In this lesson, Christofer Sundberg discusses his extensive journey in the gaming industry, from his early days at a young Paradox to co-founding Avalanche Studios and creating the Just Cause franchise. He shares insights on the challenges of game development, the importance of maintaining company culture, and the lessons learned from various projects, including Mad Max and theHunter. Christofer emphasizes the need for creativity, resilience, and the willingness to take risks in the ever-evolving gaming landscape.

00:00 The Early Days of Gaming and Christofer's Journey

06:53 Transitioning from Paradox to Rock Solid Studios

15:30 The Rise and Fall of Rock Solid Studios

21:33 The Birth of Avalanche Studios and Just Cause

29:54 Expanding Horizons: theHunter and New Ventures

38:40 Navigating Free-to-Play Models and AAA Games

48:22 The Disney Breakup and Project Cancellations

53:23 Pitching Mad Max: A Dream Come True

58:42 Navigating Creative Differences with Warner Brothers

01:04:08 Transitioning to New Projects and Self-Publishing

01:08:53 The Impact of Investment on Company Culture

01:14:37 Building Liquid Swords: An Improved Approach

01:23:33 Sustainable Game Development Philosophy

01:30:05 Advice for Aspiring Developers

In this first lesson, host André Persson is setting the foundation for the academy through valuable insights from various devs, marketing, research and tech. Guests: Zoran Roso - Ex PlayStation & Tencent, Mikael Svensson - AWS, Jos Hoebe - BlackMill Games, Tana Tanoi - Dead Teapot Games, Emmanuel Rosier - Newzoo, Mattias Bergqvist - Northify, Christian Szymanski - Second Stage

00:00 Intro & Zoran - marketing & brands

09:37 Jos Hoebe - running studio doing what they do best

14:47 Tana Tanoi - building new studio & expectations

17:23 Mikael Svensson - tech & live service

19:20 Emmanuel Rosier - research and industry trends

23:53 Mattias Bergqvist - QA

26:05 Christian Szymanski - performance marketing & live service

28:00 Closing remarks and future episodes

Discover how André Persson, host of the upcoming podcast Digiai.ACADEMY started in the industry producing TV and Streaming shows, his retail career at EB Games & GameStop and how he ended up in Publishing & Development, working on some of your favourite games!Digiai.ACADEMY is an upcoming podcast for people working in the video game industry. André interviews stars from the past and present, sharing insights of how we built the industry and how some of the best games of all time came to be and what lessons have been learned along the way.