Riley MacLeod named lead assignment editor for Launcher

Announcement from Launcher Editor Mike Hume and Chris Meighan:

We are thrilled to announce that Riley MacLeod will become the lead assignment editor for Launcher, home to The Post’s coverage of video games.

Riley will be based in the Washington newsroom and will work with Launcher’s editors, reporters and producers to lead the site’s day-to-day editorial coverage across platforms, scrutinizing a multibillion-dollar industry while also chronicling the influence of games on modern culture. Launcher, which debuted in 2019, has produced numerous stories holding major game-making and esports corporations to account, explored a new class of online celebrity, explained the resonance of such games as “Fortnite” and “Among Us” to mainstream audiences and provided in-depth examinations of some of gaming’s most famous characters.

During the past year, Riley has worked as an editor on The Post’s Next Gen team, helping with our ongoing effort to engage with younger audiences. Previously, Riley helped lead the gaming site Kotaku, where he began as managing editor in 2016 and became editor at large in 2019. In both roles, he oversaw day-to-day operations, planned reviews and events coverage, helped bring new voices to the site and wrote so, so much about “Fortnite.” He previously wrote for gaming sites such as Unwinnable, Offworld, Paste and Killscreen.

Before coming to journalism, Riley co-founded Topside Press, an independent publishing house focused on transgender fiction and fostering emerging trans writers. He won the 2012 Lambda Literary Award as co-editor of "The Collection: Short Fiction from the Transgender Vanguard" and was the editor of the seminal transgender novels "Nevada" and "A Safe Girl to Love."

Riley has a master’s degree in library science from Queens College, a master’s degree in theological studies from Harvard Divinity School and a BFA degree in dramatic writing from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. In his free time, Riley enjoys undertaking overly ambitious kitchen projects and learning to run really, really far. He starts Oct. 10.