2025

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The Last Three by Csaba Putnai “Discipline and planning are essential, but don’t forget flexibility”

PreMortem.Games

Hungarian solo developer Csaba Putnai has poured over 3000 hours into his latest project, The Last Three. Its his second game after the release of his debut, Bob A Thousand Lives , which he developed in his forties. The Last Three is a game about the last stone tiger family that lives deep in a magical forest. They are the guardians of balance in the mystical creatures’ realm.

Media 260
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Webinar Recap: How Mobile Game Developers Are Using IP Collaborations to Enhance LiveOps

Game Refinery

From PUBG x Dragon Ball to Goddess of Victory: NIKKE x Nier: Automata and State of Survival x Resident Evil , collaboration events with renowned franchises have consistently demonstrated their ability to significantly enhance mobile game performance. These events can drive UA by tapping into an existing fanbase, potentially bringing in thousands of new players who might not otherwise have considered hitting the download button.

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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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Phoenix Labs lays off 'majority of studio' two years after Forte Labs acquisition

Game Developer

The Dauntless and Fae Farm developer says the layoffs are "unfortunate, but necessary.

Studios 363
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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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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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Dev snapshot: Godot 4.4 beta 1

Mircosoft Game Dev

We have reached the first beta release for the 4.4 release cycle. This officially marks the start of feature freeze for 4.4. This means contributors are encouraged to focus their efforts on fixing regressions and other outstanding bugs. We wont risk merging any new features or risky bug fixes until after we release 4.4 and begin preparing for 4.5. We will aim to release 4.4 in around a month, but as usual, this timeline will depend on how quickly we are able to fix the outstanding bugs and what

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The Marvelous Monetization of Marvel’s Contest of Champions

Game Wisdom

The Marvelous Monetization of Marvel’s Contest of Champions Josh Bycer josh@game-wisdom.com I’ve talked a lot about big names in the mobile and live service space: Digital Extremes, Grinding Gear Games, and of course the entire Hoyoverse. But there is one other game that has been one of the longest-lasting in the … The post The Marvelous Monetization of Marvel’s Contest of Champions appeared first on Game Wisdom.

Mobile 105
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How Drama and Fake Ads Convert To Real Profits

Deconstructor of Fun

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. Dark War: Survivals (DW:S) bold betand its emerging successon more drama is an early indication even core audiences are increasingly acquired, retained, and monetized with highly dramatic narratives.

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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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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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How Mobile Game Developers Are Using Anime to Boost Engagement and Revenue Across the Globe

Game Refinery

Anime has always had an immense following in Japan and Asia, but its popularity in the West has grown significantly over the past decade. The rise of streaming services has made it easier than ever for fans worldwide to appreciate one of Japans biggest cultural exports, leading to the likes of One Piece, Demon Slayer, and Jujutsu Kaisen having millions of fans worldwide.

Animation 130
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Damage Poll

Grumpy Gamer

I recently asked on Mastodon how a player would expect damage to be computed in an RPG. (base_damage + extra_damage) * damage_buff or (base_damage * damage_buff) + extra_damage General consensus is there was no consensus. The one thing people did agree on was that the skill/weapon description should say what the order of operation is. Fair enough. I am worried about the amount of information that needs to be conveyed to players.

Dev 130
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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 334
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Python Game Engines in 2025

Game From Scratch

GameFromScratch.com Python Game Engines in 2025 Today we have compiled a list of the best Python game engines, frameworks and language bindings for game development in 2025. This is the first in a series of posts exploring the game engine options available for the most popular programming languages. We will eventually have similar guides for C#, […] The post Python Game Engines in 2025 appeared first on GameFromScratch.com.

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AWS to showcase tools for breakthrough gaming experiences at GDC 2025

AWS Games

Experience first-hand how Amazon Web Services (AWS) for Games helps build breakthrough gaming experiences at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), March 17-21, 2025 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Visit the demo-packed AWS booth (#S927): Engage with purpose-built solutions from AWS that span the entire game development lifecycle. Get hands-on within our Games Showcase area and stream games built on the new AWS game streaming capability, Amazon GameLift Streams.

AI 100
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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 103
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NVIDIA Demonstrates GeForce NOW for Game AI Inference and Streamlined Hands-on Opportunities

Nvidia

NVIDIA cloud gaming service GeForce NOW is providing developers and publishers with new tools to bring their games to more gamersand offer new experiences. NVIDIA cloud gaming service GeForce NOW is providing developers and publishers with new tools to bring their games to more gamersand offer new experiences only possible through the cloud. These tools lower local GPU requirements to expand reach and eliminate cost by offloading AI inference tasks to the cloud.

AI 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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The Audit of Our 2024 Predictions

Deconstructor of Fun

Written by Michail Katkoff , founder of Deconstructor of Fun and a games industry veteran with 15 years of experience in building, operating, and scaling games and game companies. Throwing out predictions is easy. Tapping yourself on the back for a correct prediction is rewarding. But being open about your track record is essential. We certainly dont always get it right.

AI 98
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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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Solo dev Esteban Hernandez spent 7 years on Creo God Simulator: “I’ve learned perseverance”

PreMortem.Games

Esteban Hernandez , the solo developer behind MKSM Design , has spent almost seven years bringing Creo God Simulator to life. What started as a passion project has grown into a full-fledged god game blending city-building, resource management and player-driven storytelling. I became a solo developer initially because I wanted to make games, plain and simple, he says.

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Turning LiveOps Trends Into Actionable Strategies: Deconstruction of Fun Podcast Recap + Bonus Content

Game Refinery

LiveOps has become a cornerstone of player engagement and revenue growth in the gaming industry, but what truly sets top-performing strategies apart? To answer this question, GameRefinery’s Chief Game Analyst, Erno Kiiski, joined forces with industry experts Jen Donahoe (DoF), Nadav Moshes (Playtika), and Maxime Graux (Wooga) on the latest episode of the Deconstruction of Fun podcast.

Content 133
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Some Scattered Thoughts About Hades

The Bottom Feeder

Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends. I finally got around to playing Hades, the megahit roguelike from Supergiant Games. It did well enough over long enough to get a sequel, but I'm still writing about the old original one. It takes me a long time to build up the energy to pour in the number of hours a game like this requires. It's a 2020-vintage roguelike, which means: A bunch of rooms with fights.

Indy 73
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Report: Bend Studio cuts contractors following live-service game cancelation

Game Developer

With its project scrapped, a former Bend contractor alleges the studio has ended all ongoing contracts, save for a 'select few.

Studios 361
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Awesome Free Game Development Tools

Game From Scratch

GameFromScratch.com Awesome Free Game Development Tools Today we look at some of the amazing free game development tools available in 2025. We start of quickly with the most commonly used applications, then we move into perhaps more obscure but no less awesome and FREE tools available to game developers. In the video we also mention to The post Awesome Free Game Development Tools appeared first on GameFromScratch.com.

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Yep I'm at GDC 2025 (links / presskit / dance card)

Radiator Blog

Yep I'm attending GDC 2025. (For better or worse , I've made too many commitments to cancel.) The best way to contact me is to @ me on BlueSky or email me ( yang.robert.w [AT] gmail ). You can also probably just find me lounging in the Yerba Buena Gardens on most non-rainy noon-afternoons. If you're press / journalist / podcaster / creator / TikToker / YouTuber / writer etc. and you need content to feed the Machine -- contact me (see above) and I'm happy to talk about whatever to help you: Gener

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Maintenance release: Godot 4.4.1

Mircosoft Game Dev

We released Godot 4.4 in early March and we are delighted to see the reception, with so many users upgrading to it on day one and sharing their favorite new changes on social media! If you havent seen the 4.4 release page , its well worth a read! Since then, weve started the development phase for Godot 4.5 at full speed (with a first dev snapshot released last week!

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NVIDIA RTX Advances with Neural Rendering and Digital Human Technologies at GDC 2025

Nvidia

AI is transforming how we experience our favorite games. It is unlocking new levels of visuals, performance, and gameplay possibilities with neural rendering. AI is transforming how we experience our favorite games. It is unlocking new levels of visuals, performance, and gameplay possibilities with neural rendering and generative AI-powered characters.

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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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The Future of Gaming: Engaging Gen Z

Deconstructor of Fun

Is your game ready for Gen Z? Because theyre here, they play differently, and theyre reshaping the industry. By 2026, Gen Z will be the largest spending audience in gaming, and theyre already setting trends. What Makes Gen Z Unique? Gen Z plays more than any other generation. Mobile gaming alone has grown by 9% since 2020, and 82% of them play on their phonesbut theyre also active on PC and console.

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STARS REACH Kickstarter is live now

Raph Koster

T oday we are launching the Kickstarter for Stars Reach. Why a Kickstarter? Well, the funding climate is rough. But we have seen that players love what we are making. So we want to prove to the industry that people want a modern sandbox. An alternate world that feels alive, not like a static cardboard set. A game where different sorts of playstyles come together to make an immersive and dynamic galaxy.

Sandbox 95
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Solo developer Voidmaw on creating Katanaut: “Done is better than perfect”

PreMortem.Games

Eugene, the solo developer behind Voidmaw , has spent three years crafting Katanaut , a fast-paced action-roguelite where players embody a katana-wielding astronaut fighting to escape a collapsing space station. As a one-person team, he embraces both the creative freedom and the intense challenges that come with solo development. Ive always loved creating things, and game development felt like the perfect mix of art, storytelling, and problem-solving, he explains.

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Why Endless Runner Games Are So Popular

Logic Simplified

Endless runner games are like those friends that are always available to go out; hassle free, always attention grasping and require little to no planning. Hailing from the casual gaming brigade, these games have become synonymous with the mobile gaming experience, delivering entertainment at your fingertips with just a few taps. These games appeal to a wide audience, from casual gamers seeking quick entertainment to hardcore players chasing high scores.

Games 83
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U.S. Department of Defense adds Tencent to list of 'Chinese military companies'

Game Developer

The tech and video game conglomerate has insisted the move is a 'mistake.

Games 363
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Astro Bot and Helldivers II headline the 2025 DICE Awards nominations

Game Developer

The two Sony-published titles are nominated for DICE's best game of 2024 alongside Indiana Jones, Balatro, and Black Myth: Wukong.

Games 362
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Dutch consumer foundation sues Sony for overpricing digital PlayStation games

Game Developer

The Dutch consumer foundation Massaschade & Consument alleges Sony prices digital PlayStation games at nearly double the cost of physical versions.

Games 349