Dev to Dev

Alex Sulman

Dev to Dev is the podcast about everyday Videogame Developers and why they do what they do every day - the many folks whose work shapes the games we play. Hosted by Alex Sulman, a veteran of nearly three decades in the industry, the show highlights the passion, challenges, and personal journeys of those often overlooked in gaming’s spotlight. Inspired by Greg Miller’s 2015 Game Awards speech recognizing a developer in the credits of a game he'd just finished, Dev to Dev continues that spirit of appreciation, giving voice to the people behind the craft. Each week, the podcast aims to offer thoughtful, positive conversations about connection, creativity, and the human side of game development, providing insight into both the rewards and personal challenges of making video games a livelihood. Find the Podcast at: Patreon: DevToDevPodcastInstagram: @devto.devpodcastBluesky: @devtodevpodcast.bsky.social‬YouTube: @DevToDevPodcast …and please drop me an email if you have any questions, thoughts, comments, guest suggestions, or ideas to: DevToDevPodcast@Gmail.com

  1. Dev to Dev S02 E17 - Sangita Nuli

    -1 d.

    Dev to Dev S02 E17 - Sangita Nuli

    This one's a good reminder that there's no single road into games. Sangita Nuli came in through plays, film and TV scripts, and a talent agency video games desk — and for years Sangita was convinced making games was simply out of reach. The technology was scary. The interactivity was even scarier. Then Sangita stopped waiting and jumped. What I loved about this conversation is how clearly Sangita’s old life feeds the new one. Reading twenty scripts a week and learning to sell what's good in them turned into a knack for pitching ideas and shaping other people's. Writing plays — and watching audiences react in real time — turned into a genuine love of playtesting and feedback. And a cancelled MMO at ZeniMax taught what Sangita now builds everything around: every single person on a team is a storyteller. Highlights: Why a single choice in the game Infamous changed how Sangita saw the whole mediumThe "molecular level" story analysis learned via reading scripts at a talent agencyGoing from rule-bound film and TV to the no-rules world of narrative designThe cold application — a fantasy noir graphic novel — that landed a AAA gigWhat a cancellation AAA MMO taught about community, grief, and fearlessnessWhy a weapon or a level can tell more story than any line of dialogue Settle in for this one — it's a real masterclass in trusting your own voice and then handing the story to everyone around you. Find the Podcast at:SpotifyPatreon⁠RSS⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠Blog⁠Email: DevToDevPodcast@Gmail.comFind Sangita At: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sangitanuli

    58 min
  2. Dev to Dev S02 E16 - Louis Bayard

    14. juni

    Dev to Dev S02 E16 - Louis Bayard

    WE'RE BACK!!! Thank you for your patience over the last couple of weeks. I'm excited to get things rolling again and this week I sat down with Louis Bayard, and honestly it turned into one of those conversations that made me rethink how I approach my own career. Louis is a level designer — Codemasters first, on Grid Legends and WRC, and now at Third Kind Games on their open-world mountain bike game Maverix. But the thing that stuck with me wasn't the games. It was his complete refusal to overthink. He moved from France to England on a single yes, with no friends and no furniture, and just figured it out. He calls that instinct a flaw. I spent some of the episode trying to convince him it's a superpower! What I loved is how honest he is about the cost of it — the worry, the “have I done a good job?” — and how he's grown into a calmer version of the same thing: letting the path show itself instead of forcing it. Highlights: Why his design school banned game engines for the entire first yearBuilding real WRC rally stages by eye from Google Earth and GoPro footageGoing from a 15-person team to being the only level designer on a whole gameWhy he'd be a therapist if he wasn't making gamesThe horror racing game living rent-free in his head Go give it a listen — I think Louis's "jump first" philosophy might be exactly what some of you needed to hear this week. Find the Podcast at:SpotifyPatreon⁠RSS⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠Bluesky⁠Threads⁠YouTube⁠⁠Blog⁠Email: DevToDevPodcast@Gmail.comFind Louis At: https://www.linkedin.com/in/louis-bayard16/

    57 min
  3. Dev to Dev S02 E15 - Brian Marinari

    24. mai

    Dev to Dev S02 E15 - Brian Marinari

    Hey everyone — this week's episode is one I really enjoyed. Brian Marinari is a real-time rendering engineer at ILM, and his path into games — and then into film — is a genuinely winding one. He's the kind of person who had to be dragged toward what he was great at, mostly by his own curiosity refusing to stay quiet. We talked about the Atari 2600 game Adventure and how it sparked something in him that never went out. We got into electrical engineering, a near-PhD, a horrible commute, two studio closures, and what it actually means to process hard times in a passion industry — including therapy and medication, which Brian talks about with real openness. I appreciated that. Highlights: Why graphics programming felt like the "two halves finally meshing together" — making the computer do something meaningful, not just making the computer do somethingThe sprint review at Big Huge Games where he brought his wife in during crunch — one of the warmest moments in the episodeWhat it looked like to step away from games entirely, grieve it, and eventually find the door back inHow ILM's real-time rendering work for the LED volume is a lateral move from games tech — and why that surprised himHis honest take on imposter syndrome, mental health, and what it feels like to finally own your curiosity without apologising for it Go give it a listen. Brian's a thoughtful, honest guest and I think you'll find a lot in it. Find the Podcast at:SpotifyPatreon⁠RSS⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠Bluesky⁠Threads⁠YouTube⁠⁠Blog⁠Email: DevToDevPodcast@Gmail.comFind Brian At: https://graphics.social/@bmarinarihttps://bsky.app/profile/bmarinari.bsky.socialhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-marinari-b228a21

    1 t 5 min
  4. Dev to Dev S02 E14 - Rob Gardner

    17. mai

    Dev to Dev S02 E14 - Rob Gardner

    This one's been sitting in the queue for a while, and I'm really glad I finally got to record it because Rob's story is genuinely unlike most of the ones I've told on this show. Rob Gardner is a V/O Audio Director at DICE LA, and he got there by being in a band, doing QA for over a decade, almost not pursuing games as a career at all, and, his words, being way too protective of his evenings for way too long. It's an honest, funny, and surprisingly moving conversation about what happens when your passion and your livelihood don't line up the way you expected them to, and how sometimes the skill set you built doing something else entirely turns out to be exactly what you needed. Highlights: Rob's band got approached by EA to license a track before he'd ever worked in games — and they took almost nothing for it because they had no idea what they were doingHe describes the transition from Vivendi's sink-or-swim QA floor to DICE LA as the moment he finally felt safe enough to actually growThe parallel between directing voice actors and playing in a band is genuinely insightful, and something I hadn't thought about before he said itHis take on social anxiety as a drummer ("you can hide behind the kit") is one of my favourite moments of the whole series Go give it a listen. I think you'll enjoy this one. Find the Podcast at:SpotifyPatreon⁠RSS⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠Blog⁠Email: DevToDevPodcast@Gmail.comFind Rob At: Linkedin: Rob Gardner | LinkedIn

    1 t 1 min
  5. Dev to Dev S02 E13 - Sarah Lynn

    10. mai

    Dev to Dev S02 E13 - Sarah Lynn

    Hey everyone — this week's episode is one I really enjoyed. I'd worked briefly with Sarah in the past but didn't know much of her story, and this conversation filled in a lot of gaps. Sarah's been in the industry for over fifteen years — QA, production, a stint in marketing she describes as a "sabbatical", and a deliberate step away to become a Mum. She's candid and funny and very clear-eyed about how she works and what she needs from a role. Highlights: How her mom — who played Duck Hunt through pregnancy — essentially handed her a career before she even knew she wanted oneThe chance encounter in a Japanese class that got her first industry jobWhy she thinks every Producer should spend time in marketing (even if, like Sarah, they end up hating it)Her philosophy for joining new teams: become a cog in the machine first, ask questions second, change things thirdThe moment she decided to leave ZOS to stay home with her daughter — and how a tarot reading in Gettysburg was involvedWhere she is now: ready to get back in the saddle, but working through what that actually means as a parent It's an honest conversation about a career that's taken some real turns, and a person who's always found her way back to the thing she loves. Go give it a listen. Find the Podcast at:SpotifyPatreon⁠RSS⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠Blog⁠Email: DevToDevPodcast@Gmail.comFind Sarah At: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-lynn-578b6b35/Bluesky:@sbar713.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarbear_713/

    56 min
  6. Dev to Dev S02 E12 - Tom Miles

    3. mai

    Dev to Dev S02 E12 - Tom Miles

    Hey everyone, really happy to share this one! Tom Miles is someone I've worked with closely, and honestly, doing this conversation made me realise how much of his story I'd never properly heard. Tom grew up in the middle of nowhere in Norfolk, fell in love with games through a brother's Spectrum, spent years trying to get into an industry that kept not quite opening the door, and then spent 18 years at Creative Assembly building everything from weather systems to multiplayer backends once it finally did. He's the engineer who'd always say "anything is possible" in a meeting, which, trust me, you want to hear from your engineer. Highlights: How typing game listings into a ZX Spectrum as a nine-year-old set everything in motionWhy he nearly became a musician instead (and still might have wanted to)Building the entire UI for Rome: Total War as a junior — soloWhat eventually pushed him out of Creative Assembly after 18 yearsWhy being a generalist felt like a weakness for years, and how it turned out to be the thingHis competitive Pokemon TCG habit (yes, seriously — tournaments in France and everything)Why his current role at Antstream feels like the job he's always been suited for This one's warm, funny, and a bit honest about the messy middle of a long career. Go give it a listen. Find the Podcast at:SpotifyPatreon⁠RSS⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠Blog⁠Email: DevToDevPodcast@Gmail.comFind Tom At: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-miles-99031b31/@pokedaduk.bsky.social — Bluesky

    1 t 4 min

Om

Dev to Dev is the podcast about everyday Videogame Developers and why they do what they do every day - the many folks whose work shapes the games we play. Hosted by Alex Sulman, a veteran of nearly three decades in the industry, the show highlights the passion, challenges, and personal journeys of those often overlooked in gaming’s spotlight. Inspired by Greg Miller’s 2015 Game Awards speech recognizing a developer in the credits of a game he'd just finished, Dev to Dev continues that spirit of appreciation, giving voice to the people behind the craft. Each week, the podcast aims to offer thoughtful, positive conversations about connection, creativity, and the human side of game development, providing insight into both the rewards and personal challenges of making video games a livelihood. Find the Podcast at: Patreon: DevToDevPodcastInstagram: @devto.devpodcastBluesky: @devtodevpodcast.bsky.social‬YouTube: @DevToDevPodcast …and please drop me an email if you have any questions, thoughts, comments, guest suggestions, or ideas to: DevToDevPodcast@Gmail.com

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