Indie UK-based Rockstar developers will vote on union recognition during GTA 6's launch next month
Rockstar UK staff are voting on union recognition around Grand Theft Auto 6's launch, while a tribunal weighs claims over past layoffs.
Indie
Independent games worth your attention: new indie releases, Steam demos, festival highlights and hidden gems.
Indie Because Discord knows it replaced forums, it is making your messages in discoverable servers searchable, immediately raising one question: what about AI?
Discord will expose discoverable server messages on Google, with opt-out controls, regional defaults, and open questions about AI training.
Indie Monarchs at Play is a strategy city-builder about chaining hexagonal tiles that emphasizes exploration, expansion, exploitation, and extermination and only takes an hour out of your day.
Steam demo Monarchs at Play offers one-hour hex tile city-building, combining combos, rivals, and solo or online play, with no release date.
Indie Fallout New Vegas modders shout 'Information Technology flips up' after releasing a funky Pip-Boy based on Van Buren's canceled design documents.
New Fallout: New Vegas mods add Van Buren-inspired Lil Pip 3000 and Wattz weapons, with dependencies and Tale of Two Wastelands support.
Indie The person who apparently hates seeing free-range eggs virtue signal says Steam's AI disclosures are like forcing developers to list their voting history.
Sweeney calls Steam's generative AI store labels political, critics defend product transparency, and Epic's Fab uses business asset tags.
Indie Amid ongoing Xbox cuts, Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to approximately 60,000 workers across the company in its latest attempt to reduce staff.
Microsoft offers buyouts to 60,000 staff amid Xbox cuts, office mandates, AI spending pressure, and boycott scrutiny.
Indie The GameMaker engine series that powered Undertale, Hotline Miami, and Spelunky will be free for commercial use on PC.
GameMaker free commercial use starts January 1, 2027 for PC, web and mobile; consoles need Enterprise license. Professional holders gain access.
Indie Here are the Sunday Papers.
Sunday papers cover a billionaire FPS, outsourcing language, Manhunt simulation gaps, a Game Boy museum, and Timothy Dexter's eccentric punctuation
Indie I am embarrassed to discover that Steam's Personal Calendar feature was apparently a test all along and is only now a fully-fledged component
Valve moved Steam's Personal Calendar from Steam Labs testing into the regular store, using playtime, wishlist, and release data to suggest games.
Indie Paralives' first major update has been delayed until next year, but it will deliver substantial enhancements to all of the game's core features.
Paralives' first major update is delayed to next year. It will improve Live Mode, add skills and jobs, fix Build Mode, and expand Paramaker options.
Indie HELENA : Cloud District is a megastructure photography game perfectly aligned with my interests, and it launches next week.
HELENA: Cloud District launches October 29 as a Steam photo platformer in a rotting megastructure, using three photo slots and non-linear movement.
Indie Gloomwood's publisher is reluctant to use the term immersive simulation even though it is one, recalling that people called System Shock and Deus Ex role-playing games.
New Blood's Dave Oshry says immersive simulation is a weak marketing label; Gloomwood fits the genre, but role-playing games may sell better.
Indie Abelina is a bizarre platformer adventure through a natural afterlife, created by a former League of Legends animator and the composer of Zach Cregger's Resident Evil.
Abelina is a surreal afterlife platformer about Vasily, gardens, and masks. Led by Gabe Askew, it has a trailer, Steam wishlist, and 2027 release.
Indie Woim is the earth-devouring, self-bisecting sokoban pick-me-up I needed after a week of game industry disasters
Woim is a 50-level Sokoban-like worm puzzle game with earth-eating, splitting, and undo; it offers a light pick-me-up after industry bad news.
Indie Total War boss blames external partner for Shogun 2 Complete Edition disaster, stating it was not a Creative Assembly developed game
A Total War boss blamed the external partner for Shogun 2 Complete Edition disaster, pulled it, denied AI art, restored original game, and urged respect
Indie A Canadian political party leader says BioWare employees should receive the first chance and federal backing to purchase the studio and keep it operating.
BioWare staff should get first chance and federal support to buy studio after closure, says New Democratic Party leader Avi Lewis.
Indie A developer removes AI-generated voices from a game and offers refunds to players who feel betrayed, saying no thanks to the future.
The Future? No Thanks! developer removed AI voices, offered refunds, tweaked quests, and criticized Steam's disclosure rules after public backlash.
Indie Factorio's final major update is now live, delivering "the things we wanted to do for 2.0 but didn't have time for"
Factorio 2.1, the final major update, adds over 30 quality-of-life changes, mixed rockets, mine tweaks, optional Quality, and graphics polish.
Indie Sign Up for the Battle Vision Beta
Battle Vision beta sign-up appears on Alpha Beta Gamer; its cosmic puzzle roguelike premise is confirmed, but release and platform details are not.
Indie The House Before Has a Beta Demo
The House Before beta demo offers a pre-release body-horror concept: players explore a living house of bones, organs, and grotesque creatures.