Kaile Hultner

Well, it finally happened! I’m getting laid off. Like basically everywhere else I follow—tech, video games, journalism—the company I’ve given the last eleven years of my life to has decided not to renew its contract with the other company I’ve given eleven years of my life to, and thus my position has been “impacted.” I have until August 28 to find another job, which I’ve made some good inroads on, and it seems like, until then, I’m kind of just left to spin in orbit for a while.

I’ve known about this shit since early June and it’s been hanging over my head the whole time.

Eleven years is a long ass time to work anywhere, especially at a place I didn’t expect to be working at for more than six months tops. In some ways I’m grateful to the place I work at for giving me that shot at longevity, for letting me build up the semblance of a career and for letting me have the time and flexibility to pursue the kind of shit I actually enjoyed doing. In any reckoning, that feels like an exceptionally rare privilege I’ve been lucky to have (and tbh I’ve taken it for granted in some ways, as the leads I have on future employment all require me to return to an office environment. I’m confident No Escape can survive this, as can my job at Critical Distance, but man. If it hadn’t been for the move to remote work at my current place of employment I never would’ve started either in the first place).

I’m sad and angry about The Way The World Is, and all that entails. I also feel like I’m dodging a bullet meant for me somehow, that I’ve evaded the worst aspects of the current job market and once again through some kind of fucked up cosmic luck I’ll be continuing to get by while other, better people continue to get fucked by the system. And I’ll be honest I don’t know how to process that. Capitalism is fucked up, the state continues to be ghoulish, but somehow the invisible iron fist missed me again. and again. and again. It’s getting closer each time but hasn’t touched me yet.

I’m not entirely out of the woods; I still have to actually get hired somewhere first before I can really exhale. And as with any job change, going to a new company similar to this last one will result in some changes to how much time I can put into what I’m passionate about. But I do know some things for certain:

1. No matter where I end up I want to do more creative shit. I want to make more zines, I want to get my book out, I want to collaborate with more people. I said that at the beginning of 2026 and then just one thing after another got in my way, so I want to actually make good on that promise.
2. I want to make real progress on the active projects I have cooking. I want to turn Children of Lightning, specifically, into more than just a handful of blog posts somehow.
3. I want to learn new skills. I’ve been hankering to get into fiction writing and maybe eventually even writing for video games; not for profit’s sake but because there’s a kid version of me who loved to write stories and I lost that version somewhere and it’s time for them to come back. Maybe I just put some shit together in Twine and call it a day, who knows.
4. I want to help more people in whatever ways I can.
5. I want to get more unabashedly political.

So yeah I dunno. Uh, if you want to support the work I do, there’s always patreon, I suppose. I’m also open to reviewing anything during the pre-GTA 6 period. Hit me up on Bluesky if you’ve got room on a team for me for that work. Otherwise, thanks for reading. Let’s take care of each other.