Matrix Games

Episode 10 of The Hot Seat, aired on May 27th, was strong and a little different from the ones before. 

Marco Minoli, Director of Publishing, talked about fair pricing, the value of art and right compensation to developers and artists. 

With Mark Webley, Studio Director of Two Points Studio, and Alessio Cavatore, Game Designer for tabletop games, this episode has been truly interesting reflecting on the evolution of the processes they worked their whole life. 

The Evolution of Game Development for Videogames

The roles were different, but the craft is the same.

Mark Webley, Studio Director of Two Points Studio, is a veteran of the industry and saw many changes in his line of work. Game development has changed since his early days at Bullfrog. While teams are now larger and roles more specialized, he believes the core process of creating fun games through collaboration remains the same. 

Two Point Studios deliberately stays relatively small (around 50 people) to maintain good communication and avoid excessive bureaucracy. The team also tries to avoid crunch culture, believing that developers should enjoy making games rather than sacrificing their personal lives. 

Webley also highlights how valuable player communities have become. Unlike in the 1990s, developers can now receive feedback after launch and continue improving games through updates. He sees this as one of the biggest positive changes in the industry. 

The Evolution of Game Design for Tabletops and Board Games

To be able to make justice to the love for the IP is important and difficult at the same time. 

Game Designer Alessio Cavatore reflected on his unusual path into the tabletop gaming industry and on how tabletop game development has changed over the years. In the early days, Games Workshop was smaller, with designers working closely alongside artists, sculptors, and writers. Today, the industry is larger and more specialized, with roles often being more segmented. 

A pivot point of his career has been the Lord of the Rings tabletop game. Working on such a beloved licensed property taught him the challenges of adapting established intellectual properties, balancing the expectations of licensors and passionate fans while staying true to the source material.

Community is crucial as well in this context. Unlike video game developers, tabletop designers can meet players face-to-face at tournaments and events, allowing them to see how games are actually played. While he values player feedback, Cavatore warns against listening too closely to a small group of highly competitive players, as doing so can make games less accessible to the broader audience. 

The Tabletop Corner Highlights 

This episode also featured a new segment of The Tabletop Corner with recent announcements. including a new Warhammer walking fortress model, Italian-themed terrain kits from Micro Art Models, a Flames of War book covering the Italian campaign of WWII, and an upcoming XCOM board game. 

The Games of the month discussed were Mandalorian Adventures, a cooperative, story-driven board game where players take on characters from the TV series and complete missions together, Talisman, a classic fantasy adventure game in which players explore a board, face random encounters, gather equipment, and race to defeat the final dragon, and Saga, a historical skirmish wargame focused on tactical choices and faction-specific abilities. 

Looking ahead 

Stay tuned for the next episode of The Hot Seat, which will go live on June 24th, with Romain De Waubert de genlis, CEO of Amplitude, and Davide Soliani, Creative Director of Mario + Rabbit. 

Watch here The Hot Seat Episode 10 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2F4YuKAvDI