Paige Cook
Paige Cook focuses on how business decisions, platform shifts and development tools reshape the mobile games industry, using features, expert panels and editorial analysis to show what they mean for professionals across the sector.
She is deputy editor at PocketGamer.biz, where she leads feature coverage and oversees guest content. Her background in games journalism spans news, reviews and coverage of console and PC releases, and she now concentrates on the B2B side of the mobile games industry. Alongside her written work she is a regular voice on the Week in Mobile Games podcast, breaking down the week’s major announcements and industry trends. Her recent coverage ranges from Epic Games’ vision for Unreal Engine 6 to year-end round-ups of shutdowns, transmedia strategies and digital regulation, giving her a broad view of how products, platforms and policy intersect.
Hardware changes and Mobile Mavens features
Cook’s Mobile Mavens work shows her approach to new hardware as a design and business story rather than a gadget showcase. In her feature on Apple’s entry into foldable phones and the iPhone Duo, she frames the device around how it changes the canvas iOS developers are designing for and what that means for mobile-first studios. The article leans on the Mobile Mavens panel format, bringing in industry voices to weigh in on the opportunities and challenges that come with a new form factor. Across this strand of coverage she focuses on what developers need to know about platform-level changes and how those shifts might affect user experience, monetisation and production workflows, rather than on technical specifications alone.
Deals, shutdowns and market resets
Cook’s analysis of deals and closures highlights how single decisions can reset parts of the games market. On the Week in Mobile Games podcast she explores Scopely’s $1 billion Loom Games acquisition alongside a major industry report, using the conversation to probe what consolidation and investment mean for studios and publishers.
Her year-end feature on Squad Busters’ shutdown, the rise of transmedia projects and the Digital Fairness Act pulls together disparate stories into a coherent picture of where business and regulation are pushing the sector.
In coverage such as the “Xbox’s big reset” podcast episode, she treats platform strategy changes as inflection points for developers, partners and competing services, emphasising the downstream impact rather than the announcement alone. This thread of work makes her well suited to stories that sit at the intersection of corporate strategy, legislation and day-to-day operations in games.
Platform battles, ecosystems and tools
Platform conflict and ecosystem policy are recurring themes in Cook’s reporting and audio work.
On the Week in Mobile Games podcast she examines Epic’s long-running app store battle and raises the question of whether the fight was worth it, focusing on implications for distribution, fees and developer leverage. Her discussion of Tim Cook’s Apple legacy situates the company’s moves in hardware, services and games within a broader narrative about platform control and innovation.
She also looks at ecosystem comebacks, such as Facebook Instant Games returning to prominence, tying them to event takeaways and developer sentiment. In her coverage of Epic Games’ vision for Unreal Engine 6, she follows how the next generation of engine technology is positioned to reshape production, performance and business models, connecting tools-level decisions to wider platform and marketplace dynamics.
Taken together, these pieces show a journalist who treats platforms as living systems where policy, technology and content continually re-balance.
Events, editorial curation and industry conversation
Cook’s role in shaping PocketGamer.biz’s editorial agenda is visible in both her responsibilities and her event presence. After joining as a writer in 2022 and moving up to features editor in 2023, she was promoted to deputy editor with a remit to lead features and oversee guest content.
Her PG Connects journalist profile underscores that she now enjoys covering the B2B side of the mobile games industry, with particular emphasis on long-form feature content. On podcasts previewing Pocket Gamer Connects London she helps set expectations for attendees, highlighting the themes and discussions that matter to the mobile business community. Her “top stories of 2025” feature further shows her curator role, selecting moments such as game closures, transmedia experiments and digital fairness debates as the year’s defining topics. Across these activities she operates as a connector between industry voices, events and the editorial platform, making her a natural fit for stories that benefit from context, multiple perspectives and clear framing.
4 more gaming journalists.
Adam Vitale
Adam Vitale is Editor-in-Chief at RPG Site, with coverage distinguished by detailed tracking of the full lifecycle of role-playing game releases. He reports concrete information for players, focusing on demos, platforms, sales milestones, downloadable content, and post-release updates for a wide range of RPGs. His work includes structured release calendars that list every upcoming RPG in a given year and news posts that map out release dates, formats, and platform rollouts. He regularly covers announcement trailers, gameplay videos, screenshots, and storefront page launches, with a strong emphasis on Japanese and indie RPGs and adjacent genres. Alongside this daily news, he writes longer features on RPG themes and systems and takes part in developer interviews, combining editorial leadership with consistent, granular reporting on how individual titles move from announcement to long-term support.
Al Landes
Al Landes is a long-time tech writer who treats emerging consumer technology, gaming, and AI as systems of power and consequences rather than hype. He writes news and explainer pieces for Gadget Review while managing a team of review writers, blending fast-moving coverage, clear technical detail, and practical guidance. He covers Apple hardware, software, and leadership transitions as a single evolving ecosystem, from iPhone 18 Pro and Apple Intelligence memory thresholds to Touch ID in foldables and Tim Cook’s last day as CEO. A core strand of his beat is AI, privacy, and device security, including AI worms, smart TV tracking, and regulation of superintelligence. He reports on labor and organizing in video games, experimental consumer tech and public infrastructure, and how money, logistics, and policy shape everyday devices and urban transport.
Andrew E. Freedman
Andrew E. Freedman is a senior editor at Tom’s Hardware and stands out for covering how hardware design, platform policy and pricing shape PCs, consoles and handheld gaming. He oversees laptop and desktop coverage and closely follows news in technology and gaming. His beat includes PC hardware, laptops and desktops, console and handheld gaming ecosystems, and AI infrastructure and data center investment. He reports on platform transitions, new desktop designs, memory and component costs, budget laptops, Xbox and Nintendo strategy, Windows-based handhelds, and large AI buildouts. His work has appeared at Tom’s Guide, Laptop Mag, Kotaku, PCMag and Complex. He uses detailed specifications, pricing breakdowns and corporate context, with a hands-on approach to evaluating portable hardware and product changes.
Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster connects video games, movies, and television as one culture beat. He is a senior entertainment editor at The Verge, where he oversees coverage of games, film, and TV. He reviews games, movies, and shows, including nearly every Pokémon title, and covers consoles, new releases, streaming shows, genre movies, franchises, and the technology that shapes how people watch and play. His reporting links hands-on criticism with attention to visuals, stories, creators, studios, platforms, and digital business models. He has covered E3, TIFF, Sundance, and GDC, judged at The Game Awards and E3, and interviewed Shigeru Miyamoto, Phil Spencer, and Hironobu Sakaguchi. He joined The Verge in 2012. His work has also appeared in Ars Technica, Wired.com, Eurogamer, CNN, Gamasutra, the Toronto Standard, and VentureBeat. He also contributes video and podcast work.