Kinda Funny Games Daily – Episode Summary

Episode Title: Guardians of The Galaxy, Deus Ex Studio in Trouble - Kinda Funny Games Daily 12.03.25
Date: December 3, 2025
Hosts: Blessing Adeoye Jr., Tim Gettys (Barrett also joins mid-show)

Overview

This episode of Kinda Funny Games Daily dives into a tumultuous day in gaming news, led by discussion of layoffs at Eidos Montreal (the studio behind Guardians of the Galaxy and Deus Ex), industry trends on layoffs and consolidations, the significance of review scores and the online conversation around them, Kojima’s upcoming GDC keynote, and the huge news that Saudi Arabia will control 93% of EA after a buyout. The hosts also field listener questions, riff on gaming culture, and end on some lighter news items and inside jokes. The tone is conversational, energetic, sometimes irreverent—but always passionate about gaming and the state of the industry.

Table of Contents

• Opening Banter & Review Score Discourse (01:07–09:29)
• Layoffs at Eidos Montreal & Industry Reflections (12:24–21:25)
• Kojima's GDC Keynote Announcement (21:25–26:30)
• Horses Game Bans and Artistic Censorship (32:19–40:23)
• Super Chats - Listener Interactions (31:40–47:56)
• Saudi Arabia's EA Takeover & Industry Impact (47:58–50:21)
• Call of Duty’s Underperformance & Changing Shooter Landscape (50:21–55:37)
• Marathon Art Plagiarism Controversy (55:52–56:57)
• WE News – Quickfire Headlines (57:24–64:17)
• Final Super Chats & Bionicle Tangents (64:17–71:18)
• Corrections & Wrap-Up (71:31–end)

Opening Banter & Review Score Discourse (01:07–09:29)

• Mood: The hosts note a “bad news” day, but try to keep things lively.
• Game review polarization:
  • Tim reflects on reviewing Metroid Prime 4, noting how people get combative about review scores online.

    “I don’t understand how people can not get that everyone has a different opinion... I didn’t see a single Metroid Prime 4 review yesterday that I was like, ‘they’re off base.’” (01:52)

  • Tim argues media is not collectively trying to tank Metacritic or developers’ fortunes.
  • Blessing reminds listeners:

    "You don’t even need to look at Metacritic. You don’t need to care what anybody else thinks about a video game but yourself." (04:15)

• Fantasy Critic’s Influence:
  • The gamification of reviews is discussed.
  • Barrett and Blessing discuss whether Fantasy Critic (the fantasy league for games) is warping how reviewers and fans look at scores.
• Legacy of Review Score Madness:
  • Tim recalls backlash to Jeff Gerstmann’s infamous 8.8 for Twilight Princess, comparing it to today’s discourse.

    “GameSpot, giving that game at that time, that score threw people into a tizzy. [...] Great power, great responsibility...” (06:56)

• Game Awards Conversation:
  • Tim and Blessing refute conspiracies about Jeff Keighley picking nominees or knowing winners in advance.
  • “You can’t speak sense into a masses. That is senseless. It is Pluribus out there.” (Blessing, 07:53)

Layoffs at Eidos Montreal & Industry Reflections (12:24–21:25)

• Headline: Eidos Montreal (Deus Ex, Guardians of the Galaxy) suffers second round of layoffs in 2025. Most projects (besides supporting Microsoft on titles like Grounded 2 and Fable) seem canceled.
• Industry malaise:
  • Tim expresses fatigue: “It just sucks that it just becomes the same story over and over and it just becomes a gesture at everything.” (14:13)
  • Blessing points out the cutthroat nature of corporate decision-making:

    "How do we make number go up? And it's by cutting people out..." (14:30)

• Support Studio Dilemma:
  • The hosts lament the fate of beloved studios turned into support/dev shops.
  • Activision’s transformation into “Call of Duty mapmakers” is cited as a warning.
  • Blessing: “In my heart already, like, [Eidos Montreal] means it’s completely gone.” (15:01)
• Lost Potential:
  • They mourn the loss of creative franchises (Tomb Raider, Guardians, Deus Ex) and question industry priorities.
  • “Deus Ex, those games are loved... If a new one was announced, people would be excited.” (16:53)
  • Guardians of the Galaxy “was such a hidden gem... We’re never going to get a Guardians 2.” (17:17-18:09)
• Broader Context:
  • Discussion of how multinationals (Square Enix, Embracer, Microsoft) restructure and cut regardless of “success”.
  • Nintendo’s acquisition of Bandai Namco’s Singapore studio is referenced as a rare case of preserving support teams.

Kojima's GDC Keynote Announcement (21:25–26:30)

• News: Hideo Kojima will deliver the first GDC (Game Developers Conference) keynote in 5 years at the new Festival of Gaming.
• Hosts react:
  • “This is fucking cool, man. I love keynotes.” (Tim, 22:13)
  • Blessing asks if it will be Kojima solo: “...at the very least, a translator.”
  • Segue into memories of Greg Miller’s past Kojima interviews (notably the 2017 RTX Sydney encounter, playing 1-2 Switch in cowboy hats—a classic moment: 25:27–26:16).
  • Speculation and joking about how Kinda Funny could secure another Kojima segment.

Horses Game Bans and Artistic Censorship (32:19–40:23)

• Narrative Horror Game ‘Horses’ Banned:
  • The unusual case of ‘Horses’, an indie horror game banned from Steam, Epic, and Humble for violating “sexual content policies.”
  • Developers claim lack of clarity from platforms and that the bans put the studio at risk of shutting down (35:41).
  • Content warning for Horses includes: violence, abuse, slavery, sexual assault, etc.
  • Discussion: Where is the line between mature expression and content policy? Are platforms being opaque?
    • Tim: “You gotta be clear about what the reasoning is. If you’re gonna have rules, you gotta have rules.” (39:12)
    • Blessing: "I want art to exist and art to be able to feel like it can go there..." (39:00)

Super Chats – Listener Interactions (31:40–47:56)

• Pluribus TV Show:
  • Blessing is a big fan of ‘Pluribus’. Tim laments not having time to watch new TV shows due to his “stupid baby.” (32:10–32:18)
• More Horses Ban Commentary:
  • Barrett clarifies that the “horses” are naked people in masks, and the game is making commentary on labor (35:45–36:21)
• Personal Tales:
  • Blessing relates a funny DnD story about character creation:

    “I got shot in the shoulder because basically the way they introduced me was... a shadowy figure hanging out behind a tree...” (46:21)

• Bionicle Tangent:
  • Protracted, hilarious three-way discussion of Bionicles nostalgia (68:12–70:57), leading to the idea of a Bionicle movie reaction stream.

Saudi Arabia's EA Takeover & Industry Impact (47:58–50:21)

• News: Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund will soon own 93% of EA after a $55 billion buyout, with stakes by US equity firms being a tiny minority (49:34).
• Ramifications:
  • Tim: “There's just no good news here. ...It’s very concerning.” (50:05)
  • Blessing predicts “in 10 years, the games industry’s going to look a lot different.”

Call of Duty’s Underperformance & Changing Shooter Landscape (50:21–55:37)

• Underperforming Franchise:
  • Analyst Reese Elliott cites community burnout, creative decisions, AI, and competition as reasons for CoD’s decline (51:06).
• Meme-worthy Cosmetics:
  • Tim: “Beavis and Butthead and Nicki Minaj will forever be like the second sentence when people are talking about Call of Duty.” (52:00)
  • Blessing: “Anytime I think about what Call of Duty is nowadays, I picture Nicki Minaj...”
• Competition:
  • Arc Raiders and Battlefield 6 are now drawing away the traditional CoD audience.
• Loss of Distinct Studios:
  • The shift to all Activision studios just making Call of Duty is mourned (“...it doesn't really feel like there's unique identities...” – 55:47).

Marathon Art Plagiarism Controversy (55:52–56:57)

• Quick Update: The artist whose work was plagiarized for Bungie’s Marathon says the art issue is “resolved... to my satisfaction.”
• Hosts’ Reactions:
  • "How many zeros are in that satisfaction?" (Blessing, 56:41)
  • "I want this to happen to me. I need to start making art and then pray that somebody—somebody steals this shit, man." (Blessing, 56:54)

WE News – Quickfire Headlines (57:24–64:17)

Moniker for minor stories and announcements. Highlights:

• Scrap Daddies: New looter shooter announced by Other Ocean; shoutout to Jared Petty.
• MLB The Show Mobile: Announced for Android and iOS.
• Yuji Horii on Chrono Trigger Remake Rumors: “Wait, if I say that, you’ll figure it out. Don’t ask. Ask is off limits. I’ll get in trouble.” (58:39)
• Game Awards Musical Performance: Evanescence set to perform ‘Afterlife’ from the Netflix Devil May Cry series.
• Mario Kart World Patch: Finally adds music volume control—sort of (two options: "normal" and "loud", no quiet).
  • Tim: “Nintendo is the funniest company of all time.” (62:01)
• Cart Triathlon Stream Idea: Blessing pitches a stream playing Mario Kart, Sonic Racing, and Kirby Air Ride in one night.

Final Super Chats & Bionicle Tangents (64:17–71:18)

• Mario Kart World vs. 8 Deluxe: Listeners and hosts debate whether the new World will ever supplant the classic 8 Deluxe.
• DnD Stories: Blessing recounts more first-session tales; listeners from his DnD group chime in via chat.
• Bionicle Nostalgia:
  • High demand for reviewing Bionicle media; hosts tease plans.
  • The “holes” in Bionicles are the subject of running gags and banter.
    • Tim: “Bionicles were just doing too much.” (69:55)

Corrections & Wrap-Up (71:31–end)

• Minor Corrections:
  • The artist who resolved the Bungie/Marathon incident is a woman; the show offers congrats.
  • Yuji Horii is infamously prone to accidentally leaking info in interviews.
• Show Closes:
  • Reminders about upcoming Kinda Funny shows including movie coverage and Octopath Traveler 0 review.
  • Final thanks and outro from Blessing and Tim.

Notable Quotes

• “Great power, great responsibility, all that stuff; people just need to think through from point A to point Z with the whole thing.” – Tim (07:08)
• “If you don’t like, like hearing other people’s opinion or hearing numbers or whatever, you don’t even need to look at Metacritic.” – Blessing (04:15)
• “It just sucks that it just becomes the same story over and over and it just becomes a gesture at everything... what is the everything?” – Tim (14:13)
• “Guardians of the Galaxy is such an interesting one… I would put down as a hidden gem… We’re never gonna get a Guardians too.” – Tim (18:09)
• “This is fucking cool, man. I love keynotes.” – Tim on Kojima’s GDC slot (22:13)
• “If we're making art here, then art should be able to exist on these platforms.” – Blessing (39:00)
• “Beavis and Butthead and Nicki Minaj will forever be like the second sentence when people are talking about Call of Duty.” – Tim (52:00)
• “Nintendo is the funniest company of all time.” – Tim (62:01)
• “In 10 years, the games industry’s going to look a lot different.” – Blessing (50:05)

Key Segment Timestamps

• Metroid Prime 4 reviews & review scores debate: 01:07–09:29
• Layoffs at Eidos Montreal and state of AAA: 12:24–21:25
• Kojima announces GDC keynote: 21:25–26:30
• The ‘Horses’ controversy and discussion on game content policing: 32:19–40:23
• EA Saudi Arabia buyout: 47:58–50:21
• Call of Duty struggles, shooter genre shifts: 50:21–55:37
• Marathon art plagiarism resolution: 55:52–56:57
• Bionicle fan avalanche: 68:12–70:57

Tone and Takeaways

Despite personal and industry-wide gloom over layoffs and consolidation, the hosts maintain humor and perspective. Their message—don’t obsess over review scores; worry more about industry trends affecting real people and creative opportunity—comes through strong. If you want to understand the current climate of gaming business, how it affects both big business and day-to-day fandom, this episode is a lively, insightful listen.

End of summary.