Egyptian lover of games, cyborgs, films. Words in: Rolling Stone, NME, Inverse, PCGamesN, TheGamer, Into The Spine, VGC, IGN, & more issythefreelancer
@gmail
.com
Wrong. Only those truly committed to style will put up with the worse stats just so their avatar looks better. It separates the real fashonistas from the posers
Hot take: *every* video game should have the option to transmogrify any armor set to have the appearance of another armor set while keeping its stats. I don’t want to have to wear an ugly armor just because it has better stats
What pisses me off about the Sweet Baby Inc and general anti-DEI outrage is that people are all "if you don't like it go and make your own things" until queers and POC actually make their own things and then suddenly it's straight white erasure
GTA 5 is one of the most finacially successful pieces of media ever created. It is quite literally a money printing machine for Rockstar and Take-Two. It's absurd a company with that cash cow under its belt would need to do this
It is absolutely unbelievable a CEO can say they made business decisions so terrible, for so long, that 870 people need to be let go and still keep their fucking job. It just shouldn't be legal. 870 lives affected and fuck all happens to Sweeney?? Unbelievable...
Aphrodite knows she's hot, you can tell by how she looks at you. Eve doesn't. She's posed but expressionless.
Hades 2 has a wide range of character skin tones, ages, body type. Stellar Blade's women seem to only look like Eve.
Sexy isn't bad, pretending there's only one type is
I wrote about the amazing itch bundle that
@Tybawai
is organising to raise money for Palestinian food/medical relief. It means a lot to me to be able to write about how the video game industry is rallying support for Palestine
Lot of reviewers seem to have forgotten the word 'transphobic' today. Skirt around Rowling's "hurtful comments" and "harmful views" all you want but a spade is a spade, and a transphobe is a transphobe
It's so hard being a queer Arab in this industry, and that needs to change. The way we're depicted in media is dangerous, and it needs to stop. Hire more Arabs and you won't have this issue.
"Go make your own games wait no not like that." There are still SO many games that are everything these pissbabies claim to want. They're just mad there are SOME games they don't feel catered to by. Imagine how everyone who wasn't a straight white guy felt for decades
A lot of people have been talking about Stellar Blade and the Male Gaze, so I interviewed some academics, played the demo, and wrote about it for Inverse. Amid the pushback against DEI and Sweet Baby Inc, it's an interesting topic to dive into
🚨 CAREER ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨 I got my start at TheGamer doing lists and guides so I'm happy to say I'm going full time by also becoming an Evergreen editor! Can't wait to work more with the awesome team 😃 I'm still a news ed so expect riveting news from me Monday-Thursday 🥰
There are quite literally more games available right this very second than any of us could ever complete in our lifetimes. If you don't like one, just don't play it. Play something you do like. It's so easy
Pure racism to say that Islam is antisemitic by nature. My dad is Muslim, married my Jewish mum, and the Iman who married them said it was easier to marry him to a Jew than a Christian cos the beliefs overlap so much. Appalling these comments go unchallenged
I've also been made redundant by Gamurs. If anyone knows of any full-time roles or freelance opportunities please do send them my way. I've got three years of writing and two years of editing experience across news, features, guides, you name it. issythefreelancer
@gmail
.com
Great article. Pissbabies can get as mad as they want at Sweet Baby but the truth is games are being made by more diverse people, so of course there are going to be more diverse characters. Fix your hearts
If a company blacklists you and doesn't give you advanced copies under NDA then why wouldn't you go to town reporting on leaks? Our job is to report on what's happening, this is happening. There's no legal issue, and if you don't wanna know the details don't read the article
SO! The time has finally come. From November 1st I'll be a News Editor at TheGamer!! Big thanks to
@FiveTacey
for bringing me aboard 🥰 so excited to be joining this incredible team. I've grown so much as a writer with TG and I'm excited to continue the journey 😊
I've been working on this for MONTHS and it's finally live!!! My first ever IGN article 😁 Please read the fascinating story of how Stuifo Tridev managed to make a BioShock mobile game on old phones, while managing 2K's expectations and with limited development time
BioShock eventually made its way to phones and tablets. But before that, Tridev actually developed BioShock 3D, a mobile version of the game.
Learn about its development hurdles, and how the studio overcame them to deliver a faithful experience:
Today is my first day as the News Editor
@DotEsports
! My new work email is issy
@dotesports
.com and I'll mainly be covering general gaming news, but obviously will also be doing esports etc, so PR people please add me to your mailing lists and get back in touch with me there!
After two years and more than a thousand articles, I'm leaving TheGamer. Everyone there helped me learn and grow as a writer so much - I couldn't have asked for a better start to my career. I'm so proud of what we've built there and can't wait to see the new heights it reaches
BREAKING NEWS! Ya boy is now officially a staff writer at TheGamer :D The stars truly aligned today - 69th article and a promotion. Blessed. Really excited to start doing news articles and more features with the absolutely incredible team there!!
Starting next month I'll be the news editor over at Dot Esports! I'm still at TG for the next couple weeks, and though I'm sad to go I'm excited to work with a new team 😊
After two years and more than a thousand articles, I'm leaving TheGamer. Everyone there helped me learn and grow as a writer so much - I couldn't have asked for a better start to my career. I'm so proud of what we've built there and can't wait to see the new heights it reaches
Instead of talking about those two tragic new studios, I want to remind people that
@SoftNotWeak
is an awesome studio full of queer and POC developers 😊 their game, Spirit Swap, is out soon! Demo is available now, play it! And read about it and them here
Handed in my notice at Vue yesterday which means I can now dedicate all of my work energy towards video game journalism!! A lot of people probably didn't know I still worked at Vue so this may not seem like news, but it feels like a big step in the right direction to me 🥰
Hello all! I'm a freelancer with TheGamer and I want to do more news and interviews. I'd love to cover indie games and studios, and as a queer poc, I'd love to speak to as many of you in the industry as possible! Hmu with anything I can report! DMs open, Retweets appreciated 😊💚
Wrote this piece about my issues with substance abuse and the meaning behind overcoming hardship in Euphoria and Elden Ring. Not the easiest thing to write, but I'm glad I did! Please give it a read 😊
The funniest response to this article is people calling me, a Jew, antisemitic for reporting on the parallels between goblins and Jews in Harry Potter - as if noticing the caricature is racist and actually creating it isn't.
I did retail, bar work, catering, cinema, and deliveroo before I got into my career and lemme tell you, those jobs are hell. Every shift dealing with idiots who think they're better than you cos you're on minimum wage and serving them something. Awful, dehumanising stuff
An interview I did with the wonderful
@kimchica25
and
@jamesdevstory
just went up on
@NME
!!
We spoke about
@_wholesomegames
, the amazing organisation showcasing all the cosy and cute games you could ever want 😊 give it a read!
Today marks the one year anniversary of my first ever paid article!! It was a list on
@thegamerwebsite
. I may have flirted with some other sites in the meantime, but I'm back where I started, only now I'm an editor 😊 love all my wonderful colleagues there! Our power grows hehehe
Job update! From October I'm going to be doing news shifts for NME every week :D My incessant ramblings will still be found on TheGamer and other sites though. I'm making a new email for PR folks: IssyTheFreelancer
@gmail
.com
Please add it to your press lists! RTs appreciated
I got a new email! I'm all offical now, so it's issy.v
@thegamer
.com!! Also in my bio. Officially start as a news editor November 1st but I'll still be at TG as a staff writer until then so please send your scoops and press releases there 😊
7+ of us were let go from Dot Esports in November and December '23. Here's the Gamurs CEO calling it "the ordinary course of business" in a reply under a QRT trying to help someone just laid off by Gamurs find work. Absolutely unbelievable how little c-suite cares about workers
@rabiasayal86
We've laid off people twice (Mar '22 and in Mar '23) and it's terrible and unfortunate, and I've taken the blame for it. But we haven't conducted layoffs since then. We let people go during the ordinary course of business, but claiming we've done 5 layoffs is false.
Happy to report I'm back doing freelance news shifts for NME! Tuesdays and Thursdays atm. PR pals, if you've got anything juicy you think would fit the site then shoot it over: issythefreelancer
@gmail
.com
I've written over 1,000 articles for
@thegamerwebsite
!! Very proud to have hit this milestone in just over 2 years. I am officially out of ideas though. Better play some more games for inspiration
Welp I am 26 today. I'm 6 months into my career as a journalist, a fair bit behind many of my peers, but in fairness, I was a student till I was 25 lol. This is definitely the first year I feel like an adult, and it's weird as fuck... better late than never though 🥰
I've been freelancing since January and I'm honoured to have worked with fantastic editors on really cool sites 🥰 here's a thread of articles and reviews I'm proud of! (Plus an old pic of me looking happy cos it's nice to look back at all the work I'm proud of this year)
Six Days in Fallujah is in early access now and I am pleading with my white journo peers who are covering it to look beyond the gameplay and also critically examine the way the game engages with (or doesn't) the atrocities committed by the US military
Games that make people question the way they engage with the medium are few and far between and too many folks get butt hurt when they're made to feel even the slightest bit uncomfortable about how much they relish in pretend killing brown people
There's a particular cruelty in laying people off before Christmas I hadn't thought about before: Who's hiring quickly right now? With so many people off for the holidays you're unlikely to get something soon, meaning unemployment lasts longer over an already expensive period
My first paid feature article! I'm super happy I got to dive into an analysis of the gender roles presented in Horizon. Very proud of this piece so would appreciate people checking it out! :)
This is why we say all cops are bastards. No just system would allow a man like this to remain in it. Every cop who looked the other way while Chauvin brutalised people is complicit in the death of George Floyd
I want to tell you a story about body cameras and *Derek Chauvin*
What Chauvin did to George Floyd, kneeling on his neck, was his move.
He had done to others.
It was all recorded by body cams.
But the footage was kept secret.
And Chauvin was left unpunished
[short THREAD]
I'm freelancing full-time now and looking for review, feature, guide, and mock review opportunities! I'm also open to any staff writer or editor roles 😊
Issythefreelancer
@gmail
.com
I'll be at Gamescom next month! Currently looking for interview and preview opps for Rolling Stone, Inverse, and PCGamesN. PRs please get in touch 🥰 issythefreelancer at gmail dot com
When I was 17 I worked a minimum wage retail job. £3.68 per hour. You've got something wrong with you if you think any minimum wage retail worker should risk injury for a company that's paying them the lowest amount it can legally get away with
"Attractive to who?" really sums up what all of this is about. Eve is being used by some to bash other feminine protagonists and real women. Some gamers can't even fathom the possibility that anything other than an hourglass figure can be sexy to people
Oh yeah! 200 commissioned articles
@thegamerwebsite
🎉🎉 I think I've come so far as a writer since I started there in December, so thank you to the fantastic editors and all my lovely colleagues who have made me feel loved and accepted 🥰 Next update when I hit 500
Took just under a year but I've infiltrated every department TheGamer has. My new title is cross department editor! I already did news, evergreen, and features, but now I do them all ✨️officially✨️
So, everything is pretty much the same. Go about your businesses
Your boy got his first VGC byline today! Rebirth expands on the combat and story in Remake brilliantly. Unfortunately, some frustrating mechanics remain.
Also, the Buster sword is way heavier than it looks 😅 Cloud may be a twink but he's a strong one
In my short time in this industry I've managed to interview and connect with more Arabs than I knew were in games. All amazing, hard working, inspring people to talk to - but the industry as a whole still has a ways to go. Old piece, still relevant
PR pals, I'll be attending Gamescom this year! Please let me know what games I can preview and which devs/streamers I could interview 🥰 I write for Inverse, PCGamesN, NME, and more! Hit me up on issythefreelancer (at) gmail (dot) com
As an editor one thing I try to teach writers is the writing you're paid for is different to the writing that's just for you. One is just work you're doing to pay the bills, it needs to meet site-specific criteria, style, word count, etc. The other can be as artistic as you like
Men, I promise you, you can have normal friendships with women and even be left alone with them as long as you're normal and not a predator. Refusing to be alone with any woman is just dehumanising and weird. Do you not trust yourself around other women? Does your partner not?
I finished my first week as a news ed! Loved it 😊 But I especially love having Fridays free to focus on feature writing. I get to put a lot more time and care into them now - hoping it means my writing improve. Looking forward to putting out more high quality crit and analysis
Everytime I have to speed through a dozen livers to get to the organ I need, or I accidentally buy an eye instead of a heart cos a space dog (legally not a dog) bought faster, it's pure joy. The game really does feel alive because of these moments
We got a really interesting forum post on Space Warlord identifying intentional pieces of the game's design as problems that needed solutions--and it gave me an opportunity to find the words to express a design philosophy I've been working towards for a while now.
I'm back on Inverse, this time with what essentially amounts to therapy 😅 Looking at Bloodborne and how it relates to my absent and alcoholic father figures and how my mum, against all odds, managed to provide for me despite them
EXCLUSIVE (I've always wanted to do that)
Six Days in Fallujah will "deal with white phosphorous, and many, many other topics, once we get to these points in the story." A complete reversal of Tamte's earlier comments that atrocities wouldn't be in it
This article is all about ballooning triple-A costs, unsustainable development, corporate greed, reliance on live-service elements and microtransactions to make games profitable long after they're sold. Yet all the criticism of it is "some single player games sold well last year"
Israeli politicians are openly quoting Hitler to indicate their plans for Gaza, in a live television interview. It's not even subtle: the goal is extermination.
Got a Haze (2008) tattoo cos I'm the only one brave enough to do it
Changed the screaming dude to a skull tho cos skulls are cool
Colour and highlights will be added when the pain stops 🥰
"Content" is the worst word that's been inflicted on any creative field. I hated when management would say we were putting out good content because it just devalues it all so much. There's no art to it, it's just a thing to be consumed
My first feature on PCGamesN! Is Fallout 1 worth it in this day and age? I went for a charisma build cos everyone said you can talk your way out of anything. They lied
Wonderful insights from all the devs I spoke to about this. The industry has come a long way, but it's still got further to go. Companies have to stop seeing us as profit and start seeing us as people
Iron Man (2008)
Iron Man 2 (2010)
Thor (2011)
Captain America (2011)
Avengers 1 (2012)
Iron Man 3 (2013)
We waited 2 years between Iron Man appearances, so he became the star of the MCU.
Since Endgame the only hero we've had 2 films for is Spider-Man, arguably Doctor Strange
Marvel Studios is reportedly still searching for characters and actors who can carry its universe forward after the exits of Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans.
(Via: )