the same experience, Jonathan calls CX to be the need of the hour in the highly competitive and rapidly growing gaming industry, where the short attention span and a variety of games can quickly change a player's mind.

According to him, right from the inception of the game, its design, to the market rollout, CX must be the top priority for gaming companies to succeed. Solid customer experience will set the tone for the new players to come and join, while the existing ones will take the involved gaming community to the next level. He shares, "Creating superfans who will evangelize the game is what sets companies apart from the competition. But how do we achieve that? Customer Experience is the answer."

Jonathan states that a positive CX will lead to increased player retention, monetization, new player acquisition, and a positive brand reputation. However, to take complete advantage, gaming companies must invest in novel technologies that enhance the game, conduct thorough game testing, and place dedicated Quality Control agents who assess and respond to valuable customer feedback.

Furthermore, the perfect fusion of impressive design and storytelling can create an impressive experience that players will love. "In a saturated market, good CX can make or break a game's success. It is crucial to prioritize CX and create superfans who will keep coming back for more," adds Jonathan.

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LEADERS IN GAMING

SEAMLESS COLLABORATION IS THE BACKBONE

Jonathan admits that creating a cohesive and effective CX strategy necessitates true collaboration among various teams, including development, design, and marketing. To carry out the same, his team has paved the perfect roadmap by redeining a shared vision for customer experience and setting clear, measurable goals aligned with your organization's overall objectives. “Form cross-functional teams comprising representatives from development, design, marketing, and other relevant departments to facilitate communication, collaboration, and idea exchange, we ensure everyone involved understands the signiicance of delivering consistent, high-quality CX.”

The company also maintains regular contact through meetings, updates, and status reports, encouraging team members to share ideas, feedback, and progress updates. “It is also imperative to leverage the unique expertise of each team by encouraging knowledge sharing, experience sharing, and utilizing their strengths to develop a wellrounded CX strategy,” he adds.

The pioneer considers collaboration to be yet another essential element to forming a uniied and eficient strategy. For him, it is important to clearly deine each team member's

roles and responsibilities to avoid confusion and ensure everyone knows what is expected.

“We collaborate to create a detailed customer journey map outlining every customer interaction with the brand, identifying pain points, improvement opportunities, and areas requiring team collaboration,” details Jonathan. He adds, “We also strive to foster a collaborative work environment by promoting open discussions, teamwork, and idea sharing through team-building exercises, workshops, and collaboration tools like project management software and communication platforms.”

And for the performance metrics, Jonathan advises monitoring and measuring the progress of the CX strategy by assessing Key Performance Indicators on a consistent basis and sharing the data with all the involved teams. Such hold over the analytics lets Arise evaluate CX strategies continuously and make improvements based on feedback and data analysis, supporting teams to share insights and collaborate on reining the strategy.

And lastly, Jonathan's team makes sure that team morale always stays on top by promoting a culture of teamwork and continuous improvement, all the while recognizing and celebrating all the major and minor achievements.

ARISE' END-TO-END SOLUTIONS

Arise Gaming offers a comprehensive set of services for gaming studios at every stage of development. The idea and overall goal is to drive success, create engagement, and elevate their games to new heights. And to accomplish the same, the company brings a multifaceted approach that encompasses player support, game testing, community moderation, VIP services, global gig-PX, and consulting services.

Being tailor-made, all these solutions are flexible and customizable, empowering studios to match their unique goals and budget requirements. As a result, Arise lets the studios focus on their goals, ideas, and things that matter the most while it brings forth personalized support to help them achieve growth and success. “With our suite of services, we aim to be a trusted partner to gaming companies and enable them to unlock their full potential,” explains Jonathan.

LEADERS IN GAMING

USING COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT TO ENHANCE CX

Jonathan is of the opinion that community engagement plays a crucial role in delivering a positive experience in the gaming industry. He believes that a strong gaming community can help build brand loyalty, foster a sense of belonging for players, and drive player retention and acquisition. However, in order to do so, studios need to build and maintain a strong gaming community wherein they actively engage their players and create opportunities for them to connect with one another.

Here's how, according to Jonathan, studios can foster a thriving gaming community:

Leverage Social Media Platforms: A powerful tool for engaging with players and building a community, social media platforms can be used to share game updates, increase engagement, and promote community events.

Forums & Chat Rooms: Designed to draw input, forum and chat rooms can create a sense of community among players. Studios can facilitate such rooms to conduct discussions, provide support, and gather feedback regarding the service.

Events & Competitions: As the ultimate engagement tool, events, and competitions can be a great way to connect players and build relationships. As there are various ways to conduct and organize events, a wide number of engagement routes, content creation, and communication channels can be set up based on the requirements.

Content Creators: Partnering with professional games, streamers, and content creators to reach new audiences and establish a community of players. Further collaboration with inluencers can also help create content, promote the game, and engage with the followers.

DEVELOPING A WELCOMING SPACE

Johnathan advocates the beneits of playing video games and how they offer a multitude of beneits, ranging from physical beneits such as hand-eye coordination to mental beneits like increased focus and problem-solving skills.

He even highlights how gamiication has found itself at the center of classroom learning, corporate training, and personal development. However, he also believes that there are individuals with negative perspectives regarding gaming and considers it a stigma.

For the collective growth of the industry, he advises game studios to break away from the stigma by ensuring good gaming communities, moderation for quality control, heartful welcomes, and bullying. They can also stay more transparent about the age ratings and tools to manage and control the gaming environments.

A TECHNOLOGY-LED FUTURE

Envisioning a future led by the marvels of technology, Jonathan clearly states that the future of gaming services will be taken forward by AI, variable stafing, and AR/VR as they currently are the new frontiers in the industry. And since every bit of gaming is dependent on customer experiences, companies will need to deliver incredible gaming experiences to be distinctive and achieve success.

Jonathan's Arise is following up on the same by being one of the leading frontier of delivering ultimate CX with variable stafing with exceptional collaborations with AI & AR/VR products to help deliver a seamless experience across its umbrella services of localization, game testing, community engagement, and plater support. “People will want more immersive experiences, which means offering more immersive CX Experience. Arise Gaming is all set to deliver the same to its customers today and tomorrow,” concludes Jonathan.

Exeleon Shorts

Ÿ One Book Entrepreneurs Must Read– “The Lean Startup” by Eric Ries

Ÿ One Productivity Tool / App that Everyone Should Use–Slack

Ÿ One Podcast / Course that you would Recommend–“How I Built This” by Guy Raz

Ÿ One Game that you would Recommend– Civilization Series, version 6 is currently out

Ÿ One Quote that Motivates you the Most– Nelson Mandela's“I never lose, I only win or learn.”

Ÿ One piece of CX Advice that you Always Follow– Data provides both leading and lagging indicators of customer retention and stickiness’.

We Embrace Excellence!

Exeleon Magazine features some of the leading players in business and shares their journey of excellence to inspire aspiring leaders across the globe.

CEO

Cheesecake Digital

Pioneering Game-Based Learning with ClassBridges

Philip Wride is a remarkable individual

who has left an indelible mark on the gaming industry and now sets his sights on revolutionizing education through gamebased learning. With an impressive career spanning over 22 years in the gaming landscape, Philip's expertise encompasses esports, game publishing, and consulting for renowned powerhouses such as EA SPORTS, Disney, and Square Enix.

Recognizing the growing inluence of video games in children's lives, Philip founded ClassBridges, a groundbreaking project that harnesses the captivating power of popular video games to enhance learning experiences, particularly in the realm of mathematics.

Philip's deep understanding of the gaming industry, combined with his expertise in education, has enabled him to create over 1000 math practice sheets tailored to different age groups (6-11). Drawing inspiration from beloved titles such as Minecraft, Roblox, FIFA, and Fortnite, these resources provide a dynamic and immersive learning experience,

capturing the imagination of students while reinforcing crucial mathematical skills.

In this Interview, Philip Wride talks about his motivation behind ClassBridges, his gaming journey, as well as the future of the esports industry.

Give us some background about yourself and your role as the CEO of Cheescake Digital.

For a question like this it's best to start at the beginning. I began playing games at the age of 7, and one of the early games I fell in love with was a combat light simulator called F-19 Stealth Fighter. I loved it because I was able to pretend to be my dad who was a ighter pilot but retired from the forces before I was old enough to fully understand what he did. Then at 16, I started playing online with friends and we created teams and started taking part in online leagues and tournaments. That was my irst entry to esports and it's a space I've been involved in since.

Talk to us about ClassBridges and how the project aims at developing the math skills of children using videogames they love.

ClassBridges is a project I created during the pandemic. At the start of 2020, just before the pandemic started, I broke my neck playing rugby and didn't get the surgery that was suggested. I let it heal naturally but the whole experience got me to question what I was doing and where I was going in life.

Through some personal development there was a question about what would be said at my funeral and what impact I had made on the world and that got me thinking about how I could use my knowledge and experience of videogames to beneit people.

My partner is a teacher and one day she needed a math lesson for her students. I knew her whole class loved the game Among Us so we worked together to create a lesson plan and resources she could use the next day. From that I created the PARROT Framework which uses different parts of games, and different mechanics, and uses them as the basis for math questions.

ClassBridges focuses on using videogames to support learning and skill development with an emphasis on math. Some of the work we've done includes going into schools and hosting Minecraft competitions and coding workshops along with creating math practice worksheets based on different games. The mission is to use the power of videogames to develop the math skills of 1 million children.

I've now been involved in the games industry for over 22 years and have had the privilege to manage some of the world's best esports teams, travel the world, consult for global brands and governments, and operate events.

My role as the CEO of Cheesecake Digital is to wear many hats – part cheerleader and business development, part strategist, project manager and consultant. Cheesecake Digital is a boutique company, wherein we build specialist project teams rather than have a large staff. I therefore get involved in a little bit of everything depending on the project or needs of the client.

What is your earliest memory or association with gaming?

At the age of 7, I started with an Atari ST. My dad brought it back from one of his trips abroad. By this time, he'd moved from being a ighter pilot to a commercial pilot and was regularly making trips from the UK to the US. There were a handful of games I remember including lemmings, rainbow islands, operation wolf, and the F19 stealth ighter game I mentioned earlier.

What prompted your interest and subsequently your foray into the gaming and esports space?

I think this is really a combination of things – my love of gaming and the different experiences I was able to get through playing games whether that was saving the universe, completing puzzles, or working to progress to the next

stage of a game was deinitely a factor. Add in the competitive element of esports and the ability to play in structured competitions and it became the perfect combination.

I've always been competitive and played team sports growing up so esports was a natural extension to that. It also meant I didn't have to ight against the rain and mud in my “normal” sports. At 16, I gained regional honors for rugby but didn't pursue them because my gaming took over – I was progressing rapidly in the community I was part of and I was constantly experiencing new things. That deinitely played a part in my focus on esports – it was always changing with new teams, competitions, and events to think about or participate in.

Although esports has been a booming industry with an evergrowing audience, there is a lot of skepticism surrounding the future of the industry. Where do you think the industry is headed towards?

We are in a correction phase. The money that has been pumped in has not yet returned the ROI and so new investors are more hesitant. The majority of revenue is still tied to sponsorship and advertising, and nobody has yet unlocked the revenue from the players and the fans. Merchandise and ticket sales are a small fraction of revenue compared with sponsorship and advertising and so esports needs to ind a way to move game revenue from players and fans towards esports teams and events.

This is also where the game publishers and IP owners could do more. They already sit making a good amount of revenue and esports is often seen as nice to have rather than a valuable and core part of the overall community experience. If their view changes and they share more of the revenue with teams and event operators it will become a little easier for those involved to keep going. If we look at other traditional sports, there was always quite a long learning and growing curve and esports has skipped a few steps and is now having to do a mini reset.

I still think esports captures the imagination of fans and the spectacle is there, but the revenue is going to continue to be the key driver.

Having consulted some of the biggest game developers and publishers, coached esports entrepreneurs, and actively been involved with the industry for more than two decades, how do you look at your journey thus far?

I feel very blessed. When I irst started playing Counter Strike online back in 2001, I obviously had no idea where the journey would take me. Looking back at the things I've been able to do because of gaming and esports is amazing. Yes, there have been some lows, projects and ideas that didn't quite work, lost championships, and general business struggles but the experiences have deinitely made up for those.

Finally, what would be your advice for new and emerging entrepreneurs in the esports space?

One piece of advice would be about service. How can they serve their customers in the best way possible. What does that look like and what does it enable their customers to do.

Another would be about acknowledging and embracing a level of uncertainty. In the way that I look at esports we are th now entering the 6 age – the age of correction and consolidation. Before that we had the age of investment, the age of Twitch, the age of Championship Gaming Series and how it destroyed the US community for several years, the age of nation vs nation with the Esports World Cup and the World Cyber Games and before that the age of beginning. Each of them has brought uncertainty but also opportunity.

As entrepreneurs we are often driven by something and if we are working towards some goal or vision there will be an element of risk. This is the uncertainty I'm talking about. Esports doesn't have a 100+ year history with everything ironed out and so new and emerging entrepreneurs need to acknowledge and embrace the rollercoaster.

THE POWER OF

Games allow us to experience new worlds, new

situations, and in a way, new selves.

We are each born into a unique set of circumstances — a particular body, gender, health-level, family, geography, environment and culture. Our speciic circumstance has its own set of rules, norms and allowed behaviours, while 'shunned' behaviours are dis-allowed, or might even have extreme repercussions attached to them (depending on where we are physically located).

In a way, we can escape this particular reality, and try on new SELVES. What we dislike, we can simply discard and forget about. What we like however, we can take back, and potentially even integrate into our real selves back 'home'.

This can be true for anyone, anywhere. All we really need is a mobile phone, game console, laptop or desktop… and we can escape into new, immersive realities that entertain, teach and engross us in numerous ways that may be missing in our daily life.

GAMES AS ESCAPE HATCHES

Given the many variations of games, the types of game play, mechanics and available choices, it's no surprise that upwards of 3.09 Billion people consider themselves 'gamers', while most play games daily, spending hundreds to thousands of hours, and numerous billions of dollars on game experiences. The numbers have increased a whopping 32% over the past seven years (now including more than 1 billion additional people!), while the number is expected to increase to 3.32 Billion by 2024.

And perhaps it's no surprise; real life can be repetitive, full of responsibility and at times boredom, while games offer an immersive colour scheme that players can escape to. The National Institute of Health (NIH) estimates that 31.9% of youth 13–18 years of age have some type of anxiety disorder, while an estimated 8.3% of adolescents experience severe impairment due to anxiety levels. Temporarily 'tuning out' of our own dificult situations might beneit the psyche much more than we know.

GAMES AS SKILLS ACQUISITION

A CEO friend I've known since childhood (and who shall remain anonymous!) once said: “Games were the irst place that made me feel like I could do something interesting, something new… something… different? I never considered myself a 'natural-born leader', but in WOW (World of Warcraft), gamer friends kept on insisting that I lead the team, and it was the irst time that had ever happened. After some time, many abysmal failures, and some great winds, I developed enough skills to actually lead, and it seemed like these were skills that could actually spill over into the real world. They did.”

Today, he is a self-made tech industry success, a ridiculously shy and quiet math-geek-turnedtech-startup-star multi-millionaire with 100+ employees whom he leads daily, and at least three successful companies under his belt. He further adds that without games, none of this would have happened, and he would still be 'stuck in a cubicle', working on projects that generally didn't inspire him, or push the boundaries of his coding abilities. It was the fun and low-key failure tactics of gaming that allowed him to try and push the boundaries in the real world.

GAMES AS TEACHERS OF SUCCESS & FAILURE

Many of us are terriied of failing, and rightfully so. In many communities, cultures and societal situations any type of failure — big or small — can have a lasting effect. We're even wired to succeed, or at least remain safe at all costs. Games can be a wonderful 'vaccine' or 'antidote' to the fear of failure, given that if we fail in games — and fail we will! — (unlike in the real world) we can just try and try again. Many games are purposefully dificult, with game challenges being hard to increasingly impossible, and failing them miserably only to learn, move forward, and ultimately succeed can inoculate us against the terrifying fear of failure. Given enough tries, we can perhaps even learn that life itself can be a game, and that failure here doesn't have to be fatal.

In short, immersive games can allow us to explore new discover situations, experience new environments, people and places. To push new limits, expand our fear limits, and set our own boundaries. Games always effect the real world, whether we know it or not, and the more immersive, the more they have the potential to do so. – Written by Vive Games

The R i s e o f

From Esports Origins to Entertainment Industry Disruptors

Talk to us about the Misits Gaming Group and the vision for this global esports and entertainment company.

Misits Gaming Group has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past year, shifting its focus from esports to become a thriving media and entertainment company. Originally known for our success in esports, particularly in League of Legends, we recognized the need to adapt to the changing landscape of the industry. As we closely monitored trends and projections, it became apparent that generating suficient revenue to cover the costs of running expensive esports teams was becoming more challenging. In response, we made a strategic decision to pivot our company and capitalize on the unique value proposition offered by the creator economy. By partnering with creators and supporting their aspirations,

we have embraced a new path forward to fulill their dreams while ensuring the sustainability and growth of our organization.

Our journey into the creator economy was driven by a clear vision: partnering with creators to help them fulill their dreams as they pursue new projects and creative ambitions. We received an inlux of requests from our creators eager to collaborate and achieve their aspirations, which really dove this pivot home for us. Recognizing the opportunity to be the conduit that empowers them to achieve their dreams, we made the strategic decision to fully embrace the creator economy, allowing us to be part of their experience, supporting them as they bring their visions to life.

Through this transition, we've collaborated closely with creators to showcase their

stories and ventures through our channels, building strong relationships between Misits Gaming Group, creators, and brands. This synergy became vital to our success. Inspired by this momentum, we ventured into new platforms, most recently partnering with Karl Jacobs and Kreekcraft to bring exciting new opportunities to Roblox with Pixel Playground. Our vision is to become a premier gaming and lifestyle entertainment and media company, curating exceptional content for our audiences. We aim to leverage the incredible talent and intellectual properties we have acquired and developed to deliver the highest quality experiences to our passionate fan base.

Aside from participating in global esports competitions, Misits is dedicated to bridge the gap between gaming, media, and culture. Talk to us about this intersection.

Misits Gaming Group is at the forefront of this intersection, embracing the cultural relevance of gaming and amplifying the voices and stories of creators. We understand that gaming is a powerful force that inluences and shapes contemporary society.

We're not just focused on competition but also on the stories, experiences, and cultural connections that gaming offers. Through our collaborations with

talented creators, we've been able to amplify their unique narratives and perspectives. We share these stories through our media channels, bringing them to a wider audience and showcasing the diversity and cultural impact of gaming and the creator economy.

What is the Misits Creator Fund? How is the company helping translate a creator's vision into a reality?

The Misits Creator Fund is an exciting initiative that allows us to collaborate closely with creators and bring their visions to life. This initiative is designed to partner with creators who have bold project ideas but need additional assistance

Karl Jacobs and Austinshow

to turn their visions into reality. We work with creators who possess innovative, creative, and sustainable ideas spanning a wide range of domains, from captivating events to compelling content and captivating consumer products.

We recognize that creators possess remarkable ideas that often need a helping hand to come to fruition. That's where the Misits Creator Fund comes in. Through this fund, we offer a meaningful partnership that beneits both parties, providing clear pathways to success backed by our extensive experience and trusted reputation in the industry.

Our commitment to creators extends beyond their daily content endeavors. We offer comprehensive support and guidance, creating a solid foundation for their projects to lourish. Our ultimate goal is to empower creators, amplifying their voices and enabling them to reach their full potential.

Although esports has been a booming industry with an evergrowing audience, there is a lot of skepticism surrounding the future of the industry. Where do you think the industry is headed towards?

Esports and gaming are the future. Despite challenges that may arise, we believe in the industry's potential for growth and success. If we look at the trajectory of traditional sports, the NBA for example, it took decades for it to become the powerhouse it is today. Esports is on a similar trajectory. We're still fully invested in it, holding our teams, and recognizing its importance as the nucleus of our company.

Gaming as a whole is thriving, even in the face of economic uncertainties. Advertisers, brands, and consumers are all captivated by the gaming sector, and esports stands as a signiicant subset, attracting the most passionate and dedicated gamers. As the landscape continues to evolve, we embrace the opportunities it presents. We are committed to staying at the forefront of innovation, delivering captivating experiences, and contributing to the continued capacity of gaming to shape the future of entertainment.

Having been backed by some of the biggest names in the traditional sports setting, what do you think will be the impact of Misits Gaming on the overall growth of the industry?

From the very beginning, investments in the industry from traditional sports organizations signaled a shared belief that esports would eventually reach the same level of recognition as major sports leagues like the NFL, NBA, and MLS. This belief has had a profound inluence on the growth of the industry as a whole.

When inluential entities like the Kroenke Group and the Kraft Group invest their resources and belief in esports, it speaks volumes about the immense potential this industry holds. They envision a future where esports stands shoulder-toshoulder with the likes of the NFL and NBA, capturing the hearts and attention of fans worldwide.

Our collaborations with esteemed sports franchises like the Heat and the Magic have been instrumental in establishing our presence in Florida and overcoming the unique

challenges of introducing a new form of competitive gaming to the market. And it's not just us. Across the esports landscape, you'll ind partnerships between major sports teams and organizations. This fusion of traditional sports and esports brings a wealth of experience, resources, and strategic insights to the table, igniting a powerful synergy that fuels industry growth.

Additionally, our investors such as Scripps Networks, with their deep expertise in media and entertainment, have played a pivotal role in shaping our new trajectory. Drawing upon their wealth of knowledge, we have been able to craft compelling narratives, devise innovative commercial approaches, and elevate our production quality to deliver unparalleled experiences to our audience.

About Misit Gaming Group

Based in South Florida, Misits Gaming Group is a global esports and entertainment company. The company competes in some of the most successful video game titles worldwide and are permanent partners in three franchised esports leagues: Riot Games' League of Legends European Championship: Misits Gaming, ActivisionBlizzard's Overwatch League: Florida Mayhem, and ActivisionBlizzard's Call of Duty League: Florida Mutineers, as well as competing in other major titles like Fortnite.

Leveling Up with

CTO and Co-founder of ORE System

Talk to us about your growing up years. What is your earliest memory or association with gaming?

I grew up in Chicago. I grew up at home living with my mom because my parents were divorced. My dad was into computers, so that was where we connected and that's where I got my start. I like to say that I was born and bred on the Internet. I was always a gamer at heart and still remember my irst 56 K modem.

My dad was awesome. He was a ireman and paramedic, and my mom was an emergency room nurse. My dad always had a passion for computers and we had them at home. My generation is the last one that actually saw the early stuff and used it.

The very irst program that I wrote was a Halloween-themed chess game all the way back in 1989. Instead of knights, there were horses that were pumpkins. That was what got to me where I am today, to where I am making video games for a living. That's one of those things that helped me in the cyber

security industry because people in that industry will never see those things happen as they did back then or live in the Wild West of the Internet.

What prompted your interest and subsequently your foray into the tech space?

I lived the big corporate life and I've worked for various alphabet agencies in my time. I've worked for some of the biggest corporations all the way down to mom-andpop companies and startups all through my career. I've traveled and taught at conferences, but at the end of the day, I love creativity. I love the ability to go in and play a video game. I'm fortunate that I got the opportunity to jump in and live my dream.

How is Ore System revolutionizing the gaming industry? What can be expected from the company in the coming years?

ORE System is always looking to change the conversation with its gaming content. As we dive into the unknown to leverage new

technologies, we look to improve content for gamers and developers to remove barriers to entry into the space, ultimately giving the gaming community better content. We have also engaged our strategic partner MD DAO to assist with providing a provider network to connect those who need assistance with getting to someone who can help facilitate these challenging conversations. We wanted a solution ready for conversations that will hopefully start due to the With Them: Frontlines gameplay.

As the CTO and Co-founder of ORE System, what role do you play in the day-to-day proceedings of the company?

As CTO my focus is primarily on making the technical dreams come to fruition. Building and designing tools, video games, and technology is a passion for me. This began many years ago as a kid tinkering and hacking stuff in the 90's and early 2000's. Now I get to do it for a living!

The business is driven by the business development team, and this allows me to focus my efforts on building bleeding edge solutions for some of today's newest technologies. Through addressing and charging into these unknown areas allows no bias, no preconceptions, and allows me to build in a completely unexplored universe.

The organization "work" stuff requires my day to day to support the servers, support the software, and help the development team build the next fun add-on to ORE System. While the business day-today is where I spend working to help develop production times, update schedules, and interaction with ORE to help push the technical future of what ORE looks to achieve.

Recently along with your business partners, you released a video game named With Them: Frontlines. Please talk to us about this project and the idea behind it.

We are really excited about this game. With Them Frontlines is a irst-person shooter that tells the stories of real veterans and real combat missions, aimed at helping Veterans overcome and ind solutions for PTSD. The game enables a Veteran to share their stories as a part of gameplay to eliminate the stigma of talking about challenging situations.

Our team has three veterans with several years of deployed time in combat zones. Each of us has been impacted by one of our peers that have taken their own life. This game means something to all of us. Mental health is one of my irst priorities in my personal wellness planning. I see a provider to discuss the challenges of being a veteran with exposure to situations that create different perspectives on life. Mental health aside, ORE System has been in the gaming space for about 18 months, looking to enhance gameplay with innovative measures like this.

When we irst started pulling all of this together, we had some candid discussions about potentially making someone worse or contributing to their struggles with the FPS game. After looking at the data and research, veterans are more likely to associate with these types of games as a release from what is bothering them. What better place to connect with other veterans to ind similar people who have some of the same challenges that you could be dealing with.

What do you think will be the biggest changes or advancements in gaming over the next 5-10 years, and how do

Nicholas Donarski

CTO & Co-founder of ORE System

you think they will impact the gaming industry and the way we play games?

The cool thing is the internet has brought a lot of things together. We believe ORE System are trailblazers when it comes to where the gaming industry is going. We've revolutionized the gaming industry by reducing the time, cost, and experience a game developer needs to integrate blockchain technology into their games. Within the ORE Ecosystem, gamers truly own the gear, and developers truly own the game. The complete ORE system is the irst cross-platform ecosystem available to the blockchain community where for the irst time, participants REALLY determine if an item is worth anything.

Finally, what would be your advice for someone developing a new game or concept?

The biggest mistake we made was that we tried to answer all of the questions instead of focusing on one question at a time. In the early days, it was hard for us to ind ourselves because we didn't really know who we were at that point. As we grew, and as we started to igure out exactly what we were trying to do, we've been kicking butt ever since.

My advice is don't get frustrated in those early days. Having the idea of the dream is the irst step, but don't get frustrated when it doesn't quite go your way. None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way.

My dad is the only reason that I have been able to do as much as I have done in my life. He was into sci-i and having computers at home in the 1980s when nobody else had it was important.

His motto was “If you hack into my stuff, just know how you broke it.” The rule was to never hack from home. It was the fact that he was cool about allowing it to be a learning process. If you made a mistake, it was ine as long as you learned from it; success or failure, just learn from it. Without him, I wouldn't have had the career that I have today.

Say No to Lags!

n this month's Company Spotlight, we I are looking into ExitLag, an innovative one-of-a-kind platform that helps address issues related to lagging during gameplay. Developed by Leandro Sandmann and Fabiano Skowronski, ExitLag helps people around the world improve their connection and enhance their gaming experience.

Leandro talks with Exeleon Magazine about ExitLag, his gaming journey, and the future of the company in this interview.

Talk to us about your growing up years. What hooked you to online gaming?

I was only 11 years old when a friend of mine introduced me to the MMORPG called

Tibia. Launched in 1997, it was one of the irst in the industry. It was around the same time that I also started to learn programming language. I was instantly hooked on both. Fast forward a bit, and I put that experience to use, creating gamerelated applications until ExitLag was born.

What led to the start formation of ExitLag? What was the pain point you wanted to address?

I made a lot of friends playing Tibia, one of them was Fabiano, Exitlag's co-founder. Because all the Tibia servers were located outside of our home country of Brazil, we struggled with lag issues and packet loss. These issues would affect our game. Fabiano did some tests and found out that

Leandro Sandmann

CO-CEO | EXITLAG

the change in routes could optimize our experience while gaming, which was like a miracle back then. We began to work on a solution for ourselves, but soon all our friends were asking to use it as well. The network of people using it started to grow and we started a subscription business without even noticing it at irst. Over the years, we started to increase the number of games we would support and improved the technology to be the best it could be. We realized that it was a problem for gamers worldwide.

What were the challenges/complications that you faced when building this software?

It was hard to scale quickly at times. There was some unexpected growth and it was hard to keep the pace with how fast things were moving. We also spent a lot of days and nights focused on improving the technology and making sure it was the best it could be. I remember investing a lot of time into creating a product that would be resistant to DDoS attacks without sacriicing high performance. Our proprietary multi-path technology was also a big leap in performance for our users and we were very happy to be able to deliver it to them.

What has been the response thus far from the gaming community about the software?

We get a lot of great messages, but more and more, people are saying that ExitLag is indispensable as a network optimizer. Of course, this makes us really happy. From casual to competitive gamers, everyone

wants to have lower latency and a better experience while playing.

How has the gaming industry changed in recent years? What can we potentially expect in the coming years?

The gaming industry has experienced absurd growth in the last three years and has become the most prominent entertainment market in the world, surpassing the popularity of movies and music combined. I think, over the next few years, we will have even more players embrace e-Sports, especially with the explosion of technological advancements like the 5G.

What does the future look like for ExitLag? What are you most excited about?

Exciting! We are thrilled about the launch of ExitLag Mobile. So far, the feedback received through the closed beta test has been remarkable. I think we are set to make history by pioneering the market with a gaming accessory for network on mobile devices, but there are still a lot of challenges ahead. We want to be present on consoles and routers eventually, which constitutes more work on our end. But our mission remains the same: to help every player out there, no matter where in the world they may be playing, have the best gaming experience possible.