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About

I help game developers do better work and build better studios

Consultant, trainer, and workshop facilitator. Working with studios, publishers, educators, and individuals across the games industry for over two decades.

Brian Bartram
Background

How I got here

I've been working in and around the games industry for over two decades — as a game designer, as someone embedded in development teams, and increasingly as a consultant and educator helping others navigate the same landscape I've been part of.

I started out making games. That hands-on background matters to me — it means I understand the constraints, the pressures, and the creative realities of game development in a way that purely theoretical consulting never quite reaches. I know what a development process looks like from the inside, and I know what happens when it breaks down.

Over time, the work shifted towards helping others. Running workshops for teams, advising studios on process and culture, working with educators and publishers, and increasingly focusing on the area of neurodiversity — both in studios and in the games they make.

I work primarily with studios in Sweden and Denmark, but regularly with teams and organisations elsewhere in Europe and beyond. Engagements range from a single workshop to extended consulting relationships that evolve over months.

"I care more about whether things actually improve than about whether the work looks impressive on paper."

Brian Bartram facilitating a game development workshop

At a glance

Based
Sweden (works remotely and in person)
Experience
20+ years in games and education
Works with
Studios, publishers, educators, individuals
Specialisms
Game design, inclusive practice, neurodiversity
Working style

How I work

These aren't values statements — they're descriptions of what working with me is actually like.

Direct, without being blunt

I'll tell you what I actually think, including when I think you might be solving the wrong problem. I don't soften feedback to the point of uselessness, but I'm not interested in being contrarian either. Honest and considered.

Alongside you, not above you

I don't arrive with a predetermined answer. I start by understanding your specific situation — your team, your game, your constraints — and work from there. Generic advice is usually not very useful.

Focused on what sticks

The measure of this work isn't how good the report looks — it's whether things are actually better afterwards. I care about practical outcomes, not impressive-looking deliverables that sit in a folder.

A personal note

On neurodiversity

Neurodiversity has become a significant part of my work — running awareness sessions for studios, advising on inclusive practice, and helping teams think about neurodivergent players in their design decisions.

That work is informed by professional and personal experience. I work directly with neurodivergent developers and entrepreneurs and I know what that looks like when a studio gets it right and when it doesn't.

That context shapes how I approach all of my work — not just the sessions explicitly about neurodiversity.

Read more about this work

If any of this resonates, let's talk

The first conversation is free and without obligation. Whether you have a specific project in mind or just want to understand what's possible, I'm genuinely happy to talk.

I work best with people who want honest, practical support — not a rubber stamp or a glossy report. If that's what you're looking for, we'll probably get on well.