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Kinda Funny Games Daily: Video Games News Podcast
Big Trouble At Giant Bomb & Polygon - Kinda Funny Games Daily 05.01.25 Part 2
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- [00:01]
Tim Gettys
Fellas, you know degree Cool Rush deodorant, right? Well, last year they changed the formula and guys were mad about it. One dude even started a petition. So guess what? Degree heard us, admitted they messed up and brought the original Cool Rush scent back exactly how it was. And it's in Walmart, Target and other stores now for under $4. So grab some and remember why its cool, crisp and fresh scent made it the number one man's antiperspirant for the last decade. Degree Cool Rush is back and it smells like victory for all of us.
- [00:31]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
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- [01:09]
Tim Gettys
What's up and welcome back to Kind of Funny Games Daily for May 1, 2025. I'm your host, Tim Gettys. I'm joined once again by Blessing. Adio.
- [01:18]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah, Junior Tim, how's it going?
- [01:20]
Tim Gettys
It's going okay, you know what I mean? Today started off bad. Started Games Daily saying that everything's and I feel like I willed that into existence for Kind of Funny as well. Both of our main kind of brain computers at the studio are having completely different issues. So Kevin and Barrett are trying their damnedest to get everything up and running so we can keep doing the shows. We got cut off in the middle of episode one of Games Daily after story covering story number one, which was all of the Xbox and Microsoft price increases that video slash audio versions everywhere should be where you expect them to be. We're going to continue the show from here with a part 2 of Games Daily because there is a lot of stuff that we want to make sure that we get to. Yeah, I don't want to get into too much the rigmarole, you guys understand, the housekeeping, the blah blah, blah. We're doing stuff. Thunderbolts in reviews, going live. Patreon go to Patreon, go to all the.
- [02:11]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Shout out to Imperial.
- [02:13]
Tim Gettys
Exactly. Get the Kind of Funny membership to get the shows ad free. You know that. Shout out to our Patreon producers, Carl Jacobs, Omega Buster and Delay Twinning. Today we're brought to you by Imperial and Aura Frames. But back to it, story number two. Bless. This is a big one. This is a shitty one. I hate doing this, but we got to do it together. Polygon Soul to Valnet and hit with massive layoffs this comes from Ethan Gotch at Kotaku. The video game website Polygon has been.
- [02:42]
Chris Plant
Sold to click farm powerhouse Valnet, and much of its masthead has been laid off, Kotaku has learned.
- [02:48]
Tim Gettys
The sale was subsequently announced in a long In a press release, multiple staff.
- [02:53]
Chris Plant
Members have posted online about losing their jobs or about colleagues now being out of work.
- [02:57]
Tim Gettys
Quote I'm no longer with Polygon.
- [02:59]
Chris Plant
If you're hiring, please consider the many talented writers and editors now on the market, posted Polygon co founder and EIC Chris Plant. Every one of them deserves a spot on your staff.
- [03:08]
Tim Gettys
I won't be talking more about the.
- [03:10]
Chris Plant
Sale because I wasn't involved. Going to hang out with my kid, taking wins where I can.
- [03:15]
Tim Gettys
The sale was confirmed in a press.
- [03:16]
Chris Plant
Release, which did not mention the layoffs.
- [03:19]
Tim Gettys
The price of the deal was not disclosed.
- [03:21]
Chris Plant
Sources tell Kotaku that Deputy Editor Matty Myers and Games editor Zo Hannah Z Zoe Hanna are among those that remain at Polygon. Vox Media did not immediately respond to a request for comment. I'll say more later, but I no longer have a job, shared senior reporter Nicole Carpenter. I'm looking for work, as are so many of my amazing colleagues. I have lots of ideas and things I'd like to write. I'm really in shock. I had a great time working at Polygon. Posted senior writer Michael McWhorter. Please let me know if you have any cool job openings. In a report earlier this year by the Wrap, many former contributors accused Valid's current media holdings of being exploitative content mil quote in journalism, there are really bad jobs and then there's a place. Like Valnik, a former Collider contributor, told the Wrap.
- [04:05]
Tim Gettys
It's one of the worst places I've.
- [04:06]
Chris Plant
Ever worked and is probably one of the worst journalism publications I've ever seen.
- [04:12]
Tim Gettys
Let's just start here.
- [04:13]
Chris Plant
Bless thoughts on Polygon.
- [04:15]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I mean, this is heartbreaking, right? Like, we've heard bad things about Valnet. We've I mean we've heard bad things about the state of games media for a very long time. This is, I think, the moment where it does officially feel over. You know, like, I think we say that a lot of like, oh man, it's over. Oh man, it's so done. Today feels like a day where it's so done. Of course, like the giant bomb thing is also going on as we speak, where, I mean it's been ongoing for the last week of what the fuck is happening over that Giant Bomb. Of course, I was in Tokyo hanging out with Dan Reichert for a week. And so I've been going back and forth with even him talking about like, yo, what is happening? And he's been filling me in. And of course that's like, that's their story to tell. So I'm not going to say like anything that's not mine to say. Right? But like you go online right now, you go on Blue sky and Jeff Grubb is even tweeting out about. He tweeted just not that long ago. I think like half an hour ago. Well, that was a dream come true. Knew it wouldn't last though. Out of the job. Out of a job at the moment, but always be doing patreon.com/game mess. I think lumping these two together is a little bit necessary because, yeah, I. When I think of Games Media, the first website that comes to mind is ign. But then like games Content, Games media, games, podcasts and all that stuff beyond an ign. It was specifically Giant Bomb and Gamespot or not Gamespot, sorry? Oh, it was games, but like Giant Bomb and Polygon. I should say Giant Bomb, of course. With a Giant bomb cast, with a giant beast cast. With the excellent cast crew they had over there, from Jeff German to Dan Riker to Abby Russell to Austin Walker to Jeff Bacalar to Jan Ochoa, I can Patrick Kleppig, Ben Pack. Like, I can name the entirety of the podcast crew a Giant Bomb because I came up a gigantic Giant Bomb fan. Like, as much as I listen to kind of funny, I listen to just as much Giant Bomb coming up, Polygon. I'll say the same thing as far as how much I listened to Polygon podcasts and how formative that that stuff was as far as their humor, as far as their creativity, as far as the quality of content that they would bring to the table. And the thing that breaks my heart is as I go through these names on the Polygon side, you talk about Chris Plant, who was the EIC, the co founder and EIC of Polygon. You talk about Michael McWhirter, which is a name that I've read a million times on the games daily, right? Like, as I go through these names, I'm like, these are just a handful. Nicole Carpenter as well.
- [06:35]
Tim Gettys
Right?
- [06:35]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Like, these are just a handful of names. There are other people posting online, talking about them being out of the job, right. I saw a post from Kelly Pluggy just earlier as well. Talking, talking about it. Like, this is so fucking heartbreaking. And there are a million, a million things to say about this, right? Like we can talk about support, independent media support, of course, support these people wherever they go, whether they start their own thing, whether they want to go on a solo venture, you know, pair up with each other and do like a group ventures. But I think the even more heartbreaking thing beyond this is that there are the names that we know that we're like, I look at a Dan Riker in a Jan Ochoa and like a Mike Minati and like those names that we know and go, all right, hopefully they start something together. And I have full belief in whatever they end up doing. That's not the case for everybody. The unfortunate thing is that to be as renowned as those names that I just said, it's such a blessing and a rare thing in this side of the industry. Most people don't have that luxury. And that is the truly heartbreaking thing about this is the fact that like once a lot of these sites are gone, that stuff is just gone, right? Like a lot of those folks aren't going to be able to continue making that content elsewhere necessarily, at least on the same level, with the same consistency, with the same luxury of having it be a job for them. You're going to get less video games media content because of this. And I'm blabbering but like, it fucking breaks my heart. It fucking breaks my heart.
- [08:05]
Tim Gettys
Heartbreaking, man. It's a great way to put it and I think you really nailed it for the how important Polygon and Giant Bomb are to the gaming media landscape for incredibly different reasons. But it's so sad to just one by one look at so many sites go down and incredibly important voices be lost. And in terms of Polygon putting out such thought provoking journalism and thought provoking think pieces, handling games differently than anyone else was doing. And the Giant bomb, obviously, the personality based stuff that got so popular over the years, like they're the originators of that. Like them and One up, right? Like thinking back in the day to the One up podcast and all that, like they defined what video game personality podcast could be. And then, you know, here's kind of funny, right? We're so lucky being able to grow up in a world where a standard was kind of set in the early days of what even a premium video game media video based website could look like, right? And not even thinking about this is pre Patreon and all of that. So it's like so much was learned there, but we're talking about two stories that are completely different. Right. But yes, at the same time, I think it all comes down to you have to trust the team that is making the content, or else it's not going to work. And these acquisitions for Polygon, letting go Polygon, like, put the entire team essentially, like, I'm seeing a super chat here from Zeke Speak saying y'all should get Tara Long on as a guest. She was laid off this morning. Legacy figure. I used to watch her in Scoville back in the day on Destructoid. That breaks my heart, man. Tara is one of the first people I ever met in the industry. Like, when I would go to PAX in 2011, I remember hanging out with her so much and to see the journey that she's been on from Destructoid all the way up to running video. I think it was at Polygon and the amazing stuff that they would put out, like, this just really, really sucks. And obviously the Giant Bomb side, like, them being so close to us and so many of those people, whether it's the Gamespot side or Giant Bob side, and however ways those interacted, like, we're talking about some of our closest friends in the industry. Yeah, they were just straight up disrespected. Disrespected, yeah.
- [10:16]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
And these are very different stories, but I think the thing they have in common is terrible. Parent organizations, like, you look at Giant Bomb, right? And like, one of the. So they had 888 episodes of the Giant Bomb cast. And like, keep in mind, that's a weekly podcast. Think about the longevity there. As far as 888exisodes, you've been going for that long as a company. But in one of the recent episodes, like, they made a whole bit about, like, brand safety and kind of like, you know, made fun of the fact that it seemingly their parent, parent organization try to make a shift as far as trying to have more brands save content, make their content PG13 in order to appease poly marketing, ads, all that stuff, right? And like, that is such a misread on what Giant Bomb is. Like, imagine, thank God we're independent, right? But, like, imagine that, like, kind of funny, like, sells to some organization and they want to come down and be, like, kind of funny. You guys, we all have to be PG13.
- [11:15]
Tim Gettys
No more live streams.
- [11:16]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
No more live streams. Like, we wouldn't be able to exist as a company. Like, that's the totally, totally intensis.
- [11:22]
Tim Gettys
I mean, I cannot stress this and make this any more clear than the fact that every decision we make is to be able to survive. Like, to be able to talk about games and to have conversations and talk about the news or our opinions or just stupid fun stuff and fighting gorillas and shit. Like, we make the decisions, we make business wise. To be able to thrive. Thrive is even a big word. But like, again, survive in this world. And it's like being kneecapped and told that, hey, like your live streaming efforts, which are clearly where this industry is currently and where the audience is, like, to take that away from Giant Bomb, you're killing Giant Bomb. And the people that work at Giant Bomb know that because they're trying their best to just make this stuff work. And it gets so scary to look around and see stories like Game Informer last year go down. Yeah, right. Was that this year? I don't even know when it was. Like, it might. It could have been next week. Could have been last week.
- [12:21]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I think it was like, it was fall last year. I think it was like August, September, around that time.
- [12:25]
Tim Gettys
Yeah. And now, now they're back, you know. But yeah, I'm sure that that is incredibly difficult for them, you know. I know it's incredibly difficult for them. And it's. It's going to continue to be. And it's not going to be the same. And that's good because we don't need it to be all the same. Like, it needs to be better than it was. But that's a lot of pressure for people that are already working way too hard, doing way too much. And yeah, man, it just sounds again, I feel like I'm blabbering now, just. We're just going in circles with this stuff. But, like, we're all the people in the chat right now. Thank you so much for being here and thank you for understanding this. Like, things that you love are being taken away. That sucks. Last weekend I was at Barbara Dunkelman's wedding. One of the main faces of Rooster Teeth, a company that doesn't exist anymore. And yeah, Bernie bought back the rights to some of the elements of it, names and stuff like that, but the company that, that allowed so many different groups in our sphere to thrive in so many different ways no longer exists. And I'm at this wedding, looking around at so many of my friends that are not able to do the things that they used to do and survive. Some of them are thriving, some of them are doing great, but like you said earlier, not all of them. And that sucks.
- [13:36]
Greg Miller
Things you love can't be taken away.
- [13:38]
Tim Gettys
Can't they? They can so Easily. I hate like now of all fucking time. Greg, do you have anything to say about this in some serious ways? Yeah.
- [13:51]
Greg Miller
What? This all sucks. This is, you know, awful in some ways. Not expected, I think, you know, I didn't expect Polygon to be sold and be all up today, right? But it's like what happens. These sites and personalities get put into the machine, right? Of hey, how can we try to make a buck off Taco? You know, there's a lot of great takes going. Imran the Don Khan is out there, right? And one of his that I really appreciate, one of the ones I really appreciated from him was, hey, like we're on the eve of like the biggest console launch of all time. Games are more popular. It seems like a great time to fuck all this up. Like, why would you. Do you know, how can you not make money off of this?
- [14:33]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
GTA 6 is supposed to come out this year.
- [14:34]
Greg Miller
The answer is it's incredibly tough. As we know. It's kind of funny. But we figured it out on how for us to make it work and go right? But that also means that like this is the company, this is the product. This is what we're doing. We're happy with that, right? We're not the venture capitalists coming in to buy this thing, trying to turn it and like, well, let's get four times the profit. Let's get five times the profit. Let's hire, let's hire seven more people to spin up this thing just about esports. Oh, that didn't work. Cancel that. And we have to lay people off from the regular publication. Like that's what it is, right? And then yeah, the stuff breaking right now, you know, with like Grubby over there. I just, I was Blue Scott, him right now. You want to host games daily tomorrow. We'll see if he responds of like, you know, once again, hey, you got a corporate overload overlord running a personality driven thing. What is that? That's going to butt heads with something eventually, right? They just want the churn. They just want the head review, the preview, the thing. Like not necessarily you. Yeah, we got out. But bless you're still in it. Never forget it. Still on what this man. Okay, don't piss me off, all right?
- [15:38]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
What does that mean? I don't know what you're doing.
- [15:40]
G
What are these big threats?
- [15:41]
Greg Miller
What it means very simple is again, I just talked about this yesterday on happy hour, not as a competitor but as the CEO. I did broker a deal with Andy to get his game showdown star and he just that's all you have to honor that deal.
- [15:54]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I don't have to honor anything.
- [15:55]
Greg Miller
I'm sorry. CEO.
- [15:56]
Chris Plant
Yeah.
- [15:56]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I'm the commissioner of the show. I'm the host of the show, I'm the producer of the show. I run the show. I can do what I want.
- [16:02]
Chris Plant
Deep sigh Tim Ewan.
- [16:03]
Tim Gettys
Deep sigh Real quick, I saw in the chat Kebabs is saying this is a minor thing, but I really like the Imperial ads. That's a perfect sponsorship in my opinion. It's hard to. There's always that balance of getting like two behind the scenes and just like two. Navel gazing is the word that we used to use so much back in the day talking about, kind of funny talking about the inside baseball stuff of how things are made or whatever. It's just important to talk about that stuff. And again, Imperial is a perfect type of ad for us. And it's. I wish we can get more things like that. I wish that we could support indie games, smaller games, getting, pushing Wish Wish listing and all that stuff. But we're trying our best out here to survive and to be able to keep doing this. And it's hard for us, it's hard for everyone. And I appreciate all the support out there from each and every one of you. But when we look at whatever this group of people, these people are going to do next, like try your best to support them in whatever way you can. But yeah, like the corporations out there are making it harder and harder to even have ways to support.
- [17:01]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
The thing I'll say right, is that I think this has a lot in common with the first story we talked about on the previous Part 1 episode of Games Daily, talking about how Microsoft's raising the prices on stuff. And I referenced the video from a lot of Pierce, right? And like a lot of it coming down to how much the ecosystem is changing and how much like people are in these companies, video games are in competition with the other ways people are spending their times, namely things like social video or like the other types of content that are rising to the top. Also I saw somebody left the call. Are we still going, Barrett? Are we still here? I'm going to talk and assume we're still here, but I think, you know, when in the. In the way that right now we're seeing the numbers possibly go down and become difficult and all this shit, right? I still think that there is so much value still in the type of content that we see out of games media. I think there's so much value in written articles. There's so much value in those opinion pieces. There's so much value in hearing voices that aren't necessarily just streamers or YouTubers or even podcasters. Right. Like, I think the type of content, the type of work that you get out of journalists, that you get out of people that, you know, are really thoughtful in the way that they think about the industry and thoughtful in the. In the ways that they need to be. Because there is a. There's the journalistic. Journalistic integrity there. Right. Like, there's the, like, almost the responsibility there that is beyond. I'm going to make a thing that is very entertaining. It is. I'm going to make a thing, express a thing that, you know, is valuable for, like, how we talk and think about video games, how we talk and think about this medium. Right. Like, there's so much value there. And y'all, like, if y'all appreciate that shit, like, you need to go out and support it.
- [18:50]
Tim Gettys
Right.
- [18:51]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
And I don't know where that stuff goes from here. I think a lot of it ends up independent, but I think I. Not that I worry about the independency of it, but I think that stuff needs to be funded in some way that we're not going to see it come and go once all the independent sites, like, go away or whatever it is.
- [19:06]
Chris Plant
Right.
- [19:06]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Like, there needs to be actual funding behind it.
- [19:08]
Tim Gettys
Yeah.
- [19:09]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
And that's. That's. That's the thing that I want to see and the thing that I worry about.
- [19:13]
Greg Miller
Unemployed Jeff Grubb's going to host tomorrow with you, Tim.
- [19:15]
Tim Gettys
Fantastic. Love that. Yeah, no, bless. You're really nailing it there. I think that there has to be weight behind your words when it comes to stuff. I feel like me and you and Raj had a great time in New York and had a lot of great conversations, and I feel like something we kept talking about is how we talk about covering games and how we talk about our review, specifically of, like, our individual thought process on our reviews and how much effort we put into our opinions and why that matters. And I think that those are things that, like, everyone has an opinion. Everyone's entitled to an opinion. But when you put your opinion out there the way that we do, there's a weight to it that we need to have responsibility for. Yeah. You know, and these people have that, and there's so many different weights on them, and I want to shout out Giant Bomb in particular, because there is a unique set of obstacles when you are a brand that is based on personalities, and then those personalities change and shift and what this current slash, last iteration, whatever you want to say of Giant Bomb did something so incredibly special and so incredibly different while also respecting the legacy that came before.
- [20:30]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah.
- [20:31]
Tim Gettys
And they pulled it off and they weren't the first group to do it. Like there was many different waves and there might be more ways.
- [20:38]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
You don't know the Abby Russell, Ben Pack Arrow. Giant Bomb was like, like some of my favorite Giant Bomb. I was listening to Giant Beast cast every week and that was way different from like Jeff Gertzman, Ryan Davis and like the people that, you know, started it all and Patrick Clippick and all these people. Right. Like there have been multiple generations of Giant Bomb and the way that you look at kind of funny, there's multiple generations are kind of funny. And yeah, I think what what Jan had going with, what Grub had going, what Minati had going, what Dan had going there, I think it's very special and like, I want to see that continue. And I think there's a future there. Even if it's not called Giant Bomb, even if they like start something new and they call it something else. Like, I think that there's something there that could be special that is going to continue that legacy.
- [21:17]
Tim Gettys
Yeah. And Clawmaster says going to miss the Giant Bomb couches. Like again, so many people do similar content in this space, but really not many people do what kind of funny does. Right. Giant Bomb does that. And I think that that is. It's going to be very sad that the Giant Bomb couch is not going to exist. And again, the couch is different than it used to be. It means something different than it used to. But there's a level of importance to the way that these groups talk about video games because again, not many people have the access to do that, have the chemistry to do that. People can talk about games all they want, but there's something special about Giant Bomb. And to your point, it's not the name, it is the people and it is the chemistry. So we'll see where this all shakes off. But I do want to say that I'm a big fan of Colin and Samir, who are two YouTubers that really, really care about the Internet media landscape and Internet companies as a business. Right. And I'm really into that stuff personally as well. But they put up a video in the last couple days about dude, perfect. Who are those huge, you know, trick shot YouTubers like they are started as a small YouTube channel and now that they are a corporation to themselves. Right. But in this video they're talking about how Disney had a methodology where it all started with this drawing of what the company is and all of the different ways that they can make revenue and continue to exist as a company. And we're talking about Disney, the. One of the biggest companies in the world and yes, what their IP can make movies and TV and Disneyland and et cetera, et cetera. Dude, Perfect did the same thing in this video of trying to take their company and distill it down to what is it and how can they survive for the next 15 years and how can they grow and continue to make sure that. That it's not just big now, but that it'll be able to survive forever? And a quote that I wrote down from it because I just. It resonated so hard with me is what they drew wasn't just a company, it was a belief system. And I think that's why kind of funny has been able to survive as long as we have. And it feels like, I mean, anything can happen, but it feels like we are, we're okay. And it's because our belief system is in the strategy of the content and the people and in not doing more, more, more. It's doing what is working. What, what do we want to do and what do we want to continue doing to make that happen? And I believe that the team over at Giant Bomb believes in their plan and when their plan that they believe in is taken from them, there's nothing. So I'm hopeful for those, the boys and girls over there. And I. It's going to be real tough, but if anyone can pull this off, it's them. Polygon. I don't know a lot of those people as well, and I think that it's going to be a lot harder for them because the traditional games media landscape is gone.
- [24:13]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah.
- [24:13]
Tim Gettys
At this point.
- [24:14]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah.
- [24:15]
Tim Gettys
Gone.
- [24:15]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah. And this thing is like somebody who knows those names. Right? Like, I, like I, I think Chris Plant is, is. He's like. I think he's on the besties. I know Andy listens to the besties more than me, but I'm pretty sure Chris Plant does the besties with like Griffin McElroy. And then. Yeah, thank. I. I could, I could see Chris Plant doing a number of.
- [24:31]
Greg Miller
Right.
- [24:32]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Like, and I know Nicole Carpenter and Michael McWhorter, like, the names that we see that like, everybody listening might not be familiar with, but, like, they're talented people that I could see even in this shrinking industry, maybe find spots doing stuff at ign, maybe find spots elsewhere. But again, like, even if you're that level.
- [24:50]
Tim Gettys
How long?
- [24:50]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah, for how long? Like you know when does not IGN get to a point where it's like, all right, we're cutting all this off, right?
- [24:57]
Tim Gettys
We're guides only.
- [24:58]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Oh yeah.
- [25:00]
Tim Gettys
Ah is right. We're going to get to other stories and some super chats after a quick word from our sponsor.
- [25:08]
G
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- [27:42]
Tim Gettys
Back with some super chats here. Napoleon says Sorry for the troubles. Hope the day gets better. Shout out to Kevin and Barrett. Thanks for the daily news and entertainment. Amen. Shout out to Kevin and Barrett. They are really doing the best. They're kicking ass. Missouri Mate says Long live Giant Bomb and all the duders. We will carry on. Jeff Bull Jr says. Love you guys. Thanks for the coverage on all of this stuff. And CJ splits on here's to no Super Chat price increase.
- [28:08]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I mean, don't give us ideas.
- [28:13]
Tim Gettys
Let's get to story number three here. Epic offers olive branch to Apple offers to bring Fortnite back to iOS after a court ruling this comes from Andy Robinson FC Tim Sweeney tweets a US judge has ordered Apple to remove its restrictions around alternative payment methods, prompting Epic Games to offer dropping its longtime litigation and bring Fortnite back to iOS devices. On Wednesday, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ordered Apple to stop forcing a 27% commission on purchases made for iOS games and apps through web links, which developers had been using to avoid its store payment charges. She also ordered Apple to stop prompting messages dissuading users from using web link purchases and ordered Apple to pay Epic Games attorney fees over the issue. More significantly, the judge stated that Apple had violated a 2021 injunction and that VP Alex Roman had outright lied under oath. The company could now face criminal contempt charges. Following the ruling, Fortnite maker Epic claimed victory. It said that if Apple agreed to apply the rule globally, it would drop all ongoing and future litigation, including its right to bring its own store to iOS and bring Fortnight back to the platform as soon.
- [29:24]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah, that last part is what the what was in the Tim Sweeney tweet. He tweeted out we will return Fortnite to the US iOS app store next week. Epic puts forth a peace proposal if Apple extends the court's Friction free Apple Tax Free framework worldwide, will return Fortnite to the App Store worldwide and drop current and future litigation on this topic.
- [29:47]
Tim Gettys
Yeah, man. I mean, it's crazy to kind of look at this and be like, epic one. Like, I remember we covered this years ago and it was a little, like, I'd say above our heads when it comes to the actual. We can read the words and have an opinion, but like, this is definitely some real in depth, like, big business versus big business. Yeah. And I remember Tim Sweeney's original tweet. We were like, all right, this seems a little him invoking 1984 and all that.
- [30:13]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
It was, it seemed, it seemed a bit much.
- [30:15]
Tim Gettys
Yeah.
- [30:15]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
And I still stand by Tim Sweeney seems a bit much like he retweet, tweeted again the 1984 quote 20 hours ago on Twitter, like kind of in victory of the stuff. And like, man, Tim Sweeney, like, have you ever thought of the scenario of like, you have you imagine your high school, right? And there's this kid who's kind of a bully, right? And he like, whoops your ass for two years straight. And then like on a random, on a, on a random day in February, it comes through and he's like, hey, let's bury the hatchet. All right, we're cool. We're cool now, right? We're cool. That's Tim Sweeney right now. Yeah. Where Tim Sweeney, like, for years has been calling out Apple, has been talking about how their policies are unfair and anti, anti all this stuff. And like, and finally they, the court ruled in their favor and Tim Sweeney's over here tweeting, like, all right, cool. Like, so we're cool, right? Like Court Knives, coming back to your story, like, let's be chill.
- [31:10]
Tim Gettys
Yeah, I, I, I love where you're going with that. And yes, that is true. I do think, though, this is good. Like Apple, like, I feel like there has to be some levels of checks and balances here. And at the end of the day, like, based on all these stories, games being in more places is a good thing. Mobile gaming being successful and allowing more contemporary mainstream gaming efforts is a good thing.
- [31:33]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah.
- [31:34]
Tim Gettys
And more ways to make money for games is good.
- [31:37]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I mean, I think that's the big thing is I remember talking about this when this all was first starting and it felt like a win for Epic would be probably the good outcome for this because that means a win for more of like the software developers and game developers who do want to make more money through the, like, I guess, ongoing transactions or microtransactions that you want to have outside the app. Like, that was one of the big things that Fortnite or Epic really wanted to have like, make that Fortnite money in ways where you didn't have to go directly through the the App Store and have to give that cut to Apple in order to make it. So like Epic getting this win hopefully means that like a lot of companies that are smaller than Epic as well are going to have the luxury of that.
- [32:23]
Chris Plant
Get the benefits.
- [32:24]
Tim Gettys
Yeah.
- [32:24]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Get those benefits. Yeah.
- [32:25]
Tim Gettys
Yeah. Man, what a day.
- [32:29]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I'm exhausted. I'm also exhausted and there's so much to do.
- [32:33]
Tim Gettys
Yeah, I know.
- [32:34]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
So much left on the day on the calendar.
- [32:36]
Tim Gettys
Let's get to story number four here. Hollow Knight Silk Song will be playable in September 2025 let's go at an.
- [32:42]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Australian Museum God damn it.
- [32:44]
Tim Gettys
We're going to Australia. Bless Down Under. Wesley and Pool reports at ign IGN Ken revealed that Hollow Knight silksong will be playable in an Australian museum in September. Team Cherry's long in development games, one of the most anticipated in the world and has top Steam Wishlist charts for years. The studio, which is based in Adelaide, Australia, South Australia, has yet to say when Silksong will be released Beyond a vague 2025. I didn't know they were Australian.
- [33:08]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I didn't know that either.
- [33:09]
Tim Gettys
Learned something today.
- [33:11]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah.
- [33:11]
Tim Gettys
Wow.
- [33:12]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Good for Australia.
- [33:13]
Tim Gettys
We at least know it'll be playable for those who could be at Australia's National Museum of Screen culture. ACMI From September 18, Silk Song will be playable at the Melbourne Museum as part of a video game exhibition called Game Worlds, which will also include displays that delve into the game's design and artistic direction. ACMI co curators Bethan Johnson and Ginny Maxwell commented Quote Since Hollow Knight Silksong's initial announcement in 2019, it's been one of the most anticipated indie games on the planet and we are thrilled to celebrate the design of this South Australian made game as a centerpiece of Game World's Indie September.
- [33:47]
Greg Miller
Talk to your brother a second. You know it's a crazy. You go talk to your brother.
- [33:51]
Tim Gettys
Oh.
- [33:51]
G
Quote from the hundreds of sprites that animate hornets, different movements and attacks, to.
- [33:56]
Greg Miller
The logic behind the game's most challenging.
- [33:58]
G
Boss fights, and of course having the.
- [33:59]
Greg Miller
Game playable in gallery, our Silk Song display as delve deeply into the details of the game's artistic direction and design.
- [34:08]
G
We're so grateful to Team Cherry for.
- [34:10]
Greg Miller
Trusting us with their work and so excited to share that work with you.
- [34:14]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
And a joke loaded up for Tim, but actually it'll work for you as well.
- [34:18]
Greg Miller
Okay.
- [34:18]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Because it's just. It's just me and you here?
- [34:19]
Greg Miller
Yeah.
- [34:20]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Neither of us have played through Hollow Knight, right?
- [34:21]
Chris Plant
No.
- [34:22]
Greg Miller
Come on, now. I got taste. You got taste?
- [34:24]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Between. Between me and you.
- [34:25]
Greg Miller
Yeah.
- [34:26]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
How sick of you are. How sick of hearing about Hollow Knight.
- [34:30]
G
Just come out or don't come out.
- [34:32]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
It's like, we hear about this every day. Constant indie gestation, this Hollow Knight songs.
- [34:39]
G
Nintendo Direct, it's gonna be there. Cat Bailey calling it two seconds before.
- [34:43]
Greg Miller
It happens on the Nintendo Switch to direct with us.
- [34:45]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
It's, like, good for you guys.
- [34:46]
Greg Miller
Good enough.
- [34:47]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah.
- [34:47]
G
Oh, my God.
- [34:48]
Greg Miller
Could it possibly be this good?
- [34:49]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
You like this fucking video, right? Like, we don't even talk about fucking.
- [34:54]
Tim Gettys
I don't know.
- [34:54]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Death straining to this much. Fucking Ghost of Yotei is coming out this year.
- [34:58]
Greg Miller
I'll tell you what. Right now, all right? Any game you list, anyone. Fallout, any Uncharted Last. They wish they could get this kind of. I'm saying, they wish they could be talking about.
- [35:08]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
It's like they're opening up an exhibit in Australia and it's a fucking news store.
- [35:12]
Greg Miller
Yeah, I know, everybody. Roger Picorni in the chat. Grow up. Bless. I'm sorry, Roger.
- [35:16]
G
Don't you want to go play Animal?
- [35:18]
Greg Miller
Well, again, get out of here.
- [35:19]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah. Also, Roger played Hollow Knight two weeks ago. No. He wants to act like the biggest fan.
- [35:22]
G
Roger was playing. Got slapped in the head.
- [35:24]
Greg Miller
All right. They knocked something loose in there. That's why he thinks it's so good.
- [35:27]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I do want to play all night at some point.
- [35:29]
Greg Miller
Do you think this. Yeah, I know, right? We're all just joshing. It is still goofy that it's like, again, this has been just taking this.
- [35:36]
G
Long, and here it is.
- [35:36]
Greg Miller
It's going to be in the museum. I mean, for it.
- [35:39]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I. I don't know if this is. It has to come out before it's in the museum. Right?
- [35:44]
Tim Gettys
Does it?
- [35:45]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Like, I feel like this means that it's coming out before.
- [35:47]
Greg Miller
I mean, I think it's just that they're gonna have a demo in there maybe.
- [35:50]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I mean, I mean, that'd be more than what we've had, like, for Holiday Silksong at all.
- [35:56]
Tim Gettys
I'm kind of with you, Bless. Where I don't necessarily know that this is going to be. That it'll come out before then, but I don't think this will be the first time it's playable, you know?
- [36:06]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah. Yeah.
- [36:07]
Tim Gettys
I just think it's being confirmed it will be playable there.
- [36:10]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I don't know, because, like, I mean, Imagine can reveal how I feel. Song will be playable in Australian. In An Australian Museum in September 2025. Yeah. But, like, the fact that they say. Because I was thinking, like, this is the full game up in that museum.
- [36:25]
Tim Gettys
Yeah. Maybe. Lanky Dragoon says it was playable in 2019 at the last E3. So. Yeah. It's like.
- [36:31]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Was it really?
- [36:32]
Tim Gettys
Yeah, people played it.
- [36:33]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I didn't realize that.
- [36:34]
Tim Gettys
Yeah. We talked about this a long time ago.
- [36:36]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah.
- [36:36]
Tim Gettys
I forget what. But on some games daily, it was like. I think it was someone from Polygon. I think. Yeah. I mean, hey, look, we've said this now a couple times. I like that we're hearing that Hollow Knight's still 2025. They're still standing by that. You know what I mean?
- [36:53]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
And, like, I believe them.
- [36:55]
Tim Gettys
I believe them, too.
- [36:55]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah.
- [36:56]
Tim Gettys
Yeah. Oh, man.
- [36:58]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I don't know why I'm doing a big sigh at the end of every news story.
- [37:00]
Tim Gettys
It just feels. Honestly, there's just an energy. All the text of going wrong and, like, the people. Our gates not even working. Like, I couldn't even park in our parking lot today. Like, this is just.
- [37:09]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah, that's the thing is my car is stuck in the parking lot and.
- [37:11]
Tim Gettys
Like, it's stuck in the parking lot.
- [37:13]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah.
- [37:13]
Tim Gettys
Oh, my God. I don't even know how I'm gonna get lunch, man. I'm sure the hunger that you have, bless, is big.
- [37:20]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Oh, it is. I'm hungry.
- [37:21]
Tim Gettys
Yeah. So big. But if I wanted to know something small, where would I look?
- [37:25]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
You go to our last news story, the WE News Channel, where we cover all the small news items you need to know about.
- [37:33]
Tim Gettys
Thank you for that. A little WE News from here from vgc. Astral Chain director and Nier Automata designer Taka Kisa Toro Torah has finally confirmed his exit from Platinum Games following months of speculation in the latest issue of Japanese magazine Famitsu. Transcribed by Genki Tora confirmed he has quit Platinum and formed his own Co. Co. Eel Game Studio, adding that he couldn't share more information at this point. Christopher Dring at the game business. The bear is killing it out there. According. Sorry, Christopher drink at the game business. Which is important because Christopher Dring recently left BGC to do their thing.
- [38:10]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
No, not vgc.
- [38:13]
Tim Gettys
Biz. Yes, to do the game business. According to the publisher, Expedition 33 seemingly wasn't harmed by Oblivion's release timing quote. Also, by the time we rolled around, we had momentum of our own and we felt pretty confident that we could stand beside it. I think there were other aspects like the price point we were at and the inclusion of Game Pass. So we knew we would have a lot of interest around the game. We were confident in that. And as it went and it went as well as it possibly could have done in our eyes. And actually proximity Oblivion didn't seem to harm us at all in many ways. I think it just drew attention to quality RPGs that week.
- [38:43]
Chris Plant
And everybody was thinking and talking about the genre.
- [38:46]
Tim Gettys
I, this is one of those you'll never know because things went the way they did.
- [38:50]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
See, that's where I'm at.
- [38:50]
Tim Gettys
Yeah.
- [38:51]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I'm like, can you say that for sure though?
- [38:52]
Tim Gettys
Yeah. Like I don't think you can. I, I, I stand by Xbox. Should not have put Oblivion out that week.
- [38:58]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah.
- [38:58]
Tim Gettys
Like that was a bad business call. Like, sure. It resulted Expedition still doing great. But they didn't need to do that. I feel like was an unforced error that ended up not being the worst.
- [39:07]
Chris Plant
Thing ever for Expedition 33.
- [39:09]
Tim Gettys
But I still think it would have done better otherwise.
- [39:13]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah. I mean, I mean, I think I'm just happy we're in the place where everybody's happy about how their games did.
- [39:17]
Tim Gettys
Yep.
- [39:17]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
You know what I mean? Like, hey, as long as Expedition 33 is successful, who cares about Totally. Like maybe it would have sold another however many copies. But at least we're here. At least we're in the good timeline in regards to Expedition 33.
- [39:29]
Tim Gettys
Yeah.
- [39:29]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Not for everything else.
- [39:30]
Tim Gettys
Yeah. God. Expedition 33 is good. It's all I want.
- [39:32]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I need to go back to it. I mean I'm in, I'm in this up place.
- [39:36]
Tim Gettys
Yeah.
- [39:36]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Where Blueprints has ramped up so much in the post game and I cannot pull myself from it.
- [39:43]
Tim Gettys
Good qualms to have.
- [39:44]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I can't play any other game right now that's not Blueprints.
- [39:46]
Tim Gettys
Yeah. God. VGC says Microsoft says it was the top publisher on the PlayStation Store for pre orders and pre installs in the first quarter of 2025. You'll love to see it. That is so, so awesome. VGC also says the first seven games in Leisure Suit Larry series of adult themed comedy adventures are being delisted from Steam. It's fucked up. It's fucked up.
- [40:08]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Get it now.
- [40:08]
Tim Gettys
Let's get it now before they're gone. Yeah, exactly.
- [40:11]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Justice for my guy, Larry. Free Larry.
- [40:13]
Tim Gettys
Free Larry, everyone. Mario Kart 7 soundtrack has been added to Nintendo music. So yeah. Mario Kart 7 not memorable to me.
- [40:25]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I don't, I don't think I knew Mario Kart 7 came out until Mario Kart 8.
- [40:30]
Greg Miller
That's fucked up.
- [40:31]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I didn't have a 3Ds.
- [40:33]
Tim Gettys
Yeah, I get it, I get it. It's very funny to say.
- [40:35]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah.
- [40:36]
Tim Gettys
Kurt Flowers super chats in saying, I know it's smaller potatoes, but also bummed that Codemasters is no longer developing rally racing games anymore. Must be from the layoffs yesterday. God, man, we are just in a sad, sad state of affairs. What else do we got here? In this very weird episode of kind of Funny Games Daily, we got. Let's see if we got anything wrong. I don't imagine we did. No, we didn't.
- [41:03]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
We did it.
- [41:03]
Tim Gettys
No, we're great. So people talk about melatonin, but we'll have.
- [41:07]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Oh, is there any advice in there like.
- [41:08]
Tim Gettys
Well, just don't do it too much. It seems to be the advice.
- [41:11]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
What happened if I do too much melatonin? I don't wake up. I just fall asleep.
- [41:15]
Tim Gettys
I mean the hat man, remember? I mean baby.
- [41:19]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah, it's like that.
- [41:20]
Tim Gettys
Barrett. I don't know, man.
- [41:25]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Doesn't sound like a bad time. It doesn't sound like a bad sound. I might have to try some of that toning.
- [41:30]
Tim Gettys
Toning, baby. Well, everyone, this has been kind of Funny Games Daily 2 for May 1, 2025. After this, I'm not exactly sure what's going to happen. We're going to check in with the team, see what's going on. What I do know for sure is that in review will post today. Will it be live? Will it not be live? I assume it will, but it might not. But it will post today.
- [41:51]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
It's prepped to be live, so I.
- [41:52]
Tim Gettys
Think we're going to be good. Will the games cast happen? Probably, probably, but no promises. Will there be a gameplay stream? Probably not, but stay tuned. We're gonna try our best. There will be content. If anything, just go watch some of our old stuff, you know.
- [42:08]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah, you've got two KFCs also.
- [42:09]
Tim Gettys
Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
- [42:11]
Yeah.
- [42:11]
We just been doing some great stuff.
- [42:12]
Chris Plant
So.
- [42:12]
Tim Gettys
Anyway, we need food, we need happiness, you know, get my car out the brakes. I'm sure some cigarette breaks are in need from a couple people here. Anyways, we love you all.
- [42:22]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Don't put me on blast like that.
- [42:24]
Tim Gettys
The biggest smoker I know.
- [42:25]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Don't put me on blast.
- [42:27]
Tim Gettys
Oh, man. Anyways, I love you all. Thank you for your patience. Goodbye.