Podcasts about gdc

Auf der Side B der EDC News für den Juni werfen wir zunächst einen kurzen Blick zurück auf die KNIFE in Solingen und was uns daran so gefallen hat.Anschließend widmen wir uns dem German Daily Carry GDC e.V. und der GDC Con. Was steckt eigentlich dahinter? Welche Ziele verfolgt der Verein und welche Rolle könnte er künftig in der deutschsprachigen Messerszene spielen?Eine Folge, die sich weniger um Produkte und mehr um die Menschen, Projekte und Ideen hinter unserer Community dreht.Wie blickt ihr auf den GDC e.V. und die GDC Con?Links:GDC e. V.:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/germandailycarry.ev/Homepage: https://www.gdc-ev.de

Ali Al-Hassan is the walking embodiment of work hard, play hard — a young dentist who's gone from associate to super associate, practice co-owner and globe-trotter, all while building a following that brings patients straight to his chair. In this episode, he and Payman get into what really separates an ordinary associate from a "super" one: bringing in your own patients, owning your fees, and treating social media as your digital shop front. There's honest talk about outworking self-doubt, the awards debate, a vexatious GDC referral that came out of nowhere, and a wild Covid-era trading story that took a £50k bounce-back loan to seven figures and most of the way back down again. Threaded throughout is a simple philosophy — do the thing, do it thousands of times, and let it compound. You'll come away with plenty to think about, whether you're weighing up your own brand or just wondering how one person fits in this much living.In This Episode00:02:30 - Work hard, play hard 00:08:10 - Growing up and family 00:14:30 - The inflection point 00:17:30 - Associate vs super associate 00:24:40 - Social media and the first Invisalign open day 00:33:15 - Tenacity and outworking self-doubt 00:39:05 - Niching down 00:49:50 - Cornerstones of safe GDP ortho 00:53:50 - Blackbox thinking 00:59:30 - The GDC referral 01:08:45 - Compounding and word of mouth 01:09:45 - Dental Opulence 01:18:55 - The awards debate 01:25:35 - Travel and friendships 01:29:25 - Working with Robbie 01:32:05 - The Covid trading story 01:42:25 - Examinations and case acceptance 01:48:05 - Composite bonding approach 01:54:50 - Finishing teeth upside down 01:56:25 - Fantasy dinner party 02:00:25 - Last days and legacyAbout Ali Al-HassanAli Al-Hassan, known online as Doctor Ali, is a Cardiff-trained dentist working across practices in Swindon, the Midlands and London, with a focus on Invisalign and composite. He's a super associate who built his patient base through years of consistent social media, and co-owns the Dental Opulence clinic in the Midlands. Away from the chair, he travels monthly, invests, and is renovating a house back home in Swindon.

Recorded live on-site at GDC, host Peggy Anne Salz sits down with Derek Day and Jamie Young, the cousins behind Emerald City Games, to talk about what it really takes to build an independent studio that lasts.Emerald City started in a basement in 2008, with families upstairs, developers downstairs and a team doing whatever it took to keep the dream alive. Fast forward and the studio has shipped more than a dozen titles across original IP and major franchises, including Star Trek and Tomb Raider.Derek and Jamie share how Emerald City has stayed independent by balancing creativity with survival, building strong internal tools, protecting its visual identity and staying flexible enough to work across original worlds, licensed IP and live mobile games.Skillz enters the conversation as the infrastructure layer that helps studios like Emerald City keep that focus. By bringing competition systems, backend support, analytics and live ops tooling closer together, Skillz gives developers more room to build the parts players actually feel: the game, the world, the community and the experience.In this episode, Peggy, Derek and Jamie get into:How two cousins built Emerald City Games from a basement into a long-running independent studioWhy staying independent means knowing when to say no, even when opportunities come callingHow the team puts its own creative stamp on major franchises like Star Trek and Tomb RaiderWhy retention, live ops and community now shape how mobile games are built from the startWhy integrated SDKs, analytics and platform tools can give indie teams more room to punch above their weightFor indie developers, Emerald City's story is proof that survival is a strategy. Stay creative, stay adaptable, build the right team and use the right tools so you can keep shipping the games only you can make.Let's Connect

We're joined by Izzy Kestrel (Funomena, No Goblin, A Good Videogame) and Alfredo Barraza (Riot Games) to discuss VESPER.5; a durational, tile-based exploration game. It's the sixth installment in our yearlong special series exploring the work of Michael Brough: All Systems Brough. This episode: VESPER.5 Next episode: Become a Great Artist Audio edited by Dylan Shumway. Discussed in this episode: 868-BACK (Out now!! Go buy it!!) https://store.steampowered.com/app/3304110/868BACK/  https://finji.itch.io/868-back  Michael Brough's Website https://www.smestorp.com/  All Systems Brough - A Chat with Michael https://secretlives.games/website/all-systems-brough-a-chat-with-michael  VESPER.5 http://mightyvision.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/vesper5.html  THE LONGING https://store.steampowered.com/app/893850/THE_LONGING/  Road to the IGF: Michael Brough's VESPER.5 (Article about GDC showcase of VESPER.5) https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/road-to-the-igf-michael-brough-s-i-vesper-5-i-  Super Friendship Club VESPER.5 Forum https://web.archive.org/web/20160407200028/http://superfriendshipclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=618  Meaning through repetition (reflection on releasing VESPER.5) https://mightyvision.blogspot.com/2012/08/meaning-through-repetition.html  GDC 2013 - Interview with Michael Brough https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocqSV6f137M  Pippin Barr on VESPER.5 https://web.archive.org/web/20170711093026/http://www.pippinbarr.com/2012/08/14/you-should-play-vesper-5/  Michael Brouge's VESPER.6 by Joel Goodwin https://www.electrondance.com/michael-brouges-vesper-6/ Gardens of Time: Design Problem Solving https://www.glorioustrainwrecks.com/node/2931  Steve Reich - Section I (Slowed Down 800%) - Ambient / Minimalism https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3AMpfdbc7U  EXPERIMENT 12 Anthology https://www.geocities.ws/experimenttwelve/  145: Addressing Memory with Plunderludics  https://secretlives.games/145-addressing-memory-with-plunderludics  i heard you like videogames https://www.glorioustrainwrecks.com/node/2366  scarfmemory https://www.smestorp.com/scarfmemory.html  Post-Future Vagabond https://mightyvision.blogspot.com/2013/11/post-future-vagabond.html  Bending the River https://www.metabolicstudio.org/653  The Old Timey Computer Show https://otcs.minuspoint.com/  Inferno by Boards of Canada https://boardsofcanada.bandcamp.com/album/inferno  imagineNATIVE Festival https://imaginenative.org/ STAY SHARP // Rogue Skin Reveal Trailer - VALORANT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1u1kUdDOys  Rushing Beat Trilogy https://www.chronocrash.com/forum/threads/rushing-beat-trilogy.5208/  THE GAME DESIGN CHALLENGE: The Thirty-Year Game https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1023124/THE-GAME-DESIGN-CHALLENGE-The    https://secretlives.games/  https://discord.gg/tslog https://www.patreon.com/tslog

Welcome back to The Inner Gamer, the roundtable podcast dedicated to analyzing the ideas, trends, and time-value decisions shaping modern video games. This week, we are kicking things off by driving straight into the stunning landscape of Japan with our full critique of Forza Horizon 6. While Playground Games has delivered an absolute mechanical and visual masterpiece, we examine the concept of "excellence fatigue". For busy professionals with tight schedules, does the game's relentless dopamine loop and identical progression structure turn a quick driving session into a trend-chasing live-service project that you've already experienced? Next, a special guest jumps onto the roundtable couch to help us navigate the alien oceans of Subnautica 2, freshly launched in Early Access. We look closely at how the development team has pulled off the impossible: adding native 4-player cooperative play to a franchise defined by crushing isolation without losing a single ounce of its trademark psychological tension. We explore the baseline stability of the build, the massive grassroots enthusiasm brewing inside the game's official Discord channels, and how its modular base-building automation and streamlined blueprint systems elegantly respect an adult's limited hobby hours. Finally, we shift our focus to the structural design trends splitting the soul of the modern industry. We audit LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, evaluating the creative friction that occurs when family-friendly plastic brickwork tries to copy the mature DNA of the Arkham franchise. We close the show by breaking down the newest GDC industry data revealing that over 70% of developers now rely on global co-development pipelines. Using case studies like Fable and Crimson Desert, we expose how fracturing a single game across multiple outsourced corporate entities creates the massive logistical bottlenecks behind modern 6-year development cycles and buggy launch-day builds. Show Notes: 1:01 - Housekeeping 3:34 - Forza Horizon 6 Review: A Near-Perfect Racing Game 43:07 - Bigger, Deeper, Better: Our First Look at Subnautica 2 1:16:35 - LEGO Batman: A Spiritual Successor to the Arkham Franchise 1:52:37 - Why Your Favorite Games Take 6+ Years to Make (And Arrive Broken) 2:32:49 - Upcoming Video Game Releases Become a part of the conversation! If you donate $1 or more on Patreon you can get exclusive access to the Patreon-only chat and channels on the server. Visit our website to find our social channels, check past podcasts and donate to the show.Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see all of our latest videos as they drop. Credits:"Blue Groove Deluxe" by BlueFoxMusic on audiojungle.netWoman Announcer - Ariana Guerra; Actress"Wisdom" by Super Nostalgia 64

A top-5 mobile game with 60-70 million daily active users just disappeared from Google Play for 24 hours and came back. Nobody from Hungry Studios is saying anything. That's the headline.Jakub Remiar flies solo this week with nine stories from the May 23-29 news cycle. The Block Blast Android outage is the biggest shock — a game that big going dark on a major platform for an entire day with zero public explanation. The Monopoly Go licensing story is the most quietly important: Scopely paid Hasbro $41M last quarter alone, confirming the $168M/year run-rate that puts Monopoly Go in genuinely different stratosphere from everything else in social casino. And Valve raised the Steam Deck OLED 1TB from $649 to $949 — a 40% hike that prompted Tim Sweeney to publicly joke about Gabe Newell's $500M super-yacht.Plus: Playtika layoffs as social casino keeps declining, Unreal Engine 6 teased via Rocket League, NetEase posts 7% YoY growth, CD Projekt Red announces a new Witcher 3 expansion called Songs of the Past, IO Interactive's James Bond game hits 1.5M copies in 24 hours, Fortnite returns to iOS to a 3.4M download spike, and the GDC 2026 trend report confirms generative AI is the only thing anyone in the industry is talking about.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⏱️ TIMESTAMPS00:00 Cold open — the Steam Deck mega-yacht joke00:30 Block Blast vanished from Google Play (and came back)02:00 Playtika layoffs + Monopoly Go's $41M Hasbro license fee03:30 Unreal Engine 6, NetEase Q1, Witcher 3 + James Bond05:24 Sponsor — Potensus06:32 GDC 2026 trend report — generative AI dominates07:30 Fortnite iOS return drives 3.4M downloads in 8 years08:30 Steam Deck +40% price hike + the mega-yacht punchline

MAU Vegas 2026 is over, the biggest booths in mobile gaming, and a single conversation dominating every panel and corridor: AI. Specifically, what happens when AI creatives cut your CPI in half.Matej Lančarič and Jakub Remiar catch Felix Braberg up on what he missed while taking care of his baby. The 2.5 Gamers Gaming Summit kicked off Tuesday with ~100 attendees (roughly 10x the next-biggest competing summit), Christina Larionova from the Last War / Whiteout Survival team shared CPI and ROAS data showing AI creatives are literally half the cost of human-made ones, AppLovin had the biggest booth and announced Pixel Portal, UA financing went fully mainstream (per Jeff at PVX Partners), CTV is exploding, and retention is now openly being talked about as "the new UA" — partly thanks to Mistplay's Mychips acquisition.If you couldn't make it to Vegas, this is the catch-up. And if you weren't already planning Bellagio 2027 (May 4-6), make yourself available.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⏱️ TIMESTAMPS00:00 Cold open — Bellagio 2027, why you have to be there02:32 Felix missed MAU + the 2.5 Gamers Summit's 10x outperformance04:31 "MAU is the new GDC" — Jeff from PVX nailed the framing06:23 The standout talks: Nebo, Christina, Marion, Katja08:55 AI is everywhere — 70% of creatives are now AI-generated13:24 AppLovin's biggest booth + Pixel Portal announcement15:38 CTV explosion: TV Scientific, Vibe, Roku, Pinterest20:01 Bellagio 2027 + closing thoughts on what's coming━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Gamers are worried that Anita Sarkeesian is somehow involved with Sandfall Interactive after posting a picture of herself with the devs at GDC. This is days after gamers discovered she was a consultant on Slay the Spire 2 and review bombed the game to hell and back on Steam. Uh oh... Watch the podcast episodes on YouTube and all major podcast hosts including Spotify. CLOWNFISH TV is an independent, opinionated news and commentary podcast that covers Entertainment and Tech from a consumer's point of view. We talk about Gaming, Comics, Anime, TV, Movies, Animation and more. Hosted by Kneon and Geeky Sparkles. Get more news, views and reviews on Clownfish TV News - https://more.clownfishtv.com/ On YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/ClownfishTV On Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4Tu83D1NcCmh7K1zHIedvg On Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/clownfish-tv-audio-edition/id1726838629 MORE CLOWNFISH TV - Official Merch Store: http://ClownfishMinus.com Facebook - https://facebook.com/ClownfishTV X - https://x.com/ClownfishTVcom Clownfish TV subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/ClownfishTVOfficial/ Disclaimer: This series is produced by Clownfish Studios and WebReef Media, and is part of ClownfishTV.com. Opinions expressed by our contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of our guests, affiliates, sponsors, or advertisers. ClownfishTV.com is an unofficial news source and has no connection to any company that we may cover. This channel and website and the content made available through this site are for educational, entertainment and informational purposes only. These so-called “fair uses” are permitted even if the use of the work would otherwise be infringing. #Podcast #Commentary #News #Reaction #Gaming #Comedy #Entertainment #Hollywood #PopCulture #Tech #Anime #FYP Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Lords: Nathan https://store.steampowered.com/app/2976260/ChainStaff/ Robb https://store.steampowered.com/app/880930/Cyberganked/ Topics: I got pulled into the world of Eurorack modular synthesizers and now I'm finding myself trying to make cogent arguments for bringing uranium ore into the household. Ectoparasites Stairs are the driving of walking The Beaufort Wind Scale, found by nontanne https://media24.fireside.fm/file/fireside-uploads-2024/images/3/3597ddeb-e52e-4cda-a59c-c64600489fea/c8PXM396.jpg Microtopics: Year 14 of Cyberganked development. Cryptozookeeper. Struggling to play Yankee Doodle Dandy because the piano teacher doesn't want to hear your rendition of Axel F. Being hit up for $25 by the state. A text adventure with little pictures. Composing your 3D scene using pictures you took at the Denver haunted house your friend runs. Including an in-game explanation for why you chose to use the CGA colors. Playing TXT World and wondering "why would anyone make a game that looks like that?" How do you afford to take seven years to make a game? Finagling money out of various governments during COVID. Turning off the fish so that you can see the cat. Spending thousands of dollars to go to GDC and pitch your game to publishers and finding no takers because your game isn't a roguelike or a deck builder. Financial solvency isn't everything it's cracked up to be! Existing as a person on earth and being as old as possible. Life hacks for making your publisher go out of business. A spreadsheet of 450 game publishers that existed in 2023 whereas now there's just Epic and Roblox. Chainsaws and rocket launchers and other things you have in your front yard. Chainsaws vs. Chainstaffs. Measuring the IQ of every single Topic Lords listener. Asking your artist to make it 10% grosser. I know you have a good working relationship with your artist, but wouldn't you have had a better time alone in a dark room making bullshit with stable diffusion? The Bloodlust Software art style. Showing your four year old nephew how to throw a spear as Scorpion, then spending the rest of the afternoon shouting "get over here!" at each other. Your Eurorack habit leading you to import uranium. So-called "synthesizer music." Shitpost Eurorack Modules. Enriching uranium. Talking to everyone about the uranium-based Eurorack module you want to buy in order to shift the Overton Window until buying the uranium-based Eurorack module seems totally normal. Making the most incredible techno everyone's ever heard before dying of radiation poisoning, like Marie Curie. What the Moog Modular would be like if Bob Moog only designed shitpost modules. The three reasons to buy a hardware synthesizer. Making art on the same device you use to doom scroll. Sitting there with a jeweler's screwdriver trying to tune your synthesizer. Coming on Topic Lords to declare that you're not a pervert. Deckard's Dream. Spending $5000 on a new synthesizer, making one song, and selling it for 75 cents on Bandcamp. Making things go twang in the 70s. The kind of parasites Slimer would have. Fixing a toilet in space. Tongue-eating isopods. Eating a tongue and then becoming the tongue. You are what you eat! Making Elevator Action and then getting in a multi-floor shootout in an office building. Alpha Gal, the matriarch that makes you allergic to beef. Teaming up with the Kool-Aid Man to fight the tick that makes you allergic to the color red. A floor except every step you take is higher than the last and after you take a few steps you're way up in the air. The accident-per-mile-traveled for stairs. How your family reacts the second time you fall down the stairs. What a caveman would think of stairs. What simple machine a staircase is. Hiding from the Dalek on the second floor because Daleks don't understand desires. Umbrellas difficult to use. A poem that came from the sea. Might Order an Extra Mango Lassi. Whether the scoville scale is logarithmic. Arguing against preventing forest forest. Bringing a machete to the farmer's market because what are the chances there are two machetes at the farmer's market? Sea Heaps Up. Fresh Gale vs. Whole Gale. Never having been outside in the wind but trying to guess what happens in a moderate gale. Taking a seven foot Chainstaff to MAGFest. 3D printing a giant spear for your Hornet costume. Sign-twirling your seven foot bone spear and terrifying all the MAGFest attendees.

This week on The Razzle Dazzle Show, we're joined by Dillan Schmitz (King Aurorus) — award-winning composer and sound designer behind the upcoming indie action title SHADE Protocol. A Berklee College of Music graduate and GDC speaker, Dillan has spent years crafting audio that doesn't just support a story… it becomes part of it. In this episode, we dive into Dillan's journey into composition, the soundtracks that shaped him growing up, and how music helps build the atmosphere, identity, and emotion of a game. We also talk about his work on SHADE Protocol, exploring how the soundtrack helps bring Zura's world to life and how game music changes when it has to respond to the player. And this episode is just the beginning. All month long on The Razzle Dazzle Show, we're celebrating one year since the world announcement of SHADE Protocol by featuring members of the development team and diving into the creative process behind the game. If you want to support the project: Make sure to follow the game on Kickstarter and wishlist SHADE Protocol on Steam to help the team continue bringing this world to life.Special Guest - Dillan Schmitz (King Aurorus) https://kingaurorusmusic.com/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/LittleLegendaryGames?utm_source=linktree_profile_share⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Host: Jared Gonzalez. Cohosts: Chaz Hawkins, Mauro Piquera. Master Chief Engineer: Jared Gonzalez. Editor: Jared Gonzalez. Graphics Editor: Jared Gonzalez. Digital Media Editor: Jared Gonzalez. Producer: Jared Gonzalez. ⁠https://linktr.ee/razzledazzleshowpodcast?utm_source=linktree_profile_share #razzledazzle #razzledazzleshow #podcast #videogames #indiegames #gameaudio #gamedev #shadeprotocol #kickstarter #steam #wishlist #gaming #popculture #fyp #explore

Our intrepid hosts provide a prologue to the fourth season of the podcast with a wide-ranging conversation on the state of the videogame industry. With appreciation for GDC, Resident Evil 9 and Phil Spencer, they also talk (of course) AI and signs we may finally be exiting the trough - this week!Support the showThank you for listening to our podcast all about videogames and the amazing people who bring them to life!Hosted by Alexander Seropian and Aaron MarroquinFind us at www.thefourthcurtain.comJoin our Patreon for early, ad-free episodes plus bonus content at https://patreon.com/FourthCurtainCome join the conversation at https://discord.gg/KWeGE4xHfeVideos available at https://www.youtube.com/@thefourthcurtainFollow us on Twitter: @fourthcurtainEdited and mastered at https://noise-floor.comAudio Editor: Bryen HensleyVideo Editor: Sarkis GrigorianProducer: Kimya TaheriArt: Paul RusselCommunity Manager: Doug ZartmanFeaturing Liberation by 505

Recent research from Pearson shows that nearly $165B is lost each year when students can't find work after graduation. The transition from education to the workforce can be challenging to navigate. How can you help close the gap?  We sat down with three powerhouse educators to get their thoughts.  First, Matt Dombrowski. Matt is a Professor, Assistant Director, and Art Director for the nonprofit Limbitless Solutions, whose mission is providing cost free, accessible solutions to underserved communities. He leads an interdisciplinary student team in the creation of 3D printed, visually expressive bionic arms and video game training for children with limb difference. His work has been featured by Adobe, TEDx Youth, Huffington Post, Gamasutra, Fast Company, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, GDC, SXSWEDU, and the Gates Foundation. Matt is an Adobe Education Leader and an Adobe Partner By Design. Second, Dr. Kimberly Forbes. Dr. Forbes is the Director of Career and Technical Education (CTE) for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools and a first-generation high school and college graduate. After a successful tenure in the banking industry managing startup operations, she transitioned to education, eventually earning her Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction in 2024. A recognized leader in workforce readiness, Dr. Forbes has served on the national "Launch" committee and was named the NCDPI Piedmont Triad Region's Administrator of the Year. She is deeply committed to administrative innovation and expanding industry credentialing to ensure all students, including special populations, are prepared for the modern economy. Third, Cynthia Krebs. Cynthia is the Program Director of Business Technologies and Education and a professor in the Information Systems and Technology Department at Utah Valley University. Since joining UVU in 1988, she has held multiple roles including Assistant Dean of the School of Business and Department Chair of the Digital Media Department and the Office Technology/Administration Department.  In this episode, these three experts discuss strategies that prepare your students for real-world success. We hit a little bit of everything:  Challenges students currently face Key skills your students need to prepare them for the workforce How to teach and empower students with AI expertise  The role of certification and work-based learning experiences Creating a feedback loop between K12, higher education, and industry  Ready to help your students confidently bridge the gap between education and the workforce? This episode is for you.  Connect with educators like Matt, Kim, and Cynthia in our CERTIFIED Educator Community here.     Don't miss your chance to register for our annual CERTIFIED Educator's Conference here.      

Giga Bytes Podcast 409: PSN, Xbox 360, 2K, Denuvo, DRM y mucho más!!! Ningun juego de 360 funcionando en Series X/S en las pasadas 2 semanas Denuvo cracked, 2K y Denuvo, añaden conexión mandatoria cada 14 dias para NBA, Midnight Suns y otros títulos Explicamos lo de PSN y los 30 dias NBA The Run para junio, muestran Gameplay Arc Raiders recibe update para PSSR 2 Clair Obscur Expedition 33 alcanza 8m vendidas RE Requiem vende 7m de unidades Pelicula Resident Evil para sept 18 2026 Steam Controller lanza mayo 4 $99, lanza antes por que “no tiene RAM” dice Valve FF7 Rebirth demo en XB/Switch 2, Lanza junio 3 Reconfirman más info de Wolverine esta primavera (marzo 20-junio 20) Escasez de memorias impactara precio de Project Helix (Asha Sharma) Demo de F1 interno de EA en GDC mostrando Path Tracing en PS5 Pro Super Mario Galaxy Movie a streaming mayo 5 Django y el Zorro en camino     Sigueme y Suscribete: Facebook.com/elgiga Youtube.com/elgiga947 Instagram.com/elgiga947                                                                                                                                    Twitch.tv/elgiga947 Twitter.com/elgiga947 Giga Bytes Podcast   #monsterenergypr @monsterenergy @Stephreyesmarketing @caribbeanxsports @eriberto213 #gigabytespodcast #gigabytespodcast #2026

If you're a leader in game dev who feels stuck, able to spot problems but struggling to make a real difference, there is a path forward that levels up your leadership and accelerates your team, game, and career. Sign up here to learn more: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6 If you're making progress but losing the goal, you aren't leading. You're optimizing for stagnation. In this episode, Ben deconstructs the often-confused synonyms of authority in the games industry. Drawing from a GDC talk he was a part of, he explores why game development is currently "over-managed" and under-led. He provides a clear framework for deconflicting the roles of Leader, Manager, and Boss, while introducing five specific "stances" that allow you to develop your team's capacity and navigate the ever-shifting landscape of player preferences and market trends. What You'll Learn In This Episode: Leader vs Manager vs Boss: change driver, system optimizer, org advocate Why game dev's "management bias" leads to stagnation The 5 development stances: Directing, Teaching, Advising, Mentoring, Coaching How to choose the right stance based on urgency vs growth Why professional coaching is an underused (and powerful) tool If you're a leader in game dev who feels like you're constantly "chopping down trees" only to realize you might be in the wrong forest, this episode is for you. Connect with us:

Writer, Musician, and Experimental Games Workshop Organizer Liz Ryerson takes on GDC 2026's expo hall and buttered cocoa with the help of Ty Underwood, Kory, and many more. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman. Segments: 1: Mar 9 at 1-17 PM - in the park (00:14) 2: Mar 11 at 1-05 PM - game changer (03:51) 3: Mar 11 at 3-21 PM - overheard at GDC (08:45) 4: Mar 12 at 4-01 PM - GDC expo floor (10:10) 5: Mar 16 at 5-14 PM - rambly sick after show reflections (01:20:20) Discuss this episode in the Insert Credit Forums Insert Credit Gaiden is brought to you by patrons like you. Thank you. Subscribe: RSS, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and more!

Writer, Musician, and Experimental Games Workshop Organizer Liz Ryerson takes on GDC 2026's expo hall and buttered cocoa with the help of Ty Underwood, Kory, and many more. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman. Segments: 1: Mar 9 at 1-17 PM - in the park (00:14) 2: Mar 11 at 1-05 PM - game changer (03:51) 3: Mar 11 at 3-21 PM - overheard at GDC (08:45) 4: Mar 12 at 4-01 PM - GDC expo floor (10:10) 5: Mar 16 at 5-14 PM - rambly sick after show reflections (01:20:20) Discuss this episode in the Insert Credit Forums Insert Credit Gaiden is brought to you by patrons like you. Thank you. Subscribe: RSS, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and more!

WARNING: This episode is even longer than last week's! Settle into the back half of GDC 2026 with tales from your nice hosts about interesting talks, the "new" Festival Hall, what it feels like to be up for multiple major industry awards, running into people you know for the first time, and flying home to a impending snowstorm.In this Patreon-exclusive video, Lydia thought to mark her first GDC by capturing her first impressions of the conference's Festival Hall. Sign up at any level for instant access or, if you're not ready to enter a financial relationship with the program, you can purchase it à la carte!0:02:44GDC 2026 - (Dale's) Monday/TuesdayWeaponized Play: How Extremist Networks are Targeting Children in Online GamesKatia Potapov, Rita Fabi, Jang Kim, Jessa MelleaGame Developer ConferencePage to Booth: Table-Reading and Performance Recording Live DemoAlexa Ray Corriea, Sam Maggs, Ben Starr, Jennifer Hale, Khris Brown, Amanda Rose SmithGame Developer Conference0:09:34GDC 2026 - WednesdayRules of the Game 2026: Revealing Techniques from Resourceful DesignersGame Developer ConferenceImprov Games for Game DevelopersRez GrahamGame Developer ConferenceDecolonizing Play and the Rise of African Game Development (2013-2026)Eyram TawiaGame Developer ConferenceSerious Games RoundtableMatthew Lee, Kathleen YinGame Developer Conference'SILENT HILL f': The Challenges of Creating a Melee-Only Horror GameAl YangGame Developer ConferenceTest Like the Top Studios: Actionable Player Insights in 60 MinutesHeather De BernardiGame Developer ConferenceThe IGF 2026 Winners Are An Exceptional Selection Of Indie Games You're Going T…John WalkerKotakuTrump administration's "cruel and unnecessary" acts called out by Titanium Cour…Mark WarrenRock Paper Shotgun0:56:54GDC 2026 - ThursdayBuilding a Critically Acclaimed Licensed Game in 18 MonthsAmanda FaroughGame Developer ConferenceXbox Gaming for Everyone Community Networking Lounge Returns to GDC 2026MIcrosoftNobody Reads Anything: How Narrative Can Communicate So Other Disciplines Actua…Mark Slutsky, Laura Michet, Kevin SnowGame Developer ConferenceVeterans Q&A for New Writers and Narrative DesignersGame Developer ConferenceGaming the System: Creating Your Own Path to a Narrative Design CareerZoe Calamar, Luca Azenaro-AceroGame Developer Conference Worst.Game.Ever. Fixing Diabetes Management with a Video GameSam GlassenbergGame Developer Conference1:33:03GDC 2026 - FridayDigital Folklore: Crafting Playable Memory Through Photogrammetry and Animation…Verda MunirGame Developer ConferenceSan Francisco Railway Museum & Gift ShopThe Dialogue Design Panel: A Role with a Million NamesCharles Pateman, Kareem Shuman, Monet Gardiner, Heather Plunkard-SergeGame Developer ConferenceTop 10 Ways to Get Your Game Ready For SuccessShawn Alexander AllenGame Developer ConferenceLive Sky Sound Bath and MeditationthatgamecompanyInstagramEssential Debugging Skills for Every DeveloperRez GrahamGame Developer ConferenceExperimental Games ShowcaseGame Developer ConferenceExperimental Games Showcase DemosGame Developer Conference

This week's episode takes a different angle.What started as a conversation about Epic, Disney, and the state of the market quickly turned into something bigger… a discussion about systems.From live service games to theme parks to parenting, the same core question shows up everywhere:What behaviors are your systems actually driving?We break down: Why Fortnite's evolution is less about content and more about system design  The gap between Disney's IP strength and product experience  How Riot approaches game design through behavioral systems  Why “day zero design” matters for community and retention  And a personal story that brings all of this into a very real context This isn't a trends episode. It's a lens shift.Key Takeaways Systems shape behavior more than content ever will  Engagement loops can work too well and create unintended outcomes  Retention is a systems problem, not a content problem  Community health is designed early, not fixed later  The same behavioral patterns show up across games, platforms, and real life Why This MattersFor teams in player support, community, live ops, and trust & safety:You're not just reacting to player behavior.You're dealing with the output of systems that were designed upstream.Understanding that changes how you: Diagnose issues  Prioritize fixes  Influence product decisions  Advocate internally Links & Mentions Player Driven Workshop (Community + Day Zero Design)  Lewis Ward's GDC breakdown on Riot and system-driven design Join the Discord

This year's GDC Special is a big one. So big that this episode is over 2 hours long... and it's only part 1 (but your nice hosts don't know that yet)!0:15:49GDC 2026 - Monday GDC Encounters: Speed Networking Day 1Game Developer ConferenceThe Tension: Designing for Discomfort in 'Wanderstop'Steven MargolinGame Developer ConferenceThe Black Designers' Dilemma"Carl Varnado, Jabari Ali, Jarory DeJesus, Evan Narcisse"Game Developer ConferenceThe Games Industry Social (aka: GIG IRL)Media Indie Exchange (aka: The MIX)DogpileToot GamesGame Funding: Lessons from Outersloth"Victoria Tran, Forest Willard"Game Developer ConferenceOutersloth reveals its game funding agreement with developersAlex Forbes-CalvinGamesIndustry.bizFrom Beautiful to Playable: Texture Compression Secrets Every Game Artist Shoul…Jad DeebGame Developer ConferenceFour Artists Use Substance 3D to Texture 'Clair Obscur: Expedition 33'"Alan Reynaud, Mathieu Costat"Game Developer ConferenceGDC 101"Sam Warnke, Natalie Sam"Game Developer ConferenceFrom Reliable to Respected: Breaking Free of the Good Job TrapCecile HemeryGame Developer ConferenceEstablishing the Standards and Practices of Game Preservation"Garrett Fredley, Andrew Borman"Game Developer ConferenceFresh Grad to Art Director: My Journey at 'Love and Deepspace'Xianzi FengGame Developer ConferenceCutscene Pipeline in 'Love and Deepspace'"Xianyu Wang, Ji Zhang"Game Developer Conference1:06:09GDC 2026 - TuesdayGame Education Roundtable Day 1Game Developer ConferencePraise the Architect and Pass the Ammunition: Health & Damage in 'The Outer Wor…Game Developer Conference'Civilization VII': Impactful UI Sound Design at ScaleKadet KuhneGame Developer ConferenceWhy We Still Believe: A Conversation with Amir SatvatAmir SatvatGame Developer ConferenceAlways Supporting (the) Games CommunityAmir Satvat3rd Annual Game Developer's ConcertAustin WintoryGame Developer ConferenceTechnical Artists Roundtable (20th Year)!!! Day 1Jeff HannaGame Developer ConferenceThe Modular and Expressive World Art of 'Keeper'Nick MaksimGame Developer ConferenceLocal Game Community Organizers ForumMarlena Abraham, Michael Lee, Daniel Lin, Laia BeeGame Developer ConferenceTiny ConSociety of PlayBlack in GamingSo Your Game Got Cancelled: Navigating Personal Development and Career OutcomesMark LaCroixGame Developer ConferenceSince we recorded this episode, a major South Korean gaming website wrote up a very detailed recap of Mark's roundtable. [English Machine Translation]MAR10 Day returns with festivities for fans of all ages in honor of the Super M…NintendoWhy Good Games Fail: The Startup Audit Every Studio NeedsLucien ParsonsGame Developer Conference'despelote': Capturing the Feeling of 2001 Quito, EcuadorJulian CorderoGame Developer Conference

We've been on a bit of a mini World Models series over the last quarter: from introducing the topic with Yi Tay, to exploring Marble with World Labs' Fei-Fei Li and Justin Johnson, to previewing World Models learned from massive gaming datasets with General Intuition's Pim de Witte (who has now written down their approach to World Models with Not Boring), to discussing the Cosmos World Model with with Andrew White of Edison Scientific on our new Science pod, to writing up our own theses on Adversarial World Models. Meanwhile Nvidia, Waymo and Tesla have published their own approaches, Google has released Genie 3, and Yann LeCun has raised $1B for AMI and published LeWorldModel.Today's guests have a radically different approach to World Modeling to every player we just mentioned — while Genie 3 is impressive, its many flaws demonstrate the issues with their approach - terrain clipping, noninteractivity (single player, no physics/no objects other than the player move), and maximum of 60 second immersion. Moonlake AI (inspired by the Dreamworks logo) is the diametric opposite - immediately multiplayer, incredibly interactive, indefinite lifetime, capable of MANY different kinds of world models by simulating environments, predicting outcomes, and planning over long horizons. This is enabled by bootstrapping from game engines and training custom agents: In Towards Efficient World Models, Chris Manning and Ian Goodfellow join Fan-Yun in explaining why their approach to efficiency with structure and casuality instead of just blind scaling is sorely needed:SOTA models still show physical or spatial understanding glitches, such as solid objects floating in mid-air or moving “inside” other solid objects.If the goal is to plan for the next action, how often is a high-resolution pixel view necessary for modeling the world? Our bet is that there is a disproportionately large share of economically valuable tasks where such detail is not required. After all, humans with a wide variety of sensory limitations have little difficulty doing almost everything in the world. Furthermore, for a large number of purposes, describing a scene or a situation in a few words of language (“the car's tires squealed as it cornered sharply”) is sufficient for understanding and planning.Experiments also show that humans only partially process visual input in a top-down, task-directed way, often making use of abstracted object-level modeling. In almost all cases, partial representations combined with semantic understanding are sufficient.…If the goal is to facilitate the understanding of causality in multimodal environments, then the world model—whether it is used in the virtual world or the physical world—must prioritize properties such as spatial and physical state consistency maintained over long time periods, and an ability to evolve the world that accurately reflects the consequences of actions. That's what Moonlake is building.Game engines are the right starting point abstraction to efficiently extract causal relationships, and building the interfaces and community (including their new $30,000 Creator Cup) to kickstart the flywheel of actions-to-observations.We were fortunate enough to attend their sessions at GDC 2026 (the Mecca of Game Devs), and were impressed by the huge variety and flexibility of the worlds people were building with Moonlake's tools already! Live videos on the pod.Full Video Pod on YouTube!Timestamps00:00 Benchmarking Gets Hard00:47 Meet Moonlake Founders01:26 Why Build World Models03:12 Structure Not Just Scale05:37 Defining Action Conditioned Worlds07:32 Abstraction Versus Bitter Lesson14:39 Language Versus JEPA Debate20:27 Reasoning Traces And Rendering Layer37:00 Gameplay Over Graphics38:02 Fiction Rules And World Tweaks39:15 Code Engines Beat Learned Priors41:10 Diffusion Scaling Limits43:23 Symbolic Versus Diffusion Boundary46:14 Platform Vision Beyond Games50:24 Spatial Audio And Multimodal Latents54:23 NLP Roots Hiring And Moon Lake NameTranscript[00:00:00] Cold Open[00:00:00] Chris Manning: Think this whole space is extremely difficult as things are emerging now. And I mean, it's not only for world models, I think it's for everything including text-based models, right? ‘cause in the early days it seemed very easy to have good benchmarks ‘cause we could do things like question answering benchmarks.[00:00:20] But these days so much of what people are wanting to do is nothing like that, right? You're wanting to get some recommendations about which backpack would be best for you for your trip in Europe next month. It's not so easy to come up with a benchmark, and it's the same problem with these world models.[00:00:41] Meet the Founders[00:00:41] swyx: Okay. We're back in the studio with Moon Lake's, two leads. I, I guess there's other founders as well, but, sun and Chris Manning. Welcome to the studio.[00:00:54] Fan-yun Sun: Thanks. Thanks, Chris. Thanks for having us.[00:00:56] swyx: You've got, you guys have, come burst onto the scene with a really refreshing [00:01:00] new take of mold models.[00:01:01] I would just want to, I guess ask how you, the two of you came together. Chris, you're a legend in NLP and just AI in, in, in general. You're, you're his grad student, I guess[00:01:10] Fan-yun Sun: Actually my co-founder.[00:01:11] swyx: Oh, yeah.[00:01:12] Fan-yun Sun: I should give a lot of credit to my co-founder, Sharon. Yeah. She was, she was actually working with Professor Fe Androgyn and then she ended up working with, Ron and Chris Manning here.[00:01:22] And then, so I got connected through to Chris initially, actually through my co-founder,[00:01:26] What is Moon Lake?[00:01:26] swyx: what is Moon Lake? What, what is, actually, I'm also very curious about the name, but like why going into world models?[00:01:33] Fan-yun Sun: So I was working a lot. With actually Nvidia research during my PhD years on essentially generating interactive worlds to train reinforcement learning agents or embody EA agents.[00:01:44] And then there's two observations. One in academia and one in industry. An industry like folks at Nvidia are actually paying a lot of dollars to purchase these types of interactive worlds, whether it's for the sake of evaluation or training the robots, or policies or models. And [00:02:00] then, in academia, same thing is happening.[00:02:02] And more specifically, when I was actually working with Nvidia on the synthetic data foundation model training project, we were actually generating a lot of these synthetic data and showing that, hey, you can actually, these synthetic data are actually as useful as real world data when it comes to multimodal pre-training.[00:02:16] But then, like I said, there's a lot of dollars being paid out to like external vendors or, or like. Other folks to manually curate these types of data. It was very clear to us that, okay, on our way to, let's call it embody general intelligence models need to learn the consequences behind their actions, which means that they need interactive data and the demand for those types of data are growing exponentially.[00:02:38] But everybody's sort of thinking about it from a pure, say, video generation perspective or something else. But we feel like the true actually opportunity is actually building reasoning models that can do these things, like how humans do these things today. So that's a little bit on the genesis of Moon Lake, and I think the reason I got into world models was partly.[00:02:59] A philosophical [00:03:00] take of the on the world where I like, believe the simulation theory and stuff like that. But on the other, on the other hand, it's really just like, oh, like there's an opportunity there that I feel like nobody's doing it the way I think should be done.[00:03:10] Structure, Not Scale: The Vision[00:03:10] Chris Manning: I can say a little bit about that.[00:03:12] Yeah. So of the overall goal is the pursuit of artificial intelligence and most of my career has been doing that in the language space and that's been just extremely productive. As we all know, the story of the last few years, I don't have to tell about how much we've achieved with large language models, but, uh.[00:03:31] Although they have been extremely effective for ramping language and general intelligence, it's clearly not the whole world. There's this multimodal world of vision, sound, taste that you'd like to be dealing with more than just, language. And then the question is how to do it. And despite, a huge investment in the computer vision space, right, as the research field computer [00:04:00] vision has been for decades, far, far larger than the language space, actually.[00:04:05] I think it's fair. Say that, vision, understanding sort of stalled out, right? You got to object recognition and then progress just wasn't being made right? If you look at any of these, vision language models, it's the language that's doing 90% of the work and the vision barely works. And so there's really an interesting research question as to why that is and at heart, the ideas behind Moon Lake are an attempt to answer that, believing that there can be a really rich connection between a more symbolic layer of abstracted understanding of visual domains, which aren't in the mainstream vision models, which are still trying to operate on the surface level of pixels.[00:04:50] swyx: I think one of your blog posts, you put it as structure, not scale. Is that, a general thesis?[00:04:57] Chris Manning: Yeah. Well, scale is good too.[00:04:58] swyx: Yeah. Scale is good. Too[00:04:59] lot,[00:04:59] Chris Manning: [00:05:00] lots of data is good as well and scale, but nevertheless, you want the structure Yeah. To be able to much more efficiently learn.[00:05:07] swyx: Yeah. The other thing I really liked also is you put out an example of what your kind of reasoning traces look like.[00:05:12] Right. Which you would distill is the word that comes to mind. I don't even think that's a good, good description, but it would involve, for example, geometry, physics, affordances, symbolic logic, perceptual mappings, and what, what have you. But like that, that is the kind of example that involves, let's call it spatial reasoning, role model reasoning as as compared to normal LM reasoning.[00:05:35] Yeah.[00:05:36] Defining World Models vs Video Generation[00:05:36] Vibhu: But also like taking it a step back. So how do you guys define world models? A lot of people see okay, you can do diffusion, you can do video generation. But, you guys put out quite a few blog posts. You put out a essay recently, we can even pull it up about efficient world models. You have a pretty like structural definition here, but for the general audience that don't super follow the space, right.[00:05:55] What's, what's the difference in what we see from like a video generation model to [00:06:00] a world gen A simulator? How do you kind of paint that last[00:06:02] Chris Manning: year? Yeah, so I think this is actually a little bit subtle because, people look at these amazing generative AI video models, SAWA VO three, one of these things, and they think Genie, they think, oh, this is amazing.[00:06:17] This is we've solved understanding the world because you can produce these generative AI videos, but. The reality is that although the visuals do look fantastic, those visuals actually are accompanied by an understanding of the 3D world, understanding how objects can move, what the consequences of different actions are, and that's what's really needed for spatial intelligence.[00:06:49] So I mean, a term we sometimes use is that you need action condition, world models. That you only actually have a world model if you can predict, [00:07:00] given some action is taken, what is going to change in the world because of it. And in particular, that becomes hard over longer time scales. So if you're simply, trying to.[00:07:12] Predict the next video frame. That's not so difficult. But what you actually want to do is understand the consequences, likely consequences of actions minutes into the future. And to do that, you actually much more of an abstracted semantic model of the world.[00:07:32] The Bitter Lesson & Data Abstraction[00:07:32] swyx: Yeah, the question comes where you want to have more structure than is available in just predicting the next token.[00:07:41] And typically, well, let's, let's call it the experience of the last five years has been that is just washed away by scale, right? So what is the right middle ground here that, you don't ignore the bitter lesson, but also you. Can be more efficient than what we're doing today.[00:07:57] Chris Manning: One possibility [00:08:00] is, look, if we just collect masses and masses and masses and masses of video data, this problem will be solved.[00:08:11] Under certain assumptions that could be true, but there are sort of multiple avenues in which it could not be true. The first is what's really essential is understanding the, the consequences of actions producing an action conditioned world model. And if you are simply, collecting observational video data, which is the easy stuff to collect, when you're sort of mining online videos, you don't actually.[00:08:41] Know the actions that are being taken to see how the video is changing. And so if you are never collecting directly actions and you are having to try and infer them from what happened in the observed video, that's not impossible. But it's very [00:09:00] hard and it's not really established that you can get that to work at any scale yet.[00:09:05] And so there's a lot of premium on collecting action condition video data, which is part of why there's been a lot of interest in using simulation so that you can be collecting data where you do know the actions, which isn't quite limited supply, but there's also in the limit of as much data as you could possibly have.[00:09:28] Maybe the problem is eventually solvable, but. Even though we collect huge amounts of text data is always at a great level of abstraction, right? Language is a human designed, abstracted representation where there's meaning in each token and it's representing and abstraction of the world, right?[00:09:51] As soon as you are describing someone as a professor, and as soon as you are saying that they're condescending, right? These are very [00:10:00] abstracted descriptions of the world. It's not at what you're observing as pixel level, and to get to that kind of degree of abstraction, starting from pixels is orders and magnitude of extra data and processing.[00:10:14] And so, although, we absolutely want to exploit, get as much data as possible, use the bitter lesson. Nevertheless, if there are ways in which you can work with five orders of magnitude less data than people working purely from pixels, you're gonna be able to make a lot more progress, a lot more quickly.[00:10:34] And that's the bet here. And so you could just say that's only wanting to be able to, do it more efficiently, do it more quickly, do it more cheaply. But I think it's actually more than that, I think. One should be making the analogy to how human beings work at one level. You know? Yes, we have these high [00:11:00] resolution eyes and we can look and see a scene like a video, but all of the evidence from neuroscience and psychology is that most of what comes into people's eyes is never processed.[00:11:13] Right. That you are doing fairly fine ated processing of exactly what you're focusing on. But as soon as it's away from that of yeah, there's another guy over there that you've sort of only processing top down this very abstracted semantic description of the world around you. And so, that's what human beings are doing.[00:11:33] They're working with semantic abstractions and so. I think it is just the right representation. ‘cause we also have other goals we want to be able to do, real time worlds. So that means there's a limit to how much processing you can do and we want to do long-term planning and consistency. And again, that favors abstraction.[00:11:55] I mean, I guess there was actually a recent. Blog posts that [00:12:00] came out from our Friends of physical intelligence and, they were sort of heading in the same direction they were saying Oh, to the pay[00:12:06] swyx: pay model.[00:12:07] Chris Manning: Yeah. Yeah. To maintain a long term memory of what's happening in the world. So we can, do longer term we actually storing text of what is, been happening in the world.[00:12:19] Right. It is not such a successful strategy of trying to keep it all at a pixel level.[00:12:24] Vibhu: And yeah, I mean, you can see it in video models like that Temporal consistency. We're at a scale of train on, all the video data we have. We have it for maybe 30 seconds, a few minutes. That's not the same as a game state played for half an hour.[00:12:37] Right. I thought you guys break it down pretty well. You have a, you have a blog post about. Building multimodal worlds with an agent. I dunno if you guys wanna talk about this. This is one of the things I read, I[00:12:48] swyx: thought, yeah, it's the thing I talked about with the reasoning chain. Yeah.[00:12:51] Vibhu: So there's like different phases to this.[00:12:53] It seems like it's more of an agent, a scaffold, very different approach than just, type in a prompt and you, you don't have the same consistency. [00:13:00] It also, like, for people that are listening, I, I would highly recommend reading it. It breaks down the problem in a different light, right?[00:13:06] So like, what do you need to consider when you're talking about video, like world game models, right? How would, what do you need to consider? What are the factors? What are the elements? What's the state? So I don't know if you guys have stuff to talk about for this one.[00:13:19] Fan-yun Sun: Yeah. Actually, I wanted to add on a little bit Yeah.[00:13:22] On our previous point, which is just like, change topics so quickly. I, I do feel like sometimes people confuse like, oh, like we're taking an an, an method with abstraction. That means they don't believe in bitter lesson. Like that's just false, right? Like we are believed is a bitter lesson. But then I feel like the question that we always discuss is like, what is the right abstraction level today?[00:13:42] The analogy I like to make is like, let's just say we can encode and decode. Represent all of images, videos, audio and bytes. Then the most bitter lesson approached is to train a next byte prediction model as opposed to the next token prediction model where it's just like, okay, it's natively multimodal, can just, but it's like, yeah, like [00:14:00] to, to Chris's point, it's like the scale and computing you need to achieve that.[00:14:03] So that's why we always come back to like, okay, what is the most efficient way to do it? And reasoning models to the point of this blog post is a showcase of like, Hey, we're actually just like reasoning about the world and reasoning about. The aspects of the world that CAGR that matter for me to learn what I want to learn from this role model.[00:14:21] swyx: Yeah, it's like you're improving the en encoder of whatever you're, trying to model. And like a better representation would just represent the important things in less space. Yeah. Which would just be more efficient.[00:14:33] Fan-yun Sun: Yeah.[00:14:34] swyx: So yeah, I, I, I fully agree that it is not, antagonistic to, bitter lesson.[00:14:38] I do wanna wanna mention one more thing. Is there any philosophical differences with the JPA stuff that, Yun is working on? I gotta go there. You, you, you, you're, you're imagining like some latent abstraction. I'm like, okay, fine. Let's, let's talk about it, right? Like it's an elephant in the room.[00:14:52] Chris Manning: Yeah.[00:14:53] JEPA & Philosophical Differences with LeCun[00:14:53] Chris Manning: There are philosophical differences. Jan Lacoon is a dear friend of mine, but. [00:15:00] He has never appreciated the power of language in particular, or symbolic representations in general. Yarn is a very visual thinker. He always wants to claim that he thinks visually and there are no words, symbols, or math in his head.[00:15:21] Maybe that's true of yarn. It's certainly not the way I think. Um. But at any rate, the world according to yarn is the basic stuff of the, the world and of intelligence is visual and language is just. This low bit rate communication mechanism between humans and it doesn't have much other utility and it's far inferior to the high bit rate video, that comes into your eyes.[00:15:53] And I think he's fundamentally missing a number of important things [00:16:00] there. Think of this evolutionary argument looking at animals, right? That the closest analogies, the things with chimps, right? So chimpanzees, have fairly similar brains to human beings. They have great vision systems, they have great memory systems.[00:16:18] They've got, better memory than we do of short term memories. They can plan, they can build primitive tools that, humans. Massively ahead in what we understand about the world, what we can plan, what we can build. And essentially what took off for us was that humans managed to develop language and that gave a symbolic knowledge, representation, and reasoning level, which just, okay if this sort of vaulting of what could be done with the intelligence in brains.[00:16:59] So the [00:17:00] philosopher Dan de refers to language as a cognitive tool and argues that, humans unique among the creatures in the world have managed to build their own cognitive tools and language is the famous first example. But other things like, mathematics and programming languages are also cognitive tools.[00:17:21] They give you an ability to. Think in abstractions, in extended causal reasoning chains. And that allows you to do much more. And we use that for spatial representation and intelligence and planning and gameplay as well. So we believe, and this is, underlying the specific technologies that Moon Lake is making, that symbolic representations are powerful.[00:17:50] And you want to use that in your understanding of the visual world when you want a causal understanding, when you want to maintain long-term [00:18:00] consistency and prediction. And as I understand it, that's just not in ya Koon's worldview. So I think that's the fundamental philosophical difference. Then there's the specific model.[00:18:11] He's been advancing jpa, that's a reasonable. Research bed is a direction as to, to head for building out a model of the visual world. To my mind, it's sort of one reasonable research bed. It's not really established. It's the best one that everyone should be following,[00:18:32] swyx: at least developed at scale, at Meta.[00:18:34] But it's not just vision, right? Like, I mean, JPA is a, just joint admitting prediction can be applied to anything really. And people have done it. The argument is that there is a latent representation or that is probably more. Suited to the task, then why not let machines do it for us instead of predefining it at all?[00:18:50] And isn't something like a JPA shaped thing the right answer? And if not, why not?[00:18:55] Chris Manning: So I think there's a part of jpa that's right, which is [00:19:00] you do want to have a joint. Embedding that gives you a consistent model of the world. And Jan's argument is you can never get that from auto aggressive language models ‘cause they're sort of left to right churning out one token at a time.[00:19:22] I guess this is where we're the research arguments of the field, I'm not actually convinced that's right. ‘cause although the token production is this auto aggressive, process that's heading, left to right, I guess don't have to be left to right. But anyway, in sequence of tokens we could have right to left Arabic.[00:19:40] But although that's true, all of the weights of the model that are internal to the transformer, they are a joint model of the model's understanding of the world. And so I think you can think of the weights of the model as a form of. Joint representation, [00:20:00] and therefore it is plausible to think that could be the basis of a world model, which avoids, ya's objections.[00:20:10] swyx: I think I follow, and obviously that would touch on what Moon Lake eventually ends up doing as well. Right. Like, which it's hard to tell because you put out the end results, but we don't know the inputs that go into it. So it's, it's, that's something that we have to figure out over time.[00:20:25] Vibhu: Yeah. I mean, I guess this kind of breaks down some of the outputs. Do you wanna walk us through it?[00:20:31] Reasoning Traces & Interactive Worlds[00:20:31] Fan-yun Sun: Yeah. So this, this really just walks us through the reasoning traces of like, okay. So that just say, if we wanna build a world in this context, it's really just a game demo that, that shows the, the variety of interactions that this world model can build.[00:20:45] And yeah, it's really just a reasoning traces of like, okay it prompted to create a bowling game. Like how did it achieve what you saw? That level of causality, interaction and consistency, right? So yeah, this is almost just like a, an example of [00:21:00] like a reasoning traces. Very[00:21:01] swyx: detailed.[00:21:01] Fan-yun Sun: Yeah.[00:21:01] Vibhu: Very, very detailed.[00:21:02] You gotta you don't even realize it, right? Like when a video is generated, what happens when a ball strikes a pin, right? So first, like you, there's audio in that, like audio triggers happens, score increments, the world changes. Like pins have to start dropping. There's a timer that goes on. It's just like very similar to how now we're used to reasoning for language models.[00:21:20] There's a whole state of what happens. So geometry, physics, all this stuff. And then yeah, there's kind of that single prompt. So asset, ation all this stuff. It's like a, it's a nice view to see what's going on.[00:21:32] swyx: I think Sun is also too polite to point out that, both like Google's genie, demos as well as world Labs is marble, do not have interactive worlds.[00:21:41] Fan-yun Sun: That's the benefit of having a reasoning model, right? Like, because you can, you can say, oh, like maybe in this particular context, I want to learn how to bowl. And then you can say, okay, then what is it important when it comes to learning how to bowl? Okay, maybe it's like I need to understand the, the basic of like, physics and I want to throw it over [00:22:00] them.[00:22:00] I wanna know that when I, when it resets it's a new game. So I know that yeah, basically, you know to pick up the ball, you know that ball's gonna cause the pins to fall down. You know that what's important to this particular bowling game is to score and you know that the score corresponds to the number of pins that fell down.[00:22:19] So it's just like, if it's a model that sort of knows what it. Looks like, knows what a bowling game looks like, but doesn't actually allows you to practice over and over again and to understand that, oh, like what it takes to actually get a high score. Then it sort of doesn't actually allow you to learn what you set out to learn within the world model.[00:22:38] And I think this is really just one example of showing like the advantages of the approach that we're taking over most the, let's call it the zeitgeist, is today, when people talk about clinical role models,[00:22:51] Chris Manning: right? So it sort of seems like the question to ask when there's a world model is.[00:22:58] Can I not [00:23:00] only just wander around the world and look at the beautiful graphics, can I interact with the objects in the world and see the right consequences of actions?[00:23:11] Vibhu: And you also understand what the consequences would be if you do something right. So it's not just like, okay, there's one thing if I pick it up, something will happen.[00:23:19] But, there's 50 options and I know I can expect, I can infer what would happen if I do any of them. Right. So very different when you can actually see it play around with it.[00:23:28] swyx: There,[00:23:28] Beyond Unity: Cognitive Tools for World Building[00:23:31] swyx: there's two cheeky elements of that. I mean, the, the, the I guess, less ambitious one is, let's really establish for listeners, why is this fundamentally different than writing Unity code, right?[00:23:40] Like just creating a model to translate a prompt into Unity code[00:23:44] Fan-yun Sun: so there is an underlying physics engine. Yeah. In that sense, there's some overlapping things to Unity, but the way we think about it is like physics engine. Tools or code are cognitive tools like borrowing Chris's term, right? Like tools [00:24:00] that the model can employ as means to an end.[00:24:04] So today maybe you say, okay, in this particular context we care about physics, we care about the long-term causality consequences. Then yes, we deploy it, employ physics engine, and then maybe tomorrow we say, okay, we're we're training that. Just say drones where we only care about really fluid dynamics and the visual aspect of the world.[00:24:25] Then, then yeah, maybe we don't actually, the model actually doesn't have to use a physics engine. Or maybe it employs other types of representation or physics engine to achieve the task. So yes, writing code for Unity is sort of similar to a tool that our A model can employ, but our goal is for a model to take a representation conditioned reasoning.[00:24:46] Approach or process.[00:24:47] swyx: Yeah,[00:24:47] Fan-yun Sun: internally.[00:24:48] swyx: Yeah. Using these things as just like general two calls. Right. Which I think is very interesting. The other more ambitious one is, some kind of recursive element where it becomes multiplayer, right? Like here, there's a single player element, you're not [00:25:00] modeling any other people involved.[00:25:01] And that is a whole other thing.[00:25:04] Fan-yun Sun: But in fact, we can really do multiplayers. Oh yeah, okay. I haven't seen any double situations. So just actually just like prompt our, our model to say, Hey, like configure to multiplayer. Then it'll do like this. You'll be able to configure multiplayer[00:25:16] swyx: great[00:25:17] Fan-yun Sun: persistency database for you.[00:25:18] Easy. Yeah.[00:25:19] Vibhu: So what, what are like some of the current limitations in where we're at? So there's one approach of like, okay, scale up video predictors. Obviously there's data issues. With approaches like this, is it data constraints? What are like the next steps? Is it real time? Like, so there's one side of, write an agent to write Unity code, but okay, I want to be streaming a game real time.[00:25:38] I want to have characters being also like agent, but where, where do we kinda see this scaling up? Right?[00:25:44] Fan-yun Sun: Yeah, there's definitely a data constraint. Like the more data, the, the better. This reasoning model can almost basically act as humans to like operate a variety of tools and softwares to build whatever's necessary.[00:25:57] And then there's a sort [00:26:00] of fidelity constraint, which we're actually solving with another model, which we can talk about later. But it's like, it's not as easy to get to photorealism with the approach that we're taking. But we think there are better solutions to that, which is we can dive into later.[00:26:14] Later.[00:26:15] Vibhu: The one one thing you note here is it's a diffusion model, right? So there's, there's a few approaches, diffusion caution, splatting, yeah, so Ry diffusion model, you guys wanna[00:26:25] Fan-yun Sun: Yeah.[00:26:25] Vibhu: Introduce,[00:26:26] Fan-yun Sun: yeah, totally.[00:26:26] Rie: Neural Rendering & Skins for Worlds[00:26:26] Fan-yun Sun: So within our world modeling framework, we think there are two models that we train, right?[00:26:31] Like, there's the multimodal reasoning model that we just talked about that essentially handles. Mainly the, the causality, the persistency and logic determinism of the world. And then RY is our bet on saying, okay, like while all those model, can take care of all these things that we just talked about, it's limitations compared to existing, say, video models, is that it doesn't have as high of a pixel [00:27:00] ality right off the gate, right?[00:27:02] And EE is to say, Hey, we can actually take whatever persistent representation that we generate with our multimodal reasoning model and learn to restyle it into photo photorealistic styles or arbitrary styles you want. So this model is almost to say, Hey, I'm going to respect the persistency and interactivity of the world that you created, but my only job is to make sure that its pixel distribution is close to what we want.[00:27:29] Vibhu: Yeah.[00:27:30] swyx: Great example right there. You kept the KL divergence.[00:27:33] Fan-yun Sun: Oh. Where,[00:27:34] swyx: no, no. I mean this, this is a, a classic like, how you don't stray too far from the source material as you, you kept the kl, which is Oh yeah. Kind of cool. Yeah.[00:27:43] Fan-yun Sun: Yeah.[00:27:44] swyx: I mean, and the[00:27:44] Chris Manning: difference is, and I mean sun was pointing at this, where sort of saying it's in one way a more difficult path, but a better path that, typically the diffusion models are producing the whole scene and it looks lovely, [00:28:00] but there isn't spatial understanding behind it, which is allowing for the real time graphics gameplay, the spatial intelligence, understanding the consequences of worlds where this is, taking a path where it is assuming an abstracted semantic model of the world's state.[00:28:20] And then the diffusion model is then being used on top of that to produce the high quality graphics.[00:28:27] swyx: Is there an intended practical, or business use for this, or is it like a, like a demonstration of capabilities?[00:28:34] Fan-yun Sun: We actually believe that this is gonna be the next paradigm of rendering. So it's gonna replace how ra raizer, it's gonna replace DLSS today because it not only has these pixel prior that's learned from the world such that you can literally play any game in photo realistic styles, which is a lot of people's desire when they do GTA, right?[00:28:51] Like,[00:28:51] Vibhu: all the mods, all the people adding perfect lighting and all this.[00:28:54] swyx: So[00:28:54] Fan-yun Sun: skins[00:28:55] swyx: for worlds, let's call it[00:28:56] Fan-yun Sun: skins, let's call it skin for worlds. I,[00:28:58] Vibhu: it's also like, you can call it skin, you can call it [00:29:00] customization. You can play it how you want, right?[00:29:01] Fan-yun Sun: Yeah, exactly. And I think another thing that we really pointed out specific specifically in this blog is the programmability of it, right?[00:29:09] So what this means is that this render historically render is always a derivative of the game state, right? You're saying, oh, here's the game state, I'm rendering out a frame. But here I'm saying actually this render can be part of the gameplay loop. I can say something along the lines of, if upon getting 10.[00:29:26] Apples, I'm gonna, my weapon of choice, my bullet's gonna turn into apples. And that's, that's possible because we can say, we can basically dynamically have certain game state trigger the, the preconditions to the render such that the rendering is now part of the game loop too. One thing is to just say, okay, it's, it's, it's the appearance.[00:29:47] But the second thing is also to say there's these novel interactions that are possible because this render now has actually priors of the world.[00:29:57] swyx: It is up to the artist to figure out what to do with it.[00:29:59] Fan-yun Sun: It [00:30:00] is up to the creators. Yes.[00:30:01] swyx: Yeah.[00:30:01] Fan-yun Sun: And I also think that's actually another big argument that we're making and the reason that we're picking, taking the bet we're baking is that a lot of the times, whether it's for embody AI gaming, like you want a layer where human can inject their intentions.[00:30:15] So, for example, let's just say in the context of gaming, it's obviously like my creative intent, but maybe in the context of embodied ai, it's like, oh, like I take this foundational policy and I want to actually fine tune it to deploy in my house. So you want to almost say, inject, have a layer where human can say, oh, here's the distribution of things I want to create to achieve my goal.[00:30:35] And I think 3D graphics as it as it is today, is basic, the layer for people to say, Hey, what do I care about in this world? And it allows, basically human intent to be expressed in these worlds much more explicitly and distributionally as opposed to just saying, Hey, I'm gonna generate like, arbitrary.[00:30:54] And it's like just prompts,[00:30:55] swyx: it's one of those things where like, I think you, you're going to build up a series of models, right? [00:31:00] This is just one of, this is probably like the highest utility or heaviest, frequency one, I don't dunno what to call this. Where like you Yeah. You can immediately drop this in on any game and you don't need anything else that.[00:31:10] That you guys do. But, I, I could see, I could see that I think the, the human intent is something that people are not even used to because we're so used to static worlds or, worlds that just don't react, or, I don't know. It's, it, you're kind of blowing my mind right now with like, I'm, I wonder if you've talked to people at GDC Hmm.[00:31:27] And what are they gonna do with it?[00:31:30] Fan-yun Sun: Yeah. Now the stance that we take on this front is like, we're not gonna be more creative than our users to ship[00:31:35] swyx: it out.[00:31:35] Fan-yun Sun: Yeah. But we wanna make sure that we're building things in a way that really allows them to express their intent.[00:31:41] swyx: The thing that you said about, here's the distribution that I want.[00:31:45] I think text may be too low of a bandwidth to. To really demonstrate, because I, I, there, I'm, I'm probably just gonna want to drop in a bunch of, reference assets and then you can figure it out from[00:31:58] Vibhu: there. But you probably wanna do a, a mixture of [00:32:00] both, right? Like you throw in a few images. I wanted this style.[00:32:02] Yeah. I want it to look like this. So it, it's, it's a mixture, right?[00:32:05] Chris Manning: I, I think it's a mixture. I mean, yeah, I mean there's clearly a visual component of this, and it's not that, everything can be text. ‘cause of course you want to give a visual look, but there's also a massive amount of giving the overall picture of the look of the world and the behavior of things that you can express in a few words of text.[00:32:32] And it be very time consuming and difficult to do via visual means. So I think, yeah, you want a combination of both.[00:32:40] Evaluating World Models[00:32:40] Vibhu: So one question I kind of have is, how do we go about evaluating world models? So like, there's many axes, right? One is like, okay. I have preferences. How well do we adhere to prompts? One is the simulation.[00:32:50] One is like do things, is there core logic that's broken? So coming from we know how to evaluate diffusion, there's fidelity, there's [00:33:00] stuff like that. But what are some of the challenges that most people probably aren't thinking about?[00:33:04] Fan-yun Sun: Yeah, I think this is like a great question and probably one of the hardest questions in role models because like, I think it always comes back to what are you building this role model for?[00:33:13] And depending on your end goal and purpose, the evaluation should defer. So in the context of games, then the most direct way of measuring is how much behind are people actually spending in this world that you create? And if your goal is to say, for example, in the context that we just talked about, like, hey, deploying, deploying action in body, a agent, then your, your end.[00:33:33] Metric is then, okay, after training in these worlds that you generate how robust it is to when you actually deploy to the target environment. But then, it's, it's hard to measure these end metrics. So today people have like these proxy metrics that I call that basically try to measure what we really care about, which is the end metrics, but then frankly it's different for every use case.[00:33:57] Yeah,[00:33:57] Vibhu: which seems like quite a challenge, right? Like in [00:34:00] in language models or video models. Image models, your benchmarks are proxies, right? People aren't actually asking instruction, following tool use questions. They're proxies of how well it will do downstream. But for this, so like, should teams, should companies have their own individual benchmarks outside of games?[00:34:16] If you think of stuff like, okay, video production, movies, stuff like that, that also want to use world models. Should, should they sort of internalize like. Their own proxy. Is this something you guys do? Where, where does that connect[00:34:28] Chris Manning: go? Yeah, I think this whole space is extremely difficult as things are emerging now.[00:34:35] And I mean, it's not only for world models, I think it's for everything including text-based models, right? ‘cause in the early days it seemed very easy to have good benchmarks ‘cause we could do things like question answering benchmarks and could you answer the question based on these documents and the various other kinds of, do pieces of logical reasoning or math.[00:34:58] But again, these are sort of. [00:35:00] And there were sort of visual equivalents of things like object recognition, right? For these small component tasks. These days so much of what people are wanting to do also with language models is nothing like that, right? You're wanting to, have an interaction with the language model and get some recommendations about which backpack would be best for you for your trip in Europe next month.[00:35:25] And it's not the same kind of thing, right? And it's not so easy to come up with a benchmark as to does this large language model give you an effective interaction for guiding you in a good way for shopping, right? So, and it's the same problem with these world models. So if we take the game design case, well success is that a game designer can.[00:35:57] Produce what they are [00:36:00] imagining in a reasonable amount of time. And that's really the kind of macro task. That's a very hard thing to turn into a benchmark and I think a lot of this is actually going to turn into people walking, walking with their feet. Right? I mean, I guess that's what's happening, at the large language model level, right?[00:36:23] When people are choosing to use, GPT five or Gemini or clawed, individuals are trying out these different models and deciding, oh, I like the kind of answers that GT five gives me, or no, I feel like I get more accurate detail from Claude, right?[00:36:43] Vibhu: It's a lot of[00:36:43] Chris Manning: vitech, a lot of people just using it.[00:36:45] It's vibe checking. I realize that, but it's actually whether. People feel it's giving them utility in what they want. Right.[00:36:52] Vibhu: And the the interesting thing there is like a lot of people prefer the visual, right? This looks pretty, which is not the objective of what this is [00:37:00] for, right? It's if a, if a game designer is working on something, they care about the game engine, right?[00:37:04] The state, it's, it can look whatever. You can fix that up later. Or you can have a really good game state and you can quickly edit it to 20. 20 different versions, like Keep State,[00:37:14] Chris Manning: right?[00:37:14] Vibhu: So[00:37:14] Chris Manning: that's a really important distinction, for and for speaking to Moon Lake strength, right? So, yeah, great visuals are lovely to look at for a few seconds, but gains are really all about the concept, the game play.[00:37:33] And a lot of the time that doesn't actually even require great visuals. I mean, there are just lots of very successful games which have relatively primitive visuals, and there are other games where people have spent millions producing photo realistic, visuals, and the game sucks, right? So, keeping those two axes apart is really important in thinking about what's important in a [00:38:00] world model for different uses.[00:38:02] swyx: This conversation is reminding me of some game review and fiction discussions I've, had in my sort of non-AI related life. Some, for some people might know Brandon Sanderson, who's a very famous, fiction author, had, is is a big game reviewer. And he, he's a big fan of video games where you change one thing about a normal what you might assume about, about the world.[00:38:22] For example, Baba is you, I don't know if you might have come across that, where like the rules change as you play the game. And also like where, you can do things like reverse time selectively or like change gravity selectively. And I think this is also reminds, reminds me of other kinds of world models that are created by authors.[00:38:38] Where Ted Chang is, is my typical example where he'll take the world that, you know today, but change one thing about it and, but then create a consistent world based on that. Which is long-winded answer of me to, of. For me to say is it's it easy to create alternative roles that don't exist, but you change one thing and then let's, let's run a whole bunch of people through it to see if it works.[00:38:58] Chris Manning: My first dance will [00:39:00] be, that seems a lot easier and more conceivable to do using Techn technology like Moon Lakes than with some of the other world models out there, where the sun can actually make it happen. I'll let him give a second answer.[00:39:15] swyx: If I guess for you, you're constrained by the game engine tool, right?[00:39:18] Like at the end of the day, that's the, that's the thought, partner that you have. If I ask for something where like, if it never is allowed to reverse time or if gravity only ever works one way, then well that's it. But sometimes gravity might change,[00:39:33] Fan-yun Sun: but it's a lot easier to change with code as opposed to a model that is learned primarily on data of.[00:39:42] Real world and virtual worlds that are, I guess, like for example, junior, like there's actually trained on a lot of real world data and a lot of virtual gaming data, and it's hard to say maybe it's easier to say, okay, I wanna change the visuals in like the time period of, of the world. Like, you can't change gravity, for [00:40:00] example.[00:40:00] Vibhu: I feel like you can to light bounds, right? Everything comes down to like, code is a better way to execute it, but the models aren't that diverse and creative, right? You can say, okay, make gravity slower. It can do that, but it's limited to your representation of how you text it out, right? Like they're, they're only gonna do a few iterations, whereas programmatically, if there's a game engine under the hood, you can kind of go wild, right?[00:40:22] So one of the, I dunno, one of the limitations of most models is that they're very overtrained to one style. Right. And extracting diversity is pretty difficult. At least that's something we've seen.[00:40:35] Fan-yun Sun: I mean, are there examples you have in mind where you Existing models? Yeah. Like it would be easier to do that's not using code.[00:40:43] Certain types of creative intent or like transition state transitions,[00:40:47] swyx: Clipping, other models, other wo models are very good at clipping through things. Clipping my, my, my legs clipping through a rock because it's, it's just, it's just bad. [00:41:00] Like, you would have to struggle very hard with your stuff to actually make that happen.[00:41:04] Which I think is maybe a topic that you actually prepared on, Gian Splatting versus, the other stuff.[00:41:09] Vibhu: Yeah. Yeah. It's just for those not super familiar, right? There's a, there's gian splatting, there is diffusion. Like what works, what scales up. I feel like in February when Soro one came out the blog post was literally titled like,[00:41:21] swyx: you bring it up.[00:41:22] You never know.[00:41:23] Vibhu: World, world, video generation models are world simulators. It's super bitter lesson pilled. Yeah, emer, a lot of it is emergence, right? So, not to go through their blog post, basically their whole thing was as you scale up all this consistency, all this stuff just kind of solves, it's a very simple premise, right?[00:41:41] They just scaled up, diffusion, and from there, this is, this is Feb 2024, how much can we, it's already been two years, which is basically five years. How much more in AI time do we need to just scale up or, or do we hit a data cap? But I think we already talked about this a lot, right? Like this is back to the beginning discussion of what's [00:42:00] appropriate for the time.[00:42:01] And that seems like your approach, right?[00:42:03] Fan-yun Sun: Yeah. The point I'm trying to make is that they're very many, many different types of world simulators and like having a world simulator that can produce pixel coherency is very, very useful for games and, marketing and all these things, but it's not as useful as people think when it comes to causal reasoning.[00:42:25] When it comes to embodied ai. Yeah, like it this title is true. We're not saying that it's, it's like, not a great world simulator, but actually in the blog that we, we, we, we wrote, the bet is more so that there are gonna be disproportionately large share of value of real world tasks or, and virtual tasks where high resolution pixel fidelity is not needed.[00:42:47] Yes. Video models have their values.[00:42:50] swyx: Yeah. This is at the absolute limit of my physics understanding, but one example that comes to mind is basically having to solve like ba the equivalent of a three [00:43:00] body problem in a deterministic Well, where the video models, which is approximated good enough. Yeah.[00:43:08] Right. Like there's, there's some point at which your approach kind of runs into like the you now have to simulate the world. Please, thank you very much. And like you're trying to do that, but only to the extent that the game engine lets you and like game engines cannot do some things.[00:43:23] Fan-yun Sun: Yeah, no, I mean, I think the interesting or more technical question here actually is where do you draw the boundary between.[00:43:32] What's handled with, let's say, diffusion prior and what, when? What's handled with symbolic priors?[00:43:38] swyx: Yes.[00:43:38] Fan-yun Sun: Okay.[00:43:38] swyx: Okay.[00:43:39] Fan-yun Sun: Right. Let's go there. Because this, this boundary can actually be fluid. Like I think like maybe what you're trying to get at is like, okay, people are saying pixel prior, everything. But what we're saying is, okay, there's a boundary that we draw where this is where we think provides the most economical value for the domains and things that we care about today.[00:43:59] [00:44:00] And I actually do think, and it's something that we do internally all the time, which is like, okay, given new equations that we learn or new elements of the world and that we, we learn, or maybe some other knowledge that we acquire in the process of developing the models. Should we still be maintaining this line exactly as it is today?[00:44:22] Or should we move it a little bit left or a little bit right? Right. Like sometimes that we realize that, oh, like maybe customers or, or folks like want certain things that are better handled with preop pryor as opposed to, symbolic prior than,[00:44:34] swyx: yeah. Your, your skin thing is a, is a example moving it, right.[00:44:37] Yeah.[00:44:37] Or left. Yeah,[00:44:37] Fan-yun Sun: exactly.[00:44:38] swyx: I dunno what the, the left right is.[00:44:39] Fan-yun Sun: Yeah, yeah, yeah. No the, the model.[00:44:42] swyx: Yes.[00:44:42] Fan-yun Sun: Actually we have a few iterations of them. They're actually at slightly different[00:44:45] swyx: I know boundaries. You should, you should do that. That's a cool dimension to show.[00:44:49] Fan-yun Sun: Yeah.[00:44:50] swyx: Is quantum mechanics the diffusion prior of our world?[00:44:55] Right. It's like that's the boundary of classical mechanics versus quantum. Right? Like, that's it. At one [00:45:00] point God plays dice and the other point doesn't.[00:45:02] Fan-yun Sun: I dunno if Chris, you wanna say it, but I think, I think generally I feel like physics is better with symbol P priors.[00:45:08] Chris Manning: Even quantum physics.[00:45:09] Fan-yun Sun: Even quantum physics.[00:45:11] swyx: Yeah. This is starts against to, MLST territory is, is what I call it, where, he, he likes to get philosophical. We, we we're quite friendly.[00:45:18] Vibhu: I mean, we need to get, we need to get singularity. I heard some of that.[00:45:23] swyx: No, no, I think that is actually really helpful and man, I just want you to productize this like, as a product guy, I'm just like, oh, also[00:45:32] Vibhu: a gamer, I[00:45:33] swyx: wanna, it's like a researcher, like, it's cool.[00:45:35] Like this is a, the theoretical, like you have a very good, I don't know, like the way of thinking about these things, but I just wanna see you like, express it. I do think like your fundamentally things when, when you leave open new tools, like, okay, use, use human intent to incorporate it into how you render.[00:45:52] Artists are gonna have to take like two to three years to figure out what to do with this. And you just don't know.[00:45:57] Chris Manning: Right. But I think, this is, [00:46:00] gives a much more approachable and controllable world for the society, which is the beauty, the beauty of, NLP, that that will enable it to be adopted and used.[00:46:10] And we are very hopeful about that. Yeah,[00:46:13] Fan-yun Sun: yeah. Yeah. I mean, we are, we are very focused actually on commercialization in the sense that like we do, we do really believe in the data flywheel app approach. Yeah. Where, we put this in the hands of the creators and the users and then they will teach us when, what capability our model should improve.[00:46:27] And that's why we are, we are actually, like products and beta[00:46:31] swyx: Yeah. Focusing on gaming. What, what's like the adjacent thing to gaming[00:46:34] Fan-yun Sun: embody adjacent, basically. So maybe we can, we can I'll maybe start with where we see the platform in three years. Yeah. Which is like, okay. The users would tell us what they want to achieve.[00:46:45] The end goal could be, Hey, I just, I wanna make something to teach my kids the value of humility. Or it could be, Hey, I wanna fine tune my, drones to be really good at rescue situations. I could be vacuum robots. I want to like train [00:47:00] my manipulation or like vacuum robot to be very robust to my office, right?[00:47:04] But it's like, whatever it is, scenario robust to[00:47:06] swyx: my office[00:47:07] Fan-yun Sun: or like navigate very robustly in my office. But then it's like, whatever end goal that you want, our role model will say, okay, given what you want to achieve, let me generate a distribution of environments such that I can train and evaluate whatever it is you want.[00:47:24] Yeah. Right. Maybe for the purpose of games, it's just the end simulation and that's the end product for certain policies. It's like I can train it within these environments and then help you see where your policy is failing or not. Yeah. And then, so I think,[00:47:37] swyx: so in that case, much more of a training tool.[00:47:40] Than in other training[00:47:41] Vibhu: evaluation? Both. Right?[00:47:43] swyx: Sure. Same. Same thing.[00:47:43] Fan-yun Sun: Yeah, same thing. I think it's just this role model that allows people to train any policy that can act in any multimodal environments.[00:47:51] swyx: Would it be harder to reward hack? Is there an angle here where it is harder to reward hack? Like it's just, I'll just put it generally because I think that's a, that's obviously a key [00:48:00] problem that a lot of people face when in training agents in these environments, and I don't know, can you solve it?[00:48:07] Chris Manning: I think not necessarily. To the extent that there's a mis specified reward that. It seems like it could be hacked in a more symbolic world or in a more pixel based world. I dunno if Sun's got any thoughts, but I don't think that's really being solved.[00:48:26] swyx: The other thing that comes to mind is just you could just build a better sawa as a video generator model, right?[00:48:31] Because then you, you would move the diffusion, side a bit more further to the right. I think if I got the directionality correct. And that's it.[00:48:40] Vibhu: It's better on domains, right? Like on consistency over now, or for sure it exists versus something doesn't, right.[00:48:46] Chris Manning: So[00:48:46] swyx: yeah. Yeah. Is[00:48:49] Vibhu: is a question more like, like[00:48:51] swyx: I'm just riffing on like, how do you, what can you build, you know?[00:48:54] Oh, with the stuff that you have. I do think that the minor, the academic does go immediately to training [00:49:00] and in eval evaluation, but like art tends to take unusual directions. Like you might end up,[00:49:06] Chris Manning: okay. Yeah. But the question is, can you use this piece of software to develop compelling gameplay and. I don't think you can take SOAR and produce compelling gameplay, right?[00:49:19] If you want to have a world that you can wander around in a bit, you are good. But what are your abilities to have gameplay mechanics implemented the way you'd like them to be and to have things stay, with the long-term history of your gameplay that influences future actions. I think there's just nothing there for that.[00:49:39] swyx: Yeah, I do tend to agree. I, I'm just trying to sort of test the boundaries. I would also make the observation that as AAA games industry has developed the line between what is a movie and what is a game has blurred. And you, you, you do end up basically producing a two hour movie as part of your game.[00:49:57] Fan-yun Sun: No, honestly, there, there's so many actually [00:50:00] applications in adjacent markets that our world model can go into. Yeah. But yeah, it, it's sort of fun to riff, riff on. Although on the execution side, we we, we need to stay focused with like, okay, what are the capabilities we want to unlock over time?[00:50:11] And there's a roadmap for that. But yeah, if we're just riffing on sort of like the possibilities, I feel like, whether it's endless Yeah, it's like classic[00:50:18] swyx: and the embedding for a possibility and endless in my mind, it's very close. Yeah. I do wanna, focus on one, like weird choice. I, I don't know if it's weird.[00:50:28] Maybe I'm, I got something here. Audio, right? You could have just said no audio And audio in my mind has a lot of recursion, whereas in video you can just do recasting and that's much computationally much simpler. Audio just seems way harder. I don't know if you wanna just comment on just the special 3D audio.[00:50:46] Problem. Did you really have to do it? I guess you do to be immersive, but like a lot of people do treat it as like, well, you just stick a, a tt S model on top of[00:50:57] Vibhu: Well, there's a lot more to game audio than [00:51:00] just speech. Right. It's not just[00:51:01] swyx: tts. Yeah. Tts. S Fxt, GM Spatial in my mind Echoes[00:51:06] Chris Manning: Yeah.[00:51:06] swyx: And reflections.[00:51:07] And I, I don't even know what's, what else? I don't know what, what other problems in this space.[00:51:13] Fan-yun Sun: Yeah, I think this point like the, it's sort of a more, more pointing to the benefits of using an game engine as a tool that's available to the model, right? Because like part of the spatial audio is from the code that is underlying the simulation.[00:51:32] And while we do give our model access to other types of audio models as. Tools.[00:51:39] swyx: None of them would be spatial, I think.[00:51:41] Fan-yun Sun: But that's exactly sort of more 0.2. We're giving our model an abstraction or a suite of tools such that it's able to achieve that. And you can argue that sort of spatial is like a, like a emergence out of the, the tools that we and abstraction that we provide to the agents.[00:51:59] And I think that's the beauty of [00:52:00] this, this, this approach is like there's a lot of things kind of like how human's built technology and they're like Lego blocks that build on top of each other. And it's the same thing here. There's gonna be things that sort of just sort of emerges from being able to put these things together in like combinatorially interesting ways,[00:52:14] Chris Manning: right?[00:52:15] So this integrated audio model exploits the understanding and semantics of the Moon Lake world, right? And whereas in general for the Gen AI video models. There's no actual integration across to audio at all, right? That someone might stick some music or stick a soundscape or whatever else on top of their video.[00:52:44] So it's not a silent video, but they're in no way connected into a consistent world model. And there's nothing that's okay. An action is happening in the video. Therefore there should be a sound that's [00:53:00] coming from this part of the visual field.[00:53:03] swyx: Yeah.[00:53:03] Vibhu: Is that different than Sora too? Does it not have audio?[00:53:06] Not to say it's not like[00:53:08] swyx: amazing[00:53:08] Vibhu: isn't a spatial[00:53:09] swyx: audio.[00:53:09] Vibhu: It doesn't,[00:53:10] swyx: no. I've played around it with it enough. It just sounds like someone put an 11 laps voice on top of it and just tried to do the lip sync.[00:53:18] Vibhu: Oh, yeah. I've seen, okay. Generate a dog at the beach and reactions to big wave and move[00:53:23] swyx: around.[00:53:23] It's definitely like, so have the dog, have the dog move away from camera and see if the, the song goes down. It doesn't. ‘Cause they don't have facial audio.[00:53:32] Fan-yun Sun: We do want to basically like we, our moral model, like the one we're training is basically towards the goal of having a combined latent representation across all these different modalities.[00:53:42] Right? Such that it can like reason across these different modalities. So for example, if I close my eyes and like you play a video, you play a sound of like a car skidding away from me. I almost can like, visually extrapolate that trajectory in my mind. And I think that type of capability, we want our model to be able to reason, right?[00:53:59] And that's the reason that [00:54:00] we're sort of taking this multimodal reasoning approach. It's like we want this combine late in space that can[00:54:05] swyx: Yeah. Oh, you said late in space. We like that. Here we have to play the, the bell Every time that someone says late in space, no, you gotta train daredevil one. Where you, you, you, it's only audio, but you have to work out.[00:54:15] Where everything is.[00:54:19] Cool. I I think that that was, that was about it for our Moon Lake coverage. I do think that we have like a couple of, Chris Madden questions on, on IR and, just any, any other sort of attention topics or n NLP topics.[00:54:31] Vibhu: Okay.[00:54:31] swyx: Go ahead.[00:54:32] Chris Manning's Journey: From NLP to World Models[00:54:32] Vibhu: Well, no, I mean, yeah, it's just fun. We talked a bit about how you guys met, but you basically, you, you were like the godfather of NLP per se, right?[00:54:39] You spent the whole career from early embeddings, early early attention. You did 2015 attention for machine translation, everything. You, you had information retrieval, so RAG before rag, we just wanna shout that out and admire a lot of that. Right? So what prompted the switch over to world models?[00:54:56] How, how'd all that come about?[00:54:58] Chris Manning: To some answer it [00:55:00] is, the enthusiasms and creativity of students, but there's a bit of a history there, right? So, yeah. So clearly most of my career has been doing stuff with language and how I got into research was thinking, ah, this is just so amazing how humans can produce speech and understand each other in real time.[00:55:21] And somehow they managed to learn languages from their kids. How could this possibly happen? And so, yeah, starting off I was very focused on language, but as it sort of got into the 2000 and tens, I started, going, I'd been working on question answering, and then I started to get, interest in visual question answering.[00:55:42] And that was an area where it was very noticeable. That the visual understanding was bad. Right. These were the days when like, it sort of seemed like there's almost no visual [00:56:00] understanding. You were just getting answers that came from priors. So, if you asked how many people are sitting at the table, it'd always answer two regardless of how many, how many people you could see in the picture.[00:56:11] And so it seemed like, oh, these models actually aren't able to get semantic information outta

This week, we're bringing back one of the most interesting conversations we've had on Player Driven.Andrew Wagner didn't learn economics in a classroom first. He learned it inside a game.Before managing investment portfolios, Andrew was running a guild in an MMO, experimenting with supply, demand, reputation, and player behavior in real time. What started as “just playing the game” turned into a full system for production, scaling, and market control.And the wild part… it worked.He built a network of players motivated by progression instead of profit, scaled production, and ultimately flooded the market to outcompete everyone else. Why This Conversation Matters Right NowA lot has changed in the last few months across gaming:• Teams are rethinking LiveOps loops to re-engage players instead of just shipping content • Community is being treated as a system, not a support function • Player behavior is becoming the core KPI behind retention and monetizationWe talked about this in our recent Player Driven workshop:

I got to check out Sound System at GDC and immediately knew I had to get the team back on the show. This conversation with Echo Foundry's Lennon Lange, who worked on the original Guitar Hero, breaks down exactly why this could be the rhythm game revival we've been waiting for. We're talking about real innovation, not just nostalgia.• How Classic Mode and Pro Mode balance accessibility with hardcore challenge• The creator-focused tools that could transform how rhythm games work• Why having a Guitar Hero veteran leading this matters for the genre's future• What Sound System gets right about multiplayer and customization• The bigger picture of bringing rhythm games back to mainstream gamingSound System isn't just trying to recapture the past - it's building something that makes sense for today's gaming landscape. This is the kind of conversation that gets me hyped about where gaming is headed.— FIND US EVERYWHERE —YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/SPAWNONMETwitch (Live Wed 6PM PST):https://www.twitch.tv/SPAWNONMEX / Twitter:https://x.com/SpawnOnMeInstagram:https://www.instagram.com/spawnonmepodcastTikTok:https://www.tiktok.com/@SpawnOnMeSpotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/4q7gu7BteqvEnhZAP0MM2AApple Podcasts:https://apple.co/3wuJxYtMerch:https://spawnonme-1-shop.fourthwall.comBusiness / PR:spawnonmepodcast@gmail.comKahlief on X:https://x.com/KahliefAdamsKahlief on IG:https://www.instagram.com/itskahliefKahlief on Bluesky:itskahlief.bsky.social

With Epic laying off 1,000 people, the game industry job market has gone from "extremely chilly" to "nearing absolute zero." Also: a recap of GDC's challenged year, Circana Report on U.S spending for February 2026, some interesting new investments, NetEase divestments, and a heckin' FAFO. You can support Virtual Economy's growth via our Ko-Fi and also purchase Virtual Economy merchandise! TIME STAMPS [00:00:50] - GDC 2026 Recap [00:25:51] - Circana Report on US Video Game Spending for February 2026 [00:35:02] - Nintendo Sues US Government Over Tariffs [00:36:55] - Pokemon Company v. US Government [00:38:24] - Update on the Intrepid Studios Implosion [00:45:02] - Investment Interlude [01:05:45] - Quick Hits [01:12:42] - Labor Report [01:39:27] - FAFO Award SOURCES Nintendo Suing U.S. Government Over Tariffs | Aftermath Pokémon rebukes White House's use of its IP in a social media post | NBC News MMO Ashes of Creation spirals into a legal dumpster fire, as investor claims creative director Steven Sharif siphoned millions away from the company while it was drowning in debt | PC Gamer CEO Behind Kickstarter MMO That Ran Out Of Money Breaks His Silence And Claims First Legal Victory | Kotaku Krafton loses lawsuit, is ordered to reinstate ousted Unknown Worlds CEO | Game Developer Unknown Worlds co-founders' lawyers accuse Krafton of "intentionally leaking" Subnautica 2 release date | GamesIndustry INVESTMENT INTERLUDE Netflix Declines to Raise Offer for Warner Bros. | Netflix Netflix boss says Paramount acquisition of Warner Bros will result in "cuts in excess of $16 billion" within "18 months or so" | Games Industry Warner Bros Montréal reportedly hit with staff cuts | GamesIndustry Pacific Drive developer Ironwood Studios raises $4 million in seed funding | Game Developer Good Games Group Launches New Publishing Label Balor Games, Following Acquisition of Humble Games and Firestoke Catalogs | Games Press Velan Studios expands into Canada to build 'breakthrough games' | Game Developer NCsoft acquires 70% stake in mobile developer JustPlay | GamesIndustry BEHAVIOUR INTERACTIVE PARTNERS WITH THE FUN PIMPS, CREATORS OF 7 DAYS TO DIE | Behaviour Interactive Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman's EGDC firm has acquired 5% of Capcom | VGC Savvy Games Group to acquire Moonton Games for $6 billion | Game Developer Evo is dead': Major fighting game tournament is now wholly owned by Saudi megaproject Qiddiya, promises 'traditions, values, and identity will remain unchanged' | PC Gamer Yet another NetEase studio is going independent | Game Developer Nagoshi's Gang of Dragon May Never Come Out After NetEase Cut Funding When It Realized an Extra $44M Was Needed to Finish the Game Amazon abandons upcoming racing game from former Forza devs, as its departure from triple-A publishing continues | Eurogamer LABOR REPORT Today's layoffs | Epic Games Ubisoft Toronto lays off 40 employees, Splinter Cell remake still in development | Mobile Syrup Ubisoft ends game development at Red Storm and lays off 105 workers | Game Developer skate.'s Next Chapter - An Update from Full Circle | Full Circle (EA) Battlefield developers laid off by EA months after Battlefield 6 'shatters records' | Game Developer Riot Games confirms layoffs within publishing division | Game Developer Riot Games lays off roughly 80 employees from 2XKO team | Game Developer Report: NetEase is cutting jobs at internal studio Spliced Inc | Game Developer Den of Wolves studio 10 Chambers announces 'significant restructuring' and layoffs, 'including several of the studio's co-founders' | PC Gamer Highguard Studio Wildlight Lays Off Most Staff | Alex Graner on LinkedIn Highguard In Trouble After Most Of The Studio Laid Off Just Weeks After Launch | Kotaku Tencent's TiMi Studio Group reportedly funded Highguard dev Wildlight Entertainment | GamesIndustry via GameFile Halfbrick Studios is cutting jobs in Australia | Game Developer Killing Floor dev Tripwire Interactive lays off 23 employees | Games industry G.I. Joe Snake Eyes game not cancelled following reported Atomic Arcade studio closure, but its ultimate fate remains unclear | Eurogamer XCOM designer Jake Solomon announces surprise closure of his studio alongside a first look at its canceled life sim, 'the game we poured our hearts into' | PC Gamer Build a Rocket Boy confirms more layoffs amid further claims of "organized espionage and corporate sabotage" | Games Industry Until Dawn remake dev Ballistic Moon has closed | GamesIndustry

This week on GameBurst, the team digs into a turbulent moment for the games industry, with fresh blows to both big studios and beloved franchises. Epic Games confirmed it is cutting more than 1,000 jobs — its second major round of redundancies in three years — as Fortnite engagement continues to slide and spending outpaces income. CEO Tim Sweeney was clear that AI had no role in the decision. Meanwhile, Nintendo has reportedly slashed Switch 2 production by a third following disappointing US holiday sales, with a thin software line-up taking much of the blame. In France, four Nacon-owned studios — including Spiders, Cyanide, and Kylotonn — have filed for judicial reorganisation following their parent company's own insolvency earlier this year, putting more than 320 jobs at risk across some of the country's most recognisable development teams. On a brighter note, Life is Strange: Reunion launches today, bringing Max and Chloe's decade-long story to a close with a complete, non-episodic experience. Mojang, meanwhile, had a big week: Minecraft Dungeons II was announced for autumn 2026, and a £50m Minecraft-themed land is heading to Chessington World of Adventures in 2027 — rollercoaster included. The GDC rebranded itself as the Festival of Gaming and welcomed Hideo Kojima back to the keynote stage for the first time in five years. In Pick of the Week, Gary shares his experience of his first live DJ set in Southampton, Jerome has been deep in Magic the Gathering: Commander, and Taylor picked up Thomas & Friends: Wonders of Sodor – Deluxe Edition. #gameburst

Sean recounts his time at GDC a couple weeks ago and talks about At Fate's End, Screenbound, and Mixtape. Paul tries out Minishoot Adventures and Marathon. News is turbulent as we discuss the massive Epic layoffs, PlayStation increasing their dynamic pricing, and the recent Xbox Partner Preview livestream. TDP is listener funded. Like what you hear? Want to support the show and get ad-free episodes? Head over to https://www.patreon.com/topdownperspective

Linktree: ⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/Analytic⁠⁠Join The Normandy For Ad-Free NME, Additional Bonus Audio And Visual Content For All Things Nme+! Join Here:⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://ow.ly/msoH50WCu0K⁠⁠Dive into the ongoing turbulence in the video game industry with this segment of Notorious Mass Effect, where Analytic Dreamz examines the wave of layoffs sweeping through major studios in March 2026.As of mid-March 2026, the industry has seen approximately 1,700–2,000+ job losses year-to-date, following over 9,000 in 2025—lower than peak years but still deeply impactful. GDC 2026's State of the Industry report reveals 28% of global developers laid off in the past two years (33% in the U.S.), with half reporting recent cuts at their companies.Key March 2026 developments include:Ubisoft's Red Storm Entertainment (March 19): ~105 layoffs, ending game development at the 30-year-old studio known for Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six, and Splinter Cell. It shifts to global IT services and Snowdrop engine support amid Ubisoft's cost-reduction restructuring.Crystal Dynamics (March 19): 20 layoffs across development and operations, part of repeated cycles (prior rounds in 2025 totaled ~67). Major projects like the next Tomb Raider remain unaffected, reflecting ongoing "optimization" under Embracer/Saber.Warner Bros. Games Montréal (March 13–16): Undisclosed layoffs impacting narrative, level design, production, and more—linked to corporate instability from the Paramount–Skydance acquisition and post-acquisition efficiency reviews (following 99 cuts in 2024).Electronic Arts' Battlefield studios (early March): Significant but undisclosed layoffs across DICE (Sweden), Criterion (UK), Ripple Effect (California), and Motive (Canada). This follows Battlefield 6's record-breaking 2025 success as best-seller with millions sold quickly—highlighting that commercial wins do not guarantee job security, driven instead by realignment for live-service sustainability. Broader drivers include post-pandemic over-expansion corrections, soaring AAA costs, investor profitability demands, live-service shifts, and rising AI adoption (36% reported). Patterns show success-independent cuts, studio pivots from full development to support roles, micro-layoff cycles, M&A instability, and growing unionization pushes.Analytic Dreamz unpacks how these layoffs signal structural realignment—lean operations, centralized tech, and live-service focus—rather than a temporary downturn. Even blockbuster franchises fail to shield teams, underscoring workforce volatility and calls for stronger protections in a contracting landscape.Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Guests:  Karin Johnson: Co-founder of Magic Potion Games (Veteran of Club Penguin and Fortnite)Hege Tokerud: CEO/Founder of Aiba (Cybersecurity and AI moderation specialist) Episode SummaryIn this strategic primer for GDC 2026, we sit down with industry veterans to discuss why community is no longer just a marketing checklist—it's the new competitive advantage. From the "social-first" origins of Club Penguin to the technical scaling of modern hits like Fortnite, we explore how to design communities alongside your game mechanics to ensure longevity, safety, and player loyalty.Key TakeawaysCommunity as Design, Not Reaction: Successful games like Club Penguin were built on "social loops" (e.g., Penguin Chat) rather than just adding multiplayer to existing mechanics.The "Grey Filter" & Social Engineering: Discover how "silent muting" and empowering players with roles (like the Club Penguin Tour Guides) can police toxicity more effectively than heavy-handed bans.The Business Case for Safety: Data from 2023 shows that "nice" games can generate up to 80% more revenue than toxic ones. Safety isn't just ethical; it's a growth engine.Empowering the Flywheel: Learn how leaning into player-driven lore and "happy accidents"—like Fortnite's accidental cross-play launch—can create massive spikes in retention and investment.Scaling Without Burnout: Why 2026 is the year to move from manual moderation to AI-assisted tools that allow small teams to focus on making the game "magical" rather than just policing it.Notable Quotes"You can't really fix a broken community after it's built. If you're not building the foundation from day zero, you're at risk." — Greg Posner"I guarantee what your audience comes up with... is gonna be better than what the best game designers in the world can ever come up with in a room. Let them be the game designers." — Karin Johnson "We shouldn't talk about safety as something very mystical. We should put numbers on it and show that this is really good business." — Hege Tokerud Resource LinksPlay Imagine Island: imagineisland.game Connect with Aiba: Aiba.ai Event: Visit the Community Clubhouse during GDC 2026 (Tuesday, March 10th).

Recorded live from the Game Developers Conference 2026! They gave us time in the Official Podcast Box, so we made the most of it discussing the process of writing for the IGF Awards, reflecting on the culture of GDC, and even having a couple surprise guests drop in. Let's get loose! Audio edited by Dylan Shumway Discussed in this episode: Scripto https://scripto.live/ Starfriends https://shop.brainfruit.studio/products/starfriends-card-game  2026 Independent Games Festival Awards https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoH4EmfB4Z4 Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet https://store.steampowered.com/app/205730/Insanely_Twisted_Shadow_Planet/  Dustbiters https://dustbiters.com/ Tooth and Tail https://store.steampowered.com/app/286000/Tooth_and_Tail/ Brogue https://sites.google.com/site/broguegame/  Caves of Qud https://www.cavesofqud.com/ Monaco 2 https://store.steampowered.com/app/1063030/Monaco_2/ https://secretlives.games  https://discord.gg/tslog https://www.patreon.com/tslog

Ep 519 - Nvidia's latest visual showpiece gets a big thumbs down. Bloodworth is back from GDC with loads of stories and previews. Isla shares her thoughts on Slay the Spire 2, while Huber gets sweaty in Marathon. Become a patron to get the extended cut: https://www.patreon.com/posts/extended-dlss5-153497379 00:00 - Intro 04:38 - Vampire Crawlers Releases April 21st 09:11 - The Legend of California Revealed 15:27 - No Thanks to Nvidia's DLSS5 31:52 - Subnautica 2 Early Access and Further Drama 41:25 - Bloodworth's Trip to GDC 59:45 - GDC Preview: Soundgrass 01:02:58 - GDC Preview: Hoa 2 01:05:12 - GDC Preview: Mouse P.I. for Hire 01:08:45 - GDC Preview: Darwin's Paradox 01:10:55 - GDC Preview: Mina the Hollower 01:14:32 - GDC Preview: Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition 01:15:45 - GDC Preview: SiN Reloaded 01:20:15 - GDC Preview: At Fate's End 01:25:00 - GDC Preview: Desolus 01:26:30 - GDC Preview: Screenbound 01:30:37 - A Word From Our Sponsors 01:32:55 - My One Piece 01:41:05 - My One Thing 01:46:40 - Slay the Spire 2 Impressions 01:54:05 - Marathon Impressions 02:10:24 - L&R: EZA's 10th Anniversary 02:11:45 - L&R Game: Sink or Swim - Favorite Eights 02:30:48 - L&R: Resident Evil's Next Steps 02:40:33 - Bets 02:46:35 - Closing Go to https://www.shopify.com/allies for a one-dollar-per-month trial period to grow your business–no matter what stage you're in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Essa semana nos surpreendemos com a excelência familiar de Homura Hime. E nas notícias, comentamos o que foi revelado sobre o próximo Xbox na GDC, o anúncio bizarro do DLSS5, a Kraftontendo que recontratar o ex-CEO da Unknown Worlds e o trailer do anime de Sekiro. 00:07:19: Detalhes do novo Xbox na GDC 00:27:28: Público da GDC sobre IA generativa 00:34:27: DLSS 5 vai looksmaxear seu jogo 00:50:47: Krafton é obrigada a recontratar ex-CEO da Unknown Worlds 00:59:39: Primeiro trailer do anime Sekiro: No Defeat 01:12:19: Homura Hime 01:47:00: Perguntas do ouvintes Contribua | Twitter | YouTube | Twitch | Contato

https://www.patreon.com/minnmax - Unlock the ad-free and early version of this podcast and support it directly on Patreon MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Leo Vader, Jacob Geller, and Janet Garcia are joined by legendary game writer Erik Wolpaw (Portal, Portal 2, Psychonauts, Half-Life: Alyx) to celebrate the release of Mega Crit's Slay the Spire II and explain how it's the incredible sequel to one of the greatest games ever made. Then we talk about Janet and Jacob's trip to the Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco, follow up on Mewgenics, revisit The Division II, and share some final (spoiler-free) thoughts on Resident Evil Requiem. After that, we answer your community questions including NVIDIA's divisive reveal of DLSS 5 technology and its impact on Grace's face and dive into why Wolpaw can't stop thinking about moving Valve to Duluth, Minnesota. You can win a prize and help make the show better by supporting us on Patreon and submitting a question! https://www.patreon.com/minnmax Watch and share the video version here - https://youtu.be/Zi0kGNknkPE Here's the Slay the Spire II streamer Erik mentioned - https://www.youtube.com/baalorlord Help support MinnMax's supporters! https://www.iam8bit.com - 10% off with Promo Code: GREENGREENS https://www.discoverpoco.com - Visit Pocahontas County, Iowa https://www.mintmobile.com/minnmax - 3 months of wirelss for $15 per month To jump to a particular discussion, check out the timestamps below... 00:00:00 - Intro 00:04:38 - Slay the Spire II 00:47:09 - Visit Pocahontas County, Iowa 00:49:03 - GDC 2026 01:09:33 - Wolpaw on why AI can't write games 01:26:47- Mint Mobile 01:28:34 - Mewgenics 01:40:46 - Tom Clancy's The Division 2 01:43:48 - Resident Evil Requiem final thoughts 01:48:13 - Thanking iam8bit - https://www.iam8bit.com/ 01:49:37 - Community questions 02:15:26 - DLSS 5 discussion 02:29:44 - More community questions 02:57:29 - Get A Load Of This Leo's GALOT - https://bsky.app/profile/manton.bsky.social/post/3mgqaogbisk25 Jacob's GALOT - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UfrzDKrhEc Erik's GALOT - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2K9ccMREOI Hanson's GALOT - https://youtu.be/eAgK1QaBOOs?si=5Yg4O_-Y9osNwBiP Janet's GALOT - https://www.instagram.com/p/DVcXK7nj4Fs/ Community GALOT - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99dZFAazL6Q Disclosure - Games discussed on MinnMax content are most often provided for free by the publisher or developer. __ Support us on Patreon -https://www.patreon.com/minnmax Support MinnMax directly on YouTube - https://youtube.com/minnmax/join Follow us on Twitch -https://www.twitch.tv/minnmaxshow Subscribe to our YouTube channel -https://www.youtube.com/minnmax Subscribe to our solo stream channel - https://www.youtube.com/@minnmaxstreamarchives Buy MinnMax merch here -https://minnmax.com/merch Follow us on Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/minnmax.com Go behind the scenes on Instagram -https://www.instagram.com/minnmaxshow #minnmax #minnmaxshow #gameinformer This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Thank you to Mint Mobile for sponsoring this episode! Visit http://www.MintMobile.com/KitAndKrysta for plans starting at $15/monthThank you to Notion for sponsoring this episode! Visit http://www.notion.com/kitandkrysta and try out Notion today! *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Hello and welcome to episode 216 of the Kit & Krysta Podcast! This week we're going deep on The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and sharing our final thoughts and predictions. We're getting so hyped for this movie! Also in this episode, we have to talk about the drama surround Nvidia's DLSS 5 and talk about the reaction everyone is having to this. We played some interesting new games at GDC that we want to tell you about and we answer a handful of great questions from our Patreon community along the way. All this and so much more is coming right up! 0:00 - Into the launch star! 11:33 - News news news (Nvidia's DLSS 5, Former Blizzard boss Jeff Kaplan's new game, Nintendo Switch 2 HUGE updates) 46:38 - Will The Super Mario Galaxy Movie exceed our expectations? 1:33:39 - Games we are playing (Pokopia, Resident Evil 8, Monster Hunter Stories, God of War: Sons of Sparta, Mixtape, G'aim'e Time Crisis) - All Hail the Final Boss - Aaron Hash - Thank you Super Stars: MaruMayhem, Eigenverse, Mike Chin, Roy Eschke, vgmlife, Link The Hero of Winds, Angela Bycroft, Thomas O'Rourke, Kyle LeBoeuf, Andrew Youhas, Chilly, krashuri, Master Discord, Travis Torline, EchoLadair, MSMPokeGamer, RBurns, KITT 10K, Adrien, Nafon Clover, TheSharkAmongMen, RainTech, KissMyFlapjack, Paul Gale Network, Cameron, Fredrik Ulf Konradsson, Catsually NerdyFollow Us! https://www.patreon.com/kitandkrystahttps://twitter.com/kitandkrystahttps://www.tiktok.com/@kitandkrystahttps://www.instagram.com/kitandkrysta/http://www.facebook.com/kitandkrysta/https://bsky.app/profile/kitandkrysta.bsky.social-Kit & Krysta

All the fun and information from GameFace in 1/3 of the time! We tackle the massive controversy over NVIDIA's DLSS 5! Plus, reviews of Monster Hunter Stories 3, John Carpenter's Toxic Commando, and Slay the Spire 2! More Xbox Helix details from GDC 2026, and more!

We're back from GDC and I've got A LOT to unpack. This week on Spawn On Me. I'm diving deep into everything that had the internet buzzing coming out of the Game Developers Conference.First up: Project Helix. Xbox finally confirmed the name, the hardware direction, and what their partnership with AMD really means for the future — FSR Next, machine learning integration, a custom AMD SOC, and yes… it IS a console.Then I get into the DLSS 5 controversy that has the gaming community split right down the middle. Is NVIDIA's latest AI upscaling tech a game-changer or a line that shouldn't have been crossed? Plus — GDC sleeper hit alert. I got hands-on with a 90's nostalgia brawler that nobody saw coming, and it might be one of the most exciting indie games of the year. Think Double Dragon meets Scott Pilgrim with Demolition Manenergy. THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY GB STUDIO CENTRAL MAGAZINE!Have you ever wanted to make your OWN Game Boy game? Now you can — no coding required. My friends at GB Studio Central have an incredible open-source retro game creator AND a gorgeous quarterly magazine delivered straight to your door, packed with interviews, game showcases, and everything you need to get started in the GB game-making world.

We tackle the massive controversy over NVIDIA's DLSS 5! Plus, reviews of Monster Hunter Stories 3, John Carpenter's Toxic Commando, and Slay the Spire 2! More Xbox Helix details from GDC 2026, Europe addresses loot boxes, and more!

Should Mechwarrior suits have better bathroom options? Would you build a Mech simulator? Christian is back from the GDC spire in San Francisco with new friends, connections, and an achievement of playing a 4 way co-op Slay the Spire 2 run on a rooftop until 1am? Taylor gets suited up and breaks down the Mechwarrior vs Gundam battle, and Amanda spends a little too long at the Banquet of Fools mesmerized by a unique ARPG. ADD THESE TO YOUR BACKLOGBanquet for Fools, Slay the Spire 2, Mechwarrior 5: Clans OTHER TOPICS Esoteric Ebb, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, Pharaoh™: A New Era To connect with us, visit dlgaming.net! Next episode...Amanda is going to get political and do a deep dive on Esoteric Ebb! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pokemon Pokopia is popping off and Patrick's been playing it! He shares early impressions from his first hours with the game. Plus, a release date trailer for Yoshi and the Mysterious Book introduces us to the Glubbits, a new Switch 2 update adds a “Handheld Mode Boost” for Switch 1 games, and more.The guys also talk about:Pokopia selling over 2.2 million copies in its first four daysQuestions around the missing US price for Yoshi and the Mysterious BookReports out of GDC on Elden Ring: Tarnished EditionA new Hori steering wheel peripheral for Mario KartLEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight moving up its release dateA Tetris 99 Maximus Cup celebrating Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2SUPPORT US ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/nintendocartridgesocietyFRIEND US ON SWITCH / SWITCH 2Patrick: SW-1401-2882-4137Mark: SW-8112-0583-0050

Jeff and Christian welcome Travis Northup from IGN to the show to discuss the big Xbox keynote at GDC 2026, discussing Project Helix and Xbox Mode on PC, the possibility of Simpsons Hit n Run returning, and Nintendo's $80 release of Super Mario Wonder on Switch 2.The Playlist:Travis: Marathon, TMNT: Empire CityChristian: Oceanhorn 3: Legend of the Shadow SeaJeff: Slay the Spire 2Parting Gifts!

Necrosoft Games Director and Intrepid Reporter Brandon Sheffield interviews fellow developers and attendees of GDC 2026. Hosted by Brandon Sheffield, with Brendon Chung, Tony Grayson, Laura Michet, Chris Pruett, Phil Salvador, and Antonio Uribe. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman. Watch episodes with full video on YouTube Discuss this episode in the Insert Credit Forums SHOW NOTES: Brandon Sheffield GDC 2026 Yerba Buena Gardens 1: Antonio Uribe, AKA Fáyer, creator of PancitoMerge and Dig! Dig! Dino!, on baked goods and making a Playdate game (04:14) Fáyer PancitoMerge Arco Dig! Dig! Dino! Playdate The Whiteout Casual Birder Fulcrum Defender Into The Breach Suika Game Threes Harvest Moon series Stardew Valley PICO-8 Itch.io Game Boy Advance Nintendo DS Nintendo Switch 2: Phil Salvador, Library Director of Video Game History Foundation, on building a library (21:56) Phil Salvador Video Game History Foundation Chuck E. Cheese The Secrets of Sega Channel: VGHF recovers over 100 Sega Channel ROMs (and more) William Volk Papers Game Developer Magazine archive.gamehistory.org NeverDead MLB SlugFest Rejected Audio Activision 1994 Expense Report Form 3: Tony Grayson, Director of Antonblast for Summit Sphere, on platformers (36:08) Tony Grayson Antonblast Wario Land series Pizza Tower Bonk series Persona series Peak Highguard 2XKO Fortnite Apex Legends Demonschool Cuphead It Takes Two 4: Laura Michet, Narrative Director of Blendo Games and writer of Skin Deep, on comedy in video games (50:05) Laura Michet Blendo Games Skin Deep The Substance (2024) Riot Forge Skype 5: Brendon Chung, Creative Director of Skin Deep from Blendo games, on signposting in immersive sims (01:02:03) Brendon Chung Skin Deep Immersive Sim Repo Man (1984) System Shock series Thief series Deus Ex series BioShock series Dishonored Series Prey series Deathloop Brigand: Oaxaca Die Hard (1988) Final Fantasy Tactics series Into the Breach Phantom Brigade 6: Chris Pruett, Director of Games at Meta, on modern horror games (01:17:35) Chris Pruett Robot Invader Silent Hill f Resident Evil: Requiem Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake R.E.P.O. Five Nights at Freddy's series Mouthwashing 7: Brandon Sheffield, Writer and Director of Demonschool, on AI and being home from GDC (01:29:00) Tripuzz Stahlfeder: Tekkō Hikūdan AirGrave Santos Patrick Miller This week's Insert Credit Show is brought to you by patrons like you. Thank you. Subscribe: RSS, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more!

Necrosoft Games Director and Intrepid Reporter Brandon Sheffield interviews fellow developers and attendees of GDC 2026. Hosted by Brandon Sheffield, with Brendon Chung, Tony Grayson, Laura Michet, Chris Pruett, Phil Salvador, and Antonio Uribe. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman. Watch episodes with full video on YouTube Discuss this episode in the Insert Credit Forums SHOW NOTES: Brandon Sheffield GDC 2026 Yerba Buena Gardens 1: Antonio Uribe, AKA Fáyer, creator of PancitoMerge and Dig! Dig! Dino!, on baked goods and making a Playdate game (04:14) Fáyer PancitoMerge Arco Dig! Dig! Dino! Playdate The Whiteout Casual Birder Fulcrum Defender Into The Breach Suika Game Threes Harvest Moon series Stardew Valley PICO-8 Itch.io Game Boy Advance Nintendo DS Nintendo Switch 2: Phil Salvador, Library Director of Video Game History Foundation, on building a library (21:56) Phil Salvador Video Game History Foundation Chuck E. Cheese The Secrets of Sega Channel: VGHF recovers over 100 Sega Channel ROMs (and more) William Volk Papers Game Developer Magazine archive.gamehistory.org NeverDead MLB SlugFest Rejected Audio Activision 1994 Expense Report Form 3: Tony Grayson, Director of Antonblast for Summit Sphere, on platformers (36:08) Tony Grayson Antonblast Wario Land series Pizza Tower Bonk series Persona series Peak Highguard 2XKO Fortnite Apex Legends Demonschool Cuphead It Takes Two 4: Laura Michet, Narrative Director of Blendo Games and writer of Skin Deep, on comedy in video games (50:05) Laura Michet Blendo Games Skin Deep The Substance (2024) Riot Forge Skype 5: Brendon Chung, Creative Director of Skin Deep from Blendo games, on signposting in immersive sims (01:02:03) Brendon Chung Skin Deep Immersive Sim Repo Man (1984) System Shock series Thief series Deus Ex series BioShock series Dishonored Series Prey series Deathloop Brigand: Oaxaca Die Hard (1988) Final Fantasy Tactics series Into the Breach Phantom Brigade 6: Chris Pruett, Director of Games at Meta, on modern horror games (01:17:35) Chris Pruett Robot Invader Silent Hill f Resident Evil: Requiem Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake R.E.P.O. Five Nights at Freddy's series Mouthwashing 7: Brandon Sheffield, Writer and Director of Demonschool, on AI and being home from GDC (01:29:00) Tripuzz Stahlfeder: Tekkō Hikūdan AirGrave Santos Patrick Miller This week's Insert Credit Show is brought to you by patrons like you. Thank you. Subscribe: RSS, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more!

Giga Bytes Podcast 401: Hoy hablamos de Yotei Legends, Marathon, GDC y mucho más!!! GDC Xbox: Project Helix GDC: versions alpha a Devs en 2027 Windows 11 Xbox mode en camino Steam Machine 1080p 30FPS minimo para recibir verificación Ghost of Yotei Legends disponible ya Cambios a Marathon, UESC enemies menos vida, escudos más débiles y mas Invincible Vs Beta del 9-11 de abril (PS5 y Xbox), 10 personajes en el beta, 3v3 Tag Lego Minifigs de Super Mario para 2027 Yoshi and the Mysterious Book a Switch 2 mayo 21 Resident Evil Requiem a recibir expansión de narrativa, ya en desarrollo confirma Koshi Nakanishi, photo mode y minigame a ser agregado en mayo Metal Gear Solid Delta Snake Eater 2m vendidos     Sigueme y Suscribete: Facebook.com/elgiga Youtube.com/elgiga947 Instagram.com/elgiga947                                                                                                                                    Twitch.tv/elgiga947 Twitter.com/elgiga947 Giga Bytes Podcast   #monsterenergypr @monsterenergy @Stephreyesmarketing @caribbeanxsports @eriberto213 #gigabytespodcast #gigabytespodcast #2026

Ep 518 - It's time to share our thoughts on the all-new Pokemon Pokopia and Ghost of Yotei Legends. Nagoshi Studio is in trouble after NetEase flaked out. Story DLC is confirmed for Resident Evil Requiem, and Xbox trickles out more next-gen info at GDC. Become a patron to get the extended cut: https://www.patreon.com/posts/extended-welcome-152946215 00:00 - Intro 06:17 - Resident Evil Requiem Story DLC 18:25 - Battlefield Layoffs 28:49 - NetEase Pulls Funding on Nagoshi Studio 36:58 - More Details on Next Xbox 44:51 - BAFTA Nominations 53:08 - My One Piece 01:05:39 - My One Thing 01:18:55 - Pokemon Pokopia Impressions 01:37:55 - Ghost of Yotei Legends Impressions 01:48:57 - L&R Game: EZA Show Titles 01:59:17 - L&R: Apathetic Freedom 02:07:39 - L&R: Best Weather 02:16:30 - Bets 02:20:28 - Closing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today on the podcast we talk about everything Valve and Microsoft shared at GDC. Shownotes - https://billfairchild.notion.site/NNP-139-31a2150ee84f80d997b7cda6e4ba14b2?source=copy_link

This week on Gamertag Radio, Danny Peña and Parris Lilly talk about Project Helix, the GDC 2026 presentation, and what game developers were saying during the conference after the presentation. The return of Fan Mail and much more!Send us questions - fanmail@gamertagradio.com | Speakpipe.com/gamertagradio or 786-273-7GTR. Join our Discord - https://discord.gg/gtr chat with other GTR community member.

GDC is over but we're still here, and we're talking about games, including Super Meat Boy 3D, Screenbound, Worming From Home, Toxic Commandos and more! This week's music: Mothica - Somewhere in Between

Janet's at GDC and the crew is joined by games critic, let's player extraordinaire, former Waypoint contributor (and recent Remap contributor) and longtime friend of the show Dia Lacina to talk Project Helix, the wild and increasingly expensive world of Fortnite V-Bucks, the state of New York suing Valve, Star Trek, and more. We talk about seven video games this episode.. seven! That's a lot! Links: Project Helix, V-Bucks price increase to help pay the bills, New York sues Valve, Jeff Kaplan on his exit from Blizzard, Dia's Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown reviewDiscussed:1:19:30 - Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown (and general Star Trek discussion)1:52:44 - Pokémon Pokopia2:13:45 - Marathon2:14:55 - Slay the Spire II2:17:06 - Minishoot' Adventures2:18:14 - Super Battle Golf2:25:57 - 1348 Ex VotoSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Spent the week at GDC 2026 checking out the latest from NVIDIA GeForce with DLSS 4.5, Dynamic Multiframe Generation, RTX Remix, and GeForce Now #GeForcePartnerSend us questions - fanmail@gamertagradio.com | Speakpipe.com/gamertagradio or 786-273-7GTR. Join our Discord - https://discord.gg/gtr chat with other GTR community member.

Marathon has me in a real chokehold, let's talk about how cool this game is. Also, let's talk about how cool Pokémon Pokopia is! Cool games! In the news, Nintendo wants a refund, a bunch of questionable Xbox rumors are everywhere now, GDC gets underway, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this episode of the Official Xbox Podcast, we're sitting down with Annette and Charla from the ID@Xbox program to talk about some of the indie games at this week's GDC, including At Fate's End and Replaced. Then, we're hearing directly from the devs of Mixtape, Delphinium, and Screenbound to find out what we can expect when folks get their hands on those games at the conference and beyond.00:00 Introduction03:33 With Xbox celebrating 25 years, how do you reflect on your time here?06:27 At Fate's End08:25 Replaced09:41 How are you feeling with GDC right around the corner?11:34 Johnny Galvatron – Mixtape Interview20:41 Heidi Borge - Delphinium Interview27:32 Will Buckle – Screenbound Interview34:34 Final thoughts36:36 OutroFOLLOW XBOXFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Xbox​​​ Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/Xbox​​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Xbox