George E. Osborn
@georgeosborn.bsky.social
“No, not that one”- Politico | Creator of Video Games Industry Memo | MD, Half-Space Consulting | Author of Power Play (Spring 2026) | Pun appreciator
Order my book 👉 https://linktr.ee/Power_play_book
Order my book 👉 https://linktr.ee/Power_play_book
Pinned
If someone asks me if I have any professional advice about becoming a writer, I say no.
But if someone asks me for some unprofessional advice, I've got loads.
But if someone asks me for some unprofessional advice, I've got loads.
I like to see your Spotify Wrappeds. It brings whimsy to the timeline. Keep it up.
December 4, 2025 at 11:40 AM
I like to see your Spotify Wrappeds. It brings whimsy to the timeline. Keep it up.
Reposted by George E. Osborn
NEW: I spoke with the reporters behind Post Games, Aftermath, Game File, People Make Games, Rogue, and Rascal News to learn about the trials and triumphs of going independent in a shifting game media landscape dominated by conglomeration and layoffs.
'We survive or fail on our own terms:' The rise and risk of independent game media
'We survive or fail on our own terms:' The rise and risk of independent game media
Can worker-owned outlets create a brighter future for video game journalists and their readers?
www.gamedeveloper.com
December 4, 2025 at 10:07 AM
NEW: I spoke with the reporters behind Post Games, Aftermath, Game File, People Make Games, Rogue, and Rascal News to learn about the trials and triumphs of going independent in a shifting game media landscape dominated by conglomeration and layoffs.
Elon Musk sucked at games, Nintendo Switch 2 launched well, and Trump tariffs caused mayhem in the first half of 2025. But what else shaped the year in games?
Anna Mahtani is at the helm for this week's Video Games Industry Memo
www.videogamesindustrymemo.com/p/vgim-video...
Anna Mahtani is at the helm for this week's Video Games Industry Memo
www.videogamesindustrymemo.com/p/vgim-video...
VGIM's Video Games Year in Review: Part 1, 04/12/2025
Switch 2 launch, Trump tariff mayhem, and Musk fails at games in the first half of 2025
www.videogamesindustrymemo.com
December 4, 2025 at 9:36 AM
Elon Musk sucked at games, Nintendo Switch 2 launched well, and Trump tariffs caused mayhem in the first half of 2025. But what else shaped the year in games?
Anna Mahtani is at the helm for this week's Video Games Industry Memo
www.videogamesindustrymemo.com/p/vgim-video...
Anna Mahtani is at the helm for this week's Video Games Industry Memo
www.videogamesindustrymemo.com/p/vgim-video...
Well, that’s what spending a large bit of the year writing a book to jazz and classical music will do to you *sobs*
December 4, 2025 at 8:31 AM
Well, that’s what spending a large bit of the year writing a book to jazz and classical music will do to you *sobs*
One of the themes of my book Power Play is how games have unexpected political and cultural influence because media outlets 'multiply' ideas from fringe games communities into our wider discourse, distorting our wider societal conversation in the process.
Anyway...
Anyway...
Even by the standards of anti-woke journalism this is lazy dreck. The first piece of "evidence" that older gamers are mad about wokeness is a random Reddit comment — that isn't a complaint about wokeness.
www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2025/11/2...
www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2025/11/2...
December 3, 2025 at 6:04 PM
One of the themes of my book Power Play is how games have unexpected political and cultural influence because media outlets 'multiply' ideas from fringe games communities into our wider discourse, distorting our wider societal conversation in the process.
Anyway...
Anyway...
We're working our way through the VGIM year in review pieces, which means I've just remembered the time where we sold newsletter subscriptions for a 34% discount in 'honour' of Trump's reciprocal tariff regime.
God, I love having editorial control sometimes.
God, I love having editorial control sometimes.
December 2, 2025 at 1:27 PM
We're working our way through the VGIM year in review pieces, which means I've just remembered the time where we sold newsletter subscriptions for a 34% discount in 'honour' of Trump's reciprocal tariff regime.
God, I love having editorial control sometimes.
God, I love having editorial control sometimes.
Reposted by George E. Osborn
Right, you lot. I want your reviews - yes, yours - of your favourite video games from 2025 for the VGIM Game of the Year newsletter on 17th December.
Email [email protected] with a 200-300 word review by Thursday 11th December. Best ones get included in the newsletter.
Email [email protected] with a 200-300 word review by Thursday 11th December. Best ones get included in the newsletter.
December 2, 2025 at 10:20 AM
Right, you lot. I want your reviews - yes, yours - of your favourite video games from 2025 for the VGIM Game of the Year newsletter on 17th December.
Email [email protected] with a 200-300 word review by Thursday 11th December. Best ones get included in the newsletter.
Email [email protected] with a 200-300 word review by Thursday 11th December. Best ones get included in the newsletter.
In what will be surprising news to nobody except this dumbass, it turns out that you get quite tired if you go on a four-day trip to Delhi
December 2, 2025 at 9:14 AM
In what will be surprising news to nobody except this dumbass, it turns out that you get quite tired if you go on a four-day trip to Delhi
Indian weddings: they’re the best
December 1, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Indian weddings: they’re the best
Hopped to Delhi for a wedding. Usual service resumes on Tuesday x
November 28, 2025 at 7:39 AM
Hopped to Delhi for a wedding. Usual service resumes on Tuesday x
Reposted by George E. Osborn
The world's largest distribution engine is censoring LGBTQ+ content in Russia - helping Putin to enforce censorship.
www.videogamesindustrymemo.com/p/how-steam-...
www.videogamesindustrymemo.com/p/how-steam-...
How Steam censors LGBTQ+ content on behalf of the Russian Government, 27/11/2025
When Roskomnadzor calls, Valve answers
www.videogamesindustrymemo.com
November 27, 2025 at 9:19 AM
The world's largest distribution engine is censoring LGBTQ+ content in Russia - helping Putin to enforce censorship.
www.videogamesindustrymemo.com/p/how-steam-...
www.videogamesindustrymemo.com/p/how-steam-...
Reposted by George E. Osborn
An @vgim.bsky.social exclusive: we reveal how Steam is censoring games featuring LGBTQ+ content in Russia on behalf of state censor Roskomnadzor.
Thank you to Ian Masters and the Flick Games team for being brave enough to share their story.
videogamesindustrymemo.substack.com/p/how-steam-...
Thank you to Ian Masters and the Flick Games team for being brave enough to share their story.
videogamesindustrymemo.substack.com/p/how-steam-...
How Steam censors LGBTQ+ content on behalf of the Russian Government, 27/11/2025
When Roskomnadzor calls, Valve answers
videogamesindustrymemo.substack.com
November 27, 2025 at 10:04 AM
An @vgim.bsky.social exclusive: we reveal how Steam is censoring games featuring LGBTQ+ content in Russia on behalf of state censor Roskomnadzor.
Thank you to Ian Masters and the Flick Games team for being brave enough to share their story.
videogamesindustrymemo.substack.com/p/how-steam-...
Thank you to Ian Masters and the Flick Games team for being brave enough to share their story.
videogamesindustrymemo.substack.com/p/how-steam-...
Reposted by George E. Osborn
Rodin's The Drinker
November 27, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Rodin's The Drinker
Reposted by George E. Osborn
Excellent scoop from VGIM. Steam has a monopoly on PC storefronts and they've proven that they will cower to autocratic ideals. This is why monopolies are bad and stores like GOG and EGS should be relevant. As it stands, there is no relevant competitor that Flick Games can go to be sold in Russia.
An @vgim.bsky.social exclusive: we reveal how Steam is censoring games featuring LGBTQ+ content in Russia on behalf of state censor Roskomnadzor.
Thank you to Ian Masters and the Flick Games team for being brave enough to share their story.
videogamesindustrymemo.substack.com/p/how-steam-...
Thank you to Ian Masters and the Flick Games team for being brave enough to share their story.
videogamesindustrymemo.substack.com/p/how-steam-...
How Steam censors LGBTQ+ content on behalf of the Russian Government, 27/11/2025
When Roskomnadzor calls, Valve answers
videogamesindustrymemo.substack.com
November 27, 2025 at 10:43 AM
Excellent scoop from VGIM. Steam has a monopoly on PC storefronts and they've proven that they will cower to autocratic ideals. This is why monopolies are bad and stores like GOG and EGS should be relevant. As it stands, there is no relevant competitor that Flick Games can go to be sold in Russia.
An @vgim.bsky.social exclusive: we reveal how Steam is censoring games featuring LGBTQ+ content in Russia on behalf of state censor Roskomnadzor.
Thank you to Ian Masters and the Flick Games team for being brave enough to share their story.
videogamesindustrymemo.substack.com/p/how-steam-...
Thank you to Ian Masters and the Flick Games team for being brave enough to share their story.
videogamesindustrymemo.substack.com/p/how-steam-...
How Steam censors LGBTQ+ content on behalf of the Russian Government, 27/11/2025
When Roskomnadzor calls, Valve answers
videogamesindustrymemo.substack.com
November 27, 2025 at 10:04 AM
An @vgim.bsky.social exclusive: we reveal how Steam is censoring games featuring LGBTQ+ content in Russia on behalf of state censor Roskomnadzor.
Thank you to Ian Masters and the Flick Games team for being brave enough to share their story.
videogamesindustrymemo.substack.com/p/how-steam-...
Thank you to Ian Masters and the Flick Games team for being brave enough to share their story.
videogamesindustrymemo.substack.com/p/how-steam-...
A handful of tickets have opened up for tonight's VGIM drinks in London.
Sign up here, if you can make it along for a drink: www.tickettailor.com/events/halfs...
Sign up here, if you can make it along for a drink: www.tickettailor.com/events/halfs...
Select tickets – VGIM 2nd Birthday Drinks - Sponsored by Fifty, Renaissance PR, and The Games Rating Authority – The Craft Beer Pub
VGIM 2nd Birthday Drinks - Sponsored by Fifty, Renaissance PR, and The Games Rating Authority – The Craft Beer Pub, Wed 26 Nov 2025 - Video Games Industry Memo is celebrating its second birthday. And ...
www.tickettailor.com
November 26, 2025 at 11:48 AM
A handful of tickets have opened up for tonight's VGIM drinks in London.
Sign up here, if you can make it along for a drink: www.tickettailor.com/events/halfs...
Sign up here, if you can make it along for a drink: www.tickettailor.com/events/halfs...
Non-fiction works similarly. Unless you’ve written Atomic Habits, your earnings from a book are a lovely sideline to Everything You Must Do To Pay The Bills
almost every novelist you read who's not from the airport fiction or bestseller sections is working a full on day job, including multi-award winners and absolute legends, or they have a spouse or trust that supports them. virtually across the board. just normalize in your mind that's how it works.
I know we know this, but authors need to get better at talking about how they actually make their money. Stop pretending it's from the books.
November 26, 2025 at 8:04 AM
Non-fiction works similarly. Unless you’ve written Atomic Habits, your earnings from a book are a lovely sideline to Everything You Must Do To Pay The Bills
Does your games business want to support a media outlet doing its darnednest to reach people across the games business?
VGIM is looking for sponsors for events and the newsletter in 2026, with discounts available for paid subscribers.
Email [email protected] if you can help 🙏
VGIM is looking for sponsors for events and the newsletter in 2026, with discounts available for paid subscribers.
Email [email protected] if you can help 🙏
November 25, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Does your games business want to support a media outlet doing its darnednest to reach people across the games business?
VGIM is looking for sponsors for events and the newsletter in 2026, with discounts available for paid subscribers.
Email [email protected] if you can help 🙏
VGIM is looking for sponsors for events and the newsletter in 2026, with discounts available for paid subscribers.
Email [email protected] if you can help 🙏
I shared this yesterday. But I want to repost @chrisbratt.bsky.social's investigation into the Rockstar union-busting allegations.
What people in the business call "proper reporting" and the kind of stuff a healthy media ecosystem must support.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TvW...
What people in the business call "proper reporting" and the kind of stuff a healthy media ecosystem must support.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TvW...
The Messages Rockstar Saw Before Firing 34 Union Members
YouTube video by People Make Games
www.youtube.com
November 25, 2025 at 11:19 AM
I shared this yesterday. But I want to repost @chrisbratt.bsky.social's investigation into the Rockstar union-busting allegations.
What people in the business call "proper reporting" and the kind of stuff a healthy media ecosystem must support.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TvW...
What people in the business call "proper reporting" and the kind of stuff a healthy media ecosystem must support.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TvW...
I've finally flipped through the Roblox/New York Times interview about child safety and hoooooooo boy do I have thoughts
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/p...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/p...
We Asked Roblox’s C.E.O. About Child Safety. It Got Tense.
www.nytimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:56 AM
I've finally flipped through the Roblox/New York Times interview about child safety and hoooooooo boy do I have thoughts
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/p...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/p...
Just found out that I owe myself £39 from my company.
brb, going wild this Black Friday.
brb, going wild this Black Friday.
November 25, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Just found out that I owe myself £39 from my company.
brb, going wild this Black Friday.
brb, going wild this Black Friday.
Reposted by George E. Osborn
