Beau Yotka

🎮 The age of the gaming industry workforce and the questions it raises. Recent data shows: 📊 The average age of video game developers sits around 32–34 years old. 📊 Yet in the US, around 62% of video game developers are 40+. 📊 In the UK, the majority of workers are still under 35, making it one of the younger creative industries. It raises an important question: 👉��In what is intrinsically seen as a young industry, does being over 40 work against you? 👉 Or is grey hair and experience exactly what’s needed to guide the industry through challenging times, whether that’s crunch culture, diversity gaps, or financial pressures? I’d love to hear from people who’ve experienced this first-hand. ·       Have you found age to be a barrier in the gaming sector? ·       Or have you seen your experience valued as a strength? Let’s start a conversation about how the industry can balance youthful innovation with the wisdom of experience. #GamingIndustry #Leadership #DiversityAndInclusion #AgeDiversity #VideoGames #Careers #Netiro

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This isn't the matrix, it's Steam. Every single AppID since the beginning of time. In total, 25 years worth of PC games coming in at 253,105 unique entries to date. What's even more fascinating is being able to see which were the first ever games available, at the inception point of one of gaming's biggest platforms.

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If you’ve ever worked with smoke, fog, fire, or terrain in Houdini, you’ve used VDBs—whether you knew it or not. But VDBs aren't just "better volumes." They changed how we think about space. 🧬 Here is a quick breakdown of what you need to know about the VDB 🧬 Did VDB Came out of the blue? VDB comes from OpenVDB, which originally developed at DreamWorks Animation to handle massive volumetric data efficiently. The key idea behind it is simple 👉 Don’t store empty space. Only look into the parts that actually contains data. That’s why VDB scales so well. 🧊 The VDB Family members The most common VDB type is the SDF (Signed Distance Field): this type main concern is the distance to the nearest surface Positive = outside Negative = inside Zero = surface which make it gold mine for Mesh analysis, collisions, Boolean operations, and fluid surfaces. But there are some other important VDB types: • Fog VDB → and it focus on density value of 0 is empty while 1 is full opaque commonly used with (smoke, clouds, fire) • Velocity VDB → vector fields for motion usuly used for advection (moving smoke with wind), and guiding particles. • Color VDB → stores Cd / RGB values great for Shading, fire temperature (blackbody radiation), and texture projection. • Mask VDB → that is a "Logic" A specialized, lightweight grid (often Boolean or Integer) so the Values: Often just On/Off (1/0) great for controlling where smoothing happens, limiting a simulation to a specific area, or "culling" data to save memory. Think of VDBs as fields, not just shapes. 🎮 VDB in Real-Time: 2026 Story shortly They are Just friends 💔 for now. While it still doesn't render raw files like a path-tracer, But we have Heterogeneous Volumes system to bridge the gap. ⚡ The Modern Way (Sparse Volume Textures - SVT) In UE 5.4/5.5, you can drag and drop the file directly into the Content Browser and it will converted into a SVT and then use a Heterogeneous Volume Actor to render it in the viewport. ☂️ The Classic Way (Flipbooks/Pseudo-3D) For mobile or high-performance games, bake it into 2D textures this is much cheaper on the GPU. ☄️ The Niagara Way Lookup for particles, Niagara system can sample a VDB to know where to spawn particles or how to move (Velocity VDB). But from Cost POV: VDBs/SVTs are memory-hungry. A long animated sequence can easily eat up several gigabytes of VRAM. Rendering It uses Ray Marching, which is expensive. If you have 10 large VDBs on screen, your frame rate will tank. The Verdict Great for cinematics and hero effects; still "too heavy" for generic background smoke in a competitive shooter. "VDB is for the lab; Baked is for the field." 🎯 Final Thought VDB didn’t just improve volumes. It gave us a way to think in space, distance, and influence. What’s your golden tip on VDB #VDB #OpenVDB #Houdini #FX #Proceduralism #TechnicalArtist #PipelineTD #VFX #GameDev #RealtimeFX #Volumes #OpenToWork

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What 30+ game design documents taught me Over the last few years I’ve written more than 30 game design documents. Mobile, PC, horror, indie, live ops, prototypes… you name it. Most of those GDDs were not “perfect”. But they taught me what actually matters. Here are a few lessons that stuck with me: 1. A GDD is a tool, not a trophy Nobody gets extra points for a 100 page document. If the team cannot use it to make decisions, it has failed. 2. Clarity beats completeness A simple diagram, table or example is often better than 5 paragraphs. If designers, programmers and artists can all explain the feature in their own words, the document is clear enough. 3. Write for readers, not for yourself Producers need different details than engineers or artists. I stopped trying to put everything in one giant block, and started structuring sections for each discipline. 4. Make it a living document The first version is always wrong. Good GDDs are updated after playtests, data and new constraints, instead of becoming a forgotten PDF in a folder. 5. Decisions > ideas Ideas are cheap. What really helps the team is documenting trade-offs, rejected options and the reasons behind final decisions. After 30+ GDDs, I care less about “beautiful documents” and more about documents that help teams ship better games. How do you structure your game design documents? Any must-have sections I didn’t mention? #GameDev #GameDesign #GDD #GameDesignDocument #SystemDesign #LevelDesign #IndieGameDev #GameDevelopment

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The influence of Dungeons & Dragons on modern game development is foundational. Core mechanics like character classes, turn-based logic, and role distribution trace directly back to tabletop design. At ECHO School, we delve into the intricacies of game design: exploring how rules, statistics, and creative imagination continue to fuel innovation in today's dynamic game dev industry. #gamedev #EchoSchool #gamedesign #gamedeveloper

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As a freelance rigger, I need to make sure my builds have a lot of flexibility. So I've recently reworked my lid modules to add variable joint counts. By utilizing a curve-based output I can changed the amount of joints used based on the needs of the project. Higher joint counts for fidelity and control, lower counts for simplicity and optimization. Or I can test and iterate to find a happy middle ground. So animators using my rigs on film or game projects can enjoy the same features, such as: - Automated lid follow with eye movement - Main controls to position the lids through translation and sculpt the curvature with rotation/scale  - Secondary controls for finer detail (If there are enough joints to support it) - Manual or automated blinking. Animate controls, or activate the automated meet point between your posed lids for a perfect seal I've been using iterations of this system over my last few projects, both commercials and games. The core elements of this system have been floating around in my head since 2018, so it's been great to finally put it to the test. 

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Do me & everyone in the Games Industry a solid - don't crap on Crimson Desert until you actually play it / actually hear from people you know & trust that have played it. & even still, the ratings I'm seeing are not bad. Make the decision for yourself. (I'll give you a hint, there is no such thing as a 'perfect Video Game,' not even GTAV... yep, I just said it!) This is one of the MASSIVE problems in this Industry, making titles DOA before they're even out on the market. Killing Studios & IP's, years of hard work... this has to stop! Find out for yourself. Remember? Remember what got you playing Video games to start?! For yourself, not what a friggin' website review said (because for the majority of us, we didn't have the Internet in those days!)! Pearl Abyss keep fighting the good fight & pushing forward - I can't wait to get into Pywel & decide for myself!

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Hiring in Gaming vs. Other Jobs Few things I’ve noticed:   In most jobs, companies mostly look at resumes, degrees, and test scores. But in gaming, that’s just the starting point. You need to look deeper.   Here are some things we look for when hiring: People who have creative skills, like through art, code, or game ideas or just creative thoughts. People who can solve tricky problems in fun and new ways. People who really love games, because if you don’t, it’s hard to understand the mindset of building them.   People who work well with others, as making games is all about teamwork. But this only works if the company is full of energy and passion too. You need both passionate teams, made by passionate people.   If this sounds like you, don’t wait. The gaming world needs people like you and trust me, you won’t regret it. #OkimiStudios #GameDev #Teamwork #GamingJobs #CreativeCareers #Hiring

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Most character sheets are just useless “lore storage” – they describe a person, but generate absolutely no drama. Over the years in game development, theatre, and narrative design, I’ve seen hundreds of templates overloaded with information that does nothing for actual production. They contain everything: eye color, zodiac sign, favorite breakfast, three pages of biography… but completely miss the most important thing – the character’s vector. For production work on quests, dialogue, and narrative systems, all that extra information is just noise. A character is not a wiki page. A character is a dramatic engine. I don’t care what color the hero likes. I care about: emotional triggers, internal, contradictions,social role, relationship with power, psychological breaking point, transformation arc – that’s where playable tension comes from. I assembled this framework piece by piece across: theatre rehearsals, RPG development, TTRPG campaigns, collaborative narrative pipelines. The biggest lesson I learned: consistency inside a narrative team is not achieved through “talent” – it's achieved through structure. When you have five writers working on the same project, they need a shared blueprint – not five isolated bursts of inspiration. Good structure allows different people to create characters that still feel like they belong to the same world and emotional reality. Today I use this framework both for: traditional narrative writing and AI-assisted character prototyping pipelines. I attached the current version of the framework (.md) in the comments, I personally use it as a foundation for my vector database workflows and narrative pipelines. Use it if you’re also tired of storing tons of useless trivia inside character sheets. Later, I’ll write more about how I combine this approach with both digital pre-generation and analog methods (yes – not everything has to be “soulless AI”), using a methodology I developed around Tarot mechanics for narrative ideation and flow-state exploration. Follow if you don’t want to miss it. By the way – how do you structure characters in production when the goal is not just to “describe” them, but to make the system actually work? #GameDesign #NarrativeDesign #Worldbuilding #GameDevelopment #RPG #Writing #Storytelling #TTRPG #AI #GenerativeAI #NarrativeSystems #CharacterDesign #IndieDev #GameWriter #CreativeWriting

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🌸AAPI Heritage Month Highlight🌸 Powered by AAPI in Gaming Name: Crystal L. Discipline/Role: Audio Design & Programming "I've worked on a few VR/MR titles, like I Expect You To Die 3 and Party Versus, and some undisclosed location-based projects! I love making audio tools and solving audio problems."

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85% of game studios have dropped degree requirements. So, why is the talent gap still growing? The truth is, removing the degree barrier was only half the battle. Now, the challenge isn't finding people with certificates: it’s finding people with the actual "surgical" skills needed to ship a hit game. The "Degree Requirement Myth" is the idea that a diploma (or lack thereof) tells you everything you need to know. In reality, the vetting process has never been more critical. Without a deep, technical understanding of game development, it’s easy to hire someone who looks great on paper but can't handle the pressure of a live environment. At Game Recruiter, our leadership didn't just start in HR. We were in the trenches: making, developing, and launching games. We don’t just look at resumes; we vet for the specific, critical skills that make or break a project. If you're tired of the talent gap and need a surgical hire who actually knows their way around a build, let’s talk. #GameDev #GamingIndustry #Hiring #GameRecruiter

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🚀 Multiplayer Networking in Trace Game Engine Here’s a quick look at the networking system I’ve been building for Trace, a custom game engine. This demo shows animation states syncing properly between client and server a small but meaningful step toward real-time multiplayer gameplay. Trace is all about pushing advanced techniques to low-end hardware, especially for the African dev community. I’m excited about what’s coming next! Open to thoughts, feedback, or collaborators! 🌍🎮 #GameDev #Multiplayer #Networking #GameEngine #Cplusplus #IndieDev #TraceEngine #AfricaGameDev #DevLog

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Most aspiring game developers do not struggle because they lack talent. They struggle because they are trying to hold too many “pairs of shoes” at once. https://lnkd.in/g3AcqwPt Unreal or Unity. Blueprints or C++. Art or programming. Marketing or portfolio building. Too many options create paralysis. In my latest video, I share a simple principle I call “The Rule of Two.” Instead of trying to decide between three, five, or ten directions, you reduce your choices. Remove one. Focus on two. Choose one. Finish it. This is how you turn overwhelm into movement. Your career in game development will not be built on one massive breakthrough. It will be built on small, clear decisions that you actually complete and share publicly. A quiet portfolio that nobody sees has less impact than honest progress documented consistently. If you are balancing a job, responsibilities, and the dream of breaking into the gaming industry, this framework will help you move forward without burning out. Watch the full video here: https://lnkd.in/g3AcqwPt If you are navigating doubts or challenges in your path into the gaming industry, start with my free training at wulum.com. And if you want clarity on where you stand and what your next move should be, send me a DM or email me at Tony@wulum.com. I will give you my honest recommendation based on your situation. #GameDevelopment #IndieDev #UnrealEngine #Unity3D #GameDesign #CareerGrowth #AspiringDevelopers #TechCareers #GameDevCommunity

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I just want to share this because i think its helpful for gameplay programmers to practice their ability to break down information. Sometimes i have issues with understanding a whole feature or system i want to implement because i like to think of all angles. for more complex features that is a headache waiting to happen. It is ok to break things down to their silliest and simplest, its also ok to not do the most complex version of the thing right off the bat.Instead Gradually build the complex thing over time but start with the next simplest version. Here is a system that i think helps when trying to figure out the next system or feature architecture. 🧩 The 5-Step System Breakdown Method Whenever you build anything: Step 1: What Are the Nouns? What thing(s) must exist independently in the system. Nouns become data structures. If you can’t list the nouns, you don’t understand the system yet. Step 2: What State Must Be Remembered? If the game closed and reopened, what must still be true? That’s persistent state. Step 3: What Causes Change? What events modify state? These become functions. Step 4: What Rules Exist? Rules constrain transitions. Rules become validation logic. Step 5: What Is Config vs Runtime? Config = designer-authored static data Runtime = player-specific changing data If you mix them, structure becomes messy. Take this is as a way to validate your thinking and help you build something a little bit easier

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Unreal Engine Accurate Interacting Animation System with Custom Character Heights New project progress for my Tech Art class! This system utilizes the UE third-person template and full-body IK. The custom limb sizes are controlled with variables in the Anim BPs, with values for individual leg lengths, arm lengths, torso length, and pelvis height. The spine adjusts automatically based on the other character's height and also accounts for the arm's length to imply weight. Anim notifies are used to begin the IK portion that connects the player character's hand to the NPC's hand. My future plans for this project include smoothing out transitions between animation states, adding head rotation to make the spine rotation more subtle, and getting more animations working with it. Check it out here! https://lnkd.in/daaZkhts

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If 60–95% of games professionals land outside games over 12 months, why doesn’t our systemwide support reflect that? Why is 90% of the support still focused on getting games jobs? There is no shame in not working in games. I worked outside games for all but five years of my career. I love this industry deeply and respect the passion that brings people here. But loving games does not guarantee a livelihood inside them. Looking outside games is not a magic fix. It is not easier. In many cases, it is just as hard. But the math matters. Depending on seniority and specialization, 60 to 95% of people seeking work over a 12 month period will ultimately find roles outside games. That is not about a lack of talent. It is about supply and demand, geography, budgets, macro forces that none of us individually control, and technology. When I encourage people to widen their aperture, it is not because games are not worth fighting for. I fight every day to improve hiring hygiene, transparency, and systems in this industry. But I can advocate for a better future while also confronting present reality. AND THIS IS CRITICAL. THIS IS NOT JUST ABOUT TELLING CANDIDATES TO APPLY OUTSIDE GAMES. It is unfair to leave people to their own devices, simply firing off cold applications no different than they were inside games. It is about all of us. If we know a majority will land outside games over a year, then nonprofits, schools, communities, educators, and industry organizations should allocate proportional energy toward preparing people for that reality. This is where 60 to 95% of our effort should go, aligned with where the jobs are. It is hard to justify putting 90% or more of our energy into a segment that represents only 5 to 40% of outcomes, and for many specializations closer to 5 to 15%. I struggle to take seriously any session about careers for games professionals when 90 to 100% of it focuses only on getting games jobs. That is not reality based. That means helping people identify adjacent industries that value their skills. Teaching them to translate game experience into broader language. Building connections beyond game studios. Coaching them on how to interview for non games roles. Showing them what to apply to and why. Providing real examples of successful pivots. This is systemic support. Preparation. Positioning. Networks. Transparency. Also, expanding your search does not mean giving up on games. Ever. You can look for games roles concurrently. Keep applying. Keep networking. You can even start a non games job and continue looking for games on day two. But get a job first. STABILITY IS NOT SURRENDER. IT IS LEVERAGE. For myself, I do not believe I am entitled to work in games. I am grateful when I do and I prepare as if I might not tomorrow. There is dignity in building a durable career wherever opportunity exists, while developing skills that serve as future insurance. It is hard enough. Let’s equip people for reality.

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What Makes Feedback Most Helpful for Speakers? The other day, I (like many others) received my GDC speaker feedback. Having now had the chance to speak at several events, I really value how GDC takes the time to collect detailed feedback and I deeply appreciate everyone who fills it out. You can say anything in those forms, and many speakers (myself included) welcome all perspectives. That said, I want to offer a gentle suggestion:. The most meaningful feedback is about the substance of the talk: what was shared, how it was structured, and the value it brought. Sometimes, we get comments about physical quirks or verbal tics, things like filler words (uh, umm), voice tone, or throat clearing. Those may be noticeable, but often they’re things we can’t easily control. I don't have issues with fillers, tone, or other such things and thus try to sympathize with speakers who may struggle with these or just be nervous. In my case, I’ve had severe allergies since childhood. When I present, especially if I’m nervous or not feeling well or feel irritated by things like pollen or dust mites, it can cause, what I know some might find distracting, coughing or throat clearing. It’s not meant to distract anyone and, believe me, I’ve tried everything to prevent it. This is a physical and environmentally-queued condition that I rarely experience but is very uncomfortable when I do. So, if you ever come to one of my talks and notice something like that, I hope you’ll understand where it’s coming from. More broadly, I hope we can all give presenters the benefit of the doubt and focus on substance. That is what I try to do as we never know what might be going on behind the scenes. I always give feedback myself, and I focus on content and clarity. That’s what helps me grow the most, and what I try to offer others. Thanks again to GDC and to everyone who made the effort to share their thoughts. It truly helps us get better.

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Accessibility is one of those areas where the smallest innovations can create the biggest impact. 🎮❤️ Really appreciate seeing teams like XBOX continue to evolve and iterate on adaptive gaming solutions — not just as a feature set, but as a reflection of thoughtful design and inclusive experiences. Sometimes people think accessibility is only about accommodation, but at its best, it’s actually about expanding participation, independence, connection, and joy. As someone who helps co-lead our eNable #ERG, I’ve seen firsthand how meaningful these conversations and investments can be, especially when organizations move beyond awareness and into intentional action. The future of gaming should be one where more people can play, compete, create, and belong. 🌎🎮 Posts like this are a reminder that progress often happens through continuous small improvements that collectively make a very real difference. Kudos to the teams continuing to push this space forward. 👏♿ #Accessibility #InclusiveDesign #Gaming #GamingIndustry #AdaptiveGaming #Enable #Leadership #Xbox #TechForGood

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The Six Realities of Games Employment People often ask: does the games industry employ more or fewer now than pre-COVID? To answer that, we first ask (again): how many people work in games? Kenn White, CSM, CSPO and the Game Industry Coffee Chat team did a strong top-down estimate. After deduping global reports, trade bodies, and company data, they landed at 700K-800K+ globally. I’ve reviewed it closely and respect it. In parallel, I’ve spent 3 years building a bottoms-up view using community data, with help from studios, unis, and co-dev/x-dev partners. I originally estimated 300K-350K, but with expanded coverage, esp. from XDS Spark, Game Caviar, and better visibility into undercounted regions, I can now believe up to 500K is a solid figure. Our updated Games Jobs Workbook, with hundreds of adds, is coming soon. We’ve also improved our method, which used to overweight open roles vs. headcount. Could the real number be higher? Absolutely. Many small non-Western studios are hard to see. I’ll use 500K, but cite GICC’s 700K+ too. For 2022-2025FY (est.), I expect 43K+ layoffs, incl. many not publicly listed. Any given time from 2022-2025 shows 12K-15K open roles, with 20K-25K hires/yr, below COVID peak. If we include the COVID boom, hiring outpaced layoffs overall. But in 2025, it’s basically flat. So why has veteran re-entry stayed <40%, and early-career stuck at 5-7% over 12 months? Because there isn’t one market. There are 6 realities, all competing for the same 20K-25K roles/yr: 1. AAA in NA Under Pressure (and W. Europe) From 2023-2025, 70%+ of all layoffs were in NA, mostly large studios, AND NA’s share of new global openings fell to ~25%. Hardest-hit hubs: CA, WA, Vancouver, Montreal, NC. Cuts in these areas = 15–20%+ of roles in many spots. 2. Early-Career Blocked, Though Apps Rising Fields like game design, where many majors are, are 5-7x harder to place. Overall placement = 5-7% over 12 months. Yet grads and applicants ACCELERATE? 3. Co-dev/x-dev/Contract Growing Lower-cost ext. teams, esp. outside NA/Western Europe, now make up 25-40%+ of many dev efforts. 4. Veteran Re-entry Tough Better odds than juniors, but re-entry is still just 30-35% over 12 months. Location and high pay expectations often slow progress. These candidates remain in the pool, joined by 40K+ more since 2022. 5. Career Switchers Accelerating Many, surprisingly, have picked this moment to try to switch into games post-COVID or from layoffs elsewhere. This inflow is growing. 6. AI Uncertain. Who knows? AI is drawing major investment and may already be shaping workflows. /// CONCLUSION Total employment is likely flat or slightly up vs. pre-COVID, but hiring is slower, cuts vary widely by region, studio type, role, and tenure, and candidate inflow keeps rising. What amazes me most is that despite all the data and warnings, applications and new entries to this job pool are not slowing down. That’s why the market feels so uneven and difficult.

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