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Stephen Totilo

@stephentotilo.bsky.social

Reporter covering video games at Game File (gamefile.news). Previously launched games coverage at Axios and MTV News. Was Kotaku EiC. stephen(at)gamefile(dot)news he/him

16,424 Followers  |  685 Following  |  1,642 Posts  |  Joined: 13.09.2024
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Posts by Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo.bsky.social)

I’ve told my children that they’re not allowed to say “insider gaming”

04.03.2026 21:11 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0
04.03.2026 19:24 — 👍 30    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 1

Sometimes I get email replies to Game File newsletters that are clearly spam.

And sometimes I tell myself they're real.

Like the one I got today that said: "you have remained a constant source of strength and encouragement."

Thank you! (And you're welcome)

04.03.2026 19:04 — 👍 46    🔁 1    💬 1    📌 0

It matters when thinking about who is playing games globally and where companies (Chinese ones in particular) find success.

But the idea of this chart is to think about who is left, when you cut those few factors out: all the big publishers in Japan, U.S., Europe, etc.

04.03.2026 14:57 — 👍 4    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Those last three are puzzle games that it's taking all of my willpower to avoid playing more of. Gotta wait for the final release!

04.03.2026 14:31 — 👍 6    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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One key chart showing the game industry's struggle And six new game demos (that you can play) that help me remain hopeful about gaming's future

The recent Steam Next Fest was great. So many wonderful demos for games I hadn't heard of.

In the latest Game File, I highlighted 6 that still have PC demos up:

- Froggy Hates Snow
- Enter the Chronosphere
- Wanderburg
- Deg
- Sokogram
- Clover's Quadrants

www.gamefile.news/p/one-key-ch...

04.03.2026 14:31 — 👍 24    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0
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A bleak report about the games industry made the rounds a couple of weeks ago. Then, last week, this dire chart was added to it

What it shows: Game industry revenue growth in 2025, excluding China, Roblox, hardware and console services (Game Pass, etc) was near 0

www.gamefile.news/p/one-key-ch...

04.03.2026 14:24 — 👍 54    🔁 10    💬 3    📌 3

Yes. But you'll need to play it for 100 hours and write letters of apology to the developers of those other games.

03.03.2026 17:24 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Riot Games co-founder Brandon Beck has donated two seminal issues of Captain America (issues 1 and 46, published in 1941 and 1945, respectively) to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the museum announced today

The museum credits that 1st issue with challenging isolationist views in the US

03.03.2026 17:11 — 👍 38    🔁 5    💬 0    📌 0

For months, @jacksonwryan.com has been looking into why so many video games sites have become full of gambling and casino stories, unusual author images, and, most recently, the use of AI. We've connected these sites to Clickout Media. Here's what we've learned.

02.03.2026 15:22 — 👍 893    🔁 425    💬 8    📌 4

From the filings...

02.03.2026 16:06 — 👍 21    🔁 5    💬 2    📌 0

From the filing...

02.03.2026 16:03 — 👍 21    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Your game is blowing my mind. And fascinating my kids. Well done

28.02.2026 16:59 — 👍 3    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

You can thank Vice City Subs

27.02.2026 23:56 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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NEW: We've got a new sales figure for...Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories?

In an effort to block someone's attempt to trademark "Vice City Subs", Take Two's lawyers said VCS sold over 7 million copies since launch. (Prior disclosed number was 4.5m)

Item 2: www.gamefile.news/i/189381015/...

27.02.2026 23:09 — 👍 39    🔁 2    💬 1    📌 1

(MLB also felt like the "zone" part might be confusing, because of, you know "strike zone")

27.02.2026 22:51 — 👍 10    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0
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Activision abandons key Call of Duty trademark after Major League Baseball objects Plus: An updated sales figure for… Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories

NEW: Major League Baseball took issue this week with the name of Call of Duty's "World Series of Warzone" esports series, citing potential brand confusion

Activision then bailed on the WSoW trademark

I'd be surprised if they try using "World Series" again

www.gamefile.news/p/world-seri...

27.02.2026 22:51 — 👍 23    🔁 2    💬 2    📌 1
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Game File | Stephen Totilo | Substack The business and culture of video games, from a reporter with 20 years on the beat. Click to read Game File, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers.

My favorite is Game File (www.gamefile.news). The guy who runs it is an inspiration.

26.02.2026 23:59 — 👍 13    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

Time for Netflix to pivot and buy Xbox

26.02.2026 23:13 — 👍 111    🔁 6    💬 3    📌 0
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The Story Behind the Failure of ‘Highguard’ The ‘raid shooter’ game from Wildlight Entertainment had a promising start but lost players fast

NEW: Inside the failure of Highguard, which flopped so badly that developer Wildlight laid off most of its staff just two weeks after release.

Here's the story behind why people loved working at Wildlight, why Tencent pulled funding, and how it all fell apart: www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

26.02.2026 17:26 — 👍 974    🔁 193    💬 28    📌 50
26.02.2026 17:33 — 👍 76    🔁 9    💬 4    📌 2

A tough read, but one I'm so glad to see @adashtra.bsky.social cover for us

26.02.2026 15:45 — 👍 97    🔁 27    💬 1    📌 0

Anyone discover any great demos in the current Steam Next Fest?

I've played (and enjoyed) Titanium Court and Australia Did It.

I'm downloading tons more. But there are 3,404 demos overall, so suggestions are welcome!

26.02.2026 14:02 — 👍 53    🔁 4    💬 31    📌 0
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New York sues video game developer Valve, says its 'loot boxes' are gambling New York's attorney general sued Valve, a video game developer whose franchises include Counter-Strike, Team Fortress and Dota, accusing it of violating state gambling laws and threatening to addict c...

Well now...

www.reuters.com/legal/govern...

25.02.2026 20:34 — 👍 132    🔁 24    💬 6    📌 20

Also in this:

- Sharma picks an Xbox vet (and former start-up colleague) for her chief of staff
- And some key Xbox what-ifs regarding a division that launched a $300 console without a killer game and used to have Roblox as a console exclusive

25.02.2026 20:22 — 👍 15    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Xbox’s new leader, five days later And some crucial Xbox what-ifs relevant to Xbox's past and Xbox's future

Fun fact: Asha Sharma's appointment as CEO of Xbox is her second time working on Microsoft's gaming brand

A Microsoft rep confirmed to me that she did some Xbox work back during her initial 2011-2013 Microsoft stint but didn't specify what she worked on

www.gamefile.news/p/xboxs-new-...

25.02.2026 20:22 — 👍 31    🔁 3    💬 1    📌 0

It took decades, but I'm now RE-pilled.

As I played the Leon parts of the game... it hit me. I had reached a moment in my life when it could actually be useful to distinguish my Kennedys from my Redfields, my Birkins from my Spencers, my T-virus from my G-Virus.

25.02.2026 17:42 — 👍 30    🔁 0    💬 3    📌 0
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12 hours with the superb Resident Evil Requiem (and 9 hours with Resident Evil 2 Remake) Uh-oh, the new Resident Evil game has infected me with the RE virus

REVIEW: I liked Resident Evil Requiem so much that I took a break while on review deadline to play RE2 Remake through for the first time... a game I'd say is mandatory for this one

Requiem, you see, is an excellent Resident Evil game about Resident Evil games

www.gamefile.news/p/resident-e...

25.02.2026 17:37 — 👍 54    🔁 4    💬 2    📌 0
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Checking to see if the old USB drive I found has room for some screenshots I need to transfer

25.02.2026 15:11 — 👍 27    🔁 0    💬 2    📌 0

Feels like you could do a whole ass career in the games industry and never ship a single game.

22.02.2026 16:13 — 👍 41    🔁 7    💬 0    📌 0