David Dedeine

This week we updated the context sidebar in our translation management system. Now every string automatically has context. ✨ It's like magic! (But it's just plain logic) And for those wondering: no, we do not use AI. We also played around with Figma and built a sync between Grimoire and Figma. We wanted to know if we could get context from UI design there. Because that's what you need with UI text, right? Who is making their game UI in Figma? I'm curious about your workflow. As a UX designer, how do you communicate your design rules to the dev team?

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Augmental Puzzles is here! 🚀 So bloody happy to share that my new studio’s first title, Augmental Puzzles, has officially launched in Early Access on the Meta Store, with our Steam release arriving this Friday! Building a studio from scratch is no small feat. In fact most of the work has been on getting the company to shipping state, not the executable. It has been a journey of hard work, late nights, and recruiting incredible people I genuinely enjoy working with. Seeing our first game go live is a huge milestone that has had me smiling all week. We wanted to create a dedicated space for logic puzzles in VR—starting with a robust, polished Sudoku experience that feels right at home in a headset. Whether you want to relax in passthrough or focus in an immersive environment, we’ve built this for VR lovers. This is just the START of the road for us, but for now, we are celebrating the launch! Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/emu3ZBe9 #VR #IndieDev #GameDev #Startup #AugmentalPuzzles #Sudoku

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Hello Everyone,  time to speak about Level design! I've prepared a small video to show you how we do our climbing walls, (here it's a very simple and fast to make LD exemple). In short, the Cairn level design consists in 5 main steps, where we play with 𝑀𝘰𝑑𝘶𝑙𝘢𝑟 𝑟𝘰𝑐𝘬𝑠 and 𝐻𝘰𝑙𝘥𝑠: 1. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐨𝐮𝐭 : created from Mathieu's concept arts, is where we get the idea for the area (for the video, it will just be a wall with a slight dihedral shape). 2. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭: We plan the climbing challenges ! Here, a gorge, a split, a semi-visible holds, a chimney, and I finish with dynamic holds and stalactite fusion crux. a. For me it's mainly Sketches on a book! 3. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗶𝗱: a. Thanks to 𝑀𝘰𝑑𝘶𝑙𝘢𝑟 𝑟𝘰𝑐𝘬𝑠, we place the first rock formations that correspond to these challenges chosen earlier.  b. Then we reinforce the leading lines that will guide the player, refine the aesthetics of the area, and modulate challenges and cruxes! 4. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗿𝗼: allows you to fine-tune your climbing and cruxes with 𝐻𝘰𝑙𝘥𝑠 (jugs, pinches, ledges, pockets, etc... there are tons of them). 5. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁: if everything's going well and we're having fun climbing, then it's a win and we send it to Lara! In short, everything is extremely modular, and ultimately none of our routes are alike! This provides a wide variety of exercises to offer! (By the way, a big thank you to Guillaume Martin, Anthony Beyer, and Marjorie Deneux that permit us to create our walls with their Modular rock and tools, please check their profil !)

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Most environment problems in indie games don’t start with bad art. They start when production begins before the rules of the world are clear. And by the time the team feels that something is slightly “off”, dozens or even hundreds of assets are already built. I’ve seen this pattern in many projects. The artists are usually very capable. The early assets look great. A few props appear, then a building, maybe a small environment piece. The world slowly starts taking shape. At first it feels exciting. You can almost see the game coming together. Then production speeds up. More assets are needed, more locations, more variations. The asset list grows faster than anyone expected. And this is usually where things begin to drift. A material gets interpreted slightly differently. A prop follows a bit different visual logic. A new area introduces shapes that were never really part of the original language. None of these decisions look wrong on their own. But slowly the world stops feeling like one place. Levels begin to feel like they belong to slightly different games. Small inconsistencies accumulate until the team senses that something isn’t quite right, even if no single asset seems to be the problem. At that point the issue usually isn’t art quality anymore. It’s the absence of a clear system holding everything together.The projects where environments scale smoothly are almost always the ones where the visual language and modular rules were defined early. Because once production accelerates, structure matters more than individual assets.

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Hello LinkedIn friends, As cat-themed games are getting popular these days, our team decided to create one too — and decided to develop Cat Sorting Game 🐱✨. Inspired by our Bird Sort game, We focused on smoother color combinations, added 200 levels, and introduced new elements every 15–30 levels to keep the experience fresh and engaging. Many people often ask how AI is helping in mobile game development. In Kitty Sort, we used AI in several areas — to speed up production, enhance graphics quality, and design transition screens and characters more efficiently. It truly helped us bring a more polished and creative touch to the game. 🎮 Try it on the App Store: https://lnkd.in/dEkyN86g There are still a few areas we’re working to improve, and your valuable feedback will help us make the game even better. 💬 #KittySort #CatSort #GameLaunch #HybridCasual #MobileGames #PuzzleGame #GameDevelopment  #MobileGameDesign #MobileGamingCommunity #GameDevs #Sabasoft 

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Top 10 tips ((Cheat Sheet)) for USD Rendering useful for Tech Artists & Pipeline TDs Use it anywhere you need headless, automated, Hydra-based USD rendering without opening Houdini. 1. Basic Render Render a USD file using Karma (default delegate): husk scene.usd 2. Render a Frame Range husk scene.usd -f 1 100 And to point to output path: husk scene.usd -f 1 100 -o /renders/shot1/beauty.$F4.exr 3. Switch Render Delegate Render using Karma XPU: husk -R KarmaXPU scene.usd Render with Storm (fast preview): husk -R HdStorm scene.usd And you can add any Hydra delegate (Arnold, RenderMan, 3Delight if installed). 4. Override Render Settings Change a render var (AOV) directly: husk -set camera /path/to/cameraPrim Override resolution: husk scene.usd -xres 1920 -yres 1080 5. Render Specific Camera husk scene.usd -C /World/camera1 6. Add AOVs Render with ego-defined AOV (example: nrm, depth): husk scene.usd -A nrm -A depth -o /renders/aov.$AOV.$F4.exr 7. Generate a Preview Movie husk scene.usd -f 1 120 -o preview.$F4.jpg Use ffmpeg afterwards: ffmpeg -r 24 -i preview.%04d.jpg preview.mov 8. Progressive Rendering Good for quick review: husk scene.usd -progress 9. Use Husk in PDG Inside a ROP Fetch TOP or USD Render TOP: Set “Command” to: husk @usdfile@ -f @frame@ -o @output@ PDG distributes to farm automatically. 10. Debug Mode husk scene.usd --verbose or husk scene.usd --trace #Houdini3D #USD #Husk #KarmaXPU #PipelineTD #TechArt #Proceduralism #PDG #Hydra #VFXPipeline #RenderFarm #CGWorkflow #OpenToWork

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Immediately resonating with an audience, and having an emotional impact always trumps tech/budget/game mechanics etc. Your audience needs to feel and care about it first. Game mechanics/tech/etc. won't matter unless they care first.

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🤖 The Future of Game NPCs Just Arrived – And It's Sassy! Ubisoft's latest AI innovation, "Teammates," is redefining what's possible in game development. This isn't just another demo – it's being actively playtested with hundreds of users right now. Here's what makes this game-changing: ✨ **AI Squad Members with Personality**: Meet Pablo and Sophia, AI-powered soldiers with distinct personalities, backstories, and actual emotional depth. They respond to voice commands, suggest tactics, and even banter with sass when you treat them poorly. 🎮 **Combat That Feels Real**: These aren't scripted NPCs. They adapt, strategize, and interact dynamically during missions. The GM-like companion Jaspar runs the show with Ryan Reynolds-level wit – and yeah, some players love it, some hate it (which means it's working!). 💡 **Built for Developers, Not Against Them**: This is crucial – Ubisoft emphasizes that creatives STILL do extensive work. Character sheets, personality prompts, voice acting, and iterative testing remain essential. The AI is a tool that amplifies creative vision, not replaces it. 🔧 **Plugin & Play**: Built on in-house middleware connecting to Snowdrop and Anvil engines, developers can integrate these AI systems without reinventing the wheel. Monthly updates through January, emotion systems coming next, and this is just the beginning. The question isn't "if" AI changes game development – it's "how will YOU use it?" What's your take on AI teammates in games? #GameDevelopment #GameDev #AI #IndieGames #GamingInnovation #UbisoftAI #GameDesign

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Three years ago I posted a video of a mysterious prototype... ...which later became the terrain editor for the game that is now known as Farever, the latest announced by Shiro Games. It started with a brief from Nicolas Cannasse : make a grid-based editor that allows designers and artists to quickly iterate on level design ideas, supporting a stylized art direction. Borrowing ideas from Oskar Stålberg, I went for a block-based system where meshes represent seamless transitions between blocks, rather than blocks themselves. We ended-up with 36 unique tiles excluding symmetries and rotations. Note that we wanted to support diagonal walls, which complicated things a little. I created a starter kit template with nice bevels, which was then customized by artists for the various biomes. No magic, all craftsmanship. I came back to the project after 2 years, and it's a really strange feeling to see how much has been done with it since. Had I stayed on the project all along, I probably wouldn't have seen that giant leap for what it is. Going from this early prototype to a finished map is obviously a titanic task that involved many super-talented people at Shiro who, to be fair, deserve most of the credit. Well done everyone 🙌

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Launching a new mobile game? In collaboration with Anton Slashcev, we made a 24-week roadmap template: 𝟭. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗼𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 & 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀 𝟭–𝟲) • Define your core loop (Spot → Act → Reward → Repeat) • Build quick prototypes and test them early • Create simple, intuitive tutorials for new players • Add basic visuals and UI mockups • Run small tests focused on Day-1 retention, CPI and playtime 𝟮. 𝗠𝗶𝗱-𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀 𝟳–𝟭𝟮) • Add more mechanics and progression systems • Expand content with new levels or modes • Track player progression and identify churn points • Refine difficulty and balance based on data • Add engagement features like daily missions or streak rewards 𝟯. 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 (𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀 𝟭𝟯–𝟭𝟴) • Combine IAP with rewarded ads • Add offers: shops, bundles, starter packs • Measure ARPU, conversion, and pricing strategies • Optimize your game’s economy - define pressure points • Make sure monetization supports retention, not hurts it 𝟰. 𝗦𝗼𝗳𝘁 𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵 (𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀 𝟭𝟵–𝟮𝟰) • Launch in Tier-2 countries first • Run targeted UA campaigns • Continuously iterate based on feedback and data • Start building a community through social and feedback loops • Fix bugs, polish the UX, and get ready for global release Ship smarter Not just faster This roadmap gives you the structure to build, test, learn, and grow Save it for your next launch or send it to someone who needs a clear plan --- DM me if your studio needs help testing or scaling the next game idea!

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During this External Development Summit (XDS) Guillaume Carmona and I had the opportunity to animate a round Table around :Going Hollywood “How the Marvel Studios creative universe and The Walt Disney Company #StarWars universe can inform how we build the next generation of #codev partners “ We found out that: In games, just as in film, the most successful universes come from centralized IP stewardship. Without a clear vision holder, franchises fracture — one sequel emphasizes mechanics, another shifts tone, and external spin-offs feel disconnected. A strong IP management function sets the creative north star: defining lore boundaries, aesthetic rules, and gameplay DNA, while still leaving space for innovation. This is what allows a universe like Halo or The Witcher to feel consistent across mainline titles, mobile experiments, and even TV adaptations. Scaling this vision requires external help, because no studio can master everything internally. Co-dev partners, art vendors, and narrative collaborators can multiply production capacity — but only if integrated within a framework that preserves IP standards. For example, cinematic partners need detailed style bibles, art vendors need access to consistent pipelines, and co-dev studios should be empowered to propose solutions rather than just execute tasks. The best partnerships go beyond “outsourcing” — they become extensions of the core creative team, contributing ideas, tools, and technical know-how that strengthen the whole franchise. Finally, universe-building in games is a long-term journey with inevitable ups and downs. Not every installment will land perfectly; some mechanics will fail, some monetization experiments will backfire, some spin-offs won’t resonate. But consistency of vision and the ability to course-correct is what builds resilience. The lesson from Marvel applies directly to us: centralize the IP vision, scale through trusted creative partnerships, and long term perspective. This is how we, as an industry, can create game worlds that don’t just ship once, but live, evolve, and matter for decades. We at Room 8 Group have been engaged for the last 3 years in a transformative journey to prepare for these creative opportunities and enabling our partners to increase the yield of their IPs on multiple delivery form while maintaining a flexible footprint. Drop me a line if you are interested and I will detail how we modified our corporate vision to match these ambitions. #codev #computergames #disney #marvel Thank you to all who attended: PlaySide Studios Riot Games Sony Electronics Virtuos Microsoft Ubisoft External Development Summit (XDS)

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Small Script toolbox A small collection of useful scripts to speed up the pipeline and streamline some tasks. A spine auto rigger, with fk, and reverse fk, 3 options of ik set ups, ribbon, spline, hybrid, all of the with modular scaling. Jaw Scripts, creates some guides to create a set up of controls to rig the mouth, with adjustable influence and lip seal. A finger rigger, it works with any selection(in order), IK/FK and scalable. Pose reader, to get cleaner rotations avoiding gimball lock, this one i use as a set up for auto clavicles. And finally control modifier that allow the change of controls in shape, rotations, scale and color

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Auto Reference Attribute is now officially live on the Unity Asset Store ! We started sharing with you the exact internal tools used in the development of LEAVE, and the first one is now officially available: Auto Reference Attribute. This tool solves one of the most common issues in Unity workflows: manual reference assignment. It automatically assigns components and GameObjects in the Inspector, removing the need for drag-and-drop and preventing missing-reference errors during runtime. It’s simple, reliable, and built to speed up real production pipelines. More of our internal tools will be released soon. Asset Store link: https://lnkd.in/djdfhJHk

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🎮 Asset tool Meshy now claims it can also generate gameplay itself. GDC 2026 will be the first real test. Meshy is a 3D generative AI platform many devs already know for turning text or images into usable 3D assets. Now it wants to move from “AI for production” to “AI for play”: 🔹 The new Meshy Labs incubator is launching Black Box: Infinite Arsenal, a survivor-like game where players describe weapons and builds with prompts instead of picking from a fixed database. 🔹 Meshy says the AI recombines mechanics in real time based on player intent, so every run is unique and static metas never form. 🔹 The announcement comes with big numbers: 10 million global users, 100 million 3D models generated and annual recurring revenue doubling to 30M in three months. The vision is ambitious, but this is still a PR pitch, not proof: 🔹 “AI-native gameplay” is easy to promise and very hard to balance, debug and ship at scale in a live game. 🔹 GDC demos can look magical; the real question is whether players experience depth or just chaotic novelty once they get past the first hour. “We started with AI for 3D. AI for Fun is the next frontier.” What stands out here is not just the tech, but the direction: asset tools are moving upstream into game design itself. If Meshy’s experiment works, expect other tooling companies to follow. If it fails, it will be another reminder that shipping fun is harder than shipping models. #AIForGaming #GameDev #GameDevAI #IndieGameDev #AI Link in the first comment 👇

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Another video showing how to study and use reference, and when to let it go. And also to reemphasise the importance of blocking and experimentation before moving to spline and polish. reference footage from Eric Jacobus #animation #mentoring #animationdiversityfoundation

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QOOBIT VRoid Control Rig is now live on FAB at: https://lnkd.in/g7m8A29X It includes an easy to use, one click Control Rig Maker widget that lets you build out a Control Rig for your VRoid with FK/IK controls and simulated local chain dynamics for all auxiliary bones. See it in action here with our tutorial on how to import your own VRoids from VRoid Studio and start animating with them now in UE: https://lnkd.in/grHX-DaY

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Setting up a Root Yaw Offset system with #ControlRig, to replicate as closely as I can the behaviour of GASP sample proj Mannequin. Dug deep into Lyra Sample Proj and GASP to learn to setup condition checks to determine the current locomotion regime and update the Root accordingly to eliminate instantaneous direction changes. Not much to look at right now with just a few arrows but quite a bit of things happening under the hood. Gold arrow represents the "ground truth", the Root behaviour of GASP sample character from the Offset Root Bone anim node. Red Arrow is the Capsule direction, which responds instantaneously to controller input. Green Arrow is result of the system setup in Control Rig graph. The work is not complete by a long shot, but on very good track I reckon. #unrealengine5 #technicalanimation

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Steam in 2025: 10,000 games already released — who added to the game graveyard? 🎲 🔹 Over the past six months, more than 10,000 new games have been released on the platform. That's an average of 60 releases per day. What’s especially important — most of these projects fall into the "limited" category. This means the game didn’t even earn $10,000 and lacks basic features: cards, marketplace access, and so on. Essentially, it didn’t find an audience and went straight to the “Steam graveyard” ⚰️ The ratio between successful and limited games remains almost unchanged. There are more games overall, but the number of those making any money — grows insignificantly 📉 Moreover, by the end of 2024, the share of successful releases even dropped slightly — by 1%. Conclusion? Competition is rising. But most games don’t reach charts, organic traffic, or media coverage. The reason is simple — no marketing or weak marketing 🎯 📌 If you want your project not just to launch, but to land on the part of the graph with revenue and attention — don’t leave marketing for the last minute. Have a great week! And yes — check if you have a pre-launch marketing plan. If not — start with that. We’ve even shared a whole marketing bible in the past 📚😉

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Friendslop Genre Breakdown In collaboration with AppMagic, we analyzed the HOTTEST indie game genre on Steam, and what makes it so fun: 𝟭. Unique co-op journey 🚗 • Less about complex systems • More about "we went through this together" • A road trip, a climb, or escaping a haunted place • The core fantasy is a shared adventure 𝟮. Chaos and physics 💥 • Janky but satisfying physics make you experiment • Things explode and ragdolls spin across the map • Failure is not punishment • It is pure comedy 𝟯. Immersive little details 🍌 • Many interactions exist just to be fun • Banana peels to slip on or props to mess with • They rarely serve a strict purpose • They simply give the squad more toys 𝟰. Goofy tone 🤪 • Friendslop never takes itself too seriously • Goofy characters and exaggerated animations • Cartoon violence shows that laughter matters more • Realism takes a back seat 𝟱. "It's not a bug, it's a feature" 👾 • Rough edges become part of the charm • Awkward physics and weird NPC behavior • Small bugs turn into stories you laugh about later 𝟲. Sociality above all 🎙️ • The game exists for conversation • Reactions, screams, and in-jokes are the real content • Proximity chat makes panic and laughter stronger 𝟳. Low entry barrier 🎮 • Simple controls and no heavy meta • Let anyone join and feel useful in minutes • No one falls behind on builds or grind 𝟴. Loved by streamers 📹 • High emotion and constant surprises • Endless "clip this" moments • Perfect for streams and viral content 𝟵. Goal: Hit the quota 💰 • Each run you earn X value by looting • Break things or film spooky content • Reach the quota to advance • Fail and the run wipes 𝟭𝟬. Goal: Reach point B 🗺️ • Get from A to B by any means • Terrain, enemies, and unreliable physics block you • The journey is the real challenge --- Get more market insights at AppMagic

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