re:Play with Greg Off | Podcast in RSS.com

re:Play with Greg Off

re:Play with Greg Off

di Gregory Off

Marketing Videogames

Stagione 1

How a Cafeteria Dinner Became Indie's Global Discovery Engine

Justin Woodward has spent 14 years helping independent game developers find the audiences, press, platform partners, and publishing relationships that can change a project’s trajectory. In this episode of re:Play, Greg Off sits down with the founder of The MIX, co-founder of Interabang Entertainment, and founder of XPerience Studios to trace the journey from an art-school kid in San Diego making his own comic-book characters and action figures, to a $30-an-hour contractor at THQ’s Incinerator studio, to one of the people who has helped create real visibility for independent games. From Super Comboman and an early video game Kickstarter to the GDC 2012 dinner in IGN’s cafeteria that became The Media Indie Exchange, Justin shares the lessons, mistakes, mentors, and persistence behind a career built around giving great games a chance to be seen. Greg and Justin discuss the origins of The MIX, the line around the building that proved the event had found an audience, the evolution from physical showcases to live broadcasts, and the 2020 pivot that brought the Guerrilla Collective together when the industry needed a new way to reach players. In this episode: How Justin’s art-school beginnings and homemade action figures led him toward games The $30-an-hour contractor lesson at THQ’s Incinerator studio Super Comboman, early Kickstarter, and building Interabang Entertainment The IGN cafeteria dinner that became The MIX Why relationships with press, platforms, publishers, and peers matter The Guerrilla Collective and the shift to online showcases Why community remains essential when hundreds of games launch every day What Justin looks for when curating games for The MIX The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Final Fantasy VI as Justin’s re:Play answers Links & References The MIX — https://mediaindieexchange.com Justin Woodward — https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinwoodward/ re:Play Podcast — https://replaypodcast.com Greg Off’s Substack — https://gregoff1.substack.com

Brian Fleming — 28 Years, Four Consoles, One Studio

Brian Fleming co-founded Sucker Punch Productions in 1997 with five colleagues from Microsoft and spent the next 28 years helping build one of PlayStation’s most celebrated first-party studios. In this episode of re:Play, Greg and Brian trace the full Sucker Punch story, from self-funding Rocket: Robot on Wheels and nearly losing it all, to Sly Cooper, inFAMOUS, and the studio’s acquisition by Sony. Brian shares how a few paragraphs about the Mongol invasion of Tsushima sparked Ghost of Tsushima, why the studio embraced a new protagonist for Ghost of Yōtei, and what nearly three decades inside the PlayStation ecosystem taught him about creative autonomy, taking creative risks, and leading a studio through multiple console generations. They also discuss Brian’s decision to step down after 28 years, making room for a new generation of leadership, the relationship between Sucker Punch, Naughty Dog and Insomniac, and why his advice to his younger self is simple: just ship games. Plus, Brian reveals the game that changed his idea of what was possible: Metal Gear Solid. Links & References Sucker Punch Productions: suckerpunch.com Sucker Punch on X: @SuckerPunchProd Game File / Steven Totillo: gamefile.news re:Play: replaypodcast.com Greg Off’s Substack: gregoff1.substack.com

Mark Nash — From 15 Years at Blizzard to a New Indie Publisher in 18 Months

Mark Nash spent 15 years at Blizzard Entertainment before helping build Humble Games into one of indie gaming's most respected publishing platforms. He later founded the Black Game Developer Fund, supporting underrepresented creators across the industry. Then, on July 23, 2024, the entire Humble Games team was laid off. Eighteen months later, Mark returned as the co-founder and COO of Balor Games, helping redefine what modern indie publishing can be.In this conversation, recorded remotely on Riverside, Greg Off and Mark trace that journey—from a pre-YouTube World of Warcraft machinima that landed him a job at Blizzard, to launching the world's first 24-hour gaming livestream, growing Humble Games into a publisher supporting more than 50 studios, and navigating one of the industry's most talked-about shutdowns before rebuilding from the ground up.They also explore the future of indie publishing, why community remains the most powerful marketing tool in games, the role publishers should play in supporting developers, and Mark's "train stations, train tracks, and trains" framework for building lasting game IP across multiple forms of media. Along the way, they discuss leadership, resilience, diversity initiatives, Game Pass, BitSummit, and what it takes to build sustainable studios in today's industry.The conversation closes with Mark's reflections on rebuilding after adversity, the lessons he'd pass on to aspiring founders and publishing leaders, and the games that continue to inspire his thinking today.For game developers, publishers, studio leaders, founders, and anyone interested in the future of indie games, this is an essential conversation about resilience, community, and building the next generation of game publishing.About re:Play:Long-form conversations with the people who built the games industry—peer to peer, not press to talent. Hosted by Greg Off.Find Mark Nash:https://www.linkedin.com/in/marknash/Learn more about Balor Games:https://balorgames.comFind re:Play:https://replaypodcast.comSubscribe to the re:Play Substack:https://gregoff1.substack.com

Raph Koster — The Puddle, the Splat, and the Droplets

Raph Koster has spent more than three decades shaping the way we think about games, virtual worlds, and player behavior. As the lead designer of Ultima Online and creative director of Star Wars Galaxies, he helped define the MMORPG genre and pioneered many of the systems that still influence game design today. He is also the author of the industry-defining book A Theory of Fun for Game Design, a work that has shaped generations of developers. Today, through Playable Worlds, Raph continues exploring how online worlds can become deeper, more meaningful, and more sustainable for the players who inhabit them.In this conversation, recorded in-studio at Off Base, Greg and Raph dive into the fundamentals of great game design—why games are fundamentally about learning, the psychology behind why players find systems engaging, and how timeless design principles continue to outlast every technological shift. They explore the evolution of virtual worlds, the lessons the industry has forgotten, and why building meaningful player experiences remains the hardest challenge in game development.They also tackle one of the biggest questions facing the industry today: artificial intelligence. Rather than focusing on hype, Raph explains where AI can genuinely improve game development, where it falls short, and why the future belongs to developers who understand design fundamentals first and technology second. Along the way, they discuss procedural generation, player agency, emergent gameplay, online communities, and why creating believable virtual societies remains one of the industry's greatest unsolved problems.The conversation closes with Raph's reflections on decades spent designing worlds for millions of players, the lessons he would pass on to the next generation of developers, and his re:Play picks that continue to inspire his thinking about games today.For game developers, designers, studio leaders, and anyone fascinated by the future of interactive entertainment, this is an essential conversation with one of the industry's most influential thinkers.About re:Play: Long-form conversations with the people who built this industry—peer to peer, not press to talent. Hosted by Greg Off. Find Raph: https://www.raphkoster.com Find Playable Worlds: https://www.playableworlds.comF ind re:Play: replaypodcast.com Substack: gregoff1.substack.com

Jack Buser — From Dolby to the Living Game

Jack Buser has been on the bleeding edge of the games industry for nearly 30 years. He joined Dolby Laboratories straight out of the University of Illinois and made it his mission to push Dolby surround sound out of cinema and into games, landing Dolby Digital on PlayStation 2, GameCube, and the original Xbox. In 2008 he joined Sony Interactive Entertainment to run PlayStation Home — the first console-based virtual world, which grew past 40 million users and became the first console microtransactions platform. He went on to help launch PlayStation Plus and build PlayStation Now, the original "Netflix of games." In 2014 he left Sony for a role he couldn't be told about in advance — what would become Stadia — and today he's the Global Director for Games, Strategic Industries at Google Cloud, leading Google's global games initiative with all ten of the biggest game companies in the world plus countless indies. In this conversation, recorded in-studio at Off Base, Greg and Jack cover the full arc — the synth-engineer dream that led to Dolby, hosting Dolbycast before podcasts were a thing, the GDC 2008 call from the great Carter Lipscomb that pulled him into PlayStation Home, the 40-million-user live service that existed before the term "live service" did, the "instant game collection" aha moment behind PlayStation Plus, and the leap to Google in 2014 that Jack still calls the hardest professional decision of his life. They also dig into where Google Cloud sits with the industry in 2026 — the Iron Man suit metaphor for AI in game development (with a shout to Adam Boyes and Mark Stanley), the Capcom + Gemini announcement about saving 30,000 hours a month in human toil debugging, the 10.6 / You vs. Zombies AI character system, Square Enix's Chatty Slammy companion in Dragon Quest Online, Sony AI's Sophie in Gran Turismo, and the term Google coined for what's coming next: the Living Game. Jack argues this is the biggest transformation in game design he has seen since the 2D-to-3D transition in the late '90s, and unpacks why "the train has left the station" for studio leadership. The conversation closes on the retro side — the chunky game room with 22+ consoles from Fairchild Channel F to PS5 Pro (all RGB-modded or HDMI-converted, running through a Hydra SCART switcher and a RetroTink 4K into a Sony 4K projector), the original Asteroids and Ms. Pac-Man cabinets in his living room, and Jack's re:Play answer: PlayStation Home, DOOM 2016, and Espgaluda. For game developers, studio leadership, anyone tracking AI in production, and anyone who wants the long view of the industry from someone who has been three steps ahead of it for 30 years — this one is essential listening. About re:Play: Long-form conversations with the people who built this industry — peer to peer, not press to talent. Hosted by Greg Off. Find Jack: linkedin.com/in/jackbuser Find Google Cloud for Games: cloud.google.com/solutions/games Find re:Play: replaypodcast.com · Substack: gregoff1.substack.com

Michael Yum — Korea, Barbie, Wukong, and the Vault

Michael Yum went to UC Santa Cruz to study film, got pulled into the games industry through EB Games, and eventually borrowed money from family to fly to South Korea alone and convince Pentavision to let him publish DJMax in North America. Today, he's the CEO and co-founder of PM Studios — a developer, publisher, and physical distribution powerhouse behind more than 100 games a year, including the North American physical releases of Black Myth: Wukong, Honkai: Star Rail, and Zenless Zone Zero. In this episode, Greg and Michael discuss: • The gamble that launched PM Studios • Why Sony said yes after Nintendo said no • Building one of the biggest physical game publishing businesses in the world • The lawsuit that nearly ended everything • Why making Barbie games helped save the company • The November 2025 vault theft that stole 30% of his lifelong collection—and the incredible operation that recovered 99.9% of it • Why Michael believes physical games still have a bright future • His vision for PanX Games and the future of game discovery Whether you're interested in game publishing, entrepreneurship, physical media, or the business behind some of gaming's biggest releases, this is a conversation you won't want to miss. Subscribe to re:Play for new episodes every week. References & Links PM Studios — https://pm-studios.com re:Play Podcast — https://replaypodcast.com Greg Off's Substack — https://gregoff1.substack.com Black Myth: Wukong — https://www.playstation.com/games/black-myth-wukong/ Honkai: Star Rail — https://hsr.hoyoverse.com Zenless Zone Zero — https://zenless.hoyoverse.com

Cord Smith — Fence Jumpers and the Game You Have to Make

Cord Smith has had one of the most unconventional careers in the games industry. From writing for the Official Dreamcast Magazine to leading marketing and production teams at SEGA, Ubisoft, and Square Enix, he's experienced nearly every side of game development before founding Inevitable Studios. In this episode, Greg sits down with Cord to discuss how one cold email launched his career, witnessing SEGA's transition from console manufacturer to third-party publisher, helping Guillaume Provost build the foundation for Compulsion Games, and creating King's Tale: Final Fantasy XV—the only Final Fantasy title developed by a Western studio. They also dive into the realities of starting an independent game studio in today's market and the inspiration behind Always In Mind, Inevitable Studios' debut title. Inspired by the birth of Cord's son during the pandemic, the game follows 12-year-old Teddy as he journeys through the memories and stories of his family while trapped inside a coma. Whether you're interested in game development, studio leadership, or the personal stories behind the people shaping the industry, this conversation offers a thoughtful look at creativity, resilience, and building something meaningful. References Inevitable Studios: https://inevitablestudios.com Always In Mind (Steam): https://store.steampowered.com/app/2756760/Always_In_Mind/ Cord Smith on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cordsmith/ Follow re:Play Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6vopn5c... YouTube: / @officialreplaypodcast Website: https://replaypodcast.com Substack: https://gregoff1.substack.com

Van Burnham — Supercade, Abscam, and the Museum That Should Already Exist

Van Burnham has spent three decades making the argument that video games are a legitimate art form — pretty much before anyone wanted to hear it. She's the author of Supercade (MIT Press), one of the most important books ever written about this medium. She has collected nearly 500 arcade machines, interviewed the people who built this industry from the ground up, and is now working to build what she hopes will be gaming's first world-class museum. In this conversation, Van and Greg cover her origin story — born in Raleigh, raised in Cary (now home to Epic Games), then New Jersey, where her dad brought home an Odyssey when she was five — and the mall arcade in Cherry Hill that Supercade is actually named after. She talks about arriving at Wired in the mid-90s as the default "games evangelist," the leap from magazine writing to a publishing deal with MIT, and what it took to track down the last known Abscam cabinet — a Pac-Man clone inspired by the 1980 FBI sting, made in the same Amityville town as the Amityville Horror. They also get into the preservation crisis: how operators destroyed unprofitable cabinets, how the game industry still doesn't fund preservation the way film and music do, why the "ephemeral age" essay in Supercade Volume 2 should be required reading, and how the new deluxe edition of the original book finally lives up to the sequel. By the end of the episode, you understand why a museum isn't a vanity project. It's a rescue operation. About re:Play: Long-form conversations with the people who built this industry — peer to peer, not press to talent. Hosted by Greg Off. Find Van: supercademuseum.org · shop.supercade.com Find re:Play: replaypodcast.com · Substack: gregoff1.substack.com

Amir Satvat — Behind Every Number Is a Person

Amir Satvat spent 15 years in investment banking and enterprise tech — Goldman Sachs, VMware, Amazon — before finally breaking into games at 38. Then over Thanksgiving 2022, friends were laid off right before the holidays, and he sat down and built a simple Google spreadsheet of open jobs. Three and a half years later, that spreadsheet has become ASGC (Always Supporting the Games Community): 2,500 volunteer coaches, a 13,000-person Discord, and more than 4,700 confirmed job placements — with Amir pushing toward 5,000 by the Fourth of July. In December 2024, Geoff Keighley called his name at The Game Awards for the inaugural Game Changer Award and the room rose for a standing ovation. Within days, the hate mail arrived — targeting his wife, his family, his employer. He answered it the way he answers everything: by getting back to work. In this conversation, Amir and Greg cover the long wait of loving an industry from the outside, the moment a spreadsheet turned into a movement, what the layoff data actually says heading into 2026, why 80–85% of a successful job search has nothing to do with applications, the Game Awards moment (and the backlash that followed), and the strategy guides, the WoW raids, and the wife who keeps him grounded. This is a conversation about what it looks like to choose to be a tank for an entire industry — and to do it without losing yourself. About re:Play: Long-form conversations with the people who built this industry — peer to peer, not press to talent. Hosted by Greg Off. Find ASGC: asgc.gg Find Amir: linkedin.com/in/amirsatvat Find re:Play: replaypodcast.com · Substack: gregoff1.substack.com

Bonus — SXSW: Tetris & Sega on What Makes IP Last (Maya Rogers + Shuji Utsumi)

Recorded live at SXSW 2026, Greg Off sits down with two of gaming's most influential leaders: Maya Rogers, President & CEO of The Tetris Company, and Shuji Utsumi, President & COO of Sega. Together, they explore how Tetris and Sonic have remained cultural icons for decades—and what it really takes to build entertainment brands that stand the test of time. From the origins of Tetris to Sega's modern revival, Maya and Shuji share stories from behind two of the world's most recognizable gaming franchises. They discuss the philosophy of "lore and innovation," the fan feedback that reshaped Sonic's movie debut, the Tetris film, brand collaborations, licensing, transmedia storytelling, and why authenticity matters more than ever. In this episode: How Tetris has stayed timeless for more than 40 years Sega's strategy for evolving Sonic while protecting its legacy The making of the Tetris movie Why "Ugly Sonic" became one of gaming's biggest success stories The power of community, licensing, and transmedia Audience Q&A on remakes, fan communities, and the future of iconic IP Originally recorded as a live SXSW panel, this special bonus episode captures an engaging conversation about creativity, leadership, and building gaming brands that endure across generations. Links & References The Tetris Company — https://tetris.com SEGA — https://www.sega.com Tetris (Apple TV+) — https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/tetris Classic Tetris World Championship — https://thectwc.com Tetris Effect — https://tetriseffect.game Tetris 99 — https://www.nintendo.com/store/products/tetris-99-switch Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 — https://puyo.sega.com Sonic the Hedgehog — https://www.sega.com/games/sonic-the-hedgehog Persona — https://atlus.com/persona Like a Dragon — https://ryu-ga-gotoku.com

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