If you're a video game worker looking to have a stronger voice on the job, stop corporate greed and get better pay, benefits and more, join @videogameworkers.bsky.social and build worker power to change the gaming industry for good. uvw-cwa.org

We've updated our Gamers for Palestine leaflet to include updated resources, organisations and calls to action including @nogamesforgenocide.com! Let's get organised, gamers! If you print/use the leaflet, snap pics and tag us! Find the printable PDF in B&W and colour at linktr.ee/gameassist

Call of Duty is published by Activision Blizzard, which is owned by Microsoft - so it's on the boycott list!

It'd be a huge service if people would provide their signatures and HARD boycott Xbox Fuck you Microsoft

The BDS movement is partnering with @nogamesforgenocide.com. Together we can help end Microsoft’s technological support of Israel illegal apartheid regime and genocide in Gaza. Sign the pledge to boycott Microsoft’s Xbox. Read more: loom.ly/1FQEDiA

If you've been wondering why some folks are boycotting Xbox right now, here's a decent update from, of all places, Kotaku and the Palestinian BDS movement and No Games for Genocide. Remember, withholding your dollars and engagement are two of the best ways to influence corporate policy!

If you’re a representative of an organisation, such as a game development studio or games media outlet and want to sign on behalf of the whole organisation, have clarifying questions or want help pressuring your organization to end complicity, contact [email protected]

Palestinians call on everyone to sign the Boycott Xbox pledge today. Viable gaming alternatives exist. Genocide is not a game. Go to nogamesforgenocide.com to sign the pledge and for more details on how to take action.

Microsoft’s Xbox is a priority BDS target. Call to action for gamers, streamers, journalists, game workers ⬇️

SIGN OUR BOYCOTT XBOX PLEDGE: We are asking gamers, game workers, streamers & journalists to join us in boycotting & divesting from Xbox, to force Microsoft to end its complicity in the genocide of Palestinians. We’ve provided concrete actions everyone can take. Sign here: nogamesforgenocide.com

Cute that since Tanille Johnston raised enough to make it through to the next stage of NDP leadership, she’s teaming up to try to get Tony McQuail across the finish line. Deadline is tonight. I gotta say the camaraderie on display from these two is pretty endearing www.youtube.com/live/yOaaPW6...

Hey authors! Check to see if Anthropic stole your book to train their slop generator on. You’re entitled to $1500 per stolen Work. Look up your work, and if you’re in the database, file a claim secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup/

Revolutionary ghosts are always helpful. So I turned to the Surrealists for tips on fighting fascism. Stay for the ending about @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social surrealist campaigning... Enjoy!

@naomiaklein.bsky.social: ”Where the Surrealists made irreverent and untameable art, the fascists sought a world of perfect symmetry. While the Surrealists embraced the frailties and mysteries of the human body, the fascists waged war on deviance.’’ www.equator.org/articles/sur...

Antisemitism is a lot like Qanon child abuse conspiracies in that there’s this real and bad phenomenon and, parallel to that, what can only be described as a large scale mass psychosis about a mostly fictional version of the same phenomenon

I've been slowly making my way through this collection and it's quite good. Should be required reading for anyone who talks about games for a living. Also a painful read as someone who left the academy in part because of how impoverished the support for my work was. punctumbooks.com/titles/histo...

Incidentally, if anyone wants to commission a piece that talks about how the narratives in this book speak to the persistent rift between academic game studies and popular games criticism, hit me the fuck up.

Elon Musk's bad Lord of the Rings tweets have Tolkien scholars horrified. from @johnsemley3000.bsky.social, magnificent art by @anjalinair.bsky.social

I was interviewed for this article in Wired about how the far right is using and abusing LOTR in their social posts to gain support for their bullshit:

The blood on our Controllers - The Complicity of the Game Industry in the Palestinian Genocide Is OUT!! youtu.be/g7488to6Jpc?...

Just beat this one! Loved it and will be playing again! 🎲🎲🎲🎲

I was interviewed for this article in Wired about how the far right is using and abusing LOTR in their social posts to gain support for their bullshit:

Actual Tolkien nerd @johnsemley3000.bsky.social went deep on how poorly Elon Musk, MAGA, and other right-wing tech bros understand the Lord of the Rings. And can we all just admire this art by @anjalinair.bsky.social: www.wired.com/story/elon-m...

A sneaky weekend drop of the new GAME STUDIES STUDY BUDDIES, in which we spend 3 hours talking about a book that is 80 pages long! It's worth it, though, as few texts have been as impactful on how we talk about our present moment as Mark Fisher's CAPITALIST REALISM: rangedtouch.com/2025/10/31/8...

The Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB) has accused Rockstar of union busting after the studio reportedly dismissed 30 to 40 employees last Thursday (October 30) www.gamesindustry.biz/iwgb-accuses...

More than 1,200 video game journalists have left major publications in the past two years, and not returned to the media, according to data supplied to VGC. www.videogameschronicle.com/news/more-th...

Save 50% on #NewBook Indigenomicon by Jodi Byrd @arsavium.bsky.social, which brings video game studies and Indigenous studies into conversation with Black studies, queer studies, and Indigenous feminist critique. buff.ly/FBknSYW

Hi, I spent 10+ years researching all sorts of PC RPGs: AAAs, indies, RPG Maker, non-English, etc. Together with 167 volunteers, I created/edited The CRPG Book: crpgbook.wordpress.com You can download it for free, or buy a hardcover edition from Bitmap Books - ALL author's revenue goes to charity!❤️

So, today I'm announcing a new book project... and doing a call for papers: crpgbook.wordpress.com/2025/10/31/t... It's an anthology of video game history outside the usual US perspective - an accessible & exciting panorama of different realities - and I'll pay 300 USD per article. Please share :)

The Excavation of Hob's Barrow is a blood-curdling 55% off in the Steam Halloween sale! A perfect time to play our folk horror adventure game inspired by movies such as The Wicker Man & the works of M.R. James, with a little pinch of Twin Peaks and Lovecraft. store.steampowered.com/app/1182310/...

I have an upcoming guest lecture at UDelaware on my usual schtick - violence prevention in games both commercial and serious. Come hang out if you want to hear me on my soapbox! (do I need more than one headshot plz say no) 🫥 events.udel.edu/event/games-...

When @wired.com made FOIA-based stories free, subscriptions went up. When @404media.co published public records reporting without a paywall, new sources came forward. We spoke to both about why dropping paywalls like this is good for journalism — and for business.

This interview with Janet Murray on the misogyny and masculinist attitudes in game studies is deeply depressing. But rings entirely true. www.jstor.org/stable/jj.31...

@johnsemley3000.bsky.social Hey John! Someone sent me your post on Twitter asking for an academic to talk about memes and LOTR! I'm locked out of my account over there but if you DM me here I'm happy to chat and give you my email!

#gamestudies book launch in Toronto! November 14th at 7pm! www.eventbrite.ca/e/of-floatin...

🔴 LIVE NOW: Join us for this timely discussion about making FOIA-based reporting free at this defining moment in our history. Featuring @404media.co’s @josephcox.bsky.social, @wired.com’s @katie-drummond.bsky.social, and FPF’s @caitlinvogus.bsky.social and @laurenleharper.bsky.social.

Next time someone asks me why I, as an assistant professor with a PhD, would spend my time researching the connections between games culture and larger political culture, I am just going to show them these two images.

Hey so the thing I alluded in my latest essay? That's out now, for free! This is a project we've been working on for over a year at this point, and I'm so happy to see it out. Weird to see my name next to some amazing writers and scholars like this! playstorypress.org/books/the-ps...

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

In This article “Weak Men and Strong Women,” Kenzie Gordon and Sarah Stang critically examine how two major franchises, Tomb Raider and The Witcher 3, handle gender-based violence, arguing that their portrayals reinforce harmful stereotypes ⚔️ Studies in the Fantastic: muse.jhu.edu/article/970184

Check out these authors❗ @kenzitronic.bsky.social @sarahstang.bsky.social #GameStudies #GenderedViolence #FeministCritique

OPEN CALL FOR STREAMERS Defeating Games for Charity is back for its third year in 2026, come raise money with us! We're looking for volunteers to stream a meaningful game to them and give entertaining, informative commentary. Everyone is welcome to apply! Learn more at defeatinggames.com/apply

Who should stream in Defeating Games 2026 to help raise money for the Video Game History Foundation? Tag someone you think would be a good fit for the event! Application period is open now, more information at defeatinggames.com/apply

it's been a banner week for the argument that milquetoast values-neutral technocratic neoliberalism is basically fash-lite, huh

WE ARE VERY CLOSE TO SELLING OUT THE FIRST PRINT RUN OF THIS BOOK! Please continue to buy it and send it around. It is available on all store fronts you might want to purchase it at!

Grad student sprints ahead with gaming subculture research – The Brock News brocku.ca/brock-news/2... #brocku

Check out @emmavphd.bsky.social's webinar session on Oct 18th at 12 pm (EST) entitled "Voices of Women and Gender Diverse Gamers"! Hosted by the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights: www.jhcentre.org/news-and-eve... #brocku

I will be on this panel tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. EST! www.jhcentre.org/events/onlin...

Maybe biased since I'm helping to organize this, but this is such a wonderful event for anyone doing work in and around games - we welcome submission formats of all sorts and the event is fully hybrid! Please consider submitting something #gamestudies

The latest Video Game History Hour podcast talks to Dr. Stephanie Harkin, lecturer at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, about her research on video games in girls’ lifestyle magazines like Girl Gamer & Total Girl: gamehistory.org/episode-141-...