iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Wayne Emanuel @wayneemanuel.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

A new Coin-Op Conversations episode is out and this time @willluton.bsky.social chats about SEGA Rally Championship, The Addams Family (pinball) & Claw Crane Games. Video: youtu.be/5JUoBbafnUs Audio: open.spotify.com/episode/0JNR... #arcade #retrogames

youtu.be

Will Luton - SEGA Rally Championship, The Addams Family (pinball) & Claw Crane Games

YouTube video by Coin-Op Conversations

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N5Dave @n5dave.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

Boot Up the Nostalgia: Village Studios Unveils 'Hack ’95' at PC Gaming Show—And the Demo is Live! techmash.co.uk/2026/06/08/b... @techmashcouk #Hack95 #PCGamingShow #IndieGames #Deckbuilder #RetroGaming

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Keith Stuart @keefstuart.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

The 90s computer nerd adventure I’m writing for, Hack 95, now has a demo on steam and a website. Come and play! (And please wishlist on steam if you like the look of it!) 💾👾 hack95.com

hack95.com

Hack '95 on the World Wide Web

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Wayne Emanuel @wayneemanuel.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

Yep, Hack '95 is the new game from Village Studio led by @willluton.bsky.social, have been helping on the bizdev/publishing side of things, do check it the trailer & demo! www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv8n...

youtube.com

Hack '95 reveal trailer - PC Gaming Show 2026

YouTube video by PC Gamer

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Keith Stuart @keefstuart.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

The demo for Village Studio’s nostalgic hacking game Hack 95 is out now! I am on the writing team! Come and enter the world of 56k modems, phreaks and tiny FMV windows! #PCGamingShow store.steampowered.com/app/4685250/...

store.steampowered.com

Hack '95 Demo on Steam

Time travel to 1995 in this card-based computer hacking voyage. Take down an evil tech startup and shadowy government agency to become a god to the freaks and geeks of cyberspace. All while being help...

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Will Luton @willluton.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

At 8.03pm BST, Village Studio’s next title, a game I’ve been making since I was 8 years old, will be revealed to the world at #PCGamingShow I think you’re going to love this if you always wanted to be a hacker, but on 56kbps dialup. Watch live here: youtu.be/yv8nZY8auPQ

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Laura Cress @cressup.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

Thanks to Declan of Into Games & @ukieofficial.bsky.social for speaking to me @developconference.com about issues faced by working class people in the UK video games industry & how they're trying to fix it. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... @willluton.bsky.social @manycatsstudios.bsky.social

bbc.co.uk

Does the UK video games industry have a class problem?

A non-profit organisation is trying to create more pathways into the sector for working-class people.

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Games of Note Podcast @gamesofnote.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

Was Castlevania: Symphony of the Night the last great 2D game of its era? We discuss this in the latest episode of Games of Note. Listen & subscribe; Spotify: zurl.co/8XYxH Apple Podcasts: zurl.co/ivaZM RSS Feed: zurl.co/xAQdF Follow us at: BlueSky: zurl.co/4YQSv YouTube Shorts: zurl.co/wQbag

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Will Luton @willluton.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

🚀Introducing Games of Note, a podcast games that matter. 💬 Less ramble, more research and context. First episode (Shenmue) is out now: Spotify - open.spotify.com/show/3r8K8y2... Amazon - music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/ded... Apple - podcastsconnect.apple.com/my-podcasts/... Please like and share!

open.spotify.com

Games of Note

Podcast · GamesofNote Podcast · Games of Note podcast is where we discuss not if a particular game is good or bad, but the impact it had on game design & and the culture of video games. Hosted by Will...

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Games of Note Podcast @gamesofnote.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

We're LIVE! we've just launched our new podcast, hosted by @willluton.bsky.social & @wayneemanuel.bsky.social where we talk about the impact of video games!

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Will Luton @willluton.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

open.spotify.com

Games of Note

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Will Luton @willluton.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

Everyone, I have some opinions. It's about mobile games and if they're shit. But more about how mobile game making is making all games shit. But that shit can save us. medium.com/@will_luton/...

medium.com

Why Does Everyone Hate Mobile Games?

“If you were my son, I’d recommend you don’t get into mobile”.

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Will Luton @willluton.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

Everyone, I have some opinions. It's about mobile games and if they're shit. But more about how mobile game making is making all games shit. But that shit can save us. medium.com/@will_luton/...

medium.com

Why Does Everyone Hate Mobile Games?

“If you were my son, I’d recommend you don’t get into mobile”.

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Will Luton @willluton.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

Someone is still fronting the domain costs to dunk on the N-Gage sidetalkin.com/original/

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Will Luton @willluton.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

New blog! Did you know: 📈 AliExpress reaches over 150m users worldwide? 🕹️ The app has four full mobile games and several smaller titles? 💸 The game economy is complexly linked and dollar-backed? 😥 It's not perfect? departmentofplay.net/games-of-ali...

departmentofplay.net

Games of AliExpress: Play-to-Earn, The Future of Shopping - Department of Play

At Department of Play, we love shopping on AliExpress, from retro console mods and arcade hardware to office equipment and clothes. But recently we’ve become fascinated by its complex web of games, wh...

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Will Luton @willluton.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

HOW TO SURVIVE IN THE GAMES INDUSTRY! I’ve been working in game development for 18 years. I’ve worked at SEGA, Rovio and founded my own studios. I’ve had ups and downs. Big hits and crushing failures. Here’s my a thread of tips that might help.

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Will Luton @willluton.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

Very excited to announce that Department of Play, my consulting agency, is returning from next month. We've helped improve games as diverse as big PS5 blockbusters to tiny indie games. Find out more: departmentofplay.net/reopening-st...

departmentofplay.net

Reopening Starting March 2025 - Department of Play

Department of Play reopens it's product review process, trusted by Sony, Meta and Tencent, with limited availability from March. New clients can express interest now by...

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Will Luton @willluton.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

departmentofplay.net

Reopening Starting March 2025 - Department of Play

Department of Play reopens it's product review process, trusted by Sony, Meta and Tencent, with limited availability from March. New clients can express interest now by...

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Will Luton @willluton.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

I have ADHD. I wrote about it. And it was hard. But I tried to make it fun. I hope it helps someone with ADHD or someone close to someone with ADHD. medium.com/@will_luton/...

medium.com

ADHD — Why Everyone In Games Has It Now

ADHD has been a defining trend of the games industry in 2024, alongside ill-informed AI opinion and crushing pessimism. If you work in…

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Will Luton @willluton.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

I have ADHD. I wrote about it. And it was hard. But I tried to make it fun. I hope it helps someone with ADHD or someone close to someone with ADHD. medium.com/@will_luton/...

medium.com

ADHD — Why Everyone In Games Has It Now

ADHD has been a defining trend of the games industry in 2024, alongside ill-informed AI opinion and crushing pessimism. If you work in…

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Will Luton @willluton.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

⚠️NEW BLOG⚠️ I wrote about the wild ride that was crypto games, from turning down a free $200k to the fear of getting hit with a pipe wrench. medium.com/@will_luton/...

medium.com

Rise and Fall of Cyrpto Games — An Insider’s View

In 2014 a fan of my smartwatch game Pixel Miner, who happened to also mine bitcoin, offered to “send me a few”. While I’d heard of this…

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Will Luton @willluton.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

⚠️NEW BLOG⚠️ I wrote about the wild ride that was crypto games, from turning down a free $200k to the fear of getting hit with a pipe wrench. medium.com/@will_luton/...

medium.com

Rise and Fall of Cyrpto Games — An Insider’s View

In 2014 a fan of my smartwatch game Pixel Miner, who happened to also mine bitcoin, offered to “send me a few”. While I’d heard of this…

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Will Luton @willluton.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

It’s been a while. But I wrote something. It’s about how the games industry is fucked. And ducks 🦆 Enjoy WILDOWS 95 👍 will-luton.co.uk#post-democra...

will-luton.co.uk

Wildows 95

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Will Luton @willluton.bsky.social · 07/12/2024

I have a feeling about games right now, that I can best describe as “a vacuum”. It feels like many of us are waiting for something to happen because something always happens. Despite it never having been better, it feels a little stale.

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Will Luton @willluton.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

Designers don’t paper prototype. Unlessssss you’re making paper games. Otherwise you’ll make paper games. 🙅‍♀️🗒️ 👍🖥️

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Will Luton @willluton.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

Something I’ve been thinking on recently: Why are videogames so consistently “low culture”? What does a premium or luxury brand in games look like? Short thread 🧵

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Will Luton @willluton.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

Thank you to the people who messaged me. RTs really appreciated too.

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Will Luton @willluton.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

I just found out a good friend and my first boss was rushed in to hospital this week. After a number of surgeries it looks like he’ll pull through, but might not be home for Christmas. I’d like to pack his Switch with games! Any devs willing to share codes? My DMs are open.

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Will Luton @willluton.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

About a year ago picked up sewing as a hobby. Patterned and put together this raw edge hoodie this week.

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Will Luton @willluton.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

New pickup on PS2. Gonna McTwist in to a topside acid soul.

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Will Luton @willluton.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

Hi, I’m Will. Game designer/entrepreneur. I ran product on Angry Birds 2 and wrote “the book on F2P”. Worked on everything from AAA to smartwatch games. I chat mostly about game design and business. But ADHD, so good chance I’m off topic. Currently founder of indie Village Games.

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Will Luton @willluton.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

When it is the UX: When players really wanted to do a thing but couldn’t work out how. If they didn’t really want to do a thing, focus on building something they really want to do. Then optimise with UX.

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Will Luton @willluton.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

Design trap no 1: Think it’s the UX. It’s not. So many teams chase better UX think it will improve retention: The team like the game, it must be players don’t get it, right? Short thread 🧵

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Eurogamer @eurogamer.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

Sony is reportedly in talks to acquire FromSoftware, the developer behind Elden Ring, Dark Souls and Bloodbourne, as part of a buyout of its owner, the Japanese publishing giant Kadokawa. bit.ly/410t6VY

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Will Luton @willluton.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

Saved you a click: Symphony of the Night. The game is bucketlist. If you haven’t played it, play it. www.timeextension.com/guides/the-b...

timeextension.com

The Best Castlevania Games Of All Time

There's so much to count!

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Will Luton @willluton.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

I think we teach game design completely wrong. The focus is way too much on outputs, like GDDs. That’s the easy bit. I think we should teach design philosophy. Short thread 🧵

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Will Luton @willluton.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

This is a real loss for the UK industry. We took Inferni to WASD this year, it opened so many doors for us, got us real player feedback. It will be missed www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.uk

WASD expo: 'Amazing showcase' for UK gaming industry cancelled

The organisers blamed

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gril @funambulism.com · 07/11/2024

"How can video games challenge the status quo and promote egalitarian values? Games critic Marijam Did & writer Dan Griliopoulos discuss ways video games' influence can be harnessed for good." 🗓️ Nov 13 - 6.30PM - Conway Hall, London 🎟️ £10 • £7 🔗 loom.ly/sTKI_VQ

How can video games challenge the status quo and promote egalitarian values? We discuss ways video games' influence can be harnessed for good.

🗓️ Nov 13 - 6.30PM
🎟️ £10 • £7
🔗 https://loom.ly/sTKI_VQ

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despelote ⚽ OUT NOW! @despelote.game · 04/11/2024

#PitchYaGame 🔊 it's 2001, you're a young boy who lives in quito, ecuador. the country's soccer team is about to qualify for the World Cup, and there is a buzz in the air...⚽️ this is our game despelote! a slice-of-life adventure about soccer & community, fully voiced in spanish! #indiedev #gamedev

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