GameDev News

🛠️ What moved in game dev today Anthropic orders AI tool Claude to stop remaking video games Anthropic directed its Claude AI tool to stop recreating existing commercial video games. What it changes: Devs can no longer use Claude to clone or prototype existing games, closing that shortcut. — Game Developer Gaming storefronts are facing a Slop Grenade problem | Opinion An opinion piece says digital storefronts are being flooded with low-quality, mass-produced games. What it changes: Indie title…

📦 Release radar — Babylon.js 9.33.1 web engine · shipped today • You can now encode textures to KTX2 (Basis Universal) directly in Babylon.js instead of relying on an external tool • This lets you compress textures into a GPU-friendly format in your own pipeline before shipping assets • Useful for cutting texture memory and download size without a separate build step for KTX2 conversion Full release notes What's your current go-to tool for KTX2 texture compression? Memes | News | 𝕏 takes

📊 What Steam is selling today the charts, read back to the people who have to launch into them Top sellers right now • Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® 4 — $69.99 • Phantom Blade Zero — $59.99 • Crimson Desert Enhanced: Charting the Unknown — $24.99 • Probably Stolen - Cyberpunk Shopkeeper Sim — $17.99 (-10%) • Queen's Domain — $16.99 (-15%) Launched in the last 24h — your actual competition • Nightshift; Nowhere — $19.99 • HACHIKOMA: Underground Stadium No. 8 — $7.19 • Nedi Cloud Simulator — $8…

🛠️ What moved in game dev today John Romero's canceled game finds a new publisher amidst an overall scope change Romero's previously canceled game has been picked up by a new publisher with a reduced scope. What it changes: Shows publishers may still back shelved projects if the team is willing to cut scope to fit budget. — Game Developer Maddy Makes Games removes Celeste and TowerFall from Xbox in support of pro-Palestinian BDS boycott Maddy Makes Games pulled Celeste and TowerFall from Xbox …

⚡️ Just in — game dev Studio Atelico launches Atelico AI Engine into Early Access Studio Atelico released its Atelico AI Engine in Early Access, per GamesIndustry.biz. What it changes: The headline gives no details on features or pricing, so it's unclear yet what this changes for your workflow. — GamesIndustry.biz Which part of your current engine would you replace first if Atelico delivers? Memes | News | 𝕏 takes

💬 Said this week “We are good at proposing different kinds of hypotheses, but we might not be able to hit the spot on the first try, and that's why we always, always conduct several rounds of playtest sessions and live test sessions.” — Bryan Li, Development director, Monster Hunter Outlanders, TiMi Studio Group A reminder that session-length and difficulty tuning can't be solved by guesswork alone—it requires repeated real playtesting. GamesIndustry.biz: "We are very eager to learn from the…

🛠️ What moved in game dev today Donald Glover to direct, star in Netflix adaptation of PUBG Battlegrounds Donald Glover will direct and star in a Netflix adaptation of the battle royale game PUBG Battlegrounds. What it changes: Changes nothing for anyone shipping a game; it's a media licensing deal, not a production or tooling shift. — Game Developer Why asking "what's the budget for your game?" doesn't make sense in 2026 | Opinion An opinion piece argues that fixed game budget figures are no …

📊 What Steam is selling today the charts, read back to the people who have to launch into them Top sellers right now • Phantom Blade Zero — $59.99 • Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® 4 — $69.99 • Probably Stolen - Cyberpunk Shopkeeper Sim — $17.99 (-10%) • The Wolf Among Us Remastered — $19.99 (-20%) • ATMOSFAR — $22.49 (-10%) Launched in the last 24h — your actual competition • Prophet Margin — $14.95 • Dynamite Dashers — $6.29 • JANGDOK Delivery — $3.39 • Skyborn:IronWings — $13.49 • Into the C…

🛠️ What moved in game dev today Xbox CEO says console demand is outstripping supply—but sales continue to drop Xbox's CEO claims console demand exceeds supply even as overall console sales keep falling. What it changes: If you're betting on Xbox hardware growth to drive game sales, the data says be cautious. — Game Developer Newly merged Skydance mandates staff return to office five days a week, offers Voluntary Buyout Program Post-merger Skydance now requires employees back in office five day…

🛠️ What moved in game dev today Epic VP says AI code tools have stomped out decade-old 'non-deterministic cooking bugs' in Unreal Engine An Epic VP claims AI coding tools have eliminated long-standing non-deterministic cooking bugs in Unreal Engine. What it changes: If true, fewer mystery build failures during cook, but take the claim with skepticism until you see it yourself. — Game Developer The five golden rules of external development GamesIndustry.biz published a list of five recommended …

📦 Release radar — Babylon.js 9.33.0 web engine · shipped today • Babylon.js native apps get faster rendering thanks to batched render-pass commands, so GPU-bound scenes should run smoother on native hosts. • Gaussian Splatting on WebGPU got a texture fetch performance fix, plus an optional GPU-based depth sort you can turn on for better sorting without hurting frame rate. • Materials using KHR_materials_scatter can now be imported and exported through glTF, useful if you're round-tripping asset…

🧠 Game Dev Fact The indie game Vampire Survivors was made by one dev and grossed millions. How many people are on your current project's team? Memes | News | 𝕏 takes

🛠️ What moved in game dev today Rockstar Games workers to vote on unionization right as Grand Theft Auto VI launches Rockstar Games employees will hold a unionization vote timed with the Grand Theft Auto VI launch. What it changes: If it succeeds, large-studio labor terms could shift, indirectly affecting hiring and wage benchmarks industry-wide. — Game Developer Interior Night studio head Charu Desodt appointed chair of BAFTA Games Committee Interior Night's studio head Charu Desodt was named…

⚡️ Just in — game dev Warhorse Studios hit by an undetailed cybersecurity incident Warhorse Studios confirmed a cybersecurity incident but has not disclosed what was affected or how. What it changes: Nothing actionable yet since no details on attack vector or data exposed have been shared. — Game Developer How many people on your team can access prod credentials right now? Memes | News | 𝕏 takes

😂 My VAC ban for Counter Strike is now the same age I was when I got it (Over 19 years) 👍 32045 upvotes on r/gaming Every game dev felt this 😭 📡 @gamedevnewz Memes | News | 𝕏 takes

🛠️ What moved in game dev today Changing acquired studios' core identity consistently leads to doom, says Nightdive Studios CEO Nightdive's CEO says publishers who strip acquired studios of their core identity consistently see those studios fail. What it changes: If you're being acquired or acquiring a studio, this is a direct warning to preserve what made the team work. — Game Developer Warhorse Studios hit by cyberattack, company systems and data affected Warhorse Studios suffered a cyberatt…

🛠️ What moved in game dev today Xbox reportedly turned down a $500 million deal from Netflix to adapt its video game properties Xbox reportedly rejected a $500 million offer from Netflix to adapt its game franchises into film or TV. What it changes: Changes nothing directly for developers, but signals Xbox still wants to control adaptation deals for its IP itself. — Game Developer Xbox staff among up to 60,000 Microsoft employees offered voluntary exit Microsoft offered voluntary buyouts to up…

📦 Release radar — Babylon.js 9.32.1 web engine · shipped today • Disposing Gaussian splat meshes now actually frees their splat data instead of leaking memory over time. • Mirror textures no longer leak an internal observer when disposed, which helps if you create/destroy reflection cameras a lot. • Importing FBX rigs with inherited bone scale no longer eats excessive memory, so heavier character rigs should load more reliably. • KTX2 texture loading now transfers files to the worker and frees …

⚡️ Just in — game dev Epic Games CEO calls Steam's AI disclosure policies "a political act" Tim Sweeney criticized Steam's policy requiring AI disclosure labels on store pages, calling it political. What it changes: Changes nothing immediately for developers; Steam's disclosure requirement stays in effect regardless of Epic's opinion. — GamesIndustry.biz Do you disclose AI tool use in your Steam store page? Memes | News | 𝕏 takes

⚡️ Just in — game dev Side expands presence in China, opens new studio and acquires art outsourcing provider Roboto Entertainment Side opened a new studio in China and acquired art outsourcing firm Roboto Entertainment. What it changes: Studios seeking art outsourcing now have another large, China-based vendor option through Side's expanded network. — GamesIndustry.biz Which outsourcing vendor did your studio choose for its last art pass? Memes | News | 𝕏 takes