You can build efficient dev teams through lightweight Agile methods and practices.
Developing video games is hard - we all know that - but our core belief is that great leaders can transform the work environment into something fun, lightweight and productive at the same time.
Agility and empathy are key for great leaders working with game development and we are continuously updating our methodology to ensure awesome deliveries without crunch.
What we Offer
With over 18 years managing some highly experienced dev teams in established studios like Riot and Aquiris, Rafael have learned a lot and created his own Agile method, which has been implemented in dozens of studios around Europe, US and Latam.
Nomz believes that great Agile management implementation can transform companies. We are used to implement it in a wide variety of studios and even a short burst - like 3 or 6 months - can be enough to transform your teams' performance.
Nodes
As the Lead Producer, I need that my producers ensure delivery excellence in every single corner of development.
Acceptance criteria:
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They facilitate well the teamwork through effective dailies and other routines;
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They understand the differences between Scrum and Kanban to choose efficiently the most appropriate;
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They work as nodes to align the work between different teams efficiently;
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They understand their delivery rate / capacity through efficient estimations.
Ownership
As the Studio Head, I need that my studio leads own their stuff, as we are developing a complex project that need many leaders.
Acceptance criteria:
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All producers understand their work as Delivery leads and inspire the studio with stable processes;
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All product managers understand their work as Product leads and inspire the studio with outstanding vision;
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All studio leads understand their work as Craft leads and ensures great delivery rate in every part of development;
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The team is broken in meaningful Squads that work smoothly as they are well sized regarding project needs.
MVP
As the Lead Product Owner, I need to ship frequent minimum viable product iterations, as well measuring its success.
Acceptance criteria:
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Every team member understand the importance of MVP into studio culture;
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The product backlog is a live artifact, well managed and refined properly with other studio leads;
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The product roadmap is a live artifact, well managed and refined properly with other studio leads.
Zero crunch
As any Studio Lead, I need that my team keep delivering great stuff, but well managing them to avoid crunch moments.
Acceptance criteria:
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Crunch is not acceptable into the studio and everyone has a high quality of life, without crunch;
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They deal within the tough development challenges calmly and solving greatly the problems in a frequent basis;
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Studio leads have great development metrics to enable dev team predictions.
Creativity has a lot of uncertainty, and that's fine.
For sure each production phase has its own challenges and your leadership needs to deal with it. We are used to see studios suffering to define and lead each development phase efficiently.
As an example, when your project is in pre-production phase it's normal that uncertainty is high both in game design and technology. Deep diving into your project assumptions can help you understand your players.
We wrote an article on LinkedIn about this:
Trusted among Industry Leaders
Rafael Sales, Nomz founder, is a seasoned Game Producer working in the game industry for 18 years.
He has worked with leading companies such as Riot Games, Scopely and Gearbox, contributing to major franchises like League of Legends, Looney Tunes and The Walking Dead across mobile, PC, and console platforms. During this time he have worked and learned a lot with some outstanding international teams.
He specializes in Game Production, with a strong track record leading high-performing, globally distributed teams. He also drives the implementation of efficient Agile frameworks across studios, ensuring alignment between development teams, studio leadership, and key stakeholders.
There he had the opportunity to understand how mature Agile development structures works with huge teams (100+) as such smaller indie ones (10 or less).
What our Clients say
What truly sets Rafael apart is his deep understanding of the systems behind game development. Many producers operate at a high level, focused primarily on timelines and coordination. Rafael understands the underlying tools, software, and workflows that power the product itself. That systems-level knowledge makes him a far more hands-on and effective producer - someone who doesn’t just manage the process, but genuinely understands the work being built.
Dustin Mattock
Studio Head & Creative Director
Animal
Pasadena, California, USA 🇺🇸
What truly sets Rafael apart is his deep understanding of the systems behind game development. Many producers operate at a high level, focused primarily on timelines and coordination. Rafael understands the underlying tools, software, and workflows that power the product itself. That systems-level knowledge makes him a far more hands-on and effective producer - someone who doesn’t just manage the process, but genuinely understands the work being built.
Joakim Höglund
Studio Head
FunRock
Stockholm, Sweden 🇸🇪
Rafael is a great producer and strategical thinker. During the period he worked at Aquiris, he managed to implement solutions that improved team focus and communication.
He is also an excellent person to deal with, he's very open to feedback, and he usually looks critically to the big picture to come up with improvement points.
Evandro Valente
Lead Producer
Epic Games