EdenSpark Open-Source 🛠️, Unity 6 XR 🥽, GDC rebrand 🎪, Dauntless monetization 💸
🛠️ Engines & Platforms
Gaijin Unveils EdenSpark: Open-Source Engine With Easy Console Access
Gaijin Entertainment announced EdenSpark, an open-source engine-platform built on its Dagor tech, promising hassle-free console access and full code ownership for indie developers. Unlike closed ecosystems, creators can keep projects within EdenSpark or self-publish elsewhere. The platform features AI-assisted tools for art, audio, and logic, and even supports development on retail consoles with a keyboard. Closed beta starts November 2025, with a 1.0 launch in summer 2026 and source release plus Xbox/PlayStation support in fall 2026.
Port to Android XR Fast: Unity 6 Now GA with Day-One Titles
Unity 6 now officially supports Android XR, enabling fast ports and new XR experiences across an open, multi-headset ecosystem. Early partners verified the tools in production, and Owlchemy Labs says it brought top games over in roughly a week. Launch-day apps include Google Maps XR’s Immersive View, NFL Pro Era, and Inside [JOB]. The support is open to all developers starting with Unity 6.
📈 Industry & Business Pulse
What Killed Dauntless? Monetization, Retention, and Cost-to-Serve
Dauntless broke out with cross-play and millions of players, but Phoenix Labs’ hit buckled under monetization pivots, friend-group retention pitfalls, and a crippling cost-to-serve. Two acquisitions shifted the studio into prototyping, then into a web3-aligned roadmap, culminating in layoffs and shutdowns. This candid postmortem details how cosmetics fractured co-op cohorts, why dropping loot boxes was costly, and how infra choices (like Bigtable) can sink F2P margins. A must-read cautionary tale for live-service teams.
GDC Rebrands as “Festival of Gaming” with Cheaper Passes, Bigger Footprint
GDC is transforming into the “GDC Festival of Gaming” for March 9–13 in San Francisco—still industry-only, but bigger, broader, and city-wide. A cheaper Festival Pass replaces All Access (minus the Vault), while the new “Game Changers” tier adds exec-only spaces, curated GamePlan networking, and the Luminaries speaker series. The Expo becomes the Festival Hall with five themed neighborhoods, and programming experiments with keynotes, debates, and nightly events, with IGF and GDC Awards split across Wed/Thu.
🎯 Craft & Innovation
From Prototype to Hit: Spellgarden’s Playbook for Cozy Success
Spellgarden Games’ Kathrin Radtke shares how clear, cozy concepts, rapid prototyping, and TikTok devlogs fueled Sticky Business and Ritual of Raven. Learn tactics for turning social views into wishlists, managing scope under publisher milestones, and designing for intrinsic motivation. The episode dives into automation pacing, tutorials, and crafting a distinct art style with a tiny team. Plus: DLC vs Early Access, post‑launch expectations, and event-driven marketing.
Goodbye Clipping: Cubic Barrier Nails 168M Perfect Collisions
A SIGGRAPH Asia standout shows a “cubic barrier” collision method that prevents clipping across up to 168 million contacts—cloth, noodles, ribbons, all stable. Powered by a 3x3 Jacobi block preconditioned CG solver, it runs on a single GPU in minutes-per-frame and outperforms OGC for thin shells. Fashion giant Zozo backs it to automate digital tailoring, hinting at robust, production-ready cloth for games and VFX. No AI—just brilliant simulation engineering.