Arjan Terpstra
@ranja72.bsky.social
Video game writer. Wrote for Guerrilla and PUBG games. Author of PAC-MAN: Birth of an Icon and Sonic Art and Design books. See ranja72.com for details, projects, contact.
Pinned
Arjan Terpstra
@ranja72.bsky.social
· Nov 11
Hi there, Arjan here, video game writer from the Netherlands. Involved in anything from video game history and exhibition curation to writing for games. Also active in (Dutch-language) journalism and copywriting. Enjoying the vibes here after a long stint on X.... Let's be friends!
What they never tell you about freelancing for multiple clients at the same time.
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 13, 2025 at 10:56 AM
What they never tell you about freelancing for multiple clients at the same time.
Reposted by Arjan Terpstra
Microsoft announces that 20-30% of the code for some projects is written by AI while they're in the middle of being eviscerated for pushing multiple updates that have been causing instability, crashes, and even bricking people's PCs.
I wonder if these two things are related 🤔
I wonder if these two things are related 🤔
November 12, 2025 at 12:43 AM
Microsoft announces that 20-30% of the code for some projects is written by AI while they're in the middle of being eviscerated for pushing multiple updates that have been causing instability, crashes, and even bricking people's PCs.
I wonder if these two things are related 🤔
I wonder if these two things are related 🤔
Reposted by Arjan Terpstra
Unsolicited writing advice, no. 18181999:
"Write what you know" is limiting advice, which leads to limited writing. Instead, know what you're writing about. That means due diligence: good research, wide reading, specialist help and advice if you need it. Stay curious. Try new ideas. No limits.
"Write what you know" is limiting advice, which leads to limited writing. Instead, know what you're writing about. That means due diligence: good research, wide reading, specialist help and advice if you need it. Stay curious. Try new ideas. No limits.
November 11, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Unsolicited writing advice, no. 18181999:
"Write what you know" is limiting advice, which leads to limited writing. Instead, know what you're writing about. That means due diligence: good research, wide reading, specialist help and advice if you need it. Stay curious. Try new ideas. No limits.
"Write what you know" is limiting advice, which leads to limited writing. Instead, know what you're writing about. That means due diligence: good research, wide reading, specialist help and advice if you need it. Stay curious. Try new ideas. No limits.
Reposted by Arjan Terpstra
It's so funny that I can often spot an AI-heavy game from a mile off just because of the color palette in a tiny thumbnail image. The Shit N' Piss miasma has sunk deep into the bones of all the image generator engines.
November 10, 2025 at 7:25 AM
It's so funny that I can often spot an AI-heavy game from a mile off just because of the color palette in a tiny thumbnail image. The Shit N' Piss miasma has sunk deep into the bones of all the image generator engines.
Funny how “LLM” is quickly replacing swearwords like “twat”, “douchebag”, as in “what the f** are you talking about, you LLM”
November 8, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Funny how “LLM” is quickly replacing swearwords like “twat”, “douchebag”, as in “what the f** are you talking about, you LLM”
Reposted by Arjan Terpstra
There is for sure a marketing gap. It’s not that narrative games don’t sell, it’s that a lot of publishers aren’t set up to sell them. It’s a lot easier to blame the marketplace or devs for an issue than to give their marketing teams the resources they need to get it done.
It's cool how we keep proving over and over and over again that there's a significant market for narrative-heavy, character-driven, single-player experiences in video games and publishers just categorically refuse to believe us
Dispatch has sold 1 million copies in under two weeks
November 4, 2025 at 6:30 PM
There is for sure a marketing gap. It’s not that narrative games don’t sell, it’s that a lot of publishers aren’t set up to sell them. It’s a lot easier to blame the marketplace or devs for an issue than to give their marketing teams the resources they need to get it done.
Just muted the word 'baseball' to save my feed. To Americans, I'd say there's other stuff in need of your attention, if you don't mind me being frank.
November 3, 2025 at 10:55 AM
Just muted the word 'baseball' to save my feed. To Americans, I'd say there's other stuff in need of your attention, if you don't mind me being frank.
Hey I know rhat book….
Killzone turns 21 years old today!
Art for the series was shared in Killzone Visual Design, highlighting the incredible work of the artists at @guerrilla.bsky.social. I'll always love the design of the Helghast with their glowing red eyes!
Watch my video preview of the book below 👇
Art for the series was shared in Killzone Visual Design, highlighting the incredible work of the artists at @guerrilla.bsky.social. I'll always love the design of the Helghast with their glowing red eyes!
Watch my video preview of the book below 👇
November 2, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Hey I know rhat book….
Reposted by Arjan Terpstra
Remember when Grok was only something Heinlein readers knew about and oh.
I get it now.
I get it now.
November 1, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Remember when Grok was only something Heinlein readers knew about and oh.
I get it now.
I get it now.
Reposted by Arjan Terpstra
A Japanese organisation representing Square Enix, Bandai Namco, Studio Ghibli, and more has demanded OpenAI to halt unauthorised use of their IP.
(Read more: Automaton)
(Read more: Automaton)
October 31, 2025 at 2:49 PM
A Japanese organisation representing Square Enix, Bandai Namco, Studio Ghibli, and more has demanded OpenAI to halt unauthorised use of their IP.
(Read more: Automaton)
(Read more: Automaton)
Hey I know that book…
45 years ago, the arcade game PAC-MAN was launched in North America ( October 1980 ). It was an instant hit and soon became one of the most iconic videgames of all time. 100s of copy-cat versions were created for home computers, virtually all were un-licensed. One of my all-time favourite games.
October 31, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Hey I know that book…
No notes
the fucked up part of ai is that it's built by programmers, so all the ai programming tools are made to assist programmers, and work far better than you'd think
meanwhile, ai art tools are always about "replacing" artists instead since these ai people see dealing with artists as a waste of time
meanwhile, ai art tools are always about "replacing" artists instead since these ai people see dealing with artists as a waste of time
October 31, 2025 at 8:08 AM
No notes
Auch
Writers are nothing if not well versed in the art of telling their writing software why its punctuation and grammar suggestions are incorrect.
October 29, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Auch
Reposted by Arjan Terpstra
Oh look, another day full of the consequences of a finance/tech company thinking video games would be easy money, have no idea how to make video games, blame their developers for predictable failures, and give up on it and shatter many people's lives.
Report: Amazon cutting corporate roles across key departments including video games
Report: Amazon cutting corporate roles across key departments including video games
Sources claim the layoffs could be announced this week and impact up to 30,000 people.
www.gamedeveloper.com
October 28, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Oh look, another day full of the consequences of a finance/tech company thinking video games would be easy money, have no idea how to make video games, blame their developers for predictable failures, and give up on it and shatter many people's lives.
Reposted by Arjan Terpstra
friend shared this, immediately updated my settings
October 27, 2025 at 4:28 PM
friend shared this, immediately updated my settings
As a dutchie, I appreciate the thorough copy editing here 😂
oh my GODDDDDDDDDDD
(apologies for screenshotting the hellsite, which I no longer use; I saw the link in CNN's Reliable Sources newsletter)
(apologies for screenshotting the hellsite, which I no longer use; I saw the link in CNN's Reliable Sources newsletter)
October 27, 2025 at 6:34 PM
As a dutchie, I appreciate the thorough copy editing here 😂
Reposted by Arjan Terpstra
Reposted by Arjan Terpstra
who creates the lively art and music scenes if the rent is too high? who makes cultural life? who serves you food or washes your dishes? who creates the fancy little restaurants that draw you to urban living? affordable housing is at the heart of what makes city life worthwhile.
October 26, 2025 at 6:04 AM
who creates the lively art and music scenes if the rent is too high? who makes cultural life? who serves you food or washes your dishes? who creates the fancy little restaurants that draw you to urban living? affordable housing is at the heart of what makes city life worthwhile.
Reposted by Arjan Terpstra
I do not see a lie.
October 24, 2025 at 2:13 AM
I do not see a lie.
Reposted by Arjan Terpstra
En de stukjesgenerator pruttelt weer tevreden
October 24, 2025 at 5:45 AM
En de stukjesgenerator pruttelt weer tevreden
He’s gonna build an even whiter house isn’t he
October 23, 2025 at 4:10 PM
He’s gonna build an even whiter house isn’t he
Congratulations Vlambeer! I burned through my first iOS phone on this one...
Happy 15th birthday to Super Crate Box! Ask your grandparents what it was like when the game first came out. supercratebox.com
October 22, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Congratulations Vlambeer! I burned through my first iOS phone on this one...
Spoke to two girls at a funeral who were afraid their outfits (lots of denim with red accents) were too informal. Hear this: ‘they weren’t sure if people would appreciate (them) dressing like the tattoos of the deceased….’
I’ll forever love you for this, girls.
I’ll forever love you for this, girls.
October 21, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Spoke to two girls at a funeral who were afraid their outfits (lots of denim with red accents) were too informal. Hear this: ‘they weren’t sure if people would appreciate (them) dressing like the tattoos of the deceased….’
I’ll forever love you for this, girls.
I’ll forever love you for this, girls.
Never forget: civil, labour rights are not a given. People fought for your holiday, your pension, education et cetera throughout history.
Also: what a beautiful banner.
Also: what a beautiful banner.
A sklfully embroidered banner made by UK suffragettes in their workshops was recently found stowed away in a little charity shop in Leeds. The once-forgotten item sold at auction for £13,600 #UnravellingWomensArt
October 21, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Never forget: civil, labour rights are not a given. People fought for your holiday, your pension, education et cetera throughout history.
Also: what a beautiful banner.
Also: what a beautiful banner.