Games Alchemy Substack
Games Alchemy Substack, by Antti Kananen, is all about Games Product Management, Product(s), Game Design, Systems Design, Economy Design, Monetization Design, Production Management, Commercialization, and Leadership.
Games Alchemy covers topics from advanced industry topics to ‘unorthodox’ means, methods, tools, and insights. This Substack will be also, to some extend, a living system where topics will be connected together, as well as updated occasionally.
Writer Background
Antti Kananen is currently Head of Games at games & leaves GmbH, where he leads the studio’s product management, game design, and commercialization efforts focused on sports games, social games, and related genres.
Prior to this, Antti served as VP of Product: New Games at Huuuge Games, overseeing up to four studios simultaneously across Finland, Poland, the Netherlands, and Cyprus. There, he specialized in diverse genres including MMORPGs, puzzle games, hybrid casual, and sandbox titles. Before joining Huuuge Games, Antti was General Manager at SciPlay, where he led the company’s Finland-based studios, driving new game development and publishing efforts focused on puzzle RPGs, casual RPGs, and social games.
Earlier in his career, Antti founded and served as CEO of Koukoi Games, a mobile F2P studio dedicated to original and entertainment IPs. He is also the founder and ongoing advisor for VRKiwi (formerly Mekiwi), a virtual reality game studio / publisher.
In addition to his core roles, Antti serves as an advisor to Bonus Stage Publishing and several other startups, providing strategic guidance on e.g., product development, business, monetization, and growth. He is also an active investor in approximately 20 companies, including game studios, monetization platforms, and advertising networks, leveraging his industry expertise to support innovative ventures across the gaming ecosystem.
Antti specializes in a comprehensive blend of product leadership and creative design disciplines, including product management, game design, systems design, economy design, monetization, live ops, commercialization, and strategic planning. His expertise lies in crafting holistic game experiences that balance player engagement with sustainable business models. On top of hands-on capabilities, Antti brings over a decade of people leadership expertise on the table.
Work Opportunities
For any work opportunities, please reach me via my LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/anttikananen/), or drop me a message through other channels. I’m always interested in exploring different work opportunities for working over exciting mobile, PC, and/or console games (from indie titles to AAA), incl. F2P, hybrid monetization, and other models.
I have rare world perception combining product, game design, monetization, economy, and commercialization means together — with solid leadership skills and track record behind. If this interests you, I’m always happy to chat.
I believe the best games we haven’t seen are yet to be discovered, for which I have lots of right ingredients to offer. Curious to learn more? Let’s chat.
More Information
For more information about this Substack, and its writer, see Games Alchemy Introduction here (https://gamesalchemy.substack.com/p/1-games-alchemy-introduction):
Welcome, and brace yourself!
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