Badge catalogue

Another account before I can use the thing. How many of these do they think I want?

• Another decade, another Halo: Combat Evolved

Cheap machine filler shoved in where paid work should be.

• Sony just dropped a 765 million Bungie bomb and pivoted to AI
• Meta’s $2 billion Manus panic-buy implodes

A private activity requiring permanent permission from a distant computer.

• Nexon Q2 2026: ARC Raiders was a hit, therefore everything is replicable
• I finally played the 'AAAA' Game

A timed checklist turns leisure into shift work with expiring wages.

• Nexon Q2 2026: ARC Raiders was a hit, therefore everything is replicable
• Amazon Games couldn't even hand in somebody else's MMO homework

What the algorithm wants has become more important than what anyone came here to do.

• Meta's very bad 2026 (so far)

Whatever this claims to do, collecting your data seems to be its main enthusiasm.

• Meta's very bad 2026 (so far)

More ads, higher prices, fewer useful features. Hard to remember why I liked this in the first place.

Every conceivable way of charging you, all crammed into the same bloody product.

• Nexon Q2 2026: ARC Raiders was a hit, therefore everything is replicable
• Amazon Games couldn't even hand in somebody else's MMO homework

That feature worked yesterday. Today it requires the more expensive plan.

Another AI button in something that worked perfectly well already. Where is the off switch?

• Meta's very bad 2026 (so far)

People still play it, and the company has kept it running. Those players appreciate it.

An anti-cheat with kernel-level access to my PC. Quite a requirement for playing a game.

Paid for it, still have it installed, cannot use it because the company switched the servers off.

• XLGAMES: How the mighty have fallen

Rotations, currencies and chores keeping engagement alive after fun died.

• Nexon Q2 2026: ARC Raiders was a hit, therefore everything is replicable
• Amazon Games couldn't even hand in somebody else's MMO homework

Players improved the game. The company reached for a padlock.

Tools, access and permission for players to improve the game. Look what they make when you let them.

The same behaviour gets different outcomes depending on which report they happen to act on.

• Meta's very bad 2026 (so far)

Every other menu has something else to sell me. I did come here to play a game.

• Nexon Q2 2026: ARC Raiders was a hit, therefore everything is replicable
• Amazon Games couldn't even hand in somebody else's MMO homework

Install it and use it. I have enough accounts already.

AI is optional or absent. I can get on with using the product I actually wanted.

Keep paying to retain access to things you have already spent money on. Stop and see what you own.

Somebody owns the doorway and charges rent on every purchase.

The shop manufactures irritation and sells relief by the bundle.

• Amazon Games couldn't even hand in somebody else's MMO homework

The good cosmetics cost extra. Apparently buying and playing the game was not enough.

• Nexon Q2 2026: ARC Raiders was a hit, therefore everything is replicable
• Amazon Games couldn't even hand in somebody else's MMO homework