Jay Fong

Lots of people changing jobs or on the hunt at the minute. Some useful tips to be mindful of from Amanda here. Even though you'll understandably be focused on landing the new role as smoothly as possible, these aren't unreasonable expectations at all and much easier to tackle up front than to deal with after the fact.

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Paradox Interactive announced today that Double Eleven, the developer behind Prison Architect 2, will be stepping away from the project after nine years with the Prison Architect franchise. Good news first, construction on Prison Architect 2 isn't being halted! Co-development studio Kokku, who's been working on the game since 2023 and previously collaborated with Double Eleven, will take the lead in bringing the sequel to completion. The news comes with a hint of complication. While Prison Architect 2 passed certification, negotiations between Paradox and Double Eleven for continued development reached an impasse. Technical hurdles, particularly with memory usage and minimum specifications, emerged during final testing. Paradox, likely wary of past performance issues (think Cities: Skylines 2), emphasizes their commitment to delivering a high-quality sequel that honors the Prison Architect legacy. Kokku, a Brazilian studio with a history of co-development and outsourcing on major titles like Horizon Forbidden West and Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War, is now at the helm to ensure Prison Architect 2's smooth launch. The Prison Architect series, which began in 2015 with the original simulation/management game, is still on track for a 2024 release with Prison Architect 2. While the development team has shifted, fans can rest assured that work on this highly anticipated sequel continues. (source: https://lnkd.in/dWtBvDhN)

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More sad news about layoffs I'm afraid... Armor Games Studios reportedly have laid off their publishing team yesterday, though the current number of reductions is unclear, as is the reason for the layoffs. To those impacted by this, please find a comprehensive list of resources, below: 🥇First, reach out to us at People Can Fly Studio, we have many roles open right now in Canada, the UK, Ireland and Europe, please check them out here: https://lnkd.in/eWpV5PbA 🥈Next, Discipline Games Jobs Resources: Over the past weeks I have created 9 (at time of writing) Games Jobs Resources to find jobs in a wide range of disciplines: 🎨 Art, Animation, VFX and UI This resource contains around 1,400 jobs worldwide across all links. Link: https://lnkd.in/eH-yWEms ⚙ Engineering and Programming This resource lists just over 2,300 jobs worldwide across all links. Link: https://lnkd.in/eMYuN-zV 🕹 Quality Assurance This resource lists over 400 QA jobs worldwide. Link: https://lnkd.in/ecHRqMnN 📑 Game Production This resource lists around 390 jobs worldwide. Link: https://lnkd.in/erVSuNwi 📢 Marketing & Community This resource lists around 330 jobs worldwide. Link: https://lnkd.in/eDmmXtP6 🎶 Audio and Sound Design This resource lists around 120 jobs worldwide. Link: https://lnkd.in/e9vpruEY 📠 Studio Support, HR, Recruitment and BizDev This resource lists around 340 jobs worldwide. Link: https://lnkd.in/eDeasJYj ⚙ IT This resource lists around 100 jobs worldwide. Link: https://lnkd.in/eTpRYvy2 🎮 Game Design This resource lists around 660 jobs worldwide. Link: https://lnkd.in/eXuJA9Vq 🥉 Third, the Ultimate list of Video Games Career Resources: This should be your one-stop shop for all information. My dear friend Amir Satvat maintains these documents, he is a legend for doing this - please check them out: https://amirsatvat.com/ 🎖 Finally, do not give up. Ever. No matter how dark things may look right now, I KNOW you will get through this, you have got this! 👊 Remember you are not alone. If you need help, advice, or even an ear to listen, we're here for you. Always! ➡ A request to my community, please can I ask you to repost this post to your colleagues and friends, so that we can get as many into jobs as possible! And please comment if you or your studio are currently hiring - let's help each other! Much love ❤️ #armorgamesstudios #layoffs

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This week keeps getting better for GeForce NOW members. First Final Fantasy XVI, then Black Myth: Wukong and now Xbox automatic sign-in! I will have more to say later this week but suffice to say GeForce NOW keeps getting better. https://lnkd.in/gsFsy8PR #xbox #xboxgamepass #gfn #cloudgaming

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It is awful. Truly awful. Around 15% of Intel Corporation's staff (meaning over 15,000 people) are facing layoffs this year. I want to provide as much support as I can about this happening. I know that Intel is not a games studio, but the amount of support they are giving games studios is not to be under-estimated. When I worked at other games studios in the past, we had wonderful working relationships with them, getting support through driver optimisations, supporting technical tests, even offering to feature our games on their network and providing exclusive access to gamers to our closed alpha or closed beta tests. This kind of relationship was special. Regardless of which areas of Intel are going to feel layoffs, with 15% of the workforce, that will be felt everywhere in the organisation. Those of you who worked even remotely in gaming, please make use of my resources below: 🥇First, reach out to us at People Can Fly Studio, we have many roles open right now in Canada, the UK, Ireland and Europe, please check them out here: https://lnkd.in/eWpV5PbA 🥈Next, Discipline Games Jobs Resources: Over the past months I have created 9 (at time of writing) Games Jobs Resources to find jobs in a wide range of disciplines, and I would urge you to check them out, if anything just to see what would be available to you: https://lnkd.in/eWvkdYjk You can find over 6,000 jobs there. 🥉 Third, the Ultimate list of Video Games Career Resources: This should be your one-stop shop for all information. My dear friend Amir Satvat maintains these documents, he is a legend for doing this - please check them out: https://amirsatvat.com/ I urge you to check out the areas in particular about CV support and mentoring, as these will help you no matter what industry you are hailing from or are looking into going next. 🎖 Finally, do not give up. Ever. No matter how dark things may look right now, I KNOW you will get through this, you have got this! 👊 Remember you are not alone. If you need help, advice, or even an ear to listen, we're here for you. Always! ➡ A request to my community, please can I ask you to repost this post to your colleagues and friends, so that we can get as many into jobs as possible! And please comment if you or your studio are currently hiring - let's help each other! Much love ❤️ #intel #layoffs

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I think one of the things that's so frustrating about Xbox's recent studio closures is that it is stark contrast to the things they *say*. They say they want original, interesting games, but then they shutter Tango. They say they want to take big swings at live service stuff, but then release Redfall in a disastrous state and don't have the bottle to fix it before shuttering the studio. They say they want interesting, original content, but then close studios working on original content to bolster Call of Duty. Xbox needs platform-defining exclusives. But they've also shown they don't have the understanding to ship stuff that can legitimately compete with what Sony's doing with Playstation's first parties. What happened to Starfield? Redfall flopped. Halo Infinite's SP "infiniteness" faceplanted. Halo Infinite's multiplayer took years to sort out a fatally awful progression system, and it still mostly sucks, but who cares because no one's playing it. Forza Motorsport bombed. Where is Gears? Where is the next thing from id? From MachineGames? When it's one studio flailing around, maybe it's the studio. When it's ***everything*** under the Xbox Game Studios banner, it's a different situation entirely. What the hell are they doing over there? But the point is, when you see closures of studios when the platform is totally failing to deliver anything of meaningful, differentiating value to players... it's time to call it. Phil Spencer's driven the Xbox into irrelevance. How you could spend hundreds of millions of dollars to achieve *so little* is genuinely shocking to me.

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Bit late talking about this one but huge news coming from 343 Industries, both a re-brand to Halo Studios and confirmation that they are switching development to Unreal. 🗞️ This comes off the back of 343's struggles with development of Halo: Infinite. We've seen many other studios move away from their own engines to Unreal, notably CD Projekt Red! Are proprietary engines going out fashion? 🤔 For those who have worked on both proprietary engines and Unreal, what have you found to be the key advantages of working with Unreal? #gamedev #unreal #halo

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Can we please stop with all the fruity videogame project codenames? You're working on a game, not a top-secret endeavor to break the enemy's code. The secrecy is silly, as though something would happen if everyone knew what you were actually making; "did you hear that (companyX) is working on a SHOOTER?". The best thing that could happen to your project is that word gets out and you generate some buzz. When I hear some silly, self-important project name I just think that you haven't put in the imagination to come up with a proper name for your game.

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How we solve problems for clients as a voice production company. Game devs don't come to us because they need voices for their game. They come to us seeking solutions to problems. Usually problems they have faced on previous projects with other audio / voice production suppliers. 1. Lack of resources in house - The most common pain point we help solve for our clients is their lack of internal resources and time. They want to protect their team's focus and time so that they can work on the most meaningful and important tasks to them. — 2. Communication - Another common issue we hear from clients & prospects is that when they have worked with bigger agencies / studios / suppliers - it can often result in communication frustrations. It's not quick and easy for them to get a hold of the specific people they need. Often having to go through a few levels of Production Managers to get assets or answers. — 3. Diversity in talent casting - "We're hearing the same voices in a lot of games" "We want to make sure we're being more diverse with our casting this time" Two things I hear all the time from prospective clients. The problem: the traditional way of voice producing a game was to hire a studio in London or perhaps L.A and have that studio cast and record the actors. Trouble is - the studio is relaying on booking out that studio time to increase revenues which means they can only work with actors local to them. The solution: Focus on going to where the actors are. Multi Location Voice Production. — 4. Getting the best people - A real frustration for our prospects when working with bigger vendors / suppliers is the people they get assigned to their project. Our clients and prospects always want the A team. The vendor's best people. However, they often get the junior or temp Producer looking after them with the big suppliers. They want the best team with a personal touch. Alright that’s it. Hope it was useful :) #GameDialogue #VoiceCasting #VoiceProduction

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Come learn about Xsolla's strategies to improve your mobile games revenue.

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The talented and amazing Amanda Lynn C. address a major issue for JUNIOR (first-time) GAME WRITERS in this post👇 READ HER ORIGINAL POST AND BE SURE TO GIVE HER A FOLLOW FOR MORD INSIGHTS: Basically: Learning how to write within the constraints of gameplay: what is already designed, what the ability of the team can (not could) achieve, and not to mention the budget/time constraints of the overall project is one of the toughest things that new game writer’s have to learn. (That and “cuts” and “edits” for “no-apparent reason” - there’s always a reason, you’ve just not privy to that data, metrics, reasons). Senior writers/Narrative Designers eventually learn “work arounds” (with effects, in-game animation/camera angles, lighting, sound) to get about 80% of what you hoped to achieve.

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Some insight into the Annapurna implosion. https://lnkd.in/gd-Sszj2

Have you seen the multi-team staffing diagram where the timing between projects is lined up just right? It is the one where teams ramp up and down between pre-production, production and post-production to keep everyone assigned. When I ran my own studio, I planned out scenarios just like this. In thirty years, I’m uncertain whether I’ve ever seen one play out that way. A project often takes 3+ months longer to sign than your worst case – if it gets signed at all. Even with an internal dev team, management may change strategy or be unable to initiate a project for a myriad of reasons. Then there is the drumbeat of project cancellations that rumbles just below the surface of our industry… there are a thousand reasons a game might not reach release. For those games that make it to launch, it is unlikely the gold date resembles what was written on the whiteboard in the original greenlight meeting. And if you cannot properly predict when a game starts, ramps or ships, then this efficient team diagram is only a goal… not a plan. And so, we can continue to handle team staffing as has been commonly done for decades and see the cycle of ramp ups, layoffs, closures, restarts, rehires, strategy changes, more layoffs and closures endlessly repeat. When a full team is carried, the difference between the staffing goal on the diagram and the executed reality is paid in forced decisions of taking any work possible and an elevated risk of losing it all.  No one knows the count of digital tombstones in the video game studio graveyard. The human damage is massive and the turmoil chases talent out of our industry. Changing jobs, moving, losing healthcare in the US… the impact is severe. An alternative is to hire only the core team and become experts at bringing professional consultants and co-dev partners in and out as needed. Sometimes they cost more than equivalent employees in the same territory, but you will not be responsible for their burn when they are not on the project. Thanks to the pandemic we now have the tools, tech, knowledge and industry expertise to properly manage remote team members. Who is core? Only you can answer that. Employ those who together can create magic, who have the skills and disciplines that make you stand out, and who are central to maintaining learnings from project to project. Contract everyone else. I realize there are exceptions, but often, hiring only a core team provides you with a better culture, a nimbler footing and an extended runway to handle what this crazy industry is going to throw at you next. Plans will go awry one day and the key to better options is to have the time to maneuver. Without a wider embrace of the core team concept, the industry devastation we witness around us right now, which is in no way new, will repeat for the next thirty years.

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More shocking news this evening with two more studios being shut down. I will do a post for each of them, since their contributions have been profound over the years. Ready At Dawn Studios had been one of the reasons I got into game development and bought a PSP, with the studio's credits include PSP games Daxter, God of War: Chains of Olympus and God of War: Ghost of Sparta, while its last PlayStation exclusive was 2015’s PS4 title The Order: 1886. Since then, it has developed well received VR games including Lone Echo and Lone Echo 2. Today, it was shut down by Meta, with an attempt to keep as many people as possible within Meta as possible. Those of you who are affected by this, please make use of my resources below: 🥇First, reach out to us at People Can Fly Studio, we have many roles open right now in Canada, the UK, Ireland and Europe, please check them out here: https://lnkd.in/eWpV5PbA 🥈Next, Discipline Games Jobs Resources: Over the past months I have created 9 (at time of writing) Games Jobs Resources to find jobs in a wide range of disciplines, and I would urge you to check them out, if anything just to see what would be available to you: https://lnkd.in/eWvkdYjk You can find over 6,000 jobs there. 🥉 Third, the Ultimate list of Video Games Career Resources: This should be your one-stop shop for all information. My dear friend Amir Satvat maintains these documents, he is a legend for doing this - please check them out: https://amirsatvat.com/ I urge you to check out the areas in particular about CV support and mentoring, as these will help you no matter what industry you are hailing from or are looking into going next. 🎖 Finally, do not give up. Ever. No matter how dark things may look right now, I KNOW you will get through this, you have got this! 👊 Remember you are not alone. If you need help, advice, or even an ear to listen, we're here for you. Always! ➡ A request to my community, please can I ask you to repost this post to your colleagues and friends, so that we can get as many into jobs as possible! And please comment if you or your studio are currently hiring - let's help each other! Much love ❤️ #readyatdawn #layoffs

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Here is my last post before i start my new gig and take a short break from posting. I'm doing this one separate from the others because these are paid services but they are inexpensive and were of the highest value in my job hunt. Meet Richard King and Robert Svilpa , your go-to experts for making your job search a little less painful. If you've been feeling frustrated by the lack of call backs, the issue might lie with your resume. What may have worked for me a decade ago no longer cuts it in today's competitive job market. Richard King and his team provide an incredibly affordable resume review service. For $30, you can benefit from a quick 15-minute review (and potentially a LinkedIn review if time permits). This isn't a scam; there are no hidden agendas to sell you additional services. You get genuine, straightforward feedback from your chosen expert to help boost your chances of landing those coveted call backs. Richard also occasionally offers a freebie through his GoFundMe initiative as funds allow. schedule a call: https://lnkd.in/gMWRw67N or donate to the go fund me: https://lnkd.in/g4-JpWz9 I've personally gotten to know Richard quite well, and I can attest to his genuine desire to assist as many individuals as possible. His heart of gold shines through as he navigates the complexities of the job market, offering invaluable advice. Truly, he was with me through every up and down of this job hunt and I'm so grateful to get to call him my friend. Enter Robert, a trusted friend of Richard. When I was struggling to find my voice during interviews, Robert swooped in to save the day. I had become so fixated on saying the "right" things that I unintentionally lost touch with my authentic self. Robert's insight reminded me that interviews should feel like casual conversations, where being genuine is key. His guidance helped me realign my approach and present myself as me because it turns out im pretty great as me. If you find yourself in a similar situation, seeking constructive feedback on interviews, Robert is your go-to resource for improvement. In addition to his expertise in interview coaching, Robert also provides resume reviews through the shared link above. For more about his services, visit his website at https://lnkd.in/g3zy2hAv. Plus, for music enthusiasts, don't miss out on his collection of unique guitars that he made! I highly recommend giving Richard and Robert a follow to access their valuable insights and support. Whether you're in need of resume refinements, interview strategies, or just a boost in your job search, these two experts and other friends have you covered!

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It's Develop this week but do you know what never stops however busy the industry conference calendar is? Video Games Industry Memo, that's what. I'm putting together two newsletters this week. Regular VGIM will hit nearly 2000 subscriber inboxes on Thursday morning and will feature a deep dive of everything I've learned by the seaside one of the UK's biggest industry conferences. And the second Ask George newsletter will arrive for VGIM Insiders on Friday morning, giving them - and you too - the chance to ask me anything you fancy about video games. To help me get them done between a veritable wall of back-to-back meetings, there are two things I am looking for: 💼 Details of hot off the press job moves OR excellent open job roles within the video games business. ❓ A final question for the Ask George column for me to sink my teeth into. Able to help with either? Leave a comment below or message me via LinkedIn DM if you think you can help. In the meantime, here's an image of a Question Block from the Mario series to illustrate the point about asking questions. It's not the most imaginative content I've come up with but, y'know, it is Monday morning 🤷‍♂️

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In the Aftermath of #SeptemberSurge 🎰 I am one of the final candidates for 2 roles now, with 3 of 9 active interviews sending regrets and the the other 4 quietly sitting out in the past few weeks. I also have started talking with 4 new studios, as I cannot afford to stop until there is an offer and my green #opentowork banner comes down. The final payment of government employment insurance benefits to support me and my family during unemployment was deposited in the past week, too. My total application count reached 17 in September, which also resulted in half of my active interviews during this month. Subtracting those 4 applications plus 3 additional immediate rejections, leaves me with applications for 10 studios that I have not heard from, yet, or have already booked me for initial screening appointments in October. 📞 Almost 60% of my September applications alone resulted in scheduling a first phone call. ✔ I completed 13 calls and panel interviews. I finished one design test quickly, and the other I had to <painfully> abandon; after 2.5 weeks of all my extra hours outside childcare and interviews went into it. ...but this is all a lot of work. I know you are working through similar struggles, too. ⚡ Once again I'm in awe of your powers if you've achieved 30+ recent applications or side-door convos with studios in the last 4-8 weeks! That's regardless of your success rate or other numbers. Always take breaks as needed, but I know you can get through this. So keep making the best decisions for you, even if that means you ignore the state of the #gamedev industry. One last reason to celebrate with me today. 👾 Earlier this week at UnrealFest, the playable arcade cabinet version of my game Broken Wing was on display for the public. I am grateful to Ed Bennett, Robert Percival, and Dan Johnson for troubleshooting many of the fellows' games so they would work on the machines... instead of spending that time enjoying the conference! And also for capturing some evidence of Broken Wing being played for my amusement.

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👶 Game producers = great parents… ? 🎮 Problem-Solving: Working with different partners/audiences with varying comm methods. 💬 Empathy/Sympathy: Seeing the world through other viewpoints. Interpreting signals! 🧘‍♂️ Stress Management: Resilience in the face of constant pivots & uncertainty… Are you a creating clarity or chaos when having to clean 💩? 📅 Organization: Scheduling routines and adjusting when your plan goes south. Have a mitigation? That helps! Game production = solid parenting prep! 🌟👾🍼 #parenting #chaos💩 #empathy

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Terrible news about another studio closure today, this time Paradox Tectonic, which was closed by Paradox Interactive today. It is a true shame, as Live By You looked absolutely incredible from what was shared... To those impacted by this closure, please find a comprehensive list of resources, below: 🥇First, reach out to us at People Can Fly Studio, we have many roles open right now in Canada, the UK, Ireland and Europe, please check them out here: https://lnkd.in/eWpV5PbA 🥈Next, Discipline Games Jobs Resources: Over the past weeks I have created 9 (at time of writing) Games Jobs Resources to find jobs in a wide range of disciplines: 🎨 Art, Animation, VFX and UI This resource contains around 1,350 jobs worldwide across all links. Link: https://lnkd.in/eXgEEUAA ⚙ Engineering and Programming This resource lists just over 2,100 jobs worldwide across all links. Link: https://lnkd.in/eAufG7q4 🕹 Quality Assurance This resource lists over 400 QA jobs worldwide. Link: https://lnkd.in/e6YwwJeS 📑 Game Production This resource lists around 380 jobs worldwide. Link: https://lnkd.in/eE8QgeDq 📢 Marketing & Community This resource lists around 360 jobs worldwide. Link: https://lnkd.in/eW3AZmxd 🎶 Audio and Sound Design This resource lists around 180 jobs worldwide. Link: https://lnkd.in/ehGFXaiH 📠 Studio Support, HR, Recruitment and BizDev This resource lists around 370 jobs worldwide. Link: https://lnkd.in/eDHbZx2w ⚙ IT This resource lists around 100 jobs worldwide. Link: https://lnkd.in/eRYpAtQQ 🎮 Game Design This resource lists around 640 jobs worldwide. Link: https://lnkd.in/ekNSq_Wj 🥉 Third, the Ultimate list of Video Games Career Resources: This should be your one-stop shop for all information. My dear friend Amir Satvat maintains these documents, he is a legend for doing this - please check them out: https://amirsatvat.com/ 🎖 Finally, do not give up. Ever. No matter how dark things may look right now, I KNOW you will get through this, you have got this! 👊 Remember you are not alone. If you need help, advice, or even an ear to listen, we're here for you. Always! ➡ A request to my community, please can I ask you to repost this post to your colleagues and friends, so that we can get as many into jobs as possible! And please comment if you or your studio are currently hiring - let's help each other! Much love ❤️ #layoffs #gamesindustry #jobsingames #paradoxtectonic #tectonic 

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