Jason Hawreliak
@profjay.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Game Studies. Brock University, dept. of Digital Humanities.
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
As Ta-Nehisi Coates said last month:
“.. it’s either one of two things: either you’re cowards or you’re with him. And if you’re with him, you never believed in the things you were talking about to begin with.”
“.. it’s either one of two things: either you’re cowards or you’re with him. And if you’re with him, you never believed in the things you were talking about to begin with.”
Breaking News: Cornell University reached an agreement with the Trump administration that would restore hundreds of millions in funding to the university. It's expected to pay a $30 million fine to the government and to invest $30 million in agriculture and farming programs.
Cornell Reaches Deal with Trump Administration to Restore Research Funds
The Ivy League university had warned of layoffs after the Trump administration stripped it of funds this year. The cuts were among the deepest in higher education.
nyti.ms
November 7, 2025 at 5:30 PM
As Ta-Nehisi Coates said last month:
“.. it’s either one of two things: either you’re cowards or you’re with him. And if you’re with him, you never believed in the things you were talking about to begin with.”
“.. it’s either one of two things: either you’re cowards or you’re with him. And if you’re with him, you never believed in the things you were talking about to begin with.”
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
The way all of these people convinced themselves that Mamdani is antisemitic is a subject far more worthy of media examination than any of the ‘groupthink on campuses!’ thinkpieces we’ve been subjected to
November 5, 2025 at 8:58 PM
The way all of these people convinced themselves that Mamdani is antisemitic is a subject far more worthy of media examination than any of the ‘groupthink on campuses!’ thinkpieces we’ve been subjected to
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
man I dunno this is just off the top of my head, probably missed some things
November 5, 2025 at 4:39 PM
man I dunno this is just off the top of my head, probably missed some things
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
For the past decade, I've been slowly cooking a small and humble book.
Part (alternative) history, part analysis, and part social critique, this is a look at what games also are and have always been.
ZEN AND SLOW GAMES
Out 20/1/2026 by MIT Press
mitpress.mit.edu/978026255356...
Part (alternative) history, part analysis, and part social critique, this is a look at what games also are and have always been.
ZEN AND SLOW GAMES
Out 20/1/2026 by MIT Press
mitpress.mit.edu/978026255356...
November 3, 2025 at 4:31 PM
For the past decade, I've been slowly cooking a small and humble book.
Part (alternative) history, part analysis, and part social critique, this is a look at what games also are and have always been.
ZEN AND SLOW GAMES
Out 20/1/2026 by MIT Press
mitpress.mit.edu/978026255356...
Part (alternative) history, part analysis, and part social critique, this is a look at what games also are and have always been.
ZEN AND SLOW GAMES
Out 20/1/2026 by MIT Press
mitpress.mit.edu/978026255356...
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
NEW: After my last piece about what's slowing down game development, folks wrote in to ask "why didn't you talk about bad leadership?"
It uhhhh never came up. So I returned to the well and asked devs to explain why better leadership—not AI or any other tool—is vital to efficient game development.
It uhhhh never came up. So I returned to the well and asked devs to explain why better leadership—not AI or any other tool—is vital to efficient game development.
How poor leadership slows down game development
How poor leadership slows down game development
No tool—AI or otherwise—can speed up game development if leaders don't rise to the occasion.
www.gamedeveloper.com
November 4, 2025 at 5:34 PM
NEW: After my last piece about what's slowing down game development, folks wrote in to ask "why didn't you talk about bad leadership?"
It uhhhh never came up. So I returned to the well and asked devs to explain why better leadership—not AI or any other tool—is vital to efficient game development.
It uhhhh never came up. So I returned to the well and asked devs to explain why better leadership—not AI or any other tool—is vital to efficient game development.
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
I wrote a book and it has a cover now! (Pre-order up, available Feb 5, 2026)
www.bloomsbury.com/us/fractured...
www.bloomsbury.com/us/fractured...
November 4, 2025 at 3:39 PM
I wrote a book and it has a cover now! (Pre-order up, available Feb 5, 2026)
www.bloomsbury.com/us/fractured...
www.bloomsbury.com/us/fractured...
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
One of the biggest problems in the US right now, and an aggravator of every other problem, is that most news outlets are owned by right wing billionaires who approve of Trump's fascism.
People fucking hate this guy. They fucking hate ICE. They fucking hate how much power he has. He is at 63% overall disapproval to 37% approval. That's lower than their poll after January 6th. And this poll was done before he started intentionally starving people. I wish our media would reflect this.
November 3, 2025 at 7:54 PM
One of the biggest problems in the US right now, and an aggravator of every other problem, is that most news outlets are owned by right wing billionaires who approve of Trump's fascism.
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
even when far rightwingers are having an extremely positive experience on all fronts they’re still able to hallucinate a situation where they’re the victim
November 3, 2025 at 5:23 PM
even when far rightwingers are having an extremely positive experience on all fronts they’re still able to hallucinate a situation where they’re the victim
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
I was interviewed for this article in Wired about how the far right is using and abusing LOTR in their social posts to gain support for their bullshit:
Musk and the DHS have used “The Lord of the Rings” references to push anti-immigration messaging, seemingly positioning themselves as underdogs to justify oppression. www.wired.com/story/elon-m...
Elon Musk and the Trump Administration Really Don’t Get Tolkien
Musk and the DHS have used “The Lord of the Rings” references to push anti-immigration messaging, seemingly positioning themselves as underdogs to justify oppression.
www.wired.com
November 3, 2025 at 2:02 PM
I was interviewed for this article in Wired about how the far right is using and abusing LOTR in their social posts to gain support for their bullshit:
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
There's literally no more painful way to lose in sports
November 2, 2025 at 4:41 AM
There's literally no more painful way to lose in sports
I don't like this
November 2, 2025 at 3:48 AM
I don't like this
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
Next time someone asks me why I, as an assistant professor with a PhD, would spend my time researching the connections between games culture and larger political culture, I am just going to show them these two images.
October 29, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Next time someone asks me why I, as an assistant professor with a PhD, would spend my time researching the connections between games culture and larger political culture, I am just going to show them these two images.
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
This appropriation of gaming imagery and culture to push authoritarianism is, as @alyssamerc.bsky.social points out here, the natural extension of what Gamergate began
www.theguardian.com/games/2025/o...
www.theguardian.com/games/2025/o...
Why Trump’s White House is using video game memes to recruit for ICE
A recent spate of posts has garnered attention, but Trump and his allies have long been using gaming imagery to mobilise a toxic subculture of ‘rootless white males’
www.theguardian.com
October 29, 2025 at 11:40 AM
This appropriation of gaming imagery and culture to push authoritarianism is, as @alyssamerc.bsky.social points out here, the natural extension of what Gamergate began
www.theguardian.com/games/2025/o...
www.theguardian.com/games/2025/o...
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
Please buy my book. People who have read it seem to like it!
You can PREORDER my book about the Assassin's Creed franchise NOW! Please do that. I think it is both a fun and interesting dive into what Assassin's Creed is, how it develops its ideas, and what it says about the world we live in. TOC attached, preorder at the link! bookshop.org/p/books/ever...
October 28, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Please buy my book. People who have read it seem to like it!
Yeah I agree with takes that it's too simplistic to say that Gamergate led to resurgent fascism but a lot of those chuds do occupy senior positions in the US government now...
The ramifications of gamergate remain hard to believe
October 27, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Yeah I agree with takes that it's too simplistic to say that Gamergate led to resurgent fascism but a lot of those chuds do occupy senior positions in the US government now...
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
“The Game Needs to Change - Towards Sustainable Game Design” is now available for pre-order (official release 17th of November)!:
www.routledge.com/The-Game-Nee...
This book shows how games can play their part in addressing climate change and how we can sustainably make games for sustainability.
www.routledge.com/The-Game-Nee...
This book shows how games can play their part in addressing climate change and how we can sustainably make games for sustainability.
The Game Needs to Change: Towards Sustainable Game Design
This book shows how games can play their part in addressing climate change and how we can sustainably make games for sustainability. Based on both industry practice and research, the chapters within t...
www.routledge.com
October 27, 2025 at 4:03 PM
“The Game Needs to Change - Towards Sustainable Game Design” is now available for pre-order (official release 17th of November)!:
www.routledge.com/The-Game-Nee...
This book shows how games can play their part in addressing climate change and how we can sustainably make games for sustainability.
www.routledge.com/The-Game-Nee...
This book shows how games can play their part in addressing climate change and how we can sustainably make games for sustainability.
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
A reminder of our open call for postdoctoral researchers focusing on cultural game studies, closing on Friday this week, 31 October at 23.59.00 EET / UTC+2 (Finland time): tuni.rekrytointi.com/paikat/index...
3 Postdoctoral Researchers (cultural game studies) / 3 tutkijatohtoria (kulttuurinen pelitutkimus)
tuni.rekrytointi.com
October 27, 2025 at 7:25 AM
A reminder of our open call for postdoctoral researchers focusing on cultural game studies, closing on Friday this week, 31 October at 23.59.00 EET / UTC+2 (Finland time): tuni.rekrytointi.com/paikat/index...
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
Now it is official! The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Games is now, like, actually, surely, coming out! (This has been in the pipeline since 2018.) I have a piece here on this brand new thing called 'magic circle'. Everyone will be talking about it.
The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Games
Playing games is a basic human activity, and games raise a great number of fascinating philosophical questions. What, exactly, are we doing when we play a game? What is the value of games for human li...
www.routledge.com
October 23, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Now it is official! The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Games is now, like, actually, surely, coming out! (This has been in the pipeline since 2018.) I have a piece here on this brand new thing called 'magic circle'. Everyone will be talking about it.
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
SCOOP: For the last two years, Microsoft has pushed Xbox to hit profit margins of 30%, an ambitious target that's far higher than the industry average.
This chase for profit has led Xbox to raise prices, cut thousands of jobs, and rethink everything.
Story: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
This chase for profit has led Xbox to raise prices, cut thousands of jobs, and rethink everything.
Story: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Microsoft Pushes Xbox Division to Hit Higher Profit Margins
Management’s goal of 30% profit margins for gaming has led to job losses, canceled projects
www.bloomberg.com
October 23, 2025 at 11:02 AM
SCOOP: For the last two years, Microsoft has pushed Xbox to hit profit margins of 30%, an ambitious target that's far higher than the industry average.
This chase for profit has led Xbox to raise prices, cut thousands of jobs, and rethink everything.
Story: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
This chase for profit has led Xbox to raise prices, cut thousands of jobs, and rethink everything.
Story: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
In This article “Weak Men and Strong Women,” Kenzie Gordon and Sarah Stang critically examine how two major franchises, Tomb Raider and The Witcher 3, handle gender-based violence, arguing that their portrayals reinforce harmful stereotypes ⚔️
Studies in the Fantastic: muse.jhu.edu/article/970184
Studies in the Fantastic: muse.jhu.edu/article/970184
October 21, 2025 at 1:53 PM
In This article “Weak Men and Strong Women,” Kenzie Gordon and Sarah Stang critically examine how two major franchises, Tomb Raider and The Witcher 3, handle gender-based violence, arguing that their portrayals reinforce harmful stereotypes ⚔️
Studies in the Fantastic: muse.jhu.edu/article/970184
Studies in the Fantastic: muse.jhu.edu/article/970184
Not feeling good about this game. The Jays bats are either on or they aren't. They don't usually come alive late after struggling like this #BlueJays
October 21, 2025 at 2:06 AM
Not feeling good about this game. The Jays bats are either on or they aren't. They don't usually come alive late after struggling like this #BlueJays
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
The entire "free speech on campus" moral panic was manufactured to blackmail us into making space in intellectual life for bigots and charlatans who couldn't get there on their own merits. Its a DEI scheme for fascism. Congratulations to everyone who took it at face value.
“Following his lecture, Yarvin will debate the legendary British historian David Starkey on history and the future of conservatism.” Everything about this is so cursed. Masks off at the University of Oxford.
October 20, 2025 at 2:13 PM
The entire "free speech on campus" moral panic was manufactured to blackmail us into making space in intellectual life for bigots and charlatans who couldn't get there on their own merits. Its a DEI scheme for fascism. Congratulations to everyone who took it at face value.