Rick Lane
@ricklane.bsky.social
Freelance journalist, critic and consultant. Bylines at The Guardian, PC Gamer, NME, Eurogamer and more. Immersive sim geek. Contact: rick@ricklane.co.uk
Reposted by Rick Lane
Kotaku wants to get in touch with developers about how AI is being used in your studio.
You can contact our tips hotline tips@kotaku.com or my secure email at ethangach@protonmail.com
We'll keep your identity protected and anonymize info so it's not traced back to you.
You can contact our tips hotline tips@kotaku.com or my secure email at ethangach@protonmail.com
We'll keep your identity protected and anonymize info so it's not traced back to you.
November 14, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Kotaku wants to get in touch with developers about how AI is being used in your studio.
You can contact our tips hotline tips@kotaku.com or my secure email at ethangach@protonmail.com
We'll keep your identity protected and anonymize info so it's not traced back to you.
You can contact our tips hotline tips@kotaku.com or my secure email at ethangach@protonmail.com
We'll keep your identity protected and anonymize info so it's not traced back to you.
Reposted by Rick Lane
My new Thief 2 Fan Mission, Reflection in Red, is out! I am very proud of this one, and it is by far my most ambitious work in the Dark Engine to date. www.ttlg.com/forums/showt...
November 14, 2025 at 6:13 PM
My new Thief 2 Fan Mission, Reflection in Red, is out! I am very proud of this one, and it is by far my most ambitious work in the Dark Engine to date. www.ttlg.com/forums/showt...
Thing about using gen AI in your game - to adapt an analogy recently used in argument against me - is it's like having a rotting corpse in your house. The house itself may be structurally sound, but that corpse is gonna stink out the whole joint until you get rid of it.
What's pissing me off about the Anno 117 GenAI use is that this is a really great game (yes, I'm still playing it: I paid for it pre-finding out) that clearly has a lot of love and genuine craft in it.
So why screw the pooch with AI art? Is that really worth it? To piss away all that goodwill?
So why screw the pooch with AI art? Is that really worth it? To piss away all that goodwill?
November 14, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Thing about using gen AI in your game - to adapt an analogy recently used in argument against me - is it's like having a rotting corpse in your house. The house itself may be structurally sound, but that corpse is gonna stink out the whole joint until you get rid of it.
Reposted by Rick Lane
![[Scene is a kitchen - a middle aged woman called JANET is boiling peas at the stove. A younger more colourfully dressed woman named LIZ approached her.]
JANET:
Ugh...
LIZ:
What's up?
JANET:
I am so bored of cooking peas!
LIZ:
Have you tried...
AI peas?
JANET:
AI peas?
LIZ:
They're peas with AI!
[Liz holds up to us a packet of peas labelled: Pea-i AI - Peas with AI].
LIZ:
Al-powered peas harness the potential of your peas
JANET:
What
LIZ [Now a voiceover as we cut to a whizzy technology diagram of peas all connected by meaningless dotted lines]
Why not take your peas to the next level with Al Peas' new Al tools to power your peas?
[Show a techno diagram of a pea with a label reading 'AI' pointing to a random zone in it]
LIZ:
Each pea has Al in a way we haven't quite worked out yet but it's fine
[Show Janet and Liz now in a Matrix-style world of peas]
LIZ:
With Al peas you can supercharge productivity and make AI work for your peas!
JANET:
What
LIZ:
Shut up
LIZ:
Our game-changing Pea-Al gives you the freedom to unlock the potential of the power of the future of your peas workflow
From opening the bag of peas
to boiling the peas
to eating the peas
To spending millions on adding Al to the peas and then having to work out what that even means.
JANET:
Is it really necessary to-
LIZ [Grabbing Janet by the collar]:
THE PEAS HAVE GOT AI, JANET
[Cut to an advert ending screen, with the bag of peas and the slogan:
AI PEAS: Just 'Peas' for god's sake buy the AI peas.
[Ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreiayqa37f7kik7l7s7fbtfp2sir5ckb662ry2lylinyjrfa2rkvvka@jpeg)
Reposted by Rick Lane
This is a fantastic hire for RPS. Jules is both a very experienced editor and a deeply kind person, which is the sort of energy you want from someone supporting a team to do their smartest and silliest work. www.rockpapershotgun.com/from-the-des...
From the desk of the Editorial Director of Rock Paper Shotgun: "Ahoy hoy"
Julian Benson is Rock Paper Shotgun's new Editorial Director.
www.rockpapershotgun.com
November 13, 2025 at 10:26 AM
This is a fantastic hire for RPS. Jules is both a very experienced editor and a deeply kind person, which is the sort of energy you want from someone supporting a team to do their smartest and silliest work. www.rockpapershotgun.com/from-the-des...
Reposted by Rick Lane
Chatting with Future Class inductees for my latest at @theguardian.com. They paint a pretty clear picture of the perils of performative allyship.
Thanks to all who spoke with me, and always, to Keza for the chance to do important work!
Thanks to all who spoke with me, and always, to Keza for the chance to do important work!
“Don’t gather some of the most brilliant activists in the industry, treat us like crap, and then expect us to do nothing about it.” After the Game Awards cancelled its Future Class programme, @alyssamerc.bsky.social talked to its former honorees
www.theguardian.com/games/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/games/2025/n...
“We were effectively props”: young stars of game development feel let down by the ‘gaming Oscars’
Announced in 2020 by the Game Awards as an inclusive programme for the industry’s next generation, the Future Class initiative has now been discontinued. Inductees describe clashes with organisers and...
www.theguardian.com
November 11, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Chatting with Future Class inductees for my latest at @theguardian.com. They paint a pretty clear picture of the perils of performative allyship.
Thanks to all who spoke with me, and always, to Keza for the chance to do important work!
Thanks to all who spoke with me, and always, to Keza for the chance to do important work!
Reposted by Rick Lane
I've written an article with a hopefully-complete technical description for implementing planetary atmosphere rendering as seen from space.
Looking for readers to beta-test the rough draft. Mutuals get priority. DM for link.
Looking for readers to beta-test the rough draft. Mutuals get priority. DM for link.
November 11, 2025 at 5:53 PM
I've written an article with a hopefully-complete technical description for implementing planetary atmosphere rendering as seen from space.
Looking for readers to beta-test the rough draft. Mutuals get priority. DM for link.
Looking for readers to beta-test the rough draft. Mutuals get priority. DM for link.
What is going on good lord.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has defended AI following Eurogamer's 2/5 Arc Raiders review, which criticised the game's use use of AI voice generation. "AI dialog generation + human personality and tuning could totally transform gaming," Sweeney said.
www.gamesindustry.biz/epics-tim-sw...
www.gamesindustry.biz/epics-tim-sw...
Epic's Tim Sweeney wades into the Arc Raiders AI row
"This technology increases human productivity in some areas by integer multiples"
www.gamesindustry.biz
November 11, 2025 at 6:02 PM
What is going on good lord.
Today's been a stark reminder that if game critics reviewed like film critics the industry would spontaneously combust.
November 11, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Today's been a stark reminder that if game critics reviewed like film critics the industry would spontaneously combust.
Reposted by Rick Lane
I think #Dishonored 2 was released on this day, 9 years ago. Much love to Raf and my teammates in Lyon.
November 11, 2025 at 5:19 PM
I think #Dishonored 2 was released on this day, 9 years ago. Much love to Raf and my teammates in Lyon.
Reposted by Rick Lane
We've paid Amelia Tyler, the narrator of Baldur's Gate 3, to voice pieces of the PC Gaming Show since 2023. If *we* can do it, a major game studio can definitely pay actors to say "I found some rusted tools" in ARC Raiders.
I'm here to tell you that voice actors (even very very good ones) are not expensive, more than make up for their cost in the value they bring to your game, and if Baldur's Gate can record real actors for every line of dialogue in the game, so can you for your 100 generic barks or even specific ones.
November 11, 2025 at 3:38 PM
We've paid Amelia Tyler, the narrator of Baldur's Gate 3, to voice pieces of the PC Gaming Show since 2023. If *we* can do it, a major game studio can definitely pay actors to say "I found some rusted tools" in ARC Raiders.
Had no idea Twitter is having a meltdown over my review. Wishing them all well lmao.
November 10, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Had no idea Twitter is having a meltdown over my review. Wishing them all well lmao.
Reposted by Rick Lane
Can imagine, seriously appreciate it though. As a developer it is getting too easy to justify Gen AI. The loss of human artistry absolutely should affect a games score.
November 10, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Can imagine, seriously appreciate it though. As a developer it is getting too easy to justify Gen AI. The loss of human artistry absolutely should affect a games score.
My review of ARC Raiders is now live. It's a well designed extraction shooter. But Embark Studios' use of AI voices is indefensible in a game that has benefited so much from human speech. www.eurogamer.net/arc-raiders-...
Arc Raiders review - a smartly designed extraction shooter marred by one inexcusable decision
Rich combat and an unusually friendly community make Arc Raiders an cracking extraction shooter, but Embark Studios' continued use of AI voices is inexcusable.
www.eurogamer.net
November 10, 2025 at 4:20 PM
My review of ARC Raiders is now live. It's a well designed extraction shooter. But Embark Studios' use of AI voices is indefensible in a game that has benefited so much from human speech. www.eurogamer.net/arc-raiders-...
Reposted by Rick Lane
Spoke with my boy Todd Howard - about the 10th anniversary of Fallout 4, his chances of surviving the apocalypse, and shadow dropping The Elder Scrolls 6. www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/fall...
Todd Howard on 10 years of Fallout 4 and The Elder Scrolls 6: 'We needed a creative reset'
A decade on from its Game of the Year-winning triumph, Todd Howard reminisces on how Fallout 4 changed Bethesda Game Studios, its TV show adaptation and playtesting The Elder Scrolls 6
www.gq-magazine.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Spoke with my boy Todd Howard - about the 10th anniversary of Fallout 4, his chances of surviving the apocalypse, and shadow dropping The Elder Scrolls 6. www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/fall...
Reposted by Rick Lane
For this weekend's PC Gamer feature, I spoke with food blogger and author Victoria Rosenthal about the wonderful world of video game recipe books. www.pcgamer.com/games/how-a-...
How a former NASA employee became the world's foremost author of videogame cookbooks: 'It can't look like you're eating a Pokémon'
Victoria Rosenthal has written recipe books based on Fallout, Guild Wars 2, Final Fantasy 14, and many more.
www.pcgamer.com
November 9, 2025 at 5:11 PM
For this weekend's PC Gamer feature, I spoke with food blogger and author Victoria Rosenthal about the wonderful world of video game recipe books. www.pcgamer.com/games/how-a-...
One of those days where you submit a review while leaning away from your PC.
November 10, 2025 at 10:08 AM
One of those days where you submit a review while leaning away from your PC.
Looking forward to the appointment of the next director general, Figel Narage.
🔴 Breaking I Davie faced mounting criticism that a Panorama documentary misled viewers by editing a speech by Donald Trump
➡️ Read more: trib.al/I0iw7aP
➡️ Read more: trib.al/I0iw7aP
November 9, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Looking forward to the appointment of the next director general, Figel Narage.
For this weekend's PC Gamer feature, I spoke with food blogger and author Victoria Rosenthal about the wonderful world of video game recipe books. www.pcgamer.com/games/how-a-...
How a former NASA employee became the world's foremost author of videogame cookbooks: 'It can't look like you're eating a Pokémon'
Victoria Rosenthal has written recipe books based on Fallout, Guild Wars 2, Final Fantasy 14, and many more.
www.pcgamer.com
November 9, 2025 at 5:11 PM
For this weekend's PC Gamer feature, I spoke with food blogger and author Victoria Rosenthal about the wonderful world of video game recipe books. www.pcgamer.com/games/how-a-...
Reposted by Rick Lane
La famosa consistencia de la IA de los cojones de mierda.
November 7, 2025 at 7:42 PM
La famosa consistencia de la IA de los cojones de mierda.
Reposted by Rick Lane
Panera’s moderately caffeinated lemonade was loosely associated with 2 deaths before it was taken off market.
This article alone has 4 examples of ChatGPT encouraging young people to commit suicide, and OpenAI’s own public stats estimate over a million users discuss suicide with ChatGPT each week.
This article alone has 4 examples of ChatGPT encouraging young people to commit suicide, and OpenAI’s own public stats estimate over a million users discuss suicide with ChatGPT each week.
I fully believe in the corporate death penalty and believe we would be a better world if OpenAI lost its corporate charter and was forcibly dissolved.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/u...
www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/u...
ChatGPT encouraged college graduate to commit suicide, family claims in lawsuit against OpenAI | CNN
A 23-year-old man killed himself in Texas after ChatGPT ‘goaded’ him to commit suicide, his family says in a lawsuit.
www.cnn.com
November 7, 2025 at 10:56 PM
Panera’s moderately caffeinated lemonade was loosely associated with 2 deaths before it was taken off market.
This article alone has 4 examples of ChatGPT encouraging young people to commit suicide, and OpenAI’s own public stats estimate over a million users discuss suicide with ChatGPT each week.
This article alone has 4 examples of ChatGPT encouraging young people to commit suicide, and OpenAI’s own public stats estimate over a million users discuss suicide with ChatGPT each week.
Rockstar pushing GTA 6 like a broom to sweep 2026 clear of all other launches.
November 7, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Rockstar pushing GTA 6 like a broom to sweep 2026 clear of all other launches.
Reposted by Rick Lane
Good morning! AI is being force-fed to you by a handful of billionaires who will lose a bunch of money if they fail to convince you that you need it. You do not need it 🫶
November 6, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Good morning! AI is being force-fed to you by a handful of billionaires who will lose a bunch of money if they fail to convince you that you need it. You do not need it 🫶
Reposted by Rick Lane
November 5, 2025 at 9:27 AM