E41 How a Toxic Relationship Between Publishing and Game Dev is Hurting Us All with Joel McGinnis

There was an unusually high number of low-quality games released in 2022, and we think we know why.   The disconnect between the money and development sides often lead to rushed deadlines and games that don’t live up to their promises, resulting in an oversaturated market and subpar products in competition with each other. That’s why we have Joel McGinnis on this episode to help us discuss this topic, and why business and creative need to start communicating better.   Joel shares his ideal relationship between money and production, including what questions should be asked, and necessary alignment around product and operations. We also talk about issues of sunk cost, disincentivized transparency, and more.   As Joel says, “people want to put a $60 million game in a $20 million box.” Tune in to find out how game dev can start to solve this problem!   Topics discussed in this episode: The disconnect between business and development in game dev Conversations that should be had ahead of projects Getting on the same page on project size Examples of mismanaged projects Sunk cost and low-quality products Why it’s hard to be honest in negotiations Why it’s hard to tell people “no” in development Dealing with companies that won’t negotiate How Joel likes to spend efficiently and manage burn rate   Sign up for the Building Better Games Newsletter for monthly tips to help you lead game teams! https://buildingbettergames.gg/newsletter/   Check out our website: https://buildingbettergames.gg/   If you’ve enjoyed this episode and wonder if we could help your studio or company out, email us at [email protected] to set up a free 90-minute call!   For more episodes, head to the Building Better Games Podlink https://www.pod.link/1559448378   Connect with us: https://www.tiktok.com/@building_better_games https://www.instagram.com/building_better_games/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/valarin-inc/   Content Editor: Jonathan Singh   This episode was produced by Podcast Boutique https://www.podcastboutique.com