Timothy Longo Jr.

85% of game studios have ditched degree requirements. So why is everyone still complaining they can’t find the right talent? The truth: Removing the degree was the easy part. The hard part is vetting for the high-level skills and "architectural minds" that actually move the needle. We’ve moved from "Do you have a diploma?" to "Can you actually solve this specific architectural hurdle in a live environment?" The talent is out there, but they aren't looking at your job boards. They’re being headhunted. #SkillGap #Hiring #GameDev #TalentAcquisition #Education #WorkplaceTrends #GameRecruiter

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Game art asset factories aren’t enough anymore. Pretty models mean nothing if the shaders won’t compile. True co-development requires technical art literacy. If an external team can’t debug a pipeline, they aren’t helping. They’re generating high-fidelity technical debt. At Artchop!, we build with integration in mind from day one. The real question is whether studios are looking for true integration partners or just capacity. #GDC #CoDev #TechnicalArt

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We've been implementing Neural Texture compression in #Assassinscreedmirage. The overall benefit results in better quality textures for less GPU memory usage (links in the first comment). If you followed the topic since our GDC2024 presentation ,this a very practical application of La Forge's mission to bridge the academic world with Ubisoft. #ubisoft #ubisoftlaforge #innovation 👇 "If you've been thinking, like I have, that we're still some way off seeing AI being used in games for more than just upscaling or frame generation, then it's time to think again" (...) "Enter stage left, neural texture compression to cut down on that memory demand. Given the state of the DRAM and SSD market right now, you can bet your last dollar that a whole heap of game developers will be looking closely at what Ubisoft has done to see if it can help out in their games, too"

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We recently released 3 different Aim based control rigs as part of QOOBIT's Control Rig Utility - Aim plugin targeted at cleaning up animations. These rigs provide different ways to adjust rotations through positional transforms of controls to more easily clean up animation curves rather than directly manipulating the controls. Take a look at how all three work and if you have other ideas on how to do tedious animation cleanups that you would like for us to turn into a tool, please let us know. Aim: https://lnkd.in/gSv9Kqiv Prop Aim: https://lnkd.in/gQYCjxRZ Tri Aim Pin: https://lnkd.in/ghkPZC3C PS: Since the release I've improved the UX even more than what are in these videos, so there should be even better handoffs when using the widget to better update the selection and UI context as you're using the tool, to reflect the live state of the control rigs.

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As a freelance rigger, I need to make sure my builds have a lot of flexibility. So I've recently reworked my lid modules to add variable joint counts. By utilizing a curve-based output I can changed the amount of joints used based on the needs of the project. Higher joint counts for fidelity and control, lower counts for simplicity and optimization. Or I can test and iterate to find a happy middle ground. So animators using my rigs on film or game projects can enjoy the same features, such as: - Automated lid follow with eye movement - Main controls to position the lids through translation and sculpt the curvature with rotation/scale  - Secondary controls for finer detail (If there are enough joints to support it) - Manual or automated blinking. Animate controls, or activate the automated meet point between your posed lids for a perfect seal I've been using iterations of this system over my last few projects, both commercials and games. The core elements of this system have been floating around in my head since 2018, so it's been great to finally put it to the test. 

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PROJECT UPDATE: UNIT 7 // SYSTEM ADVISORY ⚠️ ​Body: At RATED F GAMING LLC, our focus is on high-fidelity digital storytelling and immersive world-building. We are currently navigating a tactical narrative shift for our upcoming project, "UNIT 7." ​We’ve encountered a "signal disruption" in our data stream, pushing our primary extraction and full reveal to March 13th, 2026. This "Intel Corrupted" phase allows us to further refine the cinematic experience for our community. ​Pushing the boundaries of the Division universe requires more than just gameplay—it requires a commitment to narrative quality and strategic branding. ​Operational Date: 03.13.26 ​#DigitalMedia #ContentStrategy #RatedRFGGamingLLC #TheDivision #GameDev #CreativeDirection

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Meet the I.C.E. Agent (Integrated Cortex Entity)—the protagonist of our upcoming 1-4 player extraction horror game, DROWNED. Co-op is the heartbeat of this genre. Instead of chasing a massive open-world scope, we are hyper-focusing on a ruthless, highly polished core loop. You and your crew are human minds transferred into robotic bodies, dropping into a neglected underwater space farm. You have to harvest anomalies for a soulless AI, watch each other's backs, and survive the ecosystem long enough to pay off the debt on your own chassis. Lethal Company meets Subnautica — with the visual fidelity the genre deserves. Sumee Oh Pre-alpha. Vertical slice in progress. More coming soon. #DROWNED #gamedev #ICE #explodedView #Steam #ncubate PS- If you are booking GDC meetings and want to see the Vertical Slice, my DMs are open. Let's talk.

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Top 10 tips ((Cheat Sheet)) for USD Rendering useful for Tech Artists & Pipeline TDs Use it anywhere you need headless, automated, Hydra-based USD rendering without opening Houdini. 1. Basic Render Render a USD file using Karma (default delegate): husk scene.usd 2. Render a Frame Range husk scene.usd -f 1 100 And to point to output path: husk scene.usd -f 1 100 -o /renders/shot1/beauty.$F4.exr 3. Switch Render Delegate Render using Karma XPU: husk -R KarmaXPU scene.usd Render with Storm (fast preview): husk -R HdStorm scene.usd And you can add any Hydra delegate (Arnold, RenderMan, 3Delight if installed). 4. Override Render Settings Change a render var (AOV) directly: husk -set camera /path/to/cameraPrim Override resolution: husk scene.usd -xres 1920 -yres 1080 5. Render Specific Camera husk scene.usd -C /World/camera1 6. Add AOVs Render with ego-defined AOV (example: nrm, depth): husk scene.usd -A nrm -A depth -o /renders/aov.$AOV.$F4.exr 7. Generate a Preview Movie husk scene.usd -f 1 120 -o preview.$F4.jpg Use ffmpeg afterwards: ffmpeg -r 24 -i preview.%04d.jpg preview.mov 8. Progressive Rendering Good for quick review: husk scene.usd -progress 9. Use Husk in PDG Inside a ROP Fetch TOP or USD Render TOP: Set “Command” to: husk @usdfile@ -f @frame@ -o @output@ PDG distributes to farm automatically. 10. Debug Mode husk scene.usd --verbose or husk scene.usd --trace #Houdini3D #USD #Husk #KarmaXPU #PipelineTD #TechArt #Proceduralism #PDG #Hydra #VFXPipeline #RenderFarm #CGWorkflow #OpenToWork

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This isn't the matrix, it's Steam. Every single AppID since the beginning of time. In total, 25 years worth of PC games coming in at 253,105 unique entries to date. What's even more fascinating is being able to see which were the first ever games available, at the inception point of one of gaming's biggest platforms.

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For those of you who might be interested, I am giving 3/4 of a talk at GDC this year along with Brad Hendricks, the CEO of Blind Squirrel. Our talk is about "building a global development team" and my part of the exercise details some of the production practices we use to manage our different teams in different locales around the world in a consistent manner. In particular, I'll be deep diving into how we capture and utilize KPI's from our teams to try and avoid issues in advance of them occurring. The date and time of this extravaganza is: Thursday, March 12 | 11:50am - 12:50pm. Location: Room 3002, West Hall. I hope to see you there!

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Well, that's my 31st GDC in the books (if you count the remote version in 2021). This year's version was a reflection of the industry in many ways. For many years, you could see the industry and conference relentlessly growing in unison. This seemed to accelerate sharply with the aggressive entry of venture capital in the Facebook gaming era and ramped up through the pandemic. This year, the crowd was noticeably smaller than in just about any Moscone year I can remember. The tourists have fled the field (h/t Chris Heatherly). Outside of the students and early career folks, it was a committed core of game makers from around the world who were there to meet, learn, and do business. Oh yeah, and knock back a few drinks. AI was at the center of a lot of conversations, and rightly so. It is already changing the shape of the workforce in our industry in significant ways. I am personally looking forward to seeing some mind-blowing new forms of gameplay in the next few years that couldn't have existed without AI. The folks who figure that our first will make a huge impact on our industry. The conference was smoothly executed and the fistful of sessions I attended were rock solid. I attended some fun new events, including one featuring some pretty serious TV folks and some Magic: the Gathering matches. (Thanks Joshua English!) And I definitely met a lot of cool new folks. Although the conference may change and the way I interact with it may change as well, I think it's fairly safe to consider me a GDC dead ender. Even though game industry conferences have proliferated and some mobile-focused conferences may be more important for my business, GDC is still the place where the game industry professional world comes together and I love spending time in the midst of it. #GDC2026

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At UX is Fine, we grow our UX and UX our growth. This didn’t happen by accident. It’s how we’ve always evolved: by listening closely to our clients and delivering what they actually need. We started with UX, then expanded into UI, art, motion graphics, implementation and engineering, tech art, and full-stack development. Lately, we’ve added several services to help our clients navigate smaller budgets, shorter timelines, and the need to balance innovation with lower risk tolerance. Small playable prototypes help teams evaluate fun before moving into full production. They’re a natural extension of our approach to intuitive UX, immersive UI, and real, in-engine implementation. Audits, including competitive research and reviews of design docs, concepts, prototypes, and vertical slices, surface risk early, clarify direction, and avoid expensive wrong turns. Content pipelines and tools focus on systems that are easy to integrate and maintain, designed to unlock content creators and reduce long-term production cost. Oh, and don't worry… This is in addition to the great UX, UI, and Implementation work that you already know us for. Let's talk at DICE! Calendly and contact info are in the thread. #DICE2026 #prototyping #audit #contentpipeline #intuitive #immersive #inyourengine

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The aim for us, McCarthy Brothers, is to remove uncertainty starting at pre production and a focused forward momentum, design justifications and reasonings so teams designing from our architecture know intent, direction, complexity, all before adding a single line of code. Our aim is to help teams avoid production hell and shorten time and money spent in their productions. Years we have invested into solving these problems in our own work and its now mature enough that we can scale it into others. We have typically been known for our 3D and Tech art work in the games industry and now we have more to share in new roles in the industry.

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A fair few folks I spoke to at PGC said they're skipping GDC this year. Mostly not for broader political reasons, but a mix of border risk and cost. Many basically don't want to risk either being turned away or being questioned because they feel in either event it harms their ability to visit later down the line. A few also cited being unsure whether GDC was "the place to be" any more, preferring to focus on Gamescom and its Dev arm. I also noticed that many aren't aware of the revised ticket structure for GDC. This is the part that I'm most excited for, as although it's more expensive to the Expo-only crowd it means most attendees can gain access to talks and panels in a way that they haven't been able to for many years. We may finally see some cross-pollination between the different camps of GDC, which I think can only be good for the conference (and the attendees) overall.

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