Prince of Persia Remake CANCELLED!! - Kinda Funny Games Daily 01.21.26

Summary

Kinda Funny Games Daily: Prince of Persia Remake CANCELLED!!

Episode Date: January 21, 2026
Hosts: Greg Miller, Matt Kim (Guest), Barrett Courtney
Main Theme: Major upheaval at Ubisoft – including the cancellation of the long-awaited Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake – and broader discussions about industry trends, game adaptations, and company strategies.

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Episode Overview

This episode kicks off 2026 with massive industry news: Ubisoft’s cancellation of six games, notably the long-delayed Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake. Host Greg Miller is joined by journalist Matt Kim for an in-depth analysis of Ubisoft’s restructuring, the corporate context behind these decisions, and their wider implications for gaming. They also discuss game cancellations, speculation about Ubisoft's future (including Tencent's growing influence), and field listener reactions. Other news includes a Donkey Kong Country Returns HD update, the recasting of Chloe in the upcoming Life Is Strange Reunion, the God of War TV show’s casting, and updates on Marathon and ZeniMax’s canceled MMO “Project Blackbird.”

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Ubisoft Cancellations & Prince of Persia Remake

[04:21–24:48]

• Breaking News: Ubisoft has canceled Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake, plus five other unannounced projects—three of which are new IPs, and one a mobile title. Seven other projects are delayed.
• Context: The remake had a troubled development cycle: announced in 2020 with Indian studios Ubisoft Pune and Mumbai, negative fan reaction, multiple hand-offs between Ubisoft Montreal and Ubisoft Toronto, and frequent delays.
• Official Reason: Ubisoft says ongoing work “would have required more time and investment than we could reasonably commit,” and reiterates the desire not to “release something that fell short of what the Sands of Time represents.”
  ["While the project had real potential, we weren't able to reach the level of quality you deserve..." — Ubisoft Dev Team, 08:11]
• Industry Insight:
  • Matt calls it “continued kicks to the shins that Ubisoft has been kind of taking for the past couple of years.” – [09:34]
  • Greg and Matt agree it’s “bad news bears” for true fans. The show notes that five other unannounced games—possibly including single-player or non–games-as-a-service experiences—were likely seen as less profitable.
• Speculation:
  • Listeners ask if Ubisoft is trimming down for a corporate sale, possibly to Tencent. Greg references Tencent’s billion-euro investment in Vantage Studios (the Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, Rainbow Six division).
  • “You really get down to what the fuck is happening. And clearly they have to be building it up to sell it,” Greg speculates. [11:05]
  • Matt wonders if Tencent’s partnership allows them to “quietly shutter or sell” non-core franchises and focus on big evergreen IPs.
  • Rumored projects possibly affected: Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Remake, Beyond Good and Evil 2, Splinter Cell Remake.
• Fan Perspective:
  • The hosts lament the time—six years!—and multiple studios invested in the Prince remake. They wish smaller studios (like Saber or Embracer) would acquire dormant IPs to find realistic success.
  • “Ubisoft needs double digit profit…a nice little linear remake of Prince of Persia is not going to generate that.” — Greg [18:50]

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2. Ubisoft's Business Moves & Company Health

[12:52–24:00]

• Tencent’s Influence: Vantage Studios, with Tencent’s 26% stake, now controls the crown jewels. Continuing speculation about an eventual Ubisoft sale, possibly piecemeal—echoing Square Enix’s strategic restructuring.
• Games-as-a-Service Focus:
  • Ubisoft explicitly says it's “return[ing] to exceptional quality on Open World Adventure” and wants to “step change…in the Games as a Service Native Experiences segment.” [12:01]
  • Matt worries that future Ubisoft games will chase the “continuous revenue” model, leaving single-player experiences behind.
• Project Management Challenges:
  • Matt highlights the turmoil caused by shifting Prince of Persia between studios, draining talent and focus from other key franchises (e.g., Assassin's Creed).
  • “It’s a real failure of management that the project ended up the way that it did [with Prince of Persia Remake].” – Matt [20:59]
• Broader Concerns:
  • Greg: “This feels like the world’s slowest car crash…every time you see a business story come out of Ubisoft, it's never a good thing.” [23:12]
  • Both sympathize with dev teams, who must feel continual exhaustion amid constant pivots and looming layoffs.

Memorable Quotes

• “It's just, it's bad and it feels really sorta like, I don't know… you immediately feel bad for this project… and then you really worry about Ubisoft and their future.” – Matt Kim [09:34]
• “If the company that shipped Skull and Bones is telling you that they canceled the game for quality reasons, it's easy to assume that game must have been pretty fucking bad.” – Citing Jeff Gerstmann [16:31]

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3. Donkey Kong Country Returns HD Update

[25:02–37:17]

• What’s New: Free update adds Dixie Kong (playable with unique moves), two-player co-op, “Turbo Attack” mode, and higher-def graphics for Switch 2.
• Fan Response: Barrett Courtney, the Kinda Funny Donkey Kong superfan, shares strong opinions (“I want the Tropical Freeze update!”).
• Nintendo’s Strategy: Hosts baffled that “Tropical Freeze” (widely seen as the superior DK game) hasn’t received the same upgrade, nor has Donkey Kong 64 been revisited. General praise for Switch 2’s “premium” feel and accessible game library.
  • “I've really fallen in love with my Switch 2. It's just… the better version of the Switch.” — Matt [34:53]

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4. Life is Strange Reunion – Chloe Not Recast

[37:18–39:39]

• News: Ashley Burch, original Chloe voice actor, will NOT reprise her role; Rihanna De Vries returns, as in "Before the Storm."
• Community Reaction: Greg and Matt note the series has survived cast changes before, and that the games' “music and acting” have always been a strong suit.
  • “You can tell the team really likes working on the games and I should play them.” — Matt [39:32]

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5. God of War TV Series Casts New Kratos

[39:40–43:17]

• Casting Announcement: Ryan Hurst will play Kratos. Christopher Judge (game Kratos) publicly supports him:
  • “All I wanted…was that they love, cherish and respect Kratos as much as we do. Judge said… With Ryan Hurst, they have done that. It's a magnificent choice.” [41:07]
• Cautious Optimism: Fallout’s success on Prime Video raises hopes for quality, but Greg warns of budget constraints hampering effects-heavy adaptations.

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6. Crimson Desert Goes Gold

[43:18–46:28]

• Big Surprise: Pearl Abyss’s ambitious RPG Crimson Desert is actually ready, launching March 19, 2026.
• Preview Impressions: Matt has played several demos and always left impressed, noting it’s much closer to The Witcher than another Souls-like (“I want to do this because it always drives me nuts… it's not a souls game.” — Matt [45:39]).

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7. Industry Trends: Marathon & Game Funding

[46:29–51:03]

• Former art director Joseph Cross (Bungie):
  • Questions whether the era of unproven, big-budget games like Marathon is over:
    • “How much longer are things like this going to exist?” [48:15]
  • Suggests vaulting creative risks and sky-high funding may become rare; games increasingly need known IP or early access funding models, not long gestations.
• Marathon (Extraction Shooter):
  • Preorder numbers are strong (top 10 on Steam), but the challenge is retaining that audience after launch.

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8. Project Blackbird (Zenimax MMO) Footage Leaks

[51:04–55:23]

• Canceled Game: Footage emerges from Zenimax Online’s axed sci-fi MMO, “Project Blackbird,” scrapped in mid-2025 during Microsoft’s layoffs.
• Personal Anguish: Former president Matt Firor called Blackbird “the game I had waited my entire career to create,” resigning after the cancellation.
  • “That’s a level of dedication…you don’t hear publicly.” — Matt [54:52]
• Aftershocks: Some ex-devs formed “Sackbird Studios” to preserve creative independence.

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9. Rapid-Fire News ('Wii News Channel')

[55:24–58:43]

• Fortnite teased an Office crossover.
• Far Cry 3 (plus Blood Dragon & Primal) get 60FPS patches for PS5/Xbox Series.
• Occult Horror Deckbuilder: The Killing Stone launches Feb 18.
• Enshrouded 1.0 will hit autumn 2026, with positive streamer buzz.
• Note: Metroid Prime producer Kensuke Tanabe announces retirement. [60:43]

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• “This feels like the world's slowest car crash…” — Greg [23:12]
• “It's a real failure of management that the project ended up the way that it did.” — Matt on Prince of Persia Remake [20:59]
• “Ubisoft needs double digit returns...a nice little linear remake of Prince of Persia is not going to generate that.” — Greg [18:50]
• “I feel tired from the outside looking in. Imagine… having to work there every day.” — Matt, on Ubisoft devs [24:48]
• “There's something really pleasant about the softness of the Switch 2's plastic and its buttons and joysticks. Velvety.” — Matt [36:13]
• “If the company that shipped Skull and Bones is telling you that they canceled the game for quality reasons, it's easy to assume that game must have been pretty fucking bad.” — Jeff Gerstman, cited [16:31]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:43–03:22 | Guest Intro: Matt Kim’s games journalism journey
• 04:21–24:48 | Top Story: Ubisoft’s mass cancellations & company strategy
• 25:02–37:17 | Donkey Kong News: DK Country Returns HD update
• 37:18–39:39 | Life is Strange Reunion: Casting change for Chloe
• 39:40–43:17 | God of War TV: New Kratos and adaptation hopes
• 43:18–46:28 | Crimson Desert: Gold status and genre comparisons
• 46:29–51:03 | Marathon & Funding: Trends in AAA game investments
• 51:04–55:23 | Project Blackbird: Zenimax’s canceled MMO and dev fallout
• 55:24–58:43 | Wii News Channel: Fortnite x Office, Far Cry patches, more

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Listener Questions & Superchats

• Who might acquire Ubisoft? – speculation about Tencent and piecemeal sales [11:05–14:46]
• Is Beyond Good and Evil 2 canceled? – likely, no official word [15:26]
• Advice for aspiring news show creators: "For a long time the shows you make are going to be trash. ... Just get going." — Greg [59:26]

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Final Thoughts

The episode paints a sobering portrait of modern AAA publishing: relentless corporate pressure, live service pivot, and creative casualties. The canceled Prince of Persia remake becomes a lens through which to view broader shifts—fewer risks, legacy IP consolidation, and rising anxiety for both devs and fans.

Despite this, the hosts also find joy in smaller stories (DK’s return, cozy indie gaming on Switch 2), and remain cautiously optimistic about new adaptations and original games able to break through.

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Summary by Kinda Funny Games Daily Summarizer – stay tuned, and #SavePrinceOfPersia

Transcript

[A]

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If your identity is stolen, our restoration specialists will fix it, guaranteed or your money back.

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Resolve to make identity, health and wealth part of your new Year's goals. With Lifelock, save up to 40% your first year. Visit lifelock.com podcast terms apply.

[C]

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

[A]

News you need to know about. Ubisoft pulls the plug on the Prince of the Sands of Time remake and five other games. Ashley Burch isn't Chloe in the New Life is Strange and Barrett's Donkey Kong dreams are coming true. Well, of all this and more because this is kind of funny. Games Daily. What's up, everybody? Welcome to Kinda Funny Games daily for Wednesday, January 21, 2026. I'm one of your hosts, Greg Miller alongside. I wrote it all out here. Writer, editor, video host, Matt Kim. Hello, Matt.

[D]

Hi. Hello. Thanks for having me on.

[A]

Thanks for coming through, man. How you doing?

[D]

I'm doing well. I'm doing good. This is a long time coming. You actually invited me a couple years ago and then you tracked me down at a show and you're like, why have you not responded to any of my emails about coming on the show? And I was like, what emails? And then I went home and they were all in the spam folder. They were all in the spam folder.

[A]

That's a true story, everybody. That's a true story. Matt Kim, of course, the reason I tracked you down, the reason I sent all those emails is because I love your work. Matt Kim is an incredibly talented reporter. If you didn't know for some reason. Of course, most people probably know your byline from ign, but he worked there for six plus years.

[D]

Yeah, long time.

[A]

Then they booted you out in August.

[D]

It's all right. Happens.

[A]

Yeah, it does happen. That's what we're doing a whole gamescast about, being laid off in the games industry, the game media thing. But you are back on the scene here.

[D]

Yes.

[A]

You got laid off and you said, you know what, I'm gonna chill out.

[D]

Yes.

[A]

I'm gonna reflect.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

I'm gonna move.

[D]

I'm gonna move. Yeah. Which is very chill and very reflective. If you've got. You've moved, you've moved.

[A]

I've moved once or twice. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[D]

It's awesome. No one gets upset when there's no stress. There's no stress. It's super cool and you don't feel like you want to die every day.

[A]

So, Matt, what's up right now for people who are going to. I'm sure I'll come and watch this on the gamescast and hear about where you're at and what's going on, but for right now, we're pushing people to matt kimwrites.com.

[D]

Yes. Well, I mean, well, that's not really a website. It's like, I know a lot of other writers in my position have, like, substacks and like, newsletters and things like that. Matt Kimwrites.com is not any of this. It's actually just a portfolio. So if you are just curious about what I've done for the last six years, like, this is a good. Hey, there it is. Yeah, it's a good place to go and just check out some of my favorite articles that I've ever written. But other than that. Yeah, but again, it's not like, don't go there for updates or for breaking news or anything like that.

[A]

It's not socials for that.

[D]

Exactly.

[C]

Right.

[D]

Like, I'm still. I'm just. I'm primarily on social media and I'm primarily just sort of looking around and I'm doing a little freelance work here and there, but other than that, it's. I'm laying low. Okay. And it's nice.

[A]

Okay. Are you going to come back? Are you okay?

[D]

This is me coming back.

[A]

Okay, cool. I didn't know. Maybe this is a retirement tour. I'm never sure what's started.

[D]

The comeback tour.

[A]

Oh, damn. Okay. Okay. Okay. Then what I like to do for people who are coming in and maybe the audience doesn't know them.

[D]

Favorite game of all time, Bloodborne.

[A]

Oh, you want these sickos?

[C]

Okay.

[D]

I really. Well, so I started with Demon Souls, and if you asked me, then Demon Souls would have been my favorite game of all time. And I played Dark Souls and then Dark Souls would have been my favorite game of all time. And then I played Bloodborne. It sort of held the number one spot. Although I did just finish Sekiro like, a year ago, like, fully for the first time. And so I don't know. Sekiro is like, definitely top three, I think. Bloodborne, Dark Souls, Sekiro for the Fromsoft games. Like, I have other favorite games.

[A]

And then what about last year? Game of the Year.

[D]

Last year's Game of the Year is.

[A]

It you'd be boring and just say expedition or you got something fun?

[D]

I didn't play Expedition. I got to play. Hold on. I do have an answer. What was my oh, Death Stranding 2.

[A]

Oh all right. Hell yeah. Fuck yeah. Like that one a lot.

[D]

Loved it. So good.

[A]

Well Matt, we have no time to waste because of course this is kind of funny. Games Daily we run you through the nerdy video game news you know about each and every weekday and it's a banger episode. Remember, if you're watching right now, we need you to be super chatting YouTube.com kindafunnygames to be part of the show with your super chats telling us what you think about all these Ubisoft games getting canceled, the fact you'll never play Prince of Persia remake, and all of the other news stories we have coming your way. And of course reminder, we couldn't do this without our Patreon producer over on patreon.com kindafunny so thank you Carl Jacobs, Omega Buster and Delaney the Psalm Twining for now, let's begin with what is and forever will be the Roper Report. For some new eight items on the Roper Report Baker's Dozen we start with a gigantic report from VGC's Chris Scullion. Prince of the Sands of Time Remake Canceled Ubisoft has announced that it has cancelled six games currently in development, including its remake of Prince of the Sands of Time, and delayed seven others as part of a larger announcement that is conducting a major organizational, operational and portfolio reset. The company also stated that it had conducted a thorough review of its content pipeline over the past two months. The review led to the decision to refocus its portfolio, reallocate resources, and comprehensively revise its roadmap over the next three years. Ubisoft said its focus will be on a return to exceptional levels of quality on the Open World Adventure segment and to step change the group's position in the Games as a Service Native Experiences segment. As a result of this, Ubisoft says it has discontinued six games that it felt do not meet the new enhanced quality as well as more selective portfolio prioritization criteria. This means the Prince of the Sands of Time remake has been canceled, as well as four unannounced titles, including three new IPs and a mobile title. The identity of the sixth game has not been clarified. Ubisoft also announced it was delaying seven other games to, quote, ensure enhanced quality benchmarks are fully met. This includes the unannounced title initially planned for FY, that's fiscal year Matt 26, ending March 2026, and has been delayed to fiscal year 27. It has been believed for some time that the unannounced title in question is the long reported but not yet confirmed remake of Assassin's Creed Black Flag, especially given that a listing for Assassin's Creed Black Flag resynced appeared on Peggy's website last month. In a statement posted on the official Prince of Persia account on X, the game's development team explained the decision to cancel it. Quote to the Prince of Persia community, we want to share with you directly. We've made the difficult decision to stop development of Prince of the Sands of Time remake. We know this is deeply disappointing. The game carries enormous meaning for our fans and for the teams who worked on it. While the project had real potential, we weren't able to reach the level of quality you deserve and continued. I'm sorry. And continuing work would have required more time and investment than we could reasonably commit, and we didn't want to release something that fell short of what the Sands of Time represents. Prince of Persia as a universe and a legacy continues to matter deeply to us, and this decision does not mean we're stepping away from the franchise. Thank you for your passion, patience and love for Prince of Persia, Matt. The story continues to go. I have a giant section highlighted in red because this is where the Chief Financial officer, Frederick Douguet, I would say, comes in and starts using all the business speak, just the business and back flips to get through all of this information. I left it in red. If you need the business speak, Matt, you let me know it's there for you.

[D]

I'm good, I'm good.

[A]

Okay, great. Then let me just give you these couple paragraphs for context, in case you haven't been following the Prince of Persia remake because it's batshit crazy. When it was announced in September 2020, the Prince of Persia, the Sands of Time remake had been in development for two and a half years at Indian studios Ubisoft Poon, right? Yeah, and Ubisoft Mumbai and was planned for release in January 2021. Remember, this was going to come out in January 2021 when it was announced following a negative reaction to the game's reveal trailer. However, it was delayed several times and in 2023 it was announced that Ubisoft Montreal, which made 2003's original Sands of Time, had taken over the development duties. The remake was then given a 2026 release window with Ubisoft stating in 2024 that its Toronto studio, Far Cry 5 Watch Dogs Legion, had come aboard to collaborate with Ubisoft Montreal on the project last year. It clarified that it was set to release by the end of the current financial year. Meaning before today's announcement, players were expecting this to Release sometime before March 2026. Yeah. And as soon as last week. Right. The rumor was it was going to be out like on Friday. Yeah, Roger was expecting it on Friday.

[D]

Yeah. Surprise drop after, after one of the showcases and just right there, the long wait's over. But now the long wait will never end.

[A]

It's a never ending wait. Where do you want to come at it, Matt Kim?

[D]

Well, I mean it. It's hard to see this news as anything but the sort of continued, I guess like kicks to the shins that Ubisoft has been kind of taking for the past couple of years. And it just, and it feels it's. Yeah, it's a lot.

[A]

Right.

[D]

Because beyond just Prince of Persia, it's like five other games were canceled that we don't know about, plus a bunch of delays for other games that they haven't announced. Like it's bad news bears, right?

[A]

Yep, 100%.

[D]

I'm, you know, and like I forgot about everything you said about the like when it was initially announced. Plus I completely forgot there was even a trailer and that there was a negative. Like all of this is just like it's been.

[A]

Can we see that original trailer? Baron, I think you might have. You ran the candle one at one. I was reading. I know, but if we can get back to the Original trailer from September 2020 when they said you're going to play in January. And didn't they delay if memory serves, didn't they like it was like in January 2020 or I'm sorry, 2021 when they delayed it. It was like we were close. We were very, very close to that game coming out. If memory serves, before is.

[D]

Is I don't I. Okay, like vaguely remember this and you know, and it's just like the journey this game went through and it's just, it's just, it's bad and it feels really sort of like. I don't know, you worry on the one hand you immediately you feel bad about this project that people were really excited for and then on the whole you kind of worry really about Ubisoft in their future and the long term thing about that. But it's hard to conceptualize exactly what to think about and just this early on, just because this news broke this morning.

[A]

Oh, of course. Over in the super chats, Foxy Steve super chats and says happy hump day. So Ubisoft, that dot.it still seems like they're trimming down for a sale. Who could possibly pick up the best entity? Who would possibly be the best entity to pick them up? That's what I look at it here as well. When we're talking about Ubisoft and we're talking about them floundering this way, we're spinning off our IPs over here. We're putting them in their own group. We're doing this here and there. You really get down to what the fuck is happening. And clearly they have to be building it up to sell it, I would assume still. And that's why you're like, we're going to cancel all these games that are just read on the books.

[D]

Right.

[A]

We're going to get really, really, really lean. So you are just buying Assassin's Creed, Splinter Cell ip. I worry as a fan about what the fuck the Division 3 is and if we'll ever see that.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Because that also strikes me as one. You go, I don't know if we're going to keep that around.

[D]

If we go there, I mean, and there is. And you said really earlier and I have to find it. But there was that one businessy quote, you know, and to step change the group's position in the Games of Service native experiences segment. Right. Like it sounds like. It sounds like they are doubling down on Games of service.

[A]

Which speaks well to a degree to the division.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

But then also speaks to if you're trying to suck every last fucking dollar out of the Games of Service genre. That doesn't sound like a division I want to play. That doesn't sound like what I'm going to want to play.

[D]

And you know, again we can't like speculate about the other games but like given that this one was a single player, self enclosed sort of, you know, experience, you kind of have to wonder if the other games were, you know, in line with that. They were all maybe single player sort of like limited experiences. And they're like no, this won't generate the continuous revenue that we are seeking. So goodbye.

[A]

You know, I wonder and worry isn't the right one. I'm trying to get the actual article up from back in last year. Right. Yeah, here it is. I got it. Of course we are looking at Gamesindustry biz Published November 21, 2025 Ubisoft's 10 cent deal goes through the French publisher confirms a billion dollar investment advantage. When you start looking at Tencent, I wonder is that the idea too? Does Tencent buy up the rest of Ubisoft to take over a controlling share? They didn't want all of this stuff so they go there. Oh, and then I have a super chat about that already that just went through. I could have waited if I knew you were coming. I didn't know you were coming. If I knew you're coming I would have baked a cake. Baked a cake. David in super Chat says the 10 cent co venture with Ubisoft effectively controls Ubi at this point. The reason they do this is to avoid possible regulatory scrutiny with a full on merger may bring. This is happening all over now. Interesting. Now we're into the businessy business parts of it that I don't understand as well.

[D]

I mean. Yeah, I mean I guess that's, that's my question too. Cause I again I, I was in my laying low time when this, when the news broke so I was actually like not paying attention.

[A]

Got it. So do you know about this?

[D]

I'm vaguely aware but like so my understanding is that Tencent and Ubisoft are cooperating on this new venture that houses all of like Ubisoft's like big property.

[A]

Let me give you a couple paragraphs on it. This is from of course the features editor at gamesedistry Biz, Lewis Packwood. Ubisoft has announced the completion of Tencent sense 1.16 billion euro investment in Vantage Studios, the division in charge of Assassin's Creed, Far Cry and Rainbow Six franchises. Vantage Studios became operational Oct. 1 and includes Ubisoft's offices in Montreal, Quebec, Sherbrooke Senway, Barcelona, Sophia. Encompassing a total of 2300 employees following the completion of the deal, Tencent now holds a 26.32% stake in Vantage Studios, which remains controlled by Ubisoft. And so then what David is talking about is on a higher level of business that this is happening, but in reality it is Tencent pulling the strings.

[D]

Right, right. I mean I don't know like is there a. And I don't know this because I don't have an mba. Right. But is there a future where this is the, this is now the new Assassin's Creed, Far Cry stuff. Right. And then they sell Ubisoft I think 100%. Well I guess Tom Clancy, but even.

[A]

Then like well Rainbow six is over here and I think that's where it is. Right. All of that. So I guess I think 100% that's what happens is that they get to quietly shutter all that and. Or sell it.

[D]

And then.

[A]

Yeah. Sell off those IPs. And then. Yeah, this thing, Vantage Studios gets to stand on its own.

[D]

Right.

[A]

And carry the torch for whatever these things are. When we were coming in here, what we were getting into is the six canceled games and then the delay of these, delay of the seven other ones.

[D]

Right.

[A]

What else you think is canceled? What else thinks getting delayed. Where's beyond good and evil 3?

[D]

Beyond good and evil 3 is for sure one to cancel game? I don't know. I have no insider information. It is for sure, 100% castle. It's. Yeah. I have to imagine because that. When was the last time we saw that? Like 2019, 2018. I don't even remember.

[A]

Yeah, you're right. I don't know.

[D]

I think it was. I think E3 was still around when the last time I heard about Bianca.

[A]

I was going to say. Right. Yeah. Yeah. I think that was the big one.

[D]

And then that's for. As for delays. Right. Like I guess Assassin's Creed, Black Flag is the big one. That there. That is reportedly being delayed and I feel like that one is a pretty sure bet. And then I have to imagine.

[A]

Which again is crazy.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

When we were talking about all the, like these games felt imminent.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

It was the rumors of. Okay. Because what Tom Henderson. Right. Was saying that we were getting Prince of Persia maybe last week or whatever. Then it felt like Black Flag was all over the place and it's got. It got raided by Peggy. So we're like, oh, here it comes.

[D]

I was looking forward to it. I was really hoping to play it next month, but. And then I don't know. And there's like what, three other two or three other Assassin's Creed games in development. So I feel like maybe those are.

[A]

Probably Splinter Cell remake we're being reminded of. That shit's not dead. Sorry, Rock.

[B]

That's one of the cancel games for sure. Right.

[A]

Yeah. My favorite BS of the day. That's a Blue Sky Tim. Comes from Jeff Gerstman, who said if the company that shipped Skull and Bones is telling you that they canceled the game for quality reasons, it's easy to assume that game must have been pretty fucking bad.

[B]

I imagine if. And this, this first reply here also mentions this. I imagine if they had actual control in whether they could ship Skull and Bones or not, they would have canceled that game because of the. The Singapore.

[A]

Unless we forget that. Yeah. The Singapore government funded it and they Were like, this game's coming out. Whether you like it, this game is coming out. Yikes. So what do you think then? I. So let's. I never want to throw away the hard work of thousands of people.

[D]

Right.

[A]

This sucks for Prince of Persia fans for sure. But the litany of studios I just listed that almost had a For Persia game coming out, then we're told they didn't look good enough, then had it taken away from them, then a new studio, then other people came in to help. Like so much brain power and man hours went into trying to make this happen and it didn't happen. And that sucks. Yeah, I hate that. I hate that for the devs, obviously. What I think is an interesting angle to go with though comes from a super chat from Otmus Prime. Dormant franchises like Prince of Persia and Splinter Cell are doa. No matter how good they are, not enough people today care. Look at the Lost Crown, for example. Here is the one that is, you know, encapsulation of so much stuff I've said throughout the years, but especially recently. I feel like it's DOA for Ubisoft for these franchises when we're looking at this, you know, okay, Vantage Studios over there has Assassin's Creed, Far Cry and Rainbow Six. Great. Cherry pick those, let this die or sell them off. And then a studio making something like Prince of Persia, Lost Crown, that would be a smaller studio. Honestly, what's probably going to happen, a saber picks them up. The ip, worst case scenario, a fucking embracer picks it up. I mean worst, worst Saudi Arabia picks it up. But like what I'm saying here is if these IP get back out into the wild and people are able to then go, okay, cool, now we're going to make a Prince of Persia game, a Rayman game, a Rabbids game. We're going to make these games with realistic fucking expectations. We're not like the reason Ubisoft doesn't make smaller fun games is because Ubisoft needs fucking double digit profit. They need double digit returns. They need so much money. And a nice little linear remake of Prince of Persia is not going to generate that. Right? But to the right size studio, to the right size team, they go and do that and suddenly bam. Yeah, this did what we wanted. We sold 750,000 copies. We're thrilled with that. Fuck yeah. Let's go.

[D]

Yeah, because there was that, there was that side scrolling Prince of Persia, the Lost Crown, forgotten crown, something crown.

[A]

No, no, yeah, Lost Crown was the one we just talked about. Well, that, yes, that was the Metroidvania.

[D]

Yeah, the Metroid.

[A]

There was the other one that was the artistic style that I can never remember the name of. Right.

[D]

And then that one was I believe, a disappointment for Ubisoft. But again, that's because I was never gonna make the money Ubisoft would have wanted for a game like that size. But if another studio made that game, then I'm sure they would have been super happy. I want one thing I kind of want to like, I guess think about from this way is, you know, I know we're thinking about like, you know, these, the return of investment on these games was never going to be enough for Ubisoft. But you think about the, just the chaos, just making these, just handling these in the way that they did even does. Okay, So I want to think about like this. They had this external studios in India making these games, right. And they weren't happy with it. And you have to imagine during this time Ubisoft Montreal was probably working very hard on a new Assassin's Creed game that they were very focused on, right? And I'm not saying that this was not important to them either. I'm sure they worked very hard on Prince of Persia when it became their project. But imagine just one day going up to work and be like, hey, you also work on Prince of Persia. Now we're doubling your work, right? We're taking away some teams from the Assassin's Creed you're working on. We're putting them on Prince of Persia. Sorry about that. We fucked it up. The project management portion of this and now it's your guys problem too, right? And then meanwhile Toronto is probably working on another thing, right? And then, you know, Montreal comes like this is, we can't do this because you know, we're working on AC and also now this. And like, okay, well now we're just going to take this move to Toronto and Toronto now is being like, we were working on our own thing too and now we have to pay attention to this other thing that's been going through. You know, it's, it's, it's a real failure of management to sort of like that the project ended up the way that it did.

[A]

Yeah, 100%. Making games is hard and there are so many variables and so many things change and like, yeah, to try to get moving on a timeline for any of these other games, which again are the games that Ubisoft stockholders are looking at and going, these are the ones that need to make them. We need an Assassin's Creed. Make Assassin's Creed, don't worry about Prince of Persia. And you have a Prince of Persia game that's languished now for six years. We should have. You know what I mean? We should have. Five years ago, we were supposedly supposed to play this game, and now it's finally here. It's like, ouch. The one I was looking for was the rogue Prince of Persia lost crown. Yeah. Critically well received, didn't sell. Gangbusters. And then they also. And I'm not insulting the developers, I'm insulting the marketing shit out. The rogue Prince of Persia, where it was like, it's early access. Now it's out. It's whatever. It's like, okay, what are we doing here? Says, do we still. Greg, do we still got Ubisoft stock? No, we sold our Ubisoft stock a long time ago. Remember, there was an experiment here where I infamously, you know, I could have helped everybody make a lot of money on GameStop because I said, if you bought it right now when it was about to be delisted, and then when the thing happened, you would be like a millionaire. And so then I was like, let's do it again with Ubisoft stock. And it did not go the same way. I publicly invested $100 and it never, ever went back up. It only ever went down. And right now, yeah, it's at $1.37. And again, now that they spun off this vantage bullshit, I don't know what that means for that we're outside of it. This isn't. It says not real financial advice. As a reminder, we didn't play the song. So this isn't your favorite reoccurring segment.

[B]

I feel like anytime you start to bring this up, I feel like almost legally obligated to bring this up.

[A]

I hear you, but what you should put is not real financial advice. Semicolon, real lamenting of the money he spent. You know what I mean? We fucked this up. We fucked this up.

[D]

The money's real.

[A]

The money's real. You know, luckily, I don't know if Jen ever saw it. You know what I mean? At a hundred dollars. Went into Robin Hood or whatever it was, never came back anyway. I don't know, man. I don't know. That's all there is to say, I guess, really, it's this. I think what's still crazy to me after doing, obviously, talking and writing my video games for so long, but more importantly, doing this show for so long, the fact that we're still waiting for the other shoe to drop on Ubisoft. This feel like they would have been out of business or sold forever ago. And we're still having this conversation where it's like here we are.

[D]

I mean because they go through like you know, peaks and valleys and then.

[A]

They haven't had a peak in a long time.

[D]

Yeah, I know. And it's just it. Yeah it's, it does feel like the world's slowest car crash. You know you are, you are waiting for the collision point to happen which you don't want it to but you, but then you like. But every time you read more about Ubisoft's business, about the way about how spread spread out they are, about how many studios that they manage, about how about all these different deals that they're, you know, making with you know, 10 cent external partners and like it's like every time you see a business story come out of Ubisoft it's always like never a good thing. You know, it's never like Ubisoft turned out a massive new deal for successfully or something like that. It's always something that sounds catastrophic or that sounds at the very least, you know, just pretty bad.

[A]

As a closer one Here we have two Justin Timar super chats on his membership for 32 months. Thanks so much. And says this sounds like what movie studios do. Cancel projects when it may be better for the books and, and for the shareholders in the moment rather than increase the product. That may be great for the, the core consumer. And in the similar thought Fox24 says they also broke up their studios in five subgroups similar to how Square Enix does theirs creative houses. It's way easier to sell them need by need which I think is pretty inevitably going to happen. So we will continue. Oh, then one here. Ambrosia Jam. Remember when there was a hostile takeover at Ubisoft a few years ago? Shit's wild. That was when we were still at ign. I was still at IGN when it was fucking Vivendi and Evesgo Mall was like we're going to fight this. We're going to stop this. We're like yeah, go for it now look at where we are. Games as a service non stop. Yeah, it drives me crazy. Macim.

[D]

It's. It's all right. I mean again I think my heart goes out to all of the employees. Yes, 100% Ubisoft. And it's just. And I this, I feel tired from the outside looking in. Imagine just yeah, yeah.

[A]

Having to work there every day.

[D]

Just you know. Yeah.

[A]

We go to good news story number two. This is what Bear has been waiting for. Donkey Kong Country Returns HD Update Adds Dixie Kong Switch to enhancements and a new mode. This I'm going to read from Marcus Stewart, a game informer. But Bear, let's watch this trailer. I can see the excitement in your face. I know how stoked this guy is right here in his little hat. Look at him, he's excited, he's calmed. Out there is. Can we get audio out here?

[B]

Audio seems to be broken. I was going to take our ad break to try to fix it.

[A]

Oh, sorry. Is there. I haven't actually watched this period. So like is there anything I need to listen to? I have no idea. Oh, you didn't see it either?

[B]

Yeah, I haven't watched this.

[A]

I thought you'd be. You were holding it for the first impression here. Do you want to fix your audio during an ad break then?

[B]

Sure.

[A]

All right. Hey everybody, guess what? We couldn't have these awesome cameras. We couldn't have Barrett fixing the audio during ad breaks if we didn't have ads. But if you don't like ads, why not go to patreon.com kinda funny YouTube.com kinda funnygames apple or Spotify where you can get the Kinda Funny membership and get each and every episode of every show. We do ad free. Get your daily dose of me, Greg Miller and a 15 to 20 minute podcast I do daily. And of course get good karma for supporting an 11 person 11 year old small business. But guess what? Right now you're not using your benefits. So here's a word from our sponsors.

[C]

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

[D]

Favorite feature is that you could find.

[B]

A solution that works but then afterwards you can hit solution and see the.

[A]

Way that they were trying to teach.

[B]

You to do it. That's really cool.

[C]

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[B]

From the co writer of Rogue One, Come See youe in Hell, a new Hollywood satire. Kind of like the studio, except you'd never get away with this on television. Starring Shannon Woodward.

[A]

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

[B]

You should Jon Cryer.

[A]

You think I don't know bullshit when I hear it? I represent Sean Hannity and John Boyega. I was in Star wars and Pacific Rim. The second one Wherever.

[B]

See you in hell, wherever you get your podcasts and at Cuinhell tv.

[A]

Hey you. Join us in person for our live in review of Howard the Duck. That's right, Howard The Duck joins MCU in review. Wednesday, January 28th at 7:30pm at Cobbs Comedy Club for SF Sketch Fest. You can come watch me do all the podcasts within a podcast you love. Andy will be going do do do do do do do do do. Nick will be shopping for pants during it, but everybody else will be there too for you to come hang out and see. All you have to do is go over to kind of funny.com sketchfest right now to get your tickets before they sell out because come and watching a bunch of people talk about a very old Howard the Duck movie is really selling tickets fast. Close your eyes, exhale, feel your body relax and let go of whatever you're carrying today. Well, I'm letting go of the worry that I was 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. And breathe. Oh, sorry. I almost couldn't breathe when I saw the discount they gave me on my first order. Oh sorry. Namaste. Visit 1-800contacts.com today to save on your first order. 1-800-contacts. And we're back. Story number two. Donkey Kong returns HD update ads. Dixie Kong, switch to enhancements and a new mode. We'll read from Game Informer. But first, our own fixie Kong. Barrett Courtney has indeed fixed the audio. Play it, you ape.

[D]

Really good.

[A]

You gotta get. Yeah, Barrett's gotta be in there for the reaction.

[E]

A free update is coming to the Donkey Kong Country Returns HD game. Dixie Kong is here to join the adventure.

[A]

There's mic's not working, so I'm clapping for.

[E]

While jumping, she can give Donkey Kong a boost. Use her ponytail to reach new heights or travel further. You can also split the pair in two player local co op.

[A]

Oh, they don't like that. Plus.

[E]

You can race through fast paced versions of each level at high speed. In Turbo Attack, you'll need to act fast to reach the goal. Within the time limit. Nintendo Switch 2 players can enjoy enhanced resolution and higher definition graphics. Here's a quick comparison.

[A]

I love you, Nintendo. I love you, Nintendo. Faster.

[E]

So you can get back to the action quicker than before. And game share is supported. So if one player has the game, they can share it locally with someone who doesn't have it. The free update for Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is available now.

[A]

They did it.

[D]

Yeah. Donkey Kong's back.

[A]

Donkey Kong's back right there. Yeah. Barry, you of course are my donktober expert over here. Fixie Kong himself. I won't lie to you. It wasn't until we got going where I was like, all right, he wants 64. I'm sorry I didn't remember which Donkey Kong you wanted.

[B]

I honestly just. Just thinking about Nintendo holistically, not. Not even just focusing on Donkey.

[A]

What a great moment where they stopped it compared. Let's take a look.

[B]

We got this shadow dropped before the. Correct me if I'm wrong, Chad. Has Wonder gotten its 2 point like Switch 2 version yet?

[A]

No, that's not out yet.

[B]

Okay, like that is perplexing to me. That is so weird. Not tropical freeze. Not tropical freeze. Like it religious like again, taking. Taking the DK64 bit out of this. We're not gonna like focus on doing a Switch 2 update for I would say the much superior Donkey Kong game, Tropical Freeze. And then also where the is Donkey Kong 64?

[A]

They got to save something for these directs, man.

[D]

You know the one more thing.

[A]

The one, one more thing.

[B]

Why wasn't this in a direct.

[A]

What. What's happening right now? Got to get the. Got to get this out so they can make the big news, you know? I mean the big news out there.

[D]

It looks good.

[A]

It does look really good. No, yeah, I. I do. I will play two player here with a Ben. I like that quite a bit. Are you going to go back?

[D]

I don't have this one. I have tropical freeze. I'm A Barrett.

[A]

I want.

[D]

I want the Tropical Freeze update, because it's the one that I have. I played this on. Guess which system? I've only played this. I've only played that game once on one system.

[A]

WWII U?

[D]

No. 3Ds.

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[D]

I played the 3Ds version because I think I got a. I was gifted it for a birthday. I got a physical copy of it and I played it on 3Ds. And that is when I last played it. And it is hard as balls.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

And. Yeah. And I stopped playing it.

[A]

You said something interesting before we came out here, of course, that you've kind of fallen in love with your Switch too.

[D]

Yes. Yeah, I have. That's what. Basically, so I have been laying low, taking it easy, and I. Which means I'm finally playing games on my own leisure time once again. Right.

[A]

Not for a deadline, not for work.

[D]

Not for a deadline, not for work. You know, and it's been really nice. And I find that the gaming platform, because I have a PS5, I have a Switch 2, and I have a really good gaming PC.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

The platform that I'm playing games the most on in the last, like two, three months has been my Switch to just really fall in love with the system. It's like. It's one. It's. And it's one. It's the indie machine. Right. All the upcoming indie games, they're released on the eShop, so I just pick them up there. Yeah. And so that's great to have just around. But then, yeah, I'm just. I've been playing. I've literally just been switching between all of the. All the Switch games I play. I play Pokemon Legends. Yna. Right. Making my way through there.

[A]

What ranking right now, I am.

[D]

I just beat the karate guy. So I'm like D or E or something like that, I think. And then I have been playing the new Animal Crossing update, which is stellar. And then like after, like, after all of those things, after, I do, you know, the daily Animal Crossing stuff and a little za. I do like a round of the Mario Kart online tournament mode.

[A]

Okay.

[D]

Kind of call it. And it's just been great. It's just been really nice. Yeah. The Switch 2 is like, just. Is just the better version of the Switch, which is, I think, the thing that most people say about it. And it's true. And the Switch was already pretty great. And now the Switch 2 is just even better than that. And yeah, I've fallen in love with it. And I think it was like a Treat to myself. Like after I got laid off, I picked up a Switch two.

[A]

Right.

[D]

And then I'm kind of glad that I did because I don't know if you've been seeing like the RAM prices and stuff like that.

[A]

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

[D]

That's.

[A]

You know, it almost makes the Roper report the last couple of days. The analysts are saying the Switch will be more expensive, but we don't put it in because last week we talked about the President being like, we're not ruling that out or the President in town. Right.

[D]

Yeah, I feel like I really. Yeah, I don't. Anyways, either way, it's like I said, I've. I've not been playing my PS5. I've not even really been playing on my PC. I've just been playing on the Switch 2 and it is, it's the perf. It's the right console for the right time.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, I love my Switch 2. You know, when we did our, what was it, the six month review right before, I think I gave it a nine that I'm having an amazing time with it. And I think, you know, through the fall slash review season there in the winter, it was very much me glued to the Rog ally because so many games came as PC codes and I was doing that thing and yada, yada, yada. But then once we got to December, it was the Switch flip of all right, okay, now I got to get Metroid out of the way. Now I got to get back to Donkey Kong. Now I'm getting ready for Animal Crossing. Now I'm doing this. And even right now my wife can't stand the raw ally because it clickety clacks so loudly. So I've, you know, reawakened this witcher desire to play. And of course because see, Project Red's awesome. You got cross progression. So I'm doing. I'll play on my giant amazing TV with my PlayStation and then when it's time to go play in bed or play on the exercise bike, like I throw the Switch Save up and I play it on Switch 2.

[D]

Can I. I'm gonna nerd out here a little bit in this weird little thing. But I like, I get it about like the clickiness of the Rog Ally and like my girlfriend has a, has a steam deck. Right?

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

There is something really pleasant about the softness of the Switch 2's plastic and its buttons and the joysticks.

[A]

Velvety.

[D]

Velvety, yeah. Compared to sort of like the harsh plastics of the other, other handheld consoles, which is Like, a weird thing to notice, but you do notice it as you.

[A]

No, we talk about all this all the time in the premium feel. And even when we got the Switch 2 originally, that was some of our. Not criticism. Our critique versus Switch one of like, oh, this feels. Don't take it. No perverted way. You pervert. Like an adult switch. Like, this feels. This is sexy. This feels good. This. I like the form factor. I like how the text textures of it.

[D]

Yeah. I mean, you know, and the magnets. The magnets, yeah. Great.

[A]

I always forget about it. I never pop my joy cons off.

[D]

I. I do it because I want to always try to do the little mouse controls at least once for every. Like, I did it with the animal crossing thing, and I'm like, well, I'm never doing this again.

[A]

But I'm glad we did the stream for it. We were like, me and Joe, like, should we even try? We're like, no, it. We're. We didn't even do it because we didn't need to. But Animal crossing is dope, and I'm glad you're back. Are you? How's your hotel?

[D]

Well, okay, so I. I sold my switch and then BS that's blue skin. And then I bought a Switch 2 without having both of them at the same time, which means I'm starting all over. I just got a house. I just started playing, just got the stock market open. I am back on square one, baby.

[A]

Yeah. No, I. I saw that, and it broke my heart. And it was one of the things I talked about where it's like, I saw multiple people in the same boat as you. And I was like. Like, for me, that is always like, I have that conversation in my head of being held up at gunpoint and having the Switch. You switch one or two in my bag and be like, listen, you can take anything, and I'll walk you into the Nintendo store and buy you a Switch. You have to understand my animal crossing, my Pokemon save. Do not. I can't get those unless you've given me right now. We can't do this. Don't hold me up. All right? We'll fight back. I will take off my shoes. Number three on the rope report. Life is Strange Reunion won't bring back the original Chloe voice actor. This is Eddie over at Gamespot. The newly announced Life is Strange Reunion will not feature Ashley Burch as the voice of Chloe. Burch voiced Chloe, one of the franchise's main characters, in the first game in 2015. She did not come back for most of she did not come back for most of Life Is Strange before the Storm due to a video game voice actor strike. Rihanna de Vries voiced Chloe in that game and will voice her again in Reunion. Burch did, however, return to voice Chloe for Before the Storm's bonus episode, Farewell. Hannah. Tell, who voices Life Is Strange. Other main character Max, will return for Reunion. She also played Max in the farewell episode of before the Storm along with Life Is Strange. Double Exposure, of course, then we go into what this is all about, but we talked about this yesterday and again, we called it yesterday. We all sat here and listened. We got the ears. We knew it wasn't Ashley and then it was people saying it was going to be Rihanna, but we weren't 100% sure. I wanted to set the record straight. Do you care at all about Life Is Strange?

[D]

Yeah, I really enjoyed the first one and then the classic.

[A]

Yeah, I cared about that first game a decade ago.

[D]

Yeah, well, my God, it was a decade ago. It's one of those games that they release pretty regularly. Yeah, no, I played. I played the first one and I really enjoyed it. And then I think it's one of those things where I just happen to own, like, most of the series on Steam and I just haven't really gone through all of them. But I. I do. I don't. I have nothing against it. It's a very. It's a pleasant series. Good music, good acting.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

You can tell the team really likes. Likes working on the games and I should play them. I hear good things about the second one in particular.

[A]

Oh, Life is Strange too. Good. Yeah, I love. I have played them all. I love them all for various levels or whatever. Double Exposure fumbled its ending. And then we were very much. Don't force Chloe back into this. And then we watched this trailer yesterday and I was like, I'm gonna fucking play this. But it's like, I'll probably end up loving it, but it's probably because they'll undo what I said about double exposure. If you want double exposure, talk. We talked about it yesterday. I'm not doing it now. All right, number four. Speaking of recasts, Greg Way, Kratos voice actor, reacts to casting of someone else for the TV show. This again is Eddie at Gamespot. Prime Video recently announced that Sons of Anarchy actor Ryan Hurst will play Kratos in the upcoming live action TV series. Christopher Judge, who portrayed Kratos in why Am I. I can't say Kratos today. What's wrong with me in 2018's God of War and 2022's God of War, Ragnarok has now reacted to the casting, saying Hurst is a quote, unquote, magnificent choice. Quote All I wanted for whoever was cast as Kratos was that they love cherish and respect Kratos as much as we all do. Judge said at a fan expo in New Orleans. And with Ryan Hurst, they have done that. It's a magnificent choice. Not only a great actor, but a great person and a gamer who actually played God of War since its inception. So kudos. You've got a great live action Kratos, end quote. Judge was not the first actor to play Kratos. As T.C. carson portrayed Kratos in the earlier games, you might remember his performance. Calliope Zeus, your son has returned. Hurst has a close familiarity with the God of War series as he portrayed Thor in Ragnarok. And as mentioned by Judge, Hurst has played the games, writing in his own post, quote, used to play as him, now I get to be him, end quote. God of War TV source, blah, blah, blah. And we go on to talk more and more about it. What are your hopes for God of War tv?

[D]

That it is as good as the games?

[A]

No, just a small bar.

[D]

Yeah, yeah, you know, whatever. It's. I'm. I'm excited, I think. And like, it's weird, right? You can't really compare them because the only thing they really share is a streaming home. But like, Fallout is so good on prime. So you end up making this at prime. So you're just like, well, you hope.

[A]

That that DNA carries over. You hope that they understand. The first two episodes, I Cut it off are directed by apparently the guy who did the Boys. So it's like. Or one of the directors of the Boys. So it's like, I feel like we're at that time where people understand that if you do a video game adaptation, right, you're going to have something fucking cool. Yeah. And PlayStation, having PlayStation studios and all the Hollywood stuff like, granted, hit or miss on some of the things, but it's like they understand what they're doing with their ip. This seems like a great choice. I just worry always about a budget, you know what I mean? Like, I think you look at Fallout, which we loved season one, but like, there weren't death claws in season one, which I think was a great idea because I don't think they had the money to make it look right. And now that it's a mega success, here's a bunch of death clause they put in season two, right. Spoilers that there's death claws. You hope it pays off. You hope it works out. I'm cautiously optimistic.

[D]

Yeah. I think, I think I never go into any of these adaptations with like cynicism. Like, I think I was, you know, I was very excited. I think I was excited for the Assassin's Creed, you know, taking it back to Ubisoft. I was excited for the Assassin's Creed movie with Michael Fassbender.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

You know, but that was also not good. But I don't know, I come, I come in with an open mind and open heart and I never, never really think. I never go into anything being like, oh, it's going to be bad, they're going to mess this up or anything like that. You know, like, even if, if, even if they announced that the showrunners are like, oh, you know, we've never actually played the games right. Or anything like that, I don't take that necessarily as a, as a bad thing. You know, I think anybody who is creatively minded can like take their own interpretation to things. And so I think. But yeah, but it sounds like everybody who's working on the God of War show in particular is very much a fan of the game, has been in them, played them, you know, so that's. I can only be good thing.

[A]

Let's go. Speaking of going another Greg way, number five, Crimson Desert. Crimson Desert goes gold. This is from a Twitter post they had. We're thrilled to announce that hashtag Crimson Desert has gone gold. On behalf of the team at Pearl Abyss, thank you to our fans around the world for your support and for reaching this milestone with us. Stay tuned for more news and we'll see you in Piwell. Probably not pronounce it well on March 19th. Holy shit, Matt. It's actually happening. Yeah. Holy shit. This is one of those games. I definitely was like I said, I could see it being delayed.

[D]

I.

[A]

Because it's big, it's ambitious.

[D]

It is big, it is ambitious. I always, I never really was worried for this game because we were talking before the show that I have played this on occasions and demo and like every time I play a demo I'm like, this is a really like fully finished demo.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

And so like I know that they're making but it's true. It does feel like this is kind of an oddity because it was announced in a really beautiful like pre rendered.

[A]

Trailer and it was that game that kept doing everything. You're gliding, you're fighting, you're doing this. We're like hell, how can it be everything?

[D]

Yeah. And you're, and you're always suspicious of pre rendered trailers. You're like, well, this can't. This is just a proof of concept. This is just what they want to do in the final game.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

And then just quietly, without anyone really noticing, they're just like, oh, yeah, we have an update. You know, we're making progress on this game. And then, and then, you know, people like us in the media get invited to play it out. And then we're like, oh, this is like actually like a real game and coming along. And then now they're just like, and now we're done. And that's just. I don't know, it just.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

Yeah. Just doesn't really happen a lot in, in games anymore, you know?

[A]

Yeah. How so how much like time wise have you played? Because I played at sgf, which of course is the worst place to play this kind of game. Hey, you got 30 to an hour. I forget what it was. And I'm running around, I got Paris trying to talk to me, get the away from me. And I sit down and do it. And it's like, here's this one section and there's like a million buttons. And it was very complicated. And then like I've said before when they gave me the one on one boss fight where I'm picking up pillars and slamming him in, that's where I started to really get my legs. And then it was over and I was like, damn, the ending made me more confident than the beginning ever did.

[D]

Yeah, it was. I played like, I think I played like an hour and a half. I played like. Yeah, I played like three sections. I played like an opening intro to get your like feel. And that's just you beating up a bunch of like regular, regular bad guys.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

And then a couple boss fights. And the boss fights were the, were definitely the showstoppers where I'm like, oh, they're going for like kind of like a monster hunter kind of thing with these big bosses.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

And I want to do this because it always drives me nuts. A lot of people are like, is it a souls game? Is a souls game? I don't think it's a souls game.

[A]

Okay, good, good.

[D]

Yeah, I think there's like a stamina thing, but I think it's like closer to like a witcher.

[A]

Like I was going to say it feels way more action rpg. And not like rpg but action RPG with action. You know what I mean? Where it's like, yeah, that's what I'm getting, which is that's the fucking game I love. So it's like even looking at it and seeing like they got an orc and they got this and they got the class and the different, like, I'm very excited to get my hands on and get deep into it.

[D]

I think you're right. I'm very curious what is in the final game? Because again, when that original trailer, they showed a lot, a lot of things, gliding, different monsters. We just saw dragons, so we'll see what's in the final game. But yeah, it looks good and everything that I've seen so far of it and played fills me with confidence, you know?

[A]

Well, let's go on to story number six. Marathon might be part of a dying breed of game according to a former art Director. This is lan Pitts over at GameSpot. Bungie's upcoming anticipated extraction shooter Marathon is scheduled to arrive in early March and is, as of this writing, one of the highest selling games ever on Steam. Even with the alleged stolen art controversy, it's looking like Marathon could be a winner that Bungie needs it to be. After Concord failed to take off. According to former art director Joseph Cross, that level of commitment to an unproven IP might be a thing of the past soon. And I would even argue think of the past now. But in an interview with reader Grev, Cross feels like the state of funding for games has reached a point where studios shouldn't blindly fund games based on spec and compares Concord to Marathon on the same sort of production scale. Marathon is such a massive project. The studio took such a risk on this. You know, oftentimes we feel like we were sort of getting away with something. I think about that in the big picture, the idea of studios funding unproven, unknown projects for six or eight years for hundreds of millions of dollars, sort of on spec, how much longer are things like this going to exist? I've been part of a couple of them now, end quote. He added that the budget is something he thought about a lot and how easy it is to lose sight of things when you're being bankrolled by someone else. Quote, it's not always intuitive to remember that above all else, this is the product that's being funded. And every day that goes by is a day you're going further into the red. You're not making money, the studio is not making any money. So anyway, that's a big one. Especially when you're really trying to channel creativity and get to the point where you feel like you can't impose anything that feels like a risk. I mean, What a mind fuck that is, right? This is a really good interview. That's where you sort of put on the armor of art and have faith in your perspective and experience as an artist. All great art, commercial art, anyways, is. It's doubted. And that's a level of skeptic, and there's a level of skepticism until there's not. End quote. Marathon is set to release March 5th. Forever PS5, Xbox will be priced at $40, the same price point as Arc Raiders. What do you think, Matt?

[D]

Well, I was really, really excited for this game when they first showed it off. And then all the. And then they went through their own controversy stuff, and that was. That was rough. But I'm glad. I'm glad they. It sounds like they sorted it out with the original artist that.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[D]

And then now that's coming out, I'm looking forward to it.

[A]

I like.

[D]

I really like Bungie. You know, like, I was a huge Halo guy growing up. Like, the 60 was my jam. Halo Reach, one of the. One of the best games of all time, in my opinion. I love ODST and I really like Destiny 1, and I tried really hard to get into Destiny 2, but Destiny 2 was a real time commitment, and I did not have that time. But I'm really excited, I hope for the best for Bungie, and definitely I want. You know. And that was. That was a really good interview. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. Some really candid quotes.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

It's funny when you leave a place how candid you could be. Yeah.

[D]

Like, it's. I mean, they're Right. Right. Like there's, like. With these. With these kinds of games, you want to make the best game possible, but the business expectation is that you also make it in a way where people spend money on it and recoup the astounding budget.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

That it sounds like it took. And so, yeah, all power to them. And yeah.

[A]

You know, the intro here from lan, talking about that level of commitment to an unproven IP might be a thing of the past again. I think it already is. This is what we talk about where if it's not a sequel or if it's not a known ip, you're not seeing that kind of money put into it. And then in the same breath, why people are always so over. Early access. It's that idea of early access gets money coming in quicker than waiting another four or five years to get out the final product to go. And that's good, bad, and otherwise. But for games of this scale, for what they're trying to do it is a different ballgame than, I mean, especially for talking about Bungie and their games and how long they've gestated and what it was.

[D]

And this does kind of feel like a trick, right? Because they're, they can go into like a meeting for money and they can be like, this is a proven IP that hasn't existed in like 30 years.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[D]

Like this is a real trusted IP that people for sure remember. Everyone remembers Marathons, so I can one but the part where he's like, it feels like we were getting away with something. They kind of did, you know, they were like, this is a, this is an IP like all other ip.

[A]

So what is your prediction? Is Marathon going to find an audience? That's been the big discussion.

[D]

Yeah, I mean I didn't know about it being one of the most sold games on Steam already for going on pre order, so that's a good indication for them already. But you know, these things, they drop off so fast, so it's really hard to.

[A]

Exactly how are you going to stick that audience?

[D]

You know, I think, well, Arc Raiders is doing really well and I think that the genre does seem popular. So I guess if Bungie can put their own spin on it with their level of quality, then yeah, I think it can be in that space.

[A]

Sure. From one day ago, Darren over on GameSpot had this article about the sales that I had missed as well. Following the reveal of its release date, Marathon has seen a huge surge in interest as PC players have begun locking in pre orders for Bungie's Sci Fi extraction shooter. At the time of this writing, Marathon is the fifth best selling game on Steam in the US and 10th globally on the Steam charts. Free to play. Games like Marvel Rivals and Counter Strike 2 are ahead of it. Only natural given the low price of nothing for those titles. And Arc Raiders is still in the top spot for now. So it's cool to see people coming in and saying they believe in it and what they've seen, but we will wait and see. Now talking about not believing in a new IP number. 7 Apparent Project Blackbird Footage shows the Zenimax Online MMO that could have been. This is Cameron Koch over at GameSpot. What is allegedly footage of Zenimax Online Studios canceled Sci Fi MMO project Blackbird is now out in the wild, giving a glimpse at what might have been had Microsoft not scrapped the project. The footage shared by xtas1stv he's using leet speak and I can't keep up on X and Corroborated by Insider Gaming is internal studio test footage meant to show off the game's lighting using Unreal Engine 4. The two minute clip shows a cyberpunk city giving off strong blade runner energy, one filled with neon lights in various NPCs. Among them are what looks to be alien Species, further highlighting the game's sci fi setting. According to Insider Gaming's Tom Henderson, the footage is from years ago and nowhere near a representation of Cancelled. However, it does give at least curious fans a better idea of what ZeniMax Online was going for with the project. Project Blackbird was slated to be ZeniMax Online's second MMO. The studio was founded in 2007 and is responsible for the Elder Scrolls Online, which is still going strong over a decade after its original 20202014 release. Mass layoffs at Microsoft and Project Blackbird's cancellation in July 2025 led to more than 300 developers at ZeniMax Online losing their jobs and studio president Matt Fireor quitting. In a recent LinkedIn post, Ferrer explained the resignation. He well, this is a typo, but he said Blackbird was, quote, the game I had waited my entire career to create and having it canceled led to my resignation, end quote. Some of those layoffs from ZeniMax Online, who worked on several projects, now created a new studio. The pointedly named and employee owned Sackbird Studios. That's awesome. I miss they called it Sackbird. Quote When I learned Blackbird was being canceled and a lot of people were losing their jobs, it lit a fire, sackbird CEO Lee Rodeau said in a statement on its official website. We realized the best way to protect our craft and our team was to create a studio where independence isn't negotiable, end quote. Despite the layoff, ZeniMax Online is continuing to forge ahead with the Elder Scrolls online, which in 2026 is transitioning to a seasons based content model and will be making some of its older DLC content free. It will also finally be getting crossplay between platforms in the future as talked about on the Elder Scrolls Online show that we did here with them and more importantly Matt who we of course wish well this hurt to begin with. Number one, people losing their jobs, we hate that. Number two, having an actual personal connection to Matt and the team over there and seeing what working on and then now it hurts so much more seeing this because if you can put the footage back up like that is an mmo, I would love to go play Elder Scrolls. Not a world I want to exist in. I've played enough Fallout 76, like, lots of Fallout 76. Like, that. I'm like, I'm good. I want my Fallout RPG questy thing, a cool sci fi MMO mat, or come on, that would be fucking dope as shit. And I don't care if this isn't what it actually looks like years later. Like, this is such a great tone setter. I'm like, oh, I'd love to do this.

[D]

I mean, Matt's quote is heartbreaking. You know, the fact that he quit because this game was canceled. He's like, this is what I was building my career up to. This is this everything that I was working towards. And when they canceled it, I had no other choice but to leave the studio that I was working at. Like, that's kind of. That's a level of dedication to a project that you don't hear publicly. You know, a lot on. These kind of things like cancellations happen. But to tie your. Tie your resignation directly to this project that you were working on and you really believed in is just. Is really heartbreaking.

[A]

A heartbreaker. God. But, you know, I'm excited to see what Project Sackbird does. Yeah, dope name.

[D]

Really good name.

[A]

Dope name, Matt. Project Sackbirds first game is gonna be big news, but if I wanted something smaller, say the tiniest news I needed to know about, where would I go?

[D]

You'd go to our last story, the We News Channel, where we cover all the small news items you need to know about.

[A]

It's the Wii News, everybody. Story number eight. Fortnite looks to be getting some content from the Office. I'm pulling from IGN thing that summarizes a tweet. Fans of the TV and video game. Fans of TV and video games were thrown for a loop earlier today, and that was yesterday, when Epic shared a not so cryptic tease on social media. It's the kind of thing that would be completely nonsensical to the uninitiated, but those who are dialed into the NBC comedy will recognize Build Beats Battle Royale as a reference to one of the most memorable quotes from the Office. One of the most memorable quotes from the office were stretching IGM bears beats Battlestar Galactica 100.

[B]

Greg.

[A]

Really? You think so? Yes. Okay. Hey. Well, first off, yes. I'm not fighting you, Barrett. I'll fight you, Barrett. I'll fight you. Go fucking get mad about the 15th Donkey Kong game that came out. You don't want. Don't get on my case about it games.

[B]

Get on your case when you rub it in my face.

[A]

Are you Gonna pick up these skins. Are you gonna get a Michael Scott?

[B]

I have not touched Fortnite in years.

[A]

Would this be the thing to bring you back? No. What if it was an entire season?

[B]

No, like Simpsons didn't bring me back.

[A]

Yeah, but you're a bigger office fan than you are Simpsons fan.

[B]

I don't know if I ever said.

[A]

That I did for you. I'm writing your autobiography. History is written by the winners and on the winner, so are you though Tim Jr Gamespot reports Far Cry 3 and spin offs Far Cry 3, Blood Dragon and Far Cry Primal receive 60 frame per second patches for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series today. So if you were we're looking to celebrate some Ubisoft titles today. This is what you're getting. Occult Horror Deck Builder. The killing stone launches February 18th on Steam. And the full launch of enshrouded. That's right. 1.0 is coming autumn 2026.

[D]

Cool.

[A]

I've heard of Enshrouded. I remember press releases and then I never heard anything and then today it was everywhere.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Ah they put out a roadmap. It's coming in autumn 1.0. It's coming to consoles too.

[D]

I'm drawing a blank. I'm sure it's a great game. I hope so. Or I'm sure people are happy.

[A]

Happy throw up some and try to because it's one of those you look at like I and again different strokes. I'm not yucking. You're young but I look at this and I'm like this is one of those games that looks like every other game. It's like you when we do bless who and they put up all the different things I'm like I don't know what any of these are but Andy loved it apparently according to Ernie Cooper, an actual sad taco says and tried it is great. Other people say it's rules. Oh I'm not saying it's bad. I'm just saying I look at this and I'm like I don't understand who you are.

[D]

This is not what I had in mind when I was thinking new bosses and enemies.

[A]

A lot of streamers use to try to cozy chill farming game. Maybe they should play Animal Crossing. You know what I mean? Be real gamers. And that's it for we news. You watch now that's gonna come to consoles and be like best game of all time game of the year. I'm a fucking idiot. Do you like that joke? Let's get some super chats before we get some your wrongs and get to the game's cast. Rakan says quote, game dropping this week was a misunderstanding. They're talking about, you know, oh, we're going to get the Prince of Persia game. Well, they dropped it a certain way, didn't they? Foxy C says, I love that TRD sweater mat.

[D]

Oh, thank you.

[A]

Your outfit, it is very nice. Is it new? Is it soft? Because it looks soft.

[D]

It's just not been worn because I was living. It is warm. It is soft. I was living in la. It's warm and hot over there. I did not get a lot of chances to wear this, so it's just kind of sitting around. But it's cold here back in the bay, and so now I got to wear this.

[A]

In Brosage Jam follows up with a super chat. Says Matt Kim wears a health shirt. Mega Chad.

[D]

How do people know about that? Oh, they must have seen me, I guess, on the IGN show. Yeah, I have a couple health T shirts that I kind of always wear on podcasts, which I love.

[A]

What is health?

[D]

It's a band.

[A]

They're like a. Oh, okay. No, I think Lucy James or Jen's talked about these people before. Okay. Have you ever heard of Vanessa Carlton? I like her a lot.

[D]

Sound like health?

[A]

No go. Like, no, not at all. Goldfish Boy 1337 says. Thank you, guys. Oh, thanks to you guys, I really developed a love for video game news. I'm wanting to start my own quick video game news show. Any tips for how to make it work? Don't want. Do you have to go do it? Remember, for a long time the shows you make are going to be trash. You got to work it out. You got to figure it out. You got to learn to talk to microphone. You got to learn how to upload. You got to learn thumbnails. You got to learn. And that's all stuff you can only learn by doing. So just get going. That's it. You got to go. You got to go. You got to do it. You got any advice?

[D]

No. Yeah, that's pretty much it.

[A]

Okay, fair enough. Fair enough. Sometimes I crush it, you know? Riley says, Greg, just invest in take two and pray for GTA 6. I'm going to keep investing in hot dogs because that lost me a lot of money. Danger Daddy D says, Greg started Hell Is Us last week and I'm having a blast. Great exploration and the best depiction of war I've ever seen. Thanks for the recommendation. No problem. Everybody pick up Hell's Us. Did you play Hell's Us?

[D]

Oh, no. But I've heard good things. I want to good go play it.

[A]

Because it's really good and not a lot of people played it and that's a studio. You know, we're talking about the big budget. We're talking with the double thing like they are a small studio.

[D]

We were just on switch to pill right now but I'm in my switch to era but after that's over. That's fair.

[A]

That's fair. And then final one here comes from Cozy Bear Live. Missed we news. Tensuke Tanabi, the producer of Metroid prime games and many others and I'm sorry if I butchered name which I probably did has announced retirement from Nintendo. Oh well, happy retirement. Did that break while we were alive? I didn't see that. And then kind of funny.com you're wrong to keep us honest as we go marathong, which is a great name to say extra marathon sales info. Not only is it selling as well, not only is it selling as well as it is on Steam, but it's number two standard and number four deluxe best selling pre order on PSN right now. There you go. Congratulations. Yeah, everybody guess what? You made it through another episode of Kinda Funny Games. Daily, each and every weekday we run you through the biggest video game news stories in the world on Twitch TV. Kinda FunnyGames, YouTube.com Kinda FunnyGames and podcast services around the globe. If you love that, pick up a membership. Kinda funny you can go there. Fuck that up. Patreon.com kindafunny I was gonna try to save it. I was like it's not even worth it. YouTube.com kindafunnygames Apple and Spotify to pick up the membership. Get every show ad free. Get your daily dose of Me and Greg Way. And of course get good karma for supporting an 11 person 11 year old small business. Of course we are all about live talk shows, which means your day ain't over yet. From here, Matt and I are gonna sit basically right here and do a gamescast about what it's like right now in the media landscape. After that, Nick and Joey are running a restaurant filled with rats. The thumbnail's great. Then we're recording our Back to the Future commentary which of course you can only get on patreon.com kinda funny later. But I digress. For right now, don't touch that dial. And if you're watching later, like subscribe, share, come and watch the other content on demand. Until next time, it's been our pleasure to serve you.