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Bryant Francis
@bryantfrancis.me
3.9K followers 570 following 5.7K posts
Writer: Down With The Ship, Zephon, Endless Space 2 ([email protected])

Senior Editor: Game Developer ([email protected])

📝: www.bryantfrancis.me
🎥: https://boxd.it/hp9UB
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bryantfrancis.me
Former Sony exec Michael Mumbauer is accused of harassing That’s No Moon exces and taking their website offline.

If true it puts this part of my 2021 interview with him in a new light:
10:38 discriminatory work environment = persist at some of its offices. With more conversations than ever about improving quality of life and preventing toxicity at game studios happening in the game industry, we asked Mumbauer what his team was doing to prevent That's No Moon from adopting a similar environment. "I'm glad you're bringing this up," he responded. "These are tough questions to answer in tough times." Mumbauer expressed that the story about Activision Blizzard "hits home for him personally," and that That's No Moon's leadership has adopted a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination and harassment. He said that the Activision Blizzard lawsuit has been a major topic in the company's daily meetings, both with leadership and the new hires starting at the company. "What we do is, we keep this open forum, put the hard stuff in front of everybody and say 'this is a dialogue, we have to do this right, there is no other option here. We need to be accountable for everything to make this a better place." Mumbauer said that the team's worked to make sure that the new studio works to make sure its leadership includes people like Tina Kowalewski, one of the company's founders, and vice president of recruitment Kelly Barschig. "I want this company to be something that I would be proud for any one of my daughters to work at," Mumbauer said. That's No Moon is apparently aiming to staff up
January 24, 2026 at 3:42 PM
bryantfrancis.me
Bleech, Ubisoft's also ending all remote work, will give workers an "annual allowance" of WFH days.
To support the effective implementation and operation of this new model, the Group also intends to return to five days per week on site for all teams, complemented by an annual allowance of working-from-home days. This evolution is intended to strengthen collaboration, including constant knowledge sharing, and the collective dynamic across teams. In-person collaboration is a key enabler of collective efficiency, creativity and success in a persistently more selective AAA market.
January 21, 2026 at 4:59 PM
bryantfrancis.me
Reading this graf is like having a coconut fall on your head.
Sure. But from a virtual perspective, and as a gamer, we've interacted with NPCs and stuff like that. And of course, NPCs are getting smarter with Al, and I do hope they get smarter. It gets more engaging. And I think we're still in the early days. Now, the question, I think, where it's going to lead to is something that we need to discover, right? And, of course, we need to discover it in a responsible manner to figure out how we do that, and put the right guardrails in. What do we do in terms of Al, in terms of this? That's something that we're learning.
January 19, 2026 at 9:28 PM
bryantfrancis.me
Me in 2016—fresh off of GDC and dreaming of big things.
A selfie of Bryant in a shirt with the Kestrak from FTL on it.
January 17, 2026 at 2:34 PM
bryantfrancis.me
From The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett:
"You did well, boy," said Ana quietly. "Well to look and see as you did... And well to resist Fayazi's temptations." She shook her head, disgusted. "What a tool cynicism is to the corrupt, claiming the whole of the creation is broken and fraudulent, and thus we are all excused to indulge in whatever sins we wish—for what's a little more unfairness, in this unfair world? Wise you were, Din, to shut your ears to it." She went still for a moment, then said, "Now. Repeat Fa-yazi Haza's first set of questions for me, please."
January 16, 2026 at 9:35 PM
bryantfrancis.me
I'm playing @dcellgames.com' Unbeatable right now and god I wish I had time for this in 2025 so I could put it on my GOTY list! Amazing rhythm game, a "putting the band together" experience that takes as much inspiration from over-the-top music videos as it does Rock Band (maybe more?)
Beat from Unbeatable races from the cops on a motorcycle.
January 16, 2026 at 6:25 PM
bryantfrancis.me
Trying out a “my custom character in a serious cutscene” look today.
Bryant with silly Star Wars sunglasses and Shatterpoint minis
January 10, 2026 at 5:50 PM
bryantfrancis.me
hmmmmmm
bj blazkowicz stares at the camera
January 6, 2026 at 5:28 PM
bryantfrancis.me
Meanwhile the true mouse hunter is ringing in the new year with @theonion.com
Ellie, a Tortie cat, in the sun standing over the Onion
January 1, 2026 at 5:22 PM
bryantfrancis.me
happy one-year anniversary to waking up with a mouse in my pajamas and this one did NOTHING TO HELP
A black cat on Bryant’s lap
January 1, 2026 at 3:48 PM
bryantfrancis.me
you lived the meme
The Halo: Reach HUD that says "Current Objective: Survive.
December 31, 2025 at 5:38 PM
bryantfrancis.me
Speaking of investigative reporting—I gave a GDC talk on it! It's free on the GDC Vault if you need tools for speaking to the press: gdcvault.com/play/1034942...
Bryant's GDC talk: Power of the Press: A Guide for Whistleblowing to Investigative Journalists
December 31, 2025 at 4:34 PM
bryantfrancis.me
I poured work into investigative reporting projects. This is stressful work! The most fulfilling part was the act of listening to developers and getting their story to the public.

There's immense power in helping people feel seen and heard.
A story about the Game Awards' Future Class program being on ice A story about mismanagement at ProbablyMonsters A story about Paradox Interactive's unpopular return-to-office policy.
December 31, 2025 at 4:32 PM
bryantfrancis.me
I remain @gamedeveloper.bsky.social's expert on covering the far-right.

I've followed the far-right in one form or another since high school. I think it's because I saw the harm from their hateful false reality, and couldn't believe people ignored it.
A story about the DHS committing to using game and pop culture iconography in messaging. A story about Bohemia Interactive founders purchasing a disinformation site A story about someone at Activision leaking Slack screenshots to far-right X users. A story about Sony firing a Sucker Punch artist for joking about Charlie Kirk's murder.
December 31, 2025 at 4:25 PM
bryantfrancis.me
Despite my best efforts I relentlessly covered the impact of generative AI in game development.

I mean it sincerely: whatever my personal feelings about genAI are, I went looking for interesting use cases in good faith. I didn't find many! (The Rocketwerkz case study was the best one!)
a story with the headline "is generative AI really 'just a tool'? A story about devs worrying generative AI will lower the quality of games. A story about Rocketwerkz CEO predicting frameworks, not game engines, are the future of game development A story about developer backlash to Larian CEO's admitting the studio is using AI.
December 31, 2025 at 4:20 PM
bryantfrancis.me
This year at @gamedeveloper.bsky.social I aimed to cut through the noise on what's ailing our industry.

Our business suffers from complex systemic problems exacerbated by a handful of individuals. I wasn't satisfied with simple answers. I went looking for complexity wherever I could.
A story about NEARstudios' pivot to fundraising on Kickstarter A story about "the deprofessionalizaiton of video games" as seen at PAX East. A story about the takeaways from Matthew Ball's 2025 State of Gaming data A story about poor leadership slowing down game development.
December 31, 2025 at 4:15 PM
bryantfrancis.me
@bencollins.bsky.social what the fuck why did you call me and @carlivelocci.com out here
Gemini | May 21 to June 20 You won't be replaced by Al, but you will be replaced by a human who lies about understanding Al.
December 31, 2025 at 3:15 AM
bryantfrancis.me
Seen on LinkedIn—I’m frustrated by how some industry vets seem *resentful* of the traditional game audience. You can make this point without calling people “boomer core gamers.”

The vibe of posts like this is “they don’t make us enough money, why should we make games for them?”
Fortnite, Roblox, and Minecraft continue to be 3 of the Top 5 most played games on PC and console. Remember this when you read year-end round-ups that focus on AAA. This is because they are written by boomer core gamers. Even on the most core platforms, creator-driven and UGC game platforms are the most played. And that will only grow in 2026. Roblox has already conquered cross-platform distribution. Fortnite is back on mobile and driving culture. These are the social networks of gaming. AAA is feature film - a luxury product. Even on console.
December 30, 2025 at 5:11 PM
bryantfrancis.me
It’s Saturday night and I’m painting Aurebesh on Shatterpoint minis as a dumb bit
A shatterpoint Baze with Aurebesh scrawled on it
December 28, 2025 at 4:15 AM
bryantfrancis.me
jfc this fucking weenie popping in out of nowhere
On December 2, Brown was taken from jail. According to legend-even illustrated by newspaper artists—he took time to greet a Black child, but this could not have been true. His arms were tied behind him and he was surrounded by military escort. John Wilkes Booth had managed to slip into a front-row seat with a contingent of Virginia Military Institute cadets. He had wanted to be there out of his intense jealousy of his brother, Edwin Booth, a far more successful actor, who had struck up a friendship with Sam Howe, now known as a Brown supporter. But he was so shaken by Brown's calm demeanor that he turned pale and trembled and was asked if he were ill.
December 27, 2025 at 5:23 PM
bryantfrancis.me
And if you’re bound for martyrdom maybe you understand that what comes *after* the violence matters more than the attack itself.
arned ›men cool ition ston aced агр- was ades re-ace, "as any ten ive or ers n- id لار THE WEIRD METEOR OF WAR As soon as he was captured, the public started hearing from a new, kinder and gentler Brown. Though it contradicted the life story of Pottawatomie Brown, he seemed well-prepared for his new role. He was playing to posterity. Brown began winning support with the first interview the day after his capture, originally in the New York Herald and reprinted in many other papers, including The Liberator. In this interview, he argued that the rights of the poor and weak should be respected as much as those of the wealthy. "I pity the poor in bondage that have none to help them; that is why I am here; not to gratify any personal animosity, revenge, or vindictive spirit." He denied that he had wanted to start a general uprising of the slaves, and continued to deny it during his trial, despite the fact that he had been talking about doing that very thing for the past twenty years. He said he just wanted to set small groups free "from time to time." Garrison, Phillips, and other nonviolent abolitionists, regardless of what they personally thought of the raid, began to realize that once Brown was hanged, he would become an invaluable martyr for the cause of abolition. Emerson said that hanging Brown would be "a terrible losing day for all Slavedom." He wrote that Brown was "the new Saint awaiting his martyrdom, and who, if he shall suffer, will make the gallows glorious like the cross." Gone was the ethos toward Lovejoy that a man who took up arms could not be a Christian martyr. But perhaps the honest sentiment was put most succinctly by Frederick Douglass, who said that he was "glad to use the event at Harpers Ferry" to awaken "the benumbed conscience of the nation." The State of Virginia was trying to use the trial as a warning to anyone who tried to invade the South. Instead, they were turning this man, who had been seen as a lunatic, into a hero.
December 27, 2025 at 5:20 PM
bryantfrancis.me
…interesting that John Brown becomes a figurehead for violent resistance but also he seems to be so *bad* at it.
December 27, 2025 at 5:10 PM
bryantfrancis.me
Another echo: Slavers crowing an “own the libs” moment and Northerners slowly realizing their violence wouldn’t end at enslaved people.
Roatin In her 1856 short story, Ine Nallsas wrote that "Human nature was goaded beyond endurance, and men were in the mood to do, or die." Garrison tried to fight that mood. He and Adin Ballou revived the old New England Non-Resistance Society with a large, well-publicized conference. To all their customary Christian arguments, they added one that must have been shocking to New Englanders: they argued that Kansas was not worth sacrificing their principles. Neither of them thought the policies of the Free-Staters-"shuffling policy," Garrison called it— deserved a sacrifice of important ideals. In an attempt to expose the absurdity of sending armed combatants to Kansas, he said satirically why not get at the heart of the problem and launch a military invasion of the South? But, to his horror, he realized that not everyone thought that was a bad idea. Then the violence spread beyond Kansas—to Washington, DC. On May 20, 1856, Senator Sumner delivered a speech in the Senate denouncing the brutish violence of the Missouri ruffians in Kansas and ridiculing Senator Stephen A. Douglas and South Carolina senator Andrew P. Butler, whom he likened to Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, for supporting the ruffians. After the speech, the Senate was emptying, and Sumner was seated, addressing at his desk copies of the speech to be mailed. South Carolina congressman Preston Brooks walked up to the seated Sumner and told him that his speech "is a libel to South Carolina and Mr. Butler, who is a relative of mine." He then took a heavy gold-headed cane and struck Sumner from behind, according to accounts, more than thirty times in the head and shoulders while Sumner tried to get out from behind the desk. He finally managed to pull the desk from its floor bolts and stand up, only to fall to the floor, lying in his blood. Brooks, previously little known, was taking bows in the South and being presented with tokens of admiration from political and business groups, including a cane that said, "Hit him again." Northerners were seeing something of the South they had not wanted to see. Frederick Douglass knew the South. In his autobiography, he wrote, "Everybody in the South wants the privilege of whipping somebody else." Were these the people they were to turn with moral suasion? In Boston and much of the North, it was thought that southerners were violent and cowardly and there was no possibility of reasoning with them. Garrison's Christian precept of returning evil with goodness was being replaced by evil for evil, which is the definition of war. The attack did much to promote the shipping of arms to Kansas and the pursuit of a Kansas war. The attack infuriated John Brown, who was already looking for vengeance for some 750 red-shirted border ruffians carrying flags with such slogans as "The Supremacy of the white race," who rode into the Free-State capital of Lawrence. Finding that the abolitionists had fled, they destroyed homes and buildings. For Brown, the hacking murders in Pottawatomie were a direct response. Despite her disdain for politics and politicians, Maria Child had followed Charles S iration.
December 27, 2025 at 4:53 PM
bryantfrancis.me
The chapter on The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 is heartbreaking and heartbreakingly familiar.

Slavecatchers then. ICE agents now. The abductions slowed and sometimes thwarted by protestors hanging up on enforcers, with help from law enforcement.
ever no liked td block the der Burns. , some two ear speech tone. Sam is come to y his prey lly about nson had the chaos k to the hen men t no one ut of the : He f-of Black he door. ack out, ne time •d Hig- alt had dition- ts had 1 Hall I only FUGITIVES A week later, an estimated fifty thousand Bostonians, more than a third of the city's population, lined the streets to witness Anthony Burns being marched in shackles to the waterfront to be shipped back to slavery. But he did not stay in the South. Abolitionists paid $1,300 for him, the equivalent of about $50,000 today. Within a year, he was back in Boston. He studied for the ministry in Ohio and moved on to safety in Canada, where he tragically died of tuberculosis at the age of twenty-eight. Wendell Phillips said that white people should remain non-violent, but if a Black person felt threatened by a federal Mar-shal, he should "feel justified by using the law of God and man in shooting that officer." Only a few now held to the code of nonresistance. Frederick Douglass wrote an editorial: "Is it Right and Wise to Kill a Kid-napper?" He argued that self-defense is a natural right and that if government failed to protect people, "friends" could exercise their rights to do whatever was necessary. In the Boston Clique, some were seeing the wisdom in voting. In 1855, in his revised autobiography, Frederick Douglass wrote that "to abstain from voting, was to refuse to exercise a legitimate and powerful means for abolishing slavery." The Fugitive Slave Act had not worked. Only a small fraction of the escaped slaves were sent back. In 1850 a line had been drawn. Not only were northerners outraged and embracing abolition as never before, but southern slaveholders were infuriated by the northern response. Ten years later when southern states were seceding from the Union, some states listed among their reasons the refusal of the North to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act.
December 27, 2025 at 4:33 PM
bryantfrancis.me
Digging into some (adopted) hometown history.
A photo of Mark Kurlansky’s book The Boston Way: Radicals Against Slavery & The Civil War.
December 26, 2025 at 8:38 PM