Games Transformed

Incredible news comrades! RED BARRELS IS GOING WEEKLY! From now on, we will be splitting the podcast in half, making the games and news sections their own episodes, posted on alternate weeks.

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Ep 23 is here! The Dead Rise (ing), Stardew Valleys and then the Factors io (kind of ran away from me there). Plus Anthem is maybe preserved, Runescape astonishingly continues and INCREDIBLE GTA VI SECRETS ARE REVEALED! They can't even sue us for this.

New year, new episode! Ep 22 is here with a rubbish terf game, a cool cowboy game, and an unexpectedly sensual Metroid game. Plus, some sad news, and some less sad news: the downfall of Xbox. 2026 is the year of the revolution! But, in like, games.

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Ep 21 and it's time to award the most important trophy possible: Most Ideologically Correct Game of the Year 2025! Also we talk about the far less important and far more reactionary Keighleygasm Game Awards.

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It's ep 20, and the 1-year anniversary of the podcast! To celebrate we went all-out and had a Friendslop special episode with the incredible @littlebear.bsky.social! We friend! We slop! And we even do the news as usual. Onwards to year two!

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Sofie returns! For episode 19! And talks about vampires! And Alex finished Silksong! And Ed's played Stray! And we have solidarity with @gameworkers.co.uk's members being strikebroken at Rockstar! And even more news! Right now!

Sofie's still out due to the plague but Ed and Alex manage a banger episode anyway! The eighteenth one! Ed revives a controversial ending with Mass Effect 3 and Alex roams feudal Japan again with Ghost of Yōtei. Plus news!

It's episode 17 baby! Ed gets obscure with Dark Souls, Alex faces choice paralysis with UFO 50 and Sofie gets a lot off her chest with The Sims. Meanwhile we talk EA getting snagged by the Saudis. Tokyo Game Show, and actually good news about the whole ZA/UM thing?? It's true!

A super-special episode because 1) Sofie's back (thank god) and 2) we've all played Silksong! It's a Silkstravaganza! And after we're all silked out, it's onto the news, with Nintendo chat, loud-shirted knobheads, and some nonsense going on in America. They call it: Episode 16

We're back, but not all of us! Unfortunately Sofie is off swanning in South Africa, so we've got a duo episode with just Alex and Ed. But when the cat's away, the mice will play - and so we've got a full Nintendo episode about Majora's Mask and DK Bananza! Plus news!

The deep state defeated! Fresh from hospital, the gang are back to discuss Expedition 33, Dave the Diver and to Unleash the Force on us all. PLUS! Another Keighleygasm, and less fun news about censorship and opposition to genocide. The grave failed to claim us!

Great article from @lenoongh.bsky.social! Thanks for all the praise 🥰

Where's the new episode? Unfortunately, the deep state rose again and whisked Alex into A&E and trapped him in hospital for a week. He's fine, but also too lazy to record and edit a podcast from a hospital bed. So, a class traitor. Next episode (🤞hopefully!) on 25 Aug as usual!

Today, IGN Entertainment announced that it would be laying off eight members of the IGN Creators Guild. This is 12% of our bargaining unit, and comes just days after our sister union, the Ziff Davis Creators Guild, underwent similar layoffs impacting 15% of their members. It also comes just months after our multibillion-dollar parent company, Ziff Davis, instituted a company-wide buyout that shrunk our unit numbers, with the express intent of avoiding future layoffs. And it comes just a little over one year after three of our members were laid off almost immediately after our union went public. The company has told us that the reason for this layoff stems from a Ziff Davis-mandate to cut costs despite several quarters in a row of year-over-year revenue increases, to which IGN Entertainment responded by coming for our members' jobs. This is perplexing to us, as we are told again and again that IGN Entertainment has had a tremendously successful year thus far thanks to their hard work. In just the last few months, our members have been absolutely essential to major events and livestreams, including San Diego ComicCon, Summer of Gaming, and IGN Live. Every single person impacted today was involved in and critical to the success of those events. Meanwhile, IGN Entertainment continues to spend money on costly acquisitions, only to turn around and gut those companies in the same way it is cutting away at IGN itself. For instance, last year, it acquired Gamer Network, and almost immediately laid off a number of staff critical to making those sites successful. The company has not responded to the union's questions about whether its budget for future acquisitions is being reconsidered as a cost-saving measure alongside these other apparently necessary personnel cuts. At a time when it is more necessary than ever to support its creators, IGN Entertainment is choosing to eliminate the individuals who ensure IGN remains competitive as generative AI

threatens our reach. We have been told that expert opinion pieces, original interviews, and work that leverages our staff's deep knowledge of gaming, tech, and entertainment are all essential to combating AI summarization and regurgitation of our work. Management has responded by cutting several individuals who do that exact work, as well as others whose job it is to ensure that these written and video pieces are published in a speedy manner — another component of combating AI we're told is critical. This continued cycle of repeated, aggressive cuts to our staff and being asked to do more with less, only for management to continue to spend on new business it isn't interested in sustaining cannot continue. We will enforce our interim agreement that guarantees better severance and other protections to laid off members, as well as demand additional support for those impacted. We will continue to bargain over our first contract with the aim of enshrining even better protections against further layoffs, working conditions continuously degraded by understaffing, and the encroachment of generative AI. And we won't stop fighting to ensure IGN remains the best destination for trustworthy, original, exciting, and creative work covering video games, entertainment, and tech. While IGN Entertainment management may not value us, we value one another and the incredible work we can do together. Behind the articles, videos, social posts, playlists, and maps of IGN are human beings, not just numbers on a spreadsheet to be pushed around when some number at the top isn't big enough. Without us, there is no IGN.

Today, IGN laid off eight extremely valuable members of our union and workforce via directive from our parent company, Ziff Davis. This, after two incredibly successful live events IGN Live and SDCC, and yet another corporate acquisition.

Please take a moment to read and share our full statement:

A guaranteed 10-percent wage increase over two years with additional raises through merit and promotions, after going 18 months without wage increases and 45 months without promotions; The elimination of crunch time, with seven days’ notice required for mandatory overtime, no excessive overtime on back-to-back weeks, flexible scheduling of overtime, and no mandatory overtime of any duration for the majority of weeks in a quarter; Bridging of time worked as a temporary or contract employee, defined job descriptions and a fair promotions process, expanded disability accommodations, and layoff protections including severance, recall rights, generous COBRA subsidies, and career transition services.

Raven Software's union has ratified their first contract, three years after forming. Wins include a guaranteed 10-percent wage increase over two years, on top of merit-based raises

Open Letter Relating to the UK Video Games Council - full version on our website https://www.gameworkers.co.uk/open-letter-regarding-the-uk-video-games-council/

We are incredibly disappointed by the Labour government's decision to seek advice from such a narrow segment of our industry. You can find our open letter here: www.gameworkers.co.uk/open-letter-...

We're back! Again! And with a dark portent: the 13th episode. In a rebuke to fate itself, we carry on as normal. Ed reminisces about God of War (2005), Sofie talks Animal Crossing and Alex talks for far, far too long about Death Stranding 2, for all you Kojima heads. Links!⬇️

❤️ THANK YOU to every one who made this years Games Transformed so fricking incredible ❤️

We could not have done it without all our incredible volunteers, speakers, partners and guests

To every single perosn who showed up, you absolutely made this festival what it was 🙌 See you next year!

did last weekend's @gamestransformed.bsky.social have a bunch of rly interesting things to say about anti-fascist game design? yes. do i now feel the dread of scope creep closing in as i think to myself hey, maybe MY next project can incorporate some more anti-fascist game design? yes, also.

The panel mentioned the ruins of capitalism and how humans reclaim them to make it livable. Instead of just focusing on the bleakness of the oppressive systems, CS directs our attention towards the human stories, and how people turn ruins into hope—which is why I love the game. ✨

we’re at @gamestransformed.bsky.social! up on the top floor, come say hi and kitbash something for our group games later!

Having a blast at @gamestransformed.bsky.social
my secret solarpunk game is playable in the secret game room

Photo showing a copy of Mad As Hell Radical's Handbook and handwritten notes on the character Tiago Burnett.

Played Mad As Hell by @soulmuppet.co.uk & @eviemoriarty.bsky.social at @gamestransformed.bsky.social today. We managed to slay the demon of gentrification and saved London!

A photo of various people sat on benches in front of a large banner that reads "London is Antifascist" at Games Transformed 2025 at Pelican House

Thank you @gamestransformed.bsky.social and Pelican House for a wonderful day!

Met alot of amazing folks, ran a great game of Mad as Hell, sold some #TTRPGs!

Until next year! 💕

Went to dinner for a friend's birthday on Wed where I met Max Haiven who has designed the table top game Billionaire + Guillotines. He invited me to this antifascist game symposium + honestly i couldn't have had a better day!

Games Transformed on 3DS

@soulmuppet.co.uk + @gamestransformed.bsky.social

Thank you to all the organizers, speakers, panel hosts, volunteers and attendees of @gamestransformed.bsky.social for an incredible event! Now let's take that energy and make some dope shit!

Photo of the Soul Muppet stand at Games Transformed 2025 depicting three people in front of RPG books.

Yesterday, I took some photos at @gamestransformed.bsky.social, a festival that celebrates progressive politics in games. This is one of the @soulmuppet.co.uk stand.

Running fashionably late and absolutely not thriving in this humidity but!!! I'm excited for Games Transformed today, this timetable is STACKED

Games Transformed flier held in front of the soulmuppet stand

We're at @gamestransformed.bsky.social 2025 at Pelican House in London !

Come say hi, flick through our collection of anti-capitalist/anti-fascist games, ask us questions about making games while the world burns 💕

Stick around for a game of Mad as Hell at 3pm run by @jellymuppet.bsky.social