Designing the cinematic "theme park" of Horizon Forbidden West
Game Developer
MARCH 24, 2023
The cinematic director for Guerrilla Games' open-world post-apocalyptic game describes their approach to adding epic flair.
Narrative in trailers, cutscenes and cinematics (for the game music composer)
Game Developer
DECEMBER 16, 2022
Emphasizing narrative using game music - 4th in an article series on music for trailers, cutscenes, & cinematics, by composer Winifred Phillips.
Cutscenes 
188
188 Join 5,000+
Insiders
Sign Up for our Newsletter
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Trending Sources
Deep Dive: Chasing an authentic cinematic experience with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Game Developer
OCTOBER 24, 2023
The developers break down the research process behind producing an experience that was true to the original IP but tailored to the video game format.
Cinematics 263
263 
Obituary: Jim Southworth, Baldur's Gate 3 cinematics lead, has passed away
Game Developer
NOVEMBER 13, 2023
In addition to Baldur's Gate 3, Southworth worked on games such as MediEvil: Resurrection, Blade II, and Boundless.
Cinematics 252
252 
Animation studio Digic Pictures laid off 35 staff this past summer
Game Developer
OCTOBER 25, 2023
Digic is best known as the animation studio behind cinematics and marketing for popular games such as Rainbow Six Siege, Elden Ring , and Marvel's Midnight Suns.
Animation 304
304 
Robocop: Rogue City and the curse of the shooter/rpg genre smash.
Game Developer
JANUARY 30, 2024
The problem of experience points in cinematic gaming narratives.
Cinematics 261
261 
Filmmaking in Unreal Engine — how Hanny created her arthouse cinematic
CG Spectrum
DECEMBER 15, 2022
CG Spectrum graduate Hanny Lu talks about her experience studying Unreal Connectors: Virtual Production , a 12-week micro-credentialing program created in partnership with Epic Games. But since the beginning, I knew that I wanted to use the virtual production course to make something of cinematic quality. So, I signed up!
Cinematics 98
98 
Emerging Trends in Game Art: Real-Time Rendering, Stylized Game Art, and Beyond
iXie gaming
MARCH 28, 2025
By 2026, the gaming industry is expected to reach $321 billion , with real-time rendering and AI-driven game art playing a pivotal role in its growth. Game art has undergone a seismic transformation over the past decade, driven by technological advancements, evolving player expectations, and a rapidly growing industry.
Art 52
52 
The Well-Read Game: On Playing Thoughtfully by Matthew Farber and Tracy Fullerton
Jesper Juul
APRIL 4, 2025
I am happy to welcome Matthew Farber and Tracy Fullerton’s wonderful new book The Well-Read Game: On Playing Thoughtfully to the Playful Thinking series ! These are the private stories we tell ourselves as we play, the questions we ask, and our reactions to the games intent.
Cinematics 52
52 
Why games consoles are holding back interactive storytelling
GamesIndustry.biz
JUNE 3, 2024
Agency is perhaps the most important distinction between video games and any other form of entertainment. You have no control over how the characters fare in any book, TV or film, but in games, the power is almost entirely in the hands of players. Read more
Console 136
136 
The Role of Sound Design in Cinematic Storytelling
Filmustage
FEBRUARY 29, 2024
In the cinematic universe, where visual effects often take center stage, it's easy to overlook the profound influence of audio design. In the following sections, we'll delve deeper into the fascinating realm of cinematic audio, exploring the various techniques and innovative trends that elevate films to new sonic heights.
Cinematics 69
69 
2025 could very well be the best year in video games sales to date | Opinion
GamesIndustry.biz
JANUARY 24, 2024
It is beginning to look like 2025 is shaping up to be one of the biggest years in video games, if not the biggest. When it comes to the most successful video entertainment products of all time, for many franchises like Star Wars, the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Avatar or maybe Mario come to mind.
Cinematics 143
143 
Telltale Games lays off staff in response to "current market conditions"
GamesIndustry.biz
OCTOBER 6, 2023
Telltale Games has laid off an unknown number of its team members due to "current market conditions," the California-based studio has confirmed. Former employee and cinematic artist Jonah Huang claimed on social media that the developer "laid most of us off in early September."
Cinematics 123
123 
[From the industry] Hub and Spoke Games launches to provide biz dev services
Game Development News
SEPTEMBER 5, 2024
A new specialist games industry business development agency has been launched by industry veteran Chris Buckley.
Cinematics 98
98 
USC Games reveals its first Gerald A. Lawson Fund recipients
GamesIndustry.biz
FEBRUARY 2, 2023
Sign up for the GI Daily here to get the biggest news straight to your inbox USC Games has unveiled the first recipients of the Gerald A. The Lawson Scholars are students from the USC School of Cinematic Arts Interactive Media and Games and Viterbi School of Engineering's Computer Science – Games Divisions.
Cinematics 96
96 
NO RELOADING: Survival Trials
Indie DB
SEPTEMBER 17, 2024
+238% viscerally cinematic, game-changing free augments, and more!
Cinematics 105
105 
I feel like I or someone else asked you this, but do you think that gameplay will ever get to the point where it looks like the fancy prerendered cutscenes? Even the outstanding visuals we have now, don’t really look like say, Sonic Unleashed’s opening cinematic from….Christ, 2008 was really 15 years ago. Anyway, Is there a way to match that that look in style and fidelity or is it just kind of a “physics” thing where that’s basically not possible? What stops that if that’s the case.
Ask a Game Dev
FEBRUARY 19, 2025
When you're watching a cinematic in a game like Spider-Man, what are you seeing on screen? You're not looking for where to go next, because it's all pre-planned out for you - the purpose of this short cinematic is to tell a story - Spider-Man has to get out of here quickly. Here's what I mean.
Cutscenes 40
40 
Ionization update
Indie DB
JUNE 14, 2024
Enjoy some athmosferic in-game footage test scenes with new props and other objects including cinematic field of view and a little bit noir filters. Waiting your feedback.
Prop 104
104 
Why are there games without dedicated stealth mechanics that put in random stealth sections? Theres a fair number of times those situations either lack tools for the player to properly plan their route and identify threats (lack of a proper cover mechanic/corner look for example) or they lack proper detection for enemy units leading to immersion breaking behavior (no noise detection leading to a full sprint directly behind someone not being detected) and those types of things seem integral to a stealth style of game. While they can obviously be done well when done poorly they can feel like a very frustrating or out of place moment in an otherwise very good game.
Ask a Game Dev
JANUARY 28, 2025
Non-stealth games put in stealth minigames for the same reason that we put in lockpicking minigames, crafting minigames, rhythm minigames, collectible card minigames, and the others. In games we try to mix the gameplay up so that too much of the core gameplay doesn't fatigue the player.
Cinematics 52
52 
Devcom Developer Conference announces new speakers
GamesIndustry.biz
JULY 31, 2024
Confirmed speakers include Larian Studios' cinematic director, Jason Latino, Sony Santa Monica's game director Mihir Sheth, and Stéphane Roy, Former Vice President & Studio Head at WB Games Montreal.
Development 116
116 
Meet Our Gold & Silver Unreal Authorized Instructors | CG Spectrum
CG Spectrum
DECEMBER 9, 2024
Theyre here to share insider knowledge and fuel your creativity with hands-on experience and professional insights, from crafting immersive game worlds to bringing cinematic visions to life through their code. Each of our gold and silver-tier instructors brings unique expertise and a passion for Unreal Engine that goes beyond teaching.
Cinematics 52
52 
Q&A: Real-Time Ray Tracing in a Cinematic Scene
Nvidia
DECEMBER 20, 2023
Back then, cinematic-quality rendering required computer farms to slowly bake every frame. Back then, cinematic-quality rendering required computer farms to slowly bake every frame overnight—a painstaking process. Now we have 500 RTX games and apps using RT or DLSS. These games shaped my love for art and real-time graphics.
Ray Tracing 52
52 
Is there much of a difference between a digital media degree and a game design degree when it comes to applying for jobs within the gaming sector? Or is it dependent on the role you are applying for?
Ask a Game Dev
DECEMBER 4, 2024
BA in Game Design" ticks a box that "BA in Digital Media" likely won't, though the kind of degree is only one of many keywords we're looking for. We're ultimately looking for candidates who can do the work that the job entails - cinematic designer, gameplay programmer, texture artist, associate producer, QA engineer, and so on.
Media 52
52 
Summer 2025 Game Development Student Internship Roundup, Part 2
Ask a Game Dev
NOVEMBER 14, 2024
Internship recruiting season has begun for some large game publishers and developers. If you’re a student and you have an interest in game development as a career, you should absolutely look into these. This means that a number of internship opportunities for summer 2025 have been posted and will be collecting applicants.
Co-op 52
52 
How Drama and Fake Ads Convert To Real Profits
Deconstructor of Fun
FEBRUARY 10, 2025
Dylan Tredrea is a product & publishing consultant with over 12 years of experience in mobile free to play games at studios such as Disney, Rovio, Zeptolab, & CrazyLabs. After release I was responsible for analyzing churn and sharing the results with the team: the cutscenes were driving users out of the game.
Cutscenes 90
90 
Gerel: Against The Corvus Empire - a pixel art video game by CGS grads
CG Spectrum
NOVEMBER 24, 2022
He decided to start his own indie game development studio, Overwrite Interactive , and create a video game from scratch. For Alan's video game to come to fruition, he needed a team of capable artists to help him. Cinematic for Gerel: Against the Corvus Empire produced by Alan, Dogyeong, and Joona. Gerel battling enemies.
Pixel 97
97 
Godot for AA/AAA game development - What's missing?
Mircosoft Game Dev
JANUARY 15, 2023
Additionally, the modern backend can implement rendering methods , such as forward clustered, mobile, and more in the future (such as deferred clustered, cinematic, etc.). The traditional way to make games longer since the beginning of times is to divide them in stages. Creating games this way is, as a result, more challenging.
AAA 145
145 
Hello! I have a question about cutscenes. How does a decision get made about whether a cutscene can be skipped or not? I know some games have certain skipable cutscenes and others unskippable, and that in HD remakes of old games developers will sometimes add the ability to skip them. Do these decisions tend to be story-motivated or is there commonly a background mechanical reason to force a cutscene to play fully through?
Ask a Game Dev
APRIL 19, 2024
Cinematics are mostly for storytelling purposes, but they also hid a very real secondary purpose - we would do a lot of game setup during cinematics, like streaming data off of a physical disc while the cinematic is playing so that we can load what comes next.
Cinematics 64
64 
Scaling Art Production for Live-Service Games: Challenges, Innovations, and Future-Ready Pipelines
iXie gaming
MARCH 2, 2025
Live-service games have transformed the gaming industry, shifting from standalone releases to dynamic, continuously evolving experiences. How do top game studios maintain a constant flow of high-quality assets without bottlenecks? Seasonal events and in-game monetization strategies demand an ever-expanding asset library. (ii).
Art 52
52 
Hi! I’m a Brazilian fan of your work, and I want to thank you for all the content you share. I often see heated discussions about the role of consulting companies in game development, and I’d love to hear your perspective. In practice, how much influence do these consultancies have on making changes to a game? Do you think they have the power to shape development in a meaningful way? Thanks for your time!
Ask a Game Dev
NOVEMBER 11, 2024
These folks aren't any different from the WWII consultants that were hired by the Call of Duty team to make sure the games felt real. is generally brought on to answer questions about the representation of people within the game they're consulting on, since that is their field of expertise. A company like Sweet Baby Inc.
Cinematics 40
40 
Godot gets a brand new animation editor (with cinematic support)
Mircosoft Game Dev
JUNE 7, 2018
The existing animation system in Godot was already one of the most powerful of any game engine, but its age was starting to show (it was written 10 years ago and barely improved). The new one builds upon the strengths of the previous one but does massive improvements to features and usability. A bit of history.
Cinematics 52
52 
Does it take much work/money to edit cutscenes once finished? Like, you develop a cutscene but then you decide to change details like background, music, clothes, facial expressions of the characters or even add to the scene a character who originally wasn’t supposed to be there. How often does this happen?
Ask a Game Dev
APRIL 12, 2024
Today, for an in-game cinematic, a lot of the things are done in real time so we can swap things out as needed. For the specific assets used in the cinematic, it depends on what it costs to make those new assets. We can't get refunds on development time or effort spent and we only have so much to spend on the total game.
Cutscenes 64
64 
Under what umbrella does a camera for a 3D game tend to fall? That is, is it more of a game design concern, art direction concern, or engineering?
Ask a Game Dev
SEPTEMBER 11, 2024
It's primarily a feature handled by game design and engineering. Let's say that we're working on the camera functionality for in-game cinematics for a narrative-heavy AAA game like the Witcher or Dragon Age. at frame 32, pan to Desmal while moving to point A and zooming in) while I script my cinematic.
Cinematics 52
52 
Want a trailer? What you actually need is a dating sim
GamesIndustry.biz
MARCH 20, 2023
We sat down with Founder Todd Mueller and VP Games, Mick Morris to discuss why there is simply no point in glossy trailers if there aren’t any true hooks for community engagement. Alongside your work in the cinematics space, you’re famous for more in-depth and unique marketing executions. Can you give us a few examples?
Cinematics 98
98 
Top Unreal Game Development Companies in 2024
Logic Simplified
APRIL 1, 2024
Looking for a Real Unreal Game Development Company? The potential for building epic games on Unreal by game app developers and creators across industries has increased. The potential for building epic games on Unreal by game app developers and creators across industries has increased. Is it well-defined?
Game Developer 100
100 
Vertical Slice Breakdown - Dragon Age Veilguard
Ask a Game Dev
JUNE 14, 2024
3:22 - Conversation wheel with “personality” icons and paraphrased words 3:39 - Dynamic inventory in game cinematics, show player’s items 3:46 - Scripted Player equipment change during cinematic 4:04 - Quest variables (e.g. My expertise is in gameplay, so that’s where I will be focusing.
Cinematics 64
64 
Makhoba Kamogelo: “Don’t let fear stop you from reinventing yourself”
PreMortem.Games
NOVEMBER 13, 2023
A community manager and new game designer. A game filled with cute armoured babies on a brave mission to save their daycare from a goblin invasion. Now, she’s navigating the world of game development, where each day brings new challenges and exciting discoveries. One of those games was Street Fighter.
Code 166
166 
Phoenix Rising International Film Festival 2023: A new dawn for indie cinema
Filmustage
SEPTEMBER 12, 2023
Dates to Remember From its opening on August 1, 2022, to the event climax on November 4-5, 2023, PRIFF promises to be a cinematic journey like no other. Celebrating tales fit for an epic cinematic marathon. Filmustage's Head of Product - Ivan Zhurko Filmustage stands out as a game-changer for filmmakers: ? Best Drama/Thriller ?:
Film 123
123 
Develop a 3D game in 2 hours with AI? Is it possible?
Cocos
MARCH 29, 2023
Is it feasible to develop a 3D game in 2 hours with AI tools Try it online: [link] the FULL SOURCE CODE will be availabe on Cocos Store. The game will be a 3D Snake, with innovative gameplay and a complex terrain. ChatGPT : In this conversation, we worked together to create a basic 3D snake game. Why I write a mind map first?
AI 98
98 
Want to make a great game trailer? Optimize it for social media
PreMortem.Games
APRIL 28, 2023
Top image: Stray Gods by Summerfall Studios, trailer by Derek Lieu Twitter is not a good place to advertise to potential customers, but it is good for connecting to people in the game industry like scouts, publishers, streamers, press, etc. Get to the point Seriously though, show what the game looks like when it’s being played.
Media 104
104 
Artist Cassie Simpson on navigating Life, three University Majors and Work
PreMortem.Games
JANUARY 17, 2024
My first encounter with Cassie Simpson was during the inaugural Xbox Game Studios Game Camp Africa in 2023. She earned her place and represented South Africa at prestigious programs like the Epic Games Women Creator Program and the Women in Games International (WIGI) Mentorship Program.
Pixel 160
160 
Losing your Religion with arthouse adventure Indika by Odd Meter
PreMortem.Games
APRIL 24, 2024
If Triple-A games are the equivalent of Hollywood blockbuster movies and indie games are comparable to independent films, then you could call Indika by Odd Meter an arthouse experience. The game, centered on a nun grappling with the voice of the devil within her, deviates from the standard in almost every aspect.
Indy 104
104 
Strategic Budgeting: How Filmmaking Magic Unfolds Between Location and Cost
Filmustage
FEBRUARY 14, 2024
We'll plunge into real-world examples, from Hollywood blockbusters to indie diamonds, where masterful budgeting strategies birthed legendary cinematic moments. Innovative problem-solving and resourcefulness are essential in finding creative solutions to budget limitations, ensuring the realization of cinematic visions in filmmaking.
Film 104
104 
I feel like I or someone else asked you this, but do you think that gameplay will ever get to the point where it looks like the fancy prerendered cutscenes? Even the outstanding visuals we have now, don’t really look like say, Sonic Unleashed’s opening cinematic from….Christ, 2008 was really 15 years ago. Anyway, Is there a way to match that that look in style and fidelity or is it just kind of a “physics” thing where that’s basically not possible? What stops that if that’s the case.
Ask a Game Dev
OCTOBER 31, 2023
When you're watching a cinematic in a game like Spider-Man, what are you seeing on screen? You're not looking for where to go next, because it's all pre-planned out for you - the purpose of this short cinematic is to tell a story - Spider-Man has to get out of here quickly. Here's what I mean.
Cinematics 40
40 
Let's personalize your content