Kathryn Long
@voidstarkat.bsky.social
She/her — 🇨🇦 Technical Artist — Prev. Thought Pennies, Ubisoft & BioWare — Cyborg Catgirl — LESBIAB — http://pronoun.is/she — Mastodon: https://unstable.systems/@voidstarkat
Reposted by Kathryn Long
"If you hate GenAI you're going to have to stop playing new games when they all start using it"
My brother in Christ, my backlog is literally thousands of games long. I have lifetimes worth of earlier titles to play, & I will gladly do that instead of boiling the oceans for a new CoD or whatever
My brother in Christ, my backlog is literally thousands of games long. I have lifetimes worth of earlier titles to play, & I will gladly do that instead of boiling the oceans for a new CoD or whatever
June 27, 2025 at 1:30 PM
"If you hate GenAI you're going to have to stop playing new games when they all start using it"
My brother in Christ, my backlog is literally thousands of games long. I have lifetimes worth of earlier titles to play, & I will gladly do that instead of boiling the oceans for a new CoD or whatever
My brother in Christ, my backlog is literally thousands of games long. I have lifetimes worth of earlier titles to play, & I will gladly do that instead of boiling the oceans for a new CoD or whatever
Reposted by Kathryn Long
3 years ago today, Riot Games offered me a job making more money than I ever thought I’d make in my life. I had 19 interviews over 2.5 months to get it. Partner and I were moving to LA for it. I put in notice at my job and apartment.
2 weeks later they rescinded the offer due to “headcount issues”.
2 weeks later they rescinded the offer due to “headcount issues”.
November 15, 2025 at 2:07 PM
3 years ago today, Riot Games offered me a job making more money than I ever thought I’d make in my life. I had 19 interviews over 2.5 months to get it. Partner and I were moving to LA for it. I put in notice at my job and apartment.
2 weeks later they rescinded the offer due to “headcount issues”.
2 weeks later they rescinded the offer due to “headcount issues”.
Reposted by Kathryn Long
How they still speak on us, really. Trans women aren’t allowed to be victims.
November 13, 2025 at 7:11 PM
How they still speak on us, really. Trans women aren’t allowed to be victims.
Reposted by Kathryn Long
Then why do I keep talking to devs in the US whose salary is suddenly $0
The average salary for games industry professionals based in the United States was $142,000 in 2025, according to a new report from GDC Festival of Gaming.
www.gamesindustry.biz/gdc-survey-a...
www.gamesindustry.biz/gdc-survey-a...
GDC Survey: Average salary for US games professionals was $142,000 in 2025
Findings reveal 33% of workers feel employers are "working to close existing pay gaps," while one-tenth report no efforts are being made
www.gamesindustry.biz
November 14, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Then why do I keep talking to devs in the US whose salary is suddenly $0
Reposted by Kathryn Long
Please read this in the gentlest possible voice but we HAVE to divest from mil-sims as gamedevs. Even before this AI bullshit in the latest Black Ops, these games have done so much harm and contributed massively to the dehumanization of several populations worldwide. It’s US foreign pol propaganda.
November 14, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Please read this in the gentlest possible voice but we HAVE to divest from mil-sims as gamedevs. Even before this AI bullshit in the latest Black Ops, these games have done so much harm and contributed massively to the dehumanization of several populations worldwide. It’s US foreign pol propaganda.
Military sims have long been used as recruitment tools by military and now ICE. Dismantling the police and military state requires game Devs to also stop making this propaganda. It's not neutral to be working on these games, it's active complicity in the machine of genocide and oppression
Please read this in the gentlest possible voice but we HAVE to divest from mil-sims as gamedevs. Even before this AI bullshit in the latest Black Ops, these games have done so much harm and contributed massively to the dehumanization of several populations worldwide. It’s US foreign pol propaganda.
November 14, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Military sims have long been used as recruitment tools by military and now ICE. Dismantling the police and military state requires game Devs to also stop making this propaganda. It's not neutral to be working on these games, it's active complicity in the machine of genocide and oppression
Reposted by Kathryn Long
hot take(?): the way many dedicated QA companies emphasize this problem by using AI to tag and make searchable ANYTHING interpreted as negative makes this problem even worse than it already is
doubly so because AI is useless and will tag potentially desirable confusion/surprise as negative
doubly so because AI is useless and will tag potentially desirable confusion/surprise as negative
The "player felt a negative emotion for a moment in a playtest, that's now a Pri 1 problem" instinct in AAA prod is a huge tarpit for our industry
November 14, 2025 at 9:04 PM
hot take(?): the way many dedicated QA companies emphasize this problem by using AI to tag and make searchable ANYTHING interpreted as negative makes this problem even worse than it already is
doubly so because AI is useless and will tag potentially desirable confusion/surprise as negative
doubly so because AI is useless and will tag potentially desirable confusion/surprise as negative
Reposted by Kathryn Long
Lesbianism makes everything better
November 13, 2025 at 7:37 AM
Lesbianism makes everything better
Just remembered that I had a nightmare last night, and the central scare was AI was rewriting everything I said or spoke and making me say other things and now I realize that's pretty much where we're found in real life 🫠
November 14, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Just remembered that I had a nightmare last night, and the central scare was AI was rewriting everything I said or spoke and making me say other things and now I realize that's pretty much where we're found in real life 🫠
Reposted by Kathryn Long
"People are mad that BlueSky won't allow them to make death threats."
No! People are mad that BlueSky's AI automod regularly gets it wrong, moderation decisions/ penalties are seemingly arbitrary, and the moderation team has terrible comms.
No! People are mad that BlueSky's AI automod regularly gets it wrong, moderation decisions/ penalties are seemingly arbitrary, and the moderation team has terrible comms.
November 14, 2025 at 3:14 PM
"People are mad that BlueSky won't allow them to make death threats."
No! People are mad that BlueSky's AI automod regularly gets it wrong, moderation decisions/ penalties are seemingly arbitrary, and the moderation team has terrible comms.
No! People are mad that BlueSky's AI automod regularly gets it wrong, moderation decisions/ penalties are seemingly arbitrary, and the moderation team has terrible comms.
Reposted by Kathryn Long
It cannot be remembered enough that these were the same people who got worked up about drag brunches
November 14, 2025 at 3:08 PM
It cannot be remembered enough that these were the same people who got worked up about drag brunches
Reposted by Kathryn Long
I am very disappointed that the revelation Arc Raiders uses AI voices hasn't completely destroyed the game.
Gamers, as always, are the weakest fucking link.
Gamers, as always, are the weakest fucking link.
November 14, 2025 at 7:50 AM
I am very disappointed that the revelation Arc Raiders uses AI voices hasn't completely destroyed the game.
Gamers, as always, are the weakest fucking link.
Gamers, as always, are the weakest fucking link.
Reposted by Kathryn Long
Just fucking insane to see the absolute (intentional) collapse of full remote jobs available for AAA studios in so short a time. Why would I EVER move for a job again when I could be laid off weeks after moving my entire life across the globe??
November 14, 2025 at 7:12 AM
Just fucking insane to see the absolute (intentional) collapse of full remote jobs available for AAA studios in so short a time. Why would I EVER move for a job again when I could be laid off weeks after moving my entire life across the globe??
Reposted by Kathryn Long
hey remember how that one big tech ceo was on a panel in like 2021/22 where someone asked him about how remote work gave a lot more power to the workers and he chuckled and said “yeah well a little recession will take care of that”
I think about that often.
I think about that often.
Just fucking insane to see the absolute (intentional) collapse of full remote jobs available for AAA studios in so short a time. Why would I EVER move for a job again when I could be laid off weeks after moving my entire life across the globe??
November 14, 2025 at 8:11 AM
hey remember how that one big tech ceo was on a panel in like 2021/22 where someone asked him about how remote work gave a lot more power to the workers and he chuckled and said “yeah well a little recession will take care of that”
I think about that often.
I think about that often.
Reposted by Kathryn Long
So the streamer Ludwig recently found out that one of his earliest regular viewers, who was trans, passed away and tonight he's doing a charity stream for the Trevor Project. So far he's raised over $46,000 in about 5 hours. www.twitch.tv/ludwig
November 14, 2025 at 3:21 AM
So the streamer Ludwig recently found out that one of his earliest regular viewers, who was trans, passed away and tonight he's doing a charity stream for the Trevor Project. So far he's raised over $46,000 in about 5 hours. www.twitch.tv/ludwig
Reposted by Kathryn Long
And we knew this. This wasn't speculation. We studied it, we had the talking points. We trained volunteers to explain this to people. It's not a surprise. Rich people don't flee places with good quality of life when we increase the quality of life. They might try to cheat us, but they don't leave.
NEW: The first two years of Massachusetts' millionaire tax has raised $3 billion more than expected.
And rather than driving the rich away, IPS researchers found that the number of millionaires has *increased.*
Tax the rich. Greg Ryan in @bloomberg.com:
And rather than driving the rich away, IPS researchers found that the number of millionaires has *increased.*
Tax the rich. Greg Ryan in @bloomberg.com:
Millionaire Tax That Inspired Mamdani Fuels $5.7 Billion Haul in Massachusetts
A millionaire levy in Massachusetts that New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani holds up as a model for taxing the rich has generated $3 billion more in revenue than expected without forcing...
www.bloomberg.com
November 14, 2025 at 4:16 AM
And we knew this. This wasn't speculation. We studied it, we had the talking points. We trained volunteers to explain this to people. It's not a surprise. Rich people don't flee places with good quality of life when we increase the quality of life. They might try to cheat us, but they don't leave.
Reposted by Kathryn Long
🎮the people are celebrating the invention of a "steam machine." the year is 1804.
November 12, 2025 at 7:01 PM
🎮the people are celebrating the invention of a "steam machine." the year is 1804.
Reposted by Kathryn Long
Ask literally any voice actor if they get royalties from the video games they worked on.
They will tell you no. They might even laugh.
Now imagine any developer actively trying to use AI VO to save money wanting to offer something like that.
They will tell you no. They might even laugh.
Now imagine any developer actively trying to use AI VO to save money wanting to offer something like that.
Also, re: "they get royalties", how much money is that? Does it make up for the lack of continued work?
Paying next to nothing is still "getting paid royalties" but is functionally nothing.
Paying next to nothing is still "getting paid royalties" but is functionally nothing.
November 11, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Ask literally any voice actor if they get royalties from the video games they worked on.
They will tell you no. They might even laugh.
Now imagine any developer actively trying to use AI VO to save money wanting to offer something like that.
They will tell you no. They might even laugh.
Now imagine any developer actively trying to use AI VO to save money wanting to offer something like that.
Reposted by Kathryn Long
I've been doing video game VO since 2003. In my 20+ years, only ONE game has ever paid "royalties/residuals/bonus payments."
That game?
Date Everything.
And that's ONLY because it's a game produced by professional voice actors who purposefully created a special contract for the game w/ SAG-AFTRA.
That game?
Date Everything.
And that's ONLY because it's a game produced by professional voice actors who purposefully created a special contract for the game w/ SAG-AFTRA.
Ask literally any voice actor if they get royalties from the video games they worked on.
They will tell you no. They might even laugh.
Now imagine any developer actively trying to use AI VO to save money wanting to offer something like that.
They will tell you no. They might even laugh.
Now imagine any developer actively trying to use AI VO to save money wanting to offer something like that.
Also, re: "they get royalties", how much money is that? Does it make up for the lack of continued work?
Paying next to nothing is still "getting paid royalties" but is functionally nothing.
Paying next to nothing is still "getting paid royalties" but is functionally nothing.
November 12, 2025 at 8:54 PM
I've been doing video game VO since 2003. In my 20+ years, only ONE game has ever paid "royalties/residuals/bonus payments."
That game?
Date Everything.
And that's ONLY because it's a game produced by professional voice actors who purposefully created a special contract for the game w/ SAG-AFTRA.
That game?
Date Everything.
And that's ONLY because it's a game produced by professional voice actors who purposefully created a special contract for the game w/ SAG-AFTRA.
Reposted by Kathryn Long
As all this disgusting Epstein shit starts surfacing more and more, I hope we don't lose sight of the fact that apparently every major media outlet knew everything and instead spent their time money and energy attacking the trans community.
November 13, 2025 at 1:07 AM
As all this disgusting Epstein shit starts surfacing more and more, I hope we don't lose sight of the fact that apparently every major media outlet knew everything and instead spent their time money and energy attacking the trans community.
Reposted by Kathryn Long
Important to understand the Epstein stuff and the fascism and the corruption are, in a lot of ways, really all the same story from different angles: powerful men who can and do abuse vulnerable people around them because they can, and because systems of elite accountability catastrophically failed
November 12, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Important to understand the Epstein stuff and the fascism and the corruption are, in a lot of ways, really all the same story from different angles: powerful men who can and do abuse vulnerable people around them because they can, and because systems of elite accountability catastrophically failed
Reposted by Kathryn Long
We don’t use generative AI at Strange Scaffold and I can confirm that a *lot* of other studios are not—whether indie or AAA.
Get outta here with this normalization bullshit.
Get outta here with this normalization bullshit.
“It’s important to assume every game company is now using AI.” Nexon CEO comments on role of human creativity as AI tools become the norm
automaton-media.com/en/news/its-...
automaton-media.com/en/news/its-...
“It’s important to assume every game company is now using AI.” Nexon CEO comments on role of human creativity as AI tools become the norm - AUTOMATON WEST
In an interview following the launch of ARC Raiders, the CEO of Embark Studios' parent company Nexon shares his views on AI.
automaton-media.com
November 12, 2025 at 3:25 AM
We don’t use generative AI at Strange Scaffold and I can confirm that a *lot* of other studios are not—whether indie or AAA.
Get outta here with this normalization bullshit.
Get outta here with this normalization bullshit.
Reposted by Kathryn Long
Counterpoint: Absolutely fucking not.
“It’s important to assume every game company is now using AI.” Nexon CEO comments on role of human creativity as AI tools become the norm
automaton-media.com/en/news/its-...
automaton-media.com/en/news/its-...
“It’s important to assume every game company is now using AI.” Nexon CEO comments on role of human creativity as AI tools become the norm - AUTOMATON WEST
In an interview following the launch of ARC Raiders, the CEO of Embark Studios' parent company Nexon shares his views on AI.
automaton-media.com
November 12, 2025 at 9:18 AM
Counterpoint: Absolutely fucking not.
Reposted by Kathryn Long
I’ve seen a few folks go for the “if you simply must watch that new Harry Potter show just pirate it” and sorry. No. Just no. Just don’t watch it. At all. Ever. Break free of it. It’s time. You’ll be ok. I promise. I know it mattered to you as a kid. Find new things, it’s healthier. Just move on.
November 12, 2025 at 12:57 AM
I’ve seen a few folks go for the “if you simply must watch that new Harry Potter show just pirate it” and sorry. No. Just no. Just don’t watch it. At all. Ever. Break free of it. It’s time. You’ll be ok. I promise. I know it mattered to you as a kid. Find new things, it’s healthier. Just move on.