The Public Investment Fund's acquisition of EA received the go-ahead from the European Commission last week. What comes next for EA and the Saudi video game strategy? We take a look in this week's VGIM: www.videogamesindustrymemo.com/p/saudi-arab...

Saudi Arabia, EA and digital sport's soft power, 30/07/2026

Can't buy up sport for soft power purposes? Buy its digital recreation instead ⚽ 🏈🏎️

videogamesindustrymemo.com

We're revealing our first ever long read insight report, dedicated to the troubling rise of LGBTQ+ censorship across the video game world. Read the summary of the paper in this week's VGIM and download your copy immediately after. videogamesindustrymemo.substack.com/p/how-lgbtq-...

A UK court has ruled that Runescape's gold pieces can be stolen under the terms of the country's theft laws. What does this mean for the industry in the UK and the rest of the world? We take a look at the ruling and its repercussions: videogamesindustrymemo.substack.com/p/thou-shalt...

Well, we heard from the UK Video Games Council at Pocket Gamer Connects about its first six months of the work. We left the session feeling...a little mixed. Find out why and grab the rest of the newsletter below 👇 videogamesindustrymemo.substack.com/p/a-uk-video...

A UK Video Games Council-ing session, 22/01/2026

Game developing frustration with government policy 😠

videogamesindustrymemo.substack.com

We're outside the Larry David statute of limitations on saying Happy New Year, but we're thankfully still in the window for making annual predictions. Check out the latest issue of VGIM for our thoughts on what to expect in the games industry in 2026. www.videogamesindustrymemo.com/p/six-video-...

Six video games industry predictions for 2026, 08/01/2026

Each one more surprising than the last 🪄

videogamesindustrymemo.com

New Year, same old Video Games Industry Memo request for you to send us your news. We're looking to promote our usual mix of: 💼 Job moves and open posts 📅 Industry conferences 🎮 New video game releases Want to be in this week's VGIM? Email george@videogamesindustrymemo.com pronto.

An @vgim.bsky.social exclusive: we reveal how Steam is censoring games featuring LGBTQ+ content in Russia on behalf of state censor Roskomnadzor. Thank you to Ian Masters and the Flick Games team for being brave enough to share their story. videogamesindustrymemo.substack.com/p/how-steam-...

How Steam censors LGBTQ+ content on behalf of the Russian Government, 27/11/2025

When Roskomnadzor calls, Valve answers

videogamesindustrymemo.substack.com

Yesterday's VGIM, sponsored by Testronic, summarised all the biggest financial results in the games industry (apart from Ubisoft, who were messing us about). Catch up with all the news and the top releases this week right here: videogamesindustrymemo.substack.com/p/video-game...

Video Games Finance Cheat Sheet: Autumn 2025 edition, 20/11/2025

Nintendo rakes it in, Roblox’s growth turbocharges, and Ubisoft keeps us waiting

videogamesindustrymemo.substack.com

Last week the venerable @georgeosborn.bsky.social reached out with a question submitted to this @vgim.bsky.social newsletter regarding the ethical issues surrounding the use of AI in Arc Raiders. What started as a short one paragraph response became a 4000+ word newsletter issue.

AI and Games@aiandgames.com · 9mo ago

The release of Arc Raiders has raised significant concerns about the ethics of utilising generative AI in a AAA game. It’s important we understand that for whatever gains AI delivers, who is losing out, and what impact does that have on the industry? Read on! www.aiandgames.com/p/arc-raider...

What did we learn at last week's @aiandgames.com conference? Find out over on Video Games Industry Memo (and thanks to Testronic for sponsoring our fine work) www.videogamesindustrymemo.com/p/four-thing...

Four things we learned at this year’s AI and Games Conference, 06/11/2025

Riot’s safety-first approach to AI, Cyberpunk’s police system simplicity, and investment trends dominate the chat

videogamesindustrymemo.com

The Online Safety Act came into force ages ago. So why is Ofcom issuing guidance to online games businesses now? And what does it all mean? Read this week's @vgim.bsky.social, sponsored by Testronic, to find out. videogamesindustrymemo.substack.com/p/online-saf...

Online Safety Act-ing on Games, 23/10/2025

Ofcom releases long-awaited guidance for industry🗒️

videogamesindustrymemo.substack.com

VGIM turned two years old last month, so we're having a party to celebrate 🎉 Join us in London on Wednesday 26th November to sip, chat, and possibly eat a slice of branded birthday cake. Thanks to Renaissance PR, Fifty, and the Games Rating Authority for sponosring. buytickets.at/halfspacecon...

Read on for insights into how autocracies control narratives through games through censorship, encouraging self-censorship, and through aggressively promoting their own narratives

George E. Osborn@georgeosborn.bsky.social · 10mo ago

How are video games being used as a frontier for information war? What are democracies doing to respond to the challenge? And how are organisations like NATO grappling with the problems? Find out in this week's @vgim.bsky.social - videogamesindustrymemo.substack.com/p/natos-vide...

If you don't already subscribe to @vgim.bsky.social then you should; today's edition is a must-read: www.videogamesindustrymemo.com/p/a-kushy-de...

A Kushy Deal, 02/10/2025

Selling out democracy one $55bn video games business at a time

videogamesindustrymemo.com

Did you catch @vitageorge.bsky.social's great piece about remakesters? Well, why not re-view the piece at your leisure now? *audible boos at the pun*

Matthew Reynolds@mattreyn.games · 11mo ago

This week's @vgim.bsky.social by @vitageorge.bsky.social has a great breakdown of remake definitions. Big fan of the term 'remakesters' (i.e. Metal Gear Solid Delta) in particular.

A happy Silksong release day to those who celebrate it. In this week's @vgim.bsky.social, @vitageorge.bsky.social explores the story behind its release and how Silksong's shadow drop has posed problems for press and devs across the games biz. videogamesindustrymemo.substack.com/p/caught-in-...

Caught in Silksong’s web, 04/09/2025

How the industry is reacting to Team Cherry’s surprise Silksong shadow drop

videogamesindustrymemo.substack.com

This is an exceptionally long piece, but I've been researching the PayPro debacle and the campaign to #SaveSpeech and just how damaging the issue is to creators, players and games as culture. Censorship is shit. open.substack.com/pub/videogam...

No Mercy for censored games, 28/08/2025

How thousands of games with adult themes got caught in a censorship trap

open.substack.com

What is the secret to gamescom’s long running success? And what’s been going down at arguably the biggest games event in the world? @grapedosmil.bsky.social chats to the event’s bigwigs and reports from the ground for your entertainment. videogamesindustrymemo.substack.com/p/gamescoms-...

Gamescom’s secrets to conference success, 21/08/2025

Plus: New Black Myth game, Silksong queues, and Microsoft question dodging

videogamesindustrymemo.substack.com

Psst! Want to know the big financial results from publicly traded games businesses but don’t want to read a load of PDFs or spreadsheets? In this week’s VGIM, sponsored by @modulate.bsky.social, @vitageorge.bsky.social analyses them all for YOU 🫵 www.videogamesindustrymemo.com/p/game-indus...

Game Industry Finance Cheat Sheet Summer 2025 Edition, 14/08/2025

Nintendo on the march, PlayStation makes its digital fortune, and Xbox struggles to strike the right tone

videogamesindustrymemo.com

Why are there so many video game showcases? And how do the people who put them together choose the games that go into them? @grapedosmil.bsky.social asked Chris Thomas, Jake Tucker and Dom Peppiatt for answers and, by Jove, did he get some www.videogamesindustrymemo.com/p/why-are-th...

Why are there so many video game showcases?, 31/07/2025

Or, why there were 30+ events with 7070 games for you to watch this Summer

videogamesindustrymemo.com

Psst! What is a game scout looking for when they're scoping the next hit game? And how can you pitch yourself perfectly to a publishing scout? @vitageorge.bsky.social chats with Chris Wright from @fellowtraveller.games in this week's VGIM 👇 videogamesindustrymemo.substack.com/p/the-game-s...

The Game Scout’s Secrets, 24/07/2025

Fellow Traveller tell us how publishers discover the indie-credible

videogamesindustrymemo.substack.com

Did you know that you can get a month of free VGIM Insider access by sharing the newsletter with three new readers? Go on, you know you want to 🚀

George E. Osborn@georgeosborn.bsky.social · last yr.

I'm not always a vain man, but @vgim.bsky.social is only nine subscribers away from crossing the 5,000 email subs mark. So if you like the newsletter, think it's a great read for anyone into Those Them Video Games and could give it a share, I'd be a happy chappie. www.videogamesindustrymemo.com

This week's @vgim.bsky.social saw @vitageorge.bsky.social chat with @toadsanime.lostincult.co.uk of @lostincult.co.uk about the future of physical games in our evermore digital age. CONTENT WARNING: very attractive game boxes contained within videogamesindustrymemo.substack.com/p/lets-get-p...

Let’s get physical, physical (games), 17/07/2025

Lost in Cult's punt on physical games for a digital age

videogamesindustrymemo.substack.com

Our own @toadsanime.lostincult.co.uk chatted to @vitageorge.bsky.social for @vgim.bsky.social, discussing all things EDITIONS & physical games. Thank you for your time and for shining a light on our work 🙏 www.videogamesindustrymemo.com/p/lets-get-p...

Let’s get physical, physical (games), 17/07/2025

Lost in Cult's punt on physical games for a digital age

videogamesindustrymemo.com

The UK has a brand new video games council to chat to Government about how to grow the industry. But who is on it and what’s it planning to do? @georgeosborn.bsky.social chatted to it’s new co-chair to find out. www.videogamesindustrymemo.com/p/introducin...

Introducing the UK Video Games Council, 10/07/2025

For King and Country (not the game developer, obviously)

videogamesindustrymemo.com

Another year, another fantastic @vgim.bsky.social Business Breakfast. A big hand to @gamespress.com for sponsoring and to @ansiblecomms.com, @dandawkins.bsky.social and @mattreyn.games for the games media chat. And a really big thank you to all the attendees - great to see you there!

Welcome to a gloriously rebranded Video Games Industry Memo. Bask in our clean, modern and fully initialed logo, which is pronounced Vee-gym for the pedants out there.

Good, pretty well balanced article. I am extremely wary of anyone in the industry being labelled an auteur for a whole host of reasons, chiefly because it simultaneously puts them on a pedestal (not everything they do is 'good') and eliminates or downplays the work of others at their studios.

Video Games Industry Memo@vgim.bsky.social · last yr.

Do auteurs like Hideo Kojima increase the understanding of how we make games, or obscure it? @grapedosmil.bsky.social headed to a star studded event in London to investigate www.videogamesindustrymemo.com/p/the-kojima...

Do auteurs like Hideo Kojima increase the understanding of how we make games, or obscure it? @grapedosmil.bsky.social headed to a star studded event in London to investigate www.videogamesindustrymemo.com/p/the-kojima...

Come and join us next Wednesday, it'll be a blast

George E. Osborn@georgeosborn.bsky.social · last yr.

A handful of tickets have opened up for next week's VGIM Business Breakfast, sponsored by @gamespress.com. Join me, @mattreyn.games, @ansiblecomms.com and @dandawkins.bsky.social for a chat about the future of games media AND lil pastries below 👇 www.tickettailor.com/events/halfs...