Hey wow it's award-winning journalist @maddie-b-a.bsky.social interrogating the current state of girl games on our cool website Featuring smart insights from everyone's favourite professional girl game expert, @saharkin.bsky.social! thisweekinvideogames.com/feature/the-...

The Enshittification of Browser-Based Girl Games is Letting Down a Generation

Earnest '90s and 2000s browser girl games have been replaced with slop that may well indicate how the industry feels about young girls

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this one's for the people who watched the chimneyswift11 aether series when they were in middle school

This Week in Videogames@thisweekinvideogames.com · 2w ago

Mojang has announced The Sift, Minecraft‘s first new dimension in 15 years. The avid playerbase has generally responded with excitement, with favourable comparisons to a popular mod dimension known as The Aether, released in 2011.

TWIV journalist @maddie-b-a.bsky.social has been recognised as the winner of the Journalism Impact category at the 2026 MCV/Develop Women in Games Awards. The award is designed to highlight an individual "using their voice to positively build the industry as well as hold it to account when needed."

Maddie Agne Wins 'Journalism Impact' Category at 2026 MCV/Develop Women in Games Awards

Agne thanked her team for "betting on me in an industry that affords so few bets to women."

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incredibly proud, humbled, and grateful to have brought home the journalism impact award last week! updating my linkedin as we speak

This Week in Videogames@thisweekinvideogames.com · last mo.

We're thrilled to see This Week in Videogames journalist @maddie-b-a.bsky.social nominated for MCV/DEVELOP's 2026 Women in Games Awards in the 'Journalism Impact' category. Congratulations to all the finalists! 👏 womeningamesawards.com/2026-finalis...

Can I get a hell yeah

This Week in Videogames@thisweekinvideogames.com · last mo.

We're thrilled to see This Week in Videogames journalist @maddie-b-a.bsky.social nominated for MCV/DEVELOP's 2026 Women in Games Awards in the 'Journalism Impact' category. Congratulations to all the finalists! 👏 womeningamesawards.com/2026-finalis...

We shall overcome. The Tarrant County Democratic Party has already partnered with Rideshare2Vote to drive voters to the polls. NO CHARGE. www.rideshare2vote.com

Michelle H. Davis@lonestarleft.com · last mo.

How the dying majority spent Tuesday stripping polling places, praising Charlie Kirk, and giving a sheriff a plaque for 81 deaths

Many public libraries care about providing access to videogames, but some librarians believe there are more effective approaches than individual lending. For them, fostering a place for belonging, connection, community, and access without ownership is more essential than a collection of discs.

Public Libraries Can Offer Gaming Communities More Than Just Discs

"We shouldn’t be developing collections that require a certain amount of wealth from the user in order for them to be able to use it in the first place."

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To celebrate our one-year anniversary, we're running a sale! 🎉 From now until the middle of August, you can get 20% off new Annual Supporter subscriptions here: thisweekinvideogames.com/sign-up/ Help support the new wave of games media, get benefits and great reads, and feel cool 😎👍

This Week in Videogames@thisweekinvideogames.com · 3mo ago

This Week in Videogames has reached its first full year of operation. Thank you to our paid subscribers for helping us sustain an independent, commercial-free, AI-free, and no-nonsense approach to games coverage for everyone. Here's a brief rundown of what we've managed to achieve in Year One:

After becoming known for porting Minecraft to consoles, 4J Studios is building its own voxel sandbox, in its own engine, and has recruited longtime Minecraft YouTuber Joseph ‘Stampy’ Garrett to help out. @maddie-b-a.bsky.social talks to the studio about the challenges of setting itself apart.

4J Studios is "Well Equipped" to Take On The Voxel Genre With Reforj

"There’s so many cool things that we’d like to do… it just made sense to make our own engine that would be capable of letting us do it"

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SpecialEffect is a UK charity bringing videogames and accessible controls to the lives of people with physical disabilities. For free. The rising cost of tech has put increased pressure on their work, but they tell @maddie-b-a.bsky.social "We say yes first, and figure out how we pay for it second"

Despite The "Massive Impact" Of Rising Tech Costs, SpecialEffect's Accessibility Ethos Perserveres

The accessible gaming charity says the technological improvements accompanying the increased costs are “still a privilege” to work with.

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Limerence is new thriller about a woman and her manipulative AI partner. @maddie-b-a.bsky.social speaks to @salixgames.bsky.social director Jessica Saunders about the human story at its center, inspired by numerous real-world experiences, which tries to show that "this could happen to anyone."

AI Boyfriend Thriller Limerence Is Still a Human Story

The indie studio's first attempt at building its own AI was "garbage," pushing them to instead make everything by hand

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Speedrunning charity organisation Games Done Quick (GDQ) has pulled out of a sponsored livestream with Saudi-owned Japanese developer SNK, following community backlash highlighting Saudi Arabia’s human rights violations.

Games Done Quick Ends SNK Partnership Over Saudi Arabian Ownership

The charity organisation responded to backlash saying it "failed to conduct the level of review our community should expect from us"

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The first half of Xbox’s 3,200 layoffs has immediately been dished out, impacting teams and studios right across Microsoft’s gaming division. From 37-year Microsoft veterans, to key figures at celebrated studios, here is a comprehensive look at who has been hit by the cuts, studio by studio:

The Scope of Xbox's 1,600 Layoffs – ZeniMax, id, Obsidian, Activision, and More

A comprehensive look at each Xbox-owned studio impacted by the company's staggering cuts.

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Xbox has laid off 1,600 staff and divested from four studios. The number of layoffs will rise to around 3,200 over the next 12 months Double Fine and Compulsion Games will go independent, while Ninja Theory and Undead Labs have been sold to undisclosed buyers.

Xbox Announces 3,200 Layoffs, Four Studio Divestments

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma wrote that the company was “beginning the most significant restructure in Xbox history.”

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Home building and decorating games continue to become more and more popular as the housing crisis gets worse and worse. @maddie-b-a.bsky.social thinks the two things are clearly connected – we pull these games closer as the dream of IRL housing slips further away.

Is a £13 Home Decor Game a Necessary Distraction From the Housing Crisis?

As the housing crisis worsens globally, home decorating games seem to be on the rise as young people grasp at simulated ownership

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The internet was quick to dub the close releases of Barbie Rewind and Grand Theft Auto 6 as the new 'Barbenheimer.' @maddie-b-a.bsky.social posits that Barbie Rewind represents an entirely different cultural moment: upholding the tradition of making space for 'girl games' in the market.

Barbie Is The Only One That Can Stand Up to GTA VI in November

Barbie Rewind stands steadfast before Grand Theft Auto VI, upholding a tradition of making space for 'girl games.'

thisweekinvideogames.com

I'm working on an article about videogames in local libraries — if anyone's local carries games, or if any librarians on here work in libraries that have games, can get games, or host games programs, shoot me a dm! @uklibrariesnag.bsky.social

With constant price hikes and next-gen gaming hardware likely to break the bank during a cost-of-living crisis, @edmondtran.bsky.social proposes developers keep lowering the bar. Meaning? It's time to really embrace low-spec benchmarks so we can keep playing new games on devices we already own.

The Future of Games Is Expensive, Time To Embrace Low-Spec and Mobile

Opinion: It's about time the games industry prioritises lower-spec benchmarks again, and reclaims mobile as a standard platform for games

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Since the release of Tomodachi Life, there's been a trend of people recreating their deceased loved ones in-game and sharing the results. @maddie-b-a.bsky.social speaks to these players, a death doula, and a grief counselor to understand what it means to digitally memorialise the dearly departed.

Meet the People Resurrecting Their Loved Ones in Tomodachi Life

These characters can be part of how people grieve and keep the relationship alive, but some experts think it adversely affects the process.

thisweekinvideogames.com

Really enjoyed talking to @maddie-b-a.bsky.social about how we just left subtlety by the side of the road and learned how to make puzzle the slow and hard way 😬

This Week in Videogames@thisweekinvideogames.com · 4mo ago

Fuzzy Ghost, the studio behind horror-puzzle game 'Janet DeMornay Is A Slumlord (and a witch),' wants its work to start conversations about renting and landlords. "We’re not even being that abstract... It’s literally a landlord who’s a witch and is like messing you up... Subtlety is overrated."

This Week in Videogames@thisweekinvideogames.com · 4mo ago

Last month, PUBG publisher Krafton released a report saying the number of babies born to its employees had doubled, thanks to childbirth incentives. At first, @maddie-b-a.bsky.social thought that was a weird story. Now, she thinks it's the kind of thing governments around the world should adopt.

The 2006 Barnyard game was an ambitious open-world title featuring cows squirting milk, riding bikes, and playing golf. Those who remember it do so fondly. To mark its 20th anniversary @maddie-b-a.bsky.social spoke to its director Nick Hagger about what made the game and its development so unique.

"GTA for 8-Year-Olds": A 20-Year Retrospective on Barnyard

"'You’re f***ing crazy. This is never going to get approval by Nickelodeon or by THQ’.”

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Every time I hit publish on a big feature I’m like, “Damn, this is the best thing on our website.” But man — this one is absolutely killer. I love it. Maddie crushed it. So many great insights and quotes and jokes. Please read it and support independent reader-funded games journalism thank you!!

This Week in Videogames@thisweekinvideogames.com · 5mo ago

From Minos to Hades, Baldur's Gate 3 to Date Everything!, videogame characters of all kinds just keep getting... hotter. To unpack that phenomenon, @maddie-b-a.bsky.social spoke to a sex therapist and developers to ask: why do we want characters (even the non-human ones) to be more fuckable?

my mom loves telling everyone who's ever known me where to read my stuff. hope my pre-school teacher likes this one

This Week in Videogames@thisweekinvideogames.com · 5mo ago

From Minos to Hades, Baldur's Gate 3 to Date Everything!, videogame characters of all kinds just keep getting... hotter. To unpack that phenomenon, @maddie-b-a.bsky.social spoke to a sex therapist and developers to ask: why do we want characters (even the non-human ones) to be more fuckable?

The Games for Change Summit in London left @maddie-b-a.bsky.social with a lot of questions. Is child safety gaming’s most pertinent social issue now? If so, why has this realisation taken so long? More importantly, what are companies actually doing about it, and why is it probably not enough?

Is Child Safety in Gaming Just a Hot Topic?

The Games for Change London Summit centered on child safety, but the question remains: are games companies actually doing enough about it?

thisweekinvideogames.com

thank you paste games and thank you @garrettmartin.bsky.social for giving me my first experience in a professional newsroom. rest easy, old friend

Edmond Tran@edmondtran.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Garrett's regular internship intakes at Paste Games helped forge so many great writers, including our first hire for This Week in Videogames, @maddie-b-a.bsky.social No surprise - she's incredibly good. Thank you Paste Games. Thank you Garrett.

London Games Festival’s New Game Plus showcase ran for the second time this year, and while @maddie-b-a.bsky.social thought it wasn't without its flaws, she still came away with some new favourite indie games.

From Tear-Jerking to Nostalgic, These Are My Top Three Titles From New Game Plus 2026

The 2026 boutique expo found a new home in its second year running, bringing everything from hardcore I Spy to thrift shop heaven

thisweekinvideogames.com

Blue Prince creator Tonda Ros says he "will always claim there are still mysteries in the game." He also suggested that his next project will "probably take 10 years," and that it will be about “the letter R.” "It’ll make sense when it comes out."

Blue Prince Developer Says He Will "Always Claim There Are Still Mysteries in the Game"

Tonda Ros addressed the success of his indie title, saying he feels like "I just snuck up barely because I was a new thing"

thisweekinvideogames.com

Tom McKay, who portrays Henry in Kingdom Come: Deliverance, says the games "opened up opportunities and conversations," and shared enthusiasm for the film adaptation. He also called his Shakespeare background "like mountaineering for acting... if you can do that, you can probably do most things."

Tom McKay Says It's "Very Unlikely" He Would Turn Down Playing Henry in Movie Adaptation

“That is absolutely not my decision to make," said McKay, but "if I were in it, I would love that, and if I wasn’t, I’d support it wholeheartedly.”

thisweekinvideogames.com

The success of Dispatch has allowed AdHoc to "assess what the most sane version of doing a future project looks like," according to co-founder Dennis Lenart. On AdHoc's next project with Critical Role, he said, "We feel a sort of kinship with their studio. It’s a creator-led thing just like ours."

Dispatch Studio Co-Founder Wants Future Development To Be "As Sane As Possible"

On the future of Dispatch, co-founder Dennis Lenart remarked that "we’d love for Dispatch to be something that’s always around."

thisweekinvideogames.com