I Play, Therefore I Am

Of Intuition, Creative Freedom and Finding Your Place Fernando Ferero's life led him from Columbia to Poland, from Germany to the US and back to Germany. It also took him to renowned gaming companies such as CD Projekt Red, Goodgame Studios and Blizzard Entertainment. As a Senior UI Artist he worked on prestigious projects like The Witcher 3 and Diablo IV. While talking about this incredible life path, we also go into the distinction of hope vs. reality in the games industry, how to generate trust and freedom for yourself, and enjoying what you have. Where to find Fernando: https://fernandoforeroart.com/ Fernando’s recommendations: David Eagleman - The Brain, Sam Harris – Making Sense, Zygmunt Baumann – Liquid Modernity, Yuval Noah Harari - Homo Deus, Journey, Diablo II, Tomb Raider, Metal Gear Solid V, Bloodborne #IPTIApodcast #gamescapitalberlin

Of Leaving the Shire, Overthinking and Another Kind of Leadership - with Jasmin Ostreicher, CEO of Instinct3 What better way to decide things than ask oneself: What would Commander Shepard do? Like the main character in Mass Effect, Jasmin Oestreicher chose different paths along the way of her career, leading her from the Shire to Mordor and back, meeting different kinds of leaders and learning from them what counts: empathy, listening, and putting your team first. How she implements these traits in her role as CEO of the successful influencer marketing agency Instinct3 while overcoming her introvert and overthinking tendencies, she tells Simon and Florian in this episode. Where to find Jasmin: LinkedIn, Instinct3 Jasmin's recommendations: The Expanse, Lord of the Rings, Fruits Basket, Mass Effect, Metal Gear, Baldur’s Gate 3 Mentioned people from the games industry: Hendrik Ruhe, Maximilian Knabe (HandOfBlood), Maxim, Johannes Gorzel, Christian Baltes Our website: ⁠https://medianet-games.international/ #IPTIApodcast #gamescapitalberlin

Of Lightsabers, RPGs and Looking Through the Right Lens Patrick "PJ" Esteves' long journey to Berlin took him from almost being a rockstar, over wanting to be a Jedi to asking himself how the hell he ended up in Villingen-Schwenningen. The CEO and Co-Founder of Fire and Forge Studios paints a vivid picture of his life in the games industry which is captivating and, most importantly, has a lot to do with the Roman Empire. Where to find PJ: LinkedIn Mentioned People: Raph Koster, Will Wright, Silver Saaremäel, Kaija Rudkiewicz PJ's Recommendations: Raph Koster - A Theory of Fun for Game Design, Blake Snyder - Save the Cat, Rick Warren – Purpose Driven Life, 18 Wheels of Steel: Across America, X-COM, Minecraft Our website: https://medianet-games.international/ #IPTIApodcast #gamescapitalberlin

Boris Johnson hasn’t played Suzerain, otherwise he would have been a better prime minister. This is only one thing you will learn from this podcast with Ata Sergey Nowak, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Torpor Games. Other things include: how the formation of Torpor Games depended on a lottery ticket, why Ata advises you not to take advice, and what advantages it has to be born “in the middle”. Where to find Ata and Suzerain: Twitter, LinkedIn, Torpor Games, Discord, Reddit Mentioned people from the games industry: Chris Wright, George Ziets Mentioned Media: Suzerain, Metropolis, Hidden Agenda, The Conformist, Sun Tzu - The Art of War, Total War, Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince, Bernard Cornwll - The Last Kingdom, Life is beautiful, Good Bye Lenin!, Il Conformista, Daodejing – Laozi, Project Reality (Squad mod), Crusader Kings III, Squad, The Witcher 3, Fallout, Disco Elysium Mentioned Companies: Torpor Games, Factory Berlin, Games for Change, Cologne Game Lab, Fellow Traveller, Obsidian Entertainment Find out more about Berlin's games industry at gamescapital.berlin.

If you’re not hyped, something’s not right – Founder and Creative Director of Fableware Narrative Design, Arthur Protasio, knows that you need to be in the right vibe to get things done. But how do we establish a good vibe? And how do you go from studying Law to being the narrative designer and multiplatform director of Emmy-nominated content? And what does that have to do with cheese? Listen to this #IPTIApodcast episode and follow the cheese crumbs into the world of storytelling and – you guessed it – a real good vibe. Where to find Arhur: Website, LinkedIn, Fableware, Instagram Mentioned People from the games industry: Sebastian Bulas, Jordan Mechner, Lucas Pope, Daniel Mullins Mentioned companies and institutions: Threaks GmbH, Goethe Institut, TV Globale, Archiact Mentioned Media: Lazinho com Você, Sword Legacy, Cobra Kai 2: Dojos Rising, Papers, Please, A Match Made in Limbo, This War of Mine, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction, Kingdom Come Deliverance, The Sims, Black Mirror, Succession, Now Generation, Time And Narrative – Paul Ricoeur, Greenlights – Matthew McConaughey, The Storytelling Animal – Jonathan Gottschall, Steal like an Artist – Austin Kleon Find out more about Berlin's games industry at gamescapital.berlin.

Of Relentlessness, Slow Disruption and Finding Confluence From the moon landing to Age of Empires 4 in under two hours: with Kate Edwards everything seems possible. We welcome you to the first episode of our second season of our renamed podcast I Play, Therefore I Am. And what an episode it is! Listen to Kate, an award-winning 30+ year veteran of the game industry, principal consultant of Geogrify and the former Executive Director of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA). With her, we talk about the geopolitical strategy at Microsoft, why we don’t have to fix everything now, and what all this has to do with Steve Buscemi and his skateboard. Where to find Kate:LinkedIn, Twitter, SetJetters Twitter, SetJetters Instagram Mentioned Companies: IGDA, Geogrify, SetJetters, GameOn, Encarta, Ensemble Studios, ENIAC, GDC, E3, Takethis.org Mentioned People: Paul Maritz, Roberta Williams, Nolan Bushnell, Alexey Pajitnov, Shannon Loftis, Kiki Wolfkill Mentioned Media: Age of Empires, Halo, Fable, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Dune – Frank Herbert, Lord of the Rings – J.R.R. Tolkien, Musashi - Eiji Yoshikawa, Foundation Trilogy – Isaac Asimov, Assassin’s Creed, The Elder Scrolls, Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, Diablo IV How do you do, fellow kids? Find out more about Berlin's games industry at gamescapital.berlin. #IPTIApodcast

Before we launch our second season together with a name change of the podcast, we would like to present the games:net Berlin Supercut in which you can hear a few answers of almost all of our guests we had on the show. Have fun with these 25 minutes of Essential Questions and stay tuned for the second season that is about to start soon!

In our final episode for now, we spoke with Sophie Vo, founder of Rise and Play and CEO of Savage Game Studios, about playfulness, clear communication, and self-awareness. From her own podcast through her view on leadership to her desire to influence those around her as positively as possible, Sophie gives us insight into her work and the way she approaches life. Where you can find Sophie: MasterClass, LinkedIn, Website Rise and Play, Podcast Games mentioned: Harvest Moon, Diamond Dash, Elden Ring, Final Fantasy VII, Life is Strange, Zelda Breath of the Wild Other media mentioned: Erin Meyer - The Culture Map, Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselmann - The Daily Stoic, Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman and Kaley Warner Klemp - The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership Companies mentioned: Rise and Play, Savage Game Studios, Voodoo, Rovio, Wooga, Gameloft, Goldman Sachs, Ubisoft, Fein Games, medianet berlinbrandenburg e.V. Other interesting stuff and people: IGDA, Esther Perel

Give yourself the chance to have chances! Derk de Geus, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Paladin Studios, believes that persistency is the key for success. Take full ownershop of what you can control, but have the trust in your team that they will do the rest. In this episode he talks about his way in and out of burnout and how spirituality drives him to find both himself and the best way to lead his studio. Where you can find Derk: LinkedIn], Facebook, Spotify, Website, Paladin Studios Games mentioned: Cut the Rope Remastered, Nailed it! Baking Batch, Good job!, Stormbound, Momonga Pinball Adventures, Civilization, Dune II, Dune Legacy, Assassin's Creed, Fez, Stardew Valley, Mario Kart, Deliver us Mars Other media mentioned: Meditations - Marcus Aurelius, Siddharta - Hermann Hesse, Extreme Ownership - Jocko Willink Companies mentioned: Paladin Studios, Dutch Game Association, Quest3D Engine, Nintendo, Netflix, Bandai Namco, Midgame Fund, KeokeN Interactive People from the games industry mentioned: Fedor van Herpen, Adriaan de Jongh, Koen Deetman Other interesting stuff: Nondualism, Ayahuasca, Founder's Syndrome, Shockwave, Indie Arena Booth, Develop:Brighton, gamescom Find out more about Berlin's games industry at gamescapital.berlin.

Don't be naive! Co-Founder of Kolibri Games and Co-CEO of the investment firm BLN Capital, Daniel Stammler, has lived and worked by this motto and his success proves him right. With the money he earned by selling Kolibri Games, he and his co-founders want to support Germany's startup ecosystem and implement their motto into other companies. With Simon and Florian, he talks about the necessary ingredients for success: being courageous, not expecting shortcuts, listening to your audience and reducing your vision to what sets your idea apart from the rest.

Sometimes, all we need is to breathe. This holds true to DECA Games, a publisher that breathes new life into old video games, but also to its Head of Business Development, Stephen Lee, who tries to live his life consciously from one breath to the next. With Simon and Florian he talks about cultural differences, true partnerships and health. As if this wasn't enough already, we solve Florian's childhood trauma along the way.

“Been there, done that”. This could be Marie Mejerwall’s middle name. The consultant wore nearly every hat in the industry from esports host and coach, over game designer and team leader to being a mentor and spokesperson for diversity and inclusion. She moved across the globe, always led by the next adventure, always accompanied by her Famicom, her love for karaoke and the urge to plunge into the unknown.

Amir Mirzaee, Managing Director and COO of Bayes Esports, is constantly on the search for inspiration. While finding it in his job, games and other people, he himself is an inspirational source as well. With Simon and Florian he talks about being a role model, finding his own flavour and how games are a form of culture and art.

With his newly founded games studio Roamer Games, Nate Barker wants to do what nobody else does. What that is and how he wants to accomplish that, he tells Simon and Florian in this episode. Apart from that he shares his love for Berlin, data-driven game development and his team.

The musicians and sound designers of Tumult Kollektiv strive for a wholesome, mature auditive experience in games. They practice what they preach because this is exactly what they give you in this podcast, talking about the need to create, what it means to truly work in a collective and the importance of trust and freedom when bringing good music to life.

CEO and Founder of Normalum Mixed Realities, Herwig Egon Casadoro-Kopp's fascination with the human brain and its abilities of pattern recognition and learning through meaningful stories, is highly contagious. He takes us on a wild ride through his mind and speaks of the architecture of language, the thrill of the unknown and what that has to do with games.

Steffen is an explorer - a title he has given himself for his current position at Volkswagen Group’s digital transformation subsidiary diconium but that holds also true for the rest of his life. We talk about the strange turns of Steffen's career, travel in all it forms and how health and mobility have always played a role in his life since the very beginning.

Jenni Wergin is the gamers’ gamer. She is currently a product manager for Thunderful Games, and was previously a part of Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and Booster Space (gamesweekberlin, Womenize). She is also a moderator and a let’s player on her YouTube channel “Two into Indie”. We speak about our shared experiences in games like WoW and StarCraft, her career, her love for the games industry, how we can facilitate easier entries into the industry, the big numbers she is collecting, and her ambitions as an artist.

In this episode, we speak with Ingo Horn. Ingo is a games veteran, marking 27 years of activity in the German industry. He is currently the Communications Director Europe for Wargaming, the chairman of LetsPlay4Charity, and, since 2022, a jury member for DCP (German video game award). He was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit for his charity efforts. We speak about the early days of the games industry, how communication has changed over the years, studio acquisitons and his charity work.

In this episode, we speak with Ieva Benecke. Ieva is a game designer and team lead at Estoty in Vilnius, Lithuania. That’s where she is from as well, and we spend a lot of time exploring the Lithuanian connection between Ieva and Florian and the game development landscape there. We also cover questions on (game) design and living as a lone wolf, and, of course, video game cocktails.