#betaworks

[noncanonlove]

How to Start a Cold War, a counterpart chapter: https://archiveofourown.org/works/35818393/chapters/112445416…

All my love to @photonzeroinfinity for the betawork and to

@artofcrumbs for making my Dramione cuddle dreams come true!

[theprojectreneblogger]

STUDIO ANNOUNCEMENT PRESS RELEASE

Former Developers of XCOM and The Sims Launch Midsummer Studios to Reinvent the Life Sim Genre

After two decades with Firaxis, Jake Solomon and Will Miller Launch Midsummer Studios, alongside co-founder Nelsie Birch and former Maxis Director, Grant Rodiek; team plans to revitalize the Life Sim genre, empowering players to create and share meaningful stories through play

HUNT VALLEY, Maryland (May 14, 2024)—Today a team of veteran developers behind legendary games such as Sid Meier’s Civilization, XCOM and The Sims, announced the launch of Midsummer Studios, teasing their upcoming next-generation entry to the Life Sim genre. Founded by Creative Director Jake Solomon and Game Director Will Miller (both formerly of Firaxis Games), and COO/CFO Nelsie Birch (with 25 years in financial and operations management), Midsummer Studios launches with $6 million raised from major investors. Transcend Fund led the round, joined by Tirta Ventures, Betaworks Ventures, 1 Up Ventures, F4 Fund, Krafton, and Day Zero Productions. Alongside this studio reveal, the co-founders shared the concept for their unannounced debut project: a next-gen Life Sim that emphasizes player-driven narratives, allowing communities to share memorable moments that grow out of the creativity of players themselves.“ The best stories in games are written by the players,” said Jake Solomon, CEO and Creative Director of Midsummer Studios. “At Midsummer we’re making a life sim focused on the drama of modern life, where our players will write meaningful stories just by playing, and then share those stories with the world.”

"Leading the Seed for Midsummer was a natural fit for Transcend. As a Producer on The Sims myself nearly twenty years ago, I am well acquainted with the power that meaningful player-driven stories can unlock. I also have an abiding respect for how hard it is to deliver the alchemy of community, systems design, gameplay, and user generated content necessary to do so. The Midsummer founders are industry veterans with the rare experience and design artistry required to deliver against this massive opportunity. I am delighted to join the board and support their journey to redefine the LifeSim category." said Shanti Bergel, Founding Partner at Transcend.

The burgeoning new studio has already added acclaimed talent to their roster, including Grant Rodiek, following his 18-year career with Maxis Studios as a Producer and Director on various installments and expansions of The Sims. Jake Solomon launches Midsummer after 23 years at Firaxis Games, where he was the Designer and Director of the XCOM franchise and Marvel’s Midnight Suns. Co-founder Will Miller joins Midsummer after 16 years at Firaxis as a Lead Designer of Civilization: Beyond Earth and Lead Engineer on Marvel’s Midnight Suns. While new to games, Nelsie Birch has had several high profile jobs over two decades leading the financial and operational performance for cities and counties. This veteran team is also joined by experienced talent behind many beloved Firaxis titles.

After successfully securing initial investment from notable partners, Midsummer Studios is focused on growing their studio sustainably. The founders hope to champion the health and happiness of their team members, offering shared equity in the company and unlimited paid time-off.

The Midsummer Studio team is eager to share more details about their upcoming Life Sim title as development progresses. To stay informed on the new studio and its debut project, follow Midsummer Studio on X (Twitter), Instagram, and TikTok, and visit their website.

About Midsummer Studios

MidsummerStudios is an independent game development company headquartered in HuntValley, MD (Baltimore region) and led by a team of accomplished developers behind legendary game franchises like Civilization, XCOM, and The Sims. Midsummer is a well-funded start-up that is passionate and eager to create a next generation entry into the life sim genre. Midsummer is a collaborative environment where everyone has a voice and the work/life balance of our team is cherished. Every employee at Midsummer gets equity in the studio when they join, because we all succeed together.

About Transcend

Transcend is a top performing early stage venture capital firm that partners with the boldest founders in the industry to collaboratively build the future of interactive entertainment. Founded in San Francisco by gaming veterans, the Transcend portfolio features a preeminent group of high growth digital entertainment companies around the world.

Links

● PressKit

● Website

PressContact:

EVOLVE PR

● SarahDawson: Sarah@evolve-pr.com

● Dakota Burgin: Dakota@evolve-pr.com

[revotalk]

Betaworks is embracing the AI trend not with yet another LLM, but instead a clutch of agent-type models automating everyday tasks that nevertheless aren’t so simple to define. The investor’s latest “Camp” incubator trained up and funded 9 AI agent startups they hope will take on today’s more tedious tasks. The use cases for many […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

[andronicmusicblog]

Brain Jar Games raises $6.7M for debut title Dead as Disco

Brain Jar Games, a start-up game development company, has recently announced that it has raised $6.7 million in funding to build its first game, an action-music game called Dead as Disco.

The funding round was led by the venture capital firm, Spark Capital, with participation from other investors, including Founders Fund, Betaworks, and FirstMark Capital. Brain Jar Games plans to use the funds to develop and launch its debut game, which is set to offer a unique gaming experience that combines action and music.

Dead as Disco is a music-based game that features a neon-soaked world where players must navigate through various levels while dodging obstacles and enemies. The game's soundtrack will comprise of electronic and disco-themed music that players can sync their movements to, making for a dynamic and immersive gameplay experience.

Brain Jar Games' co-founder and CEO, Dave Cowling, expressed his excitement about the funding round and the upcoming launch of Dead as Disco. He said, "We're thrilled to have the support of such a prestigious group of investors. We believe that Dead as Disco will bring a fresh and exciting approach to the music and action game genres, and we can't wait to share it with gamers."

The gaming industry has seen exponential growth in recent years, with mobile gaming alone expected to generate over $120 billion in revenue by the end of 2021. With its unique concept and fresh take on the action and music genres, Dead as Disco is poised to make a splash in the market.

Brain Jar Games has not yet announced a release date for Dead as Disco, but fans can follow the company's social media channels for updates and news on the game's development progress.

[techwebdevelopment]

Betaworks’ new ‘camp’ aims to fund transformative early-stage AI startups

https://tech-webdevelopment.news-6.com/betaworks-new-camp-aims-to-fund-transformative-early-stage-ai-startups/

[aserougi]

Betaworks’ new ‘camp’ aims to fund transformative early-stage AI startups

http://dlvr.it/SmRfrp t.ly/m_Jb

[clintonpaquin]

Had a chance to login and poke around a bit.  AWS, web fonts, Compass, and responsive design.  These guys are heading in the right direction and deserve kudos.

[hostor-infotech]

Digs is a Figma-like collaboration tool for home builders and suppliers • TechCrunch

Digs, a Vancouver, Washington-based startup that is developing a collaboration tool for homebuilders and their vendors, is coming out of stealth today and announcing a $7 million seed funding round from Fuse, Flying Fish, Betaworks, Legacy, PSF, GFR and others. The company was co-founded by Ryan Fink and Ty Frackiewicz. For Fink, this is his second attempt at a home-centric startup. His previous…

[imaginarydragonling]

Beta Survey

Hi! I’m curious about people’s experiences with betas. If you’re a writer or a beta, would you like to share your thoughts on this with me?

Currently, my definition of a beta is someone who reads and gives feedback on an unpublished (i.e. unposted for fanfic authors) work. The type of feedback and range from simple proofreading to suggesting major rewrites. You can read more about betas here.

You can take the survey I set up here (responses should be anonymous but please let me know if not!)

Reblogs, DMs, asks, and submissions on the topic are also welcome!

[inventivaindia]

Facebook to acquire Giphy in a deal reportedly worth $400 million

Facebook to acquire Giphy in a deal reportedly worth $400 million

Facebook will acquire Giphy, the web-based animated gif search engine and platform provider, Facebook confirmed today, in a deal worth around $400 million, according to a report by Axios. Facebook said it isn’t disclosing terms of the deal. Giphy has grown to be a central source for shareable, high-engagement content, and its animated response gifs are available across Facebook’s platforms, as…

[lindortech]

Where top VCs are investing in media, entertainment & gaming

Where top VCs are investing in media, entertainment & gaming

Most of the strategy discussions and news coverage in the media and entertainment industry is concerned with the unfolding corporate mega-mergers and the political implications of social media platforms.

These are important conversations, but they’re largely a tale of twentieth-century media (and broader society) finally responding to the authority Web 2.0 companies have achieved.

To…

[chaptersinprogress]

Rating: T

Pairings: NIL

Warnings: Violence and swearing

Status: Ongoing

As the beta, I’m giving a shout-out to anyone who wants to read this! It has over 650 follows as of now so give it a try?

[mojave-pete]

COMPANYS SUPPORTING GUN CONTROL!

Below are the roughly 200 businesses that made the list:

20/20 Vision A&M Records AlleyCorp Alphabet, Inc. Amalgamated Bank Ambition AMC Theatres AOL / Time Warner Ariel Investments LLC Artsy Ascend.io Aspiration AT&T Aura AutoZone Backpack Bad Robot Bain Capital Bank of America Beeswax Begin Betaworks Beyond Meat Bloomberg LP Bonusly Brat Brookfield Property Brud Bumble Burger King Cambly Catch & Release Cerebras Systems Chipotle Circle Medical ClassPass Clearbit Clever Clockwise CNN Color Genomics Comcast Conde Nast Costco Credit Karma Crunchbase Curalate Curtsy Dannon Delta Airlines DICK’S Sporting Goods Disney Company DoorDash Doxel, Inc. Ebay Ecolab Edelman Elektra Labs Emerson Collective Enterprise Eventbrite Farmstead Full Picture Fundera Gap Inc. Gateway Computers GE GEICO Goat Group Golden Graphic Packaging Group Nine Media Gucci Guru Hallmark Cards Hard Rock Cafe Havas Group HBO Hint, Inc. HipDot Hooked Horizon Media Humbition Impossible Foods Interpublic Intuit JOOR Jumbo Privacy Kabbage Inc.

Kadena Kanga Knowable Lattice Levi Strauss & Co. Lucent Technologies Lyft MetaProp.vc MetLife Microsoft Modern Fertility MongoDB Inc. MSNBC MTV Navient NBC Universal NCR Corp. Neighborland NewsCred Nextdoor NowThis Nurx Oaktree Capital Oberndorf Enterprises Oceans OfferUp Okta Omnicom Group Openpath Panera Bread Parabol Paravision Paypal Pinterest Plato Design Postmates Presto Prima Progressive Insurance Prologis Publicis Groupe Quartzy Reddit Ribbon Health Ro Roofstock Royal Caribbean Cruises RXR Realty Sara Lee SelfMade Shoptiques Inc. Showtime Cable Network Shutterstock Inc. Sidewalk Labs Sift Skillshare SkySafe Small Door SmartAsset Snapdocs, Inc. Solve.io Sonic Southwestern Bell Splash Square and Twitter Squarespace Standard Bots Subway Sundia Corporation Sunlight Health Superplastic SurveyMonkey SV Angel Symantec ThirdLove Thisopenspace inc. Thrive Capital Thrive Global ThunderCore Inc. Tillable Tinder TOMS Twilio Uber Uniform Teeth Viosera Therapeutics Virtual Kitchen Voxer Voyage Watsi WayUp Whalar Wizeline WPP X.ai, inc. Y Combinator Yelp Yum Brands Zola

[teacup-tai]

Space Bodies (1.5k, M, Drarry) by teacup_tai

Summary: She tastes like a love story.

This was suppposed to be a @drarrymicrofic, but well, I wrote a lil bit too much (?) Written for the prompt: Space Song. I wrote a trans woman Draco. I really needed her this year, I hope it's respectful. Huge thanks to @softlystarstruck for such careful and brilliant betawork, to AJ and Logan for trans sensitivitry read, you were all so lovely and fast and tahnk YOU! cw: mentions of transphobia, mentions of suicide ideation. but it's a soft fic I promise! & happy ending, obvi.

It’s dark, dark, dark. It echoes around him and inside him and he feels small, small, small.

But there she is, shining like a supernova in the middle of the dance club, smiling up at a man that isn’t Harry, grey eyes painted with charcoal, movements like a tantalising belly dancer.

And it’s all so dark inside his heart that he drinks, drinks, drinks the pain away.

It hurts, hurts, hurts like a massive open wound and he shouldn’t feel like this because she’s never been his to begin with. And she deserves happiness. Her and her beautiful smile and her long blonde hair and her too skinny legs and her pink pink pink lips.

*

Wake, wake, wake.

There’s a throbbing in his head and he feels queasy. But it’s too bright inside and he blinks against the light. “Fuck ,” he mutters. He doesn’t really register where he is, or what the fuck is going on, but then she’s shaking his shoulder lightly, muttering for him to wake up while shoving a denim skirt up her long long long legs and Harry is dizzy with hangover and dehydratation and her long milky legs and, bloody hell, he is hard and he’s not sure if it’s morning wood or if it’s Draco.

It’s Draco, Draco, Draco.

keep reading

[bionicallywriting]

Happy birthday, @dreamsofdramione! Even though your present arrived a week ago and is way better because it doesn't come with orange skin and a toupee, I hope you like this one too.

Massive thanks to @disenchantedglow, who helped me brainstorm and betawork, and @eccentricallyfabulous for creating that beautiful, dark, and angsty aesthetic above.

Title: Constant Change Figures

Summary: In the dark, all cats are grey. In the dark, James Potter looks so much like Harry. In the dark, Hermione can't resist giving in to her impulses.

Maybe this is the way to get closure.

Excerpt:

“James?” she called. Her voice echoed throughout the house. “It’s—it’s Hermione.”

At the doorway of the study, a tall figure lurched into view, limned in yellow light from the room behind him. The edge of his glasses glinted in the candlelight, and Hermione inhaled. Nobody could mistake Harry for his father in broad daylight, but here in the darkness, they looked almost like the same person. The same height, the same broad shoulders, the same narrow waist. She was suddenly wracked with a surge of longing so strong she almost gasped with the force of it rippling through her body. 

Harry.

Harry.

Harry, why did you do it?

[saltoftheao3]

You often answer asks with "talk to your writing friends", but how do you *get* writing friends? In the fandoms I'm in, nearly every fic is preceeded by a list of people the author wants to thank for help with plot/characters/betawork. And I know that it's my fault that I'm all alone because I'm too shy to just jump randomly into a discord or w/e (pple just do that?!), but even if I'm someday able to overcome that, I still wouldn't know why people should care about my writing enough to help me?

Hey dear, sorry for the late answer! First of all, don’t beat yourself up please! Fandom interaction is not an obligation and you’re not at “fault” if it hasn’t occurred before. Interaction with strangers on the internet doesn’t necessarily come easy to everyone, and it’s not mandatory for enjoying fandom or fanfic, ok?

There was a great post a while back about how to make writer friends, which i don’t have much to add to:

https://salt-of-the-ao3.tumblr.com/post/616413821889806336/its-open-a-rare-sight-i-wanted-to-ask-if-you

In my case my writing friendships started by:

1. people who read my fics on ao3 and started a chat on tumblr with me about the fandom

2. people who read my ao3 comments on another person’s fanfic they loved too, and came find me on tumblr so we could rant about it together

3. people who interacted with my fandom posts here on tumblr and who i started chatting with

And at some point, contacts were exchanged and betaing and collabs were offered.

To your other questions: I guess there really are people who jump randomly into Discords and have a great time there, tho it’s not a platform i’ve ever used. But if someone posts a link/invitation to their Discord, they want you there! And people don’t necessarily need to care that much about your writing to want and help you. They care about you, or enjoy helping altogether enough.