Taylor Hardwick
@darthtayrah.bsky.social
Postdoc @RMIT on gender, games and kids’ play cultures 👾 Freeplay board🤘DiGRAA board ⭐️ silly little guy 🤠 she/her 🌿
✦ PARALLELS 2026 — THE CALL-OUT IS HERE ✦ Making a game, and wanna yap about it at Parallels 2026? Now is the time to let us know! Speaker submissions close on the 5th of June. That’s THREE WEEKS. Don't overthink it. Just apply here: forms.gle/j8NkrdqMnwoH...
Roblox is adding two new account types in an effort to improve child protection, as the platform faces regulatory pressure and perceptions of enabling predatory behaviour. But experts are worried that Roblox's measures just heap more pressure on parents. www.gadgetguy.com.au/roblox-adds-...
Roblox adds Kids accounts, experts fear for pressure on parents
Roblox is adding a Kids account type to try and protect children online, but experts worry that parents will be left to pick up the slack.
gadgetguy.com.au
Given the news yesterday, I've seen a lot of speculation about the logistics of running events, and I wanted to give some perspective on the challenges of it in the current moment. madmacsfuryroad.bearblog.dev/the-1000-pro...
The $1,000 Problem
When you run an event, one of the major determining factors of cost is scale. Let's say you want to run something that only needs (1) a physical space an...
madmacsfuryroad.bearblog.dev
my thoughts on @free-play.bsky.social and why it remains so, so important (especially in the bad times!!!!)
Freeplay is one of Australia's most important creative festivals, so why is its future in doubt? | ScreenHub: Film, TV, Streaming and Games
Freeplay, one of the Australia's longest-running game festivals, remains an essential platform for bold, creative, and compelling art.
screenhub.com.au
Freeplay rules! Fund art!!!!!
Freeplay@free-play.bsky.social · 7mo agoAn update: Unfortunately Freeplay didn’t secure multi-year funding and is potentially looking at its last year of operation. We’re exploring what comes next & want your input. Read our full statement here: www.freeplay.net.au/survey2026 Help us decide our next step here: forms.gle/W4ZSns1bGCX1...
Delphinium's Kickstarter will go live on October 27th, 9:00AM ACDT 🩵💫
Announcing... DOGPILE!!! ✨🦴 Dogpile is a roguelike deckbuilder about merging DOGS. Play dogs, get money, customize your dogs with special traits, refine your deck, PLAY MORE DOGS! Free demo is live on Steam, WISHLIST NOW!!! store.steampowered.com/app/3839300/...
Great to collab with colleagues at Sydney. Global video game/loot box policy evaluation is an international collaborative effort. Would be great to work with German 🇩🇪, Spanish 🇪🇸, and Brazilian 🇧🇷 colleagues to check (forthcoming) national rules. Please do get in touch with us if interested! 👋🏻
Taylor Hardwick@darthtayrah.bsky.social · 10mo agoNew article in @theconversation.com today reflecting on Australia’s 2024 loot box regulations and how, 1 year later, there remains widespread non-compliance - and generally really confusing age ratings for mobile games on the App Stores! theconversation.com/loot-boxes-a...
New article in @theconversation.com today reflecting on Australia’s 2024 loot box regulations and how, 1 year later, there remains widespread non-compliance - and generally really confusing age ratings for mobile games on the App Stores! theconversation.com/loot-boxes-a...
Loot boxes are still rife in kids’ mobile games, despite ban on ‘gambling-like’ features
Games with ‘loot boxes’ should be classified for over-15s – but a new study shows many of the most popular mobile games completely ignore the rules.
theconversation.com
Letters to Arralla is OUT NOW on Steam with a limited time 20% launch discount!! 🏝️💌 After 5 long years of development and lots of fruit & veggies eaten to power our developers, this cheeky game is finally ready to be delivered directly into your hands!! ☺️ Play now on Steam! youtu.be/7GbGTEpsoIM
Letters to Arralla OUT NOW!
YouTube video by Little Pink Clouds
youtu.be
Frosty is back to celebrate the coolest upcoming and recently released games made in Australia & Aotearoa, this December 🍦🥳 We’ll be featuring exclusive reveals, announcements, and updates. Developers can submit their games now until Sep 30! ⤵️ forms.gle/tt8y9N1dPweS...
Given this is making some waves - here is the piece and you can judge for yourself. (I'm fine, there are no issues - right wing ecosystem just doing what right wing ecosystem does). Take care of you - it's rough out there! Ax amyremeikis.substack.com/p/charlie-ki...
Charlie Kirk died in the America he wanted
I mourn the loss of human life. I feel compassion, empathy and grief at an inexcusable killing. But I find nothing to lionise in his legacy.
amyremeikis.substack.com
✨I’m recruiting for a research project on game monetisation!✨ I’m keen to chat to game devs about how monetisation shapes the dev process. Interviews will be 60mins via Zoom. To learn more, head to bit.ly/40mOB3f if you'd like to participate, shoot me a DM or email taylor.hardwick@sydney.edu.au 😊
✨I’m recruiting for a research project on game monetisation!✨ I’m keen to chat to game devs about how monetisation shapes the dev process. Interviews will be 60mins via Zoom. To learn more, head to bit.ly/40mOB3f if you'd like to participate, shoot me a DM or email taylor.hardwick@sydney.edu.au 😊
FREAKON IS BACK www.freakon.com.au/blogs/news/f...
FREAKON 2025 ANNOUNCED - SEASON OF DECAY
We’re looking around at a world rife with rot. More layoffs, more greed, and the birth of a whole new type of AI guy have filled the air with a foul stench. It’s tempting to imagine our community coul...
freakon.com.au
We’ll be hosting GachaCon 2026, a hybrid academic conference on gacha games with Genshin Impact as the theme, on 12–13 February 2026 at the School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong. 🇭🇰🇨🇳 Call for Papers: tinyurl.com/gachaconcfp
You can take a girl out of Dubbo but you can’t stop Dubbo from following the girl forever and ever and ever (team Freeplay @ Dubbo skate park tho)
Bonicle - WISHLIST DUSTPOCALYPSE@bonicle.bsky.social · 12mo agoi found a website thats like r/place but you draw on the world map so im making a freeplay logo at dubbo because i had no idea what else to do
The return of Waypoint Constellations✨ 🎫 events.humanitix.com/waypoint-con... A close collaboration with @serenade.games to celebrate Sydney's games and creators. 🗓️On Oct 14th just before SXSW's games festival begins Follow and sign up for more info as we tease out the secrets of this event.
Freeplay 💕💕💕
jae @ equip canberra games, alt: games, beyond the script@jemztones.bsky.social · last yr.A sample* of academic style with Jacqui Moran @mahliann.bsky.social @darthtayrah.bsky.social @cassiebara29.bsky.social #fashionOfFreeplay * statistical significance has not yet been established (n = 4)
The Freeplay Angles 2025 schedule is now online, and tickets are on sale! Angles runs from 31st July - 2nd August at Science Gallery Melbourne. www.freeplay.net.au
If you liked or hated my takes on ‘deprofessionalisation’, I went into a lot more detail in this great chat with @pushtotalk.gg for his newsletter. Connected what’s going on now to what I observed in the Australian industry in the 2010s www.pushtotalk.gg/p/gamings-gr...
Gaming’s Great Downsizing and the Garage-Band Game Economy
Brendan Keogh explains the post-2008 collapse of the Australian games industry and how it might prefigure changes coming for the rest of the world
pushtotalk.gg
Super excited to present our research on how children perceive & experience harm resulting from game monetisation at #CHI2025 today! Co-authored with @marcuscarter.com @saharkin.bsky.social @tianyizhangshao.bsky.social & @benegliston.bsky.social - check it out here: dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
Really interesting and important report out today on deceptive design practices in games and how they impact players from @cprc-research.bsky.social @coolrobbie.bsky.social and @bradyjay.bsky.social - some really great recommendations on making games safer for everyone! cprc.org.au/report/playi...
Playing the Player - CPRC
Australians of all ages are engaging with gaming to relax, learn or connect with friends, but common design features can leave players worse-off – 95% of Australian adult gamers encounter manipulative...
cprc.org.au
Some thoughts from @benegliston.bsky.social @tianyizhangshao.bsky.social and myself in The Conversation today on the spenny Switch 2 release price and how it reflects the state of the industry (& mostly, sorry gamers)
Sorry gamers, Nintendo’s hefty Switch 2 price tag signals the new normal – and it might still go up
We saw Sony adjust prices for the PS5 mid-generation in response to production costs. So there’s no reason to assume the Switch 2 price will remain static.
theconversation.com
New article in @theconversation.com today by myself and @marcuscarter.com on how kids talk about when spending money in Roblox is harmful to them. TLDR; virtual currencies and random reward features should be better regulated! theconversation.com/literally-ju...
‘Literally just child gambling’: what kids say about Roblox, lootboxes and money in online games
Kids who play Roblox games describe ‘scary’ virtual currencies and ‘cash grab’ random rewards.
theconversation.com
New article in @theconversation.com today by myself and @marcuscarter.com on how kids talk about when spending money in Roblox is harmful to them. TLDR; virtual currencies and random reward features should be better regulated! theconversation.com/literally-ju...
‘Literally just child gambling’: what kids say about Roblox, lootboxes and money in online games
Kids who play Roblox games describe ‘scary’ virtual currencies and ‘cash grab’ random rewards.
theconversation.com
Incredibly excited to announce this special issue of Media Industries Journal that I co-edited with Chris Young and @dayofthemutants.bsky.social on the topic of LOCAL DIGITAL GAME PRODUCTION. journals.publishing.umich.edu/mij/issue/31...
2024 The definitive list of Australian made video games Our 6th annual list of every game released in 2024 that was made in Australia. Check it out + share https://www.sifter.com.au/post/2024-the-definitive-list-of-australian-made-video-games-playstation-xbox-switch-pc-steam-vr #videogames #gamedev
2024 The definitive list of Australian made video games | SIFTER
SIFTER's sixth annual list collecting every single game released in 2024 that has been made in Australia, from PC, Xbox, PlayStation Switch and more.
sifter.com.au
