Sat.Mar 01, 2025 - Fri.Mar 07, 2025

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The Art of 2.5D: How It’s Redefining Game Design 

iXie gaming

In an industry constantly pushing the boundaries of graphical fidelity, the charm of handcrafted visuals remains timeless. While 3D dominates modern game development, 2.5D has emerged as a compelling middle ground, offering the artistic soul of 2D with the depth and realism of 3D. This technique isnt just a nostalgic throwback; its a strategic design choice that allows developers to craft visually striking, performance-efficient, and highly engaging experiences.

Art 52
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Secret Mode splits from Sumo to become independent publisher

Game Developer

Emona Capital and Secret Mode leaders James Schall and Ed Blincoe led the buyout.

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Jackbox Games unlocks new opportunities with Amazon GameLift Streams

AWS Games

Jackbox Games is a Chicago-based game studio best known for its lineup of popular party-game hits such as Quiplash , Fibbage , Drawful , Trivia Murder Party , and more. With 50 games and counting in its catalog, Jackbox Games offers something for everyonewhether its a drawing game, a trivia game, a hidden identity game, or beyond. Jackbox Games north star is accessible gaming, which means meeting customers where they are.

Games 115
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Godot XR update - February 2025

Mircosoft Game Dev

Announcing the Meta Toolkit extension We are pleased to announce the release of the Godot Meta Toolkit , a GDExtension plugin that exposes Metas Platform SDK and provides other tools to simplify and accelerate XR development on Metas platform. The project is Open Source (MIT license) and maintained by W4 Games with sponsorship from Meta. Contributions from the community are welcome!

Collision 104
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Windstorm: The Legend of Khiimori reaches Kickstarter goal in just 19 hours

PreMortem.Games

The upcoming Windstorm: The Legend of Khiimori marks a significant departure from the familiar settings of this long-running horse-riding series. Traditionally set in modern-day Germany, the new game transports players to 13th century Mongolia. Here, they will build and cultivate their nomad camp and undertake missions as an ancient courier rider, delivering packages across the diverse Mongolian landscape.The recent Kickstarter campaign for the game reached its 60.000 goal in just 19 hours!

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Respawn lays off staff, cancels another unannounced game

Game Developer

The alleged project was said to be developed by the same team behind Respawn's scrapped first-person Star Wars game.

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One week of Stars Reach Kickstarter

Raph Koster

W ow, it has been an intense six days. We launched on Tuesday, which feels like an eternity ago. It’s a mad scramble to get everything done, make sure you have all the content ready, to answer the huge inflow of questions, find all the spots where you weren’t quite clear enough… but you just survive on little sleep and keep pushing.

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Do you think the projects that you shipped as a indie developer have the same impact as the ones you worked on at game studios when applying for jobs?

Ask a Game Dev

What matters the most to hiring managers is the kind of experience a candidate has. Hiring managers have a specific set of tasks they're looking to hire someone to do for them. At an indie studio, they are probably looking for a broad set of experience, someone able to field many different types of tasks. At the typical AAA studio, they're probably hiring for expertise in a specific field - somebody who's an expert at AI, or procedural content generation, or in-game economies.

Indy 64
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Skullgirls dev Hidden Variable sues Autumn Games, alleges $1.2M in unpaid work

Game Developer

Hidden Variable claims Autumn Games 'failed and/or refused' to pay for its contract work on Skullgirls Mobile and Skullgirls 2nd Encore.

Dev 298
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Scaling Art Production for Live-Service Games: Challenges, Innovations, and Future-Ready Pipelines 

iXie gaming

Live-service games have transformed the gaming industry, shifting from standalone releases to dynamic, continuously evolving experiences. Titles like Fortnite, Apex Legends, and Genshin Impact have redefined player engagement through frequent content drops, seasonal events, and community-driven updates. But behind every update lies a complex art production pipeline that must scale efficiently while maintaining artistic integrity and production efficiency.

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Godot Major XR Updates

Game From Scratch

GameFromScratch.com Godot Major XR Updates Following on the heels of the Godot 4.4 release we have another update for Godot, specifically the Godot XR February update. The key part of this update is the addition of the Meta Toolkit Extension maintained by W4 Games and sponsored by Meta. Details of the Meta Toolkit: Key Links The post Godot Major XR Updates appeared first on GameFromScratch.com.

Games 63
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Since you jump studios so often, approximately how much more (or less) are you making compared to peers you have worked with of comparable experience/skill that stuck to one studio?

Ask a Game Dev

I honestly don't know. There are very few people who have stuck with a single employer for their entire career and compensation still isn't super comfortable water cooler conversation. I can tell you that I have gotten the biggest bumps in both compensation and title by changing jobs - the amount I gained in salary from my last job to my current job would have taken nine years of raises to match.

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Report: Sony cutting jobs at Visual Arts and Malaysia support studios

Game Developer

PlayStation maker Sony is reportedly continuing a layoff spree that has resulted in widespread redundancies, project cancellations, and studio closures.

Studios 297
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Report: Sony lays off employees at Visual Arts and PS Studios Malaysia

GamesIndustry.biz

First-party PlayStation support studio Visual Arts and PS Studios Malaysia have reportedly been affected by staff cuts.

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JavaScript/TypeScript Game Engines in 2025

Game From Scratch

GameFromScratch.com JavaScript/TypeScript Game Engines in 2025 Today we have compiled a list of the best JavaScript (and TypeScript) game engines and game frameworks (and a few miscellaneous game development options) for game development in 2025. This is the third in a series of posts exploring the game engine options available for the most popular programming languages.

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Six Hiring Mistakes Most Companies Make

Deconstructor of Fun

The gaming industry is going through a period of massive change. Layoffs are sweeping across companies of all sizes, budgets are tightening, and hiring managers are under more pressure than ever to get things right.  With fewer open roles and more talent on the market, youd think hiring would be easier. Its not. The high stakes mean that hiring mistakes have never been costlier.

Studios 52
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Activision Blizzard is using generative AI to hawk games that don't exist

Game Developer

The publisher is using the controversial technology to determine if players would want spinoffs for Call of Duty and Crash Bandicoot.

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Acclaim relaunches, led by CEO Alex Josef

GamesIndustry.biz

90s games publisher Acclaim has been revived, supported by a team of industry veterans looking to support indie titles and "reignite classic franchises.

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POLYGON Best of Synty GameDev Assets #4 Humble Bundle

Game From Scratch

GameFromScratch.com POLYGON Best of Synty GameDev Assets #4 Humble Bundle There is a new Humble Bundle of interest for game developers, the POLYGON Best of Synty GameDev Assets #4 Humble Bundle. The bundle contains assets for both Unreal Engine and Unity (and raw forms, so usable in Godot, Flax, O3DE, etc) in a low polygon style. It is organized into The post POLYGON Best of Synty GameDev Assets #4 Humble Bundle appeared first on GameFromScratch.com.

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Best Demos of Next Fest Part 4

Game Wisdom

Best Demos of Next Fest Part 4 Josh Bycer josh@game-wisdom.com width="560" height="314" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" This is part 4 of our demo coverage of February 2025 Steam next fest. 0:00 Intro 00:14 Mashina 1:06 Roots Devour 2:57 Rift Riff 4:22 Kill the Music 5:29 Wild growth 6:33 Conquest Dark 7:55 Machine Mind … The post Best Demos of Next Fest Part 4 appeared first on Game Wisdom.

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Playdead co-founder Dino Patti claims fellow co-founder keeps legally threatening him

Game Developer

Patti called on his former friend to stop bullying him and accept that he can't 'rewrite the past just because of a bad breakup.

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French Supreme Court rules in favour of Nintendo against site hosting pirated copies of its games

GamesIndustry.biz

Nintendo has won a long-running legal battle against French sharehosting operator Dstorage.

Games 116
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3XTINCTION - out now

Indie DB

After a lot of hard work, I'm thrilled to announce that the game is finally available on Steam! link here.

Games 110
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Best Next Fest Demos Part 8

Game Wisdom

Best Next Fest Demos Part 8 Josh Bycer josh@game-wisdom.com width="560" height="314" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" The latest part of my coverage of next fest 2025 February edition. 00:00 Intro 00:15 Vilde 1:08 Mountain Boy 1:55 Grand Shooter 3:14 Ghost Hand 4:18 Mecha Knights Legends 5:35 Kejora 7:03 Tilemancer Dungeon … The post Best Next Fest Demos Part 8 appeared first on Game Wisdom.

Demo 52
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How Riot Games is preparing for the next generation of players

Game Developer

Riot Games co-founder and chief product officer Marc Merrill says social design will factor into the future of Riot Gamesjust maybe not in the way you think.

Games 273
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Shocking success: Understanding a new era of horror with Blumhouse Games | Playable Futures

GamesIndustry.biz

This series of Playable Futures articles considers how the design, technology, people, and theory of video games are informing and influencing the wider world.

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How many studios have you worked for in your career? From talking with other game devs with a similar amount of experience, does that that number feel about average or higher/lower?

Ask a Game Dev

I can't answer the exact number of studios I've worked for because I don't want to give any specifics that may identify me, but it is definitely more than five. Compared to others I've met who have worked for similar amounts of time in the industry, the number of studios I've worked for is significantly higher. This is, in part, due to a feedback cycle - I got really good at rescuing and shipping features and systems that were in danger of being cut, so I would get hired to do that.

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Best Next Fest Feb 2025 Demos Part 6

Game Wisdom

Best Next Fest Feb 2025 Demos Part 6 Josh Bycer josh@game-wisdom.com width="560" height="314" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" This is part 6 of my favorite demos from Steam Next Fest February 2025. 00:00 Intro 00:13 Liliac 0 01:07 Aethermancer 3:02 Doloc Town 4:35 Dungeon Warfare 3 5:47 Knightica 7:13 Star fire 8:41 The Electrifying Incident … The post Best Next Fest Feb 2025 Demos Part 6 appeared first on Game Wisdom.

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Studio Fizbin shutting down after Reignbreaker's mid-March release

Game Developer

Fizbin, which also developed Say No! More and the Inner World duology, will close its doors after an 11-year run.

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Rockstar Games acquires Video Games Deluxe, now known as Rockstar Australia

GamesIndustry.biz

Rockstar Games has acquired Sydney-based developer Video Games Deluxe, rebranding it to Rockstar Australia.

Games 110
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Gelluloid Domination is out now

Indie DB

Established indie game studio Tractor, Set, Go! is pleased to announce that Gelluloid Domination, a fast-paced minimalist strategy game, is available on Steam.

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Colyseus 0.16 Updates

Cocos

Hi there, Im excited to share a new version of Colyseus (0.16) has been released, as well as the SDK and the Cocos Store [link] The documentation has been dramatically improved! [link] We have a brand new Showreel video with games released last year Colyseus Reel 2025_ See how to migrate to version 0.16 Would love to hear some feedback - appreciate if whos already using Colyseus could leave a fair review, the only one there doesnt represent (?

Games 52
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Report: Ballistic Moon 'effectively closed now' after Until Dawn remake's launch

Game Developer

The developer already cut staff last fall, and now it's claimed only the founders and a 'handful' of employees remain.

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Report: 30% of game devs believe AI will play an "extremely important role" in QA testing

GamesIndustry.biz

According to a new study from Modl.ai, 30% of game developers believe that artificial intelligence will play an "extremely important" role in QA processes.

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SAVE DEMO is Out Now!

Indie DB

In this demo version of SAVE, you can experience the first ship investigation mission, one of the three operations that will be included in the Early Access version. Join forces in 4-player co-op mode, explore the hyper-realistic recreation of the SENARA.

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Use Zip to speed up CocosWeb loading

Cocos

1 Introduction Use Zip to speed up CocosWeb loading Some time ago, I used Cocos3.8 to do a cloud showroom project that required publish to the Web platform (WeChat H5 & browsers). This project uses gltf models, the gltf models are split into many meshes and materials. In Cocos, gltf is parsed and split to Cocos assets. After publishing to the Web, loading such as this gltf will use hundreds of network requests.

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Pantaloon launches micro-indie publishing label to champion 'small games with big hooks'

Game Developer

'Part of Pantaloons mission as an indie label is to restorewhat we believe to bethe broken power balance in the indie publishing world.

Indy 266