AI Pushes Deeper Into Games While BioWare's Legacy Is Argued Over

Aftermath's Luke Plunkett argues that the reseller squeeze on Pokémon cards and old games will fade, as it did in sneakers. After a decade as an enthusiast-to-collector sneakerhead, he traces the pattern: mainstream coverage of long lines and stratospheric resale prices turned grails into commodities, Nike and Adidas leaned into limited releases, and StockX and GOAT grew while resellers stockpiled shoes by gaming online auctions and raffles.

Then the gas ran out. Yeezy collapsed as a brand, Nike over-relied on retro Jordans and Dunks, and Hoka, On and Salomon pulled demand away from hyped models. Plunkett says he has since bought only two pairs at resale, one at half retail. He backs this with an interview with former SLAM editor Russ Bengtson, who says the boom rested on a generation buying back its childhood shoes and was never going to last at that level.

CounterpointCollectors of retro games and trading cards might say the comparison breaks down because supply is finite. Sneaker brands can reissue models, while a 1990s cartridge cannot be reprinted, so scarcity could keep prices high even if speculators leave.

Harper Jay MacIntyre reviews the new game from Valencia studio Deconstructeam and co-developer Selkie Harbour, in which Pratelle returns to her town with a sledgehammer after her sister Nina's brain-digitizing technology spreads. MacIntyre reads it as a game about AI intruding into homes and workplaces, and ties it to a mother's cancer scare and a father who talks to Alexa a lot.

The author is unambiguous: they smashed every robot, concluding that machines cannot be people, and cite an appellate ruling over an AI video of a murder victim shown at sentencing. They also recount using AI art briefly in a fan project and regretting it once they learned how the models were trained. They end undecided on what they would do with a digitized parent, but certain about the tech.

CounterpointPhilosophers who defend functionalist views of mind, and AI developers who stress its practical uses, would reject the premise that a digitized person is categorically not a person. Some players may also find the game's one available verb, smashing, a blunt way to explore that question.

Isaiah Colbert argues that the recurring complaint that the industry no longer caters to men really concerns a narrow figure who is white, straight and cisgender. He says that man is already catered to, and that men of other backgrounds are the ones missing, usually appearing as villains or supporting characters whose otherness is their whole function.

Colbert points to the Lollipop Chainsaw publishers' anti-DEI promotional language and the cancellation of EA's Black Panther game as evidence of an industry that panders to white male anxiety. He argues that white male protagonists are an invisible default and that a studio's choosing another grizzled white man is now a choice. His conclusion is that white masculinity is a surplus, not an endangered category.

CounterpointCritics who argue that big publishers have prioritised identity politics over game design would dispute this, as would analysts who attribute the Blade and Black Panther outcomes to production and licensing problems rather than the race of the lead.

Rebecca Corgan takes on the fan wish, which grew after EA closed BioWare in October 2026, that Larian would take over Dragon Age. She gives four reasons against it. Larian has said it wants to build its own IP and has already announced Divinity. Licensed worlds come with strings, and Dragon Age carries 17 years of lore and a troubled Veilguard. Larian's turn-based identity fits poorly with a series that has never been turn-based. And EA has not said the IP is for sale.

She cites former executive producer Mark Darrah saying EA may be more likely to sell now but would chase the biggest return, and that it turned down BioWare's remaster pitches. Corgan's alternative is to back BioWare veterans at Archetype and Arcanaut and let Larian make its own originals.

CounterpointFans in the Reddit threads she cites, including one with 4,100 upvotes, would say any rescue beats EA leaving the series in a vault, and that Larian's success with Baldur's Gate 3 shows it can handle inherited worlds. Corgan concedes Larian owning it would probably beat dust-gathering.

Previously: Austin Wintory shared music he wrote while in talks to score the cancelled Mass Effect 5. — Wednesday October 28 edition.

MobileGamer.biz's Vikki Blake interviews EA cofounder Bing Gordon about why EA was slow on mobile and what Zynga did better. The conversation also covers games funding, 'AI fluent' development and why successful companies fear risk.

CounterpointDevelopers wary of generative AI would likely challenge the idea of 'AI fluent' studios as a goal, and a founder's retrospective on his own company's missed shift naturally gives his own account of events.

Previously: Mike Futter told Aftermath the money left after 2022 and that an AI bubble now makes funding harder. — Wednesday October 28 edition.