Battlefield Mobile, Gratitude, Getting Sh*t Done, Marvel XP, Bad Interview, Pareto Principle, Game Dev Identity, and Surviving a Layoff with Justin Fischer of Industrial Toys/EA

Game Dev Advice: The Game Developer's Podcast

Jul 01, 2021•57 min•Ep. 40

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Episode description

I welcome Justin Fischer, Lead Development Director at Industrial Toys of EA. We begin by discussing the state of COVID-19 in LA and how his scrappiness landed him an internship at Chicago’s Wideload Games. Learn about how he cut his teeth at Wideload Games and Disney Interactive working on projects with tight budgets, like Hail to the Chimp, Guilty Party and Marvel XP.

Hear about the challenges and life lessons of tieing too much of your identity into being a game developer, going through a layoff, and the hidden value shown over time. We then pivot into advice for aspiring designers, artists, engineers and producers, along with how to advance in production, and what it means to view it as a service role.

Learn about the value of seeking to understand before being understood, validating someone’s viewpoint, and his excitement around working on Battlefield Mobile. Hear about the other favorite game he's worked on, the industry’s challenge of so few mid-tier publishers, along with thoughts on AR.

Towards the end we talk about the power of the mobile and tablet platforms, a challenging interview story, and the current games he's playing. We then wrap up sharing how to connect with Justin online, along with parting advice on working with others.

Bio:

Justin Fischer has worked in one form of production or another for almost 20 years - in music, television, software development and, primarily, games. He is currently the Lead Development Director for Industrial Toys, an EA studio in Pasadena currently working on Battlefield Mobile. He also holds an MBA from Northwestern University.

Show Links:

*Disney Interactive Layoff

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