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PODCAST

Building Better Games

Benjamin Carcich

Leadership in game dev is hard. I can"t make it easy, but I can make it a heck of a lot better. My name is Benjamin Carcich, and this podcast helps leaders in game dev who feel stuck, ignored, and out of options find their path to success. I"ve spent the last several decades studying and leading in environments ranging from the U.S. Army through to game development. I want to share what I"ve learned. Better leadership is a huge opportunity in the games industry. Let"s make it better together

leisure video games

All Episodes

01:34:01

E9 Creating Successful Mods: Flavor Universalis with...

Building Better Games ·

2022/05/23

"BigBoss" is the creator of the Flavor Universalis mod, one of the most successful Europa Universalis IV mods out there. He is about to live every modder's dream by going and working for Paradox on the game he used to mod for free. In this podcast, he talks a bit about his process, how he relates to his community, and what it has been like to lead a successful modding project.

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01:04:21

E8 How to Lead as an introvert in Games with Grace Liu

Building Better Games ·

2022/05/10

Grace Liu is an experienced Art Director and Lead Artist working at Netflix with past experience at Riot Games and Blizzard. She shares her journey into leadership, focusing on what the shift from individual contributor to leader looked like, as well as how her less directive style leads to great results for her people. We talk about art, crunch, and more. Check it out!

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01:18:39

E7 Hiring Part 2: How to Find Talent In Game Dev with...

Building Better Games ·

2022/04/26

In this episode, we bring in Erin Hardman to talk about recruiting in games. Erin has been hiring leaders and developers in the games industry for years and provides a look at some myths in the games industry when it comes to hiring, as well as exploring how finding talent for game dev has changed due to COVID and remote work.

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01:13:01

E6 Hiring Part 1: How to Hire the Right People for...

Building Better Games ·

2022/04/07

Understanding how people join your team and who they should be is a sacred process. Companies live and die on their ability to hire effectively. Join us as we go through the key (and core) principles of how we approach hiring, what companies get wrong, and discuss practical tools that you can use to set your team and yourself up for success (and finding great people).

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01:26:03

E5 How to Turn a Video Game into a Successful Show: ...

Building Better Games ·

2022/03/29

Arcane released in 2021 and quickly became the highest rated series on Netflix, recently winning 9 Annie awards. We've seen our share of video game flops in film and TV, so we wanted to get a better understanding of why Arcane succeeded. In this episode, we talk to Alex Yee, one of the show's original creators responsible for writing and producing Arcane. We talk about how the show came to be, leadership, and his creative work in video games and television.

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01:21:39

E4 Managing Others Pt 2: How to be a Good Boss

Building Better Games ·

2022/03/15

Part 2 of Managing Others! This time we're talking about accountability and advocacy. With accountability, we look at how you can set expectations within your org as a leader and someone responsible for growing others. With advocacy, we look at a crucial role a manager plays for their employee and the company. Take a listen, and let us know what you think!

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01:10:26

E3 Managing Others Pt 1: How to be a Good Boss

Building Better Games ·

2022/03/01

Nearly every adult has had a boss. Many people have been a boss. Yet so few people have thought about what it means to be a good boss beyond the superficial. What makes a good boss? What role do they play in the work lives (and lives!) of the people they manage? Ben and Aaron start off the podcast with a debate about what should make bosses tick, then explore two of their people management pillars: Growth and Integrity. If you're looking for some controversial statements, take a listen!

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01:16:19

E2 How You Lead Creative Content Teams with David Klaus

Building Better Games ·

2022/02/15

Content pipelines! There's little info about them outside of the game industry, and even within it we tend to view them as some reductionist and step by step repeatable process, a machine you shove artists and writers and designers into to get 'game art stuff' out the other end. In this podcast we talk to @David Klaus, an Agile Coach and former producer who led one of the most profitable teams in the history of game development, to talk about how you lead, serve, and support developers as they make

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01:07:01

E1 People, Products, And Playtests: Staying Connected...

Building Better Games ·

2022/02/01

It's our first episode of Season 2! We've renamed ourselves Building Better Games, and we're going to start by talking about the importance of maintaining a connection between game devs, the game they're making, and the audience. Get ready to talk about playtests, product thinking, and player empathy. Enjoy!

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01:28:17

S1 EP19 Real Life: Game Design From The Trenches with...

Building Better Games ·

2022/01/11

In episode 19, @Ryan Scott joins Ben and Aaron to talk about Game Design. The conversation ranges from what makes a good game designer, to the relationship between product leadership and design, then over to modern trends and a shared skepticism of NFT-oriented games. Hope you enjoy it!

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01:17:11

S1 EP18 How To Be A Holistic Leader Part 2: Working...

Building Better Games ·

2021/12/28

What is 'Holistic Leadership'? In this episode, Aaron and Ben talk about what it means to be a leader and operating at more than just the process layer. They discuss how leadership and management are different, which do we most often see, and what do we need more of in the modern world? Take a listen if you're trying to improve your leadership capability and feeling stuck. Hope you enjoy!

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01:04:48

S1 EP17 How To Be A Holistic Leader Part 1: Our Org...

Building Better Games ·

2021/12/14

Over and over we run into orgs that want help with 'the process'. Over and over we do a little bit of exploration and discover that the org's issues reside at a deeper 'level'. In this podcast, we walk through the three layers (Culture, Product, and Process) and talk about how so often leaders are focusing all their efforts on the layer where they can have the least long-term positive impact. Check it out, and let us know what you think!

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01:21:17

S1 EP16 Real Product Management: Hard-Won Lessons...

Building Better Games ·

2021/11/30

"Product Management" is everywhere in technology. Wherever you're working there is a need to understand what we're trying to do and where we're trying to go. The role is ubiquitous, it is crucial, and it is also undeniably difficult to do well. In this episode, Aaron and Ben bring Darko Vukovic to the podcast. Darko's an ex-Riot/Google/Oracle PM who has led teams, products, and other product managers in a variety of environments. The discussion ranges from what a product manager is supposed to be

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01:27:08

S1 EP15 Accountability: Why It's Hard And How To Do It

Building Better Games ·

2021/11/17

We often hear leaders lament a lack of 'accountability' around organizations. It's commonly discussed, usually when something has gone wrong. But what is accountability? Why is it not present when people seem to want it so badly? How do you set it up? In this podcast, Ben and Aaron explore the topic, walking through what accountability is, why we get it wrong, and how to set it up for yourself and those you lead. Hope you enjoy!

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01:06:57

S1 EP14 Adventures in AAA Game Design with Andrew...

Building Better Games ·

2021/11/04

For this episode we got to sit down with an old friend - Andrew Brownell. He's spent years as a designer and product lead in AAA studios like Riot, Red 5, and Boundless. Included are crucial lessons on getting yourself unstuck, the social nature of design, and incorporating learning into your development approach. Brilliant guy and we had a blast.

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01:11:11

S1 EP13 Feedback: Do you really care about the people...

Building Better Games ·

2021/10/19

Feedback: People don't even know what we mean when we use the term. We're talking direct, constructive, and growth-oriented - focused on the person and how they behave. We tend to focus on the work and avoid confrontation, but if you ask anyone you know its likely they have at least one "earth-shattering" story of when someone told them the hard thing and it changed their life. Why do we struggle with this? This is a key function of a trust-based and growth focused organization. To demonstrate our

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01:00:31

S1 EP12 Scaling Yourself As A Leader: What they...

Building Better Games ·

2021/10/07

In this podcast we discuss and breakdown the major changes that occur as you grow into higher levels of leadership, and how our industry hasn't trained us to be effective when we get into them. Here we'll provide key focus areas for leaders at various levels and how the journey transforms what tools you'll need to be successful.

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57:33

S1 EP11 Joining a Team Part 2: Disasters, challenges,...

Building Better Games ·

2021/09/21

In Part 1, we talked about the framework and approach we'd recommend for a leader joining a new team. In Part 2 (this episode), we cover what bad looks like, some of the challenges you can encounter, and some real-life stories of how Ben and Aaron approached joining teams and organizations in the past. Hope you find something useful that you can apply.

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01:06:05

S1 EP10 Joining a Team: Lead with curiosity to avoid...

Building Better Games ·

2021/09/09

As leaders, we are occasionally asked to join new teams. It could be part of a promotion or expansion of responsibility, it could be that they need help and you've 'finally' arrived to provide it. Whatever the reason, you are launched into a new and uncertain world. In this episode of the Valarin Perspective, Aaron and Ben discuss what a healthy orientation and approach looks like, and also cover a lot of common missteps, such as assuming you know what the team needs, or trying to turn the

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54:47

S1 EP9 You Can't Firefight Your Way to Success

Building Better Games ·

2021/08/23

So many organizations are constantly focused on solving problems and firefighting. In this reactive position we lose a level of deliberateness: Are we actually moving toward our vision? There will always be another problem to solve, and it feels very rewarding to solve them. What does it look like if we focus on abundance, and pursue opportunities instead?

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