Boring Launch Podcast

Boring Launch Podcast

Game Launches are messy. Murphy's Law of Game Launches is a real drag, oftentimes resulting in crunch, burnout, and occasionally, hilarious bugs. Let's chat with our fellow game devs in the trenches, and see how we can strive to make your next launch... boring.

Episodes

  1. 05/29/2022

    Episode 12: User Generated Content Stories with Jeff Spradling and Phil Bergman

    In this last episode of Season 1, my friends Jeff Spradling (Server Team Lead at Rec Room) and Phil Bergman (Game Services and Multiplayer Engineer at Rec Room) join in the chat As you can tell, I had a blast recording this episode! Listen in for hilarious and often times risque Player Generated Content launch stories, spanning throughout their careers in Xbox, Turn 10, and now in Rec Room. As they mention in the podcast - they are hiring! Check out some of the openings here: https://recroom.com/careers Thank you so much for all your support for this humble podcast - and see you in Season 2!

    44 min

  2. 05/15/2022

    Episode 11: Launching Features on PlayStation 5 with Steven Trombetta

    This episode, I chat with my buddy Steven Trombetta, Senior Manager at Rockstar Games, whom I've known for a decade ago back in Xbox days. He shares his experience shipping new launch features on PlayStation 5, and some fun stories around convincing game developers to adopt the features. We also chat about his streaming initiative, Huge Gaming, which is a cool inclusive community for new streamers. Definitely check out his Twitch, as well as the Huge Gaming Twitter page for more details. Hope you enjoyed it!

    28 min

  3. 05/08/2022

    Episode 10: Game Servers and War Games with Scott Longstreet

    This episode, I chat with my friend Scott Longstreet, Director of Engineering at EA, who I've had the pleasure of working with back in Xbox and in EA. His experience launching Game Servers for various games like Titanfall and Battlefield make him a solid source for information on server launches. Scott's entertaining launch stories make for a fast paced and engaging podcast.  Hope you enjoyed it! By the way, Scott's team is hiring big time, so if you are interested, make sure to connect with him in LinkedIn - tell him you heard him at this podcast :)

    17 min

  4. 04/30/2022

    Episode 9: Going Indie with BJ Malicoat

    This episode, I chat with my friend BJ Malicoat who I met many moons ago in Xbox.   Listen on as we discuss his decision to go Indie as well as stories about a near disastrous E3 experience, an H.P. Lovecraftian inspired card game, and many more! The underlying theme of this episode is to embrace your passions to fully enjoy this journey of life. I hope you enjoy listening.

    18 min

  5. 04/17/2022

    Episode 8: Launch Stories with the Legendary Jerry Hook

    In this special, extended episode, I chat with with my friend, the legendary Jerry Hook - one of the founding members of Xbox Live, and now Halo Infinite's Head of Design.  In case you can't tell, I am excited...really excited. Xbox is a place fueled with passion and I am privileged to have been part of that passionate crew for upwards of 8 years of my career.  A HUGE part of the success we had at Xbox came from the chemistry Jerry nurtured within the teams.  Boring Launch Podcast focuses on the people behind game launches. This episode contains many such stories.  Jerry totally spills the beans. The minutiae behind launches may be lost to time, but the stories of our day to day journeys live on. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed this chat.

    32 min

  6. 04/11/2022

    Episode 7: G1RL C0D3 with Rebekah Mullen

    This episode, I chat with my friend Rebekah Mullen, Engineering Leader at Meta and the author of the book G1RL C0D3, based on her own and others' experiences as women in a male dominated industry. During our chat, Rebekah shares smart strategies for long term success and some funny launch stories to keep things lighthearted.  This episode was hard to edit because everything felt fresh and relevant. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed this chat.

    24 min

  7. 04/04/2022

    Episode 6: Dealing with Never-Ending "Launch" Cycle with Will Ho

    In this week's episode, I chat with my friend, Will Ho (LinkedIn).  Will has had an exciting and varied career in the gaming industry; wearing various hats from QA to Designer to Creative Director. From road tripping to the evolution of the gaming industry, this episode is a fun and informative way to spend a few minutes of your day.

    19 min

  8. 03/27/2022

    Episode 5: That Last Minute "Innocent" Change with Brian Cox

    In this week's episode, I chat with my friend, Brian Cox (LinkedIn),  Programming Manager of a new team in NetEase Games Shanghai.  We discuss his experience shipping past games like Halo Wars, and how innocent-seeming last minute changes are rarely a good idea. We also discuss his experience working in various countries and cultures, and his passion for sharing his knowledge and skills through teaching.

    21 min

  9. 03/20/2022

    Episode 4: Big Game Launches with Aakash Mandhar

    It's such a treat to chat with Aakash Mandhar (LinkedIn), VP of Studio Engineering from Immutable, on his past experience shipping big games such as Halo 5 Guardians, Apex Legends, and Battlefield V.   We also chat about why he's excited to be involved in the intersection between Games and the emerging Blockchain technologies.

    16 min

  10. 03/11/2022

    Episode 3: Ship Stories with Jonathan Herrmann and Irene Hjorth

    Shipping games can be quite stressful, especially when faced with major scope changes or incomplete data sets. I managed to catch Irene Hjorth and Jonathan Herrmann, founders of data analytics consultancy Hjorth Insights, on their way to GDC 2022. In this episode, they share trials and tribulations of past game ships and some tips to reduce stress while still having fun. Don't forget to check out Irene's GDC 2022 talk while you're at it!

    19 min
  11. Episode 2: Load Testing with Stephen O'Sullivan

    03/03/2022

    Episode 2: Load Testing with Stephen O'Sullivan

    When you launch your game, you'd want to make sure that your backend can handle the player traffic. In this episode, I chatted with Stephen O'Sullivan (LinkedIn), Senior Software Engineer from Savage Game Studios, on various facets of Load Testing: different schools of thoughts on it, its cost, and what is P99.

    16 min
  12. Episode 1: Tweakable System with Garry Casey

    03/01/2022

    Episode 1: Tweakable System with Garry Casey

    Online Games with Live Service needs to have the right agility for rapid iteration. In this episode, I chatted with Garry Casey (LinkedIn), Online Technical Director from Criterion Games, on building the Tweakable System early to enable this.

    20 min
  • 12 Episodes

About

Game Launches are messy. Murphy's Law of Game Launches is a real drag, oftentimes resulting in crunch, burnout, and occasionally, hilarious bugs. Let's chat with our fellow game devs in the trenches, and see how we can strive to make your next launch... boring.

Information

  • Creator
    Boring Launch Podcast
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    12
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Boring Launch Podcast
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    Boring Launch Podcast