Hi! I’m Cat Burton, a games industry veteran of 17 years.
This is The Goth Boss Podcast where I dive into the real challenges of making games and running studios.
From burnout and imposter syndrome to scaling teams and finding funding, I share honest stories and conversations with inspiring people across the games industry.
Whether you’re leading a studio, building your first game or growing a team, my goal is to help you survive and succeed in the games industry.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hi! I’m Cat Burton, a games industry veteran of 17 years.
This is The Goth Boss Podcast where I dive into the real challenges of making games and running studios.
From burnout and imposter syndrome to scaling teams and finding funding, I share honest stories and conversations with inspiring people across the games industry.
Whether you’re leading a studio, building your first game or growing a team, my goal is to help you survive and succeed in the games industry.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dan Pinchbeck is the co-founder of The Chinese Room, the award-winning studio behind many wonderful games including Dear Esther, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, Little Orpheus, Still Wakes The Deep and most recently Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2.
In this episode, we talk through Dan’s incredible journey with the studio. From its early days making Half-Life 2 mods to becoming one of the UK’s most distinctive storytelling studios. Dan opens up about the highs and lows of running a team and what really happened behind the scenes. He gives an honest insight into how he navigated creative burnout and what led him to leave the studio before Bloodlines 2 shipped.
We also get into some big industry topics: the AI hype sweeping game dev, what’s broken in the games industry and what gives him hope for the future of smaller studios.
Chapters:
00:00 The Origins of The Chinese Room
03:49 Starting with Mods: Conscientious Objector, Antilion Soccer, Dear Esther & Korsakovia
05:11 Moving to Commercial Games: Dear Esther and Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs
07:02 Shifting from Walking Simulators to Horror Games
12:39 The Formation of The Chinese Room as a Company
16:33 The Impact of Studio Size on Development
20:23 Funding Struggles and the Studio Downsizing in 2017
25:57 Recovery and the Sumo Group Acquisition
29:06 Little Orpheus and Maintaining Creative Control After Acquisition
34:01 The State of the Game Industry
39:26 The Impact of AI on Game Development
45:46 Challenges for Indie Developers
48:27 Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2
01:02:43 What's next for Dan
About Dan:
Dan Pinchbeck is a writer, creative director, and co-founder of the acclaimed UK studio The Chinese Room. With a background in academia and digital arts, he’s known for pioneering narrative-driven experiences that blur the line between storytelling, atmosphere, and player agency. Dan’s work has helped shape modern indie game storytelling and inspired a generation of developers to experiment with emotion and meaning in games. You can find him on:
Dan's Website: https://www.danpinchbeck.co.uk/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danpinchbeck/
About Me
Hi, I’m Cat Burton! I've built studios, raised funding and shipped games to millions of players. Now I help you do the same with expert games consultancy and advice. The Goth Boss Podcast dives into the real challenges of making games and running game studios by sharing honest stories and inspiring conversations with my industry friends.
You can connect with me on:
GothBoss (Games Consultancy & Coaching): https://www.GothBoss.co.uk
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catburton
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gothbosscat
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/gothbosscat.bsky.social
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gothbosscat
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.