Today’s episode is hosted by Jamie Manton and they are joined on the podcast by James Schall, CPO/Founder at Secret Mode, Dawid Lubryka, Principal Gameplay Animator at CD Projekt Red Wrocław and Andrej Jagar, Animation Director at Starbreeze Studios.
The conversation explores why games perform poorly and whether technical fidelity is truly the deciding factor in commercial and critical success. It examines the relationship between gameplay animation, optimisation, production priorities and player expectations within modern AAA and independent development environments.
The exchange highlights how studios balance visual ambition with performance constraints, and how decisions across publishing strategy, animation pipelines and core game design fundamentals can influence overall game performance. Broader themes include player experience, development trade offs and the realities of delivering polished titles in a competitive global market.
