The Branching Factor Podcast

Tommy and George are back for this episode of Branching Factor, recorded on the final day of the 2024 Game Developers Conference (GDC). The team reflect on the week that has passed, and just how valuable a solid nights sleep can be when caught up in all this madness.--The Branching Factor podcast is sponsored by modl.ai: unleash an army of AI and ML bots that play, grow, and learn― all inside your game. With millions of players’ to your aid, game testing will never be the same again.With over 5,000 subscribers across our Substack and LinkedIn audiences, plus of course a YouTube audience of over 200K, now is a great time to consider sponsoring the Branching Factor podcast. Visit our sponsorship page for more details.

Will Overgard, aka the Viking Blonde joins Tommy for a chat about his career as a Twitch streamer supporting game developers, and the current state of the industry going into GDC 2024. The conversation covers everything from good indie games to monetisation models, surviving as a game developer, being a content creator, generative AI, crypto and Web3, EA' project 10 dollar, good dogs, British civility and much more besides!Catch up with what Will's up to over at: https://www.twitch.tv/viking_blondeThe Branching Factor podcast is sponsored by modl.ai: unleash an army of AI and ML bots that play, grow, and learn― all inside your game. With millions of players’ to your aid, game testing will never be the same again.

For this weeks episode, Ben Ridge of Unfathomable Audio (the guy who does our music) joins us to talk about working in game audio, plus Helldivers II, Elden Ring, Bloodborne, gaming news and more!As mentioned in the news: the early bird registration for the Summer School for AI and Games closes on March 1st. Find out more at: https://school.gameaibook.org/Plus, Game AI Uncovered is out now, get 20% off with code SMA21 until April 30th https://www.routledge.com/Game-AI-Uncovered-Volume-One/Roberts/p/book/9781032343235Timestamps (for the ad-free version)[00:00] Intro[01:40] Discussing Game Audio with Ben Ridge[31:32] Games: Suicide Squad / Evil West[36:08] Dead by Daylight X Iron Maiden[42:48] Games: More Helldivers II[48:07] Games: Apex Legends[56:56] News: Game AI Uncovered / Summer School 2024[58:39] News: Elden Ring - Shadow of the Erdtree plus Bloodborne![01:10:20] News: Xbox Titles Coming to PS5 and Switch[01:16:14] News: No Big PS5 releases for 2024? Console sales to decline?[01:28:33] News: Nintendo's New Console Delayed to 2025?[01:32:30] Late-episode rambling[01:45:40] CreditsThe Branching Factor podcast is sponsored by modl.ai: unleash an army of AI and ML bots that play, grow, and learn― all inside your game. With millions of players’ to your aid, game testing will never be the same again.

Tommy's riding solo in this episode, and so he decided to focus on games he's playing, projects he's involved in and the big stories in the news that are going down.--As mentioned, Tommy will be at the AI and Games Summer School for this year. It's running from June 17th-21st in Valletta in Malta, and early bird registration closes on March 1st.http://school.gameaibook.org/Plus, the first volume of 'Game AI Uncovered' - a new textbook series from games industry professionals on AI in commercial titles - is coming out on February 23rd. It will be available on Amazon and all major book stores.https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Game-AI-Uncovered-Volume-One-by-Paul-Roberts-editor/9781032343235

Branching Factor is back for 2024. We kickstart the year with George and Tommy sitting down to discuss the current state of the games industry, and where we see things going over the next 12 months.-Use our promo code with NordVPN for an exclusive discount, complete with a 30-day money-back guarantee!http://www.nordvpn.com/aiandgames--AI and Games Plus is the second channel for AI and Games: a series on research and applications of Artificial Intelligence in video games.Follow 'AI and Games' for educational videos and essays:http://www.youtube.com/@AIandGamesFollow 'AI and Games Plus' is dedicated to bonus content, deep-dive analysis, revisiting old topics and more:http://www.youtube.com/@AIandGamesPlusListen to my podcast 'Branching Factor', as I discuss game development and research with my co-hosts and guests:https://shows.acast.com/branchingfactorRead Written Versions of Episodes: http://www.aiandgames.comWatch Livestreams: http://www.twitch.tv/aiandgamesJoin our Community: https://discord.aiandgames.comBuy our Merch: https://store.aiandgames.com--You can support AI and Games via Patreon and YouTube memberships, and in return, you get bonus rewards!http://www.patreon.com/aiandgameshttps://www.youtube.com/@AIandGames/join--Follow 'AI and Games' on social media.Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AIandGamesMastodon: https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@AIandGamesTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@aiandgames--If you're interested in working with us, check out the following:Business Enquiries: contact@aiandgames.comArrange Meeting: https://calendly.com/aiandgames

In this month's episode, the rest of the team gets a well-earned break for the holiday season. Tommy sits down to reflect on the past year of content published across AI and Games, discusses his favourite games of the year, and answers viewer questions.-Use our promo code with NordVPN for an exclusive discount, complete with a 30-day money-back guarantee!http://www.nordvpn.com/aiandgames--AI and Games Plus is the second channel for AI and Games: a series on research and applications of Artificial Intelligence in video games.Follow 'AI and Games' for educational videos and essays:http://www.youtube.com/@AIandGamesFollow 'AI and Games Plus' is dedicated to bonus content, deep-dive analysis, revisiting old topics and more:http://www.youtube.com/@AIandGamesPlusListen to my podcast 'Branching Factor', as I discuss game development and research with my co-hosts and guests:https://shows.acast.com/branchingfactorRead Written Versions of Episodes: http://www.aiandgames.comWatch Livestreams: http://www.twitch.tv/aiandgamesJoin our Community: https://discord.aiandgames.comBuy our Merch: https://store.aiandgames.com--You can support AI and Games via Patreon and YouTube memberships, and in return, you get bonus rewards!http://www.patreon.com/aiandgameshttps://www.youtube.com/@AIandGames/join--Follow 'AI and Games' on social media.Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AIandGamesMastodon: https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@AIandGamesTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@aiandgames--If you're interested in working with us, check out the following:Business Enquiries: contact@aiandgames.comArrange Meeting: https://calendly.com/aiandgames