As we bask in the excitement of our first appearance at Gamescom and celebrate the buzz around our MrBeast collaboration, August is all about giving a big shout-out to the incredible talents behind "Stumble Guys."
Let's meet the one and only Samuel Amzallag, senior producer for "Stumble Guys.” Samuel's the brain behind the innovative engagement feature that just dropped as part of our awesome collaboration with MrBeast.
Say “hello” to Samuel.
Tell us a little about yourself and your journey at Scopely.
I'm a Senior Producer on "Stumble Guys," working from Barcelona. I have been at Scopely for two years.
What are you currently working on, and how does your work impact the company?
We are currently working on something we call the Shard System, the core engagement feature that's just come out for our collaboration with MrBeast.
We're rolling it out slowly to listen to our players’ feedback and learn about how this feature impacts how people interact with our game. As for me, I'm just delighted to be working on such an important project; it shows that leadership trusts my team and myself to deliver, and it feels good!
What does diversity in gaming mean to you?
For me, it's two-fold—diversity of representation in-game and in game teams. I think if you want to create meaningful experiences for players, then they have to be able to see themselves or connect with the material, whether it's by having characters that look like them or just referencing stories, cultures or places they have connections to that they can feel special for recognizing or being part of. That first point is not achievable with a non-diverse team. I believe you need to belong to a certain cultures, groups and genders to truly resonate with what each and every one of these people care about. I can't pretend to be able to put myself in the shoes of someone who has lived a life truly different from mine. If we want to create products that appeal to as many players as possible, we need to have this diversity in the very teams that are creating these products.
Which Scopely culture tenet resonates most with you?
CARE DEEPLY. In this case, it is about the people around you or in your care. My definition of success is achieved with others, never at their expense. Even though I'm quite competitive, I don't think I'm willing to sacrifice my team and the people around me to "win."
What is the best piece of advice you have received?
"As long as I treated myself as if I didn't belong, people would treat me that way." This advice helped me really step out of my shell when I was starting in the industry. I was holding myself back because I thought, "Hey, I'm just the intern. Maybe I shouldn't be the one to say that or do that." Eventually, someone gave me that piece of advice and I realized that we often put limits on ourselves because of fear or arbitrary concepts and often it's our anxiety or overthinking about stuff that people don't have time to be thinking about.
What is your current favorite podcast?
There are two "Diary of a CEO" and "Lex Friedman Podcast." Both are pretty similar; they are unedited interviews with people that are experts or relevant to topics currently trending in the news. The hosts sit down with these people for one to four hours, depending on the conversation, and you get to see the whole conversation. I find it very insightful and both hosts are quite good.
Are you interested in becoming a Scopelean like Sam? Apply for one of our open roles: scopely.com/join-us