If you're a leader in game dev who feels stuck, able to spot problems but struggling to make a real difference, there is a path forward that levels up your leadership and accelerates your team, game, and career. Sign up here to learn more: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6

Is your "AI First" strategy actually a house of cards waiting to collapse?

While CEOs are busy pumping the hype train, the practical reality of LLMs is looking a lot less rosy. In this episode, Ben explores why the current AI trajectory might be a "subprime crisis" in the making. We move past the Skynet fantasies to look at the four existential and human threats that LLMs pose to the games industry, from the "logarithmic curve of effectiveness" to the dangerous atrophy of our own ability to think deeply.

What You'll Learn In This Episode:

• What the "subprime AI crisis" is and why the current investment stack might be unsustainable.
• Why relying on "generative slop" leads to a generational decline in the value of information.
• How to identify when AI is capitalizing on your own cognitive biases and "sycophantic" needs for ego validation.
• How to balance using AI as a force-multiplier without atrophying the "slow thinking" required for high-level game production.

Reference Links:

🔗 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aec8352

🔗 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11324722-the-righteous-mind

🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p22QeLNHvlc

🔗 https://www.wheresyoured.at/the-subprime-ai-crisis-is-here/

🔗 https://metr.org/blog/2025-07-10-early-2025-ai-experienced-os-dev-study/

🔗 https://medium.com/@webteam.ybsvp/when-ai-gets-it-wrong-the-deloitte-scandal-and-the-question-of-reliability-86940bc9017a

🔗 https://tech.yahoo.com/ai/articles/mit-created-duplicate-ai-workers-185644013.html

🔗 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2604.01363

🔗 https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/06/google-microsoft-meta-amazon-ai-cash.html

🔗 https://www.fastcompany.com/91417492/deloitte-ai-report-australian-government

🔗 https://techcrunch.com/2024/07/24/model-collapse-scientists-warn-against-letting-ai-eat-its-own-tail/

🔗 https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Fast-Slow-Daniel-Kahneman/dp/0374533555

🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDL3Ch7Nz8c

Connect with us:

🔗Ben's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-carcich/

🔗BBG's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/building-better-games/

🔗Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildingbettergames/#

🔗Website: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg

🔗YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZpMT-dUwQR-R4Mb4uub6Sw

If you want me to help producers or studios build better games through effective systems and leadership, you can reach me at: info@valarinconsulting.com

#GameDev #ArtificialIntelligence #StudioLeadership #TechBubble #BuildingBetterGames

If you're a leader in game dev who feels stuck, able to spot problems but struggling to make a real difference, there is a path forward that levels up your leadership and accelerates your team, game, and career. Sign up here to learn more: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6

Is your job being replaced by an LLM, or are you just doing the wrong job?

The claim has been made that AI can handle 85% of management tasks. For game producers, this sounds like a death knell, but only if you believe your value lies in shuffling Jira tickets and taking meeting notes.

In this episode, we break down the fundamental misunderstanding of "productivity" in game dev. We explore why LLMs are masters of the "passing high school grade" and why the most vital, indirect value a producer provides remains entirely out of reach for even the most sophisticated AI.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

• Why "being busy" can actually hurt your career
• How to find the invisible value you uniquely bring
• The risk of using AI without real expertise
• Why producers must evolve beyond task tracking

Connect with us:

🔗Ben's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-carcich/

🔗BBG's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/building-better-games/

🔗Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildingbettergames/#

🔗Website: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg

🔗YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZpMT-dUwQR-R4Mb4uub6Sw

If you want me to help producers or studios build better games through effective systems and leadership, you can reach me at: info@valarinconsulting.com

#GameProduction #GameDevAI #ProjectManagement #StudioLeadership #BuildingBetterGames

If you're a leader in game dev who feels stuck, able to spot problems but struggling to make a real difference, there is a path forward that levels up your leadership and accelerates your team, game, and career. Sign up here to learn more: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6

Is your corporate strategy killing your "Golden Goose"?

It's the nightmare scenario for every creative leader: You catch the wave, your game is a runaway success, and then—the "adults" enter the room.

In this episode, we react to Jeff Kaplan's candid interview with Lex Fridman, where he reveals the internal fractures that derailed Overwatch, from "miscommunication by PowerPoint" to the soul-crushing moment a CFO leveraged a thousand jobs against a revenue target.

What you will learn in this episode:

• Why putting arbitrary dates in an executive deck hurts you
• How a money-focused lens creates efficient organizations that forget the player
• The danger of "bolting on" a league for monetization
• Why one bad decision by a senior executive can lose you twenty years of top-tier talent.
• Why leaning into live events and player happiness is often a better ROI than rushing a sequel

You may listen to the full audio podcast:

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/493-jeff-kaplan-world-of-warcraft-overwatch-blizzard/id1434243584?i=1000754728791

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/44oTEHDZdB7ITCB5dx88mB?si=6d45a2506a794ee8

Lex Fridman's YouTube Channels:

🔗 @lexfridman

🔗 @LexClips

Original Video: https://youtu.be/5imgkwupzAQ?si=cR8_WMo3eNmmks7d

Full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9rF1CSSh-w

If you are a creative leader tired of "walking towards the abyss," a developer who feels their autonomy is being eroded by spreadsheets, or anyone who wants to understand why the most successful games in the world can still fall apart from the inside, this episode is for you.

Connect with us:

🔗Ben's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-carcich/

🔗BBG's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/building-better-games/

🔗Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildingbettergames/#

🔗Website: https://www.buildingbettergames.gg

🔗YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZpMT-dUwQR-R4Mb4uub6Sw

If you want me to help producers or studios build better games through effective systems and leadership, you can reach me at: info@valarinconsulting.com

#GameDevLeadership #Overwatch2 #JeffKaplan #GamingIndustry #CreativeAutonomy #BuildingBetterGames