Will Luton
@willluton.bsky.social
Game product/design person. Ex Rovio & SEGA. Founder @ Village Studio & Department of Play. ADHD. Serial hobbyist.
Forbidden Solitaire has a cameo popup in the Hack 95 demo! Check it out: store.steampowered.com/app/4685250/...
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...
store.steampowered.com
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
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
Hack '95 on the World Wide Web
hack95.com
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...
Hack '95 reveal trailer - PC Gaming Show 2026
YouTube video by PC Gamer
youtube.com
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/...
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...
store.steampowered.com
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
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
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.
bbc.co.uk
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
🚀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!
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...
open.spotify.com
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!
🚀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!
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...
open.spotify.com
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/...
Why Does Everyone Hate Mobile Games?
“If you were my son, I’d recommend you don’t get into mobile”.
medium.com
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/...
Why Does Everyone Hate Mobile Games?
“If you were my son, I’d recommend you don’t get into mobile”.
medium.com
Some time ago I raised a lot of money. It was hard in until I figured out how to do it. This is what I remember of what I learned: medium.com/@will_luton/...
What I Learned Raising Millions from Games VCs
It was the summer of 2022. The world seemed like one big juicy oyster as me, and two co-founders, had just raised two point three millions…
medium.com
As far as game merch goes, is there 2,000 people willing to drop $1.5k on a watch? I have no idea, byt interested to find out www.hodinkee.com/articles/int...
Introducing: Hamilton's Latest Video Game Collab Is A Limited Edition Boulton For 'Death Stranding 2'
An iconic brand and beloved video game designer team up for this new, futuristic release.
hodinkee.com
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...
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...
departmentofplay.net
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.
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...
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...
departmentofplay.net
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...
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...
departmentofplay.net
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/...
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…
medium.com
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/...
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…
medium.com
The game I’ve been most proud of in my career is Pixel Miner for the Pebble. So excited for the hardware to be coming back! hackaday.com/2025/01/28/g...
Google Open Sources PebbleOS: New Pebble Device In Development
The Pebble smartwatch was introduced in 2012 as part of a Kickstarter campaign and saw moderate success before the company behind it got bought out by Fitbit. Although a group of enthusiasts kept t…
hackaday.com
⚠️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/...
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…
medium.com
⚠️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/...
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…
medium.com
If you missed it yesterday, how algorithms saved and ruined the games industry medium.com/@will_luton/...
Democratisation and Algorithms: How the Games Industry Optimised Itself to Crisis
Games are in trouble. The last couple of years have been brutal for our industry creatively, culturally and economically. It feels like…
medium.com
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...
Wildows 95
will-luton.co.uk
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.
