Justin Zwack 🎮 (he/him)

Space is not a wall: toward a less architectural level design Maybe video game level design theory needs less focus on architecture? And maybe I'm part of the problem? My bad.

new blog post: turned my gdc 2025 level design theory talk into a blog post www.blog.radiator.debacle.us/2025/05/spac...

It was really cool to see Ubisoft doing this for their Assassin's Creed games with the discovery tour mode. Though I'm not sure if they continued that with their recent entries.

Would love to see other big titles do something similar.

I can only recommend reading all your blog posts. Always great stuff!

Level Design at Naughty Dog #Blocktober 2025

Happy #Blocktober! It's been a while since I've done something so I decided to write another blog about #LevelDesign. medium.com/@arnaldo42/l...

What’s up Bluesky, it’s almost time for #Blocktober! Last year was the first year we saw proper activity on bsky, here’s hoping for even more this year!

Awrite Bluesky folks. Mostly reposting on here this #Blocktober but still keeping an eye on the other place. Very cool seeing people kicking it off so strongly here already. ❤️ #gamedev #leveldesign

Level Design Kit A quintessential starter pack for all those who want to start creating incredible and professional levels in Unreal. Pack is built to metrics that match many studios standards, that help build your be...

Hey #leveldesign it is that special time of the year it is #Blocktober I will be updating my GodofWar level & can not wait to see others awesome work.

If you are looking to get the most out of your blockout check out the Level Design Kit: bit.ly/4gYaJ9d #UE5 #games

Storyboarder - The best and easiest way to storyboard. Storyboarder makes it easy to visualize a story as fast you can draw stick figures. Quickly draw to test if a story idea works. Create and show animatics to others. Express your story idea without mak

iunno who needs to hear this, but I was looking for a tool to make Storyboarding nice, and Storyboarder is basically ideal: wonderunit.com/storyboarder/

Totally free no ads or whatever, it's basically a movie company that got fed up with tools, wrote their own and made it free

No AI fuckery either

The 2025 Game Devs of Color Expo Direct is LIVE NOW! 👾

The sixth annual GDoCExpo Direct is packed with new announcements from dozens of amazing games by creators of color. Tune in for exclusive reveals, the latest launches, and more 🙌🏾

Use #GDoCExpo2025 to share reactions!
gdoc.events/Direct2025

The Play for Peace: Games for Palestine charity bundle is now live! Nearly 400 games from creators all around the world, with proceeds going directly to Gaza relief efforts.

Bundle link: itch.io/b/2979/play-...

We made a launch trailer to celebrate this moment👇 Please RT.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4 – First Impressions From a Series Veteran - IGN I certainly wasn't expecting a new Dawn of War any time soon, much less from a studio other than Relic. But from the bit of it I've played, it seems like King Art Games understands the assignment. As ...

I got to play Dawn of War 4! It kind of feels like if Dawn of War 2 and 3 didn't happen and Dawn of War 1 got a sequel 20 years later.

www.ign.com/articles/war...

Dawn of War 4 official screenshot showing an Ork base

We've played Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War 4, and it feels like the sequel to the original that old-school RTS fans have always wanted.

Here's our impressions: www.eurogamer.net/ive-played-w...

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV on Steam Return to the RTS series’ roots with deeply satisfying strategy gameplay. Take command of four unique Warhammer 40,000 factions, including the Adeptus Mechanicus in their series debut! Fight through 7...

Wishlist on Steam here:
store.steampowered.com/app/2272360/...

#DawnOfWar4 #DawnOfWarIV #ONL2025 #gamescom #Warhammer

YouTube video by Warhammer Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV Official Announce Trailer | Gamescom Opening Night 2025

It's official: KING Art Games is developing #DawnOfWarIV!

Our RTS team went back to the roots with the new installment while also delivering one of the best looking RTS games out there!

Take a look at our announcement trailer here:
youtu.be/lAPm8fIy5mg?si…

#DawnOfWar4 #ONL2025

My curated game developer resource spreadsheet that I update from time to time.

docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Covers level design, game design, narrative, marketing, UX and a lot more.

If you have any recommendations, just let me know.

GDC Survey: 41% of devs affected by layoffs in 2024 The Game Developers Conference released its annual State of Games Industry survey today, which found that one in ten de…

The Game Developers Conference released its annual State of Games Industry survey today, which found that one in ten developers were laid off in 2024

Overall, 41% of developers were impacted by layoffs last year compared to 35% in 2023

www.gamesindustry.biz/gdc-survey-4...

No one - absolutely no one on planet earth - is more frustrated by a game’s bugs than the people who made it

One of the criticisms I’ve seen lately re: bugs is that devs just shrug and go “them’s the breaks.” no. We are little balls of rage, spite, and swallowed tears

Dreams on a Pillow, the Palestinian video game about the 1948 Nakba, surpassed its funding goal It’s follow-up to the award-winning Liyla and the Shadows of War

Again, my utmost respect for @polygon.com for reporting on Dreams on a Pillow when so many sites and influencers that claim to stand for inclusivity and diversity and equality have ducked speaking about the genocide, about Palestine, and about Palestinian stories.

www.polygon.com/gaming/50447...

PMG's video thumbnail for the most recent investigation, showing an illustrated representation of Christa Sydney slapping her own face.

What we found was one of the very worst examples of workplace abuse in the history of this industry. That may sound hyperbolic. I really don't think it is.

Here's our investigation:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR9H...

(5/7)

The video thumbnail for PMG's original documentary, showing a white, American hand clasping cash in exchange for the labour of a Southeast Asian workforce, represented here as being weighed down by their immense workload.

Back in 2021, PMG reported on the unseen games industry crunch taking place at outsourcing studios in SE Asia.

Since then, the companies we looked at have continued to work on some of the biggest games in the world, without any push to improve the conditions of the artists doing that work. (1/7)

For all the game devs who had a cool year, but can't mention what you worked on, we see you, too. And 👏👏👏 to you, as well!

A screenshot of Dragon Age: Veilguard's character screen, with a bunch of equipment slots of varying types, along with tabs for other menus. Across the various menu elements, there are 10 different elements with "unread" pips, circled in red.

I had a thread where I complained about how "unread" pips in inventories+menus "drive me crazy". I deleted it; it was an emotional take on a complex design space.

Instead I'll talk about:
1: The problems they're trying to solve
2: Why I think they're often a bad solution
3: Why they happen anyways

The reason crafting is in every game now: It's like money laundering for game designers

Let me explain.

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#VideoGameJobs #GameDevJobs #GamingCareers

So you want to be A GAME DEVELOPER?

Look no further, I crafted a *very* valid game career guide for newcomers & those who generally feel lost in the games industry.

#gamedev #gamedesign
#leveldesign #gamecareerguide
(Repost of my only viral post on the bird site from May 2020)

Hire Gina for 2D and 3D work, whether it's concepts, illustrations, asset production or even 3D prints. Especially if you need anything stylized Gina is the one.

#gamedevjobs #gamedev

bsky.app/profile/rain...

Are you in need of some special effects? Hire Kuba! They've done all kinds of VFX so go check out their profile!

#gamedevjobs #gamedev

bsky.app/profile/kuba...

If you are looking for an excellent programmer experienced with system, tool, and console development take a look at Bart's portfolio!

#gamedevjobs #gamedev

bsky.app/profile/digi...

Unfortunately, we had layoffs at KING Art Games.

I will be reposting some folks underneath this post but a lot are not on here.
If you have any openings in Germany, Europe or remote get in touch and go hire these extremely talented and experienced developers!

#gamedev #gamejobs #gamedevjobs