Before I became a game critic, investigative reporter, and all-round troublemaker, I was an award-winning game designer who put stories in video games. Unfortunately, that didn’t pay off very well or consistently. So, after my family’s healthcare was over, I went to this website with the thought that I might give this “blogging” business a chance. After all, as a freelancer I managed to fool at least two people. kotaku He started believing that I could write EICs and I knew how to put some words together. How hard can working here really be?
Nearly two years later, I have no choice but to laugh. And cry a little. But mostly laugh.
Today will be my last day on Kotaku. Soon you will all be freed from my demonic approaches. Vagabond a disgrace to orientalist metaphorsor how A piece it is clearly a leftist text this should be taught in socialist book clubs everywhere. I won’t post here anymore sugar paste mom’s and how game developers affected with real world political issues. Or how video game studios treat too often employees making big profits.
Whatever happens former media executives Consider covering our huge ecosystem, there are so many incredible and important stories about video games that happen every day. You just need smart and motivated people who know where to look. Despite wretched things that are constant in the community, there is a big and beautiful world out there. I wish I could record them all. when i come kotakuI wanted to make readers wonder more about the things they thought they knew. I wrote stories about biggest franchise players have never heard of before. I interviewed Whales about their spending habits. I actually played mobile games scary social media ads. Never settle for what you already know about the game, folks. Always keep running towards the horizon.
Despite my compelling confidence here, it’s hard to feel like the smartest person in the room when working with the smartest nerds in the industry, and we’re subject to some of the harshest criticism. Of course, public outrage is part of the prestige: Readers are vocal because they take video games and our website about them seriously. while mine declared properties demanded a ton of persistence, the hardest part of being one kotaku the writer just showed up every day and was held to the highest standards in gaming journalism. I think most people would be crushed under pressure. We turned it into diamonds. and we did AgainAnd AgainAnd Again.
Now I understand that every blog is a miracle. Yes, even the ones about animal crossing porn or who is the surgeon allegedly had a console war in the middle of an operation. Yet I fought for the readers and I fought for my colleagues. while New York Times He struggled with the progressives over whether transphobia is a legitimate stanceI was openly nonbinary and a Chinese reporter in a country where it was becoming more and more dangerous to be any of these. I’ve wasted my time in the culture war, and it’s someone else’s war now. God help you
I am joking. Look, one of the interesting things that happens to the people who work on this site is that they start caring about journalism in a ridiculous way. The industry is moving in such a direction that companies and influencers rather than the writers who adhere to professional ethics rules, it shapes how the plays are spoken. Institutional shit shit continues with worrying regularity layoffs have hit or closed multiple play a game news outputs during the past year. Yes, reporting on games is more important than ever, but it seems there are fewer opportunities than when I started writing, just when we need it most.
I don’t know how to fix any of them right now. There is no Band-Aid solution to the problems plaguing digital media that extend far beyond the gaming world. But I know what do not do The help is when gamers decide that their favorite brands and influencers should monopolize the narrative on why video games are important. Play is not fundamentally a relationship between the product and the consumer. Games are art, community and politics. Gameplay provides us with a mirror to ourselves, a vehicle for our collective doom, and forces us into pleasant contradictions. Please find your own reasons to value video games rather than stubbornly clinging to corporate and parasocial affiliations. Otherwise, the culture will be truly and irretrievably rotten. One day, gaming journalism as a whole will make a comeback. Until then, I hope that the beautiful aspects of gaming culture remain intact.
Okay, enough pessimism. Despite working at one of the toughest jobs in the entire industry, I’ve had some really great opportunities here. In between writing “The News”, report developers outside North America/Western Europe/Japan. I talked to people playing games almost every day but They didn’t see themselves as “players”. I have game makers to give us. nonsense opinion to AI automation in games. I didn’t need a game company to approve me. All it takes is “Oh, really?” when a claim contradicts personal truth.
I was nearing the end of my writing time and realized that I needed to talk about my colleagues. I forgot to talk about when I tried to persuade jalopnikto Steve Negative tormenting your colleague for auto science. Or the countless times Ethan has guided me through researching companies’ dirty laundry. scary She was a baby reporter at the time. Or when I was losing my excitement for a blog idea and one of the Photoshops inspired by Isaiah flew me over to my Google Docs. I have to talk about all the times Ari was my Emotional Support White Man, but that might give him a more bloated head than he currently has. Carolyn, you have absolutely spoiled me with editing a review. Thanks for never letting me have less than 5-10 thoughts on anything I wanted to say about a video game. Alyssa! Alyssa, Alyssa, Alyssa. You are probably the most chaotic breed I have ever worked with anywhere and I hope that energy never leaves you. Thank you for saying yes to my most diabolical ideas and sorry you had to edit them. Patricia, thank you for hiring me and fighting for my stories. I’m sorry for the times I walked into your office and acted like I was on top of everything. kotaku.
And to my readers: Thank you so much for taking the time to write my silly little articles. Stay curious and don’t let gaming culture be shit while I’m gone. I’ll smell it later.
