The GamesIndustry.biz Microcast

This week, Dan and James are joined by Miles Jacobson, studio director of Football Manager dev Sports Interactive. Skirting around our lack of football knowledge, this episode explores the use of Football Manager data by some of the sport's biggest clubs, the work that goes into adding new features, and demand for localisation from different markets around the world. Jacobson also discusses extensively his experiences when it comes to dealing with death threats, and the divisive decision to include the impact of Brexit in last year's Football Manager. As always, you can find more news, insight and analysis at www.gamesindustry.biz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recorded at EGX Rezzed 2017, James is joined by some of the experts and mentors who offered advice at the first of this year's GamesIndustry.biz Careers Fairs. Failbetter's Hannah Flynn, Creative Assembly's Pawel Wojs, UKIE's Sophie Densham and Ant Workshop's Tony Gowland discuss the various potential paths to a career in the games industry. Along the way, they touch upon the importance of an impressive portfolio, the value of experience, the need for dedication and the perils of working for free. As always, you can find more news, insight and analysis at www.gamesindustry.biz, and you can learn more about the careers available  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the second of our GDC 2017 specials, Dan is joined by long-serving game designer Raph Koster and Subset Games co-founder Justin Ma. The trio discusses how the Game Developers Conference has evolved over the years, as well as the changing role of consumer and industry events - particularly for indies. They also ponder the biggest challenges that independent developers face today, including the ever-looming obstacle of discoverability, and the rise of indie publishers. As always, you can find more news, insight and analysis at www.gamesindustry.biz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the first of two episodes recorded in San Francisco during this year's Game Developers Conference. Dan is joined by Jason Della Rocca, co-founder of early stage investor Execution Labs and all-round indie champion. Together, they discuss the art of the pitch, how devs can identify new opportunities and gaps in the market, and the difficulties indies and start-ups face in standing out from the crowd in everything from mobile to virtual reality. As always, you can find the latest news, analysis and insight at www.gamesindustry.biz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dan and James are joined by Thomas Bidaux of ICO Partners to discuss crowdfunding; not only how to get it right, but what to do when it goes wrong. Following high-profile campaign failures such as Erebus' open-world Apocalypse Now title and John Romero's retro-style FPS Blackroom, we discuss how studios have handled crowdfunding failures, how other devs can learn from them and why remaining honest and transparent with your community is essential. As always, you can find more news, insight and analysis at www.gamesindustry.biz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we present two recent interviews with not only a highly successful games developer but a musical legend. First up, we speak to Playground Games' creative director Ralph Fulton about the success of Forza Horizon 3, the intricacies of the racing genre and the increased competition in that space in 2017. Then we have Phil Campbell, guitarist of the world famous rock band Motörhead, and Haemimont Games' Achim Heidelauf to talk about Motörhead Through The Ages, the unlikely expansion to demon-hunting action-RPG Victor Vran. As always, you can find the latest news, analysis and insight into the business of video games at www.gamesindustry.biz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recorded at Mobile Games Forum 2017 in London, James is joined by Reigns developer François Alliot, Altered Gene's Des Gayle and Space Ape Games' Martyn Jones. The quartet discusses the challenges that face premium games, the desire for new play patterns in 2017 and the distinct differences between mobile users and other gaming audiences. Elsewhere, Dan and James reflect on their own experiences with mobile games, the potential for more triple-A brands to improve their output on smart devices following Super Mario Run, and the trappings of the proven but problematic free-to-play model. You can find more industry news, analysis and insight at www.gamesindustry.biz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

James and Chris report back from the UK premiere of Nintendo's latest device: the console-handheld hybrid now known as Switch. We're joined by Konami's Asim Tanvir, retailer Mike Fethers and NintendoLife's Anthony Dickens and Thomas Whitehead, who share their views on the hardware, the launch line-up, the price and the challenges Nintendo faces in the year ahead. Meanwhile, Chris discusses his own hands-on experiences with Switch, and James wrestles with whether or not he wants to buy one. You can find more industry news, analysis and insight at www.gamesindustry.biz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The GamesIndustry.biz Podcast is back! For our first episode, Dan and James are joined by Kirsty Rigden, development director at UK studio FuturLab, to discuss the firm's first project for virtual reality. We also explore the possibilities for VR – both in the games space and beyond – and where we believe the technology needs to head in the near future. Finally, we hint at what to expect from the GI.biz team this year and what we're most looking forward to in 2017. For all your games industry news, analysis and insight, head to www.gamesindustry.biz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices