Massimo Baglio

The through-line

Across these posts, Massimo Baglio traces BALIO STUDIO's shift from a 17-year-old development shop into an independent publisher building its own catalogue around licensed, family-friendly IP . The recurring preoccupation is sustainability: not chasing blockbuster budgets but proving that a "human-scale" studio can be both creatively ambitious and financially disciplined . That position hardens over the course of the material, from early framing around partnership and craft to a direct response to industry layoffs, where he explicitly contrasts BALIO's model with the "course aux blockbusters" he sees failing elsewhere .

The other constant is a belief that games exist to bring people physically together, tested against the harshest possible audience: children .

On rentabilité and human-scale studios

Reacting to the Microsoft/Xbox layoffs, Baglio states plainly that "le modèle de rentabilité a changé" and that the era of ever-larger budgets, mass acquisitions and the "course aux blockbusters" is over . His counter-model is explicit: "des équipes à taille humaine, agiles et créatives, capables de développer des jeux ambitieux avec des budgets raisonnables et des objectifs financiers réalistes" . He frames the goal not as prestige but as durability: "L'objectif n'est pas de créer le jeu le plus cher, mais des jeux rentables qui trouvent leur public" , a line that echoes his description of BALIO's identity at gamescom as making "accessible, cooperative, feel-good family games based on strong IPs" .

On family gaming

Baglio repeatedly ties the studio's output to a philosophy of shared, cross-generational play. He writes that video games are "a way to bring people together, create lasting memories, and strengthen the bonds between parents, children, grandparents, and friends" , and that BALIO's games are "easy to pick up, fun to play, and designed to be enjoyed together" . He closes that post with the summary line "the best gaming moments are the ones we share" , and reinforces this again when introducing Grizzy & the Lemmings – Crazy Party as bringing "a hilarious collection of crazy mini-games to enjoy with family and friends" .

On playtesting

Baglio treats children as the studio's real quality gate. He says "aucun jeu ne sort sans passer par nos testeurs les plus exigeants: des enfants de 7 à 12 ans," adding "Ils sont sans filtre. Si ça n'accroche pas, on le sait en trois secondes" . This is presented as method, not anecdote: sessions are run "pour valider ce qui fonctionne et itérer sur ce qui ne fonctionne pas encore," which he calls "notre manière de construire des jeux qui trouveront leur audience" .

On European ambition

In a shorter, more reflective post, Baglio pushes back on narratives of European decline, arguing "Le déclin européen n'a rien d'une fatalité" and that Europe has "les talents, les chercheurs, les industriels" but lacks "l'audace de croire en nous et de décider de notre avenir" . He links this directly to risk-taking as a leadership stance: "Ne prendre aucun risque, ce n'est pas protéger: c'est étouffer l'ambition" , and frames growth itself as requiring accepted uncertainty: "Aider une entreprise à grandir suppose d'en accepter une part d'incertitude" .

Takeaways

• BALIO's public strategy after 17 years of development work is to become its own publisher, launching self-owned titles rather than only work-for-hire .
• The studio's counter to industry-wide layoffs is deliberately smaller budgets, realistic financial goals, and recognizable licenses rather than blockbuster scale .
• Every BALIO release is filtered through playtests with children aged 7 to 12, whose unfiltered reactions directly shape iteration .
• Family togetherness is positioned as the design goal, not a marketing add-on: games are built to be "enjoyed together" across generations .
• Baglio treats European risk-aversion as a competitiveness problem, arguing ambition requires accepting uncertainty rather than avoiding it .
• Momentum metrics (trailer views, wishlists, pre-order response) are used publicly as proof points for the studio's new publishing chapter, notably around Grizzy & the Lemmings – Crazy Party's launch .