Game Maker's Notebook

Ted Price chats with New World Game Director, Scot Lane . Together they discuss how he and Amazon Games designed the various systems from crafting to combat; lessons they learned from building a such a massive game; how their team handles the live content pipeline; how they analyze internal and external feedback to make key decisions; and his advice for other developers working on live service gam...

Trent Kusters chats with Gregorios Kythreotis (Creative Director, Shedworks ) and Martin Kvale (Sound Designer) about their 2021 game collaboration, Sable . Together they discuss how Gregorios and his business partner Daniel Fineberg started their development studio Shedworks ; how the idea for Sable  developed; brining in Martin to design the audio; working together with Michelle Zauner of Japane...

Ted Price chats with Bungie's Luke Smith . Together they discuss the Destiny Universe; designing repeatable gameplay for live services; balancing a massive experience like Destiny  for veterans and new players; ensuring a player friendly experience; and how live service experiences can benefit the games industry as a whole.  Listen to this episode now or watch on YouTube

Chris Charla chats with Andrew Shouldice, the game developer and designer behind Tunic. Together they discuss his journey into game development and the decision to go indie; the influences behind Tunic; the pressure of debuting your first project; the joy of mystery and discovery; and building a world full of secrets.  To watch this episode, visit our YouTube channel.

Xalavier Nelson Jr. chats with writer and content creator Alanah Pearce . Together they discuss how her love of writing and video games began; creating content across a variety of mediums; getting her start in game development; cleared misconceptions after leaving media and joining development teams; and the importance of creating accessible games for all people and her venture the Video Game Acce...

Trent Kusters chats with ManaVoid Entertainment's Christopher Chancey . Together they discuss designing an RPG without traditional combat in Rainbow Billy: The Curse of the Leviathan ; tackling difficult subjects in video games; the delicate nature of creating games suitable for children; and about his work with Indie Asylum and the burgeoning Montréal  development scene.  Watch this episode on ou...

Corey May speaks with the Oliver Lewin and Graham Parkes , two of the developers behind Before Your Eyes . Together they discuss how they created the blinking mechanic in game jams; the process of "learning by doing and learning by failing"; the technical and narrative challenges that arose from the game's central mechanic; and their experience releasing their first title to wide acclaim including...

Austin Wintory chats with Jeff van Dyck , the composer and sound designer behind 2021's indie hit, Unpacking. Together they discuss how Unpacking features over 14,000 individual sound effects; how the interactivity of games lead the Foley and music design process; how the transition from midi to linear recording affected audio workflows; and his journey in the games industry working on titles like...

Austin Wintory chats with Maclaine Diemer , one of the composers behind ArenaNet's long-running MMO, Guild Wars . Together they discuss his insightful presentation at GDC 2022 ; his career path from sound design to composing music; and the importance understanding nuance when creating music that references foreign cultures while also being open to having tough discussions about appropriation. Watc...

Trent Kusters (Co-Founder and Studio Director of League of Geeks ) chats with Wren Brier and Tim Dawson , two of the developers behind the indie hit Unpacking . Together they discuss their journeys into game development; how the idea for Unpacking came about; important milestones during development; how clever marketing helped keep their game in the gaming zeitgeist; and important lessons they lea...

At the 2022 D.I.C.E. Summit , Austin Wintory chats with actor Maggie Robertson . Together they discuss her journey into acting and landing the role of Lady Dimitrescu in Capcom's Resident Evil Village ; the ins and outs of voice acting and performance capture; and the incredible fandom that sprung around the vampire countess before the game was even released.

At the 2022 D.I.C.E. Summit , Austin Wintory chats with Philp Eriksson , Lead Sound Designer at Hazelight . Together they discuss his transition from music into game development; the incredible challenge of designing all the audio for the various worlds and themes of It Takes Two ; and what steps the team took in order to tackle such a tremendous project. Philip Eriksson is the Lead Sound Designer...

Ted Price chats with Shannon Loftis , the retiring VP of Microsoft's Xbox Game Studios and Studio Head of World's Edge Studio. Together they look back on her long and prestigious career; her thoughts on leadership including advice for new leaders of large development teams; examples of initiatives Microsoft has implemented to foster diversity; and her thoughts on the future of the games industry....

Robin Hunicke chats with Tyler Sigman , Co-Founder of Red Hook Studios . Together they discuss his journey into board games and video games; his start making table top games; his first steps into video game design; the difficulties of navigating funding for an indie studio in an emerging market; and the decisions that led to founding Red Hook Studios  with  Chris Bourassa . Tyler Sigman is one of...

Ted Price chats with Dinga Bakaba , the director behind the critically acclaimed Deathloop . Dinga shares his unique journey into game development; getting team buy-in for difficult development decisions; understanding the why and how of player decision-making in games; the connections between game themes and the impact they have on our real life; and why representation is important in games and w...

Ted Price chats with Jean-François Dugas and Mary DeMarle from Eidos-Montréal . Together they discuss the development of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy including the challenges of developing a unique characterization for each Guardian; how they managed to weave together story, dialogue, and gameplay; the evolution of the combat mechanics; and the amazing soundtrack including the development of t...

Robin Hunicke chats with the duo behind Unsighted , Studio Pixel Punk's Tiani Pixel and Fernanda Dias . Together they discuss their journey leading up to developing their first game; the challenges of game development in the emerging Brazilian game dev scene; what inspired the look and feel of Unsighted ; and the importance of diverse viewpoints in games.  Unsighted  is the first game by Studio Pi...

Austin Wintory chats with audio engineer, architect, and programmer  Buzz Burrowes . Together they discuss his early career at Sony, developing many tools and techniques still used in game audio as well as his recent work in exploring interactivity with music in games like FUSER . Buzz Burrowes is currently an Audio System Architect at Epic Games , which recently acquired Harmonix Music Systems wh...

Robin Hunicke chats with Art Director Lisette Titre-Montgomery of Double Fine Productions. Together they discuss her career trajectory into video games; advocating for a work-life balance; navigating sensitive complex issues in Psychonauts 2 ; how art and gameplay influence each other during development; and her work with  Gameheads , a Game Development Accelerator program for Oakland youth. Liset...

Austin Wintory chats with composer and sound designer Martin Stig Andersen . Together they discuss his thought process behind designing the music behind the intense action packed scenes of Back 4 Blood ; how much his classical music background informs his current work; his work on Playdead 's LIMBO  and INSIDE ; and his performance work outside of video games. Martin Stig Andersen is a composer an...

Ted Price chats with brothers Mike and Josh Grier, co-founders of Ember Lab who developed the recently released Kena: Bridge of Spirits . Together they discuss Ember Lab's genesis in the advertising and film industries; their transition into game development; Kena's mechanics and design; Ember Lab's studio culture; and ways for the games industry to increase diversity.  Together, Mike and Josh fou...

Brought to you by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, the 24th Annual #DICEAwards is an annual awards celebration by game makers for game makers, honoring the games that connect us around the globe. These awards honor our fellow creators and the very best in interactive entertainment. Listen to our extended roundtable conversations from the 24th Annual #DICEAwards, moderated by Spawn on Me...

Brought to you by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, the 24th Annual #DICEAwards is an annual awards celebration by game makers for game makers, honoring the games that connect us around the globe. These awards honor our fellow creators and the very best in interactive entertainment. Listen to the nominees for the 24th Annual #DICEAwards Fighting Game of the Year chat with one another in...

Austin Wintory chats with audio director, Eduardo Vaisman. Together they discuss his journey from film to video games; their focus on authenticity when designing the audio for the fictional island nation of Yara for Far Cry 6 ; integrating the score and music to give the locale a distinct feel; and how his own experiences growing up in Argentina helped define his artistic viewpoint. Eduardo Vaisma...

Brought to you by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, the 24th Annual #DICEAwards is an annual awards celebration by game makers for game makers, honoring the games that connect us around the globe. These awards honor our fellow creators and the very best in interactive entertainment. Listen to our extended roundtable conversations from the 24th Annual #DICEAwards, moderated by Spawn on Me...