
Heather Newman has been a gaming and tech journalist for 20 years, with columns running in more than 75 newspapers and sites nationwide and a few more overseas. Her copy of Zork came in a baggie, she scored a (single, lousy) point against Fatal1ty in Unreal Tournament, and she exclusively broke the release date for the original World of Warcraft.
Lately she's been playing far too much bad strategy, pondering the crowded holiday release calendar for hidden gems, and discovering the secrets of how Candy Crush level 65 was designed to crush you. Read about how Warcraft helped get her a day job, in the Wall Street Journal.
Heather joined the GamesBeat crew in part because of the VentureBeat/GamesBeat ethics policy: after two decades as a professional journalist, a site that cares this much about doing it right feels like home.


World of Warcraft: Rise of Azshara review — showers players with fun after a long dry spell

World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth review — this war is off to a good start

Hearthstone hands-on with Mean Streets of Gadgetzan: Classes change forever

Blizzard experiments with 5-player raids for World of Warcraft

Legion is World of Warcraft’s best expansion ever

The Girl and the Robot delivers a short but charming experience

World of Warcraft guide: Here’s your Legion to-do list (updated)

Warcraft fans should watch for these Easter eggs in the movie

Overwatch developers’ guide: How to win without shooting

With Stellaris, Paradox finds the sweet spot between 4X and grand strategy

Hearthstone 101: How beginners tackle Standard and Whispers of the Old Gods

Blizzard’s execs eye mobile as their next winning game strategy — but not virtual reality

Mad Catz designed the R.A.T. 1 gaming mouse to break apart (CES video)

Psychonauts 2 met its $3.3 million crowdfunding goal today, 11 years after the first game

Smart smoke alarm battery lasts five years, won’t chirp, and messages you or ADT when the alarm goes off

Customers now wary of security holes in connected devices, survey finds

Ronda Rousey in World of Warcraft? Nope — meet Rhonda Cox

Overwatch’s team gives a behind-the-scenes look at Blizzard’s first new series since 1998

A Very Special Holiday Interview with (fake) Devolver Digital CFO Fork Parker

Just Cause 3 impressions: Bugs mar what could be a tremendous Grand Theft Auto-at-war game

For the gamer who has everything: custom-designed wood console covers

Heroes of the Storm designer guides us on how to win with Greymane and Lunara

iOS downloads soar 23% higher in October for popular apps even as advertising costs rise

World of Warcraft exec: We do things now we would’ve shot down 10 years ago

Check your email: Overwatch launches its first stress test this weekend

Heroes of the Storm designer: Tips for winning with Cho’gall, the new 2-player Ogre

World of Warcraft: Legion may let players try level 100 characters before they commit to them

World of Warcraft’s Patch 6.2.3 and anniversary have meme-tastic Thunderfury and new mounts (update)

Today’s tiny World of Warcraft news: Gnome hunters

Overwatch impressions, Part 3: the three new BlizzCon heroes

World of Warcraft: Legion’s Demon Hunter class — the complete starting experience

World of Warcraft players, your bag space problems may soon be over

Blizzard is willing to risk making a Warcraft movie because of director Duncan Jones

World of Warcraft: Legion at BlizzCon 2015 — new cinematic and details

Need for Speed reboot offers fun, even if its always-online is just crass commercialism

Overwatch first impressions, Part 2: all the defense heroes, all the tanks

Overwatch first impressions: all the maps, all the support, & all the offense

Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition offers tremendous additions but also some annoyances for console players
