Gm and welcome to the lobby.

One of the biggest events of the year, Game Developer’s Conference was hosted last week to much excitement and intrigue around the industry. We have you covered with all of the major updates and key takeaways.

Grab your coffee, ready up, and let’s drop in 🪂
Here’s what we have for you today:

• GDC 2024: A different tone than usual amid industry wide layoffs 🎮

• The Silver Lining: A whole new generation of burgeoning studios are opening their doors ⛅

• GDC Awards: GOTY, Audience Award, Best Debut, and more! 🏆

• Blockchains place in gaming: where we’re at & where we’re going ⛓️ 

• ❤️ Representation’s important role in the games industry

• Epic Games’ State of Unreal & LEGO Fortnite comes to UEFN 💥 

Before we jump in, here’s a few interesting links we enjoyed this week:

• True Gamers unveils plans to create $280m esports island

• Maybelline International Day of Happiness campaign

• Why Amazon is bringing Twitch’s most lucrative parts deeper into the Amazon Ads fold

• JBL makes a short film in their Roblox world

🎮 GDC 2024: A different tone than usual

Last week, professionals from across the industry descended on San Francisco as the annual Game Developers Conference (GDC) kicked off. Known for being a critical event on the cultural calendar for individuals who actually create the titles we all know and love, the reality of just how many folks have been impacted by a growing number of layoffs found itself laced into the programming this year. 

Event Director Stephenie Hawkins outlined just how much thought had gone into helping people who were going to be attending and either currently find themselves unemployed or, based on the eye-opening results on their 12th Annual State of the Game Industry survey, the many who are currently employed but feel they live on borrowed time:

• Lots of sessions around career development, both in technical and soft skills

• Portfolio reviews for official art books

• A Game Career Seminar that took place on Friday, March 22

• Integration of “I’m Hiring” tags in the mobile app for studios in attendance looking to add to their workforce and “I’m Hiring” ribbons for physical badges being worn

• A beefed up job board on their website as well as printed copies on site used for furiously taking notes and setting meetings

• Speed networking sessions to accent the job board and other tools

Arguably the most unique element of support didn’t fall in line with the organizer’s official curriculum. The GDScream, coordinated by two vets in the industry, brought together folks from across the space who each kind of had their own reasons to be screaming. 

"The state of the industry has been at such, such a low point. And screaming out our frustrations, our anger, but also channeling that into something where we together, working together, as a community, we can empower ourselves to fight back and to stand up for our rights, our jobs, our livelihoods." - Dara Insixiengmay, 3D artist at Tender Claws

👀 Our POV

It is a remarkably tough, and admittedly confusing, time for the games industry. While giant players like PlayStation, EA, Epic, ATVI, WB Games and others are dropping headcount on a weekly basis, we are seeing an absolute explosion on the indie side. 

There will continue to be consolidation and market correction amidst technological advancements like generative AI, but the truth is that material change needs to be introduced in a variety of areas in order for the benefit or payoff to come close to making this harrowing period of time “worth it.” 

Go ahead and let out a yell this morning. As mentioned in the IGN article… we don’t have enough opportunities in this life to truly just let loose. 

- Brandon Painter (Private Lobby)

⛅ The Silver Lining: A whole new generation of burgeoning studios are opening their doors

To start, game folks are insanely creative. It seems like every new studio vis ID I see opening is pulled straight from the heyday of movie studio logos. 

On the heels of our rather glum GDC story, it’s also worth mentioning that a groundswell of talent is now on the waiver wire. That talent is free game for smaller studios and indies who may not have had access to AAA pools before those pools were drained, but they also have been given a pass (or a legitimate reason) to begin creating what they’ve always wanted to create themselves.

From immersive shooters to rich story-driven platformers, just a couple notable headlines in the space:

• Id Software, Naughty Dog and Activision vets form “Triple A Indie” studio Emptyvessel

• Stig Asmussen, director of Star Wars Jedi games and GoW III launches Giant Skull

👀 Our POV

I happen to be of the mindset that everything happens for a reason. If shit hits the fan, and you are pressed up against adversity, there will be good that comes from it. It may not feel like it at the moment… but everything that is meant to be, will be. 

Maybe, just maybe, the tides of change we are seeing that have been rocking the industry will result in the next big thing. We hear it and we see it year after year… while people love the franchises and IPs that have become absolute pillars in the gaming world… the collective megaphone sharing discontent with “never having anything but the same stuff to play” is about to have even less grounding in those complaints. 

Will Emptyvessel introduce us to the next Soap MacTavish? Will Giant Skull give us the next Kratos? Or the next “boy” meme? Will a new women-led studio break the consistent wave of testosterone involved with some of these ventures?

- Brandon Painter (Private Lobby)

🏆 GDC Awards: GOTY, Audience Award, Best Debut, and more!

The Game Developers Choice Awards celebrated the past year in gaming, highlighting some of the best games of the year in a variety of categories.

✉️ And The Winner Is…

GAME OF THE YEAR | AUDIENCE AWARD | BEST DESIGN | BEST NARRATIVE
Baldur's Gate 3 (Larian Studios)

BEST TECHNOLOGY | INNOVATION AWARD 
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo)

BEST DEBUT | SOCIAL IMPACT AWARD
Venba (Visai Games)

BEST VISUAL ART
Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment / Epic Games)

BEST AUDIO
Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks / Bethesda Softworks)

👀 Our POV

I like the GDCA because it highlights the effort & quality of games instead of being a clout contest between the major publishers.

Baldur’s Gate was one of the most award games to come out in the last year so it makes sense that they’re also sweeping the GDCA. Currently, the game is sitting at 96% approval rate on Steam.

It’s great to see a small studio have success like Larian has with Baldur’s Gate, will this trend continue?

- Justin Palacios (Private Lobby)

⛓️ Blockchains place in gaming

At GDC this past week, Antler Interactive revealed their new game Cloudborn which will feature web3 & NFT technology. Giving players true ownership over their characters, and allowing them to trade & sell freely.

Cloudborn is a turn-based RPG & MMO, with the character traits changing throughout playtime. These changes bring unique traits that sick with each character - giving each character a unique personality & history.

With the blockchain integration players can safely and securely trade their items will still having full ownership over them.

This sort of integration helps players feel empowered and invested in the game because they do in fact own a piece of the game.

👀 Our POV

I feel like blockchain & NFTs could be valuable to the gaming scene, it just needs to be positioned correctly. A lot of people have a bad perception of blockchain & NFTs due to a few bad actors - but I feel it's an upgraded version of what we already have in something like the Steam Marketplace.

Counter-Strike skins are a great example of this “blockchain & NFTs idea”.

• Players unlock cosmetic skins to use on their in-game weapons

• Each skin has specific traits with the main one being float - a number between 0 & 1 given to the skin determining its wear value

• Players can then equip the skins, hold onto them in their inventory (wallet), or sell them on the Steam Marketplace for credits that can be used to buy other skins or Steam games.

• Steam takes a small percentage of each transaction with a service fee.

The issue with this is that you can only sell your skins for Steam credit. There is third-party websites where you can do this same transaction for real cash but it’s not backed by Steam and could cause players to be scammed.

This is where blockchain integration in games would be perfect. Even for single-player games - you could develop a market around items players might need at different stages.

- Justin Palacios (Private Lobby)

❤️ Representation’s important role in the games industry

Last week at GDC, industry experts hosted a panel on inclusivity and representation’s role in community building and game development. The panel featured Kayla Mansell (former global creator relations and marketing, 2K), Andy Wong (senior social and community manager, Capcom), Jaclyn Simmons (senior brand marketing manager, Capcom), and was hosted by Gamesight’s Jennifer Zall who leads creator programs. 

The core of the talk centered around how inclusivity and representation aren’t just “nice to haves” to appease people. These initiatives benefit business goals and can support revenue growth by drawing in audiences who may otherwise feel unseen or alienated. Wong, in particular noted how seeing Asian representation in games or movies makes him more motivated to engage with them. 

“To get that spark of joy, to just see someone that looks like me out there, it's a completely different feeling and I want that feeling for everyone else.” - Andy Wong

The importance of these efforts transcends just casting choices, though. Mansell also spoke on how representation matters in every aspect of games, even down to the marketing. 

“When we're planning our marketing campaigns and for influencer marketing especially, I'm really huge about ensuring that there's representation not only in the game, but how we market it. It's very, very important.” - Kayla Mansell

How representative are games, really?

Here are some quick stats from Diamond Lobby’s “Diversity in Gaming Report” where they studied over 100 games from 2017-2021. The games selected were the top 10 highest selling games of their year. Additionally, they cut out games where you could “fully customize” the character.

• Preset Game Characters are Usually White and Male

  • 79.2% of main characters were male

  • 54.2% of main characters were white

  • Only 8.3% of games had a female main character of black, asian, or other ethnic origins.

• Male Character Outnumber Female Characters

  • Of 810 characters across the games that we studied, 66.5% were male characters, 27.7% were female, and the remaining 5.8% were non-binary or had no documented gender.

  • 63.3% of games had both playable male and female characters.

  • 31.7% of games only had male characters.

  • 5% of games only had female characters.

• White Characters Outnumber other Ethnicities in Games

  • 61.2% of characters in games are white.

  • 9.5% of games only have a playable white character, i.e. they have no other ethnic representation.

  • Just 5.3% of games do not have a playable white character.

• The Most Diverse Game in the Study?

  • Apex Legends came out on top at the time as the most diverse game based on the variety of gender identification, ethnicity, and sexual orientation.

👀 Our POV

As a white guy working in gaming, I try to remain informed and be mindful of my privileged position. I got to be a kid who felt represented by games full of white men without understanding the lived experience so many other people had. Panels like these help me gain a better perspective on how to actively implement inclusive practices and integrate them into our business goals. Kayla Mansell’s point of creating influencer marketing campaigns that champion representation out of the game was an excellent nod to a part of the process that can be forgotten. We can all better our businesses and communities by focusing on efforts to increase representation, regardless of your job.

I loved reading through this panel’s breakdown because the speakers so aptly summarized why inclusion and representation are so much more than a fluffy thing people push for to make folks feel good. It’s a crucial part of games that will support business growth goals and bring people together. It’s important to implement as a means of avoiding tokenism so we aren’t simply “showing” a variety of characters and cultures but respectfully representing them with accuracy. The statistics shared above about diversity in gaming highlight exactly what is being fought against. Ultimately, content can reflect the biases of those making it and for a long time, games have lacked proper representation. Many games have failed to represent what the real world is like and opted for a white, male-dominated direction. It’s excited to see change occurring as the industry strives to do better.

- Brendan Valentine (Private Lobby)

💥 Epic Games’ State of Unreal & LEGO Fortnite comes to UEFN

Epic Games’ brought back it’s annual State of Unreal at GDC, highlighting the newest developments in Unreal Engine and its overall business operations.

Last year Epic rolled out its lifelike MetaHumans, Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN), and an overhauled creator economy in Fortnite.

This year, Epic has numerous projects underway, ranging from the mobile iteration of the Epic Game Store to Fortnite's revival.

MetaHumans coming to UEFN

Epic announced they are bringing their hyper-realistic character models known as MetaHumans to UEFN for creators to use. This could completely change the game for the higher end of UEFN experiences.

Epic Games Store coming to mobile by end of 2024

Epic has revealed plans to introduce the Epic Games Store on Android and iOS devices by the end of 2024. Epic touts this launch as the debut of the first gaming-centric multiplatform marketplace.

Creators will earn a 88/12 revenue share, a stark contrast to the traditional 30% commission taken by Apple's App Store and the Google Play Store.

LEGO Fortnite in UEFN

We knew, or at least hoped it was coming... Epic Games and the LEGO Group have officially introduced LEGO in Fortnite Creative and Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN). With this, creators can now build their own LEGO Islands.

What does this mean? Key Takeaways:

1. LEGO Elements & Visuals in Fortnite 
   Creators now have access to LEGO prefabs, devices, tools, and more within Fortnite Creative and UEFN. Players exploring the LEGO Islands will play in LEGO themed Fortnite skins.
   

2. Island Creator Program 
   Participation is now open to all creators in the Island Creator Program who accept the new terms with LEGO's inclusion. This means creators can now earn through engagement payouts; however, there is one thing to flag 🚩 🚩 LEGO can not be combined with any 3rd party IP (including brands)
   

3. LEGO Island Templates 
   Four templates are provided, including three prebuilt biomes and one blank canvas, to kickstart your LEGO Island creation journey with ease.
   
   • Home builder: players can build their dream home & neighborhood
   • Obstacle course: players can build their own obstacle course
   • Music concert: players can form a band and perform a concert
   • Starter island: open environment for the player's imagination

👀 Our POV

Epic is putting an incredible amount of time, money, and resources into UEFN’s success. LEGO Fortnite and Rocket Racing both launching on UEFN and the consistent improvements and bug fixes to UEFN, along with the surprising addition of MetaHumans to the platform… the sky is the limit.

I may be getting carried away but I think we’re seeing Epic lay the foundations of what will become the defacto gaming “metaverse” within the next 10 years alongside Roblox.

Epic Games coming to iOS is huge as well. Roblox gets a ton of plays from mobile devices and Fortnite will most definitely follow suit.

- Zach Eller (Private Lobby)

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Disclaimer: our views are ours and in no way represent those of our employers.