The GamesIndustry.biz Podcast

Latest Episodes:

The Game Developer's Playlist: Tex Murphy with Jean Leggett Mar 30, 2021

Show notes

This special series of The GamesIndustry.biz Podcast talks to developers about the titles that influenced their careers.

This time, our guest is Jean Leggett -- CEO of One More Story Games, leadership and career coach, and host of the Games, Grit & Graditude: Real Talk podcast.

Leggett discusses the impact of the Tex Murphy adventure games on her career, her studio, and even her company's game engine, as well as the importance of story and dark humour in taking games forward as a medium.

Game Developer's Playlist is an extension of a series we run on the site called Why I Love, in which developers explore their favorite games. You can find these articles here.

Title music by Julian Villareal.

[Please note: This episode was recorded a few months ago, hosted by our then-senior staff writer, Rebekah Valentine]

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NFTs? No f***ing thanks Mar 23, 2021

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The GamesIndustry.biz editorial team discuss the biggest stories of the past week from across the business of video games.

This week, Matt, Brendan, Marie and James elaborate on our recent stance concerning stories about blockchain and non-fungible tokens, and why GamesIndustry.biz will be more cautious about covering this going forward.

We discuss the potential benefits and the many, many downsides of this technology as it currently stands.

We also reflect of Techland's decision to include abusive tweets in a video update about Dying Light 2, and whether games companies should be doing more to discourage these attitudes and behaviours among their "devoted fans."

As always, you can get more news, insight and analysis at www.gamesindustry.biz

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Were free-to-play fears unfounded? Mar 16, 2021

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The GamesIndustry.biz editorial team discusses the biggest stories of the past week.

This week, we start with the recent wave of new indie publishers emerging, including new publishing arms for Sumo Group, Playtonic Games and Fundamentally Games.

We talk about the challenges new publishers face, whether the market is becoming overserved, and whether publishers need a distinct identity or speciality to succeed.

Then we expand on our recent 10 Years Ago This Month column, looking back at a period where the games industry was anxious about the rise of social, mobile and free-to-play games.

We reflect on the impact the growth of mobile games had on the industry and whether the fears and concerns expressed by veteran developers at GDC 2011 eventually came true.

As always, you can get more news, insight and analysis at www.gamesindustry.biz.

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EA did the Wright thing Mar 09, 2021

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The GamesIndustry.biz team discuss the biggest stories from the past week in the business of video games.

This week, we start with EA's response to a FIFA Ultimate Team player that racially abused ex-footballer Ian Wright, blaming his in-game counterpart for losing a match. The player has been issued a lifetime ban, a response Wright commended.

We also explore Twitch's first transparency report and dive deeper into the missing numbers in order to illustrate the disparity between how the streaming site handles community infractions when compared to abuse, harassment or hateful conduct.

Finally, we discuss the most recent reports of a 4K-ready Nintendo Switch and why the platform holder needs to carefully consider its hardware strategy if it wishes to extend the Switch's lifecycle beyond that of its predecessors.

As always, you can get more news, insight and analysis at www.gamesindustry.biz.

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The next generation of PlayStation VR Mar 02, 2021

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The GamesIndustry.biz team discusses the biggest stories of the past week, starting with news of Sony revitalising PlayStation VR.

With a new headset now in development for PlayStation 5, we reflect on Sony's impact on the wider virtual reality landscape and its strategy with the original PlayStation VR over the past four years.

We also debate the importance of software and whether Sony's first-party offering can provide any system-selling experiences -- especially as the platform holder continues to close its most experimental studios -- and what the haptic feedback of the DualSense controller might add to the immersion of virtual reality.

After that, we turn to the 25th anniversary of the Pokémon franchise, exploring its ongoing and cross-generational success as well as sharing our thoughts on the announcements from the recent Pokémon Presents broadcast.

As always, you can get more news, insight and analysis at www.gamesindustry.biz.

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Whose war stories are worth telling? Feb 23, 2021

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The GamesIndustry.biz editorial team discusses the most controversial game announcement of the year so far and weigh up whether developers can handle a topic as sensitive as war.

Following our interview with the company behind upcoming shooter Six Days In Fallujah, we explore the reaction to the game's existence -- both in 2021 and back in 2009 when the title was dropped by its publisher -- and the mistakes it already seems to be making.

We also discuss whether Victura's stated intention is appropriate for a conflict like the Siege of Fallujah.

Towards the end of the episode, we shift towards the announcement of the most recent Nintendo Direct, the 35th anniversary of Zelda, and the strange disconnect between Skyward Sword's high review scores but low reputation among many series fans.

You can get more news, insight and analysis at www.gamesindustry.biz.

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One Patent To Rule Them All Feb 15, 2021

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The GamesIndustry.biz team takes a deeper look at one of the biggest stories of the past week -- namely, Warner Bros securing a patent for Shadow of Mordor's Nemesis system.

For this episode, we're joined by Kostya Lobov of law firm Harbottle & Lewis to look at the intricacies of patents and the implications for any other developers hoping to build games around a similar mechanic to the Nemesis system.

In case you missed the news, it was revealed last week that Warner Bros has finally secured a patent after repeated attempts to protect its method of creating a heirarchy for NPCs that changes based on player actions.

The move was widely criticised by developers, claiming it will stifle innovation in this space -- but is that the case? We discuss on this week's podcast.

If you'd like to find more about how developers can protect their intellectual property, check out our in-depth guide on the GamesIndustry.biz Academy.

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Grabbing Gearbox and stifling Stadia Feb 08, 2021

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On our latest podcast, Matt, Brendan and James discuss two of the biggest games industry stories of the past two weeks.

First up, we discuss Embracer Group's acquisition of Gearbox Software -- a deal potentially worth close to $1.4 billion, but with some very notable caveats.

We use this as a jumping off point to explore Embracer's overall mergers and acquisitions strategy, and ponder the wider trends in the M&A space -- something further analysed in this article by GameDiscoverCo's Simon Carless.

In the second half, we talk about Google's decision to close its internal Stadia Games and Entertainment and the broader implications for the internet giant's cloud streaming games service.

As always, you can get more news, insight and analysis at www.gamesindustry.biz

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How do games retain new players post-pandemic? Feb 02, 2021

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The GamesIndustry.biz editorial team looks optimistically forward and starts to ponder the future of video games when the COVID-19 pandemic eventually comes to an end.

Following on an editorial by our Head of B2B Chris Dring, James, Brendan, Marie and Chris discuss the implications of 2020's rapid growth in terms of new customers, and the perhaps inevitable industry contraction when those consumers drop their newfound hobby as life returns to normal (or at least closer to it).

We talk about the challenges Microsoft and Sony face in pushing their new consoles while still trying to engage the swathes of people who only purchased the old ones in the last nine months, as well as the pressure on Nintendo to continue Switch's incredible mometum.

As always, you can get more news, insight and analysis into the world behind video games at www.gamesindustry.biz.

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The Five Games Of... Jesper Kyd Jan 28, 2021

Show notes

The Five Games Of is a special series of The GamesIndustry.biz Podcast that explores the evolution of the video games business through the career of prominent developers, executives and more.

This time, we explore five games from the career of Jesper Kyd, one of the industry's most prolific composers.

We talk to Kyd about his start in the industry, working with a group of friends that went on to found a fairly well-known Danish studio, before looking at some of the biggest games he worked on.

Naturally, this includes how he defined the sound of Assassin's Creed -- plus the evolution of Ezio's Theme, which has since become the most iconic cue in Ubisoft's biggest franchise.

Title music by Juilan Villareal.

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