About Enduring Play: A Game Development Podcast
Creative director, game designer, and author of The Game Development Strategy Guide Cheryl Platz hosts this engaging look behind the scenes at what it takes to make video games (and game studios) that transcend the test of time. In-depth conversations with industry veterans cover a variety of topics intended to get listeners at any experience level and all disciplines thinking about how to pull the video game industry out of the doldrums and into a more sustainable, more playful future.
Season 1 Trailers
Season 1 General Trailer
Season 1 Artificial Intelligence Teaser
What is Enduring Play?
Enduring Play is an indie podcast entirely self-produced by game developer and author Cheryl Platz that was born during the creation of her second book, The Game Development Strategy Guide. When doing research, the interviews are often goldmines and tons of the material from her first book ended up on the cutting room floor. This time, 10 of Cheryl’s 14 interviewees graciously agreed to go fully on the record as podcast participants, ensuring that we wouldn’t waste any of the assembled insight regardless of what fit in the book’s limited pages.
Who should listen to Enduring Play?
This podcast is for any game developer or game-curious podcast listener! Cheryl is an experienced content creator and has crafted these episodes with enough context to bring listeners along regardless of experience level. Where time allows, there are breaks to explain key acronyms, and some historical context provided for key companies and key industry moments like the EA Spouse outcry in the early aughts. The interviewees cut across all major development disciplines, from game, narrative, and UX design to production, engineering, and art. While active game development practitioners will likely get the most out of the podcast, there’s plenty of material here for gaming fans and aspiring developers.
The podcast is rated PG-13 – generally suitable for teens and adults, although there is some occasional strong language and themes that may warrant guidance from attentive parents.
About the Host: Cheryl Platz
Cheryl Platz is a game developer, designer, and author of The Game Development Strategy Guide: Crafting Modern Video Games That Thrive, a new book from Rosenfeld Media which has been hailed by game design luminaries Will Wright as “an amazingly broad and contemporary take on our industry” and Jesse Schell as “an amazing crash course for anyone who wants to make games that actually succeed.” Her past experience in the video game industry includes roles as a Creative Director, Experience Design Director, Lead Producer, writer, game designer, and voice talent for companies like Riot Games, Scopely, Inc., Electronic Arts, and independent studios like Griptonite Games.
Cheryl is the owner of design education company Ideaplatz, LLC with which she’s brought her talks and workshops to 5 continents and 12 countries since 2017. She is also an adjunct faculty member with Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz School teaching the craft of video games in their Masters of Entertainment Industry Management program. Her background as a professional actor, streamer, and content creator makes her an engaging host and prepared her to self-produce this podcast.
Cheryl’s Personal Socials
Ideaplatz, LLC Socials
How can I contact Cheryl?
What is the business model for Enduring Play?
Season 1 of the podcast, as promotion for The Game Development Strategy Guide, is free to all listeners. Production costs were fronted by Cheryl personally and will hopefully be supported by sales of the book and by merchandise sales at http://ideaplatz.dashery.com. Tips to support production costs (which include annual Adobe Creative Cloud costs, podcast distribution memberships, research and scheduling tools, and web hosting costs) are also welcomed.
How can I support Enduring Play?
Thank you for asking! Cheryl is open to sponsorship inquiries for Season 2, which will launch in early 2026. (Interested parties should reach out via email – sorry, no blockchain or AI-only companies at this time.) As an individual, buying the book, merch, or tipping is the most direct method of support.
Of course, if you can’t afford to do that (and many won’t be able to because the video game industry is on fire), just rating and reviewing the podcast, spreading the word, and sharing what you liked about the podcast is payment enough and might help the content get to someone who needs it. In the end, the bigger goal here is providing a catalyst for change in an industry that’s struggling, not major financial gain. No one ever made a bunch of money on a gaming podcast. It would just be nice to break even on costs and time spent.
How is Enduring Play distributed?
Enduring Play is distributed automatically to most major podcast networks on Tuesdays during active seasons, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, and YouTube. Please subscribe and rate on your favorite platform!
The raw RSS feed is available here and a free web player is available here.
Are full episode transcripts available?
Yes, full transcripts are made available through distribution networks.
How was Enduring Play created?
Cheryl recorded all episodes via Zoom from her home studios in multiple states due to varying circumstances; there was no one setup. This also meant that Season 1, originally planned as a video podcast, became audio-only for logistical reasons. The original theme music and transition music were created by Cheryl using the Looper tools in BandLab. Episode post-production was run on Adobe Audition from her Seattle studio, where Cheryl reviewed the raw audio and wrote episode frames that provided listener context and regular audio signposting, including voice performance as the Enduring Play computer. Quality assurance was provided by her Season 1 volunteer team David Demma and David Foubert.
The only artificial intelligence used in the creation of this podcast is the automatic transcription software used when processing raw audio and episode transcripts (using Dovetail research software) and the background removal tool in Photoshop for more expedient graphical compositing.
Content & Trigger Warnings
In some episodes, we discuss themes like the toll of layoffs and depression; the difficulties of presenting as female in the game industry; and some of the risks around user-generated content which can include disturbing themes. While most of the references are abstract, listener discretion is advised.
Brand Guidance
Colors
Purple: #362346
Gold: #FFCF1C
Fonts
Primary/Body: Suomi Slab Serif
Accent: Lowres OT
Checkerboard patterns inspired by cover art for The Game Development Strategy Guide, originally created by Heads of State
Iconography licensed from Font Awesome