Burn With Me releases in Q3 2026! 🔥 store.steampowered.com/app/2954010/... Please enjoy this small behind the scenes from our artist Eva that premiered at @womenledgames.com, and I can't wait to show you all what we've been cooking.

Had a blast doing my first month of Update Patch for startmenu last month. While it will certainly pale in comparison to an event-packed June, May still had plenty of news to cover and interesting stories to highlight.

May saw plenty of video game news from across the industry, from big releases to high-profile delays, and from baffling rebrands to dreadful attempts to buy out a company that is bigger than yours. @mushwrites.bsky.social rounds it all up in this month’s Update Patch Patreon Unlock.

Despite SGF only being days away, last week was still full of news for better... and worse. @mushwrites.bsky.social finishes up their first run on Update Patch with these stories. www.patreon.com/posts/update...

Heya folks, I am really excited that for the first time ever @startmenu.bsky.social will have a writer representing us at SGF. Brandon is lovely and I am trying to get him in contact with as many cool folks as possible. If you are happy to say hi to him let me know!

We just launched demo for Burn With Me! store.steampowered.com/app/2954010/... It's a narrative deckbuilder filled with cozy dread and occultic mysteries. Also, you need to burn you cards. A lot. Full release is closer and closer, but for now - please try the demo, and enjoy a new trailer!

Freelancing is hard enough already, and inflation sucks. Defector is raising our base freelance rates by 20 percent. Great time to pitch us. Email me or [email protected]

I am streaming the Thinky Direct 2026 with @lunasgaminglog.com tonight! 🕕 10am PDT / 1pm EDT / 7pm CEST 🙌I am hyped to see these puzzle games and what @thinkygames.com has put together for the show! 💜Follow me on Twitch to get notified for the stream. www.twitch.tv/goodgamelobby

Hello! Are you a game developer who has been impacted by restrictive or confusing contract clauses that essentially prevent you from working on side projects in your own time? If so, I'd love to chat with you (anonymously or otherwise) for a report I'm working on for @gamedeveloper.bsky.social!

Spent a lovely afternoon in Porto hanging out with @harrisonpolites.bsky.social and @jasmo.bsky.social. They’re both incredibly kind, genuinely interested in the gaming industry beyond their niches and on the people that are working in and around it. To many more hangouts like this!

Heyo, little update: I'm moving on from GameRant, and going to focus on JPG more There are myriad reasons why this feels like the right move for me, but I think the biggest one is that what I was doing there is not how I wanted to write about games. As always, I am looking for paid opportunities

If you are looking for some work that summarises my style, lemme recommend you check out... My reviews of: - Black Ops 7 - www.restart.run/articles/cal... - Cairn - www.gamerguides.com/cairn/review... - Crimson Desert - www.gamerguides.com/crimson-dese...

Lex is a phenomenal editor and writer. What she's doing with @kellymerka.bsky.social at @startmenu.bsky.social for newer writers is exceedingly rare in the industry. They edit your work to improve your writing and to help you actually learn from your mistakes. Support them if you can.

anyone know of an outlet that would be interested in a personal essay entwining godzilla minus one's themes and trans survival? i appreciate that's a little vague, literally asking for a friend

Ian walker summing up my thoughts n feelings quite nicely

Hello!! Do you like games about memory? The past? The pain of absence? Check out the Memory Palaces bundle, live on Steam now! Featuring Interstate 35, @calligramstudio.com's Phoenix Springs, and @meiacalca.bsky.social's Panthalassa! store.steampowered.com/bundle/76841...

A special edition of UP this week with some coverage of Dreams on a Pillow which got a gameplay trailer recently. It looks gorgeous and is telling an incredibly special story. Support the devs, if you can, here: www.launchgood.com/v4/campaign/...

On Thursday evening Valnet issued new contracts to writers at TheGamer instituting a minimum article viewership threshold for payment. Most writers already have pay tied to article performance, but this new system would mean that if a piece didn't get X number of clicks you wouldn't be paid for it.

your girl is, as ever, looking for work 💜 essayist, critic, journalist, published author hire me for crit, features, reviews, interviews, reporting, news, and entire books words: lost in cult, unwinnable, VGC, RPS, EDGE, polygon, mothership, stop caring, and many more ashlikeadragon.bearblog.dev

looking for a few more folks to talk to for a story i'm working on about tamagotchi. has tamagotchi influenced your games or art, even going beyond the creature care genre? hit me up here or [email protected] ✨

One of the perks of reviewing video games is that you can get something good out of them even if they’re bad. @kellymerka.bsky.social ‘s editing really helped me express the issues I had with Will: Follow The Light and the back and forth we had around it was great. The game, though, not so much.

With Kumitantei: Old-School Slaughter having released last month, @lesbiankakyoin.bsky.social interviews project lead Selina Kibara on fandom, fascism, and audience expectations. www.startmenu.co.uk/home/intervi...

This week saw some big new releases, GameStop getting rejected by eBay, and a Lord of the Rings MMO getting cancelled. This week's Update Patch by @mushwrites.bsky.social. www.patreon.com/posts/update...

Steam has toterated and outright ignored claims of review-bombing, but this game called Plantation Simulator is a step too far. It needs to be banned from the platform ASAP. Report it here: store.steampowered.com/app/4495510/...

Great podcast on a phenomenal game!

Editors, I’m looking to do more freelance reviews. Unfortunately, work hasn’t paid me for last month and I’m struggling to make ends meet while I wait for that (it’s three weeks late now). I can also help with guides, interviews, previews — anything you need.

oh hell yea! two startmenu reviews on this week's CD roundup: my Titanium Court review, and @aguaspoints.bsky.social's review of the new Moomins game (which is an excellent read even when you're ignorant of the subject matter) www.startmenu.co.uk/home/review-... www.startmenu.co.uk/home/review-...

Wallace does excellent work.

Hey, it’s me again!

Directive 8020 is a lovely surprise. Thoughtfully directed and well-paced with one or two genuinely unexpected twists. It is one of the strongest Supermassive efforts alongside The Quarry and the original Until Dawn. My review: www.gamerguides.com/directive-80...

I have reviewed Mixtape. This is the Hater Zone. Don't be surprised to find Hater Opinions here. I've warned you.

"You're just a rotund little meatball" is one of my favourite quotes for any game I've worked on. Ugh, you guys are gonna love Penguin Colony so much 🐧

Had a great time chatting about Saros, especially after my love of Returnal! Also learned about Outworld Station, a new factory game set in space! Come hang out with us as we ramble about our city lol. Look for Mind Controllers anywhere you can listen to podcasts or click the link!

@noescapevg.com just released an awesome zine covering Marathon and Armored Core VI. Kaile is one of the best and a huge influence on my work. I will purchase and give away 10 copies of this Zine to ten random folks that repost. noescapevg.itch.io/no-escape-20...

Happy May! Here's another thread of freelance writing, full-time and mock review job opportunities for games, tech, and entertainment 💛 Please share it with your pals 👍🏾

so so proud and grateful to write for mothership not once but twice! 💜 in the thrilling sequel to last week's essay, i look into the invisible hand linearly guiding samus around ZDR in dread, and how it ties into her agency and her (several!) paternal relationships please give it a read! 💜

Saros is good. Saros is very good in places. I was kind of disappointed by my time with Saros. My review: www.gamerguides.com/saros/review...

I uploaded my playthrough of the new Mindseye... thing. Check it out here if you want to save yourself 50 or so minutes of your life. www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnjm...

I reviewed @hypergames.no's Moomintroll: Winter's Warmth. To my surprise even though this game is set in winter, it is one of the warmest game I have played in a while. Highest recommendation from me.

www.gamesmarket.global/how-astralsh... Wrote my first piece for @gamesmarket.global via APVP! I spoke to @astralshiftpro.com to understand how their own experience as fans influences the way they interact with their loyal community.

ICYMI: "These two relationships to time take opposite sides: one loops and the other pinpoints. Yet, they share stagnation." Excerpt: @gracemachine.bsky.social puts Final Fantasy's time-bending villains within the context of Francis Fukuyama's political theory:

youtube.com/live/ErvEsIv... Trying to stream for the first time! Giving Kena: Bridge of Spirits a shot before the sequel comes out.

Excited to tackle startmenu's Update Patch. @lexluddy.xyz's editing and the fact that this was a slow news week meant that this was a smoother process than I expected!

store.steampowered.com/curator/4606... Quite cool to see a Steam event entirely composed by games made in Portugal.

A project nearly a year in the making: This month's theme issue of Unwinnable Monthly covers Final Fantasy and politics. Features from @aguaspoints.bsky.social, @gracemachine.bsky.social, @solfleet.bsky.social and @nukelassic.bsky.social. Buy: buff.ly/AEMj6rD Subscribe: buff.ly/0hFvFne

Good morning. I reviewed Titanium Court for startmenu It afflicted me with madness but I quite liked it, despite some minor complaints www.startmenu.co.uk/home/review-...

In Owlskip Games’ The Ratline, the player unravels a mystery and unmasks Nazi war criminals. While it stands on a strong premise, the game’s narrative takes a backseat to its deduction mechanics. Andrei Filote reviews.

Deleted Saves is open for pitches for Issue #4. This issue is all about gambling and the ways gaming intersects with it: loot boxes, gacha, the machine zone. Pay is $275 per piece. Email deletedsaves at gmail dot com. Please review the guidelines below. www.deletedsaves.com/about/

Issue 98 of Exploits is also my first time writing for Unwinnable! I am flattered to be in such good company. If you read my essay regarding age restrictions in videogames (and beyond), let me know what you think.

The “product” that WWE offers has rarely felt more morally compromised or bad value than it does today, so it's fitting that WWE 2K26 embodies that nickel-and-dime feel, dragging down solid gameplay with endless caveats, both ethical and practical. @chrispenwell.bsky.social reviews.