#gdc 2020

[misshockman]

🎀(*^-^)／＼(*^-^*)／＼(^-^*)🎀(*^-^)=EF=BC=8F=EF=BC=BC(*^-^*)=EF=BC=8F=EF=BC=BC(^-^*)Kendra (Holstein-Romanov) Hockman

🌟 X Research Scientist @ SpaceX | SpellbookAI | Elon Musk Consulting | HPC-AI | IxDA | CTE Advisor 🌟

📍 Greater Seattle Area | 🌐 Contact Info

📞 P: +1.360.560.6127 | 📧 E: misshockman@gmail.com

💼 Open to Marketing and Public Relations Specialist and Event Project Manager roles 💼

🌟 About Me 🌟

�� Business Development Specialist, Agile Project Manager, and Event Producer with +12 years of marketing experience and a passion for providing white glove customer service. ✨

🌟 Skills 🌟

Public Speaking 🎤

B2B + B2C Sales 💼

Stakeholder Relations 🤝

Account Management 📊

SCRUM Development Process 🏃‍♀️

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) 💬

Data Management / Analysis 📊

Talent Acquisition 👥

Training, Team Building, & Development 🏆

Event Coordination, Production, & Reporting 🎉

Machine Learning + AI Expertise 🤖

Cloud Service Platform Expertise ☁️

VR/AR Consumer Education 🕶️

UX Design 🎨

Proficient in: Zoho, Salesforce, Asana, Trello, Kaltura, Rainfocus, StreamYard, Frame.io, Office 365, Google Workspaces, ChatGPT, & more.

🌟 Professional Experience 🌟

Creative UX.design @ SPACEX

2023 - ¤¤¤ | StarlinkX Studios (remote)

Manage Client Relations

Nurtured and secured $2 Million in sales within the first 60 days

Averaging +150 phone calls per day

Virtual Producer (Project Management) @ NVIDIA

2022 - ₩ | Santa Clara, CA (remote)

Produced an educational AI conference for researchers, developers, inventors, & IT professionals (+300k attendees, +800 sessions)

Coordinated keynote sessions with experts from NVIDIA, Meta, Mastercard, Uber, Google, Amazon, Stanford, etc.

Recorded via our virtual studio, completed post-production editing (cc), and broadcasted with live Q&A featuring ChatGPT

High-Performance Computing and Artificial Intelligence (HPC-AI) Advisory Council Member

Career and Technical Education (CTE) Leadership Committee Member for Public School District

Skilled In: Kaltura, Rainfocus, StreamYard, Frame.io, Office 365 (Excel/PP), Google Workspaces, & more

Project Manager (Business Development) @ SAMSUNG

2022 - ¤¤¤ | San Jose, CA (remote)

Community Liaison for SAMSUNG. Secure & maintain business partnerships

Support students, entrepreneurs, animal rescue groups, environmental protection groups, etc.

Career and Technical Education (CTE) Leadership Committee Member for Public School District

Highest Performing Market out of 36: Washington stores averaged 165% to sales plan

National Account Manager (Event Production) @ More Than Models

2020 – 2022 | Los Angeles, CA (remote)

Provided support and managed deliverables for clients such as Ferrari, Louis Vuitton, Wells Fargo, AT&T, Amazon, etc.

Shows Managed include AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am 2022, SuperBowl 2022, NBA All Star 2022, and more

Interviewed, input, and trained over 1,000 new talent candidates

Primary client contact and emergency contact for all shows

Executive Assistant for CEO, Ashlyn Henson

Spokesmodel / Product Specialist / Emcee / Tour Manager

2013 – 2022 | Independent, Nationwide

Consumer educator and product demonstrator specializing in Automotive & Technology

Trained and managed teams of up to 240 for events with over 300,000 attendees

Trade Shows Include: RSA, CES, GTC, GDC, E3, PAX West, Comic Con, Google NEXT, and many others

Clients include: Google, Amazon, Samsung, Cisco, Nvidia, Intel, Microsoft, Xbox, JLR, Lexus, Volvo, and more

Presenter with Stellantis on the International Auto Show Circuit for 3 years

Marketing & Public Relations Manager (Orthodontic / Healthcare Sales) @ All Star Orthodontics

2015 – 2017 | Camas, WA

Created and executed marketing strategies on behalf of Dr. Huong Le. Earned the “Elite Invisalign Provider” Award

Practice had a +3000% case increase, with a 45% conversion increase

🌟 Multi-City Experiential Tours 🌟

Stellantis - International Auto Show Circuit - 2019 to current - Automotive Product Specialist

Nintendo - Nintendo Switch Together Tour - 2019 - Tour Manager

Maruchan - Back 2 Ramen Tour - 2018 - Tour Manager

Safeway - Safeway Back to School Tour - 2018 - Field Manager

Intel - Intel’s Tech Learning Lab Tour - Portland - 2018 - Team Lead

Samsung - Galaxy Studio Tour - 2018 - VR/AR Demonstrator

Xbox - Super Lucky Tale’s Tour - 2017 - Costume Character

Kids Obstacle Challenge - 2016 - Lead Emcee

🌟 Technology Events 🌟

Amazon - CES - Las Vegas - 2020 - AWS Spokesmodel

VMware - VM World - San Francisco - 2019 - Emcee

GlaxoSmithKline - ADA FDI World Dental Congress - San Francisco - 2019 - Spokesmodel

Google - Google Marketing Live - San Francisco - 2019 - Breakout Sessions/Keynote Supervisor

Google - Google I/O - Mountain View - 2019 - Breakout Session/Keynote Supervisor

Google - Google Developers Group Leaders Summit - Mountain View - 2019 - Supervisor

Google - Google Next - San Francisco - 2019 - Supervisor

Nvidia - NVIDIA GTC 2019 - San Jose - 2019 - Breakout Session/Keynote Supervisor

Cisco - RSA - San Francisco - 2019 - Spokesmodel

Adobe - IxDA: Interaction Design Association - Seattle - 2019 - Spokesmodel

Google - Google Cloud Summit - Seattle - 2017 - Hostess

🌟 Gaming Events 🌟

Nintendo - Comic Con - San Diego - 2019 - Team Lead

Nintendo - E3 - Los Angeles - 2019 - Team Lead

Nintendo - Comic Con - San Diego - 2018 - Line Manager

Nintendo - PAX West - Seattle - 2018 - Game Demonstrator

Xbox - PAX West - Seattle - 2017 - Costume Character

Nintendo - Nintendo World Championships - Seattle - 2017 - Costume Character

🌟 Automotive Events 🌟

Lexus - Private NBA Event - Portland - 2019 - Hostess

KIA - Seahawks Games - Seattle - 2018 - Emcee

Jaguar/Land Rover - Seattle International Auto Show - Seattle - 2018 - Right Seat Driver

Jaguar/Land Rover - Portland International Auto Show - Portland - 2017 - Right Seat Driver

Volvo - Unveiling at Vail - Vail, Co - 2016 - Right Seat Driver

KIA - Portland Trailblazers - Portland - 2013-2016 - Emcee

🌟 Project Management Experience 🌟

NVIDIA - GTC 2020, GTC 2023

VIP Press Event at Vespertine - 2021

Ferrari - Casa Ferrari - Concours d’Elegance 2021

Louis Vuitton - NBA Finals 2021 - Louis Vuitton Trophy Ceremony

Rockstar Energy - Super Bowl 2022

British Government - Premier League Event 2022

Wells Fargo - Active Cash Holiday Program

Warner Bros. - The Conjuring 3 Premiere Event 2021

AT&T - HBCU Spotlight 2022, NBA All Star 2022, AT&T Loft at Pebble Beach Pro-Am 2022, NBA/NHL Team Entitlement Nights, AT&T Hoop Hustle

ESL One - Los Angeles 2020

Target - Target Halloween Slime Lab 2021, MLS All-Star Target Event 2021, Harry Potter Big Screen Drive-In Series 2021

Amazon - Amazon Fresh Food Fest 2022, Bacon Fest 2021, Cheerios ‘Moments of Good’ Program 2021, Amazon GO 2021, Amazon Fresh Grand Opening

Toyota - Orange Blossom Classic 2021, ONE Music Festival 2021, Houston Toyota Gold Cup 2021, Phoenix Toyota Gold Cup 2021, BIG3 2021, Club America

[cardboard-aliens]

KEN RECEIPTS POST

Collection of articles and interviews regarding Ken Levine. I originally had these on a different post, but it was an addition on someone else's post and I felt bad giving them a notification every time I updated it LOL

(Click the source post for updated links, because gamers will not stop interviewing Ken so I always have more to add.)

Interviews and News Articles:

A look inside BioShock Infinite’s troubled development: talks about constant cuts, shifts, and reboots, how due to poor management there was no playable version of BioShock Infinite a year out from launch, how the team had to pull a year of crunch to finish the game with some people pulling 12 hour shifts (and then they try to make the crunch sound cute by saying married couples that worked there could have lunch and dinner together)

The final years of Irrational Games, according to those who were there: Article that mentions how belligerent Ken was in the work place, to the point 2K had to mandate sensitivity training, and that external firms were brought in to address the issue.

GDC '08: Ken Levine on BioShock's 'stupid story': article where Ken talks about BioShock's development and needing to cut down and rewrite the game's story a year out from launch, very much like how Infinite's development went.

Ken Levine: scripting Elizabeth "is the most complicated thing" in Bioshock Infinite: where they admit the e3 demo was mostly scripted and cutscenes and that there was a lot of ambitious stuff they wanted to do dynamically, but as we can see in the final product, got cut due to the reasons above

BioShock Infinite artist almost resigned over game's depiction of religion: an artist having to threaten to quit to get Ken to rewrite offensive parts of the game, along with the fact it doesn't sound like Ken knows how to write characters lol

Ken Levine and the Infinite Idaho: LONG article about a fanboy busting a nut over Ken, but if you scroll down to the section called "Breaking the arm off" or ctrl + F "Nate Wells" there's a section about how a lot of people quit during Infinite's development, including the Art Director for Infinite (and BioShock, along with being Jack's VA) Nate Wells, after Ken cut hundreds of hours of work on Shantytown because it was "ugly"

Ken Levine Defends BioShock Infinite’s Most Controversial Scene: (this website hates my VPN LOL) Interview where Ken defend's Daisy's death, by comparing her, the black slave, to Andrew Ryan, a white capitalist, while plugging his oppression creates oppressors and saying Elizabeth is the only character in the franchise to break the cycle of abuse

Faith In Rapture – Ken Levine Shares Thoughts On Creating Authentic Diversity: first half of an interview where Ken talks about Tenenbaum's autism saying "Because of her autism, it never cracked through" in regards to her empathy towards the little sisters

Conflict In Utopia - How Relationships Are At The Heart Of Ken Levine's New Game: second half of the interview, where he goes back to abuse is an inescapable cycle and that Elizabeth is the only one to over come the cycle of abuse--and she's the heart of the BioShock franchise which is 🤡💀🤡

We are Ken Levine (@iglevine) and Andres Gonzalez from Irrational Games. Ask Us Anything: AMA to promote BaS- I linked to the exact part where Ken tells people not to make Elizabeth porn because she's his daughter- despite the fact he's advertising a DLC where her boobs are even bigger and she moans over music.

TheBioshockHub Interviews Ken Levine! | Ken Talks Bioshock, His Inspirations & More (2020/2021): Interview with Ken where he say's he didn't know Ayn Rand was politically relevant and that he didn't read Atlas Shrugged until after BioShock was out, forgetting Daisy and her VA's name, and continues to reiterate how the BioShock franchise is supposed to be about how abuse is an inescapable cycle--unless you're his favorite character Elizabeth, and admitting he knew this would be his last part of the franchise and that he wanted to neatly tie the story up (🙄we know how neatly that went)

BioShock Remastered - Director's Commentary: another reference of Ken saying the BioShock franchise is Elizabeth's story, and BaS was about making her the heart of BioShock.

The Next Video Game From BioShock’s Creator Is in Development Hell: Talks about Ken's bad management as he sinks his new game exactly like how he did Infinite, but this time he pushed away everyone who kept that game afloat

Why everyone’s laughing at BioShock’s Ken Levine: Article where Ken said he figured out "how to write good characters" but it was just the basic way everyone writes characters.

Bioshock Infinite's Elizabeth shaped by Ken Levine's experiences: BONKERS article where Ken compares Elizabeth, a fictional character, to a REAL WOMAN he dated who was being abused and then said "but my OC is a better than her."

Thegamebriel Interviews Ken Levine the creator of bioshock: Interview with Ken where he notably compares BioShock 2 to someone "dating your ex girlfriend" and says he didn't want to play the game.

BioShock Infinite: 10 Years Later (ft. Ken Levine): An interview Ken did where he says he was "Upset" about BioShock 2 because he didn't see any games happening in the future of Rapture.

Ken Levine on BioShock: The Spoiler Interview: Interivew where Ken mentions a story idea where the main character was a cult deprogrammer, and talked about the kidnapping those guys would do; referencing "deprograming a lesbian" as an example of that work. He back tracks saying that was not something you would do in the game, but it makes my skin break into hives out that he mentioned it at all.

Looking Back On BioShock With Its Creator, Ken Levine: Another source of Ken only reading The Fountainhead and not Atlas Shrugged, and that he only discovered Rand's work mid development of BioShock. He also states that BioShock is not meant to be a criticism of Objectivism.

BioShock Creator Moved Away From the Franchise Because He Felt ‘Trapped’: Interview where Ken says it was his idea for BioShock to become a "Call of Duty blockbuster" and then immediately jumped ship on the franchise to make Judas. Which just looks like a bootleg BioShock game.

SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS:

Tweet where, when gay marriage was legalized in America, Ken said "but what about the Lutece twins?".

Ken retweeted an edit of Elizabeth holding a Ken body pillow.

Years later he retweeted edit of the same image but with Austin Wintory editing his face onto Elizabeth's.

Tweet were Ken defended transphobe and anti vaxxer Gina Carano when she got fired from the Mandalorian.

Tweet where Ken defended Elon Musk.

Tweet where Ken says BioShock: Rapture isn't canon because he hasn't read it.

Facebook post where Ken share a photo of a kid flipping him of so his friends would defend him.

Ken Seeing this Verge article that criticized Elizabeth saying:

and then saying on his facebook:

(which is. entirely missing the point. because he made elizabeth brutalized eye candy. her character is entirely defined by men.)

An old post, that I believe is from the scrubbed Irrational games forum (Furthest back I can trace it is to this post), where he explains Elizabeth's fragility and stealth gameplay was not stereotypical and sexist.

Photo of Ken from a print PC Gamer feature called "The New Game Gods" with a PRETTY questionable quote.

Youtube video of Ken and Troy Baker yelling at Courtnee Draper to get "authentic" acting. She's egging them on but it feels SUPER uncomfortable.

[thatcheeseycandle]

//YIPPEE ANOTHER RANT THING

Hear me out on a Black Smoke Infected Arrow au..

LIKE WHAT IF YKNOW HE GOT INFECTED WITH BLACK SMOKE WHILE UNDER CAINE'S YKNOW YEAH THEN IN PURSUIT OF SELF WHEN HE DISCOVERS MALLARD BEING A GDC HE BASICALLY HUNTS HIM DOWN BEETLEJUICE STYLE

Im making it IM GONNA DO IT IM LISTENING TO THEM 2018-2020 ANIMATION MEME PLAYLISTS TO GET MY CREATIVE JUICES FLOWING

[nihilnovisubsole]

Noooo feel better AK! Hot beverages day and night

thanks 🤧 my mother and i both have it, but we've got tea, netflix, and sour candy to help with the paxlovid aftertaste. if it had to happen, i guess it's better that it happened now so i can fully recover and be safe to go out in time for GDC. the panini stopped me from going in 2020, i'm not gonna let it thwart me again!

[untilteddocument]

[Image Description: a Twitter post from @glassbottommeg, display name Megan Fox✈️GDC, from February 4, 2020. It reads:

"I gripe a lot about bad design on here, and sometimes give examples of Bad, but for once, I can show you

literally the best design I have ever seen"

Attached is a photo of the sign for The Swan & Mallard Restaurant. The sign is an elegant black with white text for The Swan & Mallard and orange text for Restaurant, and the sign's logo is a stylized ampersand. The white curves of the ampersand are a side-facing swan's body and neck, while the black negative space is a front-facing mallard standing in front of the swan.

End description]

[fabiankiss]

The target audience for my project aligns well with current industry trends, particularly in the realm of open-world games, apocalyptic themes, wartime settings, and the increasing emphasis on immersive experiences—especially as the VR world continues to develop. There are also a growing number of voxel-based or deconstructive video games, such as Atomontage or Minecraft which involves creating environments from small voxels, or Control, which heavily utilizes deconstructive elements.

I believe my project aligns well with this genre, similar to games like Division 2, Call of Duty, and Cyberpunk. These games incorporate comparable elements, and my work, with its focus on an apocalyptic approach, fits naturally within this genre. Even tho the demands of creating these environments require high performance, and I think the next generation of games will increasingly be based on simulation tools and destructive elements made with Houdini to achieve these complex, immersive worlds.

Play Tom Clancy’s the division 2: Amazon luna cloud gaming - no download required (no date) Amazon Luna Cloud Gaming. Available at: https://luna.amazon.co.uk/game/tom-clancys-the-division-2/B08LG97J8P (Accessed: 20 August 2024).

Wiki, C. to C. (no date) Dogtown, Cyberpunk Wiki. Available at: https://cyberpunk.fandom.com/wiki/Dogtown (Accessed: 20 August 2024).

Mattone, J. (no date) Modern Warfare® tactical map intel: Crash, Activision Games Blog. Available at: https://blog.activision.com/call-of-duty/2019-12/Modern-Warfare-Tactical-Map-Intel-Crash (Accessed: 20 August 2024).

Wilson, M. (2020) Half-life: Alyx ‘final hours’ now available on steam, KitGuru. Available at: https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/half-life-alyx-final-hours-now-available-on-steam/ (Accessed: 20 August 2024).

Horizon Games Official Site (no date) PlayStation. Available at: https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/horizon/ (Accessed: 20 August 2024).

Frankiezafe (2018) Atomontage, a voxel game engine, polymorph.cool. Available at: https://polymorph.cool/2018/05/11/atomontage/ (Accessed: 20 August 2024).

Minecraft 2023 - here\’s why now\’s the time to play! (2023) LFG? Join Our Amazing Gaming Community. Available at: https://2game.com/community/heres-why-you-should-start-playing-minecraft-in-2023/ (Accessed: 20 August 2024).

Destructible Environments in Control: Lessons in Procedural Destruction (no date) GDC. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kODJsQGXanU&t=615s (Accessed: 20 August 2024).

[theodorobrejafmp]

Symposium - Reflection and Evaluation 2

Individual Learning Processes

I believe when you are working in the creative industry, especially in the digital area, you are constantly forced and pushed to constantly learn new things in order to stay updated. While courses and education are important for guidance, development and making connections, I consider that most of the techniques I have learned from the problems I encountered, and through the experience of working on diverse projects.

My main source of learning is through YouTube tutorials and other short courses that I bought. Whenever I hit a technical problem, I search how other people resolved it or to see if there are other techniques more efficient and with better result.

Fig.1: Using garment tutorials to reach the industry level

Previously, I was stuck in a mindset where I would keep on watching different tutorials as research. However, I have recently seen a podcast with other artists, and they were saying that tutorials should be used as a tool to resolve a problem, otherwise you would passively look at a screen without actually practising and doing the work, giving a false sense of learning.

My learning does not only resume to 3D techniques. I also try to develop on the overall creative processes such as storytelling, game design, and cinematography.

Fig.2: GDC Storytelling Presentation

Fig.3: Game Design Presentation

In addition, during the MA, the research modules helped me tremendously to learn how to do proper research and understand how do the design choices influence the viewer, and the symbolism and meaning behind each design choice.

So far, these methods helped me develop and make huge progress since I started. In the future, I want to learn from people I will work with, and have mentors in the 3D industry that would guide me professionally.

Bibliography:

Fig.2: GDC (2020) Narrative sorcery: Coherent storytelling in an open world. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZft_U4Fc-U

Fig.3: Jaies (2017) How to make a HIT indie game (story-driven) / “the formula” | the art of Game Design. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTYh-sIZfMA

[crayoncat-portfolio]

MYSTIC PILLARS

Release: 2020 || link Roles: Concept Artist, UI Designer

Mystic Pillars is a puzzle game with narrative elements developed by Holy Cow Productions where I worked from 2017 to 2020. It was one of the selected games for the Indie Megabooth showcase at GDC 2020.

I worked as the Creative Director for Mystic Pillars and worked on almost all the art of the game- from game concepts to the final assets. I also contributed significantly to the game design.

[noneofthisisreal]

As the Georgia Department of Corrections has seen record numbers of deaths from homicides, suicides and drug overdoses since 2020, it has tightened its grip on information about its prisons.

Two such efforts made headlines. For six months, the GDC fought a subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice for records related to the government’s investigation of violence in the prison system, saying it would release them only if the federal government signed a nondisclosure agreement. To pry the information from the state, the DOJ had to get an order from a federal judge in June 2022.

Citing security concerns, the GDC also blocked state lawmakers from entering Lee Arrendale State Prison in 2021 as they looked into allegations of inhumane treatment, inadequate medical care and deaths of women incarcerated there. The legislators were told they would have to make arrangements in advance for a tour.

With little notice, state prison officials have also restricted public access to critical information about violence, corruption, escapes and other incidents, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution examination found.

(via Georgia prison system clamps down on information)

[jcmarchi]

New State Of The Industry Report Provides Developer Thoughts On Layoffs, Acquisitions, A.I., And More

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/new-state-of-the-industry-report-provides-developer-thoughts-on-layoffs-acquisitions-a-i-and-more/

New State Of The Industry Report Provides Developer Thoughts On Layoffs, Acquisitions, A.I., And More

Introduction

Last year was a fantastic year for games, with standout triple-A releases like Baldur’s Gate 3, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, and great independent games like Jusant, Sea of Stars, and countless others. But in 2023 alone, more than 10,000 developers and people in games-adjacent industries were laid off. Plus, the unchecked rise of A.I. continued, and Unity burned developers with its controversial new game engine policies, not to name a few other not-so-great parts about 2023 – it was a great year for games but one of the worst for those who make them. 

Now, just as 2024 has begun, the Game Developers Conference has released its 12th annual State of the Game Industry report. Its data was collected from 3000 developers surveyed back in October of last year. GDC and GameDeveloper.com partnered with Omdia, a research firm, to dissect the data. In its State of the Game Industry 2024 report, which you can view in full here, developers share their thoughts on A.I., layoffs, social media, and its role in marketing, game engines, and more. 

“The most striking observation derived from job losses in the industry – naturally a pressing concern for many,” Omdia research director Dom Tait writes in the report. “Among the insightful developer comments on the subject was the following: ‘Studios grew too quickly during the pandemic.’ This statement is born out of games industry data, which shows a Covid-driven hump of extra revenue in 2020 and 2021, collectively totaling $50 billion over expected figures.

“But 2022 and 2023 showed a reversion to the spend treeline seen prior to 2020, thus this reduction in headcount is partly caused by companies belatedly adjusting to the new, less positive market reality. However, with the forecast returning to steady growth to 2027, this ought to present a more stable picture for employment levels in the future.” 

Below, we’ll break down some of the highlights of the State of the Game Industry 2024 report. 

Demographics

Demographics

Here are the ages of the 3000 developers surveyed for this report: 

18 to 24: 9 percent

25 to 34: 35 percent

35 to 44: 33 percent

45 to 54: 17 percent

55 to 64: 5 percent

65 or older: 1 percent

And here are the races/ethnicities of the 3000 developers surveyed for this report: 

White/Caucasian: 65 percent

Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin: 9 percent

East Asian: 7 percent

South or Southeast Asian: 5 percent

Black/African/Caribbean: 3 percent

Middle Eastern or North African: 1 percent

American Indian or Alaska Native: less than 1 percent

Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander: less than 1 percent

Multiple ethnicities/not listed: 5 percent

Prefer not to answer: 5 percent

Here are the genders of those surveyed:

Men: 69 percent

Woman: 23 percent

Non-Binary: 5 percent

Not listed: less than 1 percent

Prefer not to answer: 3 percent

And here are the regions of the world where the developers surveyed reside: 

North America: 62 percent

Europe: 26 percent

Asia: 6 percent

South America: 3 percent

Australia/New Zealand: 3 percent

Africa: less than 1 percent

Not listed: 1 percent 

87 percent of game developers with 21 years or more of experience in the games industry surveyed for this year’s report are men, and 92 percent of those men are White. Asian men represent 15 percent of game developers with 21 years or more of experience, Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish-origin men make up 8 percent, and Black men make up 6 percent. White women represent 5 percent of game developers with 21 years or more of experience, as do Asian women. Zero Black women or Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish-origin women are represented in this category. 

The majority of those surveyed – 56 percent – have 10 or fewer years in the games industry. 

Platforms

Platforms

66 percent of developers surveyed said PC remains their platform of choice for developing current projects, and 57 percent said the same for developing upcoming projects. 

Here’s how the other platforms fair: 

PC: 66 percent

PlayStation 5: 35 percent

Xbox Series X/S: 34 percent

Android: 24 percent

iOS: 23 percent

Nintendo Switch: 18 percent

Xbox One: 18 percent

PlayStation 4: 16 percent

Mac: 16 percent

VR: 10 percent

Web browser: 10 percent

Nintendo Switch successor: 8 percent

Linux: 7 percent

Cloud services like Xbox Cloud Gaming, PlayStation Plus, etc.: 7 percent

AR: 4 percent

Tabletop: 3 percent

Media platforms like Netflix: 2 percent

UGC platforms like Roblox and Minecraft: 1 percent

Playdate: less than 1 percent

Other: 4 percent

Not involved in development: 13 percent

Layoffs

Layoffs

According to the report, 35 percent of developers surveyed have been impacted by layoffs personally or have worked at a company where layoffs occurred, with quality assurance testers affected most. 22 percent of QA developers said they were laid off in 2023, compared to 7 percent for all developers. Those in game development business and finance were affected the least, at 2 percent. 

However, more than half of those surveyed – 56 percent – expressed some level of concern that the place they work could be hit with layoffs in 2024. GDC says one-third of responders said they aren’t concerned about layoffs at their company at all. When asked about the rise of layoffs that gained widespread attention last year, developers cited “post-pandemic course correction, studio conglomeration, and economic uncertainty,” with some expressing a desire to unionize. 

A.I.

A.I.

When asked about A.I. and its rise in game development, 84 percent said they are somewhat or very concerned about the ethics of generative A.I., while 12 percent said they have no concerns with it. GDC notes that those working in business, marketing, and programming were more likely to say the use of A.I. would have a positive effect, while those on the creative side of development, such as narrative and quality assurance, were more likely to say it would have a negative impact. 

Developers noted in surveys that they are concerned generative A.I. could lead to more layoffs, while others worried about how it affects copyright infringement, especially in regards to how the training material this kind of A.I. uses is obtained. 

51 percent of developers said their companies have implemented some kind of workplace policy regarding the use of generative A.I., “with many of them saying their companies have made use optional,” GDC writes in a press release. 2 percent of responders said generative A.I. is mandatory in their workplace, and 12 percent said it’s not allowed. 

Triple-A studios were more likely to have policies regarding the use of generative A.I. in place compared to indie studios. 21 percent of triple-A developers said it’s banned at their workplace; 9 percent of indie developers said the same. 

However, 37 percent of indie developers said they are using generative A.I. compared to 21 percent at triple-A and double-A studios. 

Digital Downloads

Digital Downloads

51 percent of developers who responded to the survey said the game they’re currently developing will be a “digital premium game.” Here’s how other models fair: 

Digital premium game: 51 percent

Free to download: 32 percent

DLC/Updates: 24 percent

Physical premium game: 21 percent

Paid in-game items: 21 percent

Paid in-game currency: 19 percent

Inclusion in a paid subscription library like Xbox Game Pass: 10 percent

Paid item crates/gacha: 6 percent

Community-funded like Kickstarter: 6 percent

In-game product placement: 5 percent

Premium tier subscriptions like in Fallout 76: 4 percent

Blockchain-driven monetization: 3 percent

Other: 6 percent

Not involved in game development: 14 percent

Game Adaptations

Game Adaptations

10 percent of respondents said their company has a game that has been or is being adapted, while 20 percent have said their company has talked about it. 6 percent have been approached for an adaptation, while 2 percent have pitched an adaptation. 44 percent said they aren’t adapting a game, while 13 percent don’t know. 4 percent responded with N/A. 

63 percent of developers surveyed think film and TV adaptations are good for the game industry, 26 percent said maybe, 4 percent said no, and 7 percent had no opinion. 

Acquisitions

Acquisitions

According to GDC’s survey, 5 percent of developers believe the ongoing wave of acquisitions happening in games is good for the industry, down from 17 percent in last year’s report. 43 percent think it will have a negative impact, and 2 percent think it will have no impact; 42 percent responded with “mixed impact,” noting negative and positive feelings about it. 

Game Development Engines

Game Development Engines

Epic’s Unreal Engine and Unity’s engine are the most-used game engines, according to the report; 33 percent of developers said one of these engines is their primary development engine. In third place (technically second since Unity and Unreal were tied ) were proprietary in-house engines (think EA’s Frostbite engine), with open-source engine Godot in fourth. 

Following Unity’s runtime fee fiasco that happened last year, one-third of developers surveyed said they considered switching engines within the past year (or that they have already done so); almost half said they haven’t considered switching. Developers cited Unity’s policies as the biggest motivator for switching, and 51 percent of responders said they were interested in switching from either Unity or Unreal to Godot. 

Accessibility

Accessibility

48 percent of developers who took part in the survey said their companies have implemented accessibility options into their games, which is up from 38 percent in 2023’s report. 27 percent of responders said their companies have implemented zero accessibility measures, which is down from 32 percent in last year’s report. 

The top accessibility measures include closed captioning, control remapping, and colorblind modes, according to the report. Other features include phobia accommodations, accessible hardware and controls, and content warnings. 

Social Media and Marketing

Social Media And Marketing

Developers said that social media and word-of-mouth are the “most-used marketing tools,” with 76 percent saying they utilize X (formally Twitter) the most compared to other platforms. However, GDC says many developers noted they aren’t happy with the state of X. When asked about how their approach to social media marketing has changed, 97 percent of developers touched on changes to X and expressed negative views about it and its owner, Elon Musk. 

Remote Work

Remote Work

26 percent of respondents said their company has some kind of mandatory return-to-office policy, be it a full-time return to the physical workplace or a hybrid schedule that includes remote/work-from-home. The other 74 percent of developers said they don’t have a return-to-office policy or make working in-office optional.

The report notes that 40 percent of triple-A – the largest group affected by these kinds of policies – said they have mandatory return-to-office rules, although the majority of this 40 percent said it’s a hybrid mix. 15 percent of indie developers and 28 percent of double-A developers work somewhere with a mandatory return-to-office policy. 

Developers with the option to work from home reported the most satisfaction with their work schedule, the report notes, while those with mandatory return-to-office policies in place reported the most dissatisfaction. 

You can check out GDC’s full State of the Industry 2024 report here for additional information on these topics and more. 

What is the most surprising statistic in this report to you? Let us know in the comments below!

[blackladisdestrcz]

Podívejte se na video „Český přenos WHOLESOME DIRECT 2023“ na YouTube

[thetoxicgamer]

New Soulslike Embracing “Jedi Fantasy” Magic System to Face Elden Ring

Taking some chances with the formula established by FromSoftware and its lineage of Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Sekiro, and Elden Ring is the upcoming Souls-like game remake Lords of the Fallen. The RPG game's creator, Hexworks, shared some behind-the-scenes footage with PCGamesN at GDC 2023 in San Francisco and revealed how the team hopes to reinvent how magic is employed in the genre, using the unexpected example of Star Wars as their guide. Lords of the Fallen is already taking aim at the bonfires of Dark Souls, with magic next on the potential chopping block. In FromSoftware games like Elden Ring, you need to equip a catalyst in one of your hands and cycle through any equipped spells, but Lords of the Fallen wants to make the experience more fluid by tapping into the “Jedi fantasy” of quickly cycling between abilities. “You can equip three shortcut slot spells,” Lords of the Fallen creative director Cezar Virtosu tells me in a small hotel suite. “Every catalyst then has a fixed amount of starting spells, and the more you upgrade the magic catalyst, the more shortcuts you’re going to have, up to five or six, it depends.” In the Lords of the Fallen gameplay I was shown at GDC, you’ll just need to hit the ranged button like you would with a bow to cast one of these spells in your shortcut slots “so you can chain magic and spells seamlessly.” Virtosu has made no secret of his love for Fromoftware, Hidetaka Miyazaki, and games like Elden Ring, so it’ll be very interesting to see how Lords of the Fallen aims to set itself apart from the rulers of the genre. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ns8GdN7EO0 “So this gives you that Jedi fantasy of swinging your lightsaber, force choking someone as you continue attacking your current target,” Virtosu adds, as I see the Lords of the Fallen pyromancer build (Dark Souls 1 fans rejoice!) easily setting up fire spells while still attacking with their sword. While this use of magic is quite a simple idea for the Souls-like formula, I hope it leads to some incredibly varied character builds where you can still focus somewhat on magic, and use the spells you find in the world, even if you’re a close-range focused player. Set for release sometime this year, original Lords of the Fallen developer CI Games has now taken on publishing duties as Hexworks heads up the creation of the reboot. Hexworks is a new studio founded in 2020 under CI Games with its first title set to be this Lords of the Fallen reboot, while Virtosu has worked at Ubisoft on multiple Assassin’s Creed games alongside parts of Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Marvel’s Avengers as well. While you wait for Lords of the Fallen to come out we’ve got a breakdown of all the best fantasy games you can play right now, with some of these games sure to keep you busy in the meantime. Read the full article

[rpnewspaperblog]

Cyberpunk 2077 Will Look Shinier Than Ever at GDC 2023 Thanks to Visual Upgrade

CD Projekt Red has revealed plans to showcase its RT: Overdrive mode featuring path tracing for Cyberpunk 2077 during a GDC 2023 panel. Cyberpunk 2077 is already one of the video game market’s most visually impressive releases. It launched in 2020 with full support for optional visual features including ray tracing, ray-traced reflections, ray-traced diffuse illumination, and more. But there are…

[linuxgamenews]

Colossal Cave re-imagined into native support

Colossal Cave point and click adventure game launches on Linux, Mac, and Windows PC. This is also the result of the work from developer Cygnus Entertainment. Which is available now via Steam. Colossal Cave is the key 3D version of the original text adventure. Along with Linux support, thanks to a developer comment on Steam earlier this month.

We have the Linux steam deck version going. I'm not sure if that same version will run on a normal linux computer.

The Unity based game also shows Linux support via SteamDB. Which is far better than the dev's earlier statement about following wishlist support. Kudos to Cygnus Entertainment for making it happen. Infinite wonders await in Colossal Cave. Well, at least for those seeking true adventure. Doing so in a winding maze of underground caves. Storybook beasts coming to life as living creatures, ready to be life long friends or foes. Complete complex puzzles while wondering through massive caves full of various dangers and unique treasures.

Colossal Cave Launch Date Reveal Trailer

Collect every item and explore deep into the cavern before venturing home after a fine quest. Colossal Cave empowers heroines and heroes to adopt the same bold spirit as the original title. Due to bridge the gap between two generations of eager adventurers. Iconic developers Sierra On-Line founders Ken and Roberta Williams’ are back with a new company, Cygnus Entertainment. They are also ready to create more amazing projects like the seminal classics. Also including a class of 2020 Video Game Hall of Fame recipient, King’s Quest. As well as Space Quest, Phantasmagoria, and many others. The duo were awarded the Pioneer Award at the GDC 2020. Along with the Industry Icon award at The Game Awards in 2014. They continue their legacy and build a new dynasty, with Colossal Cave as the hopeful beginning. Colossal Cave point and click adventure game is available on Steam. Priced at $39.99 USD / £34.99 / 39,99€. Including support for Linux, Mac, and Windows PC.

[nintendocafe]

Go behind the scenes of Animal Crossing: New Horizon with @NintendoAmerica at GDC 2020!

[mythoflight]

GDC, the MAJOR game industry event that I go to every year suddenly has all its big corporate sponsors and attendees pulling out due to coronavirus concerns and now for the first time in its history it might be getting cancelled 🤭