Tim Braun

Amir Satvat's Games Community Support Content - Upcoming Schedule All Resources Cited Available @amirsatvat.com 11/8 - Helping Hands  (Resource #4) Spotlight on community members who have been searching for a job for over a year. 11/9 - New Games Jobs Update  (Resource #11) I've held off on loading new roles for a few days due to everything happening in the world, but expect hundreds of new roles to be available for application soon. 11/9 - Full Weekly Update (Resources #1, #2, #3, #5, #6, #7, #8, #16) Full refresh of all resources on the community website. 11/10 - Creator Partner Program Interest Check (Resource #18 - TBA) I will solicit participation interest in our new proposed Creator Partner Program for Amir Satvat's Games Community, highlighting those offering free games support to the community - based on your 94% / 6% in favor community vote. 11/11 - A BIG, BIG, BIG Surprise for Our Games Community Also Coming Soon   - A full study on job cuts by location (and more) from 2022 to 2024 YTD. - A concise one-page reference for all our key games job insights and stats. - Started a full update of the Games Jobs Directory (Resource #10)

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Know anyone that might know someone? Asking for a friend 👀 https://lnkd.in/g44DSCP8 #'s for the #'s #TheMattBarney #VideoGames #GameJobs #GameDevJobs #Unreal #UnrealEngine #GameEngineer #PrincipalEngineer #RemoteJobs #RemoteEngineeringJobs #RemoteEngineer

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TONIGHT AT 6:30 PM join us for an improvised version of PVP Circuit and help us rebuild our local community brick by brick. I still can't believe I get to work in the video game industry. My 6-year-old would laugh, and then cry once she realized what it means to work in the creative technology sector. That's why IMO everyone could use some levity during these unprecedented times. Join us for a fun evening to raise funds for the Trevor Project. Event link >>> https://lnkd.in/g7tBuP6d Frequently Asked Questions: What if I can't attend the event? - If you can't make it, please consider purchasing a ticket to help us raise money for charity or get one on behalf of someone impacted by layoffs. What if I want to join but can't justify the cost? - If you want to join but find the cost prohibitive, DM me and we'll make it happen (see point above). Do I have to pitch at the event? - No, you don't have to pitch if you prefer to observe. It’s a great way to see how it's done. Will there be another event like this? - We plan to host our community again, but I can't specify if this event will be the focus. #gamesindustry #event #comedy <3

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So with the amount of layoffs in games, its created a large bed of variables to look at.. yeah I'm not a scientist but trying my best to sound smart. Recent lunch with some friends out of work in games, had an interesting convo. All 3 of them are artist and they all applied to the same position at a company. They had found out after they applied they all were in competition and luckily they were in friendly spirits about it. Anyways, two of them got interviews. In the initial talks with the recruiter/hiring manager they were given a salary range. Only two of them got that far in conversation. Of those two, the range was different even though they had similar experience. They compared the responses they got and it was really odd how they were different, same person but different attitude in the way they were replying to them. Also in the interviews, the duties and role was slightly different, like the one with the lower pay range was basically being given a heavier responsibility description. Same interviewer too so a bit odd perhaps how the convo changed per person. The 3rd person, they were being notified once a week or so about progress and to don't worry, we'll get in touch soon with more info. Well.. at the end, none of them got the job, or feedback of why. The 3rd person just got ghosted without an update or reply asking for an update. I feel for them, hence giving them a lunch to vent, its stressful as all heck to interview, not wanting to put all your hope into a job that could or could not happen. And then to see that there are differences and inconsistency on the whole process. Some might actually say the 3rd person had it the best since they never got their hopes set too high but at the same time the ego can take a hit on not being asked to talk. Thoughts, anyone currently interviewing/looking for a job have some experiences to share?

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Most game pitches fail—but do you know why? 🤔 Brian Upton, an industry veteran with 20+ years of experience, shares the reasons in his talk at GDC 2015 "30 Things I Hate About Your Game Pitch." The presentation has more the 1.5 Million views on YouTube. 📈 Brian states that industry experts end up making these mistakes!😱 Want to make sure your pitch stands out for all the right reasons? Check out my presentation below, where I’ve summarized Brian’s invaluable insights into actionable tips. ⬇️ Watch the original talk here: https://shorturl.at/MIcYS #GameDesign #Gaming #GDC

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🎮 🔥 Video Game IT Jobs Mega Post! 🔥🎮 Here is an update to my Video Game Career Resources for IT roles. This is version 9, which includes around 150 jobs ⚙ IT job boards:  ❗ Please note: most job boards do not have an IT category, so I had to do a bit of creative keyword searching. You will therefore find duplicates in some of the links, as well as different (and also unrelated) jobs under an "IT" banner, due to the way job boards list those roles. This is out of my hands, so please do check these links yourself and amend the pre-prepared searches accordingly❗ Crackle HQ Jobs: https://lnkd.in/dsPjtT3c Gamejobs.co jobs: https://lnkd.in/dpHysgA4 Hitmarker Jobs: https://lnkd.in/dyxfK4xn InGameJobs: https://lnkd.in/eYYEKQmb Jooble IT jobs: https://lnkd.in/d-hAycYV Outscal: https://lnkd.in/eGddK8_q RemoteGameJobs: https://lnkd.in/eeyDEW8z XP Game Jobs: https://lnkd.in/dVPcb7-p and https://lnkd.in/dW_kFDEp 🌟 Bonus: a few more resources for everyone: 🌍 Not sure what is around you? Try Game Dev Maps - a living map and catalogue of game development organizations https://gamedevmap.com/ 🌍 From the UK? Try the UKIE Map: https://lnkd.in/dubns2sc 🆕 Starting out new in this industry? Try Entry Level Games: https://entrylevel.games/ and Bird's Eye View's Entry Level Skills hub resources https://lnkd.in/eeY7A54n 🏠 Remote jobs your thing: try Remote Game Jobs (https://lnkd.in/e-gds4He), Hitmarker (https://lnkd.in/eUa9sjQa) and Games Jobs Direct (https://lnkd.in/eTRrdfyQ) 🕹 Interested in Indies? Try https://lnkd.in/eWgtyava and Eva Tucker's Indie jobs resources: https://lnkd.in/eRzQYbE8 🎮 Even more Games Resources from our LinkedIn community: Amir Satvat's Games Job Resources: https://amirsatvat.com/ Aïda Figuerola's Gaming Backstage series: https://lnkd.in/ehbDBhyt Matt Hearnden's How to Get a New Job website: https://lnkd.in/eD6Him78 Sara Machado's Jobs Resources hub: https://lnkd.in/eBZJxRiY Jan David Hassel's Game Jobs Search Resources: https://lnkd.in/eYh9NcnV Additionally, please check out (and follow) these amazing people posting jobs regularly: 👉 Alex Gombos 👉 Ali Farha 👉 Andy Fidel 👉 Ash C. 👉 Caitlin Cooke 👉 Caroline White 👉 Hailey Rojas 👉 Kat Craig 👉 Kelly Bender 👉 Kelsy Barredo 👉 Matt Barney 👉 Matt Hearnden 👉 Mayank Grover 👉 Mirko Minenza 👉 Thomas Woodhams ❤️ 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! The world is yours for the taking - let 2024 be your year. 👊 #gamesjobsmegapost #it #jobsingames

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Don't want to bum you out but I know I'm not the only one who has noticed the same layoff cycle on LinkedIn over and over. I can tell your future... 1. Studio is shut down, all the devs become active on LinkedIn maybe for the first time in years and do their looking for work posts. People reach out with connections and support emojis. 2. The outpouring of thanks to the wonderful gamedev community. Amir Satvat and other full time LinkedIn influencers are tagged. 3. Nothing comes of all the LinkedIn support. Devs post frustration posts about how hard it is to be laid off and the injustice of the game industry. Many people will later delete these posts when they start to realize studios still aren't hiring them. 4. The reality step. Months pass and prominent veterans are still unemployed, let alone those "juniors" with a mere 5 years experience. At this point, people either give up and disappear, get a job and disappear (rare), or become a chronic disillusioned LinkedIn user. This last one either requires wearing a mask or ranting about capitalism more and more. 5. The laid off devs watch this cycle repeat for a whole swath of suffering people every couple weeks/days. And that's the step I've been on for a few months. But hey I've been working hard on my family and my solo projects. Magehunter coming soon, and AAA Simulator devlogs will be in production even sooner! Make art for yourself and those you love. Don't make my mistake - look for happiness outside this Microsoft product called LinkedIn.

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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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Tip for publishing consideration submission to Midwest Games... tldr - Send info through our portal (https://lnkd.in/gWtKgpuU), not through email (or LI). I get that it's a little counter-intuitive...you might think you want to put your info right in front of the sourcing decision influencers' faces. But it's actually a disadvantage - especially those of you who are agents throwing multiple titles at us at once. The submission portal goes right to our database, and that database is there for a reason: to keep an organized and consistent record of all submissions in one place. I look through there all the time. I'm reminded of titles I may have overlooked or need to go back to consider as circumstances change all the time. We rarely, if ever, make immediate decisions or even quick deep review/consideration. Our factors for consideration shift regularly. I do not review your particular email regularly, or at some point even remember you sent one. I go to the database. Connection via other channels is good. Discussion about your game over other channels is good. But having your core game info in those channels is not good. Please use the submission portal!

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Capcom has released a less-than-positive annual report. There's nothing critical in it; all the declines are tied to a pause in releases. Capcom certainly has a vast catalog of successful franchises for upcoming releases. Resident Evil (RE) stands out distinctly. While Capcom didn't start with RE, it played a crucial role in their history and has had a significant impact on the gaming industry as a whole. Today, RE comprises 32 releases across 33 platforms. These are incredible numbers and a testament to success. Moreover, judging by Metacritic scores, Capcom manages to maintain a high standard of quality. I gathered a timeline of all RE releases on one website (link in the comments). I thoroughly enjoyed watching videos, reading books, reminiscing about my own experiences playing the games, and playing with friends and colleagues. Here are a few interesting facts about RE and Capcom: - Resident Evil 4 was released on 14 platforms. - The first RE took 3 years to develop, instead of the usual 3-6 months for Capcom in 1996. Consultants hired from the U.S. advised shutting down the project when it was almost complete, predicting its failure. - Devil May Cry and Dino Crisis were born while searching for fresh gameplay for RE. - Capcom was one of the first companies to start paying revenue shares to developers, which is particularly noteworthy for Japanese companies. - Toy Story I and RE I were released around the same time. - For a while, music for RE was composed by a well-known Japanese composer who was said to be deaf. It later turned out that he wasn't actually deaf and didn't compose the music himself. PS. In 2026, the series will celebrate its 30th anniversary, and there will likely be a special release or edition. Or perhaps they'll simply release a version with full DualSense support.

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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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🎯 Strategies For Weapon Field Recording Success 🎯 https://lnkd.in/gNJxPJsi 🔫 Recording gun sound effects is a big undertaking. I know that 20 years ago when I was starting out it felt like an unapproachable goal. So when Mac Owens found a gun range near Austin for us to record at I jumped at the chance! If you know me at all then you know I love documentation, so I also decided to thoroughly document the entire process to help make this easier for other audio folks to go record their own weapon sessions! 📽 In this video, you'll find invaluable insights on Pre-Planning, 32 bit vs. 24 bit recording, setting recording levels for loud sources, running a large field recording session, and preparing a Reaper DAW session for the files. It's 40 minutes of material so I also broke it down into chapters for targeted learning 🎓 Please share with your audio contacts. I hope you find it helpful. Now, go record something cool! #FieldRecording #SoundDesign RECORDISTS: Chris Carroll, Ryan Stunkel, James Barker​, Mac Owens, Andrew Corbitt, Dietrich Dice, Aaron Brown​. SHOOTER: Karl Rehn.

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Do you love Autochess? Of course you do. Do you love Arkanoid / Brick Breaker? Rhetorical question, everyone loves those games. Now what if someone were to combine those two things? Well I did that and it was pretty cool. BRKRX combines the shop mechanics of autochess, the physics gameplay of arkanoid, and some JRPG influences into a unique roguelite experience. Read the full design breakdown of the prototype, and try it out yourself, at the link below. https://lnkd.in/gr824QPq

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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 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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At Uncapped Games I'm helping to develop my favorite game I've ever worked on professionally by far... and surprisingly it's an RTS. This is surprising because I (unlike nearly the whole team who are RTS powerhouses), have basically no RTS experience at all. Fire up Super Smash Bros and I may have a shot to impress, but RTS has been a huge - and fun - mental shift for me! ...and somehow, I've gotten pretty good! (At our game at least 😅). Very excitingly, we're on the schedule to say more about our game at SGF ( https://lnkd.in/e5uDTwZp ) in June, but now, kicking things off so to speak, we've put out a really cool documentary that explains some of our philosophies, hopes, and goals. If you're an RTS nerd - or just curious to learn more, check it out: https://lnkd.in/eQpxP3WZ

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The latest game I've been working on these past few years.

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We tracked close to 100 game audio job postings over the past three months (May-July 2024), tracking required/recommended tools and software, salary ranges, job titles, experience and more. A few highlights: - Technical Sound Design is a growing discipline, and represented more than 1 in 5 available game audio jobs - Terms like Wwise, FMOD, Unreal, Unity, and Reaper occurred much more frequently than when we did a similar analysis 4 years ago - A "Senior Sound Designer" (median midpoint: $149,000) likely pays more than double that of a "Sound Designer" (median midpoint: $69,000) - Audio Director jobs had a median midpoint salary of $213,000 - It was relatively rare to see a specific DAW listed as a required competence. Far more common was a listing with a requirement along the lines of "experience in a DAW such as ProTools, Reaper or Nuendo." Reported salaries were based on the ranges listed in the job postings. Several states in the U.S. require salary ranges to accompany job listings, including California and Washington State, the two largest game industry employers in the U.S. For the full report, visit: https://lnkd.in/gTP5Wv6S #gameaudio, #GameSound, #GameMusic

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