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Welcome to Multiplier
Hello there and welcome to the first(ish) issue of Multiplier.
Who are you?
My name is Fergus Halliday. I’ve been writing about games and technology since I was 17 (or so) years old. My work has been published in a ton of places, including GamesHub, Kotaku, Gizmodo, PC World, Press Start Australia, The AU Review, Screen Rant, We Got This Covered and more.
I am currently writing full-time for Reviews.org Australia, so if you’re after my work you can find more of it over there.
What is this?
Multiplier is intended to be a bi-weekly column about the conversation happening in games. Each week, I’ll have a chat with a different guest. Together, we’ll trade words on a given topic. Sometimes, the subject will be topical or tied to a recent release. Other times, it’ll have to do with their individual work with and perspective on games.
Given my own background, it’ll also likely cover topics like the local media scene, technology and games journalism and game development from time to time.
Gaming is probably always going to be the core focus but who knows what the future holds. If I can think of a good topic and have a great guest lined up I’d love to make use of Multiplier as a platform for that conversation. Some of the best stories that I’ve written in recent years have blurred the boundaries of what someone might consider to be traditional games journalism and the idea of applying that same attitude to this project is very appealing to me.
How is Multiplier different?
In theory and practice, Multiplier is intended to be a throwback to the “letters” blogging, which has fallen out of favor in recent times but can still be found at independent outlets like Remap Radio.
Other inspirations include:
I’ve always been fascinated by the conversations that gaming inspires as much as the games themselves. The idea with Multiplier is to try and tap into all the wonderful people I’ve met while working in games and tech media and spotlight the insights that they can provide when paired with the right question.
While I love a strong opinion piece with a hot take or a well-articulated critique, there’s something to be unearthed through the process of dialogue with another person that you can’t substitute as a solo act. Put simply: two voices are better than one.
Each regular issue of Multiplier (aside from this one) will be a back-and-forth conversation between myself and a guest about a given topic. The words you’re gonna read are the result of us emailing back and forth. I hope they’ll be interesting. I have some other ambitions for this project as well, but we’ll cross that bridge if and when we come to it.
Practically, this format also takes advantage of the fact that people can often be more articulate when they have time to write out their thoughts versus an on-the-spot interview. There are downsides and limits to this approach as well but I think there’s something special that can come out through a conversation between two people that you can’t easily get from an opinion piece, review or feature by a single author.
Bi-weekly? As in twice a week or as in once every fortnight?
The second one. For now anyway.
Multiplier is a side project for me and I’d like to strike a balance between making it a sustainable commitment of time and energy on my part, making it make sense for the guests I want to get on and making sure I have enough time to make the finished product is something that is worth the time it takes to read.
I have a big list of cool ideas for what the future of this project could hold but every single one would have to rely on a solid foundation so let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Why Substack?
I have a lot of reservations about Substack. The baggage and drama attached to the platform/company is a part of what’s held me back from launching this project until now. I did spend some time testing out the alternatives but couldn’t quite find one that I was happy with.
Right now, this is still probably the best platform for me when it comes to launching Multiplier. I will probably look to move to another platform like Ghost later down the line. It is what it is.
What topics are you planning to discuss?
That’s a secret! But expect it to be a mix of the kinds of stuff that’s doing the rounds online and stuff that’s geared towards the specific expertise of that week’s guest.
On that note, if you are reading this and would love to participate in Multiplier then I strongly encourage you to get in touch with me via LinkedIn, Threads or any of the many other social media platforms I am on to let me know that.
Anyway, thanks for reading this. I hope you’re as excited to see where this goes as I am. Stay tuned for the first proper issue in the near future.
~ Fergus Halliday
Congrats mate! Look forward to reading your pieces!