Act 1: The Industry
Act 2: The Games and Trends
Patreon Bonus: The Best and Worst Case Scenarios for 2026
Act 3: The News of the Week
Guest: Ash Parrish, reporter and critic at The Verge
2026 has only just begun, but already I’m certain it’ll be (at least for gaming culture) historic.
Yes, it’s the year of GTA 6. It’s also the year of no fewer than ten thousand other games. Barring a cataclysmic event, more games will be released in 2026 than in any year prior.
This avalanche of competition will continue to be bad news for game makers, who must not only will they battle for attention with their contemporaries, but also the tens of thousands of “new” and now steeply discounted games released since the pandemic, the free-to-play time drains, and the entirety of retro gaming playable on ever cheaper handheld emulators.
Inversely, in 2026, this abundance will be a boon for most of you listening, at least in the short term. Where the glut of games that nearly killed the game industry in the 1980s was garbage, we are not wonting for high quality games serving nearly every imaginable niche.
Before 2025 ended, I had already played a dozen or so solid games that will be released in 2026. And two 2026 games would have made my 2025 Game of the Year list had they been released.
Add in some acquisitions, some closures, an uptick in unionization, a delinquent government oversight, and a nauseating economy, and you will be overwhelmed with existential questions about the medium.
Will video game players return to buying new games after years of gorging on forever games? Will Take Two and Grand Theft Auto deal the final blow to the once-powerful video game publishers? Will developers find new ways to get their games to their intended audience, or will more and more great games be commercial failures, leading some of the great game makers of our time to change careers?
The answers to those questions could alter the lives and fortunes of tens of thousands of game makers. And could influence what you do and don’t make time to play.
We’ll untangle those knots in today’s episode. Our guest is The Verge’s Ash Parrish, who has a uniquely broad and deep understanding of modern gaming, both in the industry as a reporter and the games as a critic.
Act 1: The Industry
Insert Credit (InsertCredit.com)
Horses deserves to be played, even if it’s not very good (The Verge)
In 2025, AI became a lightning rod for gamers and developers (The Verge)
We Asked Roblox's C.E.O. About Child Safety. It Got Tense. (NYTimes)
The Team Behind Among Us Is Building Better Communities (Wired)
Bigmode Games (Steam)
Aggro Crab Games (Steam)
Strange Scaffold Games (Steam)
Act 2: The Games and Trends
US H-1B visas: alternatives to a $100,000 fee (GamesInudstry.biz)
Sex Standing (Editor’s note: Extremely NSFW) (Steam)
Balatro (Steam)
CloverPit (Steam)
Dogpile (Steam)
'Friendslop' Isn't Real, But People Love Posting About It Anyway (Aftermath)
Patreon Bonus: The Best and Worst Case Scenarios for 2026
It turns out Saudi Arabia will own 93.4 percent of EA if the buyout goes through, which is effectively all of it (PCGamer)
Update: Tencent completes €1.16 billion investment in Ubisoft subsidiary (Game Developer)
List of films based on games (Wiki)
Street Fighter: The Movie trailer (YouTube)
Act 3: News of the Week
2026 Upcoming Games Release Schedule (GameSpot)
Post Game Patreon (Patreon.com/PostGames)
Song of the Week: "Where the City Can't See," Blood Cultures
From the Skate Story soundtrack, now available to stream on most services and purchase on physical media.
This Week in Video Game Links
Stories of 2025 (Into the Spine)
I Accidentally Made A Speedrunning Game (Juniper Dev)
Skin Deep was this year's reminder that it's a privilege to recognise a developer's handwriting (Eurogamer)
The 50 best games of 2025, ranked (Eurogamer)
The RPS 100: Reader Edition (2025) - your favourite games of all time (RPS)
Japan Dreamcast Exclusive 'Macross M3' Gets An English Translation (Time Extension)
Free Game of the Week: Mario 65
A spiritual sequel to the Super Mario 64 intro screen, Mario 65 lets you stretch and warp the flesh of an older mustachioed plumber.
What Else I’m Enjoying
In 2025, IP fully conquered the theme park (AV Club)
Why I Stopped Reading and Embraced Audiobooks (NYTimes)
Tomorrow’s Gonna Be Better, A Woman Under the Influence (BrightWall/DarkRoom)