The Overwatch League Ruled Esports. Then Everything Went Wrong
[ad_1] These troubles come during an economic downturn and a dampening of esports hype, with investors and sponsors growing impatient with the growth-before-profit model. 100 Thieves, the second-most-valuable esports team…
‘The Last of Us’ Does What No Show Has Done Before
[ad_1] Turning action into drama also helped flesh out some of the game’s more derivative aspects. There’s no getting around the similarities to Station Eleven, The Walking Dead, Children of Men, I Am…
Elevator-Pitch Horror Is Here to Stay
[ad_1] It’s been creeping up for a while now, an old breed of horror. A movie here, another there. But now, in 2022, the time has come to give it…
The Quest to Save the Most Precious Voices on Earth
[ad_1] “My whole world is the human voice,” says Harry Yeff. And he isn’t just referring to his previous life as a champion beatboxer (alias Reeps One). Yeff is also…
The Director of ‘Pentiment’ Wants You to Know How His Characters Ate
[ad_1] Obsidian Entertainment’s latest game, Pentiment, takes its title from the term pentimento, a change made by an artist while painting. Its origin is the Italian word pentirsi, which means…
‘Age of Empires’ Is 25 Years Old. Fans Are Shaping the Franchise
[ad_1] It’s been 25 years since a small studio in Dallas recast the ancient world through the prism of a real-time strategy game. Age of Empires has echoed Monk wololos…
The Bruce Willis Deepfake Is Everyone’s Problem
[ad_1] For some experts, this transferability could lead to people losing control of their “personality” as firms take full ownership of their identity rather than just a licensed use for…
Success on Twitch No Longer Comes on Twitch
[ad_1] Streaming is precarious labor, explains Jamie Woodcock, a senior lecturer at the University of Essex. In 2017, he coauthored a paper examining the tensions inherent in turning it into…
Gabrielle Zevin Believes Games Show People Who They Really Are
[ad_1] That was the thing I wanted to explore with Solution. Also just thinking: What could an enterprising undergraduate in 1995 make? What’s the other aspect of that game? The…
It’s Not Just Loot Boxes: Predatory Monetization Is Everywhere
[ad_1] Whenever a term from the world of video games enters broader society, it’s a safe bet that it’s not for a good reason. Loot boxes—like Hot Coffee or Gamergate—don’t…
‘Stray’’s Post-Apocalyptic World Evokes the Walled City of Kowloon
[ad_1] In Stray, you play as a cat. For many, this is a mic drop worthy of an instant purchase, and Blue Twelve Studio, the former Ubisoft employees responsible for…