iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Nathan Grayson

excuse me, what the fuck?

Sharma gave her personal cellphone number to journalists and influencers. Her new chief strategy officer tutored reporters on the company’s economic challenges. She skillfully dodged questions about her predecessor’s strategic blunders.

The gambit appeared to work.

Nathan Grayson @nathangrayson.bsky.social · 12h

if you are a PR person who’s heard about or worked somewhere that uses AI this way—or a journo who’s been on the receiving end—my DMs are open, I’m nathangrayson.666 on signal, and my protonmail is aftermathdotsite@proton.me

315548

Nathan Grayson @nathangrayson.bsky.social · 12h

obviously a fucked up situation from pretty much every conceivable angle, but the “what are you gonna do, stab me” principle remains undefeated

He also, per the affidavit, said: "Let's see if the FBI is going to to show up at my door because I'll shoot them motherfuckers too." Other transcribed statements include "I'm going to be a murderer one day" and "One day I'm going to turn into that person just like the people you see on the fucking videos on YouTube where they fucking run up to the police officer and they have no reason at all and then they make the police kill them. I'm gonna be that guy."

329849

Nathan Grayson @nathangrayson.bsky.social · 13h

a twitch rep told me more about how this system works. most important details: humans make the final call when it comes to streamers’ “longer-term ad eligibility,” and twitch is working on a means of informing streamers when that happens

Update 9/30/26: In an email to Aftermath, a Twitch representative clarified how the system works:
“As Dan shared, advertisers want control over where their ads appear, which is a standard expectation across every platform,“ said the Twitch representative. “Each advertiser sets its own preferences, so a channel can be a good fit for some campaigns and not for others. The tools we're developing help us match ads to content more accurately, opening up more opportunities for advertisers to reach more channels, earning more for streamers. Previously, matching could be more conservative. Better accuracy allows us to change that.”
The representative added that staff, not AI, will determine who loses out on “longer-term” ad opportunities—and, eventually, streamers will be informed when this happens.
“Twitch staff reviews flagged content at multiple stages, and as always, any changes to longer term ad eligibility would be a human decision,” said the rep. “We're also building ways to let creators know when advertiser preferences are affecting their ad revenue. Ultimately, better matching brings more advertisers to more channels, creating more earning opportunities for streamers.”

55220

Reposted by Nathan Grayson

Chron 🇨🇦 @xhp.ca · 17h

Listen to The Board, folks

The Board from Control says "Support independent/lonely media as they are underfunded/poor yet essential"

3555156

Reposted by Nathan Grayson

libby watson @libbycwatson.com · 30/09/2026

so you're saying this was a bad idea

847957

Reposted by Nathan Grayson

Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 22h

This part kills me 🤣 - "fall of" (11,527 results on Steam) - "echoes of" (2,750 results on Steam) - "shadow of" (8,243 results on Steam) Excellent insight from @itshannahflynn.bsky.social about game naming (I contributed a few words, too)

317544

Nathan Grayson @nathangrayson.bsky.social · 16h

I think this is true in large part because humans going outside and spending uninterrupted time around each other—remembering that life can be so much better than this—is tech’s only real competition

16511

Nathan Grayson @nathangrayson.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

the brand safety panopticon has come to twitch

Streamers, wary of both AI and YouTube’s infuriatingly un-transparent hall of mirrors, are not enthused about this new development.

“Ohhh so that’s why ad revenue dropped,” longtime streamer JP "itmeJP" McDaniel said on Twitter.

“I’m genuinely worried that the sheer fact that I’m a lesbian will cause the AI to remove ads,” said Vtuber LuminusRed. “In the past I’ve tested it and confirmed that I get less ad money if I had queer-related tags on my stream like ‘lesbian,’ so I am worried this dumb AI monitoring will mean I no longer get money from ads on Twitch.”

111138443

Reposted by Nathan Grayson

WanderingDM @wanderingdm.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Good on them! But their last paragraph also highlights a problem we have arrived at: people (some) can't differentiate between LLMs/GenAI and npc AI or procgen in a game. I'm seeing it more and more online. Words matter and this is just another thing these mfers have tainted with their grift.

321068

Reposted by Nathan Grayson

New York Games Week @nygamesweek.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

As part of New York Games Week, independent video game and internet culture website @aftermath.site will host their first-ever live podcast at Town Hall in NYC, with special guests @halfrobot.com and @mrsambarlow.bsky.social

14313

Reposted by Nathan Grayson

ashley bardhan @ashleybardhan.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

is there a better word than devastated? (shattered? fly-swatted?) anyway i've been laid off. i joined gamesradar+ as a freelancer in 2023, and the site had my lifelong admiration by the time i became a senior writer in 2024. i'll miss it lmk if u need a creepy🧟‍♀️ gurl: ashleybardhan(at)gmail(dot)com

63482173

Reposted by Nathan Grayson

Mikhail Klimentov @leadergrev.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Huh! Wonder who that guy is.

21285

Reposted by Nathan Grayson

Aftermath @aftermath.site · 28/09/2026

ICYMI

1314

Reposted by Nathan Grayson

C ✊ UVW-CWA @ckjong.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Under capitalism homelessness not only has to exist, it has to be as miserable as possible for the people experiencing it, because it's the threat of homelessness that keeps the working class in line and desperate for jobs. Human suffering is an essential component of capitalist profit.

15710

Reposted by Nathan Grayson

Avocadoplex (Matt) @avocadoplex.bike · 26/09/2026

"X, the everything box" is one of the most cursed things I've heard in a while, thanks @papapishu.bsky.social

2628

Reposted by Nathan Grayson

Chris Person @papapishu.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I’m gonna be here.

2333

Reposted by Nathan Grayson

headfallsoff @headfallsoff.com · 25/09/2026

rotating an idea that halo is the defining media franchise of the 21st century. i look at how its been mismanaged for 20 years, no one working on it has a job, its games don't even sell anymore but. they cant let it die. the IP must continue. everything becomes halo on a long enough timeline

151284261

Reposted by Nathan Grayson

Aftermath @aftermath.site · 25/09/2026

Aftermath Hours is our weekly podcast. You can listen to the full episode on Apple, Spotify, or wherever else you get your podcasts. You can also watch it on our YouTube channel

youtu.be

Bobby Kotick's Been Sending Legal Threats To Games Journalists

YouTube video by Aftermath

1485

Reposted by Nathan Grayson

Mikhail Klimentov @leadergrev.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

It was such a blast going on Aftermath Hours to talk about my story with PMG! Also, you might be able to see/hear the exact moment a bat flew into our window because my dog very loudly freaks out, and then keeps jumping into my lap for the rest of the episode.

416222

Reposted by Nathan Grayson

michael lutz @ztul.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

the circus is where you go to argue about what kind of bread it's okay to eat

17013

Nathan Grayson @nathangrayson.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

come watch us talk about new york (and video games)

Aftermath Hours Live
Join Nathan Grayson, Gita Jackson, and Chris Person of Aftermath for the first-ever live edition of the site’s weekly podcast, Aftermath Hours! To celebrate New York Games Week, they’ll be joined by two special guests—NYU Game Center director Naomi Clark and Half Mermaid (Her Story, Immortality) director Sam Barlow—for a wide-ranging discussion of NYC’s games scene.
How does NYC’s culture influence the games people make here? What makes its video game scene unique compared to perceived hotspots like Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, and why doesn’t it get as much recognition for producing great games as those cities? What are local entities like the Mayor’s Office doing to facilitate game creation—already an expensive and time-consuming endeavor—in a city where prices are sky high? And is Zohran Mamdani the city’s first gamer mayor? Is he really? They’ll answer all these questions and more!

0489

Reposted by Nathan Grayson

designated error @ghidorah.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

computer enhance these fuckass nerds @nathangrayson.bsky.social

0131

Nathan Grayson @nathangrayson.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

tech execs want us all to be as helpless and incompetent as they are, but they’re leaving out the part where they pay people to tend to their every need—not dipshit robots that constantly drop the ball

311715

Reposted by Nathan Grayson

Matthew Gault @mjgault.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

the modder who made the mass-mute button reached out. The story is updated with an interview. Turns out they're a former fan and won an OTK cosplay contest. "Where he lost me was with the shift to covering political events on his stream instead of gaming. My ethics and views do not align."

011822

Reposted by Nathan Grayson

Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 24/09/2026

sci-fi AI doomsday scenarios also provide media cover for historic levels of corruption and the aggressive disintegration of public interest regulators

karlbode.com

Lazy Journalism At The 'End Of The World'

U.S. corporate media long ago gave up on accurately describing material reality.

122547

Reposted by Nathan Grayson

Chris Kerr @kerrblimey.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Final two cents on the PMG x Kotick story: It is paramount that you support the journalism you want to see in the world. Outlets like PMG continue to raise the bar, BUT if you want even more of that probing journalism you have to give reporters the runway and financial backing to produce it.

113133

Reposted by Nathan Grayson

rax ‘levon honkers’ king @raxkingisdead.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

there should be no such thing as ‘elite journalists’ incentives are ass backwards that way. a journalist should be a grubby and suspicious little fuck

411524165

Reposted by Nathan Grayson

Trans Journalists Association @transjournalists.org · 23/09/2026

What happens when a newsroom is owned by the people who work there? Join us Sept. 30, 12 p.m. PT / 3 p.m. ET on Zoom with Soleil Ho (Coyote Media) and Riley MacLeod (Aftermath). RSVP: bit.ly/4xBJGs1

03611

Reposted by Nathan Grayson

The PS1 startup sound as a lesbian @janus.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

New: I wrote about the “privacy safeguards” that tech companies are putting on pervert glasses and other consumer surveillance devices, to obscure the fact that these devices violate consent by design My latest in @theverge.com (Gift Link) ⬇️ bit.ly/4dUwffE

bit.ly

Everything is spying on you and there’s no opting out

A new wave of AI-enhanced consumer creep-tech disregards the privacy of everyone but the wearer. The people have had enough.

018876

Reposted by Nathan Grayson

The Verge @theverge.com · 24/09/2026

In this new era of surveillance, tech companies want every single average person to be responsible for spotting the subtle signs that they’re being spied on — like a tiny, blinking red light on Meta smart glasses. www.theverge.com/tech/999889/...

QUOTE
This really isn’t how consent works. All of these are after the fact and require some action from the people who are already being recorded / listened to, rather than them being able to say ‘no’ before a recording begins.
— Chris Gilliard, an independent privacy researcher and author of Luxury Surveillance

14516

Reposted by Nathan Grayson

The Serfs (youtube.com/theserfstv) @theserfstv.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

The most dangerous part is politicians believing it's indicative of public sentiment when it's a cesspool of bots and nazis

523652

Reposted by Nathan Grayson

Val @ BOOM Goes the Bride!! @valwrites.ca · 24/09/2026

Anglerfish female says male anglerfish will retain "distinct identity" despite being absorbed into her body and losing his brain

2465125

Reposted by Nathan Grayson

Mikhail Klimentov @leadergrev.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

For nearly two years, I've been investigating a pattern of ominous legal letters sent to journalists by defamation counsel representing Bobby Kotick. That investigation is finally live. www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKwp...

youtube.com

Inside Bobby Kotick's Campaign Against the Press

YouTube video by People Make Games

221175437

Nathan Grayson @nathangrayson.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

from the people who brought you pervert glasses comes a whole new way to still look like a weird pervert

316921

Reposted by Nathan Grayson

Imran Khan @imrankhan.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I think you are not only seeing Sharma's managerial style in these moves, but also the clear influence of people who have been desperate to treat game development as a spreadsheet venture for years at Xbox and are finally getting their chance.

433765

Reposted by Nathan Grayson

Tom Caswell @tomcaswell.games · 23/09/2026

"We keep thinking morale can't sink lower but the obvious incompetence of Xbox management somehow keeps driving it down worse."

120329

Reposted by Nathan Grayson

Dr. Will Helmke @williamhelmke.com · 23/09/2026

When industry-wide unionization finally gets established in the video game industry in the states, we need to be prepared to support a long strike that will delay some of your favorite games. Cuz' that's what it's going to take to make these companies start giving a shit about their workers.

413734

Reposted by Nathan Grayson

Chuck Zimmerheld @chucktowski.com · 23/09/2026

my cat says he will retain "kitchen counter privileges" despite being removed from the premises

243751

Reposted by Nathan Grayson

Genial Black Man @trecoolx.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

"Nobody up top wants to entrust studios with either of those things anymore. Instead, all they know how to do is panic and pivot. The money is absolutely there, especially in Microsoft’s case, but not for the old-fashioned approach of teams pumping out good games at a manageable scale."

015425

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.

16831230

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

as part of this week’s xbox restructuring, obsidian has been folded into bethesda, reinforcing layoff-borne fears that it’s been reduced to support studio status. in an internal email viewed by aftermath, bethesda’s president tried to downplay that idea

In an email to employees viewed by Aftermath, Braff downplayed the significance of Obsidian’s new status, calling it “primarily a change in reporting structure.”
"The creative identity and strengths that make Obsidian distinct will remain at the core of their studio and work,” Braff wrote. "[CEO] Feargus [Urquhart] and the Obsidian leadership team will continue to lead Obsidian, with the studio reporting to me. Bethesda Game Studios will continue to lead the Fallout franchise. Together, the teams will build on their longstanding relationship and the early work already underway on a new Fallout project, with more to share in the months ahead. This structure supports the franchise-led model we've been strengthening while keeping accountability for both the studio and the franchise clear."

1120355

Reposted by Nathan Grayson

Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Scoop: Meta's Muse AI can make phone calls. Internally, Meta has told employees that many of these calls will be made by human beings in a call center: www.404media.co/meta-tests-m...

404media.co

Meta Tests Muse AI Agent Calls That Are Actually Made By Humans in a Call Center

"This has potential for so much negative PR. It could portray us as ‘their AI is not good enough so they still need humans’ kind of coverage for this launch."

26478180