Our Mission: Provide eloquent, engaging video game criticism that advocates for diversity and guides the industry forward.
Our Vision: Emulate the quality of Polygon and Remap at a boutique scale. Foster a gaming community that celebrates progress, challenges the status quo, and is inclusive to all.
Founded in 2017, The Punished Backlog isn’t your average video game media outlet.
Sure, we write reviews, spearhead quirky features, and pen the occasional hot take. (OK, many hot takes.) But those scorchers come, first and foremost, from a chill group of friends united by a love of writing and a passion for entertainment. You can hear that on The Punished Podcast, which we launched in 2023; we do themed discussions (like our episode on DLC) as well as run our Fantasy Gaming series (inspired by Fantasy Football, but we draft games using Metacritic scores).
For more on The Punished Backlog, get to know our team or explore our review scale. We have three volunteer editors who work hard on every single piece that comes from our robust, welcoming writing community. We’ve grown over the years; we currently average 30,000+ views per month.
We also encourage you to explore our Punished Favorites series, which invites all contributors on the site to respond to prompts like “Games That Deserve a Remake” or “20 Awesome Games Made by Women.”
Get in Touch
- Have a game you’d like to see covered? View our media kit and/or email us at press [at] punishedbacklog [dot] com.
- To learn more about our culture or apply to write for the site, click here.
What’s With the Name?
From David Silbert, Founder & Editor:
Although The Punished Backlog covers all forms of entertainment, our team’s passion lies most strongly with video games—and the inability to play them all. I mean, it’s right there in the title! The Punished Backlog.
If you don’t get the reference—don’t worry, most don’t—it refers to the character Snake and his portrayal in 2015’s Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. (Get some quick context by watching this trailer snippet.)
Plenty of MGSV lines have gone on to become fun internet memes: the existential quote from Kaz, “Why are we still here? Just to suffer?”; the corny character titles (“A Visionary robbed of his Future,” “A Wise Man denied his Homeland”) used to help market the game. Depressing subject matter aside, there’s something inspiring—if a little tongue-in-cheek—about being down for the count.
That’s what The Punished Backlog is all about. For too long, our entertainment backlogs have been neglected and cast aside. But no longer! Our mission is to celebrate the games, movies, and other Blu-ray disks that have otherwise gone unappreciated. When I founded the site in 2017, I wanted it be a place where I, and others, could write about the content we love. From listicles on hidden gems to deep dives into lesser-known parts of popular releases, we want to do right by our backlogs… and we hope you do, too!
So, whether you’re new to the site or a frequent visitor—welcome! We’re glad to have you.