Approved baseline
- Milestone
- First playable co-op mission
- Goal
- Prove the two-player mission loop.
- Definition of done
- Two players can join, complete the ten-minute mission, and finish the boss encounter at the agreed performance target.
Milestone baselines and change tracking for game-production leaders
Every plan drifts. Know exactly how, when, and why.
Every change made sense at the time. Twelve of them later, nobody can say how the plan got here. DriftWarden holds the baseline everyone agreed to and tracks what moved against it, so you can see what's really left and fix it while there's still time.
No confidential document required - we will use a sample milestone.
Founding-studio rate: $99/month - five spots - founder-led onboarding
FIRST PLAYABLEReview approaching
Approved
Baseline
Current
4 playersFinal FX−1 week
3 CHANGESDefinition of done moved
Decision neededWhy the plan moves and no one can say how
Three reasonable changes. A different definition of done.
Each request looked manageable on its own. Together, they changed what the team was expected to deliver.
What changed
- A stakeholder asks to demonstrate four-player support.
- The team agrees to bring the boss arena effects closer to final quality.
- An external backend test environment arrives one week late.
What it means at review
- Scope expanded.
- The quality bar moved.
- Integration and testing time contracted.
Decision requiredProduction now needs to accept the added risk, defer a request, or formally rebaseline. Do that in week five and it's a scope conversation. Wait until the review and it's a negotiation over what was originally agreed, with acceptance and the payment behind it on the line.
From agreement to what happens next
Keep the milestone's history as clear as its current state.
- 1
Agree on what 'done' means
- Build a milestone in DriftWarden or import an existing plan.
- AI surfaces ambiguity, incomplete acceptance criteria, unresolved assumptions, and readiness questions.
- The producer reviews every suggestion before anything changes.
- 2
Lock what was agreed
- Create a fixed reference when the milestone is agreed.
- Keep current planning moving without erasing the original commitment.
- Give reviewers a stable baseline for later comparison.
- 3
Track what changed — and why
- Bring in later decisions, notes, and relevant excerpts.
- Confirm meaningful drift and its impact.
- See what the remaining plan actually looks like now.
- See unresolved risks and decisions before the review.
What you can answer
Answer the questions before anyone has to ask them.
Bring the approved baseline, change history, and current readiness picture into the same conversation instead of reconstructing the milestone from scattered evidence. That helps at the review. It helps more in week nine, when you can still act on it.
- What did we agree to?
- What changed, and why?
- What threatens acceptance?
- What decision is needed next?
- Given all of it, does the remaining plan still ship?
Works with your current system
Keep your task tracker. Add the milestone system of record.
Jira and ShotGrid manage work. Planning documents describe the milestone. Chat and meeting notes capture decisions.
DriftWarden sits above those systems as the milestone record: what the team agreed to deliver, how that agreement changed, why the changes mattered, and what that means for the work that's left.
It is not another backlog, sprint-management system, or resource-planning tool.
AI and data handling
AI assists. Producers decide.
DriftWarden uses AI to help map imported plans, challenge ambiguity, surface possible risks, identify potential drift, and raise readiness questions.
Nothing becomes a confirmed plan update or drift entry without user review.- Names and custom terms can be redacted before AI-assisted processing.
- AI findings are suggestions, not approvals or contractual interpretations.
- Original uploaded files are deleted after processing. Information you review and intentionally save remains in the workspace under the published retention terms.
Five early-access studios
Bring a clearer record to your next milestone review.
Use DriftWarden on real milestone work with founder-led onboarding and first-project support—and help shape where the product goes next.
Founding-studio rate: $99/month, locked for as long as you stay subscribed.
Five founding studios join at this rate. Pricing will be higher for studios who join after.
Request a walkthroughFounding Studio access includes:
- DriftWarden product access
- Founder-led onboarding and first-project setup
- Direct product support
- Direct feedback and influence over early priorities
- Your $99/month rate, locked for as long as you stay subscribed
The best fit is a production leader who owns or reviews real milestone commitments.
Co-development and work-for-hire studios use it to know which change is worth pushing back on, and to make the case for a scope or staffing change before it comes out of the margin.
Core teams and publisher-funded studios use the same baseline and change history to see whether the remaining plan still reaches a ship date.
Externally reviewed milestones are the initial focus; high-stakes internal milestones fit the same way.
A request starts a conversation. You will not be asked to upload a confidential document before we talk.
Founder
Built from firsthand game-production experience.
DriftWarden was created by Shawn Ketcherside, a production leader with more than 25 years across AAA, new IP, MMOs, co-development, and live/mobile games, including work with BioWare/EA, Bethesda Game Studios Austin, Playful Studios, PeopleFun, and Wildcard Alliance.
His shipped work includes Star Wars: The Old Republic, DOOM (2016) multiplayer, Super Lucky's Tale, and Wordscapes. He came up through engineering, into design, then into production, so he didn't arrive at this problem from the outside. DriftWarden grew from a pattern he hit again and again: teams could always show what the milestone looked like today, but not how it got there. Every replan started from memory and hope.
Connect with Shawn on LinkedInQuestions
Common questions
Does DriftWarden replace Jira, ShotGrid, Notion, or Confluence?
No. DriftWarden complements the tools that manage tasks, schedules, documents, and communication.
It preserves the milestone baseline, records consequential changes, and supports readiness review.
Won't the baseline become obsolete when the plan changes?
The baseline is not an old plan the team must return to. It is the fixed reference used to understand how the plan evolved.
Plans should change. The baseline keeps that change visible.
Do I need to share a real milestone document for a demo?
No. The standard demo uses a realistic synthetic milestone, meeting notes, and chat excerpts.
Testing one of your own documents later is optional.
Is this for building a case against a partner?
No. The record is useful that way, but that's a byproduct. The point is to know how the plan moved while you can still do something about it — re-scope, re-staff, or re-baseline before the date does it for you. Most of the value shows up in week nine, not at the review.
Is DriftWarden only for external client milestones?
No — but externally reviewed milestones are the strongest initial use case. Co-dev and work-for-hire studios use the baseline and change history to decide when a change is worth pushing back on. Studios shipping their own titles use the same record to adjust roadmap and schedule and stay on track to ship — and to hold their co-dev partners to a shared, agreed baseline.
Does AI change the milestone automatically?
No. AI can identify ambiguity, suggest improvements, and surface possible drift. A user must review and confirm every change added to the milestone record.
Is DriftWarden fully launched?
Not yet. DriftWarden is entering a limited paid early-access period.
Early participants should expect the product to evolve and will have a direct opportunity to influence it.
Will the price go up after early access?
Yes. The five founding studios join at $99/month and keep that rate for as long as they stay subscribed. Pricing will be higher for studios who join after the founding cohort.
Still time to steer
Know how the plan moved — while you can still change what's left.
Go into the review already knowing what was agreed, what changed, and why, instead of scrambling to reconstruct it. Better yet, know it in week nine, when re-scoping is still a decision instead of an apology.
Five founding-studio spots - $99/month, locked for as long as you stay subscribed - founder-led onboarding