It’s with great joy that I am putting together my final post for Sandbox. When we started Sandbox 20 years ago, the industry was a very different place. To say it has changed would be an understatement. Our vision was to tackle PR through a strong marketing lens at a time when retail was a massive part of the equation. Sure, digital storefronts were starting up, but physical media was still king. Early projects like Angry Birds and Doodle Jump gave us a hint of what was to come, but our core was always going to be console and PC side. That was what I grew up with, what I mostly played, and where I understood.
Over the past two decades we’ve seen ups and downs as both a company and an industry, but games have always remained a part of our lives. I have tremendous respect for the journalists and media professionals who’ve stayed committed to covering this medium we love so much. Seeing the consolidation of media, shrinking print magazines, and the proliferation of AI and SEO-driven content has been difficult and I hope there will always be space for passionate games journalism, because there are still so many stories to be told.
It’s impossible to say for certain what is coming down the pipe, but we’re continuing to see games push boundaries in scale, ambition and creativity. And scattered among all of that are incredible indie projects and smaller titles that easily capture the imagination and remind us why this industry is so special. I’ve always believed PR and influencer campaigns deliver some of the best ROI when it comes to video game marketing, and the fact that we’ve been able to sustain such a high standard for the better part of this century is amazing to me.
The current Sandbox team has more collective experience than at any other point in our history, and leaving the reins in their hands gives me great satisfaction. I know that when I evaluate each hire there are certain inherent attributes we cannot teach, they just need to be innate. And it is those skillsets that the team excels at, knowing what makes a great story, what resonates, and how to bring it all together. I am so happy that tomorrow, and every day after, everyone here at Sandbox gets to continue doing what they love in an industry they grew up dreaming of being a part of.
Agency life isn’t for everyone, there are tons of moving parts, it is constantly shifting, and it asks a lot but at the end of the day, it is deeply rewarding. Helping the people making games connect with players and setting them up for success has been one of the great privileges of my career.
-Rob Fleischer
