Game Dev Unchained

JANUARY 16, 2025

Recently, I caught up with my old friend Jordan Smith to talk about where things stand and what the future looks like for game developers like us. In just the first half of 2024, over 10,000 game developers lost their jobs, according to GamesIndustry.biz (2024). Every single AAA studio is trying to copy that model.

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AI Games Technology AAA 52

Game Refinery

NOVEMBER 30, 2023

Narrative design has always been an important part of video game development, but its significance in modern-day games continues to grow as narrative elements play an important role in player engagement and retention. One newcomer to the subgenre that has been putting this to the test is Farlight Games’ Call of Dragons.

Mobile Gaming 247

Mobile Gaming Mobile Mobile Games 247

AWS Games

MAY 12, 2023

AWS GameTime is for gamers and budding game developers who want to go “behind-the-scenes” and learn how their favorite gaming experiences are made on AWS. The livestream is dedicated to showcasing game developers, playing their games and sharing their stories and expertise from the video game industry.

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Game Developer Game Development AAA Development 70

Game Dev Unchained

SEPTEMBER 18, 2023

I sat down with John Krajewski , the man behind the unique and forward-thinking game, Eco. The conversation shifted from the nuances of game development to the larger, looming concept of the “metaverse.” But, beyond gameplay mechanics, Eco speaks to a much larger industry trend: the emergence of the metaverse.

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Indy Platformer AAA Educational 105

Played with Fire

APRIL 14, 2022

The video game market is an endless treasure trove. As game fans, we can choose from both big AAA productions and less known (but not always) indie productions. If you look at the development of computer games, you’ll find that indie games have always existed, only now they have a much better channel of distribution.

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Indy AAA Games Mechanics 52

AWS Games

SEPTEMBER 3, 2024

The solution downloads and unpacks the game on AWS, generates a hash of the game version, and creates a patch by comparing the hashes between two game versions. This automated process takes less than an hour to complete for a AAA title, outputting pre-computed, incremental patches for previous versions of the game.

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Electronics Art Games Data 107

Logic Simplified

AUGUST 24, 2023

To be specific, this surge has been a result of the dynamic audio-visual effects, the natural player-to-character interaction, photorealistic 3D graphics, and engaging levels, characters, and mechanics of the game. The gaming industry is brewing with innovation and new technology trends.

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Engineering Engine Development Visual Scripting 57

Keith Burgun

APRIL 28, 2024

These kinds of games are really “stuff reliant” – new characters, abilities, mechanics, loot, story events, monsters, etc need to be fed into the system at a good pace to continue being fun. I really wish big AAA game developers would stop stretching everything as thin as possible.

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Fantasy Cutscenes Writing Racing 105

Game Dev Unchained

OCTOBER 16, 2024

It’s one thing to have an idea in your head, but bringing it to life with a team, especially for VR, was a whole different experience In an era where the gaming industry faces rapid transformation, both in terms of technology and workforce dynamics, key players like Jim Gray , founder of Jim Gray Productions , are navigating this evolving landscape.

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Communications Puzzle Studios Demo 59

Moonmana

DECEMBER 28, 2022

Game development is a complex process that involves a lot of different specialists and consists of a number of steps and smaller tasks. . To develop a high-quality and competitive game, you should carefully execute every stage, step by step. How To Choose Responsible Game Art Outsourcing Companies? Portfolio .

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Art Games Animation Animation 52

Game Dev Unchained

OCTOBER 16, 2024

It’s one thing to have an idea in your head, but bringing it to life with a team, especially for VR, was a whole different experience In an era where the gaming industry faces rapid transformation, both in terms of technology and workforce dynamics, key players like Jim Gray , founder of Jim Gray Productions , are navigating this evolving landscape.

Communications 52

Communications Puzzle Studios Demo 52

Moonmana

APRIL 7, 2023

Unity versus Unreal – this seems to be an ever-lasting battle in the game development world. Having been the market leaders for years, these two are the main candidates for the title of the best game engine. The game development industry is booming, and it’s impossible not to notice how quickly it’s expanding.

Engineering 52

Engineering Engine Game Engine Games 52

PreMortem.Games

AUGUST 9, 2023

“Every man and his dog has made an indie game but no one has painted a game yet. A point of interest in the indie game sea.” Naoum calls himself a jack of all trades, a master of none, so going solo on game development made a lot of sense. Is this mechanic fun? Game development takes so long!

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Dev Art Concepts Film 104

PreMortem.Games

FEBRUARY 13, 2023

“Every man and his dog has made an indie game but no one has painted a game yet. A point of interest in the indie game sea.” Naoum calls himself a jack of all trades, a master of none, so going solo on game development made a lot of sense. Is this mechanic fun? Game development takes so long!

Dev 104

Dev Art Concepts Film 104

Deconstructor of Fun

APRIL 2, 2024

Not to mention that backend costs of a successful live game were very high. In the realm of game development, the backend is often likened to the unsung hero working tirelessly behind the scenes, powering the intricate mechanics that make our favorite games tick. Hope you find either or both useful.

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Games Studios AAA Build 64

Deconstructor of Fun

SEPTEMBER 16, 2024

The three predictions for the AI x Game Industry in 2025: Games made by AI will fail to impress both the player and the publishers. The first iteration of AI tools for game development will not have the impact investors were dreaming of. AI frees up developers to focus on more creative aspects.

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AI Games AAA Studios 59

Game Design Aspect

JUNE 9, 2021

this Saturday June 12, 2021, we are headlining the Georgia Game Developers Association CIMFest and I also will be moderating IGDA GDSIG's skipped (due to the cancellation of GDC last year) roundtable, Creating Non-Toxic Gamer Communities. There was just so much more to talk about emotional touchstones in emergent narrative!

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Writing Educational Education Game Designer 52

Logic Simplified

OCTOBER 18, 2023

In all, the exciting experience that comes with multiple players gaming together comes from no other and there are various elements that support that kind of experience and that type of gaming. Let’s elaborate on how multiplayer game design isn’t as simple as just throwing together some mechanics and calling it a day.

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Game Design Game Designer Balance Concepts 52

Starloop Studios

JUNE 13, 2023

Real-time VFX in games has multiple purposes. High-quality real-time VFX is indispensable for any modern gaming experience, from enhancing immersion to communicating game mechanics and world information to players. Though emotion is derived from many sources in games, [.]

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Communications Mechanics Games AAA 52

Game Designing

DECEMBER 1, 2022

Kojima always had a knack for creating and worked on film and writing projects before deciding to enter the video game industry in the mid-1980s after securing a job at game developer Konami. Game Development Style & Philosophy. More than anything Kojima treats video games as a storytelling medium.

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Cutscenes Film Cinematics Games 52

Deconstructor of Fun

APRIL 4, 2023

We dive into decline of hypercasual games and hybridcasual, an attempt by mobile game developers to adapt to the new normal in the industry. It’s again taking a super simple addictive core game but actually pairing it with a simplified progression mechanic and some amount of live operations.

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Mechanics Mobile Gaming Mobile Mobile 52

iXie gaming

FEBRUARY 23, 2024

Sony aimed to redefine the handheld gaming experience and delivered on it while enjoying great success in the process. PSP was home to some of the most technically advanced game development on a handheld in its time. The DS appealed to a broad demographic, transcending traditional gaming boundaries.

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Console Games Fantasy Mobile 52

Keith Burgun

JULY 29, 2022

As this video talks about, as players play more and more games, it becomes more difficult for them to find this sense of wonder in new games – even more so when they become game developers themselves. AAA games are first and foremost products and their “smooth functionality” is prized above all else.

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Fantasy AAA Concepts Games 52

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 31, 2022

4X games can’t scale by exclusively poaching users from other games -- they need to be able to recruit new audiences to achieve long-term unit economics viability. Successful 4X games developers are constantly bringing new gameplay mechanics to stand out in the market as seen in the examples below.

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Cross platform Platformer Puzzle Mobile 52

Keith Burgun

APRIL 10, 2023

Secrets are hidden, but findable parts of a game that help give games a sense that there is “more than meets the eye” and that this is a world , not just a content delivery mechanism. The same is true for secrets in games.

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Fantasy Puzzle Content Cutscenes 52

Deconstructor of Fun

JULY 2, 2020

In the mobile free to play area, additional capital also means the ability to fund long payback games at scale (e.g., Budgets for AAA console games could be more like $20M-$50M (notwithstanding Activision’s $200M+ budgets for Call of Duty although also including marketing and distribution).

Build 52

Build Mobile Mobile Games 52

Deconstructor of Fun

APRIL 8, 2019

In hindsight, we missed the mark in some areas, and nailed it in others Genre / Mechanic: I don’t believe abstract analogs in an crafting system works. Players fundamentally understand combining bread and cheese to make pizza in a cooking game. We instead let our mechanics and motif alone determine who we thought would play our game.

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Fantasy Mechanics Concepts Art 52

Deconstructor of Fun

NOVEMBER 21, 2022

The updates focused on the usage of NFTs and their functionalities inside games. The rules regarding IAP methods are now the following: Apps may not use their own mechanisms to unlock content or functionality, such as license keys, augmented reality markers, QR codes, cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency wallets, etc.

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Mobile Mobile Games Mobile Gaming 52