Liam Wickham’s Post

At Hathora, we’re constantly exposed to the “build vs. buy” debate in tech. One of the biggest benefits often lies in the headcount you don't need to add for “non-essential” functions. Instead of dedicating significant time and resources to developing complex systems in-house, studios can focus on what truly matters: making the game fun. The reality is, while studios could build their own platforms with enough time and money, the real question is whether that's the best use of those resources. The core of any game’s success is in the creative elements—art, level design, and gameplay mechanics. These are the areas where your team's talent should shine. For pieces of the stack like server orchestration and infrastructure, those can be managed by specialists. This approach allows studios to stay focused on what they do best while still ensuring a seamless gaming experience for players. Check out Siddharth and Lizzie discussing this topic on Lizzie’s Here's Waldo Recruiting Podcast! #GameDev #TechSolutions #FindtheFun #buildvsbuy

You're underestimating how many A players there are. 95% of people just need to be in the right position and they become an A player. Don't chase titles, aim to be proficient in your discipline, even leave money on the table for the more interesting opportunity if necessary I have, and I ended up making more in the long run. I've found if you use the above game plan, you'll likely reach A player status when you land the right role. A players are just people that give a shit about what they are doing, and humble enough to know where their gaps are. ———————————————————— Hi! I'm Caden Damiano. I'm an interaction designer who facilitates cross-functional product development workshops.  Follow me on LinkedIn for: 👉One podcast clip in the morning with guests who are crushing it in their careers 👉And some evening posts to help you think differently about your career.  See you around!

Let's Talk Media with Vedant Akhauri: Episode 82 In this episode, I talk to Ryan Bourret. Ryan is a game producer, most recently for Relic Entertainment until his layoff in June 2023. We discuss his experiences as a job-seeker during these waves of layoffs in the video game industry. We also discuss the following: - The reasons for mass layoffs in gaming - Competing with 100s of highly qualified candidates for a job - The future of the video game industry if these layoffs continue - His experience as a freelancer in game production working on his own indie game - The rise of indie game studios and the risks involved - The risks and benefits of using AI during video game development - Resources for job-seekers in the video game industry - Advice to job-seekers in the video game industry. Feel free to follow my podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and on Instagram at @letstalkmediava

Why is estimation so hard in game dev? What is it that causes so much cynicism? And why, in places where so much time is wasted on it, are we still investing so much time in Estimation? Can it ever help? In this episode, we explore all these questions! Enjoy! https://lnkd.in/e4aHtpGG #buildingbettergames #estimation #gameproduction #gamdev

Publishers and VCs spend too much time focusing on pedigree and reputation of founders for new game studios. According to Graham McAllister, it does not correlate to success. You know what does predict success? Alignment of the founding team to a unified vision of the game. Want to do one better? See if you can get your VC/publisher aligned too. Graham and I chatted about his research into game vision (again!) in a recent podcast episode. It's worth checking out. We expand on the first and get a bit more practical. There are some things we THINK are ways to get ahead that just don't get us as far as we'd want. Reputable founders (e.g. ex-"AAA studio"), hiring the best ICs, and telling the investor what they want to hear don't increase your chances like you'd expect. We talk about those in more depth, and also cover how you can get closer to solving the biggest problem out there in game dev: no clear vision. Link: https://lnkd.in/ebapftbN #gameproduction #gamedevelopment #gameindustry #gamevision #podcast

I'm thrilled to announce the first THREE episodes of the New Player Character podcast! Each of these individuals are my dear friends and I learned immensely during my recordings with them. Episode 1: Ryan Farmer taught me about Platform Engineering and what the heck they do. Turns out, they're the jack-of-all-trades within some studios and are tasked with all sorts of problems to solve! I'm appreciative of beginning to understand the context switching and flexibility that Platform Engineers may be utilizing during their day to day. Episode 2: Szu-Ching Chen and I talk about Product Management, a role combining both the understanding of player behavior and psychology with business sense and goal setting! Product Managers have always felt like the voice of the customer to me and I was thrilled to dive deeper with her on this! Episode 3: Elijah Dixson and I get to talk shop 🔨 as fellow Producers! We talk about his background heading into Production as well as how the role has changed since he began. We discuss the importance of understanding team and human psychology as it relates to this people-management heavy role! Hit follow on New Player Character and don't miss out when these Episodes go live on JUNE 6TH on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube! #NewPlayerCharacter #LevelUpYourGame #GamingIndustry #GamingDevelopment #GamingCareers

🎮🌟 Introducing the First Three Episodes of the New Player Character Podcast! 🌟🎮 Episode 1: Platform Engineering with Ryan Farmer Dive into the technical world with Ryan from Blizzard Entertainment, who brings rich experiences from Amazon Games, Nexon, and more. Discover how he navigates complex tech environments and tailors solutions to meet diverse team needs—a must for tech enthusiasts! Episode 2: Product Management with Szu-Ching Chen Join our chat with Szu-Ching from Netflix Games Studio. With a background at Amazon Games and Scopely, she shares insights into the life of a product manager and how understanding player psychology shapes exceptional gaming experiences. Episode 3: Game Production with Elijah Dixson Sit down with Elijah from Methodical Games, who has worked with Amazon Games, Epic Games, and more. Learn how his psychology background and gaming degree influence his approach to project and program management in game production. 👾 Whether you're a gaming aficionado or looking to step into the industry, these episodes provide invaluable insights from seasoned professionals. Tune in to hear their stories and learn from their experiences! #NewPlayerCharacter #LevelUpYourGame #GamingIndustry #GameDevelopment #GamingCareers

This is an insightful blog post on Dev.to, by my colleague Joshua Poddoku. Inspired by our recent podcast with Riot Games, Joshua captures the key strategies Riot used to increase development velocity: 🔹 Breaking down work into manageable chunks 🔹 Pushing changes daily with the help of feature flags 🔹 Keeping a single source of truth 🔹 Equipping developers with the right tools and training Check out the full blog post here: https://lnkd.in/dFs7iz7z

In game dev, less work with more focus gets you farther than the reverse. It’s more important to be working on the most important things all the time than to have everyone working all the time. This runs counter to our intuition to be busy working and keep the people we lead busy working as the best strategy to succeed. That intuition leads us to the best strategy to do a lot of work. It's not the best strategy to create a successful game. I talk about this and other product-related topics with John Cutler in the latest episode of the Building Better Game Podcast. Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/dj5wGXPq John, thanks a ton for coming on. Loved the conversation, let's do it again sometime! #gameproduction #gamedevelopment #gameindustry #focus

🚨 Kaedim3d.com is HIRING 🚨 Send resumes to [email protected] In this episode, I'll explore some research on whether or not video games can make you smarter or help you develop certain cognitive skills.⭐ The world's best game studios ship 7x faster with Kaedim3d.com - try it today to turn sketches into game assets in minutes #gdc #gamedev #gdc2024 #IndieGame #IndieGameDev #GameDevStudio #PixelArt #MobileGames