The Evolution of Gaming and the Power of Networking

Welcome to the Player Engage Podcast, where we explore the biggest challenges, technologies, trends, and best practices for creating unforgettable player experiences. In this episode, our host Greg chats with Terry Haynes, a seasoned veteran from Tanglewood Games, about his journey through the gaming industry, the evolution of game development, and the critical role of networking.

Episode Highlights:

• Terry's Start in the Industry: Terry shares his beginnings in QA at Virgin Mastertronic and his progression through iconic companies like Sega and Probe Entertainment.
• The Shift from Production to Business Development: Learn how Terry transitioned from production roles to business development and the opportunities that arose from networking.
• The Importance of Networking: Terry and Greg discuss the "networking effect" and how it can break the ice in the industry, leading to potential collaborations and opportunities.
• Evolution of Game Development Teams: A look back at how small teams used to manage entire game projects and how the industry has grown to require much larger, more specialized teams.
• Co-Development Studios: Insights into the benefits of co-development studios and how they can provide flexibility and specialized skills to larger projects without the long-term commitment.
• Trends in the Gaming Industry: Terry shares his thoughts on where the gaming industry is heading, including the potential for studios to rely more on co-development partnerships.

Memorable Quotes:

• "You have to network, you have to keep in contact with people and you have to talk about your own business because no one else is going to talk about your business if you're not going to talk about it." - Terry Haynes
• "Connect with people because they're people... those people, more than likely in their career, will move on to a new venture or move on to a new company, may go and start their own business." - Terry Haynes
• "Having co-development studios out there is a huge benefit to the games industry and it's a huge benefit to studios that are out in that field of kind of going, you can have the resources to make your game to the quality your game needs to be." - Terry Haynes