iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I had the pleasure to join The Party Is Full to discuss the current state of the games industry, all things games, and the business of making them. I might’ve even kept the nonsense to a minimum. Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/4XDa... #gamedev

open.spotify.com

The Games Market Is Growing. Studios Are Not. | Julien Wera

The Party Is Full: Inside MMOs, Game Development, & AI · Episode

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

The discourse on AI has been so polluted by the hype that good analysis is hard to find in the noise, so I'm grateful for this episode of the Game Developer Podcast where @bryantfrancis.me hosts @luked.bsky.social and David Graham on the topic www.gamedeveloper.com/programming/... #AI #GameDev

gamedeveloper.com

We're finally talking about AI, ft. David 'Rez' Graham and Luke Dicken

We're chatting about AI and AI techniques, but it’s also a conversation about the nature of work and the inherent value of AI in game development.

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Iris/アイリス 🏳️‍⚧️ @irisdescentbird.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

funniest rom hack reasoning of all time

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

There's a few more months till the release of Frostrail, and I think I'm gonna start collecting steam-engine pun coverage. Don't know what I'm talking about ? Check out this piece from @gamerant.bsky.social ! gamerant.com/new-co-op-su...

gamerant.com

New Survival Game on Steam is Basically Metro Exodus With a Fun Co-Op Twist

A new 2026 Steam game basically puts a unique co-op survival twist on Metro Exodus' post-apocalyptic world.

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Plenty of interesting data on the European games market here courtesy of @videogameseurope.bsky.social & @gamedevreports.bsky.social. The data is fragmentary but seeing Battlefront II here in the Top 10 best sellers some 8 years after its release is insane. substack.com/home/post/p-... #GameDev

substack.com

Video Games Europe & EGDF: The European Gaming Market in 2025 - powered by Mellow

Revenue declined; the console share of EU5 revenue collapsed in a single year; PEGI’s biggest reform since 2003 hits already-released games.

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Today in #Wartales I adopted a Plagued Rat that was lost, alone and afraid in an ancient temple. I named it Ratatouille and it has a knack for finding cheese. Oh and if I find friends for them, they can breed apparently... My goal in this game has changed very unexpectedly. #Gaming

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

It took me most of the year, but I finally finished The CRPG Book by @felipepepe.bsky.social and @bitmapbooks.com. A brilliant read leading me to many historical discoveries and regional gems that never went global. Highly recommended! #Gaming

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Very much looking forward to this one, with the exception that my son is now old enough to have fully taken over the home’s Switch… I’ll need to come up with fresh strategems to get some time with it…

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Farever's "Call to Glory" update drops Sept 30 — Heroic Dungeons, new gear, and many new features. I'm grateful to our community for joining us on this journey to push the game to even greater heights of silly fun. Watch: youtu.be/2u60fMLlVdE #gamedev

youtube.com

Farever | Call to Glory - Release Date Trailer

Call to Glory launches on September 30! This major update introduces a new difficulty for existing dungeons and bosses, epic gear and Infusions, Medals of Glory, faction reputation, improved…

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

My friends and family are sick of me endlessly gushing about Yakuza and pushing Yakuza 0 as the perfect entry point. Thanks to @errorjustin.bsky.social at @ign.com for another reason to repeat it: Yakuza 0 absolutely rips. nordic.ign.com/feature/1122... #Yakuza #Gaming

nordic.ign.com

I Am Pleased to Report That Yakuza 0 Still Absolutely Rips

Kiryu and Nishiki will be oath brothers for life, right? ....Right?!?

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

I… what… but… how… what ? www.telegraph.co.uk/us/politics/...

telegraph.co.uk

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

So @cubicle7games.bsky.social launched the pre-orders for the 5th edition of the #Warhammer Fantasy #TTRPG and the collector rulebook is just... a very, very pretty RPG book. What do you mean I have more RPG books than time to play them ? Since when is that a consideration ?

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Bundle of Holding has a digital bundle for #Shadowrun Anarchy — a rules-light way to enjoy Shadowrun with more narration and fun. I've run an Anarchy campaign for a couple of years and it's fantastic. Get it: bundleofholding.com/presents/SRA...

bundleofholding.com

Shadowrun Anarchy 1E Bundle

Hoy, chummer! This all-new Shadowrun Anarchy 1E Bundle presents the 2016 First Edition of Shadowrun: Anarchy, the rules-light, narrative-focused alternate version of Shadowrun, the classic…

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

I can’t honestly say I “survived” #GamesCom, but I’m back—and there’s barely time to recover. Fall and Winter are packed for @shirogames.com with new releases, big updates, and fresh content for our live games. What I’ll miss most? Sleep. #gamedev

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Well this sucks. Means that EA didn’t set aside budget for post-launch support or expansions to the game, which makes sense given that it’s enteres full cost-slashing mode, but still sad for a game with great long term potential.

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Damiano Gerli @damiano.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

What a beautiful thing to capture: a PS2 slowly dying.

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

I know I mostly talk about games and related geeky stuff in here, but let me take a quick break from this to share an article about flying squids. Squids. That can jump out of the water. And fly. Nature is fucking lit. Right, now back to gaming stuff I guess.

theguardian.com

‘Like an alien invasion’: the neon flying squid that can fly in formation above the ocean

Smart, sociable squid use funnel-like organ to force water to jet propel themselves along in and out of sea

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

My latest library run plunged me back into a #Hellboy rabbit hole, this time following his adventures set in Mexico and in my home of Sweden. Such a timeless escape from reality. Thanks @mikemignola.bsky.social. #BookSky

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Fascinating (and scary) read from @laurenleek.eu on why everything is starting to look the same, from city streets to movies, music (and yes, also games), and what we can do about it (Hint: Don't let algorithms run your life, at least not all the time). laurenleek.substack.com/p/temperatur...

laurenleek.substack.com

Temperature Zero for Culture: Why Everything Is Starting to Look the Same

What 640 London shopping streets, 4,000 Billboard hits, a million films and synthetic AI personas tell us about why everything is flattening into sameness and how to regulate the algorithms behind it.

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Great deep-dive on government tax credits in the games industry and their impact. Ubisoft’s approach is well known, but I didn’t expect Rockstar to have claimed £500M in UK tax credits over the years. Worth a read: www.thesidequest.biz/p/video-game... #GameDev

thesidequest.biz

Video Games: The state of tax credits

We read 79 listed companies against 34 government schemes, and asked what a games credit is worth to the company that draws it.

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Chris Kerr @kerrblimey.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Electronic service providers in the US are required to report instances of apparent child abuse when they become aware of them. Here are the number of reports filed by some game corps: Roblox - 65,381 Sony Interactive Entertainment - 9,074 Microsoft (Xbox products) - 1,652 Nintendo of America - 1

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Finally finished the second season of Daredevil Born Again and I still find it to be the best thing to come out of Marvel Studios since Endgame. The acting is spot on across the board, the message is powerful, the picture beautiful, and damn the audio work is crazy. Anyway, I liked it.

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daryl "rupert pumpkin" b 🏳️‍⚧️ @hypercubexl.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

so, plants under solar panels do well, water under solar panels does well, foxes under solar panels do well, just need to put solar panels over more things

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

New RPG day is always a good day. The second edition of #Shadowrun Anarchy by publisher Black Book is just gorgeous and bursting with attitude.

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Well that one is a freebee: Alpha Protocol. Comfortably sits at 63 Metacritic right now and I absolutely loved it. Still secretely hope there’ll be a sequel someday.

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Robin-Yann Storm @rystorm.com · 11/08/2026

Holy shit: Deutsche Bahn has made the insane decision to stop all train traffic between Düsseldorf and Cologne... during the week of Gamescom.

Impact on train services
In order to further renovate its existing network and advance the RRX expansion project, DB needs periods when no trains run between Düsseldorf and Cologne.

From Friday, August 21, 2026, at 9 p.m. until Friday, September 4, 2026, at 9 p.m. , the entire line between Cologne-Mülheim and Düsseldorf Central Station will be closed. Long-distance, regional, and S-Bahn trains will be diverted or replaced by buses.
The S-Bahn line between Cologne-Mülheim and Düsseldorf Central Station will be closed from Friday, September 4th, to Friday, December 4th, 2026.

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Damiano Gerli @damiano.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Who could resist a cup of classic CommoCoffee 64?

An article about connecting an Italian coffee machine to the Commodore 64 and writing a program to make it work at a certain time

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

The fine folks at @rockpapershotgun.bsky.social asked some questions to @shirogames.com co-founder and more of the industry's top minds on offline modes for MMO's and what it takes to make an online game survive the shutdown of their servers. A good read. www.rockpapershotgun.com/what-if-stop...

rockpapershotgun.com

What if Stop Killing Games win? Anthem, SpaceCraft and Warframe devs on the "massive undertaking" of preserving an always-online game

Game developers discuss the challenge of adapting an always-online game to run without official server support.

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

"A History of Games Through Mass Extinctions", an interesting read from Paolo Pedercini, going from the video game crash of 1977 to the currrent state of mass layoffs in the industry. www.molleindustria.org/HistoryOfGam...

molleindustria.org

A History of Games Through Mass Extinctions

A transcript of Paolo Pedercini’s History of Games Conference keynote (2026).

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

At some point at Moon Rover we pitched to a VC fund and the dude said « Woah you worked on Far Cry 3 ? I loved this as a kid ! ». So many ways to feel old.

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

At some point at Moon Rover we pitched to a VC fund and the dude said « Woah you worked on Far Cry 3 ? I loved this as a kid ! ». So many ways to feel old.

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Free update coming to Wartales in a few weeks !

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Spider-Man Brand New Day was nice. Tom Holland continues to be great. Jon Bernthal’s Punisher works well as a counterbalance to the usual tone. Nothing very innovative in the script but overall it works. I’m interested to see if they’ll ever take this character someplace new in the future.

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Finished Final Fantasy VII Remake (yes the first part, better late than never !). While I miss the turn-based combat from the original, it was a great experience, and perfect for vacation play ok the Steam Deck I might add. Maybe I can finish the second part in time for the release of Revelation…

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

As an industry professional with a big focus on PC/Steam and 99% digital business, this decision didn’t surprise me much. However I’ve been astonished by how many of my friends with no ties to the industry saw it as a deep betrayal and vouched to not buy anymore Sony consoles. (1/2)

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

I enjoyed Nolan’s Odyssey. It was very Nolan, which means dark, violent and a bit depressing, and I’ve been in love with the « high-fantasy » Odyssey since my youth, but it’s an interesting interpretation of the story and well worth seeing. I hope this gets people to read the original.

Poster for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey movie

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Good thoughts from Chris Zukowski on the impact of the new Steam Personal Calendar and how it might impact how you communicate about your games on Steam. Worth a read for anyone looking for advice on navigating Steam games publishing.

howtomarketagame.com

How the Steam Personal Calendar affects your launch – How To Market A Game

Feel Confident marketing your game

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Catching up on my podcasts. This episode of the Game Developer's Podcast on Skybound's outlook on games and media and their strategy moving forward was a very good listen. Thanks for that @bryantfrancis.me.

gamedeveloper.com

Inside Skybound's video game strategy

Skybound Entertainment CEO David Alpert and co-chairman Jon Goldman discuss the future of video games at Skybound.

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Cristina Ramos @saffroncr.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

I was told you couldn't do 3D on the Playdate, so I did it. Then I was told there was no way I could create exterior levels like those in Mirror's Edge, so I proved them wrong again.

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Finished 007: First Light, and had a fantastic time with it. Fun gameplay, great writing, right pacing, and a modern vision of what James Bond could be which I really hope MGM and Amazon take example on for the movies. Well done @ioi.dk ! Play it.

youtube.com

007 First Light - Story Trailer

Make your mark. Earn the Number. Discover a re-imagined origin story as James Bond enters the 00 Programme as a promising young recruit. Despite his occasional recklessness, Bond's intuition, charm,…

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Finished the last book of the Dandelion Dynasty saga from @kyliu99.bsky.social. I can't say it was an easy read, but sticking with it was well worth it. Epic. Homeric. Like a modern version of the Iliad with Chinese inspirations. I can only recommend it. #Books #BookSky

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Steam revenue is up 14.5% vs. the same period last year according to @alineaanalytics.bsky.social. PC revenue continues fast growth as consoles are on increasingly shaky grounds as the recent industry news will tell us. Have a read: alineaanalytics.substack.com/p/steam-is-h...

alineaanalytics.substack.com

Steam is having another record year for revenue

Steam has generated $11B in the first half of 2026 alone, the platform’s biggest-ever six months, as per our estimates. Here’s the numbers and some of the games driving them.

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Julien Wera @werejul.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

A couple of years ago a family member sent me a link to an article about how much money Meta was spending on the Metaverse and said "surely that'll work with that much money ?". And here we are. A good read via @jamesrball.com & @prospectmagazine.co.uk

prospectmagazine.co.uk

Life at the end of the metaverse

Mark Zuckerberg built a future that nobody wanted. Tech bosses are repeating his mistake

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