When Game Developer first launched, the game development and game media landscapes were very different: the publication pipeline was slower, the pool of developers we worked with was smaller, and the platform was limited in terms of space and format. But people who worked in game production came to us because they wanted to tap into the broader development community. And those articles helped establish the brand we are today.

Though the hows of content producing have changed, the Game Developer mission hasn’t: our decades-long legacy in game development has empowered us to be a trusted authority not just on game production and design but also on industry news, analysis, and advocacy, allowing us to host op-eds that speak to the interests and concerns of our audience.

By hosting and featuring developer blogs, Game Developer aims to connect developers from every corner of the game industry with a wider audience of their peers. Some of the most popular contributions to our site come from the community; whether it’s a technical breakdown, design analysis, or personal essay, Game Developer readers value the expertise of their colleagues and want their own voices to be heard. That’s why, whatever your skill level, Game Developer wants to make it easier for you to join the conversation. We know you have questions about the blog submission process and what criteria a submission must meet to be approved or highlighted as a Featured Blog. So we’ve put together this guide to help you navigate our site’s terms of service and quality standards.

Here are some guidelines on what we’re looking for and how you fit in. Once you're ready to publish, head on over to our Blog Submission Form to send in your article for consideration!

General submission guidelines

The blog section is where we publish op-eds, tutorials and other forms of design analysis. Featured Blogs are highlighted in a module on our front page and receive social media promotion and newsletter placement along with our top stories. 

1. Game Developer Blogs are for articles about game development by and for game developers. That means everyone from members of triple-A studios to indie developers and students, so long as all your posts are about the art and business of making games.

2. To maintain the educational value of our blog section, we ask that your blog not wholly advertise products or services. Giving insight on a topic by citing examples from your work is acceptable. Proffering your company’s services as a solution to a game development problem is not.

3. Game Developer makes no claim to ownership of user-submitted materials. We encourage you to repost from your personal blog or devlogs, like those on your personal website, hosting platforms like Medium, or community updates from your Steam page.  However, please do not post material you did not write or that you do not have full permission to reprint. Also, please no teaser-link posts; blogs must be reposted in their entirety. Backlinking to your blog, website or game purchase page is allowed. While posting a blog for the purpose of promoting a service or product is against our terms of service, discussing your game or your individual work is encouraged.

4. Game Developer staff monitor each blog and submission to ensure content adheres to our guidelines. Please help us maintain a professional environment by not posting inappropriate material, avoiding pornographic content, and not using profanity in your headline. It is not our goal to modify or censor material, but illegal or highly objectionable content will be rejected. This includes hate speech of any kind.

5. All blog profiles must be held by an individual author. We do not allow company profiles. Each blog post must be posted by its author under their professional name. In cases where multiple authors contribute to one article, one should post and credit the others within the post's body.

6. Blogs are not edited and will be posted in the condition they are submitted. In rare cases, Game Developer editors reserve the right to make minor updates to headline or summary content to align with platform capabilities.

7. Featured blogs are chosen based on their educational value to the community. However, we also consider header image quality, post length, and headline quality when evaluating posts for the front page. We do not respond to solicitations for featured blog placement.

What kind of blogs is Game Developer looking for?

We want blogs that speak to your peers, no matter what kind of game you're working on or what discipline you work in: art, sound, design, programming, community management, QA, production, business, and beyond. What does that look like in practice? Think about what you would like to read as a game industry professional. What are some key lessons you’ve learned that you would like to pass on to other developers? Is it something thought-provoking, instructional, or inspirational? If it meets any of those criteria, it’s welcome in our blog section. We want to see the same depth of content we've championed on Game Developer for the last 15 years and beyond: pieces that demonstrate and share expertise with an industry-focused audience.

We know that by blogging on the Game Developer platform, you want your work to be seen by the greater development community. This is why, every day, our editorial staff selects the best blog submissions to endorse as Featured Blogs, which are then featured on the front page, promoted across our social media feeds and shared widely with the game development community.

While any number of topics can be popular on Game Developer, reliable formats include postmortems, tutorials in specific techniques (any discipline), digital download sales data and other practical business writing, and deep design analysis or meaningful critique.

Here are some examples of high-quality submissions that illustrate what we are looking for in a featured blog. See our FAQ for further insight into what makes a blog eligible for featured placement.

Example Featured Blogs

Why publish with Game Developer?

Here are some of the benefits of collaborating with our team:
1. Developers get to speak on their own terms to people on their level. While we encourage developers to speak to all skill levels, Game Developer is a place where developers can talk to other developers, giving them the freedom to speak freely from an informed position.

2. Despite our niche audience, our dev-authored articles still serve a general interest purpose. Developers get the opportunity to speak to their creative vision while giving a behind-the-scenes look at their game that both other developers and gamers will enjoy.

3. Developers are supported by a collaborative structure that provides feedback and editorial assistance at all levels of content development. If you’re unsure of your content’s quality or suitability for our site, we’re here to help adjust and refine the material along the way.

4. Creative collaboration with a team that understands your needs and concerns. We put developers first, and it shows in everything we do, from the care taken in formatting your article to how the story is framed and promoted on social media. We strive to handle your material with the sensitivity, understanding and respect it deserves.

5. Game Developer is a place to celebrate your wins. There are many highs and lows in development. Our site is a place where developers can share the joy of everything from their first student game to their most recent launch, a bug fix, a successful feature implementation: whatever makes them happy about their work. We want to tell the story of your success.

Questions? Comments?

As the editor of our dev-authored section and a content coordinator for the site, I’m available to help with every step of the process, from refining article ideas to editing the final copy.

We look forward to working with you! Please email me at [email protected] if you have any further questions.