Meet Jens Schirmer: Winner of September’s Player Insights Champion Award

With that said, let’s begin getting to know Jens. We asked him to describe his job and how does his day-to-day look like:

My Job is like a Kinder Surprise Egg. You know what’s inside, but you still get to find something new to build and collect (the nonsense you ignore and throw away). I work very closely with our WWE Champions Community and the Game team because it’s essential to understand what they need and what the Team can deliver. Depending on the daily situation, this can be more challenging than other days, but I always enjoy it! When I am not in the middle or at the “frontlines”, I take care of all our Community Channels, draft Blog and Social Articles, create Social and Game Assets, plan (and execute) Campaigns with my Growth Team, Live Ops and Road Map, prepare and schedule Content for our Livestreams, provide Player Feedback to several Departments and give Team Members a helping hand if needed.

We continued asking Jens how long has he been working on the player-facing field and what does he like about it:

I started around 10 years ago. I was coming fresh from the University as a graduated Master in History and Computer Science. So, the first thing you do is work in a field you didn’t graduate in! I brought the wisdom from my studies and followed my gamer heart, which led to an Internship position to learn and establish a career path I have enjoyed since day 1.

Interacting with players and seeing the results of your hard work in [their] smiling Player faces (at least, that’s how I imagine them when we do something good for them) is what I strive for. I want the best for them and the Team, so whenever there is a need for Super Jens, Defender of Justice, I am there 24/7! I enjoy helping wherever possible; just don’t ask me anything about my studies because I forgot most of them…

Then, we asked him if there are any other professionals he particularly admires or learns from and who they are:

There were many! Especially at the beginning of my career. And even when you think you know it all, someone new (or old) appears who can still show and teach you things you didn’t know before. I am open to learning new things, improving myself, and sharing what I have learned from everyone I have met on my way.

Next, we wanted to hear what’s the importance of player feedback in Jens’s role:

It should be crucial for anyone doing business with them. You need to know what they want; otherwise, you can’t exist or survive. Thus, I take our players’ feedback very seriously. I aim to find ways to let our vision of the game, and theirs harmonize so everyone can benefit from it. Without Feedback, my Team doesn’t know what’s going on in the game, what features we should focus on, or what Live Events we should run. Everything comes with costs, and no one wants to waste their resources. So, the better I can get and prepare the Feedback, the better for the Team and Players. Having relevant metrics in Community Management, numbers that can make a difference is always hard to get. Still, luckily, there are some handy tools out there. I think one of them is called “Affogata” which gives me the soap for my Bubble Gun to make the Team aware of the Situation.

We then asked Jens why he needs a tool like Affogata:

It’s situational. When I look into those tools, I always try to find enough data to turn a biased opinion into a more open and willing mind and to change the development for the sake of the Community instead of prioritizing other(s) Goals. Those analytic platforms are essential for my work, and if they don’t function the moment I need them, I’m not screwed, but it makes my job more challenging. That would mean manually going through all our Channels to create numbers that aren’t as precise as within a proper Tool—a Hub where all the Player’s thoughts, dreams, and complaints come together. And what was the situation before you started using our tool?

I used similar tools that were either very complex or way too basic, and most lacked a proper Forum and Discord integration. Something in the middle was needed to help me create the reports that could make a difference. So, most of the time, I didn’t bother too much to dig into the complexity of other tools and did it manually.

How did Affogata help your Team reach the goal or solve the problem?

Affogata is a fundamental part of our workflows. With it, we have those accurate numbers, an accessible overview of what’s happening in our Communities, where to invest time and money to grow, and where to improve retention or keep doing what we do.

And how do you measure success in your role?

That’s simple: seeing satisfied players arm in arm with our never-resting developers! And usually, when players are happy because of what I did for them, that makes me proud and keeps me going.

Besides eternal glory in the hall of fame of Affogata’s Player Insights Champion Awards, you might be wondering what the prize is. We aimed for a meaningful and enduring reward, so we planted 100 trees 🌳 in Jens’s name and sent him a certificate showing exactly how his eco-impact is making a difference.

Thank you, Jens, and congratulations! Your work inspires us and many other pros out there🔥