The costliest mistakes in studio leadership don't arrive all at once. They build in the gaps between what teams say and what leaders actually hear...or what they ignore.

In this episode of Gaming Decoded, recorded on location at GamesBeat Summit 2026, host Andrea Rene and Vivrato founder Adam Boyes sit down with Jen Maclean, co-founder and CEO of Dragon Snacks Games. Drawing on leadership roles at Xbox, AWS, and the IGDA, Jen shares the frameworks she uses to build teams that know why they show up, communicate before things go wrong, and hold the line on the values that matter most.

This episode covers:

• Why the first thing Dragon Snacks did as co-founders was to write a values and principles document
• What drift looks like on a team of eight and how to catch it early
• Why sharing your pitch deck with your whole team might be the most underrated communication tool you have
• Approaching difficult conversations as if you are 51% wrong
• Why knowing what you will not tolerate is the truest test of your company values

Connect with Jen:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenmaclean1/

Learn about Dragon Snacks Games: https://www.dragonsnacksgames.com/

Learn more about Vivrato: http://www.vivrato.com

Connect with Gaming Decoded: podcast@vivrato.com

Subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/teamvivrato

Connect with Andrea Rene: http://www.andrearene.com

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/andrearene_

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/andrearene

X: http://www.x.com/andrearene

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/andrearene.bsky.social