#8 | One Year Ago, Everything Changed!

Today I want to take a little break from development and look back at something very special.

On August 8, 2025, I received 2nd place at the Xsolla Incubator.

For me, this wasn't just another award.

It was the moment when I felt that Biomass: Extermination—and my journey as a solo developer—had officially entered the game industry.

Before that day, I had been working on Biomass mostly alone, building, learning, experimenting, breaking things, fixing them... and then breaking them again.

That recognition from Xsolla gave me something extremely valuable:

belief.

And what happened afterwards still feels a little surreal.

One year later, Biomass has come much further than I could have imagined.

I've had the opportunity to meet developers and industry professionals from around the world, showcase Biomass internationally, connect with publishers, and now I'm preparing to take the game to Gamescom 2026 with Xsolla.

I was also recently honored to become an official judge for the DevGAMM Awards 2026.

And all of this started with that day.

August 8, 2025.

But there is one thing I don't want to forget:

you guys were here too.

Every wishlist.

Every comment.

Every person who played the demo.

Every person who shared Biomass with a friend.

Every piece of feedback.

Every time someone told me"keep going."

It all matters.

I'm still a solo developer. I'm still opening Unreal Engine and staring at Blueprint spaghetti. 😂

But one year later, I'm standing in a very different place.

And honestly?

I'm just getting started.

Thank you for being here with me.

Now, back to work. There are still a lot of things in Biomass that need to be built.

See you in the next Dev Log!

— Arif