oh no, i don't use the ai for <thing that i am paid to do> it's terrible at that. it's great for <thing you are paid to do> though.

Shoutout to the very senior professor in HCI who gave a talk last month about how AI can do qualitative data analysis better than people now.

Our work on how gen ai is impacting the labor conditions and power of professional visual artists got a great writeup from Brian Merchant! www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/the-ai-inf...

Working hard on the Godot Fluid Simulation blog post! It's much harder to make a proper write-up than I thought lol. Here's a sort of "flare" effect I achieved while fiddling with the parameters #gamedev #indiedev #godot

#pragmata 👧👧👧👧

THE MERCHANT

Finally got around to watch the latest video from AI and Games. Very good stuff! Can’t wait for the next parts (I know the articles are already out there)

Gave a talk at Guerrilla Games this morning (slides coming on Monday). Met a bunch of very welcoming, fun and smart people and the tech they built is nothing short of amazing! Had lots of fun hanging out with you folks, thanks so much @jeremy.laumon.name for inviting me!

.... I see.

most of the time you don’t want true randomness and/or simulation in a game. you think you do but you’re wrong and will get mad at us if you get it.

ideas are cheap

If this verdict holds, I can see this lawsuit being a landmark case: if social media companies are liable for making addictive apps, then it could massively limit the extent to which they can use algorithms to harm people.

BREAKING: Epic Games is laying off more than 1,000 workers today, sources tell Bloomberg News. Story hitting shortly

Run and gun

meanwhile.... medicine has taken INSANE leaps and bounds in the last 2 years. we're out here curing HIV and leukemia and creating 100% efficacy vaccines against all sorts of cancers, and now this?? between this and renewable energy outstripping fossil fuels in efficiency, the future is bright

favourite spell #frieren #art

“We’re going to ship lower quality stuff, faster” seems like an exceptionally clear sighted and honest explication of AI’s value proposition, I’m just not convinced that a) people will want the lower quality stuff, or b) that it will actually be faster

Wishing you all the happiest of holidays, from our painted family to yours ❤️❤️ - The Expedition 33 Team!! Artwork made by Nicholas Maxson-Francombe, Art Director.

I guess this a game about rum running now... Taking some time to setup systems appropriately can have some significant benefits; these NPC drivers are just steering by offset to player! They're bunching up rn, but that's nothing that boids can't solve 🤔 #gamedev #indiegame #solodev #unity3d

Home for Christmas 🌿💋🎁 #art #christmas #christmasart #bunnies

I just learned something that I want to share; 1. Create an invisible box with an outer shadow 2. Create an invisible box with an inner shadow 3. Place randomly... TA-DA. Free depth in your texture!

What historians (and other scholars do) is create knowledge. We should use that phrase more and talk about what it means. I think we don't, and it's part of why AI enthusiasts are confused when we don't readily agree that our work can be replicated/replaced by their products.

NEW: For the last seven weeks, Naughty Dog has enacted mandatory overtime for staff to finish an internal demo of their next game, Intergalactic. The game won't be out until 2027, leaving some staff wondering: If they're crunching now, what will next year be like? www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Pretty disappointed in both @humblebundle.com and especially in @girlswhocode.bsky.social. Please teach girls how to code, don't push them into generative AI. That won't build their skills. Prioritize foundational programming skills and awaken their interest. "Tired of long days writing code"???

Going into 2026, a reminder for everyone who's fallen off the creative wagon, game dev, writing, art, music, whatever, no matter how long:

Freelancers, discourage AI by charging a SHIT TON more when brought in to fix it. Remind them constantly that it's much easier and cheaper to get you in from the beginning. Rebrand to a "AI Post production specialist" and watch Idiots pay you more because they think thats a new thing.

One easy fix would be to eliminate categories based on genre or whatever “indie” means and instead get granular about craft (best level design, best world, best combat, etc) which would probably pose other problems but at least make for more interesting conversations and honor specific people

I think these awards felt especially boring because categories like Best RPG and Best Indie each honor overall quality among a subset rather than a specific craft. If a game is the best of the year, and it’s an RPG, obviously it is also the best RPG. Needs an overhaul to avoid pointless repetition

Mes amis!! The free major ‘Thank You Update’ is OUT NOW! Tomorrow comes, in Verso’s Drafts. youtu.be/C_Gp_ZHwaUQ

Here's my video about @santaragione.com's HORSES, and why it being banned from Steam sucks even if you aren't interested in *this particular game*. Video games as a whole deserve better! youtu.be/G-7r9pL0Hqo?...

you: relax bro the quadrangulated octagon:

"Automation never meets a task in the world and simply does it." www.robinsloan.com/lab/all-that...

What a great headline

Oh, God, this is one of those "where do I even start" things, because Roblox is, like, *fractally* fucked. They are terrible at content moderation. A lot of the games are rated incorrectly, so kids can encounter graphic content (sex or violence) out of nowhere --

Jennifer English realizing she's a lesbian and falling in love with one of her mocap directors (Aliona Baranova) over the course of making BG3 and seeing all the queer folks embracing Shadowheart and the impact the game had is genuinely one of the best stories in game production in a long time

I went to meet the 'Rockstar 31', the developers who were suddenly fired from their work on GTA 6 for what the studio has described as gross misconduct. That's not what the workers call it though. They have another couple of words they prefer to use: union busting. www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9nO...

For about another 21 hours all our games are suspiciously cheap: 🕵️ Gunpoint is 80% off! store.steampowered.com/app/206190/G... 🚀 Heat Signature is 80% off! store.steampowered.com/app/268130/H... 🧙‍♂️ Tactical Breach Wizards is 40% off! store.steampowered.com/app/1043810/...

"Rockstar, Rockstar, you're disgusting, we charge you with union busting," the protesters declared.

Senior illustrator, with 20 years of experience and a specialty in game art. I haven't been able to find a paying project for months. Can you help? Every share is appreciated.

PROCJAM - the Procedural Generation Jam - is back for another year! Join us on itch.io this November for another week of making something that makes something - a bskybot, a videogame, a digital artwork, a dice table or something else! 🗓️ Nov 21st - Dec 1st 🔮 itch.io/jam/procjam

Toughest choice you have to make every morning when getting dressed.

gone fishing 🐟 #art #pokemon

Rift Riff nominated for 4⁉️ #DutchGameAwards! 🎨Best Art: @simkaart.co's insane pixel art 🎙️Best Audio: @matthijskoster.com made banger tracks/sfx! 🕹️Best Design: @adriaan.games & @professionalpanda.bsky.social endless tweaks 👑GOTY: teamwork! dutchgameawards.nl/nominees/ #Godot #indiegame #gamedev

With our event just days away, it's time to announce a special surprise! We made an @aiandgames.com plushie! Grab yours at the AI and Games Conference next week, or sign up to the waitlist (plushie.aiandgames.com) to be the first to know when we release a batch for sale online in early 2026.

wait wait wait, a Bed ... that only works if there's internet????? What next, "smart" toilets? www.dexerto.com/ente...

This remains the funniest way to hear about an internet outage, though.

Okay, for the folks who asked: here's the majority AI view, writing up the reasonable, thoughtful view on AI that the vast majority of people in tech hold, that gets overshadowed by the bluster and hype of the tycoons trying to shill their nonsense. anildash.com/2025/10/17/t... Please share!

Wikipedia is worth $10/month because if it dies so does reliable knowledge. Cough up if you can -- it's cheaper, more interesting and morally superior to Netflix.

good morning, early birbs