Victoria Phillips Kennedy Bids Farewell to Eurogamer in Heartbreaking "What We've Been Playing" Feature

The June 27, 2026 edition of Eurogamer's weekly "What we've been playing" column opens with a line that stops you cold: "I can feel tears starting to prickle my eyes." Below it sits a blue sad-face balloon emoji. This is not the usual breezy roundup of weekend gaming sessions. This is a goodbye.

The "What we've been playing" series has been a fixture of Eurogamer for years, a low-stakes space where staff talk about games without the pressure of reviews or scoops, and readers share their own experiences in the comments. This particular edition carries the weight of a farewell, yet remains true to that communal spirit. Victoria Phillips Kennedy, the diligent news reporter who has covered everything from Xbox exclusivity shifts to God of War Laufey's reveal and Craig Duncan's departure from Xbox Game Studios, is leaving Eurogamer. Her farewell forms the emotional bedrock of an edition that otherwise delivers exactly what readers expect, staff impressions of Guild Wars Reforged on mobile, a new Soulslike, and the humbling return to Hades 2. But the shadow of her departure turns a routine feature into something far more resonant.

A Quiet Goodbye, Victoria Phillips Kennedy's Eurogamer Legacy

For years, Victoria has been the quiet engine of Eurogamer's news coverage. She broke stories that defined the industry's conversation: the timeline of Witcher 3 expansions, the behind-the-scenes evolution of The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine, and the fallout from PlayStation missing out on upcoming Xbox releases. Her reporting on God of War Laufey, the upcoming entry set before the Norse saga, gave fans their first real glimpse of a younger Kratos and Faye. When Craig Duncan left Xbox Game Studios, Victoria's article was the definitive account.

Her farewell in this column is not a bombastic resignation letter. It is a quiet, personal confession tucked between paragraphs about mobile MMOs and soulslikes. The vulnerability she shows, admitting tears in a professional space, is a deliberate choice, and it lands because the writing never overstates its own meaning. In an era of constant games media turnover, Victoria's departure feels like a genuine loss. Readers who have followed her byline for years will find the moment particularly affecting. The tears she describes are not hyperbole; they are the natural response to closing a chapter that mattered.

Guild Wars Reforged on Mobile, A Surprise Retro Revival

Connor, meanwhile, has been spending his commute in Tyria. His contribution to the column focuses on the launch of Guild Wars Reforged, the mobile remaster of the 2005 MMORPG that arrived on iOS and Android in late June 2026 with cross-play support that lets PC and mobile adventurers explore together.

Connor's impressions capture the strange magic of revisiting an old-school MMO on a phone. The original Guild Wars eschewed the subscription model and instanced its zones in ways that feel almost prescient for mobile design. The remaster preserves that structure while updating the interface for touch controls. For players who cut their teeth on prophecies and factions, the ability to run a quick mission during a commute is both surreal and welcome. The launch fits neatly into the broader trend of classic MMOs finding second lives on mobile, and the column suggests the reception has been warm.

Tackling a Soulslike, Sherif and the Case of Valor Mortis

Sherif's segment deals with familiar territory: "yet another Soulslike." The context of adjacent Eurogamer articles about Valor Mortis, the first-person Soulslike from Ghostrunner developer One More Level, makes it almost certain that this is the game in question.

Valor Mortis recently had its release date shifted from September 24 to October 2026, a decision attributed to the crowded September window and the looming shadow of Grand Theft Auto 6. The delay news broke alongside a new demo that Rock Paper Shotgun described as "acrobatic" and "making me want to believe." Sherif's impressions in the column likely reflect that demo, offering a hands-on take on the game's unique blend of first-person precision and soulslike attrition. Valor Mortis distinguishes itself through speed and verticality, where Dark Souls plods, it leaps. Whether it can escape the September deluge remains to be seen, but the column gives readers a reason to keep it on their radar.

Rusty Returns, Bertie's Hades 2 Skill Decline

Bertie's segment is the most relatable of the bunch. After a break from Hades 2, still in early access on Steam and the Epic Games Store, he returned to find his muscle memory had evaporated. The game's punishing roguelike loop, which demands precise timing and build knowledge, does not forgive absence.

The column captures that universal gaming experience: booting up a beloved game only to die on the first floor, fumbling controls you once wielded like second nature. Hades 2's early access state means it has changed considerably since Bertie last played, with new weapons, boons, and enemy patterns adding another layer of disorientation. Supergiant's sequel has maintained a dedicated player base through regular updates, and Bertie's struggle is a reminder that even experienced players are not immune to rust.

Savoring the Goodbye

Victoria's goodbye is personal without being indulgent. The other contributors do not overshadow her moment, yet they keep the feature grounded in the everyday joy of gaming. Connor's mobile nostalgia, Sherif's soulslike discipline, and Bertie's humbling return all coexist with the farewell, proving that life, and gaming, continues.

The blue sad-face balloon emoji, repeated in the article's metadata, becomes a quiet leitmotif. It is a small gesture, but in the context of a weekly column that has hosted dozens of such symbols over the years, it feels like a signature. Victoria Phillips Kennedy's departure from Eurogamer closes a chapter for the publication and its readers. Games journalism is a transient profession, writers move on, bylines change, and weekly columns cycle through new voices. But some goodbyes linger.

As Guild Wars Reforged invites players back to a 21-year-old world, as Valor Mortis prepares its October launch, and as Hades 2 continues to humble even the most skilled players, Victoria's farewell sits alongside them, a moment of genuine emotion in a medium that often hides its heart behind mechanics and press releases. That blue balloon, sitting in the metadata of a weekly column, will float in the memories of everyone who followed her work.