PlayStation Shuts Down Bluepoint - Kinda Funny Games Daily 02.19.26

Summary

Kinda Funny Games Daily – February 19, 2026

Episode: PlayStation Shuts Down Bluepoint
Hosts: Blessing Adeoye Jr. & SnowBikeMike
Main Theme: Breaking News – PlayStation Shuts Down Bluepoint Games; Key Video Game Industry Updates

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Overview

This episode started as a regular KFGD, unspooling the latest stories in the game industry—God of War casting news, Elder Scrolls VI details, and Sony’s PlayStation 5 strategy—before being overtaken live by breaking news: PlayStation is shutting down Bluepoint Games, the acclaimed studio behind modern remakes of classics like Demon’s Souls and Shadow of the Colossus. Blessing and Mike react in real-time, analyze the consequences for PlayStation and the industry, and field community superchats. The episode is marked by genuine shock, frustration, and reflection on the state of development studios in 2026.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. God of War & Christopher Judge’s “Leak”

• (05:56–12:14):

  • God of War’s Kratos actor, Christopher Judge, mentioned his next big project will be announced in "late summer." Although originally interpreted as possibly tied to Santa Monica Studio, the hosts question whether this means a new God of War, DLC, an animated project—or Judge simply being a “company man.”
  • The context was a fan-recorded conversation at a convention, sparking debate on etiquette and trust between actors and fans.
  • Notable speculation:
    • God of War remake with a “new fighting system.”
    • Cory Barlog’s unannounced project—whether it ties back to God of War or is a new IP.
    • When the next PlayStation State of Play would fit these teases (likely September).

  "Late summer. Summertime. What is it?"
  —Mike (08:21)

  "[Voice actors] keep getting hit at conventions. Maybe if you're at a bar, that's different. But at a con, if you say something you shouldn't, you should expect to be recorded."
  —Blessing (07:16)

  • Later (63:12), Christopher Judge publicly walks back the God of War implication:

    "Let me be crystal clear. I have zero involvement with the original games and what they involve, full stop... More info this summer."
    —Christopher Judge via X (63:15)

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2. Elder Scrolls 6 Details from Todd Howard

• (22:52–29:34):

  • In a new interview, Todd Howard confirmed Elder Scrolls 6 is being built on Creation Engine 3, a significant upgrade after Starfield’s Creation Engine 2.
  • Elder Scrolls 6 marks a “return to classic style” after Starfield and Fallout 76’s more experimental structures.
  • Key discussion:
    • Starfield was seen as too segmented—unlike classic Bethesda open worlds.
    • Hosts hope Elder Scrolls 6 is more RPG than simulation, wary of another “settlement system” being crammed into Tamriel.
    • Expectation: Elder Scrolls 6 release is still “three years out”—estimate of 2029.

  "Starfield, in the way it approached open world, felt segmented—and that’s the antithesis of what I want out of a Bethesda game."
  —Mike (24:04)

  "I want a giant Tamriel map, I want to be wowed by walking into some random cave..."
  —Blessing (26:19)

---

3. Sony’s Strategy – Monetizing the PlayStation 5 Base

• (35:51–41:31):

  • Sony will resist PS5 price hikes due to rising RAM prices, instead focusing on “monetizing the installed base”—i.e., raising the price of services like PlayStation Plus.
  • Blessing posits Nintendo will similarly raise Switch Online prices to offset hardware costs.
  • Tabletop discussion on how expensive PS Plus would have to get before users cancel—hypothetical thresholds at $100–$120/year.

  "They’re gonna try to keep PS5 prices down... The problem is, we who have already invested in Sony—now we're probably going to foot the bill here in a second."
  —Blessing (37:05)

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4. (LIVE) Breaking News: PlayStation Shuts Down Bluepoint Games

• (44:14–55:35):

  • Jason Schreier at Bloomberg breaks the news: PlayStation is shutting down Bluepoint Games. Blessing and Mike learn and process this live.
  • Bluepoint’s history: renowned for top-tier remakes (Uncharted Collection, Shadow of the Colossus, Demon's Souls). Briefly, they were developing original content (later revealed as a now-canceled God of War multiplayer project).
  • Analysis:
    • Bluepoint’s closure is a casualty of Sony’s “live service pivot” and the industry’s current economics; the God of War multiplayer cancellation left the studio with nothing in the pipeline.
    • No clear path for acquisition: Unlikely for another publisher to step in and buy a 70-person team with no proprietary IP.
    • Deep sadness—the talent/skills at Bluepoint, plus fan frustration at the missed opportunity (“You couldn't just give them Bloodborne?”).
    • View that PlayStation’s focus on live service games has resulted in a “colossal mistake” and significant wasted years/burned studios.

  "You couldn't just give them Bloodborne. Like, what are we doing here?"
  —Blessing (48:21)

  "This has been a colossal failure for PlayStation... the timeline where they just kept making the things they’re good at would look completely different."
  —Mike (52:04)

  "Colossal mistake."
  —Blessing (53:33)

---

Community & Superchat Response

• (58:37) Debate on whether Bluepoint even wanted to stay a remake studio—or got “pushed” to multiplayer work.
• (57:07) Chat questions the perpetual “Bloodborne” riddle: why not allow Bluepoint to remake it?
• (63:52) Hosts: "I think he's lying" (regarding Christopher Judge’s walk-back on his summer tease).

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5. Other News in Brief

• (42:20–44:12) Dust Bloods from FromSoftware for Nintendo Switch 2: Store listing suggests March 27 2026, but hosts dismiss this as a placeholder, not a real date.
• (59:38–62:20) Rapid-fire “Wii News”: Xenoblade Chronicles X surprise Switch 2 edition, Destiny 2 expansion delayed, Ubisoft Toronto layoffs, NetEase’s Spliced Inc. layoffs, and some lighter Nintendo news.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Fan-Con Leaks:

  "Now the trust is broken. He’s never gonna say anything to anyone else. I hope you’re happy."
  —Mike (07:01)

• On Modernizing Combat:

  "I don’t think modernizing should be erasing the character action style of the original games. For me, that’s not even modernizing anymore. That’s just changing what the game is."
  —Mike (19:34)

• On PlayStation’s First-Party Direction:

  "If PlayStation just let their studios do what they do best—if Bluepoint could just make remakes—the whole generation looks different."
  —Blessing (52:04)

• On Industry Burnout:

  "Every week something like this happens. All these companies are colossally failing their employees."
  —Blessing (61:43)

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Timestamps & Segment Guide

• 00:17 – Hosts intro, banter, energy check
• 03:56 – News begins, God of War/Christopher Judge “leak” breaks down (05:56–17:44)
• 22:52 – Elder Scrolls VI/Creation Engine 3 details, Todd Howard interview recap (22:52–29:34)
• 35:51 – PlayStation 5, RAM crisis, PS Plus price speculation (35:51–41:31)
• 44:14 – LIVE: Bluepoint Games shutdown reaction, analysis (44:14–55:35)
• 59:38 – “Wii News” (lightning round) (59:38–62:20)
• 62:47 – Christopher Judge responds to “leak” on social media (63:12)
• 66:44 – Community wrap, closing reflections

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Takeaway Summary

This episode quickly transformed from a regular industry roundup into a breaking-news think piece on PlayStation’s first-party studio strategy—a must-listen for anyone invested in gaming’s evolving business realities. The hosts’ real-time shock and anger highlight the underlying anxieties across game development and fandom alike. Bluepoint’s closure is emblematic of a volatile industry where creative teams are whiplashed by shifting corporate priorities, and where nostalgia and talent sometimes don’t stand a chance against executive pivots and spreadsheet logic.

---

For further context, the rest of the episode (esp. after ad breaks) featured more lighthearted banter and Q&A, plus a Pokémon Day tease.

Transcript

[Sponsor/Ad Reader]

Go to boot.dev and use code kinda funny to get 25 off your entire first year on the annual plan. Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at shopify.com kindafunny if you

[Blessing Addy Jr]

want to get our shows ad free and our exclusive shows, go to patreon.com

[Mike]

kindafunny Today's gaming news stories include Kratos's actor says you'll hear what they're doing this summer. Todd Howard spills some details about Elder Scrolls 6. And Sony is going to keep PS5 prices down by monetizing the current use. Have all this more because this is Kind of Funny Games Daily. Yo, what's up? Welcome to Kind of Funny Games daily for Thursday, February 19, 2026. One of your host, Blessing Addy l Jr joining me is the master of hype Snow, Mike. Mike.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Bless. Good morning. Great to be back with you three days in a row.

[Mike]

Not in a row.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.

[Mike]

Really? Is it like that?

[Blessing Addy Jr]

I think I've been on Counterfunny Games Daily three days in a row with you.

[Mike]

I, I thought it was like Monday. When did, when was I on with Andy? Because I think I. No, you're right. Yeah, you're right. This is the third day in a

[Blessing Addy Jr]

row we, we rocked it. Bless. Thank you so much for making a fun week with me and also for bringing the energy this morning. You, me and Kevin, we all came in.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Got right to work. Y been a busy, quiet morning. Yeah. Like, ooh, is the energy off today? And I'll tell you what, these past five minutes, energy turned right around.

[Mike]

We had people that saw the standby screen, what was going on and they were wondering why we were doing certain things. Why is Blessing touching Mike's belly?

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Energy turned right around.

[Mike]

We're trying to figure things out. Right.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

We talked fat bellies, we talked about

[Mike]

my own body dysmorphia, ordered McDonald's and we ordered McDonald's, which is probably not. That's honestly the worst place for us to end that. No, no. But that's where we started. You're right. We started with the McDonald's and then we went down a rabbit hole.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

We went down the rabbit hole. When will we look like models? When.

[Mike]

When am I going to look like a supermodel? I know what it is, is that I just got to eat better, which is not being helped by the McDonald's. So we just ordered.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

But you needed flapjacks, you said.

[Mike]

Yeah. The problem is because I told you I started my morning started off chaotic in a way that I didn't like because I. I was making my morning protein shake, and in the middle of it, my blender broke.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

How crazy of a blender break was it?

[Mike]

No, it wasn't that crazy. It's one of those. It was like a cheap. Like, it's a. It's a smoothie cup and blender all

[Blessing Addy Jr]

in one bullet thing.

[Mike]

Yeah. You've seen the one that I taken to work where it's like, it's basically a cup, but at the bottom of it, it has, like, the blender thing. So I put it in the thing and then it goes. It's a. It was a wonderful gift from my friend Belinda, who gave it to me as, like, a secret Santa gift. And it's one of those things where, like, it's one of those secret Santa website fun, like, oh, get this for under $30 type thing. And so I knew it was bound to break at some point. And now, honestly, I'm happy because this means I can just buy a blender. You know, I know myself enough to where I'm like, okay, I will use the blender if I actually get a real blender. So that's probably a good thing. But it's thrown off my morning because I got halfway through blending my protein shake and then it fucking broke. And now I'm like, all right, well, now I just have half a blended shake. That's not going to fill me up because I have ice cube strawberries in here. And then also, I was running behind because I forgot that this today's games cast is going to be our predictions for Pokemon Day. So I was like, all right, I got to get KHD prepped. And then I also got to figure out some predictions for Pokemon Day. And then my food option got thrown out the window. Well, thankfully, now we're getting some hotcakes.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

When you need food options, you come to Mike and Kevin. We'll take care of you.

[Mike]

I appreciate it.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Thank you. I'm not getting right on it.

[Mike]

I'm not going to be dying on.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

We'll get right on it.

[Mike]

Kevin, if you want to link me to the blender that you keep showing, because I'm in the.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

You like the look of this?

[Mike]

Only 25. Oh, wait, no, this is the one I have, I think.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah, we'll get. We'll get you one for the one

[Mike]

you had, but I've only seen it a couple times. I feel like the top is too big on this one. No, no, this is. This is right. Yeah, yeah. I want to say this is the exact one I have. Damn. And it's got. Honestly, it's lasted me. I want to say two years. No, maybe a year. I think it's been a year and a half.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Another one for 24.99 Bang.

[Mike]

Honestly, if I just buy this every year for 25, it's not that bad. What do you buy the 70 when it lasts you longer? Yeah, I guess that's a good point. Good point. But I guess it has to last you three years. Yeah, if I'm gonna get my return on it, we're talking about three years. Or I can buy the 25 one every single year. Enough about that. Let's talk about video games. Remember, if you're watching live right here, you can be a part of the show by super chatting in over on YouTube.com kind of funny games. And remember, we couldn't do this without the wonderful support of our Patreon producers. So shout out to Carl Jacobs, Omega Buster and Delaney the Psalm Twining for now, let's begin with what is and forever will be the Roper Report. It's time for some news. We have six stories today, starting with our number one. God of War Kratos actor says fans will hear about what we're doing this summer. This is from Andy Robinson over at Video Games Chronicle. God of War actor and I know you're wondering which one. Christopher Judge claimed that his next game will be announced this summer, fueling speculation that it could be Sony Santa Monica Studios next big project. Judge, who plays Kratos in the modern God of War titles, was talking to a streamer at Fan Expo in Vancouver, Canada, who asked the actor about the recently announced God of War trilogy remake. It's not clear if Judge is aware that the conversation was being recorded. Judge confirmed that he won't be appearing in the trilogy remake since original Kratos actor TC Carson will be reprising his role as announced in a recent State of Play livestream. According to Judge, the remake will feature a new fighting system, quote, and then you'll be hearing about what we're doing probably in the late summer. The Kratos actor added what he did not clarify what While he did not clarify who this comment was in relation to the context of the conversation has led many to assume Judge is referring to God of War developer Santa Monica Studio. Now here's the thing. We got the video.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

We got the video.

[Mike]

We can just listen.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

It's a little bit of this. It's a little bit of this. You know what I mean?

[Mike]

Yeah. It's a little bit of shady. A little bit of like. Which maybe. Why are we doing that? Why are we recording like that? But like, I get it.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

I don't think in line. It's your turn. You're excited. You got the record going. Cuz you're going to hand it to the booth guy.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

So he can just get the quick photo.

[Mike]

And it's also the thing of like, oh, my friend's talking to Kratos. Oh, let me record him talking to Kratos. Because they're going to want to keep this. But then cradle says some things they probably shouldn't say.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Also. Well, maybe we don't say that to random.

[Mike]

You don't say that to random people. Now we can watch the video with audio so we have the full context. And I just like, I have to come say hi. Are you playing in the remake?

[Blessing Addy Jr]

No. Well, it's gonna be TC because it's pause really quick.

[Mike]

Huh.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

So she is talking. The friend is shooting the camera from far away.

[Mike]

Yes.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

She got the mic.

[Mike]

So she has the mic on her. You don't even know I'm gonna say this.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

You don't even know.

[Mike]

This is messed up.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

I don't know.

[Mike]

Here's the thing is I don't know if you can be posting that. Like you, I. You people should know when they're being recorded. Yes, 100%. But what he ends up saying is not something you say to random fans who come to you. But like, you know, like, isn't that what's so cool about a convention? You can have these moments with people.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Now the trust is broken. He's never gonna say anything to anyone else. I hope you're happy. You shouldn't be saying these things to fans. Ah, yeah, you tell me when like we have our little meetups. You're not telling people, like, hey man, they're working on another kfaf.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

It's coming back, big announcement.

[Mike]

You know, if I say that and they record it and they put it out, I know never to say that again. This isn't the first time we've been here. I think less than a year ago. Who's the Assassin's Creed Black flag actor that had this exact. This keep keeps happening to voice actors. Voice actors at the public conventions. Maybe if you're at a bar, you're hanging out with the homie. That's a different thing, right? Like nobody's probably going to be recording you there. You're talking to strangers at a convention. There's a good chance you're being recorded. If you're saying things that you shouldn't be saying.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Kevin, play. Let's listen to what he says. But they're gonna put all the new technology in it, add more stuff, a new fighting system. Okay, so that will be the original.

[Mike]

Sorry, who's the original? Oh, the original. Right, right, right, right.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Okay. And then you'll be hearing about what we're doing probably late summer.

[Mike]

Oh, you pause it there.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

You didn't play in the big things there. Yeah, we'll talk about the fighting system. Second.

[Mike]

Sure.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Because that's one you and I have been going back and forth on. On the remakes of the new God of. Or the old God of Wars. Now let's talk about this project.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Late summer. Summer time. What is it?

[Mike]

Well, okay, he says what we're working on. Obviously he's saying this coming off of the context of talking about God of War. So you assume it's Sony Santa Monica.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah. You think he's a company man.

[Mike]

Yeah, but also like it's the. Where my brain gets messed up with this is, are you coming back for the next Sony Santa Monica game? Do we.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

The.

[Mike]

We don't think the next Sony Santa Monica game is God of War. So are you voicing a new character in a new game or is it really a God of War thing? Yeah, like, that's where I'm at. Where I'm like, what is the new project that involves. Why would he be involved?

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah, you kind of start juggling everything. Right. It's like the next one in the pipeline that we would assume would be Cory Barlog's next game, which supposedly is not tied to God of War. But well known voice actor. You've worked with him before. Maybe we keep it tight. Let's bring him back again. Maybe there's something different going on there. Of course, my mind goes to. Well, he is Kratos, right? Like, are we in the God of War universe? Is it more the God of War? Ragnarok 1.5. Is there something else that we're not thinking of?

[Mike]

DLC Exactly. Yeah. God of War, Valhalla. Like, remember we had that coming off of God of War Ragnarok. What if it's another surprise like that? It feels like, what anniversary? What anniversary are we in for? God of War. They said this during the state of play. Right? Like it's a big year for, for a God of War. So like, I wouldn't be surprised if we have more stuff. What if it is? And just. What if it's just an animation? What if it's something like A hey, it's the 30th anniversary of God of War. Here's an animated like short animated series starring Christopher Judge as Kratos. Doing this thing on this unique adventure, of course, could be one of those. I. If we're at the height of speculation. Right. If we're going crazy with it, I think then we're talking about a new game. Which would be cool. Them saying late summer or him saying late summer makes me think September state of play. That's around that time.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

I like that. I like that.

[Mike]

What comes to mind for you?

[Blessing Addy Jr]

I was thinking maybe like a June window state of play, like a summer game fest type window.

[Mike]

But that's not late summer though. Yeah, that's early summer. That's not even summer yet. That's still summer.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

You know what I mean? But like, yeah, I was thinking because we know Final Fantasy, right? It's like. And we've kind of tied Final Fantasy Square Enix with PlayStation. Those two together would make one hell of a conference right there. One hell of a showcase.

[Mike]

Yeah. But I still think that PlayStation has been pacing things out more. As far as the big, big announcements, I don't think they want their big announcements to eat each other up to

[Blessing Addy Jr]

on top of each other, two on

[Mike]

top of each other. That's why we got like the God of War trilogy and the God of War Sparta games. This day to play. I think the next day to play timing might be Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Even though I could see that being summer game fest as well.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah. And then probably Wolverine, then Final Fantasy Wolverine.

[Mike]

You still have that to talk about. And I think God of War, you would then talk about the Sept. State of play because that's one thing we don't talk about enough. In regards to the PlayStation quote unquote, showcases, presentations, whatever you want to call them. It's always a big one in February, a big one in May, slash June and a big one in September.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Okay.

[Mike]

I feel like we always forget.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

That's the flow of it.

[Mike]

That's the flow of it. February, May, September. We always forget the September one. I think you want to still have something for that September.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

I like that.

[Mike]

So that's my preference.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

We go to. Would it be Cory Ball Barlog's next game and would it just be, hey, we really like working with you, we're going to bring you on as a voice actor.

[Mike]

I think that's very possible.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Or do you think he's just. It's Kratos and he's Kratos again.

[Mike]

I don't Know, is this such a weird one where it's hard to read into the fact that Christopher Judge is the one saying this? Because if you.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

What if he's just riding for the company, he could just like, hey, maybe he's not even in. He's just like. But I know.

[Mike]

And that's the other thing.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Something to announce.

[Mike]

That's my other thing is I think it could be that. I think it could be the fact that, hey, we with Christopher Judge, we're like, Corey Barlog is telling him, like, oh, yeah, this is what we're working on next. Right? Like letting him know that type of. And then he as a company man is like, yo, Sony, missed Monica. Those are my homies. Yeah, you're gonna hear what we're working on next. Even if he's not that directly involved in it, he could be a side character. Who knows?

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Well, we'll be keeping our eyes on Late Summer for sure to see if this is true or not.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

And yeah. What a wild fan interaction right here. Circling back to part two. Yeah, the combat system.

[Mike]

Combat.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Now, he did talk about tc. He talked about the remakes, and then he added in that comeback to the remakes. It felt like right in that conversation.

[Mike]

I mean, I felt for sure, like,

[Blessing Addy Jr]

felt like it was part of that.

[Mike]

Like, I'm trying to find. I'm trying to find the exact quote. I don't think they have it in the article, but essentially, yeah, he. He made it sound like the remakes will have a new fighting system, which, which kind of. I was thinking about this. Bless you, Kevin. I was thinking about this after we talked about the remakes, of course, where I was wondering, okay, what are the possibilities of what this remake thing could be? And I know, like I threw out there, it could be like God of war 2018 and Ragnarok style thing. But the more I thought about it, the more I was like, I think it's fine if it's just Crash Insane Trilogy. You remember Crash Insane Trilogy?

[Sponsor/Ad Reader]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Where it is. Here are the three games and we're just layering over, like, beautifying it.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah, we're making it run smooth, but

[Mike]

it's the exact same game. And I kind of came to terms with, yeah, I think that's fine for what this God of War.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

I thought fans wanted that, right? They wanted to go back to the old school combat, just beautify, bring it up to modern day age. That's what we want.

[Mike]

So when we're talking about a new fighting system, I hope he's wrong. I don't want that.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Now we go to kind of what you talked about. It's like we're going big and badder than ever. Right where mine was like, hey, let's just get this out the door asap. Hit an anniversary. Let's get this sooner than later. Next time we see it on the flip side, it's like, oh, we really diving deep into this and rebuilding.

[Mike]

I mean, if you are. Again, if you go to my original thing of God of war 2018, God of war, Ragnarok style. We're taking Kratos, we're taking the classic trilogy and we're trying to make it as modern as. As we can to make it have its more grandiose kind of thing to it and we can sell it for full price and all this stuff. Then you would make a new fighting system. Yeah, but I then lean into the thing of like, do we even want that? I don't know if I want that.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

I'm sure want that. For the first three games. The OG first three games that you know and remember, I would.

[Mike]

I would have to see it. Because my thing is, I think about. I think about how good Crash Insane trilogy is.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Right.

[Mike]

Hey, that's great for what it is. I also think how good Final Fantasy 7 remake is. And those are the two sides of the spectrum that we're talking about. Can you Final Fantasy 7 Remake, guys? God of War trilogy? Sure. Is that something that's worth doing if that's like the next 10 years of what we're getting out of God of War? No, I don't really. I don't really want that. I don't need the classic God of War trilogy story to be retold over the course of three more games.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Just give me the old, like. I think part of what makes that classic trilogy special is the gameplay. Right. It is it being almost akin to a Devil May Cry character action game. I'm going through blades of chaos, climbing. Things are bigger than life.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah.

[Mike]

I want. I. I think that is part of what makes that core experience. That core experience. You can't just take that and put it into Ragnarok.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Like you're then redefining what the game is. And I think you could do that and do it good. But I don't know if anybody's really asking for that.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

That's what mine, My mind goes to. That is what the combat is now. Try to flip it and go, what if I made it more like 2018? Right. A little bit slower paced, a little more visceral. A Little more in your face, a little more like slower but powerful, chunky type feeling. Would that be what you want? And it's like, I wanted the fast paced stuff.

[Mike]

I think I want the fast paced stuff, but I don't think it's impossible. That's my thing is I need to see it. Yeah, I wish. That's why I wish we got just the smallest glimpse. Even if it was like, concept of what the remake, the idea of the remakes are. Because I could go either. Like, if they showed me an extremely modernized version of it, I'd be like, I could be like, okay, I actually don't want this. Or, yeah, all right, I see the vision. Yeah, sure, why not? But it's hard for me to judge either way. Like, I don't right now. I don't feel like I need that.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yes.

[Mike]

If you gave this to me in like the, in the God of War insane trilogy way, that package, I'd be like, okay, sick. Hell yeah. But even then I'm kind of like, honestly, if you ask me what I really want, just port the games. Like, that's. The games are great. Have you gone back and played classic God of War?

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Not a long time. Bless.

[Mike]

No, I'm pretty sure it's been since like, when did I go back and replay. I guess it has been a while for me too.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Because I'm thinking PS3, which I think they are.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

I think. I think they're a little old for sure. But I think they still hold up. But I think they're a little old.

[Mike]

I might run this experiment when I get home. You might want to run it. I might see if I can like boot up God of War somehow. Because last time I revisited those games, they still played fairly well.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Okay.

[Mike]

But I guess that was a while ago. But I digress.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

I love this, though. This is an insane thing to come off of.

[Mike]

Huh?

[Blessing Addy Jr]

We had fan expo. Christopher Judge is just. He's just talking.

[Mike]

He's just a man hanging out. And God bless Christopher Judge. He's. God bless voice actors.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Cameraman is about 20ft away,

[Mike]

which to. To that. Hey, once again, don't record people without them knowing. Don't record voice actors or people that you're a fan of without them knowing. Yeah, it's weird. Don't do that. But also, yeah, be careful if you're. If you're an actor or if you're somebody who, who is sharing something that they shouldn't be sharing. To a fan who's talked to you for five seconds, it's one thing if it's like, this is my homie, I've known him for a year. I've known him for years or whatever. Like, you know, we're, we're not at an expo, we're at a bar, we're at a restaurant. Like, that's different. You're at an expo and you're just talking to. Why would you feel the need to share something like that?

[Blessing Addy Jr]

You just get excited. Blast. You get excited.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Keep an eye out. Late summer. Let's see if it's real.

[Mike]

I want to bring in some super chats to the conversation. Kobe aren't says, could it be God of Mischief? Feels like a new ip, but isn't. I mean that. Well, I think it was Jason Schreier that was commenting on, on this upcoming Sony San Monica Cory Barlog game where he said it, it wasn't actually a new ip, but it was something I was going to feel like a new series. Yeah.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

That's what Roger filled me in with when he, when we last spoke on account of funny games daily about what we heard.

[Mike]

Yes. And so could it be another God of War thing? Yes.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Makes an appearance.

[Mike]

God of Mischief. I think that would be Loki. Right? That would be Atreus. I think that'd be neat. But I don't know. I, I wonder if there's another IP that Sony Santa Monica could be looking into that they want to bring back.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yes.

[Mike]

Because the way people are talking about it, like, I feel like the original rumors didn't feel like it was God of War.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Let's say Corey Barlog does show up and he, he announces another God of War in the God of War universe franchise. You're gonna be happy about that. Are you gonna be like, I wanted something like really fresh and new.

[Mike]

Depends on what it is. I, I, My initial instinct is that I want something really fresh and new.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah.

[Mike]

But if you show me something in the God of War universe that's exciting, then yeah, I'm, I'm in. Okay. Like, if it is God of Mischief, like, let's say it's an older Atreus.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Right.

[Mike]

It's Atreus Loki as an adult. And he's doing crazy Loki type, Right. Magic powers, like going crazy. His main weapon is still like the bow and arrow or whatever. I'm in.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Could be in.

[Mike]

I, I could be in there. And then you also would have Christopher Judge coming back voicing a character. Voicing Kratos.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Kratos.

[Mike]

Yeah. Super duper grandpa Kratos. His beard's way longer now.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah, yeah. Real grandpa.

[Mike]

And then the Portland. Kevin says, no, I love the OG God of war fighting style, which I agree with.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yes, that's. Yeah, we agree with that.

[Mike]

I. I don't think modernizing should be erasing like the character action style of combat that they had in the original games. Because for me, that's not even modernizing anymore. That's just changing what the game is. And so I hope they find a way to keep it even if they're like trying to go harder with it. I want to still have that feeling of like juggling enemies and score attack type. I love that Aaron Line writes in and says, love the dad of boy games, but if they're making the OGs, they got to keep it all. Kratos doing combos and showing full front, full frontal in those QTEs. I agree.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah, we talked about that.

[Mike]

Yeah. Yeah. I don't know if I. I don't know if I need to see the full frontal, but I don't. I don't mind, you know. Sure, why not? This is what I'll say. Random drinker says what was in Stomach Mike's belly button. I didn't look.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

But you felt it.

[Mike]

I felt it.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Cannonball.

[Mike]

Yeah. No, I. You called it a cannonball and I was confused at first. Now I understand. Yeah.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Rock hard.

[Mike]

Yeah, Mike, like music writes in and says, Birthday tax. Turning 26. Love y'. All. KF. Happy birthday.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Happy birthday, Big Dog. Enjoy your 26th.

[Mike]

And then Delco Scooch writes in and says, blessings. Blender Fund. Thank you so much.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Oh, that's nice.

[Mike]

They donated $2 to go towards a blender.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

That's really nice.

[Mike]

Appreciate that, Mike. Let's move on to story number two. Elder Scrolls 6 is powered by a new version of Creation Engine. This is from Zack Zweisen at Kotaku. In a new interview with Kind of Funny Games, Bethesda Creative director Todd Howard explained that The Elder Scrolls 6 is a return to the kind of games the studio is known for and will be powered by a new version of Bethesda's Creation engine. In the February 18 interview live stream, Howard admitted to host Greg Miller that Starfield and Fallout 76 were departures from the open world RPGs fans expect from them. And with Elder Scrolls 6, it sounds like they're going to go back to that classic style quote. In many ways, Fallout 76 and Starfield are a little bit of a creative detour from that kind of classic Elder Scrolls Fallout, where you are exploring a world in a certain way, said Howard. As we come back to Elder Scrolls 6, that we are doing now we are coming back to that classic style that we've missed and that we know really, really well. We have a, we have a style of game that we really like, that people expect from us and there's a lot of innovation to be done there still. So when you step into a world, you feel like you're experiencing it for the first time, said Howard. Quote we're happy with where Elder Scrolls 6 is headed right now, end quote. Howard also told Miller that the studio has been working hard on updating its internal engine which has powered its past games to help it do more with Elder Scrolls 6 in future games. Quote we spent the last several years bringing Creation Engine 2, which powers Starfield, up to Creation Engine 3, which is going to power Elder Scrolls 6 and beyond, end quote. As for when to expect Elder Scrolls 6, which was announced over six years ago, Howard was cagey, as expected, saying that while the team was close to passing a big milestone and development was going well, it is going to be a while yet before the RPG is finished.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Wow.

[Mike]

First of all, shout out to Greg Miller.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Shout out to Wonderful interview. Go check it out.

[Mike]

Fantastic interview.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Wow. Six years ago. Bless.

[Mike]

That's crazy.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Six years, man. Time flies. But also that was an eternity ago that we saw that.

[Mike]

Yeah. That's crazy that they revealed it that

[Blessing Addy Jr]

way and we had a whole full on video game between that time from them.

[Mike]

Yep.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Wow. Yeah, I mean couple of big ones there. Great interview as well. Creation Engine 3. Right. Like yeah. I wasn't expecting them to ditch the engine that they run off of. Right. Like that they've built all these games on. But to hear that they're building on top of that to try to make it more modern, better see what they can do inside of that universe. Yeah. That sounds about what Bethesda is going to be doing here is right.

[Mike]

Yeah. Which I'm down for. I don't need them. I'm sure a lot of people would say ditch the engine. I don't need them necessarily to, to ditch it because I do love a Bethesda game.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

How would I grab a thousand sandwiches and shove it into a cockpit?

[Mike]

I, I love that type of game. The one like there's one key thing when whenever Greg talks about Starfield and why people didn't. Didn't like Starfield, there's one key thing I disagree with him on when he talks about it and that's that people didn't like it because it, it was still a Bethesda game. And my, my counter argument to that is that I don't think it was a Bethesda game enough. Right. I think Starfield, in the way that it approached in quote, unquote, open world, felt segmented.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yes.

[Mike]

And that's the antithesis of what I want out of a Bethesda open world. I want to be able to walk around and see a thing on the horizon and go, oh, shit, what's that? Let me go over there. Oh, man, that's Diamond City. Damn. That's crazy, right? Or, oh, man, what's going on? I want to be able to stumble into things. I want to be able to walk to places. I think an open world needs to feel like I'm able to explore. And the problem with Starfield for me is that it was so segmented because exploring required me to jump into menus and then like, click on this planet. Now I'm here, but I'm only in this, like, you know, all the pancakes are here.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Hell yeah.

[Sponsor/Ad Reader]

Let's go.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Hell yeah. We took care you. Bless you.

[Mike]

Hell yeah, dude. I'll get them during the break, during the ad break, but you can leave

[Blessing Addy Jr]

it on the set. Yeah.

[Mike]

Take a sandwich. Yeah.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yes. Plus, I totally agree with you because when you look at that quote, right, Fallout 76, Starfield are a little bit of a creative detour for that kind of classic Elder Skull stuff, right? Like when you think of Elder Scrolls and Fallout, you know what you think, you know, the open world that you think of and Fallout 76 and Starfield were that creative detour, Right. Like you brought up with Starfield, how you explore the galaxy, how you land on each planet, how you interact with those planets. That's totally different than what you would imagine a open world Skyrim or Fallout to be. Fallout 76, another fun one, Right. We tried to make a multiplayer game and we also tried to tell a story without NPCs at the beginning of launch for that one. So, like, yeah, they tried some different things. I think also you could even point back to Fallout 4 with the settlement system. Right. They've tried different creative things in every single one of these. And when I think of Elder Scrolls, it is we're going to go back to the basics. We're going to go back to what you knew.

[Mike]

Yes.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

And love. I think we'll probably have some, like, maybe some home building stuff, but I don't think we'll go as far as settlements like in Fallout 4. I think we're going back to the roots here.

[Mike]

I hope so, because I don't know that. I don't know If I believe that there's something about Todd Howard. Batman loves a settlement that we love. He wants you to build a town. He wants you to build a neighborhood.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah.

[Mike]

And I don't know why he loves it so much, but, like, I don't know. I think there's something in his soul just cool. And, like, he's not going to stop until it's in every Bethesda, like, franchise. We haven't had it in Elder Scrolls yet.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

We shall see. But, I mean, the interview was great. It does. When I hear Creation Engine three, I'm like, all right. Like, yeah, I know what I'm getting. I know what that. I know what that's going to be probably capable of. There might be some wow things there that I didn't see coming, but I think we know the baseline structure of that. And then when I think of going back to it, it's like, yes, I want a giant Tamriel map. I want to explore all the different cities. I want to be wowed by walking into some random cave. I want somebody to run up to me. We go on a crazy quest. Like, we're going back to the roots. And that's, I think, what fans of Bethesda games want here.

[Mike]

I want it to feel more like an RPG than like a simulation. I think that's my big thing.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Okay.

[Mike]

I want it to feel like I am you, Rick the Face.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

I mean, that. That one will be an interesting one to nail and capture.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Because I think we asked for that in Starfield and we didn't make it to that well.

[Mike]

Yeah, Starfield felt like it wanted to be a. Starfield was very much half simulation, half rpg.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

And I don't know if we'll see.

[Mike]

And that's my thing is, you know, I. The further we get with Bethesda, more it's like, oh, man, y' all really are building in, like some simulation type stuff in here. But I'm down with just the rpg. Like, that's what I'm here for. And so I don't want the other things that infect the thing that I like about it. And Elder Scrolls is the thing where it's like, you know, you talk about towns and settlements. I do. I could see there being like a little settlement thing. I don't want it. But I could see there being that if it's gonna be there, like, don't let it hinder the other parts of that game that are gonna make it great as well.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Unless you're gonna convince me, you know what I mean?

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Like he's gonna convince you he wants to try. He's gonna go on stage and he's gonna show you something wild.

[Mike]

He does that every single time.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

I know he loves doing it.

[Mike]

They're like, hey, this is the Xbox developer Direct with Bethesda, you know, CEO, president, lead game creator Todd Howard. And Todd's like, what if you could build everything? And I'm like, he's like, what if you could collect everything and then put them in a. Put them in a blender and it'll spit out materials. Wood, fucking steel, you know, fucking water, whatever.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

And it's like he's going to do the mic. What if an Elder Scrolls 6, you build it and it just works.

[Mike]

You make the game and it just. You, you make the game.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Now we decided just to give you the engine. You're going to make it.

[Mike]

You make the RPG quest. I'm surprised that Indiana Jones didn't have a settlement system where he put all the artifacts. He was like, I'm making my own museum. And now you got to. You got to find material in Egypt and take the materials to create your house and put the. I guess he wants them in a museum. But even still.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Thank God he didn't put that in Indiana Jones.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Bless. How much longer do you think we have to wait? Of course he's going to be cagey. I mean, not going to answer the question.

[Mike]

He said it's going to be a while yet. That sounds like a long.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

I think it's going to be a wild. Bless.

[Mike]

Yeah, I'm going to say three years. Three years. 2029.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

2029. 20.

[Mike]

What did Starfield come out? Starfield was 2022.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

No, it was his game of the year. Two years.

[Mike]

2023. I want to say 2023.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

2023. September. Yep.

[Mike]

Yeah, 2029.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Got a pretty large team over there, but they're also doing.

[Mike]

But they're making a pretty large game.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Doing a lot of things and making a big game.

[Mike]

Game's taking a lot. Are taking longer and longer to make. They're making a new engine or they're updating their engine to 3.0. Yeah, but that's more. That's more than turning a knob.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

We're working on it.

[Mike]

Yeah, it's me a while. Okay, Mike, let's talk about Sony and how they're gonna monetize their fan base.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

This one I'm excited to talk about.

[Mike]

But before we get there, I want to talk to you about patreon.com kinda funny. And YouTube.com kinda funny games where you can get the Kinda Funny membership which lets you get shows ad free. And speaking of ads, let us tell you better Sponsors this episode is brought

[Sponsor/Ad Reader]

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[Mike]

My favorite feature is that you could find a solution that works but then afterwards you can hit solution and see the way that they were trying to teach you to do it. That's really cool.

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[Blessing Addy Jr]

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[Mike]

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[Blessing Addy Jr]

called Mucinex.

[Mike]

No. What's the thing you squirt up your nose? Yeah. Flonase.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

I don't know if that's the move, though. I don't want to be dying up in.

[Mike]

I guess if you're feeling it down your throat, then phone is in the move.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Phonies will, like, expand. I think you're not. Not your nostrils, but, like, the inside of your nose. I don't think it's for your throat.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

I got the cool magnets that you put on the side of your nose. You pop. Pop it open.

[Mike]

You get this deal on TikTok Shop?

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah, I did.

[Mike]

Almost got that. Let me tell you, man, hash browns. Talk about hash browns enough. So good.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Every time you go to Mickey D's for your morning breakfast, you should be getting a hash brown. No matter what you order, always get a hash brown.

[Mike]

You have to get it when they

[Blessing Addy Jr]

cook those hash browns just right where it's a little extra crispy. Nailed it. Can we talk about Burger King's hash browns, though?

[Mike]

No.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

The little circles.

[Mike]

No.

[Sponsor/Ad Reader]

Whoa.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Do you get those? A little thing. Ketchup. Oh, watch out. Watch out. I'm telling you.

[Mike]

Kevin's. Kevin came back for more McDonald's. Here's the thing. Half a year ago, I got Burger King breakfast for, I think, the first time in my life.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Okay.

[Mike]

I never had it before. I got a sausage burrito. Oh. And when I tell you it was so good.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Wow.

[Mike]

But it was greasy as hell. Okay. But I like greasy. You know what I mean? Like, that's my favorite. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But when I tell you it might be one of the best breakfast, like, fast food breakfast.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

I was getting ready for you to say it sucked. No, because here's the line. I have French toast sticks from Burger King Breakfast. Hell yeah.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

The croissant sandwiches that they do.

[Mike]

They got croissants sandwiches.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

That's what they, that's what they do. Oh, yeah.

[Mike]

I'm not happy.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah, they don't, they don't do the sausage McMuffins we got over at McDonald's. They do croissant sandwiches. So it's a little, little light. That's like, not flaky though.

[Mike]

The problem is that I have. There's a local spot down the street that does croissant sandwiches.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah.

[Mike]

And like, nobody is going to touch them.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Blessings. A local guy. I am a local restaurant guy. He's going to support local business.

[Mike]

Every, every Filipino food establishment. Blessing in this five square mile radius knows me, man.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Blessing took me to a gas station that had a small restaurant ins in that had a line out the door. That must have been a 45 minute wait. I. I couldn't believe it.

[Mike]

I took my friends to. What was it? Spicy house. And when I tell you they were so excited to see me, they're like, oh, he's here all the time. And I'm like, you got to tell my friends. Have you given Wongs a try? Yeah, I've, I've eaten Wongs. Wong is cool.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

He said.

[Mike]

Yeah. Okay.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Wow. Wow, wow, wow.

[Mike]

It's cool, it's cool. No, no, it's fine. It's fine. It's no spicy house, though. Oh, it's way better than spicy. It's no spicy house, though. Come on, let's be real here. Story number three. Sony. Hold on, I need to take a drink of water before I take a simple hash brown.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Let's talk about PlayStation 5 hardware prices.

[Mike]

All right, There we go. Sony plans to minimize PlayStation 5 hardware price increases by focusing on monetizing existing installed base. This is from Francesco de Mayo at WCCF Tech. As reported by Automaton. During Sony's latest earnings call, CFO Lynn Tao addressed the current situation, stating that the company has secured the memory needed for the end of year sales season. In the next fiscal year, however, the company plans to minimize the impact of rising RAM prices by monetizing the installed base while continuing to grow software and network services revenue. Needless to say, this doesn't sound like good news for the 92.2 million current PlayStation 5 users. While any price increase is unfortunate, dealing with soaring component costs driven largely by a by the AI fueled chip crisis is the biggest challenge every hardware manufacturer will face. The next Few years.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Oh, I thought they were going to give us their strategy. How are they going to monetize me the already.

[Mike]

No, that's the thing is like this.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

I was right. I was ready for that.

[Mike]

This is almost we news. Right. But this is one of those ones where I just thought was an interesting point of. This is something you can extrapolate and I think apply to everybody right now.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

So they secured the memory that they needed. Yeah, that's great. Right. They're going to try to keep the prices down for new customers.

[Mike]

That's great.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Right. The problem is, is the people who have already invested in Sony, they've been on this ride with them. Now we're probably going to, you know, foot the bill here in a second, I think.

[Mike]

Plus prices are probably going to go up in the next. That's year or so. I think the same thing on Nintendo. Nintendo, I think is so they do not want to raise the price of the Switch too. So what's going to happen is they're going to raise Switch online. I think that's how they're going to go about it.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Last thing. You're so right. I was, I was thinking, I said I was thinking, well, how are they going to monetize users? Like, what are they going to do here? Yes, you would do PlayStation.

[Mike]

PlayStation Plus, Switch Online. And so if you're a hard hardware manufacturer, you're looking at those memberships.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah, you're so smart. That's exactly right. Bless. Yeah.

[Mike]

Lock in everybody. How much do you. How much before Mike, you're like, I don't got to play games online anymore. I know that's tough, right?

[Blessing Addy Jr]

That's the big. That's the big tough one, man.

[Mike]

For me, I'm like, I'm like, you know, all right, these game memberships, if

[Blessing Addy Jr]

it was my main console. If PlayStation was my main console.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

And that was the only thing I played and it was tied to this. How you play online with your friends. You have to pay this membership. I mean, $30 a month would probably be the tipping point.

[Mike]

I mean, how much is it now to.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

To be able to play online? If it was like, this is your only way to play.

[Mike]

Is that not what it is now?

[Blessing Addy Jr]

30 bucks would be probably where I'd get up to.

[Mike]

Oh, never mind. It's not.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Oh, no, it's not close.

[Mike]

Yeah, it's 80 a year. I should know this because I do pay for PlayStation Plus 80 a year right now for PlayStation plus essential. Why don't you charge the company that there's no way. I don't want to put Greg. Greg Miller out.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

We can't put Greg out. I would never do it.

[Mike]

He has a kid.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

I would never do it.

[Mike]

Mike didn't use the company card to pay for this food.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah, no, out of my heart. Because I love you both.

[Mike]

Thank you.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah, so 80 a year, that's like less than eight bucks. We'll say a month.

[Mike]

Yeah, that's still worth it.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

So that probably goes up to like, let's just say it goes up to 15 to foot the bill here.

[Mike]

Oh, a month.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Keep the PlayStation, place the prices down.

[Mike]

Wait, do the math again. How much is it a month currently?

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Well, if you're saying it's $80 a year.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Right. That's 12 months. You're looking at less than $8. It's more like $6 probably.

[Mike]

Yeah, like $6 and 66 cents at that point.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Right. If you go up to 15, that's a whole ten dollar increase, which is huge.

[Mike]

Yuck. See, I was going to just go from 80amonth to a hundred dollars. A month or not a month, sorry, a year. $80 a year to $100 a year.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

That's 20 times the 92 million PlayStation 5 owners. Yeah, that's plenty of money.

[Mike]

That's. Yeah, that's a lot of money. And I think people would be willing to do that. I would, unfortunately, I would still pay that for benefits.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

You go from $6 to $10 right there. Yeah, 120 a year.

[Mike]

120 for, for online. Here's the thing. The problem with this is that GTA 6 is coming out this year. So yes, I would pay that.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah.

[Mike]

If, if we're removing GTA 6 in the equation, then I start to think about the games that I play.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Okay.

[Mike]

And I go, all right, you know, I play a lot of fighting games online. I do, yes.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

You start to ask, am I an online household?

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

How important is this? Right, yeah.

[Mike]

Play a lot of fighting games. Every now and then I'll play a shooter. But that's the thing is I think I then, and this is me speaking from a privileged place, I then start to move towards PC. Of course I'm like, okay, well once we get to 120, 130, I start to look at, all right, maybe I can just play my fighting games and my multiplayer games on PC. But I also know that that's not the majority of people, you know, and so I, if you're somebody who only plays on PlayStation and these, these numbers start to go up and yeah, you have to Ask yourself. Damn. Like, how much Call of Duty in my plane right now?

[Blessing Addy Jr]

80 bucks. Not bad, though.

[Mike]

For now.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah, for right now. That's not bad.

[Mike]

Let's move on to story number four, the Dust Bloods release date.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Hold on.

[Mike]

What was that you brought up, Kevin? I missed this. How many? Oh, there's 123 million monthly active users for PS Plus. PS plus had roughly 46.3 million active users as of 2021. Damn. So that number went up. That's crazy. Well, no, I think. Is it just PlayStation Network versus PlayStation?

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah, I think you're seeing 123 monthly PlayStation active users, and then the people who are subscribing is 43. 46 million.

[Mike]

That's like a high install. Yeah, that's like almost like half.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

We'll just call it halfway.

[Mike]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, they're gonna get that money.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Oh, yeah, they're gonna get that money. You're gonna foot the bill. You're gonna get that money.

[Mike]

Sermon before the Dust Bloods release date potentially revealed through new listing. This is Sam Sepule at Insider Gaming. According to a store listing from Software's the Dust Bloods could release as early as March 27, 2026. The dust bloods is from Software's exclusive title for the Nintendo Switch 2, which is set to release in 2026. We have received a lot of information about the game we have received a lot of information about the game since it was announced. I read that. I was like, I certainly. I read that wrong. That's what they said.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

I read this earlier. I said out loud to myself, have we?

[Mike]

I don't think we have.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Maybe I'm not paying attention.

[Mike]

And the only thing left now is the release date. It seems one of the retailers might have been informed about the date early, spotted by my Nintendo News. There are two things that point towards the Dust Bloods release date. First, the Finnish online store Consolinet listed the Release date as March 27, 2026. The website has been updated and now the date reads December 31, 2026. Players are wondering whether this is the actual release date or just the placeholder from the website. The next hint is not for the release date, but probably an announcement of it. The Dust Bloods listing now appears on the Australian Nintendo Eshop. It doesn't seem to have a release date yet. Still showing planned 2026, but a listing appearing may mean an announcement could be around the corner. It's a little bit of a speculation station, kind of.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

I would just say toot. Toot Here we go. Do you believe this?

[Mike]

The what? March 27th?

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah.

[Mike]

No, absolutely not. That's the last Friday of the fiscal year. So whenever something, Whenever something gets slated on a store for the last date of a quarter.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

You are so smart.

[Mike]

Yeah, No, I looked up. I was like, that's the last Friday of the fiscal year. No, that's not. That's not the date.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Okay. Then of course it changes to December 31st.

[Mike]

Well, yeah, well, it's also end of quarter, but yeah, this year. I think the only speculative thing I'll pull from this is that they're gearing up to say something. These stores updating. Okay. That's the only thing. Like, I don't. And even that I'm like, it's a little bit of a stretch, but yeah, maybe they just drop a Trailer on the FromSoft website or Twitter, YouTube or whatever.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

You don't think that this would be a summer games fest thing? Could be a summer game fest blowout of like, here's what Dust Bloods is. This is what it's going to go down.

[Mike]

Like, I mean, maybe. I think I. I think that would make sense.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

It's a big title.

[Mike]

Yeah. But like, I also think it's. It's a weird one. You know what I mean?

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Very weird one.

[Mike]

It's a weird one. And Nintendo's a weird company and fromsoft is a weird company. Hold on. I'm going over to Blue sky because Chat's freaking out. Chat's freaking out about something I think

[Blessing Addy Jr]

they're saying about Blue Point and PlayStation. Jason Schreier's about to report on something. Oh.

[Mike]

Before I look at it, what do you think it is?

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Well, I think you know what it is.

[Mike]

Do I? Blue Point and PlayStation.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah. What do you think it is?

[Mike]

Uncharted?

[Blessing Addy Jr]

No, I think they're saying that it might have got cut.

[Mike]

That Blue Point got cut.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Why don't you read it? See what. No.

[Mike]

And that's the opposite of one charge.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah, that's very, very opposite of what you just said.

[Mike]

Jason Shrier posts on Blue sky breaking PlayStation is shutting down Bluepoint Games, the studio responsible for modern remakes of classic games such as Demon Souls and Shadow Colossus, Bloomberg News has learned.

[Sponsor/Ad Reader]

Wild.

[Mike]

What are we doing here?

[Blessing Addy Jr]

What are we doing?

[Mike]

What the does that mean? Yeah, that's crazy. I. There's a lot to break down here.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

So we had the uncharted collection in 2015.

[Mike]

Huh.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Shadow of the Colossus 2018, Demon Souls, PS5. 2020.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

And then we were in this mix of like what's next here?

[Mike]

Well, they talked the song if we're gonna rewind back.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah, get rerun the clock for me. Bless. Set it up.

[Mike]

After Demon Souls, the last thing we heard from Bluepoint was that they were working on. And this is from them, right. They're working on original content.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Okay.

[Mike]

What that ended up coming out as recently, I want to say either last year or maybe, maybe late the year before was that they were working on a God of War multiplayer game. Sony killed that.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Oh.

[Mike]

So probably in that process of man, we spent all this time. Yeah, what four years or something like that working on this God of War multiplayer games. Plus now that's gone.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Now we got to get back to the drawing board.

[Mike]

Yeah, you have a year to get back to the drawing board.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

We're going into the red here.

[Mike]

Place it when we're just talking about here about PlayStation trying to figure out how to deal with the RAM shortages and stuff, right. But PlayStation pockets, probably tightening up them looking at Blue Point and going, well we ain't got nothing coming from you, so you're done. That's fucked, man.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah, now bless.

[Mike]

That's fucked.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Blue Point, known to be very talented

[Mike]

team, super talented team.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

What happens here? Do all these people go off onto having to find new jobs in new locations? Does anyone step in and try to save this?

[Mike]

I mean, I don't even know what stepping in to save this even looks like, right? Like this is a PlayStation owned studio. And so is it possible? I guess what if you're thinking like the hi Fi Rush studio Tango game works situation of another big corporation coming through and being like, hey, we'll, we'll buy this from you and revive it. Revive this. Rehire all the people in that. The problem is that what would they work on? Like when you're. But when, when you're craft on and you buy Tango gameworks, you're doing it because you're like, oh well, they just made hi Fi Rush. They're gonna make hi Fi Rush again. Bluepoint didn't have their own things that they were working on.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

They're working on getting back onto the remake train. You'd now open yourself up to be like, hey, we have a really talented team.

[Mike]

I mean, depends on who you are.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Want us to get back into it.

[Mike]

Depends. I think that then limits or who

[Blessing Addy Jr]

has a catalog that you would remake your games in? Who has an extensive catalog of games that you could go, hey, I mean,

[Mike]

do you have anybody in mind for that? We can just name publishers or whatever. But Then we have to ask the question, do they have it to buy Blue Point? Like, do we think right now Ubisoft is in a place where they're gonna go look at Blue Point? No.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mike]

Do we think EA is going to do that? I don't think so. Do we think PlayStation is gonna sell Blue Point to Xbox? I don't think so.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Konami, Capcom.

[Mike]

I think Blue Point being a Western studio kind of makes that tough.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Right.

[Mike]

A weird fit. Correct me if I'm wrong about that. I think Blue Point is a Western studio. Yeah. This is so fucked. Because I would tell you that Blue Point is one of the most visibly talented studios under PlayStation.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yes.

[Mike]

I think when you look at what they do, first of all, they have a specialized skill. We will take something and make it modern. We'll take something classic and make that shine. We'll take Shadow Colossus and make it a 2018 video game.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

And nostalgia is one hell of a drug right now.

[Mike]

Nostalgia is one hell of a drug.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

People want their old games.

[Mike]

I mean, you don't. You like. You couldn't just give them bloodborne.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

I mean, talk about the biggest.

[Mike]

You couldn't just give them bloodborne. Like, what are we doing here?

[Blessing Addy Jr]

So that was four years ago. They were purchased by PlayStation. They went on to make that. They were gonna make a God of War multiplayer game.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

And then all of that got scrapped. Wow.

[Mike]

That's crazy.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Wow.

[Mike]

But also that's. I mean, so indicative of, like, the time we're in right now for video games.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

We've seen this too many times.

[Mike]

This is.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

This happens all. Every single week. Something like this happens all the time.

[Mike]

Yeah. Somebody's saying the article is out, so let me see if I can find it. Of course, Bloomberg has a paywall, so we'll see if I can get in there. Usually if Jason posts it, then he'll post the link without the paywall. And I found the link from Jason.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Oh, okay.

[Mike]

And we're in. Reading from.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Give it to me.

[Mike]

Jason Schreier, Bloomberg. Sony is shutting down Bluepoint Games, the PlayStation subsidiary responsible for developing remakes of video games such as demon's souls. Roughly 70 employees will lose their jobs amid the studio closure, a PlayStation spokesperson said, writing in a statement that the decision was made following a recent business review. Bluepoint will officially shutter next month. Quote, bluepoint Games is an incredibly talented team, and their technical expertise has delivered exceptional experiences for the PlayStation community, the spokesperson said. We thank them for their passion, creativity, and craftsmanship. End quote. Founded in 2006, the Austin based studio was known for developing high end remakes of older games such as Uncharted and Shadow Colossus for modern platforms. Sony acquired Bluepoint in 2021 shortly after the successful release of Demon Souls on PS5 and tasked it with co developing 2022's God of. Excuse me, God of War, Ragnarok. Following that game, bluepoint began working on a live service God of War game, Bloomberg previously reported, but it was canceled in January 2025. PlayStation said at the time that it was working with Bluepoint to determine the studio's next project. I mean it's I think a very clear line, right. A very clear example of the PlayStation multiplayer live service push is the thing that killed the studio.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yes. If you rewound time five years ago, that team, or you know, five, 10 years, whatever, when they started making this PlayStation multiplayer push, they said, okay, we need teams to make these games. Who's really talented, who can do it? Oh, we acquired Blue Point, let's get on it. Right. We also had Bungees in the mix there. Couple of other studios that we've seen come and go in the mix and yeah, you give them an idea, right. It's like at the time that's what they wanted to do. We want multiplayer games. Oh, how great would a God of War multiplayer game be?

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

And everybody's in the room going like, all right, like let's do this. And then five years later, that's not what your audience wants. That's not where the money's being made at this moment. This is not the game plan. Too many games are coming and being shut down weeks later. So you have to cancel that now. You cancel it, you got a year of we got to figure this out. What's new? What are we going to do?

[Mike]

We're five years, we're what, since 20, 25 years since our last project.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah, I.

[Mike]

There's going to be. There needs to be some kind of like Jason Schreier book written or like documentary done about the PlayStation Live service push and what that did to PlayStation over the last like five years. Because we're talking about so many years lost as far as like time being worked on projects that either didn't pan out or came out and were shut down two weeks later. Right. Like a Concord, the God of War project. London studio, similar thing was working on a, on a fantasy game that took place in London that got shut down. That studio got cut.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Fair games.

[Mike]

Fair games. We'll see what happens with that.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Marathon.

[Mike]

Marathon. Will. Marathon is like the only One where I'm like, I could see this working out.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

I mean Marathon and Concord are going to be the only two so far to make it to the finish line as of right now to at least make it out and release.

[Mike]

Yeah. I mean there's Horizon Hunters gathering as well.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mike]

There's hell divers 2, which hell divers 2 I don't think is part of this conversation. I think Hell. I think without Sony's live service push, hell divers2 was still going to be helldivers2. I don't think that was put that. I wouldn't put that in there. So I think for the ones that we would put in that conversation, it's. This has been a colossal failure for PlayStation. Like a colossal. Like the, the timeline where they said let's just keep pushing. Like let's keep making the things that were. That we're known for or let's, let's allow our studios to do the things that we know they're good at. Let's have Blue Point make another remake. Let's have, you know, forget Last was online. Let's just have Naughty Dog work on the thing. Like this generation, as far as Sony, First Party would look completely different.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

It was the ballooning costs, the extended timelines, the games that they knew were making money weren't making enough money to justify all of that. They said, okay, well we got to start adding things in here that are going to make us money. And the market is dictating it's these live service multiplayer games. We got to get in that. And then it's like, oh well, our fans don't want that. And we've done too many of those now and we're failing at those now. We got to go back to these which are now taking even longer to get to. And the ones that we have, they're coming out but they're not going to do enough to save all of this.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Colossal mistake.

[Mike]

Colossal.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Like colossal mistake.

[Mike]

Yeah. Very upsetting. Yeah.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Okay.

[Mike]

This hurts me.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

70. 70 person studio. Our hearts go out to them.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

So talented. I hope everybody does figure it out. Lands on the feet one month, it says.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Do you see a move of what does anybody acquire this team?

[Mike]

No.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

This dissolves and it's over.

[Mike]

I think so, yeah.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Wow.

[Mike]

I don't. I. I think if we were coming off of a Blue Point, they just put out a game that everybody's talking about that everybody loves and everybody's confused about why this happening, all this stuff. Right. If it was the crap, the hi Fi Rush story with Tango gameworks, then maybe there'd be, maybe there'd be an outcry of like, man, somebody do something, somebody save them. But to your point, I think with Blue Point, you're, you're, you don't have an IP that comes with that. You don't have a proven like Blue Point success outside of the remix. And so I think if you're buying that studio, you're then looking at your previous catalog going, all right, we'll buy the studio to remake something. I just don't know if any of those publishers, at least not, not any are coming to mind immediately. I don't think there's as many companies that exist that are like, we have this back catalog that we want you to, that we're going to acquire you to go back and remake these old games.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Especially when to take on a 70 person team. 70 person team, 3 years minimum to get this out. Right.

[Mike]

Because a lot of these companies don't fuck with remakes and ports and stuff, right? You look at the analytics and they look at that and they're going to go, ah, it's not going to sell. Yeah, like, that's the sad thing about this. I love ports. I love remakes. In fact, one of my hot takes for the Hot take episode that I didn't do was that I want more ports in remakes and shit. But financially, yeah, these companies look at that and they're like, ah, I don't know if that's gonna cut it for us. Well, we want the new. You know, people are gonna show up and buy the new. We want something that's going to be sequelized. We want something that's going to be a franchise. Ah, this hurts. But hopefully I would love for that to happen, Mike. I just don't know who.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah, wild breaking news, right?

[Mike]

Yeah, super wild breaking news. Let's hop in.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Don't forget PlayStation. They're gonna, they're gonna monetize you for your PlayStation.

[Mike]

Don't forget that. P.S. plus price. I give you T minus T minus six months before we're talking about that going up. Gary the Third says y' all not ready to have the talk that the PlayStation 5 gen has been a generational fumble. Sony winning the PS4 gen led them to not caring anymore. This sucks. I mean, I feel like I kind of just talked about it, right?

[Blessing Addy Jr]

I think you just said that.

[Mike]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, like, I think it's a weird thing. I think there's a separation for us as people, as media, press, whatever you want to call us, who are in the know versus, I think the general consumer. Where if I was somebody who just bought a PS5 to play games, then I. I don't know if I could tell that person that, like, everything's right now. Because, yeah, you, you just bought, you just played clear, obscure and then all these different games.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Wolverine's in six months and you're like, you're right.

[Mike]

Yeah. Like, from the consumer side, video games are still great. Right. And I don't really understand as many people that are like, man, there's nothing to play, let's nope games or whatever. It's like, no, there's more than enough games. But if you pay attention to the industry and like the people that work in the industry, that's where shit's really fucking. That's where for sure, I think PlayStation, Xbox, Ubisoft, EA, like, they've all failed their employees. Like, they've all failed the people that have worked for them. BG25,800 writes and says Bloodborne would have sold 10 million copies minimum. Bloodborne, I think, is the most guaranteed success. And I think it'll forever boggle my mind of why you wouldn't just let Blue Point do it.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

There's got to be a weird story behind that. Like, there's going to be a story out there. There's no question that there wasn't a conversation in a boardroom many of times about that.

[Mike]

I.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

That that conversation had to come up so many times. And there has to be some weird reason why they were like, you know what? Yeah, now's not the time.

[Mike]

My headcanon has always been that PlayStation doesn't want to, like, upset Fromsoft and Miyazaki as far as taking something that they made and like having another studio work on it and kind of have having their own artistic interpretations of it. Because, like, I think demon souls might have sparked some things. I think demon souls might have brought up a thing of like, oh, Fromsoft didn't really love that kind of stuff. So if that's the case, I think PlayStation is like, well, we don't want to tip them, tick them off, because we want to maybe acquire them someday or we want to do something, we want to work with them and have exclusives do whatever. All that said, if it comes down to we don't want to maybe ruffle the feathers of Miyazaki or we want to have Blue Point make something that's going to make them like, I should have done that. One of our premier studios. I would go with let's. Let's lean On Blue Point. Yeah. Let Blue Point do the thing. Because you're saying 10 million copies. I think so. More. I think. I think Bloodborne remake would be such a guaranteed success.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

That game is trapped blessed.

[Mike]

Trapped insane shots. Alai 909 says, Didn't Bluepoint not want to be a remake studio? Who knows when they said they're working on original content? 99 sure. That they're referring to the God of war multiplayer thing.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah.

[Mike]

And in that case, do you want to be the God of war multiplayer studio? Like, I. I don't think there's any shame in being, quote unquote, the remake studio, especially when you're the best ones at doing remakes. And I'll forever stand by that if you're the best at something. If nobody's making remakes as good as you do. Yeah, people can call me the remake studio, but like, hey, I made The Shadow Colossus 2018 remake and the 2020 Demon Souls remake. Like, who. Who the fuck is touching me? That's where I'm at when it comes to Blue Point. I'm fired up. I'm sorry. I'll calm down.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

You should be fired up. I mean, this is a big piece of news that we'll be talking about for the rest of the week and into next week. I'm sure

[Mike]

we'll do one more super chat and then we'll move on. Oh man, we're so late in the show. Yeah, we'll do one more super chat. Blessed with a curse. 59 says, RIP Blue Point. We' getting bloodborne remake now. Which echoes what you said.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah, Mike.

[Mike]

Trapped Insane. Mike, we just talked about a whole lot of big news. But if I wanted something smaller, say the tiniest news I needed to know about, where would I go?

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Plus, I take you to our last news story, the Wii News Channel, where we cover all the small news items you need to know about.

[Mike]

Story number five is getting demoted to Wii News. Nintendo surprises fans with a Switch 2 edition of Xenoblade Chronicles X and it's out today. Shout out Andy Robinson at VGC for the article that I was gonna read. I'll read a little bit of it. It is. Has been announced today. The Switch 2 version of the RPG is now available to purchase on the Eshop, with a physical version coming later on April 16th. Players who already own the Switch 1 version of the Definitive Edition can upgrade for $5.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah, this is a game that I will always want to play and always dream of myself playing. And then I know it's like oh, this is 100 plus hours. Yeah, I don't know. Have that.

[Mike]

Yeah. One day.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

That dog in me.

[Mike]

One day we'll get into Xenoblade Chronicles as a company.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

All right, all right.

[Mike]

But I don't think Xenoblade Chronicles X is going to be the one for you. Can we just make Nick do it? Can we please, dude, please make him get into it.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

We just say, nick, for the next month, you have to stream this game every day.

[Mike]

This is the one that we play. Yeah, Nick did play X specifically, which is funny. So he would. If we put Nick in a room with this game, he'd be like, oh, this is familiar to me. Ah, I've done this before. Did he do it? Did he actually play it? Yeah, I think. Right? I don't think so. I think. I thought we sent him to, like, do a preview or something.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

I thought that was Cisco. Yeah, Cisco was super excited Xenoblade guy, wasn't he?

[Mike]

But was that like a different Xenoblade? Because remember, this one is the one that they originally released on the Wii U in like, 2015 or something. And so, like, since then we've had Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and 3. More re news for you from VGC. Bungie has delayed Destiny 2's next major update by more than three months, just weeks before it was scheduled for release. Silence around the Shadow and order update, which was previously dated for March 3, had led many players to suspect that a delay could be on the cards. From Mobile Syrup. Ubisoft is laying off 40 employees at its Toronto studio. The company has confirmed to Mobile Syrup. The company added that Ubisoft Toronto is still working on the remake of the original Splinter Cell game, which was announced in December 2021. Again, we're all. All these companies are colossally failing their employees.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Oh.

[Mike]

From game developer NetEase, own studio Spliced Inc. Is seemingly preparing to make layoffs. LinkedIn posts from a number of employees indicate the studio has commenced a redundancy process and informed workers their roles may be at risk. Let's switch the vibe. Hello. Mario is now available on Switch and mobile devices. Bluey's Quest for the Gold Pen launches May 28 for Xbox, PS4, PS5, Switch 1 and 2, and PC. People of Note launches April 7 on Xbox, PS5, Switch 2 and PC. And Devil Daggers 2 is in development. Okay. For WE News.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

What a tough one. Bless. Yeah, what a tough one. You know, layoffs continue. Corporations continue to make more money. Yeah, not Elvin.

[Mike]

Listen, we got T minus. How long until The PS plus prices probably go up, man. Let's hop into your wrong. Were you right in? Let us know what we got wrong as we got it wrong. Oh, interesting. Christopher Judge has responded to that recording. Oh my God.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

No way.

[Mike]

Hold on. We'll see. Let me see.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Stop it. He put out a statement.

[Mike]

I got Twitter. Loading. All right, here we go. This is from at hold on, let me double check. Make sure this is the real Christopher Judge because you can never trust Twitter nowadays. They fucked up the whole check mark process. Okay? This person has 271,000 followers. They claim to be Christopher Judge.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

OK? They claim to be.

[Mike]

This looks like his official account.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Okay.

[Mike]

He says, let me be crystal clear. I have zero involvement with the original games and what they involve, full stop. As much as I would love. As much as I would love that everything I do in the future would involve Sony Santa Monica and God of War, I have other projects that I am super excited about. More info this summer. Okay, so I think. I think that's him saying that he's not talking about Sony Santa Monica. I'm talking about my own personal projects.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Well then you can't say that. If we rewind the clip, everything you just said, you can't say that. That's not the response.

[Mike]

I don't. Here's what I think.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Insane.

[Mike]

I don't think. I think he's lying.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Exactly.

[Mike]

I think this is him trying to backpedal. I just getting some Stargate stuff and I'm pretty excited about that. That's so funny. Who knows what's going on here. But there's your word from Christopher Judge. Let's see here. Sigma Snap says bless said that Marathon was part of the Sony Live service push when it was in development. Well before Sony purchased Bun. Well before Sony's purchase of Bungee. Similar to the Helldivers 2 example, it likely could have found success with Sony. Here's the thing. Why do you think Sony bought Bungie? It's because the Live service push.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

I'm gonna start that live service push. They were gonna be the captains.

[Mike]

They were the captains of it.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Yeah, they were gonna be. They're gonna be the mentors, the captains.

[Mike]

They were.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

They were put on and brought in for a reason.

[Mike]

And I don't think that relates to Helldivers too. I. If you remember, Helldivers 1 was a PlayStation exclusive game. If I. If I recall correctly, maybe you're wrong me. If I'm wrong about that, I'm pretty sure hell divers one was PlayStation. But in fact I can look this up. I can look this up. Helldivers1.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Do you worry for Bungie, say Marathon doesn't hit?

[Mike]

I worry for every video game developer right now.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Like, they're watching this. Do we worry for Bungie if marathon doesn't here?

[Mike]

Helldivers 1 was published by Sony Computer Entertainment, so, yes. I don't think Helldivers 2 was part of the Sony live service push because I think that without that push, that would have happened anyway. I think Bungie's acquisition was explicitly part of that push.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

So,

[Mike]

yeah, if marathon doesn't do well,

[Blessing Addy Jr]

yeah, Marathon comes out, flops, doesn't get the traction it needs. It's not an arc raiders. It's a come out. There's 10,000 concurrence. Five thousands. But like, it's bungee in a bad way.

[Mike]

Yes. But also, do you think marathon is going to flop that bad?

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Blessing? I don't know.

[Mike]

Mm.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

I don't know. I think arc Raiders was very special. I think arc raiders put on something that was much different than what Bungie and marathon was bringing. And I think that game needed a big retooling if it was going to capture what our creators captured. And I don't think it's gonna. I don't think that marathon has it like that to capture the mass audience like what we just saw from arc Raiders.

[Mike]

Yeah, I mean, what was the. The quote from Cliff Bleszinski that we quoted a few episodes ago that we don't really agree with? There's everything can have every category of games. There's three, right? There's three games that can fit. And so, like, we're saying that there's three battle royales. It is pub.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

What?

[Mike]

Or it is Fortnite, Apex, and I guess pubg.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Right.

[Mike]

Those are the three. If there are three extraction shooters, maybe it could be arc Raiders, Escape from Tarkov, Marathon. Okay, Merit, I can be the third one.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Be the third.

[Mike]

But no, I don't think it's gonna be as big as our creators.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

We're gonna see it very soon.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

We'll find out.

[Mike]

That is it for your wrong and that is it for this episode of kind of funny games. Daily got dark, you know, got a little bit. Got sad there.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

You know what the breaking news turned. Turned on and all of a sudden got real dark. Yeah, right.

[Mike]

Yeah. Shout out to everybody watching live. Shout out to the super chats that we weren't able to get to. I'll bring in this one last one from Zeke Speak. Who says I don't know y' all I think Marathon has the juice. Not arc raiders level. But the hype is rising. And that's where I'm at.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

The hype is rising.

[Mike]

The hype is rising for Marathon.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Question will be, do they have the juice? That's right. Does it have it. Does it have the staying power?

[Mike]

Will people. I. I think people will be there. Day one. Will people be there?

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Correct.

[Mike]

Month two.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

What. What. What is the staying power?

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

What is the sales as well, because we just saw arc raiders with an insane sales number.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Will this have that?

[Mike]

I mean, no. But I don't think PlayStation can expect that though. Our creators is like, that's a special success right there.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Well, I mean, you can meet in the middle and still not be good enough though. Below our.

[Mike]

Here's what I'll say. Marathon could sell 5 million in the first month and PlayStation can still fucking shut down. Bungie. Like, I don't think it matters. Like it doesn't matter anymore. We're in a world where none of it matters.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

None of it.

[Mike]

Protect your loved ones. Hug your friends. I don't know. Do all that good stuff. This has been kind of funny. Games daily. Where each and every weekday we get together and talk about the biggest news in video games. If you love what we do, support us with the kind of funny membership on Patreon or YouTube to get our shows ad free and get a daily exclusive show. Enjoy Gamescast next. Which is gonna be our Pokemon Day 2026 predictions. And enjoy.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Give me a little teaser one because I'm not on it.

[Mike]

Let me tell you. I barely have ones going in. Okay, I'll give you a tease.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

I'm so excited.

[Mike]

Hold on. Let me open up my dog.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Pokemon day. This is a big deal, man. That commercial with Lady Gaga has been a ton of fun to watch. Just thinking of the 30th anniversary. What's up?

[Mike]

I said changes might be happening.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Oh, okay. Maybe they're talking about Blue Point some more. Who knows? But like, for real, on the real. I'm so excited for this. Celebrating 30 years. That logo is classic and awesome. I love seeing that. What's up?

[Mike]

You give us one prediction. This is what I'll do. Craziest one.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

You ready for this crazy one for Pokemon Day 30th anniversary for the big one. They're gonna show you the next gen starters.

[Mike]

I mean, I don't think that's that crazy. I don't think that's that. I think we'll. I think we'll see more than that.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

You think we'll See the game.

[Mike]

Yeah, I hope to see the game.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

I didn't think we're gonna see the game.

[Mike]

No, no. I have written down here the words Pokemon pinball. That's all I'll give you.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Like an actual pinball machine?

[Mike]

No, because they just announced it, actually.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Okay.

[Mike]

I'm saying the Pokemon pinball video game. Oh, yeah. That was hot in the streets back in the day.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

I like that.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Pokemon Unite gets a bunch of updates.

[Mike]

Yes, that will happen. Maybe new Pokemon shirts. I try to figure out what the last update was. The Pokemon shirts. And I couldn't figure it out.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Pokemon shirt.

[Mike]

You remember Pokemon shirts? They had like a bunch of different button ups and it was like one for each Pokemon in the Pokedex. But I forget if that was just the original 150 or they went past that. If they've not gone past that, then I'm gonna say we get the Johto shirts and I'll be able to wear my little Totodile shirt.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

That'd be sick.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Total deserves more. Love always.

[Mike]

Come on. That's my guy.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Always.

[Mike]

I was thinking about my starting six. We got to get out of here. Until next time, game D. Close your eyes. Exhale.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Feel your body relax.

[Mike]

And let go of whatever you're carrying today. Well, I'm letting go of the worry that I wouldn't get my new contacts in time for this class. I got them delivered free from 1-800-contacts. Oh my gosh. They're so fast.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

And breathe. Oh, sorry.

[Mike]

I almost couldn't breathe when I saw the discount they gave me on my first order. Oh, sorry. Namaste. Visit 1-800-contacts.com today to save on your first order. 1-800-contacts lifelock. How can I help? The IRS said I filed my return, but I haven't.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

One in four tax paying Americans has paid the price of identity fraud.

[Mike]

What do I do?

[Blessing Addy Jr]

My refund though.

[Mike]

I'm freaking out.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

Don't worry, I can fix this. Lifelock fixes identity theft guaranteed and gets your money back with up to $3 million in coverage.

[Mike]

I'm so relieved.

[Blessing Addy Jr]

No problem. I'll be with you every every step of the way. One in four was a fraud paying American. Not anymore. Save up to 40 your first year. Visit lifelock.com podcast terms apply.