Welcome to another conversation on the toy and game industry, this time from a European perspective with guest Piotr Żuchowski of Lucrum Games. Piotr’s path into the industry started almost thirty years ago, when he was ten or eleven years old and became fascinated with fantasy novels like Tolkien’s The Hobbit. That interest grew into role playing games, then into the wider world of board games, card games, and collectibles as he got older. He landed his first paid job in the industry about eighteen years ago running role playing game sessions at youth camps, before eventually moving into the hobby board game world full time.
#193: Inside Poland's Booming Board Game Industry – Toy Business Unboxed
Episode Highlight
- 01:27 Piotr’s path into gaming
- 04:24 Poland’s board game market grows
- 06:26 Germany’s influence on Europe
- 09:00 Common bottlenecks going international
- 10:31 Lucrum Games’ target markets
- 11:52 What makes a great distributor
- 14:30 Non-traditional publishing deals
- 18:10 Nuremberg versus Essen explained
- 22:44 Advice for industry newcomers
- 25:17 A movie licensing tease
Watching Poland’s Board Game Market Grow Up
Piotr has watched the Polish board game market transform from almost nothing into a serious industry. In the late 1990s, role playing games were seen as a niche hobby for a small group of fans, and modern board games as most people know them today did not really exist in Poland yet. A handful of companies started importing and translating foreign games, often printing rules at home and pasting them into boxes, but that scrappy beginning has grown into a market with many respected Polish designers and publishers today.
What Poland Owes to German Board Game Culture
Germany, and Settlers of Catan in particular, gets the credit for helping pave the way for modern board games in Poland. It’s not clear whether it was truly the first modern hobby game translated into Polish, but it was certainly one of the earliest, and its absence might have left the market looking very different today. Germany still holds the title of the cradle of the European board game market, with Polish publishers continuing to look toward German trade shows and designers for guidance.
Balancing Localized Games With Original Ones
Lucrum Games started eleven years ago by translating and publishing other studios’ games for the Polish market. Over time the company launched Lucrum Studio, its in-house development brand, to publish original games designed by its own Polish team and designers. Piotr says the hardest part of that shift is not abandoning the localization business that built the company, but finding the right balance between bringing in outside games and building original ones to show the rest of the world.
How Lucrum Games Picks International Partners
Rather than working through traditional distributors, Lucrum Games prefers to license its games to local publishers who already understand their own markets. Piotr explains that this means finding a publisher whose catalog and style fit the game, who is willing to invest in local marketing, and who can treat the title as something closer to their own rather than just another import. The company has done this both ways, sometimes coordinating one large print run across several languages and sometimes simply selling the files and collecting royalties based on how many copies a partner prints.
Why Nuremberg and Essen Feel So Different
Piotr breaks down the two biggest events on the European board game calendar, Nuremberg Toy Fair and Spiel Essen, and why they serve very different purposes. Nuremberg is a business only event with no public admission, and even though the show is enormous, board games only fill about three of its many halls, making it easier to navigate than it first appears. Essen is open to the public, spans roughly eight halls filled entirely with gaming products, and gets far louder and more crowded, since publishers go there expecting direct sales rather than just new contacts.
Coming to America Through a Trusted Connection
Lucrum Games is still new to the American market and does not yet have a dedicated publishing partner in the United States. The company’s US distributor relationship started after a Kickstarter campaign needed fulfillment support, and a mutual friend, a game store owner in Canada, connected Piotr with the right person at Spiel Essen. Piotr says that story reflects how much of this industry runs on personal relationships built over years, rather than cold outreach or formal vetting processes.
What’s Next for Lucrum Games and Lucrum Studio
A licensing agreement with a major movie studio is now in place at Lucrum Games, paving the way for a series of titles based on a well-known film property—though the specific names remain under wraps for now. The company is also looking to expand its footprint at international trade shows, with the UK Games Expo in Birmingham flagged as a likely addition to its usual lineup of German events. And as Lucrum Studio continues rolling out original in-house designs, the mix between localized titles and original creations is expected to keep tilting further toward homegrown games.
Advice for Newcomers in the Toy and Game Industry
Piotr’s advice for anyone entering the industry is to become an active fan before trying to become a professional. He got his own start by attending conventions, writing game reviews and convention reports, and volunteering to teach games to attendees, all of which built the relationships that eventually led to paid work. His point is that showing up consistently and being visible in the community opens doors, and if your work is good enough, people will notice it.
Conclusion
Piotr Żuchowski’s journey from a young fantasy fan in Poland to head of international partnerships at Lucrum Games shows how deeply relationships and genuine passion shape this industry. His insight into how European publishers localize, license, and market games offers a valuable perspective for anyone in North America trying to understand the global side of the business. As Lucrum Games and Lucrum Studio continue to expand into new markets and formats, Piotr’s story is a reminder that showing up and staying curious can carry a career a long way.
Connect with Piotr Żuchowski
If you’re interested in learning more about Lucrum Games or connecting with Piotr Żuchowski you can reach out through the following channels:
- Instagram: Follow Lucrum Games on Instagram for visual updates, game previews, and more links to their socials.
- Facebook: Follow Lucrum Games on Facebook for updates, discussions, and behind-the-scenes content.
- Facebook: Follow Lucrum Studio on Facebook for updates, discussions, and behind-the-scenes content.
Transcript
Jason Hsieh (00:42)
Welcome back to another episode of Toy Business Unboxed Podcast. I’m your host, Jason Hsieh. Today, we are joined by Piotr, a seasoned professional that have nearly two decades of experience in the board game industry. From game development to international sales, he has done it all. And now he’s also leading the global partnership at Lucrum Games. And he really brings a unique perspective on how hobby games market really evolved over the years, especially in the European marketplace.
Since a lot of our guests that we have interviewed over the years is mostly focusing on North America, we’re introducing more and more international guests so we can understand the toys and game industry globally worldwide. So thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today.
Piotr Żuchowski (01:23)
Thanks Jason for having me. Hello, good to see you.
Jason Hsieh (01:27)
So let’s first start at the beginning. How do you even got into this industry to begin with? Like what was your background? What was the story behind?
Piotr Żuchowski (01:34)
The story goes back almost 30 years now, exactly
Jason Hsieh (01:40)
Well, okay. Okay, okay.
Piotr Żuchowski (01:42)
30 Years when I think about it. Because when
Jason Hsieh (01:44)
I see. Okay.
Piotr Żuchowski (01:46)
I was 10, 11 years old, I got into the fantasy and science fiction community. So I started reading books pretty early in my life, stuff like
Tolkien’s Hobbit, Andrew Norton and I got like fascinated by fantasy worlds and soon after that I got fascinated with fantasy gaming. So I was pretty, pretty young back then when I started an interest
In role-playing games at first. And after that, it gradually expanded to all the fields of, let’s say, modern gaming. So board games, card games, collectible games and stuff like that.
And this is basically how I started. I used to go to local and not only local conventions. I started making friends, hanging out with people who actually were making games back then. And I got my first job in the industry, it was like 18 years ago, I guess.
Jason Hsieh (02:52)
I see.
Piotr Żuchowski (02:52)
And
Yeah, the first thing was related to role-playing games because I started going to holiday youth camps to run RPG sessions for kids.
Jason Hsieh (03:03)
Okay.
Piotr Żuchowski (03:04)
And after that, I switched, or not really switched because there was a time when I was doing
Both of these things. But in the end I ended up in the board game, hobby board game industry.
Jason Hsieh (03:19)
I see. And how do you started your own publishing company designing and publishing your own games?
Piotr Żuchowski (03:24)
I’m not really running the company. I am right now at Loot Lucrum Games. I am head of international sales and basically international department, international relations.
Jason Hsieh (03:35)
Yeah.
Piotr Żuchowski (03:35)
But the company is owned by Kamil Nowak who is also a
A parenting blogger in Poland. But on the way where I am now, I worked with quite a few Polish and not only Polish game publishers, mostly as a freelancer. But I spent quite a lot of time at a few
Game publishing companies here.
Jason Hsieh (04:03)
I see, I see. Since you have so many years of experience in the board game industry in Poland, and majority of our listeners actually North American based. So will you mind sharing a little bit about like, based on your experience of how does the industry or the market in Poland kind of behave or some of the trend that you’re seeing right now?
Piotr Żuchowski (04:24)
You know, being all these years in the industry, first as a fan and then as a professional, as a creator,
Jason Hsieh (04:32)
Yeah. Yes.
Piotr Żuchowski (04:34)
I observed a lot of change. Because back then, when I started my interest in role-playing games, this was seen as something, you know, weird.
Like a a hobby for nerds. And I And I am talking about like late 90s here. And at this
Jason Hsieh (04:56)
Yeah.
Piotr Żuchowski (04:56)
Time, there was no such thing in Poland as modern board games in the sense that we understand now.
Jason Hsieh (05:04)
Mm-hmm.
Piotr Żuchowski (05:04)
So, there were a few companies that started bringing
Games from other countries and translating them to the Polish market. But I must say that the that board gaming market here in Poland has grown so much during that time.
At first, for many of us, because many of game creators in Poland, by creators I mean designers, publishers, well basically everyone who works with board games on a professional level, I I can say that majority of our community, of our industry comes from a simply fan.
Background yeah because we were fans and then we started doing this for a living so back then the market was very small there were just a few companies that sold games mostly in English or they you know like translated the rules and printed them
On a home printer and just edit the pages to the boxes. This was kind of semi-professional at first. But right now, I must say that our is really big and it’s still growing. And there are many amazing game designers and game publishers coming from Poland. So good for us, I guess.
Jason Hsieh (06:26)
Yeah, based on my understanding, Germany is definitely a powerhouse of board games in the US.
Piotr Żuchowski (06:31)
Well, yeah, Germany is like
The, you know, the cradle of the market for Europe.
Jason Hsieh (06:37)
Do you go to a lot of
The events in Germany yourself as well?
Piotr Żuchowski (06:41)
Yeah, you know, well, basically, if it weren’t for the Settlers of Catan, which
Jason Hsieh (06:47)
Mm-hmm.
Piotr Żuchowski (06:48)
Was, I’m not sure if it was the first, but it was among the first modern board games, modern hobby board games that were translated and published in Poland. So were it not for Settlers of Catan, the market wouldn’t be here now.
Jason Hsieh (07:03)
Okay, okay. Yeah, well that game is wildly popular in US as well.
Piotr Żuchowski (07:06)
Yeah, so we
Owe quite a lot to German designers and publishers, yeah, I guess.
Jason Hsieh (07:11)
And I know you have had so many role in the industry from like game developer to marketer now international sales. What did each of those role kind of teach you about the industry and like what are some of the lessons learned that you can share with the audience?
Piotr Żuchowski (07:25)
Yeah, as I mentioned at the beginning, before Lucrum Games, and I’ve been working for nearly two years now,
Before
Jason Hsieh (07:32)
Yeah.
Piotr Żuchowski (07:32)
Lucrum Games I worked for a few different game publishers and did completely different things, but still in a hobby because it’s…
It’s a full-time job now, but it started as a hobby. Those roles teach you, I would say, two things. One thing is that you need to enjoy what you do.
Jason Hsieh (07:56)
Mm-hmm.
Piotr Żuchowski (07:57)
And the second one is that you constantly learn things. And even if you…
Are in the industry for years and you think that you’ve seen it all, you’ve seen everything, you experienced all sorts of problems and all sorts of ways to solve them, in the end there is always something new that you must learn to keep up.
Jason Hsieh (08:24)
Hmm.
Piotr Żuchowski (08:25)
I enjoy that is an area of life that brings many different people together.
Jason Hsieh (08:33)
Yeah.
Piotr Żuchowski (08:34)
Even if it’s a business take on the hobby, it still allows you to make friends. What I personally value the most
From the perspective of a person who started as a gaming fan and became a gaming professional. Right now I work with people who I adored, who were my idols in the past.
Jason Hsieh (09:00)
Hmm. I see, I see. And how would you say for a lot of European company that’s trying to, I guess, go international? What are some of the most like common frustration point with like, maybe bottleneck that you run into when you’re trying to expand
Piotr Żuchowski (09:13)
This
Jason Hsieh (09:13)
Internationally from Europe?
Piotr Żuchowski (09:15)
You know, I, speaking from the perspective of Lucrum Games now, which is actually
Jason Hsieh (09:20)
Yeah, okay.
Piotr Żuchowski (09:21)
A good example because Lucrum Games started 11 years ago now and at the beginning they only published games from other publishers and that were translated to Polish and then published on the Polish market.
So what is quite a challenge is to switch or maybe not like 100 % switch but let’s say diversify between the games from other people that you want to bring to your local market and your own original games that you want to show the world.
Because after years of localizing games and just making translations basically, we started Lucrum Studio, which is our own game development brand. And under the name of Lucrum Studio we are right now publishing games that are designed in-house.
By our Polish team and by Polish designers. Yeah, so getting… If you are a company that specializes in something and you want to try something different, This is the hard thing. This is the hard thing, I would say.
Jason Hsieh (10:31)
Hmm, I see. And what are some of the international marketplaces that your company is currently focusing on?
Piotr Żuchowski (10:37)
Right now, our business model is to work with partner publishers on local markets. We have, obviously, we do have an online store in Poland, but we don’t really ship games outside Poland. But when we have a new game,
Out or even long before we have a new game out.
We
Jason Hsieh (11:01)
Yeah, why not.
Piotr Żuchowski (11:02)
Spread the word about it to our partners in other countries and what we do, what I do in the company is basically sell licenses for our games to be translated other languages.
So we don’t really sell on platforms like Amazon or retailers. We have some trusted retailers that get games directly from us and who are not from Poland. But what we do most of the time is sign a deal with a local game publisher who can print thousands
2000 Copies of a new game and distribute them on their own market because they know their market best, right? We are not specialists in selling, you know, in France, Spain, US or wherever.
Jason Hsieh (11:52)
Hmm. I see, I see. And I guess I want to turn the question the other way around because sometimes there’s a lot of our listener also could be distributing product like international, bookings into the US market, especially, from your perspective, like what will make a perfect partner for you? Like, what are you looking for in the quality of the distributor? Because there’s so many distributor in us as distributing games in your decision process.
How do you decide which disability to work with for people
Piotr Żuchowski (12:23)
Me.
Jason Hsieh (12:23)
That carry more games from the European marketplace?
Piotr Żuchowski (12:27)
Our priority is always to find a local publisher. So a company that has a portfolio of games and just like Lucrum Games works in Poland. So we we bring a lot of games from other publishers, we translate
Jason Hsieh (12:46)
Yeah.
Piotr Żuchowski (12:46)
Them to to the Polish language.
And what we prefer to do with our own games is exactly the same thing. Finding a publisher who can make the game like, I would say, a little bit of their own. Because when we… Yeah, it’s
Jason Hsieh (13:02)
Okay, so it’s not pure distributorship. Yeah, okay. Yeah.
Piotr Żuchowski (13:06)
It’s something more than just distribution.
Because it’s not a model in which you buy some quantity of games and then
Jason Hsieh (13:15)
Mm-hmm.
Piotr Żuchowski (13:16)
You sell some to this shop, that shop, put them on Amazon, whatever. What we are always looking for as a preferred option, I’m not saying that this always works, but
What is a preferred option,
Is to make a partnership a game publisher who feels that the game that we have to offer suits their style, their range, and then that they can invest in the marketing on their local market. Because we also
Jason Hsieh (13:46)
Interesting.
Piotr Żuchowski (13:47)
Do a lot of marketing for the games that we localize.
Jason Hsieh (13:51)
Yeah.
Piotr Żuchowski (13:52)
And we do that in Poland, So we run social media channels, we go to conventions and we run demo sessions. We work with local game clubs
Jason Hsieh (14:05)
Yeah.
Piotr Żuchowski (14:06)
And we, for example, rent games for them or sell games with some discounts.
In return for an event that will be dedicated to the game that we want to promote. So I
Jason Hsieh (14:21)
I see, I see, I see, I see.
Piotr Żuchowski (14:22)
Would say that working with people and talking to people and connecting to them is crucial in this business.
Jason Hsieh (14:30)
Okay. So I want to dive in a little bit deeper on the business aspect of this kind of arrangement, because this is kind of like a non-traditional arrangement. Obviously the traditional arrangement is, let me ship all
Jason Hsieh (14:41)
My product to the distributor. The distributor is going to buy it at 50 % of the retail price, whatever. Then they maybe resell it to the store. But obviously the arrangement that you just mentioned is very different. You want to work with local publisher. They’re also publishing. So in that case, who’s handling manufacturing?
Is your company still handling that or is the local publisher is in charge of getting it localized and getting it in the publish. And then they just pay you a loyalty fee in that business arrangement. How do you arrange it on the business side?
Piotr Żuchowski (15:10)
We can do both. Because for
Jason Hsieh (15:11)
It’s okay.
Piotr Żuchowski (15:12)
Some games You said that that it’s a non-standard agreement. I would say that it’s non-standard for the toy market, but it’s absolutely standard for hobby game market. Everyone does that. Everyone does that.
Jason Hsieh (15:25)
Okay, okay, I see, I see, I see. Yeah.
Piotr Żuchowski (15:28)
It differs from case to case, always.
Sometimes the original publisher just, you know, gathers orders from different local publishers and just handles one big print of several language versions. And
Jason Hsieh (15:42)
Okay.
Piotr Żuchowski (15:43)
It’s probably most common way to make localized board games. But there
Jason Hsieh (15:48)
Yeah.
Piotr Żuchowski (15:48)
Are also some cases and we…
Also did that in the past, that we just sell the files and the local publisher handles everything and just pays us the royalties for
Jason Hsieh (16:01)
Okay
Piotr Żuchowski (16:02)
Depending on the number of copies that they manufacture. So it can work both ways and both ways are just equally fine.
Jason Hsieh (16:10)
Okay. Okay. So that’s something you just need to negotiate with the partner and see which way they were.
Piotr Żuchowski (16:14)
Yeah, there
Are some companies who have their trusted manufacturers and they want to manufacture every game with the same factory. Sometimes for other companies this doesn’t really matter that much and
Jason Hsieh (16:30)
Hmm.
Piotr Żuchowski (16:31)
Whichever factory is chosen by the original publisher will be fine.
Jason Hsieh (16:36)
Okay. Okay. Okay. And for the current partner that you have in US how do you find them? Do you do the research? Can you kind of me through the process on how you even identify this partnership? What kind of like vetting process that you want to like, do you interview them? Do you have meeting with
Piotr Żuchowski (16:50)
Yeah.
Jason Hsieh (16:51)
Them? how do you like, decide this is the right person? Because this is a very, very important decision for the business. Obviously.
Piotr Żuchowski (16:58)
Know, the US market is still pretty new to us. I will be honest that
Have quite a good presence in Europe, but working with the US, we have just started doing that.
Jason Hsieh (17:10)
Sorry. I see.
Piotr Żuchowski (17:11)
And we don’t have a partner publisher in the States yet.
But we have
Jason Hsieh (17:16)
Okay.
Piotr Żuchowski (17:16)
A really cool distributor. It’s a small company, but with a very friendly approach and very reliable. So we started working together because one of our games that was released last year was crowdfunded on Kickstarter.
And we needed to find somebody who would do the Kickstarter fulfillment for us in the States. And we were connected by our mutual friend who is a Game Store owner from Canada. And
Piotr Żuchowski (17:46)
He was interested in bringing Lucrum Games products to his store but he also recommended that if we are looking for fulfillment in the States, we should just talk to the guy. And it happens that I know the guy, so…
And it all happened at Spiel in Essen, so the biggest European game fair in Germany, again.
Jason Hsieh (18:10)
I see. See, I see. And, for you, know there’s also some big event in Europe, like the Spiel Essen, November toy fair, beside those like two main one, like what other ones do usually go to on the other side?
Piotr Żuchowski (18:24)
Yeah,
That you mentioned are both in Germany and they are the most important events for us because, well, being based in Poland, we are relatively close to Germany.
And many many Polish publishers and generally industry operators go there. And Nuremberg, Toy Fair and Essen Spiel are basically the most important events in Europe, I would say. So the first one is
Jason Hsieh (18:52)
Do you also go to
UK game expo as well?
Piotr Żuchowski (18:56)
Personally, I used to go to UK Games Expo with previous companies that I worked with.
Jason Hsieh (19:03)
Okay, okay. I see.
Piotr Żuchowski (19:04)
With Lucrum Games not yet, but
Jason Hsieh (19:07)
Yeah, okay.
Piotr Żuchowski (19:08)
I believe honestly that if we wanted to expand and start going to other conventions and other events than these two in Germany.
UKG
Jason Hsieh (19:17)
Mm-hmm.
Piotr Żuchowski (19:18)
Would be definitely the first choice for us. It’s
Jason Hsieh (19:21)
I see,
Piotr Żuchowski (19:22)
Outside of the German events, I think that UKG is the most important one. Also Cannes Festival in France. But
Jason Hsieh (19:31)
Hmm.
Piotr Żuchowski (19:31)
This is something that we don’t really have to do because we have a good relationship partner publisher in France.
Who carries our games anyway. There isn’t really a need for us to be there in person, but Nuremberg, Essen and probably Birmingham would be the third one to go.
Jason Hsieh (19:52)
Oh, okay. Okay. Okay. Those are the three. I think some of our audience actually haven’t been to some of the European trade show. I actually went to Nuremberg myself. For those people that haven’t been to the show, what would you say about those shows? So people are like mentally prepared with it because it can get very overwhelming. The show is so much bigger compared to the US. I went to New York toy fair as well. Like the Nuremberg toy fair is three times bigger. It’s
Piotr Żuchowski (20:17)
Thank
Jason Hsieh (20:17)
So much bigger than the one in New York.
Piotr Żuchowski (20:19)
Yeah, there are a few things about Nuremberg that make it kind of an outstanding event on the map. Because, first of all, Nuremberg is only a B2B event.
Jason Hsieh (20:33)
Yes, yeah.
Piotr Żuchowski (20:34)
It’s not like a regular…
Game convention, when you can just buy a ticket and go roam the halls, play games, socialize. No, it’s strictly a business event.
Jason Hsieh (20:46)
Yeah.
Piotr Żuchowski (20:47)
And as a Toy Fair, it’s huge, right? That’s true. But we are a hobby board game publisher. And
Jason Hsieh (20:56)
Thank
Piotr Żuchowski (20:56)
For us, It’s pretty much limited because you only out of the… Don’t remember how many halls there are, like 12, something like that. But
Jason Hsieh (21:05)
Yeah, like 13 or 14 halls. Only one hall for the board games, you are right.
Piotr Żuchowski (21:09)
For the board games it’s just three halls and
Jason Hsieh (21:13)
Yeah
Piotr Żuchowski (21:14)
You hang out and after a few days you just, you know memorize your routes and you know how to navigate.
So it’s not that overwhelming, but Essen, yeah, Essen can be overwhelming because it’s a huge event which is open for the public. And again, it’s like eight halls or something like that. And they are all filled only with gaming products. So with board games,
Jason Hsieh (21:42)
We bother you.
Piotr Żuchowski (21:43)
Role playing games, card games, collectibles. And yeah.
Becasue it’s an open event, it gets much more crowded and louder.
Jason Hsieh (21:53)
And just like you mentioned, guess the purpose or the outcome you’re expecting from those events is a little bit different too, because one is more kind of B2B, one is more for the public.
Piotr Żuchowski (22:03)
Yeah, when you go for an event as a company that does things in the board gaming business, you expect two things. You expect contacts for the future. And this is
Jason Hsieh (22:15)
Yeah.
Piotr Żuchowski (22:16)
What you do in Nuremberg. And
Jason Hsieh (22:19)
Mm-hmm.
Piotr Żuchowski (22:19)
You obviously expect direct sales to the customer.
At your booth and this is what you do in Essen.
Jason Hsieh (22:26)
Essen. Yeah, yeah , yeah.
That’s correct. Thank you so much for sharing that. So as we’re kind of wrapping up today’s interview here, if you have to share just one piece of advice with someone that’s getting started in the toys and game industry, either starting their own company or just getting in as a professional, what will you suggest?
Piotr Żuchowski (22:44)
It’s a hard question. It’s a hard question, but I think that it kind of brings us to what we discussed at the very beginning of our conversation. Because when you want to join the hobby business, you need to be hobbyist at first. So if you want to be
Successful professional in the board gaming area, you have to love games and you have to be a fan and
Jason Hsieh (23:11)
True.
Piotr Żuchowski (23:12)
Be an active fan. This is a very important thing because I got my first job in the industry because I went to a lot of gaming conventions.
And I was a very active fan online. So
I wrote game reviews for some websites and fanzines. I wrote convention reports and I was very active in the media, which
Jason Hsieh (23:38)
Mm-hmm.
Piotr Żuchowski (23:38)
Was
At a time when all the social media thing wasn’t really that much developed and there weren’t that many social media platforms. So it was actually much harder for people to, you know, to direct people’s attention to what they do.
But when you become an active fan, for example, when you volunteer for a demo team at a convention, let’s say that a game publisher is looking for staff to teach their games to convention attendees. When you volunteer
Jason Hsieh (24:10)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Piotr Żuchowski (24:13)
At such an event, you get to know people
You start to do relationships basically. And I think that in all kinds of business that are hobby related,
Relationships and being with people is the key that is opening many, many doors.
Jason Hsieh (24:30)
Yeah.
Piotr Żuchowski (24:31)
So be active, be visible
If you want to start a job in the industry, if you want to start your own company, if you want to become a game designer, just show what you do and if you’re good
Jason Hsieh (24:44)
Mm-hmm.
Piotr Żuchowski (24:44)
Enough, you will be noticed.
Jason Hsieh (24:46)
Yeah, that’s very good advice. Obviously you want to enjoy the work you’re doing. So it’s very important for you to be personally have an interest in the hobby industry. Like I personally play a lot of family, board games with my kids since I have three kids. So that’s kind of how I personally get involved as well. So, but thank you again for your time today, sharing your knowledge, your wisdom, and also your joining in the industry. For our audience, I would love to learn a little bit more about you and the business that you work for.
Where is the best place for people to find you and your business online?
Piotr Żuchowski (25:17)
Definitely go and check our social media. We have two profiles on Facebook. One is Lucrum Games, which is devoted to the games that we release in Poland. And the other one, Lucrum Studio, is devoted to our own original games that Lucrum Studio
Jason Hsieh (25:36)
I think.
Piotr Żuchowski (25:36)
Is creating. So, go to Facebook, type Lucrum Studio and you’ll see what we have. And if I may just make a little bit of a spoiler here.
Jason Hsieh (25:48)
Sure.
Piotr Żuchowski (25:49)
I can’t drop any names right now.
But we have signed a contract with a big movie production studio and we will be soon announcing a series of games that are based on a very, very world famous movie IP. So stay tuned to that because I hope that
That’s going to be a huge news for us and I hope there’s going to be a huge news for the industry as well.
Jason Hsieh (26:20)
I see. Okay. Thank you so much for sharing that. And again, thank you so much for your time today and looking forward to running again.
Piotr Żuchowski (26:25)
Thank you so much, Jason. It was a pleasure.
Jason Hsieh (26:29)
Yeah, thank you. And thank you for our audience for tuning into this episode of Toy Business Unboxed podcast. I hope today’s conversation give you some practical insight and fresh inspiration for growing your own toys or game brands. This podcast is proudly brought to by Toylaunch, a leading marketing and growth partner for toys and game companies.
At Toy Launch, we help brands scale on Amazon and beyond through full service account management, PPC, SEO, creative and catalog optimization, influencer marketing, and more. If you’re looking for a proven team that understands both the toys and game industry and e-commerce marketing, we are here to help. If you’d like a personal breakdown of your brand opportunities and your best next step, you can schedule a free consultation session with our team. Just visit toy-launch.com/schedule.
If you want to connect with other toys and game founders, join our free communities, toys and game launch pad at toy-launch.com/group for one resource update and industry insight. Visit us at any time at toy-launch.com until next time, keep innovating, keep creating, keep bringing choice to toys. This is Jason Hsieh signing off on the Toy Business Unboxed Podcast. We’ll see you in the next episode. Thank you so much, everyone.
Piotr Żuchowski (27:37)
Thank you.
Grow your toy brand’s content reach
From SEO blog content to influencer outreach — we handle the full content engine for toy and game brands.