Scott Lowe

Death Stranding 2 is absolute cinema.

Food quality has definitely slipped in recent years, but it's still one of my favorite oldschool dives. Bummed to see it go. 😭

Curious if they even detained anyone, because all of the footage and photos I've seen show that the park was pretty much empty when they got there.

My money is on this being just more performative bullshit.

"Pay what you want" is one way to approach a SKU plan.

Movie is straight up distressing.

"All press is good press" - that dude as he kickflips off into the sunset, probably.

Looking forward to checking this out and seeing some familiar faces this weekend!

The randoms in the circle always seem laser focused on delivering the one big gotcha point that they've been reciting in their mind while squirming in their chairs, impatiently waiting to rush the table.

It's cringey as fuck.

Might as well throw in unprecedented market volatility and destabilization of global economics while we're at it.

The economics of making a game based on licensed IP is one thing. To then also make it with all of the substantial (and often ballooning) startup costs, challenges, and risks of a brand new studio is another. Especially at a AAA scale.

After working in the electronics section of a Target when I was younger, people are 100% going to be absentmindedly buy the Switch thinking it's a Switch 2. And then they're going to get pissed at the retail workers for it.

The "real fan" thing is rough, but the "I don't know" and "it's not my call" are just...oof. Game ships in 4 months and you're the CEO. Yes you do and yes it is. 🤦‍♂️

I'm just over here waiting for the first strand-type frog game.

Also, congrats to every team shipping a game and trying to hit their sales targets this year. 🥂

Hitting dates in dev is hard even when you're not making the highest budget, largest production, and most technologically, graphically, and systemically advanced games in the industry.

Let them cook.

I was pretty bummed about this when they revealed it in the second trailer. I was already sold on it with the first.

Same thing happened with Companion. First trailer was all creepy intrigue and then the next one was like "THIS IS THE TWIST AND WHOLE PLOT OF THE MOVIE"

Arc Raiders takes The Last of Us-style combat, scavenging, and crafting, applies it to a PvE-PvP extraction shooter, and wraps it all in a gorgeous Fallout-like world.

And honestly, I'm 100% here for it.

They say money can't buy happiness. But money *can* buy sandwiches, the root of all happiness.

This is rad. GI returning with renewed investment and an emphasis on editorial independence and support for the original staff is a rare bright spot of hope in an otherwise challenging media landscape.

Props to the social marketing agency that did the unthinkable and found a way to use LinkedIn authentically in a campaign tactic. 👏

a woman is sitting at a table with her hands folded in front of her . ALT: a woman is sitting at a table with her hands folded in front of her .

This announce asset is real good

Senior Manager, Social Strategy (VALORANT)

I'm hiring! Senior Manager, Social Strategy for VALORANT at Riot Games.

You can learn more/apply here: www.riotgames.com/en/work-with...

Let me have my mid-life crisis in peace.

You got me. I gave up the marketing stuff and now I'm a full-time DJ that sneaks in post-hardcore classics at corpo gigs.

Someone of fine taste has the AUX cable, obviously.

That's not to say that the decision isn't warranted in many cases. However, at a certain point, the industry will struggle to survive if the institutional experience of established studios isn't protected and new teams aren't given the opportunity to get the necessary reps in to build their own.

10000%. It's already been going that way, effectively, under the banner of "outsourcing."

It's why some AAA game credits have a couple hundred people for the primary studio and then a thousand from vendors.

The trend of shutting studios down completely is of particular concern. It fails to consider the tech, workflows, talent, and culture that take years to establish and, most critically, the knowledge and experience of shipping a game as a team. You can't assign a $ amount to it, but it's invaluable.

I've committed most of my life to the games industry at this point. I've been around for some of its highest highs and lowest lows, but I've never seen anything like the last few years. Absolutely brutal and no signs of letting up.

My heart goes out to everyone impacted.

Always has.