Erol Kentli

The Sumo Group closures really have broken me a bit, and I need to rant about the state of things. I'm sorry if it seems I'm glossing over all the closures before this one, but so many ex-students went there, so many ex-colleagues passed through there, and so my timeline is just filled with people looking for work. We keep talking and talking about the economic factors involved, Brexit and Covid and this and that ... the thing I can't stop thinking of is that in my life I've watched the world slowly pitch into a place of despondent capitalism. Art has become more about making stars and fame than helping people escape and reflect. A drive for "truth" and objectivity has resulted, paradoxically, in people putting more stock in spreadsheets and numbers than people. I can't help but feel that if you're bleating about finance and trade deals and business decisions, you're ignoring the fact that general support for artistic and creative endeavours has declined sharply and is still declining, even in the so-called "art world". Games are ultimately always going to be the first to fall in a culture war against creativity, because games are ultimately and profoundly pointless things. That's the whole majesty of the medium: they make us feel profound feelings, they help us explore our existence by being separate from reality, but to do so they MUST bring us nothing tangible in return. The truth is that our industry will probably bounce back to some degree, but it's not any financial structures or cost systems that will save game development as a medium and an art form - it's a cultural shift to recognise the importance of expressive and explorative subjective art in the world today, and the need to support creative endeavours without the pressure of financial recompense.

91

8 Comments

Hi I'm Kali! Nice to see you all! It's been doom and gloom recently, seems like everything is just too difficult to deal with. So I've decided that I'm not going to dwell on the state of the gamedev industry or my own situation anymore - it's not productive and only gives me back pains. So let's get to know each other a bit - I'm sure potential employers will be happier to see some positive impact on my profile instead of crying for help. A few words about myself: I'm Polish but spent a decade in the UK and have a bad case of "BritBrains" - all my favourite things are British: 1. My favourite band Carcass 2. My favourite TV shows: Monty Python, Black Mirror and Red Dwarf 3. My favourite drum and bass records (I actually collect and play drum and bass on vinyl) 4. My favourite breakfast (I'd murder a fry-up right now!) 5. Brown Sauce - I can actually pronounce Worcester Sauce correctly 6. Cars, especially Jaguars 7. Zombie movies 8. Kebabs - I know the topic is largely controversial but I've been around a bit and that's where I've eaten the best kebabs. And yes, I have eaten traditional Turkish kebabs and the ones in Berlin I could probably find more things like this, but the post is getting a bit long now. Anyways, anyone else has the case of their brain being a different nationality than the rest of them? Hit me up in the comments, I will gladly check out other nations. #britbrains #creative #hello #letschat #introduction #looseconversation #networking #opentowork

2

6 Comments

Another games jobs cut situation today at CI Games as reported by Game Developer's Christopher Kerr and confirmed by the company, saying "This restructure affects approximately 30 roles across production" https://lnkd.in/eHmMFztw Here's where this puts us. I will start exposing these statistics regularly as a reminder of the human cost of these decisions: 100+ games layoffs in 2024 One games layoff situation on average every 1.3 days in 2024 (apologies for getting this inverted in the picture) Over 10,000 games layoffs in 2024 YTD Within 500 cuts of hitting 2023's games layoff number...in May If you were in fact affected by these cuts, I have no words to express my feelings. However, our community has three resource "homes" built to help you: HOME 1 - 🔗 AMIRSATVAT.COM: Our hub offering 15 resources to help you find work, including a fully updated design. - 🔗 Games Org Support Posts: Find a template at AMIRSATVAT.COM (Category 4, Resource 10). If you can provide information from your team (with their consent), I’ll help edit and disseminate the final product, reaching 100,000+ people. These posts are highly effective in increasing visibility and we have done 96 of them. HOME 2 - 🔗 Please visit discord.gg/amirsatvat to join our Discord, a live extension of our community resources. With over 2,700 members, we are in an open-join phase. HOME 3 - 🔗 LinkedIn: Our community here includes over 86,000 members, with 1-3 daily posts offering support and career assistance in the games industry. To our broader community, your involvement makes a difference. Here’s how you can help: - Spread the word: Reshares and comments on this post amplify the visibility of these resources. - Offer support: Utilize the 13 ways listed on AMIRSATVAT.COM under "How You Can Help" to assist, or simply lend an ear or advice on our Discord server. - Join our movement: Volunteer with us at AMIRSATVAT.COM to support our colleagues in the games industry. Our network has facilitated over 1,800 jobs and 33,000 coaching conversations to date and has been visited by over 3,000,000 gamers lifetime. We're committed to providing daily encouragement and support during these challenging times. We will never stop fighting for you!

158

12 Comments

Back from seeing a lot of great people at Develop Brighton, which was busy enough to distract me from doing the usual daily recaps. Let's continue, shall we? Today on GamesIndustry.biz... (Thursday, July 11th 2024) 1. Your must read is Chris' opinion piece on yesterday's Xbox Game Pass price hike announcement, exploring how the move reflects the need for profitability, the strength of Xbox's first-party line-up, and how determined Microsoft is to make Game Pass work https://lnkd.in/e5-rqs5R 2. In the news, Shift Up - the South Korean developer behind Stellar Blade - raised $320m with its IPO, which was the largest for a games company from that nation since 2021 https://lnkd.in/eUQzGTNf 3. Splash Damage is the latest studio to face layoffs, with the studio telling us a "small number of roles" will potentially be made redundant following a review of the business. These are said to be mostly operational roles, with development largely unaffected https://lnkd.in/ejA-f6Ri 4. GAME has reportedly dropped yet another part of its offering. After ditching pre-owned, its loyalty scheme, and Xbox All Access, the retailer will now apparently stop taking in-store pre-orders from August 1. The reason? According to staff, it's because the tills have to cope with too much so parent company Frasers Group is making it so GAME stores (or rather concessions) can only sell and refund products https://lnkd.in/ehMY4sg3 5. Tencent is shutting down free-to-play shooter Synced after just one year of it being available to play https://lnkd.in/e4r3C-kP 6. And Embracer has secured a new €600m ($652m) revolving credit facility with a two-year tenor, replacing the existing €420m ($456m) one, due in May 2025 https://lnkd.in/eGNwZC3g There's more news over at www.gamesindustry.biz and make sure you're signed up to the GI Daily to get it all delivered to your inbox: https://lnkd.in/eAkx_zen

14

Rishi Sunak’s plan to cut "Mickey Mouse" degrees has me thinking about how many of those degrees he deems worthless may be in fields crucial to video game development - like art, animation, and writing. One of the things that makes working in games such a rewarding career is the blend of creativity, innovation, and technical skills required to make the best games. Reducing support for these creative subjects could slow down the growth of the industry in the UK – even more so when considering the proposal to raise the salary threshold for a Skilled Worker visa to £38,700. The video game industry's success in the UK shows how tech and creativity work so well together. Let's keep that balance strong. #gamedevelopment #gamedev  #creativeindustries #videogamedevelopment

64

12 Comments

Another day, another job application, and another prewritten email saying they won’t be going forward with my application. It’s not nice out there in the audio world for games right now - lots of competition. That’s good though, it means I have to sharpen my pencil a bit more As I’ve said before, don’t take these emails as a knock, take them as feedback itself. Use these automated responses to look at your own work, your portfolio. Reflect and repair, learn and adapt. Don’t sulk and sink Ask friends, colleagues for help. Another set of eyes and ears can be helpful

4

I don’t normally post my music video work on here, quite niche and not sure how many of you are into extreme heavy metal! 😂 However, I’m quite proud of this latest video I made before I start my new job at Dovetail Games next week. Entirely CG. Mountains and terrains were made in Houdini using heightfields and shaders. Oceans made with niagara fluids. Blizzard and pyro with niagara particles. Additional pyro and wind gusts in Houdini Flipbooks. Additional assets with Megascans. Brought together and colour graded in Unreal Engine. Transitions and additional VFX in DaVinci Resolve

3

https://lnkd.in/expRRQTd Important subject close to my heart

4

https://lnkd.in/eFu3ATPr hi this is Steven Moore no way I repeat no way children and kids cannot play the superhero horror game called Blade in 2000 that's why the computer game called Blade is Rated M because that's why the computer game called Blade has too much violence too much blood and gore too much language that's why the computer game called Blade is Rated M for PlayStation 1 that's why children and kids cannot play the computer game called Blade because that's why the computer game called Blade has too much violence too much blood and gore too much language that's why the computer game called Blade is Rated M for PlayStation 1 from Steven Moore

1

TUESDAY EVENING 2.4.1 UPDATE - A lot of progress made tonight after work, I had so many ideas in my head for areas that are now really coming to life and creating the flow I want to see. CAERNARVON CASTLE LEVEL WEEKEND BUILD 2.4 - Another good progress push in the weekend build department. Really made progress on the Kings gate area and the multilevel interior and surrounding area. I also started crafting a new Parkour system in Blueprints and code. Still a lot of work ahead but I enjoy seeing the progress of every step. #Leveldesign #Gamedesign #Levelblockout #UnrealEngine

1

🫨Absolutely humbled by another playthrough of my VR project, Altered Algorithm. 📈 I’m happy to say over 8,000 players have now downloaded and played the experience. Thats up from about 4,000 players. I know it’s not much, but I’m proud of it, especially that it was made in a little office in the Parable Worlds basement. After one long year of development in 2022 and many obstacles later… it’s a JOY to say I got this project out the door for the world to experience. 👉You can check the playthrough here on Youtube: https://lnkd.in/ddDqaaEt 👉Or you could play Altered Algorithm through most Meta Quest devices on #Steam for free here: https://lnkd.in/gCMApAiA 🙏🏼Enjoy! Keep inspiring the world, no matter how tough it gets! - Nick #gamedevelopment #career #learning #quest3 #vr #unity3d

12

An update in the Embracer Group saga (complete with an efficient, if slightly brutal image from GamesIndustry.Biz). This savvy trisection results in some cleverly-named studio consortiums that I hope NEVER change. Go on... "Asmodee Group" - This isn't one of the cleverly-named co-ops mentioned above, but it's a powerhouse in the tabletop gaming world. Did you know that Settlers of Catan has sold about 35MM copies? I'm pretty sure that makes it the most successful modern TT IP...but it still pales to the old schoolers, like Hasbro's Monopoly (+275MM), and CLUE (+150MM)...but Catan is just 30 years old. A mere tween in the world of board games. Give it time. Asmodee also has interest in Exploding Kittens, Inc., one of the most underrated games to play with your kids. It's a great graduation from Mattel, Inc.'s UNO (which, btw...can be found in 80% of US homes - wow). "Coffee Stain & Friends"...and..."Middle-Earth Enterprises & Friends" ...Now, Embracer has said that these groups will be given new names soon. But I implore you, Lars Wingefors...please consider keeping these. They are fantastic...original, irreverent, and frankly...convey a lightness that I think would be appreciated by the gaming masses. Coffee Stain & Friends will be divided into two units: Premium - THQ Nordic, Amplifier Game Invest, Ghost Ship Games, etc. Free-to-Play - Easybrain, CrazyLabs, Cryptic Studios, etc. Middle-Earth Enterprises & Friends...big IP here: Lord of the Rings, Tomb Raider, Dead Island, etc. Here you'll find Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal, Vertigo Games, and more. Side Note: I know we've seen a lot of zombie shows/movies...but HBO Max proved with Last Of Us that innovation in the genre is not only possible - but that there are rich veins yet to even be tapped. So...just sayin': Dead Island? Maybe? I mean...even if you just spent a season to play out what might be the single greatest game trailer ever: https://lnkd.in/gMPk69Zx WARNING - that trailer is not at all safe for work, or probably...home. This is of course, unless you work in the games business...in which case, enjoy this treasure with your coffee: Alright - the next phase of Embracer begins...will be interesting to follow. https://lnkd.in/gYGdGc8C

32

6 Comments

The hiring problem in games. Yes there really is one, and it's probably not what you think it is. Many studios over hire. I've seen this in tools businesses, game studios and publishers. The default seems to come from a need arising, then the assumption that to fulfil the need a person/s is required. I've seen this first hand, where instead of defaulting to the question 'how can we do this with who we have, without adding extra time and pressure to current staff?'... ...the default is usually 'how can we grow the team to do what we need?' Those businesses who default to evolving methods, processes, utilising generalists etc. before hiring...they're the ones who'll likely be winning over the next 5 years. They won't be laying people off when projects shutdown. They won't be laying people off when investors ask for lean, as they'll already be lean. And they won't be laying people off to follow industry trends, as they'll already be a leader in industry trends. This is even more pertinent with upcoming AI solutions coming to market. I hope if you're hiring, whatever the industry you're in, you're hiring for the long term and not just for the need you have right now. #management #hiringandpromotion #careers #technology #startups

11

2 Comments

Two weeks ago, I attended Interactive Futures, a computer games outreach event held in Leamington Spa, UK. It changed the way I use AI in my workflow. Despite spending over 20 years in the industry, five of them locally, this was my first time at the event. I’m glad I went and I thoroughly enjoyed it. There were several highlights worth mentioning: * A great introduction to the vibrant games community around Leamington Spa and the West Midlands. * Opportunities for real, practical conversations with games industry professionals. * Engaging panel talks on industry hot topics. Of these, the panel talks stayed with me the most. I was particularly interested in the discussions on the future of games, especially the role that AI will play (many thanks to Clare Green, Laura Steel, 🕹️Csaba Berenyi, James Norris, Hernan Polloni) Over the years, I’ve attended many talks on AI and have a reasonable understanding of the subject. However, one comment seemed to challenge me directly: how much have I integrated AI into my workflow? The truth was, I hadn't—at least not to the extent I could. I knew of tools, the usual suspects, but they weren’t genuinely part of my workflow habits. Not as much as they might be. Since then, I've started to recognise and integrate the practical power of current generative AI tools, which feels like the sweet spot for my personal use. I’m now incorporating AI more into my daily routine—as a sounding board, a visualiser, a time-saver, and a productivity booster. This shift has led me to rethink how I view AI right now, even if my grander hopes for the possibilities remain. Initially, I saw AI as a grand intellectual game-changer, something that would mark a paradigm shift in how we perform jobs, but essentially unfinished and kept at arm's length. It might still be that huge leap in the future, but for now, for me, it’s more of a practical tool that I can weave into my approach rather than something that completely transforms the game. From a workflow perspective, it’s less like moving from two-dimensional to three-dimensional chess, and more like the introduction of metal rackets in tennis, DRS in Formula One, or VAR in football. The game remains fundamentally the same but, to play it well, you need to understand the changes, even if they aren’t immediately apparent on the surface. Because before the huge change, as is common, there will be a number of incremental changes for those who are looking. My goal now is to ensure I’m really looking. If you are interested in further insights into AI’s impact on tools, as well as the possibilities in the future, I'll include some links in the comments.

30

1 Comment

Right, it's been a while so let's do one of my favourite things: hawk my newsletter to the lovely LinkedIn punters. Video Games Industry Memo comes out every Thursday morning with the mission to explain games to you in 15 minutes flat. Each newsletter is stuffed with: 🤔 One big read that unpicks a topic shaping the industry 📰 Five news hits to help you get across the news agenda 💼 The job movers and job vacancies in games worth checking out 📅 Events and conferences worth keeping an eye on 🎮 And three video game releases to play over the weekend The feedback on VGIM from my 1450 subs has generally been tip top, with readers describing it as "the gold standard of industry newsletters" and "like having a conversation with you every time I read it." Get subscribed to the newsletter ahead of tomorrow's edition, which looks closely at the fortunes of Embracer Group 👀 https://lnkd.in/eEd6mCPM

31

4 Comments

CAERNARVON CASTLE LEVEL LUNCH BREAK UPDATE - 3.1 - THE HERO ARRIVAL - A quick update at my Lunch break to show the hero build I have finally found from the great modeler/artist Fajrul Falakh - I have been looking for a great hero model to encompass what was in my head and wanting to focus on my Level Design and entire coding and Gameplay. I had to found just the right artist for my hero and I finally did. He is also on Aststation and on the Unreal Marketplace. Take a look. He saved me the time having to model him and put my energy where I needed it. -Cheers Shane #Leveldesign #Characterdesign #CharacterAnimation #Gameplay # Gamedesign #Gamedesigner #Gameart #FantasyArt #Recreation #Unrealengine

1