Roger Miller

Capcom has released a less-than-positive annual report. There's nothing critical in it; all the declines are tied to a pause in releases. Capcom certainly has a vast catalog of successful franchises for upcoming releases. Resident Evil (RE) stands out distinctly. While Capcom didn't start with RE, it played a crucial role in their history and has had a significant impact on the gaming industry as a whole. Today, RE comprises 32 releases across 33 platforms. These are incredible numbers and a testament to success. Moreover, judging by Metacritic scores, Capcom manages to maintain a high standard of quality. I gathered a timeline of all RE releases on one website (link in the comments). I thoroughly enjoyed watching videos, reading books, reminiscing about my own experiences playing the games, and playing with friends and colleagues. Here are a few interesting facts about RE and Capcom: - Resident Evil 4 was released on 14 platforms. - The first RE took 3 years to develop, instead of the usual 3-6 months for Capcom in 1996. Consultants hired from the U.S. advised shutting down the project when it was almost complete, predicting its failure. - Devil May Cry and Dino Crisis were born while searching for fresh gameplay for RE. - Capcom was one of the first companies to start paying revenue shares to developers, which is particularly noteworthy for Japanese companies. - Toy Story I and RE I were released around the same time. - For a while, music for RE was composed by a well-known Japanese composer who was said to be deaf. It later turned out that he wasn't actually deaf and didn't compose the music himself. PS. In 2026, the series will celebrate its 30th anniversary, and there will likely be a special release or edition. Or perhaps they'll simply release a version with full DualSense support.

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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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Mere days after I wrote about how "prediction and betting markets incentivize corruption, cheating and fraud. As such they are inherently parasitical" and how the industry fails to recognize the substantial, associated badwill risks, we get this:

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If you're going to GDC this year, check out a guide that might be helpful! Especially if it's your first time.

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Your first VR game should take 3 months to build. Not 2 years.

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DeamPlus Games Earned $12M+ IAP Revenue Amids “Hoa Hoa Hoa” Season 🍂 Game of Vampires: Twilight Sun, an empire-building RPG, is the ultimate vampire fantasy brought to life. 🌘 Gothic castles, luxurious dark interiors, a spooky atmosphere — and a ton of pop-culture references! From Twilight and The Vampire Diaries to Blade and The Addams Family — this game is packed with nostalgic nods that resonate with players through its ASO, ad creatives, and character design. 🧛‍♂️🏰 The right timing and a touch of luck drive this success even further: with the game’s global launch, the unexpected revival of the Twilight franchise came into play! Millennials are fueling it with nostalgia, while Gen Z is having fun with those cringy moments the old movies have. ✨🧛‍♀️ For a deep dive into this phenomenon and the insights game developers can draw from it, check out Diana Levintova's fantastic article for AppMagic. Halloween couldn’t be a better time to dive into the industry insights, spooky vibes, and, of course, “hoa hoa hoa” 🎃👻 Link in the comments! 👇

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Meta just unveiled what might be the holy grail of mixed reality hardware - Orion. It's the near-culmination of years of R&D, and is incredible piece of technology. While its not a production device yet, it's as close as we've gotten to the ultimate AR/VR form factor. It's remarkable to see that it can not only be controlled by voice and hand tracking, but neural inputs as well - thanks to a wristband (as a result of their acquisition of CTRL-Labs). I am so excited for when they start shipping dev kits for this (which wasnt announced). This feels like the platform of the future, and I can't wait to build for it - this will be the platform my children use in their every day lives, after all. What are some interesting use cases you can see Orion being used for? #mixedreality #metaconnect2024 #spatialcomputing #arvr #virtualreality #augementedreality Meta

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Game Industry Finance & Budgeting: SAG-AFTRA. SAG-AFTRA clearly did their homework. They just correctly mapped out the entire range of indie and independent game development today. They mapped out a standard for videogame production budgets. The interesting thing is that these are all supposed to be independent budgets. They know what the upper limit of a non-publisher run budget is. I would be willing to bet that they consulted with independent game development studios, game publishers, game platforms, and maybe the IGDA. My notes below: ----- Terms for qualifying projects will be based on the following budget tiers: ■ Tier 1 — $250,000 to < $1 Million --This is often called Triple I or Micro Indie no publisher. --Anything under $250k and a publisher will tell you to bootstrap it yourself or re-mortgage your house. -- I've seen this go as high as $1.5 Mil. ■ Tier 2 — $1 Million to < $5 Million --This is literally the exact original range of Single A. 10 years ago when people said Single A, they'd always say $1-5 million. Now they'll say something in the single digit millions for Single A. ■ Tier 3 — $5 Million to < $15 Million --This is the top end of Single A to the middle of Double A's range. ■ Tier 4 — $15 Million to < $30 Million --This is the rest of Double A's range to the bottom end of Triple A -- The general accepted start of Triple A has been about $25 million. That number is creeping up to $30 million and could be taken as SAG-AFTRA is trying to cover the new range --the key is few publishers will greenlight above $25-30 million for an independent game development studio. --Few development studios can self finance the Triple A range of $25-75 million. And the Quadruple A range of $100 million and up is ONLY for publishers (And whatever the hell CIG/RSI's Star Citizen is). ----- PDF: https://lnkd.in/gzvrT-Ph ----- 2024 SAG-AFTRA Tiered-Budget Independent Interactive Media Agreement Document Type: Agreement Contract Field/Department: Interactive Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists SAG-AFTRA: https://lnkd.in/gFw4sWNr ----- GamesIndustryBiz: "SAG-AFTRA announces fourth tier to new indie dev contract. Indie projects between $15 million to $30 million will now be covered by its Independent Interactive Media Agreement" (Sophie McEvoy) (June 28, 2024) SAG-AFTRA has announced a new tier in its Independent Interactive Media Agreement. As part of this agreement, studios that have a project budget between $15 million and $30 million will benefit from union coverage, provisions against AI, and access to unionised voice actors and performers. Unveiled in February, the Independent Interactive Media Agreement initially covered projects across three tiers, between $250,000 to $15 million. GamesIndustryBiz: https://lnkd.in/gnz8ft8r #gameindustry #gamefinance #gamebudgets #sagaftra #voiceacting

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I'm supportive of this but doubtful of the leverage a strike has. The reality is that voice acting typically impacts the last 10% of a game development cycle. And if it is being used in as much as 50% of the game dev cycle, its probably due to non-union actors, either internal staff doing placeholder voices during dev or indie talent getting involved early on. Nothing much will change in game development, but this pressure on larger game publishers to negotiate is still a good thing. ----- GamesIndustryBiz: "SAG-AFTRA calls for a "video game strike", effective from tomorrow. "Frankly, it's stunning that these video game studios haven’t learned anything from the lessons of last year" "The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) has called a strike, effective at 12.01am tomorrow (July 26). National executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, acting under the authority delegated by SAG-AFTRA, says the strike comes "after more than a year and a half of negotiations [about the Interactive Media Agreement] without a deal." The convenience bargaining group with whom SAG-AFTRA is negotiating includes Activision, Blindlight, Disney, Electronic Arts, Formosa Interactive, Insomnia, Llama Productions, Take 2 Productions, VoiceWorks Productions, and WB Games. SAG-AFTRA says it was campaigning to offer critical AI protections for members by asking "any game looking to employ SAG-AFTRA talent to perform covered work must sign on to the new Tiered-Budget Independent Interactive Media Agreement, the Interactive Media Agreement, or the Interim Interactive Localization Agreement." However, SAG-AFTRA claims that although agreements have been reached on "many issues important" to its members, "the employers refuse to plainly affirm, in clear and enforceable language, that they will protect all performers covered by this contract in their AI language." "The video game industry generates billions of dollars in profit annually. The driving force behind that success is the creative people who design and create those games," said Crabtree-Ireland. "That includes the SAG-AFTRA members who bring memorable and beloved game characters to life, and they deserve and demand the same fundamental protections as performers in film, television, streaming, and music: fair compensation and the right of informed consent for the AI use of their faces, voices, and bodies. "Frankly, it's stunning that these video game studios haven’t learned anything from the lessons of last year - that our members can and will stand up and demand fair and equitable treatment with respect to A.I., and the public supports us in that." (keep reading) GamesIndustryBiz: https://lnkd.in/gG4HpeK5 #gameindustry #gamedev #gamepublishing #strike #voiceacting #sagaftra

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Meta's AR glasses, Orion, have just brought the futuristic AR videos of Maz1999 and Hyper Reality a step closer to reality. That future, which once seemed so distant, now appears much nearer after Mark Zuckerberg unveiled the Orion prototype. Mark hasn’t shared a release timeline for Orion yet. It could be ready in a year, but it’s likely that mass adoption is still 3-5 years away. Regardless, this represents a huge leap compared to what we’ve seen so far. Videos that seemed dystopian and exaggerated just five years ago could now become reality with the right combination of technology and design. While a future entirely based on augmented reality might not seem completely healthy, taking useful elements from these visions could indeed make life simpler and more interactive. The opportunities for the gaming world are immense. Imagine being able to bring immersive games anywhere, without the need for bulky headsets or external screens. Play-to-Earn experiences in the metaverse could be projected directly into the real world, allowing players to interact with both physical and digital environments at the same time. What do you think? Will this ever become part of our everyday lives? #Meta #Orion #AR #AugmentedReality #Gaming #P2E #HyperReality #Metaverse #Technology

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Ruminations on Mythos: The term is not "cinematic universe". Cinematic universe means one is making shared IP films. Mythos is the correct term. Myth·os - (in literature) "a traditional or recurrent narrative theme or plot structure". A mythos is a fictional universe for stories by one writer or many that has a consistency of characters, setting, events, style, and world. The Cthulhu Mythos is one of the best known examples. 78 writers have contributed to HP Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos over the past 96 years (1928-2024). While HP Lovecraft was alive, a circle of writers contributed to the Cthulhu Mythos including: August Derleth, RE Howard, Fritz Leiber, Robert Bloch, Frank Belknap Long, Donald Wandrei, and Clark Ashton Smith. Many more added to the mythos after his death. They wrote stories in the shared universe of the Cthulhu Mythos. That is a mythos. Or one can just give a name to the universe that one creates. JRR Tolkien - Middle Earth, Terry Brooks - Shannara, CS Lewis - Narnia, George RR Martin - The Song of Fire and Ice, Fritz Leiber - Nehwon, RE Howard - The Hyborian Age, Larry Niven - Known Space Universe. Writers do this all the time, alone or together. Now if game creatives build the consistency of a mythos around their work, like with Halo, Resident Evil, and others, then the pitch process to publishers or consumers is different. One understands the basics of Assassin's Creed, Dead Space, Mass Effect, or Dragon Age. One knows what to expect not just for sequels but for different games around different characters in different genres in the same world setting. Fallout is more mythos than just IP. By contrast, Mario is more an IP than a mythos. Interestingly Mario as an IP has done more genre shifts than is often done with an IP that is a Mythos. The Legend of Zelda is more mythos than Mario, but in one genre. Mario is many genres in one world setting or IP. ---- VideoGameChronicle: "Dave the Diver’s creator wants to create a ‘Dave cinematic universe’ of games. Jaeho Hwang reveals future games will explore different characters and genres" “Actually, I want to expand Dave the Diver IP itself,” Hwang said, when asked what the future holds for Mintrocket. “I think that’s every director’s dream, since we have a relatable character. “But actually, we didn’t go really deep into the personal stories in Dave the Diver, because we wanted to keep the game very casual. “So as a director, besides the story DLC that we’re working on right now, I also want to make separate games about each character to show how they met, what they did before coming to the Blue Hole. “In that sense, the games’ genres can be different. Maybe one day, if we start to make a Dave’s backstory game, we could make Dave another profession. Hwang said he wants to flesh out the Dave the Diver story by telling the backstories of both its protagonist, and main side characters." VideoGameChronicle: https://lnkd.in/gUs-d23W #gameindustry #gamedev #worldbuilding

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📰 Sony has crushed the launches of Helldivers and Shadow of Erdtree but shut down Concord after two weeks. Valve launched Deadlock without a landing page and has kept its organization under 400 employees for most of its history. Roblox posted 80M DAU and 17B hours of engagement in Q2 2024 and plans to open a marketplace to sell avatar bundles. Microsoft has completed the acquisition of Activision Blizzard King, sold Tango Softworks, and is raising prices on Game Pass. These platforms -- and platforms in the sense that they are marketplaces and suppliers beyond hardware -- have shown resilience and excellence in asymmetric growth and scalability and have an inordinate impact on how the rest of the industry behaves. But what industry diagnostics are exhorting Sony, Microsoft, Valve, and Roblox to build and move against their strategies? More importantly, will it work, and if not, where are the gaps? Ben Feder, Managing Partner at TIRTA Ventures, and Ken Wee, ex-CSO of Activision Blizzard, share their strategic expertise. 🔊 We discuss: Macro trends over the past 3-4 years in the games business. Competition. Entrants. Suppliers. Customers. Substitutes. We like Porter's 5 Forces. 5️⃣ 👊 Microsoft Sony Valve Roblox Deep dives. What are their long-term strategies and are they positioned for success? What notable decisions have these companies made across staffing, investments, acquisitions, divestments, game launches, and partnerships? What would we do differently? That and more! Listen to the full episode on Naavik's Spotify, Apple, or YouTube in the comments.

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🎨 Nvidia CEO says there will *ALWAYS* be a role for HUMAN artists in video games! 👩‍🎨 🎮🎮🎮🎮 Huang was discussing using ML/AI to interpolate frames, objects, and animations. (This could speed-up rendering!) 🤖 ⏩⏩⏩⏩ He pointed out interpolation only functions in TANDEM with the work of *human* game artists, designers, and devs! 👩‍🎨👩‍💻 🖌️🖌️🖌️🖌️ "...out of four frames, 33 million pixels, we only rendered two [million pixels]..." (That's only 6%!) 👾👾👾👾 In other words, ML/Gen-AI is a tool to potentially make HUMAN work faster/better, it is NOT a *replacement* for HUMAN work! 👩‍🎨 🌟🌟🌟🌟 QUOTE: “But it took [this] long for everybody to now realize that generative AI is really the future, but...you need to ground with the author, the artists, [and the] intention.” 🎨🎨🎨🎨 What do you think? Is interpolation an ethical use of Gen-AI that can support the HUMAN work of game artists/devs? [Article link in comments]

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Hasbro is going to make their own games?! Is this 2024 or 1998? I'm having Deja Vu. And I don't mean the old 90s Mac game (ba dummm-shhhhh). ----- (excerpt): "Hasbro's $1 billion bet on internal game development Head of digital product development Dan Ayoub tells us about the toy maker's plans to get back in the game" Despite the success of those licensing partnerships with Larian and Scopely, Hasbro is actually investing considerably in building out its own internal development. That's something Dan Ayoub, head of digital product development at Hasbro's Wizards of the Coast brand, is keen to emphasize when we speak with him at the Game Developers Conference. "The biggest thing to takeaway, which is honestly a little surprise to a lot of people, is that Hasbro is in fact making video games," Ayoub says. "And we have a considerable investment in our studio structure; we've got over $1 billion in games right now being developed." The company has four AAA studios right now. There's North Carolina-based Atomic Arcade, which is working on a Snake Eyes GI Joe game that Ayoub calls "not your daddy's GI Joe." Montreal-based Invoke Studios is working on a Dungeons & Dragons game, while the Austin, Texas-based Skeleton Key is, as the name might suggest, "doing something spooky." Finally, there's another Austin shop called Archetype, where BioWare veteran and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic lead designer James Ohlen is working on a new franchise called Exodus. Ayoub says the push for internal development is a natural adaptation for the company. "Hasbro's a 100-year-old company and it's built on play," he says. "It's always been about play, it's always been about entertaining people. And gaming is the predominant form of entertainment for a lot of people, and it's something that just continues to grow. So in a lot of ways, it makes sense for Hasbro to be in this space." "What we're trying to do there is have the tail wag the dog a little bit and have things going the other direction for the company, which would be something new, where we can create a new IP through video games and then take advantage of the size and scale of Hasbro to do other things with it as well," Ayoub says. This isn't the first time Hasbro has had ambitions for the games industry that extended beyond licensing. In the 1990s, it set up its Hasbro Interactive division, later acquiring the Atari brand and strategy developer MicroProse to build a business of retro-themed titles and PC strategy games. But after the gaming business hit a rough patch, Hasbro sold the interactive business to Infogrames. When we ask Ayoub why we should think Hasbro is in it for the long haul this time, he points to the investment the company has already made." (keep reading, looong article) GamesIndustryBiz: https://lnkd.in/gmqhfYhg #gameindustry #hasbro #gamepublishing

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Want your XR app to have the best user experience? Performance monitoring tools are key to identifying bottlenecks & optimizing performance. Here's how to leverage them effectively 🧵 1/ First, establish KPIs to track for your XR app. Frame rate, GPU utilization, memory usage, load times are all critical metrics. The right tool will monitor these in real-time as users interact with your app. 2/ For VR, aim for a stable 90 FPS to avoid motion sickness. AR apps should target 60 FPS. Monitor frame rates under various conditions (low power mode, heavy usage) to gauge real-world performance. Tools like Intel GPA are ideal for this. 3/ GPU utilization is another key metric, especially for graphics-heavy XR apps. You want the GPU working hard but not constantly maxed out. Tools like Unity Profiler or Unreal Insights identify GPU-intensive areas to optimize. 4/ Memory management is crucial in XR to avoid crashes & stutters. Track memory usage/leaks over time with tools like Visual Studio or Xcode. Look for assets/areas using excessive memory and optimize resource loading. 5/ Don't forget to monitor load times, especially for asset-rich XR apps. Use profiling tools to see what's causing long loads - large textures, unoptimized models, too many objects, etc. Optimize based on these insights. 6/ Regularly test on a range of devices to gauge real-world performance. Automated performance tests help identify regressions. Many tools can test XR apps on farms of physical devices for comprehensive insights. 7/ Lastly, don't just rely on tools - actively seek user feedback on app performance. Prompt users to report any slowdowns, stutters, or instability they encounter. Combine this qualitative data with quantitative metrics for the full picture. 8/ Optimization is a pain and a half. But, the upfront effort pays dividends in user experience and engagement. Work on it until no-one mentions stutters or frame drops.

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Painfully long is right. 😲 It look 8 years to build Concord and about 2 weeks for Sony to axe it. This is a strong example of what's wrong with the games industry, especially in the AAA space. How can a game remain relevant and feel innovative to audiences when it takes that many years to develop? And exactly how high of a bar do you have to hit in terms of quality and scope to meet player expectations after that length of time?! Indie studios can continue to lead the way in demonstrating 'what good looks like' for an industry that desperately needs a re-write. I firmly believe we can deliver outstanding experiences for our audiences by combining sustainable development with scalable growth strategies. In summary, we need to be embracing shorter, iterative and more cost effective development times, and identify scalable strategies to maintain Live Services. #indiegames #gamedevelopment #gamedev #innovation Sony Simply Sweet Games #gameindustry #videogames

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Let me echo Chris T.'s post (ty, ty!) on this one as he was spot on on something that I face A LOT when interviewing for YAGER. One of the talking topics on the interview for TUTORIAL stage (you can check more about our process here: https://lnkd.in/eN5HHDdw) is motivation. A very common response to the question "What motivated you to be here on this interview?" is "I love games!". Well... Me too! Tell me more! What do you love about games? Be prepared to deep dive and explain what specificaly drives you when it comes to games. I promisse you, this will be a game changer.

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I always say the same thing: "Web3 is just another business model, just like PC apps or games have microtransactions." This week, a major announcement was made for the sector: XBOX and Playstation5 games are starting to embrace Web3. Here is the link 👇 : https://lnkd.in/d6Y_6kQw It’s all closer than it seems and inevitable. 💪 I’m glad to know that we are helping Web2 gaming companies integrate Web3 into their traditional games as an additional business model. 🎮 The Future of Gaming: Why Web3 Will Revolutionize Video Game Business Models 🚀 As the gaming industry continues to evolve, one of the most exciting developments on the horizon is the integration of Web3 technologies. But why will video games eventually adopt these new business models, and what advantages will they bring? 🔗 Decentralization and Ownership Web3 introduces true ownership of in-game assets through blockchain technology. Players can own, trade, and sell digital items, characters, and skins, creating a decentralized economy that empowers gamers. This shift transforms virtual assets from being just in-game items to real-world investments. 💰 New Revenue Streams Developers and publishers can benefit from new revenue streams such as NFTs, in-game marketplaces, and decentralized finance (DeFi) mechanisms. These innovations offer sustainable and diverse monetization strategies beyond traditional game sales and in-app purchases. 🌍 Interoperability and Community Engagement With Web3, interoperability between different games and platforms becomes a reality. Imagine taking your favorite character or asset from one game to another seamlessly. This fosters a greater sense of community and engagement, as players are no longer confined to a single ecosystem. 🛡️ Enhanced Security and Transparency Blockchain technology provides robust security and transparency. Smart contracts ensure fair play and trustless transactions, reducing fraud and cheating. This creates a safer environment for both players and developers. 🚀 Innovation and Growth Web3 encourages innovation by allowing developers to experiment with decentralized applications (dApps) and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). This opens up new possibilities for game design, governance, and player participation, leading to a richer and more diverse gaming landscape. The integration of Web3 is not just a trend—it's a transformative movement that will redefine the gaming industry. As we move forward, embracing these technologies will be crucial for staying ahead of the curve and delivering unparalleled experiences to gamers worldwide. #Web3 #GamingIndustry #Blockchain #NFT #Decentralization #FutureOfGaming #Innovation #TechTrends

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