Unity Terrain Shaders ⛰️, AI QA Funding 🤖, Indie Label 🎮
Creation Tools Spotlight 🛠️
Build and Break: VFXGuide Combines Trowel and One Click Damage
VFXGuide showcases a Blender workflow that pairs Trowel’s customizable brick wall generation with One Click Damage’s realistic wear and tear on stone, brick, and concrete. The combo enables fast, production-ready environment assets with authentic chips, cracks, and weathering. The post also highlights earthquake damage and Titan Quest 2-inspired renders. For deeper techniques and feature breakdowns, check VFXGuide’s YouTube channel.
RizomUV 2025: GPU-Powered Packing and Smarter UV Alignment
RizomUV 2025 lands with a GPU packing system that can reportedly pack 500,000+ islands into a single tile in under a minute. A new strategy selector (Efficient, Padding Perfect, Pixel Aligned, Pixel Art) and a rebuilt Align UV to 3D deliver cleaner, more consistent results—especially for trimsheets. UDIM users get group-to-tile auto-packing, and artists can now save UI/model defaults across sessions. Plus, a Scene Outliner and bug fixes round out this workflow-focused update.
Industry Moves & Funding 💼
Poncle Presents: Vampire Survivors Studio Launches Developer-First Indie Label
Vampire Survivors creator Luca Galante says Poncle launched Poncle Presents to “give back” and avoid exploitative publishing practices. The label acts more like a fund than a traditional publisher, backing small, transparent teams and pledging post-launch support regardless of sales. Early releases include sub-$5 indies Kill the Brickman and Berserk or Die. No sequel is planned, but a Vampire Survivors TV show is in development.
LocusX Raises $2.1M to Bring AI Agents to Game Debugging
LocusX secured CAD $3M (~$2.1M) to launch an AI-powered debugging platform for game studios and complex software teams. Its agents ingest game data to automate QA, prioritize and suggest fixes, analyze player trends, and validate testing coverage. Real-time dashboards validate and share bug-resolution metrics across stakeholders. The round was led by Diagram and Triptyq.
Engine Updates: Unity & Unreal 🚀
Unity 6.3: Terrain Shaders Come to Shader Graph (HDRP + URP)
Unity 6.3 brings official Shader Graph support for terrain shaders in both HDRP and URP. The walkthrough showcases new Terrain targets and nodes, practical examples, and sample content to jumpstart your workflow. You’ll also see how to import everything and apply it quickly. If you’ve been waiting to build terrain visually, this update delivers a faster, unified path.
Unreal Fest 2025: What’s Coming in UE 5.6 and Beyond
Recorded at Unreal Fest Orlando 2025, this session walks through Epic’s Unreal Engine roadmap, spotlighting what’s landing in UE 5.6 and what’s brewing for future releases. Expect a broad sweep across engine areas—tools, performance, and workflows—plus clarity on where Epic is investing development time. Perfect for teams planning upgrades and pipeline changes. Explore more details via the public roadmap to track updates as they evolve.
Release Strategy & Mobile Trends 📈📱
Small Tweaks, Big Impact: Smarter Game Release Strategies
Geeklab’s CEO lays out a pragmatic, audience-first approach to launching games. Learn how rapid A/B testing, focused soft launches, and subtle adjustments to onboarding, messaging, and visuals can unlock outsized gains. The talk shows how to align dev, marketing, and PR around measurable improvements—turning small tweaks into big wins.
What’s New for Mobile in Unreal Engine 5.6
Recorded at Unreal Fest Orlando 2025, this session tours Unreal Engine 5.6’s latest upgrades for mobile. Learn updated workflows for building and debugging on Android and iOS, plus what’s new in UE’s mobile rendering stack. Ideal for teams optimizing iteration speed and visual fidelity on devices. Includes a link to Epic’s mobile game development resources for deeper dives.