Built a comprehensive retro gaming emulator that shipped to iOS and Android.
Emulator completed Backbone's aggregator mission by bringing retro gaming into the ecosystem. Shipped April 2025, it solved a retention problem—retro gamers had no home in Backbone, yet they represent the exact engagement pattern that drives retention.
I pivoted from a native C++ approach (blocked by GPL licensing) to a WebView-based solution using EmulatorJS, reusing cloud gaming patterns that already felt native. Six UXR cycles refined ROM import and onboarding before launch. The project validated the Labs approach and was the first to ship real production value.