Best We Are Not Game Devs Podcasts (2025)

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Revealing the unknown unknowns in your software 31:42

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2d ago31:42

31:42

Ryan welcomes Nic Benders to discuss the complexity and abstraction crisis in software development, the importance of going beyond observability into understandability, and demystifying AI's opacity for understanding and control. Episode notes: New Relic is a full-stack observability platform that helps engineers plan, build, deploy, and run softwa…

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What Jason Fried Learned from 26 Years of Building Great Products 58:27

22h ago58:27

58:27

37signals makes tens of millions in profit every year but Jason Fried isn’t all that interested in running a business. Instead, he cares most about making great products—like Basecamp, HEY, and Ruby on Rails—products that are centered around a single, coherent idea. These products are complete wholes, where each piece matters—like a Frank Lloyd Wri…

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The Sad State of GTA-Like Games (That Aren't GTA) - Beyond 920 1:00:09

4d ago1:00:09

1:00:09

This week, we’ve heard Rockstar games co-founder Dan Houser talking about cancelled GTA 5 story DLC and Saints Row 1 design director Chris Stockman sharing his pitch for a Saints Row reboot, which has us lamenting the lack of open-world action games set in contemporary settings. Specifically, the kind where you can steal cars and cause mayhem - you…

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To write secure code, be less gullible than your AI 28:26

5d ago28:26

28:26

Ryan is joined by Greg Foster, CTO of Graphite, to explore how much we should trust AI-generated code to be secure, the importance of tooling in ensuring code security whether it’s AI-assisted or not, and the need for context and readability for humans in AI code. Episode notes: Graphite is an AI code review platform that helps you get context on c…

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Addictive Gameplay Loops With Chris Cantero 50:38

3d ago50:38

50:38

How do you craft a video game that hooks players and keeps them coming back for more? Dive into Episode 256 of Crowdfunding Nerds, where Andrew along with special guest Chris Cantero, unravel the magic behind addictive gameplay loops and reward systems. Chris, who has worked on iconic titles like Doom Eternal, shares insights from his latest roguel…

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How Salesforce Is Using AI to Power the Enterprise 14:11

6d ago14:11

14:11

This episode contains sponsored content in partnership with Salesforce. At Dreamforce 2025, Every CEO Dan Shipper sat down with Silvio Savarese, chief AI scientist at Salesforce, to discuss how one of the world’s largest software companies is shaping the future of AI for the enterprise. Together, Dan and Savarese explore how his team at Salesforce …

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Vibe coding needs a spec, too 26:45

9d ago26:45

26:45

Ryan talks with Deepak Singh, VP of Developer Agents and Experiences at AWS and lead at Kiro, about spec-driven development in a vibe coding world. They explore how AI tools have evolved from autocomplete to sophisticated agents that can write code based off of just specs, and how AWS has pioneered spec-driven development through their Kiro agent. …

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Your Analytics Stack Is Killing Your Studio (The New Meta: PostHog FTW) 46:18

8d ago46:18

46:18

Most game studios waste weeks of runway on the wrong analytics decision—here's how to avoid that mistake. Traditional analytics SDK vendors like Amplitude, Mixpanel, and Braze promise plug-and-play simplicity but deliver silent failures, contract negotiations, and escalating costs that can destroy startup velocity. In this episode, we discuss why t…

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Inside Claude Code From the Engineers Who Built It 1:10:11

8d ago1:10:11

1:10:11

At Every, the team credits Claude Code with transforming the way they work. They now ship to codebases they barely know, each new feature makes the next easier to build, and even non-technical teammates confidently use the terminal. To explore how this happened, AI & I host Dan Shipper invited Claude Code’s creators—Cat Wu (@_catwu) and Boris Chern…

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The Horror Games That Defined Each PlayStation Console - Beyond 919 1:14:43

11d ago1:14:43

1:14:43

It’s almost Halloween, so what better excuse to geek out about horror games? Max and Brian take a look back at the horror franchises that dominated each generation of PlayStation console. From the birth of Resident Evil on the PS1 to Silent Hill and Fatal Frame’s numerous outings on the PlayStation 2, to the PS3/360 era that gave us Dead Space, Con…

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Craft and quality beat speed and scale, with or without agents 27:50

12d ago27:50

27:50

Ryan welcomes Tom Moor, head of engineering at Linear, to discuss AI agents’ mixed results for productivity in the development lifecycle, the importance of context for maximizing agents’ effectiveness, and the role that junior developers need to take in a world increasingly driven by AI. Episode notes: Linear is a tool for planning and building pro…

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Highly Rewarding Game Loops 1:07:59

10d ago1:07:59

1:07:59

Ever wondered what makes a game truly addictive? Join us on this episode of the Crowdfunding Nerds as Andrew and Sean, along with Deliverance playtester Evan Gilcrest, unravel the secret sauce behind captivating gameplay loops. From the indie darling Megabonk to the colossal World of Warcraft, we explore how balancing complexity and simplicity can …

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Halo's Coming to PlayStation And PlayStation's Going to Magic: The Gathering - Beyond 918 59:01

16d ago59:01

59:01

In the video game equivalent of Hell freezing over or pigs flying, the original Halo is coming to PlayStation. Halo: Campaign Evolved is a full Unreal Engine 5 overhaul of the 2001 Xbox original, and in honor of the 25th anniversary, it’s going multi-platform sometime next year. Nick got a chance to play it, and shared his impressions about new fea…

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Your runbooks are obsolete in the age of agents 24:55

17d ago24:55

24:55

Ryan is joined by Spiros Xanthos, CEO and founder of Resolve AI, to talk about the future of AI agents in incident management and troubleshooting, the challenges of maintaining complex software systems with traditional runbooks, and the changing role of developers in an AI-driven world. Episode notes: Resolve AI is building agents to help you troub…

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Why Game Studio Failures Are Structure Problems, Not Talent Problems | Chris Casanova (Microsoft, Mojang, Relic, Hypixel) 55:21

17d ago55:21

55:21

Most game studios think they have a talent problem. They don't. They have a structure problem. Chris Casanova spent 15+ years as a producer across Microsoft Xbox, Mojang (Minecraft), Relic Entertainment, Offworld Industries, and Hypixel Studios. He's watched talented teams fail repeatedly—not from lack of skill, but from organizational friction. Tr…

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What leaders need to know from the 2025 Stack Overflow Developer Survey 31:16

18d ago31:16

31:16

In this episode of Leaders of Code, Eira May, B2B Editor at Stack Overflow, and Natalie Rotnov, Senior Product Marketing Manager for the Enterprise Product Suite at Stack Overflow, unpack the key takeaways from the 2025 Developer Survey for tech and business leaders. The discussion focuses on the evolving developer relationship with AI, the continu…

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Spiral: Designing an AI Ghostwriter With Taste 1:07:37

17d ago1:07:37

1:07:37

Good writing has always been downstream of good thinking. The average language model can help you write faster—but can it help you think better? Danny Aziz wrestled with this question while building the new version of Spiral, an AI writing partner informed by our editorial taste at Every that launched yesterday. The result is a product—and a philos…

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Open source is giving you choices with your agent systems 26:28

20d ago26:28

26:28

Ryan welcomes John Dickerson, CEO of Mozilla.ai, to talk about the evolving landscape of AI agents, the role of open source in keeping the tech ecosystem healthy, the challenges OS communities have faced with the rise of AI, and the implications of data privacy and user choice in the age of multi-agent AI systems. Episode notes: Mozilla.ai is build…

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The Battlefield 6 Redemption, What UCLA Football Teaches About Leadership, & Structuring Teams to Win | MAG #7 59:16

20d ago59:16

59:16

Western AAA development is not dead. Battlefield 6's 7 million unit launch proves it. This episode deconstructs how EA and Vince Zampella reversed the "disaster" of Battlefield 2042 by focusing on leadership, community feedback , and a smarter studio structure. Then, we explore why leadership is the ultimate "alpha". Joseph Kim breaks down the stun…

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Facts: Your Brain Works Better Than Meta AI 59:01

17d ago59:01

59:01

Ever wondered why your Facebook ads aren't hitting the mark? In episode 254 of Crowdfunding Nerds, Andrew and Sean unravel the mysteries of Meta advertising and share how to avoid costly pitfalls. Are you targeting the "lowest hanging fruit" in your marketing, or is Meta's AI leading you astray? We dive into the importance of manual control over ad…

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Ghost of Yotei Devs Discuss That Ending, Story Changes, Easter Eggs & More | Spoilercast! - Beyond 917 50:16

23d ago50:16

50:16

SPOILER ALERT! This week, we’re talking Ghost of Yotei yet again, but delving deep into late game content, including the ending. Joining us to unpack all that, and answer some more questions about how the open-world samurai epic came together are creative director Jason Connel and lead writer Ian Ryan from Sucker Punch Productions. We discuss story…

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Why rent a cloud when you can build one? 29:03

24d ago29:03

29:03

Andrei Kvapil, founder of Ænix and core developer of Cozystack, joins Ryan to dive into what it takes to build a cloud from scratch, the intricacies of Kubernetes and virtualization, and how open-source has made digital sovereignty possible. Episode notes: Cozystack is a Kubernetes-based framework for building a private cloud environment. Connect w…

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We Taught AI to Play Games—Now It’s a $3.6 Million Company 58:22

23d ago58:22

58:22

This episode is a little different from our usual fare: It’s a conversation with our head of AI training Alex Duffy about Good Start Labs, a company he incubated inside Every. Today, Good Start Labs is spinning out of Every as a separate company with $3.6 million in funding from General Catalyst, Inovia, Every, and a group of angel investors from t…

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AI agents for your digital chores 34:43

27d ago34:43

34:43

Ryan welcomes Dhruv Batra, co-founder and chief scientist at Yutori, to explore the future of AI agents, how AI usage is changing the way people interact with advertisements and the web as a whole, and the challenges that proactive AI agents may face when being integrated into workflows and personal internet use. Episode notes: Yutori is building A…

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Inside the $55B EA-Saudi Deal: Why It's Not a Typical LBO (with Chris Petrovic & Matthew Kanterman) 59:56

27d ago59:56

59:56

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund just closed the largest gaming acquisition in history—$55 billion for Electronic Arts. But this isn't the typical private equity playbook. In this episode, host Joseph Kim sits down with two M&A experts who break down what's really happening:- Chris Petrovic - Board Chairman & CBO at FunPlus, former President o…

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When to Say No! 1:06:27

26d ago1:06:27

1:06:27

Ever feel like your to-do list is running your life? In episode 253 of the Crowdfunding Nerds, we tackle the art of time management and the power of 'no' in business. Have you ever missed a crucial meeting because your schedule was bursting at the seams? Andrew and Sean share personal stories and strategies to help you avoid this pitfall. We dive i…

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Vite is like the United Nations of JavaScript 27:08

1M ago27:08

27:08

Ryan welcomes back Evan You, the creator of Vite and Vue.js, to discuss the evolution of build tools in web development, the unique features of Vite from its plugins to its hot module capabilities, and the future of Vite, including its integration with Rust. Plus, they touch on Vite’s new documentary and the power of open-source communities. Episod…

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The Ad Monetization Playbook: Fixing Leaky Revenue, Boosting CPMs, and Scaling Your Team with Kelly Kang 1:08:48

1M ago1:08:48

1:08:48

Why is your ad revenue flat even when your game's traffic is growing? Margins are getting squeezed by hidden fees, and old strategies of yelling at partners no longer move the needle. In this episode, we sit down with veteran ad monetization consultant Kelly Kang to get her modern playbook for building a resilient and profitable ad strategy from th…

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Box CEO Aaron Levie on Why AI Agents Won’t Take Your Job 52:55

1M ago52:55

52:55

Aaron Levie is AI-pilled, but he’s one of the few CEOs who sees a future where AI agents work for us, instead of replacing us—helping us to do more than we could before. Aaron’s been the CEO of Box for 20 years–long enough to see a few tech revolutions up close—and taking the company AI-first gave him a glimpse of what the next one means for us. We…

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Digesting the Spaghetti Western Vibes of Yotei - Beyond 916 1:05:22

1M ago1:05:22

1:05:22

This week on Beyond Jada Griffin is hosting yet again! Joined by Michael Higham, and Nick Maillet to talk more about Ghost of Yotei. We dive into how the Japanese community is embracing Yotei for how it quintessentially feels like Hokkaido, a few of the smaller touches of things we liked such as the various minigames in Yotei, and a couple of plati…

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Context is king for secure, AI-generated code 28:15

1M ago28:15

28:15

Ryan sits down with Dimitri Stiliadis, CTO and co-founder of Endor Labs, to talk about how AppSec is evolving to address AI’s use cases. They discuss the implications of AI-generated code on security practices, the importance of human oversight in managing vulnerabilities, and how organizations should be balancing security and efficiency with AI. E…

2M ago57:24

57:24

Naveen Naidu built an app that found product-market fit backwards.Most apps launch first and then try to find users. Monologue, Naveen’s AI voice dictation app that came out of beta yesterday, did the opposite. It built a following of thousands of users during its incubation period at Every—many of them switching over from venture capital-backed co…