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Video: 'Reclaiming my soul' or 'Why I quit making F2P social games'

Experienced game maker Caryl Shaw (EA, Kixeye, Ngmoco, Telltale Games) shares what she's learned in transitioning back and forth between AAA and F2P development in this GDC Next 2014 talk.

January 20, 2015

2 Min Read
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After years of working on big-budget games at EA, developer Caryl Shaw switched gears to help create F2P social games for companies like Kixeye and Ngmoco. Several years (and several games) later, she decided to venture back to the world of traditional game development by joining Telltale Games, and gave a frank talk about the topic at GDC Next 2014. 

She shared lessons learned while working on F2P games and why she decided to leave them behind (at least for a while), as well as what traditional game designers can learn from the pioneering work F2P game designers have done in mastering metrics and listening to their players in order to satisfy the needs of a diverse audience. 

It's a good talk that's one part inspiration, one part practical career advice, and one part reminder to never stop questioning how you think about and interact with the people who play your games.

We've taken the liberty of embedding the video of "Reclaiming My Soul: Why I Quit Making F2P Social Games" above, but you can also watch it here for free on the GDC Vault.

About the GDC Vault

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.

Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC, GDC Europe, and GDC Next already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.

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