Risk by Design | Mario Wynands

Risk by Design | Mario Wynands

In episode 18, Sponsored in part by Sony Playstation’s Hero Project, Susan talks with New Zealand studio founder and longtime developer Mario Wynands about what it means to help build a national game industry almost from scratch and turn local projects into globally recognized work. Drawing on his early days as a gamer and programmer in a country that was not yet known for games, his experience starting and sustaining a studio through multiple hardware generations and market shifts, and his role in nurturing Wellington’s ecosystem as it grew from a handful of teams to a connected community, Mario shares how he navigated the leap from contract and handheld projects into original IP, why regional meetups and game jams became critical infrastructure for isolated creators, and how he approaches studio leadership as a long‑term design problem in its own right. From mentoring emerging developers and collaborating with initiatives like Global Game Jam to advocating for policy, funding, and education that recognize games as both culture and industry, he talks about the emotional reality of building something that didn’t exist before, what it means to make games that feel distinctly “from here” while resonating worldwide, and why the future of New Zealand games depends on supporting diverse voices, sustainable studios, and deeper cross‑border collaboration. * (00:00) - GGJPodcastMarioWynands * (00:00) - Intro * (01:37) - Meet Mario Wynands * (05:53) - Work with your head * (08:19) - Making Games * (13:22) - Finding Mentors When you're the First * (16:23) - Buisness Dev * (19:45) - The Scariest Leap * (24:28) - Sponsor: PlayStation Hero Project * (28:38) - From Coder to Business * (30:22) - Looking Beyond the Games * (34:44) - Unusual Advantagess * (37:52) - The move to Colombia * (41:27) - What are the next big risks? * (45:36) - Where to find Mario * (47:40) - Outro Guest Bio:  Mario Wynands is the CEO and co-founder of PikPok, a leading publisher of video games for mobile, desktop, and console based in Aotearoa New Zealand. Since 1997 he has led the studio in building a successful games portfolio that includes the critically and commercially successful Rival Stars® Horse Racing, Into the Dead® franchise, Super Monsters Ate My Condo™, Shatter® and more, which have been recognized with BAFTA and DICE Award nominations, as well as included on App Store and Google Play best of year lists. Wynands is a graduate of Victoria University in Wellington with degrees in business management and computer science. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2239710/Into_the_Dead_Our_Darkest_Days/ [https://store.steampowered.com/app/2239710/Into_the_Dead_Our_Darkest_Days/] https://www.meta.com/en-gb/experiences/into-the-dead-crimson-heights/27318581554432214/ [https://www.meta.com/en-gb/experiences/into-the-dead-crimson-heights/27318581554432214/] https://store.steampowered.com/app/4638740/Into_the_Dead_Crimson_Heights/ [https://store.steampowered.com/app/4638740/Into_the_Dead_Crimson_Heights/] Just launched: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/barbie-horse-ride-rescue/id6736413272 [https://apps.apple.com/us/app/barbie-horse-ride-rescue/id6736413272] or https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pikpok.br.play [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pikpok.br.play] Join our Substack - https://tinyurl.com/GGJPodcastSubstack [https://tinyurl.com/GGJPodcastSubstack] GGJ Podcast Sponsors: https://com.miami.edu/department-of-interactive-media/https://www.playstation.com/en-in/india-hero-project [https://www.playstation.com/en-in/india-hero-project/] https://www.playstation.com/en-in/china-hero-project [https://www.playstation.com/en-in/china-hero-project/] https://www.playstation.com/en-in/mena-hero-project/ [https://www.playstation.com/en-in/mena-hero-project/]

Engineering Connection | Matthew Moss

In episode 17, sponsored in part by the Sony PlayStation Hero Project, Susan chats with artist and game developer Matthew Moss about what it means to build community across cultures in one of the world’s most storied game hubs. Growing up in Miami in a deeply creative, nonconforming household, Matthew found his way into newspapers, editorial cartooning, and early web games before moving to New York and eventually to Japan, where he spent years working inside the industry while learning the language and rhythms of life in Tokyo. After a period of personal upheaval during COVID, he returned to Japan determined to create a space for connection, which became Tokyo Game Bridge, a community hub that brings together local developers, students, international studios, and partners across languages. We explore how listening became his most important skill, why spaces like Tokyo Game Bridge matter for people who feel like they stick out, and how his teaching instincts show up today as service to the community he has helped grow. * (00:00) - Intro * (02:44) - Growing up in Florida * (04:20) - Art, Drawing & Theater * (07:44) - From Non-Conforming Child to Teacher * (15:21) - Off to College in Pursuit of a Dream * (19:06) - Sensing the Shift and Taking Action * (21:29) - Sponsor: PlayStation Hero Project * (22:57) - Transfering Skills from Print to Games * (26:08) - Moving Abroad * (33:01) - The Bottom of the Barrel * (37:29) - Tokyo Game Bridge & the Value of Connection * (40:42) - Finding Alignment * (45:14) - Find Out More About Tokyo Game Bridge & Matthew * (47:26) - Outro Guest Bio:  Matthew Moss is a Tokyo-based creative director, designer, illustrator, and visual development specialist whose work spans games, branding, and cross-border creative strategy. He is the Chair and Co-Founder of Tokyo Game Bridge, a mission-driven organization connecting games industry professionals across Japan and the global market. He also founded Tokyo Tailored Tours, a private tour experience that applies experience design principles to create deeply personal explorations of Tokyo's culture, history, and hidden local knowledge. In his studio practice, Matthew helps teams find clarity by shaping projects into strong visual identities, cohesive brands, and polished audience-facing products. His work covers art direction, illustration, game art, character and world concepting, brand systems, and end-to-end creative direction. He also teaches seminars on visual development for game design and the comparative history of games between Japan and the West. Across his work, Matthew is motivated by creativity as a way to build connection, awe, and wonder, both as design outcomes and as integrally spiritual elements of the shared human experience. Find out more about Matthew & the Tokyo Game Bridge! https://www.matthewmoss.com/ https://www.tokyogamebridge.org/ GGJ Podcast Sponsors: https://com.miami.edu/department-of-interactive-media/https://www.playstation.com/en-in/india-hero-project [https://www.playstation.com/en-in/india-hero-project/] https://www.playstation.com/en-in/china-hero-project [https://www.playstation.com/en-in/china-hero-project/] https://www.playstation.com/en-in/mena-hero-project/ [https://www.playstation.com/en-in/mena-hero-project/]   Wishlist "Suri: The Seventh Note" on Steam today! - https://store.steampowered.com/app/4110680/SURI_The_Seventh_Note/ Join our Substack - https://tinyurl.com/GGJPodcastSubstack [https://tinyurl.com/GGJPodcastSubstack]

Building on a Legacy | Maria Burns Ortiz

In episode 16 Susan talks to Global Game Jam executive director Maria Burns Ortiz about what it means to lead a veteran global community with empathy and an eye toward underrepresented creators. Drawing on her background as a journalist for outlets like ESPN, her experience co‑founding Seven Generation Games to build educational games with tribal and marginalized communities, and her first two years at the helm of GGJ, Maria shares how she works to see the organization through the perspectives of jammers in Latin America, Africa, Asia, India and beyond, how she balances legacy with necessary change, and why expanding pathways like partner jams, multilingual programs, and micro‑grants is essential if Global Game Jam is truly going to belong to the people it serves. * (00:00) - Intro * (01:53) - Introducing Maria Burns Ortiz * (03:28) - Natural Storyteller * (04:57) - From Journalism to Games * (07:36) - Making the Invisible Visible * (10:55) - Educational Games * (14:45) - 7th Generation Games * (17:06) - The Responsability of Being a Creator * (22:11) - The True Impact * (24:03) - Sponsor: The PlayStation Hero Project * (25:21) - Leading the GGJ * (33:58) - The Huge World of Games * (38:08) - GGJ as an Opportunity Creator * (43:09) - How do you do it? * (45:36) - Outro Guest Bio:  Maria Burns Ortiz is the executive director of the Global Game Jam, which organizes the world's largest game creation event, The Global Game Jam, and the world's largest youth game jam, GGJ Next. GGJ works year-round to support the growth of game development ecosystems and champion indie developers around the world. Through these efforts, GGJ reaches over 40,000 game creators across more than 100 countries annually. Previous to leading GGJ, she co-founded and was CEO of 7 Generation Games, creating educational and social impact games and the tools to make them. She led the development of 30+ games from concept to commercialization, aimed at closing educational and opportunity gaps in underserved communities, tackling topics from math proficiency to Indigenous language preservation to climate change. Maria transitioned to the games industry after a decade in media, where she was an award-winning journalist and NY Times bestselling author. She currently lives in Minneapolis with her husband and three children Find out more about Maria and the Global Game Jam! Maria's LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariaburnsortiz] www.7generationgames.com www.globalgamejam.org GGJ Socials https://www.linkedin.com/company/global-game-jam https://www.instagram.com/globalgamejam https://www.facebook.com/GlobalGameJam/ Our Sponsors This episode is sponsored by the University of Miami School of Communications [https://com.miami.edu/department-of-interactive-media/] and the Knight Foundation [https://knightfoundation.org/] This episode is sponsored by The PlayStation Hero Project. https://com.miami.edu/department-of-interactive-media/https://www.playstation.com/en-in/india-hero-project [https://www.playstation.com/en-in/india-hero-project/] https://www.playstation.com/en-in/china-hero-project [https://www.playstation.com/en-in/china-hero-project/] https://www.playstation.com/en-in/mena-hero-project/ [https://www.playstation.com/en-in/mena-hero-project/]   Wishlist Big Boot Games's Meteora: The Race Against Spacetime on Steam! https://store.steampowered.com/app/1155220/METEORA/  Sign up for our Newsletter [https://z6z33k.subscribepage.io/]

Culture of Care | Amanda Asofsky

In episode 15 Susan chats with Amanda Asofsky, a senior digital product manager at Wizards of the Coast who helps steer Magic the Gathering Arena, about what it means to lead with care in a live game that never sleeps. We explore how her Dungeons and Dragons roots, a gamer family and an early game design class shaped her sense of responsibility to both players and teammates, how she navigated survivor’s guilt after layoffs by creating “Tea Time Chats” to rebuild connection at work, why she pushed for tiny joyful touches like letting players say “howdy” in game, and how she is learning to step into a bolder, more visible version of herself while still protecting her own boundaries online. * (00:00) - Intro * (01:20) - Meet Amanda Asofsky * (02:32) - What it means to be a Leader in Games * (03:48) - An Early Love for Games * (06:52) - From D&D to Making Games * (09:26) - First Internship in Games * (12:24) - Growing into the Job * (14:12) - From Big Huge Games to Wizards of the Coast * (14:47) - Survivor's Guilt * (16:43) - Tea Time Chats * (19:06) - Leadership and Joy * (20:55) - Forbes 30 under 30 * (22:53) - Wizards of the Coast & Leaning on your Network * (25:12) - The Boldest Version * (26:59) - Advise for Students * (28:21) - Choosing Fun over Safe * (32:03) - Keeping the Love of Games * (34:05) - Where to find Amanda * (35:24) - Outro Guest Bio: Amanda Asofsky is a game developer who thrives on creating new experiences. She considers herself a storyteller at heart, tracing her passion for art and games back to when she was a child. She has worked professionally on three games (DomiNations, Arcane Showdown, and Magic: The Gathering Arena) across two studios (Big Huge Games and Wizards of the Coast), and was listed on Forbes 30 Under 30 for her work in Games for 2026. Additionally, she periodically gives lectures on using Game Mechanics to enhance a narrative at Dartmouth College. Her career spans Quality Assurance, Product Management, and Narrative Design/Writing. She currently works on Magic: The Gathering Arena as a Senior Digital Product Manager, living in the Baltimore area with her husband and dog. Join our Substack - https://tinyurl.com/GGJPodcastSubstack [https://tinyurl.com/GGJPodcastSubstack]

The Phoenix | Latoya Peterson

In episode 14 Susan sits down with Latoya Peterson who lives at the intersection of emerging technology and culture. In this episode, the former co founder and CXO of Glow Up Games, creator of AI in the Trap and current narrative designer at Elsewhere Entertainment talks about her “Phoenix era,” growing up as a Black girl who loved Tekken, and what it means to move from critic and journalist to game maker. She shares how Insecure: The Come Up Game wrestled with the realities of representation and scope, why AI and predictive systems need hip hop and lived experience in the loop, and how she protects her joy while being asked to explain race, gender and bias in rooms that were not built with her in mind. * (00:00) - GGJPodcastLatoyaPeterson * (03:55) - This was not made for me * (07:28) - From Gamer to Critic to Game Maker * (12:20) - Never Limited by Form * (13:56) - Forking Problems * (17:25) - Joy as a Radical Design Choice * (22:34) - Language and Design * (26:50) - AI and the Trap: Collaborative Artwork * (34:31) - Make your Own Room * (38:12) - Looking into the Future * (41:51) - Best yet to come & Where to find Latoya * (44:10) - Outro Guest Bio:  Latoya Peterson lives at the intersection of emerging technology and culture. Named one of Forbes Magazine's 30 Under 30 rising stars in media, she is best known for the award winning blog Racialicious.com [http://racialicious.com/] - the intersection of race and pop culture. She is currently an Expert Narrative Designer at Elsewhere Entertainment, an Activision studio working on a new IP. Previously, she was a cofounder and CXO at Glow Up Games, a game studio who created a tie-in game for HBO’s Insecure and a unique play-and-watch experience for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival called Hella Iambic. She was the Deputy Editor, Digital Innovation for ESPN's The Undefeated, an Editor-at-Large at Fusion, and the Senior Digital Producer for The Stream, a social media driven news show on Al Jazeera America. She’s been published in more than 50 publications including Wired, Teen Vogue, NPR, ESPN the Magazine, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Essence, Spin, Vibe, Marie Claire, Kotaku, The Atlantic, The American Prospect, and The Guardian. Join our Substack - https://tinyurl.com/GGJPodcastSubstack [https://tinyurl.com/GGJPodcastSubstack]