Godot Asset Store 🛒, Netflix Delists Games 📉, Unity ECS Update👾
🖌️ Mastering Game Art and Tools
Crafting Game-Ready 3D Assets: An Artist’s Journey with Trim Sheets
Discover how 3D artist Kate transformed her traditional art background into creating game-ready assets using the trim sheet workflow. She combines modular modeling, hand-painted textures, and industry tools like ZBrush and Blender to build detailed, realistic environments. Kate’s story offers valuable insights and practical advice for aspiring 3D artists eager to break into the games industry.
What the Best Game Programmers Do Differently: Master Tools & Mindsets
Discover what sets top game programmers apart in this insightful video by Code Monkey. Learn how mastering your development tools, breaking problems into manageable parts, and committing to lifelong learning can supercharge your coding skills. Embrace hard work and ditch the blame game to level up your game development journey with practical tips and mindset shifts.
📰 Industry Updates and Innovations
Pixar's RenderMan XPU: A Next-Gen Renderer Harnessing CPU+GPU Power
Pixar’s RenderMan XPU is a reimagined version of their famous renderer designed to run efficiently on both CPUs and GPUs. Delivering up to 15 times speed improvements, the renderer uses wavefront-based path tracing for high-quality images suitable for interactive feedback and final-frame production. Its modular architecture allows artists to leverage heterogeneous hardware without changing workflows, marking a significant leap in rendering technology for game and film production.
Highland Keep Showcases Real-Time Voxelized Lighting and Fully Interactive Trees
Kacper Szwajka, technical artist behind Highland Keep, reveals the game’s integration of HTrace voxelized global illumination in Unity, enabling fully dynamic indirect lighting with infinite bounces. Every tree is now destructible with instant lighting updates, creating a highly immersive environment. Running at 45 FPS on an RTX 2080, the team balances stunning visuals and performance through partial voxelization. Highland Keep blends survival strategy with third-person combat in medieval Scotland, promising a rich, interactive experience.
⚙️ Game Development and Technology
Godot Foundation Launches Official Asset Store Beta
The Godot Foundation has quietly launched the beta version of the official Godot Asset Store, a long-awaited addition to the engine’s ecosystem. Currently hosting only a handful of free assets, the store aims to fully replace the existing Asset Library and will be integrated directly into Godot. A phased rollout of commercial assets is planned, promising a more unified and robust resource hub for Godot developers.
Unity 6.2 Begins Bridging GameObjects with ECS Entities
Unity is taking its first concrete step toward connecting traditional GameObjects with ECS Entities in version 6.2 by introducing the GetEntityId() method on all UnityEngine objects. This marks the start of a tighter integration between classic and data-oriented workflows, making it easier for developers to leverage ECS performance benefits while maintaining familiar coding patterns. Additional resources like the DOTS Survivors project and courses are available to help developers dive into this evolving ecosystem.
📱 App Store Policies and Changes
Netflix Games to Remove 20+ Mobile Titles Including Monument Valley in 2025
Netflix Games is planning to delist over 20 mobile games, including fan favorites like Monument Valley, Hades (iOS), and Carmen Sandiego, by July 15, 2025. This move marks nearly 20% of its mobile game library and follows recent shifts in the company’s gaming strategy, including the cancellation of Netflix Stories and the departure of VP Mike Verdu. As Netflix recalibrates its approach, former execs are moving into new AI gaming ventures, signaling evolving priorities in interactive entertainment.
Apple Scrambles to Adjust EU App Store Policies Amid Pending Fines
Apple is in urgent talks with EU regulators to revise its App Store policies and avoid hefty new fines after a €500 million penalty under the Digital Markets Act. Facing escalating charges of up to 5% of daily global revenue, Apple is expected to concede on restrictive “steering” rules and the controversial "Core Technology Fee" on developers. With the June 26 deadline nearing, these changes could shape the future of app distribution and fees in Europe.