Game Developer Podcast

How do you begin to understand the mind of a cheater? That's a question faced by hundreds of cybersecurity and game security professionals every day in the game industry. This week GDC Festival of Gaming content marketing manager Beth Elderkin sits down with former Blizzard Entertainment risk operations management expert Lucia Suarez to talk about her time hunting cheaters in online games like World of Warcraft.

As AI tools like large language models make it easier for hackers to crack a video game's code, Lucia and other professionals like her are learning to level up and continue the fight against would-be cheaters on a whole new battleground.

Learn more about GDC Festival of Gaming: https://gdconf.com/

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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

On this week's episode of the Game Developer Podcast, we're breaking down a number of pernicious myths about video game writing and narrative design that don't just lurk among players, but seep into the creeks and crevices of many game studios. To tackle these untruths, we've invited Bruno Dias, Aysha Farah, and Andrea Saravia Pérez to share their stories and help you build better processes for telling great stories in video games big and small.

Learn more about Bruno Dias: https://brunodias.dev/

Learn more about Aysha Farah: https://www.ayshaufarah.com/

Learn more about Andrea Saravia Pérez: https://asaraviapt.wixsite.com/about

Learn more about: Focus M: https://youtu.be/iMh_APo2Xss

Learn more about Control Resonant's lack of yellow paint: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/control-resonant-director-lays-out-case-for-avoiding-excessive-yellow-paint-

Learn more about text animation: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/art/latam-indie-devs-lay-out-how-to-improve-your-text-animation

Learn more about The Writer Will Do Something: https://matthewseiji.itch.io/twwds

Learn more about Kinophobia: https://brunodias.itch.io/kinophobia

Learn more about Life Is Strange: Double Exposure: https://lifeisstrange.square-enix-games.com/en-us/games/life-is-strange-double-exposure

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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

On this week's episode of the Game Developer podcast, celebrated game designer Harvey Smith and former Arkane Austin executive producer Ben Horne—also the co-founders of the new game studio Black Pony Immersive—join senior editor Bryant Francis for a conversation about the creative principles at the heart of their new venture. 

When you're talking about founding any new company, you're usually discussing topics like funding and "addressable marketplaces," but Smith and Horne have had far deeper and more intense discussions about the creative craft of game development—and are ready to explain how those philosophies can make for a successful studio.

Learn more about Black Pony Immersive: https://www.blackpony.com/

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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

What's changing in the world of co-development (co-dev) and external development (ex-dev) GDC Side Quest returns with another interview recorded on the show floor of the 2026 GDC of Festival of Gaming, this time speaking with Microsoft veteran and XDS Spark co-founder Sam Carlisle. Content marketing manager Beth Elderkin joins Carlisle, who has over fifteen years of experience sourcing high-quality external content for major game development projects, to discuss why this development practice is becoming more and more essential in the changing world of video game production. 

Learn more about GDC Festival of Gaming: https://gdconf.com/

Learn more about XDS Spark: https://www.xds-spark.com/

Game Developer and GDC Festival of Gaming are sibling organizations under Informa Festivals.

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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

On this week's episode of the Game Developer podcast, senior editor Bryant Francis chats with Peter Hodges, director for ecosystem strategy for developer platforms at ARM. Peter is a game development veteran who uses his experience in the game-making profession to help developers integrate ARM technology into their workflows. He's currently focused on helping developers understand ARM's new Neural Technology—a collection of on-chip AI techniques that improve frame rate and expand lighting possibilities on mobile devices.

You can't talk about the benefits of new dev tools without discussing why developers use them—that's why today's episode doesn't just talk about the possibilities of on-chip AI, but also the impact of art like Hollis Framptons' 1969 7-minute short film Lemon.

Learn more about ARM Neural Technology: https://developer.arm.com/mobile-graphics-and-gaming/neural-technology

Learn more about Lemon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemon_(1969_film)

Learn more about Somerset House's  MC Escher exhibition: https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/mc-escher-the-exhibition

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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