From Neopets to the Elite Four: Jenny Xu on building games, community, and Talofa Games

Welcome to Coffee.Press.Play., brought to you by The Business of Games Podcast, powered by Xsolla. Recorded live at GDC 2026 inside the Xsolla Clubhouse, this series puts a twist on the traditional interview format: guests play a round of a classic video game against our Xsolla host and the outcome determines whether they face an easy question or a hard one.In this episode, host Ed Lin sits down with Jenny Xu, CEO and founder of Talofa Games — a San Francisco-based studio making mobile games designed to get people mentally and physically healthier.Jenny started making games at 12. Not as a hobby she eventually professionalized, but as a lifeline. A self-described introverted kid who rarely spoke more than a word or two, she found her community online through Neopets, discovered art through that community, and taught herself Flash development on deviantart.com because games were the most interactive thing she could make. By 18, she had built 133 of them.The conversation traces her path from ActionScript 2 to MIT's cross-country team to the founding of Talofa Games — and the honest admission that somewhere between freshman year and graduation, she almost talked herself out of games entirely.What you'll hear:How loneliness and Neopets set Jenny on the path to game developmentWhy running and dark psychological anime were her two biggest creative inputsWhat it actually took to balance MIT athletics, social life, academics, and shipping gamesHow a copy of How to Win Friends and Influence People changed her trajectoryWhy she describes her career in games as a Pokémon journey — and what the Elite Four represents nowLet's get into it.Coffee.Press.Play. is an ongoing mini-series, and more conversations with our GDC guests are on the way. Listen on your favorite podcast platform or watch full episodes on our YouTube channel.Missed us at GDC 2026? Stay tuned to our LinkedIn page for announcements on where we'll be next. And catch up on recent episodes at xsolla.com/podcast.For more insights and resources, visit xsolla.com/podcast. Want to join the conversation? Follow and comment on our LinkedIn page at The Business of Games Podcast. That’s where we’ll be sharing updates, highlights, and continuing the discussion. And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, review, and share the podcast with friends who want to learn more about the business of games.