S01 E10 of Dev to Dev - the Podcast about everyday Videogame developers and why they do what they do every day - features a candid conversation with Liam McDonald who shares how gaming shaped his identity — from RuneScape escapades in school libraries to exciting projects at both Indie and AAA studios. Liam and I dive deep into the power of curiosity, risk-taking, and the unseen human side of game development. 

Highlights

• Discovering community through early online games like RuneScape and Medal of Honor.

• Pivoting from politics to game design through a leap of faith at E3.

• The realities of relocating a family for an exciting role — and navigating the pandemic abroad.

• Insights into balancing creativity, family life, and imposter syndrome.

• Why mentorship and empathy are vital in helping new developers find their footing.

Liam’s story is one of resilience and rediscovery — a reminder that game development isn’t just about mechanics and code, but about people, purpose, and learning who you are along the way. Once again it wonderfully embodies the spirit of this podcast by exploring what it's really like to build a career in Game Development.

Find the Podcast at:

Patreon: DevToDevPodcast

RSS: https://feeds.castos.com/r37p9

Instagram: @devto.devpodcast

Bluesky: @devtodevpodcast.bsky.social‬

TikTok: @devtodevpodcast

YouTube: @DevToDevPodcast

Email: DevToDevPodcast@Gmail.com

Find Liam At: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/liam-mcdonald-50861143

Chapters

• (00:00:00 ) - Dev to Dev: A Conversation with Liam McDonald
• (00:00:42 ) - What First Inspired Liam To Play Video Games?
• (00:07:39 ) - Friends through Online Worlds
• (00:11:51 ) - Why Liam studied politics instead of coding
• (00:18:36 ) - How to Get Out There in the Game Development World
• (00:20:16 ) - Talking About the Computer Driving License
• (00:21:14 ) - How to get your first job in the industry
• (00:25:29 ) - How Liam got his foot in the door via E3
• (00:29:14 ) - Design and QA at the same time
• (00:33:30 ) - Back to School: Learning to Program
• (00:34:43 ) - How Liam got his first job in the industry
• (00:38:01 ) - Leaving The UK
• (00:40:58 ) - How Liam joined, and left, PlayStation
• (00:49:11 ) - The Making of a US Career
• (00:55:31 ) - Return to ZeniMax: The Pandemic Crisis
• (00:58:33 ) - How Does Liam's Family See His Role?
• (01:01:11 ) - How has being a game developer affected Liam's gaming habits?
• (01:03:26 ) - How Having Been a Game Developer Changed Liam as a Human?