John Austin
@johnaustin.bsky.social
880 followers 570 following 200 posts
Founder of Pontoco and Project Lead for The Last Clockwinder. Engineer, Game Designer, Tea Lover; in no specific order. Previously: Lead XR Eng at Funomena | Research at Google Brain @kleptine on the Hellbirdsite
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Reposted by John Austin
andremc.bsky.social
Recently had the opportunity to build 3 demos to demonstrate the power of game feel!
johnaustin.bsky.social
Don't get me wrong, I'm always a fan of patching exploits, but Steam Workshop is a much bigger exploit risk by 10x than this issue.

I recommend reading through the patch notes, but no need to fret! This is just good security hygiene on Unity's part.
johnaustin.bsky.social
PSA: The Unity CVE is important, but I don't think it's "rush to patch all your old games" important. There's a few pathways to exploit, but it'd be pretty tricky and only *really* impacts games that are exposed as URL handlers on Windows. 👍
Reposted by John Austin
logodaedalus.bsky.social
I don't know how, but somehow I managed to get into a pick-up session and took control of a robot in Beijing in a boxing match. I got to knock out my opponent. This may be the most Bay Area Friday night activity I've ever done.
Reposted by John Austin
davis.social
I’ve been asked quite a lot over the years about how I remain calm when responding to trolls and bad actors. Some day I’ll do a bigger write up, but one of the biggest things that has helped me a lot is to remember:

“When you’re easily offended, you’re easily manipulated.”
Reposted by John Austin
misfitsattic.bsky.social
Watch as we flip Chess on its head by simply adding magic and dungeons and stuff. youtu.be/GYOfCM_LkyE
#BelowTheCrown #indiegame #videogames #chess #Roguelike #DungeonCrawler
Below The Crown: Gameplay Trailer 1
YouTube video by MisfitsAttic
youtu.be
johnaustin.bsky.social
By complete random chance I am in Busan during the Busan International Film Festival! I'm gonna go tomorrow so if you know anything about film tell me what to see. 😅
Reposted by John Austin
draknek.bsky.social
There's one week left to apply for the Draknek New Voices Puzzle Grant ⏰‼️

If you're thinking of applying, make sure you get your applications in before next Sunday in order to be considered.

Grant: $15,000 USD
Deadline: Sept 28th
Link: grants.draknek.org
Draknek New Voices Puzzle Grant
The Draknek New Voices Puzzle Grant is a grant opportunity for game developers from traditionally underrepresented groups and backgrounds who are interested in designing and developing puzzle games.
grants.draknek.org
Reposted by John Austin
edoublea.com
Very cool!
cyan.com
It's not every day we get featured on the front page of Wikipedia dot com...

And Happy 20th Anniversary to Myst V: End of Ages!

https://cyan.com/games/mystv/
Reposted by John Austin
weloveeverygame.bsky.social
We chatted with John Austin (@johnaustin.bsky.social) of Pontoco about sending clones to the edge of hell.

🧑‍🍳 Read at → www.weloveeverygame....

#IndieDev #HorrorGames #GameDev
johnaustin.bsky.social
Dreaming of beautiful fields of mac and cheese 🧀
Reposted by John Austin
vr-forever.com
Launch week of the first ever VR Forever!! 🔥

Any thoughts on who you think is winning awards on Thursday? 🤔
vr-forever.com
🔥 Introducing VR Forever 🔥

Coming to Steam from September 18th to 23rd

VR dedicated Steam Event
- Over 130 participating games
- Deep discounts
- New demos
- Announcements
- Surprise launches

Plus the first-ever VR Forever Awards 🏆
- 30 games
- 6 categories
- 8 industry judges

More info 🧵👇
johnaustin.bsky.social
This is going to some really interesting game design!! I don't really care if it's fun, even, haha.
Reposted by John Austin
spryfox.bsky.social
In your Spirit Crossing journey, you'll participate in waystations.

Waystations are smaller communities within the larger village where you can hang out, collaborate, and build with all of the other players who share the same space.

playspiritcrossing.com
Reposted by John Austin
misfitsattic.bsky.social
It’s been almost a decade, but Misfits Attic is back!

We just announced Below the Crown: our love letter to roguelikes, dungeon crawlers, and Chess - with our weird dark humor, of course :)

Wishlist on Steam today! (link in reply)
youtu.be/Q8gf18lJ_lc
Below the Crown Announce Trailer
YouTube video by MisfitsAttic
youtu.be
Reposted by John Austin
andrearoberts.bsky.social
Come say hi to me and Bob at my Arcane Eats booth in the #PAXRising this weekend!
Reposted by John Austin
weloveeverygame.bsky.social
NEW DEVELOPER INTERVIEW: @voxraygames.bsky.social’s Wouter van Oortmerssen (@wvo.bsky.social) explains why he built Skyrim with guns instead of Minecraft 2.

🎮 Read → www.weloveeverygame....

#IndieDev #Minecraft #Openworld #GameDev
Reposted by John Austin
okomotive.ch
Herdling is OUT NOW! We’re stoked to finally invite you on this journey 🐐🦬🐏⛰️
Get the game now on Steam, Epic Game Store, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S or Game Pass, links below!

We’ll give away 5 Steam keys among everyone who reposts this 🎉🎉🎉
johnaustin.bsky.social
Finally hit integer overflow
Reposted by John Austin
unloopgame.bsky.social
Check out our new Gameplay Trailer!

UnLoop is coming to Meta Quest and Pico headsets on September 5, 2025. You can pre-order it now (Meta) for 20% off ($19.99)!

bit.ly/unloop_meta
bit.ly/unloop_pico

#vr #vrgaming #MetaQuest #MetaQuest3 #PICO
johnaustin.bsky.social
Actually, an extremely accurate description of this game. 👍👍
sunsetvisitor.studio
If you’ve ever thought ‘I want a game in which…’

💠 god is a teenage girl with generational trauma
💠 there is doomed yuri galore
💠 you’ll resist a 1000-year-old lie that shatters an entire society

Then 1000xRESIST is waiting for you, 30% off until August 9. ⬇️

s.team/a/1675830/
Reposted by John Austin
chrislhayes.bsky.social
Not really an overstatement to say that the test of a free society is whether or not comedians can make fun of the country's leader on TV without repurcussions.
Reposted by John Austin
hellopontoco.bsky.social
Big day over on Steam! Pick up The Last Clockwinder for 70% off as part of Automation Fest! 🎮🧩🕹️

Use VR to create intricate clockwork contraptions out of your own clones and restore life to an ancient tree!
store.steampowered.com/app/1755100/...

#indiegame #vrgame #gaming #vr
A screenshot of the Steam store front featuring sales, including The Last Clockwinder for 70% off.
johnaustin.bsky.social
It is truly a cursed programming language t.t