S1 E1: Using UX Strategy to Put Players First with Celia Hodent, PhD

Enduring Play: A Game Development Podcast

From her work as UX Director at Epic Games on classics like Fortnite to her widely respected published books on the psychology of video games, UX Strategist and author Celia Hodent, PhD has helped a broad variety of games, gamers, and game developers wrangle the complexity of possibility using classic human-centered design and research psychology techniques. In this first episode of Enduring Play, Celia and Cheryl go far beyond wireframes to redefine your mental model of what the discipline of user experience can truly bring to the table for video game teams. We also explore ethics for modern game economies, inspired by Celia's time as the founder of the Ethical Games initiative.

There's something in this conversation for everyone because the application of user experience to video game development is critical to crafting video games that thrive: far more than just delivering screens, the craft of user experience can help game development teams foresee potential problems early, make smarter business decisions, and apply the best of cognitive psychology to make games more fun to play.

Season 1 of the Enduring Play podcast is an indie podcast drawn from interviews that informed Cheryl Platz's new book The Game Development Strategy Guide: Crafting Modern Video Games That Thrive, which is available for pre-order worldwide in advance of its release on September 16, 2025. Show notes, including a full bio, episode outline, and links are available on the Enduring Play website.