The Rockstar union case made its way into UK Parliament earlier today

A project that started with a DiGRA23 workshop is finally, nearly out in the world! Coming May 2026 from Bloomsbury’s Writing History series, Writing Games Histories is a collection of essays on historical game studies methods&approaches. Find the ToC here: www.bloomsbury.com/uk/writing-g...

hey y'all! my questionnaire on player experience in historical videogames is now LIVE! if you play videogames about the past, we want to hear from you! edu.nl/7w3yn

I'm delighted to be part of this volume with a plethora of awesome people. The immediate paperback edition is an additional nice touch.

such an honor and a joy to be included in this volume, talking (inter)disciplinarity in historical game studies and the importance of putting "current" methods in context. ain't no party like a @times-new-roman.bsky.social @docrandom.bsky.social cowriting party ‼️

Everything about this, including the editors and stellar contributors, looks amazing.

Can’t thank Esther enough for inviting me to contribute to this collection! It was a real treat to contribute to an academic book from the perspective as both a historian and a game developer. I think this book is going to be an essential one for anyone interested in historical game studies

Really enjoyed working on mine + @doktornick.bsky.social co-authored chapter "Autoethnography as Historical Method: A Plague Tale and Authentic Experiences of the Past" for this collection, we presented the work at DiGRA25 + loved discussing the themes + methodology. The ToC for the book looks ace!

May can't come soon enough! Really grateful to the editors for including a chapter where I discuss inter-mythological games (eg Smite, Age of Mythology, GoW). I try to explain this relatively game-specific phenomenon, and how combinations of mythic traditions construct a Western-centric worldview.

We’ve edited a thing! Writing Game Histories is an accessible entry point to historical game studies, coming from Bloomsbury in 2026. Our contributors are a brilliant bunch of people who have worked with us through the HGN over the last few years. Check it out ⬇️⬇️

A project that started with a DiGRA23 workshop is finally, nearly out in the world! Coming May 2026 from Bloomsbury’s Writing History series, Writing Games Histories is a collection of essays on historical game studies methods&approaches. Find the ToC here: www.bloomsbury.com/uk/writing-g...

I wrote about historical fiction and romantic visions of the past in this year's videogames. Read it below!

UPDATE: Got many great pitches already, most from Latin America & Eastern Europe (which makes sense given my history & previous work lol) I really want more stories from north of Africa, Middle-East & SEA. I'm reaching out to researchers & journos there, any suggestions & connections are welcome 🙏

BREAKING: Yesterday Grand Theft Auto VI maker Rockstar Games fired dozens of people, all of whom were involved in union efforts. A British union calls it "blatant and ruthless" union-busting. Take-Two Interactive says it was due to misconduct. Here's the scoop: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

We're happy to announce the call for contributions for our new HGN theme: Fictions! Following a successful event last month, this theme explores the relationship between history and fiction in games, and how they shape each other. www.historicalgames.net/call-for-con... #gamestudies #gamingthepast

I’m over here trying to enjoy PSLF and this comes across my screen. Sigh. IGN claims his classes are “a world first.” FIRST TIME IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD, EVERYONE!!!! NEVER BEEN DONE BY ANYONE EVER!!!! Meanwhile, I and many others have been doing this for a decade or more.

Historians (rightly) get annoyed when other academics weigh in on their subject & claim to have “solved” or “completed” history, ignoring existing research & nuance. Yet historians keep weighing in on games as if no one has ever paid attention to them before (& it’s not great)

Last week we hosted a discussion panel at the @royalsoced.bsky.social Curious Festival. Our brilliant speakers (incl. @chriskempshall.bsky.social @drtimpeacock.bsky.social) explored history & fantasy in games & media. Find the recording here if you missed it! www.historicalgames.net/recording-un...

For those who missed this wonderful event and discussion, it's now available in YouTube form! www.youtube.com/live/blXnnwc... 🗃️

This event is happening on Wednesday! I think there's still time to book a place for either in person or to attend online and watch some very smart people (and me) talk about history and fantasy in games and media! 🗃️

This sort of thing came up again in conversation today. I do not believe that UK universities (as institutions) are fully preparing their PhD students and staff for non-academic life & options. I will happily come and talk to students & staff about my experiences & tips etc if universites pay me 🗃️

I made this today to (less eloquently) express the same feeling (of rage):

Last week we hosted the fantastic Otherworldly Entertainment conference on horror, gothic & occult themed videogames @ucph.bsky.social. It was such an inspiring event with so many great talks incl. keynotes by @enwright.bsky.social & @kirstinmills.bsky.social. Thanks to everyone who participated!

🧵 Next month, Dr @enwright.bsky.social is co-running and chairing a panel with the @historygamesnet.bsky.social and the Imperial War Museums Institute as part of the @royalsoced.bsky.social's Curious Festival.

Sooo I guess I now get to say that I am one of the writers working on this incredibly cool game 🎉

History hidden in plain sight in RDR2! And how John Williams's excellent novel Butcher's Crossing influenced the game, especially Dutch Van der Linde. readdead.com/2025/08/06/t...

Sharing this again because the deadline is coming up on the 8th.

Can confirm that it is always a good idea to get a historian to work on your game. Yes even if your game does not have a historical setting. (I am maybe biased but I stand by it)

If you missed our Gender panel event on Tuesday, you can now watch the recording of this fantastic discussion here via our Youtube Channel! Featuring @verysrsgames.com @katexe.bsky.social @tesswatty.bsky.social & @ide4fix.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtP3...

A short piece by me on early modern ships’ surgeons and emotions!

Apropos the recent RDR2-adjacent *discourse*, @readdead.com’s work is a phenomenally in depth consideration of RDR2’s literary, cultural & historical contexts. You should check it out, incl. this hugely valuable demographic assessment of all significant characters (1/2) readdead.com/2025/07/02/r...

New post! Ahead of tomorrow’s panel Andreas Kjeldsen (@verysrsgames.com) discusses forthcoming comedic narrative adventure The Knight & the Maiden, where players solve puzzles to unfold the story of a noblewoman’s quest (& her many gendered disguises): www.historicalgames.net/playing-with...

This is tomorrow! Featuring @tesswatty.bsky.social, @katexe.bsky.social, @andreaskjeldsen.bsky.social of @verysrsgames.com, and Leandro Wallace. Still a few tickets left! #gamestudies #historygames #gamingthepast

I spend a lot of time talking about all the things historical games do wrong when representing (or, mostly, not representing) women in the past - for a change, here I wrote about some games which I think do something better and more interesting in their depictions of historical women & girls!

New on the HGN blog: Gender panel guest speaker @katexe.bsky.social explores the widespread lack of engagement with “women’s histories” in historical video games, & discusses some examples that do represent women’s stories more meaningfully: www.historicalgames.net/womens-histo...

One week to go until our Gender discussion panel! Find out more & sign up here 👇 www.historicalgames.net/gender/

I know how much Bob didn’t want to write this review, but it needed to be written.

We've got a bonus discussion panel event coming up September 10th! In collaboration with the IWM Institute, we're hosting this brilliant lineup of speakers for a hybrid discussion, as part of @royalsoced.bsky.social Curious 2025 Read more and register here! www.historicalgames.net/rse-curious-...

We are happy to announce a further guest for our event on 29 July: Leandro Wallace! Sadly, Leandro isn't here on Bluesky, but you can find out more about him, and about our other amazing panellists, on our event page: www.historicalgames.net/gender/

The HGN team recently chatted with Rytis Jadzevicius of @fluxogames.bsky.social about their upcoming game, Book Smugglers. A decision-driven, point-and-click adventure set in 19thC Lithuania, the game blends resource management with historical storytelling: www.historicalgames.net/interview-wi...

If I do say so myself, a brilliant lineup of speakers to chat about video games, fantasy, history and conflict in Edinburgh this September! Online and in person (and free!!) 👇🎮 @historygamesnet.bsky.social @chriskempshall.bsky.social @drtimpeacock.bsky.social @royalhistsoc.org

Very much looking forwards to taking part in this panel with @enwright.bsky.social, Fruzsina Pittner, & Mimi Markham at @royalsoced.bsky.social's Curious Festival in September! rse.org.uk/event/unreal...

Authenaccureality

The HGN’s next panel discussion on gender, history and games is coming up in 2 weeks! Sign up via the post below, and read more about the theme (and our brilliant speakers) here: www.historicalgames.net/gender/

New this week on the HGN blog, Marcus Jensen reflects on Elden's Ring's explorations of gender through the ideas of medieval alchemy. Enjoy! www.historicalgames.net/let-us-be-sh... #gamestudies #historygames

The next contribution to our Gender theme is out! Regina Seiwald’s new video, Hidden Architects, explores the history of women in the UK games industry, from 1970-2000. You can find it here: www.historicalgames.net/hidden-archi... #gamestudies #historygames

We’re excited to announce that the online panel discussion for our Gender theme will take place on 29 July, 16:00-17:30 UK time, featuring @tesswatty.bsky.social (chair), @katexe.bsky.social, @andreaskjeldsen.bsky.social and a third, mystery panellist. Tickets at buytickets.at/historicalga....

are you ready 📰 It's TRADE MAGAZINE WEEK 📰 💥 NEARLY 400 video game industry trade magazines, full-text searchable by the public 💥 🎙️ NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN interviews with Shigeru Miyamoto, Sid Meier, and more 🎙️ ☠️ NOT for the FAINT-OF-HEART historian ☠️ 🚨 ONLY at archive.gamehistory.org 🚨

New post on the blog! Rob Sherman writes about A Master Betrayed! - a set of physical and digital interactive works for the East Looe Old Gaol Museum in Cornwall, UK. The post includes links to explore the project yourself at home: www.historicalgames.net/a-master-bet...

Generative AI companies have stolen from everybody with the implict belief that nobody would actually have the balls to sue them for doing so, and as a result have acted with a blatant disregard for copyright law. They thought big corpos would want to pay them. They were wrong.