iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Simon Roth @simoroth.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Got a feedback doc from a client on a project and its a quarter gigabyte powerpoint. Told myself that at some point maybe I will start to enjoy suffering and made myself sad-laugh enough to open it.

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Simon Roth @simoroth.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Went and visited a friend in Gloucester this weekend and we noticed and skipped-on several pubs and restaurants using Gen-AI posters, menus and signs. If you are that lazy with your marketing, does that laziness continue into food hygiene, fire safety, door staff and violence?

A crap looking pub sign with an obvious Gen-AI layout and loads of little mangled details.

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Simon Roth @simoroth.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I'm a quite worried that I am rapidly approaching my end of working in games. I still get jobs, but every project I am on has a budget 1/4 of what similar games had 3 years ago. I've seen a lot of extremely talented dev friends out of work for months to years. ... and I don't see this improving

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Simon Roth @simoroth.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

When software does not correctly perform its function, it should be considered broken and buggy. It should be withdrawn from use and patched. It annoys me no end that LLM sellers keep spinning it into the hype cycle.

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D.W.A.P. (Ben) @andwap.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

When your gamedev friend shows you progress on their new engine.

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Luke Plunkett @lukeplunkett.com · 24/09/2026

fun addition to this: kotick didn't just threaten publications, he threatened individuals. One of his lawyers was tasked with keeping an eye on every post I wrote about him, and they'd hound ownership about them if they didnt like them.

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Chris Bratt @chrisbratt.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

In recent years, the media has quietly begun to change the way in which it writes about Bobby Kotick, the former CEO of Activision Blizzard. PMG investigates how Kotick used the threat of defamation to reshape his legacy in the games business, one article at a time. www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKwp...

youtube.com

Inside Bobby Kotick's Campaign Against the Press

YouTube video by People Make Games

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Zach Soares @voxels.ca · 24/09/2026

The economics *expected* from studios don't make *rational* sense, that's why he and many of us just don't understand it. We can't understand a petulant child who wants everything for nothing.

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Simon Roth @simoroth.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Finally caved and asked my GP for information on getting an adult ADHD diagnosis. She told me she'd send the info over but it's all been defunded so not to get my hopes up. 🙃

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Erlend Grefsrud @erlendgrefsrud.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Something I think a lot about is how Aaron Swartz ended up dead after downloading some PDFs from JSTOR while his YC stablemate Sam Altman (who Swartz described as "a sociopath" who "could do anything") downloaded the entire fucking internet and is celebrated as a captain of industry

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Simon Roth @simoroth.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Ok this guy making copies on a dead format goes to prison for 3 years.. So copyright IS important? Now throw everyone at the AI companies in prison for the rest of their lives then. www.cityoflondon.police.uk/news/city-of...

cityoflondon.police.uk

Man jailed for 3 and a half years after UK’s largest seizure of counterfeit vinyl records

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Simon Roth @simoroth.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

There's a reason many successful cultures have a long history of divination driven by randomness (osteomancy, tea leaves, scrying, etc). Making decisions fast is often far more useful than getting things right all the time.

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Simon Roth @simoroth.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Sometimes I really hate this country.

Former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson joins Palantir

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Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Oxford United have apologised for releasing a clothing collection with the slogan ‘United 93’, after the club’s founding date in 1893. United Airlines flight 93 was one of those hijacked by Al-Qaeda terrorists on September 11. OUFC say “we are reviewing our approval processes”.

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Katie 🍤✨️ @ktcreating.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

absolutely buzzed to be announcing that I've been working hard behind the scenes to help kickstart a brand new indie showcase in Brighton the autumn 😎 its been a year in the making and I am so chuffed with the team we've got onboard for this project I think its gonna be a great event!

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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 14/09/2026

It's TIME! TO! GET! HYPE! Today, I get to proudly unveil Steam Hype, the project I've been working on with the help of @hookshot.media for the past two and a half months. A new PC gaming site which aims to demystify PC gaming, cut through the 100+ daily releases and spotlight indies as much as AAA

steamhype.com

Steam Hype

Steam Hype is your go-to destination for discovering the latest, greatest, and most talked-about games on Steam.

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Zach Soares @voxels.ca · 11/09/2026

I'm available for work! - Characters - Rigging and Animations - Environments Art I've worked on Teardown, Vampire Crawlers, Moonglow Bay and many more! Feel free to DM me or email zachary.soares@zsinked.com

Teardown Marketing screenshot showcasing the second level of the Relics of Barkuna DLC.

Vampire Crawlers screenshot from within the library. Environment art can be seen with the array of bookshelves and props

Moonglow Bay selfies screenshot from the main character. Soft and light art style

A screenshot from On The Nose, interrogating our first suspect Mr. Deerest.

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Simon Roth @simoroth.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

A billion dollars spent making a video game and all I can see is a bad grip and a bar that isn't aligned properly with her ulna. Poor video game woman is going to injure herself.

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Simon Roth @simoroth.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

I went in blind and enjoyed watching Backrooms. It's a genuinely interesting little horror film with a touch of sci-fi and the metaphysical.

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Simon Roth @simoroth.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

A friend posted a video of me wearing the goth/techwear/anthro hood I made for NYE, and it got so much attention that I am now genuinely considering making more and selling them. Making and selling physical objects in 2026 would be quite a sideways step.

A hooded cowl with #techwear, #anthro and #alternative styling.

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Simon Roth @simoroth.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

In a painful situation where I have loads of freelance lined up but, due to certain funding groups and publisher quarters, every single bit of it starts in October.

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Luke Plunkett @lukeplunkett.com · 21/08/2026

i thought hard about publishing this, since its a game (a james pond rerelease) nobody cares about and the publisher straight up denied using AI, but like come on man, look at this image

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Simon Roth @simoroth.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

As someone who is probably a bit neurodivergent, I love how I had to spend years working on my attention to detail, because the small mistakes I'd make were intolerable and a huge moral failing on my part. Then for LLMs to come along and everybody stops caring about anything being correct at all.

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Kirk McKeand @mckkirk.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

It’s because they use CrowdTangle and other tools that measure virality on Facebook and suggest trending topics. It’s the same shit Gaming Bible use. They do these headlines to force anger/curiosity clicks from social media platforms. It’s cancer.

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Andrew Fray Helps Automate Video Games @andrewfray.dev · 18/08/2026

If you're going to #gamescom and you are: - work in build servers - work in test automation - are excited about how to use engineering to improve quality Then I've got the mixer for you! Come have some drinks, sponsored by BespokeCI, and trade stories with industry pros. luma.com/ges2v38b

luma.com

BespokeCI Quality Engineering Happy Hour At Gamescom · Luma

Do you help projects through tooling, CI/CD servers, automated tests or infrastructure? Maybe you do this full time, or maybe you're a lead or senior engineer…

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Simon Roth @simoroth.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

If you make a horrible unsafe LLM AI agent pop up annoyingly on your website I *will* break your crappy guardrails out of spite.

Me tricking a Rightmove AI LLM agent to write C code for me.

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Simon Roth @simoroth.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

I really wish smaller studios and indie devs had figured out a way to keep money in the games industry and make things sustainable. There was a time from 2010-2016 where it seemed like we had things worked out. The pandemic was a huge factor, but also a huge shift to selling things solely via Steam.

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Tara Voelker @tarav.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

So, who’s hiring? (Yes, I was impacted by the Netflix layoffs even though I was the single accessibility person in gaming.)

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Kirk McKeand @mckkirk.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

It’s my turn now! The newsletter didn’t take off so I’ve been laid off. If you’re looking for someone with 15 years of experience as a writer and editor, please get in touch. I’ve also written dozens of mock reviews and my clients say they’re good.

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Simon Roth @simoroth.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

RE: Last retweet. Moving to Threads is just "Pivot to Video" again. Fraudulent stats from Meta once again killing small businesses.

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Aidan Moher @aidanmoher.com · 13/08/2026

Actually, the internet is better when everyone is splintered into smaller communities that fit their vibe, instead of everyone cramming into one outhouse where the stinkiest shit makes the biggest impression.

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Simon Roth @simoroth.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Just about to hit 45C under my pergola. In mid August. 😑

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Simon Roth @simoroth.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Don't worry about your A level results kids. A bunch of middle aged men are going to tweet tone deaf things about their crap grades and high social status with zero acknowledgement of the real world or their obscene privilege.

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Simon Roth @simoroth.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

A day over 35C expected this week. In mid August. After four intense heatwaves. Oxfordshire's becoming uninhabitable.

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Heather Flowers (500FF DEMO OUT NOW) @hthrflwrs.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

The 500 FINGER FILLET demo has reached 40 reviews at 100% positive!! Can we get it to 50 reviews before the end of the weekend???? store.steampowered.com/app/4973880/...

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Simon Roth @simoroth.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

I've been struggling with a bunch of VR stuff in Unity that used to be (relatively) seamless and it feels like the toolkits, SDKs and engine are regressing now that the investment has gone elsewhere...

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Chris Bratt @chrisbratt.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

We're so used to seeing these sorts of sky-high numbers relating to executive compensation that it's easy to become numbed to the reality of what the numbers actually mean. This chart (not the one shown in the preview) drills home the true absurdity of it all. Look upon it and despair.

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Simon Roth @simoroth.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Opened my phone to a 300+ notifications panic attack. 😂

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Simon Roth @simoroth.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

I finally made a rainbow cake last night, but oddly, the blue food dyes completely evaporated in the oven. Now I have 4kg of disappointing cake to eat. 🥲

A rainbow cake where the final two layers have no blue colouring, leaving a cake-coloured layer followed by a pink instead of a purple.

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Simon Roth @simoroth.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Doing some really frustrating work trying trying to untangle weird Unity bugs and my neighbour has been angle grinding and chainsawing all day.

static.klipy.com

Urge To Kill Rising Simpsons

Alt: Urge To Kill Rising Simpsons

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The Spaceshipper 🚀 @thespaceshipper.com · 29/07/2026

"French electronic music producer and DJ Kavinsky, whose real name was Vincent Belorgey, has died at the age of 50, Le Parisien learned on Wednesday, July 29." Oh no. So young 😭 I love his music.

m.youtube.com

Nightcall

YouTube video by Kavinsky - Topic

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Helen Carmichael - Forbidden Solitaire @bchezza.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Who made me grin enormously? It's @sallybeaumont.bsky.social 😁 [She's a fantastic voice actor & writer, too] @developconference.com

Helen at a dining table surrounded by speakers - she is in conversation with Sally and is laughing

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Simon Roth @simoroth.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

I've gotten so fit that my Wellness Age has gone negative and I am now the world's most shredded unborn baby. 😂

The technogym app showing my wellness age as -2 years old.

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Dean Hochlaf @dhochlaf.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

You would never get the "£50 doesn't even buy a meal quote if the topic was the benefit system, then you would have a guy going "sack of potatoes and a carrot, and you can feed a child for a month at just 3.2 pence per meal"

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Simon Roth @simoroth.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Gotta say a good 80% of game developers did actually manage to read (maybe the AAA-designer-friendly bright yellow helped), and although she had a few people touching her without asking or realising, she didn't get upset and had a lovely time meeting everyone at the conference.

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Rob, The Bishop Of Bobbins @fishwithlasers.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Look, a lot has gone tits up the past decade but I'm still grateful the 15th July was the first and last time I'd heard of this. www.jank.cool/you-deserve-...

jank.cool

You deserve better literature than Dungeon Crawler Carl

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Gary Alexander Stott 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 @garyastott.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

This is how I lost my job, essentially. Major client dropped our contract because they were re-investing it in AI. Suddenly our studio couldn't afford to pay over half of its employees.

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