iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 3h

I approve of the first inning of the sporting contest of base ball between the dads and the baby bears.

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Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 8h

Don't forget the slow strangulation of the market by the live service behmoths like Fortnite, Minecraft and Roblox.

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Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 16h

It's almost harder to not own The Witcher 3 on one or multiple platforms at this point. The Remaster being a free upgrade is just such a cool thing for players when *looks at everything else happening in gaming right now*.

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Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Circana Player Engagement Tracker - US Top 10 Titles by Weekly Active Users (Not Concurrent) - W/E Sep 19, 2026 - Marvel's Wolverine debuted 7th on US PlayStation - Aniimo launched in top 20 across PS (19th), XBX (10th) and Steam (11th) - RuneScape: Dragonwilds placed 11th on Xbox in release week

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Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

NLCS Prediction - MIL > LA ALCS Prediction - TB > CLE WS Prediction - MILWAUKEE The Miz becomes legend, Uecker pops a cold one in the most upper of decks, tv execs cry. It is your time, Brewers!!!

static.klipy.com

Bernie Brewer Bernie Brewer Flag

ALT: Bernie Brewer Bernie Brewer Flag

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Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

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Rosalie ✨ @littlerecordgirl.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I'm a basic bitch who's very much looking forward to OoT and GTA 6, but this might top the lot as my most hyped upcoming game. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc4g...

youtube.com

Mr. Records - Announce Trailer | PS5 Games

YouTube video by PlayStation

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Keza MacDonald @mackeza.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

"Influencers" really will receive a box of swag and IMMEDIATELY turn around and sell it for massive profit. Sometimes they even brag about it. It's the games press who are corrupt tho, remember

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Felipe Pepe @felipepepe.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Something that stood out studying for my book is that in the last 10 years we had visible pushes in academia for a more global interpretation & history of gaming... However, mainstream media & discourse went the exact opposite way - it's increasingly homogenous and worshiping an idealized past.

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Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Baseball is designed to crush your soul.

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Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

May the person who went to Disneyland sick on Monday (and who therefore got me sick for the last four days) never again find a crispy churro. Only soggy churros for you evermore. That is my curse upon thee.

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Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Oh we are sharing the nine games lists again? Awesome. These nine games remain amazing. I did swap in RTCW and Galaga for ET: Wolf and Sanitarium this time, but whateves. Great games are timeless.

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Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

“And then we have to invent the right sustainable business model that allows us to deliver gaming to more and more people. That has always been the goal... And I think Asha and team have said that Xbox is going to get growth this next fiscal year. And that’s the plan they’re executing on” What.

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Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

"The problem is that taken together, none of this feels like strategy, and it certainly doesn't feel like a vision of what Xbox is actually going to be once this reset completes." 🎯

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Brad Shankar @bradshankar.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Jennifer Hale once told me Canadians need to champion ourselves more. I wholeheartedly agree. Over the past few months, I reached out to dozens of Canadian devs to learn their favourite Canadian games. Their varied responses offer a wonderful spotlight on some of the incredible talent we have here.🍁

mobilesyrup.com

These are must-play Canadian games, according to Canadian devs

As Canadians, we don't champion ourselves enough, so we asked dozens of game developers to do just that.

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Juan Vaca @juancow.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

while crunching, I’d take my daughter to the park as a way to detach, focus solely on her, and clear my head. We took the same walk after I was laid off. She tripped and began crying. Through my own tears I told her, “it’s okay to cry when we fall, but we pick ourselves back up and we’ll be okay.”

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Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I am Wolverine. I have destroyed $583,837,913,045,582 worth of robots in the 3rd act of this game yet have no clue what's happening in this bonkers story ama.

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Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Given what the Xbox share of the console market is, not sure I'd be gushing about anything related to a relative split but that's just me.

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Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

"That constant loop of failure didn't speak to as many people as we hoped it would." Extraction isn't a mass market genre and never will be for this exact reason. Doesn't mean games in the genre can't be successful, but you can't find the success a Bungie would need. Good on 'em for seeing it.

pcgamer.com

'We all thought we were bringing extraction to the masses, and we didn't'

Bungie laid out its plans to bring more PvE to Marathon over the next six months.

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Devolver Digital @devolverdigital.com · 24/09/2026

Volvy's Adventure: Reslimed Collector's Edition includes: Reversible Poster Map & Game Art Volvy's Iconic Glove, (Right hand) Volvy's "Turbo Boost!" Insulin Injector Volvy's BIG Cereal Spoon "Day One Edition" copy of Grand Theft Auto 6 (XBX/PS5, disc) $800. store.steampowered.com/app/4523120/...

store.steampowered.com

Save 25% on Volvy’s Adventure: Reslimed on Steam

Volvy's Adventure: Reslimed is a spectacular remaster of the original remake of the unreleased action-platformer starring the most famous video game mascot of all time.

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Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

“One thing is clearer than ever: Project Helix must absolutely hit" - Dr. Serkan Toto Look, I hate to openly disagree so strongly with Dr. Toto, but I have to be honest here... kotaku.com/xboxs-restru...

kotaku.com

Xbox's Restructuring Is A 'Reverse Acquisition In Slow Motion'

Experts call Halo under Activision a 'demotion' and worry that 'Project Helix absolutely must hit'

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Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

"According to Discord, this sponsorship was a limited test in the United States and that “Discord’s policies still prohibit ads for traditional real-money gaming, including casinos and sportsbooks.”" 🙄 Sure would be neat if just one thing wasn't getting worse by the day.

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Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Remember when they put out a new Halo game in July and people cared for about a week?

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Chris Plante @plante.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

A great thread that gets into the cold logic of recent moves by Microsoft/Xbox

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Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Everyone's talking about the cuts to the studios and dev, which, yes, absolutely. But the behind the scenes cuts to areas like business planning, forecasting, demand planning... these aren't cuts a serious business makes, imo.

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Nathan Grayson @nathangrayson.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

in a week that saw microsoft give activision the reins to halo and bungie pivot back to destiny, one thing has become abundantly clear: the people in charge do not have a long-term, overriding plan. they’re just reacting. the result, when times are bad, is chaos

"Things are still very chaotic," a current id Software employee who was granted anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly told Aftermath. "While there has been an attempt to communicate to the studios, it is still entirely in bullshit corporate speak. I still don't believe they have a clear vision for the future. The only concrete thing they have communicated is they want higher profits, and they want it now. Aggressive goals are being set that would have been unrealistic even before the layoffs. ... To say the workers within Xbox have a dim view of the future is putting it mildly. We keep thinking morale can't sink lower but the obvious incompetence of Xbox management somehow keeps driving it down worse."
This mirrors shifts in strategy that have come to dominate the still-new Sharma era, including others outlined Tuesday. Rare is joining Activision, Turn 10 and Playground are fusing, and—most gallingly, considering their history—Obsidian is being folded into Bethesda to work on Fallout instead of its own original series. As with the previous round of layoffs, details betray Microsoft's haphazard approach: A Halo developer got promoted and laid off in the same week. Gears of War: E-Day's story director is out of a job days after celebrating that the game had gone gold. Hellblade developer Ninja Theory, now without a buyer after a brief glimmer of hope, is once again on the chopping block.
All of this betrays a simplistic mindset that does not accurately reflect the reality of game development: People are disposable, studios are interchangeable, and series can be traded like sports teams. Nothing matters more than franchises and their money-printing prowess. Unless, evidently, you are Hideo Kojima, in which case Microsoft suddenly has money to burn.

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Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Circana Player Engagement Tracker - US Top 10 Titles by Weekly Active Users (Not Concurrent) - W/E Sep 12, 2026 - Valheim climbed to 3rd on Steam with 1.0 Launch - No Man's Sky returned to top 20 on Steam with COSMOS update - Halloween: The Game debuted at 12th on PlayStation, was 16th on Xbox

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Chris Kerr @kerrblimey.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Undead Labs confirms a ‘significant’ number of layoffs over on LinkedIn after regaining its independence from Xbox. Sounds like a carbon copy of the situation Double Fine was forced to reckon with in July.

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Juan Vaca @juancow.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

I am part of this round of layoffs and am seeking new opportunities. If your team needs a narrative director / storyteller, please reach out.

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Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Only 1k+ layoffs to go in a 'reset' that is lasting months interspersed with the Kojima deal and pieces highlighting the CEO taking on support tickets. I would say all this does not fill one with confidence of success. But that relies on knowing the real end goal and that still seems up in the air.

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Elizabeth Zelle @kohizeri.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

just read the news and smile and show up to meetings and smile and continue to make video games and smile and run 1:1s and smile and deliver reports and smile and read the news again and smile and get laid off and smile and watch friends get laid off and smile and watch every collapse around you and

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Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Everyone at Xbox - and everyone no longer at Xbox - all deserve better than whatever this is.

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Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

So I found BD-1 and his buddies over here on Batuu but Cal Kestis is nowhere to be found wth.

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Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Playing Wolverine in awe at what Trask's security payroll must be. The payouts from life insurance alone for the thousands of them that are getting murdered would ruin the guy before me as Wolverine will be able to get to him.

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Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

MLB The Show 26 added Julio Franco as a new legend today. He's listed at 45 years old. The single best thing The Show has done all year. Glorious.

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Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

"So maybe rather than talking about when games will get 'back to the way it was', we should be letting go of that, because frankly, it's gone. We should ideally be thinking about what we've learned from the last six years and what we want our industry to really look like next." Well, that's ominous

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Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

"When Zelnick joined Take-Two in 2007, he said PC sales made up only around 5% of total sales volumes for the NBA 2K series. That’s changed a lot since then. “Now with regard to a big title, PC can be 45, 50% of the sales,” he said."

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Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

The assessment to launch new consoles in 2027 must consider the crocodiles.

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Elizabeth Zelle @kohizeri.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

"the assessment did not consider the crocodiles" is my new metaphor for people choosing to just ignore the data point that doesn't agree with them

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Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

"We're omnichannel, so we're at Smyths, Argos, TikTok and Amazon. We're finding really good traction on TikTok. TikTok is a great discovery and conversion channel in the UK..." The Nex Playground did amazingly well last holiday in the US until it sold out. Should be a very interesting watch!

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Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

PlayStation's new Community Widget will be another fun place to see Fortnite, Minecraft and GTA lead the "popular" (whatever that means) games list this week (whatever this week means). Top 5 in the US, according to my PS5 widget: 1 - Fortnite 2 - Minecraft 3 - GTAV 4 - NBA 2K27 5 - Marvel Rivals

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Ju Li Khaw @juleshortstuff.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

My counterpoint to "if you cared about your work, you would crunch" is if you cared about the quality of your game and your workers, you would give them appropriate time to craft it.

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Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Making an extraction shooter and expecting it to reach the mass market was a huge strategic blunder, tbh. This is not a mass market genre, it's one for the true sickos (complimentary). Hopefully they can find that broader audience with these changes. It'll be one hell of a tough road.

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Dianna 🇩🇴 @grlpants.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Add it to the list of places folks should never work at. Theyre admitting they'll take advantage of you, abuse you but hey! Youll get paid cause you're young, dumb, and don't know any better.

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Jeff Grubb @grubb.wtf · 08/09/2026

oh, my god -- shut up

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Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

People might be sleeping on Minecraft Dungeons II's sales/play potential. According to Circana's PlayerPulse, Minecraft Dungeon II has an 8% purchase intent among US console/PC players (which is pretty high), with the largest group of potential buyers being 13-17 years old. One to keep an eye on.

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Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

That's too much money, imho. "Best Buy’s prices for both the ROG Astral and TUF Gaming SKUs of the 32GB RTX 5090, Nvidia’s current top-range general-market GPU, are currently $7,494.99. This isn’t a third-party seller trying its luck, but the retail chain’s base price for the in-stock peripheral."

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Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I said in a reply to a question that we saw no significant change to PlayStation player count or engagement in Circana's Player Engagement Tracker US panel data. That's it. I said literally nothing else about it. I did not speak to or imply anything beyond what we see in our own internal data.

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Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Fun to look at the "Popular" VR titles list on Steam and then to look again at the price and then back to the list... Top 3: VR Chat Gorilla Tag Blade & Sorcery store.steampowered.com/vr?flavor=co...

store.steampowered.com

Virtual Reality Titles

VR Sale Event - Fall 2026

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