GameDev Breakdown

Indie accelerator GTR's director of business development calls in to discuss his time as a pro eSports competitor, his transition into the business of making and publishing games, and what indies need to know about marketing themselves, attracting funding and business partners, and more. Show links Pontus on Twitter  Global Top Round G.Round --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/gamedevbreakdown/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gamedevbreakdown/support

To celebrate the life of community rockstar Abel Wang, we revisit our 2018 discussion with him at GDC joined by Microsoft cloud advocate Jessica Deen. Show links Support Girls Who Code in memoriam --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/gamedevbreakdown/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gamedevbreakdown/support

Buildbox CEO, Jonathan Zweig, and Design SVP, Doug Manson, call in to address questions about the company, its game development products and services, and concerns raised in the development community about recent revenue changes for developers. Show links CodeWritePlay coverage - Buildbox to claim up to 70% of user revenue soon CodeWritePlay coverage - Our 5 unanswered questions for Buildbox* Buildbox.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/gamedevbreakdown/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gamedevbreakdown/support

Susanna Pollack calls in as Games For Change kicks off its 18th annual festival exploring the impact of games on education, healthcare, research, civics, and social issues. Festival highlights Nsé Ufot (New Georgia Project) - The Grassroots Game: New Media for Voter Engagement Josh Shen (State Dept) - Can Governments Help Grow the Gaming Community? Jenny Wu (Understood - festival’s support of accessibility and usability) - Raising Good Gamers: Youth, Safety, and Diversity John Hanke (Niantic) - Keynote - Building Real World Communities with Niantic Katie Salen (RGG) - Well-Played / Raising Good Gamers: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at 3 Families’ Experience in Minecraft Show links GamesForChange.org G4C on Twitter G4C on Facebook The Games For Change Newsletter --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/gamedevbreakdown/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gamedevbreakdown/support

3D Generalist Rik Oclon calls in to discuss his project Retro Space Ball, how he navigated a huge debacle with a major games publisher (and received no payment), and he gives us some great data about his player base as well as some insight into his marketing and community management research. Support our sponsors This show was sponsored by Appfigures! Appfigures is all about giving game makers the tools they need to reduce risk and get more downloads. To find out more, head to https://appfigures.com/on/GameDevBreakdown to try Appfigures for free. If you like it, use our special code GDB3030 to get 30% off for the next 3 months. Show links Retro Space Ball on itch.io Dodge People VR on itch.io RikOclon.com @RikOclon on Twitter --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/gamedevbreakdown/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gamedevbreakdown/support

Luis Alonso of Recombobulator Games calls in to walk us through his experiences contributing to series like Need For Speed and Mass Effect--or if you prefer, Hannah Montana and VeggieTales--before going indie with his wife (accomplished writer Michelle Franklin) to realize a creative vision that's stayed with him since childhood. Show links Space Boat on Steam Recombobulator Games Luis Alonso / Space Boat on Twitter --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/gamedevbreakdown/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gamedevbreakdown/support

Todd promotes--and in one case, absolutely does not promote--his new book, Inside Video Game Creation, in three more chats with industry podcast hosts at Moonlight Game Devs, What Else Do You Do?, and GamerHeads. Show links Inside Video Game Creation on Amazon  The Moonlight Game Devs podcast The What Else Do You Do? podcast The GamerHeads podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/gamedevbreakdown/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gamedevbreakdown/support

Sebastian Deken calls in to discuss his book, Final Fantasy VI from Boss Fight Books, and how his musical background led to his unique approach in covering the game. We go over the Final Fantasy series' history in the US and how the games have progressed over time. There is almost no gotcha journalism. If you're already a fan of the Boss Fight Books series, you know that each author tends to bring a unique approach to their installment. Some books revolve around deeply personal stories while others are a result of incredibly thorough investigative journalism. In Final Fantasy VI, Deken introduces yet another approach: a music-first exploration of one of the most popular RPGs of all time. Deken brings the perspective of a well-studied professional musician to the challenge of capturing what makes Final Fantasy's metronome tick, and he's been reflecting on the magic of the third/sixth installment (we refresh this timeline in the episode) since the day fate placed a knowledgeable toy store sales associate in his

Adam Fligsten of Silen Audio calls in to discuss his process, his projects, and his path into music and audio composition for TV, film, and games. His credits include Marvel vs. Capcom, Saturday Night Live, NBC Olympics, and much, much more. I think that people put these tools on a pedestal and they shouldn't. It should be accessible to everybody...- Adam Fligsten Adam Fligsten has been composing music for decades. After working in the music industry in both New York and Los Angeles, he's leveraging his incredible resume including tons of highly visible work in TV and film to get more heavily involved in video game sound design and composition. While Adam is presently under a number of NDAs, his recent contribution to the Marvel vs. Capcom series suggests that, once again, he's making a beeline for the coolest projects around. When the pandemic kept most of us in isolation, he turned to Twitch where he streamed the entire process of composing Ceres Station, a Super Metroid tribute album. Make no mistake: Sile

Tactic Studios developer and CEO, Jesse Attard (BioShock, BioShock 2, Street Fighter II: Champion Edition (2006)), calls in for a podcast chat about the studio's new Portal-style puzzle adventure game, Claire de Lune. We discuss his transition from major AAA teams to heading up an indie studio, parenting at publish time, best pandemic home office purchases, and more. A "Fantastic" Transition to Indie Development It's difficult to imagine a triple-A veteran more optimistic than Jesse Attard. Since 2005, he's contributed to major projects at Ubisoft, Capcom, and Digital Extremes, putting him in the right places at the right times to work on everything from old flip phone games up to the BioShock series and even a late port of Street Fighter II. You'd be right to anticipate a story about burnout and the evisceration of hope in a notoriously brutal industry, yet Attard simply describes the move to indie development as a nice change of pace. "Oh, it's fantastic. It's great. I love doing it," Attard says about the

Christopher Arnold of Crowned Daemon Studios calls in to talk about the studio's mental health-focused game, Syntherapy, the inspiration behind its development, and its reception in the community. Crowned Daemon Studios wants to guide you through an exploration of therapy and mental health issues unique from just about any other. Its visual novel adventure game, Syntherapy, places you (a therapist) in charge of the diagnosis and treatment of an artificial intelligence in a story with over 30 possible endings. This is not your average visual novel; Crowned Daemon leveraged publisher support to put together a fully voice-acted experience, and the sense of dramatic immersion is real. While you'll interact with an artificial patient in the game, the story's influence is both real and personal. "A lot of it's just personal history," says Arnold. "This actually started as sort of a cathartic exercise of sort of externalizing thoughts and feelings and things that I was trying to figure out in a format where I could

Jonathan Ovadia of AEXLAB calls in to discuss the progress and the story behind the studio's upcoming virtual reality multiplayer competitive shooter, VAIL. He shares insight into a relatively new funding model for games, his team's vision for a connected, persistent VR experience, and more. AEXLAB aims to bring competitive multiplayer tactical gunplay to VR Jonathan Ovadia has been playing video games all of his life. What started as a love of Pokémon and other classic video games has resulted in his co-founding and leading AEXLAB, a virtual reality technologies and game studio. AEXLAB is currently aiming to bring the quality and polish of shooters like Halo, Call of Duty, and Counter-Strike to VR to create a truly immersive competitive multiplayer experience, and he wants to work with other gamers to do it. The team funded VAIL VR out-of-pocket for years before seeking external funding and, eventually, allowing members of the game's community to become direct investors in the game. Since that time, AEXLAB h

The Inside Video Game Creation virtual book tour continues with a segment for the always-entertaining Podcast vs Player podcast crew. We discuss the book, unusual interview experiences, balance and sacrifice in the industry, and more. Show Notes and Links Podcast vs Player on the web @PODCASTvPlayer on Twitter Inside Video Game Creation on Amazon --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/gamedevbreakdown/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gamedevbreakdown/support

Todd appears on Carl Leducq's podcast, Zero to Play, to discuss his new book, Inside Video Game Creation, indie game development, trends in the game industry, and more. Show Notes and Links The Zero to Play podcast Carl Leducq on Twitter Inside Video Game Creation on Amazon Full Audio Show https://open.spotify.com/show/13V48s0adPvEQRHHKPUU13 Full Video Show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O89IVmOd7R0 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/gamedevbreakdown/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gamedevbreakdown/support

At long last, Todd's Q&A interview book is out! Inside Video Game Creation: Development Experts Share Their Stories at Amazon. Ratings and reviews are greatly appreciated! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/gamedevbreakdown/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gamedevbreakdown/support

Accomplished writer Michelle Franklin of Recombobulator Games calls in to discuss cats, floods, and Space Boat, a shiny upcoming narrative adventure game being developed by a team of triple-A industry survivors with credits on Mass Effect 3, DeadSpace 2, Hannah Montana, and more. Michelle Franklin, Recombobulator Games, and Space Boat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw3lYYQVoBo Recombobulator Games on Twitter Recombobulator.ca Space Boat - Episode 1 on Steam Michelle Franklin on Twitter If you enjoy GameDev Breakdown Sign up for our free game dev newsletter! Subscribe to the podcast on the platform of your choice Follow us on Twitter: @GameDevPod, @CodeWritePlay, @Mechatodzilla Check show notes and articles at CodeWritePlay.com Join us on Discord! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/gamedevbreakdown/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gamedevbreakdown/support

Welcome to GDC Showcase week! This is your first podcast check-in from the event. Hear about the sessions so far, including great chats with the legendary Warren Spector and Sucker Punch Productions co-founder Brian Fleming, then get tips for the event and what to keep an eye on for the rest of the week! If you enjoy GameDev Breakdown Sign up for our free game dev newsletter! Subscribe to the podcast on the platform of your choice Follow us on Twitter: @GameDevPod, @CodeWritePlay, @Mechatodzilla, Check show notes and articles at CodeWritePlay.com Join us on Discord! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/gamedevbreakdown/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gamedevbreakdown/support

It's difficult pitching yourself and what you have to offer, but it's important that you're able to do it when you need to. In this episode, hear about some of the most common mistakes that even the pros make when pitching, and what you can do to stand apart. Support our sponsors This show was brought to you in part by Silen Media! Silen Media knows game audio, and they’re ready to connect with you about your work-in-progress! You can book a free game audio strategy session at SilenMedia.com/booking. If you enjoy GameDev Breakdown Sign up for our free game dev newsletter! Subscribe to the podcast on the platform of your choice Follow us on Twitter: @GameDevPod, @CodeWritePlay, @Mechatodzilla Check show notes and articles at CodeWritePlay.com  Join us on Discord! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/gamedevbreakdown/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gamedevbreakdown/support

Twitch streamer and friend of the show Matt Hill returns to talk workplace antics and exit strategies. Support our sponsors This show was sponsored by Silen Media! Silen Media knows game audio, and they’re ready to connect with you about your work-in-progress! You can book a free game audio strategy session at SilenMedia.com/booking. Show Notes Matt Hill streams a variety of great games on Twitch. I drop in to chat and to play every time I'm able. Come hang out. Matt's on Twitter @OHC_MrDay If you enjoy GameDev Breakdown Sign up for our free game dev newsletter! Subscribe to the podcast on the platform of your choice Follow us on Twitter: @GameDevPod, @CodeWritePlay, @Mechatodzilla Check show notes and articles at CodeWritePlay.com Join us on Discord! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/gamedevbreakdown/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gamedevbreakdown/support

Friend of the show Viktor from Blue Pin Studio calls in to discuss how different the Steam launch experience has become, how the pandemic allowed him to chase his dream with a friend, a glimpse into the world of watch repair, and Fable speed runs. Show Notes You can check out Eggnog Incorporated by Blue Pin Studio in the Steam store. Blue Pin Studio posts news and updates under @BluePinStudio1 on Twitter. If you enjoy GameDev Breakdown Sign up for our free game dev newsletter!  Subscribe to the podcast on the platform of your choice  Follow us on Twitter: @GameDevPod, @CodeWritePlay, @Mechatodzilla  Check show notes and articles at CodeWritePlay.com  Join us on Discord! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/gamedevbreakdown/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gamedevbreakdown/support