Sam W

In April, I made the rarest of pilgrimages: to Tokyo, and the top of a skyscraper, to meet Hideo Kojima. I went with one question: why still make games? At 61, he has made them for almost forty years. But he has seen his end. My latest for GQ: www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/hide...

Wrote a book!

Really quite sad about BioWare. When I spent time with the team in 2024 (a lovely bunch of people) it felt like they knew that Veilguard was their last real shot. www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/drag...

Enjoying Gears E-Day quite a bit. But the fact it took them as long to make it as it took to make RDR2 is insanity.

Been teaching myself Unreal and built this moody office scene while learning the basics of lighting, VFX, camera control, animation, cinematics, and blueprints. Wanted to make it feel convincingly cluttered and lived-in, which involved placing 600+ props by hand. Sound up for maximum atmosphere.

World’s biggest game website covering the world’s biggest game and calling one of the most senior devs, Aaron Garbut, “Aarib Garvyt”

Hi, I'm looking to speak to people who have left games journalism in the last few years and have gone onto do something else. DMs are open, or luke@aftermath.site, thanks!

PLAY HARD WIN BIG

In recent years, the media has quietly begun to change the way in which it writes about Bobby Kotick, the former CEO of Activision Blizzard. PMG investigates how Kotick used the threat of defamation to reshape his legacy in the games business, one article at a time. www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKwp...

Absolutely uncalled for

For nearly two years, I've been investigating a pattern of ominous legal letters sent to journalists by defamation counsel representing Bobby Kotick. That investigation is finally live. www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKwp...

I just do not get how a company of many hundreds spends a decade on the “WHAT on earth do we DO with this faceless ICON in SICK ARMOUR who SHOOTS COOL GUNS at aliens and DRIVES BIG TANKS and FLIES ALIEN SHIPS” problem

Ocarina? I hardly knew her.

Last month I went to Japan and spent an hour with FromSoftware’s Hidetaka Miyazaki, in an attempt to understand why he makes games the way he does. He also told me he doesn’t have a foot fetish. www.theguardian.com/games/2026/s...

If your take on Grand Theft Auto 6 is that a series about cars and guns is “still just driving and shooting” then I have no other option than to think you’re stupid.

Wow.

THE MUSIC

Rumour has it that he’s going to play The Witcher 3 for a seventh time.

A movie about Bourdain before Lloyd Grossman? Ainsley? The wrong people are making the decisions.

Just make them illegal. They're a menace. We are fine without them.

Leaking. Cunt’s game.

Duped by AI. Like a midweight chimpanzee.

It’s my turn now! The newsletter didn’t take off so I’ve been laid off. If you’re looking for someone with 15 years of experience as a writer and editor, please get in touch. I’ve also written dozens of mock reviews and my clients say they’re good.

Big Walk does not sound like My Thing at all but this review is *such* a piece of writing, man. Feels like the old days where you'd happily read about a game you didn't care about because the work was so good. Exquisite www.eurogamer.net/big-walk-rev...

Sorry for the self promo but I literally won’t have a job by the end of the year if enough people don’t subscribe. I think we’re doing good stuff!

“I asked ChatGPT, I asked Grok” Yeah well I asked a Halo 3 lobby and they all said you’re a dumb bitch

I had a chat with @harvey1966.bsky.social about growing up poor, dealing with the deaths of his parents, and how those things shaped his outlook on work and life. www.gaming.firezidechat.com/p/firezide-c...

GQ profiles take a lot of work and planning and coordination and Sam is genuinely up there as one of the best PRs I’ve ever worked with. Totally gets both sides of the game, preempts issues, and delivers accordingly. Basically, you should hire him.

Not enough dogs in airports. Sort it out.

Essential commentary @2plus2isjoe.bsky.social

based on the trailer alone I don't think Chris Nolan even played Mario Odyssey

Can’t help but wonder if games will push to a film industry model where the majority of people are project based freelancers.

Well there goes that dream

Sad to hear about Glen Schofield, although not surprised. When I met him he a warmth and soul greater than many of the developers I’ve met - but he also seemed worn down and ready to disappear into his paintings. www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/arti...

RIP Lindsey Graham. You taught me it was okay to be a coward whose only skill is debasing myself until death for a tiny, ultimately illusionary crumb of power.

A man must stand for something

A damning indictment of games writing nowadays is that among all the stuff going on - which might in more talented hands convert to good writing, investigations, interviews with People Who Actually Know - big sites like Poly, PC gamer and others float instead on thin op-ed bait.

Thriller idea: man with world's second smallest penis has to stop him.

"The London ambulance service said it had recorded the highest number of life-threatening emergencies in a single day in its history, driven by the extreme heat." So... can we, I don't know, start doing something about global warming now? Like, as a society? www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

Submitting three months of payslips to mortgage an Xbox Series S over 30 years

All the takes. Gonna be a long five months.

Let’s see Paul Allen’s code in a box