The GDC 2025 Grab Bag Episode

We return with another grab bag episode for GDC 2025! Like last year, we brought a bunch of simple questions to ask folks, and in these three groups you get to hear how their answers differed. In our first group we had Chase Dodge (NYU student), Ruari Root (NYU student), Calliope Ryder (prev Lead Producer on Tales of the Shire at Weta Workshop), Chandana Ekanayake (Co-Founder and Creative Director of Outerloop Games), Hudson Janow (NYU student, Gay Gaming Professionals scholar), Apollo Umbra (Northwestern student, Gay Gaming Professionals scholar). Our second group had Lis Moberly (Lead Game Designer at Walt Disney Company, 20th Century Games), Vincent Perea (Senior Art Director at Disney Experiences), Lola Shiraishi (Co-Founder of Stellium Studios), and Meghan Thornton (Story Manger at Insomniac Games). And our last group had Emma Kidwell (Writer at Firaxis Games), Natalie Checo (PR Consultant at Future Friends Games, Journalist, and Game Writer/Editor), Sam Low (Global Communications Exec at Neon Noroshi, and SEA Brand Development Manager for Critical Reflex), Nessa Cannon (Game Writer and Narrative Designer), and Bria Davis (Community Director at Young Horses)Topics included: favorite people they’ve worked with, hobbies that have paid off the most in their work, underrated game faves, ideas and mechanics that they are keen to put in their next games, what to do when you’re feeling drained and in need of inspiration, most recent games they’ve been playing, someone in the industry who did something nice for them, games they keep returning to, if they could force developers to do one thing what would it be, times they’ve messed up and what they learned from it, game character crushes, something they do as their process that saves time, what they would have on their ideal writing/narrative design test, how they creatively rejuvenate themselves, and more!Our GuestsGroup 1: Chase Dodge, Ruari Root, Calliope Ryder, Chandana Ekanayake, Hudson Janow, Apollo UmbraGroup 2: Lis Moberly, Vincent Perea, Lola Shiraishi, Meghan ThorntonGroup 3: Emma Kidwell, Nessa Cannon, Natalie Checo, Sam Low, Bria DavisStuff We Talked AboutFear the SpotlightTangle TowerChants of Senaar30 Flights of LovingSpiritfarerMÖRK BORGHues and CuesLife is StrangePapers, PleaseUrban ShadowsArctic EggsCitizen SleeperMetaphor RefantazioRimworldFrostpunk 2Monster Hunter WildsHades 2Return of the Obra DinnDragon Quest VSubnauticaThe Artist’s WayFinal Fantasy VIIOur theme music was composed by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

It’s been an embarrassingly long time but we are BACK! Again!!! And this time we’ve brought returning guests Adam Dolin and Jolie Menzel to discuss breaking in, how they define narrative design, the differences between creative directors who come from narrative versus other displiclines, the three c’s, can game writers exist without knowing narrative design, favorite narrative tools, what makes a good opening to a game, tutorials, letting players have choices where the results lead to them missing lots of content, bad habits they’ve noticed in younger writers/narrative designers, the future of the industry, pieces of media they go back to get reinvigorate/inspired, the themes they’re always writing into their stories, stuff they’re always editing out of their writing, how to write good dialogue, and maybe one or two other things. It’s great!Our Guests on the InternetJolie's Linkedin. Adam's Linkedin and BlueSky, and his ELVTR class starts in April!Stuff We DiscussedLarian Cinematics: A Top-Down Look at Our Bottom-Up Approach in 'Baldur's Gate 3'Jolie's 3C's of Game Design PresentationTwineVisual Studio CodeHighland 2 (FYI looks like a Highland 3 launch is imminent)InkYarnSpinnerCastlevania: Symphony of the NightPentimentAgainst the StormUFO 50BalatroMagic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast The Callisto ProtocolGod of War (2018)Detroit: Become HumanThe Darkness 2Another Crab’s TreasureThe Videogame Industry Does Not Exist by Brandon KeoghSonic Adventure 2Hank confronts Walter in Breaking BadBarryThe Adventures of Brisco County, JrBurn NoticeClerksDogmaNick's Dialogue PlaylistGame Narrative Summit: Building Rome in a Day: A Sociological Storytelling PrimerTomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle ZevinFuturama Commentaries Tetris ForeverListen To a MovieScript Lock BlueSkyOur Theme Music was composed by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita. The vampire sucking noise was created by Robinhood76.

Moving on from our GDC episodes, we're back with Jaclyn (Writer at Respawn Entertainment on Apex Legends, instructor & student mentor at Vancouver Film School. Previously a Writer on RPG Puzzle Legends and Merge Tales for Microfun) and Christal Rose (previously a Writer at Respawn Entertainment on Apex Legends and an Associate Writer on Hogwarts Legacy at Avalanche)! Together we discuss writing fanfiction, doing work you’re proud of without getting too attached, finding a way into a character, being funny on demand, self-imposed rules, whether their writing styles have changed over the years, writing with constraints, worldbuilding pet peeves, most overused words, what practice would they standardize across the industry, and common themes in their writing.Our Guests on the InternetJaclyn's Twitter, Website, and Lore Trailer for Alter. Christal Rose's Twitter, Website, and Lore Trailer for Conduit. Stuff We Talked AboutJaclyn and Christal Rose's GDC talk: Creating Diverse Characters: Writing What you Know and Don'tThe Gasoline Baby NPC Convo in Marvel's Spider-Man 2Our theme music was done by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Hey hey! We're back with our second episode that we recorded at this year's GDC, and it's a doozy! In a switch from how we normally do things, we brought a grab bag of simple questions to the conference and hit up people who were free, and so y'all get to see how everyone's answers differed. In our first group, we had Ben Starr (actor, Final Fantasy XVI), Alexa Ray Corriea (senior writer at Cliffhanger Games on Black Panther), Kait Tremblay (narrative director at Soft Rains), and Kelsey Beachum (writer / narrative designer). In our second group (starting at 35:21) we had Adam Dolin (writer), Kate Dollarhyde (senior narrative designer at Obsidian Entertainment), and Kelsie Mhoon (senior narrative designer at Obsidian Entertainment on The Outer Worlds 2). Our third group (starting at 1:19:39) had Emma Kidwell (writer at Firaxis), Nessa Cannon (game writer), and Calliope Ryder (lead producer Weta Workshop on Tales of the Shire). And we closed things out (at 1:47:33) with Chandana Ekanayake (co-founder / creative director of Outerloop Games, and director of Thirsty Suitors). Topics include: hobbies that aren't related to game development, current game of the year, favorite villains / antagonists, a time you messed up and what you learned from it, how you stay positive, games you keep returning to, favorite choice you've ever made in a game, people in this industry who did something nice for you, favorite NPCs, games you're always referencing that nobody else has ever heard of, games that made you think differently about something, first game you played where the story really affected you, what you'd force devs to change during production, games you wish you'd gotten to work on, how to get team members to read documentation, something in your process that saves a ton of time, advice for people wanting to get into game narrative,  and so SO much more it's kinda insane!!!Our Guests on the InternetGroup 1: Ben Starr, Alexa Ray Corriea, Kait Tremblay, Kelsey BeachumGroup 2: Adam Dolin, Kate Dollarhyde (wants you to play Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire), Kelsie Mhoon (wants you to play Jak 2)Group 3: Emma Kidwell (wants you to play Hindsight and Midnight Suns), Nessa Cannon (wants you to wishlist Star Trucker), Calliope Ryder (wants you to wishlist Tales of the Shire)Group 4: Chandana Ekanayake (wants you to play Thirsty Suitors)Stuff We Talked AboutPrince of Persia: The Lost CrownFinal Fantasy VII RebirthDave the DiverChants of SenaarGarden GalaxyAdvent RisingPrey - MooncrashPyre Original SoundtrackLonely Rolling Star - Katamari DamacyAquatic Ambiance - Donkey Kong CountryLiberi Fatali - Final Fantasy VIIITony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 creditsAnna Megill's Game Writing GuidesAdam's LLVTR game writing class is no longer being offered otherwise we'd link it :'[Packing Up the Rest of Your Stuff on the Last Day at Your Old ApartmentDredgeGrowthNina Freeman's GamesFull ThrottleBellatroA Short HikeLong Live the QueenGame Dev StoryOur theme music was composed by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Coming to you NOT LIVE from GDC, we've got a special episode of the podcast covering SAG-AFTRA's negotiations with game studios! Duncan Crabtree-Ireland (National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator for SAG-AFTRA) and Sarah Elmaleh (Chair of the SAG-AFTRA Interactive Media (IMA) Negotiating Committee, as well as actor in titles like Helldivers 2, Hi-Fi Rush, Halo Infinite, Gears 5, Afterparty, and Gone Home, and VO Director for titles like Goodbye Volcano High, The Wreck, and Fortnite) join us to discuss the overall situation as regards to the potential strike, the issue of Artificial Intelligence, studios trying to exempt certain types of performances from AI protections, dealing with the convenience bargaining group (aka the studios), their experiences at GDC, the ways devs can support SAG's members, if there's been anything they learned at the conference this week that surprised them, how people can get more involved in organizing, whether the negotiations for this year are different than the ones for last year, next steps, how they keep themselves relaxed during these stressful times, and much more!Our Guests on the InternetDuncan on TwitterSarah on Twitter, and you should listen to Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games PodcastStuff We Talked AboutSAG-AFTRA 2024 Tiered Budget Independent Interactive Media AgreementOur theme music was composed by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

First ep of 2024! We've got Stephen (scriptwriter and narrative designer, currently Narrative Director on Motive's untitled Iron Man project in collaboration with Marvel Games. Previously a Senior Writer on Vampyr and Greedfall, Associate Narrative Director/Lead Narrative Designer on Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, Lead Narrative Designer/Senior Story Designer on Call of Duty: Vanguard, Lead Scriptwriter on Immortals Fenyx Rising, Senior Scriptwriter on Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, and more) and Danny (lead writer at Respawn Entertainment where he’s worked on Star Wars: Jedi Survivor. Previously a lead writer on Borderlands 3, its dlc, and Borderlands 2, as well as Battleborn and one of its story operation DLCs. He was also a narrative design consultant for Eko, a story consultant for Unbound Creations, lead writer for Ansimuz Games’ Elliot Quest, and writer for My Evil Twin Gaming Corp, Trendy Entertainment, and TRU Darknet) in to talk about the UT Denius-Sams Gaming Academy, accountability in writing, having the spine of the story figured out in pre-production, communicating changes that affect other departments, being custodians of story, soft skills, unlearning bad habits, getting better at pitching, building teams, their most used words, staying open to new ideas without losing sight of the vision, taking and prioritizing feedback, and letting go of your projects after they’re released.Our Guests on the InternetStephen's Twitter.Danny's Website and Substack.Our theme music was done by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.This episode was brought to you by Backlight Gem. If you're a narrative designer or writer in the world of video games, Gem is a powerful tool that empowers you to bring your stories to life by streamlining the narrative design process from ideation to release. Learn more at https://bit.ly/Gem-Script-Lock

Happy Holidays! We're closing out this year with the absolutely amazing Alexa Ray Corriea (Writer and narrative designer currently working on Black Panther in partnership with Marvel Games and EA, serving as both a writer and systems designer. Previously she worked on Aztech: Forgotten Cods, Call of Duty: Vanguard and the Call of Duty: Warzone Pafcific live service game, Bugsnax, and Middle-Earth: Shadow of War. She’s also currently writing a book about the Kingdom Hearts series under Limited Run Games’ Press Run publishing division) and Ben Starr (Actor who has appeared in such games as Final Fantasy XVI as Clive Rosfield, Arknights as Sharp, Warframe: 1999 as Arthur, and has acted in shows like You, Trying, Jamestown, Dickensian and more), and they join us to discuss their favorite game performances growing up, working in games being like the wild west, being kind in this industry, looking at the jobs you don’t get/obstacles you face in another light, skills that are unique to games, banned words in scripts, being given the opportunity to add your ingredients to projects, the themes and kinds of stories that Alexa keeps returning to in her writing, the way games portray intimacy, IP white whales, stuff they do for their storytelling to help develop it, how they stay open-minded to unexpected ideas without losing shape of their visions, and a tonnnnnnnnnn more!Our Guests on the InternetAlexa's Twitter, and check out Black PantherBen's Twitter, and check out Warframe: 1999Stuff We Talked AboutFinal Fantasy XVIDie-Hardman's Confession from Death StrandingBen's official audition to play MarioA Thorough Look at Mass Effect by Noah Caldwell-GervaisChained EchoesKingdom HeartsThe Worst Person in the WorldMass Effect 2Legacy of KainThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the KingdomPeople, Places and ThingsLuthen Rael's Monologue from AndorSeveranceOur theme music was done by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.This episode was brought to you by Backlight Gem. If you're a narrative designer or writer in the world of video games, Gem is a powerful tool that empowers you to bring your stories to life by streamlining the narrative design process from ideation to release. Learn more at https://bit.ly/Gem-Script-Lock

We've got Ally (producer at The Voxel Agents, game director at Lemonade Games on Mystiques, Production Director at League of Geeks on Solium Infernum and the recent Jumplight Odyssey. Previously was a senior producer and development manager at Mighty Kingdom, expert product manager at Wargaming, and gamerunner on Rumu at Robot House) and Natalie (producer at Half Mermaid, most recently on Immortality. Previously a producer, host, and writer at Vice's Waypoint, a Content and Experience Manager at Play By We, and currently can be heard on the Star Wars podcast "A More Civilized Age") in to talk all things PRODUCTION, including how the definition of a producer is different at every studio, the Triple Diamond technique, transcendental meditation, productivity software, best practices for outlining/facilitating interactive narratives, producing Immortality, the organizing monster, documentation and getting people to read it, the most useful soft skills, setting expectations with teams on a producer’s role, what they would tell their starting-out-self based on what they know now, how much of what they produce includes a part of themselves, and skittles.Our Guests on the InternetFor Ally: Mystiques, and Solium InfernumFor Natalie: Her Twitter, and A More Civilized Age's PatreonStuff We Talked AboutThe Triple Diamond techniqueTranscendental MeditationGanttPRONotionImmortalitySolium InfernumOne of Ally's surveys for setting expectations on how a producer can help their teamOur theme music was done by Isabella Ness, and our logo was done by Lily Nishita.This episode was brought to you by Backlight Gem. If you're a narrative designer or writer in the world of video games, Gem is a powerful tool that empowers you to bring your stories to life by streamlining the narrative design process from ideation to release. Learn more here. 

Everyone said it’d be impossible, but we managed to find another pair of twins to come onto this podcast. That’s right. The incredible Jennifer Hale (Has acted in the original Mass Effect trilogy, the Metal Gear Solid series, Overwatch, Star Wars: The Knights of the Old Republic, Bioshock Infinite, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, and many many many more) and Debra Wilson (Acted in the Wolfenstein series, The Outer Worlds, Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order and its sequel Jedi Survivor, Destiny 2, God of War: Ragnarok, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, and many many many more) have joined us to talk about improv, how they manage to stay positive and not become cynical in this industry, the kinds of direction they enjoy most, favorite/least favorite piece of direction they’ve ever gotten, what acting jobs they learned the most from, are there any roles they’ve never done or want to do more of, and oh man you should just listen to this.Our Guests on the InternetFor Jennifer: Acting.skillshub.lifeFor Debra: Her Cameo (If you just wanna talk with her, you don’t have to buy a cameo. Just send her a message!)Stuff We Talked AboutThe Apollo Comedy HourThe GameKris Zimmerman-SalterCaptains of Consciousness: Advertising and the Social Roots of the Consumer Culture by Stuart EwenMy Stroke of Insight - Jill Bolte Taylor TED TalkMickey Mouse FunhouseBaby Shark's Big Show!Zodiac WazeOur theme music was done by Isabella Ness, and our logo was done by Lily Nishita.This episode was brought to you by Backlight Gem. If you're a narrative designer or writer in the world of video games, Gem is a powerful tool that empowers you to bring your stories to life by streamlining the narrative design process from ideation to release. Learn more at https://bit.ly/Gem-Script-Lock

Apologies for the wait, but we're back! We don't often do episodes focused around one specific thing, but we're making an exception to talk about Netflix's newest interactive special: We Lost Our Human, and we're joined by its two co-creators, Chris and Rikke! (They also co-created the Nickelodeon series Pinky Malinky, and both have worked on many, many other animated projects, with Chris working as showrunner, producer, writer, art director, storyboarder, character designer and more. As for Rikke, she’s also been a showrunner, producer, voice director, animator, animation director, storyboard artist, and more.)Together they talk about how they broke into animation and got into interactive narrative, what they thought the hardest part of making We Lost Our Human would be, getting advice from the Bandersnatch folks, making media for kids vs adults, whether it was difficult for the actors to keep the branching story in their heads, unexpected learnings, the new production pipeline they had to build, Netflix’s branch manager tool, James Baxter, whether they had to adjust WLOH based on Netflix data, and what advice they’d give to someone making an interactive special now.Our Guests on the InternetChris' Instagram, and Twitter.Rikke's Instagram.Stuff We Talked AboutWe Lost Our HumanPinky MalinkyBandersnatchHeroes of Might and MagicTHE NEWZEALAND STORYOur theme music was done by Isabella Ness, and our logo was done by Lily Nishita.