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The games we love reveal something true about who we are, and about the world that made them. They Create Worlds is a podcast about the people, technology, and forces that built the video game industry.
Through video game history, the show looks at how culture, business, and technology shaped what we play, tracing the choices and circumstances that led to the games so many people around the world enjoy.
Each episode digs into where games came from, who made them, and why they were made the way they were. Business decisions, technological shifts, and creative choices all shaped what ended up on screen, and the show covers all of it together, not just one piece in isolation.
Hosted by Alex Smith and Jeffrey Daum, They Create Worlds grew out of long conversations about the strange corners of the industry and the patterns that only show up when you look across companies, platforms, and decades. That conversational feel remains, built on careful research, clear structure and editing that makes even the deepest topics easy to listen to.
History turns out to be less settled than it looks. New documents surface, memories conflict, and the clean stories about why things happened the way they did rarely survive contact with the evidence. The show digs into all of that, following the creative and business forces that pushed and pulled on each other, and uncovering the human stories that lie beneath the games so many people around the world enjoy.
New episodes are released twice a month.
The games we love reveal something true about who we are, and about the world that made them. They Create Worlds is a podcast about the people, technology, and forces that built the video game industry.
Through video game history, the show looks at how culture, business, and technology shaped what we play, tracing the choices and circumstances that led to the games so many people around the world enjoy.
Each episode digs into where games came from, who made them, and why they were made the way they were. Business decisions, technological shifts, and creative choices all shaped what ended up on screen, and the show covers all of it together, not just one piece in isolation.
Hosted by Alex Smith and Jeffrey Daum, They Create Worlds grew out of long conversations about the strange corners of the industry and the patterns that only show up when you look across companies, platforms, and decades. That conversational feel remains, built on careful research, clear structure and editing that makes even the deepest topics easy to listen to.
History turns out to be less settled than it looks. New documents surface, memories conflict, and the clean stories about why things happened the way they did rarely survive contact with the evidence. The show digs into all of that, following the creative and business forces that pushed and pulled on each other, and uncovering the human stories that lie beneath the games so many people around the world enjoy.
New episodes are released twice a month.
Episodes

Monday Aug 15, 2022
Activision and Kotick Part 2
Monday Aug 15, 2022
Monday Aug 15, 2022
TCW Podcast Episode 168 - Activision and Kotick Part 2
In part two of our look at Activision under Bobby Kotick's leadership. We see how Activision's franchises and licensed properties were leveraged for revenue. We look at how Activision had to revive the entire development apparatus from scratch. They used the animation skills of a Disney-trained trained animator for Pitfall the Mayan, Adventure. Finally, Activision was able to firmly gain footing, and regain profitability with the release of MechWarrior 2!
The Manhole: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JC2AgMnTFd4
Leather Goddesses of Phobos 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA0rPwUcQmQ
Return to Zork: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSoT0Ty8MVQ
The Fox and the Hound Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbuIeTHh4To
The Black Cauldron Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isAtOHLiMH8
Tron Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtyHX7z8fi8
Technological Threat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiTgoRR3tbk
Ferngully - The Last Rainforest Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dzqyc95zcxo
Pitfall The Mayan Adventure(SNES): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G34rcaK11W0
Pitfall The Mayan Adventure (Sega CD): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P86I5GgsLZM
BattleTech The Crescent Hawk's Inception: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rtXTFtyQms
Mechwarrior: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuxySqjb5X8
Dos Protected Mode Explained: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAyQLV5bbb0
Why you need DOSBox: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZmlfmK619g
Mechwarrior 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0mSdnxM7fc
New episodes on the 1st and 15th of every month!
TCW Email: feedback@theycreateworlds.com
Twitter: @tcwpodcast
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theycreateworlds
Alex's Video Game History Blog: http://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com
Alex's book, published Dec 2019, is available at CRC Press and at major on-line retailers: http://bit.ly/TCWBOOK1
Intro Music: Josh Woodward - Airplane Mode - Music - "Airplane Mode" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/song/AirplaneMode
Outro Music: RolemMusic - Bacterial Love: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Rolemusic/Pop_Singles_Compilation_2014/01_rolemusic_-_bacterial_love
Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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