Latest game development news from across the industry
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GDC Festival of Gaming
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7 hours, 23 minutes ago
XBox Wire
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23 minutes ago
XBox Wire
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7 hours, 53 minutes ago
Graphics and tools teams get the most from these drops: Babylon.js 9.28.0 improves render correctness and adds root-motion support for animation groups, while also smoothing OBJ AssetContainer and Gaussian Splatting behavior. Aseprite’s patch fixes a tilemap paste crash and layer/sprite copy issues, which matters for pixel-art workflows. Stride’s CLI and samples updates mainly reduce setup friction and keep starter content/versioning aligned for teams on newer .NET paths.
XBox Wire says Invincible VS adds Angstrom Levy on October 13 as its third DLC fighter and 21st playable character. The zoning-heavy newcomer leans on portals, summonable orbs, and trap setups, making him a strong fit for players who like space control and team chaos in 3v3 tag matches.
Babylon.js 9.29.0 lands with a mix of performance work, WebGPU fixes, and editor/runtime polish. The release trims CPU particle allocations, fixes 3D texture mipmap generation, and adds frame-graph and loader improvements that should matter to engine users shipping on modern pipelines.
Game Developer reports that Xbox CEO Asha Sharma drew a hard line on the brand’s future, saying Xbox is not for sale. The comment came during a New York Times interview and signals Microsoft is not looking to spin off the platform. For developers, that points to continuity in the Xbox ecosystem rather than a near-term ownership shakeup.
Steamworks Development has added Steam Deck framerate distribution charts to the partner dashboard for Steam Deck Verified games. The new view complements average FPS and customer feedback, giving teams a clearer read on real-world performance, battery-saving frame caps, and docked play. Valve says the data is opt-in and anonymized.
XBox Wire says IKEA and Xbox have teamed up on YXSTABY, a nine-piece home-gaming collection built around comfort, storage, and controller-inspired styling. The standout is a stool derived from Xbox controller 3D design files, while the rest targets lounge setups, display, and flexible living spaces.
Godot Engine says 4.8 dev 7 is the last feature snapshot before freeze, shifting the branch to bugfixes and regressions ahead of beta. For teams tracking engine upgrades, this one adds symbol renaming, animated decals, non-allocating physics queries, native touch UI support, and AccessKit on iOS and Android.
GDC Festival of Gaming is highlighting how Kingdom Come: Deliverance II handles crime perception across distant and mid-range LODs for its crowded NPC systems. The session points to the kind of simulation tuning large-world teams need when thousands of characters can witness, react, and propagate suspicion without crushing performance.
XBox Wire says Ubisoft is bringing five games into Free Play Days from October 1-4, including Far Cry 6, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Skull and Bones, and The Crew Motorfest. The weekend trial is open to all Xbox members, with no Game Pass subscription required, and progress carries over if players buy in during the sale window.
Unreal Engine says The Coalition used UE5 to push Gears of War: E-Day back toward the series’ original survival-horror tone and “destroyed beauty” look. The studio is also evolving gameplay and animation, showing how modern rendering and tooling can support a darker, more desperate feel without losing the franchise’s identity.
GamesIndustry.biz reports that the EU’s Consumer Protection Cooperation Network has launched coordinated actions against nine game companies over in-game currency and microtransactions. The push could force more real-money price disclosure and stricter consumer-law treatment of virtual currency, with broader implications for live-service monetization across Europe.
Photon Engine details how 900lbs built Royal Caribbean’s real-time Safety Command Center with Photon and Unity, now deployed across 10 ships. The system keeps deck maps, annotations, overlays, and checklists in sync between bridge and shipboard devices, turning safety workflows into a shared live view.
Game Developer reports that Ubisoft Montreal employees have launched collective action to protect their hybrid work schedule. The first step is a petition, signaling staff pushback against any move away from the current arrangement. For teams balancing collaboration and retention, it’s another reminder that workplace policy is now a live production issue.
FNA 26.10 is out, bringing updated FNA3D and FAudio builds plus support for the Xbox 360 “Big Button” controller. The release also tightens up Graphics and audio edge cases, fixes a few regressions from the last two versions, and makes several small performance and API-correctness cleanups.
XBox Wire says Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles just got its biggest console update yet, bringing Xbox in line with the PC build. Solo developer Tomas Sala also shipped two DLCs, adding new ships, houses, and more options for fortress builders and war-focused players alike.
AMD GPUOpen says the new Direct3D 12 State Object Compiler plugin is now available for preparing games for Microsoft Advanced Shader Delivery on AMD Radeon hardware. For teams shipping on DX12, it adds a path to precompile state objects for shader delivery workflows, which could help reduce runtime shader stutter and improve first-run experience.
Ars Technica reports that the PS5 hacking scene has crossed a major threshold: the new Relapse exploit works on consoles up to firmware 13.6, not just years-old builds. For developers, the practical takeaway is that jailbreak access is now viable on far more retail units, and the exploit is dramatically faster than earlier attempts.
Sebastian Lague shows a DIY pen plotter that can draw contour maps of the Moon, turning a hobby build into a neat geometry and motion-control exercise. The project covers the base, belt drive, stepper setup, pen holder, and path optimization, then uses the machine for Moon, Mars, and Earth plots. It’s a practical look at how software and mechanics meet on a small fabrication rig.
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GamesIndustry.biz says Code Wizards Group has named Catherine Bygrave head of commercial, bringing in a veteran with experience at Activision, Sumo, Gfinity, and Humble Games. The October jobs roundup also tracks senior moves at CD Projekt Red, Playground Games, 2K/Hangar 13, Bloober Team, Roblox, and Zynga. For studios, it’s another sign that leadership hiring remains active across publishing, live ops, and production.
GamesIndustry.biz says August’s PC and console revenue charts were driven by a wave of new releases, with EA Sports Madden NFL 27, Big Walk and Star Wars Zero Company all landing high. Pokémon Pokopia also surged after DLC, while Fortnite and Helldivers 2 showed how live-service and subscription boosts can still move the needle.
Kenney.nl has released Skyboxes Space, a free CC0 texture pack aimed at teams that need quick space backdrops without licensing friction. The bundle ships as five skyboxes, making it a handy drop-in for prototypes, menus, and in-game vistas.
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