games industry insights - devcom podcast: Recent Episodes
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The devcom Podcast on spotify, Apple Podcasts and other common audio platforms features exclusive interviews with experts from the global games industry. Hosted by Lars Janssen.
Working in the games industry is a dream for many. But such a dream can quickly become a burden. If the pressure at work isn't already hard enough, living in a pandemic is an additional burden. It is therefore particularly important to recognize the first signs of mental illness. Our host Lars Jansen talks about this with Andy Barker and Brian Cooley from Mind Fitness.
Today it is really easy to release a game. But the number of competitors is immense and you need attention to sell your game. So good PR is important. In this episode Liana Murphy, Chief Operating Officer at Vicarious PR, joins us and we talk about PR for video games and about the changes that take place.
Most of you will probably remember your first VR moment – but the challenge often lies in getting people back after the initial “wow factor”.
Alex Silkin, Co-Founder and CTO at Survios, has been working in the field of virtual reality for about a decade and has certainly helped to push the boundaries of what’s possible, thereby defining the VR experiences of today.
Alex and our host Lars Janssen will take a look at the evolution of VR hardware and what game designers have learned in recent years, so you can take away some valuable insights for your own VR project or simply feed your curiosity.
There’s a controversial set of topics everyone – not only in the games industry – seems to be talking about at the moment: blockchain, crypto, and NFTs. Oftentimes using all these terms synonymously, some think it’s going to revolutionize our industry, others condemn it as the biggest plague since the beginning of time. As always, reality is more complex than black or white, so we thought it makes senses to lift the curtain a little and take a look behind the scenes. I’ll be talking to two guests from the German online games company CipSoft today – Stephan Vogler and Ben Zuckerer, both Managing Directors at the company. They have recently done some substantial work with blockchain technology and can shed some light on the topic to help us understand the value for gaming as well as the boundaries
In this episode of "devcom podcast" our host Lars (he/him) welcomes Pauliina Törnqvist (she/her). Pauliina is producer for one of the biggest franchise in the gaming industry, "Call of Duty". She talks about her journey through the industry starting from her home country Finland over Germany to USA and give us some insights about her colourful history in the industry.
Code Coven is the first global games industry accelerator for underrepresented talent. Equality, diversity, and inclusion is embedded into their DNA. With Tara Mustapha (She/Her) and Karla Reyes (She/Her), Lars (He/Him) talks about what Code Coven offers to help marginalized developers succeed through the structured programs and further initiatives they offer. We also take a look at some exemplary stories of people they supported over the years.
Jess Mulligan and Don Daglow are online games pioneers with a combined total experience of over 80 years in making games. They both helped shape our industry as we know it today and in this special episode in advance of our devcom Developer Conference 2021, we talk about why they can call themselves "true citizens of online gaming". We take a look at their personal journeys and how online games in general and player expectations in particular have evolved over the past decades.
Mimimi Games at its core has been around for more than 10 years and is well-known for titles like Shadow Tactics or Desperados III. They recently won the German Computer Games Award for Best Studio 2021. In this episode, Founder & Managing Director Johannes Roth gives us some insights into the studio's journey and what they learned over the years to now be in a position to self-publish their latest project codenamed "Sweet Potato".
In this episode, we welcome Thomas Bidaux, CEO at ICO Partners. In a conversation with our host Lars Janssen, he shares his thoughts about the current state of crowdfunding and self-publishing. What has changed over the past few years? What do you need to know if you want to get your game funded? How do you self-publish within the current ecosystem?
00:00:00 Welcome 00:00:33 Introducing Thomas Bidaux 00:06:26 Moving from developing to coaching/consulting 00:09:52 What changed in crowdfunding 00:18:39 The importance of presentation in a crowdfunding campaign 00:28:02 Self-publishing is not scary (when is it the right thing?) 00:36:07 The new role of a publisher 00:40:35 Increase your chances to get a publisher 00:47:04 The perfect platform for your game 00:50:00 It's all about influencers?! 00:53:10 Create a perfect company culture 01:03:46 Changes in hiring after the pandemic 01:11:09 Working as a board member for Women in Games 01:14:34 Goodbye
Shaun Rutland is the CEO and Co-Founder of Hutch Games Ltd. After more than five years working for PlayStation at Sony, he left the company to found his own. In this episode, our host Lars Janssen talks with Shaun about the risks and the challenges of setting up a new company and making the switch from being a developer to becoming a CEO.
In this episode, our host Lars Janssen talks to Gerard Whelan, David O´Connor and Christian Fonnesbech from Leverage about building brands and IPs for games – an important aspect of game development that sometimes gets ignored. Our guests will share some insights into the differences between a brand and an IP and why they are especially important for a indie studios.
00:00:00 Welcome 00:00:40 Introduction of the Leverage team 00:06:16 Why is building an IP so important? 00:13:53 The difference between a brand and an IP 00:18:12 Bringing the process to developers and the associated challenges 00:22:50 Creativity that helps build a brand 00:27:08 Experience with hiring a brand agency 00:33:29 Definition of a brand 00:39:41 The luck trap 00:41:49 An IP needs a character 00:45:26 How can a small indie developer build a brand? 00:52:17 Moving from brand to IP 00:59:36 Goodbye
This special episode is part of the "devcom Tech & tools Summit" and we have a full house. Lars welcomes Tanya X. Short (Captain of Kitfox Games), Andrzej Wójcicki (Adavio.it), Christoffer Holmgård (CEO of modl.ai) and Niels Justesen (AI Researcher at modl.ai). The perfect round to talk about AI and how it can be used in video games. They also dive into the research process and tell us a bit about the "Bot Bowl", a competition where you can submit bots that compete in the board game "Blood Bowl".
In this episode, our host Lars Janssen welcomes two guests: Siggi Árnason, the founder of VIBE Mobile, a new music platform that allows you to create your musical identity through sound and visuals without the requirement of a musical background whatsoever, and Dr. Lyubomyr Matsekh, Business Development Manager for ELEKS and Project Manager for various projects like the Center of Entrepreneurship at the University of Reutlingen. With both guests, Lars talks about gamification, leadership, Serious Games, and entrepreneurship.
Today, our host Lars Janssen welcomes Robin Gray. Robin is the Co-Founder of Gray Jones Media, a fast growing LGBTQ media company that produces high-quality LGBTQ content via TV, online magazines, podcasts, and live events. They talk about the idea behind this company and about Robin's other important projects like the work as an ambassador for "Safe In Our World".
In this episode of the devcom podcast, our host Lars Janssen welcomes Gundolf S. Freyermuth and Björn Bartholdy, two key people behind the success of the Cologne Game Lab. The institute has just celebrated its 10th anniversary and we take a look at the history and how the team managed to build the Cologne Game Lab into one of the most renowned places of teaching and research in the games industry. They won the "Best Serious Game"-Award with their game "Welten der Werkstoffe" at the "Der deutsche Computerspielpreis" in 2021.
00:00:15 Welcome 00:00:58 Introduction of Gundolf Freyermuth and Bjoern Bartholdy 00:02:48 Founding the Cologne Game Lab 00:07:01 Convincing the investors 00:08:57 Getting students for a new program 00:10:54 Moving forward with the bachelor program 00:14:29 The accessment process 00:17:01 The different programs 00:18:22 The diversity at the Cologne Game Lab 00:24:25 Entrepeneurship 00:30:19 Research projects 00:41:36 Eliminating the boundaries 00:45:20 The "Clash of Realities" Conference 00:51:30 A look into the future 00:54:59 Goodbye
In our latest episode of the devcom podcast, our host Lars Janssen welcomes Uri Marchand, CEO and Co-Founder of Overwolf. Overwolf is the leading platform for in-game apps and mods. Uri and Lars are talking about how it all started in 2010, the main idea behind the platform, how it has evolved in recent years, and the role of user-generated content in general.
In this episode of the devcom podcast, our host Lars speaks with Chris Cataldi, Co-Founder and COO at Genvid Technologies. Chris offers us a view into the techniques and development of interactive streaming. He also shares some insights into their massive interactive live event "Rival Peak" that just finished its first season on Facebook. So, let's dive into an interesting conversation about viewer participation and AI-driven games.
00:00:15 Welcome 00:00:50 Introduction Chris Cataldi 00:03:13 Talking about Genvid the importance of interactive streaming 00:06:55 The Level of interaction for players 00:12:29 The possibilties and challenges of the live play experience 00:17:55 Influence into the game 00:26:10 Talking about the technology 00:38:40 Rival Peak and the next steps 01:02:02 The connection between AI driven games and classic games 01:14:25 Goodbye
In this episode of "devcom podcast", Lars talks to Matias Myllyrinne, CEO at Redhill Games. Matias originally started in the games industry with little experience at Remedy in 1999, moving on to Wargaming and then, in 2018, founded his own studio. He talks about his journey, why you would risk a safe job and move to video games, and how to lead through difficult situations like, for instance, a global pandemic.
- 00:00:00 Welcome
- 00:01:03 Introduction and spelling the Name Myllyrin
- 00:03:05 How to get in the videogame business and founding Red Hill Games
- 00:08:30 Why risk a safe job and how to convince Remedy to get this job with no experience
- 00:14:10 Treat a team fair as a leader
- 00:20:05 Did the pandemic change your way to lead?
- 00:30:20 How to handle the loss of direct human to human interaction
- 00:35:14 The role of a CEO in a shaping culture 00:43:00 Create a safe space for everyone
- 00:48:49 The role of diversity and different backgrounds in a team
- 01:00:15 Finding the right talent for the company
- 01:07:26 Goodbye
Safe in our World is an organisation that creates and foster worldwide mental health awareness within the video game industry. About this important topic our host Lars Janssen speaks with Ellie Osili-Wood, a video games presenter and journalist, and has been named as one of the most influential women in gaming. She is one of the patrons. Patrons are vital to the charity, and help define our output and leverage support from within the industry. And Samantha Ebelthite, country manager for UK&I at Electronic Arts.
Also part of this cast is Matt Murphy, CEO of Genba Digital and one of the nine trustees of Safe in our World. The Trustees of Safe in Our World are a responsible group of leaders dedicated to management and administration.
Devcom podcast presents you a special episode with our host Lars Janssen. Today we welcome Felicia Prehn to talk about "decades of managing divers communities". With over 17 years of experience Felicia gives as a lot of insights into community management. Felicia is also the keynote speaker of the "call for change conferece".
00:00:15 - Welcome 00:01:11 - Introduction Felica Prehn 00:02:49 - Becoming as a non-estonian a estonian radio host 00:07:53 - What did you learned as beeing a community manager 00:10:05 - Managing different communities 00:14:20 - How to: don´t loose your sanity - Part 1 00:16:51 - Several ways of handling toxic community members 00:21:41 - How to: don´t loose your sanity - Part 2 00:24:47 - Recognizing warning signs 00:30:10 - The right time to intervine 00:40:02 - The difference of games communities 00:46:05 - Mixing the parts of a producer and a community manager in a project 00:47:42 - The imporatance of community management as a part of the game developing 00:53:45 - Building up a international community management team 01:01:47 - The pace of change 01:05:08 - Good bye
Jens Begemann is the co-founder of Wooga. In this episode of "devcom podcast" he gives us an overview of the importance of a healthy company culture and creating a safe working environment for everyone.
- 00:00:00 Welcome
- 00:00:23 Introduction of Jens Begemann and Wooga
- 00:02:11 Why did you sell your successful company?
- 00:11:26 Looking for new roles
- 00:13:05 The importance of company culture
- 00:15:50 Handing over the culture
- 00:19:06 How do you deal with a crisis like covid-19
- 00:23:51 Cotribute to climate change as a company
- 00:28:40 A welcoming and safe environment for minorities
- 00:32:25 Creating social responsibilty
- 00:42:02 Success factors in F2P
- 00:53:28 Trends in the Market
- 00:59:38 The importance of community and events
- 01:02:44 Goodbye
In todays episode of "devcom podcast" our hosts Lars and Nico speaks to David Bateson and Mark Estdale. Mark is a british sound engineer and voice director and David
is the legendary voice of Agent47 from the Hitman Series. Both give us a deep overview in the voice and sound production for a videogame. With a longtime experience in the business they share some imporant informations for young developers. So listen carefully.
- 00:00:00 Welcome
- 00:00:52 Introduction David Bates
- 00:03:12 Introduction Mark Estdale
- 00:08:35 The perfect way to record lines
- 00:20:55 They Journey as Agent47
- 00:26:39 The impressive amount of dialog in a videogame
- 00:29:05 Did the process of recording changed?
- 00:39:15 A missing dog!
- 00:39:42 Moving wit the process of recording
- 00:44:59 Finding new sounds
- 00:50:04 Difference between voice acting for games or films
- 01:01:13 The appriaction of a game
- 01:04:00 Tips for recording and voice acting
- 01:08:57 Quote Trivia (Put that cookie down!)
- 01:33:58 Goodbye
Todays guest Prof. Odile Limpach has over 25 years experience in this industry. She is co-founder of spielfrabrique and professor at the Cologne Game Lab for Economics and Entrepreneurship. With our host Lars she speaks about her move from a big studio to founding her own company and the possibilities to publish as and Indie-Studio.
Your game is ready! So what´s next? The launch, but how? and how does anyone notice it? In this episode of "devcom podcast" our host Lars Janssen speaks with Christian Pern. He is the Chief Marketing Officer of InnoGames. He has a lot of experience in release and mareket a video game and shares some of his insights like shares and revenues.
In this Episode of "devcom podcast" our host Lars Janssen speaks with Johanna Janiszewski. Together with her husband she founded in 2016 her studio Tiny Crocodile Studios in Berlin. Their debut game "Monkey Swag" received the "Best Kid Award" at the "Deutscher Computerspiel Preis" in 2018. Johanna talks about founding a Indie-Studio, creating games and offer other services like coaching to survive as a small studio.
With Teut Weidemann we welcome a real veteran of the German games industry. He was part of one of the first German game studios, Rainbow Arts, and worked for companies like Microsoft and Ubisoft. For more than a decade he has been the expert in F2P Games. In this episode of "devcom podcast" he gives us some insights into the F2P Market.
- 00:00:00 Welcome
- 00:00:41 Introduction of Teut Weidemann
- 00:03:00 Falling in Love with F2P
- 00:07:05 Success of F2P and leaving P2W aside
- 00:09:33 The concequenses of a Paywall and their alternatives
- 00:12:11 Creating a successfull F2P-Game
- 00:15:20 White spots in the Market - Product Positioning
- 00:22:21 What should you focus on?
- 00:28:26 Track everything you need, but how?
- 00:32:15 Form a new title and create a second hit
- 00:37:50 Do´s and dont´s about Moneytization
- 00:47:07 From traditional to F2P game development
- 00:58:40 F2P of Next Generation Consoles
- 01:02:30 Goodbye
With Astrid Mie Refstrup we speak to the co-founder of Triple Topping Games studio Astrid shares with us her stories about building up a small studio and finding the perfect team, providing everyone with a safe working environment. We also take a closer look at Kowloon Nights, a worldwide video game fund for developers.
- 00:00:00 Welcome
- 00:00:33 Indroduction Astrid
- 00:03:13 Finding the right company name
- 00:04:35 Building up a company with a safe environment
- 00:08:35 Speaking about policies
- 00:12:34 Approching new people for the company
- 00:15:31 Finding the perfect team size
- 00:16:52 Uploading the employe handbook (link)
- 00:18:07 Getting ideas and inspirations for the working culture
- 00:21:33 Talking about the new game Welcome to Elk
- 00:25:41 Trigger Emotions in a game
- 00:28:37 Talking about Kowloon Nights
- 00:31:26 How work the funding in Kowloon Nights
- 00:33:04 Pitch a game to Kowloon Nights
- 00:36:11 Translate between investors and developer
- 00:38:55 Good advice for publishing
- 00:43:35 Goodbye
Christopher Schmitz has a long time experience in the video games industry. Starting in the Demoscene his history looks like the who is who of the business like Blue Byte, Quantic Dream, IO Interactive, EA Ghost Games and now Remedy. As a COO (Chief Operating Officer) his last project was the well received title Control. In our newest epsiode of "devcom podcast" our host Lars Janssen speaks with Christopher about alignment of teams and also how to change from office work to remote. Not only in the times of a pandemic but also for the future of a digital business.
We proudly welcome Reneé Gittins. Reneé is the Executive Director of the IGDA (the International Game Developers Association) and CEO of Stumbling Cat, creator of “Potions: A Curious Tale”. Our host, Lars Janssen, chats with Reneé about the importance of diversity and inclusion. She shares her experience in what companies can do to create a safe environment for everyone, and also how to handle difficult situations.
- 00:00:00 Welcome
- 00:00:39 Introducing Reneé Gittins
- 00:02:26 The State of the Industry
- 00:06:26 Building an open minded team
- 00:09:14 Hiring new teammembers
- 00:12:05 How to deal with harassement and toxic behaviors
- 00:19:34 Increasing the level of psychological safety
- 00:22:11 How did the pandemic affected the games industry?
- 00:25:33 What need people learn to provide good leadership
- 00:27:12 The work of the IGDA
- 00:32:57 The loose of the social contact in these times
- 00:35:57 What kind of groups is affected the most by covid?
- 00:39:45 Is there a way back after the pandemic?
- 00:44:17 Talking about the game developer crisis conference and webinar series
- 00:48:23 Reneé talks about her way into the games industry
- 01:00:07 Goodbye
Moleman 4 is a documentary about game developement in hungary right within the cold war. An unknown fact is that many ames for the Commodore 64 were developed by Novatrade in Hungary. Szilárd Matusik made a documentary about this time and revealed some interesting facts. In this episode of ""devcom podcast" our host Lars Janssen talks about the documentary and how it was to develop a game behind the iron curtain.
- 00:00:00 Welcome
- 00:01:11 Introduction Szilárd Matusik
- 00:02:23 Remembering the first gaming experience
- 00:04:05 Making a documentary about gaming history
- 00:09:37 How game development starts in hungary in the 80s
- 00:18:07 Reverse engineer the hardware
- 00:22:36 The structure of the teams
- 00:29:35 Creative ways in developing
- 00:31:48 How game development evolved
- 00:36:51 Pitching games to Nintendo
- 00:41:00 Developers on fire
- 00:42:41 Why Novatrade vanished
- 00:48:07 Hungarin game developers today
- 00:51:44 How to support the work Szilárd Matusik
- 00:53:24 Goodbye
In our newest episode of "devcom podcast" our host Lars Janssen welcomes Kate Edwards (Executive Director of the Global Game Jam). With Kate we speak about her career and how to start as a geographer for Microsoft Encarta and becoming an expert for culturalization, cartography and cultural sensitivities in video games. Also we get some special insights about the different markets and how to success in an unkown territory.
- 00:00:00 Welcome
- 00:00:43 Introduction Kate Edwards
- 00:05:13 The state of the industry
- 00:12:39 What other industries can learn from us
- 00:17:10 Feeling empathy in Video Games
- 00:20:28 Bringing games to different markets
- 00:29:58 Working with local teams
- 00:36:00 Inclusion in a company
- 00:40:20 Tranformation of the gaming industry
- 00:45:05 The passion of making games
- 00:50:22 What do we all need to learn to lead this industry to a better future
- 00:56:22 How to discover und set up structures against toxic behaviors
- 01:04:10 Talk about the online harassment hotline
- 01:08:26 Handle the different political stands
- 01:16:30 Goodbye
In this new episode of our "devcom podcast" our host Lars Janssen speaks to Mikka Luotio. Mikka has over 15 years exeperience in building and leading teams in Business development, Game production, Marketing, Product management & Partnership relations and is now Senior Business Development Manager at Xsolla in Berlin. Mika talks about the challenges and opportunities of developing games for different platforms.
00:00:00 Welcome 00:01:22 Introduction Mikka Luotio 00:05:05 How does the mobile market evolves in the last decade 00:15:07 Will Plattforms like Apple and Google open up more? 00:20:38 The challenges of working with crossplay 00:25:52 How Xsolla help independent studios 00:28:10 Bringing games to multiple plattforms 00:33:23 Do more developers focus on crossplay and can small studios keep up? 00:37:12 Be competitive with a new game 00:41:54 The imporantance of influencers on different plattforms 00:45:35 the biggest challenge for publishers 00:50:13 Goodbye
In our latest episode of "devcom podcast" our host Lars Janssen welcomes Philomena Schwab. Philomena is a Swiss game developer, co-founder of Stray Fawn game studio and a board member of the Swiss Game Developers Association. She tells us about her experiences in founding a small studio in Switzerland as well as the power of good community management. You can take a closer look at the studio in their dev diary.
- 00:00:00 Welcome
- 00:00:42 Introduction of Philomena Schwab
- 00:01:28 The swiss game hub
- 00:03:04 Getting developers to switzerland
- 00:05:29 Swiss industry assosiation
- 00:08:04 Build and lead your own studio
- 00:11:06 Community-Building as an Indie-Studio
- 00:16:38 Keys for a successful crowdfunding campaign
- 00:20:25 Interacting with the community
- 00:24:53 Talking about the new Game "The wandering village"
- 00:31:46 Multiple roles in a small team
- 00:35:56 Entry roles in the business
- 00:40:40 Organize an indie studio
- 00:44:35 F2P or Freemium?
- 00:51:05 Is self publishing the right way for indies?
- 01:00:24 The importance of getting vocal
- 01:08:05 Goodbye
Right from the outset, music has been a vital part of video games. From chiptunes to the first orchestral recording, music has always enhanced the entire feel of games. A soundtrack can make the difference between a good game and an epic experience. In this episode of "devcom podcast", our hosts Lars Janssen and Nico Balletta welcome composer Gareth Coker. He is well known for his scores for Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps.
Gareth gives us some insights into the work of a composer of video games music. How does it compare to composing a movie soundtrack? How important is it for the composer to play the game, and how do indie studios benefit from early engagement of an audio specialist?
Content:
- 00:00:00 Welcome
- 00:00:59 Introduction Gareth Coker
- 00:05:04 How does a videogame composer work
- 00:10:02 Get the composer to your project
- 00:18:12 Is it neccessary to play the game
- 00:23:20 Working with Indies
- 00:32:15 Creating memorable moments
- 01:02:20 Finding the right tone
- 01:08:40 Personal favorite moments in videogames
- 01:13:30 How does a pandemic change the view on working
- 01:19:07 Creating diversity
- 01:29:25 Getting Inspiration
- 01:38:15 The personal signature
- 01:41:02 Goodbye
This is the rerelease of the first episode of "devcom podcast". Our host Lars Janssen welcomes the top management tier of Intellivision Entertainment: legendary videogames composer and CEO, Tommy Tallarico; renowned game developer and board member David Perry; Xbox veteran and the company’s global MD, J Allard, and their President of European Operations, Hans Ippisch.
They talk about how they pooled their experience to release the new family home video game console Amico (Italian for “friend”). Their idea is to bring families together again in front of the TV to enjoy easily accessible games. What brings this team together? What is the vision behind Amico and how do developers benefit from this?
Content:
00:00:00 Welcome 00:01:14 The Vision of Amico 00:11:20 Building the Games 00:18:30 Supporting the developer 00:30:15 How to bring the Amico to the People 00:34:10 Building an experience 00:39:18 Who buys Videogames? 00:44:59 Easy access is the key 00:53:27 Talking about the Amico games 01:07:39 Finding the perfect audience 01:20:35 Family friendly brands 01:28:50 Looking into the future 01:34:50 Working for Intellivision 01:40:33 The Passion 01:47:44 Goodbye
Growing up in the 80s was almost fantastic in western europe. Access to new electronic devices and growing up with computers and consoles. But behind the iron curtain that is a different story. Lars speaks with Andrada Fiscutean and Jaroslav Švelch how it was to design games and get access to computers in eastern europe. They speak about building computer clones and creating games against the regime.
00:00:15 Welcome 00:01:28 Introduction Andrada Fiscutean 00:03:11 Introduction Jaroslav Svelch 00:05:11 Work at computers in the 80s behind the iron curtain? 00:08:56 Getting a computer 00:14:41 How to get the knowledge to build computers? 00:18:36 Meeting other computer fans 00:20:31 sharing knowledge with other countries 00:23:37 Game developing behind the iron curtain 00:28:41 Does the society recognise this scene? 00:31:38 Getting a job 00:33:21 Games againts the regime and bringing that back 00:37:21 What kind of role did games play back then? 00:40:41 What happend after the fall of the iron curtain? 00:46:59 Talking about the actual situation for game developers in eastern europe 00:50:56 Goodbye Play "Indiana Jones in Wenceslas Square" Order the Book "Gaming the Iron Curtain" from Jaroslav Švelch