Growing Pains ep. 6 - The Downfall of Payload Studios - #227 - Game Dev Local Podcast

Game Dev Local Podcast

In this episode of Growing Pains, GDL host and Games Strategy Consultant Jay Uppal sits down with Kae Cheung, senior designer at Payload Studios, they discuss Kae's path into game design and the broader industry trends that impacted Payload Studios. Once a proud champion of UK's games industry, Payload is only one of a number of studios that has recently been brought to the verge of bankruptcy. Jay and Kae have a candid discussion about the time period leading up to the recent decision that has seen Payload lay off roughly 90% of its staff, in a bid to understand what went wrong and if there were ways to mitigate it. Note from Jay: The conversation in this episode is a crucial one to understand and learn from what we are currently seeing in the Games industry. While we are discussing this through the lens of Payload Studios, they could be replaced by any number of studios in the games industry that have seen similar results this year. While I'm seeing an abundance of people supporting one another in the industry, I have not yet seen much from the leadership perspective in terms openly addressing the decisions that have been made in recent years. I think without the conversation around accountability and the role of leaders in studios we're essentially bound to repeat a similar cycle n the future. My hope with this episode is not to single Payload out but to start a conversations around the broader topic of leadership in the games industry, why the industry is in its current slump, and how can we put safeguards to prevent similar situations in the future.

Growing Pains is a series focusing on key business trends and people shaping the Global Games Market and their impact on the Games Industry. In this series Jay speaks with industry leaders across the Games and Gametech space; trying to demystify the industry, understand the state of leadership, and answer the all important question 'Is having a fun game still enough to succeed in today's game market?'