I worked at Creative Assembly for 9 years, and there was such a different culture between the Total War and Console teams, and I've finally written up my thoughts on how this happens. The key: it's all in the environment... Substack Link in reply

I played Final Fantasy VII in 1997, featuring "Cloud", 29 years ago... I played Final Fantasy VIII in 1999, featuring "Squall", 27 years ago... ...and only today, on the 27th of August 2026, do I realise that their names basically mean the same thing. -_-

Spellkollektivet, an indie dev community in Sweden, are trying to buy their building they're in, otherwise they might have to leave. They make games and maintain their lives together. It's a glorious example of a community around a shared passion. I've donated. GoFundMe link in replies 👇

Following on from last week's exploration of waterfall, here is a more technical guide to one of the ways the games industry manages these monstrous projects. #gamedev #production #waterfall #agile #projectmanagement dougpennant.substack.com/p/the-same-d...

The Same Damn Tool I Build Every Damn Project

And Why It Keeps Coming Back To “Resource Vs Workload”

dougpennant.substack.com

Back after a short break with a reality check on how waterfall projects are likely here to stay, but why that isn't really a problem... #gamedev #production #waterfall #agile #projectmanagement dougpennant.substack.com/p/waterfall-...

Waterfall Isn’t Going Away

But We Can Get Better At It

dougpennant.substack.com

In my game career I never got a formal class in what the classic "milestones" were for, so here is my write-up for anyone who is still getting their head around all this jargon: dougpennant.substack.com/p/pre-produc... #gamedev #production #milestones #projectmanagement

Pre-Production? Alpha? What?

Right, let me explain these milestones...

dougpennant.substack.com

If you see this post your getaway vehicle

Vic Reeves, Bob Mortimer, and Matt Lucas in a Bath

ALT: Vic Reeves, Bob Mortimer, and Matt Lucas in a Bath

static.klipy.com

This week's article is for any producers looking to be mobile in their career: leave a good trail behind you. dougpennant.substack.com/p/dont-pass-... #gamedev #production #leadership

Don't Pass The Garbage

Good handovers will leave success in your wake

dougpennant.substack.com

For music lovers/musicians that want a listening platform that looks out for the artists: Subvert.fm has just launched. This is a platform that is co-owned by is artists and community, and it's looking to grow. Have a look, and consider joining. #music #coop #subvert

This week's article is "The Power Of The Stupid Question", one of my favourite techniques for breaking down assumptions in teams. If you lead with your own humility, you can inspire it in others. dougpennant.substack.com/p/the-power-... #gamedev #production #leadership #humility

The Power of The Stupid Question

How You Can Lead With Humility

dougpennant.substack.com

This week I'm continuing to write about accountability, and how you can set the best example with full decision ownership and disclosure. I'm curious...has anyone here already used "Decision Logs"? #gamedev #production #decisions #leadership dougpennant.substack.com/p/own-your-d...

Own Your Decisions

How Decision Logs Create Autonomy And Commitment

dougpennant.substack.com

If you haven't heard of "Risk Management", then my latest article will be an introduction to something very useful. If you are already experienced with risk management then what stories do you have? #gamedev #production #risks dougpennant.substack.com/p/hope-is-no...

“Hope” Is Not A Strategy

How To Get Started With Risk Management

dougpennant.substack.com

Building on last week's article on ownership, this week I'm sharing how to help iron out those ownership gaps your work can fall into. #gamedev #production #ownership #accountability #yesitslate dougpennant.substack.com/p/the-x-and-...

The X and Y Axes of Accountability

Where Feature Meets Pipeline

dougpennant.substack.com

Looks like a Bill too lock 3D printing into just a few companies 😬 The Dangers of California’s Legislation to Censor 3D Printing www.eff.org/deeplinks/20...

The Dangers of California’s Legislation to Censor 3D Printing

California’s bill, AB 2047, will not only mandate censorware on all 3D printers; it will also criminalize the use of open-source alternatives. Repeating the mistakes of DRM won’t make anyone safer, bu...

eff.org

This week I'm confronting the question "Can somebody do this?", and exploring why it's so important to give each job a named owner, and how producers make a process of this in the industry. #gamedev #production #ownership dougpennant.substack.com/p/every-prob...

Every Problem Needs An Owner

Why “somebody should do this” doesn’t get anything done

dougpennant.substack.com

I've wanted to write this one for ages: I think producers should study design. We wrangle so much information and process, but we're not trained in understanding the minds receiving it. Extended pitch within: dougpennant.substack.com/p/the-value-... #gamedev #gameproduction #design

The Value of Design Skills In Production

Why Producers Should Study Design Principles

dougpennant.substack.com

Interesting development - #Valve has done a deal with #S&box (i.e. Garrys Mod 2) in which people will be able to sell the games they make on #Steam...royalty-free. 0.0 This feels like a response to the Roblox generation, and quite an exciting one: www.gamesradar.com/games/simula...

Garry's Mod creator partners with Valve in deal that ensures games made in his sandbox gem's new successor can be sold royalty-free on Steam: "It's just waiting for us now"

Garry Newman is paying forward the opportunities he's received

gamesradar.com

This is fantastic. You can put websites (and also people) in, and it gives a brutally sarcastic response talking about how AI replaceable they are. deathbyclawd.com

Are You Just a .md File?

Find out if your SaaS can be replaced by a Claude Skill. The SaaSpocalypse Survival Scanner.

deathbyclawd.com

This week I'm looking at the reality of joining a new studio in an industry that often doesn't have time to plan effective onboarding, and how a producer can take control of their own start in a new role: dougpennant.substack.com/p/you-need-t... #gamedev #production #projectmanagement

You Need To Onboard Yourself

Nobody else knows what you don’t know.

dougpennant.substack.com

This week I'm writing about the difficulty of finding information in large game studios, and with it the success of one simple solution at my previous company. open.substack.com/pub/dougpenn... #gamedev #production #projectmanagement

When No-one Knows Who To Ask

And why we created the "Ask Production" channel

open.substack.com

This week I'm writing about the value of game producers having changeable plans, and why they should aim to become their team's "sat-nav": dougpennant.substack.com/p/a-good-pro... #gamedev #production #projectmanagement

A Good Producer Always Has A Plan

A great producer always has several

open.substack.com

This week I've been writing about the challenge of bringing improvements to frantic and busy game teams, and the methods I use to help solutions catch up with the pace of development. substack.com/home/post/p-...

When Everyone Is Too Busy For Your Great Ideas

How to make improvements when no-one has time for them.

substack.com

Yes, I know...another damn substack, but after the book I really want to keep writing. So... This will be a free, weekly article containing practical lessons from my game development experiences. Human-written and voiced. Subscribe if it's your thing. 🙂 dougpennant.substack.com/p/game-produ...

Game Production: A Lifetime At The Edge Of Chaos

It sounds dramatic, but this is the job.

dougpennant.substack.com

Looking for a publisher and feeling lost in the void? 😵‍💫 HiG has you covered with a growing list of publishers you can actually pitch to. Link in bio #hig #gamedev #knowledgeispower #gamedevresources

Ooof... Just played through "and Roger". 60 minutes of heartache. The kind of game where every drag of the mouse feels like an emotional journey. If you played Florence, you should give this a look.

Anyone else doing the Global Game Jam this year? I'll be in GGJ Digital Nomads hub in Brasov, Romania!

TIL about "The Breachies" - awards for the Worst, Weirdest and Most Impactful data breaches of the year, as compiled by the Electronic Frontier Foundation. My personal favourite is the "I Didn't Even Know You Had My Information Award given to Gravy Analytics🫠 www.eff.org/deeplinks/20...

The Breachies 2025: The Worst, Weirdest, Most Impactful Data Breaches of the Year

Another year has come and gone, and with it, thousands of data breaches that affect millions of people. The question these days is less, Is my information in a data breach this year? and more How many...

eff.org

As someone who cannot bear to read 15 pages of Terms and Conditions every time I sign into a cafe's WIFI 😵‍💫 I've started a small monthly donation to ToS:DR, a free service that grades websites and services on their ToS and summarises the risks. tosdr.org/en

Here's a 10 min segment of a great conversation I had written Gengis. This bit focuses on how you get opportunities in the game industry, or any other industry they. Spoilers: it's through relationships 🫵😶 youtu.be/DzM2_KTCdS8?...

Be Human First to Break into Games

YouTube video by Gengis

youtu.be

Anyone into Cryptic Crosswords? Nice daily game with just one word per day, with useful hints if needed. Minute Cryptic - 18 August, 2025 "Temperamental electric air conditioning unit starts malfunctioning under 90 degrees" (5) 🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 2 under par www.minutecryptic.com?utm_source=s...