There’s a ton of knowledge about how we sustain games, but the art of creating something new remains mysterious, even... more

Figuring out a novel game idea is HARD. You can’t just hope the mishmash of ideas in your head are... more

Marketing games is tough. The world is twisting under our feet right now, as big and small studios struggle to... more

In this episode, Ben sits down with Chris Heintz and Joe Blancato, co-founders of Ignition Facility, to discuss the challenges... more

Narrative is often overlooked in game dev. We want to explore what you might be missing if you skip writers,... more

Welcome to the BBG podcast! In this special episode of Building Better Games, co-host Aaron Smith returns to share his... more

Welcome to Episode 72 of the Building Better Games Podcast! We’re getting back into flow, this time focusing on players... more

Welcome to the BBG podcast! Today, we venture into the heart of Larian Studios, the creative minds behind the critically... more

Welcome to the BBG podcast, episode 70! In today’s episode, Ben dives deep into the concept of flow with Kevin... more

Welcome to another episode of Building Better Games! Today, we are thrilled to have John Cutler, a capable and experienced... more

Graham McAllister Returns! We dive deeper into the challenges of vision alignment in game development, helping you improve vision at... more

In this episode, Ben Carcich and Dr. Graham McAllister explore the concept of vision in game development, highlighting the common... more

Welcome to another episode of "Building Better Games." In this episode, Ben sits down with Patric Palm, CEO and founder... more

In this episode of "Building Better Games,"  Benjamin Carcich and Greg Street, also known as Ghostcrawler, delve into the intricacies... more

In this episode of "Building Better Games," hosts Benjamin Carcich and Aaron Smith dive into the complex and often frustrating... more

Episode 63: People, Products, Playtests (Republish of E1 of BBG) Welcome to Building Better Games! Due to Ben's... more

Are you leveraging the full potential of your leadership role in game development? Or are you stuck in the traditional... more

Titles and seniority impact your ability to drive positive change. It’s worth knowing what promotion looks like so you can... more

In this episode of the Building Better Games podcast, join hosts Ben and Aaron as they recap GDC 2024, diving... more

Is true leadership about wielding power, or is it the art of empowering others? In this episode, Ben and Aaron... more

Why are your favorite games getting more expensive to make? In this episode, Ben and Aaron dive into the... more

In this episode, Ben and Aaron navigate the intricate landscape of leadership within the gaming industry. They tackle the dichotomy... more

Despair and burnout are commonplace in game development. As leaders, what can we do about that, both to prevent it... more

In this episode, Ben and Aaron delve into the complex interplay between creative direction and executive production in game development.... more

In this episode, Andrei Van Roon, the Head of League Studio at Riot Games joined Ben and Aaron to discuss... more

In this episode, Josh Thaler discusses the mindset and skills required to build successful live service games. He emphasizes the... more

Steve Bromley, a games user research consultant, joins Ben and Aaron to discuss the importance of user research in game... more

Paul Gebel, a product leader with over 20 years of experience, joins Aaron and Ben to discuss the importance of... more

Join us in this enlightening episode where Serge Knystautas, a seasoned technologist with extensive experience in the gaming industry, dives... more

Communication challenges are a common concern in game development studios, but are they the real root issue? In this episode,... more

In this episode, Aaron and Ben address the prevailing frustration and cynicism within the game development industry concerning Agile methodologies.... more

In this episode, Aaron and Ben delve into their winning model for exceptional game production, highlighting the skills that define... more

In this episode, Ben and Aaron delve into the critical role of game production and shed light on common misconceptions... more

Aaron and Ben discuss the challenges of poor management practices in the gaming industry. They explore the lack of transparency,... more

Ben and Aaron discuss the importance of understanding where your game falls on the live service spectrum and how that... more

“Most of the failures in any project that I've ever been on have been due to lack of communication, lack... more

When it comes to saving money, working efficiently or creating value for players, what should take priority in game dev?... more

There was an unusually high number of low-quality games released in 2022, and we think we know why.   The... more

Is your organization struggling with making decisions, from a lack of consensus or clarity on who the key decision makers... more

Having opposing views from your team or struggling to communicate with senior leaders and stakeholders are just a couple of... more

AI is on the tip of everyone’s tongue right now. You’ve probably seen headlines in the news, on social media,... more

What defines cheating in games? Is it exploiting existing bugs, using automation or macro tools? What about installing third-party mods... more

Things like meetings, reports and team structure are in place to help the game dev process go smoother, and create... more

The truth is, most people underestimate how long a task will take. This is especially true in game dev, where... more

“It's cheap to have opinions. It's hard to have informed opinions. It's really, really hard to be an expert who's... more

Web3 is the next generation of the internet, and it’s already having an effect on the gaming industry. There’s a... more

What does it mean to really drive change? How do you effectively bring up problems with leadership? How do you... more

Choose any issue, and you'll find people with differing perspectives. This is inevitable but yet, in the gaming industry, having... more

Game development is defined by creative work, and for leaders, sometimes that means ditching the old framework and coming up... more

If you’ve listened to episode 21, How not to Lose Your Game Vision on the Altar of “Getting Shit Done,”... more

Remote work has completely transformed the way we work on teams and communicate with each other. Leadership still has many... more

If you’re like the hosts of Building Better Games, then you thought the proliferation of remote work was temporary. The... more

Does likeability have a lot of value in leadership? How much does setting and enforcing boundaries help you and the... more

“I believe that we will make better games by treating game developers better. Game development should be a dream job,... more

Dreaming of a career in game development? In the gaming industry, relevant skills and real experience delivering outcomes matter more... more

During Part 1 of our conversation, our leader in game dev shared the tough layoff decision she was unexpectedly forced... more

If you’ve been on LinkedIn lately, you may have noticed a rise in layoffs. The interesting part about this news... more

Time and time again, we see game teams struggle with the feeling that they're not moving fast enough. Something isn't... more

Knowing how to communicate and listen effectively is right up there with knowing how to write code, design characters, or... more

Far from losing steam in the digital age, tabletop games are booming thanks to their collaborative and tactile nature. In... more

The visuals and feel of a video game are a lot more complex than even most artists think. It is... more

Every creator of a new video game or founder of a video game startup loves gaming. No one in this... more

It seems intuitive that adding additional people will increase your speed in making a great game. However, staffing up is... more

“I want to be maximizing value. These tools can create a side game that actually is only vaguely and tangentially... more

Leading any team is a huge responsibility. You have the ability to impact on each individual and the product in... more

Aaron and Ben dive into some common problems they see working with game developers from startups to large scale publishers.... more

Jonathan McCaffrey (JMac) is a leader and engineer who has worked to help engineering and production understand each other wherever... more

Dominic is a master at navigating the complexity of organizations and embodies everything we believe about modern talent development and... more

Randy Tau wanted to talk about ownership, and we were happy to oblige. Randy's career runs from startups to the... more

"BigBoss" is the creator of the Flavor Universalis mod, one of the most successful Europa Universalis IV mods out there.... more

Grace Liu is an experienced Art Director and Lead Artist working at Netflix with past experience at Riot Games and... more

In this episode, we bring in Erin Hardman to talk about recruiting in games. Erin has been hiring leaders and... more

Understanding how people join your team and who they should be is a sacred process. Companies live and die on... more

Arcane released in 2021 and quickly became the highest rated series on Netflix, recently winning 9 Annie awards. We've seen... more

Part 2 of Managing Others! This time we're talking about accountability and advocacy. With accountability, we look at how you... more

Nearly every adult has had a boss. Many people have been a boss. Yet so few people have thought about... more

Content pipelines! There's little info about them outside of the game industry, and even within it we tend to view... more

It's our first episode of Season 2! We've renamed ourselves Building Better Games, and we're going to start by talking... more

In episode 19, @Ryan Scott joins Ben and Aaron to talk about Game Design. The conversation ranges from what makes... more

What is 'Holistic Leadership'? In this episode, Aaron and Ben talk about what it means to be a leader and... more