Relic Entertainment & Lightbulb Crew Devs Discuss the Power of Community in Latest ‘The Hot Seat’ Episode
- May 1
- 4 min read
Relic Entertainment & Lightbulb Crew Devs Discuss the Power of Community in Latest ‘The Hot Seat’ Episode
London, UK - 30th April 2026 - In the latest episode of The Hot Seat, Marco Minoli, Director of Publishing at Slitherine and host, talks to Philippe Boulle, Head of Design at Relic Entertainment, and Anders Larsson, CEO & Creative Director at Lightbulb Crew, about their achievements and journeys through the industry. Broadcast globally on April 29th, the guests discussed the power of the gaming community, player expectations in 2026, and the "secret sauce" of tactical depth.
In the latest The Hot Seat episode Philippe Boulle reflects on how Company of Heroes 3 prompted Relic Entertainment to refocus on its reputation for quality, using player feedback to rebuild trust and guide post-launch improvements. "I feel a sense of responsibility to the fans and the audiences who play them…the people who shell out their money to play the games.” About post-launch commitments he said: “We’re not going to be able to solve everything quickly, but we can work progressively, build on it, and get to a place where the game really feels like the sequel the fans expect.”
Anders Larsson explores the challenge of aligning creative vision with player expectations, particularly in an increasingly competitive market. "The hardest thing about game development is to match mechanics and art with the expectations of players". Larsson said. He also highlights the success of Tacticon — a digital convention hosted on Steam celebrating tactical video games and co-hosted by Firesquid and Hooded Horse — which continues to grow as a community-driven platform, receiving hundreds of submissions and showcasing top tactical games.
The Hot Seat is Slitherine’s deep dive into the world of strategy games and indie development airing live on the last Wednesday of each month across Twitch, YouTube and Spotify. Publishing Director, Marco Minoli, discusses the strategy gaming market, the latest releases, and broader industry trends with VIP guests from the strategy gaming industry.
Previous guests include a range of high-profile figures from across the industry, including Frostpunk Game Director Jakub Stokalski who spoke about the importance of a good sequel:
“If you do the classic sequel route, you end up competing with your own with your own games, you end up competing with yourself. And by having Frostpunk as it is and Frostpunk 2 the way it is, we not only keep selling Frostpunk, (Frost Punk 2 sold also well) but it also broadened what the IP itself and what the world itself is”
Tomas Sala, creator of Bulwark Evolution: Falconeer Chronicles who discussed how to stand out in today’s market:
“You can do two things in today's market. You can be the best or you can be the first. And it's a lot easier to be the first because then you don't have to be the best.“ (...) “The biggest cost in the future won’t be production — it will be marketing and eyeballs.”
And Mariina Hallikainen, CEO at Colossal Order who spoke about monetisation in Cities: Skylines:
“If it’s a core system, it needs to be available for everyone. It would be silly to have essential features behind a paywall.”
Coming up to its one year anniversary, The Hot Seat has offered insights into highly acclaimed strategy games from those that created, shaped and designed some of the most influential titles in the genre.
The Hot Seat is Slitherine’s deep dive into the world of strategy games and indie development airing live on the last Wednesday of each month across Twitch, YouTube and Spotify. Publishing Director, Marco Minoli, discusses the strategy gaming market, the latest releases, and broader industry trends with VIP guests from the strategy gaming industry.
Previous guests include a range of high-profile figures from across the industry, including Frostpunk Game Director Jakub Stokalski who spoke about the importance of a good sequel:
“If you do the classic sequel route, you end up competing with your own with your own games, you end up competing with yourself. And by having Frostpunk as it is and Frostpunk 2 the way it is, we not only keep selling Frostpunk, (Frost Punk 2 sold also well) but it also broadened what the IP itself and what the world itself is”
Tomas Sala, creator of Bulwark Evolution: Falconeer Chronicles who discussed how to stand out in today’s market:
“You can do two things in today's market. You can be the best or you can be the first. And it's a lot easier to be the first because then you don't have to be the best.“ (...) “The biggest cost in the future won’t be production — it will be marketing and eyeballs.”
And Mariina Hallikainen, CEO at Colossal Order who spoke about monetisation in Cities: Skylines:
“If it’s a core system, it needs to be available for everyone. It would be silly to have essential features behind a paywall.”
Coming up to its one year anniversary, The Hot Seat has offered insights into highly acclaimed strategy games from those that created, shaped and designed some of the most influential titles in the genre.
Media Contact Information:
Sam Brace / Ali Payne / Jasmine Koolhoven / Charlène Tavares
About Slitherine
The Slitherine Group is the world’s leading producer and publisher of digital strategy and wargames. Under the Slitherine (www.slitherine.com) and Matrix Games (www.matrixgames.com) brands it has published literally hundreds of games, with many award-winning titles in its portfolio and spanning all digital platforms, from home consoles to PC. Slitherine also works with a wide array of key licensing partners, such as NBC Universal®, Games Workshop®, Sony Pictures, BBC, Osprey, and many others.
For more information contact Slitherine press office – press@slitherine.co.uk
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