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CANDY CRUSH SAGA

ROLE

Level Design Outsourcing Manager

DESCRIPTION

The company King gained prominence after releasing the cross-platform title Candy Crush Saga in 2012 on PC and mobile. It's considered one of the most financially successful freemium game franchises, with the series surpassing 5 billion downloads. King was later acquired by Activision Blizzard in February 2016.

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I joined King in 2019 and spent five years creating engaging experiences for more than 250 million monthly active Candy Crush players!

TRAILER

HIGHLIGHTED ACHIEVEMENTS

CREATION OF NEW CONTENT

In 2023, I set a company record for level production by designing over 700 levels for the game! This solidified my knowledge and skills in level design as an industry professional. I had plenty of opportunities to share this knowledge by teaching and mentoring other designers and teams, through workshops, presentations, and onbording sessions. Furthermore, my levels have been widely appreciated by the game's community, as evidenced by their repeated selection as player favourites in surveys. I also made it a priority to stay up to date with the competition, ensuring I remain at the forefront of gaming innovation and best industry practices.

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A personal highlight: In 2023, I was selected as one of two design representatives for the All Stars Candy Crush Competition in London, a competition with a USD 1 million prize pool. We were responsible for planning everything level/game design related for the event, including designing, creating, and polishing the levels that the participants played in the competition. Additionally, we hosted a workshop on level/game design for the competitors, who were the top ten ranking players out of 20 million participants. During the livestreamed competition, we also provided commentary and support as "judges and level experts". It was truly a memorable experience!

OUTSOURCING MANAGEMENT

I developed King's first fully successful and highest-performing level design outsourcing collaboration. This involved working with two new outsourcing teams, building the collaboration from the ground up by creating the outsourcing framework, teaching game design at a professional level, and structuring the entire function through mapping and documenting all related processes and guidelines. My work became the company-wide blueprint for building and managing successful outsourcing collaborations. The model also proved successful for other teams at King, such as for 'Candy Crush Soda'. Within only six months of integrating our workflows and processes, 'Candy Crush Soda' became the second highest-performing design collaboration at King, just behind Candy Crush Saga. The success led the company to establish a new role, 'Outsourcing Manager', which I assumed. The position was made possible thanks to the development and stability of the function, as well as the definition of the Outsourcing Manager's role and responsibilities. Currently two thirds of all levels released in Candy Crush Saga are developed through outsourcing, generating the bulk of revenue for a game that has earned over USD 20 billion since launch.

END-OF-CONTENT OPTIMIZATION

Before I started working with outsourcing, I led the 'End of Content' area for two years, and I remained involved in it on a near-daily basis for an additional two years. Below are five key areas in which I worked extensively and gained expertise:

  • Monitoring trends over time from short periods up to several years, to understand player behaviour and the effects of design decisions, in order to support a strong business strategy that drives the long-term growth and sustainability of both the game and the company.

  • Collaborating closely with the analytics department to track all aspects of player experience through metrics, data, and playtests. Followed by pitching new alterations and improvements in order to continuously balance and optimise the game and player experience. Examples of areas I was tracking and working extensively with with include: engagement, gross bookings, AB-tests, AI implementation, meta progression, level performance, side effects of new mechanics, in-game economy, different player bases, and more.

  • Pioneering the development of new tools and metrics through close collaboration with our development team. Including bringing our already existing tools and level editor to their full potential by constantly iterating on them with improvements, as well as removing bugs and inconsistencies found across the game.

  • Tweaking live content and releasing new updates, changes, and A/B tests to the game. This also included working with the player support team for live updates and feedback in order to consistently provide players with the best gameplay experience possible.

  • Spearheading the continuous improvement of workflows and processes for the design team, while also ensuring transparency between departments. This also included implementation and development of AI in workflows and processes, resulting in increased work efficiency as well as a more consistent, well-polished and fun game for the players.

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