Episodes

7 days ago
7 days ago
Former Nexon CEO Owen Mahoney has been on a blogging tear lately, calling out industry execs for boneheaded fad-chasing, breaking down the economics of game development, and, yes, singing the praises of generative AI.
His posts have rumbled across LinkedIn and through the private chats of industry executives. This week, we’re sitting down with Mahoney to ask about what game companies can do to survive the ongoing financial hardship—and press him about his thinking on why genAI is a supposed game-changer for game development.
Read Owen Mahoney’s blog: https://www.owenmahoney.ai/
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The Game Developer podcast is a bi-weekly podcast chronicling game development triumphs, catastrophes, and everything in-between, as devs from all sides of the industry share lessons and strategies fellow game makers can use to hone their craft.
Learn More at https://www.gamedeveloper.com
Follow Game Developer for more game dev Podcasts, News, & Interviews
Bluesky: https://www.gamedeveloper.bsky.social
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gamedeveloperofficial
Music by Mike Meehan
Edited by Pierre Landriau

Friday Nov 21, 2025
GDC Side Quest - Bekah Saltsman breaks down indie biz essentials
Friday Nov 21, 2025
Friday Nov 21, 2025
Welcome to GDC Side Quest, our new monthly podcast project produced in partnership with GDC Festival of Gaming. On this show content marketing manager Beth Elderkin will travel the broader B2B ecosystem of the video game industry, seeking more insights from the many talented individuals who make great games come to life.
In this premiere episode Elderkin quizzes Finji CEO Bekah Saltsman not just about *what* indies need to know to survive the modern marketing landscape.
The GDC Side Quest podcast is a monthly podcast that celebrates and uplifts the entire game ecosystem, showcasing the people who make games thrive and sharing their lessons with the community. Part of the Game Developer podcast, GDC Side Quest is hosted and edited by Beth Elderkin, and features music by Mike Meehan.
Learn more about Finji: https://finji.co/
Learn more about GDC Festival of Gaming: schedule.gdconf.com
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The Game Developer podcast is a bi-weekly podcast chronicling game development triumphs, catastrophes, and everything in-between, as devs from all sides of the industry share lessons and strategies fellow game makers can use to hone their craft.
Learn More at https://www.gamedeveloper.com
Follow Game Developer for more game dev Podcasts, News, & Interviews
Bluesky: https://www.gamedeveloper.bsky.social
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gamedeveloperofficial
Music by Mike Meehan
Edited by Pierre Landriau

Friday Nov 14, 2025
#59 - Creating the card-based RPG Battle Suit Aces
Friday Nov 14, 2025
Friday Nov 14, 2025
And now for some indie game appreciation. This week Trinket Studios’ Tom Eastman and Ben Perez join us to discuss the development of the anime-inspired, card-based role-playing game Battle Suit Aces, with tales of cooking up card games and racing to save their intellectual property from the sinking of Adult Swim Games.
Learn more about Battle Suit Aces: https://battlesuitaces.com/
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The Game Developer podcast is a bi-weekly podcast chronicling game development triumphs, catastrophes, and everything in-between, as devs from all sides of the industry share lessons and strategies fellow game makers can use to hone their craft.
Learn More at https://www.gamedeveloper.com
Follow Game Developer for more game dev Podcasts, News, & Interviews
Bluesky: https://www.gamedeveloper.bsky.social
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gamedeveloperofficial
Music by Mike Meehan
Edited by Pierre Landriau

Friday Oct 31, 2025
Friday Oct 31, 2025
Midwest Games CEO Ben Kvalo—an alumni of 2K Interactive and Netflix—sits down to discuss how “regionalism” can bring developers together from different parts of the industry, and how smaller companies that combine their powers may be a better fit than studios that tackle all ends of development.
Learn more about Midwest Games: https://www.midwestgames.com/
Learn more about the Wisconsin Games Alliance: https://www.wisconsingamesalliance.com/
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The Game Developer podcast is a bi-weekly podcast chronicling game development triumphs, catastrophes, and everything in-between, as devs from all sides of the industry share lessons and strategies fellow game makers can use to hone their craft.
Learn More at https://www.gamedeveloper.com
Follow Game Developer for more game dev Podcasts, News, & Interviews
Bluesky: https://www.gamedeveloper.bsky.social
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gamedeveloperofficial
Music by Mike Meehan
Edited by Pierre Landriau

Friday Oct 17, 2025
#57 - Leadership lessons from Mark Darrah’s days at BioWare
Friday Oct 17, 2025
Friday Oct 17, 2025
Former BioWare executive producer Mark Darrah discusses the complex challenges of leadership in the game industry, reflecting on what worked and what didn’t work during his days at BioWare. Also, what’s up with running his own YouTube channel now that he’s done making titanic role-playing games?
Learn more about Mark Darrah’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkDarrah
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The Game Developer podcast is a bi-weekly podcast chronicling game development triumphs, catastrophes, and everything in-between, as devs from all sides of the industry share lessons and strategies fellow game makers can use to hone their craft.
Learn More at https://www.gamedeveloper.com
Follow Game Developer for more game dev Podcasts, News, & Interviews
Bluesky: https://www.gamedeveloper.bsky.social
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gamedeveloperofficial
Music by Mike Meehan
Edited by Pierre Landriau

Friday Oct 03, 2025
#56 - Spooky MMORPG networking stories from Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2
Friday Oct 03, 2025
Friday Oct 03, 2025
ArenaNet game director Stephen Clarke-Willson and server programmer Robert Neckorcuk discuss the realities of keeping ArenaNet’s Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2 up and running—with some spooky horror stories as well.
Learn more about Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2.
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The Game Developer podcast is a bi-weekly podcast chronicling game development triumphs, catastrophes, and everything in-between, as devs from all sides of the industry share lessons and strategies fellow game makers can use to hone their craft.
Learn More at https://www.gamedeveloper.com
Follow Game Developer for more game dev Podcasts, News, & Interviews
Bluesky: https://www.gamedeveloper.bsky.social
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gamedeveloperofficial
Music by Mike Meehan
Edited by Pierre Landriau

Friday Sep 19, 2025
#55 - Making a gargantuan game like Borderlands 4
Friday Sep 19, 2025
Friday Sep 19, 2025
This week on the Game Developer Podcast, Gearbox creative director Graeme Timmins and global creative executive Andrew Reiner swing by for a chat about what goes into the big picture of making a game like Borderlands 4, the team’s relationship with Unreal Engine 5, and offer their thoughts on Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford’s frequent public posts.
Learn more about Borderlands 4.
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The Game Developer podcast is a bi-weekly podcast chronicling game development triumphs, catastrophes, and everything in-between, as devs from all sides of the industry share lessons and strategies fellow game makers can use to hone their craft.
Learn More at https://www.gamedeveloper.com
Follow Game Developer for more game dev Podcasts, News, & Interviews
Bluesky: https://www.gamedeveloper.bsky.social
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gamedeveloperofficial
Music by Mike Meehan
Edited by Pierre Landriau

Friday Sep 05, 2025
#54 - Digging into the combat design of Cronos: The New Dawn
Friday Sep 05, 2025
Friday Sep 05, 2025
This week on the Game Developer Podcast, Bloober Team lead combat designer Shamil Yanbukhtin and senior game AI programmer Dennis Pauly share insights from making a new kind of survival horror combat system for Cronos: The New Dawn.
Learn more about Cronos: The New Dawn.
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The Game Developer podcast is a bi-weekly podcast chronicling game development triumphs, catastrophes, and everything in-between, as devs from all sides of the industry share lessons and strategies fellow game makers can use to hone their craft.
Learn More at https://www.gamedeveloper.com
Follow Game Developer for more game dev Podcasts, News, & Interviews
Bluesky: https://www.gamedeveloper.bsky.social
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gamedeveloperofficial
Music by Mike Meehan
Edited by Pierre Landriau

