@georgeosborn
“No, not that one”- Politico | Creator of Video Games Industry Memo | MD, Half-Space Consulting | Author of Power Play (June 2026) | Pun Appreciator Order my book 👉 https://linktr.ee/Power_play_book
36 today, is it?
There's something really despicable about Trump calling for ordinary Iranians to take the risk of rising up against the regime. He's been so disdainful of the same sentiment in Ukraine. He's never taken a risk for anyone else's benefit. Man wouldn't stand up to serve himself at a buffet.
I had a dream last night that Jack Grealish wrote an edition of Video Games Industry Memo and dedicated it entirely to a pizza restaurant he visited in Liverpool.
Disappointingly, today's edition will be about something else when it lands in approximately half an hour.
…when had it ever lost them?
friend sent this over from the other place and unfortunately I did laugh
Paul Ovenden has been spending too long talking to his Horrific Necktie
Disco Elysium called, it wants its writing back
From the French equivalent of The Onion
Seeking revenge, Dubai parachutes 3000 influencers on Tehran.
Real monkey paw curse polling for the Lib Dems here.
Sir Ed Davey: "I wish that we were polling almost as well as Labour and the Conservatives!"
*finger curls, party drops to fifth place*
Me: I can’t wait to play a brand new video game that shows this innovative, creative medium at its envelope pushing best.
Also me: *downloads Banjo-Kazooie for the millionth time*
Walking home and Spring has reared its head 👌
Inside the Pentagon, there was deepening concern Sunday that the Iran conflict could spiral out of control. “The mood here is intense and paranoid,” one person said.
There is anxiety among senior leaders that the fighting will extend for weeks, further stressing limited U.S. air defense stockpiles.
The push for a hard social media ban doesn't leave room for IRL consent we see, where families head to a pub together or a parent takes a teen to a football match.
And without it, we risk leaving young people woefully unprepared for the reality of digital life (or heading into darker spaces).
But to underscore my point, you accept that the BSA can access under-16s with parental consent.
Flatly banning 16 year olds from accessing social media is inconsistent with the law on drinking at home, driving on private land, or even what age-rated content they're allowed to access at home.
Me, when DocuSign asks whether I want to read a generative AI summary of a contract someone has sent me
"let me be clear, Mr Speaker, I'm ready to roll my sleeves up and wipe out the last of the Resistance before anyone mentions the word Palpatine"
Sir Keir Starmer channelling Kylo Ren, shortly after the events of The Last Jedi
And hey, we do need to negotiate that social contract.
But extending the franchise to 16-year-olds without letting them access the spaces where political opinions are increasingly formed before then is laughably inconsistent.
natcen.ac.uk/news/new-res...
Honestly the collective national level of disdain for Brits living in Dubai on all my social media platforms today really is bringing the UK together as one in a way that's hard to achieve in the modern era.
This week's Video Games Industry Memo is gonna be all about the UK government's consultation on banning social media for the wee kiddie-winks.
If you've got a hot take on what's going down, email george@videogamesindustrymemo.com or DM me 🙏
As I remember it, I did nothing stupid in my life from that point onwards
Online safety policy has, and always will be, purely vibes based
It's Thursday 9th May 2030.
16-year-olds up and down the land fail to go to the polling station because they're too busy playing the latest brainrot on Roblox with their mates for the first time.
Without their votes, Nigel Farage is elected Prime Minister.
Today: The Government rolls out a bill, which suggests 16-year-olds are mature enough to vote.
Also today: The Government rolls out a consultation, which implies that young people probably won't be trusted to have a Discord account until they're 16.
🤔
It’s the plumbing equivalent of “there was a second shooter behind the grassy knoll”, except I could prove it goddamit
Good news: I’ve learned so much about plumbing due to a series of leaks in my flat that I could prove to my plumber that my latest issue had a secret second source he hadn’t spotted.
Bad news: I have to pay to fix two problems now.
gee I wonder
Truly, the darkest route for me
During unprecedented chaotic times like this, I fall back to the dark question that I often ponder in my deepest despair.
Is this the year I get into Magic: The Gathering?
