Oliver Brandt is Vooks' Deputy Editor specializing in gaming hardware evolution and cross-media adaptations. With a background in legal practice, he brings unique rigor to analyzing industry business models while championing consumer rights. Recent landmark work includes:
Pitching Priorities:
Oliver Brandt's career arc demonstrates a rare fusion of legal training and pop culture passion. After completing his law degree and practicing for several years, Brandt pivoted to journalism in the late 2010s, combining his analytical rigor with a lifelong enthusiasm for gaming and entertainment. His early work at News.com.au and ESPN laid the foundation for his current role as Deputy Editor at Vooks, Australia's premier destination for gaming and entertainment analysis.
"Writing about games isn't just describing mechanics - it's decoding cultural artifacts that shape how millions experience storytelling."
Brandt's 4,000-word deep dive into Nintendo's controversial upgrade model became required reading across the industry. The piece combined patent research, developer interviews, and consumer psychology analysis to predict how the "10x power boost" marketing would impact both casual players and collector markets. His prescient warning about fragmentation in game preservation sparked ongoing debates in developer forums.
Brandt's Nintendo Switch 2 coverage demonstrates his unique ability to contextualize hardware specs within broader industry trends. Successful pitches should pair technical data (e.g., GPU clock speeds) with analysis of how these specs enable new narrative possibilities. His recent exploration of ray tracing in Assassin's Creed Shadows shows particular interest in graphical advancements that serve storytelling.
While many journalists focus on AAA studios, Brandt consistently amplifies mid-tier developers navigating platform transitions. His profile of Monolith Soft's challenges porting Xenoblade Chronicles X highlighted the human cost of backward compatibility efforts. Pitches should identify developers facing unique technical constraints with compelling human angles.
2024 Australian Games Journalism Award for Technical Analysis
Brandt received this honor for his investigative series on cloud save compatibility issues during console transitions. The judging panel noted his "unparalleled ability to make DRM restrictions comprehensible to casual players while pressing manufacturers for consumer-friendly solutions."
At PressContact, we aim to help you discover the most relevant journalists for your PR efforts. If you're looking to pitch to more journalists who write on Gaming, here are some other real estate journalist profiles you may find relevant:
