ByteAction - Issue 142
ByteAction is a newsletter for game developers and fans
Hello, and welcome to 142nd edition of ByteAction newsletter!
Last week was a busy one. I’ve managed to release 2 podcasts with the industry leaders Rich Barham and Elias Lozano, both of which you can listen to here:
I also happened to be at HGC Conference in Barcelona which was a lot of fun. It was great to mingle with so many people from the industry here in Barcelona but also ones that came to visit this city. The conference was full of insights and good energy, and I can only recommend this for anyone looking to present their ideas, learn, mingle with industry folks or find new business. Here are few snaps from it:
For those who are worried about the job situation in the industry, the consensus there was that we should have a lot more job opportunities open up after this year’s Gamescom. Which is encouraging, but no one of course knows what’s going to happen for sure, but let’s hope for the best, and we’ll see what happens. When it comes to the investment side - publishers and investors seem to be more cautious than ever, but opportunities are out there, and for the right projects there are investments to be made.
As for what’s been happening in the industry: Brainspark Games has just raised £1.4m to build educational AI mobile games. The funding has come from its seventh Innovate UK Investor Partnership grant and a match-funded angel investment.
In other news, Etched has announced the raising of $120 million to challenge Nvidia in the AI chip design sector. The company is developing a new chip called Sohu, which focuses on a crucial aspect of AI processing: the transformer. By integrating the transformer architecture directly into its chips, Etched claims it is creating the world's most powerful servers for transformer inference.
Lastly, the virtual reality game Gorilla Tag has just surpassed 10 million players and generated $100 million in revenue 🤯.
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The Byte
The Action
Retro Byte
Studio Byte
Stray Kite Studios is a U.S.-based game development studio known for its significant contributions to "Fortnite". Founded by industry veterans, the studio emphasizes creativity, innovation, and collaboration in its development process, aiming to create unique and engaging gaming experiences.
Legal Stuff
EU launches new investigation into Apple over additional non-compliance claims.
Gaming QA workers claim they were laid off for attempting to unionize
Acquisitions/Investments
New Game Corner
Concord - 23rd August, 2024
Gather your band of Freegunner space outlaws and join forces with friends online on PlayStation 5 and PC in Concord.
Resource Byte
Are you into maps? This is a service that lets you generate high resolution city map posters.
Who’s Hiring?
Lead Game Designer - Hypersonic Laboratories - Remote
Senior Software Engineer - Illumix - Remote, USA
RPG Designer - Larian Studios - Warsaw, Poland
Senior Data Analyst - Original Games - Remote, Europe
Data Analyst - Eneba - Europe, Remote
Gameplay Engineer - Bad Robot Games - Remote, USA
Animation Director - Maximum Entertainment - Remote
Unity Developer - Odderslab - Remote
Lead Game Programmer - Redhill Games - Helsinki, Finland
COO - Flatter Than Earth - Remote, USA
Unity Programmer - Midjiwan - Stockholm, Sweden
Community Manager - 31st Union - San Mateo, CA
Technical Director - Klang Games - Berlin, Germany
Product Designer - SDP Games - Remote
Senior Graphics Programmer - Build a Rocket Boy - Edinburgh, UK
Senior Gameplay Programmer - People Can Fly - Remote, Worldwide
Art Director - Bulletfarm - Remote, USA
Senior Unity Developer - SocialPoint - Barcelona, Spain
Senior Writer - Beamdog - Edmonton, Canada
Lead Producer - Otherside Entertainment - Remote, USA
Senior Brand Manager - Remedy Games - Helsinki, Finland
Senior Product Lead - Ringtail Interactive - Stockholm, Sweden
Gameplay Programmer - Lucky VR - Remote, Canada
Producer - Mythical Games - Remote, USA
Engineering Manager - Procreate - Hobart, Tasmania
Lead Audio Designer - Maverick Games - Warwick, UK
Game Designer - Dreamcraft Entertainment - Redwood City, CA
Senior Unity Developer - Homa - Barcelona, Spain
Unity Engineer - Carry1st - Remote
Senior Producer - Sharkmob - London, UK
Senior Gameplay Programmer - Heart Machine - Culver City, CA (Remote)
Interested in sharing your job posts here? Just click on the button below for more info and reach out to tomas@byteaction.co
Dev Talks
“In Ontario and Toronto there’s very healthy tax credit support. The number is somewhere around 40%. What’s interesting is there’s a lot happening in Quebec right now. Quebec also had a very healthy tax credit, but there’s a new law announced a couple of months ago that will see the credit reduced over the next five years. That’s going to impact the landscape of the gaming industry in Canada.”
Jason Lepine
Events
Develop: Brighton - 9th-11th of July
The Develop: Brighton Conference is an annual event in Brighton, UK, for video game developers. Established in 2006, it features keynotes, technical sessions, workshops, and an expo. The event provides networking opportunities and showcases indie developers