iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

John Walker - Industry Analcyst @botherer.bsky.social · 18h

Gotcha. And yes, I completely agree. I can't see why it can't be 0% to $100,000. I can't see that this would change anything for Valve, but transform so many indie lives.

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John Walker - Industry Analcyst @botherer.bsky.social · 18h

Can you say a bit more about your last point?

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John Walker - Industry Analcyst @botherer.bsky.social · 19h

How has Personal Calendar helped you?

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John Walker - Industry Analcyst @botherer.bsky.social · 20h

Hey indie devs: what's the one thing you would like Valve to change about how Steam works?

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John Walker - Industry Analcyst @botherer.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I see your point. But I also think it can also be pejorative or reductive, suggesting something insipid or toothless. The good news is I'm not actually in charge of this stuff.

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John Walker - Industry Analcyst @botherer.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Although I'll take "cozy" over "wholesome" any day.

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John Walker - Industry Analcyst @botherer.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Moo Yu's game is amazing, and I think "cozy" does it a disservice. It was cheeky and plucky and peculiar and smart and funny and surprising. It was also cozy and cuddly in a number of ways. Just "cozy" too often suggests something without edges, without corners.

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John Walker - Industry Analcyst @botherer.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I have no objection to games being cozy! I love it, in fact! But it's the self-application of the term that gets me. To be cozy is an achievement, not a genre.

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Daniel Cook @danctheduck.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Living long enough to become the villain

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John Walker - Industry Analcyst @botherer.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Right, it's official, I'm banning games describing themselves as "cozy". I'll decide if your game is cozy or not. And at this point, I'd rather it weren't.

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Carolyn Petit @carolynmichelle.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I'm sorry, "Metacritic bonuses" are still a thing?! They should never be a thing! If I play your game and review it and it didn't work for me and I don't think it's good, that doesn't mean the people who made it should get paid any less!

As well as having the life-changing impact of losing a job, imminent layoffs at The Coalition could also lead to another financial loss for current employees. According to Eurogamer, E-Day developers were working under the assumption of receiving a so-called “Metacritic bonus,” a pay-out should the game achieve a given Metacritic score based on critics’ reviews. However, according to the terms, to be eligible for this you still have to be working at the company at the time of the pay-out, which is expected to be “near the end of October.” Anyone let go before that could possibly no longer receive the reward for their work.

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John Walker - Industry Analcyst @botherer.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I think the team at VGC are absolutely fantastic, and do some incredible reporting. But I'm also a massive piece of shit.

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Michael Spicer @michaelspicer.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Most TV is just this now.

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John Walker - Industry Analcyst @botherer.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Ashley is one of the smartest and most engaging writers I've read in years. People should be giving her all the work.

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John Walker - Industry Analcyst @botherer.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

There are a lot of people who should know better who are reporting on the Pokemon Happy Meals without crediting @pokebeach.bsky.social, but essentially cutting and pasting the story verbatim. Don't do that. Credit your sources.

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Ctrl Alt Ego 2 @mindthunk.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Buried Treasure changed my life - doubt I'd be working on game#2 if it weren't for the 'holds up against Prey' headline. A small contribution to keep a distinguished, artful and amusingly controversial (or controversially amusing?) video game writer type person in business, you'd be mad not to.

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John Walker - Industry Analcyst @botherer.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Tell me what you most want from Buried Treasure. What would make you more likely to give $2 or more a month to help the project of giving attention to unknown or under-known indie games? I know it's changed dev's lives, because they tell me so. I want that to keep happening. buried-treasure.org

buried-treasure.org

Buried Treasure – Reviewing the indie games everyone else missed

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John Walker - Industry Analcyst @botherer.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Thinking aloud: Buried Treasure isn't getting updated as much as I want it to, largely because my other income has gone down dramatically this year and I'm trying to stay afloat. This has meant Patreon subs have gone down too. But what I want most of all is to spend more time on BT. So...

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John Walker - Industry Analcyst @botherer.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Ambrosia Sky by @softrains.bsky.social is out of Early Access with both acts complete, and this combination of Prey and PowerWash is a unique, gorgeous and compelling time. buried-treasure.org/2026/09/ambr... Please support Buried Treasure from $2 a month: www.patreon.com/c/buriedtrea...

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John Walker - Industry Analcyst @botherer.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Interesting to see the level of cheating though. My starter word is usually played by <0.01% of players. Today it's played by 0.2%, and that's people who choose Hard mode! What weirdos.

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John Walker - Industry Analcyst @botherer.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Best day ever? My chosen starter word I've used for many months was the solution! Wordle 1,924 1/6* 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

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John Walker - Industry Analcyst @botherer.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Clearly @leadergrev.bsky.social too, for this incredible reporting that almost no one else would be brave enough to do. Also, the animations in this video are extraordinary work.

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John Walker - Industry Analcyst @botherer.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I cannot tell you the bravery of @chrisbratt.bsky.social and People Make Games to report on this. Extraordinary journalism.

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Chris Bratt @chrisbratt.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

In recent years, the media has quietly begun to change the way in which it writes about Bobby Kotick, the former CEO of Activision Blizzard. PMG investigates how Kotick used the threat of defamation to reshape his legacy in the games business, one article at a time. www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKwp...

youtube.com

Inside Bobby Kotick's Campaign Against the Press

YouTube video by People Make Games

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Nicole Carpenter @nicolecarpenter.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

like @danielleri.bsky.social, @diegoarguello.bsky.social, and @kerrblimey.bsky.social, i will no longer be contributing to game developer. it was an absolute blast working with this team on my twice-a-month column! that means i’ve got more time to report and write for you!!!! hit us all up, really✨

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Kate Gray @hownottodraw.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

it’s so great and normal that Steam is randomly censoring games like this for no reason, at the same time as they’re blasting “HENTAI VS FURRY FEST” banners all over the front page, which takes you straight to full-frontal nudity in one click

a banner proclaiming it to be Hentai Vs Furry Festival 2026, with some very busty ladies, lizards, and foxes glaring competitioningly at each other from the sides of the screen

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John Walker - Industry Analcyst @botherer.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Yeah, it's really tricky. I recommend reaching out in more personal ways to the writers you think are best suited to your project, and then sending a more generic (but still friendly rather than "professional") email to absolutely everywhere. Most won't reply, but that's not personal at all.

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John Walker - Industry Analcyst @botherer.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

One polite follow-up can be really effective, and distinguish a personal email from the torrent of mass-mailouts that fill my inboxes. But, you know what, if you've emailed me to offer access to an "expert opinion" for a post I wrote a week ago, you don't need to keep hassling me about that.

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John Walker - Industry Analcyst @botherer.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

So I get a LOT of unsolicited email every day, hundreds of emails about games or tech or weirdly irrelevant PR splutter arriving every week. I obviously can't reply to most of it. A top tip for a thing NOT to do is follow up three or four times with an increasingly aggressive tone.

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Dave Gilbert @wadjeteyegames.com · 13/09/2026

So this day has been a roller coaster and a half. Thank you all for the amazing support. The issue isn’t solved yet, but we’re hopeful. In the meantime, please wishlist the game. We need all the extra help we can get now: store.steampowered.com/app/1221950/...

store.steampowered.com

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John Walker - Industry Analcyst @botherer.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

I'm glad PC Gamer has deleted their Grummz article, which I hope was written in ignorance of who he is, but I think it behooves a site to also acknowledge that it was posted and removed, not just retcon and hope everyone forgets.

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John Walker - Industry Analcyst @botherer.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

I once had a tweet go very viral, and I made a typo in it, so my wife made it into a t-shirt for me so I would remember my mistake forever.

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John Walker - Industry Analcyst @botherer.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Make sure this goes viral so I can be haunted by that missing quote mark for the rest of my days.

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John Walker - Industry Analcyst @botherer.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

I can't wait for Wolverine's accolades trailer. "FINE" "FINE" "FINE "FINE" "FINE" "FINE" "FINE" "FINE"

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John Walker - Industry Analcyst @botherer.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Ignoble by @retromagine.bsky.social is a wonderful combination of incremental game, auto-battler and roguelite resulting in a gory, wildly compelling action game I really don't want to stop playing. buried-treasure.org/2026/09/igno...

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John Walker - Industry Analcyst @botherer.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

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John Walker - Industry Analcyst @botherer.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

While you sleep in your beds, think of the barely-paid guides writers toiling all night long. (This is just what appeared concurrently in my gaming feed across a handful of sites.)

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Rodger Sherman @rodger.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Sorry it just occurred to me that there may be people who haven’t seen clip from the Quibi show where Rachel Brosnahan plays a woman dying because of her golden prosthetic arm and I needed to fix that

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John Walker - Industry Analcyst @botherer.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

I interviewed @harvey1966.bsky.social about his new studio Black Pony Immersive, and we talked motivations, rebellion, and the vitality of mystery. Also, Harvey tells the most incredible story of how Dishonored's Heart was recreated for a couple's wedding ceremony. kotaku.com/harvey-smith...

kotaku.com

Dishonored's Co-Creator Explains What So Many Games Are Missing

The co-creator of new studio Black Pony Immersive tells us about defying expectations in the most underserved genre

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John Walker - Industry Analcyst @botherer.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Haha, VideoGameCritic is my new all-time favourite website. Kotaku gets a 61 score for how well our (unscored) reviews match the review scores of readers. How? Llike this!

"How this trust score was computed
This reviewer publishes verdicts, not numbers, so trust comes from their recommend/pan calls: call accuracy (50%): when they say buy, do players end up satisfied, and when they say skip, do players agree; alignment (25%): do their recommendations sort games the way players do; and player-side (25%): on games where press and players sharply disagreed, whose side were they on. The blend is shrunk toward a neutral prior (60) so small histories can't peg the scale, and recent verdicts weigh more (2-year half-life)."

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