Announcing Campaign Mode
For the unfamiliar, my name is Samuel Tolbert. I'm a freelance games journalist, having worked for years across websites like Windows Central, Inverse, and TechRadar. I was let go from my main gig at the start of the year, and since then I've taken a couple of months to recuperate, rest, and think over what I wanted to do next.
For multiple reasons this ended up being a significantly longer process than I'd anticipated, but ultimately I came to the same ringing conclusion: No matter what, I don't want to stop writing about games. I love games and so many of the people that make them, even if corporate interests make that extraordinarily challenging, with constant cuts ripping away experience from gaming-focused outlets.
I'm hardly alone here, with many friends, acquaintances, and others across the freelance games writing network struggling to find work recently. It's getting tighter and tighter, with constant cuts and an embarrasing game of musical chairs ensuing in the rare situations where a full-time position opens up.
One of many, many, many specialist casualties from these unending waves of layoffs is deep coverage around strategy games, particularly RTS (real-time strategy) titles. It hurts, as it's the genre I grew up with. Playing PC games like Age of Empires 2 shaped my early tastes and put me on the path to doing this kind of work.
I've written guides and reviews, previews and news. I led Windows Central's Summer Game Fest coverage in 2025. I've reported on the challenges of teams pushing forward through unionization in spite of layoffs. Despite the ever-increasing challenges, I'm not done yet.
To that end, I'm starting Campaign Mode, a newsletter and website where I can talk about the games I'm enjoying and the trends across the industry that are worth highlighting. I chose the name because while I'm aware of how important online multiplayer was for strategy games, it was always the promise of a campaign mode that excited me the most at a young age, from the historic tales of William Wallace and Joan of Arc to commanding sci-fi legions of Protoss and Zerg.
So, in line with my roots, there'll be a heavy focus on RTS games whenever viable — I'm eagerly looking forward to Total War: Warhammer 3's upcoming expansion focused on The End Times — but I'll have plenty of other things to talk about as well, from first-person shooters and role-playing games to survival-horror and much more.
I'm also hoping to have some original reporting here, from time to time, depending on how successful this is and what my other work ends up looking like in the months ahead.
"So, how can I help?"
I'm so glad you asked. No matter if you're familiar with my work or a curious newcomer, if you would like to aid in what I'm building here, please subscribe to keep up-to-date on any new posts I send out. Right now, this is completely free, but as I'm continuing to look for steady work, I will happily accept any tips at my Ko-Fi below, if you'd like to donate. You can also follow me on Bluesky.
https://ko-fi.com/samtolbert484654
It feels good to be writing again.
