Bence "Beadyboy" Hamos, a prominent community figure for Crytek's extraction shooter Hunt: Showdown, has reflected on his departure from the studio following a wave of layoffs in September. Hamos, who spent nearly nine years at Crytek, served as a key interface between the development team and the player base, hosting livestreams, vlogs, and social media content.
A Community Builder
Hamos began his tenure at Crytek in 2018 in a social media role, eventually rising to senior broadcast manager. He emphasized the importance of deeply engaging with the game's community, stating, "To deal with a community and manage a community, you have to be part of a community." Hamos logged over 2,000 to 3,000 hours playing Hunt: Showdown personally, which he believes allowed him to better understand player frustrations and feedback.
He described his role as a delicate balance, acting as the voice of the community to the development team while also conveying the team's vision and responses back to the players. This involved collecting and quantifying feedback from various platforms like Reddit, Discord, Steam, and social media, then presenting it to the developers with data on player sentiment.
"We would collect reports on a weekly or bi-weekly basis... and we would have to actually measure and collect it. Like, 'Hey, this many players are positive about this subject. These are the mixed ones. These are the negative ones.'" Hamos explained. "Those are all counted in, but it has to be accurate."
Navigating Player Feedback and Balance
Representing player interests sometimes meant delivering unpopular news. Hamos noted instances where the community strongly desired a certain feature or change, but the development team determined it was not in line with the game's vision or was technically unfeasible. In such cases, transparency was key.
He also highlighted the challenge of calibrating feedback, particularly regarding game balance, from vocal segments of the player base. "You cannot necessarily balance the game around 1% or even less than 1% of the player base..." Hamos stated, explaining that decisions were often informed by broader data on weapon usage and player engagement across all skill levels, not just the most vocal minority.
An example of a carefully considered balance adjustment was making Spitzer ammo, which increases bullet velocity, a scarce lootable item rather than a purchasable one. Hamos expressed confidence in the design team's ability to make nuanced adjustments that enhance the game without alienating different player segments.
Reflecting on Departure and Future
Hamos described his layoff as unexpected and emotionally difficult. "It came out of nowhere. And after nine years, I did feel like a part of my soul was ripped out because it was my day-to-day. I kind of lived and breathed the game," he said. Despite the personal impact, he expressed no bitterness, acknowledging the challenging nature of the current game industry landscape.
His farewell post on the Hunt: Showdown subreddit received an outpouring of support from the community, a response he found deeply meaningful. "To get faced with the fact that your work meant so much to people is something really special," he shared.
Hamos has since moved on to Good Fun Corporation as head of community and social, a studio founded by former Hell Let Loose developers who are working on an extraction RPG called Hunger. He hopes to cultivate a community as passionate and positive as Hunt: Showdown's.
Despite his departure from Crytek, Hamos remains optimistic about Hunt: Showdown's future, calling it an exception to the typical lifespan of live service games and wishing for its continued success for at least another decade.