In this episode, Sophie Vo, Founder of Rise and Play, discusses the evolution of the gaming industry, the importance of conscious leadership, and the challenges and rewards of building a gaming company. 

With over 15 years of experience in the gaming industry, Sophie brings a wealth of knowledge and insights on the gaming industry. From her early days at Gameloft to her entrepreneurial journey founding Rise and Play, Sophie has experienced the challenges of navigating the fast-paced world of game development and leadership coaching. She provides valuable advice for founders, touching on maintaining balance, effective communication, and adapting to changing circumstances. Sophie also highlights the growing opportunities in emerging markets like India and Southeast Asia, emphasizing the need for diversity and inclusion in the gaming industry.

About Sophie Vo:

Sophie is a Game Executive and Leadership Coach with over 15 years of experience in the gaming industry. She has an impressive resume including roles at Gameloft, Wooga, Rovio, Voodoo, and PlayStation — where she built studio and people's departments, guided teams through change, launched games, and ran Live Ops. In 2021, she created Rise and Play: a network for the conscious leaders of the gaming industry who advocates for a human-centric approach to game development and teams. She also also invest in companies that will create the future of games while promoting healthy work cultures.

In this episode, you'll learn about:

01:03 - Rise & Play's series of brand new industry events.

02:28 - Sophie's career journey working at some of the top game studios in the world and why she founded Rise & Play.

07:39 - How Sophie looks at corporate structures and how their product, goals, and culture should dictate that structure.

10:19 - The most common things that Sophie works through with her clients as a CEO/Founder coach in gaming.

12:24 - What factors help give founders find happiness and balance.

16:11 - Sophie's advice for founders on how to handle the long-tail of things on their to-do list while still being in control and successful.

18:55 - How Sophie looks at the concept of peace-time versus war-time CEOs and how every leader should cultivate a culture of resilience, urgency, and readiness. And how to make it through tough decisions and difficult transitions.

22:32 - Why Sophie is bullish on gaming in India and the positive trends she saw when she visited India and met with leaders across their gaming industry.

26:23 - Sophie's motivation to help inspire women in gaming and to empower women to grow in the gaming industry.

28:31 - Sophie's excitement around the emerging gaming marketings in places like India, Vietnam, and other enticing growing markets.