8 Years of the YGG Masters Program: Yggdrasil are Helping Independent Studios Scale Big
In a recent interview, Annemarie Reedijk of Yggdrasil and the team at Black Cat Games talked about how the programme has grown, the importance of real partnerships, and what is needed to help independent studios grow.
Yggdrasil’s YGG Masters Program has operated for eight years and throughout this time has acted as the engine that powers some of the industry’s most remarkable independent studios. What was once an experimental creative programme has transformed into a network of over 20 studios from different corners of the globe, each with its individual character, goals, and distribution strategy. The attractiveness of the programme is very simple – studios keep the creative side of their businesses, and Yggdrasil takes care of the commercial side.
This year, the network appointed Annemarie Reedijk as Supplier Relationship Manager. With significant operator experience, she was able to get to the core of what will make one’s game work with the audience, as well as what studios must accomplish to go from an idea to a successful launch.
From Operator to Studio Guide
Reedijk carried out a lot of work with familiarity in managing relationships with operator partners of Yggdrasil. His experience taught him that one of the main things in a commercial relationship is communication and a product getting in front of the right people making decisions.
However, the perspective change is huge. While operators think in products and segments of players, the studios take creative approaches. Reedijk’s task is providing each studio with a simple and clear path to commercialisation, allowing the entities to influence partners that they are working with in accordance with their own strengths.
Growing the Network, Keeping It Personal
Although managing relationships with over 20 studios in the programme can be quite challenging, Reedijk is adamant that it’s truly not about logistics in this case. According to Reedijk, processes and structures provide the ability to be scalable, but still each studio must be treated according to its individual requirements.
Reedijk is keen on finding out what all partners want, whether it is breaking into new markets, boosting the visibility of the brand, creating better gaming capabilities or making a lasting legacy in the industry.
She believes that working together is beneficial too, as studios can exchange ideas and experience and become ‘stronger’ by being part of a bigger community. The difficulty is developing the programme without compromising the interpersonal relationships that led to the success of the programme originally.
According to Reedijk, a successful partnership involves investing in each other’s success. Distribution and market access are crucial, but a strong relationship is based on open and honest conversations. She believes that success is not just distributing games from a studio, but to understand what works for them and how to grow together.
Black Cat Games: Creative Freedom, Commercial Grit
Black Cat Games is one of the latest studios that joined the programme. This small independent studio has a strong vision and a clear request: maintain original creative identity.
According to them, the reason they chose YGG Masters was the unique combination of freedom to be creative with the commercial framework. They were a new studio set on creating unique games rather than spending what little money they had on bureaucracy, compliance, and distribution. YGG Masters allowed them to enter the market without any trouble and still make use of their own processes and know-how to create games.
The quality of the Masters studios and the visible results made the final decision for them. They note that after spending over a year in it, they view the relationship as a true partnership, not simply a commercial deal where artists give up control over their work.
Staying True While Scaling Up
The identity of the brand has never been a point of contention. Black Cat aimed to make games with a unique appearance and personality from the start. They state that rather than watering down the process, YGG Masters helped bring the vision into fruition.
The team supervises concepts and creativity, while Yggdrasil offers support for the operations segment, including distribution and compliance.
Dragonrise and the Road Ahead
Black Cat is shifting gears from impressive launch successes to long-lasting user retention characterised by metrics like time spent in a gaming session, frequency of revisit, and quality of gameplay.
The focus of excitement is Dragonrise, which is released in November. This title takes place in a dark fantasy theme revolving around the events surrounding four elemental dragons and provides a new persistence feature where players can unlock dragons by collecting wilds in a cauldron of fire.
Once the dragon is unlocked, it will trigger when a wild is received after installation of the persistence feature since its rage bar carries over from session to session.
The title combines both actual and perceived perseverance into one immersive experience – exactly what the content producers are looking for.
Along with Dragonrise, the team has built up a respectable pipeline through YGG Masters, but now they are prepared to take advantage of Yggdrasil’s upcoming Game in a Box platform, which will roll out in 2027.
Eight Years On, Still Building
Now in its ninth year, YGG Masters has forged a clear pathway ahead, which has been cemented in the form of a simple three-prong action plan: equip studios with the means to create hard-hitting titles, giving them the freedom to choose their path, and connect them with a community where they can thrive.
Actively spearheaded by the commitment of Annemarie Reedijk to bringing people closer together and complemented by new arrivals in the sphere of game development like Black Cat Games, the initiative proves that independence and collaboration do not contradict each other.
