Post-Playdate: One Year Later

by Matt Sephton — Wed, 29 Oct 2025 12:12:00 +0000

It’s been a year since October 2024, when I released my last game on the Playdate Catalog. Over the course of that month, I became increasingly concerned about an undercurrent of threatening and antisocial behaviour from one particular developer in the community—my frequent reports of which went unanswered. Eventually—exactly a year ago today—that tension surfaced as a campaign of targeted harassment. I was assured something would be done about it, but sadly, nothing ever was.

So I left the Playdate community. Over the following months, I faced various forms of harassment: doxxing, unsavoury DMs, spam campaigns targeting my email, cell phone, and social media accounts, unfounded accusations—the list goes on. I can tell you, this is not my idea of a fun time.

You might think that after a year this would be old news. Sadly, it’s not. I’ve long since moved on with my life and kept creating—for platforms as exotic as the Sega Dreamcast and as familiar as the web. I’m proud of what I’ve achieved, and of the choices that allow me to keep doing what I do best, regardless of the people who try to put barriers in my way.

While I continued creating award-winning games, the chance to build the game of my dreams came along—made easier by being an employee at a company that would handle funding, marketing, and the practicalities, freeing me to focus on doing my best work. It was a decision I didn’t take lightly, both because of potential ethical concerns and the fear of further harassment. I sought advice from close friends and had thoughtful discussions with several of them. One friend in particular told me they hadn’t heard of the company, so we didn’t discuss it further. That was back in May.

I announced my first work with the company in July—again, this friend said nothing. Then, in mid-October, I announced my new permanent position, and that same friend suddenly went off the deep end. I asked what had changed since May, when they hadn’t heard of the company, and why nothing was said in July, when I first went public with my new work—yet now, in October, they were suddenly so angry. Their reply:

“One of my friends saw your post and sent it to me saying ‘oh no,’ which is how I found out. And then another friend (who you also know) also said ‘oh nooooooo.’”

So, essentially, this friend had been incited into anger by others—the same social dynamic that fuelled the harassment a year ago. And the worst part? Those two mutual friends are key figures in the Playdate scene—the very people who once promised to address the harassment are now perpetuating it, a year on. I need to find a stronger word than disappointing, but that will have to do for now.

At this point, I’m letting things run their course and will continue to do what I do best: make games. I’m looking forward to you being able to play the next one.

Plus ça change—the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Have fun,
matt

When Playdate Stopped Being Fun

by Matt Sephton — Tue, 15 Apr 2025 21:00:00 +0000

For almost six years, Playdate (a little handheld gaming device with a crank input and 1-bit screen) was a space where I did some of my most creative and personal work. I embraced its quirks, shipped over twenty releases, and explored what a tiny, constrained device could do. It brought me joy, challenge, and a sense of purpose.

But over time, that feeling changed. Following a difficult incident in October 2024 involving targeted harassment—admitted to by the developer responsible, but met with no meaningful follow-up from the community moderators and no reply at the time of writing from Panic—I began to feel increasingly disconnected from the scene. I gave it time, hoped things might shift, but ultimately the silence made it hard to keep building with the same heart.

So, I’m stepping back. Not dramatically—just with clarity. Right now, this isn’t the environment I can thrive in. If that changes, I’d be happy to return. For now, I want to leave a record of what I made. I’m proud of all of it. I’ll continue as a full-time indie developer, but in another castle.

Be excellent to each other. And have fun.

Released Projects

2022-03 Today (the first Playdate thing sold on itch.io)
2022-04 Horse Race
2022-04 Audition
2022-04 Prototypes multi-pack
2022-04 Daily Driver (tech demo)
2022-05 Circular
2022-05 ST-DIN and Supermini fonts
2023-04 Sparrow Solitaire (with Mac Vogelsang)
2023-05 Piskel for Playdate (desktop pixel art app)
2023-07 Mandala
2023-08 Strategies
2023-08 DateDiff
2023-08 YOYOZO (“Best Games of 2023”, Ars Technica)
2023-10 Kye (with Jan Martinek)
2023-10 Super ICARUS
2023-12 Fore! Track
2023-12 See the Sky (with Thoru Yamamoto)
2024-05 Rorschach (featuring mouse control)
2024-10 Bender 2: Bend Harder
2025-03 Shark Turtle, originally created 2023-06

Cancelled Projects

Aero Club—Flight school simulation inspired by Mode 7 and Pilotwings
Beatnik—Rhythm game with interactive music and beat-matched dynamic visuals
Cosmic Trash—Arcade action puzzle with realtime ray-traced graphics
Daily Driver—60fps arcade racing with pre-rendered graphics (reborn as Dream Ride)
Koatari—Pachinko-style arcade game with pinball-inspired visuals, running up to 120fps
Mole Hole—A modern remake of Thoru Yamamoto’s escape-maze concept

Notes

Daily Driver won “Outstanding Technical Achievement (SDK)” at the 2022 Community Awards
Sparrow Solitaire won “Best Puzzle Game” at the 2023 Community Awards
YOYOZO won “Best Arcade Game” at the 2023 Community Awards
YOYOZO was named one of the “Best Games of 2023” by Ars Technica
Bender 2: Bend Harder was nominated for “Best Arcade Game” at the 2024 Community Awards

Thanks to JM, JS, MR, PP, SC for feedback on versions of this post.
Panic were sent a draft of this post ahead of publication.

Get Info: #timeline

Post-Playdate: One Year Later

When Playdate Stopped Being Fun

Released Projects

Cancelled Projects

Notes