How LiveOps Create Player Emotions, Not Just Engagement [with Deepanjali Sarna]

“Players remember how your game made them feel far longer than they’ll remember its economy or progression system,” says Deepanjali Sarna, Senior Game Designer at Gameloft and former designer at Hitwicket, Zynga, and Liquidnitro Games.

We went deep into this discussion with Deepanjali to understand more about player emotions and drafted our learning in this article.

For gaming studios and publishers, this is a reminder coming from an expert on how to look at engagement, user retention and community building.

The Best LiveOps Events Create Shared Stories

Ask players about their favorite in-game event and most will NOT remember the exact amount of event currency they earned or how many daily missions they completed.

They remember moments.

They remember the community event where everyone came together to unlock something special. They remember finally earning a difficult reward. They remember a surprise mechanic that changed how they played the game.

According to Deepanjali, memorable LiveOps events create stories rather than checklists.

What Would the Ideal LiveOps Event Look Like?

If given unlimited resources, Deepanjali would build a month-long event where players collectively shape a living world.

Imagine a city rebuilding itself based on community contributions. An NPC only appears if players across different regions work together. Different communities unlock different outcomes, making every server’s journey unique.

The exciting part is not the scale. It is the sense that players created something together that can never be experienced exactly the same way again.

For publishers and game studios, this is an important lesson: Community participation often creates stronger retention than individual progression.

Key Takeaways

• Design events that players experience together.
• Introduce community goals with visible progress.
• Create outcomes that feel unique and player-driven.
• Give players stories they want to talk about outside the game.

Every Great Event is an Emotional Journey

A successful event takes players through a sequence of emotions. Deepanjali describes it as a small emotional journey:

1. Curiosity: “What’s happening this week?”
2. Excitement: Discovering something new.
3. Confidence: Understanding the event and making progress.
4. Pride: Achieving something meaningful.
5. Nostalgia: Feeling a little sad that the event has ended.

Most importantly, players should feel that their time was respected.

Remember, your players are balancing multiple games, social platforms, and entertainment choices.

Events that feel like chores often struggle with retention. Events that feel rewarding and respectful of player time are more likely to create long-term engagement.

Why the First Few Minutes Matter More Than You Think

The opening moments of an event can determine whether players become invested or immediately disengage.

“The first few minutes can make or break your experience.”

Players decide quickly whether an event feels exciting or whether it feels like another task on their to-do list.

A few details can dramatically improve first impressions:

1. Clear communication: Players should immediately understand what the event is and why it matters.
2. Strong visual identity: A fresh visual theme instantly signals that something special is happening.
3. Early progress: Players do not need the biggest reward immediately. They need to feel like they have already started an exciting journey.
4. Satisfying first rewards: Small wins create momentum and encourage further participation.

Data Tells You What Happened. Psychology Tells You Why.

Should LiveOps be driven by analytics or player intuition? Deepanjali believes it is impossible to separate the two.

If players abandon an event halfway through, analytics can identify where the drop-off happened. Understanding player motivation helps explain whether they felt confused, overwhelmed, bored, or under-rewarded.

For Publishers and Studios:

Data can show:

• Session length
• Event participation
• Conversion rates
• Churn points
• Monetization performance

Player psychology explains:

• Emotional friction
• Motivation
• Sense of progression
• Perceived fairness
• Satisfaction

“The best LiveOps decisions happen when both perspectives come together. Numbers keep us honest, but empathy helps us design experiences that players genuinely enjoy.”

Why Content and Level Design Matter in LiveOps

Deepanjali’s background in content and level design heavily influences how she approaches LiveOps. Level design taught her pacing.

Knowing when to challenge players, when to let them breathe, and how to create satisfying progression directly translates into event design.

Similarly Content design taught her that, “Mechanics alone rarely create memorable experiences.” Theme, storytelling, dialogue, visuals, and moments of surprise can dramatically change how players experience identical gameplay systems.

LiveOps, in many ways, becomes a blend of these disciplines.

“You are designing progression over weeks instead of minutes, but you’re still thinking about rhythm, anticipation, and emotional payoff.”

This is a valuable lesson for studios that rely heavily on repetitive event structures.

The underlying mechanics may remain similar, but thoughtful theming and presentation can make familiar experiences feel new again.

LiveOps is Not Just About Retention

Retention is often treated as the ultimate metric. But players do not return because they care about your retention curve.

They return because they remember something meaningful.

• A fun surprise.
• A hard-earned reward.
• An event shared with friends.
• A memorable community moment.

That mindset changes how LiveOps should be measured.

Instead of asking: “How do we get players to return tomorrow?”

Teams can start asking: “What experience will players remember tomorrow?”

TL;DR

For publishers and gaming studios looking to improve their LiveOps strategy, a few principles stand out:

• Build events around emotions, not only rewards.
• Create shared experiences and community goals.
• Make the first few minutes of every event feel exciting.
• Use both analytics and player psychology when making decisions.
• Treat storytelling and presentation as important as mechanics.
• Design experiences that players will remember and talk about.

About the Expert

Deepanjali Sarna is a Senior Game Designer at Gameloft with experience across LiveOps, content, and level design at Hitwicket, Zynga, Liquidnitro Games, and GSN Games. She loves creating player experiences that turn gameplay into memorable stories and communities.