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No squatch sightings last weekend...but wow...what a week since. A massively productive one for The Glitch (on all fronts), and apparently some other things happened around the industry as well...huh. Alright...let's-a-go: OMY@C 🤘 ⛏ - Metallica will be in Fortnite soon. The event is called "Metallica: Fuel Fire Fury," and it will kick off on June 22nd. The San Francisco band got on the Fortnite Festival stage yesterday - so if you're curious...hop on in there. RIP Cliff. RIP Eddie. 🍎 - Apple's WWDC was this week...and their formal entry into Ai was the big takeaway. "Apple Intelligence," was the name they landed on. Essentially, it's Ai integrated through every aspect of their various OS's...adding personal context to everything. My first reaction was...do I want that though? On one hand, this feels like the first real indication of where consumer Ai is headed...on the other: privacy? A big part of Apple's presentation of their Ai is "setting a brand-new standard for privacy in Ai." So...they're well aware of the line that's being crossed. Apple's 5-minute video overview (on their site) shows you how "Ai for the rest of us" will work...and it's easy to be cynical about it. A squirrel DJ...cool. Custom emoji's...neat. Still...you should watch it. When app devs finally start building for this though...look out. PREDICTION: iPhone 16 will be the best selling iPhone yet. The 6 sold 222M units total...71.5MM units in it's first 3 months...so we'll know by year's end how this crazy statement is trending. 📺 🎮 - Mike Verdu will soon be leaving his role as VP of Netflix Games (and starting a new role with the company). Speculation is rampant about what this means for the games unit. It's possible that it means...nothing at all. I'm still massively bullish on the gaming opportunity for Netflix. My personal opinion is that transmedia is the biggest, most exciting play here...but I've also heard there are internal headwinds on that. 🤷‍♂️ 🍷 ⛵ - I'm not going to Cannes...again. Maybe some day. I'll drink rosé and look important at home...again. I'm not bitter. 📺 🎮 - Follow Friday: Two nerds with a webcam...that you absolutely should be following if you're in the games business: 1) Chris Melissinos (Principal Evangelist for Amazon Web Services (AWS) - Video interviews with games industry legends, deep retro dives, and discussions on the top news. 2) Alexander Seropian (Founder/CEO of Look North World) - Host of "The Fourth Curtain," is always a headliner event. 📺 - Palm Royale (Apple+). Kristen Wiig as a social climber in 1960's south Florida. So good. Save a grasshopper for me. 🎵 - Spotify's "Daylist" - pull the throttle back a bit with your list names though. "90's Indie Twee Friday Afternoon," might be accurate...but it's embarrassing. 🎮 - It's been 2 weeks since I picked up Hogwarts Legacy and Vampire Survivors...haven't started either yet. THAT's how busy it's been.

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Two new assets have just been added to Pantaloon's Publishing Hub, broadening the offering to cover it's first biz/funding resources: 📃 Dummy Indie Publishing Contract I'm particularly jazzed about this one, having signed one of my own games to a publisher in the past and not really knowing what I was looking for or any red flags to be aware of. The brilliant Felix Wong from Lvl Up Partners has put together a vital mock-contract for any studio looking to do the publisher-dance, offering valuable transparency around the deals and subsequent working relationships born off the back of them. Even if self-publishing is a preferred route, there's a lot to learn from this. 💸 Crowdfunding for Videogame Essentials If publisher or VC cash isn't an option, crowdfunding is still an entirely feasible route to raising development funds, but does come loaded with a slew of risks. Thomas Bidaux - the fountain of all crowdfunding knowledge - has put together an Essentials Guide to approaching this, and how best to leverage a Kickstarter campaign. -- Both of these are now available through the Hub's Resource Library (which has also been tweaked to include 'view now' versions of all assets) https://lnkd.in/gjsHH6AR

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I'm heading down to Develop: Brighton next Weds. Let me know if you want to find out more about how player insights drive successful games, or just catch up over an ice cream or beer! #DevelopConf #DevelopBrighton #PlayerInsights

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FAO: All my #founder #CEO and #entrepreneur friends. Entries are open in the Barclays Entrepreneur Awards, with nine categories covering a whole range of business sectors. One category is focused upon innovation in games - so a lot of people across #Scotland and the #UK should think seriously about getting an entry in for themselves, or someone who's work you admire. #games #Scotland #UK #business #videogames

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Weekly Inspiration | Why should your brand pay attention to gamers? Gamers are a unique consumer audience for brands - gamers also buy groceries, they order food and they drive cars. It's crucial for brands to recognise and tap into the diverse and dynamic world of gamers. Gamers are not just players immersed in their favorite virtual worlds; they are a powerful and engaged consumer group with distinct preferences and behaviours. So why should your brand get involved in this space? High attention span: Gamers are renowned for their high attention spans, a trait honed through hours of immersive gameplay that demands focus, strategic thinking, and problem-solving skills. This ability to sustain concentration over extended periods makes gamers a valuable audience for brands. Tech-savvy and early adopters: Gamers are often at the forefront of technological advancements, making them early adopters of new products and services. They appreciate innovation and are more likely to embrace cutting-edge offerings. Community-centric: The gaming community thrives on collaboration and interaction. Brands that understand and contribute to these communities can build strong, loyal relationships with gamers, fostering brand advocacy and word-of-mouth promotion. Diverse demographics: The gaming audience is incredibly diverse, spanning various age groups, genders, and cultural backgrounds. This diversity allows brands to reach a wide range of consumers with tailored messaging and campaigns. Influence beyond gaming: Gamers are influential beyond the gaming sphere. They participate in various online and offline activities, impacting trends in technology, entertainment, fashion, and more. Engaging with gamers can have a ripple effect across multiple industries. As gamers ourselves, we recognise the unique value that gamers bring to the table. Our branded gaming experiences (BGEs) are designed to not only understand but also celebrate the gaming culture, creating authentic and impactful connections between brands and this vibrant ecosystem. I have been around for long enough to know how to talk to gamers, so let's connect and create something for awesome for your brand. business.mettlestate.co.za #Mettlestate #BrandedGamingExperience #Gaming #Esports

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Awful news overnight with Ancient Forge having had to lay off 24 of its 59 employees at the end of August, according to Polish outlet CD-Action. The cuts reportedly affected both new hires and experienced devs, including leads and producers. This comes amid financial struggles reported at the studio in July. (source: https://lnkd.in/eywVcGt8) Those of you who are affected by this, please make use of my resources below: 🥇First, reach out to us at People Can Fly Studio, we have many roles open right now in Canada, the UK, Ireland and Europe, please check them out here: https://lnkd.in/eWpV5PbA 🥈Next, Discipline Games Jobs Resources: Over the past months I have created 9 (at time of writing) Games Jobs Resources to find jobs in a wide range of disciplines, and I would urge you to check them out, if anything just to see what would be available to you: https://lnkd.in/ePywd2kq You can find over 6,000 jobs there. 🥉 Third, the Ultimate list of Video Games Career Resources: This should be your one-stop shop for all information. My dear friend Amir Satvat maintains these documents, he is a legend for doing this - please check them out: https://amirsatvat.com/ I urge you to check out the areas in particular about CV support and mentoring, as these will help you no matter what industry you are hailing from or are looking into going next. 🎖 Finally, do not give up. Ever. No matter how dark things may look right now, I KNOW you will get through this, you have got this! 👊 Remember you are not alone. If you need help, advice, or even an ear to listen, we're here for you. Always! ➡ A request to my community, please can I ask you to repost this post to your colleagues and friends, so that we can get as many into jobs as possible! And please comment if you or your studio are currently hiring - let's help each other! Much love ❤️ #ancientforge #layoffs

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"Six of the Best" - No. 4 (The next in a short series of six personal reflections over the last year running Player One Consulting...) **The games industry is currently facing a leadership challenge, and this offers a real opportunity to drive change** Its an unpopular message for many but I've felt for a while now that the business leadership across the games industry isn't quite where it needs to be. It was firstly seeing it from the perspective of having worked cross-industry for years, and then making the comparison with the games world - not always flattering on a strategic, operational or financial basis. Then it was underlined by being at Xbox where although we were the "games people" there (and all the fun that entailed!) we were a still just small part of a massive enterprise focused corporation that demanded commercial focus & rigour...and there was no special dispensation given to miss our numbers "because games". Somehow we found it was possible to be true to the games, the devs, the fans....and yet still run things in a commercially smart way.  By comparison, a lot of the people that floated into Xbox from the rest of the games industry at the time really seemed to lack that cutting edge, and they were often out again within months. Yes, games is a creative business, but that doesn't mean that the management should be sub-standard. The frequent "flakiness" on the management side of the industry (as I saw it) was what prompted me to start Player One Consulting, to initiate a change in culture and raise the standard of professionalism. It was tricky to get traction though, especially at the AAA level. So many businesses I spoke to seemed oblivious to the issues besetting their companies. "Everything is fine, its all under control" was a common retort, even from companies whose share price was in the toilet, who were shedding staff and who hadn't seen a major hit in years. The level of complacency across the industry was actually pretty shocking. Well, in the last year I think that we are at last starting to see the flaws in that approach. The industry is beset by challenges, there continue to be massive layoffs every week and (based on my recent conversations) investors are becoming increasing unhappy with some of the decision making by leadership teams at studios & publishers. I do believe however that with the right external guidance (as provided by Player One Consulting) there is a way out for many currently challenged games companies. The next year is going to be extremely interesting.

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The web stores are coming in hot 🌐 🛒 Epic Games' web store is coming back iOS (in the UK) Game devs want to be able to sell game items outside of the App Store's high-tax territory, meaning they get to avoid passing on the 30% app store fee to players (and keep more for themselves in the meantime). Apple obviously wants to keep its cash-cow, but new laws and rulings—many of them prompted by Epic itself—are opening doors for game devs to sell outside of these closed ecosystems. This is a win for gaming overall, because it increases options for developers and flexibility for players, and also helps in the blockchain world. Xsolla has offered white labeled web stores for a long time, in addition to a suite of tools to help devs monetize players. This is why Sequence also has white label web marketplaces, in addition to in-game marketplace tech. Get a feel for it yourself, it takes 90 seconds to launch a royalty-enforcing, customized marketplace: https://lnkd.in/e_rTvvQR We're entering a new era of optionality for game developers in how they build and monetize, and web stores are an important part of this. We'll be unlikely to get any of the data, but it'd be interesting to see how Fortnite usage returns to the UK with this change, and what revenue that means for Epic. https://lnkd.in/gSbPtjrq

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💷 "£50 million has just been repaid." ⚽ 82 minutes in, Chelsea were under relentless pressure at Camp Nou. Then, out of nowhere, a clearance and a sprint—Fernando Torres broke away. The world watched as he rounded the goalkeeper and calmly slotted the ball into the net. In that moment, it wasn’t just a goal—it was redemption. For Torres, it was the culmination of every doubt, every struggle, and every ounce of effort. The price tag, the critics—it all faded away. But this isn't just a story about football. It’s a reminder for all of us: 💡 Patience is a Virtue Success doesn’t always come overnight. There will be moments of doubt, where the investment—whether in time, trust, or resources—feels too great. But perseverance often leads to the breakthrough we’re waiting for. 💡 Believe in Your Journey Torres’ moment came after countless setbacks. In our careers and lives, the process is rarely linear, but trusting your path will always lead to progress, even when it’s hard to see. 💡 Your Moment Will Come Whether it’s in your work, your goals, or personal growth, every effort is a step closer to your own defining moment. When it comes, seize it. Success is about showing up consistently. When the moment arrives, be ready to turn it into your own £50 million moment. #Perseverance #GrowthMindset #TrustTheProcess #CareerJourney

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