"We work with real people, with real emotions" ft. Community Manager Kristoph Zandecki

July 17
41 mins

Episode Description

Today's guest is Kristoph Zandecki, a passionate community manager and marketer in gaming based in Poland.

Kristoph was seconds away from becoming an English teacher before a Junior CM offer came in at the last moment. He's spent the majority of his career in the VR space, working with studios including Incuvo and VR indie publisher GameDust, and has also built up broad experience managing communities for everything from indie titles to big-brand IP, and from adult players to children.

We talk about what makes VR communities so distinct — smaller but intensely dedicated, and quick to spot anyone who doesn't really know the space (never call the headsets "goggles"). Kristoph shares how he immersed himself in VR culture, learned the hard way about motion sickness, and watched the platform shift as Meta pulled back and left its community feeling abandoned. Kristoph also walks us through his approach to revitalising a dead Discord: what to keep, what to cut, why you should expect a wave of members to leave when you start making improvements, and why that exodus is actually a good sign.

Games mentioned in this episode:

- Green Hell VR: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1782330/Green_Hell_VR/

- Batman™: Arkham VR: https://store.steampowered.com/app/502820/Batman_Arkham_VR/

- SUPERHOT VR: https://store.steampowered.com/app/617830/SUPERHOT_VR/

- Half-Life: Alyx: https://store.steampowered.com/app/546560/HalfLife_Alyx/

- Kingdom Come: Deliverance II: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1771300/Kingdom_Come_Deliverance_II/

- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1903340/Clair_Obscur_Expedition_33/

Find Kristoph on:

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/krzysztof-zandecki-community/

The Community Lounge is brought to you by Feature Upvote – Painlessly collect feedback from your players. More insights, less noise.

Subscribe to the Community Lounge newsletter and get notified of new episodes and articles: https://featureupvote.com/thecommunitylounge/

See all episodes