Game Maker's Notebook

Alexa Ray Corriea  chats with  Odd Meter  Studio Director,  Dmitry Svetlow . Together they discuss the development of  INDIKA including the origins and inspirations behind the haunting narrative; how they built the team and what it takes to be part of a small indie studio; their use of juxtaposition between dark and playful imagery; and balancing how much they reveal to the player and which questi...

Adam Orth  chats with Tetris creator  Alexey Pajitnov . Together they discuss his early life with computing and how he first created  Tetris ; his ideas behind real-time versus turn-based puzzle design; ideas he scrapped from early development; distributing  Tetris  outside of the Soviet Union; his work on titles outside of  Tetris  and the pressure his first creation put on his subsequent work; a...

Trent Kusters  chats with  Freehold Games'   Brian Bucklew  and  Jason Grinbalt  about their a science fantasy roguelike,  Caves of Qud . Together they discuss the 17 year development journey to 1.0; developing the engine and systems that drive their game; their thoughts around modular design; balancing bespoke and procedural content; and the personal and professional challenges and lessons they e...

Austin Wintory  chats with Audio Director  Aldo Sampaio , with whom he recently collaborated together with on the newly released  Eternal Strands . They discuss Aldo's journey in game development including his work on the  Assassin's Creed  franchise; what he learned from working in AAA game development; how they came together at  Yellow Brick Games  to create the sound and music for the studios d...

Greg Rice  chats with  James Carbutt  and  Will Todd  from  Coal Supper . Together they discuss growing up in Yorkshire in Northern England, how they first got together and began developing games; what they learned from their early projects; the British influences behind  Thank Goodness You're Here ; and the intricacies of writing humor for video games. This episode is supported by  Xsolla Episode...

Alexa Ray Corriea  chats with  Anne ,  Douglas , and  Nate Austin  from  Worldwalker Games , developers of  Wildermyth . Together they discuss how they started creating games together; the inspirations behind the story and gameplay of  Wildermyth ; how to create iconic and memorable characters in procedural experiences; the differences between writing for procedural generation compared to a tradit...

Alexa Ray Corriea  chats with  Remy Siu  and  Pinki Li  from  Sunset Visitor  to talk about their  D.I.C.E. Award nominated  game,  1000xRESIST . Together they discuss how they met and transitioned from live performance to creating video games; the real life inspirations behind the narrative design; how desperation can lead to great choices; and how theater influenced their approach to game design...

Alexa Ray Corriea  chats with writers  Ashley Poprik  and  Chris Holzworth . Together they discuss how they each started their careers and the titles they've worked on; the pressure of writing on a massively popular and long running franchise like  Call of Duty ; giving every developer the chance to be a storyteller; the differences between writing for single player and multiplayer; and the diffic...

Austin Wintory  chats with  David Garcia , Audio Director at  Ninja Theory . Together they discuss his life growing up in Spain and studying music; his life as a composer and his musical work on games such as  Rime ; how he joined the sound team at  Ninja Theory ; and how they created the haunting audio behind the  Hellblade series. This episode is supported by Xsolla Episode Host: Austin Wintory...

This episode is supported by Xsolla Adam Orth  chats with  Rebecca Ford , Creative Director at  Digital Extremes . Together they discuss how she got started in games and when she first joined  Digital Extremes ; her work with the  Warframe  community; her transition into the Creative Director role and thoughts on leadership; lessons you can learn by acknowledging failure; and the long history of ...

This episode is supported by Xsolla Jun Shen Chia  chats with  Brian Kwek , founder and owner of boutique indie publisher  Ysbryd Games . Together they discuss their catalog of games such as  VA-11 HALL-A  and  World of Horror , as well as the upcoming  Love Eternal ; the challenges and strategies they employ to reach potential customers; the importance of attending trade shows; how they work toge...

This episode is supported by Xsolla Austin Wintory  chats with composer  Piotr Musial . Together they discuss his career including his multiple collaborations with  11bit Studios  from  This War of Mine  to the  Frostpunk  series; the differences between dynamic and linear scores; working with live orchestras and unique instruments; and how the increase in scale from  This War of Mine  to  Frostpu...

This episode is supported by Xsolla Adam Orth  chats with CEO & Co-Owner of  IO Interactive ,  Hakan Abrak . Together they discuss Hakan's journey in games; the history and future of the  Hitman series; their unique approach to live service in single player games; how they're preparing for a post-pandemic development environment; and their upcoming projects in the 007 universe and their own origin...

This episode is supported by Xsolla Trent Kusters  chats with Creative Leader and Author  Fawzi Mesmar . Together they discuss his career in games from mobile to AAA; the lessons he's learned along the way and how he applies them in his current leadership role; and the ideas he explores in his upcoming book,  Demystifying Creativity On Originality in Game Development   including his concept of cre...

This episode is supported by Xsolla Trent Kusters  chats with  Marco Minoli , Director of Publishing at  Slitherine . Together they discuss the world of licensing in video games; the benefits and opportunities that can be found; how deals are structured; how to collaborate with license holders; and then explore Slitherine's catalogue of games from consumer facing war games to war simulations used...

This episode is supported by Xsolla Trent Kusters  chats with  Balatro  creator  LocalThunk . Together they discuss the early titles he created with his friends; the inspirations that led to  Balatro ; his ideas around design and balance; how real life experiences influenced the Joker designs; and the steps he's taking to ensure  Balatro is never conflated with gambling. If you enjoyed this episod...

This episode is supported by Xsolla Trent Kusters  chats with President of  The Behemoth ,  John Baez . Together they discuss  The Behemoth's  20+ year journey as an indie studio; their breakout hit during the early days of Xbox Live Arcade in  Castle Crashers ; how that success propelled them forward as a studio; the importance of trade shows for developing the relationship with their community;...

This episode is supported by Xsolla Austin Wintory  chats with composer  Kenny Young . Together they discuss his career featuring several collaborations with  Media Molecule  on the  Little Big Planet  and  Tearaway franchises all the way to his latest project,  Team Asobi's  galactic trek across  PlayStation  history,  Astro Bot . If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving us a  rating...

This episode is supported by Xsolla Chris Charla  chats with industry veteran  Jen MacLean . Together they discuss her journey in the games industry; what she's learned at each studio she's been a part of; the importance of the first hour in games; and what she thinks developers have to focus on to capture the attention of Gen Z and Gen Alpha. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving u...

This episode is supported by  Xsolla Alexa Ray Corriea  chats with  Abby Howard  and  Tony Howard-Arias  from  Black Tabby Games , developers of  Slay the Princess . Together they discuss their backgrounds in graphic novels before moving into games; how they approached writing for a game with many possible narrative choices; the technical hurdles they had to overcome; and the different ways that ...

This episode is supported by  Xsolla Trent Kusters  chats with Maria Cornelius, the Chief Product Officer for  HELLDIVERS™ 2  developer  Arrowhead Game Studios . Together they discuss her life outside of games at  Spotify   and how she found herself at  Paradox Interactive  and then to  Arrowhead ; the profound impact mentoring programs have had on her career; the development of  HELLDIVERS™ 2 ; t...

This episode is supported by  Xsolla Alexa Ray Corriea  chats with  Final Fantasy VII  actor  Briana White . Together they discuss the casting process and how she originally auditioned for both Tifa and Aerith; respecting the original Japanese performance by Maaya Sakamoto; how localization transforms the creative process; how she dealt with insecurity and imposter syndrome ahead of her performanc...

This episode is supported by  Xsolla Adam Orth  chats with  Dom Matthews , Studio Head of  Senua's Saga: Hellblade II  developer  Ninja Theory . Together they discuss the history of  Ninja Theory  as a studio and the unique DNA found in their games; their mission of crafting life changing art with game changing tech; avoiding making games for "everyone" and finding their audience; becoming a part...

This episode is supported by  Xsolla Trent Kusters  chats with  Derek Yu ,  Jon Perry , and  Eirik Suhrke . Together they discuss how they collaborated along with other legendary indie developers to brainstorm the 50 games found in the retro-inspired collection,  UFO 50 ; how important it was to have a core vision for each game, the creative decisions they made to fit within the limitations of the...

This episode is supported by  Xsolla Adam Orth  chats with  Tim Willits , Chief Creative Officer at  Saber Interactive . Together they discuss Tim's long tenure at  id Software  and his work on the  Quake  series; why after 23 years he decided to leave and join  Saber ; the development of  Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 ; the importance of "finding the fun" early; the creation of the swarm techn...