Welcome to Podcast from the Edge’s bonus episode of our Video Game Dev Virtual Happy hour with AAA vets Joe Quadara and Evan Skolneik. To recap, Joe, Evan and I sat down and talked about how we got into video games and what advice we had to those who want to break in. During our conversation, Joe got curious about why game writing is so much more competitive than other game development disciplines, so he turned the tables on Evan and I — and asked us some really smart questions to find out why so many people want to become a writer, what being a professional writer actually means —- and how having a strong narrative and character conflict can elevate an entire game. The conversation that ensued was so rich with content, we decided it deserved its own episode. So, grab a drink because it’s time for a bonus installment of Game Dev Virtual Happy Hour!

Welcome back to Podcast from the Edge’s first installment of our Game Dev Virtual Happy Hour series — a series that will explore what happens when video game developers meet on Zoom for virtual drinks in the middle of a global pandemic and talk shop. For our first topic, we decided to tactical something a lot of you might be interested in: how to break into the video game business. And we have two industry vets who agreed to lend us their 20 plus years of experience to help you. Evan Skolnick is a former Marvel comics writer, a shipped AAA game writer and Professor of game writing at Cogswell college. He’s worked for Vicarious Visions, 2K, Sony, LucasArts, and Telltale Games. His credits include Cuphead, Star Wars Battlefront, Concrete Genie, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, and many more. He also teaches game narrative at the GDC Narrative Summit and is the author of 'Video Game Storytelling.' Joe Quadara is a veteran AAA game designer who’s worked for Crystal Dynamics, Big Huge Games, and served as a Design Director for 2K. He’s credited on Tomb Raider, Soul Reaver, SOCOM, Fortnite, Borderlands, Civilization... and too many others to count. He now owns his own consulting company called Recurver which helps indie game teams get their dream projects funded. We had an amazing and insightful conversation about how we got into games and what advice we had to those looking to break into the industry and stay. If you’re enjoying this content, please subscribe. And if you have a question for us or a topic you’d like us to cover in this series, please write your suggestions in the comments of our SoundCloud page — or tweet them to @EvilShanon. Now, get comfortable and pour yourself a drink… because it’s Game Dev Virtual Happy Hour.