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Tim Ruswick
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1 day, 3 hours ago
Tim Ruswick
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1 day, 7 hours ago
Babylon.js 9.26.0 is the standout for graphics/tooling teams: the new OpenUSD WebAssembly loader makes it much easier to preview and integrate USD assets directly in the browser. It also adds object ID geometry texture support, which should help with picking, selection, and editor-style workflows. For teams building web-based DCC or runtime tools, that’s a pretty meaningful pipeline win.
Tim Ruswick flags a familiar indie-dev trap: error messages that point you in the wrong direction. For experienced teams, the real cost is wasted debugging time, not just annoyance. The takeaway is to treat diagnostics as suspects, verify assumptions fast, and instrument the system until the failure is undeniable.
Tim Ruswick points to ElevenLabs as a way to generate sound effects for games, framing it as a fast option for teams that need custom audio without building a full Foley pipeline. For developers, the appeal is speed and iteration: prototype sounds, swap assets quickly, and keep production moving. It also raises the usual tradeoff between convenience, control, and final mix quality.
Stride samples/4.4.0, released for Stride 4.4.0-beta8, is a broad sample and template refresh with a lot of build-system cleanup behind it. The biggest practical changes are the new 2D Platformer template, expanded dotnet new asset packs, and a migration to .slnx plus Stride.Build.Sdk. Developers also get numerous sample fixes, test harness upgrades, and a few crash/serialization corrections.
XBox Wire says the EA Sports FC 27 10-hour EA Play trial is live today for Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass members on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC. Progress carries into the full game, and members also get 10% off the game, FC Points, and other EA digital purchases. The trial spotlights new social, gameplay, and career features.
Freya Holmér is joining an AI doom panel discussion, and she says she’ll argue that generative AI is an anti-humanity technology. The panel is hosted and moderated by Whick-TV, with copanelists @drdarko, @thesoypill, and TheLockheedLib. For developers, it’s another sign that the AI debate is moving beyond tooling into ethics, labor, and creative control.
Marmoset says Toolbag 5.03 adds Text Mode to Vector Layers in Texture Projects, letting artists place editable text directly on vector shapes. For material and texture workflows, that means faster label iteration, cleaner presentation passes, and fewer round-trips to external tools when mockups need typography.
GamesIndustry.biz details how Remedy is rethinking Control Resonant around Manhattan’s open streets, with senior level designer Arhi Makkonen calling it the studio’s biggest world yet. The sequel also shifts to Dylan Faden and melee-first combat, forcing new ways to guide players without boxing them in.
XBox Wire says Hela: Of Mice & Magic will launch on December 1, 2026 and hit Xbox Game Pass on day one. The co-op adventure centers progression on interactive brewing, where recipes are hands-on rather than menu-driven. Remedies then turn those brews into new traversal and puzzle options.
GamesIndustry.biz says layoffs are still reshaping studio morale, and the people left behind need more than a “back to normal” message. HR leaders from Hestia Talent Partners and Compulsion Games argue trust, honest communication, and real career development matter more than hype when teams have lived through repeated cuts.
GamesIndustry.biz has revealed the first UK finalists for its 2026 Best Places To Work special awards, with NaturalMotion Games leading on five nods. Rocksteady Studios follows with four, while Jagex, Playground Games and Rare each picked up three. Winners will be announced in London on October 1, alongside the HR Summit.
Game Developer reports that miHoYo won about $112,000 in a Shanghai court case after an AI voice service imitated Genshin Impact characters. The ruling could become a useful signal for how Chinese courts treat generative AI that borrows recognizable game IP, especially voice identity and character performance. For studios, it sharpens the legal risk around synthetic voices and fan-facing tools.
Game Developer details how ARM’s Peter Hodges thinks about game development tools, with a side trip into the 1969 short Lemon. The conversation is most relevant to teams building or integrating tooling, where small workflow choices can shape iteration speed, debugging, and content quality. It’s a reminder that hardware vendors can be practical partners, not just platform gatekeepers.
Tim Ruswick highlights a new Steam revenue scrape from WeLoveIt.io that puts hard numbers on how much games actually earn. The data suggests a steep hit-driven market, with median outcomes far below the top 1%. For teams planning a Steam launch, pricing, genre, and expectations matter more than ever.
Xbox Game Pass is adding a dense September/October slate that mixes day-one launches with major franchise entries. For developers, the standout is the breadth: survival, co-op action, horror, and big-budget sequels all landing alongside Premium rollouts and EA Play access.
Babylon.js 9.27.1 adds a normalized occlusion query visibility API and broadens frame graph geometry rendering to cover Gaussian splats, sprites, and particles. The patch also fixes several WebGPU/WGSL and Gaussian splatting bugs, including a shadow cascade issue and a streaming-compaction regression. Inspector v2 now shows mesh bounding box dimensions.
GamesIndustry.biz argues that AAA’s budget bloat is now shaping design as much as risk. The real danger, it says, is not just executive meddling but a feedback loop of focus groups, reworks, and attention-sapping hand-holding that can flatten games into safe, over-explained products.
GamesIndustry.biz reports that King workers in Sweden are heading toward strike action after union leaders rejected the studio’s proposed collective bargaining agreement. If mediation fails, the walkout is set for September 25, with several additional unions preparing to join in solidarity.
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Game Developer reports that Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick says GTA VI still needs aggressive marketing, even with the franchise’s massive global awareness. His point is that brand recognition alone won’t sell the game’s quality; players have to be convinced it’s worth buying. For developers, it’s a reminder that launch demand still depends on messaging, not just IP strength.
GamesIndustry.biz reports that Dredge maker Black Salt Games has launched Team Trifold and a new white-label publisher, Saltworks Entertainment, to share production, QA, localisation, audio, marketing and business support across three Christchurch studios. Black Salt is funding Team Trifold’s debut, Nothing Lost, while the team builds a roguelike around death as progression.
GamesIndustry.biz reports that GDC Festival of Gaming has added four new advisory board members as it continues reshaping the 2027 show. The board now includes leaders from business, narrative, operations, and marketing, with GDC saying the goal is to better reflect industry needs and feedback.
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