This week’s episode is a really grounded, honest look at what it actually takes to build a career in game development, especially early on.

Nathan Kellman joins me to talk about his journey into level design, starting from a love of JRPGs and evolving into working on Diablo IV. What really stood out to me here wasn’t just the career milestones, but the mindset he brings to the work.

There’s a great moment where he talks about losing hours of work on an art piece and realising he didn’t want to redo it. That’s the moment he knew it wasn’t the right discipline for him. Compare that to level design, where rebuilding and iterating felt natural, and you start to see how important that internal signal is.

We also get into the reality of the industry - projects getting cancelled, layoffs, and how you process that without losing momentum. Nathan’s perspective is refreshingly pragmatic. He understands the business side of games, but still holds onto the passion that got him started.

On top of that, he’s now teaching level design, and I loved hearing how he approaches it, especially his insistence on removing art entirely so students can focus on what actually makes a level work.

It’s a really thoughtful episode, particularly if you’re early in your career or trying to figure out where you fit.

Highlights

How Dragon Quest VIII inspired Nathan to pursue game development
The moment he realised art wasn’t the right path for him
Why losing work can reveal what you actually care about
Breaking into AAA and working on Diablo IV
The reality of layoffs and project cancellations
Why level design is central to the player experience
Teaching fundamentals and stripping away visual noise
The importance of adaptability across genres

Find the Podcast at:

Find Nathan At: