This week Kitfox Games founder and CEO Tanya Short swings by the studio to unveil the latest output from game design retreat Polaris: an expert-led list of the 100 most influential video games of all time.

Any such list is purely subjective, but unlike those made by sites like IGN, this one is assembled from the perspective of professional game designers. Today Short discusses the process of assembling the list, the influence of each game on the list, and Polaris’ mission to document the ethereal truths and processes of designing games.

Read the list: https://polarisgamedesign.com/the-polaris-list-2025/

Learn more about Polaris Game Design Retreat: https://polarisgamedesign.com/

Learn more about Kitfox Games: https://www.kitfoxgames.com/en

- - - The Game Developer podcast is a bi-weekly podcast chronicling game development triumphs, catastrophes, and everything in-between, as devs from all sides of the industry share lessons and strategies fellow game makers can use to hone their craft. Learn More at https://www.gamedeveloper.com Follow Game Developer for more game dev Podcasts, News, & Interviews Bluesky: https://www.gamedeveloper.bsky.social LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gamedeveloperofficial Music by Mike Meehan Edited by Pierre Landriau

This week Nick Herman and Dennis Lenart, two of the co-directors of Adhoc Studio’s Dispatch, swing by the Game Developer Podcast to talk about the processes for telling great stories in games, the process of collaborating with animation shop Igloo Studio, and surviving the rollercoaster process of studio funding in 2025.

Dispatch is the surprise smash hit narrative game of 2025. Adhoc Studios, with the help of Critical Role, Igloo Studio, and a satellite studio of other contributors, has crafted an amazing superhero story winning praise from players and developers alike.

We’re excited today to chat with Herman and Lenart about their process and see what developers can learn from their storytelling success.

Learn more about Adhoc Studio: https://www.adhocla.com/

- - - The Game Developer podcast is a bi-weekly podcast chronicling game development triumphs, catastrophes, and everything in-between, as devs from all sides of the industry share lessons and strategies fellow game makers can use to hone their craft. Learn More at https://www.gamedeveloper.com Follow Game Developer for more game dev Podcasts, News, & Interviews Bluesky: https://www.gamedeveloper.bsky.social LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gamedeveloperofficial Music by Mike Meehan Edited by Pierre Landriau

Former Nexon CEO Owen Mahoney has been on a blogging tear lately, calling out industry execs for boneheaded fad-chasing, breaking down the economics of game development, and, yes, singing the praises of generative AI.

His posts have rumbled across LinkedIn and through the private chats of industry executives. This week, we’re sitting down with Mahoney to ask about what game companies can do to survive the ongoing financial hardship—and press him about his thinking on why genAI is a supposed game-changer for game development.

Read Owen Mahoney’s blog: https://www.owenmahoney.ai/

- - - The Game Developer podcast is a bi-weekly podcast chronicling game development triumphs, catastrophes, and everything in-between, as devs from all sides of the industry share lessons and strategies fellow game makers can use to hone their craft. Learn More at https://www.gamedeveloper.com Follow Game Developer for more game dev Podcasts, News, & Interviews Bluesky: https://www.gamedeveloper.bsky.social LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gamedeveloperofficial Music by Mike Meehan Edited by Pierre Landriau