Holiday season is the best time of the year to rearrange one’s synth setup and improve ergonomics. Now I’m quite happy with it!

Brilliant was my favorite app of 2020 because it felt like you are actually learning things thanks to excellent instructional design. Fast forward to today, and it turned into another Duolingo clone, optimized for retention. Cargo cult at its worst.

Every year one game impresses me so much that I start seeing it in my dreams. This way my personal GOTY is always an easy choice. In 2025 it was Blue Prince, one of the most inspiring games I played in over a decade.

Finished Dispatch in two sessions because I just couldn't stop playing. That rare feeling when you finish a modern game and don't feel any fatigue.

It did not expect to fall in love with a new video game genre in my late 30s, but it happened. Detective games like Golden Idol series, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, Blue Prince, The Roottrees are Dead and The Séance of Blake Manor were something I played the most this year. And here is the thing...

This won’t impact audio

Insanely proud of our team and huge shoutout to everyone who helped us on the way!

Definitely one of the most interesting challenges in my career. #StarWarsOutlaws is now on Nintendo Switch 2!

Hey #SynthSky, I turned my TEO-5 into an electric guitar: www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfCA...

Apparently, there is no comprehensive list of words that have never been used in video game titles. I am a bit disappointed.

Upgraded my synth station at home

Oh! This is for all you old goths and synthesizers, you know who you are. 🦇

2025 LinkedIn feels like Temu in a suit. Half the stuff looks fake, weird and oddly confident about its value. And if you scroll long enough, someone will offer you motivation in bulk for 0.99€ with free shipping.

I need at least one point-and-click adventure game per year, and Old Skies has been wonderful so far.

This didn't age well, now I have over 30 research papers to read.

And PDAs on Windows Mobile please

This is a very good read. And another annoying case of Path dependence. lcamtuf.substack.com/p/decibels-a...

Today I heard a teenager say “I don’t watch YouTube” with the exact same tone I used to say “I don’t watch TV” back in the 2000s.

I'm finally getting into the right mood to finish a blog article I started 2 years ago. Only 16 more research papers to read, hoping none of them leads me to another rabbit hole.

At least there is a clear path to success in the industry: one needs to simply launch a hit live service game 10 years ago.

My gaming backlog started in 2004, when I deleted almost finished Half-Life 2 to get some hard drive space. I said to myself I’ll reinstall and finish it one day. In any case, at this point I won’t be able to catch up in a year, I’d need another life.

Had to reupload my recent #dawless #synth video, so I'll repost it as well: youtu.be/VT3WW6mtCAw Putting my new TEO-5 into action, going back to my electro-industrial roots. #synthsky

My experience with Blue Prince so far: 2 hours in: This is curious 5 hours in: This is quite fun, but why all the hype? 10 hours in: I have no idea what I’ll discover next, this is one of the best games I’ve ever played.

Let's celebrate YouTube's launch of an AI music feature with a video about how to potentially destroy it. youtu.be/xMYm2d9bmEA

1. LLM-generated code tries to run code from online software packages. Which is normal but 2. The packages don’t exist. Which would normally cause an error but 3. Nefarious people have made malware under the package names that LLMs make up most often. So 4. Now the LLM code points to malware.

I was thinking when is the right time to draft a pitch deck for an AI-powered guillotine with a monthly subscription.

And understanding the purpose. Replication solutions without full awareness of the purpose is participating in a cargo cult.

Evening vibes

Now it’s official, we are bringing Star Wars Outlaws to Nintendo Switch 2!

It finally arrived!

It’s been three years since Russia invaded Ukraine. These years have been very painful for me personally, as a Russian citizen. The pain will stay. Still… “For what binds us to our grief, binds the sculptor to his clay.” Whatever 2025 brings, stand with Ukraine.

If you’ve known me long enough, you might remember I’ve been saying these things since 2017 or so.

I hesitate posting anything on LinkedIn because I'm afraid someone will punish me if my text looks too human.

If I could briefly summarize the main mindset difference between making premium and live service games: Premium games: Hack everything, bend the tools, think outside the box. GaaS: Build a really good box. True for every job family.

I’m by no means a fan of Scott Alexander, but I cannot stop referring to “Meditations on Moloch” when I discuss either current global events or the current state of game industry. Maybe my worldview has changed, but I feel this text has never been more relevant. slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/m...

I wonder how the current times of neomercantilism and techno-pessimism will shape the cultural landscape of the coming years. Another romantic revival? Simpler narratives and escapist culture? Something else?

Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is like if House of Leaves was a video game. And I’m saying it with a lot of respect and admiration for both.

This reality is written like a crappy accidental travel fanfic, but we are not the main characters. Where do I submit my 1/5 review?

Somehow, my internal monologue started ironically labeling the 2000s and 2010s as the pre-apocalyptic years.

This is still the best thing on the internet. calculatingempires.net

An awkward take from a #gameaudio person. Some of my favorite sounding indie games are those where the main dev decided to wear the sound designer hat. It doesn't always work out, but when it does, it creates excellent material to study functional sound design. I learn a lot by analyzing those.

If an article makes your side look bad, then "resistance to true news [is] stronger than susceptibility to fake news" no matter your ideology. And the more objective you believe you are, the stronger the effect: psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202...

Back in 2005, I strongly presumed that every internet user was an intelligent person. I miss holding that belief.

Here comes my new #dawless synth jam video. I messed up twice during this performance, but this is still my favorite take. Everything is recorded from the mixer output and slightly post-processed in a DAW. I'll let you figure out how did I set up the lead instrument. youtu.be/7MISnkhqhsk #synthsky

I have a reliable way to determine my personal Game of the Year. Every year there are 1-2 games that touch me so deeply that I see them in my dreams. This year it's Stalker 2. I didn’t even like it at first. After the credits have rolled, I’m still not entirely sure why I like it, but I'll miss it

Although I'm not as critical of the AI hype as many of my peers, I have my own nightmare fuel. Imagine, there is a way to produce text so convincing that even the most skeptical reader trusts it. If users continue to rely on LLM chatbots for facts, what is the easiest way to satisfy their needs?

My most iconic moment with Finnish healthcare: Doctor: "...and you can drink alcohol while taking this medicine" I: "I wasn't planning to" Doctor: "But you still can"

A random #gameaudio question/thought: what can we do to respect involuntary listeners - those who get to hear audio we create without an explicit consent? Cohabitants, family members, pets.

One dead IP I desperately want to see revived in any form is Exosquad.