We do not live in a one-screen world anymore.
There was a time when content had to serve everyone at once. One television. One living room. One shared experience. If something was broadcast, it was broadcast to a household, not an individual.
That world is gone.
Now everyone has their own screen. Their own feed. Their own algorithm. Their own schedule.
And that changes how IP has to function. Continue reading An Introduction to E³ Part 2: ENGAGE
Modern entertainment has a problem.
Demand is exploding, but production cannot keep up.
Games take longer to make. Updates are expected faster. Communities move on quicker. Meanwhile, the biggest IP holders are no longer competing against one game or one show, they are competing against entire ecosystems.
If you want an IP to survive long-term, you need more than output. You need momentum. And the most scalable form of momentum is not produced internally.
It is created by the community. Continue reading An Introduction to E³ Part 1: EMPOWER
Highguard launched yesterday to an overwhelmingly negative reception. What makes this interesting is not that the game is fundamentally broken or unplayable, but that it appears to be a victim of expectation, positioning, and timing rather than design alone. Continue reading HighGuard and the Cost of Misframed Hype
User-generated content (UGC) is often framed as a nice-to-have or a community perk in gaming. But the story of Age of Empires II shows that UGC can be a de facto market test, incubator of talent, and essential signal of long-term value even convincing a major publisher to revive a dormant franchise. Continue reading How User-Generated Content Validated Age of Empires II, And Why UGC Is the Future of Gaming
After the somewhat controversial streamer awards earlier in the week, The Game Awards delivered few surprises as Expedition 33 dominated the night and claimed a record nine awards. Even so, the ceremony was not without its own share of debate, alongside several announcements that ranged from exciting to fairly routine for the video game industry. In this article we will break down this year’s show and consider whether The Game Awards remains a positive force for the medium or whether it is beginning to feel like it is chasing the prestige of the Oscars. Continue reading The Game Awards: Gaming’s biggest show and its growing identity crisis
This was supposed to be the magnum opus for Sports Interactive; the moment Football Manager finally took a huge step forward as the definitive sports management simulation. Instead, it’s turned into the studio’s most damaging PR disaster in its 30-year history. Continue reading FM26 One step forward, a dozen steps back
The rise of AI was always going to bring fear over its potential to replace jobs ,but few expected creatives to be first on the menu. Yet here we are. Companies like Activision have openly admitted to using AI-generated content, chasing cheaper alternatives without realising that any money saved is dwarfed by the long-term damage being done to the industry. Continue reading Stop Replacing Creatives with AI. You’re Killing the Industry You Profit From.
Star Wars Battlefront II had a rough launch in 2017. The game was heavily criticised for tying core gameplay progression to loot boxes and quickly became the industry’s tipping point for backlash against microtransactions.
Developer DICE eventually overhauled the progression system, making everything unlockable through gameplay. But the damage was done. EA’s reputation took a massive hit, and for many players, trust was broken.
It wasn’t until 2020 that Battlefront II ended its live service run not with a whimper, but with a final update that was widely praised by its community. In 2021, the game saw a surprising resurgence in players. Even more impressively, it broke its own peak player count twice in 2025.
So that begs the question: has EA earned back the goodwill and is it finally time for a Battlefront III?
Continue reading No, EA Probably Won’t Make Battlefront 3
If you’ve ever played a game that looked great on paper but just didn’t hit right, you’re not alone. Behind the scenes, game development teams use project management tools to plan and deliver games. One of the oldest and most common is the Iron Triangle a model that balances Time, Cost, and Scope (or sometimes Quality, depending on who you ask). Continue reading Why the “Iron Triangle” Doesn’t Work for Video Games
Age of Empires II has been a cornerstone of my gaming life.
It was a crucial part of my childhood and remains a title I keep coming back to, even decades later. Since the release of the Definitive Edition in 2019, we’ve seen several expansions breathe new life into this classic but the recent release of The Three Kingdoms promises to be the biggest update since The Conquerors, which came out over twenty five years ago.
As someone who plays Age of Empires II regularly and follows the game’s evolution closely, I wanted to share my thoughts on this new expansion, how it compares to those that came before, and whether it’s worth the £15 price tag. Continue reading Age of Empires 2: The Three Kingdoms, First Impressions
Tim Browne - Consultant and Researcher for Creatives 