TDC #04: From Shark Tank to Steam with Lior Hadashian

Lior Hadashian, co-founder and CTO of Gavra Games, joins Yuri and Amit to talk about building and shipping Warriors Rise to Glory — a turn-based gladiator fighting game inspired by a goofy Flash game from the internet's ugly years. What followed was five years of bootstrap chaos: a Bilibili influencer blowing up the game overnight, a Chinese localization done in one week, a main font that turned out to be stolen, two appearances on Israeli Shark Tank, and a mobile pivot that never happened.

They also go deep on the realities of indie investment — what it actually means to raise money, why turning down $130k on live television was the right call, and what "alive but not kicking" looks like for a studio winding down.

The back half gets technical: Unity version upgrades and why they break in exactly three places every time, Google's ongoing war with Unity Package Manager, and Amit's experience upgrading a 4-year production project to Unity 6.3.

Lior is working on something new. He won't say what it is. He's on Unity 6.4.

Topics covered:

• Warriors Rise to Glory — the game, the inspiration, the Venn diagram problem of turn-based fighting games
• Launching on Steam without localization infrastructure, then scrambling to add 10 languages
• How a BiliBili influencer caused a Chinese localization crisis in week one of early access
• The font that was illegal (and why you can't just pay for it)
• Israeli Shark Tank — declining the first deal, coming back with receipts, and closing the second
• What $40k of initial investment and $257k in gross revenue actually gets you
• Why going mobile fell apart (the chicken-and-egg problem of mobile talent and capital)
• Unity upgrade pain: asset bundles, TextMesh Pro, shaders, and Google's UPM situation
• Swap Heroes — Amit's game, go download it, leave a review (constructive preferred)
• "Your brain is the product"

Time Codes:

• 00:17 – Cold open: what are you playing
• 08:32 – Meet Lior / Warriors Rise to Glory
• 14:33 – The Venn diagram problem
• 15:13 – Localization: the full saga (BiliBili, 20% refunds, one week, illegal font)
• 37:36 – Shark Tank: twice, one rejection, one deal
• 47:52 – The numbers, the aftermath, the pizza
• 1:00:00 – Mobile, burnout, and the end of Gavra Games
• 1:05:37 – Unity upgrades: what always breaks
• 1:15:23 – What's next

Guest: Lior Hadashian