Wow! Five-week combo now with TWO pieces from This Week in Videogames featured among a great selection in this edition. Thank you Crit Dist🙏 All kudos to @omgmorejames.bsky.social and @crapstacular.bsky.social: - thisweekinvideogames.com/feature/la-n... - thisweekinvideogames.com/feature/opin...

Japanese indie show Bitsummit has grown from a small domestic event to one bursting at the seams, with a record attendance of 68,000+ this year. It's held in one of the largest venues in Kyoto... but it ain't that big. So where to now? Is bigger always best? @nomoredaniels.bsky.social has thoughts.

An IWGB spokesperson told TWIV that the union has not yet filed for recognition with the UK government’s labour body. They declined to share membership figures, but said that “we’re at our biggest yet.” The final hearing in the case between the IWGB and Rockstar will take place “later this year."

Can't believe I was in my early 20s when I first played LA Noire. For TWIV I wrote about its legacy, from its compelling noir tale to the super expensive MotionScan technology that was, as far as I know, never used for motion capture in videogames again

happy mina launch day cool gamers use the gun hammer

Heard this music blasting from the living room and ran in thinking my partner was watching Nirvanna the Band the Show of her own free will for once Turns out it was just Rivals on Disney+, which uses it as well. Severely disappointed!11 www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMf4...

im back store.steampowered.com/app/3304110/...

Came across an indie developer that seemingly only published their official video assets through YouTube Shorts. Please don't do that.

fuck yeah dude

Mina the Hollower

Mina the Hollower

Happy Eddy Current Suppression Ring surprise album day to those who celebrate eddycurrentsuppressionring.bandcamp.com/album/in-lig...

Bogost in the Shell

Quietly pleased to have interviewed two former Origin Systems alumni in 2026. Richard Garriott you're next!!11

New feature! Went long on the ways Resident Evil Requiem breaks apart its franchise storytelling only to awkwardly tape it back together at the finish line and deny us the messy catharsis it had organically reached.

Four-week combo! We that good games writing let's goooooooo thisweekinvideogames.com/feature/barn...

that's me i'm asian

Barnyard by my friends down at Bluetongue in Melbourne was incredibly under rated. It wasn't just a great Nickelodeon game, it was a great game full stop. The tech behind the game was really smart for the time, delivering an open world with a small team was very impressive. Still stands up today.

get ready

Deeply disrespectful to the entire Australian cultural sector that the Office of the Arts can't be bothered actually reading all the submissions people are working very hard on for the National Cultural Policy, and instead will be asking genAI for a summary. www.arts.gov.au/have-your-sa...

Can I turn a Black Flag interview into a teaching moment about fighting game strategies and memes? Yes I can

This lines up with a lot of my thoughts on it. I also think the speed with which Roblox developers jack concepts from each other to further optimize their games for monetization is fascinating and shouldn't be in something that gets pushed to kids. It's like the worst version of best practices.

i started a corp

Phonopolis is out NOW on Steam, GOG, and Epic Games Store 📣 We hope you have fun playing with the cardboard city! All links here 👇 amanita-design.net/games/phonop...

Embracer? More like Releaser am I riteeeee

Actually the precision-platforming musical duck bit this paragraph describes is precisely the point where my 8-year-old threw the controller and had a tantrum

One of my kids is home sick from school and restricted from screens so they just started drawing scenes from Unpacking 😭 @wrenegade.bsky.social @ironicaccount.bsky.social

Games funding is in a dire place, and even successful Kickstarters can be sub-optimal, as some of the veterans behind Diablo II recently discovered. @cvamped.bsky.social talks to the people behind games like Darkhaven and Malys about crowdfunding and the risky decisions devs have to make in 2026.

It's @cvamped.bsky.social on This Week in Videogames! He talks to some of the folks behind Diablo II and the Summerfall Studios gang about happy things like [checks notes] unsuccessful Kickstarter campaigns and the anxieties of videogame funding in 2026! 👍️ thisweekinvideogames.com/feature/the-...

3-Week Combo for TWIV in TWIVB! 🥲

Heard you wanted niche but interesting long reads about emerging game developers

hey i know those people

It's really cool to see a new and reader-funded outlet betting on unusual features. Gives me hope for the future of games journalism! There's gonna be one, I can feel it!

Heard you wanted niche but interesting long reads about emerging game developers

If you have young children or any joy in your heart you owe it to yourself to buy this and let them play it

We're in Critical Distance again! Read Maddie's feature on kink and games, it's so so good. Also say thank you to our paying subscribers for empowering us to create and commission cool games writing to share with all. More to come! Support indie outlets pls thisweekinvideogames.com/feature/mino...

Damn. Just damn.

Submissions to the National Cultural Policy close next Sunday 24 May. We need as many studios, gamemakers and sector support organisations to put in submissions. Freeplay's helpful guide on making a submission can be found here: docs.google.com/document/d/1...

I caught up with Beethoven & Dinosaur a few times over the last year of Mixtape's development. Here are some fun stories about making the game. A rejected pitch, meeting Kojima, their approach to teenage narrative, America as pastiche fantasy, emotion through play, music budgets, and more! Wow!!

I caught up with Beethoven & Dinosaur a few times over the last year of Mixtape's development. Here are some fun stories about making the game. A rejected pitch, meeting Kojima, their approach to teenage narrative, America as pastiche fantasy, emotion through play, music budgets, and more! Wow!!

Cannot wait to see what’s next from Calligram

CONSUME ME store.steampowered.com/app/2359120/...

I had no friends in high school for several reasons, one of which was because I was insufferable about the fact that Devo was much more than just 'Whip It' so naturally I've played the opening sequence to Mixtape many times now

I can't be reading this at 8am because it hurts too much and now I want to go back to sleep.

A really great read as a whole but this conclusion really struck me the most and fully encapsulated how I’m feeling right now

First feature is up! Wrote about the cost of comfort, Pokémon entitlement, and the never ending feeling of being ten bucks behind the world.

Every time I hit publish on a big feature I’m like, “Damn, this is the best thing on our website.” But man — this one is absolutely killer. I love it. Maddie crushed it. So many great insights and quotes and jokes. Please read it and support independent reader-funded games journalism thank you!!

For what it’s worth, as a second-generation Vietnamese refugee growing up in Australia, I saw a lot of myself in Mixtape’s main character 👍🏽