Fireside Chat with Josh Sawyer

What the talk is about

Josh Sawyer talks with Elena Lobova about his path in games: from tabletop RPGs and rewriting D&D rules to working at Black Isle and Obsidian. He compares development in the late 90s and today: teams are bigger and roles narrower, cross-platform work is routine, but the core process and the tug-of-war between time and budget remain. On cancelled projects, he advises not fusing your identity with a game, since it belongs to the company. He explains why crowdfunding got harder, with fierce competition for attention, so a truly unique idea is needed. He recommends short design documents that state clear goals up front. He also shares views on the future: remote development, co-development and subscriptions. Useful for designers, leads and newcomers to the industry.