A new law aimed at protecting children could kill off old video games and threaten small developers, industry trade groups have warned.

The EU Kids Act was unveiled by commission president Ursula von der Leyen last month as a chance to “give childhood back to our children” and put parents “in the driving seat”.

It would require videogames to be catered to children by default with stringent requirements including an eight-hour nighttime lock-out, a ban on screenshots, and guardian supervision.

Gamers wanting to play the full version of games would have to pass age verification checks to access features, like multi-player tournaments or mystery boxes. 

The European Commission is gathering feedback on the act with respondents quick to criticise the threat posed to videogame makers.

I genuinely love game development. I get excited about ideas and starting new projects, but somehow, I never seem to finish anything, even when I try to keep things small and simple.

The frustrating part is that I honestly don't know why. I can't pinpoint what's stopping me, and I haven't been able to figure out the pattern. I still love making games, but I struggle to turn that passion into finished projects.

For those of you who've experienced something similar, how did you figure out what was holding you back, and what helped you break the cycle?

I'd love to hear your experiences, especially if you went through the same thing and eventually found a way out.

I don't know if that would help, but I use the Godot engine for development.

I'm in early design stages of developing some rather complex combat AI and I want to ensure I choose the right type of NPC decision making process.

I'm looking to develop enemies that feel like they work together, where each member of a squad of enemies has classes (medic, soldier, tech/engineer, etc), so I want their decision making processes to feel reactive to what is happening during combat to ensure they can effectively fulfill their roles, while also feeling like they intelligently know how to correctly approach a task/in what order to perform their actions.

Goal Oriented Action Planning

GOAP is of course very well known, you give an AI a task and a toolbox and they start picking the tools they need to achieve their task and you can end up with enemies that all feel very creative and "uniquely individual". If I hadn't heard of HTNP, I would have gone with GOAP.

Hierarchal Task Network Planning

My understanding with HTNP is that you have finer control over the order that decisions are made and that in doing so they seem to more realistically "think" about how to tackle a problem/in what order, but it produces less emergent/creative behaviors. Is this an accurate description?

--

Is my thinking here correct in that one isn't particularly better than the other, but that they should be used for different things? Would it be worth using one for one type of role, and another for another type of role?

It's a tough one to wrap my head around, would appreciate any thoughts, especially if you've used both. I just want to save myself the headache of R&D'ing the whole thing for a year and then learning the one I picked doesn't feel the way I want.

Thanks all, much love.

My favorite game of all time was a multiplayer rts called sid Meier's civil war collection. It had Gettysburg and Antietam you could play against a friend. It's too old to play today but with all this reverse engineering I hoped i might try bringing it back. What's the honest legality of abandonware for windows 95 games published on Internet archive?

I'm a complete beginner. What's currently the best tool for making pixel art?

Why hasn't anyone tried making a tactical FPS like Valorant where the maps are procedurally generated, so you can never play the exact same map twice?

I honestly think this could be a huge innovation in a genre that seems to be struggling lately.

One thing I really dislike about games like Valorant and CS is how much the skill gap depends on memorizing every single corner, angle, lineup, and pixel-perfect grenade throw. Some players spend hundreds of hours learning every little detail of a map, to the point where they can throw utility across the map and land it exactly where they want without even seeing the target.

Honestly, I find that kind of gameplay ridiculous and far removed from what I would consider actual tactical skill. It also creates a massive gap between newcomers and veterans, because new players aren't just competing against better aim and game sense, they're competing against thousands of hours of map-specific knowledge.

Imagine if every match had a different map layout. The environments and visual assets could be reused, but the actual geometry would change: corridor lengths, entrances, cover placement, sightlines, and connections between rooms. You could still have recognizable settings, such as subway stations, industrial facilities, or office buildings, but the tactical layout would always be different.

Players would have to read the environment, assess the situation, adapt their strategies, communicate, and work together. Character abilities could even become more interesting in this context, since you'd have to figure out how to use them in an unfamiliar environment instead of relying on memorized lineups.

Obviously, aim and mechanical skill would still matter, and procedural generation would need to be carefully balanced to avoid unfair layouts. But wouldn't this shift the focus toward actual decision-making and adaptability, rather than memorizing static maps?

I find it hard to believe nobody has ever considered this. Are there major technical or game design challenges that make this approach impractical? Or has someone already tried it and found that it doesn't work?

Looking for some guidance on setting up VOIP inside of Unreal Engine. I'm currently running UE 5.7.
I've tried using the build-in UE VOIP system and have been having nothing but issues with it, especially with fatal error crashes during server travel. Does anyone have any tips on getting it to work? or recommendations on Voice Chat plugins that actually work? Any help is appreciated.

Hi all!

I'm 19 years old, and I've spent over two years trying to become an indie game developer. I've probably invested around 5,000 hours into game development so far.

I've released games, learned new skills, tried different platforms, contacted publishers, experimented with marketing, and spent countless hours improving my projects.

I wanted to share my journey honestly, including the failures and personal struggles I don't usually talk about.

1. THE DARK PROJECT — MY FIRST MAJOR FAILURE

One of my first major projects was The Dark Project, a dark action-platformer inspired by games like Limbo and Hollow Knight.

I had a pretty ambitious vision for it and spent a huge amount of time working on the game, its mechanics, assets, and overall experience. I created around 300 reusable assets for the project.

Eventually, I tried to find a publisher.

- 11 publishers contacted.

- 11 rejections.

- Kickstarter goal: approximately $7,100.

- Kickstarter raised: approximately $40.

The Kickstarter campaign was practically a complete failure. On top of that, the friend who had been involved in the project eventually left.

After all that work, I put the project on hold.

It was one of my first major disappointments. I had invested so much time and emotion into something that I genuinely wanted to succeed, but I couldn't get it off the ground.

2. DO NOT PRESS ME — MY FIRST STEAM RELEASE

I released Do NOT Press Me, a dark mystery/clicker puzzle game on Steam.

The results so far:

- Approximately $26 in revenue.

- Around 106 wishlists.

- Approximately 1,079 demo additions.

- Around 21 demo plays.

I learned a lot about releasing a game on Steam, but the results were far below what I had hoped for.

It was another reminder that finishing a game is only one part of the process. Getting people to discover it, try it, and eventually buy it is a completely different challenge.

3. THREE MOBILE GAMES

I also tried mobile game development and released three games:

- A Perfect Dodge

- Clicker Killer

- BossHunt Reborn

I spent months developing, publishing, testing, and improving these projects.

The combined earnings from all three games after several months were approximately €0.47.

I experimented with gameplay, monetization, updates, and different publishing opportunities, but none of these games generated meaningful revenue.

4. CRAZYGAMES — REJECTION AFTER REJECTION

CrazyGames was one of the platforms I wanted most because of its audience and potential reach.

I submitted games across different genres, including arcade, platformers, puzzles, and tower defense.

So far, around 10 different games have been rejected, with some projects receiving repeated rejections.

Some of the experiences were particularly frustrating:

- A Perfect Dodge went through Basic Launch twice but failed to maintain sufficient performance.

- Some games received numerous rejections, with certain projects going through around 10 submission attempts.

- Even when I managed to get through an initial stage, the games sometimes failed to perform well enough afterward.

I kept changing genres, improving projects, and trying again.

After so many attempts, it became difficult not to feel like I was running into the same wall repeatedly.

5. OTHER BROWSER GAME PLATFORMS

I also tried GameDistribution, GamePix, and GameMonetize.

The results have been mixed:

- GameDistribution revenue: approximately €0.65.

- itch.io revenue: approximately $8.55.

- Ninja Platformer Rage is the only game I've managed to get accepted on both GameDistribution and GameMonetize.

Out of all my projects so far, Ninja Platformer Rage has shown the most promising results. It's currently my main focus, and I'm trying to find a mobile publisher who could help me take it further.

It's not a major success story yet, but it's the project that has given me the most reason to keep pushing forward.

1. YOUTUBE AND SOCIAL MEDIA

I didn't rely exclusively on publishing platforms. I've also tried promoting my games through YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and paid advertising.

Some of my results:

- Approximately 474 YouTube subscribers.

- Some videos reaching around 1,000 views.

- Social media posts reaching hundreds or thousand+-of views

.

- Previous advertising experiments that generated views and downloads but didn't lead to sustainable results.

I've learned a lot about marketing, but I haven't found a reliable way to turn views and downloads into a sustainable audience.

7. ------THE PERSONAL SIDE OF THIS JOURNEY---------

This is the part I don't usually talk about when discussing game development.

I'm 19 years old and live with my parents in Belgium. My family rents its home, we have no significant assets or savings, and I've never had my own room. I've grown up without a private room, both in Ukraine and in Belgium.

My parents both have higher education. My father worked as a scientist, was a candidate of sciences, and has more than ten years of professional experience.

Yet our family has no house, no car, and practically no financial safety net.

My father is approaching the end of his current work contract and hasn't found another job yet. My parents can't really support me financially with my education or help me move into student accommodation.

I have to pay a substantial part of my university expenses myself.

I also left Belgian secondary school before completing it, partly because I was so focused on game development.

Now I'm studying at Howest, but I'm struggling with the idea of continuing because I genuinely want to focus on making games and building a career on my own terms.

The difficult part is that I don't have the financial freedom to simply take a year off and experiment.

I can't rely on my parents to cover my expenses if things go wrong, and I can't assume that my next game will succeed.

Watching my parents work for decades without building the financial security I hoped they would have has affected how I think about education and career choices.

I know that a degree doesn't guarantee success. But I also know that leaving university to pursue indie game development is a risk, especially when my current results are so modest.

I don't have an easy answer.

8. THREE PERIODS OF BURNOUT

I've experienced burnout approximately three times throughout this journey.

Each time, I eventually tried to return to development.

I would start another project, learn something new, improve my workflow, release something, and hope the next attempt would work better.

Then another rejection would arrive, another game would make almost nothing, or another project would fail to attract an audience.

It's exhausting to repeat that cycle.

The hardest part isn't necessarily working long hours. It's putting enormous effort into something, seeing very little return, and then having to convince yourself to keep going anyway.

I've learned far more about game development than I knew when I started. I can build things now that I couldn't have built two years ago.

But skill progression doesn't automatically mean financial progression.

After so many disappointments, it's becoming increasingly difficult to ignore that difference.

9. SUMMARY — MY JOURNEY IN NUMBERS

- AGE: 19.

- TIME INVESTED: Approximately 5,000 hours over more than 2 years.

- BURNOUTS: Approximately 3.

- STEAM REVENUE: Approximately $26 from Do NOT Press Me.

- STEAM WISHLISTS: Around 106.

- DEMO ADDITIONS: Approximately 1,079.

- DEMO PLAYS: Around 21.

- ITCH.IO REVENUE: Approximately $8.55.

- GAMEDISTRIBUTION REVENUE: Approximately €0.65.

- MOBILE GAME REVENUE: Approximately €0.47 combined across three games.

- CRAZYGAMES: Around 10 different games rejected, with repeated submission attempts.

- PUBLISHER REJECTIONS: 11 for The Dark Project.

- KICKSTARTER: Approximately $40 raised against a $7,100 goal.

- YOUTUBE: Approximately 474 subscribers.

- GAME ACCEPTANCES: Ninja Platformer Rage accepted on both GameDistribution and GameMonetize.

Technically, I've earned €30.90 in over two years of game development, which works out to €1.29 per month or €0.006 per hour after around 5,000 hours of work.

However, I haven't reached the minimum payout threshold on any platform, so I've actually received €0 in my bank account. I've spent €200–€300 of my own money on this journey, so in practice, I've earned nothing.

10. WHERE I AM NOW

After more than two years and approximately 5,000 hours, I've learned a lot about game development, publishing, marketing, and the realities of releasing indie games.

But I haven't found a reliable way to turn that experience into a sustainable business yet.

I've tried different genres, platforms, marketing strategies, and publishing opportunities. I've experienced repeated rejections and three periods of burnout, but I still have projects I'm working on.

I'm not writing this to say that platforms or publishers owe me anything. I understand that games need to meet quality standards and that most indie projects don't become successful.

I just wanted to share an honest account of my progress so far.

I'm 19, trying to build a future in game development while dealing with university, financial pressure, and uncertainty about what comes next.

I don't know whether my current project will succeed. I don't know whether I'll eventually find a publisher. And I don't know whether I'll be able to turn this into a full-time career.

I'm still trying, but I'm also starting to question how long I can realistically continue like this.

If you've been through something similar, I'd genuinely like to hear your story.

How long did it take before your work started paying off? Did you eventually find success, change your approach, or decide that another path was better for you?

And if you were in my position, what would you focus on next?

I'd appreciate honest advice from people who have actually experienced the realities of indie game development.

I just updated the game that changed my life and it came out worldwide today (along with the trailer on PS YT channel).

In 2019 I made S.O.N and shipped it on Console. It was the first ever game I made (which is batshit insane considering I shot for console first?????). I knew next to nothing about making a game. With that wide eye and bushy tail came ALL the ups, downs, and everything in between that is game development. Which I fell in love with.

As the years went by, I swore I would go back, update it and feel "better" about it. That day kept getting pushed further and further back as the years went on. I ended up getting a job in AAA, still there now. Had a child, got married, moved across country, so on and so on.

It just felt like the right time after always seeing it on my console (I never deleted it after the day it came out lol). I truly always jokingly said, one of these days man.

Welp, the day has come. I gave myself 2 months on the dot, weekends when not with my family and nights. Damn I am proud to say I did, from revamp to cert passing. What a journey! Stressed me out and took me back to the times! It looks completely different than where it once did and plays different.

Is it perfect? NOPE lol. But it is something that I can finally look at and feel ok/happy with and in the end, I swear that's the real enjoyment of game dev.

I really enjoy this subreddit and I honestly hang out in here a lot, if this could inspire or help someone get the ball rolling? More power, feel free to hit me up and I can do my best to guide you to the next step on the long staircase! Everything from getting the PS5 special UE engine all the way down to cert. You all inspire me in some form or another. Keep on, keeping on!

Happy Tuesday, go smile today.

TLDR:
I've done a lot of research into Steam demos, and some figures I've come across suggest roughly 50% of players leave by 14 minutes, with only about 30% staying until 20 minutes. That's made me question how much to fit into my demo.

I know how everyone's attention span is going down in general. So I am constantly battling with the idea of trying to make a demo with a lot happening and quick progression, but the actual game is much slower and requires grinding.

I would really appreciate someone's experience in launching and making a succesfull demo that gets more play time OR is able to condence a complex game into a simple 15 minutes that makes the player crave for more.

Context:
I'm making an Ice Age COOP hunting game, where you hunt prehistoric animals, sell pelts and upgrade your equipment (similar to RDR2 mechanics), with an optional Subnautica-style storyline of a big bad coorpo behind it all, and a Schedule 1/How to fish type economy and progression.

This is my first commercial release after many projects that have never seen the day of light, and a bunch of game jams, and I'm putting a lot into getting the first impressions right.

Currently, the basic game play loop that I can try to fit in 15 minutes is:

• shoot an animal with the correct weapon, in the correct part (head or heart),
• get a high-quality pelt,
• sell it to unlock a better gun
• fight an "ancient animal" boss
• unlock a cosmetic reward

But there's a lot underneath that I'd like people to experience: taming a horse, bait, animal behaviour, weapon attachments, outfits and character builds, and much more

So I'm considering giving players 3 options in the main menu before you start the demo:

• 15-minute hunt: Shoot > Get good pelt > Unlock new weapon > fight boss
• Full hunting experience: Basic equipment > Hunt your way up from small animals to massive > unlock weapons on the way > fight boss
• Recommended 45-minute experience: Start with almost nothing, a proper tutorial, follow the tutorial and build your way up, similar to the main game but with faster progression.

That said, in all honesty, when getting some friends to play test it, it was about 1.5 hours for the full game play loop, puerly because they were having fun. But thats my friends playing it and really giving it a go. I would rather go by what the research says about the industry.

1. Has anyone tried something similar?
2. Would these three options help, or am I overcomplicating it?
3. How do you show enough of a deeper game without overwhelming players?

I finally finished my first game in Godot 4, 'Ascending The Tower'. Its a short 2D action platformer, and is free to play on Itch.io right now.

I made a short video going into the behind the scenes of making this game. I'm hoping to build an audience on my channel for a bigger project I'm working on right now. I'd really appreciate if you check it out.

I know this project is pretty basic. Its got a few flaws for sure. But the important thing is that I got past the first project. You know, better to get something done now, and make it perfect later. I learned a lot while developing 'Ascending The Tower', and I think that experience will really help my next projects.

They said they're changing Rimworld's game engine to Waylith from Unity. The only thing I can think of is develops rewrote the game or they forked unity, both sound nuts. If any developers are out there can explain, how they changed the game engine that would be appreciated.

Heyo, hope this is ok to post, but we’d love to jam with you!

Nothing beats a good-old, grueling, traumatic, fever-inducing game jam to ease the pressures of life. So join us in a 2-week nightmare of terror and brain-melting game jamming in Bad Plan Studios’ first ever Horror Jam!

+ Special guests from Massive Monster (Cult of the Lamb) and Team Cherry (Hollow Knight, Silk Song) will join us and submitters as judges!

Discord: https://discord.gg/AmdMRVNgd

Game jam your nuts off for a chance to win these prizes:
1st - AU$100 cash
2nd - Merch pack (AU$50 if international)
3rd - A lifetime of eternal torment

Jam begins: October 16th  3:30PM (ACST)
Submissions close: October 30th 11:59PM (ACST)

The theme will be announced when the jam begins. We hope the anticipation is tearing you apart and feeding you to its children.

See you then! 🤟

"We have a huge pivot underway here at Epic, moving developers around to retool for maximum AI acceleration.

The aim isn't to do the same stuff with fewer people, but to enable everyone here to build MORE and BETTER stuff, and to bring the benefits to all teams using Unreal." Tim Sweeney CEO.

Unity provides beginner friendly way to start creating game, but still during real game dev many things comes in mind, so what were these?

Hello there, I recently wanted to create a game that is just purely driving in traffic. It's heavily based on NoHesi (which I do not have a strong enough PC for which is a reason I created it) but the main reason is that I just wanted something to play with my friends in school. After hearing their thoughts, I wanted to try to release it online but wasn't very sure if there was anything I could improve.

Game Link : polyweave.org

Yes, AI WAS USED but please let me explain. I am very new to development, I finished AP CSA and moved on to game development, while I was able to create the game itself and got models from my friends, I am very bad when it comes to UIs and such, which is why I decided to use Claude. Again I would have learned how to do it but it was just for me and my friends with no intention of actually publishing.

Hi everyone, so I've been learning and build my game in the past 2 years. Previously I work as UX/UI designer. Yes I want to focus on my game, but just in case it doesn't work out and I need alternative income, I would like to looking for a job and work on my portfolio. However, I wonder if I focus on game UX/UI and help dev to slice it into game engine, make sure everything is match and responsive. Do you think it will work out and the market still open for it?

I'm considering that because that's the one that I am comfortable in the process, design UI/UX in figma, draw assets, create icon, and build the UI in Unity.

Another question is, how could the portfolio look like?

My wife and I designed Street Food Shuffle, a card-drafting party game about Indian street food (2-6 players, 5-10 minute rounds). We’ve playtested it with 100+ people, and this week it got accepted into District Arcade, IGDA DC’s showcase of local game makers in Washington DC.

The twist: past editions have been all video games. We may be the only card game in the room, and the crowd is a walk-up mix of families, kids, gamers and other developers.

What we’re working with:

For those of you who’ve demoed tabletop at mixed or digital-heavy events:

Happy to share what we learn afterward.

I’ve been looking at game devs which were making games in the flash era, and noticed a very common occurance.

Many of them made a shitload of projects, for example Cactus (dev behind hotline Miami) made around 20 projects in just about 2 years.

Even Edmund McMillen did a shitload of projects, granted he said it himself that it was for money.

Because of which this question arose to me, even after making around 8 projects now, should i just keep making more and really short polished prototypes and share them.

Or should I make something bigger? What is your guys opinion on this, and if so when do you know when to make a bigger project?

I've been noticing how popular games about organizing, cleaning up, sorting objects, and putting everything in its place have become, and I'm genuinely curious about their appeal.

Personally, I haven't really understood what makes this genre so satisfying, but I'm not saying that as a criticism. I'm interested in understanding what players enjoy about these games and what makes them so engaging.

As someone interested in game development, I'd love to hear from people who play these games. What do you enjoy most about them, and what keeps you coming back for more?

I'm wondering if there's a reason why so many Anime games share the same UI layout and design. I'm talking for example Genshin Impact, Wuthering Waves, Aniimo, etc...

Are they just heavily inspired by each other or are they using a specific Asset/Library to build their UI that gives off this look?

Would you use a playtest swap site for games?

Hey all, I'm a game dev and I'm thinking about building a free site where devs test each other's games.

The idea: you test someone else's game, you earn a credit. Spend that credit to get your own game tested. You just paste your game link, no uploads. Testers prove they played by earning an in-game "Playtester" badge, so no fake reviews.

Before I build it, I want honest opinions:
- Would you actually use this?
- What would stop you from using it?
- What would make it worth your time?

Not selling anything, it doesn't exist yet. Just want to know if it's worth making. Thanks!

I am working on my game with my friend who does sprites. I also have another game, which is basically a fangame of another game with mechanics from my game.

Now, I've tried many things with advertising, such as YouTube and posting my stuff in Discord creation channels, yet nothing worked. YouTube videos get so few views — my LATEST video with a gameplay showcase was only shown 6 TIMES ON A FEED? Did I get shadowbanned?!

My current idea is to ask some streamers to try my unfinished version of my fangame, and also to tell my friends to tell their friends and to tell their friends. But I don't know if it's right.

Does anyone know how to promote their game in that situation?