Can Ubisoft Recover From This? - Kinda Funny Games Daily 01.22.26

Summary

Kinda Funny Games Daily – Detailed Summary

Episode: Can Ubisoft Recover From This?
Date: January 22, 2026
Hosts: Roger McCorney & Paris Lily
Special Appearances: Greg Miller (occasional), Barrett, and Super Chat/Listener Comments

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on the fallout from Ubisoft’s massive restructuring, plummeting stock, and implication for the future of its beloved IPs. Roger and Paris break down industry news, especially Ubisoft’s fate, the strange story of Beyond Good and Evil 2’s survival, and new gaming sales trends like Battlefield outselling Call of Duty for the first time. The hosts balance thoughtful industry commentary with their trademark banter, also touching on their personal gaming experiences and audience questions.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Host Catch-Up & Gaming Lately (00:12–04:00)

• Paris Lily returns to the studio for the first time in a year, happy to reconnect with the Kinda Funny team and enjoy a mini “Xcast reunion.”
  • “Was it worth it? 100%. I mean, we literally had an X cast reunion here. Gary, Mike, Greg…It was awesome, a lot of fun.” (01:23, Paris)
• What are you playing?
  • Paris is “addicted to Hades 2,” with close to 200 hours played and multiple completions: “It’s so, so freaking good…I love that you learn something every run…Supergiant, what they’ve been able to do…fantastic game.” (03:07, Paris)
  • On Hades 2: “It wind up becoming—my game of the year.” (03:27, Paris)
  • Roger tries Cyberpunk on Switch 2: “It looks gorgeous.” (04:01, Roger)
  • Praise for CD Projekt Red making it run well on portable hardware, particularly in “indoor sections.”

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2. Main Story – Ubisoft’s Tumultuous Restructuring (07:01–16:23)

Ubisoft Shares Drop 33%, Massive Restructuring

• Background: Ubisoft splits its creative operations into 5 divisions/“Creative Houses,” aiming to “reclaim its creative leadership and drive sharp rebound.”
• Shares drop to their lowest in 14 years:

  “It has now dropped 95.9% compared to that July 2018 high point.” (VGC, ~07:00)

• Restructuring Fallout:
  • Cancelled 6 games (including Prince of Persia remake)
  • Delay for 7 more
  • Operating loss of €1B expected
• Reactions:
  • Paris: "Disappointment…it's just scary times in the industry. When I think of Ubisoft…they just had so many IPs you were excited about…to see this happening now…I hope they can right the ship." (08:03, Paris)
  • The Prince of Persia cancellation is a "huge gut punch."
  • Speculation about how new "Creative Houses" structure could affect IP priorities and what’s missing (Watch Dogs, Star Wars, Avatar not listed).

Ubisoft's Five 'Creative Houses' Breakdown (10:00–12:00)

1. Vantage Studios: Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, Rainbow Six
2. Creative House 2: Ghost Recon, Splinter Cell, The Division
3. Creative House 3: Brawlhalla, For Honor, Riders Republic, Skull & Bones, The Crew
4. Creative House 4: Anno, Beyond Good & Evil, Might & Magic, Prince of Persia, Rayman
5. Creative House 5: Hasbro portfolio, Hungry Shark, Invincible, Just Dance, UNO, etc.

• Splinter Cell’s relegation: "I'm excited for Splinter Cell, you're excited for Splinter Cell, but how many people are currently excited for Splinter Cell, I think is the real problem. Even this remake coming out, I don't expect it to do big numbers." (12:31, Paris)

• Comparison to Devil May Cry: Despite a cult following, Splinter Cell lacks the “brand cache” to make a modern splash.

Cancellations & Delays Impact IP Health

• Prince of Persia, Ghost Recon, Rayman, and Splinter Cell all questioned in terms of future viability.
• Creative uncertainty leads to risk of more high-profile cancellations.
  • “Is this game getting canceled is my biggest fear?” (13:40, Roger)
  • “I think it's 50-50.” (13:50, Paris)

Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Remake Delayed

• Further sign of production struggles: “The fact that they couldn't get a Assassin's Creed 4 remake …out…it's bizarre times and I'm very skeptical.” (17:07, Roger)
• Predicting 2026’s lineup: Maybe just Far Cry, Rainbow Six updates.
• Paris: "I'm not good."

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3. Beyond Good and Evil 2: Still Clinging On (18:07–21:30)

• The “longest-in-dev title ever,” costing $500 million+, has survived this project purge.
• “Who's excited for Beyond Good and Evil at this point?...It could come out tomorrow. And how many people—let's not forget the first one…a lot of people never played it in the first place.” (19:34, Paris)
• Both are skeptical the game ever comes out; speculate Ubisoft is keeping it as a “tax writeoff” or for executive vanity.

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4. Ubisoft’s Return-to-Office Mandate (21:30–24:44)

• Full-time in-office work for staff, justified as needed to “boost the collective performance for AAA.”
• Paris’s blunt take: "You ask people to come back into the office after they've been working from home and it allows you to not have to lay off people because they're going to leave on their own free will.” (23:41, Paris)
• Timing is telling: comes right after layoffs/restructuring, and is likely a cost-cutting measure.

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5. The Fate of Other Major Franchises (Selected)

Call of Duty vs. Battlefield: A Watershed Year (38:01–43:29)

• Battlefield outsells Call of Duty for first time in 2025.
• Black Ops 7 ranks historically low (5th place).
• Factors: Battlefield did not launch on Game Pass (as CoD did, cannibalizing sales), earlier release window, and Battlefield’s major improvements.
• “Black Ops 7 was not a good game. It felt like glorified DLC…Having real competition now with Battlefield is going to make Call of Duty better.” (39:00, Paris)
• A critical year for CoD. Modern Warfare 4 will reveal whether the franchise can rebound or is now in long-term decline.

Splinter Cell Fan Generations (29:26–30:43)

• Paris: “I'm a Chaos Theory guy…Spy vs. Mercs, all that…the sweet spot.”
• Roger: “There's this almost literal generational divide (Chaos Theory/stealth vs. Conviction-forward/stealth-action)."
• If Splinter Cell’s remake ever appears, it will have to navigate this fanbase split.

Nintendo News (32:07–36:17)

• Super Mario Bros. Wonder’s Switch 2 edition and Bella Bell Park arrive March 26, 2026, with new multiplayer features and Rosalina as a playable character.
• Roger: “I bought full price…I dunno, maybe it was just too easy.”
• Paris: “I love Wonder. Adding additional content…yeah, I’ll definitely check it out.”

Wee (Wii) News Bites (44:59–end)

• Bubsy 4D coming May 22nd, gameplay praised by Roger, looks to be a promising platformer revival.
• Screamer: Anime burnout-style racing game.
• Mario Kart World: Teams added to Knockout tour.
• Yakuza Kiwami 3/Dark Ties demo: Out now.
• Moonshot Games layoffs, Nintendo's aquarium tour, and notable industry retirements.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Ubisoft’s struggles:
  "Tough to read all this because…you knew those share prices were going to drop immediately as soon as you hear that they're canceling a game that's been in development for so long.” (08:53, Roger)
• On layoffs and return-to-office:
  “I'm looking for another remote job…that’s the one, I’m trying to get you to leave on your own free will.” (23:54, Paris)
• On Beyond Good and Evil 2:
  "What type of blackmail does this game have over Ubisoft? …How has this happened for so long?" (20:14, Roger)
• The Splinter Cell generation divide:
  “You remake this game, you've got two generations of fans. How are you going to meld it together?” (30:43, Roger)
• On CoD and industry rivalry:
  “You have to innovate… If you want sustained success. The fact that it's lasted this long is a minor miracle.” (41:45, Paris)
• On Ubisoft’s future:
  "Those IPs are too valuable for someone to not covet...eventually, the Ubisoft we know won't exist." (50:13, Paris)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Ubisoft Restructuring & Stock Drop: 07:01–16:23
• Beyond Good and Evil 2 Survival: 18:07–21:30
• Return-to-Office Mandate: 21:30–24:44
• Nintendo (Mario Wonder, Switch 2): 32:07–36:17
• Battlefield vs. Call of Duty Sales: 38:46–43:50
• Splinter Cell Fan Divide: 29:26–30:43
• Audience Q: Ubisoft’s Fate: 49:46–51:01
• Wii News (Quick Hits): 44:59–end

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Wrap-Up and Outlook

Predictions/Industry Outlook:

• Paris gives Ubisoft “five years before they’re bought out,” predicting a sale of IPs/studios by division.
• Roger is even more pessimistic—“three years”—and expects Tencent to pick up many pieces.
• The end of the episode concludes that while change seems inevitable, it spells a “depressing” end for Ubisoft’s legacy as a unified publisher.

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Final Notes:
This episode delivers an honest, sometimes sobering, but always entertaining analysis of the current gaming industry’s volatility, centered especially on Ubisoft’s crossroads. The hosts blend deep industry knowledge with lively banter, keeping even complex business news engaging for listeners.

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For More:
Check out Paris Lily on Gamertag Radio / YouTube, and Roger/Kinda Funny on Patreon/YouTube for more insights and behind-the-scenes content!

Transcript

[Host - Sponsor Read]

Go to boot.dev and use code kinda funny to get 25% off your first year on the annual plan. If you want to get our shows ad free and our exclusive shows, go to patreon.com Kinda funny.

[Roger McCorney]

Today in the gaming news, you need to know about the fallout from Ubisoft's restructuring. Somehow beyond good and Evil 2 is still in development. And is Battlefield officially bigger than Call of Duty? We'll have all this and more because this is Kind of Funny Games Daily. What is up, everybody? And welcome back to Kind of Funny Games daily for Thursday, January 22, 2026. And for the first time ever, we got the dynamic ball duo. I'm Roger McCorney and of course I'm joined by Paris Lily. Point blank period himself.

[Paris Lily]

I. I don't know where that came from. Clearly.

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah, let's talk through it because I want to hear about this.

[Paris Lily]

I clearly must have said it at some point, but Andy has said it way more than I have.

[Roger McCorney]

Way more.

[Paris Lily]

And anytime you ask me to repeat it, I screw it up every time. I don't even know what I said. But I'm honestly excited you and I.

[Roger McCorney]

Get to do something.

[Paris Lily]

I saw it on the calendar. I was like, yeah, we've never done this before.

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah, no. Again we have the bald connection. It's very exciting right there. Paris, how are you doing? How does it feel to be at the studio, hanging out with us, reacting to the developer?

[Paris Lily]

Very happy to be here because it's been almost a year since I've been in studio. Yesterday I was here, gdc. That was the last time I was in studio doing anything. So when I saw the dev direct was on the counter, I told Greg, he's like, you know what, it's time to come back in studio. So I. I have to make sure I do it a lot. Was it worth it was 100%. I mean, we literally had an X cast reunion here. Gary, Mike, Greg was hosting blessing. Andy, it was awesome, a lot of fun.

[Roger McCorney]

How great would it have been if we said it was an X cast reunion and we didn't invite Gary because we thought about it.

[Paris Lily]

That would have been even better.

[Roger McCorney]

Paris, first of all, everybody, of course, if you looking for developer underscore direct news. We already talked about that right before this on a gamescast. We reacted to it. Good old podcast over there. Check that out. But Paris, what are you playing? Are you playing anything fun?

[Paris Lily]

And I am. I am addicted to Hades 2. Whoa. Because, you know, we did the early access stuff. I remember I was on that game cast with Tim, and then I put it down because we obviously had so many other games. I'm like, oh, wait till 1.0. Then there was more games that were playing. So then during the holiday break, I was like, oh, that's right. I got Hades, too. Let me go pick it up. I'm hooked.

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah, that's all you're doing.

[Paris Lily]

It's. It's so, so freaking good. I've d. We'll talk about Call of Duty later. But I played a little bit of Black Ops 7 just to check it out, but it's been all Hades, too, man.

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah. You're just locked in. How many hours we thinking?

[Paris Lily]

Honestly, I think I'm probably close to 200 hours.

[Roger McCorney]

Hades. Two?

[Paris Lily]

Yeah. What? I'm not playing anything.

[Roger McCorney]

Holy shit. That is nuts. Because I just play one thing. It's like. Oh, like 20, 30 hours.

[Paris Lily]

I've had a lot of free time over the holiday.

[Roger McCorney]

Good for you. Yeah, good for you. I love that you've been in a bunch of times. I'm assuming I've.

[Paris Lily]

Two times. I've done it twice.

[Roger McCorney]

Holy shit. Good for you.

[Paris Lily]

But it's. I love that you learn something every run, whether it's five minutes or you're in there for two hours, you're. You're learning something every time you. You're upgrading a new ability or whatever. And just super giant. What they've been able to do with the dialogue, it feels real time. They're reacting to everything that you've done. It's fantastic game.

[Roger McCorney]

It's nuts.

[Paris Lily]

I mean, ultimately, it wind up becoming. I was on Game of the Year. It wind up becoming my game of the year. Wow.

[Roger McCorney]

Holy shit. Yeah. We got to get your top 10 lists. We want to hear it. Yeah, that's one of those ones of, like. I know for a fact if I pick that up at the wrong time, everything else just drops.

[Paris Lily]

Yeah, everything else.

[Roger McCorney]

So I just have to put it away. Like. It's like, okay, I see the addiction coming on the. On the. On the battlefield. I can't do that. I. But something for you that I've been playing that I'm actually going to finish for the first time ever and actually put more than five hours into Cyberpunk. Oh, I booted up Cyberpunk on the Switch 2. Looks gorgeous. Yeah, gorgeous on the Switch.

[Paris Lily]

I don't know what Sorcery CD Projekt Red did.

[Roger McCorney]

Nuts.

[Paris Lily]

But it runs fantastic.

[Roger McCorney]

And they said it took them, like, two weeks to get that first demo out for the January thing.

[Paris Lily]

That's actually not true. I did not talk to them.

[Roger McCorney]

And they're like, ah, we were live. We fuck with you. That's really funny. Yeah, no, that game is awesome. Especially in the indoor sections of like, I'm just, just in the very beginning. So, like when you're in the elevator and you're going upstairs and you're seeing you're like right next to Jackie in.

[Paris Lily]

That elevator, are you doing the 40fps mode?

[Roger McCorney]

I think so. I forget what I.

[Paris Lily]

That's the sweet spot.

[Roger McCorney]

Okay, gotcha. Yeah, no, I'm playing handheld though. Honestly. Yeah, I don't even know what the settings are there, but it looks gorgeous there. Of course, when you're in the open world, it's a little bit blurry, but that's to be expected. I mean, holy shit, what a great way to do. And also you can go between PC and Switch, so it's really nice there. So of course we have a lot more to talk about with Kind of Funny Games Daily. But before we do that, remember, if you're watching live, be part of the show by super chatting on YouTube.com kindafunny games. We couldn't do this without our Patreon producers over on patreon.com kind of funny. So thank you, Carl Jacobs, Omega Buster and Delaney the Somb Twining for now, let's begin with what is and forever will be the Roper Report. It's time for something new. Six stories today. Baker's dozen. I like this energy. This feels good. Today, Super Chat Question for y'. All. Can Ubisoft turn the ship around? Super Chat in with your predictions on how they can do it. Get creative, everybody. Story number one. And honestly, the majority of these stories here today are about Ubisoft, so strap in, Everybody. Story number one. Ubisoft shares dropped 33% following its major company reset announcement. This from Chris Scullion over at vgc. On Wednesday, the Assassin's Creed company detailed a complete restructure that will see its creative operations split into five separate divisions. The organizational restructuring, which has been in the works for a year, is designed to help the French publisher, quote, reclaim its creative leadership and drive sharp rebound following a turbulent few years of disappointing game launches and plummeting stock value, which recently resulted in a minority sale to Tencent. Wednesday's announcement hasn't helped the share price situation, however, with CBC CNBC reporting that Ubisoft's share price dropped 30, 33% this morning. At the time of writing, the share price currently stands at 4.€36, down from 6.€64 when the stock market closed on Wednesday, a drop of slightly, slightly more than a third. This marks the lowest share price for the company in just over 14 years. The last time the share price dropped below €5 was back in late 2011. After that point, Ubisoft saw a dramatic change in fortunes with the company's price continually rising throughout the 2000 and tens, culminating in a peak share price of 107.€90 in July 2018, according to TradingView. The year. The same year as such releases as Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Far Cry 5, the Crew 2 and south the Stick of Truth. And that was a good year. Since the start of 2000s, however, Ubisoft's share price has been gradually declining to the extent that it's. Its current share price drop today means that it has now dropped 95.9% compared to that July 2018 high point. As part of its announcement on Wednesday, Ubisoft stated that it expected to make an operating loss of around 1 billion euros for its current financial year ending in March 2026, following a 650 million euro write down caused by the restructure. It also of course announced that it was canceling six games, including its remake of Prince of Persia, the Sands of Time, and delaying further 7. Of course we can keep on talking about this. We will keep on talking about this. I just want to get your take on this because breaking news from yesterday. What did you think when you saw the six games being canceled?

[Paris Lily]

I mean, disappointment. Yeah, I mean that's probably the initial thought to see that, that Prince of Persia remaster got, got canned along with the other games that they're, they're canceling. But it's, it's just scary times, man. It's scary times in the industry because when I think of Ubisoft and it was funny when you go back to 2018 where they're clearly at the peak of their financial powers, they just had so many IPs that you were excited about to come out. Like, oh my God, I can't wait to play Ghost Recon. I can't play to wait to play Assassin's Creed. I can't wait to play Rainbow Six. I can't wait to play the division. My God, can you please give me a Splinter Cell? Like there's so many.

[Roger McCorney]

It's crazy how long you and I have been screaming this.

[Paris Lily]

Yeah. You know, and to see this happening now, it's like I, I hope they can write the ship. They're obviously tightening the belts. They're streamlining to, you know, save the company, essentially.

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah, man. It's. It's tough to read all this because of course you knew that those share prices were going to drop immediately as soon as you hear that they're canceling a game that's been in development for so long that has went through two separate developers that has rebooted. Once was said people were saying that this game was going to come out last week. Right. That was the rumor. That was the hoax that was going around. People were excited about this and excited, quote unquote. But they wanted and they were ready for Prince of Persia to come out. So I think that was kind of a huge gut punch to the company. But one thing I want to bring up really quick, Barrett, I put a link right there. Ubisoft's five creative houses. This is something that I believe was posted as part of their restructuring. And I want to kind of break this down because I think it gives you a good picture of what they're prioritizing and how they're tyzing it. So this is from a slide. This is Open World Adventures and Game as Games as a Service Native Experiences. And they broke it down into five creative houses that include a bunch of brands. So I'm not going to read all the text that explains it here, but I'm going to break it down from studio to studio. So we have Vantage Studios, which is number one. And that brands include Assassin's Creed, Far Cry and Rainbow Six. Then they have Creative House 2, which includes Ghost Recon, Splinter Cell in the division. We will talk about that. And three, they have for the third creative house they have Brawlhalla for honor writers, Republic, Skull and Bones and the Crew. Four, they have Anno Beyond Good and Evil Might and Magic Prince of Persia, Rayman. And then finally five, they have Hasbro portfolio, Hungry Shark. Don't know what that is. Invincible Guarding the Globe. Don't know what that is. Just Dance Catch App portfolio, Kolibri portfolio and of course Uno.

[Greg]

Where's Worse Trials?

[Roger McCorney]

There's a lot of things missing here and that's the. That's the place I want to go. Here is that they Noble in the comments responds and says they forgot Watchdogs. He says no Sellers. I don't know what that is. They didn't. They don't mention any of their Star wars stuff, the Avatar stuff. Like they are in this weird direction where clearly if you look through this like they are prioritizing with the amount of money that each of these brands are making.

[Paris Lily]

Right.

[Roger McCorney]

I my brain of course I'm with you. We got to talk about it. You know, we're the only people in this industry yelling about Splinter Cell. How the did Splinter Cell end up in the second tier? That's my number one thing. I'm like, I'm happy about that.

[Paris Lily]

I just think it's time. When was the last one? Was it 2013?

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah. Yeah, that was.

[Paris Lily]

I think it's been so long since we've had a Splinter Cell. You can't put it in that. That Vantage Studios tier, because I just need to goddamn game to come out. When are we getting this game again so it. So it can prove itself. If anything, I'm surprised the division is not number one in the Vantage Studios, because I think of all the IPs, right now, it's the one that we're clearly getting a Division 3. The Division 2 is still thriving. They're still doing stuff with that.

[Roger McCorney]

So then that's why I'm like, how the hell did Splinter Cell end up there? And I think that that is scary to me because, as you know, as everybody, as Splinter, every Splinter Spell, every Splinter Cell fan knows that Blacklist was the last real Splinter Cell game because they kind of thought that was going to be a big hit. They thought it was going to sell millions and millions of billions, and it sold a few million copies, but it didn't hit those highs because Splinter Cell's audience is kind of smaller in the grand scheme of Triple A. So to put Splinter Cell at number two and be like, I feel like that's a recipe for. For disaster for that franchise for Splinter Cell because it's a remake of one, and it's like, okay, that is a very. Like, of course it's a remake. They can do all this crazy stuff. They can, like, kind of build it up and make it more like Blacklist and Conviction. But, like, putting it at number two is just like, man, if that game does not sell 5, 6 million, 7 million copies and it's not the biggest thing online, when they do the Spies versus Mercs again, hopefully that franchise is dead.

[Paris Lily]

And I think you just hit on the point. I'm excited for Splinter Cell, you're excited for Splinter Cell, but how many people are currently excited for Splinter Cell, I think is the real problem. Even this. This remake coming out, I don't expect it to do big numbers.

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah.

[Paris Lily]

Because I just don't think there's a big audience for it.

[Roger McCorney]

And there's not even that brand cache or excitement because again, as people are yelling in the chat like, there's an anime show that came out. No one talked about that.

[Paris Lily]

No, I was talking about it.

[Roger McCorney]

I was yelling, everybody, hey, it's a really good show. You should watch it. But, like, no one talked about it. Like, even I think a good example is. Or a good comparison is Devil May Cry, where it's like, sure, that game hasn't had a game in a while, right? And of course, that last game sold a bajillion copies. But when that. When that show came out, everybody was talking about it. There was, like, a cache of audience that cares about Devil May Cry and loves those characters and wants to be in that universe, even if they haven't ever played a Devil May Cry game. Because, you know, Devil May Cry is cool. It's cool. I don't think Sam Fisher got it like that. I got to be honest. And I love Sam Fisher and I love Splinter self, but, like, I don't think I got it like that to be in Creative House.

[Paris Lily]

And at this point, is Michael Ironside even knowing the voice anymore, that takes away from it, like, you know, so I don't know. We'll see. I.

[Roger McCorney]

Tough one.

[Paris Lily]

I'm a fan, but I'm.

[Roger McCorney]

Is that I'm holding my breath again. I don't want to take over the entire episode and be like, this is the Splinter Cell podcast, but, you know, I gotta do it. Is this game getting canceled is my biggest fear?

[Paris Lily]

I think it's 50. 50.

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah.

[Paris Lily]

I really do. Which I. Leads me into the other one, which is also when in the Creative House bracket. Ghost Recon. I feel like that is very cool. Been a huge fumble by Ubisoft. That. That last one, they tried some things that did not work. And it's. It's a franchise and an IP that I love.

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah.

[Paris Lily]

I want to play more Ghost Recon.

[Roger McCorney]

John Barenthal killed the franchise.

[Paris Lily]

And it's. Has that been like six or seven years now?

[Roger McCorney]

It's been a long time.

[Paris Lily]

It's been a while, so I don't know. Again, I hope they can write the ship.

[Roger McCorney]

What was that? Ghost Recon Breakpoint.

[Greg]

No, I want to say it was 2019.

[Paris Lily]

Yeah, I feel like it was 2019.

[Greg]

First year. Kind of funny.

[Paris Lily]

I remember. Yeah.

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah. No, it's. It's interesting seeing how they broke this all up. And of course, we have. At Creative House 4, we have Anno Beyond Good and Evil, which we will talk about in five seconds. Prince of Persia still there somehow. And it's like, okay, well, that franchise is dead for a very long time. And Rayman So, like, yeah, you. You thought, hell, yeah. You're not getting no Raymond. You're not getting no Raymond.

[Paris Lily]

No, we'll get him back.

[Greg]

We'll get him back. A really quick question. I don't know if either of you can confirm this for me, but Kebabs in the chat said they were doing some stuff with Sands of Time where they were adding, like, sandbox areas to Sands of Time.

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah, I saw. Apparently, for this reason, what I saw, again, I. I couldn't find sourcing on this, but I saw a Reddit post where it was like, a developer, I think they were anonymous, and they were like, hey, I worked on this game. Let me tell you about it, since it's getting canceled. And they were talking about how they were trying to remake this game and make it special and make it different, and they were being very frank. Again, we don't know if this is real or not, but the person was basically being like, hey, like, the game had a. Not a long way to go, but it wasn't there. Right. Like, it definitely needed a lot more money. It wasn't like, oh, this game could have been released tomorrow. Like, it definitely needed more time. And there was a lot of infighting on kind of figuring out the design and where that game is again, you know, huge grain of salt. But, yeah, it did seem like that game was a bigger remake than we would have expected. I think when you and I saw this thing, we're like, oh, this is just going to be, like, it's going to look pretty, and that's it. But they were kind of trying to do, I think, the Splinter Cell thing, which is, hey, let's go from the ground up, trying to make this a new franchise again.

[Paris Lily]

And I know you're going to jump into beyond good and evil, because we definitely got to talk about that. But Assassin's Creed, they delayed the Black Flag remake.

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah.

[Paris Lily]

Into the next calendar, you know, fiscal year or whatever it's called. Right. So I. I mean, I guess. Okay. But I'm honestly surprised that being because I don't think they're trying to give it the Splinter Cell treatment or words, just remaking it and improving the thing. So the fact that that's getting delayed, you can't even get that out the door, man.

[Roger McCorney]

What does this year look like?

[Paris Lily]

Yeah, I. I'm not good.

[Roger McCorney]

If we're gonna predict what this year looks like, I mean, maybe a far cry, I would assume. It's about time, I would think.

[Paris Lily]

Right?

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah. You get a far cry, you're gonna get some Rainbow six updates.

[Paris Lily]

You got the they obviously consider it one of their top tier franchises. So yeah, you would hope so.

[Greg]

And I I could still see and maybe this is a little bit of opium just because I I want it. But like the rumor was they're trying to get this Black Flag remake out the door before the end of this fiscal year.

[Roger McCorney]

Right.

[Greg]

So like before March. So I could still see it. Could still see it hitting late fall. But then like then you're going up against the Juggernauts.

[Paris Lily]

We were just talking about Fables. Like you got. So then Wolverine, all these games coming out.

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah.

[Greg]

Realistically probably February like two years after that.

[Roger McCorney]

A good call. I think Assassin's Creed for resync needs to just be hey, it's out now. Because everyone loved that game people enjoyed for there's a lot of like love online for four. So I think if you just put it out like hey, it's out next week. Here you go. That would do really well. But yeah, it's the fact, you're so right. The fact that they couldn't get a Assassin's Creed 4 remake, whatever, remaster even out. Like it's bizarre times and I'm very skeptical. But let's talk about something that isn't canceled. Allegedly. Story number two Beyond Good and Evil 2 survives Ubisoft's project Purge this from Tom Henderson over at Insider Gaming Insider Gaming has learned that one of Ubisoft's longest in development projects, Beyond Good and Evil 2, has survived Ubisoft's latest round of project cancellations. Beyond Good and Evil 2 continues to make headlines as the longest in development title ever, having been in development since its reveal on May 30, 2008 with a total of 6,445 days at the time of writing or for those who hate math, 6, 17 years, 7 months and 22 days. However, the current version of the game has been in development since around 2017, which still means a good eight to nine years of development regardless of records and long ass development timelines. Though Ubisoft still thinks that beyond good and Evil 2 has something to give, despite the recent restructuring that has seen six games canceled, including the Prince of Persia Sands of Time remake. Sources tell Insider Gaming that Beyond good and Evil 2 is still in active development, at least for the time being. In 2023, Beyond Good and Evil 2 saw significant changes with Ubisoft Montepedia being under investigation over unprecedented number of developers experiencing burnout and going on sick leave. According to sources, constant changes, pushbacks and lengthy Development time have likely cost Ubisoft. Brace for this one, everybody. $500 million plus in development costs. But at least for the time being, Ubisoft feels like it. It's a cost that is justified. As for when beyond good and Evil 2 will release, it's anyone's guess, but it's possible the game won't be seen for a number of years. That doesn't seem like a real amount of money to be developing. Probably more expensive or about as expensive as GTA 6. Like, that is nuts. That is unfathomable. What do you think?

[Paris Lily]

I have no faith that Beyond Good and Evil is ever going to come out. And at this point, I think it was just included in here to just try and make it. The lineup look better. That, hey, here's an ip. Because it really goes back to the Splinter Cell conversation. Who. Who's excited for Beyond Good and Evil at this point? It could come out tomorrow. And how many people have number one? Let's not forget the first one. It wasn't that it was a huge seller. A lot of people never played it in the first, but yeah, it was.

[Roger McCorney]

A small little cult classic.

[Paris Lily]

Who's running out to go play Beyond Good and Evil now? At this point, I do think this gets canceled. I don't think we're talking about this in active development in 2027.

[Roger McCorney]

It's the only fathomable way that I can see this happening and coming out is if internally they see this as their next watchdogs, another franchise that they can milk out, a new universe that they can say is wholly their own, that they can spin off into animated series and kind of have that for multiple years. But if you're taking this long to get the first. The first one, the second one, I guess out the door. It's just. I don't see this happening ever. And it's just insane to me that we've had the cancellations of this. We have all these delays, we have all these issues. We can't get a Splinter Cell game out the fucking door. But then this. What, like, what type of blackmail does this game have over Ubisoft or is just, you know, Eve's just, like, in love with this franchise and this is his baby. Like, is this like the. Is this just his, like, Star wars that. He's like, man, I got. This is going to be the greatest thing ever. I want to make this happen. I have no idea how this happened for this long because, yeah, it should be at this point. I can't believe that they haven't canceled this one. But also my brain is like maybe somehow this is a tax thing. Maybe eventually they cancel this and then that's like writes off all their taxes for the rest of the for the next century. $500 million down the drain.

[Paris Lily]

Like in Cuz I remember like Warner Brothers did like that Batgirl movie stuff where they just, it just never comes out and they get a huge tax thing.

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah, maybe so. Shout out to Beyond Good and Evil 2 coming out in 2045. Story number three continuing on with Ubisoft Ubisoft asking all staff to return to office full time to, quote Boost the collective performance for Triple A. This is from John Hicks over at Game Industry Biz. Ubisoft has announced that its new restructuring into creative houses will continue. Well, sorry will come with the intent to bring all staff back into the office five days a week with an an annual allowance for work from home home days. Quote we really want to strengthen on site collaboration the collective dynamic across teams. SVP of Studio Operations Marie Sophia de Wilbert Wilbert told GamesIndustry Biz we know that in person, collaboration and interactions are key enablers of efficiency, creativity and collective success in this persistently selective market. It's one enabler among others, but it's really one we believe in. When asked if this was expected to accelerate staff turnover alongside the company's ongoing cuts, she said, quote the one and only objective is to enhance collective efficiency, to drive the dynamics, the creativity, the sense of belonging. It's an intention we will of course discuss in due time with the different countries, the modus operandi and the flexibility linked to the evolution of our model, she said. But the objective is really linked to the quality of our games and the quality of our creativity and it's one enabler among others for the creative houses to reconnect with success and team engagement. Quote it won't happen overnight, of course. It's an intention and we'll do it properly in dialogue with all the stakeholders. CFO Robert Dugua confirmed the company quote will of course discuss with the employees and their representatives and all the teams, but describe the changes. Quote really a matter of further boosting the collective performance of Triple A's, yada yada yada. What's your take on this?

[Paris Lily]

I mean, it's pretty simple. You ask people to come back into the office after they've been working from home and it allows you to not have to lay off people because they're going to leave on their own free will.

[Roger McCorney]

Ding ding ding.

[Paris Lily]

Really, it's really all it Is. Yeah, because like I work from home. If they told me all of a sudden, yeah, Paris, we need you to go back into the office five days a week. I'm looking for another remote.

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah, immediately. Yeah, yeah. No, it's, it's a tough one because of course, I personally have like mixed feelings about work from home. I know it's very, very good for a lot of people, but I also know that for sure, when it comes to creativity, it's good to be happy. And I like collaboration.

[Paris Lily]

That.

[Roger McCorney]

But also the timing of this is fucking.

[Paris Lily]

Damn. Of course.

[Roger McCorney]

Right, like they're doing this right after the restructuring. They're trying to lay off people. They're trying to cut costs. Millions and millions of dollars.

[Host - Sponsor Read]

Sure.

[Roger McCorney]

Okay. Yeah. You're trying to do this just to, you know, get everyone together. And also forcing the five days week immediately. That's the biggest red flag.

[Paris Lily]

That's the one I'm trying to just get you to leave on your own free will instead of me forcing you out. And I take bad PR because I laid you off.

[Roger McCorney]

Absolutely. Absolutely. Let's go to some super chats. As we continue to talk about this, we have one from Bluto. Why can't Popeye? No, my computer's being stupid. Bluto. Shout out Bluto. Birthday tax. Turned 29 today. Shout out to KF and the crew. Remember when I met everyone at PAX East 2015? Also, someone tell Greg Bless I finally changed my username. If you know, you know and I know. So shout out Bluto. That's a way better username than you had before. We have a lot more gaming news that isn't related to Ubisoft, so we're going to get to that after a quick word from our sponsors.

[Host - Sponsor Read]

This episode is brought to you by boot.dev. if you're listening to this show, there's a solid chance that you 1 like video games and 2 at some point in your life have been interested in learning software development. Boot.dev combines those things because they know that the smartest way to learn is to never get bored. It takes your coding from beginner to expert the fun way through a hands on RPG like experience. If you're ready to put in the time it takes, takes like Kevin is.

[Roger McCorney]

My favorite feature is that you could.

[Greg]

Find a solution that works but then afterwards you can hit solution and see the way that they were trying to.

[Roger McCorney]

Teach you to do it.

[Greg]

That's really cool.

[Host - Sponsor Read]

Curriculum designed for builders with gamers sensibilities in mind. Boot.dev welcomes you to the most captivating way to learn to code. You can learn back end web development from start to finish in Python, SQL and go. Bored learners quit. Smart learners never get bored. That's why you'll learn by doing what you'd actually be doing at a job building real projects. Go to boot dot dev and use code. Kind of funny to get 25% off your entire first year on the annual plan. There's no better time to give your coding dreams a chance. Just like Kevin's doing. Again. Go to boot.dev and use code. Kinda funny to get 25% off your entire first year on the annual plan.

[Paris Lily]

From the co writer of Rogue One Come see you in Hell.

[Roger McCorney]

A new Hollywood satire. Kind of like the studio, except you'd never get away with this on television.

[Paris Lily]

Starring Shannon Woodward.

[Roger McCorney]

You seriously need to see a shrink or something before you get arrested for dicky waving. Thomas Sadarsky I don't have imposter syndrome.

[Paris Lily]

You should John Cryer.

[Roger McCorney]

You think I don't know bullshit when I hear it?

[Paris Lily]

I represent Sean Hannity and John Boyega. I was in Star wars and Pacific Rim.

[Roger McCorney]

The second one wherever.

[Paris Lily]

See you in hell.

[Roger McCorney]

Wherever you get your podcasts and at See you in hell tv. Hey you. Join us in person for our live in review of Howard the Duck. That's right, Howard the Duck joins MCU in Review. Wednesday, January 28th at 7:30pm at Cobb's Comedy Club for SF Sketchfest. You can come watch me do all the podcasts within a podcast you love. Andy will be going, Nick will be shopping for pants during it, but everybody else will be there too for you to come hang out and see. All you have to do is go over to kind of funny.com sketchfest right now to get your tickets before they sell out because coming watching a bunch of people talk about a very old Howard the Duck movie is really selling tickets fast. This episode is brought to you by FX's the Beauty Official Podcast. Join host Evan Ross Katz on the Official podcast for FX's hottest new series the Beauty, taking you behind the scenes.

[Paris Lily]

With its amazing stars as they discuss.

[Roger McCorney]

The show's most jaw dropping moments. Featuring Evan Peters, Anthony Ramos, Jeremy Pope, Ashton Kutcher, Rebecca Hall, Bella Hadid, Meghan Trainor, Isabella Rossellini, Jessica Alexander and Ari Grayner. Search FX Is the Beauty wherever you listen to podcasts? Good morning crust. It's a great day to be a bread brother. Mornings are not my jam or jelly. Oh come on, stop loafing around. I just woke up feeling hollow inside. Just grab One of the new morning uncrustable sandwiches like Bright eyed Berry or up an apple filled with 12 grams of protein and tons of deliciousness crust. What are you eating?

[Paris Lily]

It's just granola. Not even yogurt.

[Greg]

No crust, no fuss. Uncrust your mornings.

[Roger McCorney]

Well, the holidays have come and gone once again. But if you've forgotten to get that special someone in your life a gift. Well, Mint Mobile is extending their holiday offer of half off unlimited wireless. So here's the idea. You get it now, you call it an early present for next year. What do you have to lose? Give it a try at mintmobile.com/switch. Limited time, 50 off regular price for new customers. Upfront payment required $45 for 3 months, $90 for 6 months or $180 for 12 month plan taxes and fees. Extra speeds may slow after 50 gigabytes per month when network is busy. See terms. Paris, I've never asked you this before, but what type of Splinter Cell fan are you? Like, tell me the history really quick because there's two different types of Splinter Cell fans and I didn't know which side you're on.

[Paris Lily]

Okay. Okay, this is interesting, guy. I, I, I didn't know there were sides. So I originally first played Splinter Cell. It was a disc that was in the OXM magazine, the demo.

[Roger McCorney]

Wow.

[Paris Lily]

That's what hooked me, you know, original Xbox, the whole thing. But I'm a Chaos Theory guy. I love Chaos Theory. That is, that is my favorite Splinter Cell, obviously. Spy versus Mercs, all that. It was Pandora Tomorrow was the original one. It started Spy versus Merc started in a little too silly towards the end, before they, they stopped doing it. But to me, Chaos Theory was a sweet spot.

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah.

[Paris Lily]

So, so what, what's the side?

[Roger McCorney]

So the other side. I was growing up and my big, my big excitement. Of course I grew up with like Pandora Tomorrow. But I was like way too young. I didn't understand what the fuck I was doing. But I loved it. And I love playing that first mission over and over and then Chaos Theory at my friend's house. So like, I love those games. But then when Conviction happened, okay, Conviction was the one that like, whoa. My mind exploded. And then Blacklist, of course came in. It's like, okay, it's the melding of the world. So yeah, it's interesting because there is like this like almost literal generational divide of like when you have like the older games that are way more stealth based and then you have like the action based games that has some stealth in it. But it's very different types of things. So it's kind of interesting of like, okay, if you remake this game, you have two kind of generations of people. How are you going to meld it together?

[Paris Lily]

Yeah, yeah.

[Roger McCorney]

I don't know. Okay, okay. I know where you stand now.

[Paris Lily]

But we're never getting it, so.

[Roger McCorney]

We're never getting it. Yeah. This is all we got. This is all we got. Also Shout out Splinter Cell Double Agent doesn't get enough love the PS2 version, which is a completely different game than the Xbox 360 version. Shout out story number four switching gears to Nintendo Super Mario Brothers Wonder and meetup in Bella Bell park arrives on Switch 2 in March. This is from Jim Norman over at Nintendo Life. They put out a little five minute gameplay kind of explainer video that we could put up as B roll. After its rating earlier this month, Nintendo has today given up us another look at Super Mario Brothers Wonder Nintendo Switch 2 Edition and meet up at Bella Bell Parker. Accompanied by a Release date of 26th March. The new trailer showcases a bunch of new features that will be arriving in the 2023 platformer. First up is the Game Room Plaza, a location for some multiplayer mayhem which will offer six different attraction minigames to be played either locally or online with up to 12 people. The Toad Brigade Occupy a new what? The Toad Brigade Occupied. Occupy a new area called Camp Central. Sure. Where you can participate in training challenges to hone your skills, earn patches and raise your brigade ranking. The Toad Brigade. Is that a thing that we should. I should have known.

[Paris Lily]

Yes.

[Roger McCorney]

I did. Okay.

[Greg]

Led by Captain Toad.

[Paris Lily]

Okay. I don't know.

[Greg]

I'm just making sure.

[Roger McCorney]

The trailer also gives us another look at the Koopalings. These notorious baddies have stolen the Bella Bell flowers and scattered them across the map. So add that to the list of collectibles as you make your way across the levels. And speaking of familiar faces, Rosalina is available as a playable character in this Nintendo Switch 2 Edition. You can even control a Luma as a co star in co op where mouse mode is an option. And that's where everybody. I will say that a few days ago I did do a predictions episode of Gamescast where I looked forward to the year and I went month by month and I gave crazy predictions that I thought in my heart of heart.

[Paris Lily]

Were going to happen.

[Greg]

You took pills for it.

[Roger McCorney]

I did. I took some pills and I saw the fucking Matrix. And one of them was I saw Rosalina in my brain. I was like, what if there's a Rosalina game, but I'm sorry to say that the pills were wrong and they fucked me up. And I saw Rosalina, but she was in this.

[Paris Lily]

Yeah, she's in.

[Roger McCorney]

So I kind of screwed up there, but she's in the game, so I guess that's a win. What's your relationship with Nintendo? Have you played this game? Are you playing? Oh, yeah.

[Paris Lily]

I love Wonder. I love Wonder.

[Roger McCorney]

Are you excited about this one, then?

[Paris Lily]

I mean, it's something I would check out. I mean, I've never been big in the, like, unless it's Mario Party, like the, the multiplayer stuff that they do in this. But I mean, adding on additional Wonder content. Yeah, I'll definitely check it out.

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah. Yeah. This is one that I bought full price, and I was like, oh, man, this one looks so good. We got this. And then I just played it for a little. I was like, oh, I don't know. I, I, it. Maybe it was just too easy. Maybe. I don't know what it was, but it just wasn't hitting as much as I wanted it to. But except for, like, maybe a party mode, that'd be fun.

[Paris Lily]

Now, I'm gonna tell you to not give up on your Rosalina dream. Oh, because let's not forget Galaxy movies coming out this year. They're gonna do more. There's gonna be more Mario.

[Roger McCorney]

I'm saying. That's what I'm saying.

[Paris Lily]

I will be shocked if there's.

[Roger McCorney]

I just don't believe that It's a Mario 3D game. I just don't believe we get that this year. It's a weird one.

[Paris Lily]

Yeah.

[Roger McCorney]

I feel like we would have heard of it.

[Paris Lily]

As much as you as I want it, obviously the, the, the Mario team did Donkey Kong Bonanza, so.

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah, I mean, maybe they have multiple teams. There's no way we're gonna wait seven years for another Mario thing. So it's gotta be Nintendo.

[Greg]

There was also the, the theory Grubb had for a while that, like, they had Bonanza Red ready for a while when they were thinking about doing a Switch pro years ago and then just saving it for the eventual switch 2. Who knows?

[Paris Lily]

Who knows?

[Greg]

I'm glad I reminded Nintendo about this game. It seems they forgot when they Shadow dropped the announcement of, what was it? The Donkey Kong Country Returns. They're just like, hey, here's this update out of nowhere.

[Roger McCorney]

Here you go.

[Greg]

And I think it was yesterday on Gabe's Daily. I was like, where's the Mario Wonder thing? Y' all actually announced, like, last year?

[Roger McCorney]

Like, oh, we scheduled it, but we put the wrong day like oh, 2027.

[Greg]

We hit the Donkey Kong but not the Mario. But damn it.

[Roger McCorney]

Oh. Oh man. Shout out to Nintendo Just doing whatever the they want for $20. This game is 20. This add on is $20. By the way. Everybod kind of nuts. That's kind of crazy.

[Paris Lily]

Nintendo. Nintendo ink.

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah, Nintendo. But I love my Nintendo Switch. Do you use it much? Are you playing Nintendo Switch too?

[Paris Lily]

You know, it's funny, I haven't recently the hand my handheld choice has been the Steam deck. Yeah, I've been using that more than anything. But I think as more new Nintendo games come out, I'm obviously going to want to play them.

[Roger McCorney]

So I'm playing everything on the Switch too. Yeah, I'm lost. I love my Switch. I love it more than the Steam deck, honestly.

[Paris Lily]

Oh wow.

[Roger McCorney]

I like my Steam Deck. Just heavy, you know. I mean I got. I got delicate little small hands. So it's just like having that Switch too.

[Paris Lily]

I have big giant dinosaurs.

[Greg]

Roger, are you doing the thing where you use the stand as like kind of a grip?

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah, yeah. Actually, no. I have the. I have the Kill Switch so it just feels better on me. It feels better on me.

[Paris Lily]

But they are coming out. Oh my God. I always screw their name up. They make the. The awesome cases for the original Switch. They're updating it to the Switch brand. No C ck. I'm screwed.

[Roger McCorney]

Let us know. Chat.

[Paris Lily]

Yeah, yeah, they'll. They'll let you know, but they're coming out with a Switch 2 version of it.

[Roger McCorney]

Shout out. Shout out. Let's move on to some non Switch things because these games aren't on Switch but eventually they will be. Story number five. Battlefield outsold Call of Duty for the first time ever last year as Black Ops 7 dropped. DK. That's the name of DKR everybody. As Black Ops 7 dropped to fifth place. This is from Andy Robinson over at VGC. The Electronic Arts shooter was the best selling game of 2025 across Circanas tracked platforms and I have the entire list right there. But if you want to click on that to show the video audience ranking first on Xbox and aggregated PC storefronts, the second on PlayStation behind only NBA 2K26. The latest Call of Duty entry, Black Ops 7, PlayStation fifth behind Battlefield, NBA 2K26, Borderlands 4, which I forgot came out last year and Monster Hunter Wilds. It's worth noting that Black Ops 7 was launched in Game Xbox Game Pass while Battlefield was not and the EA title also released around six weeks earlier. Still, it's a huge turnaround for Battlefield, which has never outsold Call of Duty over a calendar year. Black Ops 7's fifth place is the lowest a Call of Duty game has placed in nearly 20 years, when call of Duty World at war with was sixth in 2008 during the WII phenomenon. In the years since then, Call of Duty has regularly been the best selling game in the U.S. placing only behind Rockstar titles like GTA and Red Dead, Redemption 2 and most recently Hogwarts Legacy. In 2023 on PlayStation platforms, Call of Duty, Black Ops 7 placed fourth behind NBA 2K26, Battlefield 6 and Ghost of Yote, the rival shooter franchises franchises had polarizing years. In 2025, after a rethought, development and years, Battlefield 6 enjoyed the biggest launch in the history of the series according to EA, with more than 7 million copies in its first three days. In comparison, Call of Duty Black Ops 7 launch sales were down more than 60% in some markets comparatively to the series previous installment. Black Ops 7 launched with increased competition from Battlefield and mixed reviews from critics. 2024's Call of Duty Black Ops 6 was the first to launch day and date on Xbox Game Pass Although early results were positive with Microsoft declaring it the biggest Call of Duty launch ever in terms of players, the game saw a sharper post launch decline than usual. Paris, is Game Pass dying or is it killing all the games? What's going on with this? Why is this happening?

[Paris Lily]

Before I answer that because I'm just looking at this top 20 list real time. It is insane that Grand Theft Auto 5 is still in the top 20 most soldier.

[Roger McCorney]

I was part of that. I rebought it. I rebought it. There you go everybody.

[Paris Lily]

A few things with this. You know, kudos to Battlefield 6 team for doing that. Obviously Vince Ampella rest in peace. Everything that he was able to do because he did revive the franchise that that team. So to see it be the most sold I think is well deserved. Thought it was. I love it. It's great multiplayer. Obviously Mike and I went to that event. It was nuts. But I'm also glad that this is a little complicated how I'm answering this but like you look at Black Ops 7, it's fifth which isn't bad but it's the lowest. Obviously they're saying I'm glad that it is because Black Ops 7 was not a good game. It felt like glorified DLC that they were selling for full price. Obviously the again I don't know if you played that campaign. The co Op. It was. Yeah, it was all over the map. I mean the multiplayer is. The multiplayer really. It's just more six, which is fine. I'm glad that this happened because immediately had them make a change that we're no longer going to do back to back Black Ops or Modern Warfare releases. Good. It also having real competition now with Battlefield. It's going to make Call of Duty better.

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah.

[Paris Lily]

I do think to the point of Game Pass, that's clearly going to lower the sales because they're going to be people. Why am I buying it? I have Game Pass. I'll play it through there. So you're going to see that reflected in the real sales numbers. So it's. It's a balance of both. Yes, Game Pass is bringing down the sales numbers, but I'm sure they. Well, I would hope they've anticipated that because you put it in the service. Of course it would. But I also think the quality of the game highly affected that as well. Not to mention you had a real alternative to it. So if I'm big into military shooters, I'm playing Battlefield Destroyer. Yeah, I was gonna say. Or I'm playing Arc Raider.

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah. No, it's a weird one. I think the biggest thing for me, which.

[Paris Lily]

That wasn't in the top 20, was it it?

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah. That's crazy. Yeah. Maybe. Maybe on I. I didn't. I didn't see. Yeah. I wasn't looking for creators Arc Raiders. I'm looking for a. Looking for a. Looking for. Hey, I'm not seeing Arc Raiders. Moxy Arc raiders. Again. These are aggregated from, you know, PC and stuff that maybe it's sold a lot on some whatever. But yeah, that is kind of wild that Arc Raiders not there. I think for me the biggest show is going to be next year. Right. Which is rumored to be Modern Warfare 4.

[Paris Lily]

Yes.

[Roger McCorney]

Right. And that to me is going to show a lot about Call of Duty and where it's at in the current standing. It's going. You're not going to have a Battlefield that is going to be competing with it. Probably we're going to have updates. Right. You're not going to have an actual. Hey, here's Battlefield 7 competing with it. So are you going to actually be able to compete? Are you going to be able to grow those numbers or is this kind of where Call of Duty is at now? Because I feel like. I think my biggest. Not fear. I think it's the reality of things. I just think that Call of Duty is going to be here now. I think it's Just going to slowly slip. It's not going to be out of the top 10 ever.

[Paris Lily]

You can't.

[Roger McCorney]

It's just going to be around.

[Paris Lily]

Release something every year and expect it to have sustained success. The fact that it's lasted this long I think is a minor miracle. I mean, because itself.

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah, you had the, a little bit of the dips right when after, right before Modern Warfare. Right. Model was the big like, we're back, baby. We got a new engine. It looks good. Doesn't look like every game. Doesn't look the exact same. It doesn't look like all of it. He goes, it looks like this brand new beautiful thing. And then you've kind of rode that high of like, oh, we're bringing back Black Ops. We're doing all this. And then now you're here. At this point it's like, you need to do something new. Guys.

[Paris Lily]

You guys, you have to innovate, read. You have to.

[Roger McCorney]

Because like you say, like, okay, well, after the failure of Black Ops 7, like we're not going back to back ever again. I do think that that was just. They said that. Which I agree. I don't think it's because of Black Ops 7. I think they were already planning on doing that. Like that's already been in the pipeline. They're like, it takes so long to make these.

[Paris Lily]

Yeah. Because you're. Yeah.

[Roger McCorney]

They got like, it just happened like this of like, oh, we have to pump out these games. So we have to do Modern Warfare 3. We have to do Black Ops 7. And now it's just like, what are you going to do? I.

[Paris Lily]

In a perfect like again. When, when Microsoft acquired Activision and all that. I remember there was some rumblings that maybe they weren't going to do the annual releases anymore. But we're in a world financially, I don't think they can stop.

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah.

[Paris Lily]

Want to. It is such a huge game. Even Look, Black Ops 7 is not good and it's still made a boatload of money. Not as much as previous versions, but it's still a top selling game every year. So to your point about Modern War for four, I'd heard whispers even like a year ago that this is the one. This is the one that's gonna innovate. This is the one that's going to.

[Roger McCorney]

This one this year.

[Paris Lily]

Yeah.

[Roger McCorney]

Okay.

[Paris Lily]

Push Call of Duty. Like I guess it's not going to be on PS4 and Xbox One. So this will be a true quote unquote, next gen Call of Duty. So let's see. I mean we'll obviously see what. What's going to happen.

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah. I mean, this is. That's the franchise to do it with. Right. Is Modern Warfare. Modern Warfare has, I think that and Black Ops, but I think Black Ops now 7 is kind of not tarnished, but, you know, you gotta wait a few more years. Modern Warfare is the one that you can always do the reset button with. But, yeah, I don't. I don't know, man. I'm still skeptical. I'm still skeptical of it all. I'm a little scared, as somebody who loves.

[Paris Lily]

That's fair to anyone to. You come off of this Call of Duty to then go to the next one and just magically think, all right, they're gonna fix everything. They have to prove it.

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah. They have to prove it. Yeah. And with Battlefield, I'm excited to see where they go with that and how big that can go.

[Paris Lily]

Yeah. You know, side note again, rest in peace, Vince Zampella. Do you realize he was on Medal of Honor?

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah.

[Paris Lily]

Create a Call of Duty on Battlefield. Yeah, it's. That's nuts. Oh, and he did Titanfall. I mean, it's like.

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah, yeah. His legacy is insane. Like, the amount of every game, man, just like, fully changed the landscape of gaming in so many insane ways. Yeah.

[Paris Lily]

Yeah.

[Roger McCorney]

And I'm excited to see how big Battlefield can go. But if I was looking for something smaller twice in a row. Fucking. Fucking Paris. I'm looking for something smaller.

[Paris Lily]

Okay.

[Roger McCorney]

Say the tiniest news I need to.

[Paris Lily]

Know about, you go to our last story, the WE news. Right?

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah. You're killing it. You're killing it.

[Paris Lily]

I am screwing this entire. No, no, I just want to say that I'm normally not in the studio. Soon I'm at home, I have it all set up. But anyways, here we go.

[Roger McCorney]

You got it.

[Paris Lily]

You go to our last story, the WE News channel, where we cover all the small news items you need to know about.

[Roger McCorney]

News, everybody. You killed it. You killed it, Paris. That was great. I want to do a clip of just me doing the big. And I was like, oh, my God. We news, everybody. Bubsy 40. This is what I had to interrupt you for. I need to talk about Bubsy 40. Bubsy 40. It's coming out May 22nd on PlayStation, Xbox and Switch and PC. This game looks sick, y'. All. We Gotta talk about Bubsy 4D. This is nuts. If you see. If you look at the gameplay of this, I think this might be because I was playing big hops. That game is cool. I don't think it really was my thing. It didn't feel as tight as I wanted it to. This might. This might be my thing. This might be a Roger game. We skip a little bit to the middle. Yeah, look at this. You're moving around. You're jumping around. Bubsy back, everybody. Bubsy.

[Paris Lily]

Yo.

[Greg]

He turns into a ball.

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah, dude. That's his whole thing. They call him Bubsy the ball. Bubsy. Whoa. Yeah. This is a trailer that Blessing put out there on Blue sky. And he was like, this might be my perfect game, but I want to. I want to show everyone on this. This is a Screamer. This is out March 25th. I had no idea what this game was. This is like a burnout mixed with anime. It just looks dope, everybody. So, yeah, check this out.

[Greg]

Yeah, they showed this at game awards, I believe.

[Roger McCorney]

Oh, yeah, I completely missed this. Maybe I was just out. Out eating some pizza. I didn't see this at all. Yeah, so it looks up like. Like a normal anime game. Okay, whatever. Yeah, sure. But then you get into it. It's just. It's just. It looks like sick burnout. It's dope. So shout out to that game. Shout out to Screamer. Check that. Yeah, look at that. Fuck me.

[Greg]

I hope it feels as good as it looks.

[Roger McCorney]

Yes.

[Greg]

I'm a little hesitant.

[Roger McCorney]

If that doesn't work out. Of course we have Forza, but if that doesn't work out, we have Star Wars Galactic Racing. So look out for that. For that, everybody. Cults of the Lamb expansion, Woolhaven is. Is out now. Yakuza, Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties demo is live also right now on Xbox, PlayStation, PC and Switch 2. Progress does not carry over everybody. So look out for that from Chris Kerr over at game developer Moonshot Games from Wildgate. They made the game Wild Gate from last year. Lays off an undisclosed number of staff. So hard go out to them that that game was really cool. So that sucks. Chris Scullion over at vgc, Veteran Nintendo producer Kensuke Kensuke Tanabe, known for Metroid and Paper Mario, reportedly confirms retirement. So congratulations to him and his incredible career. Nintendo is from Nintendo. The aquarium experience, inspired by the Animal Crossing New Horizons game continues its journey in 2026. Starting February 13, the Animal Crossing Aquarium tour will appear at new and select returning locations across the US throughout the year. Attendees can expect Animal Crossing New Horizons themed activities and also experience the variety of aquatic life featured at each aquarium. That would be great if they were at the very ending and say you can see New Horizons themed activities and no aquarium. You just can't. It's just that you just go into a conference room and it's just a standee of Tom Nook. You take a selfie. Mario Kart World has added teams to Knockout tour in a free update. Barrett, does that change everything for you?

[Greg]

Why wasn't that there at launch? Ah, that feels like a very.

[Roger McCorney]

Like I had to figure it out.

[Greg]

When did that game come out?

[Paris Lily]

June?

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah, it's fine.

[Greg]

That's crazy.

[Roger McCorney]

Don't worry about.

[Greg]

But at this point, we should be at the point where they're adding stuff, not still.

[Roger McCorney]

Well, they added this as teams. Things you can have with your friends. You can hang out with Mike. You guys can do a little team knockout tour.

[Greg]

The last thing I want to do is hang out with Mike.

[Roger McCorney]

All right. So mean to Mike, you know, I mean, he doesn't do anything wrong. Never done anything weird or wrong. No Rest for the Wicked Together Update is live now. Check it out later today on gamescast plays. We're gonna play that. Me and Andy, we're gonna check that out. And I've never played it before, so I'm excited to play no Rest for the Wicked Together. And that's the end of Wii News. Wanna get a little bit serious, everybody, before as we end, we news right there. Jean park from Washington Post and a friend of the show. He needs your help. Sadly, his cancer has come back and if you can support, head over to GoFundMe and drop him a few bucks. Our heart goes out to you, Gene. We know how much you've been struggling with this and we hope that you feel better and you know we can be there. So send some sweet, nasty love over to Gene and help support him over there. Fuck cancer. Everybody. That is the end of Kind of Funny Games Daily. I think we have one Super Chat over here, so I'll read that really quick. Yelsing Super Chat says I was commuting so I couldn't super chat earlier, but how long do you guys give Ubisoft before they either no longer exist or are brought out? I'm gonna leave that over to you.

[Paris Lily]

That's a really good one. Five years.

[Roger McCorney]

And what do you think it's gonna be, do you think? Are they gonna no longer exist or are we getting bought out by somebody?

[Paris Lily]

I think they're getting bought out by someone.

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah. I say three. And what I think is going to happen is they're going to start selling off these creator groups. So I think that's what's happening. Is that you look at that and you're like, oh, that's a good sale. You know what I mean? Like you have, you get all of these and you get the studio that makes, you know, Prince of Persia and you get this and here's, you know, and you know, Atari buys it whatever whatever.

[Paris Lily]

Those IPS are too valuable for someone to not covet and want them to do something with them. So yeah, I'll give them five years, could be less, unfortunately. But eventually the Ubisoft we know won't exist.

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah, it's going to be sold in pieces, I think. Yeah, you look at this and it's like this is ripe to be. Hey, Creative House 2 is now named, you know, super, super Ubisoft and now they're owned by PlayStation. That's the best name. I guess I wanted to ask a.

[Greg]

Fun question of like in three years time, who owns each of these houses?

[Roger McCorney]

That's a good one. I think Xbox buys most, most of them somehow. So no, I, I can see. I think a PlayStation would want for some reason, I just think PlayStation and Splurcell go together. That's my always my, my, my weird thought. I don't know.

[Paris Lily]

I will say though, what will not be good for the Ubisoft going away is not good for the industry. But I also think, because if it happens the way that we're discussing. Excuse me, like I don't see them buying Massive as an example. I see them going, I want the division ip, I want the far cry IP that studio and the people there, we're just shutting it down and we'll repurpose the IP into something else.

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah, I think Tencent is going to get their hands on a lot of this as well. That's going to be the less quote unquote fun answer because I know it's like not fun. It sucks because layoffs always happen. But it is funner to talk about like, oh, what if PlayStation owned this property or whatever that's, you know, the whole Xbox thing. But at the end of the day it's going to be Saudi money. It's going to be 10 cent money. It's not going to be anything that is, you know, exciting for. Oh, now Xbox can do this. Now it's just going to be.

[Greg]

Yeah, it wasn't supposed to be like a.

[Roger McCorney]

No, I know, I know.

[Greg]

Exercise. It was more of like a depressing question.

[Roger McCorney]

It sucks. Yeah, it does suck. Shout out Brawl Hollow though. Still going.

[Greg]

Shout out Brawl Hollow.

[Roger McCorney]

We still got things going on and for Honor and Skull and Bones. No Lesser to six.

[Greg]

No, I. I can accept for honor because they. They've been keeping that game going for years and years and years. But we don't have to talk about Skull and Bones.

[Roger McCorney]

And that is it for kind of funny games daily. Let's go to. Let's go to super. You're wrong. Really quick. Just make sure I got everything wrong. As you all know, the Toad Brigade. This is from kebabs. Debuted in 2007's Super Mario Galaxy and are made up of Captain Toad. And they just list a bunch of people. But, you know, so you're right.

[Greg]

I imagine there's just a bunch of different toads.

[Roger McCorney]

Yeah, a bunch of different toads. Okay. And yeah, that is it. Paris has been so fun. Paris, can you let everybody know where they can check you out and watch your content?

[Paris Lily]

You can find me at Gamertag Radio. Been doing that forever. I have my own personal YouTube channel which now if you search my name, ParisML, it's YouTube.com forward/parisml. That is. See, there it is. Oh my God. Where I. I lazily put content up because I have no consistency at all wherever the camera is. And you can also find me here at Kind of funny and rambling on social media at vicious696about.

[Roger McCorney]

We gotta get you on Tick Tock more because I feel like you got the voice.

[Paris Lily]

Oh no, no, no. I deleted it.

[Roger McCorney]

What?

[Paris Lily]

I deleted Tick Tock. No, no Tick Tock for me. That is too addicting. I just.

[Roger McCorney]

Oh, well, no, for your content I don't. You don't gotta put. You gotta scroll.

[Paris Lily]

No, but I don't even want to touch it.

[Roger McCorney]

I'm like, oh, that's the thing. You can do it on. On the desktop. You just upload everything on the desktop. Be fine. I'm. Good job for you. Are you now on Instagram reels just scrolling the same.

[Paris Lily]

Not even. No, I. I stay away from. Hey, come on.

[Roger McCorney]

That's good. That's smart right there. I love that. Of course, this has been kind of funny Games Daily. If you love what we do, support us on the kind of funny membership on Patreon or YouTube to get all of our shows ad free. And a daily exclusive show after this is going to be in review for Pulp Fiction. So you're going to see Blessed and Mike's reaction to watching Pulp Fiction for the very first time. You're going to want to check that out. And of course after that is going to be gamescast plays with me and Andy playing some no Rest for the Wicked together until next time. Game Daily.