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After more than nine years, and about half that time leading the site, I am stepping away from PlayStation LifeStyle. It’s not because I don’t love it here—on the contrary, leaving is tough; a bittersweet move to make after such a long time. In fact, where I’m going was only made possible by the experience and connections I made in my time here at PSLS. My next role is in community management on the development side of the games industry, so you may still see me around if you know where to look. I love video games, and I don’t plan on leaving the industry anytime soon. But my nearly decade-long run at PlayStation LifeStyle has come to an end.
I started writing for PlayStation LifeStyle in November 2012. I was just a fan back then—a member of the community who loved the antics of Sebastian, Dan, and the motley crew of writers that made this little site tick. I’d loved PlayStation since the day the PS1 launched, and this site full of PlayStation fans felt like home. Two months later, I was attending my first preview event for Dead Space 3. Shortly after, Dead Space 3 also became the first review I ever cut my teeth on. That same year I attended the first of what would be seven E3s, before the pandemic shut things down. I would go on to review and preview hundreds of games and products in my time at PSLS, from some of the worst experiences I’ve ever had the displeasure of playing, to getting early review access to the PlayStation 5 hardware last year.
But it’s not just the reviews and previews and early access that are what I’ve loved about this job (though they certainly are a perk). What I’ve loved most is getting to connect with the passionate people who make the games. I grew up playing Myst when I was younger, and getting to connect with creator Rand Miller? That was a dream come true, one I didn’t even consciously know I had before it happened. Same happened with the inimitable Tim Schafer. I’ve interviewed and rubbed shoulders with PlayStation leadership like Shuhei Yoshida, Shawn Layden, and Adam Boyes. I recently moderated a developer panel for the team at Polyarc. I even had a tailor-made one-on-one Knack II overview with Mark Cerny, addressing all of the criticisms from my original Knack review, which he had read.
And hopefully in some small way, I’ve been able to deliver that passion back to you, the PlayStation LifeStyle readers. That’s always been my goal. It’s all about the love of gaming. The love of Trophies. The love of PlayStation.
I could wax poetic about countless memories from my years PlayStation LifeStyle—in fact, the more I write this, the more experiences I keep remembering, like that time I wrote a satirical guide for reviewers, or was able to share my experience about my motorcycle accident, or the love for Destiny that was forged thanks to my time here. But I won’t drag this goodbye out too much longer.
I want to say thank you to the incredible people who I have had the pleasure of working with over the years. I’ve seen many PSLS writers come and go, some moving on to much bigger and better things. While it was always sad to lose amazing people, I love seeing them all excelling where they are now. And now it’s my turn to say a bittersweet goodbye. I’ve loved my experience here, but it’s time that I move on to a new adventure and a different challenge. I leave the site in the hands of a small but excellent staff of writers, who I’m certain can continue to carry the torch.
If you want to follow my future endeavors in the games industry, you can find me on Twitter @FinchStrife. For now I’ll simply say farewell, and thank you for actually reading the article.