Hidden Levels
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© Haptic
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The "Hidden Levels" podcast by Haptic aims to bring knowledge of ongoing game topics to the forefront for our community. Available now on Spotify!
21 Episodes
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When starting a new video game studio or planning growth for your teams, having a well-informed, experienced HR team is paramount. But what are the decisions that make or break these initiatives, and how should you implement them on time and within budget?
Our Director, James, is joined by Katie Nurse (People Partner at Netspeak Games), Kran Kullar (VP of People at Drest), Rebecca Sampson (Director & Founder at Moxie Ops Ltd) and Georgina Felce (COO & Founder at Talewind).
In today's vibrant market, building an outstanding community on LinkedIn is often critical to success. Whether you're a recruiter, a content creator, or a rising voice in any industry, nurturing an expansive network with unique, constructive content is usually the right way to go.
Our host, Jordan, is joined by Alexander Rehm (Director of Live Ops at People Can Fly), Ali Farha (Senior Technical Producer at Star Stable Entertainment AB) and Harry Phokou (Founder & CEO at Phokou Digital).
Bossa Games have made a name for themselves in the UK video game development scene. As creators of comedic, physics-based games for all platforms, Bossa has demonstrated a unique eye for fun, innovation, and a particular kind of irreverence.
Our host, Jordan, enjoys the company of Daniel Clough (co-CEO), Alice Turner (Chief People Officer) and Naoise Morrin (Senior People & Talent Manager) to discuss everything that has made Bossa Games a great place to be for aspiring and veteran developers alike.
This week, we continue focusing on what drives gaming recruitment and modern trends in building teams for the industry. Buckle up for a general overview of:
Current DE&I strategies in hiring
Overcoming gender inequality in recruitment
The age gap in gaming studios
Finding hidden gems in an HR pipeline
Our host, Jordan, was joined by Elena-Veronica Popescu (Senior Manager, TA at Ubisoft), Renata Tilmantaite (Head of Global Talent Acquisition at Wargaming), Anastasia Babicheva (Recruitment Lead at Owlcat Games) and Ruth Atkinson (Talent Acquisition Manager at MAG Interactive).
As the gaming industry readjusts and evolves to new ways of work, so do its requirements for talent acquisition. Now that building a more diverse, inclusive, and sustainable work environment has become paramount, the old clashes with the new – but who's winning?
As usual, Jordan hosts this episode, accompanied by Veronika Nelsen (Senior TA Partner at Wargaming), Jacob Kimber (Director of Global Talent Acquisition & Operations at Pixel United), Mariia Abramovych (Art TA Manager at Tripledot Studios) and Kristian Sparrow (Manager, Global TA at Scopely).
Much has been said about reinventing working schedules and processes after the COVID-19 pandemic. Remote work, four-day weeks, and flexible/hybrid schemes are some solutions that video game developers have implemented to solve the fundamental work/life balance dilemma.
But are they here to stay, or will they be short-lived as the market realigns itself? In today's episode, our host, Jordan, decided to answer those questions and show our audience a thrilling panorama of what comes next.
Jordan was joined by Declan Paul (Founder & Managing Director at Inferno Studios), Ana Rizopol (Head of Creatives at AdLiven), Eduard Lopez Plans (Studio Head at IO Interactive Barcelona) and Max Downton (Senior Global Communications Manager at Splash Damage).
For better or worse, the COVID-19 pandemic and its subsequent lockdown measures were a watershed point for the work culture worldwide. These were especially impactful in gaming, where the industry's collaborative, closely-knit nature collided with the necessity of being remote. Wildly mixed results, to say the least, soon followed.
Our host, Jordan, discussed the ways the COVID-19 pandemic affected video game development with Richard Browne (Director at Blue Moon Production Company), James Mouat (Design Director at Sumo Digital Limited), Declan Blayney (People & Talent Manager at Airship Interactive) and Matt Dunlop (Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist at Space Ape Games).
Creating video games is a thing of passion and collaboration. Prized by many people who desire to find a balance between their work opportunities and their artistic wants, working in gaming is nevertheless prone to overtime – or 'crunch', as known to industry insiders – and other uncomfortable situations in the workplace as a result of unmet deadlines and lofty ambitions.
In this week's episode, our host, Jordan, discusses whether crunch is a thing of the past or is still present in the industry with an outstanding guest list: Nick Harper (Studio Head at Lively), Declan Paul (Founder & Managing Director at Inferno Studios) and Seb Downie-Blackwell (Partner/Head of Production at Remote Control Productions).
All companies are as strong as their cultures and internal agreements are. Video game development makes this even more crucial, as teams can rise or break based on how they work together.
In today's episode, our host, Jordan, explores the tricky parts of shaping a healthy work environment in video games with guests Rob Graham (Chief Executive Officer at Savage Game Group), Daksha Sharma (Senior Publishing Partner Manager at Jagex) and Ido Naim (Product Director at Tripledot Studios).
Welcome to our first Studio Spotlight!
Today's episode features the British game co-development studio Companion Group. Founded in 2022, Companion Group are experts at building Live Service games. They specialise in engineering support from concept to post-launch across both back-end needs, as well as engine-level changes and general gameplay.
They count major publishers like Amazon and 505 Games as their clients, alongside several independent studios and even a few unannounced AAA games in both Europe and North America.
Our host, Jordan, had a wonderful chat with Companion Group's founder, Liam Brennan, and chief BD officer, Vitor De Magalhaes, to discuss the company's successes, learnings, and planned growth. An episode you cannot miss!
It's no mystery that the biggest blockbusters in the contemporary video game industry owe much of their success to the growth of vibrant communities around them.
In our eleventh episode, Jordan delves into what makes a video game community tick and how it grows through time with a little help from Charmaine Duff (Social Media Marketing Manager at SkyReach Studio), Pebbles Klein (Community Manager at BetterPlay Studios) and Vladimir Smolyakov (Social Media Manager at 10 Chambers).
Our tenth episode is a true gem.
Every video game developer remembers a game that fanned the flames of inspiration, creativity, and the desire to make great things. Our Head of Contracts and producer, Jordan, brought this subject to Jonathan Breese (Senior Narrative Designer, formerly at Frontier Developments), Luigi Fusco (Game Director at DR Studios), Connor Curran (Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist at IO Interactive) and Afonso Ferreira (Art Manager at DECA Games).
The result? One of the best episodes of our podcast, covering all aspects of video game development and touching on relevant elements in our perception of art and culture. You can't miss this one!
There is no more crucial skill for a rising studio than being able to deliver games on time and within budget. In our ninth episode, our Head of Contracts, Jordan, takes us through the ins and outs of production and project management with Ben Hinchliffe (Lead Designer at Just Add Water), Charlie Hasdell (Chief Executive Officer at Quantum Shift Studios), Nicholas Gurley (Producer at Team Dream Walkers) and Alexander Prokhorov (Former Project Lead at DR Studios).
The video game industry is a unique blend of art, passion, coding, and hard and soft skills that do not get as much attention as the core ones but are equally crucial to its success.
Our eighth episode sees our Head of Contracts, Jordan, discuss what differentiates gaming from other industries with a phenomenal guest list featuring Alexander Rehm (Director of Live Ops at People Can Fly), Joanna Skorupa (Senior Producer at Sumo Digital), Ross Griffith (Head of Publishing at Playtonic) and Dan Thomas (Fractional COO at Apparance Studios). Enjoy!
Have you wondered how video games are marketed and sold to contemporary audiences? Hidden Levels with Haptic's seventh episode is the place to start. This time, our Head of Contracts, Jordan, joins Ben Joy (Partner Strategist - Play Team at Etch), Shelley Drogt (Lifecycle Marketing Manager at Tripledot Studios), Patrick Day-Childs (Marketing Assistant at Meteor Pixel Limited) and Dan Allman (Senior Marketing Manager at Kepler Interactive) for an informative first look into the challenges, choices, and structure a video game marketer has to follow in 2024 to launch a successful product.
Hidden Levels with Haptic's sixth episode – and the first one recorded, believe it or not – sees one of our senior talent consultants, RJ, having a wonderful fireside chat with John Zurhellen (Freelance Writer and Narrative Designer, formerly worked at Rockstar Games and Nickelodeon), Jedidjah Julia Noomen (Game Director at Tactile Games, previously Senior Writer at Asobo Studio) and Danny Wadeson (Former Principal Narrative Designer at Firesprite Games) about how storytelling and narrative have evolved through the latest years of video game development.
Hidden Levels with Haptic's fifth episode is about the best video games of recent years and how game development teams worldwide produce and release them. Our Contract Manager, Jordan, joins Stefan Wittelsburger (Executive Producer at Supermassive Games), Mike Hawkyard (Lead Producer at Team17 Digital), Sean Delaney (Producer at Skyhook Games) and Ross Stephens (Senior Systems Designer at Larian Studios) to discuss the crucial steps to bring a great game to audiences and not die trying.
The fourth episode of Hidden Levels with Haptic sees our resident Art expert and senior talent consultant, Ross, host a friendly roundtable with veteran art directors Lenni Olinsson (Avalanche Studios), Sam Denney (nDreams), Brad Heitmeyer (Rovio) and Viktor Blanke (Mojang Studios) about the challenges and best practices every director faces when conceiving new intellectual properties from scratch.
Hidden Levels with Haptic's third episode sees RJ having a fascinating conversation with Joe Burridge (Head of Talent at Play Ventures), Rose Horton (Talent Acquisition Manager at Dambuster Studios), Declan Blayney (People & Talent Partner at Airship Interactive) and Frederico Machado (Talent Acquisition Manager at YAGER) about the best ways to attract top talent for companies in the video game industry.
In today's episode, our Contract Manager, Jordan, hosts a virtual roundtable with Fiona Turner (Talent Acquisition Manager at Dovetail Games), Christopher Mifsud (Founder, CEO, and Creative Director of Play on Words Studios) and Oliver Georgallis (Co-Founder and Executive Producer of MilkBubblesGames) about the tools of the trade they use to nurture tight-knit teams and great cultures in their game development teams.
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