To end the second season of Game Dev Diary, Arslan Kıran was my guest for this week’s episode. He is evangelizing Web3 games and educating people about them as the head of growth at Sandbox and also working on a midcore game as the founder of Hungri Games. He has been in the mobile F2P industry since the early days and now is aiming to do the same with the Web3 games ecosystem.
We discussed the importance of staying up to date with the market, why it matters to pick the winners in an industry that you personally believe in, and how embracing a multi-disciplinary career can boost your growth.
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Connect with Arslan on LinkedIn
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⭐If you enjoyed this episode, you can rate it on Spotify or share it with your friends!
📺Do you prefer watching the episode rather than listening to it? Then you can watch the whole discussion on YouTube.
📝Do you wish you took down notes while listening to the conversation? I already did it so you don’t have to! You can read my notes from this episode on Substack.
My guest at Game Dev Diary this week was Ilya Buber who joined the podcast from the other side of the world. He is currently working at Tripledot’s Australia office as the Associate Product Director, collaborating with other offices around the globe to bring new games to millions. He has quite the background in games development as he worked at Glu and EA previously.
Our discussion covered topics such as how to transition to new roles, why you should understand the fundamentals of the business that you are in, and what happens if you display your passion on top of that business knowledge.
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⭐If you enjoyed this episode, you can rate it on Spotify or share it with your friends!
📺Do you prefer watching the episode rather than listening to it? Then you can watch the whole discussion on YouTube.
📝Do you wish you took down notes while listening to the conversation? I already did it so you don’t have to! You can read my notes from this episode on Substack.
As a person with a truly multidisciplinary background, I had a great guest this week as I sat down to chat with Diego Labajos. He is currently a Lead Product Manager at Scopely, working on the roadmap for Star Trek Fleet Command. Previously, he worked at Socialpoint as a part of the product team and he also has quite the technical experience working as a developer in different teams and even being CTO at one point.
As we chatted about his career journey with quite some pivots, we got to discuss how to leverage your past experience, why you should provide value from the first day you join a team, and the importance of understanding your current self and setting targets to continuously grow.
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Connect with Diego on LinkedIn
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⭐If you enjoyed this episode, you can rate it on Spotify or share it with your friends!
📺Do you prefer watching the episode rather than listening to it? Then you can watch the whole discussion on YouTube.
📝Do you wish you took down notes while listening to the conversation? I already did it so you don’t have to! You can read my notes from this episode on Substack.
This week’s guest at Game Dev Diary was Aaron Morley. He is currently working as the Lead Product Manager at Sumo Leamington and he previously worked at companies such as SEGA, Ubisoft, and TreesPlease Games.
We discussed the importance of persisting through sacrifices, why being flexible with working on different roles can help you grow, and how you should start reflecting on your successes even when everything seems perfect.
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Connect with Aaron on LinkedIn
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⭐If you enjoyed this episode, you can rate it on Spotify or share it with your friends!
📺Do you prefer watching the episode rather than listening to it? Then you can watch the whole discussion on YouTube.
📝Do you wish you took down notes while listening to the conversation? I already did it so you don’t have to! You can read my notes from this episode on Substack.
My guest for this week’s episode on Game Dev Diary was someone that truly radiates passion about everything related to games. Harshal Karvande joined me to discuss his gaming journey and the things that helped him along the way. He is currently working as a Game Design Lead at Rovio and he previously worked at Zynga.
We talked about the importance of having a supportive network of friends, how helpful it will be to understand the ever increasing standards of the gaming industry, and why you always should assume best intentions especially when you communicate virtually.
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Connect with Harshal on LinkedIn
Follow him on YouTube for the latest puzzle gameplay videos
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⭐If you enjoyed this episode, you can rate it on Spotify or share it with your friends!
📺Do you prefer watching the episode rather than listening to it? Then you can watch the whole discussion on YouTube.
📝Do you wish you took down notes while listening to the conversation? I already did it so you don’t have to! You can read my notes from this episode on Substack.
My guest this week was another fellow podcaster, Kshiraj Telang. He is currently working at Moon Active as an Art Director and he worked at some of the biggest gaming companies such as King and Rovio. He also has a great setup for recording podcasts which made me a little embarrassed if I’m being honest.
We chatted about the different ways you can showcase your work, how to take calculated risks based on your situation, and the perks of being proactive for continuous growth.
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Connect with Kshiraj on LinkedIn Listen to his podcast on Spotify
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⭐If you enjoyed this episode, you can rate it on Spotify or share it with your friends!
📺Do you prefer watching the episode rather than listening to it? Then you can watch the whole discussion on YouTube.
📝Do you wish you took down notes while listening to the conversation? I already did it so you don’t have to! You can read my notes from this episode on Substack.
Having non-PM guests will likely be a strong trend for the second season of Game Dev Diary as I talked to Tom Hunt for this week’s episode. He is currently working as an Art Lead at Space Ape Games and he previously worked at companies like King and Rare.
We talked about the importance of building your portfolio early in your career, not being discouraged by not fulfilling a job description 100%, and how being honest with yourself can help you grow continuously.
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⭐If you enjoyed this episode, you can rate it on Spotify or share it with your friends!
📺Do you prefer watching the episode rather than listening to it? Then you can watch the whole discussion on YouTube.
📝Do you wish you took down notes while listening to the conversation? I already did it so you don’t have to! You can read my notes from this episode on Substack.
For this week’s episode at Game Dev Diary, I sat down with Alexandre Salem to discuss his gaming journey. Alex is currently working as the SVP Operations at Stillfront Group and worked at some great companies like King, Google, and Huawei.
We chatted about how people can find their way into the games industry in the current market, the importance of surrounding yourself with mentors, and the value of assessing culture fit before taking a job.
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⭐If you enjoyed this episode, you can rate it on Spotify or share it with your friends!
📺Do you prefer watching the episode rather than listening to it? Then you can watch the whole discussion on YouTube.
📝Do you wish you took down notes while listening to the conversation? I already did it so you don’t have to! You can read my notes from this episode on Substack.
Second season of Game Dev Diary continues with non-PM guests as I sit down to talk with Emilio Jéldrez. He is currently working at King as a Creative Lead and previously worked at companies like Behavior Interactive and DeNA for some of the biggest IPs like Star Wars and Transformers.
We talked about the importance of being prepared for the opportunities in life, how to apply to open positions, and why everyone needs to get a mentor to continuously grow themselves.
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Connect with Emilio on LinkedIn
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⭐If you enjoyed this episode, you can rate it on Spotify or share it with your friends!
📺Do you prefer watching the episode rather than listening to it? Then you can watch the whole discussion on YouTube.
📝Do you wish you took down notes while listening to the conversation? I already did it so you don’t have to! You can read my notes from this episode on Substack.
Despite his busy schedule with everything that an acquisition brings, Luis de la Cámara was kind enough to join me this week to talk about his journey in gaming. He worked for a lot of big names in the industry such as 2K, Gameloft, King, and Scopely. He is currently working as the VP of Marketing at Rovio at a very crucial time where they recently got acquired by SEGA.
We discuss how to expand your network, what to do when there are opportunities that other people are not using, and the importance of being willing to make sacrifices early in your career to grow faster and stronger.
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⭐If you enjoyed this episode, you can rate it on Spotify or share it with your friends!
📺Do you prefer watching the episode rather than listening to it? Then you can watch the whole discussion on YouTube.
📝Do you wish you took down notes while listening to the conversation? I already did it so you don’t have to! You can read my notes from this episode on Substack.
To wrap up the first season of Game Dev Diary, I had two guests on the episode for the first time. Ayhan Şahin and Tuğrul Atak, co-founders of Playabit, joined the podcast to talk about their journey in gaming and how they founded. Both of them worked for some of the largest gaming companies like Jam City, Scopely, and Big Fish. They also worked together at Peak as two of the first members of Toy Blast.
We talk about the importance of constantly playing games, how demanding a hit-driven business such as the games industry can be, and why it is so crucial to be working with the best.
If you like the podcast, you can give it a rating on Spotify, or share this episode with your friends!
Do you prefer watching to the episode rather than listening to it? Then you can watch the whole discussion on YouTube: https://youtu.be/DHayc34pKgo
Do you want to have something to refer to from this conversation? Then you can read my notes from this episode and subscribe to it to get an update after every new episode: https://open.substack.com/pub/gamedevdiary/p/learning-from-the-best?r=324oms&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
I was honored to have another host from the TWIG podcast by Deconstructor of Fun this week as I sat down to talk with Laura Taranto. She worked at companies such as Wooga, King, and Scopely and currently works as Senior Director of Product at Big Fish Games.
We discuss her endless pursuit of learning and the ways in which she applies it as well as the importance of talking to other people with a specific goal in mind.
If you like the podcast, you can give it a rating on Spotify, or share this episode with your friends!
Do you prefer watching to the episode rather than listening to it? Then you can watch to the whole discussion on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ckmTouzk0_Q
Do you want to have something to refer to from this conversation? Then you can read my notes from this episode and subscribe to it to get an update after every new episode: https://open.substack.com/pub/gamedevdiary/p/expanding-your-network-with-a-purpose?r=324oms&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
I always wish I started working on games much earlier in my life; during college for example. This week’s guest was someone who did exactly that by starting his gaming career at the age of 19. Nikita Tolokonnikov has a long history in games where he worked at companies such as Glu Mobile, Socialpoint, and Tripledot. And he is currently the Product Director at Tripledot’s Barcelona office. We talk about the importance of knowing yourself to take the right steps and how to be deliberate when planning your career.
If you like the podcast, you can give it a rating on Spotify, or share this episode with your friends!
Do you prefer watching to the episode rather than listening to it? Then you can watch to the whole discussion on YouTube: https://youtu.be/PNu0MtasppM
Do you want to have something to refer to from this conversation? Then you can read my notes from this episode and subscribe to it to get an update after every new episode: https://open.substack.com/pub/gamedevdiary/p/know-yourself-if-you-want-to-grow?r=324oms&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
This week’s guest was Javier Barnes, an experienced product manager and Free to Play specialist. He has a rich background working on mobile F2P games on several different teams and genres both as a designer and a product manager. We talk about the importance of always being willing to do things instead of just discussing them and how to actually get things done.
If you like the podcast, you can give it a rating on Spotify, or share this episode with your friends!
Do you prefer watching to the episode rather than listening to it? Then you can watch to the whole discussion on YouTube: https://youtu.be/EpKoPHoQXwU
Do you want to have something to refer to from this conversation? Then you can read my notes from this episode and subscribe to it to get an update after every new episode: https://open.substack.com/pub/gamedevdiary/p/getting-your-hands-dirty?r=324oms&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
A fellow writer on the Deconstructor of Fun blog was my guest this week as I sat down to talk with Christopher Brousseau. Chris worked at some of the most well-known gaming companies such as EA, Natural Motion, and SYBO as he is working as a Director of LiveOps for one of the most beloved game IPs, Subway Surfers. We talk about how he was able to grow his career by getting more responsibility and showing his ability to execute tasks.
If you like the podcast, you can give it a rating on Spotify, or share this episode with your friends!
Do you prefer watching to the episode rather than listening to it? Then you can watch to the whole discussion on YouTube: https://youtu.be/7zVqZp38nZQ
Do you want to have something to refer to from this conversation? Then you can read my notes from this episode and subscribe to it to get an update after every new episode: https://open.substack.com/pub/gamedevdiary/p/taking-more-responsibility-and-getting?r=324oms&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
This week’s guest was Volkan Ediz, co-founder of Harmony Games, a remote-first team using AI to boost developing their games. He has a PhD in quantum chemistry and worked at companies like Machine Zone, GREE, and Super Evil Megacorp. So, he has a very wide range of experiences that I was happy to talk about. We talk about how to create your own opportunities instead of waiting for them and the importance of being a good team player.
If you like the podcast, you can give it a rating on Spotify, or share this episode with your friends!
Do you prefer watching to the episode rather than listening to it? Then you can watch to the whole discussion on YouTube: https://youtu.be/GDjvqcb9egI
Do you want to have something to refer to from this conversation? Then you can read my notes from this episode and subscribe to it to get an update after every new episode: https://open.substack.com/pub/gamedevdiary/p/how-to-create-your-own-opportunities?r=324oms&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
On a podcast with guests coming mostly from the product management side, it was really nice talking to Jen since her career was built on marketing games rather than developing them. She worked at some of the biggest companies like EA, Zynga, Scopely, and Riot where she collaborated with game development teams as a part of the marketing department.
We got to talk about how you need to get stuff done and display it, the importance of being an enjoyable colleague, and the role of being flexible at becoming successful at work and life.
If you like the podcast, you can give it a rating on Spotify, or share this episode with your friends!
Do you prefer watching to the episode rather than listening to it? Then you can watch to the whole discussion on YouTube: https://youtu.be/HyjhA3YUx2M
Do you want to have something to refer to from this conversation? Then you can read my notes from this episode and subscribe to it to get an update after every new episode: https://open.substack.com/pub/gamedevdiary/p/understanding-your-unique-value?r=324oms&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcome=true
Felipe Mata was my guest for this week’s episode whom I have been talking to quite regularly for the past couple of years. But I still was able to learn new things about him during our chat. He is leading the new Barcelona studio for FunPlus, building a new team there for the last year.
We talked about how important it is to create your own opportunities, how to display your unique value to your entire team, and the importance of going out of your comfort zone.
If you like the podcast, you can give it a rating on Spotify, or share this episode with your friends!
Do you prefer watching to the episode rather than listening to it? Then you can watch to the whole discussion on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSO7X3R6UJw&t=1789s
Do you want to have something to refer to from this conversation? Then you can read my notes from this episode and subscribe to it to get an update after every new episode: https://open.substack.com/pub/gamedevdiary/p/the-perks-of-being-ready-for-opportunities?r=324oms&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcome=true
Sophie Vo was this week’s guest as Game Dev Diary continues with guests experienced in making podcasts. She is the founder of Rise and Play podcast that you should certainly give a listen to and she recently started her consultancy business that focuses on coaching leadership teams.
We discuss her continuous learning journey and its benefits, how she thinks networking should be done, and the benefits of tackling unknown territories.
If you like the podcast, you can give it a rating on Spotify, or share this episode with your friends! Do you want to have something to refer to from this conversation? Then you can read my notes from this episode and subscribe to it to get an update after every new episode: https://open.substack.com/pub/gamedevdiary/p/the-perks-of-continuously-pursuing?r=324oms&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcome=true
For the first ever episode of Game Dev Diary, I was honored to have Michail Katkoff as a guest. He is the founder of Deconstructor of Fun and former co-founder and CEO of Savage Games that was acquired by Play Station in the summer of 2022.
We discuss how he started his career, the methods he used to choose between companies, and how he helped me with naming this very podcast.
If you like the podcast, you can give it a rating on Spotify, or share this episode with your friends! Do you want to have something to refer to from this conversation? Then you can read my notes from this episode and subscribe to it to get an update after every new episode: https://open.substack.com/pub/gamedevdiary/p/how-to-choose-the-right-company-to?r=324oms&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcome=true
