Moises Taveras

Moises Taveras writes about video games with an eye for how they play, what they mean, and the communities that form around them. He covers new releases, live-service titles, and offbeat projects across previews, reviews, diaries, commentary, and guides for Kotaku and other games publications. His work blends hands-on reporting with criticism of the games and entertainment industries, and often brings in culture, identity, and online trends.

Hands-on previews and reviews of new games

Taveras spends much of his time going hands-on with upcoming games and framing what distinguishes each new release.

His coverage of Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve looks at how the series raises its ambitions after a long gap between major entries, focusing on expanded scope and how those choices change the feel of its aerial combat. In his Astro Bot review, he treats the game as both a joyful platformer and a reflection on gaming’s past and present, pairing close attention to level design and mechanics with a broader look at the medium’s history and future.

His hands-on piece on Control Resonant uses its creepypasta inspirations to explain the game’s tone and atmosphere, linking narrative hooks and horror influences to the action-RPG systems rather than treating them as separate concerns. Across these assignments, he favors clear description of systems and structure, then moves quickly to what those design decisions say about where games are headed.

Guides and service coverage for live games

Alongside criticism and previews, Taveras produces tips and guides aimed at players trying to get more from complex or ongoing games.

His work in Kotaku’s Tips & Guides section covers practical advice, loadouts, and progression strategies in games that demand time and system mastery. Archive pages show repeat appearances under this vertical, indicating that he is comfortable pivoting from critical voice to service writing while keeping language direct and readable. Some guides highlight specific titles like Pumpkin Jack and Doom, where he breaks down encounters and mechanics into straightforward steps.

Professional profiles further link his service coverage to large live-service communities around games such as Helldivers 2, Elden Ring, and Destiny 2, underscoring that he writes for players who treat these games as ongoing hobbies rather than one-off experiences.

Culture, commentary, and game diaries

Taveras regularly contributes to Kotaku’s Culture, Commentary, and Game Diary sections, where he writes about the stories and oddities around games as much as the games themselves.

His Game Diary work uses playful framing - such as a headline about giving a crab a gun - to explore goofy moments and emergent play while still grounding the piece in what it feels like to inhabit a particular game space. In Culture coverage, he writes about larger franchises and their place in the gaming landscape, including how a high-profile series like Ace Combat positions itself in a crowded market and why a new entry matters after years of absence.

Commentary pieces and news-driven stories show him engaging with the business and policy side of the industry, such as reporting on a former Activision leader’s interest in buying TikTok and what that move would signal about the relationship between game executives, social platforms, and audience reach. Across these formats, he connects corporate and cultural moves back to players’ everyday experience, whether that is how communities react, how representation is handled, or how online discourse shapes perception of a game.

Freelance criticism across games media

Beyond Kotaku, Taveras maintains a freelance practice as a writer and critic focused on games and adjacent cultures. Professional materials credit his work at outlets such as GameSpot, Vice, Fanbyte, Uproxx, and Paste, where he contributes feature pieces on cultural trends and the ways games intersect with streaming, music, film, and other media. This work often sits at the intersection of games and identity, including coverage that touches on race and ethnicity in the games and entertainment industries and how those dynamics shape who is visible and whose stories are told. Across these platforms, he keeps a consistent voice that balances analysis with accessibility, aiming to make industry structures and cultural debates understandable to readers who primarily come to him as players.

Taken together, his Kotaku reporting and broader freelance portfolio mark him as a critic who treats games as both systems to master and cultural texts embedded in larger social conversations.