Víctor Rosas
Víctor Rosas covers video game news and analysis for LEVEL UP, with a focus on how platform strategy, business decisions, and distribution models affect players and major franchises.
Physical Media, Disc to Digital, And Ownership
Rosas returns often to the tension between physical media and the shift to digital licensing on consoles.
He explains programs such as Xbox Disc to Digital in detail, breaking down how validation works, what access a digital license grants, and where the limits remain for owners of discs across Xbox generations.
His coverage of developers behind a prominent game of the year explores their willingness to accept lower profits per disc copy to keep physical editions alive, showing how creative teams read the changing market.
He also tracks the fate of catalog titles trapped on older hardware, highlighting when a cult classic finally has a path off Nintendo GameCube after more than two decades.
Alongside daily news, he contributes longer originals that weigh initiatives like Xbox Disc to Digital as potential solutions or placebo measures, framing policy changes against player trust and long-term access to games.
Console Strategy, Storefront Policy, And Project Helix
Rosas follows the business side of hardware closely, including reporting on estimates that Microsoft loses money on each Xbox Series X|S sold and what that implies for broader initiatives such as Project Helix and potential support for platforms like Steam.
He covers community pressure on Xbox to lean into physical media as rival platforms emphasize digital distribution, giving space to fan campaigns that urge the company to capitalize on PlayStation’s pivot.
On the PlayStation side, he reports on Sony’s efforts to clamp down on shovelware, covering publisher claims that over one hundred low-quality titles were removed from the store and outlining what that policy shift means for the marketplace.
His reporting on the future of series such as Need for Speed situates creative studio changes inside the broader question of whether long-running franchises can survive in a crowded, live-service-heavy landscape.
Within LEVEL UP’s newsroom, Rosas works on the news desk and helps shape coverage priorities across consoles, storefronts, and flagship events.
Showcase Coverage: Summer Game Fest And Nintendo Direct
Rosas handles major announcement events with dense recaps, assembling line-by-line coverage of showcases such as Summer Game Fest, where he tracks new entries like Resident Evil Veronica, Cuphead follow-ups, Alien Isolation 2, and other reveals across the program.
He provides similar treatment for platform-specific broadcasts such as Nintendo Direct, cataloguing headline items including a remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, a new Xenoblade title, and release windows for the games featured.
These roundups mix straightforward lists of trailers and announcements with quick context on each franchise, keeping attention on what matters to players while reflecting the strategic priorities of each publisher.
Crossovers, Studios, And Technology Controversies
Beyond platform policy, Rosas covers crossover projects between games and other media, such as celebrations around the premiere and success of the Knuckles series with partners like Arsenal and Paramount+.
He follows celebrity-backed moves into development, including plans for a Death Row Games studio focused on Fortnite from Snoop Dogg.
His reporting on technology debates in production, such as criticism around the possible use of AI in Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis and Crystal Dynamics’ response, shows an interest in how tools and workflows shape both perception and labor in game development.
4 more gaming journalists.
Adam Hales
Adam Hales stands out by treating the Xbox and wider Microsoft ecosystem as one connected whole, covering games, hardware, services, AI tools, and community culture as a single beat. He writes for Windows Central, focusing on how platform decisions, developer tools, and community dynamics shape the way people play and connect. His reporting stays close to developers and internal culture around major franchises like Halo, Age of Empires, and live‑service titles, using direct quotes and industry context. He covers console updates, handheld devices, emulation, and system changes with an eye on how they alter everyday play. He also tracks Microsoft’s AI‑driven tools such as GitHub Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot, explaining what new models and agents mean for developers and knowledge workers. Across stories, he reads earnings calls and shifting messaging to show what decisions signal about the future for teams and players.
Alan Wen
Alan Wen is a freelance video games journalist known for examining how games feel to play, how mechanics and structure serve their themes, and whether new entries earn their place in a series. He currently writes for TechRadar, covering features, interviews, previews, reviews, and opinion pieces. His work has appeared in Edge, Official PlayStation Magazine, GamesMaster, Games TM, Wireframe, Stuff, Kotaku UK, FANDOM, Rock Paper Shotgun, Digital Spy, The Guardian, and The Telegraph. His beat spans big-budget releases, cult titles, mobile spin-offs, Nintendo and party games, horror, atmospheric worlds, remakes, revivals, and series history. He focuses on level design, sound, narrative framing, combat, encounter design, player expectations, and fan communities. His reporting places each game within its wider series or genre and asks whether it is essential, refreshing, or merely another iteration.
Alex Blair
Alex Blair is a News.com.au reporter who stands out for treating gaming as mainstream consumer culture, not niche trade coverage. He covers major game releases, franchise news, and the business side of gaming, including projected revenue and other money questions around big titles like Grand Theft Auto VI. His broader remit also spans entertainment, finance, music, tech, travel, science, and sport. He has worked in several roles at News.com.au, including sport, and his reporting background includes football coverage. He writes in a concise, news-driven style for general readers, spelling out numbers, stakes, and context so non-specialists can follow why a release or platform matters.
Ali Haider
Ali Haider is a news editor at TwistedVoxel who specializes in detailed, version-specific coverage of video games, closely linking granular patch notes and platform changes with what studios say about their titles. He focuses on live game support, studio messaging, and platform infrastructure, tracking how patches, updates, and developer communication shape major and mid-sized releases. His beat includes live-service shooters, action and role-playing games, large publisher catalogues, and subscription lineups, with a consistent emphasis on patch names, version numbers, and specific systems affected. He reports heavily on developer statements, industry tensions, announcements, wishlists, and event-driven reveals, treating quotes and policy positions as core news drivers. Alongside news, he contributes reviews and technical support stories and brings a background in editing and managing YouTube videos to multimedia projects tied to fast-moving gaming and tech subjects.