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Aron Durkin

@arondurkin.bsky.social
1.6K followers 1.6K following 245 posts

Co-Founder Super Spline Studios bsky.app/profile/supersplinestudios… UK - The People First 4 Day Week Game Animation Specialists! - 19 years a 3D Animator / Tech Animator | BAFTA Member supersplinestudios.com

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Chris Kerr @kerrblimey.bsky.social · 3h
Pleased I was able to surface this. If you also think labour reporting is important please consider supporting @verticalslice.news!
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Bloody Disgusting @bloody-disgusting.com · 16/10/2026
Nicolas Cage & Antonio Banderas. TRUE DETECTIVE SEASON 5.
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Dr Florence Smith Nicholls @florencesn.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
I think we need to reframe the use of genAI as consumption rather than creation. You are consuming a version of yourself-your labour, your desires-as a product. Like fast fashion and fast food, though, this overconsumption of the processed self is neither sustainable nor healthy
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Vertical Slice @verticalslice.news · 16/10/2026
Control Resonant makes 'strong start' after hitting 1 million sales in record time
verticalslice.news
Control Resonant makes 'strong start' after hitting 1 million sales in record time
Remedy boss Jean-Charles Gaudechon said the launch 'shows what's possible' for the franchise.
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Chris Bratt @chrisbratt.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
Rockstar has repeatedly alleged that a games journalist was a member of the union Discord, posing a significant threat to the company's security. This is something we've covered in our earlier reporting, but there's some interesting context that just got brought up in the tribunal regarding timing.
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Vertical Slice @verticalslice.news · 16/10/2026
Rockstar accused of rewarding 'moles' for spying on union members with additional time off
verticalslice.news
Rockstar accused of rewarding 'moles' for spying on union members with additional time off
The Grand Theft Auto maker has been accused of union busting after firing over 30 employees in October 2025.
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Eryk @peregrinecoast.press · 16/10/2026
If unions didn't work employers wouldn't pull this shit to stop them
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Chris Kerr @kerrblimey.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
The IWGB is arguing that the 'moles' or 'information providers' were provided time off in lieu by HR as a "sweetener" for surveilling the union discord. Emails are shown that indicate a HR rep at Rockstar allowed someone to claim back the hour they spent combing through the Discord for info.
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Chris Kerr @kerrblimey.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
The argument here from IWGB's legal team is clear: If senior Rockstar figures had known about the server for years (and had concerns about the content within thanks to company 'moles'), why wait until October 2025 to take action? Remember, this is a company that describes itself as hypervigilant.
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Luke Plunkett @lukeplunkett.com · 15/10/2026
im so mad about this! "We are working closely with our development partner to identify the causes of these problems" motherfuckers you're supposed to do that BEFORE you charge people money for it
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Marc Normandin @marcnormandin.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
"identify the causes of these problems" Sega come on lol
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Laika L. Gagarin @laikalgagarin.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
I wish every video game company a very nice UNIONIZE
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Aron Durkin @arondurkin.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
how about human garbage?
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United Videogame Workers-CWA @videogameworkers.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
As more campaigns go public (and win!), you may see an uptick in union-busting rhetoric and behavior from companies, managers, and even your misinformed fellow worker. Don't fall for it. Check out CWA's Union Busting Playbook to familiarize yourself with typical tactics. unionbustingplaybook.com
unionbustingplaybook.com
Union Busting Playbook
When employees try to organize a union for a better and more secure job, employers often fight back strong, in the form of union-busting. Find out about common union-busting strategies and learn about...
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Aura/Moom @moomanibe.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
jason schrier's gta6 piece printing among the most credulous quotes I've ever seen anyone put to game journalism paper
Designing a club for a typical video game might mean generating a few nonplayable characters in different-colored shirts, says top artist Aaron Garbut. In GTA VI, though, it means animating and scripting each individual patron, creating drinks, adding music, crafting lighting, matching the music to that lighting and composing all the other “layers and layers and layers of detail” that make a virtual club feel as authentic as possible.
Cover of November 2026 issue of Bloomberg Businessweek.
Featured in the November 2026 issue of Bloomberg Businessweek. Subscribe now. Illustration: Viktor Hachmang for Bloomberg Businessweek

“And now you understand why it took so long,” says Jennifer Kolbe, Rockstar’s head of publishing
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Lazzie BOO!! 😱 @lazzieb.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
great game, sleepy dogs
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Jacquelyn Gill @jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
Aaron Swartz, coding prodigy and hacktivist who helped develop RSS and was a co-founder of Reddit, died by suicide after facing $1 million in fines and 35 years in prison for felony charges, just for downloading pdfs of research papers with the intention of making them accessible to the public.
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Catsuka @catsuka.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
Final trailer for "Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2".
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Aron Durkin @arondurkin.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
It’s my northern charm isn’t it! Everyone loves it 🫠
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Aron Durkin @arondurkin.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
This article ending with my bullshit has made my day!
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Chris Person @papapishu.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
I can confirm that this client runs like shit.
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Chris Kerr @kerrblimey.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
Are you a video game professional working on something RAD and UPLIFTING? My first days writing for Vertical Slice have been filled with preposterously downbeat and altogether maddening stories. The news cycle is what it is, but I would love to get some good/fun/silly news on the feed. HMU!
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Chris Kerr @kerrblimey.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
Are you an Epic Games employee with thoughts on the company's pivot towards GenAI and how it's handling that messaging? I would be extremely interested in hearing them. Happy to chat confidentially. Email: chris.kerr@verticalslice.news Signal: kerrblimey.43
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Rock Paper Shotgun @rockpapershotgun.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
"We vibe coded a new Epic Games Launcher" because "programming is hard", announce company we're somehow supposed to see as a serious Steam competitor bit.ly/4hMHbi5
rockpapershotgun.com
"We vibe coded a new Epic Games Launcher" because "programming is hard", announce company we're somehow supposed to see as a serious Steam competitor
Epic Games have released a new "vibe coded" launcher for their store, because of course they have.
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ceegawn.bsky.social @ceegawn.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
Real developers giving their opinion on why this sucks. I had to stop what I was doing, and actually screen cap these last 2 statements because they are so important. I quote: "If you can't be arsed to make it, why should I be arsed to play it, let alone pay you for it."
"For an engine that has easily allowed us to do so much of our game DIY with a completely in-house render pipeline and tons of in-house editor tools, it's insanely frustrating to see Unity pushing things so hard in the exact opposite direction," he wrote.

Schaeffer notes he has been a devout Unity user since 2008, when he saved up money during his high school years to nab a Unity Pro educational license for $750 back when it was needed form post-screening and real-time shadows. To say he is disappointed in the company would be an understatement of some magnitude.

"The engine is unmatched for me and I hate seeing it die at the hands of such a foolish company," he continued. "[...] I'd like to go on record and say fuck GenAI. Fuck the companies that have made billions developing automated plagiarism machines and fuck anyone defending it. They don't make tools, they use the Earth's resources to shove human culture into a perpetually self-feeding meat grinder."
Second quote from Super Spline Studios co-founder Aron Durkin: ""If you can't be arsed to make it, why should I be arsed to play it, let alone pay you for it."
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Vertical Slice @verticalslice.news · 13/10/2026
"A perpetually self-feeding meat grinder:" The futile search for developers who adore the latest prompt-gobblers from Unity and Google
verticalslice.news
"A perpetually self-feeding meat grinder:" The futile search for developers who adore the latest prompt-gobblers from Unity and Google
We asked developers to weigh in on the latest generative AI platforms from Google and Unity and heard nothing but disbelief and despair. So, who is this for?
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Aron Durkin @arondurkin.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
static.klipy.com
Full House: Michelle Tanner's Thanks Dude
ALT: Full House: Michelle Tanner's Thanks Dude
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DiscussingFilm @discussingfilm.net · 11/10/2026
LAIKA's ‘WILDWOOD’ has debuted with 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Highest rated animated film of the decade. Read our review: bit.ly/WildwoodDF
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Checkpoint Gaming @checkpointau.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
REVIEW: Planet Zoo 2 "Planet Zoo 2 is one of the best management sims ever made. The level of detail in not just the animals, but also the technical details and real-world education provided, is like no other" Read Here: checkpointgaming.net/reviews/2026...
checkpointgaming.net
Planet Zoo 2 Review - The keys to the animal kingdom
Planet Zoo 2 brings avian and aquatic animals into a new light in their best title yet, with deep educational gameplay and immense creative freedom.
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Chris Bratt @chrisbratt.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
ROCKSTAR UPDATE: The employment tribunal is no longer going to finish this Friday, as initially planned. The closing submissions from both sides will instead take place next month, with a further two tribunal dates now having been scheduled in Glasgow for the 17th and 18th November.
One of the fired Rockstar workers holding a megaphone during a demonstration outside the employment tribunal in Glasgow.
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Chris Kerr @kerrblimey.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
I also want Vertical Slice to evolve beyond the confines of a traditional paper. That's why I'm launching The Repository, a growing (free) collection of pitch decks and design docs donated by generous contributors including @kitfoxgames.com, @outersloth.com, and @outerloopgames.bsky.social.
verticalslice.news
Welcome to The Repository: A burgeoning (totally free) treasure trove of dev documents
Sharing is caring.
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Jason Schreier @jasonschreier.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
NEW: Epic Games has delayed its upcoming (not yet announced) Star Wars + Marvel shooter as it pivots to complete AI game development. "No more hand-written code," a director told staff. All art "generated with full AI workflows." Full scoop: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
Epic Games Delays Disney Project, Asks Developers to Use More AI
The company told the team behind the upcoming shooter that it will now be an ‘AI first’ production
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Chris Kerr @kerrblimey.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
🎉 HUGE CAREER ANNOUNCEMENT 🎉 Today, I'm launching Vertical Slice, a new independent trade outlet committed to producing quality video game journalism that inspires, informs, and interrogates. That means daily news, incisive interviews, vital investigative work, and more. www.verticalslice.news
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Chris Kerr @kerrblimey.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
NEW: Unity is automatically opting Asset Store creators into supporting its generative AI platform, Unity Spark, via a process called 'itemisation.' One dev told me the process should be "opt-in instead of opt-out" and said they are firmly against genAI. www.verticalslice.news/unity-opting...
verticalslice.news
Unity opting Asset Store creators into new generative AI platform by default
"I'm firmly against AI and I won't use Unity Spark ever, so I am not okay with them using my assets for this."
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Gabriele Svelto @gabrielesvelto.mas.to.ap.brid.gy · 11/10/2026
I double-checked this on a couple of Xitter stat sites and it's true. Average views of the main AfD account dropped 90% and average engagement dropped by 60%. This is commercial social media for you: bots, damn bots and Russian bots.
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Rune Skovbo Johansen @runevision.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Did you know that Unity announced this feature more than 16 years ago? Yes, all the way back on April 1st, 2012: web.archive.org/web/20120501...
web.archive.org
Semantic Game Builder Interface to be Integrated Into Unity
Unity Technologies today announced a new feature under development aimed at aiding game developers bring their visions into reality. The new feature is dubbed “The Semantic Game Builder Interface” and...
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Two Point Museum 🦕 @twopointstudios.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Experience the epic highs and lows of museum curation 🎢 Two Point Museum: Rides & Relics is OUT NOW! Enjoy a 10% early adopters discount if you grab it within the first week of launch ✨
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Half Mermaid Productions @halfmermaid.co · 10/10/2026
Two new contract positions on Project D! Know how to make Unreal shine? Come make something beautiful & surprising! These are remote contract roles, ideally EU timezones => ➡️ Senior Environment Artist ➡️ Environment Artist www.workwithindies.com/work-with/ha... #gamejobs #gamedevjobs #gamedev
The Art of Painting by Vermeer
Sure it looks pretty good, but Vermeer didn't have Unreal engine and a modern GPU to work with. We can do better!
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Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
New working paper: the Norwegian wealth tax was a huge success. The "exodus" of wealthy people never happened (less than 100 individuals left). Tax revenue increased by 71.5%. No changes in business activity or investment. www.nber.org/papers/w35854
Taxing Entrepreneurial Wealth: Evidence from
Norway, 2021-2025
Marius A. K. Ring
WORKING PAPER 35854|
DOl 10.3386/w35854
ISSUE DATE October 2026
Whether imposing higher taxes on business owners adversely affects business activity by constraining investment and inducing capitalist flight is a central question in the ongoing debate on how to tax the ultra wealthy. To shed new light, I exploit a series of related Norwegian reforms during 2021-2024 that increased dividend tax rates, removed migration-related capital gains tax loopholes, and nearly doubled the effective marginal tax rate on business wealth. These reforms spurred international debate and, allegedly, an "exodus" of Norwegian billionaires (Financial Times,
2023). While I document clear effects on migration, these responses are concentrated among the top 0.1% of the wealth distribution and mostly confined to 2022 and 2023. My results indicate that at most 100 individuals left due to the reforms. I find no evidence of significant outmigration or reduced inflows of startup founders or inventors. I estimate that absent any outmigration, wealth tax revenues would have increased by 75% from 2021 to 2024. Reform-driven outmigration lowers the revenue gain to 71.5%. My findings further show that outmigrating owners' firms remain economically active and do not reduce investment. In a broader set of analyses, I examine whether business outcomes are affected, regardless of whether owners outmigrate, since firms may reduce investment both due to liquidity constraints or distortions to owners' savings decisions. I compare firms owned by Norwegian individuals subject to the wealth tax with firms owned by foreigners and other tax-exempt entities. By merging historical ownership data from Orbis with the Norwegian shareholder register, I perform these analyses on both Norwegian and foreign-domiciled firms.
Across settings, I find no evidence that Norwegian-owned firms pay out more dividends or invest less after the reforms,…
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JC Lau @drjclau.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Anytime someone says "I just asked ChatGPT [some mundane thing you could easily figure out]" I stop paying attention to anything else they have to say because if they're not willing to use their brain for more than 2 seconds then I'm not willing to use my time on them for more than 2 seconds 🤷🏼
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Aron Durkin @arondurkin.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Pragmata knows
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Rebekah Valentine @duckvalentine.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
reported on something that was really difficult for a lot of people for a lot of different reasons in a lot of different ways.
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Lisette Titre-Montgomery @lisettetitre.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
I got diagnosed with PTSD from the “Bad Meeting” and CPTSD from the highly manipulative environment at DF. its clearly gotten worse. How many canaries in the coal mine are you gonna ignore before you join a union?
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C ✊ UVW-CWA @ckjong.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
There are so many examples here of management, or people close to them, sowing fear, uncertainty and doubt. It's classic union-busting, but also tragic because you're teaching people to doubt themselves and their own capacity to take initiative, make collective decisions, and build a better world.
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🐁 Luka The Mouse - SQUEAKROSS 🧩 @lukathemouse.gay · 09/10/2026
got this email from unity just now, enabling one of my asset pack to be scrapped by their unity spark by default @unity.com , don't do this????? should be opt in not opt out
Some of your Asset Store packages have been Itemized!

Hi there,
 
We’re pleased to let you know we have created “Itemized Objects” out of your Asset Store packages, as outlined in this Discussions post. Excluded packages and items won't be available in Unity Spark, in the Unity Editor, through the Unity CLI, or in other future ways users can discover Itemized Objects.
 
Note: Changing your inclusion status may take a day or two to fully reflect in all of our systems.
 
Thank you
– Asset Store Team
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Austin Kelmore @austinkelmore.com · 09/10/2026
It's worth saying that the US law's distinction of managers being excluded from unions is in itself a union busting tactic that company executives and owners use as a wedge against the workers trying to unionize. Workers often don't like that law and want to include managers!
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Milktooth | making Bad Magpie @milktooth.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
IT’S HAPPENED! YOU can finally play Bad Magpie! so what are you waiting for, go and play the demo NOW 🗺️ explore a chaotic and colourful world 🌟 get a glimpse of the mysterious narrative 🔍 discover meteorites and hidden items 🐦 wreck havoc, be a menace play now on Steam & XBOX on PC!
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Firefly Studios (Official) @fireflystudios.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
⚔️ STRONGHOLD 4 ⚔️ A brand new Free Build demo AND the release date announcement? Good tidings all round, my lords and ladies. All this and more in our new castle customization and advanced economy design feature spotlight. Watch Now: youtube.com/watch?v=_e-X2X0ThsY&feature=youtu.be
youtube.com
Stronghold 4 - Castle Customization & Economy (Release Date + New Demo Out Now!)
Today we are taking an in-depth look at Stronghold 4 castle customization and advanced economy design! But that's not all, we are also dropping the official Stronghold 4 release date AND shadow-dropping a brand-new playable demo right now! Watch to the...
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