Join Alex Seropian (founder of Bungie) and Aaron Marroquin as they dive into the incredible minds behind the video game industry in The Fourth Curtain . In this episode, they chat with Frank Gibeau, the CEO of Zynga, who takes listeners on a journey through one of the most legendary corporate turnarounds in gaming history. From his early days at EA to leading Zynga through a $12.7 billion acquisition by Take-Two, Frank shares valuable insights into leadership, strategy, and the ever-evolving wor...
Sep 12, 2024•1 hr 14 min•Season 2Ep. 31
Our guest this week is the legend Jordan Weisman. Creator of BattleTech, Crimson Skies and the world's first alternate reality game, he's now working on Adventure Forge, a platform to help non-engineers make videogames. We talk buying D&D from Gary Gygax, at Gary's house!, the secret to entrepreneurship and creating the "Bungie bubble" this week! [00:07:00] Interview Introduction: Jordan Weisman’s Career Highlights Alex introduces Jordan Weisman’s career and his influential work in gaming an...
Sep 05, 2024•1 hr 18 min•Season 2Ep. 30
Our guest this week is the co-creative director of Arkane Studios, Harvey Smith. Starting out in QA for System Shock and other games, he went on to be lead designer for Deus Ex and ultimately made Dishonored at Arkane. We talk meeting your heroes, recombining systems and the secret to making a magical game this week! [00:00:00] - Harvey Smith discusses his first encounter with a game that sparked his passion, System Shock, comparing it to seeing one's first love in a movie. [00:45:00] - Harvey r...
Aug 29, 2024•1 hr 28 min•Season 2Ep. 29
In this exciting episode of The Fourth Curtain , hosts Alexander Seropian and Aaron Marroquin dive deep into the world of gaming journalism with none other than Dean Takahashi, the lead writer of GamesBeat at VentureBeat. With over three decades of experience covering tech and gaming, Dean shares his unique insights on the evolving landscape of the gaming industry, the challenges of maintaining journalistic integrity in the age of AI, and the stories that have shaped his career. Timestamped High...
Aug 22, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 2Ep. 28
This week's guest is a well-known "closer" who has steered the ship for some of the biggest games ever. Beginning with Train Simulator, he went on to serve as Producer for Counter-Strike Xbox, Gears of War, Infinity Blade, BioShock Infinite. Now helming Diablo at Blizzard, he talks triage, teamwork and not shaking the jello - this week! Support the show Thank you for listening to our podcast all about videogames and the amazing people who bring them to life! Hosted by Alexander Seropian and Aaro...
Aug 15, 2024•1 hr 20 min•Season 2Ep. 27
Our guest this week is Michal Nowakowski the co-CEO of CD Projekt Red, the renowned studio behind iconic games like The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077. With nearly two decades at CD Projekt, Michal shares his journey from the early days of video game distribution in Poland to leading one of the world's most celebrated game development companies. Beginning as a game distributor, CD Projekt went on to develop The Witcher, which sold a whopping 75 million units! Michal discusses the company's strategic...
Aug 08, 2024•1 hr 17 min•Season 2Ep. 26
Our conversation with the gamedev legend Brian Reynolds continues as we dive into the true meaning of 4X, the Train Reynolds business model, NPC insults and the research secrets of this podcast - this week! Support the show Thank you for listening to our podcast all about videogames and the amazing people who bring them to life! Hosted by Alexander Seropian and Aaron Marroquin Find us at www.thefourthcurtain.com Join our Patreon for early, ad-free episodes plus bonus content at https://patreon.c...
Aug 01, 2024•1 hr 22 min•Season 2Ep. 25
Our guest Brian Reynolds has a story so nice we had to hear it twice! In Part 1 we hear about coding at Radioshack, mentorship with Sid Meier and making Civilization 2 basically by himself. A great conversation with a legend to resume Season 2 of The Fourth Curtain! Support the show Thank you for listening to our podcast all about videogames and the amazing people who bring them to life! Hosted by Alexander Seropian and Aaron Marroquin Find us at www.thefourthcurtain.com Join our Patreon for ear...
Jul 25, 2024•1 hr 24 min•Season 2Ep. 24
Co-founder and CEO of Overwolf, Uri Marchand has been building _THE_ UGC platform for over fourteen years and Overwolf has paid more than $200 million to mod-makers going deep on games from Minecraft to Stardew Valley! A hardcore Real Time Strategy player, Uri's company now supports all types of games including Ark and The Sims. We talk the funnel from gamer to creator, the best books on business, and surviving and thriving over the long haul. Some of the books on Uri's Reading list: Nonviolent ...
Jul 04, 2024•1 hr 14 min•Season 2Ep. 23
Our guest Mark DeLoura has had a stunningly wide-ranging career: game developer and executive for Nintendo, Sony and THQ, Editor in Chief of Game Developer magazine, Senior Advisor for Digital Media in the White House, author of Programming Gems book series, built hardware and software for NASA and served on the Board at Games for Change. This week he joins us to talk about building entertainment and games as a language to serve a greater good! Support the show Thank you for listening to our pod...
Jun 27, 2024•1 hr 21 min
For a second time we are graced with the presence of videogame legend Shannon Loftis! Veteran of running Flight Simulator and Age of Empires at Microsoft, she was instrumental in the acquisition of Rare for Xbox game Studios. Now an advisor to Duke University's videogame program she joins us to talk franchises, Animal Well and the great Profanisaurus! Support the show Thank you for listening to our podcast all about videogames and the amazing people who bring them to life! Hosted by Alexander Se...
Jun 20, 2024•1 hr 16 min•Season 2Ep. 21
Our guests this week are creators of the visually-striking games Cocoon, Limbo and Inside. Jakob Scmid is co-founder of Geometric Interactive and Erwin Kho is the artist guiding a couple of those projects. We talk about readable environments, demo scenes and more this week! Support the show Thank you for listening to our podcast all about videogames and the amazing people who bring them to life! Hosted by Alexander Seropian and Aaron Marroquin Find us at www.thefourthcurtain.com Join our Patreon...
Jun 13, 2024•40 min•Season 2Ep. 20
This past March, 30,000 people went to San Francisco for the annual Game Developers Conference. Going since 1988, GDC, brings together people from all corners of the game development community. The Fourth Curtain followed four different journeys intersecting this conference. The First Timer: Aaron has never gone to GDC and it terrified him. The Seasoned Pro: Patrick Curry, game studio founder on how he grew up at the conference and how it changed him. The Founder: Chris Crawford on why he starte...
Jun 06, 2024•57 min•Season 2Ep. 19
In this inaugural Lunch Club episode of The Fourth Curtain we discuss starting a Game Studio, something Alex has done a few times. We fail to actually eat lunch, but we do talk about the following topics: 1) Why? Why do you want to start one? What are good reason to do so and what’s a game studio really? 2) Strategies. If you are starting a studio, does it have a strategy? Platform, genre, technology, IP? What’s the “sum is greater than its parts” part? 3) Funding. How to get off the ground 4) N...
May 30, 2024•58 min•Season 2Ep. 18
This week’s guest Tim Morten has been putting the “real” in real time strategy for years. Formerly lead on Starcraft II, he’s now CEO of Frost Giant Studios, where they’re making Stormgate, a game intended to broaden the RTS audience. We talk compromises, learning how to make games and Korea’s love of Starcraft this week! Support the show Thank you for listening to our podcast all about videogames and the amazing people who bring them to life! Hosted by Alexander Seropian and Aaron Marroquin Fin...
May 23, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Season 2Ep. 17
Our guest this week was a founder of Glu and Playfish and an early investor in Supercell. Now he’s CEO of Super Evil Megacorp working on TMNT for Switch. We talk the early days of mobile, the great Vainglory and roguelites in a very educational episode this week! Support the show Thank you for listening to our podcast all about videogames and the amazing people who bring them to life! Hosted by Alexander Seropian and Aaron Marroquin Find us at www.thefourthcurtain.com Join our Patreon for early,...
May 16, 2024•1 hr 23 min•Season 2Ep. 16
Beginning with a 3DO dev kit he was developing on alone (!), Ted Price went on to make Spyro the Dragon, Ratchet and Clank and Spiderman. His company Insomniac has been making games for a boggling 30 years! We talk odd jobs, Hail Marys and hands for mechanics this week. Support the show Thank you for listening to our podcast all about videogames and the amazing people who bring them to life! Hosted by Alexander Seropian and Aaron Marroquin Find us at www.thefourthcurtain.com Join our Patreon for...
May 09, 2024•1 hr 20 min•Season 2Ep. 15
Our guests Paul and Katy Bettner are the Co-CEOs of Playful Games. Paul got his start making Age of Empires and Halo Wars. Together Paul and Katy made the leap into mobile founding NewToy, where Words with Friends became one of the most-played games of all time. They’re now working on Wildcard, a game aiming to fulfill the promise of web3. We talk Alec Baldwin, terrible MySpaces and feelings this week! Support the show Thank you for listening to our podcast all about videogames and the amazing p...
May 02, 2024•1 hr 26 min•Season 2Ep. 14
Our guest Peter Moore keeps ending up on top, whether it’s Reebok, Sega, EA Sports or Liverpool FC. His remarkable journey begins with semi-pro football, veers into videogames to become a father of the Dreamcast, head of EA Sports and has come full circle as owner of Santa Barbara Sky FC. Stories of recruiter calls, a dead Seaman and the Four C’s this week! Visit Peter's new football team: https://www.santabarbaraskyfc.com/ Peter's Ted Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/peter_moore_how_my_life_jour...
Apr 25, 2024•1 hr 42 min•Season 2Ep. 13
You may know not the name of our guest Mitch Lasky, but you absolutely know his work. He created Activision’s third-party business and basically kicked off mobile gaming. As a VC he played a key role in the creation of Riot, Discord, Twitter and a dozen other hit businesses. Longtime partner at Benchmark Capital he’s now an owner of the LAFC soccer team. We talk the role of venture capital, marketing takeovers and more this week! Support the show Thank you for listening to our podcast all about ...
Apr 18, 2024•1 hr 20 min•Season 2Ep. 12
A circus veteran who literally wrote the book on game design, Jesse Schell had a major impact on one of the biggest IPs in contemporary culture. Founder of Schell Games (member of the very exclusive “no layoffs” club) and now working on Among Us and other VR games, he has long taught entertainment technology at Carnegie Mellon. We talk Imagineering, chickens and eggs, and very specific predictions this week! Support the show Thank you for listening to our podcast all about videogames and the ama...
Apr 11, 2024•1 hr 20 min•Season 2Ep. 11
Co-Founder of 2K Games, Susan Cummings has closed some of the biggest deals in videogames – Bioshock, Borderlands, she got XCOM for free! Now the CEO of Tiny Rebel Games she’s making a Petaverse which is cooler than the metaverse. Rockstar vibes, checkbook fun and our second brush with Patrick Stewart, this week! Support the show Thank you for listening to our podcast all about videogames and the amazing people who bring them to life! Hosted by Alexander Seropian and Aaron Marroquin Find us at w...
Apr 04, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Season 2Ep. 10
Computer graphics pioneer Lorne Lanning founded Oddworld Inhabitants and made six Oddworld games for multiple platforms including helping to launch the original Xbox. His journey has taken him from playing one of the first ColecoVisions to making animations for the DoD’s “Star Wars” program, to videogames. We talk voice acting, how to get a free Cray and the impact of AI this week! Support the show Thank you for listening to our podcast all about videogames and the amazing people who bring them ...
Mar 28, 2024•1 hr 26 min•Season 2Ep. 9
Filmmaker and graphic novel artist Jordan Mechner got his start with the smash hit videogames, Karateka and Prince of Persia. His technique of using rotoscoping brought unique fluidity and realism to his titles. We talk The Last Express, his graphic novel Replay and echoes of the past this week! You can visit Jordan's website at http://www.jordanmechner.com Support the show Thank you for listening to our podcast all about videogames and the amazing people who bring them to life! Hosted by Alexan...
Mar 21, 2024•1 hr 19 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Mike Wilson’s commitment to game artists getting their due is impossible to overstate. From his beginnings at DWANGO and iD, to Gathering of Developers, to Devolver, he has pursued a lifelong mission of getting #gamedevs their rightful piece of the pie. A fascinating trip through the last 30 years of game business this week on The Fourth Curtain! Support the show Thank you for listening to our podcast all about videogames and the amazing people who bring them to life! Hosted by Alexander Seropia...
Mar 14, 2024•1 hr 23 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Like many of our guests, Dennis "Thresh" Fong has many “firsts” to his name. Not just first pro gamer, but first influencer, builder of many first gamer communities. Now his company Good Games Well Played is successfully combating toxicity in games. A great conversation with Fatal1ty mentor and Elon Musk competitor this week! Support the show Thank you for listening to our podcast all about videogames and the amazing people who bring them to life! Hosted by Alexander Seropian and Aaron Marroquin...
Mar 07, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Season 2Ep. 6
With a list of awards and firsts as long as your arm, this week’s guest made the “god game” into an artform, and then went on to multiple other genres – Syndicate, Dungeon Keeper, Black and White, Fable. Hear how he works like a Victorian, can’t afford a pavement artist and avoids inspiration from other games this week! Peter's Blog: https://developmolyneux.blog/ Support the show Thank you for listening to our podcast all about videogames and the amazing people who bring them to life! Hosted by ...
Feb 29, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Season 2Ep. 5
This week our guest has several high profile innovations to his name – shareware in games, bullet time before The Matrix. He helped launch id Software and then Duke Nukem, Max Payne and so much more. He's back with a new iteration of Apogee delivering pure fun in a retro aesthetic. Come hear how Scott discovered the Build engine and hired, then fired his own parents! Character names and indie risk, this week on The Fourth Curtain! Support the show Thank you for listening to our podcast all about...
Feb 22, 2024•1 hr 14 min•Season 2Ep. 4
This week we meet up with Q-Games founder, Star Fox maker and all around technical wizard Dylan Cuthbert! Dylan is one of the few game developers to have made it big on three different continents! His story of how he got his first job at 17 in the UK will blow your mind. We talk hacking, legendary Japanese devs and much more this week! Support the show Thank you for listening to our podcast all about videogames and the amazing people who bring them to life! Hosted by Alexander Seropian and Aaron...
Feb 15, 2024•1 hr 22 min•Season 2Ep. 3
This week our guests are lifelong gamers Slim and Trevor. Together they put Valorant on the map and have now formed a new studio, RaidBase, to build a PvP sandbox game where players can build reputations. With experience in pro gaming and the psychology of games, we talk MMOs, hierarchies of needs and complex testing techniques, this week on The Fourth Curtain! Support the show Thank you for listening to our podcast all about videogames and the amazing people who bring them to life! Hosted by Al...
Feb 08, 2024•1 hr 16 min•Season 2Ep. 2
