Lynette Guzman
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wizardphd.games
Lynette Guzman
@wizardphd.games
150 followers 230 following 59 posts
I teach university courses about videogames and narrative design 🎮 Freelance Video Editor/Producer @ign.com | PhD | lupus warrior | wizardphd.games
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Lynette Guzman @wizardphd.games · Nov 17
Heyyy, I’m Lynette! I spent way too long deciding what to post, so y’all get this gif to break the ice 🐻‍❄️❄️

I write and make videos about all things gaming (and more recently, film and television!)

I’m very much a classic millennial who listens to way too much pop punk 🖤
Lynette dances in a polar bear onesie
Reposted by Lynette Guzman
chrisbratt.bsky.social
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
Reposted by Lynette Guzman
dogubomb.bsky.social
Trophies earned will be permanently added to the trophy room.
November 20, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Reposted by Lynette Guzman
dndbeyond.com
I take this role very seriously.
A boggart in Lorwyn uses a frog as a dowsing pendulum. Text on image: You are someone's weird D&D friend.
November 20, 2025 at 2:11 AM
Reposted by Lynette Guzman
julie.radiantarray.io
the purpose of game design is to make a game as interesting as possible; and the more interesting a game is, the fewer people it's for
hownottodraw.bsky.social Kate Gray @hownottodraw.bsky.social · Oct 21
What's your number one personal game design principle? And even better - does it have a cool name?
October 21, 2025 at 8:07 PM
wizardphd.games
Semester highlights:
✅ Convinced at least 3 people to play Blue Prince
✅ Introduced students to The Stanley Parable as we explored agency and interactivity
✅ Watched video essays that analyzed video game narrative design
✅ Read student reflections about watching D&D for the first time
October 8, 2025 at 4:40 PM
wizardphd.games
the number of people I've told about this new campaign... I'm soooo hyped!!
aabria.bsky.social Aabria Iyengar @aabria.bsky.social · Oct 2
I can't believe it's finally Thursday!

It's gonna be an unalloyed joy to explore the stories in Aramán w/ a party like no other. I love y'all DEARLY. 💖

And Brennan: I've never felt safer, never more delighted, never more ambitious than when I'm at your table. I would follow you anywhere. Let's GO.
October 2, 2025 at 7:02 PM
wizardphd.games
Obsessed with Blue Prince? Me too. That’s why you should check out Tonda Ros react to a @blueprincegame.bsky.social speedrun!

Plus, I helped edit and produce this episode, which was super fun! 💙
Blue Prince Developer Reacts to 11 Minute Speedrun
YouTube video by IGN
youtu.be
September 27, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Reposted by Lynette Guzman
tomrmarks.bsky.social
I wrote 3,400 words about Silksong and did not once use the words "soulslike," "Dark Souls," or "metroidvania."

If that isn't worth a read, I don't know what is.
tomrmarks.bsky.social Tom Marks @tomrmarks.bsky.social · Sep 14
Silksong is fantastic.

It's not flawless, and we are doing it a disservice by framing discussions of its missteps entirely around "difficulty," but I think what's been accomplished here is still going to sit comfortably amongst the best of the genre.

My final review: www.ign.com/articles/hol...
Hollow Knight: Silksong Review - IGN
An unapologetically challenging sequel packed full of sharp platforming, enticing exploration, and nail-biting combat.
www.ign.com
September 15, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Reposted by Lynette Guzman
alexaray.bsky.social
This “solo dev” and “only 3 devs” rhetoric is getting truly dangerously out of hand. Investors see this and think “I only have to pay 3 people” and the result is severely overworked and/or underpaid people and a subpar product. We need to stop treating outsourcers and contractors like ghosts.
September 6, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Reposted by Lynette Guzman
ignunion.bsky.social
Ziff Davis and IGN routinely decide that work done by our laid off colleagues is not important. But inevitably, that crucial work falls onto those who remain.

Not this time. Not anymore.
FROM NOW UNTIL FEBRUARY 13TH IGN CREATORS GUILD IS GOING TO... DO OUR JOB! OVER THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS, IGN MANAGEMENT HAS GOTTEN AWAY WITH LAYING OFF OUR COWORKERS OVER AND OVER. MEANWHILE, MANY OF OUR COLLEAGUES HAVE LEFT THE COMPANY IN NO SMALL PART DUE TO BUYOUTS, OVERWORK, AND FEELING UNSUPPORTED, EACH TIME, THE COMPANY HAS REFUSED TO BACKFILL MANY ESSENTIAL ROLES, CLAIMING WE'RE ON A HIRING FREEZE, IT'S NOT IN THE BUDGET, OR THAT WE'RE GOING TO DO LESS WORK THIS TIME. AS A RESULT, IGNCG MEMBERS HAVE BEEN FORCED TO TAKE ON MORE OF THEIR FORMER COLLEAGUES' WORKLOADS. MANY OF US NOW WORK LONGER HOURS THAN WE USED TO. A LOT OF US RARELY TAKE LUNCH BREAKS. SOME OF US DO NOT TAKE ADEQUATE TIME OFF DUE TO THERE BEING NO ONE TO PICK UP THE SLACK. OTHERS OF US ARE STUCK DOING WORK WE WERE NEVER HIRED TO DO IN THE FIRST PLACE. UP TO THIS POINT, WE'VE ALL ACCEPTED THIS AS NORMAL, BECAUSE WE CARE DEEPLY ABOUT IGN AND THE WORK WE DO. BUT WITH SO MANY OF US STRUGGLING MORE AND MORE AS EACH NEW WAVE OF OUR COWORKERS ARE DEPRIVED OF A LIVELIHOOD, THIS CYCLE CAN'T CONTINUE. MANAGEMENT IS UNWILLING TO STOP IT, SO IT FALLS TO US. WITH THE LAYOFFS OF EIGHT OF OUR COWORKERS, IGNCG HAS NEGOTIATED A SIX-MONTH RECALL LIST. WHAT THAT MEANS IS THAT, FOR THE NEXT SIX MONTHS, IF IGN WANTS TO FILL ANY OF THOSE ELIMINATED ROLES AGAIN, THEY MUST REHIRE OUR LAID-OFF COLLEAGUES. WE WANT THEM TO HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO GET THEIR JOBS BACK IF THEY WANT THEM, AND IF NOT, WE WANT THOSE ROLES BACKFILLED TO EASE THE BURDEN ON THE REST OF US. SO STARTING TODAY, LENCE MEMBERS ARE COMMITTING TO DO OUR JOBS. NO MORE, NO LESS. WELL SHOW UP TO WORK ON TIME AND LEAVE ON TIME. WE'RE TAKING ALL OF OUR LUNCH TIME, EVERY DAY. IF WE WORK LATE, WE WILL FIRMLY ASK FOR OUR RIGHTFULLY EARNED COMP TIME. AND IF IGN WANTS OUR LAID-OFF COWORKERS' WORK TO GET DONE, THEY'LL HAVE TO REHIRE THEM TO DO IT INSTEAD OF FOISTING IT UPON US. HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT IGNCG IN ALL THIS? SHARE THIS POST, AND TELL IGN MANAGEMENT THAT Y…
August 25, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Reposted by Lynette Guzman
duckvalentine.bsky.social
me: *clicks an article*
article: please turn off your adblocker, we need money to survive
me: okay, reasonable *turns off adblocker*
article: *ad ad ad ad ad ad ad ad ad ad*
me: this is fine, I can still kinda read the first paragraph
article: please subscribe to continue reading
August 21, 2025 at 2:22 PM
wizardphd.games
During production, I kept referring to this project as my Blue Prince dissertation.

tbh this IGN guide is probably more useful than my actual dissertation 😂

if you’re stuck on Blue Prince end-game puzzles after Room 46, I made this video for you! 💙
Blue Prince: How to Find and Unseal the Blue Doors (What to Do After Room 46)
YouTube video by IGN
youtu.be
August 9, 2025 at 3:38 PM
wizardphd.games
Re-entering academia… this time as a professor of videogames!

I’ll be teaching undergraduate courses that explore concepts of narrative design and gaming as sets of social practices. Plus, you'll still see my video guides over on IGN. It's games all day, every day!
Four friends hold 3D-printed Minecraft items while standing in an office
August 8, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Reposted by Lynette Guzman
ignunion.bsky.social
Ziff Davis just reported their "strongest quarterly revenue growth since 2021," up 9.8% to $352.2M, with gaming and entertainment up 7.5% YOY.

So why were 8 of our members and 23 members of @zdcreatorsguild.bsky.social just laid off? bit.ly/3H0Osvb
SECOND QUARTER 2025 RESULTS Q2 2025 quarterly revenues increased 9.8% to $352.2 million compared to $320.8 million for Q2 2024. Income from operations increased 17.2% to $33.5 million compared to $28.6 million for Q2 2024. Net income (1) decreased to $26.3 million compared to $36.9 million for Q2 2024. Net income per diluted share (1) decreased to $0.62 in Q2 2025 compared to $0.77 for Q2 2024. Adjusted EBITDA (2) for the quarter increased 11.8% to $107.7 million compared to $96.3 million for Q2 2024. Adjusted net income (2) decreased to $51.6 million compared to $53.7 million for Q2 2024. Adjusted net income per diluted share (1)(2) (or “Adjusted diluted EPS”) for the quarter increased 5.1% to $1.24 compared to $1.18 for Q2 2024. Net cash provided by operating activities was $57.1 million in Q2 2025 compared to $50.6 million in Q2 2024. Free cash flow (2) was $26.9 million in Q2 2025 compared to $25.1 million in Q2 2024. Ziff Davis deployed approximately $11.4 million for current and prior year acquisitions during the quarter and $33.9 million related to share repurchases in Q2 2025.
August 7, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Reposted by Lynette Guzman
ignunion.bsky.social
Today, IGN laid off eight extremely valuable members of our union and workforce via directive from our parent company, Ziff Davis. This, after two incredibly successful live events IGN Live and SDCC, and yet another corporate acquisition.

Please take a moment to read and share our full statement:
Today, IGN Entertainment announced that it would be laying off eight members of the IGN Creators Guild. This is 12% of our bargaining unit, and comes just days after our sister union, the Ziff Davis Creators Guild, underwent similar layoffs impacting 15% of their members. It also comes just months after our multibillion-dollar parent company, Ziff Davis, instituted a company-wide buyout that shrunk our unit numbers, with the express intent of avoiding future layoffs. And it comes just a little over one year after three of our members were laid off almost immediately after our union went public. The company has told us that the reason for this layoff stems from a Ziff Davis-mandate to cut costs despite several quarters in a row of year-over-year revenue increases, to which IGN Entertainment responded by coming for our members' jobs. This is perplexing to us, as we are told again and again that IGN Entertainment has had a tremendously successful year thus far thanks to their hard work. In just the last few months, our members have been absolutely essential to major events and livestreams, including San Diego ComicCon, Summer of Gaming, and IGN Live. Every single person impacted today was involved in and critical to the success of those events. Meanwhile, IGN Entertainment continues to spend money on costly acquisitions, only to turn around and gut those companies in the same way it is cutting away at IGN itself. For instance, last year, it acquired Gamer Network, and almost immediately laid off a number of staff critical to making those sites successful. The company has not responded to the union's questions about whether its budget for future acquisitions is being reconsidered as a cost-saving measure alongside these other apparently necessary personnel cuts. At a time when it is more necessary than ever to support its creators, IGN Entertainment is choosing to eliminate the individuals who ensure IGN remains competitive as generative AI threatens our reach. We have been told that expert opinion pieces, original interviews, and work that leverages our staff's deep knowledge of gaming, tech, and entertainment are all essential to combating AI summarization and regurgitation of our work. Management has responded by cutting several individuals who do that exact work, as well as others whose job it is to ensure that these written and video pieces are published in a speedy manner — another component of combating AI we're told is critical. This continued cycle of repeated, aggressive cuts to our staff and being asked to do more with less, only for management to continue to spend on new business it isn't interested in sustaining cannot continue. We will enforce our interim agreement that guarantees better severance and other protections to laid off members, as well as demand additional support for those impacted. We will continue to bargain over our first contract with the aim of enshrining even better protections against further layoffs, working conditions continuously degraded by understaffing, and the encroachment of generative AI. And we won't stop fighting to ensure IGN remains the best destination for trustworthy, original, exciting, and creative work covering video games, entertainment, and tech. While IGN Entertainment management may not value us, we value one another and the incredible work we can do together. Behind the articles, videos, social posts, playlists, and maps of IGN are human beings, not just numbers on a spreadsheet to be pushed around when some number at the top isn't big enough. Without us, there is no IGN.
August 4, 2025 at 9:20 PM
wizardphd.games
my first edit back from a lovely month on vacation! another superhero feature in the books ✨💪🏽
What The Surprise Character Who Called Superman A B!tch Means To The Future of James Gunn's DCU
YouTube video by IGN
youtu.be
July 12, 2025 at 2:38 PM
wizardphd.games
my 183 hour Blue Prince save file is just straight up gone. all my saves are gone. fml 🪦😭
July 1, 2025 at 12:04 AM
wizardphd.games
I reached 100 hours before hitting the save bug on PS5 and have been waiting patiently for Blue Prince to be my entire life again!
blueprincegame.bsky.social Blue Prince Out Now! @blueprincegame.bsky.social · May 22
We have released patch to address a number of issues including the PS5 Save Rollback Issue. This is available on Steam now & should be available for Xbox & PS5 players before the weekend.

We are so grateful for your patience.

store.steampowered.com/news/app/156...
May 22, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Reposted by Lynette Guzman
aftermath.site
Video games have a funny way of showing up when you need them the most
aftermath.site/1000x-resist-a...
A character from 1000xResist, dressed in purple on a white background
May 7, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Reposted by Lynette Guzman
dmc-ryan.bsky.social
New opinion piece from me:

Why The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion hit harder than Skyrim – and still does.

Read it or watch my ugly, Oblivion-NPC face as I tell it to ya on IGN! 😜 www.ign.com/articles/opi...
Opinion: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Hit Harder Than Skyrim – And Still Does - IGN
IGN's Ryan McCaffrey – who reviewed The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for Official Xbox Magazine back in 2006 – discusses the just-announced-and-released Oblivion Remastered and why Oblivion hit harder f...
www.ign.com
April 22, 2025 at 7:59 PM
wizardphd.games
I’m obsessed with this game and everyone should play it.

Enter the giveaway for a chance to win a copy! 👇🏽
blueprincegame.bsky.social Blue Prince Out Now! @blueprincegame.bsky.social · Apr 18
To celebrate last week's launch of Blue Prince we're running a GIVEAWAY! 8 lucky folks could win a copy of Blue Prince on Steam, Xbox or Playstation. To enter follow our account, like and share this post. Good luck. Winners will be announced on April 28th.
April 18, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Reposted by Lynette Guzman
localthunk.com
Blue Prince is already one of the best games I’ve ever played and I still feel like I’m scratching the surface. Released today but lucky me I’ve been playing it all week (perks of the job)

Get a journal, a pen, and buy the game already
April 10, 2025 at 3:54 PM
wizardphd.games
I started playing Blue Prince last night and now it’s all I think about
April 11, 2025 at 2:21 PM
wizardphd.games
updating my resume is a fun reminder of the cool stuff I’ve done… quickly followed by questioning whether I’ve done enough 🙃
March 29, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Reposted by Lynette Guzman
chrisdelpadre.bsky.social
HAPPY TIMELINE TUESDAY! #timelinetuesday
Squid Game Season 2 Review
Shout out to @shannonmiller.bsky.social & @wizardphd.games
www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7gA...
March 18, 2025 at 7:23 PM