Blog: Tricks of the level design trade Let's look into some of the various level design techniques that can be used during the level creation process to communicate your design intent and direct the player through a level.

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  Layoffs at OnRush developer after racer fails to gain traction Anonymous sources say the studio has been "decapitated" following the latest redundancies, and claim that a number of senior and lead staff members have been asked to re-interview for positions. 

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  Book Excerpt: One game dev's quest for fight-free fashion agency In this chapter of 'Game Devs & Others: Tales from the Margins,' dev Vanessa Paugh writes about how she joined the industry because she couldn't find her 'perfect game' -- so she set out to make it.

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  Video Game Deep Cuts: Go, Go, No Man's Pokemon This week's longform game writing/video highlights include a report on the latest Pokemon Go Fest, the return of Sean Murray & No Man's Sky, and lots more besides.

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  Gamasutra plays Sleep Tight with lead dev Maxx Burman We talked to one of the co-creators of Sleep Tight, an upcoming twin-stick shooter that builds complexity out of some surprising variables.

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  Video: How to solve collision problems in game programming In this GDC 2016 session, Blizzard Entertainment's Erin Catto explores how to solve collision problems in game programming.

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  PUBG Corp apologizes, removes offensive Japanese mask from game PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds developer PUBG Corp. has apologized for an in-game helmet design Korean and Chinese players deemed the design to be offensive.

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1 Don't Miss: Crafting the sound of No Man's Sky No Man's Sky sound designer Paul Weir breaks down how the game makes use of an innovative vocal modeling synthesizer plugin and a custom-built generative music system to create the soundtrack.

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  Get a job: RocketWerkz is hiring a Designer RocketWerkz is looking for someone to design gameplay systems, mechanics, and levels for its game Living Dark, in collaboration with the wider team.

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  Bandai Namco Amusement Lab Inc. established for VR arcade development Bandai Namco announces the establishment of its new subsidiary, Bandai Namco Amusement Lab Inc.

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  The challenge of designing Overwatch maps when players can get 'literally everywhere' In an interview with VG 24/7, Overwatch lead designer Geoff Goodman looks back to early conversations he had with the team about designing future-proof levels.

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  Chat with the lead developer of Sleep Tight at 3PM EDT We're talking to the lead developer of Sleep Tight starting at 3PM EDT.

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  Learn how Osmo found success with mixed-reality educational games at XRDC At XRDC this October, designer Tony Aube speaks frankly about some of Osmo's early game prototypes and why they failed, as well as what decisions helped the mixed-reality edugame platform succeed.

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  Defiance 2050 developer Trion Worlds lays off 15 staff Trion Worlds, known for multiplayer online games like Rift and ArcheAge, has laid off 15 developers, seemingly across multiple disciplines.

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2 Valve bans over 90,000 Steam accounts in one week Valve has its sights firmly set on cheating Steam players, with the Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC) system banning over 90,000 accounts this week.

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  Keywords acquires Canadian developer Snowed In Studios International game service provider Keywords has acquired Ottawa-based developer Snowed In Studios for an undisclosed fee. 

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7 Understanding the human cost of creating No Man's Sky "I remember getting a death threat about the fact that there were butterflies in our original trailer, but there weren't any butterflies in the launch game."

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  Blog: Kickstarter and tabletop games in 2018 - A mid-year update Market intelligence expert Thomas Bidaux offers a mid-year update on the state of tabletop games on Kickstarter.

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Breaking down the complex anatomy of a stealth encounter Triple-A game designer Travis Hoffstetter draws from his experience in creating Tomb Raider, Battlefield Hardline and Visceral's recently-cancelled Star Wars game to formulate a philosophy for stealth design.

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  Microsoft ends fiscal year with $10 billion in games revenue, more Xbox Live users According to an investor report released today by Microsoft, the company's games business is continuing to grow, with a large increase in games-related revenue and more Xbox Live users year over year.

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Video: How to build a remote team for better happiness In this GDC 2016 session, Fox Cub's Ian Wang shares lessons learned from building a remote 30 person team that spans 12 countries.

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  Epic releases postmortem for Fortnite's playground mode Epic Games' released a postmortem yesterday detailing Fortnite's playground LTM (limited time) mode after it was shut down due to errors with its matchmaking system.

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  Weekly Jobs Roundup: Schell Games, Telltale, and more are hiring 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.

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  Niantic introduces three-strike policy for cheaters in Pokémon Go Niantic has clarified its disciplinary policy for cheating in Pokémon Go with the introduction of a new three-strike policy which focuses on giving cheaters a chance to reform their ways.

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3 Bethesda's growth makes it 'less likely' it'll let external devs tackle its IP Todd Howard says he won’t rule it out completely, but notes that Bethesda’s growth makes it unlikely it’ll look to external developers like it did for Fallout: New Vegas back in the day.

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