Simon Cardy
Simon Cardy holds a senior editorial role at IGN, working across games and entertainment coverage as a writer, producer and podcast host. His through-line is showing how big-budget games and their creators are changing the experiences they offer, combining access-driven reporting, event previews and opinion pieces around major releases. He applies the same lens to legacy franchises and new properties alike, including recent work on Grand Theft Auto 6, Fable and fresh entries in long-running series such as Tomb Raider.
Blockbuster games and creator-led coverage
Cardy’s core reporting focuses on prominent, narrative-driven titles and the decisions behind them.
His coverage of Fable drills into why the team has altered its hero design, foregrounding developer explanations over speculation. In his Grand Theft Auto 6 work, he explores how Rockstar is approaching satire and humour in the current climate, again anchoring the piece in direct commentary from the studio. Around games like The Blood of Dawnwalker, he tracks technical choices such as console frame rate limits and the resulting fan reaction, framing performance details as part of the broader player experience.
His Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis piece continues this pattern, examining how a new adventure reworks a 30-year-old series to feel contemporary without losing its roots. Across these articles, the emphasis is on letting studios explain their intent while clearly spelling out what it means for players.
Event previews and showcase framing
A significant strand of Cardy’s work is expectation-setting coverage around major industry events. He writes preview pieces for platforms such as PlayStation’s State of Play that outline likely beats, highlight the games most worth watching, and position the show within the platform’s wider strategy. Ahead of Opening Night Live at Gamescom, he similarly maps out what viewers should expect from the presentation, tying individual announcements to the momentum of larger franchises and upcoming releases. These articles focus less on blow-by-blow hype and more on context: how a showcase fits into a company’s year, what kinds of reveals are realistic, and which segments matter most for core audiences.
That event-facing sub-beat makes him a regular guide to how big publishers plan to present their games before they reach players.
Opinion, analysis and player-focused angles
Alongside straight reporting, Cardy writes opinion and analysis pieces that probe how modern games feel to play and consume. In his column on PlayStation titles, he argues that too many of them tell variations of the same story, using recent releases as examples to question narrative sameness and tonal repetition. His coverage of The Blood of Dawnwalker’s 60fps absence goes beyond relaying the announcement to capture fan dissatisfaction and explain why performance targets matter for this audience. In a separate feature for a regional edition of IGN, he breaks down how many hours different members of the team spent finishing a game’s main story and postgame content, turning completion times and play patterns into concrete guidance for players weighing the investment.
Taken together, these pieces show a consistent focus on how design choices, story trends and technical constraints land with players in practice.
Cross-media projects, curation and audio presence
Cardy’s role extends beyond written articles into longer-form and cross-media projects. He has produced a documentary on the creation of the League of Legends pop group K/DA, as well as behind-the-scenes features on films such as Dune and West Side Story, bringing a games sensibility to broader entertainment coverage. Within IGN’s ecosystem he also curates playlists like “Cardy’s Masterpieces”, assembling a set of standout games into a guided list that reflects his taste and long-term engagement with the medium. He hosts the weekly IGN UK Podcast, where his on-air role complements his editorial work by discussing new releases, industry news and ongoing coverage in an audio format.
Across these projects, Cardy operates as a visible, multi-format voice for IGN, combining reporting, curation and hosting around contemporary games and related entertainment.
4 more gaming journalists.
Aaron Astle
Aaron Astle covers the business of mobile games through data, company strategy and cross-platform trends. He is Features and Data Editor at PocketGamer.biz and has written more than 2,000 articles for the publication. His beat includes game performance, revenue, player numbers, market share, monetisation, longevity and location-based games. He covers leadership changes, studio restructures, trade bodies, publishing decisions, investment and platform relations. He also reports on mobile, console and PC compatibility, live operations, regional marketing, hardware and app store rules. His work includes interviews with publishers such as King, Scopely, Cygames, Sybo and Rovio, plus year-in-review features for 2024 and 2025. He combines news, interviews, performance data and product timelines in clear analysis. He also contributes to the Week in Mobile Games podcast and event coverage.
Aaron Down
Aaron Down stands out for practical, systems-aware coverage that helps players navigate complex PC games and the platforms around them. He is a guides writer at PCGamesN and a staff writer at The Loadout. His work covers strategy games, live-service updates, codes, online worlds, simulation and management games, and classic titles being remade. He writes about League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics from long experience with both, with a focus on depth, meta shifts, and long-term mastery. His PCGamesN work includes strategy round-ups, Guild Wars 3 news, and reviews such as Two Point Museum. His writing has also appeared in The Digital Fix, Medium, Newsbreak, Flipboard, and other gaming platforms. He reports in clear, direct language, focusing on verified information, game systems, player access, and how platforms such as Steam shape discovery.
Aaron Potter
Aaron Potter is a franchise-focused games journalist who judges big-budget console and PC releases as parts of longer stories. At the Mirror’s gaming vertical, he writes reviews, release-time explainers, deal guides and commentary across PlayStation, Xbox, PC and Nintendo. His beat includes narrative-driven action games, horror, superhero epics, fantasy RPGs, co-op shooters and major series such as Marvel’s Spider-Man, Star Wars Jedi, Resident Evil, Dragon’s Dogma and God of War. He also covers launch times, platforms, Game Pass, crossplay, pre-orders, discounts and AAA ports, helping players decide what to play and how to buy it. With more than eight years in games journalism, prior freelance work and a book on indie games, he compares new releases with their predecessors, weighing storytelling, polish, innovation and value.
Adam Starkey
Adam Starkey stands out for writing about how games feel to play day to day. At Metro, he covers console and PC games, with a focus on Nintendo, fighting games and competitive titles, and he mixes reviews, news and commentary on major releases and hardware. He writes clear, player-focused criticism on mechanics, monetisation, accessibility and local multiplayer appeal. He also reports on live service systems, trailers, reveals, studio statements and consumer issues such as PS5 Pro scalpers. Beyond Metro, he works as a freelance entertainment journalist across games, TV, film, music and esports, with work published in NME, Rolling Stone UK, Radio Times, Edge, Nintendo Life and VG247.