Unity Cloud Code ☁️, Google AI Hire 🤖, Uthana AI Animation 🏃♂️
🎮 Game Development Innovations
Mastering Glass Shaders in Unity: Mirza Beig’s Refraction Technique Explained
Discover how to create stunning glass-like distortion effects in Unity using Mirza Beig’s innovative shader approach. By sampling the _CameraOpaqueTexture and offsetting screen-space UVs with surface normals and view direction, this technique simulates realistic refraction with the HLSL refract function. Whether aiming for complex or simplified effects, Mirza’s customizable shader offers interactive features perfect for game developers looking to elevate their visual effects.
Serverless Game Logic with Unity Cloud Code
Unity Cloud Code empowers developers to build secure, serverless game logic without managing infrastructure. This video tutorial guides you through creating a Cloud Code module to track player scores globally, demonstrating dependency injection and state-sharing techniques. By utilizing Unity's robust tools, developers can efficiently implement backend features like community rewards, all in C#—streamlining the process and enhancing the gaming experience.
🏛️ Policy and Industry Changes
EU Vice President Backs Stop Killing Games Petition: The Fight to Keep Games Accessible
The Stop Killing Games petition, rallying over 1.33 million signatures, recently secured an impactful endorsement from Nicolae "Nicu" Ştefănuță, Vice President of the European Parliament, who supports the movement to make game delisting illegal. While facing strong opposition from major publishers’ lobby groups, the initiative is on track to reach the European Parliament floor by 2025-2026. This campaign marks a significant step toward ensuring gamers retain perpetual access to purchased games, challenging industry norms across the EU.
Q2 2025 Gaming M&A and Funding Boom Reaches $6.2 Billion
The gaming industry saw a major surge in Q2 2025, with mergers and acquisitions hitting $6.2 billion, driven by public market gains and landmark deals like Scopely’s $3.5 billion acquisition of Niantic’s games division. Mobile gaming continues to dominate, accounting for 82 deals worth $9.5 billion in H1 — a 144% YoY increase. Meanwhile, AI-powered gaming startups surpassed $2 billion in funding, signaling strong investor interest in emerging gaming technologies and markets.
🤖 AI and Technological Advancements
Google Secures Top AI Talent from Windsurf in $2.4B Deal
Google is expanding its AI capabilities by integrating key team members from Windsurf, a renowned AI coding startup, in a $2.4 billion deal. This strategic move follows Windsurf's prior acquisition talks with OpenAI and illustrates the fierce competition among tech giants for AI talent and innovation. With this acquisition, Google aims to enhance its agentic coding initiatives and continue delivering AI advancements through its DeepMind unit.
Harnessing AI: Prototyping Games with Language Models
Explore how a game developer utilizes language models to create nine game prototypes in just a month. By using concise prompts, iterative testing, and adjustments, they guide AI to build core gameplay elements. Despite the challenges in achieving the perfect "game feel", this method highlights the potential and limitations of AI in game design.
🛠️ Enhancing Workflow
Mastering Complex Unity Projects: Code Monkey’s Real Workflow Explained
Curious how large Unity games are built behind the scenes? Join Code Monkey as he reveals his practical workflow for structuring complex projects, highlighting the essential role of refactoring and step-by-step feature development. Learn why real-world game dev is messier than tutorials show and discover tips on prototyping, unit testing, and balancing visuals with functionality. This is a must-watch for anyone looking to level up their Unity development skills.
How AI Cuts Game Animation Time by Up to 80% with Uthana
Uthana’s AI animation platform is transforming game development by slashing animation time from days to hours. Using text-to-motion and video-to-motion techniques, it empowers indie developers and AA studios alike to create AAA-quality animations with minimal effort. Featuring 20,000+ pre-made motions and revolutionary auto-retargeting, Uthana democratizes animation workflows and paves the way for real-time, AI-driven NPCs in future games.