Oh boy, it's time for another instalment of What I Do, our regular feature showcasing just what it is that individuals across the video game industry actually do for a living.
This week we've got Michal Napora, someone who has done not one job recently, but two. And while both have something broadly to do with selling video games, they're also different enough to count as two hats, which is a lot of hats to be wearing in video games in 2025.
Luke Plunkett: Hey man, thanks for taking the time to chat with us today. Can you tell us a bit about yourself? Who you are, how you got your start in games, that kinda stuff.
Michal Napora: Hi! My name is Michal and I’m the founder of video games publisher UNIKAT Label and video games marketing agency 32-33. I’ve been in the video games industry for around 12 years. I got my first taste of game marketing in my town of Perth, Western Australia, where I helped a local indie crew Gnomic Studio with their game Square Heroes. Totally new and absolutely naive, I tried to spread the word on this full-of-heart indie shooter while finishing off my Masters in Marketing. Once I graduated, I shot my shot and applied for a Social Media Manager role at a Polish studio called Techland. They were working on an upcoming AAA zombie horror game called Dying Light. A few weeks after I applied, I had a call with them. Then another. And another. Finally, a few weeks after the application was sent, they offered me a job. So I packed my bags, said goodbyes, and moved from Perth to Europe and worked on Dying Light. During the two years I was there, I learned a TON. My brain was a sponge, soaking it all in. It was fun, and at times stressful, surrounded by beautiful, intelligent, and insanely talented people. When the game came out and received praise (as well as social and press clout), it felt like we were the 2012/2013 Borussia Dortmund team - a bunch of young up-and-comers that reached the Champions League final.
After two years working at Techland, I decided to do something of my own, and that’s how my boutique marketing agency 32-33 came to be. Throughout my time at 32-33, I am fortunate to count some great clients: teams such as Frogwares (The Sinking City, Sherlock Holmes series), Bloober Team (The Medium, Blair Witch on Switch), indies such as Dinkum, Bramble: The Mountain King, Medieval Dynasty, Squirrel With a Gun, and loads, loads more. Working on a variety of projects with people from all over the world is such a cool experience. It made me realise that we as people, we are all the same - we want the same things, we have similar interests, and similar loves. It’s a nice feeling to work with like-minded individuals.
And as of April last year, I started my own publishing house called UNIKAT Label. I believe it could be the first video games publisher from Perth. Our first two games were POOLS and Dystopika, and once again, I am feeling privileged that I got to work with some seriously talented people.
LP: If you can sum it up as neatly as a business card (or two business cards) allows, what's your exact job title?
MN: Technically, I am a Founder. Or the hated-by-me title of CEO. Which feels too damn corporate. Founder is good.
LP: So what does that involve, exactly? Like on a daily basis, and then more strategically, what is it that you do for a living across two jobs?
MN: As someone who runs a publisher and a marketing agency, I do a lot of varied things. At the start of each week, I plan out a list of tasks that I need to accomplish for the next 4-5 days. And as I am looking at my board, talking with people is my number one task - be it on Discord, on calls, or via email. I talk to my partner and fellow people that I work with, developers that I work with, my clients, journalists, events custodians, content creators, first and third parties (just a fancy industry term that describes companies like Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo, Unreal, Unity, etc) and other people who are in our industry. Talking is something that I do a lot. So plan and talk.
Next is doing the actual work - be it writing press releases, applying for events, finalising events that I am organising myself, think about social content, and plan out marketing activities. Planning out marketing campaigns is something I enjoy a lot. I also like to take time for myself and that’s when I usually like to think through what worked well in the week, what didn’t, lessons that I should take on board and stuff to watch out for. It’s also a time when I like to look at the long term vision of what UNIKAT is all about. Thinking, reflecting, and writing in a journal really helps me out. Getting stuff out of your head into the physical world helps clear up that head and gives you space for new ideas to come out. Otherwise, stuff just ferments.
Reading the net - scouring it. Be it for games, opportunities, or information is something that’s on my card too. I like going down rabbit holes and coming across different communities of people. In general, I feel I have a very varied line of work. It’s fun and always keeps you engaged.
LP: On your best day, what's the best thing about your job?
MN: Meeting people. I am a bit of a cheerful introvert who likes to talk. I do like the comfort of my desk and being silent when I work, but talking with people does bring a bit of a smile to my face. I have to say that about 93% of the people in our industry are fantastic people - full of charm, good energy and just want to make games. The other 7% are leeches, but you do start getting a feeling for them after some time.
I also like the feeling of all of our hard work coming together and culminating to one specific point - be it an announcement of a new game, a demo drop, being part of an event. Seeing all of your different efforts, ones that are synced by the work of many people, all being unveiled at once is a cool feeling. And game release days are pretty special too. There is this quiet freeing point; the moment you hit release until you start seeing responses from the market is a real high - it’s like jumping out of a plane without a parachute and waiting for stuff to happen. The limbo zone. Will people like it? Will people buy it? Will it do well? That feeling of being out but not having the answers yet is sooo freeing. You don’t know what to do, or which way things will go. The reality of the situation hasn’t hit yet. I always get my heart pumping in this spot. It doesn’t last long, as answers usually come pretty soon. And once answers come through, reality hits - be it good or bad. You have a direction of what to do next. You need to plan.
But actually, as I am typing this, the best thing to see is seeing developers happy with your and their work. It’s cheesy as fuck when I am typing this, but it’s soooo damn cool seeing devs, especially first time devs, tasting success. It reminds me of how I felt at the start as well. Seeing people lose their minds because their game is trending and featured on Steam’s front page is a wicked happy feeling - like being at a rave, you’re feeling ultra happy, the future looks optimistic, and time slows down. That’s also a very nice feeling (and the opposite of that kinda sucks).
LP: Conversely, what do you think are some of the biggest challenges you see facing over the next few years? Whether that's yourself, your business or just video games in general.
MN: Discoverability. The amount of games being made and pumped out is staggering. And I’m not just talking about the bad or even average ones. There are a lot of good games being made these days. It’s a fantastic position for gamers, as they get to play some amazing gems. However, for people making them, it’s harder and harder to get noticed. There is a lot of competition for eyeballs, be it press eyeballs, content creators, heck, even on Steam itself. We like to say that indies don’t compete with themselves, but they kinda do. We don’t compete for sales, we compete for attention. Some content creators get over 30 “play my game” emails a day. And I would imagine Aftermath gets their fair share of press releases too. And it’s physically impossible for you to publish all of the news. I feel that the massive amount of recent industry layoffs will create a batch of new micro-studios that will have some amazing games to show off. It’ll also mean that a lot of developers, be it big or small, will need to re-adjust their expectations when it comes to sales. And indie devs will need to face the reality of how good their projects really are. I feel a bit of a reckoning is coming. I’m really keen to see where this goes.
On the “market watch” side, I feel that with people having less and less disposable income (especially in Western countries), it’s the cheaper games that will be winners. Just like social media content, people are ok with dropping small amounts for fleeting game experiences. Play, laugh, move on. Friendslop is a good example of this. I feel that a bit of Friendsloppification might start filtering through to other genres - city builders, narrative games, shooters. Cheaper games that offer a cool experience that can be consumed within a few sessions and we “swipe up”/move on. Will AAAs die off? Probably not. There is definitely space for them too (GTA VI is going to kill it, looks like Battlefield 6 will too). But games in the $30 to $50 USD price point might struggle a bit. Imagine trying to sell a $49 7/10 game now? Of course, I could be completely wrong and by 2026 the economies of the world will be roaring and we’re all going to have cash coming out of our whazoos. That actually would be cool. Let’s hope that this is what will happen. However, my pessimistic side doesn’t think it will, and that’s when all of the 7/10 and less games or games not fit for market will suffer.
LP: Any final shout outs you'd want to give before we wrap this up?MN: Huge, HUGE shoutouts to all the people I’ve met along the way! There’s too many to list individually, but looking back, definitely a huge shoutout to the Techland Dying Light and Dying Light: The Following crew. Lots of great memories there. Also a huge thanks to all of the devs and publishers I’ve worked with over the years. Thank you so much for the trust and for letting me play and market your games. Finally, to the industry, perhaps I would say let’s not be so goddamn short-term focused. It’s ok if things slow down a bit. Just think of the long-term vision, what it does to your studio and to your studio’s name. It’s ok to wait a bit to see good results. Hypercapitalism is leading to burnout, not just of people within the industry, but players too. It’s alright to slow down. Pat a cat. Or a duck. Let’s slow it down a notch.
