Sam.END.ICE.Machkovech

@samred.com

1906 Followers 475 Following

1/3 dog, 1/3 arts+tech, 1/3 something something. You may have seen my reporting at: NYT, Polygon, Digital Foundry, The Stranger, Game Developer, Games Radar, Ars, American Airlines, The Atlantic, Wired, Dallas Morning News. He/him, from Seattle. Zero AI.

Don't forget to play with friends, as up to four can play in a doubles match, which should put this title at the top of your party game list. In
fact, put it at the top of any list you want because Virtua Tennis just plain rules.

Start screen for Sonic Mania Plus, frozen on "we are currently experiencing high demand. you're #1 in line"

Black and brown dog smiles while gripping a spiky chew toy

image of two comedians, Conan O'Brien and Johnny Knoxville, posing comedically in the YouTube interface, directly above a headline about "US Senator Lindsey Graham dies at age 71"

Justin: It kind of goes without saying, but when you're trying to build a plan that's going to last for 100 years, we keep a very heavy focus on self-sufficiency.
Marcus: If our studio can't survive without constant outside funding or a single big game, the studio is always going to be at risk. So we try to ensure that our projects are not only ambitious and creative, but also profitable.
Justin: Our internal greenlight process obviously focuses a lot on making great role-playing games, things that we're proud of, that we're excited about, and enthusiastic about. But we also spend a lot of time in the greenlight process talking about, are we investing the appropriate amount into each game, assuming that game is a viable success, not an exceptional one. We take this approach because we want to have the freedom to focus on the stuff that we're excited about, that we're passionate about, and not need to chase massive hits.

Justin: For a 10-year goal for us, we want the lowest turnover rate amongst our industry peers. Long tenure is obviously an important aspect of stability and a key differentiator that will develop our studio. Now, on to our short-term goals, our five-year targets.
Marcus: So, this is the stage where we're stabilizing and then building momentum.
Justin: In the next five years, it's critical for us as we're thinking about what ultimately would lead to lower turnover rate and a tight-knit community. It's about being really mindful about how we're investing in our leaders. So, we want to create a very clear succession plan, not just for ourselves, but all of our leaders.
And then, keeping top of mind the people that we need to invest in with training, time, new responsibilities, and prepare them for future leadership roles. We take the phrase, "people don't quit jobs, they quit bad bosses," very seriously. And we need to be very thoughful about how we're investing in our next generation of leaders as one of the most arguably important aspects to making sure that we have low turnover over longer periods of time.

presentation at DICE 2025 gaming expo. L: Marcus Morgan, VP of Operations, Obsidian Entertainment. R: Justin Britch, VP of Development, Obsidian Entertainment.

Text on screen:

"100 years, long-term goals: Aspirational goals and big ideas
10 years, mid-term goals: scale your strengths
5 years, short-term goals: stabilize for next generation
immediate goals, right now: solve immediate problems, build foundation for growth"

screen capture from a video showing a copy of a subpoena filed by the Provo, UT Police Department on February 11, 2026, Google ref # 125037246, Search Warrant # 25PR26279

GDC 2027 Call for Submissions is Open! 🥳
GDC Festival of Gaming <gdc@info.gdcevents.com>
9:02 AM
to me

Franchise shift
Two of Microsoft’s crown jewels, Minecraft and King (Candy Crush) will be moved within the company’s gaming organization to report directly to Sharma, instead of to the division’s content and studios chief Matt Booty.

Sharma considers Minecraft to have been massively underinvested, a source familiar with Microsoft’s plans told Game File. They noted that Roblox, the hugely popular platform for player-made games, and Minecraft, more or less the virtual Legos of gaming, were comparable in size six or so years ago. But they estimated that Roblox has been investing more than five times as much in its business as Microsoft has on Minecraft. Minecraft was funding much of the rest of the Xbox gaming team, the source said, rather than being deeply funded itself. (Correction: The preceding sentence initially mistakenly started with the word “Microsoft”; that was a typo, as readers who noted it to me inferred. Apologies for the confusion.)

camera operator throws stick, then smiling panting dog chases it down

"sweating man with two buttons" meme:

button 1: hold global firms accountable for exploitative practices
button 2: make ppl expose their personal info all the damned time
caption: US CONGRESS

Outdoor screening of a world cup match

three massive screens projecting a World Cup match

man stands in front of very large golden coffee carafe

"WARNING
IF YOU ARE PLAYING THIS VIDEO GAME IN JAPAN, YOU ARE INVOLVED IN A CRIMINAL ACT.
STOP
USE OF THIS VIDEO GAME IN JAPAN."

curly haired black and brown dog looks up at camera while standing between stools

dog looking up at camera excitedly after hearing the word "bacon"

A New York Times review of the game applauded its “stunningly realized depiction” of Japan, adding, “Shadows offers more, digging deeper to deliver a fascinating, grounded picture beyond the wild, natural world.”

But some people online criticized the game for having “gone woke” by creating a Black samurai named Yasuke. Elon Musk, the tech entrepreneur, said Shadows was an example of how “D.E.I. kills art,” using an abbreviation for diversity, equity and inclusion. Ubisoft reminded players that its games were works of fiction, even as Yasuke was an actual historical figure.

"Search or ask a question" prompt and "Ask YouTube" button at YouTube.com

bench adorned with Kurt Cobain related accoutrements in distance

"ICE OUT" letters made by solid chunks of gum on a wall, and "NOW" below them in the form of negative-space spraypaint

Tarp is going up to boos and chants of shame

Then everyone ran around to the sides

Oooh

Security is grabbing a guy who ran across the fencing

He moved to the other side and is just yelling

Lots of heckling: Shame. This is not America. Etc.

Crowd gathers in front of Kennedy Center event

buncha Waldo-looking T-shirts in a large soccer crowd