Exploring Humanity with Enhance's Mark MacDonald

Alexa Ray Corriea chats with Carrie Patel, the Game Director on Obsidian Entertainment's Avowed. Together they discuss how the team worked within the Pillars of Eternity universe while expanding the world and characters; transitioning the gameplay from an isometric RPG to a focus on first person action; writing memorable companions; and the complexities of real relationships and how that affected their decision to avoid romance options. This episode is supported by Xsolla Episode Host: Alexa Ray Corriea Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review. Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation

Alexa Ray Corriea chats with Mike Laidlaw, Chief Creative Officer at Yellow Brick Games. Together they discuss his career developing role-playing games including his role as Creative Director on the Dragon Age franchise; the development of his new studio's first release, Eternal Strands; creating the physics based combat system; the key pillars for the world and story design; and the importance of identifying what it takes to finish a project. This episode is supported by Xsolla Episode Host: Alexa Ray Corriea Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review. Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation

Trent Kusters chats with Johan Pilestedt, the Game Director on Arrowhead Game Studios' smash-hit, HELLDIVERS™ 2. Together they discuss his path in games that led to the founding of Arrowhead alongside his classmates in Sweden; the development and release of their first title, Magicka; the original ideas around that laid the foundation for the Helldivers universe; their ideas around game design; and the ups and downs of the 7 year development journey of HELLDIVERS™ 2. Episode Host: Trent Kusters Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review. Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation

Alexa Ray Corriea chats with actor Troy Baker. Together they discuss his award winning performance as Indiana Jones in MachineGames's Indiana Jones and the Great Circle; his biggest challenges in playing an iconic character; lessons he learned from his past projects that informed his preparation and performance; and the difference between a performance being simple versus boring. This episode is supported by Xsolla Episode Host: Alexa Ray Corriea Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review. Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation

Trent Kusters chats with game designer Tom Francis of Suspicious Developments, developers of hit indie tactical strategy games like Gunpoint, Heat Signature, and Tactical Breach Wizards. Together they discuss how Tom went from games journalism to game development; his ideas around challenge and difficulty; weaving gameplay with narrative; and his thoughts and advice on playtesting. Episode Host: Trent Kusters Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review. Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation

Alexa Ray Correia chats with actor Nhi Do, who starred in Sunset Visitor's debut narrative adventure, 1000xRESIST. Together they discuss her background in theater and how she landed her first part in video games; finding the entry point when playing a new character; the catharsis of finishing a project; and the importance of compartmentalization while getting our of your comfort zone. This episode is supported by Xsolla Episode Host: Alexa Ray Corriea Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review. Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation

Adam Orth chats with MachineGames' Jens Andersson and Axel Torvenius about their critically acclaimed title, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Together they discuss why they decided to make an Indiana Jones game in first person; the importance of introducing players to the Indiana Jones world by recreating the iconic opening scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark; and Troy Baker's award winning and Harrison Ford approved performance as Indiana Jones. This episode is supported by Xsolla Episode Host: Adam Orth Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review. Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation

Alexa Ray Correia chats with actor Suzie Yeung. Together they discuss how she got her start acting in games; her performance as Yuffie Kisaragi in the recent reboot of FINAL FANTASY VII; her extensive work in the anime industry; the process and differences in recording for animation versus games; how she prepared for her performance as Yuffie; and her advice for young voice actors beginning their careers. This episode is supported by Xsolla Episode Host: Alexa Ray Corriea Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review. Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation

Trent Kusters chats with Insomniac Games' Ted Price. Ted recently announced his retirement from the games industry and received the 2025 AIAS Hall of Fame award at the 28th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards. In this conversation, Ted recalls his life in game development as the founder and president of Insomniac Games from key projects and career milestones to lessons learned and his ideas for the future of games. Episode Host: Trent Kusters Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review. Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation

Xsolla is a leading global video game commerce company with a robust and powerful set of tools and services designed specifically for the industry. Since its founding in 2005, Xsolla has helped thousands of game developers and publishers of all sizes fund, market, launch, and monetize their games globally and across multiple platforms. To learn more, please visit: xsolla.com This episode is supported by Xsolla Episode Host: Adam Orth Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review. Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation