It’s been a fantastic year and with over 50+ interviews conducted, I have grown both as an individual and as a game developer. There are naturally challenges attributed working in this profession, but despite the many issues that we face, I’ve always believed that people can find great success in times of adversity. This year, showed even greater determination. Unemployment rates skyrocketed across the globe and yet the game industry had its best year with higher profit margins, no major volatility, and led to bigger studio acquisitions and even more game financing.
As we all look forward to a better year in 2021, I like to also look back at all the great lessons I’ve learned this past year and prioritize with what’s really important.
Crunch Culture in 2020
What is going on with crunch culture in the game industry right now? How is Google Stadia tracting with early adopters? How are indie game developers dealing with so many choices out there? What is the biggest impact for VR? Beat Saber or Half Life: Alyx? Watch this Roundtable News episode to find out!
Entrepreneurship and Figuring that Out with Ryan Kingslien
Ryan Kingslien is a successful entrepreneur and is the CEO of the Game Art Institute. In this episode, Ryan discusses his beginnings being a premiere evangelist in the beginning days of Zbrush and finding his passion into teaching game development.
The $0 Budget Marketing Guide with Victoria Tran
Victoria Tran is a community and communications director, and she is currently the Community Director at Innersloth. She is constantly offering tips and promoting healthy ways to create better online communities. In this interview, she was able to share how to approach marketing and outlines the foundation of being effective without spending a fortune.
California AB5 Affecting Game Devs with Zac Rich
California AB5 Bill passed in November 2019 and are already having ramifications in all creative industries, including the game industry. Contractors all over California are finding themselves at a disadvantage and Zac Rich helps paint a clear picture on what this all means for game devs.
Indie Dev with Family Featuring Richard Khoo
Richard Khoo joins us to talk about starting a indie dev studio with his family. We discuss the challenges, game design principles, and differences that this unique situation presents and compare it to his AAA 300+ plus team past experiences.
Epic VS Apple
The Roundtable Crew discusses the showdown of the Decade with Epic getting in the ring with Apple about its 30% cut.
Indie AAA Solo Developer on Bright Memory with Zeng Xiancheng
Zeng Xiancheng is the solo indie developer for Bright Memory with his company FYQD Studio. What makes his feat so fantastic is that the game looks and plays like a AAA game utilizing the latest technology in game tech. We talk about his process and determination to complete this commercial success story.
The State of Lighting in VFX and Game Industries with Scott Knapp
Scott Knapp comes on and talks about the state of lighting for both the VFX and game industries. What it means to be a lighting artist and how it’s one of the leading jobs that is hot in demand right now, and how virtual production is playing a major part.
Exploring the Mobile Industry with Nadav Ashkenazy
The mobile industry have always been a uncharted territory to game developers outside the mobile game industry. But the conversation with Nadav helps fill in that gap and why mobile games is laying the foundation of our industry.
Stadia and Cloud Gaming
Let’s see catch up with how COVID-19 has impacted the game industry in month 2. Magic Leap is making a massive layoff. Stadia Direct? What’s the latest count on VR headsets. Valorant is hot, but in what way? Check out this week’s Roundtable News Episode.
Brain, UX & Design with Celia Hodent
Celia Hodent is a Game UX consultant, author of The Gamer’s Brain. In this episode we discuss the application of UX design for game development and how current events are impacting the industry.
What COVID19 Closing all Game Dev Events Means for Indie Dev with Renee Gittins
Renee Gittins is the Executive Director of IGDA (https://igda.org/) and joins us to talk about the relief efforts that are available for indie developers this year. COVID-19 has derailed many plans for developers around the world and we discuss strategies of how to best combat the issues and still win as a game developer.
Developing Raji: An Ancient Epic & Crossing the Finish Line Featuring Ian Maude, Shruti Ghosh, & Avichal Singh
Raji: An Ancient Epic is developed by Nodding Head Games. It is an action-adventure storyline, where the human realm is witnessing a demonic invasion. In such a setting, Raji, a young girl, has been chosen as the one to defend humankind and defeat the demons.I was fortunate enough to interview the founders Ian, Avi, and Shruti about their development and the importance of Indian representation as a growing sector.
Tough Times at Naughty Dog and the State of Contract Work with Shora Farahani
Shora Farahani is a Senior Level Artist and have been all over the United States working at prominent studios like Sledgehammer Games, Naughty Dog, and now Ghost Story Games (formerly Irrational Games). He share his personal story while working at Naughty Dog and the pressure of its environment. We also dive into the state of contract work being overused in the AAA industry…
Game Licensing for Streamers?
In this month’s Roundtable News episode the crew discusses the latest polarizing topic if Streamers should pay a licensing fee for games?
Staying Connected with Perforce in a COVID World with Brad Hart
Brad Hart is the CTO of Perforce, which is the number 1 leading software for big and small game companies using version control. He helps organizations in times especially now, to keep companies productive and connected. We cover everything on how the pandemic is changing the industry, and is forcing for some permanent changes.
The Story Behind Polygonflow with Adnan Chaumette
Adnan Chaumette is the founder of Polygonflow which is a company working on new ways to create tools without code.
Unreal Engine 5 Reactions
What does next-gen really look like at its peak? We react to the recent Unreal Engine 5 demo!
