What Studios Are Looking for in External Development | Joe Nickolls

Joe Nickolls has seen the industry from nearly every angle. In this episode of the Made Together podcast, Joe joins Carla Rylance and Sam Carlisle to discuss what’s changing across AAA, indie development, acquisitions, external development, and studio leadership. From his time at EA and Maxis to leading Timbre Games through acquisition and decoupling, Joe shares a grounded perspective on how studios actually make decisions today, where partnerships succeed or fail, and what teams often misunderstand about building games at scale. 0:00 Intro 2:26 Envar becomes publisher 7:01 Arrival of Arrival 16:11 What sucks about AI 20:19 Joe Nickolls Interview 26:57 Changes in external development 49:19 What’s next for games 1:04:13 Quickfire questions 1:21:35 Outro Whether you work in AAA, indie, co-development, outsourcing, or external production, this episode offers an honest look at how games are really getting made right now. 🎙️ Featuring: Joe Nickolls, CEO/Co-Founder, Timbre Games, XDS Advisory Committee   / joe-nickolls   About the series Supported by XDS Spark, Made Together looks at how games are made across studios, with a focus on external development. Hosted by: Carla Rylance, Head of XDS Spark Business Solutions   / carlarylance   Sam Carlisle, Co-Founder of XDS Spark   / samcarlisle   Follow along for future episodes exploring the people, partnerships, and realities shaping external development in games. Learn more: XDS Spark → https://www.xds-spark.com/ XDS Spark Business Solutions → https://www.xds-spark.com/business-so... External Development Summit → ​​https://xdsummit.com/