#2. Outsourcing Without the Stigma, AI Flooding, and Roblox Rising

In this episode of The Allcorrect Gamedev Show, we chat with Brooke Van Dusen, founder of CDR External Development and author of Pixel Procurement. Brooke shares how his path from a Nintendo-filled childhood to Twitch’s golden days shaped his career, why he built CDR as a “full-stack outsourcing department” for studios, and how outsourcing still struggles with stigma in gamedev. We dive into his unforgettable story of bringing Snoop Dogg to a battle royale launch, his advice for young outsourcing studios and newcomers to the industry, and his vision of how AI, Roblox, and new business models will reshape games in the next decade.Timecodes:00:01:00 – First Memories of Video Games00:04:07 – Entering Games Through Twitch00:05:56 – The “Golden Days” of Twitch00:07:01 – Founding CDR External Development00:09:55 – The “Uber of Outsourcing” (But Not Quite)00:11:17 – How CDR Differs From Competitors00:14:20 – The Critical Role of Networking00:17:14 – The Outsourcing Stigma00:21:02 – The Problem With Aggressive Sales00:25:21 – Evaluating Studio Credibility00:28:23 – Why Portfolios Beat Demos00:31:15 – Advice for Young Outsourcing Studios00:35:08 – The Risk of AI Content Floods00:38:25 – The Snoop Dogg Story00:48:10 – The Future of the Games IndustryText version of this podcast episode: “Outsourcing Without the Stigma”.Want to be a guest?Join our next podcast episode! If you are a game studio founder, producer, designer, artist, or composer and know what it takes to create incredible games and make money, we’d love to chat with you. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit allcorrect.substack.com