"With data-driven models, you can see exactly what source is bringing consumers in, which source they're passing over, which source finally drives them to buy." ...

Company spokesman Doug Lombardi says that Valve plans to launch a sign-up site for free (and likely extremely limited) dev kits next as early as week. ...

"As developers we need to make it as frictionless as possible for players to communicate feedback to us - otherwise most won't bother. This is the beauty of this system." ...

A year in to running SassyBot Studio, Elwin Verploegen shares tips on running a business -- from the initial founding agreements to accounting and planning development. ...

Game makers, take note: The call for submissions to present lectures and panel sessions at the 2015 Game Developers Conference Europe closes Monday, March 30. ...

"With a limited budget, it's critical to be as efficient as possible, and small edges really add up. These tricks likely made hundreds of real dollars of difference in the effectiveness of our booth." ...

"Community engagement is something we've always been involved with since the get-go. It's a side activity for us, but nevertheless important, and about high time we put together a summary of our activities." ...

Going indie? Find an underserved niche audience, "accept what you can't change, be as awesome as you can, charge what you're worth, and stand proud," writes Spiderweb Software's Jeff Vogel. ...

On combat, with God of War's Alex Sulman, DmC: Devil May Cry's Rahni Tucker, The Last of Us' Anthony Newman, Aztez's Ben Ruiz, Dead Island 2's Daniel Nordlander, Killzone's Doug Walker, and others. ...

A critical look at SXSW's indie area -- a very different environment than PAX or GDC: "What went right, what went wrong, and then summarize with what I think should happen in the future." ...