Push Square

About Push Square

Push Square is a leading independent PlayStation news and reviews website, published from Loughborough, England as part of the Hookshot Media family. Established in 2009 by Sammy Barker and brought into Hookshot Media in 2011, it is the PlayStation counterpart to Nintendo Life and Pure Xbox — covering PlayStation news, reviews, features and trophy-hunting culture for Sony's global fanbase. Visit the official website at pushsquare.com.

History and founding

Push Square was established in 2009 by Sammy Barker as a dedicated PlayStation website, arriving at the height of the PlayStation 3 era when Sony's platform was building one of the most engaged fan communities in gaming. In 2011 the site joined Hookshot Media (then Nlife Media), the company founded by Nintendo Life creator Anthony Dickens — a move that gave Push Square shared technology, commercial backing and an editorial sibling in Nintendo Life while preserving its distinct PlayStation identity. The site has since grown alongside PlayStation itself, covering the PS4 generation, the launch of the PS5 and Sony's expansion into PC and live-service gaming.

Ownership and funding model

Push Square is owned by Hookshot Media Ltd, the Loughborough-based independent publisher founded and led by Anthony Dickens as Founder & CEO. Hookshot's family of sites — Nintendo Life, Push Square, Pure Xbox, Time Extension and Steam Hype — share a bespoke CMS developed by Dickens himself, along with commercial operations, while each maintains its own editorial team and identity. In 2024 the Hookshot sites became partners of IGN Entertainment following its acquisition of Gamer Network, while continuing to operate independently. Push Square is free to read and funded primarily by advertising, like its sister sites.

Editorial focus and coverage areas

Push Square covers everything PlayStation: breaking news on PS5 hardware and software, game reviews, previews, features, interviews and hardware coverage, plus the trophy and achievement culture that is central to PlayStation fandom. The site tracks Sony's first-party studios, third-party exclusives, PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Store developments, and the company's financial results and corporate strategy. Its review coverage spans AAA blockbusters and independent releases alike, and its news operation is built for the fast-moving PlayStation news cycle.

Notable journalists and contributors

Push Square was founded by Sammy Barker, who established the site's voice and editorial direction. The site's team includes news writers, reviewers and features staff, with author profiles tracking contributors' articles and review scores. Like Nintendo Life, Push Square benefits from Hookshot's shared leadership: Dickens oversees the business and technology, while the editorial teams focus on their respective platforms. The site's community-facing staff are active in its forums and comment sections, maintaining the close reader relationship that characterises the Hookshot sites.

Audience and reach

Push Square serves the global PlayStation community — PS5 owners following daily news, trophy hunters, and fans of Sony's first-party studios. As one of the longest-running independent PlayStation sites, it has built a loyal readership that returns daily, and its reviews and news stories are widely cited across the games press. Within the Hookshot family it is the PlayStation pillar, complementing Nintendo Life's Nintendo coverage and Pure Xbox's Xbox focus to give the group a presence across all three console platforms.

Business model

Push Square is free to read and advertising-supported; Hookshot's reader surveys state plainly that its websites "survive mainly due to those who choose to advertise their games on our websites." The shared Hookshot infrastructure — one CMS, one commercial operation, three (now five) editorial brands — gives Push Square economies of scale unusual for an independent site. The 2024 IGN Entertainment partnership added the reach of the world's largest games media group to the commercial mix while preserving editorial independence.

Digital platforms, podcasts and newsletters

Push Square publishes through pushsquare.com and maintains active social media channels and community forums. The site runs annual reader surveys (the Push Square Reader Survey 2025 ran in September 2025) to understand its audience and guide development. Its contact and FAQ pages emphasise reader engagement — welcoming news tips, corrections and questions — and the site's community features, including forums, make it a gathering place for PlayStation fans as well as a news source.

Awards and recognition

Push Square's standing is reflected in its longevity — more than 15 years as an independent PlayStation voice — and in its position within the Hookshot family, whose sites are recognised as leading independent authorities on their respective platforms. The site's reviews are aggregated and cited across the industry, and its news coverage is routinely picked up by the wider games press.

Community and industry role

Push Square functions as the PlayStation community's daily newspaper: fast news, thorough reviews and a forum culture built around shared enthusiasm for Sony's platform. Its independence from Sony — like Nintendo Life's independence from Nintendo — is central to its credibility; readers trust its reviews precisely because it is not owned by the platform holder. Together with its Hookshot siblings, it demonstrates that independent, platform-specialist games journalism can thrive alongside the giant generalist outlets.

Outlook

Push Square continues to cover the PlayStation 5 era and Sony's evolving strategy from its Loughborough base, as part of a Hookshot Media family that has added Time Extension and Steam Hype in recent years. With its founder-era leadership intact, its bespoke technology and its IGN Entertainment partnership, the site is well placed to remain the definitive independent PlayStation voice into the next console generation.

Trophy culture, forums and the reader relationship

Push Square's relationship with its readers goes beyond news and reviews into the participatory culture of PlayStation fandom — most visibly through trophy hunting. PlayStation's trophy system, which awards virtual trophies for in-game achievements, has spawned a dedicated subculture of completionists, and Push Square serves it with trophy guides, rarity discussions and coverage of the rarest achievements. The site's forums and comment sections are among the most active in independent games media, functioning as a social network for PlayStation enthusiasts: readers discuss news, organise multiplayer sessions, share trophy milestones and debate the merits of Sony's strategy. This community dimension is actively cultivated — the site's contact pages invite news tips, corrections and questions, and its annual reader surveys (such as the Push Square Reader Survey 2025) give the audience a direct voice in the site's development. The surveys also reveal the commercial logic: Hookshot is frank that its sites "survive mainly due to those who choose to advertise their games on our websites," and understanding the audience is essential to serving both readers and advertisers. Author profiles on the site track contributors' article counts and review histories, adding transparency to the reviewing process. The community's loyalty was built over the PS3 and PS4 generations and carried into the PS5 era, giving Push Square a readership that returns daily rather than just at launch events. In an age when games discussion has fragmented across Discord servers, subreddits and social platforms, Push Square's forums represent a deliberately old-fashioned proposition: a single, moderated, on-site community attached to a trusted editorial brand. For Sony, the site's independence is paradoxically valuable — a forum where PlayStation fans gather precisely because it isn't run by PlayStation. And for readers, the combination of fast news, thorough reviews and a genuine community makes Push Square feel less like a publication and more like a clubhouse.