Look North World was founded by a team of industry veterans, including Patrick Moran and Alex Seropian, the visionary behind Bungie (Halo, Marathon) and Wideload Games (Stubbs the Zombie). They’ve quickly emerged as a trailblazer in accelerated development of experimental games for creator platforms like Fortnite’s Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) and Curseforge.

In doing so, Look North World has established itself as a trailblazing entertainment company focused on creating unique experiences, developing new intellectual properties, revitalizing brand IP and embracing the fast pace of UGC platforms - contrasting with the years-long development cycles typical of traditional studios. In 2024, Look North World collaborated with Bandai Namco on Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance Red vs Blue, with Hasbro on Murder Mystery: Clue, and many more.

Look North World was founded to look to the future. Key to that is not only connecting with a vibrant community of players but also including them in the testing and iteration process. The aim is to reduce development time and go straight to what resonates with players, cutting out the worst parts of the game development process: years of hard work that’s shrouded in uncertainty around success.

Here’s how Discord - and Levellr - have been key parts of this innovative approach.

The challenge

Developing experimental games poses a unique challenge compared to traditional processes. Working efficiently is crucial for every studio, but the development process for games like these is especially fast-paced. At the same time, Look North World needed to be plugged directly into their audience.

The team needed a direct line to their audience to:

• Playtest new and current games on a weekly basis.
• Gather actionable feedback so they could refine gameplay.
• Monitor community engagement and track sentiment.

Traditional methods of gathering player insights can't keep up with this innovative and fast-paced development cycle. A truly direct connection to audiences is required - and the tools to turn that connection into actionable insights.

That's where Discord - and Levellr - come in.

How Look North World uses Levellr

With an ever-growing global audience of millions, Discord has emerged as the primary social hub for gamers. Here, gaming studios can interact directly with fans in a way social media can't match. In return, brands have access to in-depth data that help inform strategy.

Levellr's real time tools add an extra layer of information for brands like Look North World, streamlining workflows and capturing even more powerful data insights.

"Levellr allowed us to get our Discord community on a growth trajectory," explains Look North World founder Patrick Moran, "by providing visibility on what activities actually drive growth, better understanding of overall sentiment, alongside support from Levellr that has been responsive and helpful every single step. We leveled up our game with Levellr!"

Real-time playtesting and feedback

Levellr’s Discord insight tools enable Look North World to regularly connect with their community for live playtesting sessions. Players directly share their experiences, report bugs and suggest improvements in real time.

This instant access to members not only gives the development team invaluable insights directly from the target audience, it also cuts months off traditional feedback loops.

Cutting through the noise

Discord is a powerful platform for enabling interaction, but that ease of chat can be overwhelming due to the sheer number of conversations. Community managers could spend a huge amount of time manually monitoring the many channels and could still miss something important. Instead, Levellr's tools, including unique social listening features and automated notifications, immediately surface the most important and relevant feedback.

By identifying key trends and actionable insights, the product and player experience teams make efficient use of time and focus on what matters most to players.

Tracking growth and engagement

The Levellr dashboard provides Look North World with a clear view of what's going on in their community. Powerful data analytics allow managers to track key metrics like membership growth, participation rate and engagement. Sentiment tracking even allows the team to understand the mood of the community. These data analytics equip community managers with the information to make data-driven decisions.

Efficient community management

Levellr's scheduled posting features allow managers to line up posts in advance, saving time in the workflow and spacing out posts across weekends and evenings or different time zones.

Announcements, event reminders, and more can be set to post at the desired time, allowing the team to focus on meaningful interactions with players.

The results

By integrating Levellr into their workflow, Look North World has:

• Accelerated the development process with weekly player insights.
• Nurtured an engaged and growing Discord community.
• Turned impactful feedback into actionable short-term and long-term strategy.
• Improved team efficiency through streamlined community management.

Look North World’s partnership with Levellr demonstrates how innovative tools can empower gaming companies to stay ahead in a competitive landscape. By leveraging Discord as a real-time feedback platform and using Levellr’s software to optimise community engagement, Look North World has turned their community into a driving force behind their success.

Contact Levellr today to discover how you too can optimise your workflow and connect directly with fans to focus your time where it matters: fostering fan engagement, driving ROI and strengthening player loyalty.