The Video Game Library Newsletter - Vol. #050

Welcome back to The Video Game Library Newsletter!

Fifty newsletters ago, I started an experiment.

I wanted to see if it was possible to seriously document the world of video game books. Not just the obvious releases. Not just the big publishers. Not just English-language titles. I wanted to build something that treated this space with the same care and importance that other media preservation communities have received for decades.

Since then, this newsletter has highlighted nearly 2,000 video game book releases and announcements from across the globe. Art books. Strategy guides. Academic works. Cookbooks. Manga. Comics. Memoirs. Novels. Game development resources. Obscure indie publications. Forgotten regional releases. Limited print runs. Hidden gems.

Over the past year, this project has grown into something much bigger than I ever expected. More than 5,000 readers now use these newsletters every week to keep track of what’s happening in the world of video game literature. Authors, publishers, collectors, researchers, journalists, preservationists, and fans have all contributed to making this the most comprehensive ongoing archives of video game book releases anywhere online.

And importantly, the works spotlighted have always been human.

These books matter because the people behind them matter. Now more than ever with the surge of generative AI. They represent years of scholarship, creativity, artistry, and passion dedicated to expanding universes, preserving histories, and exploring the culture of games.

For the past year, I’ve spent roughly five to six hours every single weekend building these newsletters entirely for free. I’ve happily done that because I genuinely love this space and believe this work is important. But as the scope of the project continues to grow, so does the amount of time required to maintain it properly.

Going forward, I want to do even more.

I want to dedicate more time to reviews, interviews, and publisher spotlights. I want to continue building the definitive weekly resource for video game books anywhere in the world. I want to keep spotlighting human authors and publishers regardless of how small, independent, or niche they might be.

To make that sustainable, the newsletter is moving to a paid subscription model.

For $5 per month, less than the price of a single coffee, subscribers will receive the full newsletter every single week featuring comprehensive worldwide tracking of video game book releases and announcements across every category and genre imaginable.

The website itself will remain completely free and ad-free. The archive, cataloging work, and preservation mission are not going away. Anyone interested in video game history, research, and literary preservation will always be able to access the core project freely.

But if you believe this work has value, if you believe video game history deserves to be documented properly, if you believe human-authored books still matter, and if you want to help support thoughtful coverage in a space increasingly dominated by automation, your support genuinely helps keep this project alive and growing.

Fifty newsletters in, I’m more committed to this than ever.

And I’m incredibly grateful you’re here for it.

Now, without further ado, here’s 50 awesome Video Game Books that have been announced or released in the past week!!