How do you navigate the incredibly high stakes of video game development (even AAA video game development) without losing the fun, and your humanity along the way? Senior Producer Yesenia Cisneros helps us close out Season 1 with her signature blend of world-class production, problem solving, and people focus. All listeners will walk away inspired by techniques for more human-centered video game production along with some of our top tips for building more successful thriving games from the ground up. We touch on topics like globalization, telemetry, esports, crunch culture, planning, user experience research, the power of community, and much more. Yesenia's iconic video gaming journey took her from video game quality assurance to her current role as Senior Producer at Riot Games with stops at studios like Brass Lion Entertainment, Signal Studios, Mojang Studios, and The Pokémon Company International along the way before landing at her current role at Riot Games. (This podcast is not affiliated nor sponsored by my current employer, TPCi nor my past and Yesenia's present employer Riot.)

Enduring Play is a uniquely crafted, high production value podcast about the modern craft of video game development. The format is inspired by gaming itself, with a level structure and tutorials and asides that help listeners of all experience follow along. Season 1 of the Enduring Play podcast is drawn from interviews that informed Cheryl Platz's new book The Game Development Strategy Guide: Crafting Modern Video Games That Thrive, which is available worldwide as of September 16, 2025 and received a "Get It" recommendation from Kirkus Reviews. Show notes, including a full bio, episode outline, and links are available on the Enduring Play website.

Use code ENDURINGPLAYS1 at RosenfeldMedia.com to get 15% off your order - and all physical orders at Rosenfeld Media receive a free ebook. Podcast Season 1 discount offer expires November 30, 2025. Love the podcast or the book? Please spread the word with shares and reviews so we can change the industry together!

For readers of host Cheryl Platz's new critically acclaimed book The Game Development Strategy Guide, this episode is a perfect closer to the season as we explore several of the topics from Chapter 14: Let the Right Ideas Win and Chapter 15: Failure to Thrive in addition to its relevance to chapters discussing production and business models like Chapter 2 and Chapter 13. All listeners will take something away from this podcast, but the book is a great way to expand your understanding.

Tamara Knoss has played many roles in the video game industry: character animator, lead artist, UI artist, and now Senior Technical UI Designer - or, as she describes it, "UI/UX unicorn" thanks to the rarity of her combined skillsets navigating the "why" of user experiences and the "how" of executing high fidelity user interface art in game engines like Unity. She's seen the rise and fall of multiple console generations, and created game art for some of the world's most famous IP, including The Sims, Disney, and Harry Potter. We had the opportunity to work together directly on multiple titles, and this wide-ranging episode serves as a great look at the history of some early handheld development and a challenge to current developers to think smaller when developing for mobile games. Why aren't we learning from the past when trying to build games that get the most out of as many devices as possible? This episode doesn't just ask that question, but it pulls back the veil on some of the techniques and mindsets used to solve for extreme constraint when games were shipping on cartridges no larger than 16 megabytes. That's right. Megabytes. But there's also plenty of modern insight about how specialization in an engine like Unity unlocks creativity in new ways, firsthand insight about shipping console launch titles, and industry-agnostic insight about the nature of UX/UI roles and their ability to serve not just software, but the organization around them.

For readers of The Game Development Strategy Guide, this episode is a particularly great complement of themes from Chapter 3: Putting the Dev in Game Development, Chapter 8: Creating Immersive Worlds, and Chapter 12: Gaming Technology Platforms.

Enduring Play is a uniquely crafted, high production value podcast about the modern craft of video game development. The format is inspired by gaming itself, with a level structure and tutorials and asides that help listeners of all experience follow along. Season 1 of the Enduring Play podcast is drawn from interviews that informed Cheryl Platz's new book The Game Development Strategy Guide: Crafting Modern Video Games That Thrive, which is available worldwide as of September 16, 2025 and received a "Get It" recommendation from Kirkus Reviews. Show notes, including a full bio, episode outline, and links are available on the Enduring Play website.

Love the podcast or the book? Please spread the word with shares and reviews so we can change the industry together!

In today's episode, we demystify another specialty within the game design discipline: systems design. Joe Magdalena is better known as "joemag" (lowercase j) to many of his followers, or "joemag3d" to the maker communities that follow his 3D printing hobby work. But during the day, joemag serves as a systems designer with experience on world-renowned titles like Hearthstone and Teamfight Tactics, designing unique game mechanics while wielding the powers of math and communication using a deep foundation in competitive analysis to strike a balance between exponential and logarithmic curves in a quest for fun and engagement. Our conversation covers the basics, like exploring the definitions of live operations, campaign design, and the differences between content and systems design, before getting into best practices like player perception of value, new player experiences, and progression design.

Enduring Play is a uniquely crafted, high production value podcast about the modern craft of video game development. The format is inspired by gaming itself, with a level structure and tutorials and asides that help listeners of all experience follow along. Season 1 of the Enduring Play podcast is drawn from interviews that informed Cheryl Platz's new book The Game Development Strategy Guide: Crafting Modern Video Games That Thrive, which is now available from digital booksellers around the world or from publisher Rosenfeld Media. Show notes, including a full bio, episode outline, and links are available on the Enduring Play website.

Use code ENDURINGPLAYS1 at RosenfeldMedia.com to get 15% off your order - and all physical orders at Rosenfeld Media receive a free ebook. Podcast Season 1 discount offer expires November 30, 2025. Love the podcast or the book? Please spread the word with shares and reviews so we can change the industry together!

For readers of Cheryl Platz's new book The Game Development Strategy Guide, this episode is a particularly good complement for the topics covered in Chapter 2 The Living Business of Games, with discussion of business models and how they should - or should not - impact game design - in addition to Chapter 3, Putting the Dev in Game Development; Chapter 4, Game Designer's Toolkit; and Chapter 7: Engaging Players Over Time.

This week we speak with accomplished engineering leader Caerie Houchins, who played a critical role in the initial global launch of VALORANT, the global smash tactical shooter from Riot Games. Caerie has now expanded her career from triple-A gaming to become a co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of an independent game studio, Wicked Fox Games, which just successfully funded their first Kickstarter. Caerie walks listeners through insights that are not just useful for game engineers, but for anyone who dream of building video games at global scale and complexity. Hear about wide-ranging topics from game engine technology, crunch culture, and cross-cultural collaboration through the use of artificial intelligence in video game development.

This episode also takes a frank look at one of the things that brought Caerie and host Cheryl Platz together - their layoff. Why are there so many layoffs in the video game industry? Why is it so hard for indie studios like Caerie's to get traction? To understand these things, we must look at the root of today's game industry instability, and that goes back to the gaming gold rush during the pandemic. Learn more about host Cheryl's take on what has brought the industry to this particular moment in time.

Enduring Play is a uniquely crafted, high production value podcast about the modern craft of video game development. The format is inspired by gaming itself, with a level structure and tutorials and asides that help listeners of all experience follow along. Season 1 of the Enduring Play podcast is drawn from interviews that informed Cheryl Platz's new book The Game Development Strategy Guide: Crafting Modern Video Games That Thrive, which is available worldwide as of September 16, 2025 and received a "Get It" recommendation from Kirkus Reviews. Show notes, including a full bio, episode outline, and links are available on the Enduring Play website.

Use code ENDURINGPLAYS1 at RosenfeldMedia.com to get 15% off your order - and all physical orders at Rosenfeld Media receive a free ebook. Podcast Season 1 discount offer expires November 30, 2025. Love the podcast or the book? Please spread the word with shares and reviews so we can change the industry together!

For readers of Cheryl Platz's book The Game Development Strategy Guide, Season 1 Episode 7 is a particularly great complement to Chapter 6, The Why of Multiplayer; Chapter 9, From Emergence to Prosocial Gaming; Chapter 12, Gaming Technology Platforms; and Chapter 13: The Good and Bad of Game Dev Processes.

Some leaders speak with their actions, and video game design executive Eric Kabisch is one of those leaders. A seasoned gaming design executive with experience at companies like Scopely, Roblox, Google, and VRChat, Eric has spent most of his career with a laser focus on the teams and products he supports and his record speaks for itself. This rare, frank, and transparent conversation with a people-focused design executive like Eric brings actionable insight for any leader of creatives in the video game industry: from applied business insights to from advice for helping team members navigate the shift from ideation to operations, the concept of low-ego, high-collaboration, high-alignment environments; from audio design for games to the critical role of a curious mindset; insight into some of the elements that made Scopely's initial rise successful, and of course a reflection on the state of the industry economy and artificial intelligence.

Enduring Play is a uniquely crafted, high production value podcast about the modern craft of video game development. The format is inspired by gaming itself, with a level structure and tutorials and asides that help listeners of all experience follow along. Season 1 of the Enduring Play podcast is drawn from interviews that informed Cheryl Platz's new book The Game Development Strategy Guide: Crafting Modern Video Games That Thrive, which is available worldwide as of September 16, 2025 and received a "Get It" recommendation from Kirkus Reviews. Show notes, including a full bio, episode outline, and links are available on the Enduring Play website.

Use code ENDURINGPLAYS1 at RosenfeldMedia.com to get 15% off your order - and all physical orders at Rosenfeld Media receive a free ebook. Podcast Season 1 discount offer expires November 30, 2025. Love the podcast or the book? Please spread the word with shares and reviews so we can change the industry together!

For listeners looking to learn more or readers of The Game Development Strategy Guide, Eric's episode is an excellent complement to Chapter 5: Game Experience Design in Practice; Chapter 9: From Emergence to Prosocial Gaming; Chapter 13: The Good and Bad of Game Dev Process; and Chapter 14: Let the Right Ideas Win.

Explore ludonarrative harmony and what it really takes to create nonlinear interactive narrative in modern videogames in this week's episode with Whitney Beltrán, a multiple award-winning Mexican-American Narrative Director with over 12 years of experience in narrative design and professional writing whose experience spans triple-A video games, mobile games, extended reality games, tabletop roleplaying games, and pretty much anything interactive. As a creative leader, she understands that visionary leadership isn't just about having the ideas: it's creating the space and structure in which teams can thrive chasing a shared narrative vision, as she did successfully on her award-winning immersive game Holovista. Whitney is also an accomplished video game academic whose specialty in the intersection of mythology, psychology, and play is best demonstrated by the runaway success of her Kickstarter tabletop RPG Bluebeard's Bride. In this wide-ranging exploration of the craft of narrative design, we pull back the veil on the core concepts behind ludonarrative alignment and the nuanced world of narrative design tools across the industry, and will inspire narrative designers with candid reflections about creative leadership and navigating the world of venture capital.

Enduring Play is a uniquely crafted, high production value podcast about the modern craft of video game development. The format is inspired by gaming itself, with a level structure and tutorials and asides that help listeners of all experience follow along. Season 1 of the Enduring Play podcast is drawn from interviews that informed Cheryl Platz's new book The Game Development Strategy Guide: Crafting Modern Video Games That Thrive, which is now available from digital booksellers around the world or from publisher Rosenfeld Media. Show notes, including a full bio, episode outline, and links are available on the Enduring Play website.

Use code ENDURINGPLAYS1 at RosenfeldMedia.com to get 15% off your order - and all physical orders at Rosenfeld Media receive a free ebook. Podcast Season 1 discount offer expires November 30, 2025. Love the podcast or the book? Please spread the word with shares and reviews so we can change the industry together!

For listeners looking for more information or those already reading The Game Development Strategy Guide, Episode 5 is an expansive conversation that serves as an excellent complement to Chapter 3: Putting the Dev in Game Development; Chapter 4: Game Designer's Toolkit; Chapter 7: Engaging Players Over Time; Chapter 8: Creating Immersive Worlds; and Chapter 12: Game Technology Platforms.

David Guiseppe Ventura is one of those creative minds who knows exactly what part of the industry he's most excited to innovate in after two decades of shipping innovative video games: music games and cross-cultural storytelling. He lives in the liminal space between disciplines as a Creative Director of Ichigoichie Games, listening to the needs of his teams and creating spaces where creativity and unexpected experiences can thrive. In this conversation, we explore David's career from his start at Rockstar Games and iNiS in Japan to his current work connecting European and Japanese gaming companies and their markets while shipping uniquely compelling music games, all without burning out his teams. Learn about the value of interdisciplinary empathy, and hear about why the lack of discoverability in games marketplaces is hurting indie game studios and gamers alike.

Enduring Play is a uniquely crafted, high production value podcast about the modern craft of video game development. The format is inspired by gaming itself, with a level structure and tutorials and asides that help listeners of all experience follow along. Season 1 of the Enduring Play podcast is drawn from interviews that informed Cheryl Platz's new book The Game Development Strategy Guide: Crafting Modern Video Games That Thrive, which is available worldwide as of September 16, 2025 and received a "Get It" recommendation from Kirkus Reviews. Show notes, including a full bio, episode outline, and links are available on the Enduring Play website.

Use code ENDURINGPLAYS1 at RosenfeldMedia.com to get 15% off your order - and all physical orders at Rosenfeld Media receive a free ebook. Podcast Season 1 discount offer expires November 30, 2025. Love the podcast or the book? Please spread the word with shares and reviews so we can change the industry together!

For those looking to learn more or who are already reading The Game Development Strategy Guide, David's episode is an excellent complement to Chapter 4: The Game Designer's Toolkit; Chapter 8: Creating Immersive Worlds; Chapter 9: From Emergence to Prosocial Gaming; and Chapter 14: Let The Right Ideas Win.

In this episode, we welcome versatile game designer and producer Amy Kalson, who is currently working as an Executive Design Producer at Meta on one of her biggest passions: extended reality. Amy's experience has carried her all the way to the C-suite and she is an alumnus of companies like SYBO Games, Disney Interactive Studios, and Bad Robot Games. Sometimes life is stranger than fiction: hear from two veteran video game producers about the nuances of navigating design for AAA games and the world's biggest IP, even when things get weird. Amy worked with me as Lead Designer on Disney Friends DS at Griptonite Games and also contributed to The Sims series at the same time I worked on the series at Electronic Arts. We start with a brief journey into Radio Lab territory to recount one of the world's weirdest pitch meetings before diving into deeper topics like effective game leadership, the varied role of video game producers, the art of effective creative collaboration video game labor rights, and how our shared experience at Electronic Arts during the EA_Spouse era influenced our perspective on what really matters when leading game development teams.

Enduring Play is a uniquely crafted, high production value podcast about the modern craft of video game development. The format is inspired by gaming itself, with a level structure and tutorials and asides that help listeners of all experience follow along. Season 1 of the Enduring Play podcast is drawn from interviews that informed Cheryl Platz's new book The Game Development Strategy Guide: Crafting Modern Video Games That Thrive, which is available worldwide as of September 16, 2025 and received a "Get It" recommendation from Kirkus Reviews. Show notes, including a full bio, episode outline, and links are available on the Enduring Play website.

Use code ENDURINGPLAYS1 at RosenfeldMedia.com to get 15% off your order - and all physical orders at Rosenfeld Media receive a free ebook. Podcast Season 1 discount offer expires November 30, 2025. Love the podcast or the book? Please spread the word with shares and reviews so we can change the industry together!

For those looking to learn more or who are already reading The Game Development Strategy Guide, Amy's episode covers a broad range of topics and is a complement for Chapter 1: What Makes Us Play; Chapter 3, Putting the Dev in Game Development; Chapter 4, Game Designer's Toolkit; Chapter 13, The Good and Bad of Game Processes; and Chapter 14, Let the Right Ideas Win.