The Gaming Community with Jon Pilon
Jon Pilon | Senior Advisor, Product Management | Ontario, Canada
Originally Published: April 10, 2025
I have a bit of a unique career journey getting to Dell. After graduating, I got my first job working in IT for a game studio making Facebook and Mobile HTML5 games. After that, I worked as an IT project manager for a fitness company. While working there, I still had a passion for gaming and decided to start a podcast with the Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages, which I managed for several years. One of the show’s listeners happened to work for Alienware at the time, and when a job opened on the Alienware team, they suggested I apply. During the interview process, the position for Alienware Arena Community Manager opened, and my interviewing manager felt I would be perfect for that role instead. Fast forward three years, and I’m still here! Goes to show how important networking is!
Working with all the different teams tied to Alienware is by far one of my favorite aspects of my role at Dell. Every single person on the Alienware team is brilliant and passionate about the work they do and I’m incredibly lucky to be in a role that works directly with so many of them.
Jon P.
Senior Advisor, Product Management
What is your favorite game?
This is a hard question… The first video game I remember loving was SimFarm back on our old Intel 486, but the first game I truly fell in love with was The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. The game was just so massive and felt like you could do anything you wanted in it. I spent many, many hours just exploring the world and finding new things to do, which felt truly magical and like you were transported to a whole new world. Even now, over 20 years later, I’ll still go back, boot up the game, and discover places I’ve never seen before.
What’s a key skill you would say you have that helps you thrive in gaming?
I would say that communication skills and empathy are two of the most important skills when working in gaming. You need to be able to gather a wide range of feedback and distill it into actionable items to share with internal teams. Additionally, you need to take the vast amount of technical information we have and find ways to communicate it back to the community effectively. Empathy is the other key skill because there are often a lot of critical comments and conversations in the community. You need to understand where people are coming from and what they’re asking for, even when it isn’t always clear.
Tell us about the gaming community. What makes gamers – gamers?
This is an interesting question and has a lot of nuances that I think are often overlooked. The only thing that really makes someone a gamer is that they like to play games! That’s all it is. It doesn’t matter if you enjoy incredibly difficult games like Dark Souls or Elden Ring that challenge you, or if you prefer games that let you escape the real world and relax, like Hello Kitty Island Adventure. As community managers, it’s tempting to see the gaming community as one monolithic group, but in reality, it’s one of the most diverse audiences out there. The challenge is remembering that there are many different playstyles and needs that we need to accommodate when we work with them.
Where do you see the future of gaming desktops heading in the next five years?
I think we are going to see a big trend in customization and increased personalization. We’re starting to see it now where your PC setup has become more of an expression of yourself and your interests rather than just a tool to play games. Many gamers want their desktops to reflect that, including me!
Can you share any memorable feedback from gamers who use your products?
One of the big pieces of feedback we have heard over the past few years is that gamers love the Alienware desktops but want to be able to upgrade them and keep their cases for longer. This feedback culminated in our recently launched Area-51 Desktop, and I’m very excited to see how the community reacts once they start to get their hands on them.
How do you stay updated with latest trends in the industry?
The best part of working in gaming is that the things I’m passionate about in my spare time are also the things I get to do at work! I follow many social accounts about the industry and stay up to date with tech websites and blogs. Additionally, working with Product Group allows me to talk to people who work directly on new and innovative projects and see what they’re doing firsthand!
What advice do you have for aspiring product managers in the gaming industry?
Listen to your feedback, but don’t fall into the trap of thinking that the loudest feedback you hear represents the majority opinion. In community management, one of the major pitfalls we see is that a small but vocal minority can often overwhelm the community and make it seem like everyone only cares about that one topic. You need to make sure you’re doing research and gathering data beyond just listening to anecdotes from individuals. Those anecdotes are still valuable, though, and often the best starting point to try to understand the broader community opinions.
What work are you most proud of?
There are so many things I’m proud of from my time here, from growing our Alienware Arena community to 12 million members to being a part of numerous product launches. One of my most exciting recent projects was launching our new Alienware Nexus program. This initiative allows existing fans of Alienware who own our systems and create content to partner with us so we can help them grow their channels. It’s been very exciting to see it take off already!
What is the most challenging part of your job?
Sometimes things don’t go as planned, or issues arise. Working in community management, you’re right on the front lines of those issues and are often the first point of contact for those affected. As a result, you can often bear the brunt of any negative feedback from frustrated customers. It's important to remind yourself that they’re very passionate and while they may not be providing feedback in the most effective way, at the end of the day, that passion comes from gamers who care about their Alienware systems and want the best possible experience.
What is your favorite part of your day?
I love the times when I get out of meetings and can spend time directly engaging with the community. Hearing their thoughts on the industry as a whole or seeing specifically what they love about our products and what they would like to see us do in the future.
Why Dell?
Every single person that I work with across multiple teams is incredibly talented and passionate about their work. After three years here, I still wake up excited to go to work each day and see what new things I will get to do. As well, having leaders who support you and actively care about your career growth is such a special thing here. I genuinely feel like my thoughts and opinions are listened to, and taken into consideration, which is why I love working at Dell.
To learn more about Alienware, read Jonathan's story next.
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