Game Dev Unchained

You wouldn't believe that The Universim started out as a single developer project, that went onto become a full game, Kickstarter success and helped build a virtual game development company with crowdsourced QA testing for Alex Koshelkov, but it did. Listen to this weeks episode for the full story.

One amazing year of pod-casting comes to a crescendo with this episode. We brought back a slew of guests for one last go at the podcast before we closed shop for a week and start working on Season 2!

Asymmetrical game design is nothing new surprisingly but it's definitely at its current peak in popularity. This week, Lead Game Designer Mike Birkhead takes us through the design, balancing and issues of developing asymmetrical games for a pvp audience. We also talk about Overwatch, Dota, and drop a little love for a friend at Blizzard.

Epic Games is giving away 5 million dollars to game developers, no strings attached. This wee we talked with veteran game developer Leo Gonzalez and talk about how he applied for and won an Unreal Dev Grant for $10k. He explains the process, the requirements, the waiting time, and what's he did and what he's currently doing with the grant money.

Unchain yourself! This week we explore the true costs, benefits and best practices for pursuing your own personal interests after you 9-5 and finding the ways to ensure the success of your after hours startup.

Talking with Marcus Montgomery this week about diversity issues and solutions in the gaming industry. We share some stories, and ideas all before ending it on a very positive note as he explains his involvement in gameheadsoakland.org www.wearegamedevs.com www.gameheadsoakland.org

No school, no problem! Ben Seto takes us through his unique experiences as a self taught artist in the game industry and how he achieved so much success. We then go over finding time to pursue your passions outside of work and running a Kickstarter campaign! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1998128541/the-art-of-usagi-jane-and-the-skullbunnies-volume

Jay Wilson, Game Director for Diablo 3 sits with us to go over his experiences working at Blizzard, Directing a game for 8 years and most importantly how he handled burnout. Lastly we get a sneak peek at what he's up to now!

Randy Forsyth gives us his true family and parenting stories as a stay at home professional full time game developer. The Dev Dad himself lays out what you'll expect and need to do in order to function both as an employee and a parent simultaneously from the comfort of your own home.

There's a mighty storm called the game industry and this week we talk to Matthew Brown on exactly how he handles the volatility and what you should be doing to survive.