Behind The Games

The Behind The Games podcast

The People Are The Studio – Behind The Games chat with Hector Padilla of IO Interactive

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Many game studios are having a moment right now where they need scale, and to learn to be better, more professional companies. IO Interactive has this figured out with leaders like Hector Padilla, a people manager at IO Interactive. IOI is the game studio that makes the Hitman series and soon a new 007 game. Hector focuses on making teams work together while developing all these great games. We talk here about and inside view of IO Interactive and Hitman, how to run a studio like a mature company, how to connect teams and people, and a little about the future of gaming. Thanks Hector and IOI!

Stay connected by subscribing on YouTube and your favorite podcast feed so you don’t miss the next interview. Enjoy!

Making V Rising – Behind The Games chat with Jeremy Fielding of Stunlock Studios

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I’ve been playing the hell out of V Rising, the new early access vampire survival game from Stunlock Studios. Sema and I needed to hear the story behind this game so I reached out to Jeremy Fielding, the excellent community manager for Stunlock. We chat about the game, the origin story of Stunlock and history with their other hits like Battlerite, how Jeremy got involved, and a bit of what’s next. Thanks Jeremy and Stunlock!

Stay connected by subscribing on YouTube and your favorite podcast feed so you don’t miss the next interview. Enjoy!

Every Game Needs PR – Behind The Games chat with O’Dell Harmon Jr.

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We’ve been talking to a lot of game devs and studios lately and I’ve been surprised at how many of even the smallest or solo developers are partnered up with a PR company. Sema and I don’t know all that much about what goes on there so I called up O’Dell, who I met at PAX. O’Dell Harmon Jr. is from Stride PR, a PR company that focuses on video game developers. We talk about all of what goes on with PR and how it ends up being really useful for studios of any size, and we get to hear about O’Dell himself and how he ended up doing what he does. Thanks O’Dell and Stride PR!

Stay connected by subscribing on YouTube and your favorite podcast feed so you don’t miss the next interview. Enjoy!

Total Mayhem – Behind The Games chat with Lucia de Visser

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Lucia and her team at Total Mayhem Games are bold enough to make the game they want to make and it’s awesome. Their game, We Were Here Forever, bucks the trends in game design and is a success for it. We chat Lucia de Visser, the Co-founder and Managing Director, about the studio origin story, making the right game design choices, and running a studio the right way. Thanks Lucia and Total Mayhem Games!

Stay connected by subscribing on YouTube and your favorite podcast feed so you don’t miss the next interview. Enjoy!

Sound Design For Far Cry – Interview with Eduardo Vaisman of Ubisoft Toronto

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How far would you go to make the game you are working on sound good? We interview Eduard Vaisman, the Bafta Nominated Audio Director for Far Cry at Ubisoft to find out. We talked to him about his wilderness trip seeking sounds, how the sound design was done for Far Cry 6, the difference between sound design for movies and games, and what Eduardo personally was able to bring to the story and themes of the game. This was a really fun interview to do and we hope you like it!

Stay connected by subscribing on YouTube and your favorite podcast feed so you don’t miss the next interview. Enjoy!

The Day We Fought Space! – Interview with Tursiops Truncatus Studios

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There’s a new side scrolling shoot-em-up game releasing on iOS today called The Day We Fought Space!, and Sema and I got a chance to talk to the game creators this week.

Catherine Kimport and Susan Schaffer are the core of Tursiops Truncatus Studios and we chat about their inspiration, their tools and process, and some advice for others looking to make a game. Enjoy!

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Right game at the right time with marketing – Interview with Victoria Chin

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Being in a marketing lead role for a video game company has a surprisingly big responsibility in helping plan and design the games up front. We interview Victoria Chin, the Marketing Manager for a Toronto game studio called Games By Stitch. In it we talk about what marketing does, what’s exciting in VR right now and what’s special about their new game Broken Spectre, and even how cosplay is becoming an important part of the games industry.

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What is a game designer? Interview with Salim Grant – Behind The Games

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In this very first interview our conversation with Salim Grant, a Senior Game Designer, draws on his experience in games design for games like Vanguard, Everquest 2, Neverwinter and ranges from what a game designer is, how they work, and how creating games is evolving. Reach out to us with your follow-up questions and we’ll try to get answers.

Stay connected by subscribing on YouTube and your favorite podcast feed so you don’t miss the next interview. Enjoy!