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Jason Hawreliak

@profjay.bsky.social
546 followers 196 following 91 posts

Associate Professor of Game Studies. Director, GAME Program. Brock University, Department of Digital Humanities.

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Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
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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dr. rich traditions, JD @helldude.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
we have control mechanisms for this. it's called The Law. these guys should be held personally liable for these harms. the suicides, the thefts, the intrusions into computer systems. they should be sued and prosecuted as appropriate. problem immediately solved
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flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Ten years of relentlessly hateful, comically elitist anti-democratic politics across the white people world, helpfully summarised. The wrong people are talking, the wrong people are deciding and it’s harming the careers of important people who actually matter. Smithers! Release the hounds
The incident fits a broader pattern in the discourse around 'free speech' and 'cancel culture': whatever comes from the top down is freedom; whatever comes from the bottom up is bullying and censorship. When Macklemore is dropped at the behest of the billionaire stadium owner Robert Kraft, it's an exercise of the freedom of businesses to 'demonstrate their values' by deciding whom to platform. But when Ed Sheeran's fans decide not to buy tickets to his performances, or even demand refunds, it's bullying, mob behaviour. Since most people are not billionaires and do not own stadiums, they can exercise meaningful power only collectively. The collective exercise of power must therefore be demonised.
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Larry Savage @profsavage.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
“National interest” cannot become a catch-all excuse to override workers’ bargaining power whenever a lawful strike has economic consequences. That pressure is precisely what strikes are meant to create. theconversation.com/canadas-prop... #cdnpoli #canlab
theconversation.com
Canada’s proposed labour reforms could shift power away from workers in major disputes
Bill C-39 makes it easier for Ottawa to intervene when collective bargaining produces the very conflict that it is designed to manage.
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Jason Hawreliak @profjay.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Brady saying shit on live TV but that looked really bad
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Paris Marx @parismarx.com · 20/09/2026
“privatization doesn’t mean prices will go up,” they told us last week. but of course they will, and they’re starting to have to admit it. the reason why investors are so desperate to get our airports is precisely because they know they’ll be able to make monopoly profits.
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Gaius (from Tribunate) @gaius.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Imagining future digital archaeologists poring over boomer Facebook posts and attempting to use them to understand our culture and values the way we do tablets from the Library of Ashurbanipal
Maynard Dubuisson
2d •
Donald Trump I voted for you and I love you but we are not oil and gas
independent.We are having a hard time getting diesel fuel for the shrimp boats in alabama
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Eric Ravenscraft @lordravenscraft.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
holy shit, this is the whole ballgame in a single paragraph gAI systems require mass theft of copyrighted works, for the explicit purpose of replacing the market for the people they stole from, and the people in charge knew what they were doing ahead of time, and did it anyway
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Steve Wilcox @stevewilcox.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
My book—Designing a Feel for the Game: A Guide to Making Play Meaningful—is just $14USD for the ebook right now 🎉: link.springer.com/book/10.1007...
link.springer.com
Client Challenge
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michael lutz @ztul.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Barber CEO: You Risk Falling Behind If You Don't Get A Haircut "Right Now" Industry Experts Foresee Future In Which Everyone Receives Multiple Haircuts Every Day Today Your Hair, Tomorrow The World: Barbers Say They Are On Track To Build A Pair Of Scissors So Big, It Could End Life As We Know It
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Timnit Gebru @timnitgebru.blacksky.app · 13/09/2026
All of a sudden we're not talking about the widely popular bipartisan opposition to massive data center buildouts. I wonder why 🤔
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Better Things Are Possible @internethippo.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
(concerned reporter voice, talking to candidate) What is your message to stupid jerks who will never vote for you
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Jason Hawreliak @profjay.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Hell yeah
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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
pay living wages for all workers. tax the shit out of billionaires. happy labor day.
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Edmond Chang @edmondchang.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
*NEW ISSUE* *SEPTEMBER 2026* Analog Game Studies Vol. XIII, No. 3 is out! escholarship.org/uc/analoggam... -- featuring: Evan Torner, Alex Roberts & Stephen Shapiro, Cameron Kunzelman, Lucy Roach, & Kathryn Volz, and Helen Roche @analoggamestudies.bsky.social Jrnl #analoggamestudies #ags
escholarship.org
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Aftermath @aftermath.site · 04/09/2026
A racist arcade is the latest White House initiative that nobody asked for: aftermath.site/a-racist-arcad...
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PC Gamer @pcgamer.com · 01/09/2026
"I mean, everyone I know, their bosses are slowly getting psychosis, right? They're just like, 'Yeah, but did you use AI on your commits?'"
pcgamer.com
Dwarf Fortress' creator says the industry's in shambles over AI and layoff-happy CEOs: 'Everyone I know, their bosses are slowly getting psychosis'
"They're trying to have a CEO press a button that makes a game."
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☀️ @stel.energy · 01/09/2026
i want games made by people who get to keep their jobs
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胡子哥 @notsaved.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
come to Bergen to do your PhD in game studies? www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...
jobbnorge.no
PhD Research Fellowship in Games and Interactive Digital Narratives, Center for Digital Narrative (307441) | University of Bergen
Job title: PhD Research Fellowship in Games and Interactive Digital Narratives, Center for Digital Narrative (307441), Employer: University of Bergen, Deadline: Thursday, October 15, 2026
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Jason Hawreliak @profjay.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Oh no the chuds have discovered semiotics
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Dave Jorgenson @davejorgenson.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
The renaming of this lake is so dumb and petty and should not be the focus of the news right now but … I cannot overstate enough just how sad and pathetic this update is for Google
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Jean Ketterling @jeanketterling.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Excited to share a new 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀 for an edited collection on game preservation in Canada, with coeds @michaeliantorno.com and @videogamehistorian.bsky.social. Full details can be found here: gamepreservation.ca/volatile-mem... Deadline is November 15th 2026.
gamepreservation.ca
Call For Papers – GamePreservation.ca
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Jason Hawreliak @profjay.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Google Maps hasn't caved... yet
Screenshot of Google Maps returning Lake Ontario for a Lake America search
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Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
We have had this conversation so many times. You do not have to platform/debate obscene views that are also false. I wrote during a wave of pressure on progressives to compromise with far-right haters:
I can comprehend, and do, that lots of people don’t believe climate change is real, but is there some great benefit in me listening, again, to those who refuse to listen to the global community of scientists and see the evidence before our eyes? A lot of why the right doesn’t “understand” climate change is that climate change tells us everything is connected, everything we do has far-reaching repercussions, and we’re responsible for the whole, a message at odds with their idealization of a version of freedom that smells a lot like disconnection and irresponsibility. But also climate denial is the result of fossil fuel companies and the politicians they bought spreading propaganda and lies for profit, and I understand that better than the people who believe it. If half of us believe the earth is flat, we do not make peace by settling on it being halfway between round and flat.
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Peter @notalawyer.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
“if we don’t stand up for the free speech of racists, it puts everyone’s free speech in danger.” - guy who only ever talks about free speech when it’s racism
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Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
"We hired you to research modern liberalism and you spend all day associating us with debunked race science" I dunno, feels pretty firable
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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
They’re just really concerned with free speech on campus and academic freedom bsky.app/profile/polp...
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Andrew Lawrence @ndrew.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
name something mark zuckerberg has created that wasnt a boon for perverts and creeps, one thing that didnt make perverts and creeps go “oh fuck yes”
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Press Start Journal @psjournal.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
🤩New Issue Published!🤩 We are thrilled to announce the publication of the latest issue of Press Start! Huge thanks to all our authors and reviewers for their hard work and dedication. Please check it out and share widely: press-start.gla.ac.uk/press-start/...
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Bruno Dias @brunodias.dev · 14/08/2026
go on say some shit again about how concern about data centers is overblown
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Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Perfect summation of the antiwoke worldview: trying to destroy democracy is bad, but not nearly as bad as sitting through an HR training
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
I think part of the pundit crack-up has been that they missed the big call of their lifetimes about which was the bigger threat to America: wokeness or authoritarianism. And rather than admitting that, they are doubling down on wokeness, while ignoring an authoritarianism that does not threaten them
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EGVroom @egvroom.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
WOLF is out NOW! An FPS for your Game Boy. HERE -> thalamusdigital.itch.io/wolf-game-bo... ⁠#gamedev #indiedev #retrogames #GameBoy #GBStudio #GBDK2020
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Brandon Friedman @brandonfriedman.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Axios writer: I melted my brain with AI. Not only can I no longer read, but I don't even understand the purpose of reading anymore. Here's how you can also do this. www.axios.com/2026/08/11/r...
Axios: AI has become my reading buddy as I've plowed through my summer book list, helping me keep track of plots and characters, unpack themes, and make sense of wordy, old prose.

Why it matters: The way many of us actually read books — a few pages before bed, a chapter at the beach, another on a plane — makes it easy to lose the thread. AI can help you pick it back up without starting over.
📖 I really got into using AI while reading James Fenimore Cooper's "The Last of the Mohicans." The text was far too dense for casual vacation reading. My first prompt asked:

"I'd like a guide as I read The Last of the Mohicans who can help me understand what I've read and where the story is, without giving spoilers or getting ahead of my progress. Can you do this, chapter by chapter?"
The robot agreed: "Cooper's sentences are long and his diction is archaic."
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Dr. Emma Vossen @emmavphd.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Did you know we (@brock-ddh.bsky.social at Brock University in Ontario 🇨🇦) offer a 2-year MA in Game Studies? I teach one of our grad seminars, Methodological Paradigms in Game Studies! Feel free to DM me anytime if you have Q's about applying for Fall 2027/28! #gamestudies brocku.ca/humanities/d...
brocku.ca
Master of Arts in Game Studies
The MA in Game Studies is an interdisciplinary and interfaculty program designed to provide students with a well-rounded, high-quality venue for studying and designing games in all their forms. Throug...
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Christopher Buecheler @cwbuecheler.com · 06/08/2026
I would like to see more companies admit this - being a public company no longer means running a successful, thriving business. It strictly means delivering growth to investors, every single quarter, who do not care at all about the product the company sells or the people who produce it.
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headfallsoff @headfallsoff.com · 06/08/2026
GTA 6 feels less like a game and more some kind of totem for a certain kind of dying gamer identity, that cannot economically or culturally sustain itself anymore. it represents a million different things and seemingly the least important of them is that it is an open world mission based video game
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itch.io @itch.io · 04/08/2026
Enjoy 127 items by 109 creators and support game devs effected by recent layoffs: itch.io/b/3802/game-...
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Gretchen Felker-Martin PRE ORDER CHIMERA 2.16.27 🍉 @scumbelievable.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
"I'm entitled to whatever I want whenever I want it for any reason and I don't care what satisfying these urges does to me or the world" well okay dude, seems like there's something deeper going on here, but that's just my take
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Eurogamer @eurogamer.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
After laying off Battlefield 6 devs, EA boss Andrew Wilson's bonus rose $8m to $38m last year, thanks to the game's success across "all milestones" www.eurogamer.net/ea-boss-38-m...
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Adam Schwarz @adamjschwarz.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
When the story of why humanity didn't stop climate change is written, it will feature front pages like this. Even as the skies blacken with climate change-induced wildfires, right wing media continue their relentless crusade against measures to tackle it.
The Times: Net zero risks blackouts. Below a photo of French wildfires.
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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 24/07/2026
I have previously written about one reason that billionaires find the AI story so compelling: at root, many billionaires just don't believe most other people are actually, fully real. How could they? Achieving billionairehood requires that you inflict pain on vast numbers of people. 13/
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Derek Powazek @fraying.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
I actually think the trillionaire saying his AI tool will remake a movie without the Black and trans actors in it should be a bigger story because it’s a perfect example of why the ruling class wants AI to succeed: so they can remake reality without those they deem undesirable - every nazi’s dream.
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Once you understand that this is a model of science written by non-scientists who hate universities but love venture capital and redirecting money to political allies, everything makes a lot more sense. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/22/u...
nytimes.com
Trump’s Plan for Science: More Money for A.I., Less for Universities
Michael Kratsios, President Trump’s science adviser, proposed overhauling how the government funds research. Democrats said Mr. Trump’s actions had weakened science.
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Mary Gillis @marygillis.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
"Let's give in. Once we demonstrate weakness, the bully is sure to leave us alone."
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Digital Humanities at Brock University @brock-ddh.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Check out our very own @emmavphd.bsky.social on the CBC: More than 320,000 people sign Winnipeg video game store's petition to keep PlayStation discs spinning www.cbc.ca/news/canada/... #brocku
cbc.ca
More than 320,000 people sign Winnipeg video game store's petition to keep PlayStation discs spinning | CBC News
Hundreds of thousands of people have signed a petition created by a Winnipeg video game store after Sony said earlier this month it plans to ditch physical PlayStation game discs.
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T. Ryan Gregory 🇨🇦 @tryangregory.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Reminder that Carney has cut funding for Natural Resources Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Indigenous and Northern Affairs, and Indigenous Services. And he has rolled back climate protections, abandoned emissions targets, and is building more pipelines.
Carney:

"The wildfire situation has escalated significantly over the last three weeks across the country, and particularly in Northwestern Ontario. 

Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate their communities, not knowing if their homes will survive.  
 
On behalf of Canadians, I want to thank the brave firefighters, first responders, Indigenous and local leaders who are working tirelessly to keep people safe.
 
Our government is in close contact with provincial, municipal, and Indigenous partners and stands ready to provide any additional support as needed."
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