They Create Worlds

They Create Worlds

Alex Smith, and Jeffrey Daum

Episodes 259
Avg. Duration 1h 25m
Activity Highly Active
Apple Rating 4.9 (74)
Since Sep 2015
Latest Episode Jun 2026

Publishing Details

Schedule
Every 2 Weeks
Format
Episodic
Consistency
85%
Hosting
feed.theycreateworlds.com

Contact & Outreach

About This Podcast

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. 

Podcasting 2.0 Features

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Recent Episodes

A Cendant to Vivendi

Jun 01, 2026 1h 28m

TCW Podcast Episode 259 - A Cendant to Vivendi   CUC International looked like a company that never missed. Quarter after quarter, just barely beating estimates, right up until the moment Henry…

The Shenanigans of CUC Software

May 15, 2026 1h 22m Transcript

TCW Podcast Episode 258 - The Shenanigans of CUC Software   Walter Forbes built CUC International from Comp-U-Card, a phone-in discount shopping club that cut out the middleman with a small markup…

Nine Atari Games

May 01, 2026 1h 17m

TCW Podcast Episode 257 - Nine Atari Games   The Atari VCS launched with nine games to entice consumers into the new gaming medium, and Combat set the trend of packing multiple "games" into a single…

Cinemaware

Apr 15, 2026 1h 44m

TCW Podcast Episode 256 - Cinemaware   Bob Jacob launched Cinemaware to fuse movies and video games on Amiga, hiring journalist Kellyn Beeck to design Defender of the Crown's medieval themes.…

The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind

Apr 01, 2026 1h 17m

TCW Podcast Episode 255 - The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind   After Arena and Daggerfall's triumphs, Julian LeFay's Battlespire spinoff marked his last hand in the Elder Scrolls universe. Amid conflicts…

The Elder Scrolls: Arena & Daggerfall

Mar 15, 2026 1h 15m

TCW Podcast Episode 254 - The Elder Scrolls: Arena & Daggerfall   Bethesda Softworks, founded in 1985 by Christopher Weaver with sports titles like Gridiron and Wayne Gretzky Hockey along with…

Masanobu Endō

Mar 01, 2026 1h 17m

TCW Podcast Episode 253 - Masanobu Endō   Masanobu Endō is one of Japan's most important game designers, yet remains relatively unknown in the West. Starting from an uncertain role at Namco, he first…

A Guitar Hero

Feb 15, 2026 1h 32m

TCW Podcast Episode 252 - A Guitar Hero   The rise and fall of the Guitar Hero franchise and the rhythm game craze of the mid to late 2000s. Red Octane got its start making Dance Dance Revolution…

Virgin Games

Feb 01, 2026 1h 30m

TCW Podcast Episode 251 - Virgin Games   As a companion piece to our Mastertronic episode, we look at the rise and fall of Virgin Games. Beginning with Richard Branson’s mail-order record business…

Mastertronic

Jan 15, 2026 1h 5m

TCW Podcast Episode 250 - Mastertronic   From budget software publisher to the gateway for SEGA’s entry into Europe, we look at the rise and fall of Mastertronic. Initially shunned by high street…

New World Computing

Jan 01, 2026 1h 43m

TCW Podcast Episode 249 - New World Computing   We look at the rise and fall of New World Computing through the career of Jon Van Caneghem. Coming from the era of the lone programmer as the industry…

An Act of Control

Dec 15, 2025 1h 15m

TCW Podcast Episode 248 - An Act of Control   We look at Japan’s Act on Control and Improvement of Amusement Business and its impact on the arcade industry in Japan. In the late 1970s and early…

The History of Commodore Pt 4

Dec 01, 2025 1h 33m

TCW Podcast Episode 247 - The History of Commodore Pt 4 The final chapter of our Commodore series covers the company’s chaotic decline. After early success with the Amiga line, internal conflict…

The History of Commodore Pt 3

Nov 15, 2025 1h 33m

TCW Podcast Episode 246 - The History of Commodore Pt 3 After Jack Tramiel left Commodore and founded Tramel Technology, the company pressed on with mixed results. Systems like the SX 64, the C900,…

The History of Commodore Pt 2

Nov 01, 2025 1h 36m

TCW Podcast Episode 245 - The History of Commodore Pt 2   Commodore’s shift from calculators to computers began with the PET, which found success in Europe as a business machine. After seeing the…

The History of Commodore Pt 1

Oct 15, 2025 1h 19m

TCW Podcast Episode 244 - The History of Commodore Pt 1   We kick off our look at Commodore with the story of its founder, Jack Tramiel. A Holocaust survivor who emigrated to the United States,…

RCA Studio II

Oct 01, 2025 1h 22m

TCW Podcast Episode 243 - RCA Studio II   The RCA Studio II emerged from the company’s faltering computer division and the vision of engineer Joseph Weisbecker, who had long dreamed of personal…

Fumito Ueda

Sep 15, 2025 1h 24m

TCW Podcast Episode 242- Fumito Ueda   Fumito Ueda entered game design through art rather than a love of traditional play. Influenced by titles like Flashback and Another World, he sought to tell…

The First 10 Years of European Consoles

Sep 01, 2025 1h 41m

TCW Podcast Episode 241 - The First 10 Years of European Consoles   The first decade of European consoles began with imports of the Magnavox Odyssey, but soon local experiments took shape. In Spain,…

Nintendo: Playing with Mii & Wii

Aug 15, 2025 1h 51m

TCW Podcast Episode 240 - Nintendo: Playing with Mii & Wii   From DS touch-and-stylus play to living-room motion, we trace Nintendo's road to Wii. Nintendogs and Brain Age broadened the audience…

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does They Create Worlds have?

They Create Worlds has published 259 episodes since September 2015, covering topics in Games, History.

Is They Create Worlds still active?

They Create Worlds is currently highly active with new episodes every 2 weeks. Average episode length is 1h 25m.

How do I contact They Create Worlds for sponsorship or guest appearances?

Sign up on Grep.FM to access contact details for They Create Worlds, including email and social media links.

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