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Mike Bithell

@mikebithell.bsky.social
26K followers 903 following 4.5K posts

Director of video games. Currently Vampirium: 1997, previously Thomas Was Alone, Subsurface Circular etc etc

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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 5h
I like this thumbnail because it looks like Robert has suspicions about me
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 8h
If you see something you think might actually be ok posted as genAI, it’s important to check back 24hrs later. It’s one of these every time: - the output is a slightly fucked up version of something in the source data - the output is mostly cobbling together Creative Commons assets - it’s not genAI
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 21h
With only a little time left on the kickstarter, here’s Tim talking to Alanah and me about an eventful few months. One of my heroes. Alanah I mean. youtu.be/2-5BOZTWjIs
youtu.be
Tim Schafer on leaving Xbox & the future of Double Fine | Play, Watch, Listen
YouTube video by Play, Watch, Listen+
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Should be fun! Been adding some more verbs!
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Godot Engine @godotengine.org · 28/09/2026
📣 LAST CALL
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
This one hurts a little, because ‘Dewey decimal system as backbone of game’ has genuinely been on my nerdy idea backlog for years. Love this version, better than mine would have been :)
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
static.klipy.com
Mad Max: Fury Road - That's Bait
ALT: Mad Max: Fury Road - That's Bait
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I heard the term ‘meat proxy’ recently, meaning someone who places themself as a human middleman between an employer and genAI, and it is simultaneously a perfect term for the practice, and existentially depressing when you realise how many want to nominate themselves for the role.
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Wolverine is a solid 7-8/10.. I think the critics have it right. But what’s really interesting is seeing all the places where bad faith folks have mischaracterised it. Lots of clips out there making it look like a monstrosity. Having a decent time. Nice flu fodder.
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Dan Marshall @danthat.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
It's really nice to see a game with a singular vision and just nail the execution. Everything from the gameplay to the title, bang on job. Yep. www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOaw...
youtube.com
Slam Tank - Official Reveal Teaser Trailer
YouTube video by GameTrailers
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
2026 in videogame development
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dannyodwyer @dannyodwyer.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
/noclip is 100% Crowdfunded and our work is EXPENSIVE. Support us at our Early Access tier and watch episode one of Developing Hell Season II right now. www.patreon.com/noclip/posts...
patreon.com
[EARLY ACCESS] Why Supergiant Decided to Create Hades II - Developing Hell Season II | /noclip
[EARLY ACCESS] Why Supergiant Decided to Create Hades II - Developing Hell Season II by /noclip on Patreon. Join /noclip's community for exclusive content and updates.
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Post conference cold. Very much in the market for a very stupid AAA action game. I miss the era when there’d be 5 of those released every month and one would be on sale already.
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
My white whale
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Stuff like this is why I always find ‘trek doesn’t care about continuity anymore’ discourse funny. Trek was always operating by ‘you’ll mainly remember the good stuff and we can retcon the rest’ rules for all of the 90s Wait til you get to moustached cardassians, Emily
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Playing a lot more retro stuff right now, and folks, I’m here to tell you we (game developers collectively) forgot a lot of good ideas. By which I mean, Vampirium will contain some innovative stuff as long as you don’t remember the game boy advance.
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Fascinating second day at DICE.. it’s a closed door event so you know, no details to share.. but those hoping for the next few weeks of games discourse to calm down are advised that that is unlikely.
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Dave Gilbert @wadjeteyegames.com · 22/09/2026
Nighthawks is OUT! When the sun sets, outcasts rise. Gather new friends, face old prejudices, and prepare to seize the night in Nighthawks, the vampire RPG where the secret is out... but the hunt continues. Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/1221950/... GOG: www.gog.com/en/game/nigh...
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I saw Godot 5 kick a baby. It is of vital importance, from a national security perspective, that all major world governments move to subsidise its development.
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Someone needs to wrap Xbox in a towel, turn it on, and see if that stops it red ringing
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Ooooooooooohhh
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Really enjoying DICE Athens so far. Good crowd, fascinating conversations and some surprising levels of optimism.
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
There is a ‘isExplosive’ bool on every one of the hundreds of items in Vampirium… and one day I will make it do something… one day
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
I always know I’ve done a good job of ordering a cocktail if the barman assumes me and my wife’s drinks are for each other. Yes, she’ll have the old fashioned, and I’ll have the 2 foot high tiki drink with three straws, thank you very very much
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Gimme a boring / tech focused job, a quiet and cool day, a couple beers and some good tunes and I’ll have a lovely time
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
“GenAI is great for parts of the game you don’t care about” Wait. Is that an option?
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Not sure about some of Sony’s choices lately
Mat for a restaurant ‘Horizon: Rooftop of Senses
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Mike Rose @mikerose.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
NEW GAME ANNOUNCEMENT RTs HUGELY APPRECIATED 🏌🏌🏼‍♂️🏌🏌️‍♀️⛳🛺 This is *Really Illegal Golf* It's essentially Metal Gear Golf with Friends. Really. - Multiplayer stealth golf - Dodge security, stay alive, and sink that putt - Free multiplayer demo available right now store.steampowered.com/app/4115520/...
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Athens: awesome
A man wears sunglasses and a striped shirt that immediately marks him out as British. Next to him stands his wife, who is objectively better looking than him. We are left to presume the man must be funny. He is, to an extent. Behind them is Athens, looking all classical.
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
lol. I feel like I know exactly the 10 person crew I’d call immediately
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
It was the best decade. Or I was a teenager. Not sure. Maybe both
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Very cool.. a Zara in Athens with preserved archeology right inside. World building!
Parts of an ancient wall and archway, preserved.A view of the wall, next to some very affordable items of clothing
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
This video essay really captures a lot of the references and thinking I’ve been drawing on for Vampirium: 1997 (and most of my previous work if im honest) youtu.be/ezTjNC7pSkM? Ashamed to say I’d not seen the ‘blade runner is LA through a northern lens’ read before, but it is absolutely perfect.
youtu.be
When the British Future Was a Beautiful Mess
YouTube video by Retro Muel
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
My journey towards true self knowledge (so far) 20s - people suck 30s - I suck 40s - everyone sucks to varying degrees, but that suckage does not validate or justify the suckage of any other party
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Joe Wintergreen @joewintergreen.com · 20/09/2026
no game dev skill is more important than making up your fuckin mind
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Step 1: hire @unamccormack.bsky.social Step 2: code a bit Step 3: release
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I think I’ve posted this before, but I have a weird existential reaction whenever this is mentioned. I become genuinely angry and sad that a mini Star Trek theme park existed but at a time where I couldn’t go to it. Like. People got to sit in Quark’s ffs. And walk around the TNG bridge. Ffs.
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Bit of a hike up Lycabettus Hill, but work it to see the Acropolis from up here.
A view of the Acropolis from above, taken from a nearby hill.
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
It’s really frustrating when something funny happens in real life, with perfect structure, setup and payoff. Because nobody ever believes you’re not embellishing. That said I now have my perfect anecdote for this trip.
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
The little frame holds before cuts are perfect
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
So that AI actor flipping languages video, please tell me the PR team hooked up a cheap LLM for that demo… that’s not the state of the art right? Language change aside, the answers themselves were all absolutely littered with the cliche AI sentence structure.
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vrunt @vrunt.social · 19/09/2026
sure yeah, can't even make a stick figure without fucking up and no one at the company gives enough of a shit to even give it another pass but go ahead and take my money so i can use this lazy shit technology every day too
ad for some AI company called evenfall
copy says "meet derek. ai every day. always hitting a wall. then he found evenfall"
the only graphic is a stick figure holding... a tablet maybe? he's missing an arm
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
The deeply unsettling aspect of all this is the realisation that a large percentage of people can’t tell the difference. Ditto on aesthetics, music and emails.
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
PSA for Americans: please stop thinking locally about budgets and profits. It’s an international industry with not only wildly divergent costs of living, but entirely different levels of state investment and support. The answer to ‘why is x different in country y?’ is often ‘because country y’
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Off to Athens for DICE Europe. Honestly I’m pretty hyped to see which NFT evangelists have fully transitioned to LLMs versus quietly slinking off. I am academically fascinated by the specific species of game conference attendee that makes nothing except promises about other people’s tech.
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SeverLink - Wishlist NOW! @severlink.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
SeverLink crowdfunding campaign is LIVE We have a playable prototype - just grab it at: www.backerkit.com/c/projects/c... If you long for early 2000s stealth revival and you like what you see in our build - GO FUND US and make it happen! #indiegame #indiedev #gamedev #lowpoly #y2k
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Seriously. Even if you are a monster, a person driven to hurt other people, an absolute piece of shit… Even THEN all the data demonstrates that prolonged crunch lowers productivity. Those who cling to it are ignorant, and with the evidence available, actively and intentionally so.
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Alex Zalben @azalben.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
BREAKING: Remmick will no longer be opening for Ed Sheeran
Remmick in sinners
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
A) big lad representation ftw B) fascinated to see how they adapt the second story… it felt a little underbaked to me on the page, but there are some lovely hooks to build good episodes off of
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Mike Bithell @mikebithell.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Cleared a third of the playtest derived tickets today. In fairness, that was only really about 8 issues, just reported many many times because you all have excellent and consistent taste. We’ll share info on what we’re fixing up down the road, but feeling good about these tweaks so far.
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