If You Want To Make Games, Listen To THIS First (Xalavier Nelson Jr.) — Full Time Game Dev Podcast

0:00 Intro: Game Development Like Gambling vs. Building a House 1:02 Introducing Xalaiver Nelson Jr. and His Games 2:48 Why Small Fast Games in 2026 3:30 Standing By the Small Games Philosophy 4:51 Worries About Bad Reception and Brand Impact 7:03 Genre Fatigue and Audience Expectations 9:56 Unique Human Games as a Smart Business Move 11:02 Choosing Your Spec Like in Diablo 13:52 Advice for Starting a Game Studio 17:31 Is Specialization Universal in Game Dev? 19:20 Studio Momentum and Growth Challenges 21:40 Exploring and Figuring Out Your Path 24:07 Shotgun Questions on Business Model 26:03 Contractor Model Like Building a House 28:13 Experience, Pitfalls, and Shipping Games 30:28 The DIDIT Acronym for Production 33:26 Making Game Dev Systematic and Less of a Gamble 35:16 Substantial Progress Toward Predictable Success 38:47 Advice on Releasing Games to Refine Process 40:37 Working on Games vs. Just Releasing Them 42:33 Current Projects and Multiple Games 44:16 Thoughts on "10X is Better Than 2X" Philosophy 47:34 Diversified Portfolio and 10X Strategy 50:18 Building a Brand and Cross-Pollination 52:43 Strategy for Atmospheric Horror Games 55:15 Frequency, Consistency, and Quality 57:36 Names in Games and Authorship 59:52 Falling in Love with Games and the Medium 1:00:05 Closing and Workshop Promo