This week I am joined by my friend, Nicholas, who is a narrative designer, artist, and founder of Essay Games. His artwork and games have been featured in Kotaku, Rock Paper Shotgun, Game Developer, Critical Distance, Unwinnable, The Washington Post, and The New York Times. His games are interesting, thoughtful, and delve deeply into human stories. While his last two games relied on his skill for research, his current undertaking, Bundle of Joy, draws on his recent experience of becoming a parent during the pandemic. We speak at length about creativity as a practice and what his personal go-to tools are to tell stories and create games Wishlist Bundle of Joy: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3138370/Bundle_of_Joy/ https://bsky.app/profile/essaygames.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-o-brien-essaygames/ https://essaygames.itch.io/

In this second episode of Growing Pains, GDL host and Games Strategy Consultant, Jay Uppal sits down with Shariar Sharabi the Creative Lead at VR studio Realities.io. They delve into the VR ecosystem, the process of learning and what it means to lead. Sha's personal journey in games and endless drive for growth provide an interesting backdrop for framing this discussion around learning and leadership in a new light.

Growing Pains is a series focusing on key business trends and people shaping the Global Games Market and their impact on the Games Industry. In this series Jay speaks with industry leaders across the Games and Gametech space; trying to demystify the industry, understand the state of leadership, and answer the all-important question 'Is having a fun game still enough to succeed in today's games market?'

Jay Uppal >> https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayant-uppal-18ab34a5/

Shariar Shahrabi >> https://www.linkedin.com/in/shahriar-shahrabi/

Sha's Portfolio + Blog >> https://shahriyarshahrabi.medium.com/

https://ircss.github.io/

Episode 2 Segments:

00:00 Introduction to Episode Two

02:25 Early Career Pressures

16:10 Transitioning to VR

23:10 The VR/XR Ecosystem

31:40 Growing in a Startup Environment

38:15 The Makings of a Manager

54:22 Burdens of Leadership

01:12:15 Learning & Growth

01:23:25 Sha's Book Recommendations

01:27:40 Making a Good Game

01:30:30 Ending Segment

In this episode, 'Hot Take', Stuart, Laura, and Oscar explore what the what, why, and wherefore of using Early Access in game development and give our own hot takes on the topic at the end.