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Player 3

Driving 40% increase in WAU for a consumer-facing startup

Player 3 case study preview

Executive Summary


Player 3 was built to connect developers and players, but long form articles were quietly killing that mission. As the sole designer behind Player 3's redesign, I reimagined the platform around Bits, a lightweight update system that made sharing progress as easy as sending a tweet, driving 40% of weekly active users to post every single week.

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Role Product Designer
Timeline Sept 2025 - March 2026
Company size 4
Industry Gaming

Impact


Weekly Active Users

40% Weekly Posting Participation

Posting shifted from passive browsing to active contribution, with 40% of weekly active users creating posts each week.

Platform Growth

9x Increase in Weekly Posts

What started as roughly 1 post per week exploded to over 10, signaling that users finally had a reason to keep showing up.

User Retention

2x Higher 7-Day Retention

Removing the posting barrier gave users a reason to return, with twice as many people coming back within their first seven days.

Community Engagement

2x More Replies Per Post

Short updates encouraged faster back-and-forth conversations including feedback, advice, reactions, and recommendations.


The Gaming Industry Had a Blind Spot

Player 3 spotted something the entire gaming industry was ignoring.

"There was no shared ecosystem for developers and players to connect."

Developers lived across six different platforms trying to reach fans and stay relevant, while players who wanted to get in early on their next hidden gem and support the creator behind it had no single place to do that.

That disconnect is exactly what Player 3 set out to fix.


A significant amount of users were not returning after their first visit.

Both developers and gamers showed up to Player 3 looking for connection, but a platform that demanded long form articles just to post something gave them every reason to leave and never come back.

Player 3's New User Retention chart, September to December 2025

The Platform Indie Games Deserved

The goal wasn't just to make posting easier.

It was to create a place where developers could build an audience around their games and players could discover, follow, and support them before launch.

That shift transformed Player 3 into a more active community where 40% of weekly active users contributed every week.

Share Every Step

Share updates, gameplay, and thoughts that bring developers and players together around the games they love.

Packet Studio post about Gravity Whipped Kaleb post about Gravity Whipped

Developer Journals

Dedicated space for developers to share behind-the-scenes stories, development updates, and major milestones with their community.

Developer journal entries showing devlogs

Discover Your Next Favorite Game

Explore a growing collection of indie games and discover your next favorite before everyone else.

Grid of discoverable indie games

Support the Games You Love

Back the developers you believe in and help turn great ideas into finished games.

Game funding progress cards