Michael Larabel
Michael Larabel is the founder and principal author of Phoronix, where he covers Linux hardware, performance testing and open-source software with a technical focus on how platforms and graphics technology shape demanding workloads, including gaming. His gaming-related reporting centres on open-source engines, graphics drivers and Linux support for modern rendering features rather than player-oriented reviews. With more than twenty thousand published articles, he follows kernel releases, distribution updates and driver stacks in detail, treating them as the infrastructure that determines how games and other graphics-heavy applications run.
Linux kernel releases and hardware support
Larabel writes frequently about Linux kernel releases, using them to track the evolution of graphics, CPU and memory-management support across architectures. His coverage of Linux 6.17 and 6.18 foregrounds topics such as Intel Panther Lake Xe3 graphics readiness and extensive IOMMU changes for Intel, AMD, Apple and RISC-V hardware. These stories focus on subsystems and driver updates, showing how low-level changes affect performance, stability and feature support for advanced workloads. The emphasis on architecture-specific improvements and hardware enablement makes his kernel coverage particularly relevant when gaming or graphics use cases depend on new drivers and platform capabilities.
Debian project and Linux distributions
Larabel devotes substantial attention to Debian, covering its anniversaries, maintenance releases and planning milestones. He marks Debian’s 33rd birthday and uses the occasion to underline its status as one of the longest-maintained Linux projects.
He reports on Debian 13.7 as a bug-fix release, focusing on the maintenance work that keeps production systems current. He tracks forward-looking details by writing about Debian 15 and its “Duke” codename, signalling future direction for the distribution. Governance stories feature prominently in his Debian coverage, including pieces on a proposed general resolution over large language model usage and the subsequent developer vote on how LLMs should be used within the project.
Beyond Debian, he covers alternative distributions such as Omarchy 4.0, noting its Linux base and desktop shell as part of a broader interest in how different distros assemble their user and developer experience.
Open-source AI alliances and project governance
Larabel treats AI and machine learning as part of the open-source infrastructure story rather than a separate beat.
He reports on the NVIDIA-started Open Secure AI Alliance moving under a larger open-source umbrella, focusing on how that shift affects collaboration around secure and transparent AI tooling. His Debian governance pieces on LLM usage show him following policy mechanics closely, from initial consideration of a general resolution to developer voting, and presenting AI questions as issues of project rules, process and community norms. This thread of coverage positions him as a reporter who watches how emerging technologies such as LLMs are integrated into long-standing open-source projects and what safeguards or frameworks are adopted around them.
Benchmarking tools, events and engine-level gaming coverage
Larabel’s reporting is grounded in his parallel role as lead developer of the Phoronix Test Suite, Phoromatic and OpenBenchmarking.org, performance-testing tools widely used to benchmark hardware and track regressions across operating systems. He writes about this benchmarking software as part of his work, describing how it profiles performance under Linux, BSD, macOS, Windows and Solaris and using it to inform his perspective on hardware evaluation and driver quality.
His ecosystem coverage extends to events such as Kernel Recipes, where he highlights the publication of slides and videos to document the state of kernel development for a technical audience. Platform releases also feature in his work, including pieces on Android 15 being released to the Android Open-Source Project, which he situates within the wider open-source and device ecosystem.
He occasionally runs site-focused updates, such as an autumn deal framed as a way to help support Linux coverage, making the sustainability of technical reporting itself part of the narrative. Within gaming, his coverage includes engine-level updates like Godot 4.7 adding HDR output support, treating new rendering capabilities and display features as a technical story about how open-source engines evolve and what hardware and platform requirements they introduce.[anchor]
Across these threads, Larabel’s distinguishing trait is a consistent preference for system-level detail - kernels, distributions, drivers, benchmarking tools and governance mechanics - over consumer-facing angles, including when the subject is gaming. His stories are written for readers who follow Linux and open-source platforms as technical foundations for graphics, AI and performance-critical workloads, and his long-running engagement with benchmarking and hardware support shapes how he approaches every release, vote and alliance he covers.
4 more gaming journalists.
Adam Bankhurst
Adam Bankhurst covers the busiest crossroads of gaming and entertainment for IGN, with a focus on breaking news, live event roundups, and franchise guides. He reports on releases, updates, hardware, films, anime, and major fan universes including Disney, Star Wars, Marvel, Lord of the Rings, Nintendo, Final Fantasy, and Mass Effect. He has covered events such as E3 and PAX, and has written The Game Awards 2020: All the Winners and X-Men Movies in Order: The Full Timeline. His work turns announcements, shows, and timelines into clear, digestible stories. He leads with dates, decisions, platforms, prices, and viewing or playing order. He also helps manage IGN’s homepage and contributes news, reviews, previews, features, commerce, and wiki content.
Alejandro Josan
Alejandro Josan specialises in turning complex, high‑information subjects into concise, usable narratives with facts first and minimal opinion. He writes guides, lists, and features for GameTyrant, focusing on step‑by‑step instructions, completion times, and whether in‑game systems are worth a player’s time. His work on titles like Rhapsody in Scarlet, Harvest Moon: Echoes of Teradea, and High on Life 2 explains progression, mechanics, systems, and different completion paths with clear numeric framing. He also breaks down layered systems in games such as Palworld and Infinite Craft into short, direct explanations. Outside GameTyrant, he has an extended track record on live‑service games, especially Destiny 2, covering tier lists, seasonal content, weapon “god rolls,” patch changes, and build optimisation. At Suggest, he is a resident crime expert reporting on breaking crime news and rare medical cases with clear timelines and careful use of official information.
Alex Van Aken
Alex Van Aken is a multimedia video game journalist who specializes in long-form documentaries, developer profiles, and weekly conversation-driven coverage of major releases and industry trends. He is senior video editor at Game Informer, where he leads the video team, travels for cover stories and studio visits, and hosts The Game Informer Show podcast. His reporting centers on cover story features and developer-focused coverage that highlight how games are designed and produced, often anchored to tentpole titles like Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Halo: Campaign Evolved, and World of Warcraft. Van Aken also writes previews, impressions, and reviews across action-adventure franchises, live-service expansions, and racing games. He builds independent game documentaries, appears on major industry platforms, and cites consulting experience on notable series, grounding his work in visual and audio storytelling and direct access to creators.
Alexander Lee
Alexander Lee covers how games, platforms and creators intersect with business. He leads news coverage at GamesBeat across gaming, entertainment, technology, the creator economy and the future of media. His core beat is platform strategy, live services and new game models, with close attention to Roblox, creator tools, monetization, communication features, safety and emerging technology. He also covers esports, content creators, regulation, accessibility and how design choices affect players and developers. Before GamesBeat, he covered gaming, esports and creators through advertising and marketing. His reporting connects product changes and policy decisions to their effects on companies, creators and audiences. He reports from industry events, uses participant voices to show business impact and analyzes longer-term strategy. He also hosts and joins podcast conversations with industry leaders.