George Yang

George is a freelance writer specializing in video games and other entertainment.

Featured Articles

My longform interviews and reporting can be found here:

The Ringer •

How ‘Call of Duty’ Got Dethroned in 2025

There are very few constants in the video game industry. The decades-long console wars waged by PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo are winding down. Business models are evolving to prioritize subscription services, free-to-play games, and microtransactions. And our gaming libraries are increasingly digital, with physical copies becoming collector’s items. But if there’s one thing that you could always count on amid the upheaval, it was Call of Duty’s overwhelming dominance. That is, until 2025, when the shortcomings of the online shooter’s latest incarnation, combined with a concerted attack by two rival games, conspired to take Call of Duty down.
Epic Games Store Blog •

How 007 First Light brought its characters to life

007 First Light, the next game from Hitman developer IO Interactive, is a new and original take on the iconic spy franchise. Since it's starting from the ground up with a younger, fresher James Bond, naturally he needs an equally compelling villain. Enter the Pirate King Bawma, leader of a massive black market arms hub known as Aleph, a fictional city in Mauritania. Played by musical legend Lenny Kravitz, Bawma is shaping up to be a formidable match for the charming MI6 agent.
Crunchyroll •

Kazutoyo Maehiro and Hiroshi Minagawa on What They Want Fans to Gain From FINAL FANTASY TACTICS - THE IVALICE CHRONICLES

FINAL FANTASY TACTICS was first released in 1997 for the original PlayStation and has since been lauded as one of the best video games ever created. With its engrossing story, likeable cast of characters and deep gameplay mechanics, it has stood the test of time. Now, almost 30 years later, Square Enix has remastered the title as FINAL FANTASY TACTICS - THE IVALICE CHRONICLES, complete with graphical enhancements and quality-of-life additions to make it more accessible to more people than ever before.
Epic Games Store Blog •

How Battlefield 6’s Portal lets you build your own war

One of the standout new features in the Battlefield series is Portal, which was first introduced in Battlefield 2042. Portal enables players to create custom game matches called “Experiences,” and implement their own rules and gameplay options. This gave the Battlefield community tools that dramatically extended the game’s lifecycle. Now Portal is coming back in Battlefield 6, improved and better than ever.
Crunchyroll •

SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance Creative Director Ben Fiquet on Breathing New Life Into a Franchise He’s Loved Since Childhood

SEGA has recently taken the initiative to revive some of its classic and dormant IP, including Virtua Fighter and Crazy Taxi. One of them, the ninja action series Shinobi, just received its first brand new entry since 2011. SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance is a 2D action side-scrolling platformer that sees the return of series protagonist Joe Musashi. This time around, Streets of Rage 4 developer Lizardcube has taken the reins of the series to create SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance. The studio blended both classic platforming and action with modern art and control sensibilities to create a unique experience that feels both nostalgic and up-to-date.
Crunchyroll •

Game Director David Jaumandreu on Wanting a 90s Seinen Anime Aesthetic for NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound

The Ninja Gaiden series has seen a resurgence in 2025 with the release of NINJA GAIDEN Black 2 back in January and the recent launch of NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound last month. To top it all off, the next mainline entry, Ninja Gaiden 4, is set to release in October.

NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound sees the classic ninja series return to its 2D roots with sidescrolling action and nostalgic NES-style pixel art. While modern 3D games are all the rage these days, Koei Tecmo isn’t letting Ninja Gaiden’s history fall by the wayside and worked with developer The Game Kitchen (best known for the excellent 2D side-scrolling action game, Blasphemous) and publisher Dotemu to honor Ninja Gaiden’s 2D origins.

Crunchyroll sat down with NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound director David Jaumandreu to discuss how the development teams brainstormed the game’s ideas, characters and art style.
Rolling Stone •

Inside Pac-Man's Gritty New Redesign

There are very few gaming gaming characters as instantly recognizable across all of popular culture as Mario or Sonic the Hedgehog, but Bandai Namco’s Pac-Man is one of them. The yellow fruit-eating circle’s iconic “waka-waka” eating soundbite is one of the most recognizable sounds in gaming. Debuting in 1980 in arcades (a full year ahead of Mario himself), Pac-Man is celebrating its 45th anniversary in 2025, although he’s sporting a very different look.
Anime News Network •

Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves Team Discuss Updating the Series After 25 Years

The Fatal Fury series made its debut in 1991 with Fatal Fury: King of Fighters around the time when other fighting game franchises were starting to appear or hit their stride. The biggest ones we know and love today, including Street Fighter, Tekken, and Mortal Kombat, came from that era. While those had new iterations every several years and kept consistent, Fatal Fury's last entry was Garou: Mark of the Wolves in 1999.
Anime News Network •

DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO Producer Explains the Long Wait for More

The Dragon Ball franchise is one of the most recognizable properties in the world, with a variety of manga, TV shows, and video games created out of it. The Dragon Ball Sparking video game series was incredibly popular in Japan. Known as Dragon Ball: Budokai Tenkaichi series internationally, it garnered fans around the globe to where there were three separate mainline entries for the PlayStation 2 and a spin-off for the PlayStation Portable.
However, the series seemingly ended in 2010, with no m...
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