Augmented World Expo 2025 will draw more than 6,000 attendees, 400 speakers and 300 global exhibitors to its event June 10 to June 12 in Long Beach, California. The speaker lineup includes Snap CEO Evan Spiegel, Atari cofounder Nolan Bushnell and Oculus/Anduril founder Palmer Luckey. If the show is any indication, the XR industry isn’t doing so bad. A variety of market researchers are forecasting fast growth for the industry through 2030. Ori Inbar, CEO of AWE, believes that the XR revolution is “ready to conquer the mainstream.” But to get there, he believes the industry still needs to create “head-turning content that must be experienced.” Of course, the red hot days of the “metaverse,” inspired by Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash sci-fi novel in 1992, is no longer driving the industry forward. With less focus on sci-fi, the industry is focused on practical uses for mixed reality technology in the enterprise and consumer markets like gaming. But will XR and the metaverse be overrun by AI, or will it carry them to the mass market destination? Much is riding on how committed Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta will be even as it reprioritizes some resources away from XR to AI. Meta, which acquired Luckey’s Oculus back in 2014, has invested billions every quarter in the technology, with no profits so far. But, in a very unexpected turnaround, Zuckerberg and Luckey buried the hatchet on the past differences and set up an alliance between Meta and Anduril — the latter being Luckey’s AI/drone defense company. Zuckerberg has new competition from his own nemesis, Apple, which launched the Apple Vision Pro in February 2024. However, Apple has slowed down its development of the next-generation XR headset, while Zuckerberg has put more emphasis on AR/AI glasses. Spiegel, the CEO of Snap, has focused on augmented reality glasses. His Spectacles are now in their fifth generation, powered by the Snap OS and authoring tool Lens Studio. Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari and Chuck E. Cheese, will deliver a one-of-a-kind talk on the main stage with five of his children, who are continuing his pioneering vision in gaming through XR. Brent Bushnell, Nolan’s eldest son, recently debuted DreamPark, a new XR startup that turns any park or playground into a mixed reality theme parks. Others speakers include Vicki Dobbs Beck – VP, Immersive Content Innovation, Lucasfilm & ILM Immersive; Ziad Asghar – SVP & GM XR, Qualcomm; Brian McClendon – Chief Technology Officer, Niantic Spatial, Inc.; Jason Rubin – VP, Metaverse Experiences, Meta; Hugo Swart, Senior Director of XR Ecosystem Strategy and Technology, Google; Jacqui Bransky – VP Web3 & Innovation, Warner Records; Chi Xu – CEO and Founder, XREAL; Helen Papagiannis – AR Pioneer and XR Hall of Famer; and Tom Furness – Grandfather of VR and Founder, Virtual World Society. AWE Builders Nexus will be a new program focused on startups this year. Startup founders, developers, designers, product managers, and business leaders alike will get the resources they need to build something extraordinary, get advice and funding, scale through partnerships, and win customers, Inbar said. The event will also feature the AWE Gaming Hub. I also interviewed some companies that are showcasing technology at the show. Here’s some snippets from what they are going to show. Pico VR Pico started out in Beijing, China, in 2015 and is now hitting its 10th anniversary. It is making the standalone Pico XR headsets, and it was acquired by ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, in 2021. In September 2024, the company launched the Pico 4 Ultra Enterprise headset, filling out the high end of its product line in addition to its G3 and Neo 3 legacy headsets. Pico also has its set of full-body motion trackers to its product offerings to allow for full-body and object tracking. That’s helping it with its focus on location-based entertainment in markets such as China. It’s focused on WiFi7, hand tracking and motion tracking. Leland Hedges, head of enterprise business at Pico, said that the LBE market in China has grown by 1,000% in the last six to nine months Pico has an app for PC streaming and another app for managing devices over a LAN. Pico can track play spaces with columns or cordoned-off areas. Hedges said the company will share 15 different user stories at AWE in public places such as zoos, museums, aquariums and planetariums. Convai Purnendu Mukherjee, CEO of Convai, showed me a bunch of demos at the Game Developers Conference where it has been able to create avatar-based demos of generative AI solutions with 3D animated people. These can be used to show off brands and greet people on web sites or as avatars in games. At AWE, Convai will also off learning and training scenarios for education and enterprises through a variety of simulations. Convai can render high fidelity avatars that are effectively coming from the cloud. At GDC, Convai scanned me and captured my voice so that it can create a lifelike avatar of me. These avatars can be created quickly and answer a variety of questions from website visitors. The idea is to enable non-technical people to create simulations without the need to code anything. In a demo, Convai’s avatar of me said, “I’ve been covering the games industry for many years now at games beat I’ve seen it evolve from the arcades to the massive global phenomenon it is today. I love digging into the business side of gaming, the technology, the culture, the whole shebang.” Convai will announce pricing for its self-serve platform as well as an enterprise subscription fee. Doublepoint Ohto Pentikäinen, CEO of Doublepoint, has a technology that detects the gesture you can make with your hand. It captures that movement via a smartwatch and allows you to control things on a TV interface or an XR device. With Android XR, Doublepoint is showing off demos where gesture control can unlock a more intuitive and comfortable augmented reality experience for those wearing AR glasses. Xreal is one of the glasses makers that is using the technology for controlling an AR user interface with gestures. “Our technology is able to fully control a XR system. A stat that we can update you on is that there’s 150,000 people who have downloaded the technology so far, and we have a developer community of over 2,000 people since January 2024,” Pentikäinen said. Now the company is starting its own Doublepoing developer program, and this adds layers on top of the enterprise client. So now the company can provide technology for indie developers or startups that are building augmented reality or AI hardware experiences. “We’re empowering developers in AR robotics and AI hardware, and we’re providing everything that we’re providing the enterprise clients, but for a much reduced price,” Pentikäinen said. #augmented #world #expo #will #draw

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. DirectX Raytracing gets performance boost with Opacity Micromaps, now in Agility SDK 1.616 Paul Hill Neowin @ziks_99 · May 31, 2025 07:44 EDT Back in March at the Game Developers Conference 2025, Microsoft unveiled DirectX Raytracing1.2, which introduces Opacity Micromaps. The Redmond giant has now announced the Agility SDK 1.616-retail, which includes support for OMM. You can grab it at the Agility SDK downloads page right now. What are OMMs? The new Opacity Micromapsfeature has been designed to improve the efficiency of rendering objects such as foliage, fences, transparent features, and other complex alpha-tested geometryin ray-traced scenes. The main performance boost comes from reducing the need for “AnyHit” shaders, which require lots of computation and can slow down raytracing. The performance improvements from OMM are not just theoretical, either. At GDC 2025, Remedy Entertainment showed off the performance wins it had using the technology in Alan Wake 2. When will we get OMM support? In terms of support for OMM, Nvidia already has it activated on all Nvidia GeForce RTX GPUs, AMD is planning to make it available during the summer, and Intel is still evaluating the technology and “looks forward to supporting the feature in the future.” Before users can unlock the performance boosts associated with OMM, developers will need to start building with tools such as the new Agility SDK, which was released on Friday. Aside from performance boosts, it could also unlock new artistic possibilities and reduce development hurdles. How do OMMs work? In ray tracing, when a ray hits alpha-tested geometry, the graphics card runs an AnyHit shader to determine if the part of the object the ray hit is opaque or transparent. If it’s transparent, the ray keeps going until it hits another object. As mentioned, using the AnyHit shaders can slow things down, so they’re best avoided as much as possible - this is where Opacity Micromaps comes in. These OMMs are essentially a pre-check for AnyHit shaders. They first try to determine if an object is opaque or transparent, and only if they aren’t sure will AnyHit shaders be run. This process is much more efficient than running AnyHit shaders in every situation. Going forward The option to use OMMs in games via the Agility SDK is a big step forward in ray tracing performance. However, end users will need to wait until developers have started building with it in their games and support by hardware manufacturers like Nvidia and AMD is also key. Developers can head to the Agility SDK downloads and grab version 1.616 to get started. Tags Report a problem with article Follow @NeowinFeed #directx #raytracing #gets #performance #boost

After two years of negotiating, ZeniMax Workers United-CWA, the union representing quality assurance workers at ZeniMax Media, has reached a tentative union contract with Microsoft, according to the Communication Workers of America. The union originally formed in 2023 and was immediately recognized by Microsoft, which made its commitment to stay neutral towards union organizing at ZeniMax official in 2024. The new contract will cover over 300 ZeniMax employees and includes "substantial across-the-board wage increases as well as new minimum salaries for workers," the CWA says. The contract also includes language protecting workers from the impacts of AI and "a crediting policy that clearly acknowledges the QA workers’ contributions to the video games they help create." "Video games have been the revenue titan of the entire entertainment industry for years, and the workers who develop these games are too often exploited for their passion and creativity," Jessee Leese, a QA tester and ZeniMax Workers United-CWA bargaining committee member shared in the CWA announcement. "Our first contract is an invitation for video game professionals everywhere to take action. We're the ones who make these games, and we'll be the ones to set new standards for fair treatment." The new contract is considered "tentative" until union members ratify it, but because existing contracts often act as a reference in ongoing negotiations, the agreements ZeniMax workers secured will likely serve as a standard for other unions going forward. ZeniMax QA testers aren't the only video game union at Microsoft — QA workers at Raven Software, QA workers at Activision, workers at ZeniMax Online Studios and the development team behind Overwatch are all still in active negotiations with the company. Outside of Microsoft, the CWA also announced the United Game Workers-CWA union at this year's GDC, as a another option for representation. United Game Workers-CWA is a direct-join union, a labor organization that all workers in an industry can participate in without needing legal recognition from an employer. The idea is that currently employed workers, anyone who's been laid off and freelancers can all still wield power together, even without a potential contract hanging in the balance.This article originally appeared on Engadget at #zenimax #workers #win #tentative #union

"AI is inevitable."That's a phrase that's rattled around my head for a month. Not willingly mind you. It's taken up lodging in my grey matter after hearing it in meetings, reading it in emails, and seeing it buffeted back and forth across Bluesky, LinkedIn, and Discord.It's not a convincing phrase. If you hear it from AI boosters it's easy to brush off as raw hype, and if you hear it from doomsayers it can lull you into a sense of fatalism. But as the philosopher Natasha Bedingfield told us in 2004, today is where the book begins, the rest is still unwritten. Nothing, for better or worse, is inevitable.But in those various calls another phrase—one you may have heard at your studio—has slipped past more unnoticed: "AI is just a tool. It can be used for good or evil, like any other tool."After all this is a business where we use tools for good or evil, right and wrong, correctly and incorrectly. We debate the effectiveness of Unity, Unreal, or Godot. We agonize over whether to use procedural versus hand-crafted content. We debate and discuss the topic so much that Game Developers Conference has a whole Tools Summit dedicated to craft of making game development software.Viewing generative AI through the neutral lens of tool assessment is natural—and I'll go so far as to say admirable—for our community. It's a method we use to get past hype and bombast, to try and take technology on its own terms and see how it fits our purposes. And as the 2025 GDC State of the Industry report tells us, some developers are adopting generative AI, plenty of them not bought in on the hype but through the act of seeking the right tool for the job.Related:But looking at generative AI as 'just a tool' is a deeply flawed lens. That phrase betrays a quiet cynicism. Because nothing—not generative AI, not a firearm, not even a hammer—is "just a tool."The function of tools is influenced by their formConsider two tools found in many American households: the claw hammer and the handgun.Normally Game Developer restricts itself to the craft of making video games but I promise this is relevant. Guns are another tool where neutralizing rhetoric is deployed to downplay a tool's negative effects. I grew up in a gun-owning house in a gun-owning neighborhood in suburban Maryland. There were probably four handguns sitting in lockboxes across two rooms, a few rifles and shotguns in a vault in the basement, and one questionably legal World War I firearm tucked away in a closet. The NRA's mantra of "guns don't kill people, people kill people" was commonplace. A neighbor of mine laughed when I advocated for stronger regulations on gun ownership on the basis of "guns are meant to kill." "Guns aren't meant to kill," I recall him saying. "Cars can kill people. Does that mean cars are meant for killing?"His point boils down to this: The outcome of the tool's use is not worth considering when discussing regulation, only its potential use. A gun is a tool and the user has control over a tool is used.Cars are already tightly regulated and cost thousands of dollars, making his point moot, so we'll break down the construction of the claw hammer instead. We generally refer to hammers as being used to pound nails into wood, but I mainly use mine for hammering anchors into drywall because I'm a theater kid and was taught in crew to trust screws.In either case, the physical shape of the claw hammer dictates its most common purpose. The handle extends into a metal object that is blunt at one end, and clawed on the other. The design follows the swing of the human arm, transferring kinetic energy generated by the bicep, down the elbow, through the wrist, and into the blunt end.We also know that claw hammers are not useful for every form of transferring this energy. Variations on hammer design like the ball-peen hammer show how this basic purpose needs to be altered for different tasks. The shape and the material changes depending on the purpose. To sell more hammers, companies invest in better materials and affordances like rubber grips to make their use more comfortable.Like a firearm, hammers can be used as weapons. That same transference of force can be used to harm another living being. Video games sometimes place hammers in a players' loadout alongside guns, grenades, and weapons of war.Neither the hammer nor the firearm is "just" a tool. They are tools that are optimized for a purpose. We can study that purpose, and cast judgements about a tool's safety, merits, and need to be regulated based on that.But. The shape of the hammer is not an efficient way to inflict harm. This is supported by data from the FBI Crime Statistics survey, which gathers data filed by police departments that participate in assembling data. "Handgun" is the most common weapon used in homicides, and "knife/cutting instrument" ranks higher than "blunt objects." That's because handguns are an incredibly efficient means of wounding living beings.Let's break down the handgun the way we did the hammer. Handguns are assembled from an assortment of components that transfer the squeeze of a trigger into the strike of a hammer against a firing pin, which strikes the primer of a bullet's cartridge and sends it propelling out of the tube. Though some bullets seen in larger firearms are meant to penetrate metal, a handgun's bullet is envisioned and designed to cut through flesh.Image via Adobe Stock.These constraints make handguns efficient at few other tasks. In a pinch you could use the butt of a handgun as a hammer. I can't find any data about them being used for that purpose. I can only wander onto a construction site and count the number of firearms in toolboxes as a general sample size.Neither the hammer nor the firearm is "just" a tool. They are tools that are optimized for a purpose. We can study that purpose, and cast judgements about a tool's safety, merits, and need to be regulated based on that. Firearm advocates oppose this process through neutralizing language because it's difficult to dispute the correlation between the number of guns versus the number of murders and assaults with guns in a geographic area.Generative AI proponents sometimes regurgitate that language when defending this new technology. Because like the gun lobby, they don't want the purpose of generative AI decided by its outcomes, only its potential.What is that purpose? It may be the death of truth itself.Generative AI is broadly used to deceive through mimicryGenerative AI is a tool for deception.That's not what its biggest backers will tell you. It's broadly pitched as a tool for efficiency. But efficiency is hard to measure and easy to game. Deception is loud and obvious. Students are using it to cheat on papers. Scam calls with AI-generated voices are on the rise. The Department Human Health and Services published a study citing secretary Kennedy's unfounded health views that cites nonexistent studies, likely generated through AI. There was that cadre of YouTubers creating AI-generated fake movie trailers to attract clicks and make money off people who don't follow entertainment use. Apple marketed Apple Intelligence with advertisements showing people deceiving their neighbors, family, and coworkers. Activision Blizzard used generative AI to advertise games that don't exist.Now here's the rub: games—and all of entertainment—are also a form of deception. We use the phrase "magic circle" to describe how we attract players into our worlds. We use camera tricks, rendering technology, and even VO barks to simulate digital worlds. People engage with games, film, TV, books, and especially magic shows because on some level they want to be not just deceived, but lied to. AI has also been sold as technology that will let every player make their own perfect experience tailored for them by generating worlds, visual assets, and audio on the fly. But the best pitches I've heard for AI tend to "hide" the presence of the LLM, only mildly asking the player for prompts in order to accomplish behind-the-scenes computing tasks. These lies can make shared realities, not wholly distinct ones.That is the difference between telling lies to make virtual worlds and and telling lies to shape the real one. Lies in virtual worlds create shared realities. Lies in the real world tear them down.How appropriate that one such "shared reality," the Star Wars show Andor, recently warned us about the price we pay with treating AI as "just a tool." "The loss of an objective reality is perhaps the most dangerous," said the character Mon Mothma in a climactic speech decrying the whitewashing of a carefully executed genocide."When truth leaves us, when we let it slip away, when it is ripped from our hands, we become vulnerable to the appetite of whatever monster screams the loudest."Game Developers Conference and Game Developer are sibling organizations under Informa. #generative #really #039just #tool039

TechTarget and Informa Tech’s Digital Business Combine.TechTarget and InformaTechTarget and Informa Tech’s Digital Business Combine.Together, we power an unparalleled network of 220+ online properties covering 10,000+ granular topics, serving an audience of 50+ million professionals with original, objective content from trusted sources. We help you gain critical insights and make more informed decisions across your business priorities.Behind the Scenes: Check out Keita Takahashi's adorable To a T storyboard sketchesBehind the Scenes: Check out Keita Takahashi's adorable To a T storyboard sketchesKeita Takahashi sent over a bunch of adorable To a T storyboard sketches following our chat at GDC 2025. Take a look at a handful of formative sketches from the Wattam and Katamari creator.Chris Kerr, Senior Editor, NewsMay 28, 202516 SlidesImage via Annapurna To a T, the latest whimsical video game from Katamari Damacy and Wattam creator Keita Takahashi, is out today.Inevitably, it's as weird and wonderful as you'd expect. An offbeat adventure about a 13-year-old teenager, appropriately called Teen, whose body happens to be stuck in a permanent T-pose.Over the course of an episodic story, players must help Teen navigate the unique challenges of their daily life alongside a fluffy companion, a host of anthropomorphic animals, and other memorable characters.During a recent interview with Game Developer at GDC 2025, Takahashi explained he envisioned To a T as a "sort of sitcom" and set about storyboarding the game's opening scenes in a bid to communicate his vision for the project.Intrigued by how the game looked during those formative stages, we asked Takahashi whether he'd be willing to send a few of those storyboards careening our way. Thankfully, he obliged, and now we're able to share those charming sketches with you.You can see 15 of those early storyboards in the slideshow above.Then, you can read our deliriously wide-ranging interview with Takahashi to learn more about To a T and the inner-workings of one of the industry's most eclectic designers.About the AuthorChris KerrSenior Editor, News, GameDeveloper.comGame Developer news editor Chris Kerr is an award-winning journalist and reporter with over a decade of experience in the game industry. His byline has appeared in notable print and digital publications including Edge, Stuff, Wireframe, International Business Times, and PocketGamer.biz. Throughout his career, Chris has covered major industry events including GDC, PAX Australia, Gamescom, Paris Games Week, and Develop Brighton. He has featured on the judging panel at The Develop Star Awards on multiple occasions and appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live to discuss breaking news.See more from Chris KerrDaily news, dev blogs, and stories from Game Developer straight to your inboxStay UpdatedYou May Also Like #behind #scenes #check #out #keita

TechTarget and Informa Tech’s Digital Business Combine.TechTarget and InformaTechTarget and Informa Tech’s Digital Business Combine.Together, we power an unparalleled network of 220+ online properties covering 10,000+ granular topics, serving an audience of 50+ million professionals with original, objective content from trusted sources. We help you gain critical insights and make more informed decisions across your business priorities.Niantic spin-off continues layoffs with 'small number' of additional cutsNiantic spin-off continues layoffs with 'small number' of additional cutsNiantic Spatial, the new-look company that emerged following the sale of Niantic's game business, has laid off another five employees.Chris Kerr, Senior Editor, NewsMay 27, 20251 Min ReadImage via Niantic SpatialNiantic Inc has laid off five more employees as it continues to reorganize following the sale of its game business to Saudi-owned mobile publisher Scopely.The company previously laid off 68 workers after selling its internal development teams and roster of franchises—including Pokemon Go—to Scopely in a deal worth billion.Those layoffs didn't impact Niantic's outgoing workforce, but rather those who remained with the tech company.Niantic is currently pivoting towards the geospatial AI market with the formation of a new company called Niantic Spatial, which is where the layoffs are being made.After Game Developer spotted the company had made fresh layoffs, Niantic Spatial confirmed a "small number" of additional employees have been let go. The WARN notice stated that five people were impacted by the latest cuts."As a result of the reorganization of Niantic Spatial, we identified a small number of additional positions that were unfortunately no longer required in the new company," said a company spokesperson.The redundancies were previously announced by Niantic CEO John Hanke, who said Niantic Spatial will be operating as a "startup organization.""After a lot of consideration, it became clear that some roles would not be required given our new focus. This week, we are sharing this news with the individuals whose roles are impacted," said Hanke earlier this year.Related:"These decisions are never easy; they in no way reflect the individuals’ performance, and we understand their impact on people’s lives."Hanke failed to specify how many roles were at risk, but we now know 73 workers have been jettisoned from Niantic Spatial as a result. about:LayoffsTop StoriesAbout the AuthorChris KerrSenior Editor, News, GameDeveloper.comGame Developer news editor Chris Kerr is an award-winning journalist and reporter with over a decade of experience in the game industry. His byline has appeared in notable print and digital publications including Edge, Stuff, Wireframe, International Business Times, and PocketGamer.biz. Throughout his career, Chris has covered major industry events including GDC, PAX Australia, Gamescom, Paris Games Week, and Develop Brighton. He has featured on the judging panel at The Develop Star Awards on multiple occasions and appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live to discuss breaking news.See more from Chris KerrDaily news, dev blogs, and stories from Game Developer straight to your inboxStay UpdatedYou May Also Like #niantic #spinoff #continues #layoffs #with

Cult of the Lamb was a breakout success this summer, selling more than a million copies in its first week. Through its unique premise, Massive Monster’s dungeon-crawling, base-building, rogue-lite hybrid casts you in the role of a possessed, cult-leading lamb.Your mission? Indoctrinate woodland creatures, perform dark rituals, and hunt down bosses – all to appease an eldritch being, The One Who Waits, and become leader of “the one true cult.” A major factor in the game’s success is its compelling gameplay loop, which reviewers have described as “addictive,” “satisfying,” and even “perfect.”We sat down with Jay Armstrong, Massive Monster’s design director and lead programmer, to discuss how the team chose which genres to combine, what they did to balance a two-genres-in-one-game approach, and their top tips for overcoming challenges to keep development focused.The Massive Monster team – Jay Armstrong, Julian Wilton, and James “Jimp” Pearmain– is spread out across Singapore, Australia, and the UK. How did you all meet and start making games together?We all started making Flash games individually. We first met through the Flash game scene, forums, and events. We all worked together on different games, and when Flash games fell away, we decided to team up and make games for desktop and console.The first game that Julian and I created together was called Super Adventure Pals, and almost exactly 10 years later, we released Cult of the Lamb. So the three of us have been collaborating together for a long time.What was your source of inspiration for Cult of the Lamb? How did you develop the idea?Funny enough, the cult stuff didn’t come until much later. The game actually started with the idea of combining the genres of a roguelike with a colony sim/base builder. I noticed that games like RimWorld and Enter the Gungeon created so many interesting emergent narratives – stories that spring out of the game’s mechanics – that made it so everyone’s experience with the game was unique. I was excited about the idea of combining those two genres to create something that would become more than the sum of its parts, so I created a prototype that I planned to show to the other guys at an upcoming PAX.When I took it to Jimp and Julian, they loved it, but we immediately found that it was a really hard game to pitch when talking to publishers. At this point we still hadn’t come up with the cult theme. We knew we had to figure out a way to market the game in one sentence. We needed a player fantasy we could explain easily and that people would immediately understand. It took around nine months of experimenting with different themes before we finally landed on the idea of the cult.Once we had that, everything for the next three years was about making sure we kept hitting the “promise” the game’s theme created. The game had to feel like you were leading a cult, which meant we had to have rituals and sermons. But figuring out how to make those game mechanics took a lot of iteration and experimentation. We got very used to cutting ideas that didn’t achieve that goal, and “listening” to what the game wanted to be. Having a clear goal for what we wanted the experience to be meant we were all on the same page, and it was obvious when something was or wasn’t working.Cult of the Lamb is your first Unity project. Why did you choose Unity to develop it?Yes, Cult of the Lamb is our first Unity project. We chose it because of the great tools it offers for iterating, quick testing, and allowing designers to lay out levels. In the past, we’ve created our own editors, but the tools that are available for Unity and on the Asset Store are such timesavers. We also have the flexibility of building whatever tools we want for ourselves.How did Unity enable you to manage the game’s combination of 2D and 3D assets to create a 2.5D look?One of the reasons we picked the 2.5D look was because we were moving to Unity and it was our first time using a 3D engine. It felt like a waste if we just stuck to normal 2D, so we decided to take advantage of that extra axis!It was great being able to move the sprites around and create faux-3D structures; to use the Editor to decide on the best angles for our characters and the camera.Why did you choose the top-down perspective? What were some challenges you encountered during implementation and how did you solve them?The main problem with our perspective was that we had to keep the camera relatively fixed, which restricted our options for combat and the placement of things in the world. While it is sort of top-down, we had to arrange things so that the important stuff was all at the top/back of the screen. It was fine once we got the hang of it: Creating restrictions forces you to come up with creative solutions.What benefit did Unity’s lighting provide for creating the look of Cult of the Lamb?The lighting is such a big part of what makes Cult of the Lamb look so cool! We had some support from our extremely talented friend Jonathan Swanson, who helped us set up all the lighting. Because of our 2.5D setup, we had to create some custom solutions. But once we got it all up and running, it really elevated the game massively.Did your artists work directly in Unity?Yes, everyone was working directly on the project at once, which saved us huge amounts of time. Having an artist or designer implement something directly is so great. This not only saves the programmers time, it also allows the artist or designer to get it looking exactly how they want it to.Back when we started in Flash, everything had to be implemented into the project by one person, and we’d send assets over email. This created a huge bottleneck. It’s such a relief to be able to put the tools in the hands of talented artists and let them do their thing!How did you iterate on what are essentially two different game concepts, while maintaining the scope of your project?It was definitely a challenge. Cult of the Lamb only works when both sides of the game feed into the other – when one side is broken or not as good as it should be, the whole game falls apart. It really didn’t come together until quite soon before the release. We just kept working as hard as we could and dragged the game kicking and screaming over the finish line.We still have loads of ideas for the game – but it just came to a point where we had to stop adding new stuff and focus on making it as cohesive as possible and the game loop itself as compelling as it could be. That’s where the real magic of the game is. We plan to keep adding more stuff to the game post release.How did you test features as you added them?Everyone on the team would do regular playtests. Later in development, our publisher helped us to connect with a focus group who gave us feedback. Ordinarily we would have exhibited the game to get player feedback, but due to COVID, we were essentially making this game alone in the dark. We had no idea what people would think of it!Thinking about the roguelike elements, how did you implement randomization? What was most difficult to balance here?Our team has a huge range of skill levels when it comes to gaming. We balanced “easy” to Julian, “medium” to me, and “hard” to Jimp.The other nice thing about dungeon crawlers is that you don’t really need the randomization to be very balanced. It’s actually more fun when you have a run where you get lucky, and sometimes you get really unlucky. It’s that variety that makes it fun!Balancing was mostly focused on enemy and boss HP against the level of your character’s starting weapon. Then there was experimentation with faith and hunger levels.We also have a lot of things under the hood of the game that adjust to the player if you’re struggling. For example, if you’re low on health, you’re much more likely to find a heart in the grass or to loot one from a chest.During our Twitch stream at GDC, you and the team talked about how taking advantage of the cult members is central to the game. How did you ensure that your players would feel like they were making difficult yet impactful choices when managing the cult?That was a decision we made very early on, and it pervades the entire DNA of the game. Really, it was part of almost every design decision we made.One thing that took us a while to figure out was how to make sacrificing a follower feel valuable. You originally just got gold for it, but it never felt valuable enough, so we knew we needed to make it more tempting for a player. That’s why we changed it to an instant level-up. Suddenly we found players were sacrificing their followers all the time!Another idea that we had from almost the beginning was being able to consume a follower to bring yourself back to life. That was originally a core mechanic of the game, but we decided to bring it in a bit later instead. Making leveled-up followers give more hearts is a great example – the cult members you care about more, and have invested in more, we make more tempting to kill. Basically, anything you care about, we try to make it tempting for you to do something horrible to it.What are the most important things you learned during the making of Cult of the Lamb that will impact how you approach your next project?Pick a theme and then create three design pillars; that will be how you fulfill the promise that the theme creates. For example, if it’s a game about cults, then you need a sacrifice ritual – even if you don’t yet know how it will be used mechanically.Once you have those pillars, absolutely every design decision must directly feed back into them. You might come up with a really cool idea, but if it doesn’t support that pillar, then you have to scrap it or your game will become unfocused.Start with a concept – it’s X meets Y – don’t just make another metroidvania or Stardew Valley clone. Even if you do decide to make another metroidvania, do something to elevate it so that you’re offering something new and exciting. It will make things much easier to get your foot in the door with publishers, socials, and press. Plus, while it might be more demanding, it’s incredibly rewarding to challenge yourself.Cult of the Lamb is available now on Nintendo Switch™, PC, PlayStation®4, PlayStation®5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Follow @MassiveMonsters on Twitter for updates and visit our Indie Innovation hub for more stories featuring Unity creators making waves in the games industry.Answers attributed to Jay Armstrong.Nintendo Switch is a registered trademark of Nintendo. #creepy #cute #compelling #recipe #smash

Valve co-founder and CEO Gabe Newell, the company behind Half-Life and DOTA 2 and Counter-Strike and preeminent PC game distribution platform Steam, has long toyed with the idea that your brain should be more connected to your PC. It began over a decade ago with in-house psychologists studying people’s biological responses to video games; Valve once considered earlobe monitors for its first VR headset. The company publicly explored the idea of brain-computer interfaces for gaming at GDC in 2019.But Newell decided to spin off the idea. That same year, he quietly incorporated a new brain-computer interface startup, Starfish Neuroscience — which has now revealed plans to produce its very first brain chip later this year.Starfish’s first blog post, spotted by Valve watcher Brad Lynch, makes it clear we’re not talking about a complete implant yet. This bit is the custom “electrophysiology” chip designed to record brain activityand stimulate the brain, but Starfish isn’t claiming it’s already built the systems to power it or the bits to stick it into a person’s head.“We anticipate our first chips arriving in late 2025 and we are interested in finding collaborators for whom such a chip would open new and exciting avenues,” writes Starfish neuroengineer Nate Cermak, suggesting that Starfish might wind up partnering with other companies for wireless power or even the final brain implant.But the goal, writes Starfish, is a smaller and less invasive implant than the competition, one that can “enable simultaneous access to multiple brain regions” instead of just one site, and one that doesn’t require a battery. Using just 1.1 milliwatts during “normal recording,” Starfish says it can work with wireless power transmission instead.Here’s the chip’s current spec sheet:Low power: 1.1 mW total power consumption during normal recording Physically small: 2 x 4mmCapable of both recording& stimulation32 electrode sites, 16 simultaneous recording channels at 18.75kHz 1 current source for stimulating on arbitrary pairs of electrodes Onboard impedance monitoring and stim voltage transient measurement Digital onboard data processing and spike detection allows the device to operate via low-bandwidth wireless interfaces. Fabricated in TSMC 55nm processNeuralink’s N1, for comparison, has 1,024 electrodes across its 64 brain-implanted threads, a chip that consumed around 6 milliwatts as of 2019, a battery that periodically needs wireless charging, and the full implantis around 23mm wide and 8mm thick. The Elon Musk-led company has reportedly already implanted it in three humans; while some of the threads did detach from the first patient’s brain, he still has functionality and has been giving interviews.Starfish says it could be important to connect to multiple parts of the brain simultaneously, instead of just one region, to address issues like Parkinson’s disease. “there is increasing evidence that a number of neurological disorders involve circuit-level dysfunction, in which the interactions between brain regions may be misregulated,” Cermak writes.In addition to multiple simultaneous brain implants, the company’s updated website says it’s working on a “precision hyperthermia device” to destroy tumors with targeted heat, and a brain-reading, robotically guided transcranial magnetic stimulationsystem for addressing neurological conditions like bipolar disorder and depression.In case you’re wondering how any of this might make its way back to gaming, I’ll leave you with Valve’s talk from GDC 2019 about brain-computer interfaces.See More: #valve #ceo #gabe #newells #neuralink

Chris Kerr, Senior Editor, NewsMay 23, 20252 Min ReadImage via Game DeveloperRoblox has appointed its first head of parental advocacy to help families "navigate the digital world."Dr. Elizabeth Milovidov has stepped into the role and joins Roblox from Lego Group, where she served as senior corporate counsel on digital gaming, the metaverse, and child safety.It's a notable move for the company, which oversees one of the most popular user generated content platforms in the world.Roblox has repeatedly been accused of failing to deploy adequate protections for younger players. Last year, Bloomberg published an extensive report based on testimonies from 20 current and former Roblox employees who called out the company for allegedly failing to curb predatory behaviour.Since then, Roblox has rolled out a number of new safety measures—including the ability for parents to moderate their children's friends list and block specific experiences on the platform.New Roblox hire says company is committed to "supporting parents with expert guidance"Discussing its new hire, Roblox said Milovidov will focus on "building partnerships and programs to help equip parents with the tools to help their families navigate Roblox and the digital world.""I am excited to join Roblox to address the evolving challenges families face in today’s digital landscape," added Dr. Milovidov in a blog post.Related:"It is my personal mission to give parents the confidence and skills to raise children who thrive online while using technology safely and responsibly—today and tomorrow. This role underscores Roblox's commitment to supporting parents with expert guidance, innovative tools, and community resources focused on child safety and family well-being."Roblox acknowledged there has been an "intense global discussion" around digital child safety in recent years, and claimed keeping children safe remains a "top priority.""Hiring Dr. Milovidov for this newly created role is part of our efforts to empower families to help children use technology safely and responsibly," added the company.Despite those assertions, Roblox CEO and co-founder Dave Baszucki recently suggested that concerned parents should simply keep their children off the platform.Speaking to BBC News in March about the widely-reported safety issues, Baszucki said the company had to trust parents to "make their own decisions.""My first message would be, if you're not comfortable, don't let your kids be on Roblox," he said at the time. "That sounds a little counter-intuitive, but I would always trust parents to make their own decisions."Related: about:RobloxAbout the AuthorChris KerrSenior Editor, News, GameDeveloper.comGame Developer news editor Chris Kerr is an award-winning journalist and reporter with over a decade of experience in the game industry. His byline has appeared in notable print and digital publications including Edge, Stuff, Wireframe, International Business Times, and PocketGamer.biz. Throughout his career, Chris has covered major industry events including GDC, PAX Australia, Gamescom, Paris Games Week, and Develop Brighton. He has featured on the judging panel at The Develop Star Awards on multiple occasions and appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live to discuss breaking news.See more from Chris KerrDaily news, dev blogs, and stories from Game Developer straight to your inboxStay UpdatedYou May Also Like #former #lego #group #child #safety

TechTarget and Informa Tech’s Digital Business Combine.TechTarget and InformaTechTarget and Informa Tech’s Digital Business Combine.Together, we power an unparalleled network of 220+ online properties covering 10,000+ granular topics, serving an audience of 50+ million professionals with original, objective content from trusted sources. We help you gain critical insights and make more informed decisions across your business priorities.FTC concedes defeat in appeal over Microsoft merger with Activision BlizzardFTC concedes defeat in appeal over Microsoft merger with Activision Blizzard'The public interest is best served by dismissing the administrative litigation in this case.'Chris Kerr, Senior Editor, NewsMay 23, 20252 Min ReadImage via MicrosoftThe Federal Trade Commissionhas finally halted its attempts to block Microsoft's colossal billion merger with Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard.It's a notable development that brings a protracted regulatory dispute to a close. Since Microsoft announced its intention to acquire Activision Blizzard in 2022, the FTC made repeated attempts to snuff out the deal in the United States.The latest and seemingly final chapter in the high-profile skirmish comes after the FTC failed to convince a lower court to issue a preliminary injunction blocking the deal. It subsequently appealed that decision but was again rebuffed earlier this month.In a new court filing shared by Microsoft president Brad Smith on X, the FTC confirmed it has now thrown in the towel."The Commission has determined that the public interest is best served by dismissing the administrative litigation in this case," reads the filing. "Accordingly, it is hereby ordered that the Complaint in this matter be, and it hereby is dismissed."Smith described the move as a "victory for players across the country" and said Microsoft is "grateful" to the FTC for the announcement. FTC taps out of monumental regulatory battle with MicrosoftAlthough the merger was eventually completed in 2023, that didn't stop the FTC from appealing the move—although Microsoft repeatedly overcame the regulator's challenges.Related:The FTC initially argued the merger would give Microsoft a significant competitive edge over rivals like PlayStation and Nintendo by allowing it to turn major franchises like Call of Duty into platform exclusives.Microsoft, however, penned multiple agreements with its competitors prior to the deal going through to ensure Call of Duty would remain on platforms like PlayStation for the next decade.Since the merger was completed, Microsoft has ported other major first-party titles to PlayStation including Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Forza Horizon 5, Gears of War: Reloaded, and Senua's Saga: Hellblade II.The Xbox maker has also laid off thousands of workers over the past two years, initially cutting 1,900 roles in January 2024—just months after completing the merger—before slashing another 650 jobs later that year.  about:XboxActivision BlizzardM&AAbout the AuthorChris KerrSenior Editor, News, GameDeveloper.comGame Developer news editor Chris Kerr is an award-winning journalist and reporter with over a decade of experience in the game industry. His byline has appeared in notable print and digital publications including Edge, Stuff, Wireframe, International Business Times, and PocketGamer.biz. Throughout his career, Chris has covered major industry events including GDC, PAX Australia, Gamescom, Paris Games Week, and Develop Brighton. He has featured on the judging panel at The Develop Star Awards on multiple occasions and appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live to discuss breaking news.See more from Chris KerrDaily news, dev blogs, and stories from Game Developer straight to your inboxStay UpdatedYou May Also Like #ftc #concedes #defeat #appeal #over