Patch Notes #1: Dispatches from AMAZE Sheffield

Oh, would you look at that. Welcome to the first ever edition of Patch Notes! Newsletters are unequivocally in these days and instead of succumbing to crippling FOMO (that’s ‘fear of missing out’), we figured we’d join the party.

Patch Notes will be a casual hangout for the cool cats. A brooding, low-lit jazz bar filled with people who ‘get it.’ It’s your favorite breakfast served in bed. A hallowed space for deep, pensive contemplation. Your dizziest daydream made corporeal. That one—alright, it’s mainly just an excuse for news editor Chris Kerr (hello hello) to cut loose on a Friday and pore over the latest game industry happenings.

We’ll be publishing a new edition of Patch Notes every two weeks to keep you in the know. Inside, you’ll find a round-up of the hottest news and some headlines you might have missed; a fragrant platter of interviews and features that’ll tickle your tastebuds; and a lovingly curated selection of blogs showcasing the brilliance of our expert community.

We reckon there’ll be a little sumthin’ sumthin’ for everyone, so let’s get stuck in.

I joined a cult the other week. It all happened so fast. One moment I was wandering through a warehouse filled with bizarre contraptions in the outskirts of Sheffield. Then, I was surrounded by a group of people hellbent on mimicking the chants of a rhapsodic flamingo. The strange chorus of faces only illuminated by the streaks of pink neon that adorned the crumbling brick walls. Later, that same group would harness the power of touch to create a link between the mechanical world and our physical forms. This is AMAZE Festival. It is magical.

The self-styled ‘International Games and Playful Media Festival’ usually takes place in Berlin over four days, but made its way to the UK for a one-day soiree featuring a bunch of experimental game installations, rapid ‘Hyper Talks’ touching on subjects like approachable design and generative AI (read our coverage here), and a thumping warehouse rave that bled into the early hours.

The event is split across a daytime and evening program. The former is more serene, letting attendees browse installations at their leisure, attend workshops, and shoot the breeze with their peers. There was even a barbecue, although we’re not quite sure if that’s part of the standard offering (it absolutely should be).

Left to right: AMAZE attendees playing Crashboard, Between, and Hyper Wobbler

The evening slalom is where AMAZE truly comes into its own. After a warm opening keynote from organizer Thorstenn Wiedmann and an icebreaker featuring that singing flamingo we mentioned earlier, we segue into an exhilarating Hyper Talk track that is ludicrous and brilliant in equal measure.

Speakers are introduced to screams of ‘hyper, hyper’ from a crowd who’ve been instructed to recite those hallowed words (all hail Scooter) whenever they burst on screen. Talks fluctuate between introspective and absurd. We quickly pivoted from a discussion about human touch as a game mechanic into a talk about iconic board game Dream Phone. There is wisdom in both. Then, the show floor opens up. What was previously a chilled space for chinwags becomes an electric hive of activity.

A huge group of attendees quickly breaks off to play a colossal game of Bot Party, an interactive alt ctrl experience that asks players to help dinky robots communicate by interlocking their own limbs. I watch in quiet astonishment as people (many of whom I presumed were previously strangers) coalesce into a mammoth prayer circle to merge with their mechanical counterparts.

Wherever you look, you’ll find more of the same. Friends and strangers holding hands and laughing as they breeze through experimental puzzler Between. Amused onlookers encouraging those who’ve chosen to (quite literally) surf the world wide web in Crashboard. Laughter erupting from a crowd playing a completely unhinged twenty-player version of Gang Beasts. Every experience feels designed to spark chaos and camaraderie.

AMAZE is so wonderfully fresh because it eschews conventional industry networking events, which too often prioritize those with a penchant for bars and alcohol (though, of course, you can grab a pint here if that’s your thing). I often find those spaces cliquey and impenetrable. Here, in this warehouse full of tactile, offbeat game experiences, people are encouraged to approach each other and truly engage. Bonding over their shared pursuit of a high score or the fact they were sliding across the floor together, digits interlinked, mere seconds ago.

There’s something deeply affirming about rocking up to an event where silliness is championed and unconventional ideas are celebrated. The industry could perhaps use a few more events like AMAZE, and after dipping my toes in the water a couple of weeks ago, I highly recommend everyone else do the same.

P.S. AMAZE is hosting a ‘digital playground’ event at Gamescom 2024, so check it out if you’re zipping to Cologne next week.

Krafton acquires Tango Gameworks and Hi-Fi Rush franchise from Microsoft // The industry was ready to pour one out for Japanese studio Tango Gameworks after it was unceremoniously shuttered by Xbox despite being praised by its parent company for shadow-dropped success Hi-Fi Rush. This tale, however, had one last twist. Korean publisher Krafton (custodian of the PUBG franchise) swooped in to save the day after purchasing both Tango and the Hi-Fi Rush franchise from Microsoft. According to Game File, Krafton has structured the deal as an “acqui-hire” because it wants to “inherit the entire development team.” It’s a rare slice of positive news amid a relentless wave of layoffs and closures. We’ll take it. 

Draknek New Voices Puzzle Grant is offering $15,000 to ’thinky’ game devs // If you’re a puzzle game developer in search of funding, you might want to look into this grant from Bonfire Peaks and Sokobond Express developer Draknek. The studio wants to dish out six no-strings-attached grants worth $15,000 to creators from underrepresented backgrounds. The company has a generous ‘if in doubt, please apply’ policy when it comes to submissions, so if you’re on the fence where eligibility is concerned it’s probably worth chancing your arm. You can find a robust FAQ here. The deadline for applications is October 7, 2024.

Foretold Studios failing to pay wages, plunging some workers into debt // Here’s a cautionary tale. We recently spoke with multiple developers at Tollan Universe maker Foretold Studios who claim the company owes them thousands of dollars in missed salary payments dating back to 2023. Outwardly, the studio appears in good health, with management attending major events like GDC 2024 and OTK Games Expo and recently announcing another entry in its Tollan franchise (despite struggling to bring a single project to market). CEO Michael Kuvshynov confirmed the studio has failed to pay some wages, but suggested he was transparent with employees from the outset. Our sources beg to differ. After our article was published, we pushed Kuvshynov for more information but have been met with radio silence. Curiously, the chief exec did agree to a Zoom interview prior to publication, but has now vanished into the aether.

What the heck is Valve doing with these informal Deadlock NDAs? // Game Developer senior editor Bryant Francis looks at the chaos surrounding the surprise not-launch of Valve’s in-development shooter Deadlock, which has attracted over 20,000 concurrent users despite apparently being a super secret project and landed The Verge in hot water with some enraged souls for checks notes covering a video game project from a major company. Lock in for this one. 

‘This is just a death cycle’: No More Robots gets candid about the state of indie publishing // Sometimes it’s important to vocalize hard truths. Just ask No More Robots founder Mike Rose, who last week told me the indie publishing industry is essentially “fucked.” Assessing the state of the biz after seven years leading his own company, Rose explained why ‘survive to 2025’ is a dangerous fallacy, revealed what exactly publishers are after in the current market (projects that are “cheap as fuck or expensive as hell”), and outlined why pessimism and sustainability are good bedfellows.

Tossing out textures to build a visual bridge from Hyper Light Breaker to its predecessor // How do you turn a 2D indie darling into a 3D roguelike? That’s the question Hyper Light Breaker developer Heart Machine grappled with as it sought to create a sequel to acclaimed 2016 adventure Hyper Light Drifter. You can hit the link above for a comprehensive answer, which explores notions like “lower-frequency” character design and intentional detail.

Book Excerpt: Great Games Need Great Leaders // In this snippet from Great Games Need Great Leaders: Multiclassing to Lead Game Development Teams by Matthew John Dyet, the author unites the “knowledge and perspectives of numerous past and present games industry leaders and practitioners to form a clear picture of how leadership operates in a game development studio.”

Featured Blog: Starting up and running your own outsourcing studio // Marauders lead developer James Rowbotham hosts a quick-fire interview with Rekindled Studios co-founder Rob Moody to learn what it takes to establish and support an animation outsourcing studio.

Featured Blog: From monopolies to tiny tools by solo devs // Independent net artist and video game designer Nathalie Lawhead presents a discussion about the “large and largely underrepresented space of tool development from solo devs, individual artists, or tiny teams.”