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Devan Soyka

@windmilljouster

Senior Narrative Designer at Crytek | She/Her | πŸ–€πŸ€πŸ’œ | A proud founder of the VOW game writers union | Opinions here are mine alone | PFP by @diansakhuart

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31.07.2023
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Latest posts by Devan Soyka @windmilljouster

Preview
The Outersloth Contract | Innersloth - Creators of Among Us and The Henry Stickmin Collection! Hello!

πŸ’°THE OUTERSLOTH CONTRACT πŸ’°

We just released the FULL contract and terms that all our games sign!

We hope this challenges the status quo of what you see out there.

In a nutshell:
πŸ’Έ Pre-recoup 50/50
πŸ’Έ Post-recoup 15/85
πŸ’Έ Terms after 7 years

www.innersloth.com/the-outerslo...

09.03.2026 20:11 πŸ‘ 1070 πŸ” 343 πŸ’¬ 25 πŸ“Œ 43
Preview
830792528 Polygon The Rise Of The Video Game Union : Nicole Carpenter : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive β€œThe Rise of the Video Game Union” is an all-in-one explainer on why game workers are unionizing. Polygon created a zine of the original story that is...

With GDC only a few days away, I added @nicolecarpenter.bsky.social's brilliant gaming union zine/explainer to archive.org. The previous host for the PDF added a monthly subscription.

Please feel free to print and share as you wish!

05.03.2026 20:33 πŸ‘ 137 πŸ” 42 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 2

I get nervous about being too visible online wrt my work (or any other reason, tbh), but the latest thing I wrote is getting a really good reception from players. In an industry this rough, can't express enough how nice that feels. This is what games are for: to enjoy.

05.03.2026 23:29 πŸ‘ 19 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
You Are Elon Musk by Kris Lorischild A Billionaire Simulator

You asked for it! The long-awaited sequel to You Are Jeff Bezos is finally here:

YOU ARE ELON MUSK

200+ passages. 7 endings. Secrets. In-jokes. Giant robots. All with the purpose of doing one thing: SPENDING ALL OF ELON MUSK'S FUCKING MONEY

direkris.itch.io/elon

03.03.2026 16:59 πŸ‘ 596 πŸ” 305 πŸ’¬ 21 πŸ“Œ 24
A big, pink number 30 for the 30th anniversary of Pokemon. The 0 is a pokeball and Jigglypuff is jumping out of it. Below it reads, "Pokemon: Since 1996"

A big, pink number 30 for the 30th anniversary of Pokemon. The 0 is a pokeball and Jigglypuff is jumping out of it. Below it reads, "Pokemon: Since 1996"

SHE

01.03.2026 20:33 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

γ‚ͺスティを

28.02.2026 15:36 πŸ‘ 198 πŸ” 93 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
illustration of a girl in a dirty white dress, surrounded by greenery, putting a rusted broken sword into a pedestal. her shadow casts a familiar silhouette.

illustration of a girl in a dirty white dress, surrounded by greenery, putting a rusted broken sword into a pedestal. her shadow casts a familiar silhouette.

happy 40th anniversary the legend of zelda πŸ’› #art #zelda

22.02.2026 03:34 πŸ‘ 3911 πŸ” 1084 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 1

1. Link's Awakening by a significant margin
2. Breath of the Wild
3. Ocarina of Time

22.02.2026 08:22 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
Dark painting in classical style, depicting a woman in a white dress with her back facing the viewer, wrapped in red fabric. The face of a man peaking through the darkness, near the woman's bleeding neck.

Dark painting in classical style, depicting a woman in a white dress with her back facing the viewer, wrapped in red fabric. The face of a man peaking through the darkness, near the woman's bleeding neck.

Book mockup of the first illustration.

Book mockup of the first illustration.

The Dracula cover I worked on is finally revealed.

I am very stoked about this project, because doing a cover art for a classical book is a dream I didn't know I had, and also because they agreed to have the cover art minimalistic and elegant, and I AM SO HAPPY ABOUT IT.

20.02.2026 19:05 πŸ‘ 2883 πŸ” 742 πŸ’¬ 97 πŸ“Œ 14

Spencer retiring is, like, okay, he's been signaling that for a few years.

Bond not getting his job and instead leaving the company is imo the big story. Something went down there.

20.02.2026 20:59 πŸ‘ 531 πŸ” 65 πŸ’¬ 12 πŸ“Œ 7
Cordial but Firm Anti-Creep Phrases 

”This is a [professional space] and I’d really appreciate it if you’d act accordingly.”

β€œI’m not interested in discussing my personal life.” AND/OR β€œI keep my personal and professional life separate, thanks.”

β€œI really don’t think that’s appropriate behavior/to say at a [professional conference]. Is there something else we can discuss?” OR phrase it as a rhetorical question: β€œDo you think that’s an appropriate thing to do/say at a [professional conference]?”

β€œThat is not what I’m here for. Let’s change the subject.”

Cordial but Firm Anti-Creep Phrases ”This is a [professional space] and I’d really appreciate it if you’d act accordingly.” β€œI’m not interested in discussing my personal life.” AND/OR β€œI keep my personal and professional life separate, thanks.” β€œI really don’t think that’s appropriate behavior/to say at a [professional conference]. Is there something else we can discuss?” OR phrase it as a rhetorical question: β€œDo you think that’s an appropriate thing to do/say at a [professional conference]?” β€œThat is not what I’m here for. Let’s change the subject.”

Due to recent discussions: when I worked at a library, I was trained on how to politely but directly respond to unwanted sexual comments. Unfortunately commonly-marketed fantasies about librarians mean it happens a lot.

Rehearse these. Be comfortable saying them forcefully, but politely.

18.02.2026 17:34 πŸ‘ 683 πŸ” 234 πŸ’¬ 10 πŸ“Œ 13

I could really stand to hear something nice today

17.02.2026 15:46 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0

All this is too nuanced for a skeet but like. Your average joe doesn't understand the psych behind scrolling, shortform vids, double screening, running agents. But it's not hard TO understand, and maybe game devs have a unique opportunity as teachers here.

Now one of us has to get taken seriouslyπŸ€”

15.02.2026 19:25 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Maybe game design should be taught, like, in basic ethics/social studies. For everyone. So people can understand on a greater scale that a sense of productivity = endorphins, fake productivity is EXTREMELY easy to manufacture, and if you enter Flow, you more or less lose control of your life.

15.02.2026 19:22 πŸ‘ 14 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Happy Fasching to everyone, but ESPECIALLY to the drunk German guy dressed as a Viking who saw my Japanese folk dance club dancing in the parade, raised his beer to us, and yelled, "KAMPAI!!"

15.02.2026 15:03 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
juri from revolutionary girl utena with the text "roses are red, violets are blue, zettai unmei mokushiroku"

juri from revolutionary girl utena with the text "roses are red, violets are blue, zettai unmei mokushiroku"

happy v day

14.02.2026 19:09 πŸ‘ 180 πŸ” 113 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
GamesIndustry.biz AI Survey

Games industry dot biz is asking how you are using AI, do your thing!

survey.alchemer.com/s3/8679343/b...

13.02.2026 18:03 πŸ‘ 83 πŸ” 76 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 4

What in the clockwork orange is this (well played)

14.02.2026 19:45 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
The cover of Galeas the Keen by Rien Gray, a sapphic knight romance, surrounded by trope arrows.

The cover of Galeas the Keen by Rien Gray, a sapphic knight romance, surrounded by trope arrows.

Valentine's surprise - GALEAS THE KEEN is up for preorder!

A butch/femme retelling of Galahad & the Fisher King, where a blind knight discovers a wounded woman at the center of a cursed flood, and is driven to save her at any cost.

50% off:
riengray.itch.io/galeas-the-k...
riengray.shop/b/cZt4g

14.02.2026 14:19 πŸ‘ 69 πŸ” 56 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 8

when I look at things like the Highguard layoffs it always strikes me that the people who are inevitably laid off are the skilled workers and never the managers and middle managers that made the decisions to cause a project to fail. unions now.

12.02.2026 19:42 πŸ‘ 99 πŸ” 29 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Working remotely also helps mitigate the impact of layoffs. If we're going to have constant boom and bust cycles, then WFH is the least we can do to accommodate that.

Making people relocate and then laying them off is cruel, expensive, and should be illegal.

12.02.2026 20:28 πŸ‘ 30 πŸ” 9 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Ubisoft workers are on strike: 'We are treated like children' The strike comes after the publisher revealed plans to cut up to 200 jobs and ordered remote workers back into the office

Over 1,000 Ubisoft workers around the world have walked off the job.

In response to a return-to-office mandate, layoffs, and the cancellation of several games, workers launched a three-day strike.

The workers walked out in response to five French unions issuing the strike call.

12.02.2026 16:43 πŸ‘ 5010 πŸ” 1785 πŸ’¬ 36 πŸ“Œ 100

Eve you're so cool 😻

12.02.2026 14:59 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

the WAY i’m going to teach borges to these masters students!!!!!!!! multiverses honey? oh you think you know about multiverses? let me tell you about a little something called the GARDEN OF FORKING PATHS

12.02.2026 14:01 πŸ‘ 39 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Thank you! I have a bad cold so I'm at least not waiting on potential bad news, just on my turn to talk to the doctor.

12.02.2026 14:31 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Obviously it's just sensible to do this in German, and the discomfort is a necessary part of language learning. But if people at the gym can complain about the pain of their gains, then by god shall I also

12.02.2026 12:27 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

The agony of waiting for a phone call (no) from a doctor (NO) which is going to take place in a language you only started learning in your 30s (NOOOOOOOO). I can barely even do this shit in English

12.02.2026 12:04 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

FOR REAL!! years of getting treated like the Ultimate Idiot because I couldn't remember my student ID numbers or assigned password numbers or university email numbers, let alone doing steps of problems right and still coming up with the complete wrong answer. They thought I was so careless/lazy.

11.02.2026 19:58 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I enjoy the little stories peoples' groceries make on the conveyor belt as I wait.

The guy with cases of beer, soda, 8 sparkling water? Hosting a party.

The guy with 4 bags of chips? GOING to a party.

Guy buying exactly 3 bananas at 8pm? 100% spouse forgot them and the kids need them for tomorrow

10.02.2026 19:00 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

πŸ“£ TOMORROW πŸ“£

We've also had several people ask us if we will send out a video afterwards if folks aren't able to attend the live event: yes! Please sign up via Action Network so we know where to send it!

10.02.2026 17:52 πŸ‘ 20 πŸ” 9 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0