Jenova Chen has been at the forefront of game development since 2005, when he launched his career with the viral student project Cloud. In May, Chen took the stage at GamesBeat Summit to share lessons learned from the 20-year tenure of his studio Thatgamecompany — and sat down for an episode of the BIG Show, GamesBeat’s podcast.
Check out the first episode of season two of the BIG Show to get Chen’s take on the state of the game industry in 2026 — from his frustrations over the rise of “pseudo-gambling” mechanics like gacha and loot boxes to his interest in the so-called “friendslop” genre.