Chris Bain

Chris is CEO of Player One Consulting – a boutique consultancy for the games industry. Since 2018, Chris has been helping games companies drive their growth via better strategy, operations and marketing. He’s advised numerous clients from indie to AAA, and been personally involved in the launch of over 100 games. In addition, he regularly runs his own business-scale up programme for indie studios that has generated multiple alumni success stories. Previously, he was an executive at Microsoft for 13 years where he ran Xbox EMEA strategy, before taking charge of CEE region and driving record growth, market share & profitability there. Prior to Xbox, Chris was a consultant for Accenture, running transformation projects at Fortune 500 companies. He also holds a science PhD and has published several academic papers. 

Shirts vs T-Shirts: Bridging the Creative–Commercial Divide

This roundtable explores the often deep (and potentially growing) divide between the creative and commercial sides of the games industry. Participants will discuss how this cultural split practically manifests in different types of studios, plus how it affects decision-making, communication, and wellbeing. What practical steps can be taken to bridge the gap for companies' & employees' benefit alike? Can we develop real-world strategies for balancing creative freedom with commercial imperatives, to build great games companies that thrive financially whilst remaining true to their creative vision?