Inside DreamSpin: Shaping Our Commercial Approach

As DreamSpin has grown, so has the commercial side of what we do – from how we think about games early on to how we take them out to market. It’s something that touches every part of the studio, even if it’s not always front of mind day-to-day.

Jamie, our co-founder and CMO, brings a strong commercial and affiliate background to his role, which has naturally fed into the way we approach things at DreamSpin. Through existing relationships and a strong understanding of the operator side, he’s been able to support how we think about partnerships, distribution, and performance.

These conversations have a direct impact on what we make and how it lands with players. Internally, we often talk about the balance between creative ideas and commercial reality. Knowing when to push something forward, when to refine it, or when to rethink it entirely is a big part of that.

We sat down with Jamie to talk through how he approaches these decisions, and how that thinking has evolved as we’ve grown.

There’s an important balance between what you want to make as a studio and what’s going to land commercially. How do you give a reality check to this early on, before a game really gets going?

It starts with being honest about what the game actually is. It’s easy to get excited about an idea internally, but you have to step back and ask where it fits in the market and who it’s really for. If we can’t answer that clearly early on, it’s usually a sign we need to make some changes. Having games like Pirate Pigs perform well helps with this too – it gives us something tangible to look at in terms of what players are engaging with, rather than just relying on assumptions. That doesn’t mean we’re just chasing trends and trying to replicate past games, but it does mean understanding how players are engaging with similar mechanics and themes, and whether what we’re doing has a clear place in this niche.

From your side, how much does operator feedback shape those early conversations, and how do you filter what’s genuinely useful?

Operator feedback is incredibly useful, but you have to take it in context. Different operators will have different priorities depending on their audience, so you can’t treat any single piece of feedback as the answer. It’s more about patterns – if you’re hearing the same thing consistently, you know it’s something you should pay attention to. At the same time, you have to back your own judgement and not dilute the idea by trying to satisfy everyone.

You’ve got long-standing relationships across the industry – what actually makes a partnership valuable for DreamSpin beyond just getting a game live?

For me it’s about alignment. Getting a game live is the baseline, but the value comes from partners who want to support what we’re doing – whether that’s through positioning, visibility, or even just being proactive. The best relationships are the ones where there’s a bit of back-and-forth, rather than it feeling like a one-way process. That’s usually where you see better long-term results.

When a game launches, what are the first things you’re looking at to get a feel for how it’s going to perform?

Early performance data obviously matters, but we’re also looking at how a game is being picked up – where it’s being placed and how it’s being presented. We’re also paying close attention to whether or not it’s getting any traction with players beyond the initial launch window. You can usually get a feel quite quickly if something is resonating or not. It’s not always definitive straight away, but the early signals are generally quite telling.

Looking back over the past year or so, how has your thinking around the commercial side evolved as DreamSpin has grown?

The biggest shift has been being more deliberate. Early on, it’s easy to take opportunities as they come, but as we’ve grown, there’s been more focus on where we actually want to be and who we want to work with. That applies to both the games themselves and how we take them to market. It’s less about doing more, and more about doing the right things.

Looking ahead over the next 12 months, where do you see DreamSpin from a commercial point of view?

I think it’s about building on what we’ve already started rather than changing direction. The goal is to continue to strengthen the relationships we have and make sure each release has a clear purpose behind it. If we can be consistent in how we approach launches and keep improving visibility with the right partners, that should naturally translate into stronger performance over time.

DreamSpin sees a lot of feedback from streamers and the wider community, especially with our long-standing ties to live streaming. How do you balance that with what performs commercially?

That feedback is useful, but it’s only one part of the picture. Streamers and communities often represent a very specific kind of player, so while their feedback can highlight what’s exciting or visible, it doesn’t always reflect broader player behaviour. It’s more about taking signals from that space without letting it dictate decisions entirely. When something lines up across community interest and wider performance, that’s usually where you see the strongest results.