iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Catching up on Slow Horses. Enjoyed Season 5 a lot. Maybe not the strongest plot wise, but comedically, it's sharp as ever.

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Andy Robinson @andyrobinson.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

In general, the kind of content journalists want to create, and the most engaged readers want to see, makes the least money. We all try to do good stuff, but it’s increasingly tough. Publishers and devs with galactic revenues ask for support, but few give back. Support your media!

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Elle @elleisanisland.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

tracking the Ring

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Joshua Wolens @joshuawolens.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

did journalism today www.pcgamer.com/games/halo/h...

PC Gamer headline: How every major character in Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment would fare if they had to survive the plot of Halo 1

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Jeremy Peel @jeremypeel.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

The quotes in this are off the chain. "Even thinking about it now, I've got to turn my fan on." "I'm a big 'New Folder 3' kind of guy." "I used to have all my passwords in plain text on my desktop." @ricklane.bsky.social gets the best interviews. www.pcgamer.com/gaming-indus...

pcgamer.com

William Pugh, co-designer of The Stanley Parable, has over 1,600 hours in Dota 2: 'It's not a game made of love. It's a game fuelled by hate and a desire to conquer'

The founder of Crows Crows Crows guides us through the games on his PC.

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Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Finally gave Blades of Fire a whirl now it's on PS Plus. Love the world and the combat, but tonally it's a bit like someone asked "What if Dark Souls had all the narrative subtlety of throwing a brick through a window?"

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Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Recall it being said that Activision would end up taking over Xbox post-acquisition, but I didn't expect it to be quite so literal.

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Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Disk Cleanup time! This week, Dragon Age co-director and BioWare veteran Mark Darrah told me all about playing Factorio with his son, why he increasingly prefers short games, and why he'll never be a pro streamer. Read on! www.pcgamer.com/gaming-indus...

pcgamer.com

Mark Darrah, co-director of Dragon Age: Origins, has played Riven for 3 minutes and Factorio for 832 hours: 'If you want to know what kind of programmer someone would be, have them play Factorio'

The BioWare veteran guides us through the games on his PC.

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Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

pcgamer.com

Mark Darrah, co-director of Dragon Age: Origins, has played Riven for 3 minutes and Factorio for 832 hours: 'If you want to know what kind of programmer someone would be, have them play Factorio'

The BioWare veteran guides us through the games on his PC.

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Steven (with a PH) @sjksalisbury.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Christening a baby is nothing like christening a ship. I know that now. Once again I can only apologise.

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Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

For this week's @pcgamer.com column, I played the adventure game so scandalous it was physically destroyed by UK Customs. www.pcgamer.com/games/advent...

pcgamer.com

I played the adventure game so scandalous that it was physically destroyed by UK customs

What vile debauchery could lie within Sex Vixens from Space?

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Ted Litchfield @dilfpatrol.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

I can't believe @ricklane.bsky.social got me to sympathize with the UK government at the expense of something called "Sex Vixens from Space" www.pcgamer.com/games/advent...

pcgamer.com

I played the adventure game so scandalous that it was physically destroyed by UK customs

What vile debauchery could lie within Sex Vixens from Space?

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Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Every Nexus Mods mod is like "EVEN MORE revealing Skyrim armour" while every ModDB mod is like "You play as Gordon Freeman's third cousin as he visits Black Mesa..."

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Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Boy, that Resi film is a packed 90 minutes. Really good, though it wobbles whenever there's more than 2 characters in a scene.

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alexis @steppinlazer.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

it would be helpful to mention japanese labor laws re: layoffs as a factor in these types of stories

Quiet Restructuring vs. U.S.-Style Layoffs

In Japan, U.S.-style sudden mass layoffs are rare by law and custom. Instead, firms practice a "quiet change". They curb hiring, redeploy staff internally, and expand early-retirement schemes. For example, Tokyo Shoko Research reports that 46 listed companies in FY2025 offered early retirement to over 20,000 workers. Notably, many announcements emphasized retraining and redeployment over firing. A consultant's study notes that Japanese companies are focusing on "eliminating redundant tasks" to boost productivity, rather than simply cutting headcount.

What, if any, additional considerations apply if large numbers of dismissals (redundancies) are planned? How many employees need to be affected for the additional considerations to apply?
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In cases of layoffs, courts tend to determine the validity of the dismissal by comprehensively considering the specific circumstances related to the following four elements (Tokyo District Court Decision, January 21, 2000; Osaka High Court Judgment, March 24, 2016, etc.).Since restructuring dismissals are dismissals based on the employer’s circumstances, stricter standards are applied in determining their validity than for dismissals attributable to the employee’s fault. These standards apply regardless of the number of employees targeted for dismissal.

(i) Necessity of Personnel Reduction: The implementation of personnel reduction must be based on sufficient necessity arising from corporate management issues such as recession, decline, or poor business performance, or be recognised as an unavoidable measure.

(ii) Efforts to Avoid Dismissal (Necessity of Selecting Layoffs as a Means of Workforce Reduction) : Measures to avoid layoffs must have been implemented, such as reducing expenses (including cutting overtime pay by stopping overtime work), reducing temporary workers, reducing or eliminating executive compensation and employee bonuses, not renewing fixed-term contracts, halting new hires, suspending pay raises, reassigning employees, or offering voluntary retirement programs.

(iii) Rationality of Selection: Objective and reasonable criteria must be established for selecting employees subject to dismissal, and these criteria must be applied fairly.

(iv) Fairness of the termination process: Conducting labour-management negotiations, individual interviews, and other procedures to provide explanations, disclose information, and engage in consultation with workers.

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Keza MacDonald @mackeza.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

An impressively exhaustive report on one of many morally bankrupt companies buying up old websites and turning them into zombie AI farms. In the games space this has happened to Videogamer, Game Reactor and more. Utterly bleak futurism.com/artificial-i...

futurism.com

How Three Brothers Built an AI Slop Empire by Buying Legitimate News Sites and Turning Them Into Zombie Content Farms That They Say Get 50 Million Page Views per Month

Brown Brothers Media is a media empire raking in millions of clicks with AI, fake writers, and plagiarism.

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Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

As a games journo and regular PC Gamer contributor, it's a real monkey's paw situation for that avid PC Zone fan.

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Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

It's cool how SSDs killed loading screens and then we immediately came up with a second, different type of loading screen.

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Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Still looking for ONE MORE PERSON to chat to about this. If you're a dev who has worked a lot with asset streaming and can speak authoritatively about how it's used in games, drop me a line by DM or the email below!

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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 14/09/2026

It's TIME! TO! GET! HYPE! Today, I get to proudly unveil Steam Hype, the project I've been working on with the help of @hookshot.media for the past two and a half months. A new PC gaming site which aims to demystify PC gaming, cut through the 100+ daily releases and spotlight indies as much as AAA

steamhype.com

Steam Hype

Steam Hype is your go-to destination for discovering the latest, greatest, and most talked-about games on Steam.

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Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Randy is like an immersive sim cryptid so I'm deeply envious Jeremy snapped him strolling through the woods.

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Jeremy Peel @jeremypeel.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Interviewed an imsim legend: “For Xbox to buy Arkane Austin and quickly turn around in a few short years and dissolve the studio was just a pretty dire warning.” www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/th...

pcgamer.com

Thief designer Randy Smith Evergreen refused to work for Xbox because it would be like 'walking past some stakes with human skulls on them' and pretending 'it's probably fine in this direction'

The immersive sim will find a way outside of AAA.

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 11/09/2026

I need to interview someone who knows a ton about game optimization—esp. if they have AAA experience! I’m making a video about why it’s impractical to wait until the game is finished to start making trailers (especially for AAA). This is one angle I want to explain it from. Reposts appreciated! 🙏

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Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Oof. Not a good time to release a very skippable video game.

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Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

After receiving some excellent feedback on a couple of recent consulting/mock review projects, I should probably say - I am available for consulting and mock review projects! If you've got a game in the works and you're looking for some detailed analysis of it, drop me a line at rick@ricklane.co.uk

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Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Sounds like a kickass project for a shooter sicko (me) with some creative writing credentials (regrettably, not me).

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Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

When you get the big breakfast at Morrisons' cafe.

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Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Hello! I'm looking to speak to a game developer/programmer with a strong understanding of asset streaming. How it works, how it can be applied, what it means for games etc. If you're that person, get in touch at rick@ricklane.co.uk. Shares appreciated.

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Alasdair Beckett-King @misterabk.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

The king's adviser is actually a nice guy:

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Taffer King @tafferking451.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

It was Gloomwood's early access anniversary this weekend, and I'm very grateful for everyone who has supported the game over these years. I know the craving for the bank update (and eventual 1.0) is high. We're working on it. For now, here's a small tease of the bank:

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Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Intimidating? As in intended to instil fear, maybe even terror? Gee, what might we call such an act?

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🎃 Sp00py Fran J. Ruiz 👻 @radioactivejawa.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

The Blood of Dawnwalker (original IP) and Onimusha: Way of the Sword (practically dead IP) both instantly cracking one million copies despite releasing next to each other and in an incredibly busy season prove yet again there's no fatigue in the AAA space. There's only Bland Big Game fatigue.

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Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

I am 39 years old today and truly, my eyebrows have never been longer.

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Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Gave the demo for Deficit a whirl and dodgy stealth aside, this has serious potential. Combines Deus Ex sneaking with Escape from Butcher Bay punching in a highly reactive world. I threw a hammer at a wall and it bounced back and damaged me Ouch/10. www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/bl...