Engineering Connection: Matthew Moss | Tokyo Game Bridge | Creative Director | GGJ Podcast Ep17

In episode 17, sponsored in part by the Sony PlayStation Hero Project, Susan chats with artist and game developer Matthew Moss about what it means to build community across cultures in one of the world’s most storied game hubs. Growing up in Miami in a deeply creative, nonconforming household, Matthew found his way into newspapers, editorial cartooning, and early web games before moving to New York and eventually to Japan, where he spent years working inside the industry while learning the language and rhythms of life in Tokyo. After a period of personal upheaval during COVID, he returned to Japan determined to create a space for connection, which became Tokyo Game Bridge, a community hub that brings together local developers, students, international studios, and partners across languages. We explore how listening became his most important skill, why spaces like Tokyo Game Bridge matter for people who feel like they stick out, and how his teaching instincts show up today as service to the community he has helped grow. 00:00 Intro 02:44 Growing up in Florida 04:20 Art, Drawing & Theater 07:44 From Non-Conforming Child to Teacher 15:21 Off to College in Pursuit of a Dream 19:06 Sensing the Shift and Taking Action 21:29 Sponsor: PlayStation Hero Project 22:57 Transferring Skills from Print to Games 26:08 Moving Abroad 33:01 The Bottom of the Barrel 37:29 Tokyo Game Bridge & the Value of Connection 40:42 Finding Alignment 45:14 Find Out More About Tokyo Game Bridge & Matthew 47:26 Outro Guest Bio: Matthew Moss is a Tokyo-based creative director, designer, illustrator, and visual development specialist whose work spans games, branding, and cross-border creative strategy. He is the Chair and Co-Founder of Tokyo Game Bridge, a mission-driven organization connecting games industry professionals across Japan and the global market. He also founded Tokyo Tailored Tours, a private tour experience that applies experience design principles to create deeply personal explorations of Tokyo's culture, history, and hidden local knowledge. In his studio practice, Matthew helps teams find clarity by shaping projects into strong visual identities, cohesive brands, and polished audience-facing products. His work covers art direction, illustration, game art, character and world concepting, brand systems, and end-to-end creative direction. He also teaches seminars on visual development for game design and the comparative history of games between Japan and the West. Across his work, Matthew is motivated by creativity as a way to build connection, awe, and wonder, both as design outcomes and as integrally spiritual elements of the shared human experience. Find out more about Matthew & the Tokyo Game Bridge! https://www.matthewmoss.com/ https://www.tokyogamebridge.org/ GGJ Podcast Sponsors: https://www.playstation.com/en-in/ind... https://www.playstation.com/en-in/chi... https://www.playstation.com/en-in/men... Wishlist "Suri: The Seventh Note" on Steam today! - https://store.steampowered.com/app/41... Join our Substack - https://tinyurl.com/GGJPodcastSubstack