Towers

I break stuff / QA Lead in Videogames
Previously: @TempestRTS, @PlayHyenas, @totalwar, @Halo Wars 2
Disaster, 📸Bad Photographer

[Del @TheCartelDel]

When I say a AAA trailer can cost "about four months of development iteration time", I don't mean it LITERALLY takes four months to edit a video. I mean that's roughly how much disruption gets spread across the team.

The first month is goddamn death by a thousand cuts. Producers and Directors need to figure out what the trailer is trying to say. Teams are pulled into meetings. Features get reprioritized. Artists, designers, engineers and QA all have to estimate what they can realistically contribute. Nobody stops working entirely, but everybody for sure loses some momentum.

Then you can have a period of intense focus where parts of the team temporarily pivot away from buildin the core game. Artists gotta create bespoke assets. Engineers are hacking together functionality that only needs to work in a controlled environment. Designers have script moments that sell the fantasy that takes so much iteration to get right. QA has to maybe validate a slice of the game that may not represent the wider experience. Because you can't showcase something that looks well but doesn't play well, (and then you're stuck with bullshit that looked good in a trailer). For a month or two, a significant amount of creative energy gets redirected toward the trailer.

BUT GUYS IT GETS EVEN MORE ANNOYING WHEN THE TRAILER SHIPS.

The month after is often spent stitching all that shit back together again. Teams gotta resync, all the damn plans get rewritten. All those features built for the trailer get integrated, or re-scoped (or ABANDONED???). Feedback from execs, publisher, press, or the public might even create new priorities. Not ot mention people have to remember where they left off before the interruption.

A whole bunch of people gotta take a couple days vacation after the trailer if they had to crunch for it. The trailer migtt only be three mintes long, but every AAA game development i worked on ran on momentum.

It's not that everyone suddenly stops working for four months. It's that hundreds of people each lose little chunks of time, and eventually those chunks add up to months of development momentum disappearing into the fucking void.

I'm trying to teach everyone how Game Dev works but it's too many words sometimes.

[Tim Soret @timsoret]

There was an era when discovering a game felt mysterious & unique.

Today we are bombarded with media & commentary before even playing, game design is formulaic, rendering is standardized, we download games like jpegs.

We traded the incredible feeling of discovery for ultra convenience, cheapening the experience. Also happened in cinema & music.

And yet, I wouldn’t go back.

[DevteamLife @DevteamL]

It collapsed.

[DevteamLife @DevteamL]

Sooo, you did not updated your Jira? Tsktsksk

[Towers @TerrorTowers]

@waywardstrategy not a good fit for me. Ingame: If poor UX, it will change or kill your game's flow. Outside gameplay, you create a gated top end that people have to work through, and new meta balance to manage that can erode faction originality. Though In PVE or COOP games, this can work well.

[Towers @TerrorTowers]

Yup. I've been out of QA work for 6m. Feed is full of daily layoff posts, performative eng-farm posts, people preaching AI as the second coming, or prophetic pro-QA posts that always have an AI-gen image. I feel so disillusioned about the industry each time i have used it lately.

[Del @TheCartelDel]

Bro, Games Industry Linkedin is the worst I've ever seen it in my life. Literally thousands of people saying they have been laid off and are looking for work. It's devastating.

[wayward 'Tempest Rising' strategy @waywardstrategy]

I'm blown away. Thanks for the kudos! Strategy and Wargaming has listed Tempest Rising as the best rts to play in 2026 https://t.co/UfAzQscSk7

[Dave @GamewithDave]

Being an adult gamer means having the money to buy every game you want… and absolutely zero time to play them.

[LA\/ENDER @LavenderGhast]

Saying "It's just like Silent Hill" everytime its foggy isn't cringe, it's cool and fun and i'm tired of pretending it's not.

[Frederik Schreiber @Freschism]

It was an honor to see Tempest Rising being nominated at the Game Awards, as the only original IP RTS.

I’m incredibly proud of our team 🙏🏻

@SlipgateIron @TempestRTS @SaberGames @MYGAMES

[Tempest Rising @TempestRTS]

We're thrilled to share that Tempest Rising has been nominated for Best Sim/Strategy game of 2025 at #TheGameAwards!

Cast your vote: https://t.co/DQtKJTFzrQ

[Towers @TerrorTowers]

@waywardstrategy Working on the blisterback and hornets for Halo Wars 2 was so much fun. But the twinblades in RA3 were my fav. Could rush and haul tanks over water. Then, join the fight. It's such a cool feeling.

[Towers @TerrorTowers]

Dear diary: Hell freaking yes.
UT99 was a major part of my inspiration to join gamedev, and UT's music was a big part of that. Never thought i'd see a remix album! huge grats and thanks to @Michielvdbos, @FunkyRustic +folks

[Michiel van den Bos @Michielvdbos]

Launched!
https://t.co/dISxJiI2fI

[Tempest Rising @TempestRTS]

All-out assault.

[Tempest Rising @TempestRTS]

New recruits reporting for duty! 🎖️

#DHStockholm #TempestRising

[Towers @TerrorTowers]

@JermainePlays great meeting you! Check us out at https://t.co/dLJEbMIZAD

[Tempest Rising @TempestRTS]

Tomorrow at 10:30am CET we will be LIVE on https://t.co/nnwlezibYL from the @DreamHack Mix Stage!

Tune in to see @TrizzeLol and @nymnion go head-to-head in Tempest Rising!

[Towers @TerrorTowers]

Jetting off to help showcase @TempestRTS at @DreamHack 🇸🇪 this weekend, make sure to stop by to try it out, looking forward to all your feedback🤘!

[Michael Bailey @Mimus_]

Something no one warns you about in the games industry is the amount of t-shirts and hoodies you get. This is just *some* of my collection and not including all of the conference bits and pieces I’ve acquired too…

[Towers @TerrorTowers]

That's a WRAP for DREAMHACK Atlanta 2024!!! We had such a great time showing @TempestRTS to you all! Huge shoutout to all the crew @DreamHack + @SpaceTime_GG, who were amazing support for showcasing Tempest Rising in the freeplay zone! #DHAtlanta