Big Walk
GameBy House House
Documents about Big Walk
Jason Schreier20 min
How COVID Led To Big Walk, One of This Year’s Best Video Games
The development of the cooperative game Big Walk serves as a case study in how the social isolation of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed creative innovation within the Australian studio House House.
- Big Walk, developed by the five-person Australian studio House House, has sold over 2 million copies since its August 2026 release.
- The game's core mechanic is proximity-based voice chat, which forces players to communicate in unorthodox ways to solve puzzles and discourages the use of external voice platforms like Discord.
- Development of Big Walk spanned six years, driven by a commitment to a consistent original vision rather than scaling the studio's headcount beyond its five core members.
Jason SchreierSep 2026
GameDiscoverCo39 min
'Advance Access' games - why should you pay more?
Publishers are increasingly monetizing early entry to highly anticipated titles through formal advance access programs, typically charging a premium of ten to fifteen dollars.
- GDC 2027 has restructured its format to a Monday–Friday schedule, moving the festival hall to Tuesday–Thursday and introducing a new Business Hall at Moscone West to centralize networking and mitigate the logistical challenges of the San Francisco venue.
- Advance Access for games like 'Mortal Shell II'—which achieved 23,000 concurrent users—is increasingly being monetized through premium editions that charge a $10–$15 surcharge for early play, effectively creating a market for artificial scarcity and FOMO.
- PlayStation has begun de-listing publishers associated with 'shovelware' or low-effort games designed primarily for easy Platinum trophy farming, though the platform's enforcement remains inconsistent and subject to reversal.
GameDiscoverCoAug 2026
Extra Credits109 min
Games For Breakfast Feat. TierZoo | Ep.73 | Gaming News
The modern gaming landscape is defined by a tension between player-driven innovation and the volatility of platform-level control.
- Old School RuneScape is introducing a 'BronzeMan' mode, an official implementation of a previously unofficial community challenge similar to the 'Iron Man' mode.
- The game 'Aliens: Fireteam Elite' on Nintendo Switch has become inaccessible to users because it relied on cloud streaming, and the servers hosting the game have been shut down.
- Hello Games is using the development of 'No Man's Sky' as a technical testing ground for mechanics that will be implemented in their upcoming title, 'Light No Fire'.
Extra CreditsAug 2026
GameDiscoverCo37 min
Too many 'compulsion loops' in PC games?
Vertical video has emerged as a critical driver for game discovery, fundamentally altering how developers approach marketing and audience acquisition.
- Influencers are currently the primary source of traffic for Steam games, particularly for strategy, tactics, and roguelike titles, making them essential partners for developers.
- Vertical video has surpassed horizontal video in internet consumption, necessitating that developers consider how their game visuals appear when cropped for platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
- Technical performance on mid-level PC hardware is critical for launch success, as evidenced by the negative reception of the Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls open beta due to poor optimization.
GameDiscoverCoAug 2026
Companies behind it
As the documents state it.