Luke vdB
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thebarse.bsky.social
Luke vdB
@thebarse.bsky.social
Senior Writer and Editor at Failbetter Games. Art creature. Half-asleep. I don't hate you, my face just looks like that. 'barse' online. They/Them.
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📚 My current contract is coming to an end in Dec so I am now looking for new work!

⭐ I am an award-winning & expert/lead game writer & narrative designer.

🌎 I am interested in long & short term contracts & consultancy, ideally remote.

Let's chat!

hannahnicklin.com
linkedin.com/in/hannah-nicklin
October 15, 2025 at 6:46 PM
this is ridiculous and santa ragione make nothing but bangers
Our upcoming game HORSES was preemptively banned from Steam, with no path to appeal. The game will still launch next week on December 2nd and will be available on EGS, GOG, Humble, and Itch for $4.99. Here is a detailed FAQ covering what happened: horses.wtf/BannedFromSt...
November 25, 2025 at 5:47 PM
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Anyway buy @santaragione.com's games, they are VERY GOOD www.santaragione.com
Santa Ragione - Game Studio
www.santaragione.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:31 PM
what do normal people do when they have time off
November 25, 2025 at 5:11 PM
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had an excellent time at my first AdventureX; lots of great conversations with people who were very nice despite me acting like an overstimulated hermit. time to sleep for a week
November 24, 2025 at 6:46 PM
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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
had an excellent time at my first AdventureX; lots of great conversations with people who were very nice despite me acting like an overstimulated hermit. time to sleep for a week
November 24, 2025 at 6:46 PM
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Pitch: Games Workshop should hire @hazelmonforton.com in some capacity
November 24, 2025 at 11:20 AM
student-age guy next to me on the train genuinely coding/testing a flappy bird ripoff called floppy bird in which the character is a flailing wang. i hope he's coming to AdventureX
November 21, 2025 at 3:05 PM
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One of my favourite games — short, beautiful and effortlessly cool
Two years after its release, Mediterranea Inferno reaches 200 reviews on Steam! 98% positive.
November 19, 2025 at 10:58 AM
what the fuck is going on over at discord
November 18, 2025 at 6:20 PM
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"He desired. He desired desiring. He desired being desired. He desired desire itself."
November 17, 2025 at 3:49 PM
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November 14, 2025 at 9:55 PM
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having such a fun time with Hypogea. any game in which you can walk around but aren't given a big shepherd's crook to hook and vault with is now a failure
November 16, 2025 at 2:05 PM
making pizza. making focaccia. making banana bread. i am rounded and delicious
November 16, 2025 at 7:34 PM
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glad to have finished the poem Pale Fire. now to turn the page and read some very normal literary annotation
November 15, 2025 at 9:22 PM
having such a fun time with Hypogea. any game in which you can walk around but aren't given a big shepherd's crook to hook and vault with is now a failure
November 16, 2025 at 2:05 PM
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I’m not Becoming The Joker,
Britain is Becoming Gotham
Turns out i was not in fact Becoming The Joker more and more its just that Britain gets less and less normal by the week so comparatively my levels of Jokerfication look worse
November 16, 2025 at 1:35 PM
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pope saw the Metroid Prime 4 footage and thought he needed to chime in
Some inspiring words on cinema in the streaming era from the Pope.

Yes, THAT Pope.
November 15, 2025 at 7:59 PM
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DO NOT TALK TO SAMUS WHILE SHE IS WORKING
November 14, 2025 at 2:25 PM
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Folks it pains me to ask so bluntly, but could anyone use some work doing by me? I've got to find income for three months until my next royalty payment, and I'm not having much luck.
November 13, 2025 at 1:30 PM
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I went to meet the 'Rockstar 31', the developers who were suddenly fired from their work on GTA 6 for what the studio has described as gross misconduct.

That's not what the workers call it though. They have another couple of words they prefer to use: union busting.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9nO...
The Rockstar Workers Fired Before They Could Finish GTA 6
YouTube video by People Make Games
www.youtube.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:43 PM
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it's on miro. it's literally on figma. you have to log into okta. it's in jira. it's on zoom. it's on pureref. it's on flow. it's on perforce. it's on slack. you can find it on slack. you can go to slack and find it. log onto slack right now. you can slack it. slack has it for you. it's on slack.
November 12, 2025 at 10:15 PM
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Fangamer is hiring a Graphic Designer! (remote work OK) 🙌
Rare opportunity for a creative position at the kindest, coolest company there is 💚
www.fangamer.com/pages/job-li...
Graphic Designer
Fangamer is looking for a full time experienced designer with strong product and layout design skills to join our creative team. This position will be responsible for conceptualizing, speccing and pro...
www.fangamer.com
November 12, 2025 at 5:47 PM