iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Idk there’s something special about seeing your creation in places you never thought of. I don’t think I can ever get tired of it

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

There are still winners in this market, definitely, but the conditions make it increasingly difficult to win. Even if all leadership/shareholders made perfect decisions, not every studio would thrive. Blaming everything on "greed" doesn't help to discuss and address the real matter at hand.

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

The cake *is* smaller for new games because players' attention is increasingly going towards famous brands, remakes and existing games that keep going. Meanwhile, the bar for creativity, technical excellence and scope is getting raised, so yes, games are more expensive to make.

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Once again, it feels like some devs are refusing to see the broader industry picture and need a scapegoat: the greedy shareholders. Nobody's willing to acknowledge that "traditional" gaming is no longer growing and more competitive than ever (more studios compete for less player money).

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

It wasn’t really hard tbh, the thing we realized was that some UI elements had to be moved from the bottom corners of the screen cause that’s where you typically have your hand

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

July 2023: writing in my solo-dev (at the time) pitch "yeah I guess this could work for mobile eventually" September 2026: it's happening!! Life's surreal sometimes #gamedev #dropduchy

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Thanks for sharing, really cool! Did you do anything special to get this many people on discord ? Not that many people on mine 😅

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

C'est pas parce que les revenus globaux sont élévés que ça se casse pas la gueule sur des tranches spécifiques, coulant des acteurs historiques au passage. La croissance est en Chine et sur le mobile, tandis que le PC/console traditionnel premium ne grandit plus (et est de plus en plus concurrencé)

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Vu l'ampleur de leur déficit annoncé (+ les dettes passées), il s'agit pas d'un cas à l'américaine où on vire parce que la marge est insuffisante. En restant dans leur niche, ils n'ont pas d'autres choix que de produire plus ou des équipes plus petites et ça c'est un virage difficile

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Je connais rien de Don't Nod, mais factuellement le marché dans lequel ils sont est effectivement bien plus difficile qu'il y a quelques années. Plus aucun acteur ne finance des prods à 10M+ pour des jeux narratifs/aventure, et pour cause, le public s'en détourne

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Casually browsing reddit for Drop Duchy's mentions, and I stumbled upon this. The original poster is clearly a bot, but then the confidence of the AI-enthusiast coder to claim that 2 months should be more than enough to make the full art of the game (it was 30+)

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

If the game is going to be « only » about combat, you need to show incredible boss fighting mechanics. Or, you give the game a different goal where other pillars make up for the lost ones: survival? Make it like Palworld? Like Elden Ring? Probably too late for them now though, that’s sad (5/5)

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Look at previous Horizon announcements: there are stakes, wonder, awe. Machines at the forefront, majestic and scary. Gameplay decisions feel deliberate. Mysterious story. HG: spamming super attacks on machines, no explo/stealth, no cinematic. Just play to upgrade your gear, and repeat. (4/5)

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

But all of these games have an awesome core fantasy and strongly appeal to players. HG’s announcement was a disaster because it didn’t showcase anything exciting. Remove the live service from it, you still have a sort of cartoon-coop stripped-down spin off nobody would care about (3/5)

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Players actively oppose « live service elements » when they fear it’s going to make the game more grindy, with predatory monetization and prevent them from enjoying the experience fully. Think of Suicide Squad, Skull & Bones, Gotham Knights, Assassin’s Creed, Shadow of War, etc. (2/5)

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

It’s interesting how « live service » is now a synonym for « repetitive stretched out design ». Execs are right: players don’t hate « live services », they love getting more of the games they play. But let’s be honest, with Horizon HG it’s a different problem (1/5)

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

(currently in a -very- optimistic mood, but yeah, sometimes I feel like talking about the hardships of "directors" is a massive taboo in the gaming industry*)

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

My 2026's mood so far (as an indie studio owner): - Phase 1: this shit is hard, the industry is fucked and we're all going to be out of job when the game fails - Phase 2: life's good, everybody's happy in the company and we're building something awesome!! - Phase 3: repeat

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Ok then what about the IPs that are owned by these companies and deemed too small to be profitable ??? License them. Recognize that you no longer know how to make a small game (not efficiently), so let others create the sequels. Olden Era is a good example that comes to mind

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Another great explanation by Mr Schreier. My (unpopular?) opinion is that AAA shouldn’t make « smaller games ». Let the smaller companies make them and (hopefully) be able to thrive. AAA should focus on big billion live services/franchises. We’ll make the new stuff youtu.be/6y3Gx_Aw2Oo?...

youtu.be

Why Big Game Companies Don't Make Small Games

YouTube video by Jason Schreier

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

The reason why subscription services thrive is because they've got exclusive content regularly, and people stay subbed. You want to watch Stranger Things? Netflix. You want to play Indiana Jones? Might as well get it on Steam or PS5, it's on sales regularly (it has 12k reviews on both platforms)

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

The service was always positionned as a cheaper way to grab more games, either older titles (when they're 50% off on Steam) or short games ("why pay 70$ when I can pay a month of game pass and finish it instead") But when the price rises or when players play less, they end their subscription

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Everybody is saying this was obviously going to fail, but Microsoft didn't even try the only strategy that worked for Netflix & co: making exclusives that you can ONLY get through Game Pass. (not that it would have been a desirable future for gamers or devs, just sayin')

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Ils ont un sens, leur succès indique quelque chose mais je pense pas qu'il faille leur faire dire plus que ce qu'ils disent. Il n'y a pas une "déconnexion totale" quand Crimson Desert, Resident Evil, Forza Horizon, etc sont les plus gros jeux de l'année en revenus. Publics variés, offre variée.

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Avant le succès de Meccha Chameleon, ce developpeur a sorti des jeux pendant 2 ans et gagné dans les 500€/mois. C'est une moins jolie histoire, alors personne n'en parle. Pardon mais je pense qu'un jeu indé a de la valeur y compris quand il ne génère pas des millions "comme les grands"

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

L'industrie grandira quand on arrêtera de prendre les 2-3 gagnants annuels du loto pour les brandir en porte-étendard du "regardez c'est ça qui marche". Je donne 1 an max avant que tout le monde se plaigne que "ouin ouin les indés ils font que du friendslop" (comme pour les roguelites en fait)

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Not saying that job cuts aren’t the consequence of greed, just that it feels like gamers/journalists don’t accept the reality that the « traditional » gaming market stagnates and therefore there isn’t room for everyone. If the consumers attention and poney were spread more evenly, maybe it’d help

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Gaming industry rn Day 1: celebrating an (indie) game getting ultra-mega-massive success Day 2: mourning the loss of jobs in (less successful) studios Day 3: repeat (It’s almost as if there’s a connection to be drawn there in a finite market with increasing competition)

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Je préfère 100x les scout qui disent 1)c’est cool mais aucune idée du potentiel marché, donc ça reste à voir ou 2)c’est pas pour nous voire même 3)c’est pas au niveau + des conseils utiles. C’est un peu trop facile de dire « c’est pas moi c’est les financiers », ils connaissent le système

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Les scouts font partie du problème imo (contrairement à ce que dis le post cité), on dirait qu’ils sont choisis pour être faussement enthousiastes afin de ne surtout pas froisser leur réputation auprès des dev. Ça fait plaisir les hyperboles mais ça crée aussi encore plus de déceptions

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Alors tant pis, on fait ce qu'on peut (nous on est bien placés, je me plains pas) et surtout on profite tant que ça dure!

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Aussi, le marché du jeu vidéo "traditionnel" stagne tandis qu'il y a de plus en plus d'intéressés, forcément la compétition ne fait qu'augmenter à tous les niveaux. Perso je serai favorable à une politique très forte au vu du potentiel commercial, mais c'est pas la priorité à l'heure de l'IA

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Je crois perso qu'on a la culture d'entreprendre, et ce que je vois autour de moi c'est des gens qui gèrent extrêmement bien le peu d'argent qu'ils ont, savent aller gratter où il faut. Mais à un moment faut aussi admettre que sans moyens, on va pas bien loin

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Alors oui on voit beaucoup plus de fondateurs sortis d'école qu'à l'époque où il y avait des fonds d'investissement de seeding qui misaient sur les équipes plus senior ex-ubi, ex-riot, ex-blizzard etc. Sans filet il est difficile d'entreprendre, et la réforme du chômage n'aidera pas

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

En même temps, la compétition est largement encouragée par les éditeurs/investisseurs indépendants qui attendent de plus en plus tard pour s'engager sur les projets. Sauf qu'un jeu prend du temps, les pro avec de l'expérience ont des enfants, des crédits et ne peuvent pas se le permettre

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

Moi la semaine dernière: les températures sont pas mal retombées, c'est cool pour une fois on va pas crever de chaud au Game Camp La météo à Lille la semaine prochaine:

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

By my own napkin maths, if Valve had a 15% fee on the first million (what Apple & Google did on mobile), they'd be giving back 150-200 millions $ to the indie scene (which is 2.5% of their profit) They won't do that because it's not their libertarian philosophy, but that'd be very cool

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

Simon Carless wrote an analysis about it newsletter.gamediscover.co/p/revealed-t... Steam does make 80% of its revenues from games that make over 10M$ (including their own). If they dropped from 30% to 25% for all the games, they'd lose "only" 2.4% of their revenues

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

Some day we'll talk about how Valve could step up and massively help the struggling indie scene by offering discounted initial rates, like the 0% on the first 1M$ from Epic. I had calculated that for Drop Duchy it meant about 6 months of extra studio runway (post publisher recoup), it's massive.

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

Two things can be true at once: - Steam is an incredible platform with tons of qualities for both gamers and developers - Steam has an effective monopoly and that poses a unique risk, so they should be under scrutiny

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

It's made by Ubisoft Milan and Montpellier, both studios have extremely talented devs who proved they can try a new genre and nail it on first attempt (Mario Rabbids, PoP Lost Crown). Feels like a missed opportunity to not let them make a fully new game, hope they get to do a sequel afterwards

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

I get no longer having the internal expertise/people/tools to make a beautiful 2D game but, like, why remaking the exact same levels and story and mechanics (with a bunch of bonuses)?? It feels like one of these Disney "live action" remakes

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Specific cards and trying to work your strategy around them in order to unlock more, I feel like passive progression like StS is just boring. I understand some people dislike such approach though, just wanted to add my thoughts! Thanks for playing :)

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

It’s funny you say that when the complaint we received the most about metaprogression was how it made the game harder, not easier, by diluting the reward pool. The faction quests do help of course, but only a little And yeah I preferred a system that encourages playing with

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

Le clou dans le cercueil, mais le groupe ne se portait pas très bien et c’est logique au vu de leurs récents échecs commerciaux. Les prêts de trésorerie ont souvent des clauses d’annulation pour motif de dégradation financière de l’entreprise ou défaut sur un autre crédit

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

can I pitch yet another roguelite slot machine game ???

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

remember quand Ubiart devait être un moteur public....

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

(maybe just do an audit first to figure out what went wrong with PoP and why Splinter Cell takes so long)

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JB Oger @jboger.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Honnestly, if I'm Ubisoft I'd start remaking my entire catalogue at this point. Scrap the new IPs, the ambitious sequels. Focus on execution speed, empowering a new generation of developers. People just want the same games they played 10 years ago, it's a fraction of the risk, so why not?

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