Pushing Buttons newsletter
Pushing Buttons is a weekly video games newsletter by Guardian games editor Keza MacDonald. Sign up here
Sony’s big-budget hero shooter Concord failed spectacularly – here’s where it went wrong
The live-service shooter is just the latest high-profile multiplayer flop – and points to an existential problem in game development
How Black Myth: Wukong put China’s games industry under the microscope
In this week’s newsletter: Fuelled by a backdrop of sexist culture, alarming censorship guidelines and ‘anti-woke’ ire, the summer’s biggest hit has become a lightning rod in the video game culture wars
By Odin’s beard! 22 years on, Age of Mythology is still the god of strategy games
In this week’s newsletter: The sometimes infuriating, always enthralling epic is back – and I’m ready for it to take over my life all over again
Pushing Buttons: Indiana Jones, Civilisation VII, that Dune MMO and all the other news from Gamescom
In this week’s newsletter: The opening night in Cologne revealed unexpected comebacks, surprising debuts, and a long overdue TV tie-in
No AAA releases? It’s the hidden gaming gems’ time to shine
In this week’s newsletter: This autumn may not deliver its usual raft of franchise mega-titles, so use this time to embrace the weird, wonderful and original instead
The Xbox 360’s pioneering online store has gone offline – and it marks the end of a gaming era
In this week’s newsletter: We’ve become so used to digitally downloading games now that it’s easy to forget how novel it once was, thanks to places like Xbox 360’s Marketplace
Pushing Buttons: Why viral voyeurism game Clickolding became a surprise hit
This strange, dark game is an allegory about voyeurism and transactional sex that gives ample space to freak ourselves out – and critics and players can’t get enough
Video game subscription services are simply too complicated
In this week’s newsletter: From Xbox Game Pass to PlayStation Plus, the new mainstream way to play games is costly, contradictory and most of all confusing
Character builds, branching storylines and spells – what makes the perfect RPG?
In this week’s newsletter: Fallout and Baldur’s Gate veteran Feargus Urquhart on the hard-to-define genre
My secret to making time for video games
In this week’s newsletter: Work, life and parenting mean I can’t dive into massive games like I used to, but then I found a hack to making the time I need
The game design secrets of Elden Ring’s Hidetaka Miyazaki
In this week’s newsletter: FromSoftware’s president and the director of the popular fantasy game spills
The disturbing online misogyny of Gamergate has returned – if it ever went away
While some of their language has changed the sentiment of this aggressive online movement is just as distressing. As one of their targets, I should know
Forget the AAAs, innovative indie developers were the real stars of Summer Game Fest
In this week’s newsletter: While the blockbuster end of the games industry is in the doldrums, independent developers are leading a creative resurgence
From new Call of Duty to Star Wars Outlaws, it’s a massive few days for game reveals
In this week’s newsletter: The pandemic finally killed E3, but a cluster of loosely affiliated and competing events has risen up in its place
If Fifa is about to make an EA Sports FC competitor, that’s great news for gamers
In this week’s newsletter: Fifa will reportedly team up with 2K games to make its rival to EA Sports FC – and it should welcome a rival
Pushing Buttons: Horror game Crow Country lets you switch off the scary stuff – and that’s fine with me
Phobia toggles turn off scary elements like enemies, combat and spiders – but far from being too ‘cosy’, they help make gaming more accessible for even the most squeamish
Pushing Buttons: Big studios are making big cuts – but indie gems like Animal Well are still out there
A wave of innovative indie games bring a sense of optimism to an industry in urgent need of a confidence boost
Pushing Buttons: With creative developers shutting everywhere, the future of games looks bleaker and more boring
UK indie outfit Roll7 is reportedly facing closure, along with Bethesda’s Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin – but if making award-running, profitable games doesn’t guarantee safety, what will?
Pushing Buttons: The emulator app helping gamers replay classics from their youth – for now
In this week’s newsletter: the Delta app can be used to play games on vintage consoles from the Game Boy to the Snes … but for how long?
Pushing Buttons: readers’ memories of the game-changing Game Boy at 35
The little grey box – 35 years old this month – has kept you going, helped you through grief and long journeys, and been your companion through childhood
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