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nathangrayson.bsky.social
Nathan Grayson
@nathangrayson.bsky.social
19K followers 710 following 2.3K posts
Co-founder and reporter @aftermath.site. Beats: labor, livestreaming. My book about Twitch, Stream Big, is available now. Formerly: The Washington Post. Send tips to [email protected] or nathangrayson.666 on Signal
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nathangrayson.bsky.social
Nathan Grayson @nathangrayson.bsky.social · Oct 17
I’m nathan

website: @aftermath.site (please subscribe)

book about twitch: www.simonandschuster.com/books/Stream... (please preorder)

cat: biscuit (please appreciate)
gray cat (beautiful) sticking tongue out
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
lukeplunkett.com
i would not trust the guillemot family to run a lemonade stand
aftermath.site Aftermath @aftermath.site · 9h
Ubisoft, face covered in bruises, once again extends leg confidently towards end of rake:

aftermath.site/ubisoft-ai-tea...
November 25, 2025 at 10:46 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
lukeplunkett.com
we...might have fucked up with 5000 (that number needs to be higher), and 5500 is coming regardless (new hoodie soon!), but 6500 is the BIG goal
aftermath.site Aftermath @aftermath.site · 11h
Exciting news! Thanks to our sale, we've rocketed all the way up to over 4,900 paying subscribers. This means we can cross another goal, a regular columnist, off our list. We plan to sort out the exact specifics in our own time, but for now, who do you think would be a good fit?
4,800 - We can pay somebody to write a regular column for the site. 4,900 - Where we're at now! 5,000 - Most of us can do this full-time, with the caveat that budgets and business structures are complicated, and we're still figuring out all the costs that go into receiving livable pay from a business. A year from now, we'll probably know if we estimated this one correctly or not (lol). 5,200 - We can bring on people to help us with more specialized tasks (a dedicated businessperson, someone to focus on our social media accounts and promotion, etc). 5,500 - More merch drops! 5,800 - We can bring on another regular contributor to keep Isaiah company. (We decided to allocate funds for this one a little earlier than planned to bring on Nicole, an excellent decision on our parts if we do say so ourselves.) 6,000 - A second party, and we can cover Luke’s travel costs (unless he decides he never wants to set foot in America again, which would be totally understandable). 6,300 - We can travel to and cover events more regularly. 6,500 - We can hire another full-time staff member!
November 25, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
aftermath.site
Exciting news! Thanks to our sale, we've rocketed all the way up to over 4,900 paying subscribers. This means we can cross another goal, a regular columnist, off our list. We plan to sort out the exact specifics in our own time, but for now, who do you think would be a good fit?
4,800 - We can pay somebody to write a regular column for the site. 4,900 - Where we're at now! 5,000 - Most of us can do this full-time, with the caveat that budgets and business structures are complicated, and we're still figuring out all the costs that go into receiving livable pay from a business. A year from now, we'll probably know if we estimated this one correctly or not (lol). 5,200 - We can bring on people to help us with more specialized tasks (a dedicated businessperson, someone to focus on our social media accounts and promotion, etc). 5,500 - More merch drops! 5,800 - We can bring on another regular contributor to keep Isaiah company. (We decided to allocate funds for this one a little earlier than planned to bring on Nicole, an excellent decision on our parts if we do say so ourselves.) 6,000 - A second party, and we can cover Luke’s travel costs (unless he decides he never wants to set foot in America again, which would be totally understandable). 6,300 - We can travel to and cover events more regularly. 6,500 - We can hire another full-time staff member!
November 25, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
winterk.bsky.social
Valve, internally, are probably trying to lean on "objective" final decisions in moderation as an ultimate problem stopper. from their personal standpoint, it probably is. but art is subjective, and when you own an art storefront of this boggling scale you have a responsibility to apply some nuance.
November 25, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
lameposting.bsky.social
I think Demonschool is a good video game but I think Brandon’s approach to how staff worked together and were credited REALLY deserves a lot of attention. Video game crediting is a stupid black box and transparency will help average people understand these roles.
nathangrayson.bsky.social Nathan Grayson @nathangrayson.bsky.social · 13h
demonschool credits all 145 people who touched the game over the course of its multi-year dev cycle AND explains what exactly they contributed. the rest of the games industry, which commonly omits people from credits entirely, should be taking notes
November 25, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
fluffyanimal.bsky.social
Credit *everyone* is the least a company can do. Crediting everyone and explaining their role on the project should be the normal and respectful thing to do.
nathangrayson.bsky.social Nathan Grayson @nathangrayson.bsky.social · 13h
demonschool credits all 145 people who touched the game over the course of its multi-year dev cycle AND explains what exactly they contributed. the rest of the games industry, which commonly omits people from credits entirely, should be taking notes
November 25, 2025 at 7:35 PM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
demonschool credits all 145 people who touched the game over the course of its multi-year dev cycle AND explains what exactly they contributed. the rest of the games industry, which commonly omits people from credits entirely, should be taking notes
“We worked [on Hyper Gunsport] with a localization company that refused to give the names of the people that actually did the work; they just wanted to have their company name in there,” Sheffield said. “They say they do that because ‘It's the standard’ and ‘to avoid poaching’ or whatever, but I hate that and think it's total BS. … I've also seen a lot of folks complain about how they weren't credited on a game because they'd left the studio before the game they worked on was finished. And indeed, our lead 3D artist left two years ago. But he's still the first artist credited because he set the style and visual tone for a lot of the game. Not working on the game to the very end doesn't negate the work he did.” The more Sheffield thought about how to meet the needs of so many different types of contributors – and discussed the matter on social media – the more a comprehensive, detail-oriented approach to crediting started to make sense. “That had all been percolating in the back of my mind as we got close to finishing, and then it just sort of hit me as it came time for me to write the credits,” he said. “I discussed this approach with the team and everyone was fine with it, so we just went for it. We always want to credit everyone that touched the game, so even though the core team was 7 or 8 people at any given time, we credited around 145 people in Demonschool. Who cares if it's a lot of people? Who cares if it's long? They all did something and they deserve credit. And you basically can tell who the core team was by reading the descriptions. None of us are precious about that anyway.”
November 25, 2025 at 7:32 PM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
I’m gonna be in LA to cover the game awards and surrounding events for @aftermath.site! if you’d like to send any invites, feel free to DM or email me
November 25, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
aftermath.site
We now have a full text RSS feed for members, if you're into that kinda thing:

aftermath.site/aftermath-rss-...
November 24, 2025 at 11:48 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
writingongames.bsky.social
Working with editors early on made me realise that, truly, maybe the biggest problem with YouTube criticism is no one has to work with an editor
olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · Oct 8
repost this if an editor has ever saved you from yourself
blipstress.bsky.social violet allen @blipstress.bsky.social · Oct 8
An actual hot take: Too many authors are afraid of editors watering down their voice or whatever and not afraid enough of editors letting you put any old slop on the page.
October 8, 2025 at 11:39 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
lukeplunkett.com
sometimes you just need to get your ass kicked
November 24, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
aftermath.site
If you want to see more of this type of work, please consider becoming an Aftermath subscriber. We're currently running a sale, where you can get your first month of our Reader tier for just $1 aftermath.site
November 24, 2025 at 6:45 PM
nathangrayson.bsky.social
I was born and raised in dallas and moved away at the earliest opportunity not because I recognized all of this when I was younger, but because what springs out of it is a place that’s culturally and artistically impoverished — a gray blob of chain stores and paranoia
“Abundance” is not a wonky set of policy prescriptions aimed at liberals on the coasts. The real version of American abundance—the version that long ago moved from theory into practice—can be found in Dallas, Texas. The common thread that runs through all of the elements of this particular Dallas lifestyle is the implicit belief that the world is here for us, and no one else. The church here says that we will be saved, as our wicked enemies burn in hell. The land here is treated as an infinite resource, wasted on broad highways and spacious gas stations and two-car garages, everything farther than it needs to be from everything else, because god bestowed this bounty upon us, and we deserve to use it as we see fit. The politics here coddle the ill-concealed beliefs of a certain set of people that theirs is the superior culture, and nurture their wheedling fears that a darker and different person will creep in and steal it all away in the middle of the night
November 24, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
alyssamerc.bsky.social
For @aftermath.site, I spoke to @imodrew.bsky.social, the Sucker Punch dev fired after making a Charlie Kirk joke.

She paints a picture of an industry that all too often ignores bad actors until those bad actors threaten them financially.
aftermath.site/sucker-punch...
Two Months After Firing Over Charlie Kirk Comments, Ghost Of Yotei Dev Blames Harassment Campaign, Not ‘Bad Joke’
"I really don’t want this to happen to anyone else, because I feel like with the state of everything, it will absolutely happen to other people," says Drew Harrison
aftermath.site
November 24, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
imodrew.bsky.social
This is what happened to me. Employers across the board need to be aware of how harassment campaigns work and do better to protect their employees from them. These people should not have a platform to profit off of harassment.
aftermath.site Aftermath @aftermath.site · 1d
Two months after firing over Charlie Kirk comments, Ghost of Yotei dev blames harassment campaign, not 'bad joke'
aftermath.site/sucker-punch-c...
Ghost of Yotei
November 24, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
aftermath.site
Two months after firing over Charlie Kirk comments, Ghost of Yotei dev blames harassment campaign, not 'bad joke'
aftermath.site/sucker-punch-c...
Ghost of Yotei
November 24, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
jasonkoebler.bsky.social
X's location "transparency" feature showing many MAGA accounts are based internationally reveals what we already knew: The world is using American social media and American politics as a slot machine and social media companies are directly incentivizing this:

www.404media.co/americas-pol...
America’s Polarization Has Become the World's Side Hustle
The 'psyops' revealed by X are entirely the fault of the perverse incentives created by social media monetization programs.
www.404media.co
November 24, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
richburroughs.dev
Periodic reminder that this kind of doomer bullshit is marketing for these companies. It makes the models sound more human-like and also more effective than they actually are.
November 24, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
chrisbratt.bsky.social
EXCLUSIVE: So far it's been unclear what proof Rockstar Games has to justify its firing of 34 union members, who it claims were leaking "confidential information in a public forum".

PMG has now seen some of the messages which contributed to this decision being made.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TvW...
The Messages Rockstar Saw Before Firing 34 Union Members
YouTube video by People Make Games
www.youtube.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
jmrivera.bsky.social
that’s right for 24 hours I am the Game File Street Team, very shrewd of Stephen. Subscribe! Give me cash! Fund more freelancers on Game File!
stephentotilo.bsky.social Stephen Totilo @stephentotilo.bsky.social · 1d
Want to enable more freelance reporting and reviews on Game File?

Now's a great time to support Game File and Joshua--and to help fund future guest contributions

Guest writers receive a flat rate plus a 25% cut of any annual subscriptions purchased in the 24 hours after their articles run
November 24, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
lukeplunkett.com
two years into a business called "aftermath" and we finally got our second dre request
November 23, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
aftermath.site
Support human workers. Support human artists. Buy a t-shirt.

aftermath.site/buy-destroy-ai...
November 22, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
kattenbarge.bsky.social
Ryan Lizza is doing with his Substack what YouTubers have already perfected: taking serious allegations they’re personally involved with and turning them into melodrama to deflect from any of their own culpability and wrongdoing and monetize the shit out of it. Not journalism plus it’s embarrassing
November 22, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
megannicolett.bsky.social
I spoke with people role-playing ICE raids in video games to help educate people on their rights and what to do in real-life situations. Tonight, they're holding an event in Fortnite www.wired.com/story/activi...
New Save Collective plans to continue holding future events and organizing gamers. The fight for these communities online is far from over. “Gaming wasn't kind of a random genre that we chose,” says Siggelkow. “We've been tracking anti-immigrant myths and disinformation digitally for years. We really grounded this campaign in a lot of data and research. This really is a space that is critical for immigration narrative.”
November 21, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Reposted by Nathan Grayson
austinwalker.bsky.social
There's a lot to say about the Roblox CEO interview, and the right place to start is definitely his answers on children's safety, because that's kind of the fire that is hottest and closest.

However, I have to also say, the polymarket stuff is real 'summation of our neoliberal dumpster fire' shit.
Newton: Wait, where are you on Polymarket? Baszucki: So I assume you are both big fans. Newton: We’ve talked a lot about prediction markets on the show. Roose: Yup. Baszucki: So, I don’t know if you had the experience, independent of political party or anything, just a real-time science experiment. On election night, I had four screens, like journalists of all journalists, and like, how do I quickly go from journalist to journalist? And then with my family, we were watching Polymarket as well, and we were comparing Polymarket to the comments of all the journalists. And I do think Polymarket was coming through, like, 30 to 45 minutes ahead of them. And, like, it was an interesting thought experiment to see, like, OK, we’re at 86 percent here, whether you like or dislike the way it was going, and then see various journalists, like, say different things. Newton: Yeah, so you think this is becoming a really interesting signal to understanding what’s happening in the world right now? Baszucki: I think, mathematically, there’s the notion that prediction markets, if they’re liquid and transparent, capture, in a way, all of the world’s information and every signal. And if there is one election counter way out in the corner in some weird county that knows it’s going to go this way, if they could go bet $10,000, like, that’s gonna nudge the thing and make the information more perfect. So, I’m a huge fan of that.
November 21, 2025 at 6:40 PM