Having opposing views from your team or struggling to communicate with senior leaders and stakeholders are just a couple of common issues game producers have when trying to make changes to improve the game dev process. That's why it's crucial for leaders to understand what it takes to drive change in a positive direction, and to make sure everyone is on board. First up in this episode, senior game dev leader Leslee Sullivant shares her definition of a producer, and how her ideal role lends itsel...
Jun 20, 2023•41 min•Season 2Ep. 39
AI is on the tip of everyone's tongue right now. You've probably seen headlines in the news, on social media, maybe even heard conversations in the workplace. So, what's the big deal with AI, and how does it affect game dev? In this episode of Building Better Games, AI expert Bill Frischling defines AI and what it's currently capable of doing. He also explains the limitations of artificial intelligence, generative AI's completion model, and offers a ton of tips to get started using AI in your da...
Jun 06, 2023•39 min•Season 2Ep. 38
What defines cheating in games? Is it exploiting existing bugs, using automation or macro tools? What about installing third-party mods that unlock special features in the game? Building Better Games is joined by game developer and anti-cheat expert, Paul Chamberlain, on this episode to discuss cheating and creating an anti-cheat strategy. Cheating is inevitable, but there ARE ways to mitigate its effects and keep competitive integrity in games. Paul outlines the importance of understanding your...
May 23, 2023•36 min•Season 2Ep. 37
Things like meetings, reports and team structure are in place to help the game dev process go smoother, and create cohesion among team members. But are these work systems actually having a positive effect? If not, you probably have an alignment issue. In this episode, we dive into this topic and offer tips to build a system that inspires autonomy, creativity, and effective decision making. You'll hear about the benefits of defining goals and sharing this vision with your team, understanding how ...
May 09, 2023•41 min•Season 2Ep. 36
The truth is, most people underestimate how long a task will take. This is especially true in game dev, where new developments and problems are inevitable even with the guidance of a roadmap. During this episode, the hosts of Building Better Games dive into the misuse of roadmaps and 5 key areas leaders should focus on more. We discuss prioritization, rate of discovery, managing expectations of key stakeholders, blindspots like team readiness and more. Our tips will help producers better strateg...
Apr 25, 2023•41 min•Season 2Ep. 35
"It's cheap to have opinions. It's hard to have informed opinions. It's really, really hard to be an expert who's researched something." This episode of Building Better Games concludes our two-part series on Web3, wrapping up our conversation with game dev leaders Susan Cummings and Ryan Scott. Along with hosts Ben and Aaron, they highlight the importance of exploring the value of Web3 for games, including how leaders can stay on top of tech trends while not losing focus of player value. We also...
Apr 11, 2023•39 min•Season 2Ep. 34
Web3 is the next generation of the internet, and it's already having an effect on the gaming industry. There's a lot of opinions floating around, but one thing the hosts of Building Better Games and today's guest can agree on is that player value needs to be leading the conversation. Joining Ben and Aaron on the show today to discuss Web3 is Susan Cummings, CEO of Petaverse, and Ryan Scott, a veteran senior design leader. Susan's experience working in VR and Web3 gives her firsthand knowledge of...
Mar 28, 2023•35 min•Season 2Ep. 33
What does it mean to really drive change? How do you effectively bring up problems with leadership? How do you say no when others want too much from you? What do you do when no one cares about the issues you bring up? Get answers to these questions and MORE in today's episode! In addition, you'll hear our advice on being an active leader, rather than a passive leader that lets problems go unsolved. Plus, expect to learn how you should handle problems at every level, no matter your title. Sometim...
Mar 14, 2023•38 min•Season 2Ep. 32
Choose any issue, and you'll find people with differing perspectives. This is inevitable but yet, in the gaming industry, having an opinion that's not in line with current workplace trends is condemned. But why can there only be one way to do things? Discussing this topic with us today is Joseph Kim, a longtime gamemaker and leader with a resume that includes Sega and Leila Games. He shares his philosophy surrounding the nuances in game development, including modern working methods, work-life ba...
Feb 28, 2023•41 min•Season 2Ep. 31
Game development is defined by creative work, and for leaders, sometimes that means ditching the old framework and coming up with nuanced approaches to common issues. This is especially true when it comes to estimations. During this episode, we'll answer these key questions on this topic: How do you explain estimation to your team, and give them confidence that it's actually useful? How do you know which estimation tools to use in different circumstances? What can you do as a leader when someone...
Feb 14, 2023•39 min•Season 2Ep. 30
If you've listened to episode 21, How not to Lose Your Game Vision on the Altar of "Getting Shit Done," then you've heard us talk about the pressure on teams to rush through the game development process. This is just one problem that arises when game dev leaders try to adopt the system development life cycle method without leaving room for the creativity and flexibility the industry requires. Today, we address the pitfalls of SDLC and the poor assumptions leaders make within it. This episode lay...
Jan 31, 2023•45 min•Season 2Ep. 29
Remote work has completely transformed the way we work on teams and communicate with each other. Leadership still has many of the same responsibilities, but the way they can successfully accomplish them has changed. During this final part of Building Better Games 's series on remote work, you'll learn the necessary skills remote work leaders need to keep company culture at the forefront of an organization's structure. We discuss how producers/leaders in game development can stay in alignment wit...
Jan 10, 2023•40 min•Season 2Ep. 28
If you're like the hosts of Building Better Games , then you thought the proliferation of remote work was temporary. The world has moved into a new era post-pandemic, and it looks like remote work is here to stay. During this episode, a few questions about remote work are discussed, including: Is remote work a right, or a privilege that might need to be earned? What is the function of management in this remote world? How has remote work affected the gaming industry? Remote work is such a controv...
Jan 03, 2023•38 min•Season 2Ep. 27
Does likeability have a lot of value in leadership? How much does setting and enforcing boundaries help you and the organization succeed? What skills are important for leaders to exhibit? Answering all these questions and more is Zach Blitz, a senior director of production at Epic Games and friend of the hosts of Building Better Games. He has experienced leading multiple teams in a large organization, while still keeping his leadership style relationship centric. In this episode, Zach gives exam...
Dec 13, 2022•44 min•Season 2Ep. 26
"I believe that we will make better games by treating game developers better. Game development should be a dream job, but it's not." This quote comes from today's episode with Josiah Kiehl, co-founder and CEO of Sprocket Games. After experiencing his own disappointment with the "myth of the dream job," he teamed with like-minded creators to found a company that's building a strong technology foundation and fostering a culture that supports creativity. During his chat with the hosts of Building B...
Dec 06, 2022•43 min•Season 2Ep. 25
Dreaming of a career in game development? In the gaming industry, relevant skills and real experience delivering outcomes matter more than a college degree. If you're highly creative and technical, and can work well on a team, you'll do well in this industry, but keep in mind that working in game dev is not all fun and games. On today's episode, Building Better Games is addressing some of the myths and struggles of the industry, such as the pressure and time crunch many people in game dev are fa...
Nov 22, 2022•46 min•Season 2Ep. 24
During Part 1 of our conversation, our leader in game dev shared the tough layoff decision she was unexpectedly forced to make as a leader at her former employer. We learned the basics of what happened and how it impacted her, and now we dive into a deeper discussion of the choice she made in part 2. Building Better Games plays devil's advocate in this episode, discussing the different ways she could have addressed this situation. They talk about what led her to make her final decision, and the ...
Nov 08, 2022•43 min•Season 2Ep. 23
If you've been on LinkedIn lately, you may have noticed a rise in layoffs. The interesting part about this news is not the fact that more layoffs are happening, but that more people and companies are being open about it. Layoffs have always been common, but where companies go wrong in the process is their lack of transparency, which can result in employees feeling unimportant and ashamed. Layoffs are definitely a negative experience, but being laid off should not be a stain on someone's resume. ...
Oct 25, 2022•41 min•Season 2Ep. 22
Time and time again, we see game teams struggle with the feeling that they're not moving fast enough. Something isn't right with the game, but they don't have time to think about it because there's "so much work to do." These kinds of issues arise when we're focused on building stuff, rather than creating compelling experiences that resonate with players. That's why, in today's episode of Building Better Games, we're focusing on value, not work! We want to help you hone in on what true progress ...
Oct 11, 2022•48 min•Season 2Ep. 21
Knowing how to communicate and listen effectively is right up there with knowing how to write code, design characters, or compose a musical score. Taking what you have constructed in your mind and being able to materialize it, in whatever form, is like a muscle that can become strengthened over time with enough practice. Today, we're going to show you how to level up your day-to-day communication skills with your peers and your seniors. We illustrate how to better understand the thinking and mot...
Sep 27, 2022•45 min•Season 2Ep. 20
Far from losing steam in the digital age, tabletop games are booming thanks to their collaborative and tactile nature. In fact, today's guest believes that video games can learn a lot from tabletop RPGs – and vice versa! Today, we're joined by Tyler Kamstra, a software developer by trade who plays a whole lot of Dungeons and Dragons and other tabletop RPGs in his spare time. Tyler is also the founder and primary author of RPGBOT.net, an online resource for tabletop roleplaying games, including i...
Sep 20, 2022•31 min•Season 2Ep. 19
The visuals and feel of a video game are a lot more complex than even most artists think. It is imperative that your team is on the same page when it comes to communicating with the player through the game's visuals, especially during long and complex game development cycles. This is why you should make the art direction clear from the start, then be ready when people don't understand or try different things. Having a clear yet evolving vision allows for teams to create better games, learn quick...
Sep 13, 2022•47 min•Season 2Ep. 18
Every creator of a new video game or founder of a video game startup loves gaming. No one in this industry is unique in that fact. If you're trying to get VC funding, loving games will not differentiate you from everyone else. Investors are looking for more from founders. To be taken seriously, there has to be something more, something with clear potential to succeed. You need to figure that out before you decide to bring an investor to the table. VCs see multiple pitches a day, and each one is ...
Aug 30, 2022•39 min•Season 2Ep. 17
It seems intuitive that adding additional people will increase your speed in making a great game. However, staffing up is more nuanced than that. If you add people to a system where there are underlying operational and/or cultural issues all you're doing is adding weight to a cart that's already in the mud. So how do you staff video game development efficiently? Honestly, it's complicated. A lot of the aspects of whether a person is needed or a good fit are intangible, and can only be felt and u...
Aug 16, 2022•47 min•Season 2Ep. 16
"I want to be maximizing value. These tools can create a side game that actually is only vaguely and tangentially related to value, perhaps even in a negative way." Why do people hate JIRA so much? There is a whole website dedicated to rants calling JIRA out for its oppressive bureaucratic nature and the evangelistic cult created around its adoption across many industries, including the video game industry. What we want to find out is, is it REALLY that bad, especially since it is one of the mos...
Aug 02, 2022•48 min•Season 2Ep. 15
Leading any team is a huge responsibility. You have the ability to impact on each individual and the product in significant ways. The job isn't for everyone, and no matter how great of a leader you are, mistakes will be made along the way. A difference between great and poor leaders is how they learn from their mistakes and come back better. Want to make leadership more difficult? Go from leading a team you are very comfortable with to a brand new team with a different dynamic, for a short perio...
Jul 19, 2022•46 min•Season 2Ep. 14
Aaron and Ben dive into some common problems they see working with game developers from startups to large scale publishers. You'll learn about some patterns to avoid and how to focus on continually delivering real value.
Jul 06, 2022•46 min•Season 2Ep. 13
Jonathan McCaffrey (JMac) is a leader and engineer who has worked to help engineering and production understand each other wherever he worked. He covers working with limited resources at a new startup, the fallacy of being either fast or clean but not both, and what it's like scaling from small to large companies and back again. If you want a better understanding of engineering in game dev, this is worth a listen!
Jun 21, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Season 2Ep. 12
Dominic is a master at navigating the complexity of organizations and embodies everything we believe about modern talent development and HR. We dig in on what's changing in this world, perception vs reality when it comes to corporate HR, and the skills and awareness leaders need today to be successful with their talent in the midst of a revolution.
Jun 07, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Season 2Ep. 11
Randy Tau wanted to talk about ownership, and we were happy to oblige. Randy's career runs from startups to the military to being a director at Amazon. We cover ownership from a ton of angles, and also talk about leading at scale and what it means to level yourself up.
May 30, 2022•56 min•Season 2Ep. 10
