Category: News

Non-playable characters are an important part of any game. Allies, enemies, and civilians all contribute in making an environment feel realistic and alive.

But oftentimes, NPCs are cast to the side and used as background decoration. How can writers and designers utilize NPCs to increase immersion and deepen player empathy?

In this 2016 GDC talk, Polyhedron Productions’ CJ Kershner presents narrative case studies from around the industry, suggesting best practices for writers and designers looking to increase the narrative value of NPCs.

Kershner includes examples from his own work on Homefront, Far Cry 4, and Assassin’s Creed Syndicate to provide advice on how to maximize the potential of an NPC in evoking empathy from a player.

Designers interested in seeing how to increase player empathy in their own games may appreciate that they can now watch the talk completely free via the official GDC YouTube channel!

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its accompanying YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.

Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC or VRDC already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.

Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Americas.

Drew Karpyshyn announced his departure from Bioware today, leaving the studio for a second time to pursue personal projects and provide freelance games work for FoxNext Games’ new studio Fogbank Entertainment. 

Karpyshyn, who co-wrote Mass Effect 2 and originally took the lead on The Old Republic left the studio back in 2012, citing the desire to spend more time writing novels as the reason behind his departure. 

He returned to Bioware in 2015 to work on the MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Writing on his website where he announced his departure, Karpyshyn explains his desire to freelance is what led to the decision to leave.

“There is no dirty laundry I’m just waiting to air,” he said. 

National Mario Day has been observed on March 10 after the realization that the abbreviated date (MAR10) spells out the character’s name.

In celebration,Google and Nintendo collaborated in bringing Mario Kart to Google Maps on iOS and Android.

This isn’t the first time Google has incorporated video games into Maps, as users were able to play Ms. Pac Man during April Fools’ Day last year. 

Starting today, users will be able to enable Mario in becoming the navigation arrow as he drives en route to a destination in his kart. 

According to a blog posted to Google, this feature will only be around for a week and can be accessed by tapping an icon at the bottom-right corner of the app. Following the prompt on screen will jump start navigating the roads as Mario.

UX engineer at Google Maps Munish Dabas cautions users to drive safely, posting the reminder to “practice safe driving on the road—we don’t encourage throwing bananas or red shells at other drivers in real life!

Happy Wars dev Toylogic announced on Twitter yesterday that it will be ending its service for Xbox 360 and Windows 10 marketplaces beginning June 14 2018, but will still be active on the Xbox One. 

The decision to pull Happy Wars from the two platforms was made after six years of service on the Xbox 360. Maintaining an online server for any game can be expensive, and after a while devs have to consider if the cost is worth it. 

As reported by Polygon, the shutdown will occur on December 17, 2018. Players have until March 15 to transfer Happy Tickets (the game’s currency which can be purchased with real money) to the Xbox One, where the game is still active.

Happy War’s in-game events will be continue on Xbox 360 and PC until June 13 2018, with the Xbox One version continuing to host new in-game events after that date.

Players can find more detail about the shutdown on the game’s FAQ page.  

The Gamasutra Job Board is the most diverse, active and established board of its kind for the video game industry!

Here is just one of the many, many positions being advertised right now.

Location: Eindhoven, Netherlands

At GameHouse we love to tell stories, and we have a unique way of telling them – through casual games! It all started with Delicious, a cooking game, starring our beloved Emily. By popular request, we created more and more games about her. With every game, more people fell in love with the series. In the years that followed, GameHouse built a small universe of games, each with a unique personality.

After years of building great games, we want to take our GameHouse Original Stories (GHOS) a step further. We want to build an experience beyond any other. Besides deepening the stories and broadening our catalog, we’re reinventing our player’s full experience – from first encounter, through app store visits and paywalls, to finding other games to fall in love with.

What You’ll Be Up To

• Leading the development of our game, based on C# and Unity
• Work with game designers to take game design concepts into technical concepts and technical architecture
• Develop game-play as well as mobile platform related features such as payments, notifications, player profiles, events and more
• Foster a culture of sharing knowledge, best practices and standards

Why You’re Awesome

Must Haves…

• 5+ years of experience as a Unity Game Developer with an excellent knowledge of C#
• At least 2-3 shipped mobile games
• You love working in a team and strongly believe great ideas can come from anywhere
• Excellent English skills, both written and spoken

We’d love it if you had at least a few of these…

• Experience in development of UI, audio, animation systems and good CPU and GPU optimization skills
• Experience developing casual, Free-to-Play games for the mobile market
• Experience in writing mobile-friendly shaders
• A passion for learning new things, and taking on new challenges
• Flexible and an independent way of working
• You thrive in an open, flat organization
• You are familiar with agile software development methodologies

What Makes Us Awesome

You mean aside from making games loved by our players all over the world? (Seriously, we have some of the best fans in all of gaming) Our beautiful office in the center of Eindhoven with colleagues who would love to take you out for drinks?  If that alone doesn’t convince you, how about these great benefits…

• Competitive Salary
• Pension Plan
• Travel Reimbursement
• Employee Book Buying Program
• Sports Program (1/2 off)
• Free daily lunch

Not to forget ping pong tables (and the occasional tournament), board game nights, a ton of video game systems scattered around the office, and a fully stocked bar that we open every Friday afternoon to wind down after a busy week.

Interested? Apply now.

Whether you’re just starting out, looking for something new, or just seeing what’s out there, the Gamasutra Job Board is the place where game developers move ahead in their careers.

Gamasutra’s Job Board is the most diverse, most active, and most established board of its kind in the video game industry, serving companies of all sizes, from indie to triple-A.

Looking for a new job? Get started here. Are you a recruiter looking for talent? Post jobs here.