Ben Ackland

Co-Founder @meaningmachine_ Studio
Interests: voice gaming, natural language tech, accessibility, privacy, adventure games. He/him Prev.:

[NVIDIA Game Dev @NVIDIAGameDev]

Check out the full replay of our #GDC2025 session presented by @MeaningMachine_ to discover the technology behind Dead Meat's AI-powered NPC "suspects" 👀

https://t.co/4VAXV1P78M

[Mario Nawfal @MarioNawfal]

5. Dead Meat: A Murder Mystery Game Where You Control the Conversation

Dead Meat by Meaning Machine is an upcoming murder mystery game where you can ask suspects anything—whether by voice or keyboard. Want to question their alibi, explore deep topics, or even confess your love? Your words shape the game.

Persuade, manipulate, threaten, or charm your way to the truth. The interrogation room is your sandbox, and your imagination is the only limit.

At CES 2025, Dead Meat was shown running in real-time on a GeForce RTX 50 Series GPU, generating dialogue locally for the first time. Previously, it used cloud-based LLMs, but thanks to a partnership with NVIDIA, the game now runs directly on your device.

[Meaning Machine @MeaningMachine_]

New DEAD MEAT trailer out now!

Your chance to put an evil sect of Billionaires in the interrogation chair - and grill them within an inch of their life.

A fitting tale for the modern age... but with more blood, burgers, and body-parts.

https://t.co/zoeZKmtG4r #indiegame #AI

[Ben Ackland @bfackland]

Calling all #Unity #UnrealEngine developers with #fullstack #API experience! We're hiring a Senior Game Tech Engineer @MeaningMachine_ . An exciting opportunity to work on both game dev and backend systems - and shape the future of AI in games!

https://t.co/G3D89ObN51

[Meaning Machine @MeaningMachine_]

We're thrilled to win @MyWorldCreates funding for our "Game Conscious"™ Characters.

No more lore dumps, no more generic barks, no more "wtf are you talking about, barkeep?"

🤖➡️🧙‍♂️

Death to lifeless NPCs! Long live @MeaningMachine_!

@DigiCatapult @BristolUni 🙌

[WASD @WASDlive_]

Dead Meat is an experimental murder-mystery.🚨

Pack your trenchcoat & play it at WAZD!🕵️

🔎Interrogate the suspect & solve the murder before it's too late!
👉Follow @MeaningMachine_ for more
✨Wishlist on Steam, link in🧵

[Immersive Futures Lab @ImmersiveFuture]

Experience creative innovation in gaming at #IFLSXSW.

Game studio @MeaningMachine_ are exploring the possibilities unlocked by #GenerativeAI. Their Game Conscious tech makes game worlds more immersive and organic! Experience it @sxsw: https://t.co/8XUPESB0R1

@SXSWGaming

[Meaning Machine @MeaningMachine_]

It was great to talk to @PreMortemGames about our new game Dead Meat!

Using AI is enabling us to explore entirely new type of gameplay, and to revolutionise the detective genre.

But humans creators (us) remain at the helm - acting like Dungeon Masters to craft the experience

[Meaning Machine @MeaningMachine_]

Very proud to be highlighted by @nvidia as a company pioneering AI in games!

https://t.co/Rb01GiLKgK

They're a key partner for us in developing Game Conscious™ NPCs - and it was great to showcase our progress @tech_bristol Festival last week, thanks to @DigiCatapult #gamedev

[Meaning Machine @MeaningMachine_]

*BIG NEWS*

Our experimental murder mystery game
DEAD MEAT is coming to Steam in 2024! 🔪🩸🍔

💬Interrogate the suspect in your own words!
🧠Read their mind, find new angles on the case!
🕵️‍♀️Go get that confession, Detective!

Wishlist here: https://t.co/64VBtsQhZx

[Meaning Machine @MeaningMachine_]

Sneak peak of our new game DEAD MEAT @EGX today!

Can you make Lucia confess before her lawyers turn up?

Find us at the @rockpapershot Future of Play booth 🎮🔮

#indiedev #gamedev #egx

[Meaning Machine @MeaningMachine_]

6 months ago we were lucky enough to win a @MyWorldCreates grant to develop “Game Conscious”™ AI NPCs, supported by @nvidia.

Come see the results tomorrow at the #BristolTechFestival - we'll be doing a talk and sharing demos🧑‍💻🎮

@tech_bristol @DigiCatapult #BTF23

[MyWorld @MyWorldCreates]

@MeaningMachine_ discuss how generative #AI has created uncertainty with game developers, and their approach to empowering the community by developing an AI tool for in-game characters and dialogue.

Learn more in their blog 👉https://t.co/OPOBxmEFlE

[Meaning Machine @MeaningMachine_]

We're hyped to be at #developconf! 🎮

Come say hi if you wanna chat about using Natural Language to create fun gameplay mechanics 👋

"Games that speak to you" - it's the future! 🗣️

Tom & Ben 🤡🤡

@developconf #indiedev #gamedev

[We Speak Games @wespeakgames]

Congratulations to 'Interment' - winner of Bristol's @globalgamejam 2023! What an awesome weekend creating games and making friends - @wespeakgames can't wait for next year.

#GGJ23 #gamedev #indiedev @dBs_Institute @bristolgameshub @RaredropGames @jackalowe @graceballwriter

[We Speak Games @wespeakgames]

Feeling a bit deflated after the festive period? Banish those January blues with Isaac Prior's hilarious talk about #voice in #gaming past, present and future. Find out why he had the whole audience in stitches in his YouTube video: https://t.co/Jkxx6qxwtF

#gametech #gamedev

[We Speak Games @wespeakgames]

Watch Tom Keane from @godolphin_games share his learnings about voice-controlled #game design at #wespeakgames 2022. From #voice led puzzle design, to narrative frameworks, this frank & funny talk is not to be missed!

Available now on YouTube: https://t.co/6Sq4bm4vFt
#gamedev

[We Speak Games @wespeakgames]

Recordings of all the talks from the UK's first conference on #Voice in #Gaming, We Speak Games 2022, are now available on YouTube!

Watch them now: https://t.co/T3vUqiccOs

#gamedevs #IndieGameDev #gametech #accessibility #conference #summit

[Ben Ackland @bfackland]

I thoroughly enjoyed hosting the @wespeakgames #voice in #gaming summit this week! Great speakers, great crowd, great conversation. Thanks to everyone who made it happen!

[We Speak Games @wespeakgames]

1 week to go ‘til the UK’s first conference on #voice in #gaming!

Our #speakers will be covering everything from puzzle design to privacy & there will be some super exciting game #demos too. We can't wait to see you!

#event #gametech #gamedev #alexa #indiegame #bristol