Tech Debt Club

Yuri Sokolov & Amit Netanel

Tech Debt Club is a game development podcast hosted by Yuri Sokolov and Amit Netanel - two game developers who've spent over a decade each making games and accumulating opinions about them. Every episode is an honest, unfiltered conversation about games we love, games we don't, and what it's actually like to make them. We talk about everything from game design and industry trends to the messy realities of shipping games, studio culture, war stories from production, and whatever else is on our minds. We also bring on guests from across the game industry - developers, designers, artists, producers, and founders - for real conversations about their work, their games, and the industry at large. If you love games and enjoy hearing the people who make them talk openly about the craft, the chaos, and everything in between - welcome to the club.

Episodes

  1. 2 DAYS AGO

    TDC #04: From Shark Tank to Steam with Lior Hadashian

    Lior Hadashian, co-founder and CTO of Gavra Games, joins Yuri and Amit to talk about building and shipping Warriors Rise to Glory — a turn-based gladiator fighting game inspired by a goofy Flash game from the internet's ugly years. What followed was five years of bootstrap chaos: a Bilibili influencer blowing up the game overnight, a Chinese localization done in one week, a main font that turned out to be stolen, two appearances on Israeli Shark Tank, and a mobile pivot that never happened. They also go deep on the realities of indie investment — what it actually means to raise money, why turning down $130k on live television was the right call, and what "alive but not kicking" looks like for a studio winding down. The back half gets technical: Unity version upgrades and why they break in exactly three places every time, Google's ongoing war with Unity Package Manager, and Amit's experience upgrading a 4-year production project to Unity 6.3. Lior is working on something new. He won't say what it is. He's on Unity 6.4. Topics covered: Warriors Rise to Glory — the game, the inspiration, the Venn diagram problem of turn-based fighting gamesLaunching on Steam without localization infrastructure, then scrambling to add 10 languagesHow a BiliBili influencer caused a Chinese localization crisis in week one of early accessThe font that was illegal (and why you can't just pay for it)Israeli Shark Tank — declining the first deal, coming back with receipts, and closing the secondWhat $40k of initial investment and $257k in gross revenue actually gets youWhy going mobile fell apart (the chicken-and-egg problem of mobile talent and capital)Unity upgrade pain: asset bundles, TextMesh Pro, shaders, and Google's UPM situationSwap Heroes — Amit's game, go download it, leave a review (constructive preferred)"Your brain is the product" Time Codes: 00:17 – Cold open: what are you playing08:32 – Meet Lior / Warriors Rise to Glory14:33 – The Venn diagram problem15:13 – Localization: the full saga (BiliBili, 20% refunds, one week, illegal font)37:36 – Shark Tank: twice, one rejection, one deal47:52 – The numbers, the aftermath, the pizza1:00:00 – Mobile, burnout, and the end of Gavra Games1:05:37 – Unity upgrades: what always breaks1:15:23 – What's next Guest: Lior Hadashian

    1hr 19min

  2. 24 MAR

    TDC #03: 40 Years of Shipping Games with Karlo Kilayko

    Karlo Kilayko has been making games since before most of us knew what a game engine was - literally. From programming a CD-ROM murder mystery in C with one reference book and no internet, to shipping 30 mobile games a year across 382 devices at THQ, to becoming one of Unity's earliest professional users, Karlo has lived through just about every era of this industry. We talk about what it was actually like to break into game dev in the 1980s, the brutal carrier-controlled mobile landscape before the iPhone rewrote the rules, and why the Nokia N-Gage might be worth more on eBay than you'd think. We also get into the conversation that doesn't go away: AI, what it can actually do for developers today, and the question nobody seems to have an answer for - where do juniors gain the foundational experience they need to use it effectively? The second half turns toward shipping - or more honestly, the reasons people don't. The core philosophy, borrowed from a Trip Hawkins one-liner: you make zero billion dollars on games you don't ship. We also cover object-oriented vs. data-oriented design, the game engine vs. game IDE distinction, clean code debates that get surprisingly personal, and how Unity's MCP limitations are affecting AI workflows right now. Chapters: 00:00 - Introductions00:32 - What we're playing05:33 - Why people make things09:35 - Breaking into game dev in the 80s13:00 - Programming a CD-ROM murder mystery17:15 - Data-oriented design, then and now20:30 - ECS, composition, and Raylib22:00 - Being an early Unity user26:00 - Mobile games as business applications31:00 - The Unity runtime fee debacle34:00 - AI engines and the engine vs. IDE distinction38:00 - Unity, MCP, and AI workflows40:00 - AI amplifies what you already have43:00 - Clean code debate51:00 - Vim, terminals, and knowing the basics55:00 - COBOL and legacy job security1:03:00 - When designers use Cursor directly1:05:00 - THQ Wireless: 30 games, 382 devices1:09:00 - Nokia N-Gage and early mobile multiplayer1:13:00 - Creative QA: elevators and microwaves1:16:00 - Carriers, control, and the iPhone1:19:00 - Better done than perfect1:27:00 - The 90/90 rule and shipping frameworks1:33:00 - Wrap-up Guest: Karlo Kilayko - game developer and producer.

    1hr 36min

  3. 11 MAR

    TDC #02: Has AI Killed Game Dev or Are You Just Lazy?

    In this episode, Yuri Sokolov and Amit Netanel talk about what AI is actually changing in software and game development - and what it is not. They dig into the difference between productive and destructive AI workflows, why experience still matters when using LLMs, and why most developers and companies still struggle with architecture, tooling, and learning the right lessons at the right time. They also get into Unity’s recent AI announcements, MCP servers, world models like Genie 3, startup culture versus corporate bureaucracy, the culture around bad practices in gamedev, and how social media shapes shallow technical opinions. Toward the end, they circle back to Bethesda-style engine hacks, AI hype in the industry, and whether AI is really replacing developers or just reshaping the work. Chapters: 00:00 - Will AI take our jobs?00:15 - Waiting on AI01:45 - Good vs bad AI workflows04:02 - AI for real dev work06:13 - CAD and deterministic thinking09:54 - Players want fun12:46 - DI vs singletons14:13 - Learning architecture through pain18:56 - Startup vs enterprise culture21:00 - Growing company pains23:48 - Low barrier engineering culture30:11 - LinkedIn brain rot32:13 - Bad gamedev takes36:49 - Clickbait and shallow opinions39:32 - Focus and empty calories44:00 - Unity AI announcements45:26 - Genie 3 and AI hype50:19 - Unity MCP55:31 - AI for investors58:13 - Where AI actually helps1:00:25 - Extreme AI game jam1:02:51 - AI amplifies skill1:05:29 - Prompting with constraints1:08:43 - Debugging with AI1:10:29 - Fallout 3 train hat1:12:55 - Bethesda engine hacks1:15:18 - Building while AI works1:17:59 - AI changes the work1:19:01 - Is programming dead?1:21:51 - Build vs buy1:23:31 - SaaS needs real value1:26:27 - Losing knowledge to AI1:28:07 - Seniors using AI badly1:30:24 - Could AI replace devs?1:31:50 - Layoffs and AI optics1:33:35 - Unity promises1:35:47 - Wrap-up

    1hr 37min

  4. 23 FEB

    TDC #01: Making Games in the Shadow of Other Games

    The conversation begins with an introduction to podcasting and transitions into a discussion on gacha game development challenges. It then explores the influence of existing games on new game development, highlighting the impact of popular games on the development of new titles. The conversation delves into the world of game development, exploring topics such as linear storytelling, user experience, technical challenges, data analytics, player decision tracking, preservation of classic games, and parental controls. The speakers share insights on game design practices, optimization, and the impact of player feedback on game development. They also discuss the importance of preserving classic games and the challenges of parental controls in regulating child access to games. Takeaways Gacha game development challengesInfluence of existing games on new game developmentGame development practicesUser experience in game design Chapters 00:00 Influence of Existing Games on New Game Development38:45 Game Design and Linear Storytelling45:28 Optimization and Technical Challenges in Game Development51:27 Player Decision Tracking and Game Endings01:05:37 Parental Controls and Child Access to Games

    1hr 14min
  • 4 Episodes

About

Tech Debt Club is a game development podcast hosted by Yuri Sokolov and Amit Netanel - two game developers who've spent over a decade each making games and accumulating opinions about them. Every episode is an honest, unfiltered conversation about games we love, games we don't, and what it's actually like to make them. We talk about everything from game design and industry trends to the messy realities of shipping games, studio culture, war stories from production, and whatever else is on our minds. We also bring on guests from across the game industry - developers, designers, artists, producers, and founders - for real conversations about their work, their games, and the industry at large. If you love games and enjoy hearing the people who make them talk openly about the craft, the chaos, and everything in between - welcome to the club.

Information

  • Creator
    Yuri Sokolov & Amit Netanel
  • Years Active
    2k
  • Episodes
    4
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Yuri Sokolov & Amit Netanel
  • Show Website
    Tech Debt Club