The games:net Berlin Europe Podcast

In our final episode for now, we spoke with Sophie Vo, founder of Rise and Play and CEO of Savage Game Studios, about playfulness, clear communication, and self-awareness. From her own podcast through her view on leadership to her desire to influence those around her as positively as possible, Sophie gives us insight into her work and the way she approaches life. Where you can find Sophie: MasterClass, LinkedIn, Website Rise and Play, Podcast Games mentioned: Harvest Moon, Diamond Dash, Elden Ring, Final Fantasy VII, Life is Strange, Zelda Breath of the Wild Other media mentioned: Erin Meyer - The Culture Map, Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselmann - The Daily Stoic, Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman and Kaley Warner Klemp - The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership Companies mentioned: Rise and Play, Savage Game Studios, Voodoo, Rovio, Wooga, Gameloft, Goldman Sachs, Ubisoft, Fein Games, medianet berlinbrandenburg e.V. Other interesting stuff and people: IGDA, Esther Perel

Give yourself the chance to have chances! Derk de Geus, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Paladin Studios, believes that persistency is the key for success. Take full ownershop of what you can control, but have the trust in your team that they will do the rest. In this episode he talks about his way in and out of burnout and how spirituality drives him to find both himself and the best way to lead his studio. Where you can find Derk: LinkedIn], Facebook, Spotify, Website, Paladin Studios Games mentioned: Cut the Rope Remastered, Nailed it! Baking Batch, Good job!, Stormbound, Momonga Pinball Adventures, Civilization, Dune II, Dune Legacy, Assassin's Creed, Fez, Stardew Valley, Mario Kart, Deliver us Mars Other media mentioned: Meditations - Marcus Aurelius, Siddharta - Hermann Hesse, Extreme Ownership - Jocko Willink Companies mentioned: Paladin Studios, Dutch Game Association, Quest3D Engine, Nintendo, Netflix, Bandai Namco, Midgame Fund, KeokeN Interactive People from the games industry mentioned: Fedor van Herpen, Adriaan de Jongh, Koen Deetman Other interesting stuff: Nondualism, Ayahuasca, Founder's Syndrome, Shockwave, Indie Arena Booth, Develop:Brighton, gamescom Find out more about Berlin's games industry at gamescapital.berlin. 

Don't be naive! Co-Founder of Kolibri Games and Co-CEO of the investment firm BLN Capital, Daniel Stammler, has lived and worked by this motto and his success proves him right. With the money he earned by selling Kolibri Games, he and his co-founders want to support Germany's startup ecosystem and implement their motto into other companies. With Simon and Florian, he talks about the necessary ingredients for success: being courageous, not expecting shortcuts, listening to your audience and reducing your vision to what sets your idea apart from the rest.

Sometimes, all we need is to breathe. This holds true to DECA Games, a publisher that breathes new life into old video games, but also to its Head of Business Development, Stephen Lee, who tries to live his life consciously from one breath to the next. With Simon and Florian he talks about cultural differences, true partnerships and health. As if this wasn't enough already, we solve Florian's childhood trauma along the way.

“Been there, done that”. This could be Marie Mejerwall’s middle name. The consultant wore nearly every hat in the industry from esports host and coach, over game designer and team leader to being a mentor and spokesperson for diversity and inclusion. She moved across the globe, always led by the next adventure, always accompanied by her Famicom, her love for karaoke and the urge to plunge into the unknown.

Amir Mirzaee, Managing Director and COO of Bayes Esports, is constantly on the search for inspiration. While finding it in his job, games and other people, he himself is an inspirational source as well. With Simon and Florian he talks about being a role model, finding his own flavour and how games are a form of culture and art.

With his newly founded games studio Roamer Games, Nate Barker wants to do what nobody else does. What that is and how he wants to accomplish that, he tells Simon and Florian in this episode. Apart from that he shares his love for Berlin, data-driven game development and his team.

The musicians and sound designers of Tumult Kollektiv strive for a wholesome, mature auditive experience in games. They practice what they preach because this is exactly what they give you in this podcast, talking about the need to create, what it means to truly work in a collective and the importance of trust and freedom when bringing good music to life.

CEO and Founder of Normalum Mixed Realities, Herwig Egon Casadoro-Kopp's fascination with the human brain and its abilities of pattern recognition and learning through meaningful stories, is highly contagious. He takes us on a wild ride through his mind and speaks of the architecture of language, the thrill of the unknown and what that has to do with games.

Steffen is an explorer - a title he has given himself for his current position at Volkswagen Group’s digital transformation subsidiary diconium but that holds also true for the rest of his life. We talk about the strange turns of Steffen's career, travel in all it forms and how health and mobility have always played a role in his life since the very beginning.

Jenni Wergin is the gamers’ gamer. She is currently a product manager for Thunderful Games, and was previously a part of Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and Booster Space (gamesweekberlin, Womenize). She is also a moderator and a let’s player on her YouTube channel “Two into Indie”. We speak about our shared experiences in games like WoW and StarCraft, her career, her love for the games industry, how we can facilitate easier entries into the industry, the big numbers she is collecting, and her ambitions as an artist.

In this episode, we speak with Ingo Horn. Ingo is a games veteran, marking 27 years of activity in the German industry. He is currently the Communications Director Europe for Wargaming, the chairman of LetsPlay4Charity, and, since 2022, a jury member for DCP (German video game award). He was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit for his charity efforts. We speak about the early days of the games industry, how communication has changed over the years, studio acquisitons and his charity work.

In this episode, we speak with Ieva Benecke. Ieva is a game designer and team lead at Estoty in Vilnius, Lithuania. That’s where she is from as well, and we spend a lot of time exploring the Lithuanian connection between Ieva and Florian and the game development landscape there. We also cover questions on (game) design and living as a lone wolf, and, of course, video game cocktails.

In this episode, we speak with Johanna Pirker. Johanna is a game designer and researcher, and does a million things. She tells us about her research work, moving her lectures to Twitch, and immersion into online spaces. Later, we share techniques and experiences on how to live well and effectively as a person with many interests, which at times might feel scattered.

In this episode, we speak with Marius Winter. Marius is an artist and game designer. His last title was “Say No! more”. We cover the topic of saying no, of course, and Marius’ bold ways of acquiring high profile internships - and much more!

In this episode we speak with Sebastian Stamm, Co-Founder of Black Pants Game Studio, about funding a studio during the first wave of indie games in the late 2000s. We dive into the depths of game studies in Germany, comparing different university types. As always, we also cover his career, his life and his background.

In this episode we speak with Philomena Schwab, Co-Founder of Stray Fawn Studio, about her studio and the games industry in Switzerland. We zoom in on how her studio works with regards to community building and role coverage. As always, we also cover her career, her life and her background.

In this episode, we speak with Fedor van Herpen about life. We cover his youth, favorite games, growing up with “3 moms” and an unusual internet side-hustle in the 90s. Fedor also shares his secret recipe to living a good life.

In this episode we speak with Fedor van Herpen, Co-Founder of Meet to Match, about his business and his career. We especially focus on the business of meeting people, and how that changed during COVID. Fedor gives his best practice advice on how to best connect with people via the online means available right now.

In this episode, we speak with Kristian Metzger about life. How he grew up, how much he was longing for agency and belonging, how losing weight impacted him, and what drives him to have his company be a place for friends and family.

In this episode, we speak with Kristian Metzger about his career and his company Stratosphere Games. We cover the current state of Stratosphere and the games they are developing right now, Kristian’s career and the many places it took him, and what his vision for the company looks like. We also find out some tidbits about early days of gamedev in Berlin.

In this episode, we speak with Lea Schönfelder about her life. How she grew up, how she got in touch with games, what purpose she sees in games. Also, the significance of a game she is making right now to her own life, and what it means for her to live a good life.

In this episode, we speak with Lea Schönfelder about her career and her newly founded studio Fein Games. Lea’s unique approach to the games she wants to make, her vision for her own studio she had since university and the journey she had to take before it was time to make her dream a reality.

In this episode, we speak with Phil Hübner about his personal life. We talk about growing up in a single parent household, father figures, share experiences on learning to enjoy life as young adults despite coming from relatively weak economical households, and we touch on Phil’s mental models and the transformations he underwent. We also cover our shared career path and reflect on some conflicts we had at the time - a redemption arc.

In this episode, we speak with Phil Hübner about his career. We talk about Challengermode and Philip’s mission there. Then we go back and look across his career, which started in his teens, managing a professional esports team and building a MOBA-section for an esports news website, to becoming a pro Dota player. Finally Philip talks about working at industry giants ESL and Twitch and his professional growth.

In this episode, we speak with Rami Ismail about his personal life. We talk about his upbringing, growing up between two cultures, how a standing ovation explained his job to his dad and his purpose of bringing multicultural awareness into the gaming sphere.

In this episode, we speak with Rami Ismail about his career. We talk about becoming a game developer, dropping out of school, founding his own studio Vlambeer, which was predetermined to be shut down one day, shutting it down after 10 years, and what to do next. And everything in between.