On the fourth day of Spring, Santa brought me the fourth Meet the Team, where you get to know more about the devs working on Temtem and Temtem: Swarm! We plan to hold these little segments from time to time, so everyone can become more familiar with the Crema devs, and get to see the people that are behind the game.

On this occasion we sit with… ourselves! Learn more about the community and communication team, comprised by yours truly, Lucía Prieto, as Community Director, and María Salinas as Community Assistant and content creator, and about the Marketing team, directed by Alex Pratt, our Marketing Director. We’ll tell you more about our day to day, our favorite work, our time in Crema and some fun stuff so you can get to know us better. Let’s begin!

Lucía Prieto

• Tell us a bit about yourself and your background! How long have you been at Crema? Have you worked in a similar role before?

Hi everyone! I’m Lucía Prieto, widely known as Tsukki. I’m Crema’s Community Director, and have been at this helm for the last 5 years (wow).

I’ve worked on community, support, QA and production during my time in the video game industry! But comms (community + communication) was my favorite position out of all I’ve tried.

I have a background in literature and translation though! A degree in Comparative Literature and a masters’ in Video-game translation. Did you know I was the one who translated Blasphemous from Spanish to English? I was!

• What were your goals when you joined Crema? Have they changed with time, or do they remain?

While I’d love to say something profound here, when I joined Crema I was looking for a job that paid fairly and allowed me to have a better work-life balance. I love Pokemon, and I had seen Temtem around, but it wasn’t until I joined the team that it captivated me so. Once I was in, my goal became to establish a good bridge of communication between the community and Crema, and it is to this day my one path, goal, and desire.

• If you were a Temtem, which Tem would you be? Why?

Although the Temtem I champion the most are the 0b10, I’d choose Gyalis for myself nowadays. A bit spiky, a bit guarded at first but a softie underneath.

• What is the most valuable lesson you’ve learned while working at Crema?

For better or for worse, there are many. I learned how transparent one’s intentions can be, even from behind a screen, and I also learned how words can betray you even if you’re a 100% focused on them. I’ve learned to pick my battles and to know when to quit, and most of all I’ve learned not to make the game or my job my entire identity. This one was a tough lesson and I had to learn it through a medical leave, actually! So my advice to all devs out there is to really respect breaks and time off-screen, and my advice to the community is to please act with kindness and remember a game is not worth hurting others.

• If you could trade places with anyone else at Crema for a day, who would it be and why?

This might be crazy and a bit impertinent of me, but I’d love to be Game Director for a day. I feel like I have all these years of feedback and ideas from the community in my brain and I’d love to go crazy for a day and try to implement the ones I like best hehe.

• Are there any important people that inspire you in the work that you do?

There are! I love this generation of Community Managers that have fun and are respectful, the kind that don’t fear jumping in on trends or being occasionally cringe. Victoria Tran, Innersloth’s Community Director, is probably the person I look up to the most, and I feel really validated by and seen in the ideas she shares on community work. But I also like the way the Balatro dev approaches social media, and Josie and Lorna from Massive Monster are also fantastic at balancing fun and info.

On a more serious note, I admire the way Dylan Gafner, aka dmg04, interacted with the Bungie community for years, with a patience and understanding only seen in the greatest of them all.

• What are the best and the worst parts of your job, to you?

I’m sure this is going to be predictable, but the worst parts of the job are delivering bad news, and not having an answer to something. There’s this sense of impending doom I get when I’m about to post a delay, a decision that doesn’t align with the community, or a piece of news that’s real but dreaded. And the aftermath is terrible, checking every communication avenue with pure anxiety.

But the best part is when I get to tease and spoiler new content, and patch days when everyone is happy and eager for the patch notes. Although it’s a super hectic day for us, the air is buzzing with excitement and good vibes. I also love livestreaming and being in community streams, I enjoy those moments a lot!

• What makes all the hard work worth it?

The excitement in players’ reactions when they’re enjoying new content. It’s also a wonderful feeling to read people chat about content I made or directed, and to see them interact with my memes and feel the vibes I was trying to convey. Landing a communication action is a thrill like no other.

• If you had not pursued a career in community, what do you think you’d have chosen?

I would probably be a translator! Hopefully a video-game translator. But I’ve also sometimes thought I’d fit in well in the editorial world, as a corrector, editor or maybe even a writer!

• What are your hobbies outside of work?

I have many! My first, most notorious hobby is sleeping, and I’m extremely good at it. I know when my naps start, but never when they end. I also enjoy watching films and series, and reading books and manga. My favorite genre is horror, so I tend to stay in that zone. 

I also like playing videogames, of course, with my faves being cozy games or horror games. And on a more active note, I’m a scuba diver! I’m completely obsessed with it and try to spend as much time underwater as my body and the weather allow.

• If you were a vegetable, which vegetable would you be and why?

I’d beeeee a red cabbage, maybe! I love the aesthetics of it, and the fact that it’s a bit bitter but has pleeenty of good qualities and nutrients. I actually rarely eat veggies so I’m not very well versed in this subject lol

• What’s your favorite community or marketing action that you’ve leadered or helped carry out?

Hehe, I hate to bring up old history, but the April Fools we made the year Cipanku launched, which consisted of a silly, cursed, hand-drawn trailer with cursed music is to this day my favorite. It’s totally my flavor of humor, and the team was super participative and helpful, with Damián even recording the cursed flute version of the trailer music for me. Aprils’ Fools is usually the day of the year where I can get more creative and I love everything that comes out of it.

Alex Pratt

• Tell us a bit about yourself and your background! How long have you been at Crema? Have you worked in a similar role before?

Helloooo! I’m Alex Pratt, the Marketing Director at Crema and I’ve been here a little over a year and half. If you hang out with us on the Discord, you might know me as Kongul!
I’ve been working in the gaming industry for a total of about 11 years. I initially got my foot in the door as a support rep at Big Fish Games and worked my way up into the marketing team from there. Over my 9 years there, I released more than 2500 mobile games…it was quite the rollercoaster!
In 2021 I moved to Spain, found Crema, and couldn’t be happier!

• What were your goals when you joined Crema? Have they changed with time, or do they remain?

My #1 goal was to get back into the gaming industry and more specifically releasing games on PC and Consoles. I had a short stint outside of the games industry and realized how much I missed it. Mobile is great, but PC/Console are where I do the majority of my gaming, so it made sense to want to focus there too.
My #2 goal was to work on a game/brand/genre that I could really sink my teeth into. Being a huge fan of Pokemon since it released back in 1998, I knew that Temtem would be a perfect fit for me on all those fronts.
Do goals always have to come in 3’s? Some would say Yes!, so for my third goal it was to improve my business/gaming Spanish. While I was born here in Madrid, I’ve spent the majority of my life and career in the United States, so leveling up that skill is important to me!

• If you were a Temtem, which Tem would you be? Why?

Smolzy, because it’s so doofy looking with that smirk it gives. I feel like I give that type of smirk a lot too.

• What is the most valuable lesson you’ve learned while working at Crema?

Dieting needs to be a year-round effort…the amount of snacks, treats, and down right delicious things that get brought into the office on a weekly basis has been dangerous for my belt size.  I’m totally guilty of being part of the problem though, so I’m not blaming anyone else.

• If you could trade places with anyone else at Crema for a day, who would it be and why?

I’d love to trade places with the Animation team and be able to animate all the cute Tems! Some of the ideas they come up with to bring in moments of fun and mix in pop culture references is really cool! (Plus seeing them act it out sometimes when they’re discussing what to do looks really funny!)

• Are there any important people that inspire you in the work that you do?

There isn’t one person in particular really, but I’m one of those weirdos that kinda likes to watch commercials and ads…but not the dumb, boring ones. The ones that really stand out in your mind for years to come and are generally super funny. Doritos ads during the Super Bowl are usually great examples.
Those sorts of things and seeing what other game dev teams are doing really inspire me when it comes to get creative with our campaigns.

• What are the best and the worst parts of your job, to you?

Best part is of course being involved from the ground up on new projects and being able to test those games out and seeing all the amazing artwork, design, and engineering that comes from the team.
Worst part has to be not having anywhere near enough time to play video games as much as I’d like to. Having to keep up with the market and seeing what other developers are doing means that my Wishlist just keeps growing and I’ll never get to play all the games that I really want to.

• What makes all the hard work worth it?

I feel like it’s what everyone says right, but it’s totally true!(I promise) Releasing a new game or new content for a live game that you know you and the team have been busting their tails off to get in front of players and seeing all the positive reactions and support is what makes it all truly worth it.

• If you had not pursued a career in marketing, what do you think you’d have chosen?

Production and/or Design. When I went through college, getting a degree in game design wasn’t really a thing. It was just starting out when I was finishing up my degree. So, I think I would’ve likely gone back to school and pursued that career more directly.

• What are your hobbies outside of work?

Gaming, travel, and cooking. My partner and I love to experience new places and one thing we always try to fit in with every trip is some sort of local cooking class. We think that the best way to share experiences and see how people in other places live is through their food.

• If you were a vegetable, which vegetable would you be and why?

It’s gotta be a Romanesco…which is hard to define, much like myself. Is it broccoli? Cauliflower? Some sort of weird mathematical trick that mother nature is playing on us? It doesn’t fit into a single category and that’s what makes it so magical.

• What’s your favorite community or marketing action that you’ve leadered or helped carry out?

All the build-up from the announcement to the EA launch of Temtem: Swarm has been a lot of fun. We really got to be creative, funded two campaigns for new Temtem plushes, and gave away a Steam Deck!

María Salinas

• Tell us a bit about yourself and your background! How long have you been at Crema? Have you worked in a similar role before?

Heya! I’m María, or mmmmmmmmmmmaria if you’ve met me online. I’m Crema’s Community Assistant, but also a Game Moderator for Temtem and its community. It’s been almost three years in the company; fun fact: I started working at Crema one day before my birthday! 

I’ve worked on very different projects in marketing, community, customer support, and production, but Crema is the first company I’ve worked at in the videogames industry. Since I studied a Marketing degree, I wanted to pursue a career in that area, but while doing my Master’s I had the opportunity to work a tad as a producer and I quite liked it. However, my love for memes and online communities made me stay true to myself and pursue my dreams of creating content and assisting with community management duties!

• What were your goals when you joined Crema? Have they changed with time, or do they remain?

At first, I was just looking to make my way in the videogames industry and learn as much as possible. After three years, my goals have shifted a bit as I have found joy creating content, so now I’m more focused on improving my skills in video and image editing specifically.  

• If you were a Temtem, which Tem would you be? Why?

This is a very biased answer as it’s my favorite Tem, but Platypet. I’m a yapper, and Platypet would definitely be that pal who talks nonstop about everything and nothing.

• What is the most valuable lesson you’ve learned while working at Crema?

I’ve learned a lot working side by side with Tsukki. When she had to leave for a couple of months, I comprehended how much emotional work goes into her role. I had to learn how not to bring work home, because social media doesn’t stop, it isn’t a 9-5 job. I learned not to take negative comments personally and to rest after work. 

• If you could trade places with anyone else at Crema for a day, who would it be and why?

I’d love to work among our 2D artists! They are an amazing group of people, and I love how creative their job is. I’m not good at drawing, but it’d be so cool to see my creation in the game.

• Are there any important people that inspire you in the work that you do?

Not people, but a publisher: Devolver Digital. I’ve been following them for so long, and I even published an article about one of their games, as I find their strategy as a company very innovative, and their online persona creative. 

• What are the best and the worst parts of your job, to you?

The best would be having the creative freedom to create content for social media, and of course, engaging with amazing people online. 

The worst, as I’ve mentioned earlier, would be the emotional toll our job can take on our mental health.

• What makes all the hard work worth it?

Having awesome interactions with players and being told they’re enjoying the game.

• If you had not pursued a career in community, what do you think you’d have chosen?

I originally wanted to be a journalist, specifically a radio host. But nowadays, I think I’d have chosen to be a producer or graphic designer.

• What are your hobbies outside of work?

You’ll normally see me reading, watching movies, or discovering new places in Madrid.

However, I’ve been into photography since I was little, I am a proud camera collector, and I’ve modelled a couple of times for small brands. Having the chance to capture what your eyes see and admire is what makes photography a beautiful hobby. As a Gen Z, I’m more used to shooting in digital, but I’m a sucker for photo albums thanks to my grandmother so I recently started taking pictures in analogue. 

• If you were a vegetable, which vegetable would you be and why?

A sweet potato! Potatoes are a vegetable that can be enjoyed by everyone (vegetarians, vegans, celiacs, lactose intolerant, etc.) and can fit in any dish. However, sweet potatoes are delicious but won’t suit every dish due to its taste. 

I’d say I’m an extrovert, and I can see myself fitting in almost any group. That said, I won’t tolerate some currents of thought, so as sweet potatoes, I won’t be seen on every plate.

• What’s your favorite community or marketing action that you’ve leadered or helped carry out?

I’m very proud of many TikTok videos we’ve created, specifically the ones we appear in! Here are two of my favorites:

https://www.tiktok.com/@playtemtem/video/7228914947835628826

https://www.tiktok.com/@playtemtem/video/7302407577718033696

This would be all from us this time! Thank you everyone for tuning in today with the Comms and Marketing teams, and see you next time with another department! Which department would you like to see next?

Have fun and Temtem up!