Devoted Talks

Join us as we sit down with Ryan Lastimosa, ex-Creative Director of Respawn Entertainment, to get insights from his wisdom and experience in the game industry. Our guest is an honored specialist who has designed hundreds of weapons for AAA Shooters: Call of Duty 4, Apex Legends, Titanfall 1, Titanfall 2, and more.

Fall Guys is one of the most successful video games over the last decade. 

This cartoony platformer earned $185 million of revenue from 8.2 million players just in its first month — awe-inspiring numbers!

 In the new episode of the Devoted SpeakEasy podcast, we are peeking behind the scenes of Fall Guys' development.  

So welcome our guest — Alexander McKinney-Raphelt, a studio Art Director at Epic Games. He is one of those responsible for the visual side of Fall Guys. Join our host Ninel (Gryuner) Anderson and find out tons of insight about creating a legendary game, character customizations, working with a community, managing methods, and more.

Tune in and find the answers to the hottest production and team management questions. What makes Proletariat as a team successful? What are the tips and tricks of creating addictive games like Spellbreak? What are the problems and challenges of a fast growing team?  How to keep your distributed team motivated?  Why should you sometimes let your employees ‘drown’? How to find and hire people with the right skills?

Want to learn how to build scalable character customization pipelines without spending your entire project budget ? Want to learn new tricks on how to create valuable content that players actually want to buy? Want to learn how PlanetSide2 and Team Fortress uses community efforts to create customizable content, increase engagement and spend less money? Want to learn how to become a successful Lead Artist?   

(13:17): Involving community into building content  

You’ve heard it everywhere by now - it’s a brave new world in gaming in 2020. And as people are more open than ever to finding ways to spend more time together online, there are thinkers who analyze these trends to figure out which companies and founders are worth investing time, energy - and of course, those big bucks - into.

In E05 of Devoted Speakeasy, join host Ninel Anderson as she chats with Sam Englebardt, Managing Partner of Galaxy Interactive, Richard Kim, Partner at Galaxy Interactive, and William Rhys Dekle, Partner at Strategic Alternatives. Between them they’ve supported the likes of Mythical, Proletariat, DazzleRocks, and more. Find out how these decisions are made, straight from the minds of some of the industry’s most experienced and thoughtful investors.

14 Things to Know to Raise Money in Gaming in 2020:

01) (01:50) 5 things investors are looking for in a pitch

02) (03:53) How do investors do their due diligence on content?

03) (07:43) The Pitch Process, and case studies from Galaxy’s portfolio

04) (20:53) Cold calling investors vs. warm intro?

05) (22:42) Is building a “Founder Brand” a necessity?

06) (23:10) How to research investors?

07) (27:25) Are consultants helpful in raising money?

08) (29:17) Supporting each other is key!

09) (30:27) What is the difference between a lead investor and a follower?

10) (31:10) How do you price your business?

11) (36:05) Do your math! Is VC actually a good solution for you? What other options do you have?

12) (37:29) Overall time, from starting pitching, to term sheet draft, to final version. When would you actually receive the money in your account?

13) (38:55) What's the usual time between the rounds? What should the founder be doing in between rounds?

14) (42:52) How has the process changed with the advent of the pandemic?

#devotedSpeakeasy #gaming #GamingVenture

www.devotedstudios.com

www.galaxyinteractive.io

www.strataltllc.com

This episode is a master class in how to compel players to explore and thrive in fictional worlds. Christopher Barrett started out creating maps and mods as a fan of Myth, which led to opportunities at Bungie that have never stopped coming. Over the course of two decades, he has been an artist on Halo 1, Environmental Art Director on Halo 2 and Halo 3, Art Director of Destiny, Art and Game Director of Destiny 2, and now Game Director of an unannounced project.

In E04 of Devoted Speakeasy, join host Ninel Anderson as she chats with Chris about:

(2:18): Building worlds you want to explore

(5:15): Using the concept of “postcards” to tease an idea of a place you want to visit

(9:15): Drawing inspiration from beloved fiction from childhood

(12:20): How to communicate personal achievement through the visual language of gear rarity

(17:50): The importance of building upon existing, recognizable tropes

(24:15): The challenge of helping artists in a big team find common language

(30:40): The nuances between an Art Director and Game Director in leading a team

(37:50): Being a social media ambassador for Destiny through its ups and downs

Following the journey of Eduardo Gonzalez’s career is a case study in thoughtful creative team building and character design. He started out as a contracted concept artist contributing to series such as God of War, Socom, and Kill Zone, spent seven years at Riot as a pivotal player on the Visual Development and World Building teams, and is now the lead Art Director for Super Evil’s new battleground shooter Catalyst Black.

Through personally designing a total of 37 different champion skins for League of Legends, he learned the all-time importance of building “possibility” into characters so that they can be transported into other forms of media while maintaining the identity of the original game. 

In E03 of Devoted Speakeasy, join host Ninel Anderson as she chats with Eduardo on: 

(1:00): Riot: how it all started  

(5:08): Co-Founding World Building Team with the knowledge that the IP will transcend the game 

(11:40): Shape language and symbolism of specific champions in League of Legends 

(17:28): Subcultures within characters to give depth and possibility without touching the game

(20:40): How does the collaboration between different roles work in champion design? 

(29:00): Surfacing “hooks” or “clues” that will give games their identity 

(35:15): Estimating time spent on assets as a trial and error process 

(40:00): A glimpse into early visual development for God of War 

(45:40): What are the secret ingredients to a successful new IP?

“If you truly want to tap into the talent of that person, and the sensibility of that person, you let them bring their own touch to that instrument. And the end result will be infinitesimally different, yet different nonetheless.” - Art Director Daniel Dociu on leading an art team like a conductor in an orchestra

Daniel Dociu doesn’t need an introduction - he is one of the most renowned and beloved Art Directors of the games industry; the Art Father of Guild Wars. His concept art is the type of mindblowing work that makes one want to become an artist in the first place.

In E02, join Devoted Speakeasy host Ninel Anderson as she chats to Daniel on topics such as: How to lead a team like a conductor (7:50); How the art teams of Guild Wars 1 and 2 were built (9:20); Things Daniel looks for in artists (20:20); How allowing aberrations in art style builds more plausible worlds (33:00); How to develop IPs? (35:40); Techniques and brushes (39:50), and the differences between original IP development vs movie based (42:30).

What can game art production learn from movies? How do you work as a team when every discipline has different priorities? How do you ship a world's favorite game when your only management tool is Excel? 

In the very first episode of Devoted Speakeasy, join Devoted Studios CEO Ninel Anderson as she chats with Executive Art Director Lance Powell about the challenges of being a digital artist in the 90s, working in software that doesn’t have an “undo” button, how to inspire, lead the team and find middle ground with your peers… and much more!

Lance Powell is an Executive Art Director with more than 20 years in the movie and game industries. He started his career in art in the 90s working on Mech Warrior ll at Activision, and developed his skills as a texture / surfacing artist working on  Lord of the Rings 2 / 3 and Shrek 2. After working on textures for Uncharted at Naughty Dog, he transitioned into Art Direction on Medal of Honor: Airborne, and has since served as North America Art Director at GameLoft, lead Art Director on Cloud Imperium’s Star Citizen, and more.

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The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

Company: New Line Cinema

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYcw5ksV8YQ&t=2s

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Shrek 2 (2004)

Company: DreamWorks Pictures

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBgSfhp5Fxo&t=5s

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Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (2007)

Company: Naughty Dog, Sony 

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGuNhvaL7A0&t=3s

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Medal of Honor: Airborne (2007)

Company: DICE Los Angeles, EA Games 

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQBYpmwB-u4

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Star Citizen (2016)

Company: Cloud Imperium Games

Source: https://www.youtube.com/user/RobertsSpaceInd

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Battlestar Galactica (2004)

Company: David Eick Productions

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U55zz4RhFks&t=214s

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Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (2001)

Company: Naughty Dog, Sony 

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTTISVFz8ow

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Medal of Honor 3 (2010)

Company: DICE Los Angeles, EA Games 

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQBYpmwB-u4

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The Flintstones: Bedrock Bowling (2000)

Company: Ubisoft, SouthPeak Games

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z74fVEiiXog&t=22s