Game Maker's Notebook

Trent Kusters and tinyBuild CEO Alex Nichiporchik revisit Alex's presentation from D.I.C.E. Barcelona 2022 where he discussed "Development Under Siege," the efforts tinyBuild went through to evacuate their development staff leading up to and during the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces. tinyBuild had over 180 developers across both Ukraine and Russia, and Alex details the mass mobilization efforts they undertook to get their employees to safety and the challenges they faced along the way. Listen to the full episode here or watch on our Youtube channel. This episode is sponsored by FusionAuth. For more information, go to FusionAuth.io/game.

Josh Sawyer, Game Director at Obsidian Entertainment, discusses his career in game development, including pitching a 16th-century murder mystery game, creating historical detail and references, and having fun with fonts.

Mike Salyh and Wyatt Bushnell, Co-Founders of Coin Crew Games, discuss developing Escape Academy, translating physical escape rooms into a video game, their early experiences with games, starting their own company, the inclusive nature of their game, and upcoming updates for Escape Academy. They also share their love for kebabs.

Austin Wintory chats with composer duo The Flight, Joe Henson and Alexis Smith. They discuss their journey into game development, the advantages of working together, creating fresh content in an established franchise, composition and continuity in Horizon Forbidden West, and the challenges of composing music for video games.

Trent Kusters chats with Massive Monster's Julian Wilton. Together they discuss developing the smash indie hit Cult of the Lamb; Julian's early work on Newgrounds; how local government funding kickstarted the establishment of Massive Monster; how the pitching process with Devolver manifested; and developing a title from the ground up with marketing at the forefront. Watch this episode on our Youtube channel.

Ron Gilbert and Dave Grossman, creators of the Monkey Island series, discuss their journey into game development, developing the series at LucasArts, balancing the old and new in Return to Monkey Island, and tackling controversial endings.

Tara Saunders and Stuart Whyte, Co-Studio Heads at PlayStation London Studio, discuss studio culture, team well-being, and embracing diversity. They explore the evolution of the studio, establishing and maintaining studio values, empowerment and accountability, moving from content creators to leaders, the importance of diversity in the gaming industry, and advice for entering a leadership position.

Sam Barlow, Game Director at Half Mermaid, talks about his career in the gaming industry, working on the Silent Hill franchise, and his decision to go indie. They discuss the challenges and experiences that led to his first indie project, creating games that require a full film crew, and the design of his newest title Immortality.

We're on a break from new content this week, but check out one of our past episodes with recent GMN host, Chris Charla of ID@Xbox! Originally released in Nov 11, 2019, Chris Charla joins Ted Price at the past D.I.C.E. Dubrovnik conference. Chris discusses his journey from journalism to game development, his work overseeing Xbox's independent projects, challenges facing independent developers, opportunities available for independents in today's development environment, and his thoughts on the future of games. Chris Charla is best known for leading ID@Xbox and now ID Productions, where he oversees the independent publishing program for Xbox One and Windows.

Adam Boyes and Chelsea Blasko, Co-CEOs of Iron Galaxy, discuss their roles, collaborating with founder Dave Lang, creating a safe work environment, and focusing on employee quality of life. They emphasize the importance of teamwork, selecting vendors, and unconventional career growth in the game industry.