Edition #6: Unity, Machine-Learning, and the Future of Games

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In today’s Games Media Digest:?

?? A new theory of innovation cycles in gaming

?? What you need to know about Unity 6

???? New laws in Australia and California

Standout Stories, Commentary, & Analysis

• [The New York Times] The mushroom kingdom that Shigeru Miyamoto built. Nintendo will continue blazing its own trail—even if that means staying reserved about AI.
• [Game Developer] Unity is killing its controversial Runtime Fee. The engine maker will focus on subscriptions.?
• [Tech Radar] New Australian video game classifications aim to restrict kids' exposure to loot boxes. Popular games like EA Sports FC 25 will be suitable only for those aged 15 or older.?
• [push to talk] Are old games killing new games? In 2023, after removing the top five new titles and annual megahits like CoD, only 4.5% of gaming time was spent on new titles.?
• [Game File] New law will change how always-online games are sold, at least in California. “Any retailer that sells an online-only video game will soon need to warn customers…that the game they’re purchasing may not be theirs to play forever.”
• [Ars Technica] Meta’s new lightweight AR prototype shows a future beyond bulky VR headsets. The new product could hit the market in the next few years.?
• [CNBC] Qualcomm says it’s working on mixed reality smart glasses with Samsung and Google. Competition intensifies.?
• [GamesIndustry biz] The problem with PS5 Pro isn't the price tag. Sony launches an impressive PS5 upgrade, but many gamers are content with their PS4.?

The Future of Games ??

“It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.” So wrote William Shakespeare, and so it is in gaming.?

But before charting a path forward, it helps to know where you are on the map.?

The Play Pendulum: A new theory

Joost van Deunen’s new theory of “innovation cycles in interactive entertainment” places the present moment using historical industry trends.?

It posits that innovation cycles affect gaming’s trajectory more than technology alone. The two main forces are content innovation and distribution innovation.?

Content innovation (Atari in the '70s and '80s) eventually leads to market saturation, which itself leads to distribution innovation (Nintendo in the '80s and '90s).

If the theory is to be believed, we’re entering a new distribution-innovation era.?

As for what those innovation(s) will be: Might your company have the answer?

Read the SuperJoost Playlist piece here.?

Where will games be in 25 years?

Looking ahead further—what will games be like in 25 years?

“[A]ny type of predatory or opportunistic monetization just never works in the long term. You'll still see the games that we love to play, story-based, single-player games. I guess I would argue for: 'games won't be that different'” – Jake Solomon, XCOM designer

"I'm hoping technology resources will make it easier to build content in ways that allow for branching but also still have that feeling of hand touched-ness that you lose a little bit when you get to procedural content” – John Epler, BioWare veteran and Dragon Age creative director

Read more insider comments in the Eurogamer piece.?

Artificial Intelligence

The latest gaming-related AI news:

The impact of local AI on gaming (Konvoy)

More and more tech companies are adding local AI to their devices with specialized microchips. What does this mean for game developers?

Local AI enables latency-sensitive AI use cases. In games, these could be dynamic NPCs, AI-driven in-game guides, et cetera.?

Therefore, local AI means more AI use cases in games.?

“AI leveraged in real-time gameplay will likely be latency-sensitive,” Konvoy writes. Local AI inference “enables a more viable economic model to bring AI use cases to players and users.”

Read here.?

Roblox and EA both announce text-to-game AI concepts

Roblox is developing an open-source text-to-game tool. Players will be able to generate entire 3D worlds with written prompts.?

Similarly, EA showcased text-to-game at its Investor Day:?

Jabali launches AI game engine Project Makina (PocketGamer biz)

The company recently raised a $5 million round led by BITKRAFT Ventures.?Read about it here.

Unity 6: What You Need to Know

Unity 6 will launch on October 17. Some key takeaways from its roadmap:?

• New release model. Engine generations will now be longer—”generally a minimum of two years.” They will be shared with the market earlier and evolve with feedback.?
• Optimization tools. Unity 6 will optimize load times for instant games, resulting in an average 56% reduction in load times.
• Unified rendering. Unity will move to a scalable unified rendering strategy that will refactor the URP and HDRP backends.
• New tools. Other new features will include faster rendering from GPU resident draw, deeper support for mobile web runtimes, and more.?

Room 8 Group News

We’ve been shortlisted for 4 TIGA Awards!

We’re thrilled to have been nominated at the TIGA Games Industry Awards 2024 for:

• Co-Development Partner
• Service Provider
• Art, Animation, and Trailer Supplier
• Commitment to ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance)

We joined UKIE

Room 8 Group is now a member of UKIE, the trade association representing the UK’s games and interactive entertainment industry.

Room 8 Voices: Meet Sandy Heslop

Get to know Sandy—Head of CG of Heroic, our Trailers & Cinematics studio!?

Thanks for reading the Games Media Digest by Room 8 Group—we’re an external game developer providing end-to-end, strategic solutions for the world’s biggest developers and publishers.