Gonçalo Santos
@mushwrites.bsky.social
Freelance writer on all things videogames. Bringing you news and interviews about the best games made in Portugal. Reach out at contact[at]goncalosgames[dot]com.
Another Gamescom banger by Lex. The lengths people go to in order to avoid saying they're backed by Saudi Arabia tells the entire story. They know it is blood money. They know complicated questions will follow. They know they won't be able to answer them.
lex luddy needs a nap@lexluddy.xyz · 6d agoMy first piece for @kotaku.com sees me document the rather surreal experience of demoing a game funded by a government that would have me executed for being trans. kotaku.com/the-1001-thr...
next gamescom piece!!! 💜 sat down with persona 4 revival as a girl who's never played the original (sorry) and spoke to kazuhisa wada about the reasons for a remake, the few things that haven't aged as well, and also got a soft confirmation of P1 and P2 remakes (sure!)
Combat and socially agonised teens impress in Persona 4 Revival, the RPG that series director Kazuhisa Wada feels a "duty" to make
As a newcomer to the series, Persona 4 Revival looks to offer a good entry point. Though the developers are aiming it at their faithful.
rockpapershotgun.com
This week's Update Patch sees @saintsunflower.bsky.social a rundown of the big numbers coming out of the GTA VI showcase, ill-advised mini-games in Halloween: The Video Game, and Riot's continued push into the MMO space after ceasing development of 2XKO. Read here: www.patreon.com/startmenu/po...
Update Patch News Roundup (07/09/2026) | startmenu
Update Patch News Roundup (07/09/2026) by startmenu on Patreon. Join startmenu's community for exclusive content and updates.
patreon.com
A genuinely comprehensive piece by Lex on what seems to be a port that is fundamentally misunderstanding the point of DLSS upscaling and FSR frame interpolation. Stellar Blade on Switch 2 looks like a blurry mess.
lex luddy needs a nap@lexluddy.xyz · 6d agoI demoed Stellar Blade on Switch 2 at Gamescom and interviewed ShiftUp's CTO. The game runs at 30fps with software-based FSR 3.1 frame interpolation boosting it to 60fps. This, combined with heavy use of DLSS, makes it look, well, not great... Read more: www.shacknews.com/article/1506...
My first piece for @kotaku.com sees me document the rather surreal experience of demoing a game funded by a government that would have me executed for being trans. kotaku.com/the-1001-thr...
The 1001 Threads Of Mizan Director Avoids Answering A Simple Question At Gamescom - Kotaku
'This is a really decentralized company. We completely decentralized'
kotaku.com
I checked my watch and it's time for the September 2026 writing jobs thread! I'm collecting freelance, full-time and other relevant journalism job opps for gaming, technology and entertainment ✍🏾 Please repost, share, tag your un(der)employed friends 💛
Deer Interview in Snow
Alt: Deer Interview in Snow
static.klipy.com
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...
‘Ruin and decay bring a chance of rebirth’: Hidetaka Miyazaki on uniting players in a damaged world
As FromSoftware’s new multiplayer game The Duskbloods nears release, the legendary game director behind Dark Souls talks connection, pessimism and of course, feet
theguardian.com
Gamescom was last week, and somehow the biggest game of the show was released in 2015. For Update Patch @mushwrites.bsky.social reports on Witcher 3's second (or fourth) wind and DLSS 5's latest nightmare creations.
Update Patch News Roundup (02/09/2026) | startmenu
Update Patch News Roundup (02/09/2026) by startmenu on Patreon. Join startmenu's community for exclusive content and updates.
patreon.com
Further reading: @stopcar.ing's excellent No Parades: For Dead Spies review, which contains a beautiful holistic interpretation of No Parades next to the inescapable event horizon of Disco Elysium. www.stopcar.ing/this-sacred-...
This Sacred Body / This Bloody Mind
A Zero Parades review for Dead Spies.
stopcar.ing
Deleted Saves@deletedsavesmag.bsky.social · 2w agoIssue #3 of Deleted Saves continues with a piece by @stevenstoermer.bsky.social finding longing, hope, and meaning in Disco Elysium's music. www.deletedsaves.com/sick-with-lo...
Thanks @jamesandstuff.bsky.social and @rockpapershotgun.bsky.social for shouting out @stevenstoermer.bsky.social's latest Deleted Saves essay in this week's Sunday Papers! www.rockpapershotgun.com/the-sunday-p...
Thanks for including @stevenstoermer.bsky.social's piece on Disco Elysium! Read it below. www.deletedsaves.com/sick-with-lo...
Critical Distance | Where’s all the good writing about games?@critdistance.bsky.social · 2w agoThis Week: Big Walk, checkpoint racers, and the hardest anybody has ever worked in a game for a pinch of salt: critical-distance.com/2026/08/30/a...
My first for @unwinnable.com's website: @hellmaidengame.astralshiftpro.com brings complex female characters to a genre devoid of them Spoke to the @astralshiftpro.com team about their approach to female representation and how it helped shape their latest game. unwinnable.com/2026/08/18/h...
Hell Maiden Brings Complex Female Characters to a Genre Devoid of Them - Unwinnable
The idea is to paint the feminine with all its colors.
unwinnable.com
@dykedeitz.bsky.social leads off Deleted Saves Issue #3 with a banger about one of my favorite games, Papers Please. Featuring artwork by @shaferbrown.com ! Stay tuned for more essays dropping this month to round out Issue #3. www.deletedsaves.com/papers-pleas...
Papers, Please and the Reality of Being an American Tranny
Getting my identity documents in order made me feel like Jorji, balancing the fluctuating demands of a ridiculous government with the resources at my disposal.
deletedsaves.com
My first for @unwinnable.com's website: @hellmaidengame.astralshiftpro.com brings complex female characters to a genre devoid of them Spoke to the @astralshiftpro.com team about their approach to female representation and how it helped shape their latest game. unwinnable.com/2026/08/18/h...
Hell Maiden Brings Complex Female Characters to a Genre Devoid of Them - Unwinnable
The idea is to paint the feminine with all its colors.
unwinnable.com
Please, Gamescom, save us from this relentless August.
startmenu@startmenu.bsky.social · 3w agoThis week's Update Patch sees yet more studio closures and plenty of controversy... but hey, at least some mysterious rich guy is funding Thimbleweed Park 2. @mushwrites.bsky.social rounds up all the latest news. www.patreon.com/startmenu/po...
Sharing for the morning crowd. Pretty please add jadekingfreelance@gmail.com to your mailing lists or even reach out if you fancy doing something together! 🔥
Jade King ✍️ OPEN FOR WORK@konayma6.bsky.social · last mo.I got laid off! 👋 There was no chance to say goodbye to my colleagues of several years before Valnet deactivated everything so I’ll just say it was a huge pleasure to be part of trying to build something unique within the games media landscape despite going up against so many challenges.
I have high hopes for this one, jank and all. Impressive work from such a small team with some genuinely phenomenal visuals.
startmenu@startmenu.bsky.social · last mo.Fatekeeper’s foray into early access is a relatively short experience that features a lot of jank, but it still shows promise. @mushwrites.bsky.social reviews.
Ending the month of July with a bang (pejorative). Fingers crossed that August and Gamescom bring us some good news.
startmenu@startmenu.bsky.social · last mo.New month, new Update Patch: @mushwrites.bsky.social is back in the saddle to round up each week's goings-on for August.
As a reminder: 💛The Stacks is open for pitches & paid writing!💛 I'm looking for writing on obscure games history, art history, sex/gender, and more Full guidelines + rates: thestacks.ca/submissions
The Stacks Submissions
thestacks.ca
Joey ‘Detchibe' W. 🏳️⚧️@thestacks.ca · 2mo agoThis month in The Stacks, Molly Quell (@mollyquell.bsky.social) takes us through a history of image manipulation, from giant vegetables to disappearings to fairies. thestacks.ca/posts/2026-0...
Career Update: after a more-than-month-long interview process, I'm now being completely ghosted by the only employer to respond to an application since I got laid off in January. Still looking (increasingly desperately) for any writing/games-related work!
Robin Bea@robinbombus.bsky.social · 8mo agoI’m an experienced game critic/journalist looking for work! I’d love to continue writing about games, but I’d happily consider PR, consulting, narrative, or non-gaming editorial work. I have experience hosting and producing podcasts, and I’m comfortable on mic and camera. Portfolio/email in bio! 🧵
gamescom? More like JamesTom! I'll be at #gamescom alongside my colleague Tom as we represent @twofrogs.biz! We're there from August 24 - 28, including gamescom dev. If you're a self-publishing indie dev, or an indie game publisher, let's meet and find out how we can help with your marketing!
And so well deserved!! I really liked Type Help, but I LOVE The Incident At Galley House. It's a fantastic mystery game, so engrossing and the aha! moments hit HARD. Utterly brilliant. store.steampowered.com/app/3641000/...
The Incident at Galley House on Steam
In 1936, something terrible happened at Galley House. Decades later, with a strange contraption that reveals echoes of the past, you must uncover the truth behind this grisly mystery.
store.steampowered.com
Robin Ward@eviltrout.com · 2mo agoWe released The Incident at Galley House a week ago, and it's been a wild ride: * Overwhelmingly Positive on Steam in 48 hours * We recouped our entire development budget * At peak, 2500 people were playing at the same time!! Thanks to all the detectives out there for making it a big success.
IGDA-PT Checkpoint Meetup - Porto Hello everyone! We are organising the first IGDA-PT Checkpoint, a simple and informal hangout for the game dev community. Date: July 25th Time: 18:30 – 20:30 Location: Catraio, Rua de Cedofeita 256, Porto More Info and sign up here: luma.com/yy7mgmbs
Thanks so much for penning this incredible piece @austingallagher.bsky.social! I live in hope for the day that Inf Lives has the funds to run much, much longer pieces at a fair rate for writers! We’ll get there!
Austin Gallagher@austingallagher.bsky.social · 2mo agoI wrote a piece for @harrisonpolites.bsky.social's Infinite Lives. Lots of cool people took time out of their busy schedule to talk to me about Game Jams (this could have been three times as long with the wealth of information and insight they provided). Check it out! substack.com/home/post/p-...
So after Forbidden Solitaire, I accepted an invitation from Cobalt Lane to work on Imprinted, about an audio restoration job which becomes an occult investigation as an elusive musician’s damaged cassette tapes are exhumed in Italy. I couldn’t resist… #fakeos store.steampowered.com/app/3980340/...
Imprinted on Steam
An audio restoration job becomes an investigation into the occult, as an elusive musician’s damaged cassette tapes are exhumed in northern Italy. Use a fully-operational desktop to sift through files,...
store.steampowered.com
NEW: Unions in the U.S. and Canada are have filed unfair labor practice charges against Microsoft for allegedly mishandling its latest round of mass layoffs. CWA Canada president Carmel Smyth claims Microsoft "unlawfully" fired Bethesda Game Studios Montreal workers without notifying the union.
Unions take legal action against Microsoft over Xbox layoffs
CWA Canada president Carmel Smyth claims the company 'unlawfully fired people without giving notice to or discussing it with the union.'
gamedeveloper.com
NEW: I spoke to multiple people impacted by the job cuts at Xbox to understand how the latest round of mass layoffs played out and what it means for the embattled video game division moving forward. This is their story.
Inside the latest round of mass layoffs at Xbox
Multiple workers impacted by the latest job cuts at Xbox believe the decision will hamstring some studios.
gamedeveloper.com
The problem here is that the Western AAA industry isn't "the only world we've ever known or can conceptualise"... Most people have been living in a very different world for over a decade. It's games media that actively chose to stay in Geoff Keighley's PR Dreamland, where 2012 never ended...
Aftermath@aftermath.site · 2mo ago'Grand Theft Auto VI, The Last Blockbuster' GTAVI won't be the last AAA video game, but it sure does feel like the last one we'll ever see at this scale. aftermath.site/gta-vi-grand-t...
