Career Coach and Indie Game Studio Co-Founder – Rick Davidson

Play Time 67 min

Rick Davidson

Rick Davidson is a man of many talents – game developer, career coach, online educator, psychologist, and unintentional game dev dad.

He has been massively immersed in the gaming industry for over 20 years, working with small and large studios on some exciting things throughout his career. This includes IPs like Marvel’s Captain America and Nintendo’s Mario games.

He also co-founded his own indie game studio, Inspirado Games before becoming a career coach at Gamedev.tv where he helps thousands of people achieve their dreams of making games for a living.

Career Coach and Indie Game Studio Co-Founder

Rick details his own journey from game developer to indie game studio co-founder, to qualified career coach.

Other topics include Unreal Engine versus Unity, how consistency leads to success and the tips for software companies looking to transition into game developers.

Also, find out what a game jam is and how it can help aspiring game developers.

Key Insights

Becoming an Indie Game CreatorRick created his own indie game studio when he became a little fatigued by working for the man. He wanted to forge his own path. He knew it wouldn’t be easy but that it could be done.

The Importance of the Gaming CommunityThese days, the definition of an indie game studio is fluid. Just because you’re an indie game developer does not mean you can’t have a publisher. But generally, indie refers to the size of the studio and a certain level of success. However, the indie spirit of a couple of people working in a garage on a passion project with the hopes of landing a publisher and achieving success remains.

Forging Your Own PathRick reminds us that it’s never too late or too early to start developing your own games, as long as the customer enjoys your product

Episode Highlights

"There's a whole bunch of people scattered along the road side broken and destroyed, because they tried to make their dream game first, they didn't know how to make it, they weren't ready for it. And they were so precious about the idea. And as you're saying it's immovable, you can't be agile, if you've already crafted the entire experience in your head." - Rick Davidson

"The message I have for people out there who are wondering about can you do it yourself? You absolutely can. You can start your own indie game studio. You can be making games yourself. You can do this as a career, you can be profitable." - Rick Davidson