In this post, we are delving, yes, delving behind the scenes to learn about how new features, such as League Dash, are created. League Dash, in case you missed it, is a new game mode within Matchday Champions that has quickly established itself as the default play mode for most players. We asked Matchday's Karla to talk us through what's involved in bringing a feature like this to life, within a game that's already up and running.
Karla is The Product Manager for Matchday Champions. What does that mean exactly Karla? She pauses. Just as some roles are easy to summarise, others, such as Product Managers, defy simple explanation. “A product manager’s main client is the product itself, and by extension, the players who engage with it,” she explains. Her job is to prioritise ideas based on what players need, what the game’s goals are, and how to deliver those within the constraints of time and resources. What she describes is reminiscent of a furiously busy lone traffic cop at an incredibly busy intersection.
Karla’s work involves a little of everything. She collaborates with designers, engineers, UX specialists, and artists to bring new features to life, ensuring that players are always at the heart of decisions. “It’s about being the glue that holds all these moving parts together. The challenge is making sure the final result serves both the players and the vision, and making tough calls to deliver the best possible quality, every time.”
When a new feature is conceived, the first step is understanding its place in the game. What do you need to achieve? For players to spend longer in the game? To have a more varied experience while playing? To give a boost to how deeply new players are drawn in on their first session? Yes to all of these, but Karla believes that the answer is found through examining the status quo. “What does the game currently have? How are players engaging with it? What do the data and feedback tell us about what’s working and what isn’t?” By answering these questions, the team can shape a clear vision and prioritise effectively.
Yet, she stresses with some enthusiasm, "game development is rarely straightforward". Features often evolve dramatically as challenges arise. Karla explains that what starts as a clean, well-planned idea can shift into something entirely different by the time it goes live. Adaptation, she says, is a core part of the process.
One of Karla’s biggest challenges is balancing input from different teams. UX specialists want usability to be perfect, game designers prioritise mechanics, and artists dream of stunning visuals. It’s Karla’s job to fit these competing priorities into a cohesive whole.
“It’s like solving a puzzle,” she says. “Everyone brings fantastic ideas, but we don’t always have the time or resources to include everything. I have to decide which parts deliver the most value for the players and make those the priority.” Does that put people's noses out of joint? Surprisingly, no she says. People here are professional with a lot of experience, so in general there's no issues or personal feelings involved. Trust is a key tenet, and everyone tries to deliver their best work, not worrying about the minutiae of what someone else decides.
"This process often means no one is completely happy with the result. “The UX designer might not get their ideal flow. The artist might have to compromise on visuals. The designer might have to simplify mechanics. But everyone contributes to the final feature, and that collaboration is what makes it work.”
Karla recalls working on the League Dash feature as a prime example of this balancing act. The team wanted to make it easy for players to see which cards would perform best under certain conditions. “It seemed so simple at first, just highlight the relevant cards in each country. But the way our legacy code worked made it more complicated to call them up at will. In the end, we had to come up with a solution that worked using the existing ruleset." These details are often things players often do not notice individually, but when several of them together are 'right', they add up to a polished feel, and vice versa!
"It’s about making the best possible choices within the constraints you have.”
Once a feature is live, the team shifts focus to player feedback and data. For Karla, this is one of the most rewarding parts of her job. “Seeing players engage with what we’ve created, whether they love it or have criticisms, is invaluable. It reminds us why we’re doing this and helps us decide what to focus on next.”
Karla explains that player feedback isn’t just about celebration (although it is definitely about that). It’s also about learning. If a feature doesn’t work as expected, it’s an opportunity to understand why and refine future decisions. Every hurdle adds value to the process by informing better planning for the next iteration.
Karla’s role is more than just setting goals and managing timelines. It's a creative role. A creative, problem solving role. It is about guiding a constantly evolving process where creativity, puzzle-making, and adaptation are crucial. “It’s messy,” she says, “but the goal is always the same: to deliver features that players will love and the team can be proud of collectively.”
Bringing new features to Matchday Champions means navigating constraints, balancing competing visions, and responding to the players who bring the game to life. It is unpredictable and challenging, but for Karla, it is also deeply rewarding.
To find out more about how Matchday Champions is made behind the scenes, be sure to join our community on Discord, where we host AMAs amongst other things. Matchday team members have been known to drop by for a quick chat too, so come along, everyone's welcome!
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