I'm home and I've written a bit on my blog about post-GDC feelings:
meredithgran.com/gdc-thoughts...
The reason I say for everyone is they did have discounted indie and academic passes, but the indie requirements filter out many actual indies. The academic pass is good for students, though
It's also possible GDC saw an increase in revenue with the new pass pricing and structure even though they had a drop in attendance. They could probably bring up those numbers by reintroducing a low-cost pass available to everyone or doing a proper online conference
Attending without a pass is also not new. I've done it before, and I know others that have as well, but what used to feel like a niche behavior seemed common this year
This, of course, doesn't account for a 10K attendee drop, but anecdotally like 25-30% of the people I was talking to did not have passes 🤣
This isn't just indies. It's across the board. Also, many major platform holders and engine makers that used to have big booths on the expo floor aren't doing that anymore, instead choosing offsite space nearby. (Unity, Epic, Sony, etc.) So their staff doesnt need badges either...
The lack of cheap pass options like Expo, IGS, Friday only, etc, means people that are mostly there for networking (maybe most attendees?) and don't need a conference pass, but might have bought a cheaper one in the past are just not buying them
While most of the factors (immigration in the US, rebrand, layoffs, etc) people are talking about have contributed, one thing I don't see a lot is people talking about how many people "attended" GDC this year without a pass
Couldn't escape GDC without one incredibly racist interaction from two sorta drunk white guys sitting next to me at dinner 😭
I was honored earlier this GDC week to receive the Indie Developer Award from the @blackingaming.bsky.social Foundation - and I wanted to link a recording of my speech here! I'm so thankful to be supported by such an amazing community, and know that whoever you are, you belong in games!!! 🎮✨🏆 (1/4)
All the aliens in Astromine are voxels, gotta blow through them to get to core
Raw Fury, Indie-fund and Whitehorn games have publicly available publishing agreements. There are likely others as well, but those are the ones that I know of.
💰THE OUTERSLOTH CONTRACT 💰
We just released the FULL contract and terms that all our games sign!
We hope this challenges the status quo of what you see out there.
In a nutshell:
💸 Pre-recoup 50/50
💸 Post-recoup 15/85
💸 Terms after 7 years
www.innersloth.com/the-outerslo...
Hey! @outersloth.com just publicly shared it’s contract terms at GDC 2026. Here’s the skinny if you’re looking for some funding!
When eroge, MIDI smooth beats, and run-and-gun mecha collide. Celebrating its 30th birthday today, a PC-98 Assault Suits Valken-style blast-em-up with a shmup/STG-style perma power-up system that's pretty snazzy stuff.
📺: Night Slave, Melody, 1996 (2024 Valley Bell translation)
A peek at Animerica as the new millennium turns: Rayearth, the Cosplay video revolution has begun, GBCs and Pokémon Red and Blue up for grabs, and Manga Video blazes ahead to the year 2000.
Because games are such a commercial/corporate media and always have been a lot (the majority?) of people don't see games as anything other than a commercial artform. It's "weird" to be intrinsically motivated to make games
For startups I've seen that seem to be building successful businesses. Human in the loop solutions (having a accountant, or 3D modeler, etc. accessible when necessary) to ensure quality. Maybe if you build software that is still challenging for AI companies to build because they lack expertise?
Freshroll
Would Ren'Py have been the best option in this situation? Because you said "at the time" I'm assuming the game has evolved to include non-VN elements which probably makes Ren'Py a non-starter
In playtesting, I find that if I think something is "off" it often comes up. There are definitely situations where I genuinely don't know the right approach, but more often than not it just surfaces areas I know are weaknesses already
thinking about her
Eh, sorry, Slay the Spire used LibGDX, not LWJGL. Mixing up my Java game frameworks
StS used LWJGL. I believe they moved to Unity at first (and later Godot), for easier portability. The fun thing is Slice and Dice also uses LWJGL, so it's widely used for top-tier roguelites.
Mega Crit was the type of developer I called out as a risk for runtime fee. They have "infinite" money, as making 2D games and don't really need Unity. Honestly they could have afforded to build their own engine for StS2 easily vs. using Godot, but they didn't need Unity (StS wasn't Unity either!)
Yeah, that's fair, given the volatility of business models and the state of the company, it's possible the engine could be a risk, especially given most folks don't have source code access.
I tend to not post much about Unity on here or elsewhere because I don't want to deal with guys like you, but noted. I won't say anything because it won't make a difference. You've made your mind and they've made theirs and I just need a paycheck
