This weekās Video Games Industry Memo is sponsored by Games In Italy
Discover Italyās video game industry at gamescom
I recommend a load of video game journalists you should be following
Esports Nations Cup gets delayed until next year due to ongoing conflict in the region
Mortal Shell II generates plenty of hype ahead of todayās release
Hello VGIM-ers,
Iām writing this weekās introduction from a train streaking its way back from Edinburghās Book Festival, where I got to talk about all things Power Play to a bumper crowd. Thanks to Caro Clarke for being such a swell host.
If you want to see me on tour later this year, Iāve got good news for you. Iāve confirmed that Iāll be heading to Jersey, Guildford and Stratford-upon-Avon for their book festivals this Autumn. Tickets are available here.
And donāt forget, VGIM goes Daily for gamescom next week. Free subscribers will get a delivery Monday through to Friday morning. Paid supporters will get an exclusive audio extra with their newsletter called the āInsider Trackā, featuring some intriguing on-the-ground interviews.
Get subscribed as a paid supporter of the newsletter here.
The big read - Five games journalists you should be following
Obvious oversight: Last weekend, I read Joost van Dreunenās fascinating deep dive into the state of video game media. If youāve not read it, you really should read it here. But upon finishing the piece, I realised something. Despite writing lists of books, podcasts and newsletters that you should consume to understand the industry, I hadnāt written one about the journalists who make much of that coverage possible. Dāoh.
Route one journalism: So in this weekās VGIM, Iāve done my best to correct that. Iāve picked five video game journalists whose work Iāve followed closely over the past year, explaining what they cover, whatās interesting about it and why I think itās valuable. And then because Iāve realised there are so many great journalists out there ā despite the grimness of the chart featured above ā I chucked in a load of additional tips at the bottom of the page. Enjoy!
Chris Kerr, Game Developer
Somehow still around: Chris is the Senior Editor for News at Game Developer. Full disclosure: Iāve known him for the better part of a decade, since we both briefly worked at Pocket Gamer together in 2015 (lord, bury me in the cold hard ground). But in the past few years, itās fair to say that heās really hit his stride.
Newsworthy journalism: Chrisās biggest strength is that heās a Proper News Hound. He has developed a habit of breaking news, including reporting on the imaginative giant rat protest staged by unionised workers at Bethesda to oppose Microsoft layoffs. Heās got a habit of pulling together well-sourced behind-the-scenes features, such as this weekās feature about what EA employees think of their new Saudi owners. He also asks tough questions fairly, even if overly jumpy PR pros donāt like it when he does.
Holding power to account: One of van Dreunenās points about games journalism is that it works most effectively when it sits outside of the institutions it covers. Chrisās reporting provides a meaningful check on companies, something that the industry ā including its executive class ā should be grateful for.
Nicole Carpenter, Freelance
Top of the game: Nicole Carpenter is one of the best freelancers in the business. After being inexplicably laid off by Polygon, game publications across the world were quick to bring them on board to get the benefits of her excellent reporting.
Real range: Nicole has written for the New York Times about the role of video games in reducing violence amongst prisoners at Rikers Island prison. She reported on the removal of the horror game Horses from sale on Steam and Epic Games for Aftermath, being one of the only writers to assess a content censorship decision against the age-rating criteria one of the storefronts used to justify the gameās removal. Nicole also reported on Roblox hit experience Grow A Garden for Game File well before it hit its record-breaking peak.
Mad respect: From what Iāve heard from editors and writers across the biz, Nicole is one of those rare all-rounders capable of tackling business and cultural stories in a way that can bring consumers with her. Even in a tough games journalism landscape, thatās something to be known for.
A message from our sponsor, Games in Italy: Italyās video game industry is heading to gamescom 2026, bringing some of its most exciting studios and new projects to one of the worldās leading meeting points for the global games business.
From 26 to 28 August, the Italian Trade Agency (ITA), in collaboration with IIDEA, the Italian trade association, will host a delegation of 14 Italian game development studios in Cologne.
The Italian Pavilion will offer publishers, investors and international partners the opportunity to discover new games, meet the teams behind them and explore business opportunities within Italyās growing and increasingly ambitious video game ecosystem.
With Italian developers building original IPs across a wide range of genres, platforms and creative approaches, the delegation reflects the diversity and international outlook of a sector that continues to strengthen its presence on the global stage.
Meet the Italian video game industry at gamescom 2026, Hall 4.1, Booth C031g - D040g. Find out more at www.gamesinitaly.com
Isa Muhammad, Pocket Gamer
A literal gap in the market: The Middle East has become an important hub of the video games world. Yet English-language reporting on the region is often poor or patchy, leaving much of the activity in the area underreported.
On-the-ground reporting: Isa Muhammad, Pocket Gamerās MENA Reporter, is one of the few writers covering the region effectively. Heās written features on some of the more complex market dynamics, such as Robloxās entry into Saudi Arabia through an education partnership with the Public Investment Fund-backed Savvy Games. He covers public policy developments in the territory, including news of cross-governmental partnerships in places such as Abu Dhabi. He also maintains a healthy interest in public policy globally, covering stories such as Appleās ongoing challenges with regulators in Europe and beyond.
Providing regional balance: I know I enjoy Isaās work because he writes crisply about policy. But his coverage of the MENA region is fair and informed, making him a handy journalist to follow if you truly want to understand whatās happening in an emerging industry powerhouse.
Matthew Reynolds, One More Catch
Experienced pro: Matthew has been a familiar figure within games journalism for many years. Heās previously been an editor at the likes of Polygon, Eurogamer and Digital Spy, as well as contributing for The Guardian, Mobilegamer.biz and Rock Paper Shotgun. But while heās certainly worth following for his wider work, Iām tipping him here because I think One More Catch, his publication, gives us a glimpse of where consumer video game media could go next.
Gotta catch āem all: In contrast to other writers on the list, Matthewās site is dedicated to PokĆ©mon Go and the next generation of PokĆ©mon games. One More Catch features guides on how to catch rare PokĆ©mon in the real world, on-the-ground reporting from in-person events for the community and includes relevant (and sometimes literally tasty) news that the community is interested in.
Serving the community: Iāll freely admit that it has been many a year since I have meaningfully played many of the games that Matthew covers. But in a sector where game communities can easily exceed the populations of major cities, One More Catch feels like the consumer games journalism equivalent of a subscription-backed local news service. That makes it something well worth keeping an eye on.
Mikhail Klimentov, ReaderGrev
Reporting from beyond the Grev: Mikhail was an editor at Launcher, The Washington Postās video games and esports vertical. Launcher was shuttered in 2023, but he stayed on at the Post. He was then eventually laid off by WaPo completely in 2026 because thatās journalism/game journalism for you. Since then, heās been working independently as a freelance journalist and as the editor of his own newsletter, ReaderGrev. And he continues to break stories well worth reading.
Live service optimism: I enjoy his work because he covers subsections of the industry that I tend to spend less time exploring. Mikhail writes engagingly about live-service games, such as this write-up of the satirical intent behind Bungieās Marathon. His depth of interest in games like Valorant means heās got excellent āinsā at Riot, allowing him to grab esports exclusives that others canāt get a hold of. His contact book is clearly great too, as evidenced by a recent long-read with Jason Schreier about the Bloomberg journalistās decision to start a YouTube channel.
Personal perspective: I remain a little sceptical about the long-term commercial prospects of writer-led outlets because, frankly, Iāve seen the economics of it far too clearly firsthand. But in a fragmented media landscape, Mikhailās a reminder that great reporting featuring exclusive insights thatās delivered from a unique perspective is always valuable.
Further recommendations
I skipped over plenty of journalists working at major media outlets here because I feel like their work gets plenty of attention. But if you are interested in writers from Big League outlets that I follow, Laura Cress (BBC News), Keza MacDonald and Keith Stuart (The Guardian), Gene Park (The Washington Post) and Jason Schreier and Cecilia DāAnastasio (Bloomberg) are all regular reads for me.
In terms of the biggest business journalists, my go-tos for information are Stephen Totilo (Game File), Chris Dring (The Game Business), and Neil Long (MobileGamer.Biz). At the main trade outlets, Jon Hicks has built a great team at GI Biz, including Alex Forbes-Calvin, Sophie McEvoy and Lewis Packwood, to name but a few. Craig Chapple at Pocket Gamer Biz is a regular read of mine, particularly his Friday newsletter.
On social video, I follow Jake Brigstockās coverage of games for the i100, Tamoor Hussainās excellent cut-downs from his Twitch feed, and Rob Leaneās videos for The Radio Times (not just because he was nice about Power Play in one of them, I swear). The Daily Mailās games team has also done a remarkable job growing an enormous audience for video game news via a social video-first strategy, posing an interesting question about where growth truly comes from in the modern media landscape. Chris Brattās People Make Games is my favourite games journalism-focused YouTube channel.
Iāve previously recommended podcasts via VGIM. But the voices Iām most drawn to in the current landscape are Samuel Roberts at BackPage, Steffan Powell and the team at Press X to Continue and Maddy Myers on Triple Click.
Thereās also a long list of people whose work I generally watch out for when chucking links into VGIM. This includes Lucy James, Rollo Romig, Vikki Blake, Chris Tapsell, Bertie Purchese, Patrick Klepek, Luke Plunkett, Rebekah Valentine and Nathan Grayson.
And of course, I wouldnāt be able to tap out of this piece without referencing VGIMās cadre of freelance writers: Tom Regan, George Young and Anna Mahtani. Theyāre all brilliant and well worth your time.
News in brief
Delayed until next year: The inaugural Esports Nations Cup has been pushed back to 2027. The tournament, which was intended to introduce international competition to the esports calendar, has claimed that the āwider regional situationā has made hosting it this year impossible. As we discovered earlier this year when speaking to the Esports Foundation about moving the Esports World Cup to Paris, the organisers really donāt want to mention the war when discussing the postponement.
Cutting the cut: Apple has proposed to the Northern District Court of California that it charge developers a 15% fee for purchases made outside of its store, dropping to 5% for small businesses. The company was forced to propose the structure as part of its ongoing legal battle with Epic Games, submitting the terms in a filing issued shortly after the Supreme Court rejected its attempt to pause action in the lower courts. Epic has since stated that it believes the proposals are āfar outside of the bounds of the North Circuitās guidance on permissible fees.ā The fight continues.
Under investigation: Roblox is under investigation by the bipartisan Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism over issues of child safety. In a letter issued to David Baszucki, Robloxās Chief Exec last week, the Committeeās Chairman Josh Hawley and ranking member Richard J. Durbin āappears to prioritise revenue and engagement metrics over the safety and wellbeing of our childrenā, citing the 65,381 cases of suspected child sexual exploitation that the platform reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children last year. The companyās safety chief Matt Kaufmann has said that the company ālook[s] forward to sharing the facts about how we work to protect children on the platformā ahead of the committeeās 31st August deadline.
Getting Twitchy: Backlash has continued against Twitch, following last weekās announcement that users would have to opt out of having their content used for AI training purposes. BBC News reports that Mary Kish, the companyās head of community, hosted an official live stream to help streamers turn off training. The outlet also reported that it is unclear how long the company has been using streams to train models, suggesting training may have been taking place before the announcement.
SacrĆ© bleu!: Finally, Franceās constitutional council has struck down the countryās mooted social media ban for teens. Anyone under the age of 15 was set to be barred from opening an account on social platforms from September onwards. However, the court has blocked the law from going into force because it will ādisproportionately infringe upon the freedom of expression and communicationā of teens and āfail to provide the legal safeguards necessary to ensure the right to respect for private life.ā Franceās Government will likely need to tweak rules to pass them before President Emmanuel Macron steps down in 2027.
Moving on
Legendary game developer Warren Spector has announced that he is retiring from making video gamesā¦Ryan Rubin has joined Blizzard as a Senior Producerā¦Mario Kart aficionado and VGIM enthusiast Lukas Roper is now Senior Unity Developer at ColePowered Gamesā¦David Bailey has popped up as Lead Commercial Manager - Licensing at Games Workshopā¦And Tim Repa-Davies is now VP Business Affairs and General Counsel at publisher Secret Modeā¦
Jobs ahoy
A16Z Games has a Manager, Growth post open in the Statesā¦Supercell has a fascinating opening for a Marketing Lead, New Games in its London officeā¦Avalanche is hiring a Senior Game Designer in Swedenā¦TripleDot need a new Producerā¦And The Pokemon Company wants to choose you as its Influencer Marketing Manager in Bellevueā¦
Events and conferences
gamescom, Cologne - 26th-30th August
Nexus Games Conference, Dublin - 23rd-26th September
Power Play promotional event, Jersey - 26th September
Melbourne International Games Week, Melbourne - 2nd-11th October
Games of the week
Mortal Shell II - Souls-like sequel that is generating a lot of buzz from in-the-know influencers lands in hands today.
STALKER 2: Cost of Hope - Major non-linear expansion to the 2024 hit role-playing game arrives on PC and console.
STEINS;GATE RE:BOOT - The incomprehensibly capitalised and punctuated titled visual novel is available after a recent reboot.
Before you goā¦
How can you get people to understand the importance of investigative journalism? By getting them to play, of course.
The Global Investigative Journalism Network explores how games like Predatorgate, a short narrative experience based on one journalistās experience of Greeceās Predator spying software scandal, can build media literacy in a world crying out for it.
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