New: Women working in the US games industry earn a quarter less than men on average, according to a new study -- significantly more than the average US gender pay gap: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Kudos and congrats to the most unhinged and least rigorous "video game extremism" take I've ever read, and the bar is soo high nypost.com/2025/11/13/t...

If this happens in the games industry, I will be very unhappy www.wired.com/story/google...

New: Web games are so back. Consoles cost $450, "app fatigue" is real, and browser games are booming. One ray of light for the struggling games industry: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

I just switched from TikTok to Reels and am beginning to think we overhyped the TikTok algorithm..... instead of serving me makeup tutorials and niche influencer drama, Meta knows what I really want is memes for despairing ADC mains

Roblox is doing gangbusters numbers. But this morning, shares fell despite record-smashing results. New safety features could "cause short-term friction to engagement and bookings," Roblox's CFO said today. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

It's so cute when someone goes out of their way to post "I already knew that" under one of my articles. I wish I could pat you all on the head and congratulate you for having nothing to learn

New: Internet celebrities like Jake Paul and MrBeast are paying armies of "clippers" to saturate social media with clips of their videos. This is the story of Anthony Fujiwara, 23 -- the secretive mastermind behind celebrities' clipping campaigns. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Update: The market value for Counter-Strike skins fell by $3 billion since Valve updated the game Wednesday evening. That's -48%. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

AAA single-player games should cost $1000 but if you actually finish the game you get a full refund

New: The market for Counter-Strike skins fell $1.75 billion overnight -- that's 25%. Investors dumped money into the digital item market amid concerns about the S&P 500 and crypto. Then, last night, Valve pushed a market-breaking update to the game

SCOOP: For the last two years, Microsoft has pushed Xbox to hit profit margins of 30%, an ambitious target that's far higher than the industry average. This chase for profit has led Xbox to raise prices, cut thousands of jobs, and rethink everything. Story: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

New: Inside Xbox's Game Pass price hike. Day-one Game Pass releases were long controversial, current and former employees tell me. Here's why (hint: Call of Duty sales) www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

New: Roblox criticized by advocacy groups for categorizing games about marriage equality and affirmative action into a "sensitive issues" designation that's default restricted for kids under 13. Games with guns remain available www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Never played a game quite like Consume Me and I am totally obsessed. It's fun, smart, creative and surprising. And I love how it deals with a heavy topic with both humor and thoughtfulness. store.steampowered.com/app/2359120/...

In neighborhoods near big data centers, electricity costs 267% more every month than it did 5 years ago, a Bloomberg investigation found: www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...

Scoop: Saudi Arabia is the largest contributor to the $36 billion in equity put in to finance a deal to take Electronic Arts private. EA will help bridge the country's sports and video-game ambitions as it diversifies away from oil, analysts say. Story: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

NYC losing BrookLAN and Bluestockings within a week is a travesty. NYC's commercial real estate situation is accelerating us toward a dark future where the internet is the only place young people are exposed to new ideas and communities.

New: Here is suspected Charlie Kirk shooter Tyler Robinson's video game history, which is being investigated by US law enforcement, according to a source and a Bloomberg review. One of his Steam tags is Donald Trump. Story with Myles Miller: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Fantastic Ms. Rachel profile by @aishacounts.bsky.social and @felixgillette.bsky.social. The children's YouTube star is advocating for children in Gaza, and amid social-media controversy, says her posts have not shrunk her audience or damaged business relationships: www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

New: Roblox announced a new TikTok-like app called Moments, capitalizing on the popularity of Roblox content on TikTok and YouTube. Players can capture and view short-form videos of Roblox gameplay. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Today, "Unsafe Online" with Olivia Carville won the Online Journalism Awards' "feature" category and was nominated for a Loeb award. We are so thrilled!! awards.journalists.org/entries/unsa...

New: Blizzard cofounder's Dreamhaven is struggling in today's challenged games market per an internal letter. Its 2 new games sold below expectations. Dreamhaven now seeks funding It's not alone. Some of the most promising new studios are hitting roadblocks. Story: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

I reached out to 440 moderators for this. It's a uniquely hard demographic to report on - one that's critical to the infrastructure of culture. Many live in job deserts and are afraid to speak out. Thankfully a lot of them did over concerns the AI they're training will replace them.

New: AI is replacing human moderators. The moderators say it is really bad at the job. TikTok, Roblox, Meta and X say they'll rely more on AI to keep their sites safe. A dozen frontline moderators say the AI isn't ready, and even makes their jobs harder. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Supervive is really fun

Scoop: The SEC concluded an investigation involving Roblox back in May. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

New: There's a reckoning on Roblox. The company is facing at least 7 new child safety suits over the last 2 weeks -- including one from Louisiana's Attorney General. Shares fell 11% today. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

New: It took Magic: The Gathering 6 months to earn $200 million from its Lord of the Rings set. Final Fantasy achieved that in a single day. The card game's record-breaking success for Hasbro is helping stave off tariff pressure. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

New: Teens are selling Roblox games for 7 figures or more in a now-thriving secondary market. One earned $3 million for Blue Lock Rivals: a game he made in just months: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

New: Influencers are being advised not to speak on Palestine and the LA ICE raids to avoid unwanted scrutiny from authorities. Immigration lawyers are also advising influencers to delete old posts, regardless of their citizenship status: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Congrats on your freedom, Kotaku crew! www.axios.com/2025/07/02/k...

Those ex-Ubisoft employees were convicted following a sexual harassment trial. In Bloomberg:

New: GameStop's future is in Pokémon and sports trading cards, CEO Ryan Cohen said today. “It fits our trade-in model, it appeals to our core customer base and it’s deeply embedded in physical retail.” www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

NEW: What went wrong with Dragon Age: The Veilguard? Why was the writing so tonally inconsistent? Why did it feel so shallow? Why were there so few choices? Really, after ten years of turbulence, it was a miracle that anything came out at all. This is the story: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Since April, a gamer named ChickenDog was a fixture outside Nintendo NY. He and his supporters, all in suits, traded shifts sleeping and grabbing pizza ahead of the Switch 2 launch. Here's ChickenDog after Nintendo's Doug Bowser handed him the 1st Switch 2 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

New: The Switch 2 has launched! @bloomberg.com attended launch events from Tokyo to Manhattan and interviewed esteemed Nintendoheads like SNL's Bowen Yang and ChickenDog, who waited outside Nintendo NY since April to secure the first console from Doug Bowser. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

New: Best Buy and GameStop confirmed they will sell out of Switch 2s day one. Best Buy does not have a specific restocking window, but GameStop expects weekly restocks. Story: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

11.7 million people played Grow A Garden, simultaneously, over the weekend, per RoMonitor Stats. Some of them are doing it to earn cash

New: Record-breaking Roblox game Grow A Garden has spurred a million-dollar-a-week illicit fruit economy. Kid entrepreneurs are selling rare fruit seeds and animals to each other on third-party marketplaces. Full story: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

NEW: Apple is planning a dedicated app for video games on its devices, seeking to sell gamers and developers on the idea that it’s a leader in the market. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Leif was a beautiful thinker and writer on MMOs, and incredibly generous with his support, including early in my games journalism career. Rest in peace. www.pcgamer.com/gaming-indus...

New: Political commentator Hasan Piker says he was briefly detained by US Customs and Border Protection, questioned about his views on Hamas and Trump. First reported by @taylorlorenz.bsky.social. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

New: Inside HoYoverse--the first Chinese game-maker to crack the West. HoYoverse made billions from anime babe RPGs, but the data shows its games cannibalized each other. My deep dive into how the company plans to stay on top (with some fun scoops): www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Would love to know how the AI essay epidemic affects colleges with no grades. I went to one of those and have come to view college as a place to develop a relationship with difficulty, not earn scores. Grit is the most useful skill college can teach when information is free.

The market cap for Counter-Strike 2 skins has hit a record $5 billion, according to Pricempire. We reported in March that the market for digital gun accessories was growing while the S&P 500, Bitcoin and Ethereum struggled. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Scoop: Canadian toy entrepreneur Stephan Tetrault acquired GameStop Canada. GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen previously said he wanted to sell: “High taxes, Liberalism, Socialism, Progressivism, Wokeness and DEI included at no additional cost if you buy today!” www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

The top deepfake porn site is shutting down, via @404media.co. A critical service provider terminated service. @bloomberg.com previously reported that Cloudflare, Amazon and GitHub have have provided services for many of the top 20 deepfake sites. www.404media.co/mr-deepfakes...

Nobody I’ve talked to at Rockstar has believed Fall 2025 was a real window for a very long time now. Too much work, not enough time, and what appears to be a real desire from management to avoid brutal crunch. GTA VI slipping to 2026 has seemed inevitable for months if not longer

I'll say more later, but I no longer have a job. I'm looking for work, as are *so* many of my amazing colleagues. I have lots of ideas and things I'd like to write. I'm really in shock.