Austin Wood

Austin Wood

@woodwould.bsky.social

13-year game journalist. Senior writer at GamesRadar+. Previously: PC Gamer, IGN, Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer. Email: austin(dot)wood(at)futurenet(dot)com

736 followers1.1K following489 posts

Austin Wood
@woodwould.bsky.social

Big agree here "This is an essential part of the console bargain. It's the fast food problem – worse, really, because games aren't a need. But I get fast food because it's cheap. If fast food and sit-down food are the same price, I'm not going to Taco Bell." www.gamesradar.com/games/does-a...

gamesradar.comBe honest with me: does anyone actually want new consoles?Opinion | We are paying more for less and physical games are underwater.
Chris Person@papapishu.bsky.social

Sorry still thinking of $1,200-$1,800 dollar console just conceptually. Those are Real Computer numbers. You can just get a real computer for that kinda cash. The entire premise of the console is “this is a baby computer you don’t control but it’s standardized and affordable” but they can’t do that.

Austin Wood reposted

Kenney
@kenney.nl

Last I'll post about this, but Elon Musk disagrees with me. This means I am onto something, and I feel more valid in my opinion than ever.

Austin Wood reposted

Joshua Wolens
@joshuawolens.bsky.social

if you’re a dev who’s been contacted by this guy on The Everything App, it is not me. it is a scammer. i don’t use X, don’t own sunglasses, and i’d kill myself before i appeared on a crypto podcast

Austin Wood reposted

willow
@fireatwillow.bsky.social

(dragon’s dogma pawn at the grocery store) ‘tis an item we require in every aisle! a divide and conquer scenario would work best, seems

Austin Wood reposted

Chris Kerr
@kerrblimey.bsky.social

I've been mulling over this for a while, but if you're a game journo who has worked under Valnet and want to confidentially share your views on how the company is managing its publications and treating workers, I am all ears. Signal: kerrblimey.43 Email: chris.kerr@verticalslice.news DMs open

Austin Wood
@woodwould.bsky.social

A few weeks ago, a couple of Nintendo Switch Reddit communities rallied around a player who said "I'm dying" of ALS, and said the Ocarina of Time remake would be the first game he actually finishes. I spoke to him about his situation and what games mean to him: www.gamesradar.com/games/the-le...

gamesradar.comA dying man's quest to finish the Zelda Ocarina of Time remake: "This will be the first, and likely only, video game I actually beat"The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake is especially meaningful to one player
Austin Wood
@woodwould.bsky.social

I wanted to do this story because, as I told Blake in my outreach, I've grown up around chronic illness and I've spoken to many sick or disabled gamers about their experience with art. I think Blake's story is an important example of what games can mean to people and why they should be for everyone.

Austin Wood reposted

Rollin Bishop
@rollinbishop.com

it has been an honor and privilege to field ashley's wild pitches and edit her even wilder copy. in a field full of stellar talent jockeying to be heard, ashley's voice remains absolutely one of a kind. to use her own words, i am fly-swatted to see her go. let our loss be your gain: hire ashley

ashley bardhan@ashleybardhan.bsky.social

is there a better word than devastated? (shattered? fly-swatted?) anyway i've been laid off. i joined gamesradar+ as a freelancer in 2023, and the site had my lifelong admiration by the time i became a senior writer in 2024. i'll miss it lmk if u need a creepy🧟‍♀️ gurl: ashleybardhan(at)gmail(dot)com

Austin Wood
@woodwould.bsky.social

Hire Ashley. I'm just learning of this change while on vacation. Ashley was an invaluable part of the GamesRadar+ US news team and regularly contributed outside her byline and to other verticals. The site will be worse without her.

ashley bardhan@ashleybardhan.bsky.social

is there a better word than devastated? (shattered? fly-swatted?) anyway i've been laid off. i joined gamesradar+ as a freelancer in 2023, and the site had my lifelong admiration by the time i became a senior writer in 2024. i'll miss it lmk if u need a creepy🧟‍♀️ gurl: ashleybardhan(at)gmail(dot)com

Austin Wood reposted

Rollin Bishop
@rollinbishop.com

just for context: doing this will get you fired as a games journalist

Jesse Gomez@itsjessegomez.bsky.social

Only 100 functioning Silent Hill: Townfall CRTVs were made, sent out to different influencers before the games release, and someone's already selling theirs for over $300 😬 It's a cute toy, but savage to be like "I do not need it".

Austin Wood
@woodwould.bsky.social

This just in: Unspeakable horrors have befallen Discord's mascot after fans responded to the company's age verification with torrential art

Austin Wood
@woodwould.bsky.social

If I added up every affix on every armor set I ever used in Nioh, Nioh 2, Nioh 3, and Wo Long, the sum still wouldn't make me give a single solitary shit

The Quigadook@quiggy.itch.io

an unironic game design opinion i have is that 5% and 10% are percentages for cowards. never give me a 10% damage boost, what does that even mean. double my damage and make me die instantly

Austin Wood
@woodwould.bsky.social

"Over on the Old School RuneScape subreddit, players are celebrating the death of Elderwood like it's an upstart gladiator that just got gutted in the Roman Colosseum after insulting all their mothers." www.gamesradar.com/games/mmo/ch...

gamesradar.comChatGPT employee makes a "RuneScape clone," immediately gets slapped by Jagex lawyers, then acts like he's leaving some great legacy behind in a goodbye post surely written by AIElderwood died as it lived: quickly
Austin Wood
@woodwould.bsky.social

My 30s have seen me actively avoid more information + screen time that can o n l y harm me. No value in it, nothing actionable, nothing memorable, no learning to be had, just Bad Shit bleeding in. Your head is not a vessel for all the world's problems but social media so badly wants it to be.

Cat Manning@catacalypto.bsky.social

I’m quoting this not because of the rest of the thread but this idea in particular: how much time we spend looking at things that are bad and make us feel bad

Austin Wood reposted

Haley MacLean
@haleyfax.bsky.social

All I know is what I see, and what I see is dozens upon dozens of executed publishing agreements w/ anti gen-ai clauses. It's not as accepted as the corps selling the ai tools want us to think. From my perspective, the indie industry is fully anti-ai. (thanks to @woodwould.bsky.social for the chat!)

Austin Wood@woodwould.bsky.social

I also had a great chat with @haleyfax.bsky.social about her experience with dev/pub contracts and AI clauses, and it certainly lines up with what I've heard from devs www.gamesradar.com/games/echoin...

gamesradar.comEchoing Palworld dev, video game lawyer says all her clients have anti-AI contracts because gamers hate it and it's a copyright landmine: "I think we're going to see lawsuits""Don't touch it. It's not worth the legal liability"

Austin Wood reposted

GamesRadar+
@gamesradarplus.bsky.social

The Elder Scrolls 6 demo had a surprise guest at Bethesda HQ: a giant inflatable rat set up by protesting employees to watch Xbox execs who oversaw "devastating layoffs" www.gamesradar.com/games/the-el...

gamesradar.comThe Elder Scrolls 6 demo had a surprise guest at Bethesda HQ: a giant inflatable rat set up by protesting employees to watch Xbox execs who oversaw "devastating layoffs""It's up to us to stand up for each other and protect the future of our careers and the game industry"

Austin Wood reposted

ashley bardhan
@ashleybardhan.bsky.social

i uninstalled love and deepspace after nearly two years 🐺 it was kind of motivated by infold canceling valko before he got to take his rightful place as my bulgarian wolf husband 😿, and kinda because i'm tired of no one understanding "what women want" www.gamesradar.com/games/rpg/im...

gamesradar.comI'm boycotting Love and Deepspace for killing my virtual boyfriend, and so are 251,000 other loyal widowsThis is the War on Valko

Austin Wood reposted

Imran Khan
@imrankhan.bsky.social

So we found out this morning that everyone - myself included - from Restart's editorial staff has been let go. After like six layoffs in six years, that gif is my unfortunate reaction. Looking! For! Opportunities! I guess I'm open for freelance for a while!

Imran Khan@imrankhan.bsky.social

Austin Wood reposted

JessEviltelli
@mamavitelli.bsky.social

I was laid off from Restart today, alongside my wonderful and talented co-workers. Sucks to write, but here we are. Lots of ways you can help, but I'm currently live with a lay-off subathon where you can come and chat and sub to keep the timer going to give me some cash Twitch.tv/MamaVitelli

twitch.tvMamaVitelli - Live on TwitchI was Laid Off So I'm Doing A Subathon! | Subathon | Cool Content | Variety | Streaming just chatting.

Austin Wood reposted

Corey Brickley * Blight's Hollow Dot Com
@coreybrickley.bsky.social

sandfall is example #540720 for why we need to fund the arts

GamesRadar+@gamesradarplus.bsky.social

We need games like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Balatro, and Peak as a cure for the "fear" in the industry, say experts www.gamesradar.com/games/we-nee...

gamesradar.comWe need games like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Balatro, and Peak as a cure for the "fear" in the industry, say experts"Courage is a consistent factor of most hit titles," says Rami Ismail