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[NEW PODCAST SERIES] Introducing Beyond the Pixels, A Games Industry Podcast with Nick Calandra (Patreon)

Published:
2025-12-16 23:03:25
Imported:
2025-12

Content

Hey folks!Today I'm excited to share a new podcast series we've been working on for the last couple months called, Beyond the Pixels.

You may remember that I released a few Patreon exclusive interviews that I did with Tonda Ros, the developer of Blue Prince, Abubakar Salim from Surgent Studios, and Kepler Interactive a few months back.We've now formalized those interviews into a proper podcast that will cover a wide range of industry topics with guests on every single episode.

For this first batch of episodes, we'll be exploring topics like:

The alleged Rockstar union busting effort

The 13-year development journey of Routine

The Knightling and struggling to sell in an over-crowded market

How small independent teams are competing with AAA

I've got even more interviews lined up for the start of the new year and they're all topics I'm really excited about covering. Doing these types of interviews are some of my favorite things to work on, so I hope you enjoy this new podcast series.

This will be a pre-recorded show and not a livestream. Episodes will be available on YouTube in video format, alongside the usual podcast platforms like Spotify, Apple, etc. You can also get it ad-free at our $5 tier here on Patreon.

The show may still be syndicating to Apple and other platforms, so if you don't see it there just yet, keep checking back as it comes online.

Files

Even At Rockstar, You Can Be Just Another Cog in the Machine | Beyond the Pixels Podcast

Subscribe to Beyond the Pixels on Spotify. https://open.spotify.com/show/0k50tQwiIfTfHnOSTyGurX?si=b9a54e8a8b0d4ec1 For the debut episode of Beyond the Pixels, a new games industry focused podcast hosted by Nick Calandra, Editor-in-Chief of Second Wind, we're talking with Jamie Trimmer and Sarah Blackburn. The two were part of the group of 34 developers fired from Rockstar recently as the company faces allegations of union busting. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SecondWindGroup Second Wind Merch: https://store.dftba.com/collections/second-wind https://sharkrobot.com/collections/second-wind

Comments

Jason Ferro

I'm hyped! This sounds awesome.

Andrew Ducker

I can't ever bring myself to watch the long livestreamed conversations, so having something that's pre-recorded and edited into shape is definitely going to work much better for me. Thank you!

Logan Kennelly

Thank you for pre-recorded, presumably edited content! I don't have time to listen to somebody else's 4-hour hang.

Insomnia Inc

All of this sounds amazing can't wait to see what you come up with.

Second Wind

Thanks, got quite a few interesting interviews lined up already beyond what I've shared here. Should be a fun show.

ImmenseCookie

Great interview Nick. The hot issue of AI use in gaming runs in parrallel with union busting in my mind - both deal with the human cost of decisions made by executives. To me, union busting is the more tangible, immediate and solvable problem. Thanks for keeping this issue in the spotlight.

kristianveierland

This is great, but i dont think this needs to be a weekly show. If you only make episodes when relevant topics occur then it keeps the content fresh, and you dont have to fish for weekly topics

Riuny

As a game designer who got laid-off sometime ago after working for roughly 10 years, I can tell that this is pretty much happening everywhere regardless of what company you work for. Almost every publicly traded game company is getting pressured by shareholders who are disappointed by huge performance dips occurred after pandemic-era and managements are scrambling to meet their expectations. The quickest way, of course, is to fire workers. If you are a senior employee, there is a higher chance for you to get fired because you are an expensive asset to keep around. It is much more cost efficient as a company to just fire old ones and hire new ones with much less payment. The development and push towards AI-centered workflow is all part of that as well. It is just a glorified-corner-cutting so they can please investors. I still am looking for new job while also learning to be a solo/indie game developer as well. It is safe to have some sort of stable salary, but at the end of the day, you can never trust a publicly traded company.

Second Wind

We’ll see what happens with it. I’ve been stockpiling interviews for the last month or so that are more evergreen topics. May be a show I do batches of and then take a break and come back for more. Just depends on how much people like it or not, I suppose. I love doing these interviews!

Tim Wilson

I enjoyed this, but I need it as an audio only version. Needing to have a YouTube video open constantly is just going to mean I don’t get around to dedicating the time to listen unfortunately.

Second Wind

Spotify is linked on the post, it’s available on Apple Podcasts, etc now too :)

Tim Wilson

Oop, so it is! Sorry, might be my phone in light mode but I completely missed it was a hyperlink, that’s on me! You might want to just add the link somewhere so it’s a bit longer but again, might just be a me problem haha :)