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Brooke Van Dusen 🔜 XDS
I help independent studio leaders build better, more flexible game teams.
Professional Background
Brooke Van Dusen is a seasoned veteran in the gaming development sector, recognized for her remarkable ability to connect game studios with the right external development partners. With over 13 years of experience, Brooke has signed external teams to hundreds of successful projects, ensuring that game developers can focus on their creativity while her robust network manages their resourcing challenges.
Throughout her career, Brooke has established a comprehensive game services database featuring 850+ providers. This vast repository is the result of her strategic insight and technical understanding of the gaming industry, which allows her to locate and match the ideal resources with unique project requirements efficiently. Many industry leaders appreciate her ability to produce tailored lists of pre-screened candidates that meet their specific needs, saving valuable time and resources in the often challenging hiring landscape.
Brooke’s extensive professional journey includes high-profile positions at well-known companies, including Twitch, Xsolla, and Oooh, where she honed her expertise in external development strategies. As the Vice President of Business Development at Xsolla, she was instrumental in shaping partnerships that propelled the company to new heights. Her tenure at Twitch saw her rise through various roles—from recruiter to director—demonstrating her adaptability and deep understanding of the digital entertainment ecosystem.
Education and Achievements
Brooke holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication of Science & Technology with a focus on Physics from Vanderbilt University. This unique educational background not only reflects her technical proficiency but also her communication skills, allowing her to simplify complex technical information for diverse audiences.
In addition to her educational credentials, Brooke has actively contributed to the gaming community through her roles as a blogger at Pixel Procurement and as an advisor to startups within the industry. Her advisory roles have equipped her with insights into innovative practices and trends within game development, which she leverages to offer exceptional guidance to her clients.
Brooke's multifaceted background has earned her recognition from numerous game development leaders. For instance, Dan Lavender, Director of Engineering at Carbon Counts, praised her ability to provide valuable ExDev guidance, while Paco Vicanta, Co-Founder & CTO at Oooh, lauded her for the unique blend of strategic insight and technical knowledge that has enabled organizations to optimize their outsourcing strategies. Such endorsements underscore her influential presence within the gaming community.
Achievements
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Game Services Database: Brooke has created a resource database of over 850 external development providers, enabling game studios to access a tailored list of candidates that meet their project's needs, thereby revolutionizing the way studios source talent.
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Consultative Services: She offers comprehensive services that include free ExDev strategy calls for game studios seeking to refine their hiring processes. Her approach provides actionable takeaways that guide studios in identifying the right talent quickly and efficiently.
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Leadership Roles: Brooke has held numerous leadership positions in prestigious companies, including Vice President at Xsolla and Oooh, as well as Director of Partnerships at Outpost Games, showcasing her capacity to drive growth and foster strategic relationships across the industry.
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Industry-Wide Trust: Brooke has established herself as a trusted partner among game development leaders, consistently helping them unlock value through smart outsourcing strategies and thorough due diligence in vetting candidates. Her success stories and the trust placed in her by former colleagues are testaments to her outstanding professionalism and expertise.
Highlights
What. A. Headline.
The Information isn't playing around.
What a week in Cologne for gamescom! Thank you to both old friends and new for making it such a wonderful week. I'm deeply appreciative of the warm reception and the incredible energy everyone brought to the event.
I've seen surprisingly few Gamescom 'hot takes' posts today... which I actually enjoy reading. Maybe they'll come later in the week?
That said, here are mine:
- So many governments are launching video game incentive programs. New Zealand (2023), Belgium (2023), Australia (2022), Ireland (2022), South Korea (2022), Malaysia (2022), Poland (2022), Italy (2021), Spain (2021), and Germany (2020) are a few examples of programs launched in recent years. It felt like nearly half of the B2B area was made up of government funded trade organization booths.
While I think this support is great for the industry, my deeply American free market sensibilities are a bit conflicted... or maybe it's just that I'm jealous that neither the US nor California is willing to pay for a CDR External Development booth. 😂🤷♂️
- If you haven't noticed, the Saudis are here and ready to do business. Savvy Games Group had a massive booth in the B2B area, and Qiddiya | القدية had a booth as big as any AAA in the consumer area promoting Qiddiya City.
To give you an idea of the scope of their ambition: Qiddiya City is expecting 48 million visits per year (per their website). For reference, Disneyland California peaked pre-pandemic at just shy of 19 million visits.
While I don't have sharable numbers, I'm sure their digital gaming goals are similarly ambitious. I hope to see continued investments at this level from them, and I wish them success early and often.
- I was somewhat surprised at the lack of excessive promotion from AI companies. In fact, there didn't really seem to be any outlier investments in marketing from any particular sector like in years past (e.g., VR, blockchain, big tech backend services, etc.). No doubt, this is a result of the constrained funding environment.
Also, no EA B2B booth at all...? Or did I miss it? I haven't been to Gamescom since 2019, but back then they used to take an entire conference hall in the business area. Curious how they went from needing an entire hall to no booth so quickly.
EA aside, Gamescom felt very...equilibrium in a sense. I'm going to go ahead and assume that means we've established a solid foundation for the next decade of growth 🚀 📈
