Meet the Indie Studios Funding Other Indie Studios
Among Us creator Innersloth has turned its pandemic‑era profits into an indie‑focused funding label called Outersloth. The initiative, announced in 2024, has already invested roughly $20 million across 24 games, offering grants from $50,000 up to $2 million and a revenue‑share model of 50% pre‑recoup and 15% post‑recoup. Outersloth joins other studio‑run funds such as Evil Landfall and Kinetic Games, which aim to sustain indie development amid a sharp decline in overall gaming investment—from $12 billion in 2021 to $2.4 billion in 2024. Transparent contract terms have drawn positive feedback from developers seeking sustainable financing.
GameMaker Says AI Coding Is Inevitable, Sony Clarifies DRM Confusion, and How Video Games Are Helping Rikers Inmates - Patch...
GameMaker announced integration of Claude Code, signaling that AI‑assisted "vibe coding" is now an industry inevitability. Sony clarified recent DRM changes, confirming only a single online check is needed for a perpetual offline license. Xbox hardware revenue plunged 33% year‑over‑year...
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Starbreeze to Develop a Second Payday Experience in Roblox
Starbreeze Entertainment announced a partnership with Gamefam to develop a second Payday experience on Roblox, expanding the franchise’s presence on the platform that now hosts 145 million daily active users. The first Roblox Payday title, created by Moonstone Games, amassed over...
'We've Been a Little Bit Too Romantic:' Ustwo CEO Says Lowering Development Costs Is Now Paramount
Ustwo Games is abandoning its mobile‑first strategy to focus on PC and console releases after Netflix dropped Monument Valley 3, prompting a strategic pivot. The studio’s development budgets, previously £7‑£10 million ($9‑$13 million) over three‑to‑four‑year cycles, are deemed too high for sustainable profitability....
'Millimeters Matter:' Making the Steam Controller 'Just Work' On Day One
Valve’s revamped Steam Controller launches with a plug‑and‑play "Steam Puck" that streamlines pairing, charging, and firmware updates, delivering the promised "just works" experience. The device inherits ergonomic lessons from the Steam Deck, featuring an improved D‑pad, repositioned rear buttons, and...
Inside Housemarque's Improved Narrative Process for Saros
Finnish studio Housemarque, now under Sony, is gearing up to launch Saros, a dark sci‑fi action title that evolves its "bullet hell" roots into a "bullet ballet" experience. To support the game’s larger cast and deeper story, the studio expanded...
Xbox Will Reevaluate Exclusivity and Target Daily Active Players Under New Leadership
Xbox has appointed Asha Sharma as president and Matt Booty as chief content officer, rebranding Microsoft Gaming as Xbox. The new leadership will review platform exclusivity, windowing and AI, while shifting the primary success metric to daily active players. They...
Build A Rocket Boy Facing Legal Action, Behaviour Interactive Cuts Jobs, and Xbox Has a New 'North Star' - Patch...
Build A Rocket Boy is being sued by a UK union over alleged privacy violations and mishandled redundancies. Behaviour Interactive announced layoffs affecting its external development team shortly after acquiring The Fun Pimps. Microsoft cut Xbox Game Pass prices and...
Canada Federal Government Concerned About Children's Safety in Roblox
The Canadian Public Safety Canada (PSC) brief obtained by The Logic warns that Roblox’s social‑media‑like environment is being exploited by violent extremists, white‑nationalist groups, and child‑predators to recruit minors. The report cites the platform’s user‑generated content and lax moderation as...
Newly-Launched Ivors Composers Awards Will Honor Video Game Composers
The Ivors Academy announced the inaugural Ivors Composers Awards, set for November 17, 2026 in London. The ceremony will honor composers across film, television, video games and streaming music, expanding the historic Ivor Novello brand. Entries open June 1, 2026 and are limited to...
'It's Going to Be Extremely Hard to Repair the Relationship:' The Subnautica 2 Legal Dispute Is Far From Over
In March, the Delaware Court of Chancery reinstated former Unknown Worlds CEO Ted Gill after finding Krafton’s dismissal illegal, but left co‑founders Max McGuire and Charlie Cleveland in limited roles. The dispute stems from Krafton’s alleged delay of Subnautica 2’s early‑access...
'A Scope Document Is Not Your Plan:' Laying the Groundwork for Indie Success
Sophie Smart of Blossom Arcade warned indie developers that a scope document is merely a feature list, not a development plan. She urged teams to translate scopes into milestones with realistic timelines and budgets. Smart advocated Scrum sprints for iterative,...
Union Workers Take Legal Action Against Build A Rocket Boy over Alleged Privacy Violations
Unionized Build A Rocket Boy (BARB) employees have filed legal action alleging that the studio installed the Teramind surveillance suite on work devices without consent, tracking keystrokes, screen activity and microphone audio. The IWGB Game Workers Union says the software...
Panic Won't Release Playdate Titles that Use Certain Forms of Generative AI
Panic announced that its Playdate storefront, Catalog, will no longer accept new titles that use generative AI for art, audio, music, text, or dialog, while still permitting AI-assisted coding tools with mandatory disclosure. The policy follows the inclusion of Wheelsprung—a...
What Egosoft's Three Decades of Making Space Sims Tells Us About Serving 'Niche' Audiences
Egosoft’s 2018 space‑sim X4: Foundations has become a live‑service‑style franchise through a series of high‑attach‑rate expansions. The first two DLCs saw 70‑80% of players purchase them, and a third still achieved a 50% attach rate, turning annual content updates into...
Ludum Dare Will Officially End in October 2028
Long‑running indie game jam Ludum Dare announced its final scheduled event will take place in October 2028, capping a three‑year run of six more jams. Co‑founder Mike Kasprzak also hinted at an unscheduled “encore” jam in April 2029, but emphasized that the...
RuneScape Developer to Expand Its IP to the Asia-Pacific Region
Jagex announced that its upcoming title RuneScape: Dragonwilds will debut in the Asia‑Pacific region later this summer, with full localization into Simplified Chinese, Japanese and Korean. The move marks the first time the RuneScape intellectual property will be officially released...
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US Representative Maxwell Frost Protests Saudi Buyout of EA
U.S. Representative Maxwell Frost joined a Twitch livestream to denounce the proposed $55 billion leveraged buyout of Electronic Arts, which would give Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund a 93.4% stake. Frost warned the consortium—backed by the Saudi fund and Jared Kushner’s...
Report: New Xbox Chief Says Game Pass 'Has Become Too Expensive'
Microsoft’s newly appointed Xbox head Asha Sharma warned that Game Pass has become too expensive for consumers, calling for a revised value proposition. The Ultimate tier now costs $29.99 per month, a 50% jump from its previous price. Gaming revenue...
Video Game Lawyer Implores Devs to Understand Ownership and Swerve Generative AI
At the London Game Festival, lawyer Nick Allan warned indie developers that without clear contracts, IP created by contractors remains owned by them. He urged studios to register trademarks and copyrights in key markets such as the UK, EU, and...
Data and Player Sentiment Highlight the Value of Authentic LGBTQ Narratives
At GDC Festival of Gaming 2026, GLAAD presented its 2024 Gaming Report showing that 17 percent of gamers identify as LGBTQ and that inclusive narratives can boost sales. The data indicates 62‑70 percent of non‑LGBTQ players are indifferent to queer content, while...
How Capcom's Pragmata Blends Puzzle-Solving with Sci-Fi Combat
Capcom’s upcoming title Pragmata blends third‑person shooting with real‑time, Snake‑style hacking puzzles, requiring players to juggle two characters, Hugh and Diana, simultaneously. Set on a lunar base overrun by rogue AI, the game’s combat‑puzzle hybrid aims to keep players engaged...
Bloober CEO Says Relying on One Title Creates 'Too Much Risk' In Today's Market
Bloober Team announced a refreshed executive lineup and reaffirmed its two‑project development model to mitigate market risk. CEO Piotr Babieno said the studio will maintain exactly two first‑party productions, balancing ambition with quality oversight. The company also highlighted its co‑development...
Gunzilla Called Out, Netflix's Surprise App Store Surge, and Indie Publishers Rise up - Patch Notes #47
The week’s game‑industry roundup highlighted several positive developments amid otherwise low expectations. Netflix rolled out Playground, a child‑focused, ad‑free gaming app, and its Game Controller app briefly topped the U.S. iOS free‑app chart. Indie studios Black Tabby Games and Landfall...
1000xResist Creator: The Game Industry Needs a Universal Video Codec for FMV Games
Remy Siu, creator of the award‑winning FMV title 1000xResist, warns that the lack of a universal video codec is stalling the next wave of full‑motion video games such as his upcoming Prove You're Human. FMV titles must bundle four or...
Black Tabby Games Slinks Into Game Publishing with 1000xResist Creator's Next Game
Black Tabby Games announced the launch of its publishing label, Black Tabby Publishing, with Sunset Visitor’s FMV title Prove You’re Human as its first fully funded project. The publisher will provide development capital, release‑management, and a straightforward 70/30 revenue‑share deal...
Peak Co-Developer Landfall Might Finance Your Next Indie Game
Swedish studio Landfall has launched Evil Landfall, a publishing offshoot that will provide project‑based funding and advisory support to indie developers. Led by CEO Kirsten‑Lee Naidoo, the label can invest up to $1 million per year in a handful of games that...
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Blizzard Explains Visual Updates to Overwatch's Anran
Blizzard announced a visual overhaul for Anran, the newest Overwatch hero, to be implemented on April 14, 2026 after the original design drew criticism from fans and the character’s voice actor. Game director Aaron Keller detailed changes to her eyes, eyebrows,...
Sony to Acquire Machine Learning Company Cinemersive Labs
Sony Interactive Entertainment announced the acquisition of UK‑based machine‑learning firm Cinemersive Labs, a developer of six‑degrees‑of‑freedom 3D capture technology. The deal, disclosed on April 2, adds the startup’s portable rig and smartphone‑based generative‑AI capture system to Sony’s Visual Computing Group. Sony...
People of Note's Hook-Y Approach to Designing a Turn-Based Musical RPG
Iridium Studios released *People of Note*, a turn‑based musical RPG that fuses pop, rock, EDM and hip‑hop into its combat system. The game uses a staff‑inspired turn‑order mechanic that mirrors musical time signatures and rebuilds each battle track in eleven...
Report: Take-Two Lays Off the Head of AI and Multiple Team Members
Take‑Two Interactive announced the departure of its head of AI, Luke Dicken, along with several other AI team members. The layoffs were attributed to shifting upper‑management priorities despite the company’s recent public endorsement of generative‑AI tools. In the same period,...
Nexon Agrees to Publish Overwatch in Korea
Nexon has signed a publishing deal with Blizzard to bring Overwatch to the Korean market, targeting a PC launch later this year. Nexon will manage live‑service and business operations while Blizzard retains development control of the IP. The agreement emphasizes...
The Last of Us Online Was Around '80%' Complete when Naughty Dog Canceled It
The Last of Us Online, a multiplayer spin‑off from Naughty Dog, was about 80 percent complete when the studio cancelled it in late 2023. Director Vinit Agarwal, who spent seven years on the project, learned of the decision just a day before...
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Appears to Earn an Estimated $30,000 on Steam per Negative Review
GameDiscoverCo released an April‑Fool’s data portal that calculates Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 earns an estimated $30,000 for each negative Steam review. The metric, dubbed “Revenue Per Negative Review,” compares revenue against reviews below a 50 percent rating and places Black Ops 7 ahead...
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Krafton, Flyquest, Arbitrum Invest $3.5M in Psychedelic Games' MOBA Golden Tides
Psychedelic Games secured a $3.5 million funding round from PUBG publisher Krafton, esports org FlyQuest, and Arbitrum Gaming Ventures to develop its new MOBA, Golden Tides. The studio deliberately avoided traditional venture capital, opting for strategic partners that can contribute operational...
'More Time Innovating; Less Time Writing Code:' Arc Raiders Publisher Nexon Believes AI Will Liberate Its Workforce
Nexon unveiled Mono Lake, an end‑to‑end AI platform trained on billions of player sessions, to inject contextual intelligence into every development decision. CEO Junghun Lee said the system will free engineers from routine coding, letting them focus on creative problem‑solving....
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Donkey Kong Bananza Has a Big-Brained Approach to Asset Recycling
Nintendo’s GDC 2026 presentation unveiled a Maya‑to‑Houdini pipeline that lets developers convert existing 3D models into runtime‑voxelized, destructible terrain. Programmer Tatsuya Kurihara demonstrated the system using a Void Kong head sculpted as a voxel shrine, confirming the tool supports both purpose‑built...
Important Lessons From Running a Successful Video Game Crowdfunding Campaign
At GDC Festival of Gaming 2026, Playable Worlds’ vice‑president Niina Fujioka detailed how their Kickstarter campaign for the MMORPG *Stars Reach* exceeded its goal by over four times. The success stemmed from a story‑focused trailer, a modest funding target, and...
Capcom Says It Will Use Generative AI to Speed up Production
Capcom announced it will actively employ generative AI to accelerate game development while explicitly refusing to ship AI‑generated assets in final products. The company is testing the technology across graphics, sound and programming, leveraging models such as Gemini Pro, Gemini Flash and...
Pentiment Director: Experimenting During a Game's Production Is 'Extremely Risky'
Josh Sawyer, director of Obsidian’s indie title *Pentiment*, warned that experimenting during the production phase is extremely risky and can add six months to a year and a half to a game’s schedule. He emphasized keeping big‑picture experimentation confined to...
Two More Leadership Exits Take Place at Xbox
Xbox announced the departures of two senior leaders: Lori Wright, the vice‑president of partnerships, business development and marketing, and Haiyan Zhang, general manager of gaming AI. Their exits come just weeks after Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer retired and Xbox...
To Make Video Games for Gen Z, Be Authentic
Sharon Tal Yguado of Astrid Entertainment warned that studios aren’t losing Gen Z—they’re simply engaging with games differently. The younger cohort favors social, sandbox‑style titles like Roblox and Fortnite over high‑priced AAA releases, and they consume gaming content on TikTok and...
Starbreeze Lands New Partner to Adapt Payday Series for Film and TV
Starbreeze Entertainment announced a partnership with VICE Studios to develop film and television adaptations of its Payday franchise. The deal follows an earlier, now‑unclear collaboration with Stockholm Syndrome and retains full IP ownership for Starbreeze. While Payday 3 underperformed, Payday 2 outshone...
'Text Is Evil:' How Making Peak Changed Indie Studio Aggro Crab
Indie co‑op Peak, built in roughly four weeks of intensive iteration, sold millions of copies and generated over $2 million in revenue on a sub‑$200k budget. Studio head Nick Kaman said the project forced Aggro Crab to rethink its development culture, adopting...
How Voxels Enabled a Juicy Gameplay Loop in Donkey Kong Bananza
Nintendo’s Donkey Kong: Bananza showcases a new gameplay loop built around destructible voxel environments, some reaching 347,070,464 voxels. By letting players pick up terrain pieces as weapons, combat directly creates pathways to hidden areas, merging fighting and exploration. The GDC...
Using Choreography to Enhance Battlefield 6's Game Feel
At GDC Festival of Gaming 2026, DICE designer Jac Carlsson revealed that his background in dance choreography shaped Battlefield 6’s visual feedback and game feel. The team introduced a Kinesthetic Combat System to tighten movement, aiming, and firing latency, aiming to...
Games for Change Research Director Unveils Training Program for Community-Facing Professionals
Games for Change research director Dr. Rachel Kowert announced the DLC Leadership Program, an evidence‑based certification for digital community leaders in gaming. The program, launching a pilot in May 2026 and a public rollout summer 2026, targets moderators, community managers,...
The Key to a Great Video Game Performance? Team Trust.
At GDC Festival of Games 2026, video‑game actors Debra Wilson and Jane Perry and performance directors Tom Keegan and Damien Goodwin emphasized that trust is the cornerstone of a great in‑game performance. They explained that performance directors act as a bridge, marking...
Valve Says 5,863 Titles Earned over $100,000 on Steam in 2025
Valve disclosed that 5,863 Steam titles earned over $100,000 in 2025, more than double the 3,000 games that reached the same threshold in 2020. The platform also reported record user activity, with 42 million peak concurrent users and 13.9 million in‑game concurrent...
Google Cloud's Vision for AI in the Game Industry
Jack Buser, speaking at GDC’s Luminaries series, outlined Google Cloud’s vision of a “Living Game” where AI augments development, business strategy, and player experiences. He highlighted how AI can streamline pre‑production, unify player data for hyper‑personalized marketing, and power smart...