The Game Dev Show

We are nearing the end of season 1, but wanted to go out on a special episode. For our last guested episode of Season 1, we are joined by Marty O'Donnell who is, of course, the brilliant composer behind the Halo Trilogy music (stick around for Luke's rendition of the chanting... it's... something...). We talk about Marty's excellent friend, Sir Paul McCartney, Flintstone Vitamins, how to create art that is emotionally resonant without being derivative, and Marty leaves us with the advice to "Do the work and make friends." 

We are so thrilled to host Mike Wilson from Devolver this week! Mike is an absolute Games Industry godperson. He takes Luke and Kaley through his history in the Industry, including insider knowledge of John Romero's glasses through the ages. Mike has made a path for himself by being the bridge between creativity and business. Enjoy an hour of a cat daddy hanging with a guinea pig daddy! 

Our week 29 guest is THE Producer from Moon Studios, Blazej! Luke and Kaley talk about Blazej's career transition from telecom to games industry producer and how he has found success, how to navigate outsourcing art, and the alternate careers Blazej considered when he knew he was leaving telecom. Plus Kaley reveals her love of Blackberry... and this was recorded weeks before Blackberry got popular again thanks to Reddit. 

Our legend of a guest this week is Kassi O'Connor from Glu Mobile. Kassi has spent well over a decade in the industry carving out a niche for herself as the bridge between internal and external development. Beyond having the most positive energy of any guest we've ever had, Kassi is a wealth of knowledge about how to best incorporate external partners into your development process. We talk about how Machine Learning will impact external dev, XDS, excel hacks, and Kassi's days as a competitive Marion Kart player. Kassi is a true 'force for good' in the industry and a great guest. It's worth noting that the audio is a little spotty at times on this episode (the joys of recording at home), but we wanted to make sure it still got out as the content is so great. Enjoy! 

Our week 27 guest is Mike Rose from No More Robots who talks to us about his unique perspective on Indie Publishing, games Marketing and PR, game reviews, why he founded No More Robots, and even the Beanie Baby Battle game that started it all. Enjoy! 

Part 2 with Rami Ismail! If you haven't listened to part one yet, go back and start there (episode 25), and then join us back here for everything in Rami's journey post-Vlambeer. We talk about his process to become GDC ambassador, what he has misses during the pandemic, how he sees his role in the industry today, and the day he ate a fermented egg in China.  We wanted to start the year with this special 2 part episode in hopes that everything Rami shares will give you hope and inspiration for the new year. Onwards and upwards 2021!

We're starting 2021 with a special two part episode with the incredible Rami Ismail.  Rami has been such an influential part of the games industry from when he founded Vlambeer to becoming a GDC ambassador, to his current work in emerging territories.  For this week, we are hitting you with part one where Rami talks to Luke and Kaley about his early life and how growing up between two cultures led to him finding a home in games. He tells us about the cookie mutiny he staged in Kindergarten and how that spirit is still alive in his work today. We will be back next week with part two of our interview with Rami to talk about the current portion of his journey in the industry. For now, enjoy the absolute legend Rami Ismail. 

We wanted to end this incredibly challenging year with some special content, so for this week we are featuring Dr. Mick Donegan from Special Effect; Special Effect is a UK-based Non Profit Organization dedicated to making sure that everyone can access play. They put fun and inclusion back into the lives of people with physical disabilities by helping them to play video games. "By using technology ranging from modified joypads to eye-control, we're finding a way for people to play to the very best of their abilities. But we're not just doing it for fun. By levelling the playing field, we're bringing families and friends together and having a profoundly positive impact on therapy, confidence and rehabilitation." Dr. Mick was an incredible guest, there are tears and laughs on this episode. If you want to know more about Special Effect or support their incredible work, please visit their website Helping people with disabilities to enjoy video games | SpecialEffect 

Our Cyberpunk 2077 theme continues this week with Jacquie Shriver Sladeck from SIDE who is our week 23 guest. Jacquie has been working in games VO since it's infancy and has truly been a pioneer in her field.  Jacquie takes us through her journey in the industry- from listening to Nathan Drake's efforts for 6 weeks, to maintaining audio studio delivery continuity during a pandemic, all the way through to SIDE's role in Cyberpunk 2077.  Jacquie also talks about what it means to bring her own creative energy to a project while still maintaining the original meaning of a game and what it actually takes to delivery great games dialogue.  Thanks for being our guest Jacquie! 

Cherami Leigh is our week 22 guest and she talks to us about what it meant to  provide the Female Voice of V on Cyberpunk 2077. Cherami has an incredible dossier of work including voicing Gaige on Borderlands 2, Niya on World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, and WLF Militia on Last of Us: Part II. We talk about what it took to voice V (it may not be exactly what you think), how she and Gavin (male V voice actor) worked together,  and V even speaks on the podcast for a bit.  Plus, Kaley and Cherami agree to do crimes post-COVID, Cherami tells us about her time on Walker Texas Ranger, and  Barney the purple dinosaur. 

Episode 20 features AJ Grand Scratton from Dlala Studios. We talk about his incredible beard, the advantages of having a Chief Dog Officer, what it's like to work with a sibling (AJ refuses to be Kaley's big brother), annoying marketing people, and what it was like to found a studio at a young age. AJ and Kaley chat about The Magic School Bus and how The Frizz still influences them, Luke refuses to spend 21 days in a van with Kaley, and AJ signs on to launch the newest, hottest Cousin Podcast on the market- Just Cuz. 

Our week nineteen guest is Shelby Moledina Co-founder, COO, and Game Director of Double Loop games. We talk about why creativity needs parameter (and accidently slam Star Citizen... sorry Chris Roberts), and emotional engagement with games. Shelby and Luke get to chat about the fact that they share the same favorite game and Kaley gets to thoroughly discuss Oregon Trail with Shelby (and why her sim family getting dysentery was more fun that it sounds). Enjoy! 

Jess Lebow from uGen is our guest for week 18 and he is an absolute delight. Not only is he the Founder and Chief Design Architect at uGen, he is a marathoner and beer-brewer extraordinaire. Jess started his career at Wizards of the Coast and we talk about how it is simultaneously hard and rewarding  to work on an IP that has such a dedicated fan base, and Kaley shares her personal mantra, "Even Taylor Swift has critics..." Jess gives tips for creative leadership and we discuss why creativity needs parameters... also why Luke has pedestrian taste in beer.  

For week 18, Luke and Kaley are thrilled to Host Mark Simmons from Freejam Games. Mark has accomplished incredible things in his time as the founder of Freejam, and we talk about how he has created the Wikipedia of Games, what a producer does (no one knows), and why Mark has gotten to where he is today by being bossy and good at organizing people (his words).  We rehash Luke's utter inability to play scary games and dive into Marks journey in the industry- from him having the best job during university of all time to his time at Mythos and Climax, and finally founding Freejam. 

Our Guest for week 17 is the incredible Robert Bäckström from Limit Break. We talk about how the punk music scene influenced his work in games, why long winters make for hard workers, and games as art. If you stick around until the end, you get the pleasure of hearing our new signature sign off and why Luke is the King of KFC. Hit us up for Luke's #KFChacks.  Stay crunchy, y 'all. 

Our guest for week 16 is Tanya X Short from Kitfox games. Tanya talks to us about how she keeps her work innovative, how she suggests Indies approach game dev, and how Montreal-based NFP Pixelles has approached retention of gender minorities in games. Kitfox's newest game, Lucifer Within Us just came out on Steam https://store.steampowered.com/app/717560/Lucifer_Within_Us/  and we are already devoting significant hours to developing our skills as a digital exorcist.  

Now that we've made the mold for The Game Dev Show, it's time to break the mold. For week 15, we took on the challenge of interviewing two guests at once. Our guests were Michael Casalino and Maxim Miheyenko from 5518 Studios. We talk about each of their journey within the games industry and how they came together to form 5518. Their vision for what they have built, and how they view their responsibility to their teams is inspiring. Plus they have an incredible business partnership based on mutual respect and admiration. It was a joy to speak to them. We also talk about digital events (especially XDS which is coming right up in North America) and the game dev scene in Russia.

Sometimes our episodes linger with us for days after we record them. Episode 14 with Malek Teffaha from Ubisoft MENA is one of those. Malek runs comms, localization, and Esports for Ubisoft MENA. He fills us in on what it means to access the MENA market and how most people get it wrong (hint, it involves using native speakers for localization efforts...). We talk about Star Wars, we talk about our tattoo journeys, we talk about the difference between courage, bravery, and wisdom. Malek also shares which Pokemon most embodies him (and it's a shocker). Hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed making! 

Well, it had to happen at some point. William Barr from Billygoat Entertainment in Belfast is our week 13 guest, and our first guest to just troll Luke and Kaley the entire episode. Despite his resistance to answering a single question, William is a delightful guest who shares his insights gained from his decade plus in the games industry. During his time, he led the team that created Her Majesty's Spiffing and Supermarket Shriek.  As usual, Kaley tries to create a spin-off podcast with the guest and we cover Luke's resistance to all things scary. 

Welcome to week twelve of The Game Dev Show! Our guest this week is Tyler Sigman, one of the creative forces behind Redhook Games and Darkest Dungeon. Beyond talking about the creative process that led him to release this smash hit game, we talk about our individual hair journeys, why Luke is infectiously ginger, and Tyler's journey to being where he is today. Have a listen!

Episode 11 brings us Pasi Pitkanen who is the head of Rovio audio. Pasi dispels the myth that audio is irrelevant to mobile games,  talks to us about his journey to where he is today, and even has a transcendental experience with Kaley talking about the sound of trees. Pasi is a gift to the games industry and an incredible guest. Enjoy! 

Episode ten is here and our guest is Daniel Mesonero from Toadman Interactive. Daniel has worked in so many different regions and countries within the games industry that he has an incredibly wide breadth of knowledge to share. He even helped launch Toadman's Berlin studio and now runs the day to day operations.  Because Daniel knows five languages, we spend a good portion of the episode exploring words and their cultural context. 

Our guest for week nine is the the physicist and founder of Brilliant Skies Nick Smart. Nick has created such an incredible From The Depths is a wildly creative sandbox game.  Game Ramble said, “My jaw almost hit the floor when I installed a few community made vehicle blueprints. The creativity and ingenuity on display was simply incredible [...] there is no doubt that this game is going to be truly epic” We loved talking to Nick about his journey in the industry and how his physics background has impacted the games he creates. The real-life physics and engineering aspects to From The Depths make it hugely unique . Building a submarine in the game mirrors the processes of real life. The basic principles are transferable, so players are actually learning valuable skills whilst playing From The Depths.  Nick shares insights, jokes, and laughs. 

Our Guest for week eight is Katie Goode, who is the co-founder and Creative Director at Cornwall-base VR studio, Triangular Pixels. We talk gender equity in games and Katie breaks down the roots of the disparity for us. Katie also makes the case that parents need better systemic support within the games industry. We also talk VR, living the dream, and why Katie and her husband are the great games industry love story of our modern times. We hope you listen and love this one as much as we do. 

Our guest for episode seven is the philosopher/ Head of Line Production at Focus Home, Xavier Marot. Xavier is a man of many talents, from developing his own project management software, to producing incredible titles, to writing a book at 15. Luke and Kaley firmly establish their partnership as frenemies, and Kaley pitches her alternate title for the podcast. You can learn more about Xavier from his website and also download his free project management software https://xmarot.com/

This week, we were joined by David Ecker who is currently the Lead Producer at CCP where he works on Eve Online. David schooled us on live ops, player-led communities, and Pokemon Go tips and tricks. David has had a long and interesting career, including a time at Disney where he voiced Rock Hopper the Penguin while simultaneously rocking faces off as part of his band, Shreddy Kreuger. We laugh, we cry, we try to get invited to the yearly Eve Online meetup. 

This week, we are joined by Miguel Corti. Miguel has been working in games for a decade and a half. He started in Localization but is now the is Senior Manager, Global Production at Capcom. You may even recognize his voice from Resident Evil. Miguel fills us in on what his life in Japan is like,  how he has seen Localization change over the past 15 years, and even what it was like to be THE Captain Morgan for a time. 

Adam Campbell is our guest this week! Adam is Co-founder of POC in Play and Director of Product at Azoomee  (Europe’s fastest growing kids’s media company). He is also a jury member of the British Academy Film & Television Arts (BAFTA) and an award-winning producer. With a career spanning over a decade in video games, he has an incredible about of knowledge to share. His accolades include; listing on Gamesindustry.biz 100 Future Talent, Game Dev Heroes Awards Shortlist, Dutch Game Award 2014 and was part of a Golden Joystick Award winning team for ‘UK Developer of the Year’. Adam was kind enough to share a lot with us about representation and marginalization in games and the incredible inter-sectional challenges of changing that system. If you want to know more about POC in Play, check out their website https://www.pocplay.org/

For our third episode, we are joined by Rosie Ball! Rosie is a producer at Chucklefish, she has worked in the games industry for nearly a decade, and in that time, worked across disciplines, including art, marketing, branding, and game development. Rosie is a board member of women in games and was named in 2018 as one of the top 100 most influential women in games in the UK. Rosie is multi-award winning and we are thrilled to have her as our guest. We talk about creative process, finding your path within the games industry, and innovation. 

Our guest this week is the absolute legend, IAN LIVINGSTONE! We may have peaked early. We talk Warhammer, Games Workshop, DnD, Fighting Fantasy, Special Effect, and Lara Croft. This episode was a joy to record and we hope it's just as much fun to listen to.  If you want to learn more about the early days of Games Workshop-  1975-1985, Ian is working on a book called Dice Men, find out more here https://unbound.com/books/games-workshop/ 

This is the official launch of The Game Dev Show! We are incredibly excited to share our work telling the stories of the greatest game creators in the world. Our First guest is Andreas Gschwari who is the CCO of Modern Wolf. We talk about how he started playing games, his favorite commodore game, lateral game design, and he asks the question: why are we leaving innovation to the Indies?