Orthors Story: Running a Black Owned Games Studio.
summary
Team describes how they taught themselves development using Unity with Playmaker then C# and shipped to the Apple App Store, where a title initially hits about 200 downloads before later earning Apple Game of the Week. Details include hiring and firing, getting an accountant, eight failed dev recruits, rebuilding branding, running a behind‑the‑scenes web series, and pivoting to an authored games hub called Office Arcade that already has a working prototype and is seeking accelerator and investment.
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chapters (27)
- 0:00Introduction
- 1:52Passion to black-owned studio
- 3:15Developing games from scratch
- 5:22Marketing missteps
- 6:45Brand around personality
- 8:54Rebranding after feedback
- 11:00Business challenges
- 14:03Letting team member go
- 15:49Networking power
- 17:29Going full-time with By Office
- 18:52Why document the journey
- 21:00Reviving Dodge Crafts
- 24:10Lack of black characters
- 25:55Hiring first employee
- 27:39Pivoting to Changing Perspectives
- 29:06Exploring investment
- 30:51Launching Office Arcade
- 32:17Choosing projects
- 34:26Office Arcade’s vision
- 36:13Reducing pressure
- 37:15Improving practices
- 37:57Reflecting on chaos
- 39:19Q&A
- 40:44Q&A
- 41:47Q&A
- 42:31Q&A
- 43:15Closing remarks
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