UP DOWN UP



Ever wonder why some game companies succeed while others fail? This book explains why. Games industry veteran Kim Nordström spent two years talking to more than 100 of the industry's most experienced founders and CEOs, about lessons learned and wisdom gained from their biggest wins and most disastrous failures. This book tells you what you need to know about success - and failure - in video games.

Buy the book on Amazon!
Amazon Amazon Kindle

David Polfeldt, ex-CEO, Massive Entertainment
Ed Fries, CEO, 1UP
Henrik Fåhraeus, Chief Creative Officer, Paradox Interactive
Joakim Achrén, General Partner, F4 Fund
Sophie Vo, Founder, Rise And Play
Kristian Segerstrale, CEO, Super Evil Megacorp
Adam Boyes, Co-CEO, iron Galaxy Studios
Alexandre Pelletier-Normand, CEO, Rovio
Caro Krenzer, CEO & Co-founder, Trailmix
Fredrik Wester, CEO, Paradox Interactive
Brendan "Playerunknown" Greene
Henric Suuronen, Founding Partner, Play Ventures

"When traveling, I’ve had your book with me the entire time. What an amazing read. It’s spectacular. I’m absolutely in love with it."

- John Vignocchi, VP, Nintendo

"Kim offers us rare 'backstage access' to the challenges game companies face and insights from the leaders who have navigated them. Any leader looking to strengthen their team and navigate the storms should read this book. You’ll find countless ideas you’ll want to reference back to again and again."

- Lyndsay Pearson, VP & Creative Director, the Sims Franchise

"Kims book contains some of the best war stories of free-to-play game company building ever collected"

- Kristian Segerstrale, CEO, Super Evil Megacorp

"This is very close to the book I would have written about how to run successful game companies"

- Joe Tung, CEO & Co-founder, Theorycraft

“Every current and future leader in the game industry should have this book on their bookshelves. Because they will need to go back and reread it over and over again.”

- Michail "Mishka" Katkoff, Founder, Deconstruction of Fun

"I wish I had read a book like this before starting the job as CEO of Starbreeze"

- Johan Kristiansson, ex-CEO, Starbreeze

"Kim's book brilliantly distills wisdom from game industry leaders into entertaining lessons. A must-read for practical insights on management."

- Alex Pelletier-Normand, CEO, Rovio

"This book is an amazing treasure trove of wisdom."

- Chris Wilson, CEO & Co-founder, Grinding Gear Games

"UP DOWN UP is a cheat code to understand what makes the world's largest game companies succeed."

- Justin Waldron, Co-founder, Zynga

David Helgason, Co-founder & ex-CEO, Unity
Ilkka Paananen, CEO & Co-founder, Supercell
Careen Yapp, Chief Strategic Partnership Officer, Embracer
Samuli Syvähuoko, Founding Partner, Sisu Game Ventures
Mathias Gredal Nørvig, CEO, SYBO
Marcus Jacobs, Co-founder & COO, Seidr
Josh Lu, Partner, a16z Games
Cassia Curran, Board member, Raw Fury
Niklas Hed, ex-CEO & Co-founder, Rovio
Mattias Lilja, Chief of Staff, Paradox Interactive
Author Image

ABOUT KIM NORDSTRÖM

Kim Nordström released his first game in 1995 and has spent almost three decades working alongside some of the biggest names in the industry. After cutting his teeth as a pixel artist on the C64 demoscene and founding (and failing) his own studio, he went on to hold leadership positions at PlayStation, King and Paradox Interactive Interactive during turbulent and transformative periods of growth and decline.

ORDER 100+ COPIES

Order 100+ copies to get a discounted price.
Order 200+ copies to get a discounted price and a custom cover of the book.
Order 300+ copies to get all the above, and get a discount on flying in Kim to visit your company to share knowledge generated from the book.

Contact kim@updownupbook.com for more info.