Latest game development news from across the industry
PRO Tired of ads? Read GameDev.net ad-free and help keep the community independent with GameDev Pro — $3/month.
.png?width=720&quality=80&disable=upscale)
XBox Wire
•
11 hours, 10 minutes ago
Acerola
•
9 hours, 39 minutes ago
GDC Festival of Gaming
•
13 hours, 9 minutes ago
Babylon.js 9.27.x is the one to watch: KHR_interactivity export support plus normalized occlusion queries and frame-graph coverage for splats, sprites, and particles. If you’re building glTF pipelines or GPU-heavy scenes, this cuts down custom glue and makes visibility/geometry handling more consistent across WebGL/WebGPU.
Acerola breaks down how a blur can be pushed to 20,000 FPS, or about 50 microseconds per frame, by treating it as a shader and sampling problem instead of a simple post effect. The walkthrough covers box blur, Gaussian blur, separable convolutions, Kawase variants, and quality tradeoffs that matter when every microsecond counts.
Unity says Meta VR Glasses will be supported in Unity 6.6 on day one, with existing Quest projects carrying over through OpenXR. For devs, that means familiar XR Interaction Toolkit, XR Hands, and XRI Simulator workflows before the headset’s spring 2027 retail launch. Unity is also highlighting eye tracking, quad views, and spatial audio.
XBox Wire says Xbox Insiders can try the Chicken Invaders Collection preview today on Xbox consoles and Windows PC. InterAction Studios is bundling the series for the first time since 1999, with arcade shooting, boss fights, orchestral music, and co-op for up to 8 players. Feedback will help tune the release.
Game Developer reports that former Avalanche Studios chief Natalie Francis will become Massive Entertainment’s managing director on October 1. She replaces Thomas Andren, who was recently appointed general manager for the creative network. The move keeps leadership in flux at one of Ubisoft’s key studios.
GDC Festival of Gaming highlights the Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 audio postmortem, where the team says a simple pipeline was one of the biggest wins. For audio, tech art, and production teams, the takeaway is less about flashy tooling and more about keeping the workflow lean enough to ship. The full GDC Vault session digs into the rest.
GameFromScratch highlights TrenchBroom, a modern free and open-source 3D level editor for Windows, Mac, and Linux. For teams building Quake-style or BSP-based workflows, it’s a reminder that a mature, cross-platform editor exists outside the usual commercial toolchain. The practical draw is straightforward: no license cost, source access, and a focused map-making workflow.
XBox Wire says Free Play Days returns September 24-27 with four games split between Game Pass members and all Xbox users. The Escapists 2 and Young Suns are gated to Ultimate, Premium, and Essential, while PGA TOUR 2K25 and The Division 2 are open to every Xbox member. Purchases keep progress, achievements, and Gamerscore.
SIGGRAPH says Don Greenberg, 92, headlined the Pioneers featured talk in a hybrid session at SIGGRAPH 2026, putting a long-view spotlight on one of computer graphics' early figures. For developers, it's a reminder that many of today's rendering and visualization workflows grew out of decades of research and tooling. Videos from the session are now available.
GamesIndustry.biz reports that Dutch consumer group SMC has filed a class action against Epic Games over Fortnite monetization aimed at young players, seeking more than €100 million in refunds and damages. The suit follows a prior Dutch regulator fine upheld by a Rotterdam court, and could push more studios to scrutinize youth-facing store design and consent flows.
GamesIndustry.biz reports that MobyGames Professional is now in beta, letting developers claim public profiles, verify credits, and build portfolios around their work history. The paid tier also adds job-market tracking and salary data, with 1.0 due in autumn. For devs, it could make missing credits easier to correct and hiring easier to navigate.
Game Developer reports that the Irish Game Fund is adding three distinct funding paths for local studios: a Development Fund, Prototype Fund, and Release Fund. For teams in Ireland, that means support can now be matched more closely to a project’s stage, from early validation through launch. The shift should make it easier to plan production without forcing every team into the same grant bucket.
GamesIndustry.biz reports TinyBuild lifted H1 2026 revenue 18% to $20 million, with 85% of gaming revenue now coming from first- and second-party owned IP. Back-catalogue hits like Hello Neighbor and Graveyard Keeper kept the base steady, while newer launches and console/DLC expansions added momentum.
XBox Wire says Minecraft LIVE returns this Saturday, putting fresh Minecraft news and updates back in front of players and creators. For developers, the event is worth watching for any new feature reveals, ecosystem changes, or tooling direction that could ripple through the broader sandbox and UGC space.
.jpg?width=690&quality=85&format=jpg&auto=webp)
GamesIndustry.biz reports that Microsoft has patented an ad-credit system for PC and Xbox games that would surface ads during natural pauses like loading screens or menus. Players would get ad-free time in return, with the patent describing credits tied to play sessions or progression milestones. The timing lands amid broader Xbox monetization shifts.
Babylon.js 9.28.0 tightens rendering correctness and adds a new root-motion path for animation groups. The release also fixes OBJ AssetContainer handling, improves Gaussian Splatting texture sampling, and patches a WGSL plugin conflict. For teams using alpha-tested materials or prefiltered cube textures, the changes are worth a quick validation pass.
XBox Wire details SEGA’s cast reveal for STRANGER THAN HEAVEN, a 50-year crime drama launching January 15, 2027. The game follows Makoto Daito across five eras and five Japanese cities, with a story built around identity, survival, and shifting alliances. RGG Studio is also using archival material to recreate Bunta Sugawara and Tupac in-game.
.png?width=720&quality=80&disable=upscale)
Game Developer reports that Bethesda president Jill Braff told Obsidian staff the studio's merge would not erase its creative identity. The move is being framed as mostly an internal reporting change, not a mandate to alter how Obsidian makes games. For teams watching consolidation closely, the key question is how much autonomy survives after the org chart changes.
.png?width=690&quality=85&format=jpg&auto=webp)
GamesIndustry.biz reports that Discord has relaunched age verification with non-biometric options after privacy backlash. Users can now verify through credit cards, app stores, Google Wallet, or AgeKey, while Discord says it will publish vendor details and transparency data as the rollout expands.
XBox Wire says Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – The Viking Sagas is available now, adding fresh Viking-themed content to the long-running strategy game. For teams shipping live content, it’s another reminder that classic RTS communities still respond to new scenarios, campaigns, and historical flavor when the update is framed well.
XBox Wire says Microsoft is cutting 268 roles across Halo Studios, first-party teams, and central XGS functions as part of its ongoing reset. The company is also reshuffling studios, with Activision taking on World’s Edge, Rare, and a new Halo team, while Bethesda, King, Playground, and Turn 10 absorb broader remits.
With your permission, GameDev.net uses analytics cookies to understand how people use the platform. You can accept analytics or continue with necessary cookies only. Learn more
