Articles by Dean
ConcernedApe is trapped by his own success. Juggling the demands of a massive farming simulator alongside a new release exposes the harsh reality of maintaining an indie mega-hit.
The Nintendo Switch has become the ultimate machine for massive role-playing games. But celebrating these titles as addictive masks a deliberate design shift that prioritizes endless grinding over narrative resolution.
Rhell: Warped Worlds and Troubled Times throws out the safety rails of traditional puzzle design. By handing players a volatile 100-million-combination magic system, developer SlugGlove effectively dares you to break their game.
Former QA tester Jack Hoxley says playing the game he spent years building will probably bring back too much. His firing alongside 29 other organizing developers exposes the cold math of AAA labor.
Leviatán defeated Paper Rex 3-2 in a five-map thriller to win the VCT Masters London trophy on June 21, 2026. The Latin American organization secured the historic victory with a rookie-heavy roster led by veteran Francisco "kiNgg" Aravena.
Seven retro handhelds from $44 to $339, each the right pick for a specific use case. From the pocketable Miyoo Mini Plus to the Retroid Pocket 6's PS2 and GameCube capability.
Handheld PCs like the Steam Deck and ROG Ally are marketed as premium, all-in-one devices. The reality is that players must spend hundreds on mandatory accessories just to fix missing features and glaring hardware flaws.
EA FC 26’s Greats of the Game campaign is live, adding new ICONs, SBCs, objectives and rewards after the World’s Game Update introduced a 48-team international tournament
Ten Southeast Asian squads compete in a double-elimination bracket for the region's sole slot at TI15 in Shanghai. Heavyweights OG and REKONIX lead the invited teams.
Mega Crit is using its monthly developer updates to address the hardest design problem in roguelike deckbuilders. The solution requires rewriting the late-game rules entirely.
Sony is officially pulling its narrative single-player games back from the PC market. The internal math failed, and PlayStation is retreating to protect its console sales.
Rockstar delivered a free graphical upgrade for PC players while charging PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S owners for the exact same features. This platform divide exposes a cynical exploitation of the console ecosystem.
Order of the Sinking Star is giving away 100 levels for free during Steam Next Fest. This massive demo exposes the aggressive tactics indie puzzle games must use to survive.
The Forza support team is urging players to disable Quick Resume to prevent catastrophic data loss. The console's defining feature is now breaking its biggest games.
Publishers are clearing the November release calendar to avoid Rockstar Games. This strategy creates a devastating pileup for every other title.
The confirmed sequel to the indie creature-collecting hit jumps forward in time, but leaving its retro aesthetic behind puts immense pressure on the combat system.
Eight years after a brief teaser trailer, Xbox executives are still relying on vague reassurances instead of gameplay. This strategy exposes a massive vulnerability for Microsoft's RPG ambitions.
Modern RPGs treat sleep as a simple fast-forward button. The Gothic 1 Remake treats it as a brutal economic resource, and players are struggling to adapt.
The Free Fire World Series - Southeast Asia 2026 Spring has concluded with a record-breaking 598,000 peak viewers. The tournament featured a $300,000 prize pool and highlighted the massive popularity of Garena's mobile battle royale in the region.
Valve is expanding its Verified program to the Steam Machine and Steam Frame ahead of a summer launch. Lowering compatibility standards to artificially boost the launch library will only punish early adopters.
War Thunder and Enlisted are crowdsourcing their marketing through strict screenshot competitions. The paltry rewards expose a broken approach to community engagement.
The MPL Indonesia Season 17 playoffs are set to run from June 10 to June 14, 2026. Six teams will battle for the championship following an 11% drop in regular-season peak viewership.
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has joined the WWE 2K26 roster as a 77-rated cruiserweight with a Frank Sinatra entrance theme. The bizarre cameo attempts to turn corporate leadership into a meme, but the premium cost tells a different story.
While Sony pours millions into its State of Play showcase, Nintendo steals the spotlight with a simple pair of plastic clogs. The July 15 footwear launch highlights a massive shift in how gaming IP operates.
SteamOS broke free of the Steam Deck in 2026 and Windows answered with the Xbox-flavored ROG Ally. Here is how the two systems compare across the best handhelds, and which one is the smarter buy at every price.
Pearl Abyss is promising meaningful DLC and sweeping narrative fixes for a game that already feels too bloated to manage.
Game director Kohei Ikeda has left Bandai Namco after 20 years, marking the third major leadership exit in less than a year. As Tekken 8 struggles with aggressive patches and community backlash, this departure signals deep structural friction.
Finite Reflection Studios is fusing PS2-era collectathon mechanics with deliberate swordplay. The resulting demo exposes the limitations of modern genre labels.
The June 2026 PlayStation 5 lineup is packed with massive third-party hits and rival mascots. It also reveals a severe drought in Sony's own creative pipeline.
StarCraft 2 patch 5.0.16 cuts starting workers from 12 to 8, reworks Protoss Warpgate, and nerfs the Ghost across 50+ changes after six years of developer silence. The patch is bold and necessary, but the community should demand follow-through, not just celebrate that Blizzard remembered the game exists.
