Today I’m joined by Jakob Berglund, founder of Atlas One, who spent over 11 years at King and later worked on MONOPOLY GO! at Scopely.

We talk about turning game analytics into better decisions, identifying what actually drives player retention and revenue, and comparing the value of new features against technical debt. We also explore why more data and AI-generated insights don't necessarily lead to better decisions.

If you’re a game developer, producer, analyst, or studio leader trying to figure out what deserves your attention, this episode is for you.

Connect with Jakob:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hi-jakob-berglund/
Website: http://www.atlas1.one
Email: hello@atlas1.one

Connect with Harry:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phokou/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UCtZBNcgtKJR2NtGct3-cFWg
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hphokou/

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Chapters:
0:00 Intro
2:52 Problem-solving and Jakob's early work at King
5:45 Why more data doesn't mean better decisions
9:14 Finding the real drivers behind game metrics
11:12 How King uncovered a hidden cause of player churn
14:00 Business context, correlation, and causation
18:43 How to measure and compare business value
22:00 Using constraints to decide what to prioritize
25:15 Comparing the value of different opportunities
30:35 Why companies need to validate their estimates
33:34 Turning data into actionable decisions
37:54 Why rough estimates beat false precision
41:56 How every role contributes to business value
47:07 Comparing recurring costs with new game features
50:15 Using retrospectives to identify recurring problems
55:03 Assigning value to the causes of problems
58:33 Atlas One: Building a better decision engine
1:02:49 Why AI needs business context