Simon McDonnell
@simonmcd.bsky.social
Hark ye now to my words!
Let the dull years of not following me fall behind you, for you now enter a blessed age.
- Senior Game Tools Programmer
@RockstarGames. All views my own, not my company's.
- He/Him
- Irish
- I like musicals
Let the dull years of not following me fall behind you, for you now enter a blessed age.
- Senior Game Tools Programmer
@RockstarGames. All views my own, not my company's.
- He/Him
- Irish
- I like musicals
Reposted by Simon McDonnell
I continue to believe very strongly that a person's reaction to generative AI is directly correlated to whether it presents any existential risks to your craft. This is why senior engineers and CEOs are so psyched about it, and artists and writers are rallying against it.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has defended AI following Eurogamer's 2/5 Arc Raiders review, which criticised the game's use use of AI voice generation. "AI dialog generation + human personality and tuning could totally transform gaming," Sweeney said.
www.gamesindustry.biz/epics-tim-sw...
www.gamesindustry.biz/epics-tim-sw...
Epic's Tim Sweeney wades into the Arc Raiders AI row
"This technology increases human productivity in some areas by integer multiples"
www.gamesindustry.biz
November 11, 2025 at 5:01 PM
I continue to believe very strongly that a person's reaction to generative AI is directly correlated to whether it presents any existential risks to your craft. This is why senior engineers and CEOs are so psyched about it, and artists and writers are rallying against it.
Reposted by Simon McDonnell
A review is an op-ed by definition. You’re just upset at the criteria being used.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has defended AI following Eurogamer's 2/5 Arc Raiders review, which criticised the game's use use of AI voice generation. "AI dialog generation + human personality and tuning could totally transform gaming," Sweeney said.
www.gamesindustry.biz/epics-tim-sw...
www.gamesindustry.biz/epics-tim-sw...
Epic's Tim Sweeney wades into the Arc Raiders AI row
"This technology increases human productivity in some areas by integer multiples"
www.gamesindustry.biz
November 11, 2025 at 5:10 PM
A review is an op-ed by definition. You’re just upset at the criteria being used.
Reposted by Simon McDonnell
Point/Counterpoint.
October 5, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Point/Counterpoint.
Reposted by Simon McDonnell
New YouGov polling. A monumental failure of our political class to educate, a monumental failure of our media to report fairly, for a generation
August 5, 2025 at 6:27 AM
New YouGov polling. A monumental failure of our political class to educate, a monumental failure of our media to report fairly, for a generation
Reposted by Simon McDonnell
1 in 3 doctors were born overseas.
1 in 2 builders were born overseas.
1 in 6 nurses were born overseas.
1 in 4 transport workers were born overseas.
1 in 7 UK business founders were born overseas.
1 in 5 university academics were born overseas.
The UK would be screwed without them.
1 in 2 builders were born overseas.
1 in 6 nurses were born overseas.
1 in 4 transport workers were born overseas.
1 in 7 UK business founders were born overseas.
1 in 5 university academics were born overseas.
The UK would be screwed without them.
August 1, 2025 at 8:40 AM
1 in 3 doctors were born overseas.
1 in 2 builders were born overseas.
1 in 6 nurses were born overseas.
1 in 4 transport workers were born overseas.
1 in 7 UK business founders were born overseas.
1 in 5 university academics were born overseas.
The UK would be screwed without them.
1 in 2 builders were born overseas.
1 in 6 nurses were born overseas.
1 in 4 transport workers were born overseas.
1 in 7 UK business founders were born overseas.
1 in 5 university academics were born overseas.
The UK would be screwed without them.
Reposted by Simon McDonnell
hey dude, I noticed you attempting to carve a small space for joy in the face of overwhelming sadness. kind of problematic considering all the horrors
October 14, 2024 at 8:52 PM
hey dude, I noticed you attempting to carve a small space for joy in the face of overwhelming sadness. kind of problematic considering all the horrors
Reposted by Simon McDonnell
you're gonna wanna see this
July 18, 2025 at 1:21 PM
you're gonna wanna see this
Reposted by Simon McDonnell
Said the sentence "you are a sponge from which they wring value" today and really enjoyed it (sentence not sentiment). I did some good words.
July 18, 2025 at 11:17 AM
Said the sentence "you are a sponge from which they wring value" today and really enjoyed it (sentence not sentiment). I did some good words.
This is a good poem voetica.com/poem/9071
Voetica Poetry Spoken
voetica.com
July 16, 2025 at 9:47 PM
This is a good poem voetica.com/poem/9071
Reposted by Simon McDonnell
This Tory bullshit again. No. Regulation is there to protect people. Hands off our protections!
Cutting "red tape" (aka public protections), as Reeves is doing, does not save money. Instead, it transfers costs from the rich to the poor. Other people pay for financial recklessness, filthy rivers, air pollution, lax building standards and consumer rip-offs.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reeves says rules and red tape are ‘boot on the neck’ of business
At the Mansion House dinner she calls for regulators to allow more risk to clear the way for economic growth
www.theguardian.com
July 16, 2025 at 6:49 AM
This Tory bullshit again. No. Regulation is there to protect people. Hands off our protections!
Reposted by Simon McDonnell
For some reason no one else was going to do this, so I did a journalism. I asked @panic.com About GenAI in @play.date S2 after @brandon.insertcredit.com raised that Wheelsprung used it. Here's what they said:
I Asked Panic About GenAI in Playdate Season 2 - exp.
Here’s what they said.
expzine.com
June 24, 2025 at 6:49 PM
For some reason no one else was going to do this, so I did a journalism. I asked @panic.com About GenAI in @play.date S2 after @brandon.insertcredit.com raised that Wheelsprung used it. Here's what they said:
Reposted by Simon McDonnell
Fuck yeag, you tell 'em boss!
June 5, 2025 at 12:33 AM
Fuck yeag, you tell 'em boss!
Reposted by Simon McDonnell
Sex is great, but what about the inescapable allure of the inclined elevator.
June 2, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Sex is great, but what about the inescapable allure of the inclined elevator.
Reposted by Simon McDonnell
Just devastated by the news about Polygon and Giant Bomb. It feels like both my industries, games and media, are collapsing in front of us, and for no good reason - just sheer greed. Corporate ghouls and big tech intent on replacing valuable creative and journalistic work with chum that nobody wants
May 2, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Just devastated by the news about Polygon and Giant Bomb. It feels like both my industries, games and media, are collapsing in front of us, and for no good reason - just sheer greed. Corporate ghouls and big tech intent on replacing valuable creative and journalistic work with chum that nobody wants
Reposted by Simon McDonnell
The biggest reason why I dislike the idea of respectability in dress is because it conflates the *appearance* of virtue with *actual* virtue. Wearing a suit doesn't make you respectful, intelligent, or capable, just as wearing a leather jacket doesn't make you rugged.
March 1, 2025 at 1:00 AM
The biggest reason why I dislike the idea of respectability in dress is because it conflates the *appearance* of virtue with *actual* virtue. Wearing a suit doesn't make you respectful, intelligent, or capable, just as wearing a leather jacket doesn't make you rugged.
Reposted by Simon McDonnell
If you’re in a position to nominate or vote for a science fiction/fantasy award this year, for your consideration: an essay I’m tremendously proud of ❤️
Finally, I made my @defector.bsky.social debut this year with a piece I poured heart and soul into: an attempt to consider the tangled relationship between American Judaism, Zionism, and the question of what "Never Again" really means -- through the lens of a guy named Magneto.
The Judgment Of Magneto | Defector
Somewhere beyond death, in a realm of judgment and pain, a concrete labyrinth filled by countless names, a man walks. He is Jewish, and has been made hard and cruel by his experiences in the Nazi deat...
defector.com
December 16, 2024 at 4:57 PM
If you’re in a position to nominate or vote for a science fiction/fantasy award this year, for your consideration: an essay I’m tremendously proud of ❤️
Reposted by Simon McDonnell
10 things scripted reality tv teaches us about role-playing.
This is about games which foreground character drama (Monsterhearts) and those times you want a bit of character drama in your dungeon.
10 ways to create more drama and story in your messy relationship games.
Enjoy!
1/11
This is about games which foreground character drama (Monsterhearts) and those times you want a bit of character drama in your dungeon.
10 ways to create more drama and story in your messy relationship games.
Enjoy!
1/11
December 13, 2024 at 10:20 AM
10 things scripted reality tv teaches us about role-playing.
This is about games which foreground character drama (Monsterhearts) and those times you want a bit of character drama in your dungeon.
10 ways to create more drama and story in your messy relationship games.
Enjoy!
1/11
This is about games which foreground character drama (Monsterhearts) and those times you want a bit of character drama in your dungeon.
10 ways to create more drama and story in your messy relationship games.
Enjoy!
1/11
Reposted by Simon McDonnell
This whole thread is fun roleplaying advice, but I like this in particular. From a creator perspective, we like to reward players for leaning into their character's compulsions, even and especially if they are self-destructive.
5. Make bad decisions. Don’t just make them, find excuses to make them.
Find the person you should NOT fall in love with, woo them, steal the car and be persuaded to go joyriding, make business deals with people you only just met.
Be a little naive or a little hedonistic or a little wild.
6/11
Find the person you should NOT fall in love with, woo them, steal the car and be persuaded to go joyriding, make business deals with people you only just met.
Be a little naive or a little hedonistic or a little wild.
6/11
December 13, 2024 at 11:02 AM
This whole thread is fun roleplaying advice, but I like this in particular. From a creator perspective, we like to reward players for leaning into their character's compulsions, even and especially if they are self-destructive.
I truly have no idea what Twitter replacement platform is active at all anymore - is it this one? Is it mastodon? Is it somehow X? I just disconnected, but if I wanted to plug back in - where did people actually go?
August 13, 2024 at 9:09 PM
I truly have no idea what Twitter replacement platform is active at all anymore - is it this one? Is it mastodon? Is it somehow X? I just disconnected, but if I wanted to plug back in - where did people actually go?
God, there's a guy on the uk games industry slack who haunts the politics channel whose opinions are so retrograde, inflammatory, and weird, that it makes me never want to read that channel, or to ever work with his company
January 31, 2024 at 2:41 PM
God, there's a guy on the uk games industry slack who haunts the politics channel whose opinions are so retrograde, inflammatory, and weird, that it makes me never want to read that channel, or to ever work with his company
Man I wish dating were easier. It's really hard to find someone you vibe with emotionally and physically
January 27, 2024 at 6:56 PM
Man I wish dating were easier. It's really hard to find someone you vibe with emotionally and physically
Mental health is so strange. Had an absolutely awful day or two, and then I woke up a couple of days ago in a good mood even though nothing had changed. Bizarre. I'm happy I feel better of course, but it'd be nice if it didn't feel so completely out of the blue and out of my control
December 22, 2023 at 11:24 AM
Mental health is so strange. Had an absolutely awful day or two, and then I woke up a couple of days ago in a good mood even though nothing had changed. Bizarre. I'm happy I feel better of course, but it'd be nice if it didn't feel so completely out of the blue and out of my control
Trying to read Blood Meridian and I don't know, maybe I just don't like Cormac McCarthys writing style? I've not tried any of his other work, but if this is indicative then I'm not sure I'll like the others any better
December 20, 2023 at 10:34 AM
Trying to read Blood Meridian and I don't know, maybe I just don't like Cormac McCarthys writing style? I've not tried any of his other work, but if this is indicative then I'm not sure I'll like the others any better