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Kinda Funny Games Daily: Video Games News Podcast
GTA 6 Delayed Until 2026 - Kinda Funny Games Daily 05.02.25
01:05:57
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- [00:00]
Tim Gettys
Today's stories include. Grand Theft Auto 6 has been delayed to Kevin's birthday next year. The president of France is Instagramming about Expedition 33. How is that news? And both Jeff Grubb and Sackboy are unemployed. We'll have all this and more because this is Kind of Funny Games Daily. What's up? And welcome to Kind of Funny Games daily for Friday, May 2, 2025. Of course. I'm your host, Tim Gettys. I'm joined today by the absolutely wonderful Jeff Grubb.
- [00:36]
Jeff Grubb
Hey, Tim, thanks for having me on, man. I appreciate it. How you, you know, I'm fantastic. Never been better.
- [00:42]
Tim Gettys
What's been going on? Anything crazy lately?
- [00:45]
Jeff Grubb
No, nothing. Normal. Totally normal. Yeah. Yeah. I, I have left fandom and I am looking forward to future opportunities. Uh, that's, uh, that's where I'm at. It is a thing that I won't be able to talk too much about, like, what happened. And, you know, there's the obvious reasons for that. Like, you know, when a person leaves a company, there are agreements and stuff like that, and I'm ready to kind of move on anyhow. Ready to, like, see what's next. Also, it's like, you know, I have a lot of friends that still work there and I don't need anything. I say be being used to, like, make their jobs, their lives more difficult. They're still going to do really good work. They're still going to try to make things happen there. And I think they have a really good shot of doing exactly that because they are so talented, they're so dedicated, they love their audience, they love their work, and I'm just real excited to see what, what, what, like, the Gamespot team can do going forward. It's going to be. I think it can be special. And because I've been talking to them and they really do care and they've said, you know, nice things to me. Everyone has. I really appreciate that. So, yeah, just kind of ready to go. Go see what happens when Jeff Grubb can just go be Jeff Grubb. And about that.
- [01:57]
Tim Gettys
Yes. I mean, I gotta ask, how are you doing?
- [02:00]
Jeff Grubb
I'm, I'm doing. I'm doing okay. You know, it's very scary in the moment, right when it's, you know, when they, when, when the panic starts to set in, it's like, actually, you know what? I could just do stuff. I could just take action here and, you know, kind of did minimal was like, hey, let's. I'm gonna focus more on some personal stuff. Like, here's Patreon that I have had set up for quite some, quite some time would be great if you could support that because I'm going to keep doing a lot more stuff there. And people came through and it really reminded me. It's like, oh, no, I got this. You know that when I said at the end of each game this mornings and then game breaking news that, you know, the giant bomb audience, the best audience in gaming, it was true and they've come through and now it's the Jeff Grubb audience and I am ecstatic to sort of take that and run with it. So kind of feeling a little bit on top of everything today where a little, little bit, you know, not invincible, but like, oh, that armor I've built up of having great, like surrounding myself with great people and doing the job the way that I have always said I was going to do the job, which is I'm going to put the people I write for first, the people I'm making content for first, and the, you know, sure, other people sign my paychecks, but I work for this audience and that has paid off repeatedly now. And I think that's where I'm at, where it's like, okay, that was the right choice and I feel really good about it.
- [03:26]
Tim Gettys
Yeah, I mean, I, right before we went live, I was telling you this, but I'm gonna say it again, even though I've told you many times in the past, I am so impressed with you. And I feel like the last couple years, like you went from being a cool guy that knows video games and is great at talking about them on the Internet to a true leader in the space. And the, the, the way that you've covered news, the way that you've just covered video games in general, I, I think is very inspiring. And I think that I'm not alone in saying that I, I know that your word means more than, than, than most people's because you know what you're talking about. And you make it very clear when you're given an opinion and when you're, you're given a fact. And I think that that balance is something that not everybody is, is capable of. And your work specifically around Summer Game Fest has impressed the living fuck out of me the last couple of years of how well organized it was when it's an impossible thing to herd the amount of cats that you had to. But you pulled something special off you and the team, of course, but you specifically, man, like, I've always, always like, been incredibly impressed by You. And because of all that, I'm not worried about you whatsoever. You're going to be fine. In fact, I'm very proud of you. Obviously, I don't know every detail of how things went down, but I am. Sometimes I'm worried about people when they're in these situations. You are not somebody I'm worried about whatsoever.
- [04:46]
Jeff Grubb
Thanks, man. Yeah, and it's, you know, I really appreciate you saying that. It was Summer Game Fest. The, you know, doing the giant bomb couch was something very special for me. So being able to pull that off and getting endless kind words from people who are really appreciative of what we were doing there has been the best part of the job, for sure. Really was happy to keep that going. And then, you know, talking about games, you know, it's. It's easy because we're. We're, you know, we're all kind of having a conversation with each other, even we're not. Even if we're doing a little asynchronously. Asynchronously, like you're doing your show. And I'm like, all right, they made some good points. When I go to do my show, I'll build on that and then I'll have conversation. I'll say something that causes people to talk. And then I hear you guys kind of responding to that on your shows. And we're all doing this in this ecosystem because it's like, I think we realized a few years ago, oh, we're not competing with each other. No one's competing in this space. It's all kind of building collaborative each other.
- [05:35]
Tim Gettys
Yeah, it's all.
- [05:36]
Jeff Grubb
It's a. Yeah, it is the space where the more people who care about the way that we talk about games, the better for everybody. So it, it is. It has been a very special thing to be like, to feel like I've become a part of. And you guys have been a huge part of that. So thank you so much, Tim.
- [05:50]
Tim Gettys
Oh, man. You are always a part of it and you are always welcome because this is kind of Funny Games Daily, each and every weekday, we run you through all the video game news that you need to know about live on YouTube, Twitch and on podcast services around the globe. If you love what we do, support us with the kind of funny membership on Patreon, YouTube and now Spotify and Apple podcast to get all of shows ad free and get a daily exclusive show grub. Do you have the run of show, by the way? Did Greg send you that?
- [06:14]
Jeff Grubb
Greg sent it to me and he gave me requested access. Took him a long time to do that. Just a lazy, lazy man.
- [06:19]
Tim Gettys
I know. Exactly, exactly. We got to get after him for that. For a chance to be part of the show. Submit your thoughts and opinions as YouTube super chats as we go. If you have any questions for Grub, please super chat them in. A little housekeeping for you. It's a new month, which means a new premium collector's item. All year long we're having Panda must design a poster for all 11 of the employees and then the whole group. One this month is the nitro rifle himself, Andy Cortez. Look for all the Easter eggs in the background there. As you can see, Panda did a great job designing all of us in this super fun cowboy bebop Gundam adjacent style. Remember, we are an 11 person business. All about live talk shows today after Games Daily. You're going to get our review so far of The Elder Scrolls 4 Oblivion Remastered. I keep seeing Greg play it like nonst stop at his desk, so I'm excited to hear what he has to say about that.
- [07:10]
Jeff Grubb
Me too.
- [07:10]
Tim Gettys
And then after that is the season finale of kind of funny game showdown. Will Greg win? Will I pull off the three? Pete, you're gonna have to wait and see. Will Andy win? Probably not. But hey, maybe, maybe, you know, come check it out. After that is the spoiler cast for Star wars and or season two, episodes four through six. And after that, Mike and Nick are closing out the week with more escape from Tarkov. If you're a kind of funny member, today's Greg way is him talking about his meta Ray Bans. Okay, thank you to our Patreon producers, Carl Jacobs, Omega Buster and Delaney Twining. Today we are brought to you by Imperial and Aura Frames. But we'll tell you all about that later. For now, speaking with what is and forever will be the Roper report, time for some News. We have five stories.
- [07:57]
Jeff Grubb
Baker's Dozen.
- [08:01]
Tim Gettys
Gotta start with the big one. Story number one. Rockstar officially delays Grand Theft Auto 6 to May 6 or May 26, 2026. Super chat in. Let me know. Are you surprised? Are you heartbroken? I need to know. Hello everyone. Grand Theft Auto 6 is now set to release on May 26, 2026. We're very sorry that this is later than you expected. The interest and excitement surrounding a new Grand Theft Auto has been truly humbling for our entire team. We want to thank you for your support and your patience as we work to finish the game. With every game we've released, the goal has always been to try and exceed your expectations, and Grand Theft Auto 6 is no exceptional exception. We hope you understand that we need this extra time to deliver at the level of quality that you expect and deserve. We look forward to sharing more information with you soon. Sincerely, Rockstar Games There's a little bit more context here. Bloomberg's Jason Schreier on Blue sky said, nobody I've talked to at Rockstar has believed fall 2025 was a real window for a very long time now. Too much work, not enough time, and what appears to be a real desire for management to avoid brutal crunch. GTA 6 slipping to 2026 has seemed inevitable for months, if not longer. Wait. Crunch, you say? Jason Someone on Blue sky said they don't believe Rockstar is trying to avoid crunch. Jason responded, skepticism is always healthy, but I've been keeping tabs on this for years, since my big 2018 story about Red Dead 2's crunch. They certainly haven't eliminated all over time, but everyone I've talked to at Rockstar says it's night and day from previous projects. If that changes, I'll report on it. Circana's Matt Piscatella on Blue sky says GTA 6 getting pushed does not mean that all of a sudden there'll be a whole bunch of dollars available for other games in 2025. It just means that a bunch of the have been spent on gaming this year have disappeared. We'll get to more details about stock and stuff like that. But Jeff, I want to hear your thoughts on this. Are you surprised?
- [09:52]
Jeff Grubb
No. No. I mean there's multiple factors right where it's, I think the, the simplest one, the Occam's Razor here is you look at the history and Rockstar delays games. They delay games multiple times and I, I just feel like this is mostly that even, you know, taking into consideration the desire to avoid crunch, which is something I've, I've heard as well, and it's, you know, it's like, well, we'll see. When it comes down to it, they're going to have to like sprint a little bit to get this thing out. But there are other factors too. Like this is, you know, the game they're going to release. And when I say that, I mean like for the next 10 to 15 years, this is the game. You know, they might have a Red Dead 3 at some point, but the thing that's going to print money for them is going to be whatever Grand Theft Auto Online two looks like. And they can make a lot more money if that has a smooth like Start a smooth launch. They want that thing to be making $1 billion a year every year for the next 10 to 20 years. And if you like, that sounds crazy. 20 years for Grand Theft Auto 6. It's not like they are. They've acquired that role playing company that was doing role playing servers for Grand Theft Auto 5.
- [11:02]
Tim Gettys
Yeah.
- [11:02]
Jeff Grubb
They acquired UGC companies, user generated content companies to help them basically build a platform so people can build stuff inside of Grand Theft Auto. They're making Roblox here. Roblox is a game that's 20 years old. That game came out in 2006. Roblox for adults. Yeah, 2000. 2006 for Roblox. Yeah.
- [11:19]
Tim Gettys
I did not know that. I would have sworn that Roblox was like a 2015 thing.
- [11:23]
Jeff Grubb
I know, right. But it's been around for forever and you know, that was from a time when that was a weird thing. Now it's pretty normal. You know, Grand Theft Auto Online 1 and Grand Theft Auto 5 been running for more than 10 years now. Yeah. So the, the idea here is let's make sure this has a smooth launch because if it's catastrophic, that is going to hurt us big time in the long run. Obviously they'll be able to push it like bring it back. Like it is too big to fail at a certain point. But they don't want to fail. They want to get it right because that is more money in their pockets right away and they don't have to spend years sort of fixing something when they could have just got it right in the first place. So I think, I think that's a big motivating factor here beyond the, what I believe is a pretty honest desire to avoid crunch.
- [12:07]
Tim Gettys
Joshua Mills Super Chat saying I say 50, 50 chance it gets delayed again to fall 20, 26. Would that surprise you?
- [12:14]
Jeff Grubb
No, no, I don't think any sort of delay with this game would really surprise me at any point. It is just so massive and, and you know it's going to be the most expensive piece of media ever made. Right. Like by the time it's done.
- [12:28]
Tim Gettys
Yeah.
- [12:29]
Jeff Grubb
And I mean at a certain point you just gotta like recognize the bet you're making is so massive that you have to you know, cross all your T's, dot all your I's and it's, and there's, in that case there are a lot of T's and I's, the dot and cross. So it's going to just take a lot of effort here. And I, you know, it is at this point a year from now and really they were planning to maybe release it this fall. So I guess we can call it a six month delay. But of course, internally the people actually doing the work never believed it was coming out this year. But okay, an extra six months, let's just call it that for the sake of the conversation. What can they really do? It's just about making sure everything is that they have is good. They're not changing this game. It's just going to be like, let's make it as good as possible. We've heard many times stories of games coming together in the last six months to a year and really finding the fun at that point. And I'm sure they've got a good idea of what this game should be. But I bet they're like, if we just had that extra time, we really could make this what it needs to be to set us up for the next 10 to 15 years.
- [13:28]
Tim Gettys
Totally. Now, May 26, got to talk about that release date. That is, I mean that must be the furthest out release date announcement for a video game we've ever had. I feel like previously Starfield would have been the, the other one where they really called their shot out early, but a full over a year away and we actually have a date. And what's interesting about that date is it is not even in the fiscal year. So they're kind of very much putting a message out there to all the stockholders. Right?
- [13:58]
Jeff Grubb
Yeah, yeah, they're. They're trying to make it clear like listen, we understand you weren't expecting a delay. So when we give you the delay, let's give you the information that you do want. Here's an exact date so you can plan on us, you know, to the stockholders making that revenue in this window. And yeah, that's, you know, them definitely throwing a bone while they are giving the bad news. So that, that helps a little bit. It is pretty wild for them to put a specific date on it. I wouldn't, I was like, like reading it and even as I was reading the date I'm like, well they're just saying May 2026. And I kind of had to like, yeah, blink a couple times and see like no, there's a, a number next to May right there, May 26th. And that was pretty weird to see.
- [14:35]
Tim Gettys
But yeah, I do wonder though, I wonder. So that being like them calling the actual date like and obviously that could change and it being pushed to fall next year would not surprise anybody but them calling that date out. I wonder if that is them trying to play nice with the industry to an extent because we have had so many conversations of the fear that everyone's had about where they're, where to place their games and like, I don't know, like why would they care? But at the same time, like they need the industry to be healthy, to have people playing games and buying games, to even be interested in playing and buying GTA 6 no matter how big it is.
- [15:10]
Jeff Grubb
I mean, you know, there's, they're going to have people in their ear that they do partner with. Rockstar doesn't need anybody, but that doesn't mean they don't actually partner with anybody. And there's likely a co marketing deal probably with PlayStation, maybe with Microsoft, but I would bet it was with, it's with PlayStation. And when those conversations happen, there's probably someone, you know, up high who talks to people that go in those meetings say, hey, if you could, could you get us a goddamn date for when this thing's coming out just to help us out over here. And when we started getting some dates in the last couple of weeks with like those take two games picking a date and then go see.
- [15:41]
Tim Gettys
Yeah.
- [15:42]
Jeff Grubb
Yes. It's like, okay, I bet they've gotten some news. And to me it sounded like, well, they're all kind of bunching up here in the earlier part of, you know, before fall really so that they can get out of the way of Grand Theft Auto 6 launching this fall. That's kind of how I was reading it. So I like, that's only the reason I'm a little bit surprised. It's like, oh, they are just picking the dates they probably wanted anyhow because they did get word that this game is very likely getting delayed to 2026. And yeah, so them giving a date now and saying, hey, the rest of the industry, here's what we're really aiming for and we're getting very specific so you can, to let you know we're pretty confident. So if you do want to work around us, here you go. Stop bothering us. You know, it's, it's a nice gesture.
- [16:19]
Tim Gettys
I want to get into the, the stock conversation here on the heels of this news. Take two stock stumbles. Strauss Zelnick reassures. This comes from Wesley in Pool at IGN. Earlier today, Rockstar announced a significant delay to GTA 6 which is expected to be the biggest entertainment launch of all time. And that's not hyperbole, that's just so wild. It was due out fall 2025 on PS5 and Xbox Series X and S. But will now release on May 26, 2026. That's a shift 2026 financial year to its 2027 financial year early trading intake. Two stocks saw a almost 8% fall in value at the time of this article's publication. In a statement issued on the corporate website, Take Two reiterated its expectation that the company will achieve sequential increases in and record levels of net bookings revenue in fiscal year 2026 and 7. Zelnick himself commented, saying Take 2 backs Rockstar in its decision to delay GTA 6 and told shareholders the company expects to deliver a multi year period of growth. Quote, we support fully. We support fully Rockstar Games taking additional time to realize their creative vision for GTA 6, which promises to be a groundbreaking blockbuster entertainment experience that exceeds audience expectations. While we take the movement of our title seriously and appreciate the vast and deep global anticipation for GTA 6, we remain steadfast in our commitment to excellence as we continue to release our phenomenal pipeline. We expect to deliver a multi year period of growth in our business and enhanced value for our shareholders.
- [17:44]
Jeff Grubb
Yeah, it's, you know, Take Two's got plenty of games coming out this year. They'll, they'll figure it out, whatever. But they, they do have to kind of explain this. They have, you know, remember like this money that they were putting on the books was something that they were promising last fiscal year. They've been kind of like just gesturing to investors for a while now that this, hey, this is happening. And then it like that's shifted to this fiscal year, the one we're currently in. And they were making a lot of big promises because they're like, we have Civ 7 and we got Borderlands is back and we have the Mafia, we got a new Mafia game. And then, and then, you know, the crown jewel is going to be there to like, you know, really put, put a spice on top of everything. And, and you know, well, things change. They're gonna have to explain that to investors and their stock price did, you know, did take a hit. But this game's gonna come and if, if you're going to want to like get on the Take 2 train as an investor, well then now's the time. Because Grand Theft no. No matter what happens with Grand Theft Auto. So even if, like we were talking about that catastrophic launch that hypothetically could have happened if they rushed the game or whatever, even in that case, it was going to make all of the money. It was going to be the biggest entertainment launch in the history of the world. So, you know, that money is on its way. And I, I get investors being spooked. They are the, the most frightened people in the world. But at a certain point it's like, what do you think is actually going to happen here? And they're, they're just, they want those short term gain, short term gains. So that's what this is about.
- [19:06]
Tim Gettys
We've had so many conversations over the decade about Grand Theft Auto 6, but one that we've had a lot recently is this being the first new GTA in over 10 years, but first new GTA Online experience in over 10 years right now. Grub, do you think that GTA Online and GTA 6, whatever forms that look like, do those launch together on May 26 or is it just the single player side or whatever and the online comes a couple months later or something?
- [19:36]
Jeff Grubb
Yeah, I mean I think they really do have the leeway to do it however they want. So I, I wonder how they even like game that out internally when they try to figure out like what is best. I, I think that if they probably want to launch them at the same time if possible. But I think if they came up with a game plan to launch it later in the year, the online component with promises, you know, when you buy the game and like, hey, it's coming, just hang in there, they can make that work as well. People are going to want to spend a few weeks to months really playing the hell out of that single player game. And then if online comes later, they can make that work. I bet though that they do try to launch everything all at once to really make that package. Well, a big part of it is they're going to probably charge $100 for this game.
- [20:23]
Tim Gettys
Yeah.
- [20:23]
Jeff Grubb
And one way you can justify that is it's got everything in there right now when you come to buy it. And so I bet that's a big part of them, of the thing that is forcing their thinking here of we got to make sure this package feels valuable. Although Grand Theft Auto 6 will sell a ton at $100 even if it is just a single player at first.
- [20:39]
Tim Gettys
And that's my bet.
- [20:41]
Jeff Grubb
Yeah. Is that what you're thinking?
- [20:44]
Tim Gettys
I think it's $100 and I think that it's just the single player at launch and with a clear date for the online, like we'll know what's happening. I don't think it'll be like a nebulous thing but, but I think it'll be part of the plan and the rollout to let people live in this giant world for a While offline before doing that. But who knows?
- [21:04]
Jeff Grubb
I mean, I've like, so many questions about, like, what the business model looks like. Is this going to be exactly like GTA Online was? How do you. Are you. What happens to GTA Online? Are we going free to play? And the shark cards is the whole business model now is. And we like, do you need to go free to play? Clearly you don't. But, like, if you do, does that make. Does that change things? They are. And I'm really. I bet they have so many questions themselves about, like, what is the best way to handle this? And there is probably no one right answer. There's like, different paths for them to take. I imagine though, that they go the route up front that, like, gives them the most leeway to, like, change things later, which is you include it at a premium price in the package and then if you want to go free to play later, you always can.
- [21:46]
Tim Gettys
True.
- [21:47]
Jeff Grubb
So that's probably the route they go. But, boy, they have a lot to explain about how all of this works and now we're further away than ever from finding out those answers.
- [21:55]
Tim Gettys
Yeah, real quick.
- [21:57]
Jeff Grubb
When you were mentioned, like, the biggest entertainment launch ever and we were talking about the most expensive thing ever. I do. I would like to see someone, like, take the, like, expected cost of this game and not like, compared to other pieces of media, but like, other, like, how much did like the Sistine Chapel cost at the time?
- [22:11]
Tim Gettys
Yeah, dude.
- [22:12]
Jeff Grubb
Yeah, this is expensive as like, building a pyramid, like, in real terms. Probably not, but I would like to see that comparison.
- [22:19]
Tim Gettys
Yeah, that is very funny. We got a bunch of super chats here. Jeff Bowl Jr. Says, I'm not surprised at all. Luke Jones says, I know we've talked about how industry analysts and even other developers were hoping that GTA 6 revitalizes the console market. Do you think this may affect any of that? Also, yay for no crunch. Yeah. I mean, hey, it is awesome that the crunch stuff at least seems to be a focus or goal. Like, that's better than it not being one. Like, again, who knows how true that's going to remain or how true it might be, but it's good that they're aware and they're trying to be better about that. Yeah. In terms of, like, revitalizing the console market, I feel like because of how big GTA 6 is, it's. Yes, it's going to have a major impact on console sales and console playtime. And, you know, I do think that there's a ton of people that maybe aren't playing games every single day, but they're going to buy this game and play it.
- [23:11]
Jeff Grubb
Oh, yeah. There are people who have waited on the sideline for justification to themselves to spend the money they need to spend on a console. And GTA 6 will be that. For a huge number of people who have been waiting for a price decrease, which. Sorry. Or have been waiting for just this specific game. You know, a lot of people jumped on board with EA College Football. That was like the moment for a huge portion of that slightly more casual audience. It's like, that's the game for me. I've been waiting for 10 years. Here it is. And we saw what that could do. That, like, just ran through the industry was a massive thing, was this inflection point for selling consoles. Again, this. This will definitely be that. But even, Even bigger, it will be even larger in terms of its impact. Now. Does that help other people who make games? I'm pretty skeptical of that. It feels like this is money that goes to Take Two and Rockstar. And sure, more people have consoles, but they're going to spend all that time playing GTA and GTA online, and I don't know how many more other games they're going to buy. They'll probably go play more Fortnite. So I guess that's the other game that benefits from this.
- [24:14]
Tim Gettys
Yeah. Shark89 says heartbroken would be the wrong word. I'd have loved to get it this year, and I'm sad I won't. But I also know that knowing a date and them getting more time should make a better game. I'm kind of there too. Like, I. I'm very, very excited for GTA 6, but I. I'm more excited for that. For it to come out, like, as close to their vision as possible. Like, we've waited this long. I can wait longer. Like, I just want this thing to be. I want this to be a masterpiece. Like, I want this to come out and be the best ground, the battle and be, like, beyond what we've had from video games before. And, like, yeah, that's crazy and lofty and whatever, but, like, that's what I expect from Rockstar at this point.
- [24:52]
Jeff Grubb
Yep, absolutely. It's. We're definitely at a point where it's like, they can come out and kind of tell us whatever they want and we're going to be hanging on every word because I just want to see what the. What this team can do real quick. In the chat, the super chat from Tyler paid about what's better, Skyrim's release of 111111 or GTA 6 is 62626. I'm like, oh that is pretty good. And everyone's like it's coming out in May, not June. I'm like, oh yeah, I also forgot the number there. So it's 526 26. It's you know, GTA 6 GTA Online 2. That's really clever. But no, it's Skyrim.
- [25:26]
Tim Gettys
Foxy Steve says, I feel like GTA being delayed was more expected than surprising. I'd be curious if the potential pricing changes at all by next year. Yeah, I definitely think it's gonna it's gonna be expensive. And Torah Tron says, my condolences to all who chose GTA 6 on their fantasy draft. Suck at losers.
- [25:41]
Jeff Grubb
I counter picked GTA 6 in our fantasy draft, so I'm all good over here.
- [25:47]
Tim Gettys
Mr. Dice Guy Ride says oddly okay with the delay. I was already very overwhelmed with my backlog, so I'm kind of relieved everyone subscribed to Game Mess. Love you Jeffy. Hell yeah. And then Volkdasher says, to think the PS5 Pro was meant to be the GTA 6 machine in 2024 lol. Sony sitting on that market deal must be stressing out. I've been saying this for a While that the PS5 Pro just hasn't yet really had its the games that were made after it's been released to like take advantage of it. And I think we're already starting to see that now with Assassin's Creed Shadows and other games where they are great on PS5 Pro. And I think Ghost is going to clearly be the first giant example of a Sony first party game taking advantage of it all. So I feel like the GTA PS5 Pro doesn't need GTA 6. I think that PS5 Pro just coming out at the end of last year when Sony didn't have a giant game to coincide with it made it seem like it was shitty.
- [26:44]
Jeff Grubb
Yeah, yeah, I mean I do expect GTA 6 to be the like the key game that really is makes the PS5 Pro feel necessary in some ways. And other a lot of other games that are taking advantage of the PS5 Pro don't maybe feel that same exact way. But yeah, I don't think PS5 Pro is necessarily hurting all that much. It's probably selling right around what PS5 PS4 Pro did and there's not much that's going to change that. Even GTA 6, which when that comes out it's also going to sell a lot of standard PS5. In fact, it'll sell a lot more standard PS5 Very true.
- [27:17]
Tim Gettys
I want to get to our second story after a quick word from our sponsors.
- [27:23]
C
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- [29:56]
Tim Gettys
We are back with story number two. Jeff quit his job. You're the news today, man. We talked about this yesterday, but if you're out of the loop Ethan Gach at Kotaku says Giant Bomb's future is uncertain following a showdown with parent company Fandom. I love how they that you mean. It makes it sound so epic. Fandom, which also owns GameSpot over editorial interference, creative director Dan Reichert announced on a recent livestream he would no longer be appearing on the Giant Bombcast, and co host Jeff Grubb confirmed on social media on Thursday he's no longer with the company. Giant Bomb content is currently on hold while Fandom engages in a, quote, strategic reset and realignment of our media brands, it confirmed to Kotaku. Needless to say, I will no longer be contributing to Giant Bomb, mike Minati wrote in a separate post. Nothing but love to all the wonderful people From There and GameSpot. Jeff was a workhorse and a hero for the way he shouldered so much responsibility there, and I'm furious with the way execs treated him. The news follows an ominous pause on Giant Bomb streams at the end of April and the takedown of an episode of the Giant bomb cast from YouTube this week after the host mocked apparent, quote, brand safety concerns recently foisted upon themselves upon them by management at Fandom. Then in a live stream on April 30, Reichert, a member of Giant Bomb between 2014 and 2020 who returned in 2022, announced he would no longer be appearing on the show and had no interest in Fandom's vision for Giant Bomb's future. Quote as you know, we've temporarily paused Giant Bomb live streaming and that content is currently available on demand for our audience, a spokesperson for Fandom told Kotaku in an email. We understand this programming pause isn't ideal for our audience, but it's part of a strategic reset and realignment of our media brands. We have some creative ideas for the future of Giant Bomb that we're actively working on that we'll be able to communicate more about soon. And then, since we were live, Giant Bomb issued a statement saying, we understand your frustration and Appreciate your patience. We're actively exploring creative directions for the future of Giant Bomb and look forward to sharing more with you soon. Jeff, I know we talked a little bit at the top of the show about this, but within the context of all of this, what do you have to say?
- [31:55]
Jeff Grubb
Yeah, you know, I can only speak for myself and even then, can only really say so much, but I'll say that I really loved working at Giant Bomb, and it was. It was a privilege. It was something that I did dream about. It was. It was awesome to make it happen. It was never, never perfect, but, you know, I never worked a perfect job, so what am I even talking about? It was. Yeah, it was really awesome to be a part of. Big part of that was getting to work with the people I got to work with, who I continue to just think the world of these things. You know, they happen. And I don't think it's. It's out of pocket. Say corporations do struggle to figure out, like, what they want from their media businesses. That's a. That's a pretty common thing. I don't think that's unique to fandom. I think that's across the board. It's a weird space to be in right now, and I don't envy them having to try to figure that out. And so part of me is like, hey, cool, I don't have to. Now you guys can go do that on your own, and I will go do Jeff Grubb stuff. And. And that's been where I'm. That's where I'm at right now, where, you know, it was, you know, difficult to kind of go. Go explain things to my friends at first, and then when. When I got a chance to talk to my wife, explain things to her. And, you know, the thing is, like, everyone's, like, immediate, like, really supportive because it turns out, like, a lot of people believe in. In me more than I even believed in myself. And that is everything. It really is. It's huge. And then, you know, explaining things to the kids and having them like, oh, you're sick, so you're not going to care about this? And she's like, no, I'm going to cry now that you've told me you don't have a job. I'm like, okay, listen, let's. Let's just talk about this. This is, you know, bad things happen, but it's also, like, an opportunity, and I'm going to be fine, and I promise you're going to be fine. And it was this moment, like, okay, when I Started having to explain it to a six year old. It's like, oh, I've got this.
- [33:44]
Tim Gettys
You got.
- [33:45]
Jeff Grubb
I have, I got plans, I got ideas, I got people who love me and, and we're going to go out there and we're going to get this done. And I've. It's just kind of exciting at this point. I'm really happy to be where I'm at and I, I love being a part of games. There are a lot of dweebs out there that try to make it suck and we kind of all stand against that. We've, we have, we've beaten them back so many times now that standing around with the, with the cool people, the people that get it, the people that want to make it fun and want to focus on that or don't even want to make it fun, they want to think about it and have something to say about it. And, and those people are out there every day and they are looking for their community and I just want to keep building that and providing one more little pocket of a space for them to do exactly that. And that's. That's the plan.
- [34:30]
Tim Gettys
Yep. Amen, man. Couldn't have said it better myself. D Cash super chats in saying, please support indie games media. Everyone love to Grub in the whole Giant Bomb team. Also shout out to Mike Minati. Probably the best friend anyone could have.
- [34:42]
Jeff Grubb
Yeah, that's, that's. He's a good dude. He's, you know, immediately just saying all the things I needed to hear and yeah, he's a real one.
- [34:51]
Tim Gettys
Yeah, definitely. I love him. Every time I get to hang out with him. It is, it is a freaking pleasure. And then we got Dan V. Says I hate this is to help pay for Grub's massive appearance fee. So thank you for that. And then there's just a lot of love for you, man. Jordan White says was gonna listen to this episode later, but I just heard Jeff Grubb was co hosting. Had to quickly jump in and say, love you Jeff. Thank you for being one of the main reasons why I listen to gaming news along with kind of funny and Xbox era go blue.
- [35:17]
Jeff Grubb
Thanks Jordan 62.
- [35:19]
Tim Gettys
Mike says big up. Kind of funny for bringing Grub on today. Love you all. Yep. Cognitive clip says love to see Jeff on here. Metroid sickos unite. Hell yeah.
- [35:28]
Jeff Grubb
Let's go. Metroidvanias.
- [35:29]
Tim Gettys
There are dozens. You know what I mean?
- [35:31]
Jeff Grubb
Yes, that's right. Yep. Hey, the developers free advice. Just make it a Metroidvania. It won't sell, but boy am I gonna love it.
- [35:37]
Tim Gettys
I love that. Then Graham of Legend says support Jeff Grubb. Support. Kind of funny. Support independent media. Love y'all and what you bring to the community. Thank you so much for that, Graham. And Mr. Hawk says may not be as big as Giant Bomb and Polygon, but Triple Jump just announced today they're closing down. Just an awful week. God, that is unfortunate. I'm not too familiar with them, but I've watched the videos a couple times and that's. That sucks, man.
- [36:01]
Jeff Grubb
That's a bummer.
- [36:02]
Tim Gettys
Last one here is Rob Messick. Says a little bit of birthday tax love. And thank you so much for entertainment on my long commutes. Long commutes. You guys are the reason I got back into video games. Thank you so much, Rob. And happy birthday.
- [36:13]
Jeff Grubb
Yeah, happy birthday.
- [36:14]
Tim Gettys
Let's get to story number three here. We love Expedition 33 and so does the president of France. This comes from Chris Scullion at VGC News. French President Emmanuel Macron has praised Claire Obscure Expedition 33 for its success. The game's official Instagram page posted a bilingual message on Thursday thanking players and referring to the game's French heritage. What a crazy week. Thank you to everyone. It's been seven days since we launched Claire Obscure Expedition 33. What a pleasure it's been to see players from all over the world experiencing the game. We hope you've. We hope you enjoyed spotting the nods to our home country throughout. We're proud to share this adventure with you.
- [36:50]
Jeff Grubb
So subtle. I'm sorry, I didn't. Subtle nods to France. I'm sorry.
- [36:55]
Tim Gettys
That's hilarious. Macro replied to the post from his own official Instagram account, praising the studio for hitting the million sales milestone so quickly. 1 million copies sold and currently one of the highest rated games in history. And yes, it's French. Congratulations to Sandfall Interactive and all the creators of Expedition 33. You're a shining example of French audacity and creativity. The game was released on April 24, has enjoyed widespread critical appeal. With a Metacritic score currently standing at 93. The game sold more than 500,000 copies in its first 24 hours. And two days later past the million units shipped milestone. This number doesn't even take into account any of the game pass stuff. Jeff, are you playing Expedition?
- [37:34]
Jeff Grubb
I am. And I was. I played the. The preview build that they sent out a few months ago and immediately I was like, yep, yep, this is it. This is. People are gonna lose their minds for this game. It is one of the reasons why when all the sort of Concern around oblivion. Launching, like, this is going to bury this game. I'm like, don't worry, y'all. It's gonna be awesome. It's gonna be. It's gonna be fine. Just fine. In fact, it's gonna break through. I was like, it'll sell a million copies in two weeks. Took. Took a day or something like that for hit a million copies. It just has the juice. It is a game that fully understands what it is, what it like, and then when it understood what it is like, and we know how to get the most out of that. The combat is so exquisitely designed. Everything flows into everything else. Everything pops off the screen. Everything feels so good to do. And I mean everything. And it's like, I'm so excited to just get back into combat. And then it turns out, great story, great writing, great performances, a really great look. All of the overt Frenchness, the Francophile ness of it, you know, I guess it's not Francophile if they're actually French. So the overt, like, proud heritage that they put into their game is also fantastic. It like, I'm like, I can't just wait to see what they're going to do next. Oh, my God, a mime. Are you serious? It's so, so cool to see this game really find an audience. And I think it's the kind of thing that expands the genre. I think that there is, you know, the. The jrpg, which, you know, I think I. I get technically not Japanese, but this is a game very much inspired by those other games. So let's give it, you know, a little bit of respect and say it's trying to be a jrpg. I'm gonna call it a jrpg. And the fact that they can be like, okay, we're gonna do that, but we're gonna do it in our own way. I think it's going to open a lot of people's eyes to be like, oh, I do like this. What? Why was I so standoff. Standoffish with this genre before? And I think it's going to open the eyes of the people that have a long time. I think they're going to feel more emboldened to make games that have a different vibe and a different flavor. It really is just a singular game.
- [39:31]
Tim Gettys
It's special, man. I. I'm making my way through, and I am, at every twist and turn, just enthralled. I. I haven't felt this way about a new video game world in such a long time. Like, I'm a big franchise guy. I Love sequels. I love going back to things I'm familiar with, like, but being this into something and wanting to live in it and wanting so much more of it, like, it's truly special. And I keep seeing people talk that have beat it, saying that it feels generational and it feels like this is going to be. My friend Professor Noctis on Twitter was saying that he thinks that this is going to be the Final Fantasy 7 to a new generation. And I buy it, man. Like, there's something about these characters and the gameplay and just the story too, about the game being made. Like the team and their passion and the price point. Like they just kind of nailed everything about this game and I, I'm so damn impressed by that. And going back to the, the French stuff, I love the style of this game. Like the, the out. There's a swag to this game that I've never experienced in any other medium, honestly. Like, I didn't know that the French had it like this.
- [40:40]
Jeff Grubb
Yeah, right. Yeah. I'm sorry, I wasn't familiar with your game. France, like for real, it is, it's, it's all that. Right. And it's, I think it's a wake up call that while we are having all these conversations about what is the future of games and can these publishers that are massive make this make sense? Ubisoft employs, you know, 14,000 people plus and they make like less money than they've made in a very long time. This thing is just waiting to implode. What's going to happen to these big games that we expect from these big companies? And it's like, look, the reality has changed on the ground. The engines are there and they are, they're mature and people know how to work with them and they can get more out of them than they've ever gotten before. The democratization of the tools has happened and now there are several genres where we've seen this happen, where they go away and then indie teams or smaller teams or, you know, just nothing compared to the 500, 600 to a thousand people that make a Ubisoft game or whatever. These smaller teams can, can enter these genres and plant their flag and say, we're doing this now, we don't need the biggest teams in the world to do it. And it's this, this breadth of fresh air. It's this relief of, oh, these games aren't going to go away, they're just going to come from the bottom instead of from the, instead of from the top.
- [41:58]
Tim Gettys
Yeah.
- [41:59]
Jeff Grubb
And that's like, oh, I'M My hobby is safe. We're good here. They're charging less money than for them for games that should be, you know, that should be this price. And they're actually getting this price. Yeah. And it's on Game Pass. Right. It's just got everything going for it and it's. Yeah, I think it's going to be special long term. We're going to look back at this as a moment in gaming.
- [42:18]
Tim Gettys
Yep. I totally agree. And it's. There's something about it too, that it's all of the elements lined up, but it all comes back to, this is a game made by people for people. Those people are specific. There's. They knew who their audience was and they made something for those people. And that works. Surprise, surprise. Like, it. It's so cool to see that, that they pulled it off. Because I like even my best friend who plays a lot of video games, but usually it's just Spider Man 2, the last of us or whatever. And otherwise he's more old school of a gamer. We grew up playing final fantasies together, like 7 and 10 and all that. And I got a couple hours into this game and I was like, he needs to play this. And I literally just, I sent him a code and I was like, you need just boot it up. I don't want to tell you anything. You're going to love this. And he's farther than I am now. Like, he's been addicted the last couple of days and I'm like, like, they, they got it.
- [43:11]
Jeff Grubb
You know what I mean?
- [43:12]
Tim Gettys
Like, they. And he's not somebody that is necessarily willing to just try a random game he knows nothing about. But, like, from the jump, it was clear that this game had the stuff.
- [43:23]
Jeff Grubb
Yep. Yeah. And people in chat point out this game got a lot of help from outside studios. And that's. That's true, but that's, that's true of like, big teams as well. Like when you read the credits of something like, oh, a thousand people working on this game, then you'll get to the point where like. And also we got help from this studio and that's an external team. Like, that happens on every game of every size. So it's like still working with a core team of around 30 people and then getting contractual help from the outside. It's still a very different thing.
- [43:50]
Tim Gettys
Yeah, absolutely.
- [43:51]
Jeff Grubb
You know, a thousand plus people working on a game on, like from that are all employed by. By Ubisoft.
- [43:57]
Tim Gettys
Yeah.
- [43:57]
Jeff Grubb
I'm super impressed by this.
- [43:59]
Tim Gettys
Mikey Bogg says as someone who has only played Pokemon for turn based combat. I love Expedition 33. I can't stop thinking about it when I'm not playing. Hell yeah. Dolphin Corn says Exposure 33 is my favorite game of all time now. I love it and like that's. That's wild. But I mean I also am not going to be surprised if years from now you're not alone, Dolphin Corn. I do think this game is going to hit like that for people. Story number four did PlayStation Fire Sack Boy? We have to get to the bottom of this. This comes from Vicky Blake at IGN.
- [44:29]
Jeff Grubb
He works for me now.
- [44:31]
Tim Gettys
PlayStation seemingly pulling its one time poster child, Sackboy from its marketing materials. As noticed, as noted by Real Radic, Sackboy was notably absent from the PlayStation Productions banner at the start of the until dawn movie. Although most of his peers like Astrobot, Nathan, Drake and Aloy still have a place. I can confirm after seeing until dawn that Sackboy is not in the PlayStation Productions intro anymore. I don't like this era of Sackboy erasure. Once upon a time, Sackboy was the Golden Child of PlayStation becoming a mascot for the brand in much the same way Sonic. Sonic is associated with Sega and Mario represents Nintendo. I wouldn't go that far, but I appreciate the sentiment now. However, Sackboy hasn't started a PlayStation game since 2020's delightful Sackboy A big adventure. I would agree that that game was delightful. He's not Sackboy anymore. He's Sad Boy now. Teased another While there's lamented why can't Astrobot and Sackboy coexist? Others had a more measured reaction. Sackboy being erased from the PlayStation Productions logo does not mean anything. DreamWorks also swaps out characters in their logo montage sometimes. Said another Jeff yeah, What do you think?
- [45:34]
Jeff Grubb
I mean I they are de emphasizing Sackboy for sure. Like I mean that's the the studio Media Molecule. Right.
- [45:41]
Tim Gettys
They. They.
- [45:42]
Jeff Grubb
I can't remember the exact fate of him but they are they still a going concern or.
- [45:46]
Tim Gettys
They're still going.
- [45:46]
Jeff Grubb
I can't right. But yeah, they were still right. They had right. Okay. The dreams is done and I think that there is no evidence that they are like all right. And that's because we're returning back to a little big planet or Sackboy or anything like that. So yeah, I think they have maybe moved on a little bit and that doesn't mean Sackboy is like done for good or fired or and never coming back will never show up again. I mean it was in Astro and.
- [46:11]
Tim Gettys
Sumo Digital did the most recent game so it's not like it has to be Media Molecule to. To make a Sack.
- [46:18]
Jeff Grubb
No, a good point as well. Yes, there is. They found ways to bring Sackboy back even without Media Molecule. But I just don't think that that is what PlayStation is right now. They are a different company. Like, they are focused on more mature games, more broadly appealing games, in their opinion. And I think Sack Boy just doesn't necessarily factor into that. Again, that doesn't mean that they're going to toss them out. It just means, like when they're building a. When they're spending money building an intro and they got to pick the characters you're going to put in there. I think Sackboy is in like that lower tier now. I think that's all that means.
- [46:51]
Tim Gettys
Yeah, I know this is probably not going to be a popular opinion, but good fucking riddance. I don't give a shit about this little Sack. Never liked him, never will enjoy a little Big planet. Really enjoyed the big adventure game, but at the end of the day. Nah, nah, nah, nah.
- [47:05]
Jeff Grubb
Is this, Is this your. Like, you also don't like the Astro Boy Astrobot design, right?
- [47:09]
Tim Gettys
I just don't. I just think the design is generic for Astrobot. It's a separate thing when it comes to. No Sackboy. It's just like. It's just. I don't know know. I just don't like him.
- [47:17]
Jeff Grubb
Doesn't do anything.
- [47:18]
Tim Gettys
I trust him. Yeah, okay. I wouldn't let him around my wife. Like, it's. It's a whole thing, man. Like, yeah, you're right.
- [47:25]
Jeff Grubb
I wouldn't ask him to watch my laptop at a coffee shop.
- [47:27]
Tim Gettys
Yeah, exactly.
- [47:28]
Jeff Grubb
Boy. Please. No, thank you. My kids love Sack Boy. They. That big adventure game. They love that. They love dressing them up. So my one kid thought. Thought he's a meep and like, wanted me to get a Sackboy doll and all this stuff. So there is some love for Sackboy in this house and I appreciate that.
- [47:43]
Tim Gettys
That just not.
- [47:44]
Jeff Grubb
I've never.
- [47:44]
Tim Gettys
Not for me.
- [47:45]
Jeff Grubb
Oh, yeah. I was never a little Big Planet guy, so I'm all right with this too. It's weird how they. Excuse me. How they decide this. There was like a banner that they would have on the PlayStation website like a couple years ago, long after Bloodborne was came out. And it was like deep into the, hey, they should do something with Bloodborne. And they put the. The hunter from Bloodborne back into that image at one point. It's like, are you doing something with Bloodborne? And like, I knew they weren't doing anything with Bloodborne. So like this is weird, but it's like, well, they still want people to know we were the bloodborne company. Yeah. And I just think that's like, oh well, Sackboy. I don't think they care if people consider them the Sackboy company anymore.
- [48:21]
Tim Gettys
Yeah. I mean at one point, little big planet, Sack Boy was big. Huge even some would say. Yeah, but if I wanted to know about something really small, Jeff Grubb, where would I look?
- [48:31]
Jeff Grubb
You'd go to our last story, the WE news channel where we cover all the small news items you need to know about.
- [48:37]
Tim Gettys
It's true. GameFly subscription prices have increased for new and returning accounts. God. Prices going up left and right for everything. When do you think the PlayStation thing. I know that's true too. When do you think PlayStation raises its prices for hardware?
- [48:52]
Jeff Grubb
I mean, let me check my watch. I mean it's like any minute now. Right. Like I just think that they were waiting to find find the stabilization of the tariffs so they knew how much to raise the prices by in the United States.
- [49:03]
Tim Gettys
Totally. Destiny 2 reveals coming join us Tuesday, May 6th 6th at 9am Pacific as we reveal the edge of fate and upcoming year of Destiny 2. Hallmark has an Xbox 360 ornament. We can look at it. Roger's really excited about this. Like he earlier pulled it up and out loud was like, oh, super Nintendo one. Yeah, the super Nintendo one's great. Look at this.
- [49:26]
Jeff Grubb
Yep.
- [49:27]
Tim Gettys
Nah, not for me again. Sackboy, Xbox360 design. Nope.
- [49:34]
Jeff Grubb
I'll get this thing.
- [49:35]
Tim Gettys
Thing. Fun fact. This would have cost you $23 instead of $29 if Trump's tariffs weren't making the world a worse place.
- [49:42]
Jeff Grubb
I figured. I didn't know it was explicit.
- [49:44]
Tim Gettys
Man, that's wild. 29 for a ornament. I guess it does have light and sounds.
- [49:49]
Jeff Grubb
Yeah, it sings and stuff.
- [49:50]
Tim Gettys
Yeah, fun.
- [49:52]
Jeff Grubb
I think what's name comes on says Happy Christmas Xbox. I think you get that when you press the button.
- [49:59]
Tim Gettys
And that is it for WE news. Looking at your wrong here, AK writes in and saying according to Wikipedia, Michelangelo's commission for the Sistine Chapel was 3,000 ducats which comes out to about 600000 US dollars in $2021. So yeah, six a lot more expensive. More expensive.
- [50:20]
Jeff Grubb
There you go. Thank you for doing that. I appreciate that.
- [50:23]
Tim Gettys
I'm looking at a couple of the super chats here. Sort by first name says went to PlayStation the concert in London on Sunday and they didn't even do a farewell to Sack Boy. I'm Completely okay with that. Dude, I'm so excited for this PlayStation concert, but because I'm a big video game music guy, Jeff, and I love going to all these orchestra things. I've been to literally dozens of them. And the PlayStation 1 I've been super hyped for, but they just debuted a couple of weeks ago and like, word on the street is it's bad.
- [50:50]
Jeff Grubb
Well, how is it bad? What do you come out and salt the audience and talk about Xbox instead? Like, how do you mess this up?
- [50:57]
Tim Gettys
Apparently, like a lot of the instrumentation is prerecorded and they just have like a very minimal orchestra on stage and like all the choir and stuff is like all pre recorded and it's like, guys like, that's. That's not great. And I was watching a bunch of footage of it on YouTube and like, it looks cool, but it just seems like they're putting production in the wrong places and I don't know something about it. I'm like, that I hope they get figured out by the time they come over to America next year.
- [51:24]
Jeff Grubb
I want to see live musicians play live music.
- [51:26]
Tim Gettys
Yeah, what a thought. That. So, yeah, that sounds. Sounds like a bummer, but sort by first name. Let me know if you enjoyed it. Even though it didn't have any. Sack for Alex says birthday tax. Happy birthday. Special thanks to OM Jesus and the entire Odd Valley Discord crew for giving me a KF social space to cry in, to laugh in, and to call home. Hell yeah. What a nice thing to say.
- [51:47]
Jeff Grubb
Jesus, who's always nice to me, he's fantastic.
- [51:50]
Tim Gettys
AP says much love to Grub, Mike, not Dan. Jan Bacalar, Nikki and Sean, thank you for a wonderful third space. This comes from Alan Solo from the Giant Bomb community.
- [52:01]
Jeff Grubb
Thank you so much.
- [52:02]
Tim Gettys
Yeah. Says Sackboy walked so that Astrobots could run.
- [52:08]
Jeff Grubb
Yeah, I think that's right. Astros kind of usurped his position.
- [52:12]
Tim Gettys
Yeah. And then we had a couple I wanted to get to. Oh, CJ splits on says Grub. Please give us Sony fans some hope. Showcase state of play. What about a surprise game announcement this year? Do you know anything? You got any stuff to talk about?
- [52:26]
Jeff Grubb
I mean, like I did talk about a few weeks ago that. That what I had heard was they were debating internally between a state of play versus a showcase, you know, and I know this audience understands the distinction there and they had not decided a few weeks ago and I have not heard anything. I've also not asked. You know, now that I've got a little bit more time, maybe. Maybe I'll do exactly that. We are getting pretty close where I bet they have made a decision there and you know, I don't have full like transparency into that process or what that looks like. That's just kind of how it was phrased to me. But that, to me that what that says is they have stuff to talk about. Do they have the time and bandwidth for their teams to build an asset for a showcase? Like that is a big ask these days for these teams who have so many moving parts like make a build of the game that we could just like shoot a trailer, a gameplay trailer inside of. Or can you do like a meeting twice a week with this external vendor who's going to make a CGI trailer for your stuff and you're going to have to guide them through that. Can you, you know, take hours out of your data and it's very time consuming. So I bet that is the hang up there. But I think the good news is they probably will have stuff to talk about one way or another at some point.
- [53:39]
Tim Gettys
Yeah, I mean it's interesting to look at. I think PlayStation's in a weird spot right now because we've waited so long for answers of like what's happening, what's coming out and now we're in a weird place where we know Death Stranding 2 and the date is imminent and then now you know, Ghost and the date is something that we're building towards. So I, I kind of feel and marathon as well, I, I don't really know. I wouldn't necessarily expect a PlayStation showcase in a couple weeks that's going to blow our minds because I just don't think that timing wise like, like we're set up for that. Like if, if we didn't know that Ghost was in October, I'd be like maybe they got a big fall game. But we know the big fall game.
- [54:19]
Jeff Grubb
Yeah, I mean I'm sure there, there's discussions about like what the benefits would be of putting on a big mind blowing showcase if they could at this point. And you're right, I bet there's some conversation of like do we need that in this moment we have games to sell people that will get people to buy PF swipes. So I, I think they, I would probably lean towards the state of play in this moment moment personally. But that's just me guessing. I'll, I'll try to, I'll ask, I'll.
- [54:41]
Tim Gettys
Ask around and I mean yeah, it's just talking about summer game fest season like it's, it's gonna be a Weird one, because I don't expect we're gonna get much from Nintendo because we just got their big blowout.
- [54:52]
Jeff Grubb
I mean, not only that, like, you know we're gonna go to Summer Game Fest.
- [54:55]
Tim Gettys
Right?
- [54:56]
Jeff Grubb
I should be there. I'm planning to be there. And do you expect like a lot of developers from outside of the country to want to travel to the United States? I bet a lot in like, like I might not even want to do that.
- [55:06]
Tim Gettys
Well, it might be the perfect time to travel because they'll have the Switch too. You know what I mean? Mario Kart.
- [55:10]
Jeff Grubb
There you go. That, that makes it real good.
- [55:12]
Tim Gettys
Yeah, yeah. No real talk. That, that is interesting. But I, I just feel like in terms of showcases this, this June for Summer Game Fest season, like we have Keely's kickoff event. Xbox already called their shot of they're doing a showcase and then following it up with the Outer Worlds two thing, right? That's right. So it's like that. I think it's going to be interesting. I feel like we're probably going to get the most multi console news from Xbox. Like I think we're going to get a lot of games announced at the Xbox Showcase that are coming to Switch 2 and PS5 and of course Xbox and PC.
- [55:47]
Jeff Grubb
I wouldn't be surprised if we do get a Nintendo direct. Bander Essen in chat says that like in June to like set up the second half of this year with a few more games. I, I, I've heard a lot of people speculate, people who I think have a good head on their shoulders, that they think Nintendo has one more big game for this holiday. I know a lot of people are like 3D Mario, I not, I'm not there. But I do think they probably have like one more thing for this holiday and then they could set up the early part of 2026. I wouldn't be surprised if that's exactly how it goes down.
- [56:16]
Tim Gettys
Yeah, I mean I, I at this point would be just because I, I'm so fascinated by Donkey Kong's July release date. That feels like such a bizarre choice for them where it's obviously launch window, but having Mario Kart at launch and then a month later putting out this game that we still don't know what team's working on it. But like all signs point to the Odyssey team. Right?
- [56:36]
Jeff Grubb
It's the Odyssey team. Maybe they're part, maybe they're more partnered with an external studio than we realize, but it's definitely the Odyssey.
- [56:42]
Tim Gettys
Yeah. And it being not $80 and coming out just A month after the. The console, something about that to me feels off. And Nintendo's weird. They've done things differently always. But then looking past that, it's like we have Metroid prime for like, I would assume that's going to be their big push fall game because we still don't have a date.
- [57:01]
Jeff Grubb
Feels like it, right? Yeah, it feels like.
- [57:03]
Tim Gettys
So, yeah, I just don't know what space we have for a big Nintendo game later in the year because, like, we also have all the third parties and all. Like, we have a Call of Duty. Right. That's going to switch.
- [57:14]
Jeff Grubb
There's the Zelda warriors game again. There's a new one of those. So, yeah, they do have games that they have to find a slot for. I think when I. I was listening to kitten Krista talk about it, they were kind of gaming and out and they're like, hey, there's maybe a room if I would put this here and this there. And maybe there's room in November for something.
- [57:31]
Tim Gettys
It's Pokemon. Yeah. They. James in the chat says Pokemon Z.
- [57:34]
Jeff Grubb
Yeah, like, that's Pokemon. Yes. That's probably actually the November game for sure.
- [57:38]
Tim Gettys
I think that Zelda games 2026. I could be wrong. I think so. I think so. But. And yeah, Kirby, the. With the Star Crossed World or whatever like that. That still doesn't have a date either. I. I think we pretty much know. I don't think we're gonna get any big Nintendo games. Like, I don't think we're in a 3D Mario. Yeah. Any of that stuff. But, man, exciting times, though. Jeff.
- [58:01]
Jeff Grubb
Thank you. That's right. The Zelda game is winter when, quote, unquote winter. So that gives them the leverage to do either the holiday or earlier part of 2026. Okay.
- [58:09]
Tim Gettys
And then, yeah, Air riders, which I don't know if that's gonna be this year either.
- [58:16]
Jeff Grubb
I can't. I feel like that one was supposed to be this year.
- [58:19]
Tim Gettys
Yeah. Yeah. Did it. Barrett saying he thinks it was slated for this year. All right. Oh, it is listed 25. Interesting. All right.
- [58:26]
Jeff Grubb
All right, then.
- [58:27]
Tim Gettys
Yeah, that's gonna be a small little fun thing, though. Nothing too crazy. Jeff, thank you so much for joining us today. Again, congratulations on. On everything and nothing but love and support for you and everybody affected by all this nonsense and stuff. But where can people find you and support you?
- [58:45]
Jeff Grubb
Yeah, yeah. If you. If you want to support, I would appreciate it. Patreon.com game mess g a m E M E S S that is. Is the primary way to do it. We're gonna keep making stuff over there. I have a YouTube channel. All that stuff I'll be streaming on Twitch. If you want to get me on social media, I'm on Blue Sky. Just grub dot wtf. But yeah, really, I appreciate everybody, everyone kind of funny Community has always been so cool, so nice, and that's because you guys have really fostered that. So shout outs to y'all all. Thanks for having me on, Tim. I really appreciate it, man.
- [59:15]
Tim Gettys
You are welcome any time, my friend. Everyone, stay tuned. We have a big day of kind of funny content. Like I was saying earlier, we got some andor reviews. We have Oblivion review. So far, we have the kind of funny game showdown finale. You're gonna want to stay exactly where you are on Twitch, hang out with us all day. If you're on YouTube, you're gonna have to make the jump to video. To video. So do that right now. Jump over to the kind of funny gamescast, and until next time, have a wonderful day.