Ian Holstead
@ianholstead.bsky.social
Designer of Alter! Gameplay Programmer on Apex Legends at Respawn. Past: Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Comp Eng at uWaterloo. Views mine. They/them
Pinned
Ian Holstead
@ianholstead.bsky.social
· Nov 19
Hi folks! I'm Ian, a dev on Apex Legends and the designer of Alter! Before Apex, I worked on Assassin's Creed Valhalla.
Aside from work, I also am an avid hiker, board gamer and dabble in photography!
Aside from work, I also am an avid hiker, board gamer and dabble in photography!
Reposted by Ian Holstead
I gotta hand it to whatever advertising firm Informa hired to make these, there really is something almost poetic about GDC's advertising being "an AI-looking depiction of an industry staple being destroyed with no clear elaboration of what comes after." Masterclass in unintentionally nailing it.
October 9, 2025 at 2:28 AM
I gotta hand it to whatever advertising firm Informa hired to make these, there really is something almost poetic about GDC's advertising being "an AI-looking depiction of an industry staple being destroyed with no clear elaboration of what comes after." Masterclass in unintentionally nailing it.
Reposted by Ian Holstead
I realized I’ve been sort of mourning the internet lately. It’s odd. This ‘place’ that used to contain a wealth of actually valuable information, and introduced me to many people I now call friends, and which paved the way for my career, has almost completely rotted away. It’s not coming back.
Do you ever think about the fact that Wikipedia is the last good major website on the internet? You aren't bombarded with ads. It doesn't try to push video on you, and it doesn't redirect you to a scam site.
October 2, 2025 at 5:48 AM
I realized I’ve been sort of mourning the internet lately. It’s odd. This ‘place’ that used to contain a wealth of actually valuable information, and introduced me to many people I now call friends, and which paved the way for my career, has almost completely rotted away. It’s not coming back.
Reposted by Ian Holstead
Bloody hell, well played
September 30, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Bloody hell, well played
Reposted by Ian Holstead
The WORST thing about getting published by Devolver is that we had to get rid of this
September 30, 2025 at 1:19 PM
The WORST thing about getting published by Devolver is that we had to get rid of this
Reposted by Ian Holstead
Reposted by Ian Holstead
Gamedev peeps!
You should go give Soupy a follow!
Fantastic designer from OG Infinity Ward/Respawn; he made Rust in COD MW2 (2009), he made Into the Abyss (the factory level) in Titanfall 2 (among other things), he's done a GDC talk (youtu.be/CkHGuHd9BgU), and he somehow has under 100 followers here
You should go give Soupy a follow!
Fantastic designer from OG Infinity Ward/Respawn; he made Rust in COD MW2 (2009), he made Into the Abyss (the factory level) in Titanfall 2 (among other things), he's done a GDC talk (youtu.be/CkHGuHd9BgU), and he somehow has under 100 followers here
September 1, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Gamedev peeps!
You should go give Soupy a follow!
Fantastic designer from OG Infinity Ward/Respawn; he made Rust in COD MW2 (2009), he made Into the Abyss (the factory level) in Titanfall 2 (among other things), he's done a GDC talk (youtu.be/CkHGuHd9BgU), and he somehow has under 100 followers here
You should go give Soupy a follow!
Fantastic designer from OG Infinity Ward/Respawn; he made Rust in COD MW2 (2009), he made Into the Abyss (the factory level) in Titanfall 2 (among other things), he's done a GDC talk (youtu.be/CkHGuHd9BgU), and he somehow has under 100 followers here
Reposted by Ian Holstead
i mean they can change what they want it's just weird to give he fangs out of nowhere
July 28, 2025 at 3:41 PM
i mean they can change what they want it's just weird to give he fangs out of nowhere
A day late but 👋
Today is Nonbinary People’s Day, a day to celebrate and raise awareness of the issues facing nonbinary people.
💛🤍 💜🖤
Nonbinary People’s Day is observed every year on July 14 and was first celebrated in 2012.
💛🤍 💜🖤
Nonbinary People’s Day is observed every year on July 14 and was first celebrated in 2012.
July 15, 2025 at 5:41 PM
A day late but 👋
Reposted by Ian Holstead
GDC talk submissions are open and just wanted to point out to people that if you were planning to apply to talk at a summit (like indie summit, narrative summit, tools summit, etc.) that there's only one call for submissions now and it's only open for a month: gdconf.com/gdc-call-for...
July 8, 2025 at 1:21 AM
GDC talk submissions are open and just wanted to point out to people that if you were planning to apply to talk at a summit (like indie summit, narrative summit, tools summit, etc.) that there's only one call for submissions now and it's only open for a month: gdconf.com/gdc-call-for...
Reposted by Ian Holstead
introducing the "puzzle compass," a certifiably correct and statistically proven chart of my infallible opinion
what games need added? let me know, because i am the authority on this purely objective study
#gamedev #indiedev #indiegames #gamestudies
what games need added? let me know, because i am the authority on this purely objective study
#gamedev #indiedev #indiegames #gamestudies
June 24, 2025 at 7:44 PM
introducing the "puzzle compass," a certifiably correct and statistically proven chart of my infallible opinion
what games need added? let me know, because i am the authority on this purely objective study
#gamedev #indiedev #indiegames #gamestudies
what games need added? let me know, because i am the authority on this purely objective study
#gamedev #indiedev #indiegames #gamestudies
Reposted by Ian Holstead
Windblown fully went under my radar because I saw it was early access and did the usual "I'll wait 'till 1.0" thing, which also caused me to miss that
a) Danger did the OST
b) it's less a soundtrack and more a new original album. it BANGS
a) Danger did the OST
b) it's less a soundtrack and more a new original album. it BANGS
9:22 Bully Ballad
YouTube video by Danger - Topic
www.youtube.com
June 15, 2025 at 11:18 PM
Windblown fully went under my radar because I saw it was early access and did the usual "I'll wait 'till 1.0" thing, which also caused me to miss that
a) Danger did the OST
b) it's less a soundtrack and more a new original album. it BANGS
a) Danger did the OST
b) it's less a soundtrack and more a new original album. it BANGS
Reposted by Ian Holstead
I left this studio in the spring but this still feels so fucking bad. Some of the most talented people I have ever worked with were at this studio. If you want some truly incredible designers, engineers, programmers on your team, consider the folks from Cliffhanger.
BREAKING: Electronic Arts is canceling its planned Black Panther game and shutting down developer Cliffhanger Studios.
EA Cancels Black Panther Game, Closes Cliffhanger Studios
bit.ly
May 28, 2025 at 6:56 PM
I left this studio in the spring but this still feels so fucking bad. Some of the most talented people I have ever worked with were at this studio. If you want some truly incredible designers, engineers, programmers on your team, consider the folks from Cliffhanger.
Reposted by Ian Holstead
Seriously, do not buy, stream, or otherwise support of promote more Harry Potter bullshit. It is no longer theoretical - Rowling is funelling those wizard bucks into getting the law changed to actively oppress an already-vulnerable minority.
May 17, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Seriously, do not buy, stream, or otherwise support of promote more Harry Potter bullshit. It is no longer theoretical - Rowling is funelling those wizard bucks into getting the law changed to actively oppress an already-vulnerable minority.
Reposted by Ian Holstead
May 7, 2025 at 4:18 AM
Reposted by Ian Holstead
Exercise your right to vote today, Canadians! Own your democracy! 🇨🇦🗳️
April 28, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Exercise your right to vote today, Canadians! Own your democracy! 🇨🇦🗳️
My 2025 GDC talk has been posted to the vault! I'm quite proud of how it turned out, and hope that any gameplay engineer could take something away from it!
If you have vault access, check it out!
gdcvault.com/play/1035276...
If you have vault access, check it out!
gdcvault.com/play/1035276...
GDC Vault
gdcvault.com
April 27, 2025 at 10:11 PM
My 2025 GDC talk has been posted to the vault! I'm quite proud of how it turned out, and hope that any gameplay engineer could take something away from it!
If you have vault access, check it out!
gdcvault.com/play/1035276...
If you have vault access, check it out!
gdcvault.com/play/1035276...
Reposted by Ian Holstead
Imagine Ben shows up at your studio's door with one of the most staggering digital art portfolios in games, and it falls apart because someone wants him feeding the AI prompt mines instead of, you know, making actual art.
Clown town.
Clown town.
I got turned down from a job after several amazing interviews because after they asked how I felt about Ai, I said I wasn’t willing to steal from other artists and violate a shit ton of copyrights. They said all the copyright issues have been resolved and ended my interview.
Just incredible.
Just incredible.
April 19, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Imagine Ben shows up at your studio's door with one of the most staggering digital art portfolios in games, and it falls apart because someone wants him feeding the AI prompt mines instead of, you know, making actual art.
Clown town.
Clown town.
Reposted by Ian Holstead
My son works for this company here in the U.K.
It was playing the video game ‘Deus Ex’ that set him on the path to becoming a Biomechanical Engineer.
Sometimes, it’s nice to highlight the good things that video games can do. And also remind myself just how proud of him I am.
It was playing the video game ‘Deus Ex’ that set him on the path to becoming a Biomechanical Engineer.
Sometimes, it’s nice to highlight the good things that video games can do. And also remind myself just how proud of him I am.
HOLY SHIT! This might be the coolest thing ever.
April 17, 2025 at 12:05 PM
My son works for this company here in the U.K.
It was playing the video game ‘Deus Ex’ that set him on the path to becoming a Biomechanical Engineer.
Sometimes, it’s nice to highlight the good things that video games can do. And also remind myself just how proud of him I am.
It was playing the video game ‘Deus Ex’ that set him on the path to becoming a Biomechanical Engineer.
Sometimes, it’s nice to highlight the good things that video games can do. And also remind myself just how proud of him I am.
Great video of tips for using Alter's tac! youtu.be/Qay8CsdOZ2M?...
Apex Guide: Quick Tips To Improve Using Alters Tactical
YouTube video by Dazs
youtu.be
April 9, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Great video of tips for using Alter's tac! youtu.be/Qay8CsdOZ2M?...
Reposted by Ian Holstead
Alt text added:
November 14, 2024 at 11:31 PM
Alt text added:
Reposted by Ian Holstead
A true heater 48 hours for The Onion, in my unbiased opinion.
April 4, 2025 at 10:45 PM
A true heater 48 hours for The Onion, in my unbiased opinion.
Reposted by Ian Holstead
hey so uh one of the main Nintendo Switch 2 Direct streams completely ate our trailer due to I guess technical difficulties?? so if you guys could share this it would mean a lot 😅
Introducing STARSEEKER, a brand new game from the developers of ASTRONEER.
STARSEEKER is all about the joy of discovery and the camaraderie that emerges from an evolving, cooperative experience. We hope you'll enjoy playing it as much as we enjoyed making it... sometime in 2026.
STARSEEKER is all about the joy of discovery and the camaraderie that emerges from an evolving, cooperative experience. We hope you'll enjoy playing it as much as we enjoyed making it... sometime in 2026.
April 2, 2025 at 3:55 PM
hey so uh one of the main Nintendo Switch 2 Direct streams completely ate our trailer due to I guess technical difficulties?? so if you guys could share this it would mean a lot 😅
Reposted by Ian Holstead
Nessie is here to say:
TRANS RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS
🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️
TRANS RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS
🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️
April 1, 2025 at 3:16 AM
Nessie is here to say:
TRANS RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS
🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️
TRANS RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS
🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️
Reposted by Ian Holstead
It’s wild to me that the most useful thing - debugging code - is wildly out of reach for AI but these hucksters keep saying bigger and bigger promises. Do your engineers spend more time typing new code or debugging?
Replit CEO Amjad Masad says learning to code is a waste of time, citing Dario Amodei's prediction that AI may generate essentially all code by next year (Arfa Javaid/Financial Express)
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
March 29, 2025 at 3:13 PM
It’s wild to me that the most useful thing - debugging code - is wildly out of reach for AI but these hucksters keep saying bigger and bigger promises. Do your engineers spend more time typing new code or debugging?