At GDC 2013, veteran dev Chris Hecker takes a measured look at the complicated challenge of standing out in the game business -- even with something "highly anticipated" like his upcoming SpyParty. ...

Indie dev Robert Fearon on Steam's new refund system: "Whilst refunds were difficult or felt impossible to obtain we've been spending the past few years increasing the levels of risk that we expect the buyer to take." ...

Raph Koster on how platforms arise and are defined: New platforms are "distinguishing characteristic is that it is worse at the old sorts of games than the existing platforms, but better at something new." ...

Keith Burgun explains why -- despite hard-core fans and great reviews -- he feels that he must add a single-player quest mode to Auro to attract players. ...

"Have a teacher on each jam team with an actual classroom problem they are trying to tackle, come up with a game solution for said problem, and have the teacher present on the jam team the whole time." ...

L.A.-based Reload Studios has picked up $2 million from the World Innovation Lab investment firm to fund continuing development of its 3 extant VR projects and expand the studio's remit beyond games. ...

GDC Europe 2015 organizers are polling all European game developers for their thoughts on the state of the game industry, its future, and their place in it. ...

"Last March, we decided to launch an indie gaming event in our hometown of Montreal along with the help of our friends and some very kind volunteers." Here's how they did it. ...

"You can request a refund for nearly any purchase on Steam -- for any reason," the popular service says, as of today. Details inside. ...

"I've devoured Greenlight tutorials and tried to follow their instructions. The result? My game took just under 100 days to pass through Greenlight, and I have no idea how this was achieved." ...