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Chandler Thomlison

Co-Founder & CEO - Opti Games

Chandler Thomlison is the Co-Founder and CEO of Opti Games, a gaming company that focuses on creating "Golden Retriever" games - experiences designed to leave players feeling uplifted and optimistic.13

Career and Background

Thomlison's journey in the gaming industry is quite interesting. He started as a former consultant who turned into an indie game developer.3 He successfully bootstrapped the original prototype of Sparkball, Opti Games' debut project.3 Prior to founding Opti Games, Thomlison held leadership positions at companies like Avanade and 3Cloud.2

Education

Thomlison has a diverse educational background. He holds degrees in computer science and economics, as well as an MBA.2 This combination of technical knowledge and business acumen has likely contributed to his success in the gaming industry.

Opti Games and Sparkball

Under Thomlison's leadership, Opti Games has made significant strides:

  1. The company blends indie game development passion with AAA-level quality and scale, which they refer to as "Triple-I".1
  2. Opti Games secured a $2 million seed funding round in October, with support from notable investors including the developer of Monad blockchain.2
  3. Their flagship game, Sparkball, is a 4v4 competitive "sport brawler" that combines elements from games like League of Legends and Rocket League.3
  4. Sparkball 2.0 is currently in development and is expected to be released on PC and Xbox in the third quarter of 2025.2

Industry Approach

Thomlison has taken a cautious approach to integrating Web3 technologies into gaming, recognizing the potential negative stigma associated with it. He emphasizes that the primary focus should be on creating enjoyable games rather than pushing Web3 features.2

Chandler Thomlison's LinkedIn profile can be found at linkedin.com/in/chandlerthomlison4, where more details about his professional experience and connections can be found.

Highlights

Mar 29 · linkedin

To celebrate part 2 of playtesting tips, we're doing something crazy. We'd like to invite anyone and everyone to come play a few matches of Sparkball with us. If it's not the most FUN game in Alpha you've ever played, we will donate $20 to the ASPCA, no questions asked. You either have a blast or we help doggos!

(Part 1 at https://lnkd.in/gaZdxa5s)

  1. I've talked in the past about 'WANTING to like a game' vs 'SEEING if you like a game' and I cannot overstate how important that mindset is coming into the playtest. Think about how many games you hated at first, but your friends talked you into it and now you love (i.e. League of Legends). Making an investor believe it's going to be fun going in is nearly as important as it actually being fun.  

  2. Controller support. Some serious hindsight 20/20 where we vastly underestimated how key this was. We have high skill-cap controls and while we can't imagine playing on anything other than MKB, it was a massive struggle for many users. We also found ways (like direct target skillshots/Madden passing) to make controller more 'noob-friendly' for the folks that just aren't adept at mechanically intense games and that allowed less skilled players to focus on the fun of the game instead of their hands.  

  3. Playing against similar skill levels (tight balancing for SP/Co-op). is way more important than you think. I'm at 2,000+ hours played and was admittedly getting a little burnt out of Sparkball.   Fortunately, our "sweaty" community put together a Discord to get some competitive games going. I was in there telling them to just do 1-2 nights a week so we don't all get burnt out. Night one, we were four hours deep at midnight talking about what time to play tomorrow. It completely rekindled my love for the game. This is equally important at lower skill levels, no matter how much you try to play 'down' to your opponent, it's never the same as them having that perfectly balanced competitive match.

  4. Friends are fun. I had previously taken a stance that anything more than 4 new players ruined the flow of the match (we're 4v4. Imagine a LoL match with 5 people who have never seen/played League before).

I was completely wrong about this. We've recently been hosting entire teams/companys in which has resulted in some absolutely epic 4v4 office trash talk. Does the match look like a 'meta' match of Sparkball? Hell no, but no one cares. It's so much easier to laugh and pop off with friends/colleagues than strangers and that's infinitely more important than a 'good' match.


Hope these tips help save you from botching so many tests in the past like we have!

Reminder - We are dead serious about our playtest offer! Come play Sparkball with us and if you don't have the time of your life, we'll donate for the doggos!

Related Questions

What inspired Chandler Thomlison to transition from consulting to game development?
How did Chandler Thomlison's background in computer science and economics influence his approach to game development?
What are "Golden Retriever" games, and how does Opti Games define them?
How did the partnership with Monad blockchain come about for Sparkball 2.0?
What makes Sparkball different from other multiplayer games like League of Legends and Rocket League?
Chandler Thomlison
Chandler Thomlison, photo 1
Chandler Thomlison, photo 2
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Location

Los Angeles, California, United States