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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.
Episodes
Tuesday Oct 15, 2024
Tuesday Oct 15, 2024
TCW Podcast Episode 220 - Diablo 2
We continue exploring the Diablo franchise with Diablo 2 and the journey of the team at Blizzard North. This episode covers the history of the Hellfire expansion for Diablo 1 and how it came to be developed by Sierra Online. A directive was issued for Blizzard North to focus on creating Diablo 2. The team aimed not just to create a bigger dungeon but to expand the game’s overall scope. However, the development of Diablo 2 faced challenges like feature creep, excessive gaming, and the absence of a game design document. These issues led to a year and a half of crunch time to complete the game. Despite these difficulties, Diablo 2 was released to phenomenal success.
Hellfire Monk Playthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJlxnFfxRM4
David Brevik on Diablo Hellfire: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4bDFgcuH-I
Warcraft Adventures - Lord of the Clans (Lets Play): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7JZu__7KTs
Thor - Overworked % Amazon Game Studios: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/IVdaysrIS74
Thor - Blizzard Working Conditions: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/B2mqnuRalYA
Thor - Blizzard Pay: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/a8aumvAq5gM
Thor - Value vs Income from a Job: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8s3wa5kL6RY
TCW 054 - Blizzard - Vikings and WarCraft: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/blizzard-vikings-and-warcraft/
TCW 055 - Blizzard - Hellfire and The World… of WarCraft: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/blizzard-hellfire-and-the-world%E2%80%A6-of-warcraft/
Diablo II from 2000: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_MoFDWJees
Diablo II LOD Playthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sM7gA_xD7vE
Original StarCraft Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAXDv--grUE
Diablo II TV Commercial (Its Everywhere): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzBp9ECiodc
Diablo II TV Commercial (Evil Has Survived): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RvRK5qf6Lc
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: RoleMusic - 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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