Jeff Pobst

Can a Horizontal Slice Help You Create a Critically Acclaimed and More Profitable Game? A Pixar movie takes four years to make, with half of that time spent developing, iterating, and refining a “horizontal slice” of the film, known as the Story Reel. During this initial two-year pre-production phase, Pixar focuses on figuring out the story by creating the entire film using simple sketches and scratch audio recordings from employees. This Story Reel approach is extremely efficient and low-cost, requiring only a small team compared to full production. Since the scenes are created with simple sketches, it’s easy to delete or tweak them in a constant drive for the best story. A Pixar movie only goes into full production if the Story Reel is as good as it can be. How Can This Process Help Us Make Better Games? Imagine a game development process where the team completes a horizontal slice as the final pre-production milestone halfway through the full development schedule. What would be the benefits? Single Player Games: • Proper scoping • Better pacing • Balanced difficulty curve • Smoother integration between story and gameplay • Exposure of repetitive sections This approach can help avoid overwhelming players at the start of the game and prevent boredom towards the end. Multiplayer/Live Ops Games: • Many of the same benefits as single-player games • Perfectly balanced progression path through the meta game • Improved retention and monetization Additionally, this method could make your team much happier. How? It provides more clarity of vision before full production begins, as everyone can actually play through the entire game. There might be less throwaway work, which is a huge positive for the team. A proper horizontal slice is likely more productive and efficient, helping the team achieve higher development velocity and lower total development costs. Teams that make profitable games tend to be much happier! Let’s Reverse the Concept Imagine a Pixar movie where they created and polished the first 15 minutes of the film—similar to the Vertical Slice we currently use in game development—and then figured out the rest of the story during production. Would the result be a better or worse film? Conclusion Let me know in the comments if you agree with me. I’m curious to hear your thoughts on why the horizontal slice isn’t a standard practice and how we can incorporate it into game development moving forward.

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Dear Stretch Network Partners, Please allow me to inform you about additional changes that will take place in the global network on July 8. 🍀 All Heads-up tables will be removed 🍀 Badugi cash tables will be removed 🍀 Sonic cash tables will become 6-max 🍀 The minimum buy-in for Sonic Omaha cash tables will be 20 BB 🍀 Sonic Omaha 7 card cash tables will be added These changes apply only to cash tables and only to our Global Network. In your local networks, you decide your product strategy, but we would be happy to assist you in managing your local networks as well. If you need our help, please contact us. The above-mentioned changes are part of the new strategy for the Stretch Network Global Network, which prioritizes the comfort of novice players and casual traffic to maintain the proper balance of our ecosystem between amateurs and professionals. Caring for the ecosystem of the Global Network is our priority. The changes we are implementing now and will continue to implement will significantly improve the user experience for your players, extend their LTV, ARPU, and, of course, Revenue.

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How To Unlock The Stylistic Disciple Armor Set In Remnant 2? 🤖 With the second DLC of Remnant 2 introducing the Invoker archetype, it’s best to complete the whole look by getting your hands on the archetype’s corresponding outfit, the Disciple armor set. Fortunately, the armor set is close to the Invoker’s engram, so you can grab both items without traveling too much. A quick guide written by Daniyal Sultan Malik for eXputer.com. Read here: https://lnkd.in/gjHKP8N9 #Remnant2 #gaming #gamingguides

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Dave the Diver is getting a Godzilla DLC, and it is free!! This new DLC will see Dave come face-to-face with the might Godzilla himself, though in keeping with the true spirit of Godzilla you won’t be fighting the big lizard so much as helping it overcome one of its adversaries, Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, from the 1966 live-action movie of the same name. Players will need to pilot the G-Force submarine to take Ebirah on, and work alongside Godzilla to protect the planet from the mighty crustacean’s threat. You can claim this DLC right now from the below digital console and PC storefronts, and you’ll need to do so before November 23rd, 2024, because it’s only available until then. After that point it will seemingly either become a paid DLC or completely unavailable, so make sure you scoop it up: 💾 PlayStation Store: https://lnkd.in/eHPjPi4C 💾 Steam: https://lnkd.in/eFGy6_Y5 💾 Nintendo Switch eShop: https://lnkd.in/ehr7r3zH

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The post-apocalyptic world of Fallout is attracting a new wave of explorers thanks to the recent television adaptation! According to SteamDB data, individual player counts for Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76 all saw a dramatic rise in the days leading up to the show's premiere on April 11th, with the trend continuing throughout the weekend. 👑 Fallout 4 Leads the Charge: Fallout 4 emerged as the most popular title, reaching a peak of nearly 83,500 concurrent players on April 14th. Fallout 76 followed closely behind with 39,455 players, and New Vegas brought up the rear with a respectable 19,300. Even today, Fallout 4 maintains a healthy player base of around 68,000. 🏆 Fallout 76 Sets a New Record: The surge in Fallout 76 players is particularly noteworthy. Its peak of 39,455 on April 14th marks the highest player count ever recorded for the game on Steam, exceeding its launch numbers in April 2020. 🎮 Classic Fallouts See Renewed Interest: While Fallout 4 and New Vegas haven't quite reached their all-time highs (nearly 473,000 and 51,000 players respectively), they've witnessed a significant uptick in activity. Even the original Fallout and Fallout 2, titles released in the early 1990s, experienced a bump, with player counts exceeding 2,300 and 1,000 respectively. 💊 Fallout Fever Spreads Beyond PC: While concrete numbers are harder to come by for console platforms, particularly Xbox Game Pass, it's safe to assume that the Fallout resurgence extends beyond PC. The television show has clearly reignited interest in this beloved franchise across all platforms. The Fallout franchise is experiencing a renaissance, fuelled by the exciting new television series. Whether you're a seasoned Vault Dweller or a curious newcomer, there's never been a better time to explore the vast and captivating wasteland! (source: https://lnkd.in/eh-HttPS)

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It's awesome to see this chart everywhere and cheer for all the VR growth we've seen so far. I'm 100% in. I love this stuff. I really do. It warms my heart. Buuut, this chart does not acknowledge one of VR's key challenges: RETENTION. I was there when the iPhone was released. And while it may have seen a similar unit sales curve, I'm pretty sure it did not struggle with the decline in daily/monthly active use that VR headsets see (Quest included). This is in large part due to the comfort issue. But also other UX factors, like how notifications are displayed. And how easy or hard it is to share the content with another person. And many others. I sat next to a buddy at the bar with his first iPhone while he showed me what it could do. And then he used it every day for the rest of his life because it was his phone. It was a tool that was already a thing that we used every single day. VR, prior to Apple's Vision Pro, generally, did not replace an existing tool that everyone used every day. It attempted to compete for entertainment hours with existing game consoles, PC gaming, and in some handful of enterprise applications like training. Apple's device is a reasonable replacement for my iPad, and almost, but not really, a replacement for my MacBook. It is a replacement for my desktop display, but at the cost of comfort. It'll take a few more years at least before we get completely comfortable replacements for our MacBooks and iPhones. They are coming though, no doubt about it.

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UMG's Partnership with SoundLabs Brings Advanced AI Technology to Music Production Universal Music Group (UMG) has announced a collaboration with SoundLabs, a music technology company known for its AI tools designed for music creators. This partnership will allow UMG's artists and producers to use SoundLabs' MicDrop plugin, an AI-powered tool compatible with all major digital audio workstations. The plugin can be trained on an artist's voice, enabling the creation of custom vocal models for studio use. UMG, which works with prominent artists like Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, Adele, and Kendrick Lamar, highlights that this tool provides artists with full creative control and approval over the generated content. The MicDrop plugin offers several innovative features, including the ability to modify vocal timbres, transform speech into singing, and change the language of a vocal recording. This technology allows artists to release foreign-language versions of their songs without recording new vocals. Additionally, it enables them to perform duets with their younger selves by utilizing archival recordings. UMG emphasizes that these vocal models will be exclusively available for the artists' personal use and not for public access, ensuring ethical application and full control by the creators. This development follows UMG's recent partnership with Roland, where they introduced seven ethical principles for AI in music creation. These guidelines aim to ensure that artificial intelligence enhances, rather than replaces, human creativity. Previously, UMG also explored licensing artists' voices for AI-generated songs in collaboration with Google, demonstrating their commitment to integrating AI ethically in the music industry. SoundLabs, led by Grammy-nominated producer and software developer BT, is at the forefront of AI music technology. BT has a history of working on innovative audio plugins like iZotope's Stutter Edit and BreakTweaker. He expressed enthusiasm about the partnership, emphasizing the potential of AI to democratize creativity and reduce barriers in the creative process. UMG's Chris Horton reiterated the company's focus on keeping artists central to their AI strategy, ensuring that technology serves artistic expression. The MicDrop plugin is set for release later this summer, marking a significant step in the evolution of music production. #MusicInnovation #AIMusic #CreativeTech #FutureOfMusic

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Sumo Digital announced a 15% cut in its workforce, roughly impacting 250 individuals. Among these 250 individuals was the team of Timbre Games, which also confirmed that the studio was being shut down. Timbre Games was founded in 2021 and made a part of Pipework Studios. Although Timbre had yet to launch any games, its website indicates that it was in the middle of two game projects. Unfortunately, game developers face more loss than the parent company when something like this happens. Who knows how Timbre's team might be coping after putting in millions of efforts to build the games and losing everything in a single blink? In their support, this is list 2 of some of the Timbreeos who were impacted by the closure. Every bit from the community counts, so requesting you all to help this reach recruiters and game studios currently hiring. Sophie Mallinson — In 2017, she was Arkane Studios' (Lyon) Narrative Designer who worked on Dishonored: Death of the Outsider and Wolfenstein: Youngblood. By 2019, she had become a Principal Narrative Designer for Arkane's Deathloop. It is quite interesting to note that after Arkane, she went on to work for EA on Star Wars and later for EA's own studio - Maxis Studios on The Sims Series. Nadia Lohan — With over a decade's worth of experience in Production, before Timbre, Nadia was a Producer at Blackbird Interactive and worked on Minecraft Legends. Notably, she has experience in the VFX industry and coordinated for blockbusters like Mulan, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Maleficent. Vivek Ramkumar — Here's a talented Game Designer who has worked on titles like Sleeping Dogs and Tryst, built his own first-person indie game, and has experience in LiveOps Design. Prior to Timbre, he was a senior Technical Designer for Relic Entertainment. Gerritt Turner — Before Timbre, Gerritt worked at Wizards of the Coast on a lot of Magic: The Gathering's writing, designing and overall creative. They even have an experience in Brand Writing for Hasbro. Yuliia Bocharova — Prior to Timbre, she was a Lead 3D Artist for Blackbird Interactive and worked there for 3+ years. You should check out her ArtStation portfolio: https://lnkd.in/gKEwykG5 Vincent-Gabriel Canadian — A talented VFX Artist who has worked for Studios like Frima, Behaviour Interactive, and Nesting Games. Vincent specializes in real-time VFX for video games! #layoffsupport

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Turns out we still need more programming languages

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💡 ERROR LOG #13: Feedback is essential - part 1 out of 2. I focus here on the creative side of it and the next one will be focused around performance. I believe all of you can agree with this statement, right? It also sounds simple as hell. I’m sure you’ve read tons of articles about it and heard so many stories regarding it. Cool, so here is my take on it :D. Fun fact is that it sounded obvious to me 20 years ago and today I believe it’s exactly opposite. Giving or getting feedback is complex and it is an art. It’s very tough and it requires a lot of courage to be able to deal with it sometimes. Long story short 20 years ago I thought I knew and I was wrong. I failed so many times by not being mature enough to get feedback that you have no idea. Of course there is a second side of this coin, sometimes I was getting feedback in a very unprofessional way. What is really important is to have a common understanding in a team that feedback is essential, it’s a crucial part of the process, not an extra tool, it’s a foundation in healthy teams. The more trust you have in your team the better it is to take it, but it’s worth remembering that feedback is one of the tools to build trust, so it requires an open mind to take it and skill to provide it. The most common mistake is that people give feedback in a very judgemental way which sounds pretty negative and believe me, in the current world it’s really easy to have an opinion on every subject. If you criticise what you see and on top of that you can’t build up your statement properly your feedback most probably won’t work. It can by it won’t be taken fully with a proper understanding and engagement and you don’t want that, trust me. If you give feedback starting from your need and feeling it is a completely different story from the get go. What do I mean by that? We deliver experiences in games, movies but also softwares. We build expectations with almost every action. It means that anything you do in collaborative work has a common denominator, always. Let’s use an example from the game industry. You have a team that builds a feature, all disciplines are involved you can imagine. There is always a context (at least should be) behind each feature. Ask yourself these questions: ❓ What is the fantasy behind it? ❓ What do you want a Player to feel? ❓ How do you want to motivate a Player to use it? These questions are not only referring to the core of it, these questions are common for all disciplines and everyone can ask them, starting from peers and ending on director level. This is a natural way for aligning people between all disciplines and ranks and as you see, these are questions and not judgemental statements. This difference is a key. 📘 "Radical Candor" by Kim Scott is a really great book I recommend regarding the art of giving/getting feedback. Don't hesitate to comment and share your thoughts please. Stay tuned for more ⚔ 🐻

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How we helped Hexworks earn serious fan praise for Lords of the Fallen's voice acting. ... and saved them 100's of hours of internal time and resources. In 2014 the original LOTF game was released. - 8/10 for story - 2/10 for voice acting Based in Spain, Hexworks knew it would be hard to cast and produce the English VO by themselves... - Lack of in house resources - Already super busy - no time to take on the casting and VO production - Didn't have the contacts, connections or experience to voice produce in English They reached out to us when one of their team members recommended us from a previous project. - We provided a small, dedicated VO team. Everybody was contactable. Fast - We provided 'multi-location' casting. Working with actors across the globe - Cast a variety of diverse, authentic and interesting talent - We handled all project management - Client focused on their most important work / tasks Hexworks got instant access to our Producer, Editor & Casting / Voice Director. Nice & easy. The result was an outstanding cast assembled from all over the world. Each actor bringing their own unique story, background and lived experience to their role. This is where the magic happens. And the fans loved it. The voice performances received glowing reviews on forums. All because Hexworks decided to: - Go where the talent is and not just base casting in one studio / city - Work with a smaller, story driven partner whose owners are hands on each project "Yeah but not all game devs want to record remote sessions". But remote doesn't = home studio. When we prioritise incredible casting in multi locations. We... - Record in our own studios. - Record with our in market partner studios / facilities. - If home studio is only option and approved. We test, test & test again. - Send all sessions to our post team in Glasgow for edit / Mastering / QC For this to work: - We only take on clients who believe in quality & creativity over convenience - Focus on problem solving for our clients rather than maximising profits - Prioritise innovation and creativity during casting If you want to protect your team's time and get more interesting results with your casting, DM me and I'll send you our latest studio deck. P.S. Full transparency - we're not the cheapest. We tend to charge a little more as our service requires a higher level of project management. But it's worth it. I like to think we're reassuringly expensive. #GameDev #VoiceActing #GameAudio

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Match3 is not the best game economy. I know some who would say it’s not even economy! Also, digital board games are just video games with terrible UX. Listen to the episode for more on these hot takes from me and the fellas.

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Sumo Digital Ltd acquired Pipeworks Studios for $100M in 2021 and made Timbre Games a part of it, but now Timbre will shut down as SUMO wants to be future-ready. Yet again, a studio falls prey to closure while in the middle of developing two games, one an ARPG and the other a sim-like RPG. And to be fair, RPGs require a lot of effort to build. But by the looks of it, Timbre possessed a strong group of talent who could’ve easily accomplished these RPGs, so it’s hard to imagine how they are feeling after putting in years of hard work only to lose all of it. In addition, they were on a mission to build a world-class network of game studios across Canada. It's hard to digest that more and more studios are being forced to quit crafting their video games every day. Support for the game devs is much needed, in fact, now more than ever! So, I am back to highlight a few of the folks who were impacted with an intent to support and bring visibility from recruiters. Kat Neale — A Women in Games ambassador who was Timbre’s Principal Gameplay Designer. Kat is an excellent team player because if you check out her feed, she has been supporting her team nonstop since the closure by reposting jobs and resources. Before Timbre, she worked for Blackbird Interactive as an Associate Game Director on an unannounced title and Homeworld 3. Zach Williams — He was Timbre’s Lead Core Gameplay Designer and has shipped 17 titles in his 14 years of experience in the industry. Before Timbre, he worked for renowned studios like Relic Entertainment, Smoking Gun Interactive, and BlackBird Interactive. Emmalyn Rynard — A Materials Artist for Timbre Games, Emmalyn also has experience developing VR games and prototypes for Oculus Quest. Her love for 3D drove her to become a 3D Artist, making her skilled in modelling, texturing and lighting. Jonas Roth — The Principal Software Engineer of Timbre Games with a hardcore 15 years of software engineering experience. Before Timbre, he was Offworld Industries’ Principal Software Engineer working on Starship Troopers. Jaclyn Adair — Another Women in Games Ambassador from Timbre Games who was their Lead Talent Acquisition Partner. Previous to Timbre, she was also Beamdog’s Technical Recruiter who helped ship their title, Mythforce. Yan Chatel — A bomb Level Designer who has worked on titles like Far Cry 5 & 6, For Honor, Transformers: Beyond Reality, and Hitman: Sniper. He has worked for studios like Rovio, Ubisoft, Compulsion Games, and The Sandbox. #layoffsupport

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Excited to learn how AI games and movies creators intersect during the “AI on the Lot” event with industry experts including Katja Reitemeyer from NVIDIA, Andrew Wallenstein from Variety Intelligence Platform, Joanna Popper, Dana Harris-Bridson from IndieWire, Ed Ulbrich from Metaphysic.ai, Meagan Keane from Adobe, and @Gregory Schiff from Dell Technologies It was unreal to meet David Slade, Director of Bandersnatch, Black Mirror, Twilight Saga, Eclipse, Breaking Bad and others in person! Kathryn Brillhart Virtual Producer of Fallout and Rebel Moon on Netflix! Congratulations to Nem Perez and peers who worked on "T2 Remake," a pioneering AI parody of "Terminator 2: Judgment Day." This project, produced entirely with AI tools, represents a bold step into the future of blending creativity and technology. Although somewhat similar with the process of creating games, I noticed how difficult is still for creatives in film to juggle AI tools and incorporate them in the filmmaking processes ! That gives a great sense of validation that CINEVVA engine with its latest state of the art generative AI tech can be applied in episodic narrative stories, 3D shorts, animations, lights, SFX, music and publishing in just one place. Happy to extend an invitation to any movie director interested in using app.cinevva.com for any creative projects. Our team will be happy to provide tech, custom AI and real time publishing support for the entire pipeline. #AILA #AIontheLot #artificialintelligence #entertainment #technology #gamedev #generativeAI #AIgames #genai #blackmirror #3D #Hollywood

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PSA: The hype cycle is only applicable to technologies that will eventually be adopted.

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TONIGHT AT 6:30 PM join us for an improvised version of PVP Circuit and help us rebuild our local community brick by brick. I still can't believe I get to work in the video game industry. My 6-year-old would laugh, and then cry once she realized what it means to work in the creative technology sector. That's why IMO everyone could use some levity during these unprecedented times. Join us for a fun evening to raise funds for the Trevor Project. Event link >>> https://lnkd.in/g7tBuP6d Frequently Asked Questions: What if I can't attend the event? - If you can't make it, please consider purchasing a ticket to help us raise money for charity or get one on behalf of someone impacted by layoffs. What if I want to join but can't justify the cost? - If you want to join but find the cost prohibitive, DM me and we'll make it happen (see point above). Do I have to pitch at the event? - No, you don't have to pitch if you prefer to observe. It’s a great way to see how it's done. Will there be another event like this? - We plan to host our community again, but I can't specify if this event will be the focus. #gamesindustry #event #comedy <3

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One of the oldest bad-faith arguments about game narrative is "Well, Tetris didn't need narrative!" This is incorrect. Tetris didn't need very much narrative. In fact, it needed hardly any. But there was a smidgeon there, in the form of the little dude who came out and danced between levels, bringing to life all the Russian imagery on the game cabinet and manifesting the game's cultural origins. But the real issue isn't "did Tetris actually have a narrative". You can argue that until you're blue in the face but ultimately, it's not important. What is important is how that debate is used as an indiscriminate bludgeon, wielded in the name of a faulty argument. Half of that argument is that games started with gameplay and then added narrative later. This is, in many ways, completely backwards. Before you tell me that narrative was a late addition to game design, I would humbly ask you to consider the following titles: Planetfall, Zork, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, A Mind Forever Voyaging, and all of their many companions in the glory days of text adventures. Which, as you might recall, largely predated the days of advanced graphics and button-mashing gameplay. Their strength was in their narrative, the desire of the player to advance the story and see what happened next. Their gameplay was words. Narrative was there in the early days, and players embraced it. But more important is the false implication of the Tetris canard, which is to say that by definition a game must have lots of narrative or else it doesn't have any narrative at all. This is a manifestation of the "missing middle" fallacy, and it is a pernicious trap indeed. It's also complete horse hockey. Simply put, every game has an appropriate amount of narrative for the experience it is trying to achieve, and an appropriate way of manifesting that narrative. Sometimes it's a little (Ms. Pac-Man). Sometimes it's a lot (God of War: Ragnarok). Sometimes it's dialog (BG3). Sometimes it's strictly visual storytelling (Inside). The trick is zeroing in on how much narrative your game needs and applying the right amount in the right way. It is not and never has been an all or nothing proposition, except in the minds of those who don't think of narrative as anything other than lengthy cut scenes and huge amounts of dialog. Those of us who understand narrative know better. It's time to eliminate the use of the missing middle, retire the Tetris Canard, and engage in informed discussion as to how much narrative each game needs in a way that is easily understandable.

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🔎 Testing Arium on Apple's Safari delivered a high-quality stream in HD with 60fps. 👀 Our focus is on two primary streaming protocols: SRT and WebRTC. Haivision' SRT and W3C's WebRTC are both used for streaming media, but they are designed for different use cases and have distinct features. SRT is designed for low-latency (starting from 20 ms), high-quality video streaming over unreliable networks. It primarily uses UDP for transport, with mechanisms like ARQ (Automatic Repeat reQuest) and FEC (Forward Error Correction) to handle packet loss and ensure reliable delivery, which is a great advantage. WebRTC offers ultra-low latency suitable for real-time interactions. It uses SRTP (Secure Real-time Transport Protocol) for media encryption and DTLS (Datagram Transport Layer Security) for data security. 🎮 Keen to learn more about Arium? Find out at https://arium.gg/about #Testing #Streaming #SRT #WebRTC #CloudGaming #Apple

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I did another one of the deeper articles for PocketGamer.biz about all of the Supercell Action RPGs, (3 of those 😅) for those that like a little bit more detailed read. Its really fascinating seeing all of the iteration, especially with R.I.S.E. which is a rogue-lite with extraction elements. On the other hand, notice how Supercell is not really going for the "easy" path of making Clash of Clans 2 or Hay Day 2, which it could already, but rather trying to expand the Clash IP over different genres and sub-genres. I think we have seen a lot of diminishing returns of that "more of the same" strategy, especially with Zenless Zone Zero these days, having a rough time not only competing with its portfolio bigger brothers, but also many big Anime RPGs released this summer 😅. #gamedev #gamedevelopment #gamedesign #gameindustry #mobilegames #mobilemarketing #mobileadvertising #userexperiencedesign #userexperience #gamedeveloper #games #gameart #midcore #RPG

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