Charles Ayotte

Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios Group acquired Monster Closet Games (founded by Ubisoft veterans) in October last year and integrated its developers to launch a new studio in Montreal. Yesterday, this studio was shut down 8 months after launch, along with Avalanche’s New York studio, cutting 50 jobs. In an “exceptionally difficult decision” taken by Avalanche, the shutdown was “necessary to ensure a stable and sustainable future for the company”. Avalanche even expressed regret for losing 9% of its workforce but gave no updates on how it plans to help them after this. For big studios, posting on social media is easier and a one-time thing. But what about the 50 devs who are left with tougher days to come? When AAA giant (Avalanche) entered their lives last year, they promised the devs big game projects. For eight months, they worked hard on a title with Xbox, getting excited about how they would thrill gamers from different corners of the planet. But instead of receiving due credit, they are informed that they are no longer needed on the project and that the company has to lay them off to sustain themselves. If this is sad to learn, consider the sudden mental toll on these developers and the possibility of many falling prey to self-doubt. I also tried finding the impacted folks to give them a shoutout, but I can’t see any #opentowork banners except one or two. If you know of anyone who was impacted, please mention them below, and we will do everything in our power to give them maximum visibility. If you were impacted and saw this, I am listing three resources and various other ways for you to get back into the games industry ASAP. First💎 Layoff Support Kit 2.0 - https://lnkd.in/gCCXW_Wp My team and I have dedicated countless hours to curating hundreds of online game development resources so you don't have to. This comprehensive collection includes top programming boot camps, renowned game dev educators, free game assets to help you build great games, insightful podcasts, and much more. Second💎 A 100% scholarship on our $11,000 Full Stack game dev program - https://lnkd.in/gZKqNBFh If you were impacted by the recent bloodshed of layoffs, here’s a chance to Re-skill and revise your game dev knowledge with our advanced C++, OOPs, Unity, and Data Structure modules. Additionally, you will receive exclusive one-on-one mentorship from top game programmers who will help you strengthen your already solid foundations. Third💎 Our Discord Community of over 10K game devs - https://lnkd.in/gH-wZe2G Here, we listen to everyone’s take on game development, support aspiring game developers in building stronger portfolios, and solve each other's doubts. Also requesting Kelly Bender, Alexander Rehm, Caitlin Cooke, Jordan Mazer, Ruty Rutenberg, Hailey Rojas, Kevin F., Kat Craig, Ali Farha, Matt Barney, and Ash C. to help this reach all the folks who can benefit from this. #layoffsupport

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Creating games is very difficult. And building games is challenging. The process of build requires to compile the code and all the data required in the game in a specific sequence involving many dependencies. As such monitoring the outcome is essential, but not sufficent. What if we were able to predict the outcome of a build ? What if we were able to decrease the required computing resources while increasing our iteration capability ? #Ubisoft #Ubisoftlaforge #innovation

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Terrible news last night with Behaviour Interactive announcing that it has laid of 95 employees, 70 of which in Montreal. To those impacted by these layoffs, please find a comprehensive list of resources, below: 🥇First, as you are on Montreal, please reach out to us at People Can Fly Studio, we have many roles open right now in Montreal and Canada, please check them out here: https://lnkd.in/eWpV5PbA 🥈Next, Discipline Games Jobs Resources: Over the past weeks I have created 9 (at time of writing) Games Jobs Resources to find jobs in a wide range of disciplines: 🎨 Art, Animation, VFX and UI: This resource contains around 1,200 jobs worldwide across all links. Link: https://lnkd.in/eXgEEUAA ⚙ Engineering and Programming This resource lists just over 1,900 jobs worldwide across all links. It also talks about interview tips and questions to practice. Link: https://lnkd.in/eAufG7q4 🕹 Quality Assurance: This resource lists over 450 QA jobs worldwide. This post also talks about the craft of QA and contains tips and interview practice. Link: https://lnkd.in/e6YwwJeS 📑 Game Production: This resource lists around 400 jobs worldwide. It also contains info about game production as a whole and GDC talks. Link: https://lnkd.in/eE8QgeDq 📢 Marketing & Community: This resource lists around 400 jobs worldwide. It also gives an intro into game marketing and community management. Link: https://lnkd.in/e5MuViug 🎶 Audio and Sound Design: This resource lists around 190 jobs worldwide. Link: https://lnkd.in/eSkPSsWf 📠 Studio Support, HR, Recruitment and BizDev: This resource lists around 290 jobs worldwide. Link: https://lnkd.in/ePG57_7v ⚙ IT, Helpdesk and DevOps: This resource lists around 140 jobs worldwide. Link: https://lnkd.in/e8ZsuiZh 🎮 Game Design: This resource lists around 480 jobs worldwide. https://lnkd.in/dCv_hQXv 🥉 Third, the Ultimate list of Video Games Career Resources: This should be your one-stop shop for all information. My dear friend Amir Satvat maintains these documents, he is a legend for doing this - please check them out: https://amirsatvat.com/ 🎖 Finally, do not give up. Ever. No matter how dark things may look right now, I KNOW you will get through this, you have got this! 👊 Remember you are not alone. If you need help, advice, or even an ear to listen, we're here for you. Always! ➡ A request to my community, please can I ask you to repost this post to your colleagues and friends, so that we can get as many into jobs as possible! And please comment if you or your studio are currently hiring - let's help each other! Much love ❤️ #layoffs #gamesindustry #jobsingames #behaviourinteractive

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Friends, our weekly community impact update for June 7th! This week, I'm so proud that we added Hailey Rojas' #opentonetwork resource as our 16th community offering. I thank Desirée Rincón 🔜 Toronto XP Game Summit also for her help with that content and design leadership this week as well. Haven't signed up yet for our community badge rewards for being a member and participating in community coaching? Register here: https://lnkd.in/evQpQDfd Our Four Headline Stats First (as always), straight from amirsatvat.com: - Job Placements: We've successfully facilitated over 2,000 job placements. - Advisory Chats: Our community coaches have engaged in more than 37,000 free advisory chats - We added 808 members to our LinkedIn community (88,973 total). - We added 336 members to our Discord community (3,735 total). JOIN OUR DISCORD COMMUNITY HERE: discord.gg/amirsatvat Resource Updates: - Hiring Visibility: Our community now includes 7,501 job seekers, with 70 new candidates joining recently. - Coaching: The number of coaches has risen to 2,228, thanks to 19 new volunteers offering support across our four services. - Role Listings: There are now 13,783 job opportunities across 3,616 organizations. Providing a full update on this is my top priority. - Career Planning: Both our General Planning Resources and our Early Career Pack are now live. Please submit any additional contributions you may have! - Games Org Support Posts: We have highlighted 98 individuals affected by programmatic layoffs. - Free LinkedIn Premium Trials: This week, we provided 20 new 2-month LinkedIn Premium trials to gamers, bringing the total to 370. - Ticket To Ride: We have given out 370 free tickets to gamers across 5 events, thanks to 29 generous sponsors. - Weekly Community Spotlight Posts: We have posted 8 spotlights, allowing community members seeking work to highlight themselves. How You Can Help: We have a page (https://lnkd.in/dY9KQ5a3) detailing 14 ways to contribute, highlighting areas of elevated and highest needs marked in yellow and red. This Week’s 8 New Mentors, 6 New CV + LinkedIn Reviewers, 3 New Mock Interviewers, and 2 New Art Portfolio Reviewers are in the comments! Thanks for your support and let's continue changing gamers' lives together! Super Amiro

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Do you want to level up your game dev team? Do you want to learn some of the magic that makes some of the greatest games? Alex's course is a great place to start. And if you have designers on staff you think would benefit, I highly recommend this bootcamp. #bootcap #gamedesign

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I would like to express total support and caring for every single member of the Behaviour Interactive team today upon the news of 95 cuts (70 in Montreal) due to strategic changes, as revealed in a company press release. These situations are tough for everybody involved and I am here simply to say no matter whom you are at Behaviour, I and our community will do anything we can to help you and I am thinking of you today. Specifically, if your role was affected by this news, please utilize support across our three homes. In particular, I want to point you to the Games Org Support Posts under Home 1. They really work and I have a boatload of data to prove it. Home 1 - 🔗 AMIRSATVAT.COM: Our main hub provides 15 resources to assist you in finding work, featuring a fully updated design. - 🔗 Games Org Support Posts: Find a template at AMIRSATVAT.COM (Category 4, Resource 10). If you can provide information from your team (with their consent), I’ll help edit and disseminate the final product, reaching 100,000+ people. These posts are highly effective in increasing visibility, and we've done 98 of them. Home 2 - 🔗 Discord: Join us at discord.gg/amirsatvat, our live extension of community resources. With nearly 3,600 members, we are currently in an open-join phase. Home 3 - 🔗 LinkedIn: Our community here includes nearly 89,000 members, with 1-3 daily posts offering support and career assistance in the games industry. How the Broader Community Can Help: - Spread the Word: Reshares and comments on this post amplify the visibility of these resources. - Offer Support: Utilize the 13 ways listed on AMIRSATVAT.COM under "How You Can Help" to assist, or simply lend an ear or advice on our Discord server. - Join Our Movement: Volunteer with us at AMIRSATVAT.COM to support our colleagues in the games industry. Our network has facilitated over 2,000 jobs and 35,000 coaching conversations to date, the largest impact of any games organization on earth, and has been visited by millions of gamers lifetime.

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2 days ago, Behaviour Interactive laid off 95 individuals, citing “unprecedented competition” and wanting to focus on its “historical strengths” as the main reasons. BI is one of Canada’s largest independent game developers and publishers, with an average revenue per employee of $282K (approx) and a consistent revenue growth since 2015. On the surface, the world praises a studio for its games and talks about its big moves. Like that, BI is known for its horror titles (especially Dead by Daylight), partnering with WB for Mortal Kombat 1 and co-creating AAA games like Fallout Shelter with Bethesda. We endlessly glorify studios and their games, but we rarely talk about the individuals who actually make these games a reality. Nobody talks about it when game developers who were truly responsible for a video game’s success lose their jobs. In the end, behind all this visible glory, game developers are the ones actually forced to bear the volatile fluctuations in the gaming industry's economy. We congratulate studios when they make great games, but we fire our game developers as soon as things don’t seem to be working out! Imagine putting years of hard work into building a fine game only to hear one day that you’ve been removed from the effing project. So, here is my attempt to highlight game devs who were impacted by Behaviour Interactive. Repost and tag the right people. Let’s bring them maximum visibility from recruiters and game studios that are currently hiring: Jorge Eduardo Chaparro — As a Sr. Community Manager for BI, Jorge established social media strategies for ‘The Casting of Frank Stone’ and ‘Islands of Insight’. Remarkably, he has also been a senior level Community Manager for Studio Onoma (formerly Square Enix Montreal) and Square Enix.   Marika D. — Marika was also BI’s senior community Manager but for its most renowned hit, Dead by Daylight. She has worked on Capcom and Disney’s DLCs apart from DBD. Before BI, she worked for Ubisoft as a Social Media Content Specialist. Meriem B. — A highly talented Social Media Manager who also supported the launch of Islands on Insight to corporate platforms and multiple chapters for Dead by Daylight. Moreover, she contributed to the growth of Behaviour’s audience by 10%. Vincent Davila — A Game & Level Designer of Behaviour Interactive who worked on four unannounced projects before being laid off with some experience in production, too. Sara Calzada — A killer talent who started her career as a Camera Operator and ultimately became an Art Director & Team Lead for BI. Sara has also been a Designer and Concept Artist for Netflix’s 3D animated series - Kitti Katz. #layoffsupport

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We made it 7 whole business days without a video games layoff. Unfortunately, today, Avalanche Studios Group reported that it closed its studios in New York and Montreal and laid off 50 employees (9% of employees worldwide). If your role was affected by this action, our community is here to offer support through our three homes: Home 1 - 🔗 AMIRSATVAT.COM: Our main hub provides 15 resources to assist you in finding work, featuring a fully updated design. - 🔗 Games Org Support Posts: Find a template at AMIRSATVAT.COM (Category 4, Resource 10). If you can provide information from your team (with their consent), I’ll help edit and disseminate the final product, reaching 100,000+ people. These posts are highly effective in increasing visibility, and we've done 98 of them. Home 2 - 🔗 Discord: Join us at discord.gg/amirsatvat, our live extension of community resources. With nearly 3,600 members, we are currently in an open-join phase. Home 3 - 🔗 LinkedIn: Our community here includes nearly 89,000 members, with 1-3 daily posts offering support and career assistance in the games industry. How the Broader Community Can Help: - Spread the Word: Reshares and comments on this post amplify the visibility of these resources. - Offer Support: Utilize the 13 ways listed on AMIRSATVAT.COM under "How You Can Help" to assist, or simply lend an ear or advice on our Discord server. - Join Our Movement: Volunteer with us at AMIRSATVAT.COM to support our colleagues in the games industry. Our network has facilitated over 2,000 jobs and 35,000 coaching conversations to date, the largest impact of any games organization on earth, and has been visited by millions of gamers lifetime.

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More sad news: Paladin Studios's co-founder Derk de Geus announced last night on the studio's LinkedIn page that they are forced to close their studio after failing to land enough work to cover their burn-rate. Paladin has been around for just over 19 years, having developed some amazing games in their time and having worked with the likes of Nintendo, Apple Arcade, Netflix, Zeptolab, Bandai Namco, and many others. To those affected by this closure, please find a comprehensive list of resources, below: 🥇First, Discipline Games Jobs Resources: Over the past weeks I have created nine Games Jobs Resources to find jobs in a wide range of disciplines: 🎨 Art, Animation, VFX and UI: This resource contains around 1,000 jobs worldwide across all links. Link: https://lnkd.in/eu2bjadW ⚙ Engineering and Programming This resource lists just over 1,800 jobs worldwide across all links. It also talks about interview tips and questions to practice. Link: https://lnkd.in/eYdxANFM 🕹 Quality Assurance: This resource lists over 450 QA jobs worldwide. This post also talks about the craft of QA and contains tips and interview practice. Link: https://lnkd.in/dwwVjZuc 📑 Game Production: This resource lists around 400 jobs worldwide. It also contains info about game production as a whole and GDC talks. Link: https://lnkd.in/gxDvFM-Z 📢 Marketing & Community: This resource lists around 400 jobs worldwide. It also gives an intro into game marketing and community management. Link: https://lnkd.in/e5MuViug 🎶 Audio and Sound Design: This resource lists around 190 jobs worldwide. Link: https://lnkd.in/eSkPSsWf 📠 Studio Support, HR, Recruitment and BizDev: This resource lists around 290 jobs worldwide. Link: https://lnkd.in/ePG57_7v ⚙ IT, Helpdesk and DevOps: This resource lists around 140 jobs worldwide. Link: https://lnkd.in/e8ZsuiZh 🎮 Game Design: This resource lists around 520 jobs worldwide: Link: https://lnkd.in/dtVmGR-t 🥈 Second, the Ultimate list of Video Games Career Resources: This should be your one-stop shop for all information. My dear friend Amir Satvat maintains these documents, he is a legend for doing this - please check them out: https://amirsatvat.com/ 🥉 Third, If you have worked in publishing, please message me. I am looking for quite a few roles right now! ⬅ 🎖 Finally, do not give up. Ever. No matter how dark things may look right now, I KNOW you will get through this, you have got this! 👊 Remember you are not alone. If you need help, advice, or even an ear to listen, we're here for you. Always! ➡ A request to my community, please can I ask you to repost this post to your colleagues and friends, so that we can get as many into jobs as possible! And please comment if you or your studio are currently hiring - let's help each other! Much love ❤️ #layoffs #gamesindustry #paladinstudios (source post: https://lnkd.in/dMzu368H)

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Another week, another round of layoffs, another studio closure, and another blow to the Vancouver game dev scene. Game development in Vancouver has been on life support for the past few years, and what a shocking fall from grace in comparison to how things looked in the early to mid-2000s where you couldn't throw a BC roll (sushi reference) without hitting a triple-A studio! You can blame more favourable tax credits in other Canadian provinces (which doesn't help!) but that's not the real reason for the decay, is it? We're not really competing against other provinces within our country, we're competing with a global talent market and a shift to remote work that has driven game development to lower cost regions that can produce stuff that's just as good as anything we can make. It's a shock and a wake-up call, perhaps too late. Everyone is on survival mode right now and there are still rough waters ahead. Today doesn't seem to be the day for big-picture industry analysis, but when the dust settles and the pain of layoffs is not so fresh for people, it'll be time to sit down and ask ourselves some tough questions about how we got here. I'm getting tired of saying it, but my heart goes out to all those affected by the current round of layoffs and closures. 💔

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In the Gaming world, Democracy prevails 🎆 Sony's swift response to community feedback on Arrowhead Game Studios's Helldivers 2 is a testament to player power. Cheers to all Helldivers 2 players! When Players' Voices are heard, it's a Victory for All 😄 Here's to a brighter future for Gaming 🎮 For those unfamiliar with the issue, here's an article to keep you updated https://lnkd.in/gqNVQVeh #JBlaze #Helldivers2 #Sony #Democracy #Gaming #ArrowheadGameStudio #PlayerVoices #Gamers #GamingForAll #Crossplay

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CONFESSION TIME: one game entered my life via TV, not a controller. Summer 1995: a friend brought a VHS with Jean-Claude Van Damme. The movie was called Street Fighter. Then, endless fights with Ryu, Ken, and Juri. Now, after years of silence, new Street Fighter movie confirmed! Games-to-TV is booming, just look at Fallout's success. 🔥 𝟴𝟬 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗨𝗦𝗗 (Src: VG Insights) • Fallout 4 incremental units sold: $22M. • Fallout 76 incremental units sold: $16M. • Fallout 76 incremental ingame spend: $12M • Licensing fee: $30M. Games-to-TV drives franchise-wide revenue. Exciting video game movies on the way. What are you waiting for the most? Choose your reaction or share your top pick. My favorite? Street Fighter. ❤️

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Horrible news to hear about KeokeN Interactive having laid off their entire team today. In a statement published on X, CEO Koen Deetman and managing director Paul Deetman said the Netherlands-based studio was forced into the decision after exhausting all possible options for completing planned projects or taking on other work. To those affected, please find a comprehensive list of resources, below: 🥇First, Discipline Games Jobs Resources: Over the past weeks I have created 9 (at time of writing) Games Jobs Resources to find jobs in a wide range of disciplines: 🎨 Art, Animation, VFX and UI: This resource contains around 1,000 jobs worldwide across all links. Link: https://lnkd.in/eKAHK7VF ⚙ Engineering and Programming This resource lists just over 1,800 jobs worldwide across all links. It also talks about interview tips and questions to practice. Link: https://lnkd.in/eYdxANFM 🕹 Quality Assurance: This resource lists over 450 QA jobs worldwide. This post also talks about the craft of QA and contains tips and interview practice. Link: https://lnkd.in/dwwVjZuc 📑 Game Production: This resource lists around 400 jobs worldwide. It also contains info about game production as a whole and GDC talks. Link: https://lnkd.in/gxDvFM-Z 📢 Marketing & Community: This resource lists around 400 jobs worldwide. It also gives an intro into game marketing and community management. Link: https://lnkd.in/e5MuViug 🎶 Audio and Sound Design: This resource lists around 190 jobs worldwide. Link: https://lnkd.in/eSkPSsWf 📠 Studio Support, HR, Recruitment and BizDev: This resource lists around 290 jobs worldwide. Link: https://lnkd.in/ePG57_7v ⚙ IT, Helpdesk and DevOps: This resource lists around 140 jobs worldwide. Link: https://lnkd.in/e8ZsuiZh 🎮 Game Design: This resource lists around 440 jobs worldwide. https://lnkd.in/dCv_hQXv 🥈 Second, the Ultimate list of Video Games Career Resources: This should be your one-stop shop for all information. My dear friend Amir Satvat maintains these documents, he is a legend for doing this - please check them out: https://amirsatvat.com/ 🥉 Third, do not give up. Ever. No matter how dark things may look right now, I KNOW you will get through this, you have got this! 👊 Remember you are not alone. If you need help, advice, or even an ear to listen, we're here for you. Always! ➡ A request to my community, please can I ask you to repost this post to your colleagues and friends, so that we can get as many into jobs as possible! And please comment if you or your studio are currently hiring - let's help each other! Much love ❤️ #layoffs #gamesindustry #jobsingames #keokeninteractive (source: https://lnkd.in/eWK2PgvX)

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Play the game in your head before you code a single line. You must imagine every detail: gameplay, flow, visual style, UI, etc. ↳ The clearer your vision, the smoother the development. ↳ If you can't picture it distinctly, development will be chaotic. Because every new game starts in your head, in your imagination. So push it to the limits before spending any resources on development.

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Back in the Red Storm days, I spent several years as the manager of the Game Design department. In that capacity I did a lot of hiring, and I did my best to develop my team professionally. One of those folks enjoyed working at RSE, but his dream was always to work for the studio that made his favorite game. But, despite all his efforts, he was repeatedly turned down when he applied. I didn't want to lose this designer, but a dream's a dream. So I asked him to show me his latest application before he sent it in. He handed over the application and his answers, and I read. It took half a minute to figure out the issue. I asked him, "What are they asking for in question 1?" He told me. I then asked "What is your response to question 1?" Again, he told me. And finally I asked "Does your response actually answer the question in any way, shape, or form?" He stared at me for a minute, then he looked at his answers, then he looked at me again and said "No." Because instead of answering the question, he had run off detailing something he thought was cool and was enthusiastic about, which, as anyone who has done interviewing will tell you, is a big red flag. Fortunately, after a little explaining, the designer was receptive to the idea of rewriting everything to actually answer the questions at hand. He got hired at dream studio very shortly thereafter, and has had a long and fruitful career in the industry. The lesson here is simple: Answer the question you're given. That especially holds for narrative deliverables. A proper narrative deliverable should fulfill the requested purpose - no more, no less. It should answer the question, not raise new ones, not ignore the original one to tackle other concerns, not bury the original concept under a mountain of additional material. It is sometimes hard for narrative folks to rein themselves in when asked to pitch stories or characters or whatever. Good narrative types have a gift for holding the whole kit and kaboodle in their heads. They see the gestalt - where it starts, where it goes, and what's potentially going to be needed down the line that no one else is thinking about. But that can lead to producing additional work that seems logical, but that no one asked for and no one wanted yet. Often that work strays outside the lines of what is useful. This can have deeply negative consequences. Surprise presentations of unrequested work can blindside requestors and put them on the defensive. It can be seen as staking out territory that is deliberately undefined at this point, an attempt to claim others' creative space. And if it's not up to snuff, it can have long-lasting repercussions for both individuals and teams. So, answer the question. If you think more needs to be said, keep the "more" in your back pocket in case it gets requested. Don't jump the gun, don't try to steal a march, even if you think it's good or necessary. It isn't, and you're not doing yourself or your team any favors by doing so.

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Based on my experience as a Game Professional and Educator, let's discuss Game Production as a discipline. We must start by stating the Game Production's purpose and objective. A simple definition I give my students about Game Production is: Ensure the project's completion and shipping under heavy economic and productive restrictions. These restrictions are Time, Money, Experience, and Technology. For this very reason Game Production work is invisible to the players, the only evidence of success is a completed and shipped Game. Under this framework, I suggest my students to ask themselves, at the beginning of each day, the "Game Producer" question: What do you think we could do with today's available resources? I remarked to them about the present state of the aforementioned question; our available resources change every day, forcing us to pivot constantly and adjust our iterations. I hope more seasoned producers can give me feedback about these definitions. #GameProduction #GameDesign #GameEducation #HigerEducation

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