Making Warcraft II, Breaking Crunch, Disney Infinity, Pitching Investors, Diablo, Animal Talking, Industry Stories, and Parting Advice with Bill Roper - a podcast by The HP Video Game Podcast Network - John JP Podlasek

On this episode we welcome guest Bill Roper, Chief Creative Officer at AuthorDigital and Adept Games. We start by discussing the impacts of COVID-19 on work and personal life and rising to the challenge of digitalizing our lives in completely unusual circumstances. Bill emphasizes the importance of taking time for yourself, focusing on mental health and being “family first”.
 
“Games are an amazing way for people to connect via distance, it’s what videogames were designed to do.”  - Bill Roper
 
Bill then talks about bringing his vision of empowering storytellers and giving them the ability to bring their craft into new digital spaces into a reality. He shares about his new role as co-founder of AuthorDigital and his work with Blizzard. He reflects on what he wishes he had known when he started his journey in the game developing industry, as well as advice for people who are in it right now. Bill happily divulges some of his favorite games to work on, aspects of the industry that he’s currently curious about, and even threats he sees. He then shares thoughts on AR and VR, games he’s excited about, and tells a few hilarious stories that he’s collected over the years.
 
“There is no greater return on your entertainment dollar, than a videogame.”  - Bill Roper
 
Bill Roper has been a well-known figure in the global gaming industry for 25 years. Since starting out at Blizzard Entertainment doing sound, music, and voice-over, he has basically done it all. From his nine years at Blizzard Entertainment dating back to 1994, to overseeing Design at Cryptic Studios, to the launch of Disney Infinity, he even co-founded multiple companies, including AuthorDigital. Bill is currently working on his passion of turning storytellers into game developers.
 
Connect with him on LinkedIn
Follow him on Twitter
 
Discussion Details:
[01:04] Introducing Bill Roper
[02:19] Addressing COVID-19 and its impacts on work and personal life
[05:35] Making the separation of work and personal life + taking time for yourself
[08:13] Bill’s new role as co-founder of AuthorDigital
[14:10] Work at Blizzard in the early days
[20:04] Passion & Money
[27:00] What do you wish you had known when you started?
[33:29] Advice for people in the industry
[38:58] Bill’s favorite games to work on
[55:13] What are you curious about right now regarding the industry?
[59:32] Threats to videogames
[1:09:38] Thoughts on AR & VR
[1:12:34] Games Bill is excited about
[1:17:10] Funny and odd stories of working in the industry
[1:27:20] Last piece of advice for people
[1:28:30] Outro
 
Show Links:
*AuthorDigital
*Adept Games
*Blizzard Entertainment
*Warcraft II
*Diablo
*Disney Infinity
*Fantasia: Music Evolved
*Animal Talking with Gary Whitta
*Animal Crossing
*Kards
*Townscaper
 
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