Unity AI council 🤖, Itch.io payouts 💸, Steam store UX 🛍️, Midnighters Funding 💼
Business & Production Watch 💼
Unity Launches AI Council to Steer Next-Gen Game Creation
Unity has formed an AI Council to accelerate product innovation, announcing Jia Li (LiveX AI) and Julian Togelius (NYU/modl.ai) as inaugural members. The group will connect external AI expertise with Unity’s product leaders across mobile, PC, console, and XR. The move follows the company’s AI push with Unity Vector and a turbulent year of layoffs and backlash. Notably, the announcement doesn’t address growing developer skepticism toward generative AI highlighted in this year’s GDC survey.
New Indie Collective ‘Midnighters’ Offers Flexible Funding and Support
Midnighters, a new global collective led by veteran producers behind Art of Rally, Cult of the Lamb, Mini Metro, and more, is launching to help indies ship games sustainably. The group offers full-service or light-touch publishing with negotiable terms, including optional upfront funding. For teams not seeking investment, Midnighters provides support for a smaller-than-usual royalty share. They’re accepting pitches now and encourage submissions with decks, builds, and footage.
Storefronts & Distribution 🛒
Devs Report Months-Long Itch.io Payout Delays Amid Content Crackdown
Indie developers report months-long payout delays on itch.io, particularly when using the platform’s own payment processing. The backlog reportedly worsened after the site de-indexed adult content under payment provider pressure, triggering a surge in support tickets and mass payout requests. High-profile cases include Vintage Story disabling purchases on itch.io. The platform says it’s updating processes and has launched a direct support line to resolve payment issues.
Steam’s New Store UX: Smarter Search, Mixed PC User Reactions
Valve has revamped the Steam store with unified navigation, smarter search suggestions, and personalized categories to improve discovery. Early reactions are mixed, with some users citing more clicks, bigger visuals, and less information density on desktop. For developers, personalization could subtly reshape how games surface to players. Watch your store metrics as the community adapts to the new UX.
3D Tools & Tricks 🛠️
iCity Levels Up: Faster Cities in Blender, One-Click to Unreal
iCity’s new update boosts performance, streamlines the UI, and expands its asset library for faster procedural city building in Blender. A powerful road system now converts streets into highways with intersection presets and deep customization. You can also export full city scenes directly to Unreal Engine for rapid iteration. Pair it with iCars to add vehicles for archviz, game/film previs, and cinematic city shots.
Red for Shadows, Green for Rim: Art-Directable Lighting Trick
FunSizedThought showcases a channel-separated lighting setup that “paints” lighting directly onto a model. A black-and-white shadow mask is multiplied by the red channel for shadows, while the green channel drives rim light—giving precise, predictable results without tweaking normals. It’s especially effective on flat-shaded styles. Try it yourself with the downloadable Olivia fox rig and see the technique in action.
Tutorials & Behind the Scenes 🎥
Mastering Player Cameras in Unity: Cinemachine Types, Switching, and Occlusion
Learn how to build versatile player cameras in Unity with Cinemachine. This tutorial covers Third-Person Aim, FreeLook, Pan-Tilt, Overhead, and RTS rigs, plus seamless camera switching. You’ll set up Object Avoidance to prevent wall clipping and use Deoccluder and Clear Shot to keep characters visible. Includes guidance for upgrading to Cinemachine 3 and links to docs and Starter Assets.
How Hangar 13 Built Mafia: The Old Country in UE5
Hangar 13 showcases how Unreal Engine 5 powered the authentic world and lifelike characters of Mafia: The Old Country. Using Lumen, Niagara, and MetaHuman, the team elevated lighting, VFX, and character fidelity for Enzo Favara’s third-person journey. Watch the breakdown and read Game Director Alex Cox’s interview for deeper production insights and UE5 takeaways.