Leo

Leo

🍪 XDS 2026: External Dev Is Core, Friction Is Rising

XDS robot mascot teaching Kiki and Chip in a classroom, with Kiki in a Japanese school uniform taking notes and Chip reacting beside her as a board shows external development and AI workflow icons.

Hello there… co-dev leads, outsourcing managers, vendor wranglers, and localization survivors. The new XDS 2026 Insights Report does not paint a collapse. It shows something more uncomfortable. External development is still deeply embedded in how games get made, but the…