Enduring Play: A Game Development Podcast

From her work as UX Director at Epic Games on classics like Fortnite to her widely respected published books on the psychology of video games, UX Strategist and author Celia Hodent, PhD has helped a broad variety of games, gamers, and game developers wrangle the complexity of possibility using classic human-centered design and research psychology techniques. In this first episode of Enduring Play, Celia and Cheryl go far beyond wireframes to redefine your mental model of what the discipline of user experience can truly bring to the table for video game teams. We also explore ethics for modern game economies, inspired by Celia's time as the founder of the Ethical Games initiative.

There's something in this conversation for everyone because the application of user experience to video game development is critical to crafting video games that thrive: far more than just delivering screens, the craft of user experience can help game development teams foresee potential problems early, make smarter business decisions, and apply the best of cognitive psychology to make games more fun to play.

Enduring Play is a uniquely crafted, high production value podcast about the modern craft of game development with a format inspired by gaming itself, with a level structure and tutorials and asides that help listeners of all experience follow along. Season 1 of the Enduring Play podcast is drawn from interviews that informed Cheryl Platz's new book The Game Development Strategy Guide: Crafting Modern Video Games That Thrive, which is available worldwide as of September 16, 2025 and received a "Get It" recommendation from Kirkus Reviews. Show notes, including a full bio, episode outline, and links are available on the Enduring Play website.

Use code ENDURINGPLAYS1 at RosenfeldMedia.com to get 15% off your order - and all physical orders at Rosenfeld Media receive a free ebook. Podcast Season 1 discount offer expires November 30, 2025. Love the podcast or the book? Please spread the word with shares and reviews so we can change the industry together!

For readers of Cheryl Platz's new book The Game Development Strategy Guide, Celia's episode is a perfect complement for Chapter 1: What Makes Us Play, which covers basic cognitive psychology and motivational principles that apply to all forms of play; Chapter 4, which is dedicated to user experience design in video games; Chapter 6: The Why of Multiplayer, which covers the difference between companionship and competition in more detail; and Chapters 10 and 11 which cover video game monetization and ethics.

#videogame #videogames #podcast #gamedesign #gamedev #gamedevelopment #userexperience #uxdesign #uxresearch #cognitivepsychology

If you're struggling to figure out where AI fits into your game development process, you're not alone. The theme that emerged across a variety of conversations about artificial intelligence in Season 1 of this series is nuanced: there is no right answer. The cat's out of the bag and most game development companies will be looking at some form of AI use, but there is a clear sense that the use of generative AI for player-facing content is problematic. Tune in this season to explore the nuance and come to your own conclusions.

Preview quotes in this episode are pulled from:

• Episode 3: Creative Strategy for Thriving Teams with Amy Kalson
• Episode 4: The Global Heartbeat of Music Games with David Ventura
• Episode 7: Engineering for Scalable, Sustainable Games with Caerie Houchins

AI is just one of the many topics discussed this season on Enduring Play. Get full stories in context from professionals with experience at companies like Mojang, Riot Games, Disney Interactive Studios, iNiS Corp, VRChat, Roblox, Activision/Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Maxis, Griptonite Games, Hidden Path Entertainment, and many other studios. Hear from a wide variety of disciplines: from narrative, systems, and user experience design to engineering and player dynamics, with plenty of other perspectives along the way.

A new podcast quest has unlocked: join host Cheryl Platz, author of the upcoming book The Game Development Strategy Guide, as she takes you on a 10-episode journey behind the scenes with many of the veteran video game developers who are featured in the pages of her book starting August 19, 2025 and continuing weekly on Tuesdays.

Pre-order Cheryl's book, The Game Development Strategy Guide: Crafting Modern Video Games That Thrive from Rosenfeld Media or your favorite bookseller; releases September 16, 2025. Pre-orders at RosenfeldMedia.com save 15% and all print orders direct from the publisher receive a free ebook.

A new podcast quest has unlocked: join host Cheryl Platz, author of the upcoming book The Game Development Strategy Guide, as she takes you on a 10-episode journey behind the scenes with many of the veteran video game developers who are featured in the pages of her book starting August 19, 2025 and continuing weekly on Tuesdays.

Get full stories in context from professionals with experience at companies like Mojang, Riot Games, Disney Interactive Studios, iNiS Corp, VRChat, Roblox, Activision/Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Maxis, Griptonite Games, Hidden Path Entertainment, and many other studios. Hear from a wide variety of disciplines: from narrative, systems, and user experience design to engineering and player dynamics, with plenty of other perspectives along the way.

References in this episode:

• Game Changer: The Evolution of Video Games' Payments Infrastructure (Kansas City Fed)
• Xbox Hit with Layoffs and Cancellations as Microsoft Cuts 9000 Jobs (Wired)
• 2022-2025 game industry layoffs (Wikipedia)

Pre-order Cheryl's book, The Game Development Strategy Guide: Crafting Modern Video Games That Thrive from Rosenfeld Media or your favorite bookseller; releases September 16, 2025. Pre-orders at RosenfeldMedia.com save 15% and all print orders direct from the publisher receive a free ebook.