#Game launch

[shelandsorcery]

Announcing Disney Villains Cursed Café!

After nearly three years of work, I’m really proud to announce the release of Bloom Digital (@bloomdigital )‘s newest game, Disney Villains Cursed Café. I art directed this game, and I’m so excited to get to share the results of all our hard work!

You’ve probably heard me talk about Bloom before – we’re an indie game company, known for our beloved visual novels LongStory and Later Daters. We are a team of people who love telling stories! Getting to put all that energy towards the Disney Villains was a real privilege.

Working with Disney helped all of us hold our work to an even higher standard, and push ourselves as game makers. There’s a real responsibility attached when you get the chance to work with these characters, and it would have been impossible to navigate that nearly as well without the constant guidance and feedback of the team we worked with at Disney. Thanks to everyone there for helping make this game happen!

I have to brag about my coworkers – I don’t think I can imagine a better team than the lineup we have at Bloom. When you have a team that becomes more than the sum of its parts, you get to make games that are also more than the sum of their parts! Huge thanks from me and the artists to Miriam Verburg for steering the ship the whole time, Heather Jackson for making it effortless to bring the narrative into the art every step of the way, Keana Almario for keeping us all accountable to the players experience, JP Stringham for tackling the game design inside and out, and Danielle Russell for facilitating all the communication and oversight necessary to make something like this happen.

It’s important that I tell you how wonderful the art team in particular was! It might be counter-intuitive, but, you’re not going to see a single pixel of my own drawing in this game. As an art director, it was my job to find the best artists possible and then direct them towards bringing this game to life. I had the privilege and responsibility to lead a team of incredible artists towards making this game, and whatever you see in there, I want you to know one of these people made it happen.

Yi Pan was our senior game artist, which means he and I worked together on concepts from the beginning; you can see his brilliant painting and immensely appealing design work up front and center in all our potions, gifts, and in so much of the overall color design of the game. Jey Pawlik (@jeypawlik ) was our character artist and I think it’s impossible to understate how charming they managed to make our modernized villains, no matter their moods! Janiel Lo worked with us across many disciplines, laying out and painting our complex, amazing environments, as well as helping us make sure our beautiful UI felt both integrated into the world and also comfortable and easy to use. Ally Rom Colthoff (@varethane ) made it possible for us to have the environment art of my dreams by coming in and painting the heck out of that cafe! And the game wouldn’t be what it is without Sara Mena‘s concept work, and the contributions of many artists on the Disney side who contributed not only character art, UI, and identity designs, but helped us fine-tune everything that went into the game.

It’s the biggest team I’ve ever had the chance to work with as an art director, and I’m not kidding when I say that these professionals made it easy and fun to come in every day and see what brilliant new artwork awaited me.

Something extra special about this team was how excited the artists were to work with, brainstorm with, and sing the praises of each other. I’m so grateful for this team not just for their ability to make beautiful art but their ability to collaborate with each other, myself, and with the team at Disney. Everybody should be proud of themselves, not only as artists but as game makers.

I want to shout out the narrative team, who made time to be in the art meetings with me and the artists, making it so easy to keep everything absolutely on point narratively throughout the whole development. Heather and Mike took the time to get to know the art team, and made themselves available for quick questions, brainstorming sessions, and pep talks. I think what this did for the game was make it possible for every visual joke and narrative joke to play off each other in ways that could not have possibly happened without that kind of open communication.

To talk a little bit more about the UI process, one of the things that we decided to do early on was make this game’s UI very diegetic, to keep the buttons feeling as magical as everything else that you see and do in the game, and that would not have been possible without Keana’s expertise and dedication to solving complicated UX flow challenges. Her hard work let us get away with so much more by way of magical props, framing devices, and sparkles.

For me, as the art director, I don’t always get the chance to put my own handiwork into a game, and as I mentioned, all of the amazing drawing and painting that you see on screen is thanks to our art team. But what I did get to do, very much thanks to the support of JP, was tackle the majority of the VFX. Getting to be a VFX artist for a chunk of this project was a dream come true, because if there’s one thing this game is full of, it’s magic! Figuring out how to bring life and mystery and humour to all of the magic in this game was an amazing challenge that I am so glad I got to tackle.

As a game dev, launches are always special, but this launch has been outright overwhelming in such a good way. Thank you to everybody who is streaming the game, sharing lets plays, drawing fan art, and just generally yelling about getting to hang out with their faves in our magical Cursed Café! I hope as you play this game it feels like you’ve gotten to visit somewhere magical alongside the villains.

Thanks again to everybody involved for this opportunity. Drop your fav villian in the comments, and stay in touch with me and with Bloom to find out more about what else @bloomdigital has lined up!

[askagamedev]

Is there a downside to the early access release model?

Yes. The maximum interest in any game is going to be at its first major launch. All marketing and buildup will get the largest group of players to try the game at that first launch. When we use the Early Access release model, we effectively blunt that because our Early Access version isn't the finished game and commensurately less sticky to the player base. This means that we will likely lose a significant number of players that would have stayed for a finished game - this type will tell themselves that maybe they'll come back and check on the game at full release and then never do so. The second (full) release will also not grab as many players or attention because they've got other new games competing for their attention and the game will feel "old" since it's been playable and in the news for months or even years by that point.

Further, marketing costs a lot of money and time to do. Having to pay for not one but two separate major launch pushes costs a lot more than marketing for one single launch. That additional marketing budget has to come from somewhere, usually the second run is paid for by the initial earnings of the Early Access launch. But that Early Access money could have been used to build more of and polish the game for launch as well. It's a fairly significant tradeoff.

Basically, the big deal with Early Access is that the dev team is effectively borrowing against the future in hopes of getting any release at all. Most of the time, a traditional release with a single launch will be more efficient with resources spent than Early Access. That said, if the team can't secure the funding for a single release, Early Access is still a far better choice than no game at all.

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[demeruart]

Satan is an Astronaut is now available to wishlist on the Steam store! We’re hoping to have the full game out by the end of summer.

About the game:

Story

A woman who suffers from severe delusions wakes in the center of a forest aboard “The BUB,” a proto-generation ship from the mysterious Faust Corporation to a vision of a spirit she grew up with, she quickly learns that not everything is as it seems, and this waking cycle is anything but ordinary.

Features

- Enjoy truly spectacular original art and gameplay from Matt de Carvalho.

- Experience original music and fearsome sound design from Shane Stephenson.

- Explore a fine story about cats and devils and space and what can happen when people really buy into your madness without fully thinking it through, written by Ryan Moriarty.

- Hours of fun! (About two, if I’m honest, but that warrants a plural by DEFINITION.)

- Multiple endings - some of them make a lot of sense and will speak to you, others, you’ll wonder what I was thinking about when I wrote them. I have a degree in English Lit, so allow me to pre-handwave with a “What do you think it means?”

- Branching paths where you CHOOSE who gets to live and who gets to die. Don’t let that power go to your head in real life, though! We don’t need any more lawsuits.

[rainspicestudios]

The Code of Crystals (Chapter 1) has been updated! + Game Information

You heard it here first,

[THE CODE OF CRYSTALS CHAPTER 1 IS AVAILABLE ON ITCH.IO]

It has been re-released with a prettier UI, an additional CG for Eranis, and some edits here and there.

But if it's only chapter 1, why is it 10€? 10€ is the price of all five chapters combined.

As of right now there is no way to only buy the first chapter and I understand that you would not want to buy a game that is not technically "finished". However you may very well wait until all five chapters have been released before buying.

There is also a demo which you can download in order to try out TCOC and see if it is a game you would enjoy.

Chapter two will be released in late 2025 or early 2026 and I hope to see you there when it comes out 🖤

[fogaminghub]

🎮 Attention, gamers! The next chapter in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 unfolds on January 28 with Season 2! 🌟 Explore new maps, modes, and exciting weapons. Don't miss out! Read all about it in our blog!

[justrudyart]

⭐️I JUST PUBLISHED MY FIRST EVER GAME!⭐️

Do you think we're soulmates in every universe? is a short (~10 mins) visual novel about love and alternate universes. It has 3 endings and includes art & coding made by your's truly.

While it isn't anything super impressive, I have been wanting to release a game (whether it was a short or long one didn't matter to me) for so long and to finally do so is super exciting for me! Thank you if you download and play it, I put my heart and soul into making it for the Dialouge Game Jam this past week. I hope this leads to me uploading bigger projects in the future, and I hope you'll be there when I do. 🧡

You can find the link to play my game down below.

[pinoyvideogamer]

Final Fantasy XVI’s Xbox Debut Off to a Slow Start

After almost two years of waiting, Final Fantasy XVI finally made its way to Xbox consoles. Shadow-dropped during the Xbox Games Showcase on June 8, 2025, the game launched with the full base experience and both story expansions, now optimized for Xbox Series X|S with Play Anywhere support. While this marks a major moment for Final Fantasy fans on Xbox, the sales figures paint a slower start…

[virtualrealitynewstoday]

宇宙戰役即將展開：《Asgard’s Wrath 2》迎來盛大發布！

在虛擬現實遊戲的世界中，一場史詩級的戰役即將展開。《Asgard’s Wrath 2》將於明日上午7點正式發布，這是繼四年前《阿斯加德之怒》在Rift平台取得巨大成功後的全新力作。該系列首部作品在IGN上獲得了9.4的高分，成為VR遊戲發展史上的一個里程碑，為遊戲開發者帶來了前所未有的野心和創新精神。 續作《Asgard’s Wrath 2》在IGN上獲得了罕見的滿���評價——10分，並將在Meta Quest 2、3及Pro平台上推出。這款遊戲的敘事戰役長達60多小時，而對於追求完美的玩家來說，更有超過100小時的遊戲內容。其異步社交地下城模式和專門的實時運營，使其成為了目前最具擴展性的VR遊戲之一。 對於那些尚未熟悉《Asgard’s Wrath 2》的玩家，以下幾篇開發者日記提供了豐富的背景信息： 《阿斯加德之怒2》即將登陸Meta Quest 3 +…

[kenchann]

【 エース な ら、絶対キメ ら れ る ! 】

[singledreamedia]

Powerful Strategies for Promoting Mobile Games: A Guide by Marketing Agencies

Are you ready to skyrocket your mobile game's success? In a world flooded with mobile games, how can you ensure that your masterpiece doesn't get lost in the sea of options? The answer lies in the expert strategies employed by mobile game marketing agencies. Let's explore the game-changing tactics that can turn your game into the next sensation, with a little help from the likes of Single Dream Media.

Read for more Information : https://singledreamedia.blogspot.com/2023/08/powerful-strategies-for-promoting.html

[snebsy]

guys i can’t believe im a fan of a COUPLES channel god that’s so embarrassing

[kylominis]

My first love [☃️]

[rexomi]

Something something. Making Solas a liar in Veilguard actively brings back a problem they fixed working on Inquisition.

On December 20 2019 VGS posted an interview with Trick Weekes about their work on Solas. This whole sentence is a link so its large enough for mobile but also disclaimer this is before they changed their name so deadname warning.

Here's a transcription I found here which is where i took the screenshots above. Since I know not everyone has 40 minutes to listen to an online radio interview.

I however highlighted the main point since most of you are not reading the screenshots anyway but skimming through. Rant under Read-more. Also bc i try to not be too negative on people's dashs but also i wanna ramble some more.

"But he lied a lot more. And it really weakened his character."

You can tell this happened during the game. Solas lies only once within Inquisition. He says something he can't be vague about and you push him so he lies, badly. He usually tells the truth vaguely. Typically Solas lies no more than Blackwall.

I fully believe that if in Inquisition your inquisitor figured out that Solas was Fen’harel and asked him bluntly to his face he'd confess. He might even be impressed. But why would you ever start to think that. No one assumes that their coworker is actually Poseidon regardless of how much they love the beach and ocean.

He hides in your expectations.

You can't ask him about being an ancient elf or being Fen'harel of myth because those aren't very probable. They're astronomically low to be truth within that universe. And outside, no one finished DA2 and went i wonder if one of our next companions is the Dread Wolf. Sera said, impossible things can't be surprises. He doesn't have to lie so when the truth comes out it's becomes obvious on a second playthrough.

They then actively bring back a problem they fixed in Inquisitions development. That they were open about fixing. That having a character that outright lies to you makes you have no intention of even hearing out the character. It retroactively undercuts Inquisition bc i see people trying to find Solas' lies in it when they aren't going to find any beyond the court intrigue.

It undercuts any lore we do get from Solas bc people dismiss it outright as being a lie from Mr "I abhor blood magic". I feel like shaking people's shoulders like no, dont do it.

They retconned him guys i have proof from 2019.

And its like if you hate Solas is this even satisfying? Like that's not Solas. His motivations are gone (that's a whole other post) and so is his core personality trait. It's like they went here's the Dreadwolf but during the ten years they replaced the smug asshole who was insufferably right with a 20 yo senior chihuahua that doesnt have any teeth.

My favorite villains are those that tell the truth. Because nothing hurts more than the truth. Can you imagine if he told you the truth. If he told you horrible things that you dismissed as lies to only be true. Wouldn't Varric’s death have more weight if he told you Varric was dead only for you - for everyone - to see him in the Lighthouse. If it was a spirit who took his shape to help you or even because it saw something worth reflecting in your memories.

So you dismiss him until it's revealed near the end oh he was telling the truth and you have an oh shit maybe he was right about other things but its too late to try and stop any of the truths he told you which could be from allies/companions betraying to stuff about Ghilan'nain and Elgarnan.

Like the only way to redeem Solas was to listen to him and by going out of your way to address problems he sees and you can find the alternative to tearing down the Veil by a series a little puzzle pieces throughout the game.

Have it be he will only listen to you if you listen to him. That he'll reject your other solution bc why the hell would he trust you if you couldnt extend the same.

Like Solas couldve been a great villian and he should've been great for both the haters and those that liked him. Not only the romance but for those who became his friend. Like i keep coming back to if i hated Solas would i be satisfied with Veilguard.

And the answer is no because that isnt Solas.

Tricking him has no weight bc he's an idiot in Veilguard like not even in the ending bc doesn't notice you switch the dagger around like right in front of him but none of his actions make sense. Ppl have mentioned the regret prison makes no sense for Elgarnan and Ghilan'nain bc they don't have regrets.

Attacking Solas has no weight because he literally needs the shit kicked out of him by a dragon for it to even begin to work. They literally need him to be at deaths door before its realistic that Rook could take him in a fight.

Redeem has no weight bc of the massive retcons to his motivations. They had to retcon the post credits scene bc even if Flemythal went hey i don't want you to do this Dai Solas wouldve went okay but that doesnt solve my other problems with the veil including the corruption of spirits and the fact its in literal shambles so i guess is still coming down.

I'm just disappointed. By the end of Trespasser they had a great villian and they just tossed it to the side and reverted him and people are arguing about a character who's sole defining trait in Veilguard is a problem they solved before Inquisition launched.

Basically we can sum it up with a screenshot.

[dnpblogcuzican]

“There are some people on youtube who clicked on this because they want the tutorial, and theyre like will these guys shut up”

Babes they clicked off at ‘Awoo danandphilgames bussies’ and you know that

[fogaminghub]

✨ Attention, Gears of War fans! The wait is almost over! 🎮 Gears of War: E-Day is returning to the roots of our beloved franchise, taking us back to the iconic Emergence Day! Developed in partnership with People Can Fly and The Coalition, expect stunning visuals with Unreal Engine 5 and an unforgettable gameplay experience. 

📅 Mark your calendars for Fall 2025 on Xbox Series X/S and Windows PC—and it’s launching on Xbox Game Pass from day one! Ready to fight for Sera again? 💪