Alyssa Mercante

Hello there, I’m Alyssa. I’m the newest senior editor here at good ol’ Kotaku, as you’ve probably already ascertained from the headline. But did you know I’m also Italian? Don’t worry, I bring it up so often you’ll soon be convinced that pure tomato sauce runs through my veins. The Yakuza Devs Should Cast These Celebs In Their Next Hostess Club Minigame Before this gig, I was an editor at GamesRadar for a little over three years, with the last year focused almost entirely on writing long-form features, previews, and interviews. GamesRadar is where I went drink-for-drink with Geralt of Rivia, interviewed the team behind the first trans woman character in Apex Legends, and incessantly bitched and moaned about Overwatch 2. Prior to that, I was the associate editor of an interactive content blog for a company called Ceros. And before that, I got my Masters in Contemporary Literature at Newcastle University, where my dissertation identified a queer and trans-led indie gaming movement that mimicked the queercore punk movement of the 1990s. My goal here at Kotaku is to convince the entire team that playing inverted on a controller makes the most sense when taking human anatomy into consideration. Aside from that, I’d also like to help shape the voices of our younger writers, produce thought-provoking and engaging content that informs readers without condescension (I’m too hot and bad at math to be condescending), shine a light on the more niche areas and subcultures within this beautifully bizarre world of gaming, and contribute to Kotaku’s reputation as a trusted and revered source of news in this ever-changing industry. Kotaku was my pie-in-the-sky role, and now I am eating! In my spare time you’ll find me fawning over my three rescue cats Radgie, Riot, and Hellboy while playing Overwatch 2, Apex Legends, Call of Duty, and other shooters that raise my blood pressure in a feeble attempt to recreate the triumphs and defeats, the epic highs and lows of high school soccer. I am an average shooter player, so I will never approach my fellow gamers with a superiority complex—unless we’re talking about the heals I pump out as Moira in Overwatch 2, then I’m going to be superior as fuck because why am I pumping out 15,000 heals and you can’t get any kills as Sojourn!? Anyway, I also shamelessly adore trashy reality television like the entire Real Housewives franchise, Love is Blind, Geordie Shore, and Bar Rescue. Prior to that, I was a fan of The Bachelorette and The Bachelor until they started making me feel bad about myself for not being rich or conventionally attractive enough to date someone who has never had sex before. In my spare time you’ll find me fawning over my three rescue cats Radgie, Riot, and Hellboy while playing Overwatch 2, Apex Legends, Call of Duty, and other shooters that raise my blood pressure in a feeble attempt to recreate the triumphs and defeats, the epic highs and lows of high school soccer. I am an average shooter player, so I will never approach my fellow gamers with a superiority complex—unless we’re talking about the heals I pump out as Moira in Overwatch 2, then I’m going to be superior as fuck because why am I pumping out 15,000 heals and you can’t get any kills as Sojourn!?