GameMaker offers free version as ‘gift’ to developers

2D game engine GameMaker has announced massive pricing changes in what its head calls a "gift" to its loyal user base.

Starting today, GameMaker will be free to use for noncommercial, non-console game development projects in a move CEO Russell Kay says is meant to "do the opposite" of recent unpopular decisions by competitors like Unity and Unreal Engine.

Specifically, GameMaker is eliminating the $9.99 per month indie and creator subscription fee. Instead, developers...

23 November 2023 | Development Tools

Unity CEO John Riccitiello ‘retires’ following controversies

Unity CEO John Riccitiello has “retired” amid controversies that have plagued the company under his watch. 

“It’s been a privilege to lead Unity for nearly a decade and serve our employees, customers, developers and partners, all of whom have been instrumental to the company’s growth,” said Riccitiello.

“I look forward to supporting Unity through this transition and following the company’s future success.”

Unity recently created widespread...

10 October 2023 | Development Tools

Unity receives ‘credible death threat’ amid per-install fee backlash

Unity has been forced to close two of its offices and cancel a town hall meeting following a "credible death threat".

The unacceptable threat came on the heels of an announcement regarding a new per-install fee for developers using the Unity video game engine.

Just two days ago, Unity created widespread backlash across the gaming community by unveiling its intention to charge developers a per-install fee each time a player downloaded one of their...

15 September 2023 | Developer

Sony accused of ‘blatant anti-competitive conduct’

Congress has raised concerns about Sony's monopoly on the gaming market in Japan, calling for an investigation into the firm's alleged "exclusionary conduct."

Senator Maria Cantwell told a Senate Finance Committee hearing: “Sony controls a monopoly of 98 percent of the high-end game market, yet Japan's government has allowed Sony to engage in blatant anti-competitive conduct through exclusive deals and payments to game publishers.”

Cantwell called on US Trade...

28 March 2023 | Gaming

Microsoft says developers have earned $2.5B through ID@Xbox

According to Microsoft, game developers have made a fair chunk of change through its ID@Xbox program.

ID@Xbox is the gaming brand’s program to support independent developers and has been used to publish titles including Dead by Daylight, Warframe, SMITE, Dead Cells, Spelunky 2, The Long Dark, Kerbal Space Program, Human Fall Flat, Overcooked, Grim Dawn, Outer Wilds, and thousands of others.

Needless to say, ID@Xbox has been rather successful. The program has enabled...

29 March 2022 | Gaming

Unity is buying Peter Jackson’s visual effects company for $1.6B

Unity has announced that it’s entered a definitive agreement to acquire Peter Jackson’s visual effects company Weta Digital for $1.6 billion.

Weta Digital has worked on hit films including Lord of the Rings, Avatar, Wonder Woman, and Black Widow. Unity says its acquisition will “democratise” Weta’s powerful tools to make them available for more creators.

“Weta Digital’s pipeline represents the most complete toolchain for 3D creation, simulation, and...

10 November 2021 | Development Tools

Nintendo denies handing out 4K Switch development kits

Nintendo has been forced to refute a Bloomberg report that it provided 4K-capable Switch development kits to select gaming studios.

This week, Bloomberg reported that at least 11 developers – including Zynga – were given kits to develop 4K resolution games for unannounced Switch hardware.

Following the report, Nintendo tweeted:

https://twitter.com/NintendoCoLtd/status/1443366440183074819

It’s a rare denial that has probably been issued out of concern...

30 September 2021 | Gaming

GDC kicks off with over 550 game dev sessions, will return as in-person event next year

This year’s Game Developers Conference (GDC) kicks off today as a virtual event with over 550 sessions on all things game development.

GDC 2021 claims to take full advantage of the possibilities offered by virtual events. Back in 2020, around COVID-19’s historic peak, GDC was one of the first large events to be cancelled.

The organisers now have successive virtual events under their belt so it will be interesting to see how they’ve utilised their experience to...

19 July 2021 | Gaming

Nintendo announces Switch OLED with minor improvements

Nintendo has finally announced its long-awaited new Switch model but without many of the rumoured upgrades.

The new Switch OLED, as its name suggests, boasts a new display that should improve some of the complaints about previous models having poor contrast and brightness. However, the rumoured bump to 1080p hasn’t materialised and the screen is still just 720p.

Nintendo has increased the screen size from 6.2-inch to 7-inch so a boosted resolution would have been even...

6 July 2021 | Gaming

Developers claim that PlayStation is particularly difficult to work with

Independent game developers have bemoaned the difficulty of working with PlayStation over Xbox and Nintendo.

Iain Garner of independent game publisher Neon Doctrine recently posted a tirade on Twitter where he suggested that getting prominent promotion on the store of a “very successful console” that “does not have Games Pass” (i.e not Xbox, and presumably meaning PlayStation) costs at least $25,000.

Video game publication Kotaku first published the story and...

2 July 2021 | Gaming