Broken Mirror Games

Games Media Crisis Deepens, Bloober Hunts Weird Horror Titles, and New York Games Week Soft Launches

This weekly edition of The Game Business newsletter and podcast, published October 1, 2026 by Christopher Dring, covers games media layoffs, Bloober Team's new horror publishing ambitions, and the abrupt launch of New York Games Week, along with a roundup of industry news.

• The games media industry is facing severe contraction, with recent layoffs at Future (Gamesradar/Techradar), Metro, and Popverse following earlier cuts at IGN and Restart, driven by declining search traffic and the rise of AI.
• Bloober Team is expanding its horror portfolio through its 'Broken Mirror' label, which currently has five projects in development, including the licensed title 'Saw: Genesis' and the Switch 2 exclusive 'Onyx: The Dark Grip'.
• New York Games Week is soft-launching on October 4, 2026, as a decentralized event series intended to test a new industry gathering model before a full-scale rollout in 2027.