Who are you?
Hi! I’m Melissa Lewis-Gentry. A lot of people just call me MLG. I’m a game industry professional that specializes in retail sales, project management, marketing, business administration, and logistics. I love interesting and challenging projects; whether it’s booth design and set up, or creative direction on a game, or analyzing the cost benefits of a company’s product line.
Unfortunately, I’m not *actually* a necromancer. I do however wear an article of clothing that has at least one skull on it over 95% of the time, and really, isn’t that close enough?
Here’s What I Do:
I Can Curse It
Corporate speak would refer to me as a QA, or Market Testing Specialist. Think of me as that mechanic you hate; you bring me your car, thinking you might need an oil change, and I point out your timing belt is about to go. But instead of a car, it’s your zombie themed party game, and I let you know that the market is oversaturated and you need to seriously consider if you’re going to re-theme or shelve it.
I find the flaws and cracks in a game quickly, so you can implement solutions before they are too expensive.
I Can Resurrect It
You know what problem you’re having, but no clue how to solve it. I am an expert problem solver, and I relish the stranger & more obscure.
Your freight shipment of your new release for That Big Game Convention came into port late, and there’s no way you want to pay the short notice fees the convention center is charging for load in? No problem! I’ll coordinate freight
pickup and cheap warehousing through my contacts, though you might have to do a demo at a local store. Oh hey, I also scheduled you some demos at a local store.
I Can Stitch it Together
I know a guy, And by a guy, I mean a huge network of women, nonbinary, queer, and other marginalized talent. And guys too.
I am a big fan of Agile project management, and embrace servant leadership; I’m great at getting teams together and making them shine. Every game published has so many working parts, and I’m the best at figuring out what’s needed and who
can get it done. You need an illustrator who can work at an accelerated rate on a tiny budget but produces high quality work? Pick 2 and I know the perfect person.
Here’s an example
The Case of the Failed Kickstarter
A game publisher hired me after their Kickstarter failed, because they weren’t sure why. They didn’t know what to do before relaunching. After some research, I went over the following problems.
- They had playtested it at one convention, and gathered sign ups from interested people, but then forgot to add those names to their mailing list.
- They sent out an email they were Kickstarting this game on day 2 of the Kickstarter.
- Their audience of backers were from a completely different genre of game, one that didn’t really share players with this new game.
- The reviewers they reached out to had averages of 10-20 views per video.
- Their previous game was at a wildly different price point and component quality.
We worked together on a re-launch strategy, where I gave them specific things to do. Like creating a community of people who were excited about the game, targeted Facebook ads for pre-launch marketing, and re-adjusting the price point
and reworking the component costs.
I’d love to hear from you
Platitudes don’t actually help
Often business advice is just vague generalizations that don’t always apply to your situation.
I’m ruthlessly efficient and direct, and I know the game industry.
