Why Most Live Service Games Fail (And How to Fix Them)

About this episode

The games industry has a structural problem that most studios refuse to name: development and publishing have been at war for decades, and players are paying the price. In this episode of Gaming Decoded, host Andrea Rene sits down with Jonathan Lander, CEO & Founder of Square Corners Consulting and a Vivrato Visionary with over two decades leading online games at CCP (EVE Online) and ZeniMax Online (Elder Scrolls Online). Jon makes the case that the siloed model most studios still operate under was designed for physical retail in the 90s and has no business running a live service game in 2025. He also argues that the industry is still in its early stage of professionalization, roughly equivalent to where pharma was when it was still figuring out what medicine actually meant, and explains what it will take to grow up. This episode covers: • Why development and publishing silos actively damage the quality of games • How to build an integrated studio model that actually works • The live service chicken-and-egg problem: great game first, or great product first? • Why listening too closely to your community might be hurting you • Why you should make games for demographics you are no