Shannon Liao
@shannonliao.bsky.social
8.7K followers 260 following 560 posts
Inverse dot com gaming editor. bylines at New York Times, Vulture, IGN, Esquire, Scientific American and more. ex-WaPo and CNN shannonliao.substack.com for bespoke games journalism delivered to your inbox
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shannonliao.bsky.social
got this ad today in the App Store, not sure why hello kitty is on the ground?
shannonliao.bsky.social
by the way i don’t know who needs to hear this, but this meat buns package doesn’t actually contain any meat, despite the photo… I just opened up the bun and was severely disappointed
Reposted by Shannon Liao
cmejeur.bsky.social
Was great getting to talk about this fantastic game with Shannon, and starstruck to be quoted next to the fantastic Kishonna Gray! Thanks for writing this piece Shannon! And everyone check it and Consume Me out
shannonliao.bsky.social
the NYT story on Jenny Jiao Hsia’s game Consume Me is up! “Consume Me nods back to the confessional style of YouTube videos from the early 2000s, and also contains skill-based gameplay in its six-hour run time, adapting scenes from Jiao Hsia’s life in inventive ways.” www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/a...
She Counted Calories as a Teen, Then Created a Game About It
www.nytimes.com
shannonliao.bsky.social
the NYT story on Jenny Jiao Hsia’s game Consume Me is up! “Consume Me nods back to the confessional style of YouTube videos from the early 2000s, and also contains skill-based gameplay in its six-hour run time, adapting scenes from Jiao Hsia’s life in inventive ways.” www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/a...
She Counted Calories as a Teen, Then Created a Game About It
www.nytimes.com
shannonliao.bsky.social
you may not know this because I sure didn’t, but love is blind france is like roughly 75% Asian. it’s my new favorite Asian drama 😌
shannonliao.bsky.social
here's our borderlands 4 review from a day ago, by the way. just to note, after talking to other journalists, it seems like I just lucked out and played the one class and skill tree that let me solo all of the major bosses with some amount of ease. www.inverse.com/gaming/borde...
‘Borderlands 4’ Serves Up Raunchy Jokes, Big Guns, And A Lot Of Heart
At the least, 'Borderlands 4' can erase the taste that the blockbuster-that-wasn’t left in our mouths — but it promises a lot more than that.
www.inverse.com
shannonliao.bsky.social
thanks all for the wonderful responses! I’m all set here now! :)
shannonliao.bsky.social
writing a new york times article for the upcoming indie game "consume me," and i'm looking for academics who can speak to the gender politics and history of games! I know the school season has just started again, but I'm really hoping to hear back this week before I must fly out. my DMs are open.
shannonliao.bsky.social
i am deep into borderlands 4 now, so if you haven't heard from me in a while, that is quite possibly why
shannonliao.bsky.social
Breaking news: More than 450 Diablo game developers just voted to unionize
shannonliao.bsky.social
World Premiere alert! Inverse got to feature Borderlands' latest exclusive trailer on our site and Hayes interviews the Marvel directors behind the video clip.
solfleet.bsky.social
Hey I get to say the words “World Premier.” Inverse can exclusively reveal the new live action spot for Borderlands 4, created by Loki and Daredevil directors Moorhead and Benson, who I also interviewed about its creation (theyre very cool) www.inverse.com/gaming/borde...
Marvel Directors Blew Everything Up For The New 'Borderlands 4' Trailer
Inverse has the exclusive reveal of 'Borderlands 4's new live-action trailer, and the story behind its creation by the directors of 'Daredevil: Born Again.'
www.inverse.com
shannonliao.bsky.social
back on my game, better than ever
shannonliao.bsky.social
NEW: 180 Blizzard workers just unionized today.
shannonliao.bsky.social
ok i rewatched kpop demon hunters because everyone told me to and the first time i watched it i had been too engrossed in mahjong. it's actually very good! I stand corrected
shannonliao.bsky.social
For bargaining member Autumn Prazuch, this interview marked her first one on the record, and a "monumental moment." Read our full, thought-provoking conversation about the historic fight here, and for more video games journalism, follow along: shannonliao.substack.com/p/3-years-la...
3 years later... they won
Call of Duty Workers Win 3-Year Battle For Microsoft Union Contract, Worker Goes On The Record For The First Time
shannonliao.substack.com
shannonliao.bsky.social
The final contract includes:
✅ A 10% wage increase over two years
✅ Permanent work-from-home for most QA workers
✅ New rules to combat crunch culture
✅ A defined process for promotions & raises
shannonliao.bsky.social
In 2021, layoffs made testers feel expendable — a story I first broke for The Washington Post.
In response, they organized.
“It feels like we’ve been sprinting a marathon," bargaining members Erin Hall tells me. "To finally be at the end is unbelievable.” shannonliao.substack.com/p/3-years-la...
3 years later... they won
Call of Duty Workers Win 3-Year Battle For Microsoft Union Contract, Worker Goes On The Record For The First Time
shannonliao.substack.com
shannonliao.bsky.social
NEW: Call of Duty workers just voted to ratify their first union contract with Microsoft, marking the end of nearly 3 years of negotiations. The two bargaining members speak to me about everything that went into it, and where they go from here. shannonliao.substack.com/p/3-years-la...
3 years later... they won
Call of Duty Workers Win 3-Year Battle For Microsoft Union Contract, Worker Goes On The Record For The First Time
shannonliao.substack.com
shannonliao.bsky.social
Hope you haven't been waiting too long. My exclusive newsletter featuring my unpublished Hideo Kojima interview insights will be sent to my paying Substack subscribers in a few hours: open.substack.com/pub/shannonl...
Hideo Kojima Speaks: The Extended Cut
On Death Stranding 2, Konami and Metal Gear woes, and the Final Stage of Plan
open.substack.com