Working in the games industry is a dream for many. But such a dream can quickly become a burden. If the pressure at work isn't already hard enough, living in a pandemic is an additional burden. It is therefore particularly important to recognize the first signs of mental illness. Our host Lars Jansen talks about this with Andy Barker and Brian Cooley from Mind Fitness.

Today it is really easy to release a game. But the number of competitors is immense and you need attention to sell your game. So good PR is important. In this episode Liana Murphy, Chief Operating Officer at Vicarious PR, joins us and we talk about PR for video games and about the changes that take place.

Most of you will probably remember your first VR moment – but the challenge often lies in getting people back after the initial “wow factor”.

Alex Silkin, Co-Founder and CTO at Survios, has been working in the field of virtual reality for about a decade and has certainly helped to push the boundaries of what’s possible, thereby defining the VR experiences of today.

Alex and our host Lars Janssen will take a look at the evolution of VR hardware and what game designers have learned in recent years, so you can take away some valuable insights for your own VR project or simply feed your curiosity.

There’s a controversial set of topics everyone – not only in the games industry – seems to be talking about at the moment: blockchain, crypto, and NFTs. Oftentimes using all these terms synonymously, some think it’s going to revolutionize our industry, others condemn it as the biggest plague since the beginning of time. As always, reality is more complex than black or white, so we thought it makes senses to lift the curtain a little and take a look behind the scenes.

In this episode of "devcom podcast" our host Lars (he/him) welcomes Pauliina Törnqvist (she/her). Pauliina is producer for one of the biggest franchise in the gaming industry, "Call of Duty". She talks about her journey through the industry starting from her home country Finland over Germany to USA and give us some insights about her colourful history in the industry.

Code Coven is the first global games industry accelerator for underrepresented talent. Equality, diversity, and inclusion is embedded into their DNA. With Tara Mustapha (She/Her) and Karla Reyes (She/Her), Lars (He/Him) talks about  what Code Coven offers to help marginalized developers succeed through the structured programs and further initiatives they offer. We also take a look at some exemplary stories of people they supported over the years.

Jess Mulligan and Don Daglow are online games pioneers with a combined total experience of over 80 years in making games. They both helped shape our industry as we know it today and in this special episode in advance of our devcom Developer Conference 2021, we talk about why they can call themselves "true citizens of online gaming". We take a look at their personal journeys and how online games in general and player expectations in particular have evolved over the past decades.

Mimimi Games at its core has been around for more than 10 years and is well-known for titles like Shadow Tactics or Desperados III. They recently won the German Computer Games Award for Best Studio 2021.

In this episode, we welcome Thomas Bidaux, CEO at ICO Partners. In a conversation with our host Lars Janssen, he shares his thoughts about the current state of crowdfunding and self-publishing. What has changed over the past few years? What do you need to know if you want to get your game funded? How do you self-publish within the current ecosystem? 

00:00:00 Welcome

Shaun Rutland is the CEO and Co-Founder of Hutch Games Ltd. After more than five years working for PlayStation at Sony, he left the company to found his own.