Six episodes of the Playable Futures podcast have now been released - an insightful series of conversations between journalist Will Freeman and the thought leaders shaping the games sector today. Take a look at our overview of the series so far, and be sure to download the episodes that capture your imagination.

United Nations on a greener games industry

The series kicks off with Sam Barratt, the UN Environment's chief of education for youth and advocacy, talking about the UN's Playing for the Planet Alliance (of which Ukie is a member). Sam reflects on the power of the games sector to inspire and engage audiences, and the potential that it holds to call audiences to action over the defining issue of our age: climate change. Listen to Sam's episode now.

The future of VR, with Resolution's Tommy Palm

Tommy Palm is an industry veteran responsible for the enormous success of Candy Crush Saga. Since then, he's shifted his focus to the world of virtual reality, courtesy of Ultimechs, Resolution’s new multiplayer VR gaming experience. In this session, Palm reflects on the future of virtual reality and its creative possibilities, noting that VR's complete reinvention of the traditional playing experience parallels the evolution he witnessed in the mobile games space. Listen to Tommy's episode now.

The future of indie

In this episode we heard from Stephanie Darrah, Patrick O'Luanaigh and Andreas Firnigl - who together represent three of the many independent and mid-size studios that are currently making waves in the games industry. They discuss how much the game space has changed in the past decade and what it means to be an indie in a world where their titles are vying for audiences’ attention alongside AAA behemoths. Listen to their episode now.

The future of game marketing and community

This episode is two interviews in one - presenter Will Freeman chats to Mark Reed, Founder of Heaven Media to reflect on the relationship between games and marketing, as well as the important role that communities play in shaping its landscape. He then interviews Romain de Waubert de Genlis, Studio Head and Chief Creative Officer at Amplitude Studios who discusses how his platform Games2Gether aims to bring the gaming community into the dev process. Listen to this double whammy episode now.

The future of publishing

In this episode, Will Freeman discusses with Jean Paul Hardy of Gearbox and Tom Hegarty of Roll7 the foundational relationship of the games industry - that of the publisher and the developer. The three consider what the future holds for publishing in a sector in which the rate of change is rapid and accelerating, and where the balance between community, audience, developer and publisher has shifted irrevocably. Listen to their episode now.

The future of talent pipelines into games

The most recent episode of Playable Futures sees a panel of experts (including Shahneila Saeed of Ukie and Digital Schoolhouse) reflect on the challenges and opportunities of the industry’s talent pipeline, and how the sector finds itself at a crossroads in terms of future proofing recruitment for the medium and long term success of the sector. Listen to the full episode now.