Sat.Jan 07, 2023 - Fri.Jan 13, 2023

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The birth and death of Budcat Creations, Iowa's first (and only) Triple-A game studio

Game Developer

Sadly, extinction is often cheaper than evolution in the video game industry. Iowa's Budcat Creations, famous for its work on Guitar Hero spinoffs, proves this.

Studios 361
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Giga Fun Studios raises $2.4m in seed funding round

GamesIndustry.biz

Giga Fun Studios has announced that it's raised $2.4 million in a seed funding round. Based out of India, the company was co-founded by Krishnendu Mukherjee, Rahul Daga, and Rahul Shekhar. Mukherjee previously worked at Zynga as a lead product manager, and Daga had a stint at Zynga as director of products. Before co-founding the new studio, Shekhar was an engineering lead at m56 Studios.

Studios 125
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Making MARVEL SNAP’s Battle Mode

Unity Blog

Kent-Erik Hagman, associate design director at Second Dinner, goes behind the scenes on making MARVEL SNAP ’s new Battle Mode.

Games 138
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Dev snapshot: Godot 4.0 beta 12

Mircosoft Game Dev

After a short end-of-year break, and then a lot of heavy merging work prior to 4.0 beta 11 , we found a lot of regressions – as we expected! Our contributors could fix many of the new regressions quickly, and we merged another big batch of important fixes and improvements. As the pace intensifies in the lead-up to the first Release Candidate, we decided to make more frequent beta snapshots for testing.

Beta 110
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Nearly 20 ex-devs reportedly omitted from The Callisto Protocol credits

Game Developer

Almost two dozen developers at Striking Distance Studios say they weren't included in the credits of the studio's debut game, The Callisto Protocol.

Dev 354
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Testronic parent Catalis Group acquires Secret 6

GamesIndustry.biz

Catalis Group has acquired Secret 6 for an undisclosed sum. Based in Madrid and Manila, Secret 6 is outsourcing firm that provides 3D and 2D art, QA services, and full game development support. It has worked on a wider range of titles, from AAA blockbusters like The Last of Us: Part 2 and Cyberpunk 2077 to mobile hits such as Episode and Monster Train.

AAA 118

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Dev snapshot: Godot 4.0 beta 11

Mircosoft Game Dev

With the end-of-the-year celebrations past us, we are ready to get back to work and continue our regular Godot 4.0 beta releases. Over the course of the last four months the engine has seen many changes, making it more stable and feature complete, and it's getting very close to the state that we would be happy with. We took a bit longer to prepare this beta as there were a number of fairly big GDScript refactoring PRs (needed to fix many bugs), which we wanted to merge all at once.

Beta 105
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Wizards of the Coast responds to Dungeons & Dragons' OGL controversy

Game Developer

A week later, Wizards of the Coast speaks on the changes it originally planned to make for Dungeons & Dragons ' Open Game License.

Games 339
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Callisto Protocol developers left out of credits

GamesIndustry.biz

Last month's release of The Callisto Protocol was supposed to be an unmitigated victory for Striking Distance Studios, the culmination of a story that began with the studio's creation in 2019. But it was a bittersweet milestone for many who worked on the game, as The Callisto Protocol's release also marked their first look at its conspicuously incomplete credits.

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How VFX Streamlines Player Experience

Starloop Studios

Visual effects in modern gaming can be a transformative process that brings a title’s presentation and immersion to the next level. It has become an integral part of game development, from small-scale indie gems to AAA blockbusters. Though VFX can be viewed as a broad term in gaming and entertainment, it has particular effects on [.].

AAA 98
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Fan Collective Unimatrix 47 Examines Deep Space Nine’s Everyday Diplomacy

Game Industry News

DS9 is still one of the most ground-breaking installments in the entirety of the Star Trek franchise, and January 3rd marked thirty years since “Emissary” graced our screens for the first time. It seems like a good time to discuss just a little bit of what makes DS9 so special in a franchise already known for taking forward-looking stances. HERE THERE BE SPOILERS—ISH.

Balance 98
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Tactical card battler Duelyst goes open source three years after shutdown

Game Developer

Developer Counterplay has implored the Duelyst community to "modify, extend, and remix to your heart's content.

Content 351
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ERA: games remained biggest home entertainment industry in the UK in 2022

GamesIndustry.biz

Video games remained the largest home entertainment sector in the UK in 2022, according to the Digital Entertainment and Retail Association's annual report. The UK home entertainment market is estimated to have reached £11.1 billion in revenue last year, ERA reported, including music, video, and games sales. While the fastest growing industry was video (up 14.4% to £4.43 billion), games continued to be the biggest money maker, at £4.66 billion, up 2.3% compared to 2021.

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Exploring the Boundless Potential of XR and AI

Logic Simplified

The world of technology is constantly evolving, and two of the most buzzworthy trends in recent years have been extended reality (XR) and artificial intelligence (AI). While these technologies may seem unrelated, they actually have the potential to be powerful allies when combined. What is Extended Reality? XR is a term that encompasses a range of technologies that aim to enhance or expand our perception of the world around us.

AI 95
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Release candidate: Godot 3.5.2 RC 2

Mircosoft Game Dev

While all contributors are on the deck working to finalize the Godot 4.0 release (currently at beta 11 ), some of us are still backporting important bugfixes to the current stable branch, Godot 3.5. It had its first stable release in early August , and a first maintenance release in late September , and so far so good, most users seem to be pretty happy with 3.5.1.

Bug 94
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Deep Dive: Modeling the global economy in Victoria 3

Game Developer

"When we set out to make the next installment in the series, we knew we had to nail the economy aspect, making it both believable as a real-world historical model and compelling as a game mechanic.

Mechanics 266
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What's next for in-app purchases, in-game ads and mobile monetization

GamesIndustry.biz

To make a successful mobile game, monetisation can't be an afterthought; it has to be an integral part of the development cycle from the beginning. It's dangerous to go alone, though, so GamesIndustry.biz sat down with Meta Audience Network's Michael Bertaut to talk about in-game advertising, player acquisition, and the future of monetisation. Check out some key takeaways from our conversation with Bertaut below, and be sure to listen to the full episode for even more.

Mobile 101
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Why Retail Application Testing Is Necessary?

Rocket Brush Studio

Over the course of the last few years, the retail sector has undergone a significant digital transformation with the advent of online shopping platforms. In addition, the need to deliver an omnichannel retail experience, and easy-to-navigate online store CX has put additional pressure on front-end and back-end developers.

Retail 98
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Clockwork Game Design Podcast – Episode #94 – 2022 wrap-up

Keith Burgun

Hey all! This is kind of a “bonus episode” of sorts, only 30 minutes long. Here’s some of the topics covered: A bit of navel gazing about my own theory and approach to games and how it has changed. A short essay I wrote about “speaking the language” and how building off of existing designs means a higher floor and a higher ceiling.

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Dive into 30 Years of Kirby in this GDC 2023 session on 'Kirby and the Forgotten Land'

Game Developer

Close out the 30th anniversary of Dream Land's most-famous resident with this GDC 2023 design session from developers Shinya Kumazaki and Tatsuya Kamiyama about Kirby's multi-dimensional milestone year. Pink attire not required!

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Playground Games leaders form new AAA studio Maverick Games

GamesIndustry.biz

Some of the leaders behind the Forza Horizon series have formed a new AAA games studio in Leamington Spa called Maverick Games. The team is led by studio head and creative director Mike Brown, who was previously the creative director on the Forza Horizon franchise. He is joined by other ex-Playground veterans including executive producer Tom Butcher, CTO Matt Craven, content director Gareth Harwood and audio director Fraser Strachan.

AAA 101
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Become a better 3D artist with these 2 tips from J Hill | CG Spectrum

CG Spectrum

Professional 3D character modeler J Hill shares two key tips on how to become a better 3D artist and explains why they are so important to improving your craft. Some of the reasons might surprise (and motivate) you! J has been working in the entertainment industry since 2008. He is currently employed at Californian indie game development studio Turtle Rock Studios as a Lead Character Artist.

Art 80
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Dev snapshot: Godot 4.0 beta 12

Mircosoft Game Dev

After a short end-of-year break, and then a lot of heavy merging work prior to 4.0 beta 11 , we found a lot of regressions – as we expected! Our contributors could fix many of the new regressions quickly, and we merged another big batch of important fixes and improvements. As the pace intensifies in the lead-up to the first Release Candidate, we decided to make more frequent beta snapshots for testing.

Beta 84
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Turtle Rock's original, playable Left 4 Dead prototype has leaked

Game Developer

The mod that would eventually become Left 4 Dead is out there and playable on PC.

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Finji CEO: Subscriptions are simultaneously "awesome and terrifying"

GamesIndustry.biz

The industry goes in cycles for indies, Finji CEO Bekah Saltsman tells us in a discussion at last October's Megamigs conference. "There are boom cycles where there's lots of money out and about, then it contracts again, and then it's going to boom out again," she says. "And it's been doing this forever, because it goes on hardware cycles and everything else.".

Indy 100
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Develop:Brighton launches call for 2023 speakers

Game Development News

Tandem Events has announced that it will be accepting speaker submissions for Develop:Brighton 2023 until February 24, 2023.

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Using a binary space partition tree for Advent of Code 2022 #15

GameDev Blog

I 100%ed advent of code for the first time this year. Not sure I’ll have the energy to do it again another year, it kind of dominated my life over December when I should maybe have been getting my holiday.

Code 81
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Pathfinder publisher Paizo to introduce new system-neutral open RPG license

Game Developer

The company says the new license will be "open, perpetual, and irrevocable.

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Tips and tricks for building a QA portfolio

GamesIndustry.biz

Portfolios aren’t something you would normally associate with QA roles. Typically, they’re used to showcase the technical work and experience that someone might want to demonstrate when putting themselves forward for new career opportunities. However, with QA being a technical and skilled role, it stands to reason that a curated selection of your quality assurance skills might serve to help you on your journey to land a QA role within the games industry.

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Dev snapshot: Godot 4.0 beta 11

Mircosoft Game Dev

With the end-of-the-year celebrations past us, we are ready to get back to work and continue our regular Godot 4.0 beta releases. Over the course of the last four months the engine has seen many changes, making it more stable and feature complete, and it’s getting very close to the state that we would be happy with. We took a bit longer to prepare this beta as there were a number of fairly big GDScript refactoring PRs (needed to fix many bugs), which we wanted to merge all at once.

Beta 80
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From architecture to virtual production—Aurora's real-time 3D journey

CG Spectrum

Aurore Coutelier had always dreamed of building worlds that positively impacted people’s lives, and architecture initially seemed like the way to do it. However, after five years as an architect, Aurore couldn’t help but feel like something was missing. Then she discovered virtual production and felt like she'd found her calling! Read about Aurore's journey from architecture to real-time 3D and see one of the magical worlds she built as part of the Real-time and Virtual Production Course at CG S

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Nearly all of UK's 2022 games sales were digital downloads

Game Developer

UK players spent 2022 buying games from their phone or consoles instead of dealing with traffic and physical lines.

Console 303
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Ubisoft lowers expectations, cancels three unannounced games

GamesIndustry.biz

Ubisoft slashed its forecast for the current fiscal year today and announced a handful of other moves signalling a change in strategy for the company. The publisher said it has spent the past four years working on "building long-lasting live games and adapting our strongest franchises" like Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and the Tom Clancy games to match converging trends, but some titles from this investment phase haven't yet launched and recent releases "have not performed as well as expected.".

Games 98
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The Complete Unity Game Development Bundle

Game From Scratch

GameFromScratch.com. The Complete Unity Game Development Bundle. There is a new Humble Bundle of interest to game developers, the Complete Unity Game Development Bundle is a collection of video courses from Zenva. The courses are mostly aimed at beginners and cover a wide variety of topics and game genres developed with the Unity game engine. As with … The Complete Unity Game Development Bundle Read More.