
IndieGameBusiness®
Candid conversations with veterans of all aspects of the business side of games. We firmly believe that great games from all developers need the support they deserve to succeed. This podcast exists to provide that support.
IndieGameBusiness® is produced by The Powell Group, a video game consulting firm specializing in business development, marketing, and licensing. Our CEO has been in the industry for 20 years and closed countless publishing and licensing deals. The Powell Group monitors over 3,500 game developers and 750+ publishers.
Latest episodes

Oct 1, 2022 • 1h 3min
Build Your Studio, Not Your Game
Making a game is nice. But building a studio may allow a developer to keep making lots of games for decades. Join Tom as he talks about bringing business sense to the passion of game development.
#gamedev #gamestudio #videogamedev #gamedevelopment

Sep 30, 2022 • 1h 3min
Bringing Inclusive Development to your Production Process
Carolina will talk about her work with producing impact games. These are games that in addition to being fun to play, also have deeper connections to the communities and cultures portrayed in the games. Carolina has worked on impact game projects in Central America, Asia, and the Middle East with focuses ranging from maternal health and civic engagement. She champions an inclusive development process that ensures an impact framework is implemented across all of E-Line's creative and design processes.
#gamedev #videogameinclusion #indiegamedev

Sep 29, 2022 • 1h 4min
Better Playtesting for Indie Developers
Top game development teams know that regular playtesting is the difference between a successful launch, and being forgotten at the bottom of the Steam charts.
However many of the tools large game studios rely on are out of reach from indie and small game teams, due to being expensive or requiring specialist skills. This discourages small teams from doing playtesting, which has an impact on the quality of their games - issues are often not discovered until when it's too late to fix and fewer options are available to fix them.
In this talk, Steve will share how to run effective and affordable playtesting throughout game development, including:
- How to find unbiased players to take part in playtests
- How to find the right research method for your development questions
- How to gather and analyze playtest data
- How to prioritize and incorporate feedback from playtests into a development schedule
You don’t need a full-time user research team, or lots of money, to build quality games. Save time and money by running usability playtests throughout development so that you can fix problems quickly and affordably!
#gamedev #gameplaytesting #gameQA #QA #playetesting

Sep 28, 2022 • 20min
Diversify Gaming: Africans Telling their own stories through Games from Africa by Africans
Overall view on the African Games Industry ecosystem, How African studios and Developers are striving to put a mark on the western saturated Games market.
#africangamedevs #gamemarketing #gamediversity

Sep 27, 2022 • 58min
360 IP - Creating a multiverse on all platforms
IP has evolved from written word for the masses to technology-driven narrative curated for the single viewer.
New technologies and platforms have pushed consumers and society to think in a more immersive and 360 way, interconnecting areas such as gaming, film, and music.
This is most pronounced in the growth of the gaming ecosystem, where gaming has evolved into creating a virtual world where players socialize, immerse themselves and uniquely engage with an IP. IP is now platform-agnostic with the goal of growing and strengthening various communities.
The gaming ecosystem has become the most interesting platform and system for world-building as it’s evolved from single player narrative to people building together to fulfill a vision. Future IP should be built for this new evolution.

Sep 17, 2022 • 1h 50min
Game Events, Startups, Raising Capital, and What to Expect as a Game Dev with Pontus Mahler
Pontus Mähler joins us today to discuss game events post-covid, beginning a startup, raising capital from publishers/investors, and what the Global Top Round Conference is all about!
Global Top Round Conference 2022, Game Events post-covid, finding co-founders for your startup, raising capital from publishers and investors.
twitter.com/bzlapped
facebook.com/pontus.mahler
linkedin.com/in/pontusmahler
instagram.com/pontusmahler
To learn more about the show or our online business matchmaking events for indie developers visit: indiegame.business
Indie Game Business is produced by The Powell Group: powellgroupconsulting.com
Watch the official live stream: twitch.tv/indiegamebusiness
Join the Indie Game Business Discord: discord.gg/indiegamebusiness
The Twitters to follow -
Indie Game Business: twitter.com/BusinessIndie
Powell Group Consulting: twitter.com/PowellGrp
Jay: twitter.com/Powell_Jay
INDIE: twitter.com/TheRealIndie
Thank you so much to Trip Wire Presents for sponsoring Indie Game Business!
Follow TripWire Presents on Twitter: https://twitter.com/twpresents
Check out TripWire Presents website: https://www.tripwireinteractive.com/#/
#gamedev #indiegamedev #gamedeveloper #indiegamedeveloper #gamebusiness

Sep 2, 2022 • 1h 2min
How Successful Education in Esports Can Lead to More Successful Indie Developers with Caleb Smith
On today's Indie Game Business, we have Caleb Smith, owner of Triangle Esports Academy!
We are discussing how interest in esports leads to video game development careers, esports in K-12 and collegiate education, esports education in K-12 and colleges, and all things esports!
You can follow Triangle Esports Academy on social media at:
facebook.com/triangleesportsacademy
twitter.com/triangleesportsacademy
linkedin.com/company/triangleesportsacademy/
To learn more about the show or our online business matchmaking events for indie developers visit: indiegame.business
Indie Game Business is produced by The Powell Group: powellgroupconsulting.com
Watch the official live stream: twitch.tv/indiegamebusiness
Join the Indie Game Business Discord: discord.gg/indiegamebusiness
The Twitters to follow -
Indie Game Business: twitter.com/BusinessIndie
Powell Group Consulting: twitter.com/PowellGrp
Jay: twitter.com/Powell_Jay
INDIE: twitter.com/TheRealIndie
Thank you so much to Trip Wire Presents for sponsoring Indie Game Business!
Follow TripWire Presents on Twitter: https://twitter.com/twpresents
Check out TripWire Presents website: https://www.tripwireinteractive.com/#/
#gamedev #indiegamedev #gamedeveloper #indiegamedeveloper #gamebusiness #esports #collegesports

Aug 12, 2022 • 1h 5min
UX and user testing for games with Edward Moore
Today, our special guest is Edward Moore and we will be speaking about all things User Experience!
Some of the topics we will cover today are:
* What is UX and why is it important for indie games
* General UX, localization, and certification consideration to get on digital storefronts worldwide (console and PC)
* Guerilla UX Research methods for indie game devs on a budget
* Accessibility in Game UX
To learn more about the show or our online business matchmaking events for indie developers visit: indiegame.business
Indie Game Business is produced by The Powell Group: powellgroupconsulting.com
Watch the official live stream: twitch.tv/indiegamebusiness
Join the Indie Game Business Discord: discord.gg/indiegamebusiness
The Twitters to follow -
Indie Game Business: twitter.com/BusinessIndie
Powell Group Consulting: twitter.com/PowellGrp
Jay: twitter.com/Powell_Jay
INDIE: twitter.com/TheRealIndie
Thank you so much to Trip Wire Presents for sponsoring Indie Game Business!
Follow TripWire Presents on Twitter: https://twitter.com/twpresents
Check out TripWire Presents website: https://www.tripwireinteractive.com
#gamedev #indiegamedev #gamedeveloper #indiegamedeveloper #gamebusiness #gameui #gameux #videogameuserexperience

Aug 8, 2022 • 1h 10min
IndieDev and Kickstarter - All Packed Up with Jasper Cole, developer of Backpack Hero
Today we have the developer of Backpack Hero, Jasper Cole!
Backpack Hero SMASHED their $20k goal on Kickstarter and raised $200k +!
We are going to be discussing Kickstarter, of course, and a few other things including.
Backpack Hero Kickstarter and Early Development
Inventory Management in Games
Gamejams and releasing free games on Itch
Backpack Hero Early Access starting August 15th
To learn more about the show or our online business matchmaking events for indie developers visit: indiegame.business
Indie Game Business is produced by The Powell Group: powellgroupconsulting.com
Watch the official live stream: twitch.tv/indiegamebusiness
Join the Indie Game Business Discord: discord.gg/indiegamebusiness
The Twitters to follow -
Indie Game Business: twitter.com/BusinessIndie
Powell Group Consulting: twitter.com/PowellGrp
Jay: twitter.com/Powell_Jay
INDIE: twitter.com/TheRealIndie
Thank you so much to Trip Wire Presents for sponsoring Indie Game Business!
Follow TripWire Presents on Twitter: https://twitter.com/twpresents
Check out TripWire Presents website: https://www.tripwireinteractive.com/#/
#gamedev #indiegamedev #gamedeveloper #indiegamedeveloper #gamebusiness

Jul 29, 2022 • 1h 6min
Early Access VS. Simultaneous Release with Brian Etheridge from Tripwire Presents!
Today on Indie Game Business we are discussing early access versus simultaneous release for video games with Brian Etheridge from Tripwire Presents!
Our topic list is:
When does early access NOT make sense?
Discussing early access with potential publishers first.
Early access as a tool for pitching your game
Early access on console/PC vs. mobile
When to release on early access
Alternatives to early access
and we will be taking questions from the community as well!
To learn more about the show or our online business matchmaking events for indie developers visit: indiegame.business
Indie Game Business is produced by The Powell Group: powellgroupconsulting.com
Watch the official live stream: twitch.tv/indiegamebusiness
Join the Indie Game Business Discord: discord.gg/indiegamebusiness
The Twitters to follow -
Indie Game Business: twitter.com/BusinessIndie
Powell Group Consulting: twitter.com/PowellGrp
Jay: twitter.com/Powell_Jay
INDIE: twitter.com/TheRealIndie
Thank you so much to Trip Wire Presents for sponsoring Indie Game Business!
Follow TripWire Presents on Twitter: https://twitter.com/twpresents
Check out TripWire Presents website: https://www.tripwireinteractive.com/#/
#gamedev #indiegamedev #gamedeveloper #indiegamedeveloper #gamebusiness