Nathan Grayson
@nathangrayson.bsky.social
17K followers 690 following 2.2K posts
Co-founder and reporter @aftermath.site. Beats: labor, livestreaming. My book about Twitch, Stream Big, is available now. Formerly: The Washington Post. Send tips to [email protected] or nathangrayson.666 on Signal
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nathangrayson.bsky.social
I’m nathan

website: @aftermath.site (please subscribe)

book about twitch: www.simonandschuster.com/books/Stream... (please preorder)

cat: biscuit (please appreciate)
gray cat (beautiful) sticking tongue out
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
ckunzelman.bsky.social
I had a great time on Aftermath talking about how you can use Assassin’s Creed as a method of tracing the pathway to the world we live in.
aftermath.site
The Assassin’s Creed series was a canary in the coal mine for our modern, engagement-obsessed world. @ckunzelman.bsky.social explains:
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
aftermath.site
The Assassin’s Creed series was a canary in the coal mine for our modern, engagement-obsessed world. @ckunzelman.bsky.social explains:
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
lukeplunkett.com
with zero notice given to anyone who had ever worked there, and who have now lost any of their work not already archived
aftermath.site
GameZone, a website dating back to 1994, has had its archives wiped:

aftermath.site/gamezone-video...
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
papapishu.bsky.social
OK Skate Story Demo that'll do.
A screenshot from Skate Story. The world is abstract and vibrant. A skateboarder that is a demon made of glass stands in front of an obilisk that says "Please suffer silently and weep without us hearing, for this is the lowest of hells. Ponder the darker depths and practice utmost gratitude as you sleep."
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
rp.wtf
Finished "Stream Big" by @nathangrayson.bsky.social. A great "behind the webcam" look at some big names in streaming.

Lessons in discipline and dedication, but also plenty of cautionary tales.
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
aftermath.site
On today's stream, we're joined by @ckunzelman.bsky.social, author of a book about Assassin's Creed coming out next month, to discuss all things AC, including Ubisoft's recently canceled Reconstruction-era game. Also, the Discord hack. We go live at 4 PM ET

www.twitch.tv/aftermathdot...
yasuke and naoe from assassin's creed shadows
nathangrayson.bsky.social
spoke to @afterclimate.com.au about the sustainable games standard, a means of tracking emissions now publicly available for use by the entire games industry. a lot of thought went into this thing
“In terms of methodology, each one is a little bit different,” said Abraham. “I started with whatever already existed, talked to a lot of our member companies and some other contributing ones. We knew we needed a quick and dirty method for as many as possible, so where there's the option to make a ‘spend based’ calculation, we've put one in there. Those are good for fast and easy numbers, but they don't give you any control over the emissions, because the only way to reduce them is ‘spend less money,’ which you might not want to do if you're marketing your new game.”

This meant that in some cases, Abraham – alongside games industry experts – had to devise new methods entirely.

“Like the [section 3.11] use of sold products (mobile) component, which says ‘OK, phones have batteries, what if we measure the battery level at the start and the end of a game session, that will tell us how much power the game has used,’” said Abraham. “Because the use of energy at the battery doesn't actually directly generate emissions, we also have to trace it back to the source, which is grid electricity emissions. To get power from the grid there has to be a charger that converts AC to DC, and when you do that you get power losses, so you also need to account for that by adding some extra on top for charger losses.”
nathangrayson.bsky.social
so cool how everyone saw this coming, but the people in charge remained undeterred
josephcox.bsky.social
New from 404 Media: the Discord hack is every users' worst nightmare. Yesterday the hackers started posting Discord users' selfies, identity documents, email addresses, phone numbers, more. I watched in real time. This is risk of tech storing ID for age verification
www.404media.co/the-discord-...
The Discord Hack is Every Users’ Worst Nightmare
A hack impacting Discord’s age verification process shows in stark terms the risk of tech companies collecting users’ ID documents. Now the hackers are posting peoples’ IDs and other sensitive informa...
www.404media.co
nathangrayson.bsky.social
I continue to be interested in the space when people are actually doing cool/worthwhile stuff, but the daily rhythms of twitch and content creation kinda just repeat at this point. that’s by design — gotta make money somehow — but it leads to endless “controversies” like this
nathangrayson.bsky.social
haven’t been covering twitch as much these past few months, and shit like this is why. so many of the people involved — both creators and fans — are fundamentally unserious or deeply cynical. a few creators aside, most achieve little more than creating content for content’s sake
airbagged.bsky.social
Hasan shows off the “shock collar.”

And look at that, everyone attacking him looks like a fucking moron.
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
jeremykaplowitz.com
this is the guy who got rid of brokers fees in nyc, for anyone who doesn't live here. he rocks
free-parking.bsky.social
This is exactly what we need. This is it.

"New York City Council member Chi Ossé, a close ally of Zohran Mamdani, is privately discussing a run against House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.)"
Scoop: Mamdani ally weighs challenging Hakeem Jeffries
Just talking about a potential campaign could drive a further wedge between Mamdani — the democratic socialist in line to be New York's next mayor — and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.)
www.axios.com
nathangrayson.bsky.social
adding flavor to creatine is the coward’s way out. it’s meant to taste like a cup of wet sand, and you’re supposed to make a horrible face when you gulp it down
papapishu.bsky.social
Naked sells a mostly unsweetened flavored creatine monohydrate which is nice because I can just add Splenda to taste and it flavors it enough so that I remember to take it.
A lemon lime Naked Creatine the bottle is blue to yellow
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
aftermath.site
Ubisoft could not have handled a Reconstruction Era Assassin's Creed:

aftermath.site/assassins-cree...
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
himboblacksmith.bsky.social
The tank's role is to draw aggro
dannykpolitics.bsky.social
WATCH: ‘Portland Frog’ pepper balled by ICE agents
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
josephcox.bsky.social
New: Apple banned an app that simply archived videos of ICE abuses. Rather than other apps that record ICE official's real-time location, Eyes Up is to "preserve evidence until it can be used in court." Videos from TikTok etc. Every submission manually reviewed

www.404media.co/apple-banned...
Apple Banned an App That Simply Archived Videos of ICE Abuses
Eyes Up's purpose is to "preserve evidence until it can be used in court." But it has been swept up in Apple's crackdown on ICE-spotting apps.
www.404media.co
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
writnelson.bsky.social
You would not believe how many stories like this have been popping up over the last ~5 years

Not just full games cancelled—entire characters and plot lines removed or changed, leaving less time for making the *rest of the game better*, to try avoiding a small and malicious contingent of voices.
stephentotilo.bsky.social
SCOOP: Last year, Ubisoft cancelled an Assassin's Creed game set during Reconstruction. Was to feature a Black Assassin who, among other things, fought the rise of the Klan

Sources: Leadership nixed it over concerns re: U.S. political climate, backlash to Yasuke

www.gamefile.news/p/scoop-ubis...
Scoop: Ubisoft cancelled a post-Civil War Assassin’s Creed last year
Company leadership deemed the project too controversial for the moment, sources tell Game File
www.gamefile.news
nathangrayson.bsky.social
but ubisoft is releasing assassin's creed dlc that's reportedly been funded by saudi arabia. tells you pretty much everything you need to know
stephentotilo.bsky.social
SCOOP: Last year, Ubisoft cancelled an Assassin's Creed game set during Reconstruction. Was to feature a Black Assassin who, among other things, fought the rise of the Klan

Sources: Leadership nixed it over concerns re: U.S. political climate, backlash to Yasuke

www.gamefile.news/p/scoop-ubis...
Scoop: Ubisoft cancelled a post-Civil War Assassin’s Creed last year
Company leadership deemed the project too controversial for the moment, sources tell Game File
www.gamefile.news
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
aftermath.site
Skin Deep has some very good patch notes

aftermath.site/skin-deep-pa...
skin deep's main character pulling glass out of her foot (ew)
nathangrayson.bsky.social
my man is nothing but two faces and a head of hair. the sooner people stop deluding themselves into believing he's some kind of progressive hero, the better
nathangrayson.bsky.social
just a few days ago he was on connoreatspants' stream defending his stance on trans athletes by bragging about his track record when it comes to pro-trans legislation
lgbtqnation.com
Gavin Newsom vetoes gender education bill, declines to sign other trans protections - buff.ly/MTUAV85
nathangrayson.bsky.social
absolutely, but I don't think it's unreasonable to want an interesting, surprising narrative from a studio known for them
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
tamoorh.com
This week I’m going to raise money for @medicalaidpal.bsky.social to help Palestinians in need.

On Fri I'll start & finish Metal Gear Solid, MGS2 on Sat, Delta on Sun. It'll be 9 AM PT each day on www.twitch.tv/tamoorh.

Fundraiser is live on my Twitch. Please share if you can!