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Andrei Zanescu

@andreizanescu.bsky.social

1.4K followers 520 following 160 posts

Postdoc Fellow in Communication Studies + Socio/Anthro @Concordia Blockbuster Resonance & Prestige in AAA Games, Film & Awards Shows Also Magic: The Gathering + Cultural Resonance Streaming by the Rest of Us (2025, MIT Press) www.andreizanescu.com

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Andrei Zanescu @andreizanescu.bsky.social · Nov 10

Woke up to a ton of new followers, which is surreal. Welcome everyone!

I suppose this is a great time to do an intro to who I am and what I do, so buckle up.

tl;dr: I'm a media studies/coms assistant professor who works at the intersection of games and Hollywood.

Long version below, with photos!

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Andrei Zanescu @andreizanescu.bsky.social · 11d

Whoa! Time really does fly!

Andrei Zanescu @andreizanescu.bsky.social · 13d

Waking up to news of the PIF EA buyout, on the one hand, and of the pro-EU win in the Moldovan election, on the other.

Wild morning.

Andrei Zanescu @andreizanescu.bsky.social · 13d

I have like 50 questions about the implications for media concentration and control over a large sector of the AAA games industry, but I'm gonna patiently wait for the deep dive.

Reposted by Andrei Zanescu

Luke Plunkett @lukeplunkett.com · 13d

this feels catastrophic in ways few other big industry deals have

IGN @ign.com · 13d

EA goes private in $55 billion deal, Andrew Wilson to remain as CEO. https://bit.ly/3WaGqnc

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Reposted by Andrei Zanescu

Michael Iantorno 🍂🕹️ @michaeliantorno.com · Aug 27

A stylised hamburger with the words "failure to indict" sandwiched between the buns.

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Andrei Zanescu @andreizanescu.bsky.social · Aug 7

Diving back into media industries work this month and I’m absolutely blown away by @adewaard.bsky.social’s Derivative Media (2024).

His 2020 piece has been on my mind for years and the book is bigger, better and bolder.

If you’re a media industries, cultural studies or coms reader, check it out!

Andrew deWaard @adewaard.bsky.social · Sep 3

DERIVATIVE MEDIA is out today with
@ucpress.bsky.social ! It's the first in-depth book on how Wall Street is harming film, television, and popular music. It's available in print or for free as an ebook. Please share!

www.ucpress.edu/books/derivative-media

bookshop.org/p/books/deri...

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Andrei Zanescu @andreizanescu.bsky.social · Aug 6

This is so rad!

Reposted by Andrei Zanescu

Video Game History Foundation @gamehistoryorg.bsky.social · Aug 6

We've acquired the historic game magazine Computer Entertainer.

As in, we got the rights. We own the magazine. And we're putting it into the Creative Commons for anyone to use for free.

Learn more: gamehistory.org/computerente...

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Andrei Zanescu @andreizanescu.bsky.social · Aug 2

In some ways, you were already correct.

Andrei Zanescu @andreizanescu.bsky.social · Aug 1

My mom has truly tasked me with a herculean labour, she wants me to find her a Labubu in Canada, and a "reasonable" price.

Andrei Zanescu @andreizanescu.bsky.social · Aug 1

"why are you wounding us this way"

Reposted by Andrei Zanescu

Laine Nooney @ 🔥🗑️🔥 @lainenooney.bsky.social · Aug 1

Good morning! If the latest censorship chaos has been drifting across your feeds but you're still not clear what's going on, we made a podcast episode for you 👇

UNBOXING: Play and Profit for the Gaming Curious @unboxingpod.bsky.social · Aug 1

🎙️NEW EPISODE ALERT🎙️
Steam and itch pulled thousands of NSFW games 🔞 PLUS, find out how payment processors became censors 🤬 and how the UK’s Online Safety Act isn’t helping 🙅 Tune in here:

UNBOXING Podcast

The UNBOXING podcast is a weekly dose of insight into play and profit for the gaming curious. Joost crunches data. Laine rummages in archives. Together these two NYU professors unlock the secrets of…

youtube.com

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Reposted by Andrei Zanescu

Jason Schreier @jasonschreier.bsky.social · Jul 28

One of the strangest (and most frustrating) quirks of the video game industry is that sales data is so opaque, you sometimes only get it when companies sue each other www.resetera.com/threads/hori...

Horizon Franchise Has Sold Over 38 Million Coppies Sales - Sony

As per the law suit today it was revealed that franshcise has passed over 38 Million Copies sold:

www.resetera.com

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Reposted by Andrei Zanescu

Marie Foulston @tigershungry.co.uk · Jul 25

I've looked & I could have missed it, maybe its saved in their drafts but @ukieofficial.bsky.social TIGA, BFI, that new video game council. Which UK body representing games is stepping up to publicly speak about the mass censorship of the cultural form they represent?
www.polygon.com/news/615910/...

Adult games are forcing the game industry into a spiritual crisis

Itchio joins Steam in pulling games due to pressure from extreme groups with an ongoing campaign aimed at payment processors

www.polygon.com

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Andrei Zanescu @andreizanescu.bsky.social · Jul 25

More details about this in the future, but for now it's time to get to reviewing literature!

a man with a mustache is wearing a white shirt that says ted lasso on it

ALT: a man with a mustache is wearing a white shirt that says ted lasso on it

media.tenor.com

Andrei Zanescu @andreizanescu.bsky.social · Jul 25

Concretely, I'll be coordinating on-the-ground work on the literature review, data collection (drawing on methods from my doctoral dissertation) and coding the findings, overseeing a team of graduate MA and PhD research assistants.

Andrei Zanescu @andreizanescu.bsky.social · Jul 25

Focusing on the top 50 AAA titles of the past 20 years (with political economy implications about how we can even circumscribe that category), we use many methodologies including formal analysis, player perception, developer experiences to consider how cultural biases are perpetuated or challenged.

Andrei Zanescu @andreizanescu.bsky.social · Jul 25

Announcement time! I’m starting a year-long postdoctoral research fellowship here at Concordia University. I’ll be working with Mia Consalvo and @drkowert.bsky.social on a @gamesforchange.bsky.social project studying cultural representation in videogames.

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Reposted by Andrei Zanescu

Andrei Nae @andrei-nae.bsky.social · Jul 24

📢 If you would like take part in the workshop, please follow the link in the first comment, read the description, and send an email to [email protected] detailing in around 150 words your relation to postcolonialism and/or postcommunism and video games.

DEADLINE JULY 24

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Andrei Zanescu @andreizanescu.bsky.social · Jul 15

Getting featured on the DiGRA early career showcase feels like a fever dream.

Now, I guess my book project anout #GameAwards (including @thegameawards.com) is out in the wild.

digra.org/malta-2025-h...

Malta 2025 Highlight: Early Career and Precarious Positions Showcase - DiGRA

We are delighted that the first ever Early Career and Precarious Positions Showcase was a huge success at DiGRA Malta 2025. Chaitanya Solanki (Mahindra University, India); Andrei Zanescu (Concordia Un...

digra.org

Andrei Zanescu @andreizanescu.bsky.social · Jul 15

Well, I know what my late summer reading is gonna be!

Andrei Zanescu @andreizanescu.bsky.social · Jul 11

a bald man wearing sunglasses and a black shirt is saying `` finally ! ''

ALT: a bald man wearing sunglasses and a black shirt is saying `` finally ! ''

media.tenor.com

Andrei Zanescu @andreizanescu.bsky.social · Jul 11

"What is the carbon footprint of storing, running and repairing all these zords"

Andrei Zanescu @andreizanescu.bsky.social · Jul 11

I need to stop telling @michaeliantorno.com how much I think about #PowerRangers, or I'll keep ending up with him making these memes.

Reposted by Andrei Zanescu

Adam Sharp @adamcsharp.bsky.social · Jul 10

There’s a Hindi phrase (usually said by dads) for when someone leaves the lights on that translates to “Is it Diwali again?” A French version is “We’re not in Versailles!” But my favourite version, by far, is the Serbian “Was your grandpa Nikola Tesla?”

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