South of Midnight is a Peabody Award winner!! For 86 years, @peabodyawards.bsky.social has honored #StoriesThatMatter. It takes heart and steadiness to tell stories rooted in folklore, stitched with care to carry the weight of beauty and the truth of scars. @xbox.com #PeabodyAwards #PeabodyWinner

Whenever you’re stressed or upset with yourself, ask what you would say to someone else going through the same thing. Would you tell them it’s worth freaking out over? That everything will be awful and there’s no hope? Or would you be supportive and look for the silver linings? Now do that for you.

Can we clone this guy and get him/them representing the other 49 states, too? Please and thank you. 🙏

BAFTA pulling a trailer for an autobiographical game about surviving sexual assault only hours before it was said to be a part of a showcase is an exceptionally bad look.

At the dentist yesterday, one of the hygienists asked what I do for work. I asked if she knew what Minecraft was and said “well, that’s what I work on”. Once she realized I wasn’t joking, her eyes got big. I will probably never get used to the reaction. 😅

I’m still mad that the Wheel of Time show got canceled. It was visually stunning, had a refreshing take on fantasy elements, let women of varying ages and sexualities run wild, and was genuinely fun. Had Amazon given them half of the Rings of Power budget, they would’ve take it three times as far.

Don’t assume the team testing your work knows everything you do. In fact, assume they know nothing and provide exhaustive documentation. Visual targets, known risks, the reason for the feature, design specs, etc. Arm your QA team with knowledge and you will get bugs you never would’ve thought of.

NASA women save stars. 🫶🏻💫

There’s a little kid out there watching the Integrity/Artemis II footage right now who will almost certainly go after the big, beautiful dream of studying and exploring the stars themselves. ✨

I struggle to parallel park in an empty street and shoot a basketball through a hoop, and these astronauts and scientists just flung themselves hundreds of miles through space and landed back in the ocean precisely where, when, and how they expected to. 🤯

Welcome home, Artemis crew! 👏 🥹 I didn’t expect to get emotional about it, but I just watched their descent through the atmosphere to splashdown in the Pacific Ocean go off exactly as planned with a healthy happy crew and I would be lying if I said I didn’t have tears in my eyes.

Great weather today for some mini-golf in the PNW, though it’s for a more somber occasion of sending off a colleague who’s leaving the team. I somehow got 2nd place!

It’s absolutely insane that impeachment and conviction isn’t being escalated through every possible means. And that’s the minimum that needs to be done at this point. My god.

I feel sick to my stomach waiting around to see what atrocity Trump has in mind for the people of Iran this evening. It's hard to fathom our other elected leaders aren't able to check him in any meaningful way. It's an indictment not just of voters but of our whole system. We're ruled by a mad king.

A large strawberry tart graced the centre table, surrounded by small bowls of blackberries and cream, redcurrant fritters, and wild cherry flans. Servers went around with large jugs of fizzy apple cider, specially brewed by Tudd Spinney, the old cellarkeeper.

I've hopped on the FreeTaxUSA bandwagon. I used to use TurboTax because I like getting my hand held, but unless you have a complex financial situation FTU is totally fine if not better. Federal is free, too! I put it off because <gestures everywhere> but it was easy. www.freetaxusa.com?friend=PwCDDR

Even though scrambled eggs aren’t my favorite breakfast food, adding a bunch of butter and some lactose-free half-n-half does seem to elevate them after all. 🧑‍🍳

Congratulations to NASA and the crew of Artemis II! 👏 🚀 Pretty cool to watch this in real time, to see everything going according to plan, and to remind ourselves how friggin cool it is to rocket out of orbit in less than five minutes.

Surely I haven’t reached burnout if I’m taking an unplanned day off to avoid bursting into tears or otherwise losing my shit. Experienced devs know better, right? 🙃

developers are not forced to include diversity in their games. trust me: if they were, we’d see so much more of it. the truth is that a lot of us are just gay and not white, and everyone else who cares about the medium as an art form is tired of telling the same stories.

would love to see a thread of small practical pieces of advice developers just starting out or unfamiliar with a genre might not know! I’ll start: if you’re using a tag-based system, don’t just give everything an individual tag—look for thematic groups where similar events can lead to same outcome

Some of the protest signs today are downright hilarious. People are out protesting in even the smaller towns, and the age range is the full spectrum. The good weather helps, but perhaps this will break the previous records. Millions exercising their rights. Wow. ✊ #NoKings

So stressed! So tired! The only solution is to order in sizzling rice soup and veggies and sesame chicken and fried rice and gorge myself to a food-induced stupor more potent than any dread. Do not underestimate the healing powers of food and sleep.

Re: my last reposts “Do not put money in the pocket of a woman who has sworn publicly to use it to disenfranchise vulnerable populations” is the smallest ask imaginable. It’s not oxygen, it’s not food. It’s television. You can do without. There are thousands of other shows for you to watch.

Game Dev Heroes nominations are still open -- would love to see some unsung heroes and quiet folks doing the work get recognized for their efforts. Get in there and tell them about your people! gamedevheroes.co/nominations/

It was my birthday today! I forgot to even post about it because I took the day to be lazy and stay off of socials, and it was totally worth it. Decompress, my friends. Even if you don’t think you need to. ✌️

Something good WILL happen. 🕯️ 🕯️ 🕯️ 🕯️ HOPE 🕯️ 🕯️ 🕯️ 🕯️

📖 THE GAME NARRATIVE KALEIDOSCOPE ❄️ is out NOW! www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope 100+ essays on writing & narrative design, with articles from the writers of Baldur's Gate 3, Control, Call of Duty, Prince of Persia, Tomb Raider, Sam and Max... ALSO the Kaleidoscope Podcast with 2 full eps!

I will not be at GDC again this year, but for those who are: Please be safe! Remember that while this industry is much smaller and more precarious than maybe it’s ever been, your work matters and a lot of people out there are rooting for you to keep the torch lit, developers and players alike.

The TTD factor for this has been, as expected, rather quick. 😂

I’ve been talking about Alysa Liu’s story about her quitting skating only to come back and become even better because she did it for herself and this came to me in a dream…

I was watching the closing ceremony of the Olympics, and when the piano started to play I immediately clocked that the song was by Ludovico Einaudi. I don’t remember how I first discovered his music, but it’s bellisima. Highly recommend if you enjoy stringed instruments/classical music.

One of this year’s Olympic gold medalists in figure skating went out on the ice today in a Kungfu Panda costume, skated to the dulcet tones of Jack Black, and somehow completed a triple axel while doing it. Whimsy is making a comeback and I love this for us. youtu.be/CDpO6zgVCrk?...

I respect Sarah Bond and hope her next role is a great one. She’s persevered through a lot of challenges over her career, not the least of which was being underestimated and underappeciated in past roles, and she’s someone women can look up to. Really shocked that she’s not staying at Xbox.

I’m a small fish in a very big lake, but Phil Spencer is a chill guy who talked to me like any other person. He responded to emails from anyone in the company. When I once suggested he use his platform to advocate for the marginalized developers at Xbox, he did. He cares about games and people.

I’m shocked about Sarah and curious to see where she goes next. She and Phil have been transparently passionate about Xbox over the years. I’m always happy to see more women taking leadership roles in the industry, but actions will speak louder than words in the months to come, particularly with AI.

I don't know how to articulate it exactly but this is the energy I want to have as a game developer

I’ve been trying to reduce the amount of red meat I consume lately, but omg the prime rib at Salty’s is so good I’m still thinking about it from yesterday. 🤤 It’s expensive, but I’ll need to find an excuse to go back. And the steelhead fish with Thai chili pineapple salsa? Also delicious.

No one told me there’s a cat who plays support and heals people and flies via jet pack in Overwatch now?!?! New lunch break activity.

The video game industry lives by the support network of its people - developers who just want to help each other make fun and innovative experiences. These massive layoffs are devastating not just on an individual level, but because of the exponential cost to morale, knowledge, and connection.

GO HAWKS! Very weird to go from having such a dour afternoon to watching the Seahawks win the Superbowl, but I still remember watching the Hawks game that shall not be named all those years ago, so it’s a nicer way to round out the day. I feel bad for the Pat’s QB, though.

I no longer have any living grandparents. 😔 I wish we had better options for elder care in this country so we could all go out on our own terms with as much comfort and dignity as possible. Time marches on.

I spent a few hours at the ER tonight (I’m fine, was visiting a patient who is less fine) and I’m so grateful for nurses and doctors. Met nearly a dozen of them and every single one was kind, respectful, and knowledgeable. They’re tired, overworked, underpaid, and still care.

I updated my profile pic, so for folks that attune to images to remember people (read: me), I apologize for the disruption. 😅 It’s not even a super recent photo, but it proves my “yes I am a woman who works in game development” credentials. It also reminds me that I need another haircut.

Perhaps this is the push I need to start migrating to Proton. Jfc.

Blizzard QA workers' newly ratified union contract locks in pay increases, better benefits aftermath.site/blizzard-qa-wo...

One of the best mental resets? Having a cat curl up on top of you and purr like crazy. 😌 Sophie still has many months left before she’ll be fit and healthy again, but she’s taken her meds every day so far without issue which is a huge relief. Now to hope things go as smoothly for my dad soon. 🤞

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free

We’re excited to introduce GLAAD Gaming’s 2026 Queer Emerging Developers cohort! These video game developers are passionate about their work in gaming and about creating authentic LGBTQ representation in the games they make.