Declan Dwyer

What's better than launching a game? Talking about it! Huge thank you to the awesome Checkpoint Gaming and Luke Mitchell for hosting our small rag tag team at FENIX Studios Australia on their podcast. This is how we all survive — by being a solid community. Check out the link in the comments to hear all the ins and outs and hilarious hijinks that go into game development... #gamingcommunity #gaming #australiagames #indiedev #podcasts #gamingpodcast

13

1 Comment

i can thoroughly recommend cgs for game development courses. their mentors are great and in my experience, it's highly focused

1

Embracer Group-owned studio Piranha Bytes has been shut down; Embracer had been seeking a buyer for the German studio, but GameStar today reported that the studio was formally shuttered at the end of June. ALSO Kotaku Australia will be shutting down as license holder Pedestrian Group has restructured to focus on its own brands; several titles from the company's portfolio of licensed publications will cease to exist in the country, including Vice, Gizmodo, and Lifehacker, with dozens of staff being laid off as a result. They were reportedly informed of the news via an email from Pedestrian Group CEO Matt Rowley today. If your role is affected by either of these pieces of news, please make use of the support available across our three platforms. Specifically, I recommend checking out the Games Org Support Posts in Home 1. These resources are highly effective, with ample data to back their success. I won't pretend there are easy solutions but our community's only goal is to make things a little easier for as many people as possible. We have a ton of data showing that, for all candidates, your chances of finding a games role double (from 5 to 10%) over 12 months if you regularly use all our resources versus not. I'm so sorry to hear this report and I will, as always, do my best to do something about it rather than just talking. Home 1 - 🔗 AMIRSATVAT.COM: Our main hub provides 18 resources to assist you in finding work, featuring a fully updated design. - 🔗 Games Org Support Posts: Find a template at AMIRSATVAT.COM (Category 4, Resource 10). If you can provide information from your team (with their consent), I’ll help edit and disseminate the final product, reaching 100,000+ people. These posts are highly effective in increasing visibility, and we've done 99 of them. Home 2 - 🔗 Discord: Join us at discord.gg/amirsatvat, our live extension of community resources. With over 4,400 members, we are currently in an open-join phase. Home 3 - 🔗 LinkedIn: Our community here includes over 91,000 members, with 1-3 daily posts offering support and career assistance in the games industry. How the Broader Community Can Help: - Spread the Word: Reshares and comments on this post amplify the visibility of these resources. - Offer Support: Utilize the 16 ways listed on AMIRSATVAT.COM under "How You Can Help" to assist, or simply lend an ear or advice on our Discord server. - Join Our Movement: Volunteer with us at AMIRSATVAT.COM to support our colleagues in the games industry. Our network has facilitated over 2,200 jobs and 41,000 coaching conversations to date, the largest impact of any games organization on earth, and has been visited by millions of gamers lifetime.

79

3 Comments

JigSpace, a local Australian startup, was featured in the Apple Vision Pro launch earlier this year. They allow you to make simple, animated 3D / AR demos that can be shared with others (here's a bit of a silly one that I put together this afternoon while trying it out: https://lnkd.in/eDZrtVEU). I'm not yet clear on how big this market is, but I have a friend who successfully sold a range of virtual hats to gamers, so it might be bigger than I expect! If people start spending good chunks of time in a VR space, tools like JigSpace will make it easier to fill that space with content. #SpatialComputing #startups

7

1 Comment

NAB reminds me of The ENDLESS SUMMER. The formative 60's surfing movie I saw a good number of times in my teens. Trade shows are like the Endless Summer with companies perpetually looking to ride the perfect wave. Some like my colleagues at Amagi Corporation and Haivision are in the curl, some are standing up to catch the wave they see and others sitting on their boards looking at the crests. AIDA CONTENT MANAGEMENT INC is firmly in the second group given AI/ML at the core of the AIDACM DAM Platform! Powered by Vidrovr #digitalassetmanagement #metadata #artificialintellignce #droneoperators #martech #broadcast #filmproduction #fastchannels #nab #ibc

3

PS5 Pro price in Australia is $1200 AUD. If you want a disc drive, it's another $170. $1370 AUD for a gaming console?! This is literally, actually, insane. At that price you can get a steam deck and have enough left over for 5 triple-A games. Or you can buy a mid-level gaming PC for under $1200. Or you can buy a Switch and 40 games.

1

I started a Substack - first post is below, on Suno’s $125M raise. Have a read / subscribe if interested :) https://lnkd.in/gAB2KJU5

131

18 Comments

On the run up to release we keep reflecting back on the journey. Constant iteration and on going improvements have shifted our thought processes along the way. How it started vs How its going... If you havent already.. download the demo today. https://lnkd.in/gJDyMjTB #gamingnews #gamedev #indiegamedev #howitstarted

25

1 Comment

Where do you think Games in Australia is right now? Supaglu's Games Agent and freelance 2D Artist Lucy Mutimer gave her thoughts to Gameshub for this article on Games Industry Careers. Make sure you read right to the end for the good bits!

16

Sumo Digital Ltd acquired Pipeworks Studios for $100M in 2021 and made Timbre Games a part of it, but now Timbre will shut down as SUMO wants to be future-ready. Yet again, a studio falls prey to closure while in the middle of developing two games, one an ARPG and the other a sim-like RPG. And to be fair, RPGs require a lot of effort to build. But by the looks of it, Timbre possessed a strong group of talent who could’ve easily accomplished these RPGs, so it’s hard to imagine how they are feeling after putting in years of hard work only to lose all of it. In addition, they were on a mission to build a world-class network of game studios across Canada. It's hard to digest that more and more studios are being forced to quit crafting their video games every day. Support for the game devs is much needed, in fact, now more than ever! So, I am back to highlight a few of the folks who were impacted with an intent to support and bring visibility from recruiters. Kat Neale — A Women in Games ambassador who was Timbre’s Principal Gameplay Designer. Kat is an excellent team player because if you check out her feed, she has been supporting her team nonstop since the closure by reposting jobs and resources. Before Timbre, she worked for Blackbird Interactive as an Associate Game Director on an unannounced title and Homeworld 3. Zach Williams — He was Timbre’s Lead Core Gameplay Designer and has shipped 17 titles in his 14 years of experience in the industry. Before Timbre, he worked for renowned studios like Relic Entertainment, Smoking Gun Interactive, and BlackBird Interactive. Emmalyn Rynard — A Materials Artist for Timbre Games, Emmalyn also has experience developing VR games and prototypes for Oculus Quest. Her love for 3D drove her to become a 3D Artist, making her skilled in modelling, texturing and lighting. Jonas Roth — The Principal Software Engineer of Timbre Games with a hardcore 15 years of software engineering experience. Before Timbre, he was Offworld Industries’ Principal Software Engineer working on Starship Troopers. Jaclyn Adair — Another Women in Games Ambassador from Timbre Games who was their Lead Talent Acquisition Partner. Previous to Timbre, she was also Beamdog’s Technical Recruiter who helped ship their title, Mythforce. Yan Chatel — A bomb Level Designer who has worked on titles like Far Cry 5 & 6, For Honor, Transformers: Beyond Reality, and Hitman: Sniper. He has worked for studios like Rovio, Ubisoft, Compulsion Games, and The Sandbox. #layoffsupport

337

19 Comments

Today sees our first "formal" meeting with a new Government Minister whose portfolio includes video games and interactive entertainment. it's a key opportunity to share with the new Labour Government the tremendous economic, social, cultural and educational impact of games. I've met so many inspirational people in my initial forays into this industry. People like Reedah El-Saie, whose work with BrainsparkGames is breaking new ground in the application of games to learning and education. Or Max Scot-Slade of GLITCHERS whose pioneering work on "games for good" could have a profound impact on our understanding of human cognition and with it of cognitive disorders I've met solo developers and small teams whose micro-enterprises are breaking new ground in game mechanics, business models and technology. I've met devs in very large teams whose passion and enthusiasm for their craft is as infectious as their commitment to creating great player experiences. I've mobile developers whose work provides entertainment and relaxation for millions of players. This is the energy I am hoping to bring to today's meeting. A community like this deserves to be understood, championed and supported by Government. It is a creative foundry of a type that will play an increasingly central role in our future economy as well as the UK's standing in the world. I'll report back but in the meantime if you have a story about how your game has helped make a positive difference it is all valuable ammunition in the Ukie ambition to make this the most game-friendly Parliament in history, so do please keep them coming!

160

19 Comments

🚀 Exciting Developments in XR Technology! 🚀 Not having controllers is an exciting problem to solve for many XR creators. It pushes us to think beyond "which button should I use for X?" and instead, focus on the most natural way for users to interact with their hands, while ensuring the headset can recognize those movements. As XR becomes fully adopted, we won’t want to carry controllers everywhere; we'll want seamless interactions through XR glasses. However, some XR activities, like firefighter training, require controllers for interacting with various tools and providing haptic feedback. It’s thrilling to see companies working on controller solutions for Apple headsets, unlocking a new realm of XR content on the AVP. https://lnkd.in/gMXWcQHU #VRTraining #AppleVisionPro #XRDevelopment

4

5 Comments

Is the Australian government about to accidentally ban Minecraft and Roblox? The proposed definition of 'social media' in the proposed ban would clearly include multiplayer games like Minecraft and Roblox, and game networks like Xbox Live. I wrote a piece with Taylor H. for The Conversation Australia + NZ on why kids should be allowed to keep playing online. https://lnkd.in/g2QzqahW To be clear, social media shouldn't be banned either, but others have already written great pieces on that. This is policy responding to parental anxiety, and not what is best for young people. Children live their lives online, a ban is only going to make that online life more dangerous. #socialmediaban

77

9 Comments

VR and 50+ Community. Instead of reviewing my usual puzzle VR Games I have just posted a review of Kayaking in VR. Something different check it out https://lnkd.in/gSx7A88M #agedcare, #VR, #Fun

1

I've hosted hackathons at the MCG, I've done esports events there, yes I've been to plenty of sports, and now I'm coming to host GitHub Galaxy 💫 Melbourne edition. In less than a week GitHub Galaxy makes its way to Melbourne's MCG on May 7! This is the perfect opportunity to learn from industry leaders and GitHub experts, and enter into thought-provoking discussions, and networking opportunities. Everyone wants to understand how to leverage AI to overcome business challenges, and we'll be talking about this very topic. Grab your seats to this awesome (and free) event 👇 https://lnkd.in/gHcaF2wa Our very own COO Kyle Daigle will be delivering the keynote, Justin Hutchings will show you our product roadmap and what you can look forward to, and there will be plenty of GitHub experts such as Roger Brooker, Amanda Tan, Marco Celon, Anthony Borton, and Jacky H. onsite to ask questions. But it's not all about us. You'll also hear how our customers are using GitHub and the power of AI. Hear insights from Tim Hogarth at ANZ Bank, and many others on how AI is transforming their workplaces. You definitely don't want to miss this! #ArtificialIntelligence #AI #MachineLearning #MCG #MelbourneCricketGround #GitHub #GitHubCopilot #GitHubEnterprise #Melbourne

59

Any Procreate users in the house? One of Australia's most UNREAL & under-the-radar companies of all time just won the Apple Design Award for Innovation, another win for the Tasmanian companies/ bootstrapped companies/ agency-to-product companies like Linktree et al. (shoutout to Alex Zaccaria & Anthony Zaccaria again) This company is wild. Undoubtedly one of my all time favs and a company to champion loudly here in AU. They've been around for well over a decade, you have to move to Hobart to work for them, frequently number 1 paid app on Apple store they're used by beginner->pro designers all around the world (Stranger Things titles were made on Procreate) and I'd hazard a guess the fact they don't fundraise might have something to do with it, which we've seen plenty of times before *cough* Envato *Cough* I'll talk about this recent achievement of theirs on todays Disrupt Radio segment 'Moolah' with Omar de Silva at 10am, and like a terminator, I simply won't stop until I can grab Procreate founder James Cuda for a profile piece in the near future, so if I'm successful at that, you'll know I never stopped hounding their poor team. What a story to be celebrated. Not a Tractor Ventures funded company at all, but most certainly living the ethos our team were inspired by to create the company in the first place. Unreal.

80

39 Comments

This Twitter post from Katsuhiro Harada, an already prolific tweeter, is like a master's thesis on the business of games and franchise continuation at a large Japanese publisher. Harada waxes poetic about how he saved and grew Tekken and where that did not happen (but still could) with Soul Calibur. -----This tweet is to long to screenshot. It's literally that long.----- Twitter: Katsuhiro Harada @Harada_TEKKEN Okay, since it's lunchtime, let's talk a little about the differences between Soul Calibur (Project Soul) and TEKKEN Project. Before we get to that subject, you mention "game mechanics" as a prime example of how to talk about the survival of a game, but things are not that simple. Twitter: https://lnkd.in/g4QFYKf5 ----- IGN: "Tekken Chief Katsuhiro Harada Gets Remarkably Candid Discussing Why Soul Calibur Disappeared "There are still a few people in the company who have the will to do it." It’s been six long years since the last Soul Calibur game, 2018’s Soulcalibur 6, and fans haven’t heard a peep out of Bandai Namco about a sequel. With Tekken seemingly the focus of the publisher’s fighting game ambition, the once-great Soul Calibur appears to have fallen by the wayside. But why? In a remarkably frank tweet, Tekken chief Katsuhiro Harada pointed the finger at a number of factors, including Bandai Namco itself. Harada responded to a tweet from a user who claimed that if Soul Calibur 2 had a director like Harada himself, then sales of that game and the series would have grown over time. The user even pointed to mechanics in the older Soul Calibur games that were ditched for more recent entries as a reason for the franchise’s decline. But Harada insisted there was much more to Soul Calibur’s demise than the simple removal of game mechanics. He pointed to the departure of key staff on the project amid structural problems at Bandai Namco that even affected him at one point. “I can tell you that the organizational changes and decision makers at Namco Bandai had a great deal to do with it,” Harada said. Harada said the Soul Calibur series had a “strong leader” before and an “elite” group of developers. In the early days there was “friction” between the Tekken and Soul Calibur teams as the rivalry between them intensified. The strong leader quit, but “Tekken and SC were always rivals within the company as well,” Harada added. “More so than people can imagine.” “The two projects had different visions, different development policies, and very different ways of thinking about the brand. It is not that we hated each other. However, they were such rivals that it was not surprising to think so.” IGN: https://lnkd.in/guRyu8BW #gameindustry #gamedev #japan #japanese #gamepublishing #bandainamco #tekken #soulcalibur

2

7 Comments

Spend a half day understanding how immersive technologies can be used to break through to students and enhance teaching. Educators and educational administrators who are eager to explore how immersive technologies like virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality can enhance student engagement and learning outcomes. Immersive technology developers and other content creators interested in understanding the educational sector's needs to create impactful and relevant immersive learning experiences. Technology companies and hardware developers who are pushing the boundaries of XR devices and looking to collaborate with educators and content creators to refine and expand the application of their products in educational settings. Policy makers and educational leaders who want to stay informed about the latest technological advancements and understand how to support the integration of immersive technologies in schools and institutions. Individuals and organisations interested in the potential of XR technologies to revolutionise the learning landscape. https://lnkd.in/gdsmHM8t

6