Game Maker's Notebook
Game Maker's Notebook
Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
Obsidian's Josh Sawyer's Thoughts on Creating Engaging RPGs
1 hour 8 minutes Posted Nov 17, 2025 at 1:00 pm.
0:00
1:08:50
Download MP3
Show notes

Alexa Ray Corriea chats with Josh Sawyer, Studio Design Director at Obsidian Entertainment. Together they discuss his thoughts on developing RPGs; what he learned from working at legendary studio Black Isle Studios; how to successfully adapt Dungeons & Dragons to video games; writing for games with dialogue stacks; parsing and implementing feedback while keeping true to your creative vision; and balancing RNG to improve player experiences.

This episode is supported by 

Xsolla

iam8bit

Episode Host: Alexa Ray Corriea

Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences

If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review.

Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS

Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation