Our Story
After 16 years working across AAA, AA, and indie game development, and 11 years running an indie studio, our CEO Justin French intimately understood a critical problem: game developers and publishers navigate a fragmented landscape of player feedback with no unified view.
This fragmentation results in missed critical player concerns, inefficient resource allocation, limited competitor benchmarking, and difficulty demonstrating project viability to investors — challenges Justin experienced firsthand throughout his career in the industry.
The challenge has intensified since mid-2023, as publishers and investors have become increasingly risk-averse, requiring developers to present robust player and community metrics before committing funds. This industry shift places a premium on tools that deliver precise, actionable data to de-risk projects and demonstrate market viability.
Image by Austin Chan
Image by Callum Parker
Where We're Based
GameDataCore's founders call sunny Brighton on the south coast of the UK home, but our company operates as a 100% remote-first organization with no physical office. This flexible approach allows us to collaborate with talent worldwide while staying connected to Brighton's vibrant tech ecosystem.
Brighton is a major game development hub with studios and service providers of all sizes. From indie startups to established AAA studios, the city has become a thriving ecosystem for game creators, publishers, and technology providers. This concentration of industry talent provides us with invaluable connections and firsthand insights into the evolving needs of our target market.
As one of the UK's leading tech hubs outside of London, Brighton offers a diverse talent pool and a collaborative environment that inspired our founding. The city's unique blend of digital innovation, artistic culture, and coastal lifestyle continues to influence our company culture, even as our team spans multiple locations.
Our remote-first approach means we can hire the best talent regardless of location, while maintaining strong connections to the game development community. We embrace digital collaboration tools that enable us to work seamlessly with partners and team members around the world.
Our Approach
While we recognized that Player Sentiment analysis was a critical starting point, we understood it represents just one piece of a much larger data puzzle. The true innovation of GameDataCore lies in our approach of combining sentiment data with quantitative metrics and qualitative insights, then leveraging machine learning to analyze these massive, diverse datasets at scale.
By bringing together diverse data sources — player reviews, social sentiment, sales figures, engagement metrics, and market trends — GameDataCore creates a unified, intelligent view of the gaming landscape. This holistic approach doesn't just collect data; it connects the dots, turning fragmented insights into a powerful ecosystem of actionable intelligence.
Image by Claudio Schwarz
Our Tech Stack
We are building GameDataCore using modern, highly scalable technologies that allow us to efficiently process vast amounts of gaming data.
Elixir
A functional, concurrent language that runs on the Erlang VM, perfect for building fault-tolerant, distributed systems that can handle massive amounts of real-time data.
Phoenix Framework
A modern web framework built with Elixir that provides exceptional performance for real-time applications, crucial for our interactive dashboards and live data feeds.
Python
A versatile language used for data processing and machine learning, enabling us to build complex algorithms that analyze player sentiment and market trends.
PostgreSQL
Powers our ETL server and data processing pipeline, handling the extraction, transformation, and loading of game data from multiple sources with high performance.
Our technology stack is designed for scalability and performance, with components that work together seamlessly to process enormous volumes of gaming data. This architecture allows us to deliver real-time insights while maintaining the reliability and security that our clients demand.
Our Vision
To become the authoritative intelligence platform that combines player sentiment, market trends, and commercial performance data across the entire gaming ecosystem—from indie developers to multinational publishers and institutional investors.
Unified Intelligence
We aggregate player sentiment from all major platforms, creating a comprehensive view that was previously impossible to achieve.
Data-Driven Decisions
Our platform transforms fragmented insights into actionable intelligence, supporting critical development and investment choices.
Industry Insider Knowledge
Built by gaming industry veterans who've experienced firsthand the challenges we're solving, ensuring practical, relevant solutions.
Comprehensive Coverage
We serve the entire ecosystem from indie developers to multinational publishers and institutional investors with tailored solutions.
Meet Our Team
Our team combines extensive game industry experience with technical expertise to deliver solutions that address real challenges faced by developers, publishers, and investors.
Justin French
CEO / Managing Director
16+ years as a cross-discipline game developer and studio founder with a rare mix of creative talent and commercial practicality. Built Dream Harvest Games from ground up over 11+ years while maintaining cutting-edge expertise across audio, design, production, and technical systems. Expert in transforming visionary concepts into award-winning commercial realities.
David Steffen
CTO / Full Stack Developer
14+ years as a versatile full-stack developer across multiple industries and tech stacks. Deep expertise in Python, Elixir, JavaScript, and cloud platforms with modern frameworks and extensive experience in CI/CD, containerisation, and scalable architecture. Expert in adapting quickly to new technical challenges and delivering robust solutions.
Simon Sparks
COO / Strategy & Culture Lead
Award-winning game producer and former studio head with 15+ years’ experience across development, DeepTech, and leadership. Specialist in player insight, team culture, and operational strategy focused on turning emotional feedback into commercial advantage and building companies that scale smart.
George Harland
Founder / AI & Full Stack Developer
3+ years full-stack development with BSc in AI, delivering solutions across healthtech, fintech, and gaming. Proficient with React, TypeScript, Python, and modern cloud platforms with experience in mobile development and browser-based applications. Expert in learning new technologies quickly and building robust applications that scale.