Hannah Dawson
@fairlysadpanda.bsky.social
Senior backend engineer, CCP Games London. VR games developer and artist. Sometimes do politics, mental health and north London permitting. Liberal Democrat, somewhat hawkish, very pro-Europe.
I use she/her pronouns, and I hope you have a lovely day.
I use she/her pronouns, and I hope you have a lovely day.
Pinned
Hannah Dawson
@fairlysadpanda.bsky.social
· Oct 21
Hey! I'm Hannah, a trans games developer (specializing in gameplay<->server engineering), a hobbyist artist and game designer, a VR enthusiast and sometimes a Liberal Democrat political activist.
If you follow this account, expect a smorgasboard of the above topics and some bad puns.
If you follow this account, expect a smorgasboard of the above topics and some bad puns.
Trying to understand the logic of shipping a VR headset that is intended to stream PC VR games, when your platform has exactly two VR games in its top 100 (VRC and No Man's Sky, technically), and not catering at all to the VRChat audience, and not providing any new VR games alongside the launch.
November 13, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Trying to understand the logic of shipping a VR headset that is intended to stream PC VR games, when your platform has exactly two VR games in its top 100 (VRC and No Man's Sky, technically), and not catering at all to the VRChat audience, and not providing any new VR games alongside the launch.
Steam Machine - incredibly bad buy as a below-TV games machine when competing against a Deck or similar (Remember that Playstation Vita TV thing, and how the Switch/2 are overwhelmingly used in handheld mode?) and whilst you can just get a PS5, Mac Mini, etc.
Awesome single-purchase work PC.
Awesome single-purchase work PC.
November 13, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Steam Machine - incredibly bad buy as a below-TV games machine when competing against a Deck or similar (Remember that Playstation Vita TV thing, and how the Switch/2 are overwhelmingly used in handheld mode?) and whilst you can just get a PS5, Mac Mini, etc.
Awesome single-purchase work PC.
Awesome single-purchase work PC.
Incredible how I can go from real hype to "whelp, that kills competent VR dead" in ten minutes, but them's the breaks. Going from lighthouses to SLAM is performance regression, not progress. Not sure the point of the Frame at all if it's ultimately a Quest clone.
November 12, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Incredible how I can go from real hype to "whelp, that kills competent VR dead" in ten minutes, but them's the breaks. Going from lighthouses to SLAM is performance regression, not progress. Not sure the point of the Frame at all if it's ultimately a Quest clone.
Valve is now shipping a headset that has worse audio, worse controller ergonomics and worse tracking than their 2019 headset, whilst killing both the Beyond and both Tundra and HTC trackers, as I'm unaware of anyone other than Valve manufacturing Base Station 2.0s.
November 12, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Valve is now shipping a headset that has worse audio, worse controller ergonomics and worse tracking than their 2019 headset, whilst killing both the Beyond and both Tundra and HTC trackers, as I'm unaware of anyone other than Valve manufacturing Base Station 2.0s.
Reposted by Hannah Dawson
i am now, unfortunately, dead.
if lighthouse dies I die
November 12, 2025 at 6:34 PM
i am now, unfortunately, dead.
Not sure if I buy the pitch that the Frame gets announced tomorrow and then Half-Life 3 next week, but HL3 _isn't_ a VR game, or maybe HL3 has a VR SKU with different content or something. If you announce the Frame, and then announce a huge game which doesn't need the Frame...
November 11, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Not sure if I buy the pitch that the Frame gets announced tomorrow and then Half-Life 3 next week, but HL3 _isn't_ a VR game, or maybe HL3 has a VR SKU with different content or something. If you announce the Frame, and then announce a huge game which doesn't need the Frame...
The problem with the BBC is that impartiality can mean a requirement to report without fear or favour, a requirement to make all sides heard, and a requirement to be a viewed as a "neutral" (or evenly-disliked) source by all wings, and those are not all achievable without screwing up all the time.
November 10, 2025 at 1:24 PM
The problem with the BBC is that impartiality can mean a requirement to report without fear or favour, a requirement to make all sides heard, and a requirement to be a viewed as a "neutral" (or evenly-disliked) source by all wings, and those are not all achievable without screwing up all the time.
The future of games development is Wagyu beef. Developers need to specialize on quality they can sell for a premium. AAA development has to be left to projects backed by nation-state investment funds/Chinese publishers/etc.
Win on quality and hope there is an audience.
Win on quality and hope there is an audience.
November 8, 2025 at 5:57 PM
The future of games development is Wagyu beef. Developers need to specialize on quality they can sell for a premium. AAA development has to be left to projects backed by nation-state investment funds/Chinese publishers/etc.
Win on quality and hope there is an audience.
Win on quality and hope there is an audience.
The conclusion from me having an existential crisis about games development is that you either crunch to ship someone else's project or you crunch to ship your own, and if you do the former, that product has to compete with products made in far more competitive countries like China.
November 8, 2025 at 5:52 PM
The conclusion from me having an existential crisis about games development is that you either crunch to ship someone else's project or you crunch to ship your own, and if you do the former, that product has to compete with products made in far more competitive countries like China.
At this point, weighing up everything, I am genuinely not sure what the future of western games is, especially on console. Looking at job adverts, I'm not seeing a healthy range of roles being offered at all.
Then again maybe there is just an easier answer: recession, stagflation, etc.
Then again maybe there is just an easier answer: recession, stagflation, etc.
November 8, 2025 at 12:55 AM
At this point, weighing up everything, I am genuinely not sure what the future of western games is, especially on console. Looking at job adverts, I'm not seeing a healthy range of roles being offered at all.
Then again maybe there is just an easier answer: recession, stagflation, etc.
Then again maybe there is just an easier answer: recession, stagflation, etc.
God, looking at LinkedIn jobs atm and it is just a mess. If you told me London's IT industry only did sports betting and casino apps I'd believe you.
November 7, 2025 at 11:14 PM
God, looking at LinkedIn jobs atm and it is just a mess. If you told me London's IT industry only did sports betting and casino apps I'd believe you.
Union-busting action at R* is a further black mark on an already-crippled British games industry. And if it can happen at R* it can happen at any studio. Games industry staff should be unionized, and the response to attacks on workers should be the capacity to strike.
November 7, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Union-busting action at R* is a further black mark on an already-crippled British games industry. And if it can happen at R* it can happen at any studio. Games industry staff should be unionized, and the response to attacks on workers should be the capacity to strike.
Reposted by Hannah Dawson
A total and utter hero
November 4, 2025 at 11:08 AM
A total and utter hero
Reposted by Hannah Dawson
SAG-AFTRA stands in solidarity with the IWGB Game Workers Union exercising their right to organize following reports of union-busting at Rockstar. Our members’ union performances on Rockstar games are an integral part of the success and legacy of games like Grand Theft Auto.
November 4, 2025 at 12:28 AM
SAG-AFTRA stands in solidarity with the IWGB Game Workers Union exercising their right to organize following reports of union-busting at Rockstar. Our members’ union performances on Rockstar games are an integral part of the success and legacy of games like Grand Theft Auto.
If the cinema is deserted: yes, quietly, make sure you don't piss someone off
If the cinema is even 10% full - no, but if you honestly laugh or are in tears, that's OK, feelings are valid
If it's packed: the audience is literally half the fun, try and vibe it out
Peak cinema is when everyone cheers
If the cinema is even 10% full - no, but if you honestly laugh or are in tears, that's OK, feelings are valid
If it's packed: the audience is literally half the fun, try and vibe it out
Peak cinema is when everyone cheers
Is it OK to talk at the cinema? How about if it’s just during the trailers? | Polly Hudson
Is it OK to talk at the cinema? How about if it’s just during the trailers? | Polly Hudson
Some might argue that streaming movies at home has given us all etiquette amnesia. But when it comes to disrupting a screening, I think the rules have some nuance, writes Polly Hudson
www.theguardian.com
October 30, 2025 at 4:32 PM
If the cinema is deserted: yes, quietly, make sure you don't piss someone off
If the cinema is even 10% full - no, but if you honestly laugh or are in tears, that's OK, feelings are valid
If it's packed: the audience is literally half the fun, try and vibe it out
Peak cinema is when everyone cheers
If the cinema is even 10% full - no, but if you honestly laugh or are in tears, that's OK, feelings are valid
If it's packed: the audience is literally half the fun, try and vibe it out
Peak cinema is when everyone cheers
Canva (who own the software formerly called PagePlus) have now rolled out a unified app that covers photo, vector and design editing in one. Free, supported by a subscription tool that hawks the usual cloud services.
Massive unlock for local parties, esp. the LDs. www.affinity.studio/download
Massive unlock for local parties, esp. the LDs. www.affinity.studio/download
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www.affinity.studio
October 30, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Canva (who own the software formerly called PagePlus) have now rolled out a unified app that covers photo, vector and design editing in one. Free, supported by a subscription tool that hawks the usual cloud services.
Massive unlock for local parties, esp. the LDs. www.affinity.studio/download
Massive unlock for local parties, esp. the LDs. www.affinity.studio/download
The difference between a good politician and a great one is that the good politician picks a platform that wins them an election, and the great one wins on the platform they actually believe in.
October 29, 2025 at 7:06 PM
The difference between a good politician and a great one is that the good politician picks a platform that wins them an election, and the great one wins on the platform they actually believe in.
The real reason I gave up on politics (other than it being a horrendous career for the neurodivergent) is that when I spend an hour getting home on a bus on the A1010 and watching as we linger,
stuck behind a row of empty Audis, I end up considering violent revolution.
stuck behind a row of empty Audis, I end up considering violent revolution.
October 29, 2025 at 7:01 PM
The real reason I gave up on politics (other than it being a horrendous career for the neurodivergent) is that when I spend an hour getting home on a bus on the A1010 and watching as we linger,
stuck behind a row of empty Audis, I end up considering violent revolution.
stuck behind a row of empty Audis, I end up considering violent revolution.
AWS casually firing its entire games division. Would assume Twitch is gunned down at some point too.
October 28, 2025 at 9:34 PM
AWS casually firing its entire games division. Would assume Twitch is gunned down at some point too.
Please play The Séance of Blake Manor. store.steampowered.com/app/1395520/...
It's spooky and set at Halloween, Irish, and the protagonist has a nose that looks like he walked into a wall as a baby and never structurally recovered
It's also absolutely ace
It's spooky and set at Halloween, Irish, and the protagonist has a nose that looks like he walked into a wall as a baby and never structurally recovered
It's also absolutely ace
Save 10% on The Séance of Blake Manor on Steam
The Séance of Blake Manor is a supernatural detective mystery, set in 1897 Ireland, where you investigate the disappearance of Evelyn Deane in a remote hotel full of secrets and other-worldly occurren...
store.steampowered.com
October 28, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Please play The Séance of Blake Manor. store.steampowered.com/app/1395520/...
It's spooky and set at Halloween, Irish, and the protagonist has a nose that looks like he walked into a wall as a baby and never structurally recovered
It's also absolutely ace
It's spooky and set at Halloween, Irish, and the protagonist has a nose that looks like he walked into a wall as a baby and never structurally recovered
It's also absolutely ace
The UK games industry in one skeet:
October 28, 2025 at 1:23 PM
The UK games industry in one skeet:
It's increasingly clear there is something very badly wrong in the UK games industry; an industry that once was a world-leader and now appears to be incapable of shipping any sort of quality in studios larger than ten people.
October 28, 2025 at 1:19 PM
It's increasingly clear there is something very badly wrong in the UK games industry; an industry that once was a world-leader and now appears to be incapable of shipping any sort of quality in studios larger than ten people.
Whiplash from "a columnist I've followed for years said a nice thing about my skeet" to "oh god my mentions"
Uhhhh read this guy's newsletter and pick up the FT sometimes, it's like a normal newspaper but all the celebrity gossip is about company mergers
Uhhhh read this guy's newsletter and pick up the FT sometimes, it's like a normal newspaper but all the celebrity gossip is about company mergers
Always enjoy talking to Hannah on here, but this observation in particular is a real missing tooth of a “I really wish I’d thought of this and written it”, on how Brexit accelerated so many parliamentary careers.
Wheras for Badenoch ten more years would have either put paid to her via a dumb scandal or have seen here consigned to the fringe, and Starmer would have never risen beyond cabinet minister.
This is all still the echoing consequences of one bad vote in 2016.
This is all still the echoing consequences of one bad vote in 2016.
October 24, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Whiplash from "a columnist I've followed for years said a nice thing about my skeet" to "oh god my mentions"
Uhhhh read this guy's newsletter and pick up the FT sometimes, it's like a normal newspaper but all the celebrity gossip is about company mergers
Uhhhh read this guy's newsletter and pick up the FT sometimes, it's like a normal newspaper but all the celebrity gossip is about company mergers
This handy map demonstrates how Labour loses the next election and to who, in what seat, based on Labour deciding that they'll be saved by tactical voting. (It also demonstrates why the Greens have decided to Camden-ize)
October 24, 2025 at 11:07 AM
This handy map demonstrates how Labour loses the next election and to who, in what seat, based on Labour deciding that they'll be saved by tactical voting. (It also demonstrates why the Greens have decided to Camden-ize)
Anyone on Labour's right thinking "tactical voting will keep Reform out" and "this means we can hold seats due to tactical voting!" need to consider unhooking themselves off the hopium gas line. The LDs had the same mantra about localism and their reward was 8 seats in 2015.
October 24, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Anyone on Labour's right thinking "tactical voting will keep Reform out" and "this means we can hold seats due to tactical voting!" need to consider unhooking themselves off the hopium gas line. The LDs had the same mantra about localism and their reward was 8 seats in 2015.