Designing games you can truly operate live
Live Foundations defines the ambition. Live Readiness structures the execution. Live Mastery secures and optimizes performance over time.
Operating Live Games with Clarity
Black Vein is a collective of senior experts in technology, business, community, narrative and live operations. We help studios design and operate live games with clarity and control.
Live games are never static. Plans shift. Player behavior evolves. Assumptions break. What matters is the ability to read signals, adapt quickly and remain coherent.
We believe player trust is the foundation of any successful live project. Trust drives retention, and retention enables sustainable monetization and efficient acquisition.
Narrative is not secondary in live environments. It is structural. When storytelling, systems design, business goals and technical execution are aligned, engagement endures.
Our multidisciplinary approach gives AA and independent studios a clear framework to structure, operate and evolve their live games efficiently, without losing creative direction or operational control.
Strategic framework for live game development and operations
LIVE FOUNDATIONS
Many projects decide to “go live” without fully understanding what it requires.
Live is not a feature. It reshapes progression systems, content modularity, backend architecture, production workflows, team structure and community management. It also demands a narrative design capable of sustaining long-term engagement.
We work with leadership and product teams in early conception to define a clear live ambition, align it with measurable objectives, and translate it into concrete design, technical and organizational implications. This includes building the foundations for player trust, community development and a narrative framework that can evolve alongside the game.
The outcome is clarity: a live model grounded in operational reality, designed to grow with its players rather than collapse under production pressure.
LIVE READINESS
As launch approaches, live ambition often drifts. Processes become improvised, responsibilities blur, content pipelines stretch, and community integration remains underdefined.
Live Readiness is a focused audit and structuring phase for projects preparing to go live or struggling to align vision with execution.
We assess the operating model, identify bottlenecks across production, technology and data, clarify governance and decision-making, and rebuild a KPI framework tied to business objectives. We evaluate content capacity, design a realistic live roadmap based on actual bandwidth, structure early community integration strategies, and reinforce narrative cohesion through targeted script review and alignment.
The outcome is operational clarity: a concrete restructuring plan that secures execution, strengthens player trust, and prepares the game for sustainable live operations.
LIVE MASTERY
Once a game is live, pressure intensifies. Content treadmills accelerate, short-term revenue spikes can mask long-term erosion, and teams shift into reactive mode.
Live Mastery restores control and reinforces sustainable performance.
We reassess the strategic intent behind live activations, rationalize event cadence, and identify structural fatigue across production and player experience. We rebuild coherent KPI frameworks when signals become misleading, strengthen experimentation discipline, refine segmentation and personalization, and reduce technical, organizational and editorial live debt. This includes reinforcing community management strategy and ensuring narrative continuity so updates feel meaningful rather than transactional.
The objective is not more activity, but greater control, sustainability and clarity of direction.
The Team
Live Ops and GaaS Specialist: 35 years of shaping the future of video games. He combines technical innovation and strategy to create engaging and sustainable gaming experiences.
An expert strategist in live games and GaaS, he transforms 25 years of experience at Ubisoft and PlayStation into commercial successes and sustainable innovations for the video game industry.
An expert in eSports and player experience, he combines strategic vision and innovation to create engaged communities and memorable events in the video game industry.
An award-winning author and versatile screenwriter, master of immersive storytelling, he crafts captivating worlds that blend fantasy, crime fiction and adventure.
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