At PAX West, Ed and Stephanie both had the opportunity to speak with representatives at Seismic Squirrel and demo Aether & Iron. We are happy to now share the interview Ed conducted. Please enjoy.

Ed: Hello everybody, this is Eddie V., here at PAX West 2026. I am with Seismic Squirrel, ready to try Aether & Iron.  Now, you guys, I have a great guest, and you will not believe who it is. Would you introduce yourself?  

Gary: Yeah, I’m Gary Jensen. I’m the art director on Aether & Iron. It’s super cool to be here. 

Ed: Yes, it is! Gary, we were talking about art earlier, and I have to say the art for Aether & Iron is drop-dead gorgeous.  Just looking at the game and marketing material, I should say, it is completely beautiful. Before we get into that, I got to ask, how did you get into game development? 

Gary: Well, I actually started as a graphic designer. Most of my education is in graphic design, but I’ve always had a niche for drawing and creating things. So, after I finished school, I didn’t really like doing graphic design anymore. I actually got a job at a tech company. That was kind of my foot in the door for gaming because I started working on mobile slot machines and stuff like that as a production artist. I had a little stint working at an animation studio as a background designer. I got to work on this kid show called Rainbow Butterfly Unicorn Kitty. 

Ed: Oh, wow. 

Gary: Yeah, it only lasted for one season. Honestly, it wasn’t my style, but you know, it was actually super fun to work on, and because of the work I did on that, they asked me to do some background art for Rick and Morty. So, I got to work on that for a little bit. That was kind of fun. I worked on a few episodes of that, and it just wasn’t as fulfilling. 

I wanted to get into games. So I joined IGG, which is a big mobile game company. They gave me a shot, and I got to sign on as a concept artist with them. I worked with them for a few years. I worked on some cool titles like Mythic Heroes. After that, I actually got to move down to another company called Navigator Games. They had a game for Iron Maiden, the band; yeah, they had a mobile game. It was kind of crazy. I got to do some promotional art for them and do some concept art for them. 

I also worked on Avatar: The Last Airbender for mobile. We had the IP for it. We actually developed a cool mobile RPG game for it. It was out for a little while, but it didn’t work out. We had to shut it down because I guess Netflix snatched up the IP, and it wiped out our project.  After that, I actually ended up here at Seismic Squirrel.  

Most of my background is in mobile games, but I have a pretty extensive resume working on 2D projects.  So this was actually a perfect fit for me. I started as the concept artist, and then eventually they needed an art director.  So I hopped into that role, and here I am.  

Ed: Were you someone at a young age who got into video games?  

Gary: Oh yeah. Most of my friends had the Sega Genesis and the Super Nintendo, and I was too poor for that. So, I’d always just go to their house and play. I was always kind of enamored with video games. I didn’t my first gaming system until I was 12, and it was an N64. I loved Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire so much. It was super fun. 

Of course, GoldenEye was just mind-blowing. Also, Perfect Dark! The same developers worked on that. N64 for me was a super fun system. That’s how I got into video games.

When I discovered the PlayStation, I felt they had way cooler titles. I ended up getting a PlayStation. Ever since then, I was hooked on their games. I played a lot of RPGs—tons of Final Fantasy. At one point, I had Final Fantasy 7 through 10, and I had to put like hundreds of hours into all of them. I realized this is fun, but I’m putting hundreds of hours into these games, and I [knew I] got to do something with my life here.

I just had all this creative energy in my brain, and I was like, “Oh, I want to work on something like this”. It’s always been that thing that’s been in the back of my brain. When I decided to become a graphic designer, it was kind of weird. I just figured that this would be the easiest way to do something creative; [however], it still wasn’t scratching that itch.  

I have some really good friends who were artists in the industry, and they mentored and helped me build my art skills. Eventually, I could apply at these places and get a job. That’s kind of how it escalated.

Ed: Were you inspired growing up as a kid by other media when it comes to art?

Gary: If I go really far back to the late 80s and early 90s, [the Teenage Mutant] Ninja Turtles were a huge influence on me. 

Ed: I’m 46. I understand.

Gary: Awesome. I know Batman was big for me. Like lots of comic books, X-Men, all of that stuff.  That’s what got me going also. I had all these cool scenarios with all of these neat characters in my head. I had to draw them out.

At one point I did create a comic book character, but it didn’t really go anywhere. It was kind of ridiculous. What was his name? I think it was like Captain Australia or something stupid like that. It was fun, and I’ve always created these weird scenarios in my head, and I just like to play them out. 

Art was a great outlet. Even as I got older, I started dabbling in traditional painting. I did a lot of traditional painting before I got into my career as well. That was really fun.  When digital [art] came, you can make mistakes and fix them right away and do all sorts of cool things.  

Ed: My best friend, Corey, created his own artwork for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. It’s extremely stunning to look at. 

Now, were there times when you were making art that you felt emotional? You said that your art was an outlet, and I wonder, has art been therapeutic for you? Did it get you through some hard times? 

Gary: Well, you know, it’s kind of funny. I feel like [there is] emotional instability [in] everyone’s life when they’re a teenager; you’re all over the place. I think when I was a teenager, I was really deep into things like Final Fantasy 7, 8, 9—especially 8 and 9.  They resonated with me, and those characters inspired me for my own art, because I would create all sorts of cool characters and cool little storylines. 

A lot of my inspiration was drawn from that. I think when you’re young, you draw the characters, and you create these scenarios to help you almost structure a roadmap for how you want to deal with your own problems.  So, I would say [that] art’s always been a part of my life. It’s something you got to do. It’s just this weird compulsion; you get an idea in your head, and you have to build it or put it on paper. You just got to do it, get it out of your system so you don’t forget it. Maybe that’s it. 

Ed: How did that lead into the artwork of Aether & Iron? Were you drawing from personal experience?  

Gary: So, I didn’t design the characters. We have an amazing artist. Her name is Mika Tanagi, and she does all the characters. She’s fantastic! I do some of the art, but I’m just the guy that tells people what to do. For example, I might say, “Oh, maybe change this and change that”.  I don’t want it to get lost here. Like, the art team is the star [here]; I’m just lucky enough that I get to lead them and put my own art in at the same time. It’s really a team effort.  

Ed: I’m sorry for any confusion because I thought of an art director does more than directing. With that said, did you help design some stuff, and if so, did you draw from real life to be input in the game? 

Gary: Well, most of my contributions to the game were mostly backgrounds and stuff like that. I may have helped with one or two characters. I can speak for most of the artists: most of the art that is created is coming from a visual library that builds up. So that means your experiences, the things you’ve seen, art, other art you’ve seen, it all meshes together, and your personality is going to be in there somewhere.  

I’ll be honest, okay, there’s one little Easter egg I always put in my art, even in the art in the game. You won’t ever see it. I always do things in threes.  It’s a general art rule, but I do it in threes because I’ve got two younger brothers.  Everything I do, there’s usually a number three on it or three of something. Just a token thing in there. I love my brothers. They’re annoying, but I love them deeply.

Ed: As the art director for Aether & Iron, how did the team come about?

Gary: Yeah, so in general you’re trying to create the style of the game and just kind of have the guidelines set up. You’re pulling a lot of references, and as an art team, you’re kind of beholden to what narrative and design require of you.  So, the narrative could come up with this cool little story, and they say, okay, we need a big building that looks like this and this and this, and they got a checklist. 

We got to meet those things, but we have creative liberty to kind of throw in our own things and stuff.  What we had to do with this game is really, really dig in and look for actual New York City references.  We have a rule that is 70/30—70% realistic and then 30% sci-fi. Sometimes it can be a little bit more sci-fi, and it needs to be because we got a flying city, right? 

For me, I’ve kind of learned to just enjoy the process. It’s not as glamorous as I’m putting emotions into this or anything like that. We’re putting ourselves into it as far as our enthusiasm and passion for doing art and building games. We do have rules and guidelines that we have to follow because the narrative team and the designers have a vision. We’re essentially the ones who have to make it. Obviously, as artists, we have creative liberty to put our own flair on it. 

A lot of times when we are working on the concept, we end up making things that they didn’t even think of. Our responsibility is that we need to make something that’s either meets their expectations or exceeds them. It’s a balancing act because you are beholden to the narratives and designers. After all, it’s their game. They set the rules for the sandbox that we get to play in and then we build the sandcastle. It’s beautiful. 

Ed: Well, before we continue on, can you give us the premise of Aether & Iron?  

Gary: Aether & Iron is an alternate history of New York City based in the 1930s. In this timeline, human science has discovered a new element called Aether. It’s used to do all sorts of fantastical things. It is also used to raise cities and make them fly. Cars can fly and hover. Later on in the game, you discover it can be used for other things too.  There’s a lot of industrial development around Aether, which does cause some corruption and some political intrigue. 

You play as Gia, a smuggler, and she’s just trying to get by and get her cut of the pie, so to speak, and through a series of events, kind of gets tied into the whole world of all the political corruption and the intrigue, and also some interesting things that are happening in her environment that she otherwise wouldn’t have really cared for. So yeah, and then of course you’re just racing around blowing stuff up, which is fun. 

Ed: How were the discussions surrounding gameplay and the style? How was the art team able to work with the development team on making the game?

Gary: Well, our game has been in development for a while. I’ve only been the art director for about two and a half years. I came in relatively early. In the early stages, they wanted to make a game, and they wanted something sci-fi. I think their mindset was, hey, we want to make something tactical.  So, it always kind of started with the tactical side of the cars and stuff. We want to have a battle with cars. We figured, okay, the 1930s is a good time. 

You know, it’s not totally unheard of to have cars driving around shooting at each other. I mean, today that’s just totally out of place; if that happens, it’s on the six o’clock news. It’s a whole thing. 

Of course, our narrative designer is a huge history buff, Tyler Whitening. He knows a lot about New York City, and he just has all these cool, interesting, historical facts and anecdotes from people that lived in that time period. So, we had a lot of historical stuff to really lean on and take artistic liberties with. 

When it came to the combat, there was a lot of iteration and experimentation long before I even got onto the project, and they had just started figuring it out when I came on. I feel like we landed on something pretty cool. I love having the roads keep moving. You feel like you’re in a high-speed chase and not just playing on a board, [like with chess]. 

Ed: It does. I wonder when the art team saw their work in motion in this game.  Did you all just take it in? I ask because I picture how cool it must be to see everyone come together to see the game in motion. How did it feel when you saw the progress?

Gary: My career’s a little bit longer than, say, other artists on my team. I can speak to my own experience of the first time—I had that wow moment. Funny enough, when I was working on that kid’s cartoon, I saw my work on TV, and just seeing it finished with all the animation, I said to myself, “Hey. I helped with that”. Seeing your name in the credits was like, “whoa”! 

We have some veterans, but we also have some brand-new people. For [the latter], it’s super satisfying when we have a background artist who’s been working on something for maybe a few weeks or a month, and then their work pays off because it’s in the engine. You can see all the parts that they’ve painted moving and animated, and it’s in-game, and it’s playable. There’s something about that that’s super satisfying. It’s almost why a lot of people do it; it’s just because it’s that satisfaction that you get at the end of the road. Kind of spurs you on to do even better or do more.

Ed: Would you want to make an art book for Aether & Iron?

Gary: Well, I got something exclusive for you. We’re going to be releasing an art book pretty soon. You’ll be able to see some sketches of what early iterations of the game looked like.  You’ll see that development.

Ed: YAS!!! I NEED IT!!  I know we were talking about art books before the interview, you know, and the importance of art books. We gamers enjoy getting that art, like when Limited Run, I Am 8-bit, and other companies make them. We enjoy seeing how the artwork was created.

I know art books weren’t a big thing for video games. Art books were big for professional pictures and artists who have work around the world and stuff. Video game art books weren’t something we should have had. When the Nintendo Switch started coming out with a lot of Collector’s Editions, that’s when the art books started picking up for us. They did an art book for Xenoblade Chronicles 1 and 2 for Switch. Everybody started collecting video game art books, and everybody started buying the Switch version of games that had them. 

Gary: Well, you know, it’s kind of interesting you mentioned that because a big part of my art journey was collecting art books. I have a pretty extensive library because I love movies, and I’ve got the art of a lot of movies—a lot of games [too], actually.  The thing that also helped me get into the game industry, or have that desire, is just seeing art in these art books. I think art books are super important. I think that’s the rising generation of artists; the way that they improve and get better is by experiencing and looking at other people’s art. That’s just how it is. 

Even when you’re starting, you’re not necessarily painting or drawing your own things.  Sometimes you’re just starting out doing fan art. Maybe you’re trying to copy somebody else’s style. That’s how it works. Once you’ve locked some basic skills down, then you can start getting experimental and start doing your own things. Developing your own style. Generally, that’s how it starts. Seeing other art and seeing how other people do it.

Ed: It’s funny that you mentioned that. I’m not a great artist, but I do love art. I do love to draw. It’s therapeutic to me. Back in my seventh-grade year in elementary school, when Capcom put their art in their ads, I was always trying to draw in their style. I was drawing it with pencil, and they had those thick black lines, and at this point, I’d never taken an art class. I never bought art books. My thing was just like, I’m not the kind of person that puts a paper over something and traces it. No, I was just kind of teaching myself and learning to draw to see if it comes out exactly like the picture. It didn’t look one-to-one, but I’m like, I took my time to draw this and everything.  

For the people that do trace, I don’t knock them. You got to start somewhere. Sometimes that’s just how certain artists learn, but you got to start somewhere. Now, I have to ask, what parts of the game as an artist do you just love to see in Aether & Iron? Is there something that players should look for? Did you ever get any reception from players who have played the game about the art? 

Gary: Actually, we get a lot of positive comments about the art. I’m super proud of the art team because they did a great job, and I’ve yet to hear a discouraging word about the art in our game, and that speaks a lot to the art team. We have Juan Santos; he’s our car designer. He’s a really good concept artist. He’s the one who basically concepted all of our vehicles. They just look awesome. I’m a car guy; I love cars. I love machines, and I love anything mechanical. Sometimes I’ll just be going through our repository of concept art, and I’ll just look at the work and tell myself, “I gotta get better”.

If anything, you should take time to look at the cars. The characters are the heart and soul of the game. There are so many of them. One person basically designed most of them. That’s an amazing feat. Our character artists are just phenomenal. I also recommend taking in the characters. Their expressions and every little detail on the clothing and stuff. I spent so much time just going, “oh wow”. The thing is, with most of those characters, there are four or five different versions of them that didn’t even make it into the game. So, she concepted them. You’ll see some of them in the art book. That’s how it is in working in games; sometimes you do a ton of work, and it doesn’t see the light of day.

Ed: I talked to Masura Saito at NIS America. He’s the producer for Brigadine Abyss, the strategy tactical game. I asked him about having all of these characters. When the game was out in Japan, did he look at pictures of people cosplaying the game characters? I wonder for you, is that something that you’re hoping for?  I won’t say you’re expecting it, but how would you feel if you started seeing characters from the game being cosplayed? 

Gary: Well, I’ve had that experience working on mobile.  

Ed: Oh! Nice!

Gary: Yeah, yeah. Mythic Heroes, the mobile game I worked on, a lot of the characters in there, they just have, like, completely absurd fantasy outfits, and they’re very anime-inspired. Lots of people will dress up like those. I think even our narrative director here, he sometimes will come to these, and he’ll be wearing a three-piece suit, pinstripe, with a fedora and all of that stuff. I think it would be really cool if somebody does a Gia, if they can do that outfit there. I’d be very impressed.

Ed: Oh, give them time. Someone’s going to hand-make that whole outfit and wear it to for Halloween or something.

Gary: I hope so.

Ed: I always wonder what artists think about their creations on other people in the real world as cosplay or Halloween costumes like that. 

Gary: In most artists’ hearts, I think they’re super flattered. There’s no other way to take that other than, wow, you liked it so much that you found something in that character that you wanted to put out into the real world. That’s awesome. Yeah, that would make me very happy. 

Ed: So there’s a certain thing that is happening to Aether & Iron. What do you have to announce about the game?

Gary: Yes! I am happy to announce that Aether & Iron is coming to Xbox and PlayStation in 2027! We’re in early development right now. When we started developing the game, we designed it with consoles in mind. The main thing was just finishing the game and getting it out on Steam. The one we got on Steam is great, and it’s fantastic, and it looks great on the Steam Deck. We were asking ourselves, what will the next step for this game be? The natural steps would be to get it on Xbox and PlayStation. We’d like to do Switch, but you know, dev kits are [challenging] to get.

Ed: That is a common problem with a lot of devs regarding Nintendo. So many people want a dev kit to put on the Switch family of consoles. In time, because one of my questions was going to be, if the team found out that Aether and Iron was coming to Switch and Switch 2 and announced in an Indie Direct, how would you feel personally? 

Gary: It’d be exciting. It’s always fun to see you ship a title. It’s always really cool. Even just seeing the game on Steam, like in the Steam library and stuff like that, that’s awesome. It’s a great feeling of accomplishment. 

For Gamescom a few years back, we got nominated for four awards. One of them was best narrative, best game, game of the year, and art and sound.  We lost all of them to Expedition 33. But you know, that’s not a failure. Just being nominated is a great sign.

Ed: Yes!

Gary: But yeah, it’s always a really good feeling when your work is recognized, and yeah, it’s just super satisfying.  Most artists, they might lie to you, but down in their hearts, they like that stuff. They like it. 

Ed: Well, I just got two more questions.  So my first question is, I’m doing a project called the Beauty of Video Games: Personal Interest. It’s about a personal game that means something to you, that you found the beauty in that many others might not find. To you, that one particular game or a form of media has inspired you, helped you through things, and really means something to you. Is there a personal game that maybe has had a big impact that you find beautiful? Maybe it’s a game that other people don’t know about; if they hear why it’s beautiful to you, they may want to give it a try and see if they can see that same beauty.  

Gary: Well, I’m going to sound superficial here, but the one game that had probably the biggest impact [because I love drawing mechanical things, and I love creatures and dinosaurs] was Horizon Zero Dawn. When that game came out, it destroyed my life because I was just like, robot dinosaurs. It was a match made in heaven.

It also opened my mind to the fact that developers really can do amazing things with games. If you’ve seen the poly count on some of those dinosaurs, it’s insane. Just the world and the story—it’s like actual escapism.  I don’t have to worry about all my bills or any of that stuff when I’m playing that game. I’m just in this really unique, crazy place. I’m like, for me, it’s just eye candy, and it’s just an awesome experience. So, I would say that one has probably had the biggest impact on me. 

Ed: A funny story, and please do not get mad at me or view me differently. When Sony first showed that trailer, I was upset. I hated what they showed because I’m like, this is it? I had such a negative reaction because I was tired of trailers doing this reveal that doesn’t tell you anything.  Now, I’m still going to support Sony. I’m still gonna pick it up, and because of that, Guerrilla Games changed my whole mind.  

Yes, it looks beautiful in action and everything. When I started encountering all the diversity that’s in the game, all the characters and personal life stories that you encounter that you can help with, I was just like, “Oh, let me go with what I thought this game would be, and let me accept what this game is going to be”.  I didn’t know Guerrilla Games was going go that direction—from Killzone to this. 

I played that whole game for two whole weeks and got the idea that people at Guerrilla were talking to people about life situations. They really were in their diversity bag. They were handling topics that weren’t in sandbox games. Whether it was a side quest or it was a main line quest, that narrative, like you mentioned, was really impactful.  We need more games like this.

I agree the art is great. That deep and rich narrative layer really touched me. Horizon Zero Dawn is probably, to me, one of Sony’s top-tier games. I won’t argue that it may be a 9.5 in some people’s eyes and in mine, but I would say this first game should be considered an all-time classic because of what it does so well.  

Gary: Yep. I agree a hundred percent with that.

Ed: So, my last question—what is your go-to snack? 

Gary: Oh man, you know what’s funny is [that] I generally eat healthy. I eat lots of protein and all that kind of stuff. On the weekend when I just want to chill, it’s usually gummy savers and Coke Zero. It’s not anything flashy, but you know what? It does the job.

Ed: Do you drink the Cherry Coke Zero now? 

Gary: You know what? So, I’m a huge Cherry Coke guy. The Cherry Zero isn’t as good, but you know what? If it’s there, I’ll drink it. I’m all about Coke Zero, though. I drink too much of it. I might be addicted. There might be a problem.  

Ed: Yeah, you’re fine. There’s zero sugar, as they say.  Well, Gary, I want to thank you for your time for this interview. Aether and Iron is available now on Steam and will be coming to PlayStation and Xbox in 2027. I just had a great time talking to you, Gary, about the game, about your history with art, how you got into games, and more. Where can people find you, and where can they learn more about the game?  

Gary: You can go to seismicsquirrel.com. We’re on Steam as well, so all of our socials are linked up there. I’m on the Discord too. We’ve got our entire dev team usually on the Discord. So if you guys wanna hop on Discord and keep up to date on what’s going on, that’s a great way to do it too.  

Ed: Yes, and just one more thing I got to ask.  Is the team thinking about their next game? No discussions, no reveals, but are you guys thinking that after the console version comes out, are you guys ready to jump into the next game, or will everyone need a vacation for at least a week and then come together and talk about the next game? 

Gary: Oh, we’ve been thinking about the next game already. It’s in the planning stage.

Ed: There you go. Well, thank you, Gary. Everybody, please go pick this game up and support this team. Jump in their Discord. It is a beautiful game, a narrative RPG. Y’all know here at Boss Rush, we love narrative RPGs and games. So pick this game up; you will not be disappointed. Once again, Gary, thank you for your time. 

Gary: No, thank you. It’s awesome to meet you.

Boss Rush Network Spotlight Interview Series – Part of Boss Rush Podcast Plus

The Boss Rush Network Spotlight Interview Series is a major part of Boss Rush Podcast Plus, featuring insightful conversations with developers, publishers, creators, and industry veterans. Each interview delves into their careers, experiences in the gaming industry, creative inspirations, and favorite games, offering a personal look at the people shaping the games we play today. Find more interviews, spoilercasts, episodes of Expansion Pass, and more on YouTube and podcast services.

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