Game Dev Career Advice, Starting a Studio & AI in 2026 | Rushdown Studios

About this episode

Kirk Becker and Hunter Fortuin discuss career advancement, co-development, and the impact of AI in the gaming industry by 2026.

Kirk Becker and Hunter Fortuin of Rushdown Studios join JP for a wide-ranging conversation on breaking into games, advancing your career, building a co-dev studio, AI's real impact, and what 2026 looks like from inside the industry. KEY TOPICS • Breaking into the games industry in 2026 • The "brag book" strategy for career advancement • Networking, portfolios, and increasing your surface area of luck • Co-development studio culture and ownership mindset • AI in game dev: what's real, what's hype, and what to do about it • Why NOT hiring junior talent due to AI is a long-term danger • UEFN, Roblox, Godot, and the new wave of accessible game development tools • Sustainable game development vs. big-budget gambles TIMESTAMPS 0:30 — Introductions & where in the world are you? 0:39 — Current roles at Rushdown Studios 1:17 — What early career work taught Hunter the most 2:24 — Career advice that turned out to be wrong 10:41 — Mistakes game devs make when trying to advance their career 24:32 — AI: Why every game dev needs to learn to leverage it now 24:47 — What's overhyped vs. what AI actually does well 26:03 — JP's take: using AI every day & the retired engineer who wakes up excited to…

People in this episode

Host: JP Podlasek

Guests: Kirk Becker, Hunter Fortuin

Topics covered

• game development
• career advice
• AI in gaming
• co-development
• networking
• sustainable game development

Keywords

• game dev
• career advancement
• AI impact
• co-dev studio
• networking
• game development tools

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Rushdown Studios, Roblox, Godot

Products: UEFN