#10 - Raphael Colantonio: "The Founder Playbook" - Founding WolfEye and Arkane, Building Trust in Teams, Making Narrative Games & more

Today’s guest is Raphael Colantonio, President and Creative Director at Wolf Eye Studios.

Raphael Colantonio has been a prominent figure in the game industry since 1993. He founded Arkane Studios in 1999 and brought us classics like Arx Fatalis, Dark Messiah, Bioshock 2 (co-development), and the Dishonored series. With hundreds of awards to his name, Raphael co-founded WolfEye Studios in 2019, releasing Weird West in 2022. Besides his expertise in creative direction and game mechanics, Raphael is also a talented musician, having composed music for Dishonored, Prey, and Weird West.

In this podcast, he shares his journey from Arkane Studios to founding WolfEye, diving into his passion for game development, the challenges of creating games, the importance of long-term teams, and managing a remote studio.

This podcast is for anyone interested in game development, from aspiring developers and studio founders to gaming enthusiasts looking for behind-the-scenes insights.

Connect with Raphael:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphael-colantonio-658350/
Twitter/X: https://x.com/rafcolantonio
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rafcolantonio/

Connect with Harry:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hphokou/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@hphokou
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hphokou

Raphael’s music: https://www.youtube.com/@WeirdWolves

Sign up to Gaming Rally Newsletter (Harry Phokou & Ali Farha's weekly newsletter): gamingrally.net

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
2:09 Raphael's Journey: From Arkane to WolfEye
5:33 The Drive of Passion in Raphael's Career Choice
10:40 Playing Games or Exploring Worlds
14:33 Embracing Failure in the Game Development Process
22:25 Dishonored 1 vs Dishonored 2: Production Challenges and the Importance of Lore
28:00 Balancing Roles: President, Co-Creative Director, and CEO
31:32 The Value of a Long-Term Team at WolfEye
39:57 Remote Work and Team Synchronization
43:54 WolfEye and Their Debut Game 'Weird West'
45:37 Practical Advice for Founders
49:48 Ways to Connect and Check Out Raphael’s Work