The Fourth Curtain
A GUIDED TOUR OF VIDEOGAME MAKERY! Hosts Alex Seropian (founder Bungie, Wideload, Industrial Toys) and Aaron Marroquin (Art Director, Game Designer, part time magician) take you on a tour of the minds that create our favorite video games. We may also wander around in our own heads too. We aim to inspire, educate and entertain you about the games you love, the people that make them and hey, if you're not a gamer we know you know one. This will help you connect with them too.
Episodes
We get an inside look this week from Paul Sage, founder and CEO of Ruckus Games. Inspired by Ultima 3, he worked his way up to lead designer of Ultima Online, to Borderlands 3 and more. Now working on a new project at Ruckus, we talk LEDs to 2600, Multima and when players outsmart you - this week!
This week's episode contains mentions of suicide. Viewer discretion is advised.
Episode Highlights
[00:00:00] Intro: Meet P...
David Gardner joins us this week with tales of the early days of videogames. A teenage tech prodigy, he was employee #11 at EA, ran Atari and is now a games VC. We talk Hawkins distortion fields, Atari sandwiches and when EA was hip - this week!
Episode Highlights
[00:00:00] Intro: Meet David Gardner
An introduction to David Gardner’s journey in games, from his early days to becoming a leader at Electronic Arts and later a ventur...
This week we talk with the founder of the Indie Megabooth and games VC Kelly Wallick. Through her indie beginnings to her investing portfolio, community has always been the core. We discuss the Indie Game Festival, spotting hits and making a great pitch deck - this week!
Episode Highlights
[00:00:00] Founding the Indie MEGABOOTH: Building a Platform for Indie Games
Kelly shares how she launched the Indie MEGABOOTH, creating a sho...
Our guest is Feargus Urquhart, founder and CEO of Obsidian, the premier maker of videogame RPGs. Having mastered 27 second pizzas he moved to testing and production of huge titles like KOTOR, Baldur's Gate and Fallout. We discuss snatching victory from the jaws of defeat with Pillars of Eternity, and when a feature is real - this week!
Episode Highlights
[00:00:00] Founding Obsidian Entertainment: From Black Isle to New Beginnin...
Our guests are Rand and Robyn Miller, founders of Cyan (World) and creators of the smash game Myst. From humble beginnings in Hypercard kids' games, they made the 3D puzzle experience Myst which changed the world of adventure games. We discuss GRR Martin stories, line art to 3D and more - this week!
Episode Highlights
[00:00:00] How Myst Was Made: The Birth of a Gaming Landmark
Robyn and Rand Miller reflect on the early day...
Our guest this week is Seth Sivak, VP Development for World of Warcraft at Blizzard. From early years at Zynga he became Founder and CEO of Proletariat, shipping big games like Spellbreak. We discuss being an Imagineer, the three components of creative decisions and "always be pitching" - this week!
Episode Highlights
[00:00:00] Why Games Fail: No Audience, No Hype
Seth explains how several recent games failed not from...
Our guest this week is Mac Reynolds, CEO and co-founder of Night Street Games, making the PvP shooter Last Flag. As manager of the band, Imagine Dragons, he learned how to find magic from the grind and now applies that to a videogame. We discuss Eagle Scouts, learning to advocate and CTF - this week!
Episode Highlights
[00:00:00] Realizing How Hard It Is to Make a Game
Mac shares how his early assumptions about game development...
Our guest this week is the poster boy for educational software going massively mainstream, Phillip Bouchard. Starting in the world of mainframes he created a worldwide hit on Apple II and beyond. We talk Apple getting kickstarted and science for fun and profit this week!
Episode Highlights
[00:00:00] The Legacy of The Oregon Trail: Still Remembered 40 Years Later
Philip reflects on the surprising longevity of The Oregon Trail, a...
Our guest this week is Adam Boyes, longtime co-CEO of Iron Galaxy and now founder of Vivrato. From Killer Instinct to The Last of Us Part I, he’s helped bring major games to life and now supports devs launching their own. We discuss putting in raunchy stuff, nemawashi and his magic deck of challenges - this week!
Episode Highlights
[00:00:00] "Shipping Will Burn You": Why Making Games Is the Best Teacher
Adam kicks off...
Our guest Rémi Racine is the founder & CEO of Behaviour Interactive—the studio behind Dead by Daylight and dozens of other titles. A veteran of the games industry for over 25 years, Rémi has helped shape not just iconic games but also the entire Canadian game development landscape - this week!
00:02:10 — From Montreal to Mainstream: Remi’s first game at age 24
Discover how Remi’s early passion project turned into a pioneering mo...
Our guest Nolan North has brought to life your favorite videogame characters with his voice! From Uncharted's Nathan Drake and Assassin's Creed's Desmond Miles, to scores of others, he is a top talent in the industry. We discuss the freedom of preparation and being broke but happy - this week!
Episode Highlights
[00:00:00] From Soap Operas to Sound Booths: Nolan North’s Unexpected VO Journey
Nolan shares how a fri...
Our guest John Blackburn is a founder and CEO of Avalanche Software, makers of hundreds of games for dozens of platforms, such as Hogwarts Legacy and Disney Infinity. He has tales of when games paid royalties and having to take a chance. We discuss how to talk to execs and being true but not canon - this week!
Episode Highlights
[00:00:00] Mortal Kombat Funded Avalanche’s Origins
John Blackburn reveals how Avalanche Studios was ...
Our guest Michael Morhaime was President and CEO of Blizzard during its glory years, shipping Warcraft, Starcraft, World of Warcraft, Diablo and more! Now Founder and CEO Dreamhaven he's won an Emmy and is in the AIAS Hall of Fame. We discuss red tape, how many billion dollar franchises you need on your resume and more - this week!
[00:01:00] Blizzard’s High Standards: Canceling Half Their Games
Mike reveals that Blizzard ...
Our guest Bing Gordon has had a long successful run in videogames and tech. From marketing lead to Chief Creative Officer at EA, he helped shaped NASCAR, The Sims and other huge titles. We discuss pitching, two beer strategies and Speilberg's smoke test - this week!
Episode Highlights
[00:04:00] How Bing Gordon Helped Launch Electronic Arts
Bing shares the story of co-founding EA when it was a scrappy startup in 1983, including r...
Our guest Kim Swift turned a student demo into the mega-hit Portal. Previously the Head of Creative for Xbox Games Publishing, she also did level design on Left 4 Dead and was Design Director for Star Wars: Battlefront II. We discuss how to pitch, owning IP on Mars and whether or not the cake is a lie - this week!
Episode Highlights
[00:00:21] Kim Swift’s Game Design Origin Story
Kim talks about how she got into game development by mo...
Our guest Christian Cantamessa began in point and click adventures before becoming lead designer and writer for Red Dead Redemption. Now CEO of Day 4 Night Studios Inc., he is also the writer and director of the film, Air. We discuss concern about GTA III, embracing the game and telling stories in games - this week!
[00:00:00] – From Donald Duck to GTA III: Career Whiplash
Christian recalls the surreal leap from working on a Do...
Our guest Louis Castle helped invent real-time strategy games with Command and Conquer and has a BAFTA for Boom Blox. Now leading Childlike Wonder Games, we discuss casino ethics, switching to real-time and building toys - this week!
Top 8 Highlights
[00:00:00] – Lifelong Learning: The Key to Game Design Success
Louis Castle opens the episode by emphasizing the importance of constant learning as a game designer, citing curi...
Our guest Amir Satvat wants to get you a job in games. A business development executive at Tencent, he won the Game Changer award for the incredible community he built which has helped over 3k gamedevs find their next role with mentorship, mock interviews and more. We discuss "the troubles" and hopes for the future - this week!
You can find Amir's website and community here: https://amirsatvat.com/
- [00:00:00] The 1...
Our guest Alex Beachum turned his thesis project into the mind-bending smash Outer Wilds. Inspired by greats such as Zelda and Antichamber, it blazed new ground by having a nonviolent (though definitely mortal) player. We discuss emotional prototypes, four distinct mysteries and the IGF - this week!
Highlights
[00:00:30] Emotional Prototyping: Designing with Feeling Alex Beachum discusses the idea of building an emotional prototype f...
In this inspiring episode of The Fourth Curtain, we sit down with Sandi Montaño, a self-taught modding phenom who went from stay-at-home dad to one of the most downloaded indie creators in the gaming world. With over 31 million downloads of his content for games like ARK: Survival Ascended and Hogwarts Legacy, Sandi proves you don’t need a degree—or even a formal background in game development—to make a major impact.
If you’re a gam...
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