Inside Indie Games
27 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 3 years ago -The Game Development show for indie developers, Inside Indie Games’ explores what it is that inspires and motivates games developers make the games they do. Our community of independent games developers are among the brightest and best in UK games dev talent and, on this show, we're tapping into their expertise and experience, to find out how you can build your own successful games company. Learn from the experts what challenges, successes and opportunities are typical for independent games developers in the UK right now, and what you can do to build a great games studio.
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Episodes
Life after 2020: what does the future hold for indie devs?
October 08, 2020 07:00 - 28 minutes - 19.7 MBIn this final episode of our second series, our panel of industry experts join us for one last time to give us their thoughts on what the future may hold for indie games development. With continued uncertainty about what lies ahead in the months to come, and with small businesses feeling the brunt of the economic impact of the pandemic, our panel discuss the immediate effects of changes to working practices on their studios and the wider industry. Wrapping up this season in the only fittin...
Community Management
October 01, 2020 09:00 - 27 minutes - 19.2 MBIn this episode we're diving into the subject of building and managing an online community as the core of your audience. As game developers, securing engaged and passionate fans is confirmation of success. But your fans aren't just your customers, they're also your biggest marketers. Fans are the ultimate focus group for getting feedback, testing ideas, and developing new concepts. So how do we go about gaining and retaining those fans? How do we build that community around our game, and...
Failing Forward: How to Bounce Back from Failure
September 09, 2020 07:00 - 42 minutes - 29.2 MBFailure...few people like to admit to it, but we've all been there. Mistakes can, and in the creative world of games development, will happen. But what can indie devs do to pick themselves up and try again? From being 'ghosted' to taking reviews personally, is acknowledgement of mistakes made harder than making them? We speak to our panel of industry experts about their experiences, what advice they would give and why failure isn't such a bad thing. Our panel: Gina Jackson - Sold Out P...
Marketing and Selling Your Game
August 19, 2020 09:00 - 39 minutes - 27.3 MBEach episode in this season is essential listening, but none more so than this one! What can small studios realistically do to effectively market and sell their game? Research, outreach, community engagement, authentic communication...all of these aspects of marketing and selling games are discussed in this episode. As ever, we're joined by our panel of industry experts, and they're going to talk us through the tactics and strategies they've found to be most effective when it comes to ...
Fast or slow, which is the best way to grow your studio?
August 06, 2020 10:00 - 40 minutes - 28.1 MBCan business sustainability sometimes be sacrificed in the quest for growth? If fast growth is more appealing to potential investors, how do you manage the risks? In this episode we're diving into the subject of business sustainability and growth - an ever hot topic for start up games dev studios. Is there a right way to grow your business? Along with our expert panel we explore how start ups can grow their company in a way that builds on expertise. This could be anything from budget an...
Mergers and Acquisitions, should we aim to be acquired?
July 23, 2020 08:00 - 24 minutes - 16.8 MBKicking off the remaining episodes of our second season of Inside Indie Games, we’re joined by a panel of industry experts from all walks of games development backgrounds as we delve into the world of M&As in the indie dev sector. At the heart of discussion in this episode is the burning question for a lot of indie dev studios: should passionate games developers be Creative Directors or CEOs? This episode highlights the tensions faced by indie games development founders across the creative...
Season 2: Mergers and Acquisitions, should we aim to be acquired?
July 23, 2020 08:00 - 24 minutes - 16.8 MBKicking off the remaining episodes of our second season of Inside Indie Games, we’re joined by a panel of industry experts from all walks of games development backgrounds as we delve into the world of M&As in the indie dev sector. At the heart of discussion in this episode is the burning question for a lot of indie dev studios: should passionate games developers be Creative Directors or CEOs? This episode highlights the tensions faced by indie games development founders across the creative...
Pitching in a Pandemic, Part 2
June 26, 2020 12:00 - 1 hour - 45 MBVeteran games journalist Will Freeman hosts the second part of this special episode of Inside Indie Games. The pandemic has not stopped deals from being done and pitches being made. The UK games development sector continues to grow and prosper as studios and publishers all find themselves working remotely and as dispersed teams. But how does it work on a practical basis? Will speaks with Rosa Carbó-Mascarell and Aj Grand-Scrutton, both from successful independent games development backg...
SPECIAL EPISODE: Pitching in a Pandemic, Part 2
June 26, 2020 12:00 - 1 hour - 45 MBVeteran games journalist Will Freeman hosts the second part of this special episode of Inside Indie Games. The pandemic has not stopped deals from being done and pitches being made. The UK games development sector continues to grow and prosper as studios and publishers all find themselves working remotely and as dispersed teams. But how does it work on a practical basis? Will speaks with Rosa Carbó-Mascarell and Aj Grand-Scrutton, both from successful independent games development backg...
Pitching in a Pandemic, Part 1
June 18, 2020 07:00 - 51 minutes - 35.6 MBHow can games developers successfully pitch their projects virtually? With physical events being on hold for much of 2020, games developers looking to secure publisher deals or even garner interest in their games have to do it in a remote way. In the first part of this special episode of Inside Indie Games, guest presenter Will Freeman, speaks to Sophia Aubrey Drake (The Big Indie Pitch) and Mike Rose (No More Robots) about the best ways to nail that virtual pitch. Part 2 of this special...
SPECIAL EPISODE: Pitching in a Pandemic, Part 1
June 18, 2020 07:00 - 51 minutes - 35.6 MBHow can games developers successfully pitch their projects virtually? With physical events being on hold for much of 2020, games developers looking to secure publisher deals or even garner interest in their games have to do it in a remote way. In the first part of this special episode of Inside Indie Games, guest presenter Will Freeman, speaks to Sophia Aubrey Drake (The Big Indie Pitch) and Mike Rose (No More Robots) about the best ways to nail that virtual pitch. Part 2 of this special...
Dispersed working for games developers, with Simon Bennett and Colin Anderson
April 09, 2020 09:00 - 58 minutes - 80.5 MBVeteran games journalist Will Freeman hosts this special episode of Inside Indie Games. Many of the companies that we support operate remote working and as dispersed teams. But the present enforced home-working for many sectors lucky enough to have it as an option has brought the practice firmly into the spotlight and for many it’s been a new novelty. Joined by Colin Anderson (Denki) and Simon Bennett (Roll7), Will explores what opportunities and challenges remote working can have for indi...
Pitching for funding with Paul Kilduff-Taylor
August 30, 2019 17:00 - 43 minutes - 59.9 MBFrom games developer, to business development and finally to publishing. Paul Kilduff-Taylor from Mode 7 knows a LOT about the independent games development industry. In this bonus episode of Inside Indie Games, we discuss how teams and individuals can best approach pitching; why those seeking investment should research the kind of funding they're pitching for, translating the investor's goals to their project and the basic pitfalls indie devs looking for funding should be aware of. All i...
The Power of Community, with Katie Nelson
May 30, 2019 09:00 - 36 minutes - 33.1 MBKatie Nelson is one of the founders of Blueprint Games, the company behind the very fun 3D platformer ‘Billie Bust Up!’. Blueprint are a brilliant example of a real community driven platform. They have an engaged and vocal fanbase who they can rely on for constant and instant feedback around anything they’re working on. In this episode, we’re going to dive into that, and find out Katie’s tips and insights around growing and utilising a community around your creative projects!
The Power of Community, with Katie Nelson
May 30, 2019 09:00 - 36 minutes - 33.1 MBKatie Nelson is one of the founders of Blueprint Games, the company behind the very fun 3D platformer ‘Billie Bust Up!’. Blueprint are a brilliant example of a real community driven platform. They have an engaged and vocal fanbase who they can rely on for constant and instant feedback around anything they’re working on. In this episode, we’re going to dive into that, and find out Katie’s tips and insights around growing and utilising a community around your creative projects!
Managing a Remote Team, with Olly Bennett
May 13, 2019 09:00 - 34 minutes - 31.8 MBOlly Bennett is the CEO of Cardboard Sword - a game development studio based in the North East of England. Olly has worked in the games industry for over twelve years, across six companies, with roles in QA, Design, and Production. Before starting Cardboard Sword, he was associate producer on Sony’s LittleBigPlanet on PS Vita. It was a redundancy that led to Olly and one of his former colleagues taking the leap to form Cardboard Sword. That was six years ago, and in the early days, th...
Experimentation & Growth, with Kirsty Rigden
April 30, 2019 10:00 - 38 minutes - 35.5 MBKirsty Rigden is the Development Director at FuturLab - an award-winning game studio based in Brighton. Kirsty’s been with the company since 2010. But her career in the industry began back in her university days, when she got a summer job testing games for the BBC. She went on to gain more experience, working as a tester for a mobile company called I-Play. Kirsty told me that this was in the days before the iPhone, and, as she put it, “before it was cool to make mobile phone games”. Fr...
Diversity, School Workshops, & Leading by Example, with Helen Andrzejowska
April 08, 2019 12:00 - 37 minutes - 34.8 MBHelen Andrzejowska is one of the three founders of Ocean Spark Studios, a video game development company formed in late 2016, and based in Huddersfield, Yorkshire. Helen came from an art background, going on to study Video Game Development at the University of Huddersfield, where she met her two now business partners, Zach and Ellie. As we’ve heard so far in this series, some game development studios prefer to focus on a niche market, focusing on one particular area of making games, whil...
You've Got Five Minutes to Capture Their Attention, with Adam Boyne
March 21, 2019 14:00 - 35 minutes - 32.7 MBAdam Boyne is the co-founder and technical lead of BetaJester. This Yorkshire-based games company were formed in 2015 by Adam, and two of his fellow graduates of the University of Hull, Ryan, and Josh. The trio’s original plan was to spend four or five years working at established game companies, before going on to launch their own. But the general advice they got from folks in the industry was “if you want to do this, why not just do it now?” This was further reinforced when the univ...
Build a Team Around You, with Tom Beardsmore
March 06, 2019 11:00 - 28 minutes - 26.5 MBTom Beardsmore is the CEO and co-founder of Coatsink, a UK-based game development studio and publisher. Coatsink were formed in 2009, but Tom has actually known his co-founder Paul Crabb since they were about 12 years old. Today, Coatsink has grown into a company with almost 70 employees, and work on a number of impressive projects, including developing their own IP for Oculus studios.
Doing It All Yourself, with John Evelyn
February 19, 2019 00:00 - 31 minutes - 28.7 MBWe’ve talked a lot so far this season about whether or not to specialise in one particular area of making games. Well, in this episode we’re speaking to John Evelyn. He’s the creator of an entirely hand-drawn first-person adventure game called Collage Atlas. And as you’ll find out he wears many – if not all - of the hats on the project. John’s “one-man-band” approach is fairly uncommon these days. And perhaps it can be traced back to one of his tutors at university who essentially advise...
Launching Your Game with a Bang, with Gary Burchell
February 07, 2019 10:00 - 35 minutes - 16.1 MBIn this episode we’ll hear from Gary Burchell of Fireblade Software. Fireblade Software is the creator of Abandon Ship - a single-player PC game which lets the player take command of a ship and her crew. The game hit the giddy heights of fourth in the Steam Global Top Sellers chart on the night of its release, and I definitely wanted to find out more about what went into that. But Gary has experience on both sides of the fence in this industry. Before forming his own indie studio, he spe...
A Collective Approach to Making Games, with Mal Abbas
January 22, 2019 11:00 - 30 minutes - 14.2 MBThis is Mal, who helped set up Biome Collective – a co-operative started in 2015 that’s made up of creative technologists, artists, academics, and researchers. Mal told me that running the company in this non-traditional manner means they’re a lot more stable than a traditional startup He says it puts them in a position to do projects independent of each other, which gives more creative control, freedom, and opens the doors to a lot more collaborations. But I was interested to find out h...
How to use Events & Awards to Make a Success of your Game, with Mark Backler
January 10, 2019 09:00 - 33 minutes - 15.2 MBIn this episode we're talking to Mark Backler, founder of Fourth State and Sketchbook Games. Right now he's focused on Lost Words, a narrative-based game set inside a diary. Lost Words is available to add to your wishlist on Steam now here. Mark's background is in really big games development companies, such as Lionhead Studios and Electronic Arts, but just a few years back he jumped out of that world to start his own company. Mark offers a tonne of advice; from how to build your team, ...
How to Fund Your Projects, with Phil Charnock
December 11, 2018 11:00 - 26 minutes - 12.4 MBIn the second episode of Inside Indie Games, we speak to Phil Charnock of Draw & Code. His company raised over £25,000 on Kickstarter to fund their first product, SwapBots. Phil brings some fantastic insights and advice for those interested in funding future projects. Draw & Code is a unique company; Phil describes them as creative content marketers who stay ahead of the curve by embracing immersive technology and spatial computing. But like any company, revenue and turnover are vital ...
How to Bootstrap an Indie Games Company on more than just Games, with Gary McCartan
November 20, 2018 15:00 - 28 minutes - 13.1 MBIn the first episode from our new UK Games Fund podcast series, Colin from The Podcast Host speaks to Gary McCartan from Pocket Sized Hands. This is Gary McCartan, who founded Pocket Sized Hands along with a handful of his university classmates. Gary’s had to learn fast as he moved from being a games design student, to running a games design company. His experiences so far mean he’s got loads of invaluable advice for others who want to follow the same path. One notable theme here is that ...
Inside Indie Games: Trailer
November 01, 2018 10:00 - 2 minutes - 2.2 MBA short introduction to the Inside Indie Games Podcast, brought to you by the UK Games Fund.