Marty Burgess

What's better than launching a game? Talking about it! Huge thank you to the awesome Checkpoint Gaming and Luke Mitchell for hosting our small rag tag team at FENIX Studios Australia on their podcast. This is how we all survive — by being a solid community. Check out the link in the comments to hear all the ins and outs and hilarious hijinks that go into game development... #gamingcommunity #gaming #australiagames #indiedev #podcasts #gamingpodcast

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PS5 Pro price in Australia is $1200 AUD. If you want a disc drive, it's another $170. $1370 AUD for a gaming console?! This is literally, actually, insane. At that price you can get a steam deck and have enough left over for 5 triple-A games. Or you can buy a mid-level gaming PC for under $1200. Or you can buy a Switch and 40 games.

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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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The Cost of Games layoffs. - The Human. How many more people must be displaced into a place of fear, worry and economic hardship? These aren't just numbers on a spreadsheet. Each person has had the same diverse, variety of life as the other. - The Creative. Huge amounts of work, effort and imaginative thought will be buried under red tape and NDAs, never to see the light of day. The "lucky" devs will be the ones who are allowed to show/talk about it. Creative energy for many is sapped. - The Reputational. The Games Industry is bleeding, while it certainly won't be going anywhere. It will have lost valuable developers to other industries, potentially forever. Perhaps it has also scared away incredible new talent too. How many of them could have brought about significant progress and innovation? It's easy to feel hopeless. The hard choice is to believe in things getting brighter. That's why the community of those who help galvanizes me everyday. Light in the darkness if we want to get poetic with half remembered fantasy quotes. I urge you to use the fantastic resources available below. Every step you take toward helping yourself and others, is a step toward us getting through together.

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Embracer Group-owned studio Piranha Bytes has been shut down; Embracer had been seeking a buyer for the German studio, but GameStar today reported that the studio was formally shuttered at the end of June. ALSO Kotaku Australia will be shutting down as license holder Pedestrian Group has restructured to focus on its own brands; several titles from the company's portfolio of licensed publications will cease to exist in the country, including Vice, Gizmodo, and Lifehacker, with dozens of staff being laid off as a result. They were reportedly informed of the news via an email from Pedestrian Group CEO Matt Rowley today. If your role is affected by either of these pieces of news, please make use of the support available across our three platforms. Specifically, I recommend checking out the Games Org Support Posts in Home 1. These resources are highly effective, with ample data to back their success. I won't pretend there are easy solutions but our community's only goal is to make things a little easier for as many people as possible. We have a ton of data showing that, for all candidates, your chances of finding a games role double (from 5 to 10%) over 12 months if you regularly use all our resources versus not. I'm so sorry to hear this report and I will, as always, do my best to do something about it rather than just talking. Home 1 - 🔗 AMIRSATVAT.COM: Our main hub provides 18 resources to assist you in finding work, featuring 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've done 99 of them. Home 2 - 🔗 Discord: Join us at discord.gg/amirsatvat, our live extension of community resources. With over 4,400 members, we are currently in an open-join phase. Home 3 - 🔗 LinkedIn: Our community here includes over 91,000 members, with 1-3 daily posts offering support and career assistance in the games industry. How the Broader Community Can Help: - Spread the Word: Reshares and comments on this post amplify the visibility of these resources. - Offer Support: Utilize the 16 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 2,200 jobs and 41,000 coaching conversations to date, the largest impact of any games organization on earth, and has been visited by millions of gamers lifetime.

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As 2024 draws to a close, Australia’s game development industry finds itself at a critical juncture. Having weathered the global challenges of the past year relatively unscathed, the sector now faces an existential question: Should it double down on its self-sufficient model or expand its horizons to become a more integrated player in the global gaming market? https://lnkd.in/gqrKn6_B #gamedev #gamedesign #indiegamedev

Unpopular Video Game Content Startup Opinion #1000: These speeches by great leaders like Swen are generating massive hopium for LinkedIn. The vast majority of compatriots I respect and struggle alongside in the game development space agree with most of Swen's TGA assertions on the long-term critical / commercial success formula: 🕹️ Devs make games best they themselves want to play 📸 Don't use IP / sales targets as creative motivation 💻 Devs should be owners of their creative product 🤾 The player's enjoyment is the 1st goal always 💲 Revenue follows the above This is all well and good, and there are a number of people out here striving to create the above biome, but it's necessary for developers to face the reality of how to go about creating this. Western developers yelling at AAA / VC / legacy institutions on LinkedIn and Twitter will NOT create the next Larian or FromSoft or insert_beloved_studio. Larian Studios wasn't built in a day; its inputs were trust, grit, and financing. These are the 3 inputs I've arbitrarily chosen to demonstrate just how absurdly difficult it is to create the next Larian that YOU need to answer for yourself and your fellow devs before setting off to create the next big successful insert_genre_IP: 🤝 Trust - Definition: The glue that holds a team of developers with complementary skills, experiences, and networks together through adversity & internal conflicts; needs - proper incentivization, follow through - Proper incentivization - we strongly believe at our studio and are in the process of demonstrating that each employee owns the upside - Trust without incentive alignment is happy-talk, the most annoying form of talk - Follow through - the team needs to maintain vehicles of objective feedback to one another in order to keep on the straight and narrow 💦 Grit - Definition: The amount of sacrifice individual and collective members are willing to make to see a vision through; needs - personal resilience, agreed commitment - Personal resilience - You should assume you will make $0 the first 1.5 years and 0 emotional support. If you don't make yourself personally resilient for the studio, you do your teammates a BIG disservice - Agreed commitment - you will probably have to pick up a full time job or side hustle while still doing your part. If you don't proactively align with team members on commitment level, resentments WILL kill your studio 💲 Financing - Definition: How to get the money to get your game to market and successful - Unless you are Hideo Kojima, assume your studio will receive $0 from legacy publishers, VC, investment structures until VERY high quality Vertical Slice - The ability to form capital for a video game studio is THE differentiator in 2023-2025. If you want to lead a paid organization and can't answer how to do this, you are NOT a leader #gaming #gameindustry #gamedev #studiolife #startuplife #financing #vc #entrepreneurship

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More terrible news last night with Payload Studios having gone through another round of layoffs, with around 8 members of staff affected. Payload CEO and co-founder Russell Clarke confirmed to Gamesindustry.biz that layoffs did happen, but didn't reveal specific numbers. In his statement, he said the cuts came "out of the blue after a project that we were relying on did not materialize." To those impacted please check out the following resources: 🥇First, reach out to us at People Can Fly Studio, we have many roles open right now in Canada, the UK, Ireland and Europe, please check them out here: https://lnkd.in/eWpV5PbA 🥈Next, Discipline Games Jobs Resources: Over the past months I have created 9 (at time of writing) Games Jobs Resources to find jobs in a wide range of disciplines, and I would urge you to check them out, if anything just to see what would be available to you: https://lnkd.in/epvmzDW6 You can find over 6,300 jobs there. 🥉 Third, the Ultimate list of Video Games Career Resources: This should be your one-stop shop for all information. My dear friend Amir Satvat maintains these documents, he is a legend for doing this - please check them out: https://amirsatvat.com/ I urge you to check out the areas in particular about CV support and mentoring, as these will help you no matter what industry you are hailing from or are looking into going next. 🎖 Finally, do not give up. Ever. No matter how dark things may look right now, I KNOW you will get through this, you have got this! 👊 Remember you are not alone. If you need help, advice, or even an ear to listen, we're here for you. Always! ➡ A request to my community, please can I ask you to repost this post to your colleagues and friends, so that we can get as many into jobs as possible! And please comment if you or your studio are currently hiring - let's help each other! Much love ❤️ #payloadstudios #layoffs

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The WA State Gaming Innovation Hub is generating incredible excitement! We’ve received an overwhelming amount of support, with many reaching out to offer their help as volunteers, mentors, and in other ways. Here’s an update on our progress. In just a few days, we’ve raised nearly $700k in both in-kind and monetary contributions. Thanks to these generous donations, we’ve been able to apply for a WA state grant. We’ll know the results by late January, and if the grant is approved, the state will match 100% of the donations in cash! This will give us the opportunity to establish a physical location (we’re already exploring exciting options) and create space for gaming startups in the future. We’re also having discussions with major tech providers to give our incubator companies access to their cutting-edge technologies, as well as building a strong network of mentors to guide our founders. As part of our broader efforts to support indie creators, we are excited to announce the development of SLICE: Seattle Loves Indie Creators Expo, scheduled for March 11-13, 2025. SLICE is designed to be the Pacific Northwest’s premier B2B event for indie and AA game developers, uniting them with publishers, investors, tech innovators, and service providers. Seattle ranks second in the U.S. in gaming industry revenue, following California, and is home to over 40,000 gaming industry professionals, according to the WA state government. While Seattle is known for its AAA giants like Xbox, Valve, Nintendo, and Amazon, it is also home to indie success stories like ConcernedApe, Undead Labs, Mega Crit Games, System Era Softworks, Polyarc, and more. We’re aiming to attract 1,000+ attendees to SLICE, including developers, publishers, VCs, and tech providers, both from Washington and around the world. With Seattle’s location just before GDC, we’re in an ideal spot to host such an event, as many industry delegations stop through the city en route to the conference. Interested in learning more? Seattle Indies and Clove Experiential are thrilled to invite you to be part of this groundbreaking event. Whether you're looking to attend, partner, speak, or get involved in any capacity, we'd love to explore how we can collaborate!

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Some insight into the Annapurna implosion. https://lnkd.in/gd-Sszj2

Last week's Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Radio National Big Tech segment I chat about two interesting stories continuing to unfold: 📱 Telegram CEO Pavel Durov 📱 charged for allegedly allowing criminal activity on his messaging app. I pose the questions of: - When and why are platform holders responsible for criminal activites - At what severity is the crime for platforms to care? - What precedents will this set and will this address the crimes? 📸 Australia's Digital ID 📸 while the Aus government states it's voluntary, discussions have unfolded as it will be required to access online services like Centrelink (otherwise you will need to use call centres or go into a physical store). - With how well My Health Gov and Robodebt have gone, how will Digital ID hold up? - Yet again, why are the more vulnerable people being penalised. https://lnkd.in/gxhCDuU4

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🎮 Here Comes A New Challenger…🎮 We’re beyond excited to announce that Epic Global is officially rebranding to Feenix Group! From our origins in esports consultancy, we’re now expanding our mission and services to help brands, talent, and IPs soar in the gaming and esports space. The gaming and esports industries are entering a golden era, and we’re ready to lead the charge. Thanks to a €1.5M investment from Quintas Capital and Beach Point Capital Management (BCP), we’re now equipped to elevate brands, talent, and IPs in innovative and dynamic ways. As Feenix Group, we’re launching four distinct service pillars to open new doors for businesses and creators in gaming: 🎯 Feenix Agency – Your Gen-Z and Gen-Alpha focused gaming marketing agency. We help brands speak youth culture’s language with authentic campaigns. From digital strategies to social activations, we’ve got you covered. 🏆 Feenix Esports – At the heart of the booming esports scene, our consultancy and commercial brokerage connect brands with ideal esports opportunities, from sponsorships to partnerships with elite teams and players. Whether you're new or deepening your involvement, Feenix Esports is here to guide you. 🎨 Feenix Studio – Where brands come alive! Our game development studio creates immersive experiences on platforms like Roblox, Fortnite, and PUBG. We collaborate with brands to build gaming experiences that engage and deliver results. 🌟 Feenix Talent – A powerhouse talent agency bridging sports, entertainment, and gaming. We manage top esports players and creators, helping them build lasting careers. With support from law firm Lawrence Stephens, we ensure our talent thrives in branding and wealth management. Brands seeking the best talent will find their match with Feenix Talent. Our roots run deep in gaming and esports, and this rebrand enhances our capabilities. Since 2020, we’ve collaborated with giants like @PSG, Munster Rugby, and @Virgil Van Dijk, creating activations that resonate with gaming audiences. We’ve also strengthened our leadership, bringing in talent from TikTok, Meta, DAZN, and adidas. Our advisory board, featuring experts like @jim Mountjoy, @Charlotte Kenny, and Gordon D'Arcy, positions Feenix Group to stay ahead in a fast-evolving industry. As the gaming industry grows rapidly, Feenix Group helps brands harness its power. Whether building immersive experiences, partnering with top esports talent, or connecting with the next generation of consumers, we’re your partner for success. The opportunities are endless, and we can’t wait to bring you along for the ride. This is just the beginning of something incredible! Stay tuned—our biggest moves are yet to come. #FeenixGroup #Rebrand #GamingIndustry #Esports #GameDevelopment #Gaming #TalentManagement #BrandActivation #DigitalMarketing #EsportsConsulting

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The democratisation of games development and growth in UGC games is in full swing and it’s not just Roblox and Fortnite you need to watch. You might not know about HypeHype now - it launched in the Philippines in 2021 and has now opened up in Canada and Finland - but I think you will hear more because this has just happened… HypeHype, supported by Supercell, has launched an early monetisation scheme for creators, offering them 100% of the net revenue from playtime and in-app purchases, along with a $100,000 competition to encourage more game creation. This initiative rewards creators immediately for player engagement within their games. HypeHype is both a games marketplace and UGC platform. Players can create, remix, and play games from their mobile devices. The platform simplifies game development by shifting it from a lengthy process needing complex software to just a few hours of visual editing accessible via a no-code, mobile-optimised editor. Players can choose to start from scratch or use existing templates and games for remixing, enhancing the creative process. The editor supports a wide range of assets and tools for building games with game logic and 3D graphics, all without requiring any coding skills. Since its introduction in early access, HypeHype has seen a significant uptake, with creators producing over 132,000 games using just their smartphones. With backing from Supercell (who invested $15m in it) HypeHype is banking on game creation as well as features including instant play, live streaming, and community engagement through collaborative editing and competitive leaderboards. Supercell's backing reflects the growing confidence in the democratisation of games and the growth of UGC games which is being spearheaded by Roblox and Fortnite.

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Today sees our first "formal" meeting with a new Government Minister whose portfolio includes video games and interactive entertainment. it's a key opportunity to share with the new Labour Government the tremendous economic, social, cultural and educational impact of games. I've met so many inspirational people in my initial forays into this industry. People like Reedah El-Saie, whose work with BrainsparkGames is breaking new ground in the application of games to learning and education. Or Max Scot-Slade of GLITCHERS whose pioneering work on "games for good" could have a profound impact on our understanding of human cognition and with it of cognitive disorders I've met solo developers and small teams whose micro-enterprises are breaking new ground in game mechanics, business models and technology. I've met devs in very large teams whose passion and enthusiasm for their craft is as infectious as their commitment to creating great player experiences. I've mobile developers whose work provides entertainment and relaxation for millions of players. This is the energy I am hoping to bring to today's meeting. A community like this deserves to be understood, championed and supported by Government. It is a creative foundry of a type that will play an increasingly central role in our future economy as well as the UK's standing in the world. I'll report back but in the meantime if you have a story about how your game has helped make a positive difference it is all valuable ammunition in the Ukie ambition to make this the most game-friendly Parliament in history, so do please keep them coming!

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Players around the world have already discovered the incredible titles coming out of NZ. If you're not engaged in this fast-growing market, you're missing out! In 2024, the New Zealand game development industry saw 26% growth, reaching over NZD $547 million in revenue. With over 1,200 people employed and 97% of revenues coming from international markets, the industry is making a global impact. Read more in the NZGDA 2024 survey results. https://lnkd.in/gjJZ-Cbm #GamingIndustry #GameDevelopment #M&A #NZGames #TechGrowth #GlobalMarkets #InvestmentBanking #NZGDA #MergersAndAcquisitions #M&A #CorporateFinance #GamingInvestments

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i can thoroughly recommend cgs for game development courses. their mentors are great and in my experience, it's highly focused

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I'm not one to be too much into drama but had a good time watching this video with Martin O'Donnell, discussing "Bungie's Dark History". Marty does a masterful job of recalling his story from his days at Bungie. I have a lot of fond memories while I was at Bungie as I was there during the, let's just call them, not-so-dark days. I'm romantic, nostalgic, and definitely not resentful. Here's a few memorable things I remember: - Having one of my employee reviews with Alexander Seropian and being told I was an inspiration because I would show up to work before anyone else and usually leave after everyone else. That made me feel good! (blush) - Being called into Alex's office one day and being kinda yelled at for spending $1600 for dinner at E3 in Atlanta....that's right...ATLANTA! - Playing Marathon multiplayer for the first time and staying up until 4 AM at Bungie's office. That was a magical feeling. - Seeing a dawrf in Myth throw a Molotov cocktail up a small hill and then having it bounce back and killing the same dwarf that threw it. Psychics is cool! - Being told the company's future was in my hands if a certain game didn't ship on time. Just a little pressure ;) - Not knowing what a standard was. Turns out it stood for a flag. Why not just call it a flag? Standard sounded cooler. - Playing a CD with Riven music on it and then realizing...these "old" Total Audio guys are right here in Chicago. The rest is history. - Not hiring Marcus Letho. Then Jason Jones telling me he had changed his mind and to call him back and accept his counter offer. - Trying Max Hobberman's BBQ tofu for the first time. Who knew tofu could taste so good. - Ordering Giordano's pizza for the billionth time during crunch. Anyway, if you have some time, check out Marty's take on Bungie's dark history. "And some things that should not have been forgotten were lost. History became legend. Legend became myth."

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