GameDev News

❗️All Employees Resigned from Annapurna Interactive at Once The sudden resignation of all employees from the video game publishing company Annapurna Interactive was the result of a conflict with its parent company, Annapurna Pictures, founded by Megan Ellison, daughter of Oracle's founder Larry Ellison. The main reason for the conflict was Annapurna Interactive's desire to become an independent company. When negotiations between Annapurna Interactive's president, Nathan Gary, and Megan Ellison were halted, Gary and other top managers left the company. All 25 employees followed their lead. In a statement, they called this decision one of the most difficult they had ever made. Annapurna Pictures confirmed that discussions took place, but both sides failed to reach an agreement. The mass resignation created chaos, and game development partners are now trying to understand how this will affect their projects. Annapurna not only provided funding but also supported services such as quality control, localization, and marketing.

🗡️The Greedfall II Developers' Strike Yields Results🛡️ Developers of Greedfall II from Spiders Studio went on strike before the early access launch of the game, resulting in a salary increase. 43 out of 95 employees signed an open letter, published by the Stjv union, highlighting issues such as low pay, neglect of workplace safety, lack of career growth, and high turnover. Despite attempts to negotiate since November 2023, management continued to ignore the concerns. Following the strike, management agreed to raise the minimum salary by 11%, conduct a working conditions audit, and review remote work policies. However, the leadership expressed dissatisfaction with the public accusations, calling them defamatory and far from the reality of daily work life. Strikes and union activity in game development are intensifying, underscoring the importance of collective efforts to fight for workers' rights.

Today, a new survival game set in the world of "The Lord of the Rings" is being released: Return to Moria. In the game, players will lead a squad of dwarves on a perilous expedition to Moria. The game features typical survival elements, such as base building, resource gathering, exploring vast locations, and engaging in combat. Key features of the game include: -A non-linear "sandbox" mode; -Cross-play across all platforms; -14 new types of weapons and armor; -Over 100 new objects for construction; -Improvements to the building mode; -Ambient music now plays in the background; -Fine-tuned difficulty settings.

Hey, gamers! Today, we have exciting news for all Dota 2 fans: let us introduce the new hero — Ringmaster! 🎉 This charismatic character instantly catches the eye with his bright appearance and unique abilities. Let's dive into what makes Ringmaster the true master of the arena and why he might become your new favorite threat on the battlefield. 🏆 Key Characteristics: Role: Support / Control Attack Type: Melee Primary Attribute: Intelligence 🎩 Ringmaster's Abilities: Juggling Act: Ringmaster performs a series of agile tricks that stun enemies in a designated area. This ability is perfect for crowd control and interrupting enemy casts. Trapdoor Trick: Sets a trap in a specific area that triggers when enemies approach, dealing damage and stunning them. This is ideal for protecting allies and catching enemies off guard. Illusionist's Escape: Ringmaster becomes temporarily invulnerable and leaves behind an illusion that explodes after a few seconds, dealing damage. This ability is great for escaping deadly situations or creating a diversion. Grand Finale (Ultimate): Ringmaster creates an arena where enemies take increased damage, and all their abilities and items have longer cooldowns. This powerful ability can turn the tide of a battle, especially in team fights. Ringmaster is a hero that requires a good understanding of positioning and tactics. He is perfect for players who enjoy playing control heroes and supporting their team with unique abilities. So, gather your team and head to the battlefield to show everyone who the true master of the arena is! 🎪 What do you think about new hero? 👍 or 💩

🔧 Several New Updates in the Steam Store ⚙️ New Image Sizes for Store Pages: The templates for banners and images that developers use to prepare their promotional materials have been updated. Updated Templates and Specifications: For most required store graphical assets (and one library asset), we now have larger templates that are 2x the size of our previous templates. These assets are: - Store small capsule; - Store header capsule; - Store main capsule; - Store vertical capsule; - Library header capsule. Read more Text descriptions on store pages have also been revised: - No links to other websites; - No embedded imagery that mimics Steam store UI or buttons; - No images, links, or widgets pointing to other games on Steam. Read more

🎁$1,000 Giveaway from the Developers of World Horror Story!🤑 The developers of World Horror Story, the game we previously wrote about, have announced a contest with a total budget of $1,000. By participating, you can receive keys for the game after its release. To participate, you need to: 1. Add the game to your wishlist using this link. 2. Send your SteamID to our bot ( @Game_Dev_NewsBot ) Please ensure your profile is public, as the bot will send you all the necessary instructions. The giveaway results will be announced on October 25, 2024. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2871370?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=web

🤨Lawsuit Over Skibidi Toilet🧑‍⚖️ Garry Newman, the developer of Garry's Mod, received a copyright infringement notice (DMCA) from Michael Bay's and Adam Goodman's company due to "unauthorized Skibidi Toilet games" in Garry's Mod. There were previous reports that the Transformers director had acquired the rights to Skibidi Toilets. It is unclear how the lawsuit against Garry’s Mod will end since the Skibidi Toilets were added to the game as a user modification and created using free Valve assets. #Game #Assets #Steam

⚡️Steam Demo Update🔧 Improvements enhancing the appearance of demos in the store and their interaction with the library: * Demos added to the library no longer need to be installed immediately. The new "Add to Library" button for demos is useful if you're not ready to install them right away, such as when using the Steam mobile app. * You can now install a demo even if you have the full version of the game. This change will primarily help developers testing their demos, but it will also make it easier for other users to install and uninstall them. * You can now remove a demo from your account by right-clicking on it and selecting "Manage" > "Remove from Account." * Demos that are uninstalled from your device will now be automatically removed from your library. Learn more here. #Steam #GameDevelopment

🚀 Exciting news for MMORPG fans! Former developers from "Helldivers 2" and "World of Warcraft" are teaming up to create a unique new MMORPG under the banner of Blue Scarab Entertainment. This innovative game will combine cozy escapism, detective elements, and horseback riding, promising an immersive narrative experience. 🔹 Who’s behind it? The team includes veterans from "Battlefield," "Age of Conan," and "Helldivers," with Colin Cragg and Craig Morrison leading the charge. 🔹 What to expect? Built on Unreal Engine 5, the game will offer a blend of adventure and mystery in a cozy, engaging world. 🔹 Support from NetEase Games: The project is backed by NetEase Games, ensuring the team has the resources to bring their vision to life. Stay tuned for more updates on this intriguing MMORPG adventure! 🌟 #Steam #Game

🧨How to Bring Your Games to Life by Adding Destructibility🏗️ Destructibility in games always takes interactivity to a new level. Environments become more lively, which undoubtedly enhances the gaming experience. But how do you make objects destructible? You need to create a copy of the 3D model to be destroyed in a specialized editor, assembled from fragments. Each fragment will act as a game object influenced by gravity and other physical forces. This is not the only way to create destructibility. For the Unity game engine, there is a plugin called RayFire, which can make almost any 3D model destructible. Here is some brief information about the plugin:

RayFire is an advanced destruction plugin that allows you to infinitely fracture, demolish, slice 3D Objects - both at runtime or in the editor. RayFire also provides Advanced Dynamic Simulation Control over your objects and demolished fragments including activation, dynamic clustering and damage. It allows you to shoot, explode and apply complex forces, record simulations in the editor and play them back in runtime and much more.

Our team created a simple game prototype to demonstrate the plugin's capabilities (you can see the result in the video).