UE5.7 AI 🤖, Valve Steam Frame 🎮, Unity Splines 🌍
Engine Updates & Worldbuilding 🛠️
Unity Spline Terrain Tool Promises Fast, Non‑Destructive Worldbuilding
GRUELSCUM unveiled a spline-driven terrain editor for Unity that lets you sculpt height along splines with a fully non-destructive workflow. It supports terrain holes, texture painting, group support, and hierarchy-based layering, and is built on Unity’s native Splines after issues with Dreamteck. The tool powers their N64-inspired island adventure and is slated to ship by the end of November. Follow GRUELSCUM on X/Twitter for updates and the release.
Build Bigger Worlds Faster: UE 5.7 Adds Nanite Foliage and AI Assistant
Unreal Engine 5.7 arrives with Nanite Foliage for dense, animated vegetation powered by Nanite Voxels, Assemblies, and Skinning. PCG and Substrate are now production-ready, alongside a no-code PCG Editor Mode and faster GPU compute. MegaLights moves to beta with improved fidelity and performance, while animation, virtual production, and MetaHuman integration get upgrades. A new in-editor AI Assistant now answers questions and even generates C++ code.
VFX & Optimization ✨
Make Explosions Hit Hard: Niagara Rasterization for Grass & Particles
Want explosions that bend grass and sell impact? Ghislain Girardot breaks down Niagara rasterization techniques in a focused 30-minute tutorial. Build reusable effects, wire them into particles and foliage, and refine with Blueprints and LUTs. It’s a fast path to more dynamic, reactive worlds, with extra resources on his socials and Blender tools.
Less Is Best: UEFN Static Level Optimization That Actually Ships
Veteran dev Micah shares practical UEFN tactics to cut draw calls, shrink packages, and lower server tick costs. Learn where ISMs beat HLODs (and when they don’t), how Data Layers unload actors server-side, and why marking actors Static enables auto-instancing. He covers material and texture simplifications, culling, landscape/HLOD pitfalls, and mobile constraints (no Nanite), backed by Unreal Insights results.
AI in Game Business 🤖
Nexon’s AI Playbook: Efficiency Everywhere, Differentiation by Human Creativity
Nexon CEO Junghun Lee says AI is now standard across game development, boosting efficiency and raising average quality—so true advantage must come from human creativity. Nexon’s Intelligence Labs (700 engineers) has shipped tools like Gamescale matchmaking and Nexon Voice Creator TTS, and is testing AI NPCs with ethical safeguards. Amid criticism, Embark clarifies Arc Raiders uses ML for locomotion and TTS with contracted actors, not generative content.
Human-in-the-Loop: How InnoGames Scales Mobile Content with AI
InnoGames chairman Hendrik Klindworth shares how the studio uses AI to scale live-ops content while keeping artists in charge of taste and quality. With agentic coding tools finally proving useful, the team aims to create more with the same headcount across hits like Forge of Empires. The strategy leans on rapid prototyping, high cancellation rates, honest ads, and knowledge sharing within MTG—all in service of efficiency in today’s saturated mobile market.
Platforms & Success Stories 🚀
Valve’s Steam Frame VR Runs Android Games Natively, Launching 2026
Valve’s Steam Frame wireless VR headset will run Android games natively alongside SteamOS titles, aiming for a seamless “download and play” experience. Powered by a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, it supports standard APKs, opening the door to mobile and Quest-style VR on Steam. The device upgrades to 2160x2160-per-eye LCDs at 72–144Hz, with 16GB RAM and up to 1TB SSD plus microSD. Dev kits are rolling out ahead of an early-2026 global launch.
Small Scope, Big Win: How a Solo Dev Shipped a Co‑op Hit
A 23-year-old solo dev turned a shower idea into 120,000 sales in four months by scoping hard, validating fast on TikTok/Twitter, and partnering with a publisher for localization and PR. Paddle Paddle Paddle thrives on “fun over fidelity,” Friday launch timing, and streamer traction—despite netcode hurdles in China. He shares concrete tactics: wishlist velocity, capsules/trailers, client-side prediction, and avoiding feature creep.