A new podcast quest has unlocked: join host Cheryl Platz, author of the upcoming book The Game Development Strategy Guide, as she takes you on a 10-episode journey behind the scenes with many of the veteran video game developers who are featured in the pages of her book starting August 19, 2025 and continuing weekly on Tuesdays.

Get full stories in context from professionals with experience at companies like Mojang, Riot Games, Disney Interactive Studios, iNiS Corp, VRChat, Roblox, Activision/Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Maxis, Griptonite Games, Hidden Path Entertainment, and many other studios. Hear from a wide variety of disciplines: from narrative, systems, and user experience design to engineering and player dynamics, with plenty of other perspectives along the way.

References in this episode:

• Game Changer: The Evolution of Video Games' Payments Infrastructure (Kansas City Fed)
• Xbox Hit with Layoffs and Cancellations as Microsoft Cuts 9000 Jobs (Wired)
• 2022-2025 game industry layoffs (Wikipedia)

Pre-order Cheryl's book, The Game Development Strategy Guide: Crafting Modern Video Games That Thrive from Rosenfeld Media or your favorite bookseller; releases September 16, 2025. Pre-orders at RosenfeldMedia.com save 15% and all print orders direct from the publisher receive a free ebook.