The Intersection of Game Development and User Experience with Cheryl Platz

What do video games and world-building have in common? Everything. Lou reconnects with Cheryl Platz—author, designer, and creative director—to explore the evolving world of video game development. Cheryl shares what drew her back to the gaming industry after years in enterprise UX and voice design, and how her new book, The Game Development Strategy Guide, distills insights across disciplines to help teams build modern games that truly thrive.

The conversation ranges from the power of cross-functional collaboration to the benefits UX skills bring to game development to the monetization models shaping today’s games. Cheryl reflects on the challenges facing the industry—massive layoffs, misaligned incentives, and a lack of shared understanding—and how a more human-centered, sustainable approach could be a game changer. Whether you're a UX professional, game developer, or just curious about what makes great video games tick, this episode offers a sharp, wide-angle view of where the field is headed.

What You'll Learn from this Episode:

• Why traditional UX skills transfer powerfully to game development
• The critical role of onboarding, perception, and player motivation in game design
• How communication breakdowns across teams and publishers derail game success
• Why so many modern games fail—not because of content, but because of friction in experience design
• What it means for a video game to be “sustainable” in an era of microtransactions and live service models
• How self-expression and community drive the economics of successful games
• Why studios must embrace authenticity and player feedback—especially in an AI-driven future
• What makes Cheryl’s favorite indie game, Blue Prince, a model of sustainable design

 

Quick Reference Guide:

0:14 - Meet Cheryl

4:00 - The intersection of UX and game development

9:12 - Communicating design value to non-designers

13:17 - What sets top game studios apart: vision, community, and embracing ambiguity

17:01 - How UX helps games stand out in crowded genres

21:38 - 5 Reasons you need the Rosenverse

24:01 - What sustainability really means in live-service games

30:54 - Cheryl’s gift for the audience

 

Resources and Links from Today's Episode:

The Game Development Strategy Guide by Cheryl Platz https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/game-development-strategy-guide/ 

Blue Prince https://www.blueprincegame.com/ 

 

Quotes:

“This book is about us trying to define the industry we want to see because the industry we have is no longer working.”

“Capitalism isn’t engineered to like hard things.” 

“ Players want that authenticity. They want to know that they're supporting actual creators and not just something that was randomly generated by AI.” 

“I cannot overstate how important self-expression is in live service games.”