Brandon Pero 9/12/26 Brandon Pero 9/12/26

5 Video Game Things I Learned | 2026 September 5 - September 11

Kojima Productions is taking their upcoming game PHYSINT over to XBOX after PlayStation dropped it from their portfolio. I catch up on some Gamescom 2026 news that I missed. The GTA VI extended gameplay reveal seems to have gone quite well for Netflix. Don’t Nod is in trouble. Geoff Keighley and Mark Cerny work together to bring money to young game developers with great visions.

Brandon Pero 9/7/26 Brandon Pero 9/7/26

5 Video Game Things I Learned | 2026 August 29 - September 4

The team behind the game Peak has started its own publishing company. We need more game investment companies like these considering that video game executives are more abundantly referring to the current state of the games industry as a “crash”. This crash has swallowed up successful teams like the one behind Star Wars Zero Company. PlayStation customer service representatives are getting harassed by brain-dead customers, and I learned a little something about the Nintendo 3DS.

Brandon Pero 8/29/26 Brandon Pero 8/29/26

5 Video Game Things I Learned | 2026 August 22 - August 28

The GTA VI extended gameplay reveal dropped this week, and it left me even more impressed and excited for what’s to come. XBOX left me on the other side of impressed with their shady business tactics. I talk about Schell Games layoffs, and I go over some games I’m excited for from Gamescom Opening Night Live. I also started playing Star Wars Zero Company.

Brandon Pero 8/22/26 Brandon Pero 8/22/26

5 Video Game Things I Learned | 2026 August 15 - August 21

Geoff Keighley came out about the process for selecting trailers to go on Gamescom’s Opening Night Live. PlayStation suffers at the hands of live service once again. Reports show that gamers aren’t particularly interested in new games, but how reliable is the reporting? This week is wrapped up with GTA VI leaks and some AI talk.

Brandon Pero 8/15/26 Brandon Pero 8/15/26

5 Video Game Things I Learned | 2026 August 8 - August 14

Saber Interactive falls of a reputational cliff with Netflix tumbling shortly after. 4J Studios, developers of Reforj, come up with the revolutionary Rixel that’s meant to replace the pixel. I also find out some quirky things about Steam festivals and GTA VI preorders.

Brandon Pero 8/15/26 Brandon Pero 8/15/26

Netflix Will Not Survive the Video Game Industry

Netflix shut down two more first-party video game studios: Night School Studio and Moonloot. Is the writing on the wall? I don’t think so. The gaming industry has eaten Netflix alive as it realizes why subscription services in the video game industry are so difficult to maintain.

Brandon Pero 8/8/26 Brandon Pero 8/8/26

5 Video Game Things I Learned | 2026 August 1 - August 7

Netflix tries to enter the big leagues by teaming up with GTA VI and Unity. Electronic Arts and Devolver Digital both touch on news related to company privatization, and Q2 2026 reports shed light on some high highs for Unity and low lows for Roblox.

Brandon Pero 8/1/26 Brandon Pero 8/1/26

5 Video Game Things I Learned | 2026 July 25 - July 31

PlayStation and XBOX found themselves in hot water due to online outages this week. We also saw updates from polar opposite games: The Incident at Galley House and Last Sentinel. I then look into what makes a video game successful and some updates regarding video game industry layoffs in 2026.

Brandon Pero 7/25/26 Brandon Pero 7/25/26

5 Video Game Things I Learned | 2026 July 18 - July 24

A slow news week leads me to revelations about past stories such as L.A. Noire’s failed successor and Electronic Arts’s Project Ten Dollar. I then take a look at more record-breaking video game sales number, the Games for Change initiative, and Amazon’s future in the games industry.

Brandon Pero 7/18/26 Brandon Pero 7/18/26

5 Video Game Things I Learned | 2026 July 11 - July 17

Steam sales numbers hit all-time highs… again. The Incident at Galley House releases and knocks my socks off. Bethesda goes on a media campaign following the announcement of the XBOX Reset, talking about Fallout 5 and The Elder Scrolls VI. I also get a little personal with my takes on the game Discounty.

Brandon Pero 7/11/26 Brandon Pero 7/11/26

The XBOX Reset Week: 5 Video Game Things I Learned | 2026 July 4 - July 10

A sad week for XBOX and the video game industry has just concluded. XBOX saw a huge Reset that cost a lot of people their jobs and will cause ripple effects in the AAA space likely for years to come. In other news, Electronic Arts is being Electronic Arts again.

Brandon Pero 7/7/26 Brandon Pero 7/7/26

5 Video Game Things I Learned | 2026 June 27 - July 3

Krafton and the Entertainment Software Associated take it on the chin this week, and Steam leaves me feeling utterly satisfied yet again. Meanwhile, PlayStation makes me feel uneasy with its move away from physical games, and the consumers’ fight for lower prices for DRAM continues.

Brandon Pero 6/27/26 Brandon Pero 6/27/26

5 Video Game Things I Learned | 2026 June 20 - June 26

Global video game revenue has grown well past previous projections, surpassing $200 billion in 2025. However, the ability for the industry to maintain this growth in the future is questionable with outrageous prices across the board. In the midst of this uncertainty, I found out equally exciting and intriguing things about games old and new this week.

Brandon Pero 6/20/26 Brandon Pero 6/20/26

5 Video Game Things I Learned | 2026 June 13 - June 19

It’s been a week of ups and downs in video games. We had some fantastic updates regarding Unreal Engines 5 and 6 at the State of Unreal 2026 presentation. Meanwhile, news keeps flooding in about studios struggling, such as Dontnod, the original developers of Life Is Strange.

Brandon Pero 6/13/26 Brandon Pero 6/13/26

5 Video Game Things I Learned | 2026 May 30 - June 12

With Summer Game Fest creating a busy week, this installment of 5 Things covers two weeks. There are mentions of companies like Telltale and Xbox and their respective hardships, as well as mention of some United States legislation that could greatly impact video games. Plus more!

Brandon Pero 5/30/26 Brandon Pero 5/30/26

5 Video Game Things I Learned | 2026 May 23 - May 29

May 23 through May 29 brought a surprising amount of video game news despite being so close to Summer Game Fest, and I loved learning these five things about games during that time.

Brandon Pero 5/24/26 Brandon Pero 5/24/26

5 Video Game Things I Learned | 2026 May 16 - May 22

Five things that stuck out to me from May 16 through May 22: XBOX’s rise, Ubisoft and Bungie’s respective falls, more games on Steam, more ways to discover games with the Story-Rich Showcase, and PlayStation pulling away from PC.

Brandon Pero 5/22/26 Brandon Pero 5/22/26

Have Working Conditions in the Video Game Industry Improved?

How has the video game industry changed for its employees over the years? Have we seen an improvement in working conditions? In this post, I explore that question using data largely gathered from the International Game Developers Association.

Brandon Pero 5/16/26 Brandon Pero 5/16/26

5 Video Game Things I Learned | 2026 May 9 - May 15

A new, weekly post where I discuss five things that I learned about video games this week. There’s so much video game news and history to learn about on a regular basis. Here are just five things that stuck out to me.

Brandon Pero 4/21/26 Brandon Pero 4/21/26

What I Believe Really Causes Layoffs in the Video Game Industry

I believe executives in video games have a lot of misconceptions about what causes the mass layoffs we’ve seen. In recent news, the face of this has been Jack Buser of Google Cloud gaming. In this post, I talk about if AI is really the silver bullet to address layoffs.