GDC 2025 Session Viewer
User Generated Compassion in 'Sky: Children of the Light'
Kyle Holdwick (Lead Gameplay Engineer, thatgamecompany)
Pass Type: All Access Pass, Core Pass - Get your pass now!
Track: Design
Format: Lecture
Vault Recording: TBD
Audience Level: All
Many studios today want to add User Generated Content systems to their games to help add content, boost player engagement, and improve the social experience in their game worlds. Over the past few years, Lead Gameplay Engineer Kyle Holdwick and the design and engineering teams at thatgamecompany have been doing exactly that by building the technology and refining the designs of UGC systems in Sky: Children of the Light! Follow along with Kyle as he recounts the journey of creating these systems, the questions they had to ask themselves, the struggles they went through developing them, and the lessons that they have learned along the way.
Takeaway
Attendees will gain insights into how thatgamecompany approached the design and development of their User Generated Content systems in Sky: Children of the Light. They will gain an understanding of the lessons learned by the studio and hopefully how to better approach User Generated Content for video games in general.
Intended Audience
This talk is primarily targeted towards designers, gameplay engineers, and anyone who has any curiosity about designing and developing User Generated Content systems for a live game. No prerequisites for this one as the concepts and ideas presented here are applicable to any discipline, game, or programming language!