Welcome to GDC Side Quest, our new monthly podcast project produced in partnership with GDC Festival of Gaming. On this show content marketing manager Beth Elderkin will travel the broader B2B ecosystem of the video game industry, seeking more insights from the many talented individuals who make great games come to life.

In this premiere episode Elderkin quizzes Finji CEO Bekah Saltsman not just about *what* indies need to know to survive the modern marketing landscape.

The GDC Side Quest podcast is a monthly podcast that celebrates and uplifts the entire game ecosystem, showcasing the people who make games thrive and sharing their lessons with the community. Part of the Game Developer podcast, GDC Side Quest is hosted and edited by Beth Elderkin, and features music by Mike Meehan.

Learn more about Finji: https://finji.co/

Learn more about GDC Festival of Gaming: schedule.gdconf.com

- - -

And now for some indie game appreciation. This week Trinket Studios’ Tom Eastman and Ben Perez join us to discuss the development of the anime-inspired, card-based role-playing game Battle Suit Aces, with tales of cooking up card games and racing to save their intellectual property from the sinking of Adult Swim Games.

Learn more about Battle Suit Aces: https://battlesuitaces.com/

- - -

Midwest Games CEO Ben Kvalo—an alumni of 2K Interactive and Netflix—sits down to discuss how “regionalism” can bring developers together from different parts of the industry, and how smaller companies that combine their powers may be a better fit than studios that tackle all ends of development.

Learn more about Midwest Games: https://www.midwestgames.com/

Learn more about the Wisconsin Games Alliance: https://www.wisconsingamesalliance.com/

- - -

Former BioWare executive producer Mark Darrah discusses the complex challenges of leadership in the game industry, reflecting on what worked and what didn’t work during his days at BioWare. Also, what’s up with running his own YouTube channel now that he’s done making titanic role-playing games?

Learn more about Mark Darrah’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkDarrah

- - -

ArenaNet game director Stephen Clarke-Willson and server programmer Robert Neckorcuk discuss the realities of keeping ArenaNet’s Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2 up and running—with some spooky horror stories as well.

- - -

This week on the Game Developer Podcast, Gearbox creative director Graeme Timmins and global creative executive Andrew Reiner swing by for a chat about what goes into the big picture of making a game like Borderlands 4, the team’s relationship with Unreal Engine 5, and offer their thoughts on Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford’s frequent public posts.

- - -

This week on the Game Developer Podcast, Bloober Team lead combat designer Shamil Yanbukhtin and senior game AI programmer Dennis Pauly share insights from making a new kind of survival horror combat system for Cronos: The New Dawn.

Learn more about Cronos: The New Dawn.

- - -

This week on the Game Developer Podcast, System Era Softworks design director Liz England joins us to look back on her famous 2014 blog post “The Door Problem,” discuss her evolving game design career, and explain her antagonistic approach to organizing books by color on her bookshelf.

Follow Liz England on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/lizardengland.bsky.social

Read The Door Problem: https://lizengland.com/blog/the-door-problem/

Recommended Reading/Playing:

The Great and Secret Show by Clive Barker.

Planet Crafter by Miju Games.

- - -

This week on the Game Developer Podcast, Soft Rains creative director Joel Burgess and narrative director Kait Tremblay discuss the development of Ambrosia Sky, a cosmic science fiction game where players uncover the mysteries of a lost colony by cleaning up an alien mold and burying the dead. It’s the most interesting game you’ll hear about in 2025.

Check out the Ambrosia Sky demo on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3580160/Ambrosia_Sky/

Follow Joel Burgess and Kait Tremblay on Bluesky at @joelburgess.bsky.social‬ and @kaittremblay.bsky.social‬

Learn more about Soft Rains: https://softrains.games/

- - -

This week on the Game Developer Podcast, actor and SAG-AFTRA Interactive Media negotiating committee chair Sarah Elmaleh stops by to discuss the success and strategy behind the union’s year-long strike.

Follow Sarah Elmaleh on Bluesky at @selmaleh.bsky.social‬ 

- - -