Anthony Mulhall 🔜

#BUDGET2026 Delighted to see the extension Digital Games Tax Credit extended to 2031 and the adoption of IMIRT - The Irish Game Makers Association proposals. The inclusion of post release content will be such a positive change for the Irish Games Industry. I believe that this change will make Ireland a much more attractive destination for studios internationally. These changes demonstrate the governments continued support for the Games sector in Ireland. 

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🕹️ Digital Games Competency Framework 🕹️ Hello there everyone, IMIRT - The Irish Game Makers Association and Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland have recently partnered with Alex Kotsos to create a Competency Framework for the Games Industry. We’re looking for advice from people of all levels and from all backgrounds. No role is too obscure! You don’t have to be in Ireland to contribute. The project defines roles and levels within those roles across the breadth of the industry (Development, Publishing and Support Functions) and is generally split departmentally (Engineering, Design, Production, Art, etc.) and across the different levels of those roles (Junior up to Director). This project is intended to be of use to anyone and everyone who picks it up who has even a passing interest in games: - Government departments and agencies will actually be able to understand what we do. - Universities and education providers will be able to better plan courses for future skills needs. - People starting off will know what skillsets they’ll need to actually transition into the industry. - Studios will have a ready-made job classification framework to assist with gender pay gap and pay transparency reporting. - Studios will be able to see skillsets that they currently lack and teach/hire for those competencies. - People in studios will be able to see what skillsets they’ll need to be able to reach the next level within their career. - People transitioning to other roles, for example environment to tech art will be able to see any missing skillsets and transition more easily. This list is by no means exhaustive but gives you an idea of what we’re trying to do. Please note that the fruits of this project will be made publicly available to anyone across the world who would like to make use of it. If you’re interested in getting involved, sign up via this link: https://lnkd.in/dj3fRpGh

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Here's another piece of fantastic research from Steph Rennick at the University of Stirling, which provides troubling reading for every developer out there. If almost a third of female players feel guilty about playing games, what does that say about how we value (and market and target) #videogames?

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Games Industry Predictions for 2026 I want to share a set of personal predictions that reflect only my views and do not represent my employer, our community, or anyone else. These come from three years of our community’s data, insight from the 5,000 plus studios and partners connected to our network, and many polls and conversations with you. I am not putting hard numbers on most of these yet, but I am confident enough in the direction of these trends to offer these conclusions. In 2026 1. The velocity and magnitude of games hiring will continue to increase The recovery trend is real and accelerating. 2. Layoffs will remain in a similar magnitude ballpark to 2025 Stability will improve but not dramatically. 3. New entrants and attempted entrants will continue to accelerate Including graduates, lateral movers, and those laid off. 4. Early career pressure will remain extremely high I do not see entry challenges easing yet. 5. A rising share of laid off games professionals will find work outside games Despite point 1, the pressure of point 3 will still challenge point 1. 6. The share of open roles in North America and Western Europe will continue to decrease Opportunities will grow in Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Asia. 7. A greater share of total production load will continue shifting to external development and contractors Studios will rely on distributed talent more than ever. 8. The average individual’s purchase of full price AAA games will remain flat or decline Prices are challenging in a tough macroeconomic environment, and, particularly, long running series compete with their own cheaper older entries. 9. Indie games will remain the majority of top critical titles Independent creators will continue to shape many celebrated releases. 10. The share of roles in North America will diversify slightly away from the top five states and regions Cost pressures will keep reshaping hiring footprints. 11. Gaps in supply and demand for the most competitive fields like game design, writing, and narrative will get worse Openings remain tight while demand rises. 12. Placement rates will, relatively, improve for mid career professionals with 5-15 years of experience A few fields will remain heavily oversubscribed. I know this reads as a tough picture. It is tough. But I do not believe in most apocalyptic scenarios. I believe it will keep becoming a more globally employed sector with downward pressure on compensation as similar quality talent emerges at lower cost locations. Discoverability will get harder and creators will need to adapt to new influencer driven and socially driven paths for players to find their work. Opportunity will still come from democratized access and the ability for anyone to create something great. The biggest challenges will be at the AAA level where costs remain high. Many teams risk staying locked in a hit or miss survival cycle. I hope more teams break out of that cycle and experiment with new approaches.

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As someone who used to sit on the fence between both the Games industry and Music Industry, I understand where this comes from yet also see it as a potential negative that will only hurt both games publishers and ultimately music artists. A number of artists may no longer be considered for sync deals if the cost of including their music becomes too high. As someone who ran a couple of record labels and represented a number of bands / artists there were a couple of instances we waved rights to get tracks into Playstation projects that ultimately generated more from the initial sync deal than any PRS royalties that would come later on. Yet those same royalties had the potential to completely tank the game project if they were in place. I'm a firm believer "if it ain't broke don't fix it" and I think PRS could cause more trouble then good here. https://lnkd.in/eYrhuDhX

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Just announced at the NEXUS Games Summit by Imirt Board Member, Elaine Dowman, six incredible teams have been awarded the first stage of the Irish Games Fund. We’re delighted to say that the six teams are: - DREAMFEEL - ENIGMA STUDIO - Mystic Systems - Outlier - Pewter Games Studios - Psychic Software The Irish Games Fund, developed in partnership with Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, is a first-of-its-kind games fund for Ireland, giving developers the support they need to validate, develop and deliver their project. Stage one of the #IrishGamesFund offers developers €8,000 for project validation, allowing them to execute on ideas that may have previously been out of reach. This staged accelerator fund will invest a total of €200,000 into successful teams as they progress through stages 2 and 3. If you want to hear from these amazing teams, read the post below; https://lnkd.in/eKtjXYPx Ardán Colm Larkin Leela Collins 🔜 NEXUS Dublin

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This role has opened about twenty years too late, but it is good to finally see it happening. Ireland has a great deal to offer the global games industry. For years, Screen Ireland largely overlooked the rise of games as they grew into the world’s largest and most significant form of media. The position might suit someone already based in Ireland who actively champions the games industry internationally, people such as Barry O'Neill Dylan Collins Steven Collins Rich Barnwell? https://lnkd.in/eX-UHEe4

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🕹️So excited by this partnership! 🕹️ I had the chance to visit TGA UK last year and came away really impressed by their approach. What stood out most was their commitment to replicating the realities of game development inside the classroom. Partnerships like this are hugely important for the industry. The closer we can bring studios and education together, the better we can support the next generation of developers entering the space! Looking forward to seeing what comes out of this collaboration and hopefully meeting more of the talented students coming through TGA UK in the future. #GameDev #GameDevelopment #FutureTalent #TGAUK #CastIronGames

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Here at the Sumo Digital Academy, we’ve spent 5 years honing how we train the next generation of developers inside a real studio environment. We’ve created post-graduate apprenticeships in Game Programming and Technical Art that deliver meaningful skills, real projects, and genuine career pathways. We’ve received awards from government and been rated Outstanding across the board by Ofsted (https://lnkd.in/dERhWA5S). Now we want to explore whether we can deliver the same apprenticeship experience for studios outside of the Sumo Group.   Sumo’s apprentices don’t just learn—they ship products. The Academy has released multiple products and is currently leading development on the funded indie title NUTMEG! (https://lnkd.in/ekaGNVb5). These are not new hires that need extensive handholding, but industry ready developers primed to work on real games.   We know the industry is facing challenges, but those pressures make it more important than ever to invest in new talent. Without a strong pipeline, studios risk losing the skills and new ideas that they need to thrive. I strongly believe that we have trained future industry leaders—the very people who will go on to help ensure that we all have an industry to work in for years to come.   If you’d like to know more then drop me a PM and I’ll happily share more information and discuss how it could work for you. PS: Wishlist NUTMEG! now! https://lnkd.in/ekaGNVb5 😉

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As an IP with Polish heritage - it is even biggest honor for Plaion Poland team to be responsible for the 2nd time for Lords of the Fallen launch in Poland and the region. Last time we manage to craft partnership between CI / Plaion and Microsoft and the effect was an XBOX SERIES X hard bundle. So the bar is high - but we intend to go over.

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⚠️ RECRUITMENT SCAM ALERT – Please Share We’ve recently discovered that imposters are pretending to be members of Game Pill, sending fake interview invitations for junior game developer–type roles. These imposters have posted fake job ads on popular job sites, so please be extra cautious when responding to opportunities online. 🚨 These messages are NOT from Game Pill. All legitimate interviews and official communications will be conducted via Zoom Video Call and will come from an @gamepill.com email address. We do not use Microsoft teams for recruiting efforts, nor will be ever send you a link to complete an online form prior to an interview. ✅ Other game studios are also being targeted by similar fraud. Real companies will never ask for banking or personal information during the interview process. If you receive a suspicious message: 🚫 Don’t click any links 🚫 Don’t share personal information 📩 Report it as phishing and delete it We’re actively working to have these fraudulent accounts taken down and truly appreciate everyone who has helped flag them. Let’s protect our community — please share this post to spread the word. 💪🎮

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Are We Pricing Players Out of the Market? I have been looking at the rising cost of PC components, specifically the spike in memory modules driven by global demand. It is creating a worrying bottleneck for the gaming industry. To understand this, we have to look back at the 'Xbox 360 era'. Developers were forced to work within incredibly strict hardware constraints (512MB of RAM!). This limitation birthed some of the most creative optimisation techniques we have ever seen. The focus was on art direction and gameplay loops because brute-forcing fidelity was impossible. First, the current trend of "unoptimised at launch" is colliding with hardware inflation. If a mid-range gaming PC now costs 40% more to build than it did four years ago, and games require DLSS just to hit 60fps at 1080p, we are shrinking our total addressable market. We are effectively telling millions of gamers: "This product is not for you." Second, reliance on raw power is making development lazy. When we assume the end-user has 32GB of DDR5, we stop prioritising efficient memory management. This bloat increases build times, storage requirements, and eventually, the cost of production itself. Third, this creates an opportunity for the 'AA' market to shine again. Just as the 360 era proved, gameplay reigns supreme. Games that run beautifully on a Steam Deck or a 5-year-old GPU are finding massive success because they are accessible. Here is where I see this going. Studios need to pivot their hiring strategy. We need to stop over-indexing on specialists who only know how to push the latest engines to their breaking point, and start hunting for Technical Artists and Engine Programmers who understand low-level optimisation. Optimisation is not just a technical task; it is a sales strategy. If your game runs on a potato, everyone can buy it. If it requires a supercomputer, you are fighting for a slice of a very small pie. Let's aim for the spirit of the 360 era—where constraint bred creativity. #GameDev #PCGaming #Hardware #TechArt #GameDesign

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"'Ireland is one of the key emerging game development hubs in the EU. We are more than happy to welcome Irish game developers into our network to share best practices, solve the industry’s challenges, and unite ourselves in building a European game industry on European terms,' said Jari-Pekka Kaleva, managing director of EGDF."

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72% of devs believe Steam has a monopoly on PC games. Conducted by Atomik Research, 306 industry executives were surveyed across the UK and USA. 75% of respondents were senior managers or C-suite level, with 77% from studios with more than 50 employees. The study found that for most studios, Steam accounts for over 75% of revenue. In US law, you’d need to either control the production pipeline top to bottom, or hold a dominant share through acquisitions of competitors. Steam does neither. Valve hasn’t bought out rivals and it doesn’t own all the studios that make the games sold through its store. What it does own is competence, and that’s where this whole argument starts to fall apart. Almost every other storefront has had years to compete, and almost all have stumbled. This isn’t a case of Valve killing competition. The competition just keeps shooting itself in the foot. Steam spent years refining features that now define the PC ecosystem: cloud saves, remote play, Workshop mods, forums, reviews, refund policies, and Proton support for Linux users. It built hardware, an OS, and a handheld that all tie back into the same ecosystem. Most importantly, it kept the service stable, predictable, and user-focused. That level of reliability became its moat. What developers call a monopoly is often just a reflection of consumer trust. Steam is where people go because they know their games, progress, and friends will still be there in a decade. It’s not market manipulation it’s consistency. If studios think they “rely too heavily” on Steam, that says more about their alternatives than about Valve itself. No one forced them to abandon their own launchers or build weak ones. Consumers simply migrate to what works best for them. It’s worth remembering that monopolies aren’t defined by popularity or market share alone. A monopoly becomes illegal when it restrains competition. Steam hasn’t done that. It hasn’t blocked other stores, locked content, or acquired rivals. It just runs the best version of what everyone else keeps trying to make. The day someone builds a better, more reliable, more feature-rich service, Steam will finally have a real challenger. Until then, calling it a monopoly is just a way to avoid admitting the obvious: they aren’t trying to kill their competition. Their competition is almost non-existent.

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Took a chance to speak about homegrown tech, hiring junior engineers and how studio business model impacts their engineering org, among other things, on the latest Evo Gaming podcast. Thanks for the opportunity Grace Moody Thanks for the conversation Anton Lapshin Javier García de la Cita Henry Lunabba

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July 2025 Pragma Engine Update is Live Quick update for our studios and developers currently using Pragma, plus anyone interested in learning more about our engine and our commitment to helping studios build amazing games. New in this release: 🔐 Role-based access controls - Assign granular permissions to team members, which has been a pain point for larger teams 🎮 Better multi-game project support - Managing multiple games and shared accounts is much cleaner now, especially through the CLI 🛠️ Self-serve multi-node configuration - You can now define and verify your own service-to-node mappings without needing to go through support Full release notes are available if anyone wants the technical details: https://lnkd.in/e_mZ6XBv

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A few weeks back IMIRT - The Irish Game Makers Association launched Ireland’s first Game Development Fund! The fund is managed by Imirt with support from Ardán as a part of the Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland Digital Games Portfolio. The Irish Games Fund is a new staged accelerator designed to empower emerging Irish studios through funding, mentorship, and structured development support. This is your chance to validate your project, build a playable prototype, and prepare for commercial release. At a time when funding is particularly difficult this is a great opportunity for Irish studios. Applications close tomorrow at 5pm. so don't miss out on an incredible opportunity.

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So we're running another pitch session today with Jon Cartwright (and his "Iron FistTM hold over AU/NZ game development"). CODE runs the workshop with Jon three times a year as it not only helps with the quality of our applications, it helps set us up for success when it comes to the outcomes of CODE's international showcases and pitching events. On top of this, we were in a meeting with a partner helping out with an international trade intervention we're doing at a forthcoming event this year and a very senior staff member commented about how they regularly attend trade shows and the level of (un)preparedness it seems so many attendees have, even those who have been in business for some time. It seems obvious to some, but even in this day and age, in preparing to attend an event when you're pitching your game or service, don't leave home without: ➡️ Learning how to pitch effectively with someone who knows what they're doing and has experience doing so. It's a learnt skill, don't assume you can just wing it or whack together a slide presentation- you might not know what bases you're not covering. ➡️ Pitch deck(s) that you can deliver in ten minutes. Make multiple versions if you have to so you can tailor your presentation to the audience or the business interests of whom you are pitching to. ➡️ 10-15 minute demo of your game. No more-assume the people playing are time poor. Not just the first intro level, but something that shows off the core elements. ➡️ Trailers, teasers and a gameplay video if you have them. ➡️ Physical business cards. Yes, even in 2026 and especially if you're going to an East Asian event. You can whack a QR code on them for handy download links. ➡️ Maybe a company deck or appropriate deck if you are a service provider. If you are a company coming from an adjacent sector into games, you want to show material as game industry-relevant as possible. If you're a game studio doing this, it's a handy thing to have, but use it to demonstrate your capability, don't get too hung up on your values. ➡️ I like to make a crib sheet of three lines of research of everyone I'm meeting in a day, particularly for new contacts as things can turn into a blur. Check folks' profile out here, search their names and backgrounds. Remember this is all a dance or a game and it's easier to play if you understand the rules. Preparedness is everything.

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