April, 2025

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The Darkest Files by Paintbucket Games turns history into a game about justice

PreMortem.Games

With The Darkest Files , Berlin-based indie studio Paintbucket Games has crafted a gripping, meticulously researched narrative game that delves into the legal and moral aftermath of World War II. Its a game about memory, justice and the courage to stand against collective denial. For co-founders Jrg Friedrich (Game Director) and Sebastian Schulz (Art Director), it was immediately clear: This story deserves to be told and we saw an opportunity to bring it to audiences who might never encounter it

Games 181
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Steam Auth Issues

Grumpy Gamer

When I build my game for testing, it’s a completely automated process from the command line. I type pub.sh --test on the command line and a long chain of events is started. The script pushes to git, which starts the cloud based CI machine (Azure) building the Mac, Windows and Linux executables. When they are done, my local script is notified and they are download locally.

Scripting 147
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Niantic is laying off 68 employees after selling its game business for $3.5 billion

Game Developer

The AR company has been cutting jobs to reposition its new-look business as a startup.

Games 331
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Unity Finally Start Developing Games

Game From Scratch

GameFromScratch.com Unity Finally Start Developing Games One common request of the Unity development team is that they start developing games in-house, like their rival Epic Games does with Unreal Engine. This dog fooding will help them discover issues and pain points that developers using their tools daily commonly encounter. Back at GDC 2022 with the announcement The post Unity Finally Start Developing Games appeared first on GameFromScratch.com.

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Darren Bartley

Concept Art World

Concept Art World Darren Bartley Darren Bartley is a concept artist and designer currently working in the video game industry. He has contributed to titles such as Ryse , Stellar Dawn , and RuneScape , and has collaborated with major studios including Marvel, Lucasfilm, Bungie, Blur Studios, Netflix, Riot Games, and Ubisoft. Link: Portfolio | Tumblr | Twitter | Instagram All images Darren Bartley or their respective copyright holder.

Concepts 110
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Strategies for Optimizing Multiplayer Games in Unity

Logic Simplified

Lag, desync, and glitchesthe unholy trio that can kill a multiplayer game faster than a rage-quitting gamer smashing his keyboard! Ever wondered why some multiplayer games feel smooth and lag-free, while others frustrate players with constant glitches? The secret lies in smart optimization techniques. Network performance, game synchronization, and server architecture all play a crucial role in delivering a seamless and engaging multiplayer experience.

Games 78
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Solo dev Jason Priskomatis on his horror debut Friday Night: “Keep pushing your comfort zone”

PreMortem.Games

Jason Priskomatis , the solo developer behind EJETA Studios, always enjoyed playing video games, ever since he was young. It was always my escape, a comfort place, he says. While studying Information Technology in Athens, Greece, he created a small game for his thesis. It was nothing special, but it was enough to make me fall in love with the process of creating something that other people can play and enjoy.

Horror 104

More Trending

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Report: Russia aims to seize assets of former Wargaming subsidiary Lesta Studio

Game Developer

Lesta and Wargaming have been accused of carrying out 'extremist activities,' according to the state-owned publication RIA.ru.

Asset 258
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Babylon.js 8 Game Engine Released

Game From Scratch

GameFromScratch.com Babylon.js 8 Game Engine Released The popular 3D game engine/framework for the web, Babylon.js just released Babylon 8. This release comes a year after the release of Babylon 7, so this annual release is absolutely jam packed with new features. Highlight features of Babylon.js 8 include: IBL Shadows Image-Based Lighting is a computer graphics lighting The post Babylon.js 8 Game Engine Released appeared first on GameFromScratch.com.

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Dev snapshot: Godot 4.5 dev 3

Mircosoft Game Dev

If the past snapshot was any indication, you might think that development updates arent slowing down anytime soon. And Youd be right! Indeed, progress has been booming, and the amount of new features added even compared to the previous release is staggering; curating this selection was especially difficult. As always, new features mean new bugs in need of fixing, so we encourage everyone interested to get feedback and bug reports in as early as possible.

Dev 71
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On the topic of horror, how do you make a grim subject matter feel silly spookville experience instead of actually scary? For example, the Luigi Mansion games, the Disney Haunted Mansion ride, the Medevil games, etc?

Ask a Game Dev

The counter to anything terrifying, off-putting, or grim is cuteness. This is done by exaggerating certain features that humans typically find endearing and downplaying the features that humans find alarming, while keeping the visual recognizable. This works with animals. It works with the undead. It works with just about anything. Humans tend to look at a few things to determine cuteness - the main two being proportion and the removal or masking of traits that we find scary or off-putting.

Horror 64
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Game investor Joakim Achrén: The answer to: “How much are you raising?”

PreMortem.Games

Joakim Achrn helps founders build successful games companies. Hes investing in games through F4 Fund which he started in 2023, together with with David Kaye. To follow his work, subscribe to Elite Game Developers. One of the most critical aspects of fundraising that founders often get wrong? The answer to: “How much are you raising?” Here’s what I’ve learned about this question after years of investing and advising startups.

Games 104
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Unity Games That Last: How Testing, Art, and LiveOps Drive Revenue and Retention 

iXie gaming

The global gaming industry is booming and yet, most Unity-based titles fail to sustain player attention or generate long-term value. Why? Because success isnt defined by shipping a playable build. It is defined by execution. This article explores how strategic QA, high-performing 3D art pipelines, and LiveOps frameworks separate lasting titles from forgettable ones.

Art 52
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Dwarf Fortress has topped 1 million sales on Steam

Game Developer

The legendary procedurally generated adventure has become a million seller.

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Terrain3D For Godot Hits 1.0 Release

Game From Scratch

GameFromScratch.com Terrain3D For Godot Hits 1.0 Release The popular terrain and landscape system for the Godot game engine Terrain3D just hit a major milestone, the 1.0 release. Terrain3D for Godot is being created as a GDExtension primarily in C++ by the folks over at Tokisan Games. We first looked at this add-on back in 2023 and it The post Terrain3D For Godot Hits 1.0 Release appeared first on GameFromScratch.com.

Terrain 91
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One Step Closer to a Full Game Engine Editor

Harold Serrano

In this devlog, Im taking you through the latest updates to the Untold Engine editorlighting, cameras, asset browsing, and image-based lighting are now fully integrated into the UI. No more hacking things in through codeeverything can be controlled visually. Ill show you the problems I ran into, how I solved them, and what the engine looks like now in action.

Engine 63
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Is more complicated, or more work to write code for The Game EA Sports FC if you were starting from scratch than it would be to write code for any other large scale game, like an MMORPG also done from scratch? Or GTA6 i.e.? (Licensing issues aside)

Ask a Game Dev

Code systems are code systems. Good code architecture tends to follow pretty universal principles, regardless of whether the system is governing loot tables or lighting systems. Constructing software systems is about seeing the general rules at work and using those to write code that adheres to those rules. It really helps to take a larger view of what a game is from a software engineering perspective.

Writing 59
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Designer Notes #87: Caroline Marchal – Part 1

Designer Notes

In this episode, Soren interviews veteran game designer Caroline Marchal, best known for her work on Heavy Rain, Beyond Two Souls, and As Dusk Falls. They discuss whether narrative games should show all paths to players, should we care if characters walk up stairs correctly, and how Heavy Rain was built for non-gamers but enjoyed the most by gamers.

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Dev snapshot: Godot 4.5 dev 2

Mircosoft Game Dev

With the 4.4 release a little over a month ago, one mightve expected content updates to trickle out slowly for our initial 4.5 development snapshots. Well, maybe not after seeing the 4.5 dev 1 snapshot, but surely they couldnt follow that up with another flood of anticipated changes, right? You fools. You underestimate the passion of our community yet again, as 250 improvements are ready to roll for this snapshot.

Dev 62
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Wartorn developer Stray Kite shows how small studios can chase big ideas in a turbulent 2025

Game Developer

Co-development experience, shying away from venture capital, and embracing Early Access made Stray Kite Studios' Wartorn possible.

Studios 272
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ezEngine – The Easiest C++ Game Engine?

Game From Scratch

GameFromScratch.com ezEngine – The Easiest C++ Game Engine? ezEngine is an open-source cross-platform C++ based game engine with a focus on ease of use. It provides a full Unity-like editing environment as well as both a visual scripting interface as well as AngelScript support. You may be asking yourself, why would I (or wouldn’t I) choose to use The post ezEngine – The Easiest C++ Game Engine?

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This Test Could Make or Break My Engine

Harold Serrano

After two years of rewriting my game engine from scratch using ECS architecture, I finally arrived at a huge milestone: testing whether I can assign gameplay behavior to a character directly through the editor. On the surface, it might sound like a small step but behind this test is months of work, late nights, countless bugs, and an entire editor system built from scratch.

Engine 52
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What is your current opinion on Unreal Engine 5? Between Digital Foundry, content creators, and people on social media, everyone appears to be constantly attacking UE5 for performance issues (stuttering, frame rate, etc.). Is this criticism warranted, or is it more a case of developers still getting used to UE5 and its complexities (meaning it will likely improve in time)?

Ask a Game Dev

Everything improves with time as the engineers learn the details and optimize their work. This is true of every tech platform ever and won't be any more different with Unreal Engine 5 than it has been with UE4, 3, or anything else. That said. after having very recently worked with UE5 for enough time to get used to some of its foibles and having looked into some core engineering issues in a project utilizing some of the new tech introduced in UE5 (and the caveats and side effects of using that t

Engine 59
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How Game Design Principles Drive Player Engagement | CG Spectrum

CG Spectrum

Games have the power to transport us to fantastical worlds through immersive storytelling and gameplay. Want to know what it takes to create enjoyable and captivating video games? This post will define the principles of game design and explain how they enhance player engagement, giving you an inside look at the decision-making process that goes on behind the scenes of your favorite games.

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This is the shortlist for the 2025 MCV/DEVELOP Awards!

Game Development News

After carefully considering the many hundreds of nominations, we have a shortlist! Voting on the winners will begin soon, ahead of the awards ceremony in June!

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'We have way more power than any corporation:' Union workers call on developers to fight for their future

Game Developer

Unionized workers feel the video game industry is at an existential crossroadsso how did we get here, and what happens next?

Fighting 293
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Flax Engine 1.10 Released

Game From Scratch

GameFromScratch.com Flax Engine 1.10 Released The cross-platform 3D game engine Flax Engine just released Flax 1.10. This release comes 6 months after the Flax 1.9 release. If you are interested in checking out the Flax game engine, be sure to check out our Flax for Unity developers guide, even if you aren’t a Unity user. The post Flax Engine 1.10 Released appeared first on GameFromScratch.com.

Engine 77
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Square Enix, Capcom, Taito, and Sega commit to "archiving past development materials"

GamesIndustry.biz

Square Enix, Capcom, Taito, and Sega have unveiled plans to "archive past [game] development materials.

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Doing this on anon for obvious reasons but is there any chance of getting hired as an entry level game dev in 2025? I’ve been unemployed for nearly two years since graduating from uni and I’m just getting rejection after rejection from game companies. All the posts are looking for senior devs, team leads, or managers. I have friends who’ve given up on the industry entirely. Is there any hope? Or am I fighting a losing battle here…

Ask a Game Dev

In times of economic difficulty or uncertainty, the number of overall jobs decreases because the number of cancellations rises. New studios do start up, but entry level positions are rare since most of the new studios are looking for funding and they need the core senior dev team to build enough of a prototype to sell the idea to the money people. Were I in your place, I would do two things - I would first widen my search to look for work in adjacent fields where I could train my primary skills,

Dev 59
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First 3D Game: Advanced Tutorial — Shadow problem

Cocos

Well, I have to answer this question myself. After several tests I suddenly found the answer. To turn on shadows you have to go to Main Light cc.DirectionalLight Dynamic Shadow Settings and check Shadow Enabled. The problem was that when you turn on Planar shadows in Scene settings THERE IS NO such checkbox to turn on shadows in Directional Light settings.

Bug 52
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Why Some Players Struggle to Stay Comfortable During Long Sessions

Game Wisdom

Why Some Players Struggle to Stay Comfortable During Long Sessions Josh Bycer josh@game-wisdom.com For many, video games offer a chance to immerse themselves in a new world, whether that means strategizing in a competitive shooter, building towns from scratch, or simply unwinding after a long day. However, extended gaming sessions often come at … The post Why Some Players Struggle to Stay Comfortable During Long Sessions appeared first on Game Wisdom.

Build 52
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Report: Meta has laid off over 100 Reality Labs employees

Game Developer

Reality Labs has lost $47.5 billion over the past three years and is expected to continue bleeding cash.

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Ucupaint – Turning Blender into Substance Painter

Game From Scratch

GameFromScratch.com Ucupaint – Turning Blender into Substance Painter Ucupaint is a completely free and open-source add-on for Blender that when combined with Blender’s existing painting tools adds a Substance Painter like experience. This enables you to easily texture your 3D objects directly inside Blender, with new more sophisticated layering tools and more.

Texture 88
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Assassin's Creed Shadows debuts at No.2 on revenue charts for March 2025 | Newzoo Charts

GamesIndustry.biz

Assassin's Creed Shadows debuted in second place on Newzoo's overall revenue chart for March, following its release during the second half of last month.

Retail 144
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A common issue with ongoing live service games is that as time progresses, skill designs for new characters necessarily become more complex to differentiate from older characters or to incentivize players to buy them. This sometimes results in things like Fire Emblem Heroes where character skill sheets become page long monstrosities. What are things you can do to maintain the increased complexity without making it seem like a reading assignment?

Ask a Game Dev

In times like this, it's good to look back at other long-running games that still run today and how they solved (or at least pushed back on) complexity and power creep. Magic: The Gathering has been the most popular collectible card game in the world for over three decades. In that time, the publishers have created many tens of thousands of different cards.

Content 59
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The Well-Read Game: On Playing Thoughtfully by Matthew Farber and Tracy Fullerton

Jesper Juul

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 ! How players evoke personal and subjective meanings through a new theory of player response. In The Well-Read Game, Tracy Fullerton and Matthew Farber explore the experiences we have when we play games: not the outcomes of play or the aesthetics of formal game structures but the ephemeral and emotional experiences of being in play.

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Supercell Investments: A Creative Community or a Missed Opportunity?

Deconstructor of Fun

Written by Michail Katkoff , founder of Deconstructor of Fun, a battle-scarred games industry veteran who claims to know a thing or two about investing. Having an investment from Supercell is like meeting Gandalf in the dark woods and having him agree to join your quest. The odds are still against you, but its sure great to have some magic on your side.

Mobile 52