Stop Killing Games You Paid For Games and They Don't Care
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Stop Killing Games: You Paid for It, But Publishers Don’t Care

How the Industry Keeps Killing Our Favorite Games Remember when buying a game meant owning it? Yeah, I barely do either. Welcome to gaming in 2025, where publishers shut down games you paid for, delete them from your library, and brick your systems if you look at them funny. If that sounds dystopian, congratulations: you’re still capable of independent thought. This is why the Stop Killing Games movement exists. It’s not just a slogan; it’s pushback from gamers who are sick of watching digital purchases vanish like they were never real. You Bought Their Game, They Killed It Let’s start with Ubisoft’s The Crew. Not only did they kill the servers, they made the game completely unplayable (yes, even in single-player). And as a bonus, they wiped it from digital libraries. And if you paid for it? Congrats on owning […]

Game Over Kotaku Sold to the Swiss Dungeon
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Game Over, Kotaku: Sold Off and Sent to the Swiss Dungeon

Kotaku’s Funeral: Sponsored by Keleops and Woke Fatigue Well folks, it finally happened. Kotaku, once upon a time a halfway-decent gaming site and now a walking Twitter thread of regret, has been sold off by G/O Media to *checks notes* a random Swiss media group named Keleops. Sounds like a Final Fantasy boss or maybe a new pharmaceutical that treats online addiction with ironic detachment and funsies? Image: Emerald Keleops lol | Final Fantasy 7 | Square Enix | ReportAFK The sale is being spun as a positive by a few former staffers who apparently think giving a legacy brand CPR in a European basement is a win. But let’s be real: this was a mercy kill. G/O Media didn’t pass on Kotaku as some holy torch...they chucked it into a ravine and hoped nobody noticed the smoke. The Long, […]

SEGA Leaks Secret Sales Spreadsheet Numbers
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SEGA Leaks Secret Spreadsheet: Winners, Losers, and WTFs

SEGA Leaks: What it Reveals About the Company’s Future It’s not every day a billion-dollar company lets their Excel sins hit the internet. But SEGA apparently clicked the wrong export settings or something and accidentally gave us a behind-the-scenes look at the raw sales numbers for some of their biggest franchises. This wasn’t some tweet teaser or vague PR brag: this was an honest-to-goodness spreadsheet (unsurprisingly now removed) that showed just how well titles like Persona 5 Royal, Sonic Frontiers, and Yakuza: Like a Dragon are doing. And let’s just say: Persona 5 is still eating. Hard. We’ve got the juicy numbers, the hotter-than-hot takes, and what it all might mean for SEGA’s future (and yours, if you’re waiting on Persona 6). Buckle in, because we’re cracking this leak wide open. The Accidental Flex: What SEGA Leaked In a recent investor-facing […]

SEGA Gets in Bed with Kaleidoscope for Pride
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Gamers vs. Gender Ideology: SEGA’s Kaleidoscope Problem

“Gotta go fast” has officially turned into “Gotta go woke.” In a move that sparked confusion, frustration, and a fair bit of gamer whiplash, SEGA has joined the latest Pride Month corporate campaign by updating their logo with rainbow colors and announcing a fundraising partnership with the UK-based Kaleidoscope International Trust. What seems like harmless virtue signaling on the surface actually runs much deeper once you follow the pixelated breadcrumbs.Turns out, this isn’t just about a colorful logo or tweeting out #LoveIsLove. SEGA’s proudly aligning itself with a hyper-political organization actively working to push extreme gender ideology into international policy. So let’s break it down and talk about why gamers everywhere have reason to be side-eyeing the blue blur’s handlers these days. Who Is Kaleidoscope Trust, and Why Should Gamers Care? Kaleidoscope International Trust describes itself as an organization fighting for “a future […]

Asmongold Help Elon Musk with X Streaming Platform | AI Generated
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Asmongold to Help Elon’s Streaming Empire? – Twitch Is Screwed

Asmongold x Elon: The Streaming Alliance Twitch Should Be Terrified Of In a move that feels equal parts surreal and inevitable, legendary World of Warcraft gamer and #1 most popular political streamer Asmongold has apparently thrown his hat into the ring to help Elon Musk fix streaming on X (formerly Twitter). The kicker? He offered to do it for free.That’s right. The guy who rants about MMOs while eating chicken tenders next to a Gatorade that may predate the Bible itself is ready to roll up his sleeves and help build a Twitch-killer—and not even take a dime for it.I just think it's better for the platform, it's better for everybody, so I'd just do it for free.Say what you want about Asmon, but the dude knows his stuff when it comes to streaming, and the fact that he wouldn't even be charging Musk for […]

Kotaku Writer Doubles Down on Skippable Boss Fights
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Boss Fights Are Essential to Games – Even If Kotaku Disagrees

Kotaku Wants You to Skip Boss Fights. Maybe They Should Just Play Games. Look, I’m not trying to "gatekeep" here - but if you're writing about video games and your hot take is “what if we just remove the part of the game that’s, you know, the actual game,” maybe it’s time to pick up a new hobby. Like knitting. Or yelling at clouds. Or writing about your fee fees in film school forums, where gameplay isn't an obstacle.This week’s subject of critique is Kotaku’s John Walker, who’s back with another article that reads like it was written by someone who spent more time fumbling with the accessibility menu than actually pressing “Start.”In his mind-numbing article advocating for skippable boss fights and his follow up piece where he attempts to defend his position, he insists that optional challenge is an affront to […]

Alyssa Mercante and Smash JT Lawsuit Gamergate 2 Timeline
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The Gamergate 2.0 Timeline: ft. Smash JT and Alyssa Mercante

A Case Study in Crybulling Ah, the gaming industry - where the journalists act like rockstars, the YouTubers play watchdog, and everyone thinks they’re the main character. Enter Jeff Tarzia, aka Smash JT, a former game industry insider turned YouTube commentator, and Alyssa Mercante, the (now former) senior editor at Kotaku, a site once known for actual game journalism way back in the day, before it pivoted to clickbait and culture war commentary.What kicked off as a few spicy tweets and YouTube videos quickly devolved into a digital food fight: Mercante accused Smash of harassment, Smash fired back with receipts, and the internet, as always, grabbed popcorn. But let’s be clear - this wasn’t some unprovoked attack by a rando on the internet. It was a public figure throwing punches from her soapbox and then crying victim when someone dared to respond […]

Giant Bomb Indie Media Reboot or Paywalled Farewell Tour
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Giant Bomb’s Indie Media Reboot or Paywalled Farewell Tour?

The Scrappy Reboot No One Asked For Well, it finally happened. Giant Bomb, once one of the most respected names in gaming media, is now floating in the icy waters of independence after years of corporate shuffling. Vox Media, after acquiring both Polygon and Giant Bomb, went full Order 66 on their teams - mass layoffs, gutted staff, and enough drama to keep Reddit humming for weeks. But unlike its cousin Polygon, which was unceremoniously purged, Giant Bomb didn’t go out with a whimper. Nope. The remaining staff suprisingly grabbed the wheel and bought the ship themselves. Giant Bomb lives! Fandom has sold the site to us and it is now fully independent and employee-owned. We'll see you all on Tuesday for the Giant Bombcast.For more info right now, head over to https://t.co/eOhDx8bEYV pic.twitter.com/5Rib2uv9ig— World’s Famous Giant Bomb (@giantbomb) May 10, 2025 And while […]

Press X to Skip Bad Gaming Journalism
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Press X to Skip Bad Journalism: How Gaming Media Lost the Plot

Skipping Boss Fights: The Final Boss of Gaming Journalism Is Gaming Itself Remember when beating a tough boss felt like an achievement instead of a hate crime?Well, according to Kotaku's John Walker, that feeling is sooo 2008. In his latest piece of "I swear I like games, guys," titled "Could We Be About to Enter a Skippable Boss Fight Utopia", he excitedly reports that South of Midnight will include a boss skip button. Yes, a literal "Skip Boss" option, for those who apparently bought the game by accident and are just here for the vibes. Image Source: imgflip.com Let that sink in: imagine paying full price for a game, then opting to not actually play the game. We’ve reached a point where journalists want a “Press X to Not Try” feature - and they’re celebrating it like it’s the Second Coming of Accessibility […]

Polygon Purged Game Over for Activists in Gaming Media
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Game Over for Activists: Polygon’s Purge is a Herald of Change

The Game Has Changed (And So Have the Players) Another day, another group of pink-haired, pronoun-pushing “games journalists” shown the door - this time, courtesy of Valnet’s buyout of Polygon.And if that headline already made someone on Twitter clutch their Funko Pops, good. Because this isn’t just a one-off acquisition.It’s the latest checkpoint in a much bigger campaign: the de-wokification of gaming media. BREAKING - Game Journos reportedly laid off today:Polygon:Chris Plante – Co-founder and former Editor-in-ChiefMichael McWhertor – Senior WriterMatthew Reynolds – Deputy EditorTyler Colp – Games WriterNicole Carpenter – Senior ReporterFandom - GiantBomb:- Jeff Grubb -… pic.twitter.com/tiamZ5dIJR— Smash JT (@SmashJT) May 1, 2025 For years, gamers have been treated like problematic relics of a bygone era. We were told our desire to, y’know, actually enjoy video games was selfish, outdated, and somehow harmful to marginalized NPCs. But now? The tide’s […]

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