
Issy van der Velde
I'm Issy, a freelancer who you'll now occasionally see over here covering news on GamesRadar. I've always had a passion for playing games, but I learned how to write about them while doing my Film and TV degrees at the University of Warwick and contributing to the student paper, The Boar. After university I worked at TheGamer before heading up the news section at Dot Esports. Now you'll find me freelancing for Rolling Stone, NME, Inverse, and many more places. I love all things horror, narrative-driven, and indie, and I mainly play on my PS5. I'm currently clearing my backlog and loving Dishonored 2.
Latest articles by Issy van der Velde

God of War director Cory Barlog's next big Sony Santa Monica game is reportedly "not a new IP but it might feel like one" – and where fellow PlayStation studio Naughty Dog pivoted to Intergalactic, it seems it's not sci-fi
By Issy van der Velde last updated
News Just be a new old-school PlayStation platformer, please

Minecraft adds the viral Lava Chicken song from the movie into the game, but to get it you'll need to defeat a foe so rare I've not even seen one in my 16 years of playing
By Issy van der Velde published
News Happy hunting

Mafia: The Old Country will be less of an open-world game than Mafia 3 as the devs agree it was too much and didn't fit the series
By Issy van der Velde published
news When is a world too open?

This latest Helldivers 2 patch is only for the true patriots – the Super Earth Flag stratagem can now be "proudly" planted directly into living and dead enemies: "Absolute Democracy"
By Issy van der Velde published
News What a sight to behold

After gaining players for 7 years, sci-fi colony builder RimWorld hits a new Steam record, nearing 100,000 concurrents thanks to an expansion so big it probably could've been a new game
By Issy van der Velde published
News It's less than 2,000 off The Sims 4's all-time peak

Ubisoft foresaw the grindy fate of Assassin's Creed Valhalla back in the Odyssey days, wanting a literal "odyssey" but not "a world that was just fatiguing to travel through"
By Issy van der Velde published
News A hard line to tread

Nintendo reportedly asks Switch 2 owners what they think about its controversial game-key cards, and yeah, I don't think it'll be lacking in replies as players rally to "keep telling them how big b******t" they are
By Issy van der Velde published
News I hope whoever reads the responses doesn't mind swear words...

"I actually felt heard": Diablo 4 content creators tease exciting things to come for the ARPG after a call with Blizzard, following seasons of complaints about nerfs, endgame, and more
By Issy van der Velde published
News Fingers crossed

Borderlands 4 has "well over 200" collectibles that are so well hidden, Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford expects "most players will never see any of them"
By Issy van der Velde published
news Be prepared to look far and wide

I'm glad the heatwave is over, because if it wasn't I'd think I hallucinated these weird Death Stranding 2 moments, from dancing dolls to sci-fi directors fighting while making pizza
By Issy van der Velde published
News What a strange, beautiful game.

Helldivers 2 is "definitely not" coming to Game Pass despite its Xbox launch, and there are "no plans" for cross progression, but most players are just happy to be getting reinforcements
By Issy van der Velde published
News More meat for the grinder

Elden Ring's Let Me Solo Her already has 155 hours in Nightreign largely spent helping other players, and like us he's hoping for more maps and characters
By Issy van der Velde published
News There's still more to conquer

Battlefield 6's battle royale opening leaks in a Vine-length clip, as a dataminer claims the map is set in California
By Issy van der Velde published
news Seems we'll be dropping in via chinooks

Microtransactions reach new level of hell once thought impossible with buy now, pay later options: "Interest-free biweekly payments or longer-term monthly installments"
By Issy van der Velde published
News You need to pass an eligibility check first

Helldivers 2 makes a highly requested change: the Warbond Token, a new item that fills a hole in the game's special editions and stops people from buying things twice
By Issy van der Velde published
News Now you'll have more weapons to defend Managed Democracy with

Dune: Awakening hoarders swiftly discover a second item duping glitch, barely a day after the survival MMO's devs fixed the first one: "This game is cooked"
By Issy van der Velde published
News Life on Arrakis is far from fair

Battlefield 6 has reportedly cost over $400 million to make and led to developers taking up to 9 months off due to burnout
By Issy van der Velde published
news It doesn't seem to be going well

PS5 architect Mark Cerny is preparing for "the next generation of consoles" but doesn't expect to talk about hardware for a few years
By Issy van der Velde published
News Sorry for those of you wanting PS6 news

Rockstar remembers Red Dead Online exists and puts out a new update trailer for the first time in 4 years, leaving fans hopeful it's not dead after all: "Are we back?"
By Issy van der Velde published
news Yee haw!

A Claptrap volume slider is just the start, Borderlands 4 boss Randy Pitchford says there are "so many things we are holding back from everyone until launch. So. Many. Things"
By Issy van der Velde published
news So many things

It's finally official: Marvel Rivals Season 3 is getting Phoenix and Blade, and it looks like Knull is the new big bad you'll have to defeat
By Issy van der Velde published
news The leaks were right

One of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's funniest moments was actually "random improv"
By Issy van der Velde published
news Sometimes the best things happen in the moment

Hytale's original dev wants to buy it back from Riot, but "a lot of content would be cut early on" to release it as quickly as possible
By Issy van der Velde published
News "It's not gonna be perfect or what Hytale is supposed to be Day One"
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