While everyone has “we won” energy and I’m shitposting about leftist politics, I figured I’d post some resources to educate yourself & get involved in community based activism so continuing the work doesn’t seem so daunting! Thread!
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Ty Galiz-Rowe
@owoathkeeper
Covering games against my better judgement | Founder/EIC | Trans masc 
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The fact that influencers are getting custom care packages to be more free marketing for Cyberpunk, while those reviewers who will likely take this game to task still haven’t gotten code for a giant fucking game is honestly emblematic of why we don’t trust influencers
Nabisco workers are striking right now, please don’t cross the picket line over Pokemon oreos salon.com/2021/08/31/no-
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ATTN: TRAINERS16 @Pokemon X OREO Cookies are here... but some are harder to discover than others. Can you discover all 16? 
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I literally couldn’t read any of the menu or inventory text on launch
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The 👏🏻 Cyberpunk 👏🏻 delay 👏🏻 isn’t 👏🏻 “supporting devs” 👏🏻 it’s 👏🏻 just 👏🏻 more 👏🏻 crunch
So ActiBlizz’s Rob Kostich is literally on an advisory board for The Game Awards. Great representation of our industry
I’m sorry, but a game about colonialism literally called New World made by fucking AMAZON is just a bridge too far for me, and it’s disappointing to see folks engaging with it pretty uncritically
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“I hate that this woman hates an entire group of people, but I *really* want to play with this toy” you are a child and I don’t need your hollow allyship
This is exactly why the explanation for no fat gods in Hades was fucked tbh
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The reason people balk so hard at the image of a fat god, like Thor from god of war, is that nobody—not even the people defending Thor’s body as realistic—can square the idea a god could be all powerful and still choose to be fat.
If I were covering crunch at Bioware, I simply wouldn’t omit the fact that Dragon Age 2 was literally made in a year
No One Is Persecuting You For Being Conservative, Your Beliefs Just Make You An Asshole
Can we please use more gender neutral language in these abuse discussions? I know there’s a gendered element but as a nonbinary person who’s now been abused by two women I’m a little tired of “believe women” being everyone’s rallying cry. Believe victims
The fact that Blizzard has spent so much time and effort to perfect the Paris map, but based Dorado on some Italian town bc actual Mexico wasn’t “Mexican enough” is EXTREMELY fucking telling about where their diversity priorities actually lie
dailystar.co.uk/tech/gaming/76
I feel like it’s fine for games to just be bad. Like it’s weird seeing a dev grovel over a licensed game being shitty. It can just be shitty idk
After this, I’m done talking about HL. If you cannot separate your feelings of excitement for a fucking video game from the fact that the person profiting hates trans people while bills internationally are trying to strip everything from us, you don’t care about us. That’s it.
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I’m a little nervous, but announcement time I guess: I’m gonna be going by Ty (like tie) from now on.
So hey, I’m Ty!
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How it must feel to have Minions dunking on you on main
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Game also isn’t very good narratively, but it was literally broken af on launch even for PC and these folks shouldn’t get to just re-write that history lmao
Y’all won’t even commit to not playing the Harry Potter Game or CDPR shit but you’re gonna leave Twitter over Elon? Sure lol
Hello if you are an LGBTQ+ ttrpg developer who released a game this year, plz link it here for me so I can have some cool noms for the Gayming Awards!
I couldn’t get this image out of my head when I was awake at 4am today. Thanks to for making it a reality
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I feel like a game having a rhythm to its mechanics does not equate to being “cozy.” Personally, Dredge is deeply unnerving as an inherent part of the core loop. It probably doesn’t ultimately matter, but it irks me to see basically every cool indie just get slapped w/ “cozy”
PSA: if you are worried about quarantine (or any) weight gain, let me assure you it probably just means you have really banging thighs and are extremely sexy
Idk who needs to hear it, but we all need to work on not basing our worth on the ability to get full time industry jobs. The odds are stacked against most of us and honestly, your ability to work for a media conglomerate shouldn’t make you feel bad about yourself
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This is not to say that influencers inherently *can’t* be critical of those they partner with, but it’s hard to believe that when the partnership between the company & them is so apparent while critics & even GUIDES WRITERS are getting shut out til the last minute
In our interview last Friday told me that though TSM were likely going into the Split 1 Playoffs less prepared than teams like NRG or Sentinels, he didn’t think it would hold them back. Boy was he right.
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Everyone who said Glass Onion was too on the nose apologize right the fuck now
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NEWS: Tesla board members investigated whether company resources were misused in a secret project to build a glass house for Elon Musk wsj.com/articles/a-gla
I’ve been guest editing at Kotaku for a couple weeks now. While I’ve loved it, and the team there has been great, I can’t in good conscience continue to work with a company like this & claim to care about worker’s rights, so I won’t be editing there anymore. Solidarity.
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Some Thoughts About A Website With A Fake Japanese Name link.medium.com/JtcIxRivY8
BIG NEWS: Today I officially quit my day job to pursue freelance writing full time! I’ll be more available for current gigs & new ones so if you’re looking for someone with experience in crit, editing, features, news & guides, I’m your them! Links in next tweet & DMs are open!
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The thing that’s so frustrating about our current situation though is that traffic and SEO numbers aren’t saving anyone. Every site that’s gotten axed was doing numbers, C-suites & bad middle management killed them anyway
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I’m sorry but this is some white feminist nonsense. Like, yes we need more women as protags but you know what else we need? Men of color who aren’t bullet fodder or criminals. This is definitively Not It
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Also “influencer,” it’s literally in the name. Like sorry, but y’all make money partnering with & advertising for companies ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Shit like this is why this industry never changes. Moriarty is a known piece of shit, but he continues to be validated by journalists & devs. Same shit happens with known predators & abusers. Put your money where your mouths are or stfu
If you’re a content creator who’s “scared to speak out because you’re afraid people won’t work with you” can I kindly suggest growing a fucking spine
There’s something to be said about how games like CoD perpetuate racism and indifference towards enacting violence against brown people, but the absolute wrong take is “if your game has guns you’re bad”
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If you work on a video game that uses modern day firearms to shoot other humans you need a real hard look in the mirror tonight.
Yee, and I cannot emphasize this enough, Haw 🤠
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Everyone, it's time to get excited.
Say a huge welcome to our new deputy editor at Gayming Magazine, Ty Galiz-Rowe, aka, @owoathkeeper!
ow.ly/aOgZ50J99Kt
I wanted to be hugged like a man who just scored a goal in professional soccer. There’s no love or intimacy like that
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Bobby Kotick says the U.S. needs more capitalism:
"a whole host of industries invented in the United States could disappear if we don’t fix our K-12 education system and elect government officials who embrace capitalism"
nypost.com/2023/05/04/act via @nypost
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In other news, Pose is extremely my shit so far
So something cool: y’all will be seeing me on VG247 a lot more often, doing crit on AAA games! My first piece is about how Mass Effect 2 (and 3) directly demonstrate the dangers of legitimizing supremacist groups
Sometimes Tik Tok is good. Also lmao at all the crypto bros in the replies actively proving the point
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Idk there’s a real double standard here. Bugsnax was advertised as being cute and silly, but it’s dark & honestly bleak af with no content warnings at all, with a big nasty twist that no one complained about. I’m not sure you should have to spoil your work to make people comfy
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The whole content warning brouhaha is pretty much undermined by the fact that Boyfriend Dungeon doesn't really tell you what its real deal is until it's too late. They're fixing the CW but what about the marketing campaign, which still leans on "this is a happy light story"?
People (who are like fairly knowledgeable and respected) keep saying they think Microsoft will likely improve ActiBlizz’s culture, but why? What indicator do you have of that besides liking Phil Spencer?
Apparently people were mad that Alucard Castlevania is bisexual and idk dude if you don’t know that every Victorian era vampire is a bisexual vagrant, you clearly haven’t read your Anne Rice
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For proofskies, shit was BAD
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I owe Cyberpunk 2077 an apology. I thought it just had a really awful font for item and skill descriptions, but actually it's just buggy as fuck in this one particular way for me only. Game of the generation, y'all
“Thor doesn’t look like a warrior” bro if that man hit you with that hammer you would die shut the fuck up
Okay so how do you distinguish between singular you and plural you?
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"they" will not become a part of general usage, not for political reasons but because there would be no pronoun to distinguish between a singular subject ("they") & a plural subject ("they"). language seeks to communicate w/ clarity, not to obfuscate; that is its purpose. twitter.com/JoyceCarolOate…
Hey Mike 👋🏻 pretty sure my site is the one you’re subtweeting. Forgive me and my indie, queer run site that largely runs from my own pockets & patreon for trying to help other writers who have been fucked over. Maybe your business contacts could be of more help? twitter.com/Futterish/stat
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Didn’t the 80’s game industry crash itself by chasing shitty licensed Quaker Oats games?
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I’m just gonna put out there that making ~$26,400-$31,200 is a poverty salary in literally any part of the US, even if you’re not in one of “the most expensive cities in the world”
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Okay but it was glitched as fuck on my PC copy so it definitely wasn’t just old hardware
Y’all this is not just shitty laws. People like this are emboldened and they are going to hurt people, particularly the most marginalized and “weakest” they can target twitter.com/VPS_Reports/st
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Grind culture
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What’s the most extreme form of peer pressure you’ve witnessed amongst adults?
People act like this shit is a product of true crime, and it’s simply not. Multiple serial killers have had fan clubs and gotten married in prison (FUCKING TED BUNDY, DURING HIS TRIAL) without a Netflix show. Not that it isn’t crass or tacky, but it’s the audience lmao
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hundreds of people are saying that they feel sorry for jeffrey dahmer, that they would write letters to him if he was alive and that he didn’t hurt his victims “that much”
Just gals being pals
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Hey remember how shitty CDPR has reportedly treated their employees to make those big ass games? Probably should, imo. Boycotting etc is complicated, but it would at least be nice to see people not losing it over a game that’s probably going to have another giant human toll
Been staring into the gender void for a while now and will probably continue to do so, but until further notice please use he/they pronouns to refer to me!
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I’m sure you’ve heard of “mutual aid.” Here’s a video (with subtitles built in!) that’s a solid 101 explainer:
The cat’s finally out of the bag so I’m excited to tell y’all that I’ve joined the talented and rad team over at as an editor! Excited to help tell esports stories like never before!
This sucks lol. “I know we have a huge platform, but YOU ALL have to help too.” Kick Kostich off your board my guy
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I also realize we have a big platform which can accelerate and inspire change. We are committed to that, but we all need to work together to build a better and a more inclusive environment so everyone feels safe to build the world’s best games.
Only if you’re weak and basic lol
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The framing of abusive or manipulate behavior as “immature” or “juvenile” really fucking irks me. My abusers were adults with established careers & lives. People use that to abuse. It’s not just bc you were too stunted from playing Gears & drinking Mountain Dew 72 hours straight
!["Threat secured. We've moved Cyberpunk2077.exe to your virus chest because it was infected with Win32:BogEnt [susp]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EsqzKPVUYAAx1jP?format=png&name=small)
Before you come at anyone running an indie site that pays, make sure you know what the fuck you’re talking about. Every month, Uppercut gets between $400-$600 (depending on how Patreon pledges go). With that, we pay a freelancer $50 for a piece (which is actually a competitive
Some advice I got a few years ago that I think is very helpful & worth keeping i mind: networking is not something you should approach with your promotion foot forward. Build actual relationships with the people & communities you want support from
Idk how many times we have to iterate that just bringing up Tencent without citing any actual wrongdoing other than being Chinese is fucking racist
Independent media is the only bastion that will keep this space alive and it needs to be supported on a much larger scale
Oh hey! A little bit of cool, good news: today marks 6 months of being alcohol-free for me! 🥳
You can’t make fun of the queen, she’s millions of people’s comfort character
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Americans are welcome to shitpost but they should be warned of intense depths of feelings here: it’s hard to explain but millions feel the Queen is their spiritual grandmother. It’s not like a dying President. But the passing of the chief saint of a still felt British religion.
Oh hey, it’s my soberversary! I haven’t had alcohol in exactly a year!
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Now that you know what mutual aid is, get involved! If you’re ambitious you can organize on your own, but here’s a map in case you want to find groups in your area: mutualaidhub.org
Pour one out for Robots, truly an incredible film
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Blue Sky Studios has officially closed down today.
They created 13 movies including the ‘ICE AGE’, ‘RIO’ and ‘ROBOTS’ franchises, which Disney now own.
We as games media have completely failed if young/new people in the scene have no idea what GamerGate was/is
Imagine walking into a group that vocally hates you willingly and then being surprised when they fucking hate you
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EXCL: Last night’s LGBT party at Conservative conference descended into claims of homophobic abuse.
Attendees had to be removed for using highly offensive homophobic slurs.
One gay Conservative attending told me “Morally I don’t feel I fit in anymore”.
itv.com/news/2022-10-0
I have to say, I’m getting increasingly tired of the “here’s x game so you can play REAL cyberpunk” posts. Cyberpunk 2077 is real cyberpunk lol. The genre is not inherently transgressive or subversive & from its inception has had issues w/ orientalism & transhumanism ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The way interacts with the Apex Legends community is pretty unique in this space. I spoke with and several community members (so many I literally couldn’t include everyone) to explore this relationship.
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It doesn’t take a fucking degree or certification to understand that you shouldn’t be soliciting sex/affections from or constantly screaming at/demeaning your employees, I’m sorry
Literally doing the same shit with Monkeypox as they did with HIV. It’s not just gay men, jesus fucking christ. Viruses aren’t stupid enough to distinguish humans based on arbitrary categories like we are
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The U.S. has confirmed the first two cases of monkeypox in children, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said Friday.
Both kids “are traced back to individuals who come from the men-who-have-sex-with-men community, the gay men's community,” she said. axios.com/2022/07/22/mon
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Like trans people are killed daily but the big publicity of Club Q was so fucking recent. It’s not just a game when these attitudes are trying to wipe us off the map. To think otherwise is selfish and purposefully sticking your head in the sand. Which is fine, just be honest
I’ll also say, it seems WILDLY childish of an established, “big name” reporter in our field to posit that one enormous company’s toxicity could be fixed by being owned by another, even bigger company
Stoked to have gotten to start out my freelance news gig over at helping cover the Series X show. I wrote this lil blurb about the games seen today coming to Game Pass, & you can expect more news coverage from me there down the line!
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No worries! I don’t hold it against most folks for not knowing, it’s just disappointing to see big personalities still going to bat for him. Here’s what’s left of the context t.co/pqdZsUUHf2
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My unsolicited writing/content advice for the day is be on your own bullshit. I guarantee people will repsond more to your passion & enthusiasm than chasing the same shit everyone else is doing. Also it’s way easier to build “a brand” or whatever
How stupid does something have to be that even Elon Musk is like “lol I’m good”
A guy killed Shinzo Abe with a homemade gun this year
Garfield not being playable on Monday was a photoshop and I’m devastated bc that was the coolest idea
I spoke with someone working at Activision today during this meeting. Unsurprisingly, it seems like the company is pushing to handle everything internally and will be fighting the suit
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NEW: Activision & Joshua Taub held a meeting to address the recent lawsuit and allegations with employees today. Activision is pushing for internal handling of these issues and is planning on fighting the suit, according to sources within the company uppercutcrit.com/activision-bli
Everyone is always like “bring back fat pikachu!” BUT WHAT ABOUT FAT RAICHU???? A ROUND LEGEND
"I don't have a transphobic bone in my body," okay well if you feel the need to announce you're gonna indulge in something a bunch of your trans colleagues have told you will impact them negatively, maybe you don't get to be the one who decides that
Hello fellow journos/critics, this is your friendly reminder that you should actively be checking to see if anyone has previously written on the topic you’re covering, and if they have, you should be linking to them 😊 Help make our collective memory longer, please
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This is the article I’m referring to, where Supergiant said “well they’re gods so they have to be hot” which in turn implies that fat people are inherently not due to their absence
27 looks good on me 🥳
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Jason, you literally tweeted about having your tinfoil hat on for this you can’t act like you personally didn’t add fuel to this fire
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“‘We want to support employees and developers,” said Keighley, who added he supported people coming forward with their stories but also didn’t want to diminish developers’ opportunities to spotlight their games.” Yeah I’m sure they feel real fucking supported with him overseeing
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Survival horror truly the only game genre where white men are made to suffer any inconvenience lmao