Report: Indie Games on Steam Earn Half of What They Used To

Data-driven publisher No More Robots (@nomorerobotshq) has released a new report showing that on indie games on Steam are earning less than half of what they did in 2018.

Alleged Sexual Harassment at Naughty Dog

Naughty Dog Inc., developers of Crash Bandicoot, Uncharted and The Last of Us, have come under scrutiny these past couple weeks as allegations of sexual harassment have been made against the studio.

Fuck the “Glorious PC Master Race”

A bit of background. The year is 2008 and CD Projekt Red’s humble origins as a video game studio begin with the release of The Witcher. Fans love it, critics love it, and one group of fans in particular rally around the game: PC Gamers. They champion the title as an example of why PC gaming is above all else. But a writer at The Escapist, Ben Croshaw, thought they were being a little “elitist” in this attitude and in his video review of The Witcher uttered the first recorded use of the phrase “Glorious PC-gaming Master Race” (Source).

Red Dead Redemption 2 Announced

After a series of teasers, Rockstar has finally announced the sequel to their critically acclaimed 2010 title, Red Dead Redemption. Officially titled Red Dead Redemption 2, the game is expected to launch Fall 2017 on Xbox One and PS4. Take a look at the set of teasers that led up to the announcement:

The State of Female Characters in AAA Games

Header Art by Zakurarain.

This time last year I was ecstatic over all the amazing 2016 games showcasing female protagonists. It seemed like things were starting to look up for those who’ve been demanding more diversity from the mainstream, AAA video games. Unfortunately, I realised after this year’s E3 and looking at the Fall to early 2017 lineup I was being a little too optimistic. Not only is there a lack of women, but big games and publishers are actively avoiding putting women in their games. In an industry where more than half of those who play games are women, it’s frustrating that sexism and misogyny keep pushing women to the sides or entirely exclude them from AAA games. From the typical oversexualized portrayal to a more subtle misrepresentation to outright exclusion, there are different ways in which the AAA games in this article (and many others we couldn’t get into here) are a disservice to the potential of video games and the players who love them.

My ProtoTO Experience

This past weekend Roberto Durant (@RobertDurant173), Professor Nicholson (@snicholson) and I attended Toronto’s very first prototyping convention: ProtoTO. Held at BoardAgain games on Dundas St in Toronto, ProtoTO was a three-day prototyping convention meant for designers of all experiences and backgrounds to get invaluable playtesting feedback on their projects. It was an all around great experience, albeit quite a sweaty one. I had such a great experience I wanted to share it with those who couldn’t attend!

Updated: Awesome Video Games Coming in 2016

It’s hard to believe 2016 is half over. So many amazing games have come out this year. From Naughty Dog’s phenomenal conclusion to their beloved franchise Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End to Drinkbox Studio’s stunning PS Vita adventure Severed there have been loads of great games to play from small indie games and AAA titles alike. But there is still so much more to play in the coming months and several undoubted “Game of the Year” contenders. So to keep track of all the awesome games still to come I’ve decided to update our previous list published back in January. Take a look at all the exciting games you’ll (probably) be able to play in 2016!

The “Whitey McStubbly” Concept

I realized that I had been using a phrase in my posts that a lot of people are unfamiliar with, so I decided you all deserve an explanation. It’s one of my favourite phrases when discussing characters in video games:”Whitey McStubbly”. I first heard the phrase in an interview with Tomb Raider writer Rhianna Pratchett and started using it immediately. You’ve seen countless of them, but when you really stop to think about the protagonists in popular video games it’s quite startling how many of them are white, middle-aged men with that five-o-clock shadow and a slight scowl.

Best Video Game Character Deaths

Obvious Spoilers for the tagged games!

Death is everywhere in video games. The body count of the typical Whitey McStubbly character is in the thousands. IGN estimates that Nathan Drake of the Uncharted games has killed just under 2,000 people in his three hit PS3 games, not even counting Golden Abyss. Death is taken for granted in video games. That’s why when one comes around that has an impact on you it’s special. We’ve all witnessed one. We’ve seen a comrade, a villain or

The Crowdfunding Confliction

I have a problem. Up until this point in my life I have steered clear of crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter, Indiegogo and more recently Fig. There hasn’t been a game that’s turned to crowdfunding that I HAD to support. There’s been interesting games and projects I’ve thought “oh that’s neat, I’ll play that if it ever comes out” but not something that I felt compelled to support. This combined with the uneasiness I have about putting money towards an unsure thing meant I never contributed to a campaign. Haven’t until now, that is.

With more and more seasoned developers turning to Kickstarter for their projects in lieu of a traditional publisher it’s becoming less and less of an unsure thing and more of a very early pre-order. Such is the case with Knights and Bikes, an awesome new