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Rocksteady’s Pulling The Plug On Suicide Squad Content - Kinda Funny Games Daily 12.10.24
01:02:07
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- [00:01]
Tim Gettys
Today's stories include Rocksteady confirms it's pulling the plug on new Suicide Squad content. Everybody's waiting for a GTA 6 release date and BAFTA game awards set rules around DLC expansions. We'll have all this and more. And Jason Schreier, because this is Kind of Funny Games Daily. What's up? And welcome back to Kind of Funny Games daily for Tuesday, December 10, 2024. Of course, I'm your host, Tim Gettys. I'm joined today by Bloomberg's very own, the number one video game journalist, the multi New York Times bestselling author, Jason Schreier.
- [00:43]
Jason Schreier
Hello, Timothy. Thank you so much.
- [00:45]
Tim Gettys
How you doing?
- [00:45]
Jason Schreier
Having me on once again. It's good to be back here.
- [00:48]
Tim Gettys
What are you doing here? Why are you here in San Francisco?
- [00:51]
Jason Schreier
San Francisco, because tonight, Tuesday, tonight I am doing an event at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, which is about 40 minutes south of where we are now. So if anyone out there is in the Bay Area, there are.
- [01:03]
Tim Gettys
I know there's some people down there.
- [01:05]
Jason Schreier
Yeah, come check it out.
- [01:06]
Tim Gettys
That could be interesting.
- [01:07]
Jason Schreier
I'm going a little early. I'm going to get a tour of the Computer History Museum because apparently it's awesome. So I'm excited for that. And yeah, then I'll be speaking tonight. So come, come say hi.
- [01:15]
Tim Gettys
Love that. This is related to the book.
- [01:18]
Jason Schreier
This is a Blizzard talk. Yes. I'm going to be talking about Play Nice. I'm going to be talking about Blizzard and yeah, it should be super fun. And then I fly to Los Angeles bright and early tomorrow morning, 6:45am flight and then awards right around the corner. Yeah, should be.
- [01:32]
Tim Gettys
How has the book been treating you? Because last time you hear was launch time. So now, now we have a little time to reflect post press tour.
- [01:39]
Jason Schreier
Yeah, it's doing well. It was a New York Times best seller that was exciting and people seem to dig it. So I'm happy about that. And I don't know, I kind of now I just have to think about what's next.
- [01:49]
Tim Gettys
Exactly.
- [01:50]
Jason Schreier
The pressure always so always about what have you done for me lately. So it's like a book two months ago, old news. Now I think about what's next. So still. Still figuring that out. We'll see.
- [02:01]
Tim Gettys
Speaking of that book though, last time you were here at this very table, we were talking about it and I was saying that my wife Gia, avid reader, tangentially aware of video games, thanks to me. But that is the very end of that. But she's very aware of like startup Culture and all that stuff. She's finished the book. She enjoyed the book very, very much.
- [02:19]
Jason Schreier
Fantastic.
- [02:19]
Tim Gettys
It was. I. It was one of those things. I recommended it to her. I got it for her and I thought I was just going to go on the bookshelf and kind of sit there and one day she'll get to it and like a week later I walk in, I see it next to her bed. I'm like, oh, she's actually reading this. And she read it all then. So actually she.
- [02:33]
Jason Schreier
Very glad to hear that.
- [02:34]
Tim Gettys
Was really into it and yeah, I was. It's funny because like I noticed a couple of weeks ago she would like make appropriate jokes like about Activision. Like, like it was like something would happen and she would say, say Activision. I'm like, how? Why do you know that? I'm like, okay, she read the book. So anyway, she knows very fun stuff.
- [02:52]
Jason Schreier
She knows the Bobby Kotick story. Yeah, she does.
- [02:54]
Tim Gettys
She knows all about. Unfortunately, you know, but she does, she does.
- [02:58]
Jason Schreier
That's awesome. Oh, I'm so glad to hear that. Tell her I appreciate that.
- [03:01]
Tim Gettys
I definitely will. But yeah, it's also goes to show, you don't even know about video games. For this book to be interesting to you, Play nice. Available now, but this is Kind of Funny Games Daily, each and every weekday we run you through the nerdy video game news that you need to know about live on YouTube, Twitch and podcast services around the globe. If you love what we do, please support us with the Kind of Funny membership on Patreon or YouTube to get all of our shows ad free. Watch us record them live and you get a daily exclusive show for a chance to be part of the show. Submit your thoughts and opinions as YouTube super chats as we go. So if you have any credit questions for Jason, please super chat them in and we will get to those. We are an 11 person business all about live talk shows. Which means after this episode of Games Daily, you're going to get a kind of funny Games cast. That is The Arcane Season 2 review with Andy Cortez and Jerrica making her return. I think that's twice in like a week span. So shout out to Jerrica for joining us. The stream after that will be path of exile 2 with Mike, Joey and Nick. Everyone's incredibly high on this game. You've been hearing the buzz.
- [03:59]
Jason Schreier
I have, yeah, it's. I feel like I want to wait until it's out of early access before I play. I don't like to do earlier. I like to do the one point out releases. But yes, I'm with you. It's going over well with people.
- [04:13]
Tim Gettys
I'm with you that. And Hades 2 is. It's been the one thing that kind of like. Because I loved Hades one so much and I was like, I don't want to play the early access of that. I refused. And then I played the 1.0 and I absolutely loved it. When they were like, oh, Tim, you could play a lot of Hades too. I'm like, well, now I can't say no. So here I am, 50 hours into Hades 2 Early Access, and I'm just like, God, what's that going to do for my full experience?
- [04:34]
Jason Schreier
Well, that's the thing, right. It's like we still going to. I feel like with Hades, you'll probably enjoy it just as much.
- [04:38]
Tim Gettys
Yeah.
- [04:38]
Jason Schreier
Roguelike is a different sort of thing because that you can play in more bursts and it doesn't take like you're going to be repeating content over and over again regardless.
- [04:46]
Tim Gettys
Yeah.
- [04:47]
Jason Schreier
As opposed to like an action RPG where. I don't know. And I've also. I never played the first one, so I don't feel super compelled.
- [04:52]
Tim Gettys
Yeah.
- [04:53]
Jason Schreier
I got my Diablo 4 fix. I don't really need another kind of like, grindy action.
- [04:56]
Tim Gettys
Yeah.
- [04:57]
Jason Schreier
Action RPG right now. So I'm good. I got other stuff to play.
- [05:00]
Tim Gettys
Sounds good, though. We had. We had Xanth on our show last week, who is like. He runs a Diablo podcast, like, very. Oh, yeah. Awesome. Awesome. Uh, and he gave a path of exile to his experience so far, a 10 out of 10.
- [05:12]
Jason Schreier
Wow.
- [05:12]
Tim Gettys
He's like, very. And he, like, knows what he's talking about. So. Cool stuff.
- [05:16]
Jason Schreier
That's really cool.
- [05:17]
Tim Gettys
If you're a kind of funny member, of course you're going to get today's Greg Way. And thank you to our Patreon producers, Delaney Twining and Carl Jacobs. Today we're brought to you by Imperial and Aura Frames, but we'll tell you about that later. For now, let's begin with what is and forever will be. The Roper reports. Time for some news. We have five stories today.
- [05:35]
Jason Schreier
Baker's Desert.
- [05:37]
Tim Gettys
Thank you, Kevin. Story number one. Suicide Squad's current season will be its last. This comes from Tom Ivan at VGC Rock. Study has confirmed that Suicide Squad Kill, the Justice League's current season, will be its final. The studio also announced today that the game will receive a long promised offline Mode this Tuesday, December 10th, which is today. The game's newest playable character, Deathstroke, will also be available tomorrow. When season four episode seven is released. Season four will finish up with episode eight, which is scheduled to release in January 2025 and that will serve as the last seasonal ep episode for the game. While season four episode eight will mark the final battle against Brainiac, all online features will continue to be available, so you'll still be able to enjoy co op with your friends as well as all previous seasonal and episodic content. You'll also have the option to play the game via the new offline mode which allows access to the main story, campaign and all post launch seasonal gameplay content without an Internet connection. What a novel concept. Players will need to create a new offline mode profile, which can be done by copying an existing online mode profile or making a brand new one. By starting the game from scratch. Players will then be able to switch between online and offline profiles, with progression made on either one not carrying over to the other a lot there. Jason, top level. What do you think about this?
- [06:52]
Jason Schreier
I mean it's. I think that as everyone can probably guess, this was not always the plan. The original plan was, or at least the hope was, to have Suicide Squad last for years to come. But of course the game did not deliver on expectations and did not have the player base and still does not have the player base to justify continuing the season. So yes, of course this next one will be the last. And I can tell you, I've reported this before, but just to refresh your memory, refresh people's memories. Rocksteady, A bunch of people, Rocksteady are actually working on this director's cut or whatever for new edition of Harry Potter Hogwarts Legacy. So a bunch of people are helping Avalanche out with that. And then other people, Rocksteady, are starting to think about, or starting early conception on what will be their next game, which they hope to be a single player game.
- [07:41]
Tim Gettys
Yeah, yeah. What do you think it is? Let me ask you this. Do you know what it is? Yeah. Obviously not going to say.
- [07:47]
Jason Schreier
I won't get into that right now, but I mean I think it's. It's not like Rocksteady is going to start working on some like medieval fantasy new ip like I think you could probably.
- [07:57]
Tim Gettys
I mean it's not like Rocksteady is going to make a live service.
- [08:00]
Jason Schreier
Live service, online shoot, right? No, I mean it's still so early, like the ideas could change and like who knows what going to happen. So it's not even worth getting into. But. But yeah. Rest in peace. RIP RIP Suicide Squad. What a sad, tragic story for a Studio that was once, like, considered among the. The elite of the elite in the games industry.
- [08:25]
Tim Gettys
Yeah, no, it's definitely it. I mean, we've talked this to death. We all know how sad it is what happened from what Rockstar Steady used to put out to seeing this, and it feeling like this was just such a long death. Yeah, you know, it's just like. Just so much.
- [08:39]
Jason Schreier
That's funny you say that. It was like a death from when it was announced.
- [08:42]
Tim Gettys
Yeah, exactly, exactly. So, yeah, you know, here we are with this. What do you think about the whole online offline mode? Like, what's it say to you that once the game is just officially done and dead, then they're just like, okay, fine, we'll give you the offline mode and let you play this like a video game should be able to.
- [08:56]
Jason Schreier
Well, I think it's great because you look at Concord and that is a game that will never be playable to anybody again. And that's years of people's lives to something. And it's like. It's one thing when a game is a flop, and it's just like, okay, that really sucks. It's another thing when you spend years of your life on something and nobody can ever even play it. So with Suicide Squad, I'm sure there will be people out there who play and maybe even appreciate it down the road because it's now playable offline. So I think that's a really good thing for video game preservation and even just for, like, respecting your employees work and the number of years that they spent on this thing. Because if they didn't do this, I mean, who knows? Like, in two years it'll probably just. They'll pull the plugs on the servers and nobody will play it. So to have that offline option, I think is really cool and really laudable, and props to Rocksteady and Warner Brothers for supporting that.
- [09:43]
Tim Gettys
Yeah, I'm right there with you on that. I do think that when it comes to the preservation of these online games, that obviously is going to be a lot more difficult to even figure out, like, what that looks like. I do feel like there's a trend, at least with the. Some of the groups out there that have a lot of money to be able to back this up, PlayStation notwithstanding, with the Concord situation. But when a game dies, like, I forgot what the game was last week. We were just talking about this. But even Halo Infinite has this where you can go back and play old battle passes and ones that you didn't finish. That type of stuff, I think is Very cool. And, like, should be the future, but should be the present of how these games work. Like, I feel like that is like one of those things where once we've realized, oh, that can happen, I feel like that should become standardized because, like, that's just such a great way to get people actively playing these games and, like, having things to do in an ongoing game and not feel like it has to be in this moment or else I miss it for the next thing.
- [10:33]
Jason Schreier
Yeah, yeah, yeah. 100%. Because games shouldn't be like these ephemeral, like, flashes in the pan where, like, you either miss it or you don't. Yeah. And I hope other games, like, I Hope a Destiny 2, for example, one day creates an offline mode so you can keep playing it even after the servers are shut down 20 years from now or whatever.
- [10:50]
Tim Gettys
Yeah. Foam Stars Average Joe brings up. That's the game that I was thinking of. And other people bring up X Defiant, which I also think doing the same thing. So I do think that there's like a trend happening right now where I feel like I was saying this about Foam Stars last week. I think less so about X Defiant, but I do think that you would have to be crazy to be building a live service game nowadays and not having.
- [11:14]
Jason Schreier
You could just send this and it's there straight up.
- [11:16]
Tim Gettys
Straight up. That. That is true. But if you're. If you insist, you better have a plan for its death. You better have a. Like, we need to at least get this far for this to even be viable and worth doing. And if inevitably it doesn't rank up there with the destinies of yore and Fortnite and the big dogs, Apex Legends, there's a plan to be able to be like, okay, well, then we're going to turn it into this offline thing. We'll try to figure out a way to make money from it and have this game work. Because if you don't, like, you are risking it all.
- [11:46]
Jason Schreier
Yeah, it's tougher with a PvP game. Foam Stars, Concord, um, those two games that it was, by the way, fun fact. I was just looking at Concord's credits the other day, and there's an entire section that is like PvE. Like, all people just like, did, like, have PvE in their titles, but there's no PvE in Concord, which is just kind of. I just thought that was an interesting, interesting, interesting note.
- [12:10]
Tim Gettys
Do you think we would have got to it eventually?
- [12:12]
Jason Schreier
Like, well, yeah, clearly they're working on PvE. Like, they have PvE literally in their job, titles of the game. And God, can you imagine not only working on Concord, spending all this time on a game that is pulled after two weeks and nobody will ever play your game again, but. And then your studio shuts down so you lose your job working on the PvE for Concord. So not only was your whole game shut down, like you worked on something that never even made it into the game. It's just so sad, so tragic.
- [12:35]
Tim Gettys
Answer this. However you can answer this. Jason. Obviously I'm. I'm never trying to like get you caught up in anything, but you're always.
- [12:41]
Jason Schreier
Trying to get me. Every day you call me Tim. Yeah, I know I'm trying to get you into trouble here.
- [12:45]
Tim Gettys
So you. You're saying you don't know the subject of your next book or what? Whatever. And I'm not saying that it should be this or whatever. Concord.
- [12:52]
Jason Schreier
I mean to me the Concord book.
- [12:53]
Tim Gettys
It kind of feels like one of the. The most insane things to ever happen in video games like this. This. Yeah.
- [13:00]
Jason Schreier
I mean what's your, what's your thinking.
- [13:03]
Tim Gettys
There a PlayStation Studios for what PlayStation Studios means these days. A state of play focused on video game that specifically given the timing in the year of where PlayStation is at Concord was their thing. It has a episode in secret level like they decided to do that. I get that. That's marketing, but also that's money.
- [13:24]
Jason Schreier
Right.
- [13:24]
Tim Gettys
So much the credits of this last three hours, like, you know what I mean, so much money, time, efforts, expectations, all put in this game and then they put it out and then it goes away immediately. This has never happened before. Games have been put out and not worked and then been fixed and blah blah blah or came out not worked and then slowly die a death like Suicide Squad. But awkward's different.
- [13:48]
Jason Schreier
Yeah, I don't know. A couple of things. So first of all, I think what one of the reasons that it's like this game, it doesn't seem to me to be that shocking of story is because I feel like everybody knew that was what was going to happen. Like I feel like as soon as that game was announced it was kind of dead on arrival with that trailer that kind of remember what was it? That like restaurant CGI teaser trailer where they're like doing the quips and it feels like Guardians of the Galaxy and then actually it's a PvP shooter and everyone's just like what is going on here? I feel like from the get go people were just like what is this? Like are people really going to play this? It's also called Concord, which I feel like is you're destined to. Destined to fail if you call yourself Concord. The other thing is that I've talked to a couple of people who worked on the game and from what I've gathered, talking to them, while I'm sure the details are a little bit different, it's kind of the same story that it often is. It's the same story as Anthem and Suicide Squad and Redfall and all these games where it's just like people at the top, maybe at the top of studio, maybe at the publisher, maybe both chasing a trend, live service trend, often other, like not being able to get it together, running into the kind of classic game development struggles, engine struggles, technical struggles, creative direction struggles. Maybe people at the top not being willing or able to make decisions or good decisions. And it's just kind of this clash of like game development being really hard and trend chasing and never really having a coherent vision in the first place that makes people want to care about this thing. And it just seems like a kind of classic story. Like I don't feel like the story behind the game is all that different than the stories behind a lot of other disasters.
- [15:23]
Tim Gettys
I mean, I feel like the fact that it was legit pulled and then the team was entirely just done and.
- [15:28]
Jason Schreier
Then the game, that part is crazy. Don't get me wrong. Yeah, you're, you're.
- [15:31]
Tim Gettys
That's the one part to me that I'm like, that just seems like one of the craziest.
- [15:34]
Jason Schreier
The fact that they pulled it after two weeks as opposed to a Suicide.
- [15:36]
Tim Gettys
Squad where at least games still exists to some extent.
- [15:41]
Jason Schreier
It was like Concord.
- [15:42]
Tim Gettys
Like literally, like when it went down, I went to the game stores to try to buy a copy just because I was like, this is going to be history. And they wouldn't let me buy it.
- [15:49]
Jason Schreier
Yeah.
- [15:49]
Tim Gettys
They legitimately were like, we have it. They got a call that morning like, we cannot sell this game.
- [15:54]
Jason Schreier
That's insane.
- [15:55]
Tim Gettys
So it's like that is.
- [15:56]
Jason Schreier
What are they going to do with all the discs? Just like taking more land. Sure.
- [15:58]
Tim Gettys
Yo. 100%. Yeah.
- [16:00]
Jason Schreier
You got to go find NFT. Yeah.
- [16:04]
Tim Gettys
Biggest game story ever. ET buried in New Mexico. The next one, Jason, it's going to be Concord.
- [16:09]
Jason Schreier
So I guess what I would. The way I would phrase it is that like the outcome of it, the results of it are fascinating and phenomenal, but the story behind it, I don't know if it's all that interesting or. So many twists or turns.
- [16:20]
Tim Gettys
Yeah.
- [16:21]
Jason Schreier
And as far as like a book or even a feature story that I work on. I try to think about, like, the process of it all and the story behind it, as opposed to just the ultimate outcome.
- [16:32]
Tim Gettys
Yeah, well, there we go. That's why he's number one.
- [16:35]
Jason Schreier
Also, I think my next book is going to be fiction.
- [16:37]
Tim Gettys
Oh, okay.
- [16:38]
Jason Schreier
We'll see.
- [16:39]
Tim Gettys
Interesting. There you go. Exclusive.
- [16:41]
Jason Schreier
Exclusive. Kind of funny exclusive.
- [16:44]
Tim Gettys
Story number two. Publishers reportedly not nailing down release dates to avoid potential GTA 6 clash. This comes from Tom Ivan at BGC. The looming release of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto 6 is reportedly causing unease amongst some competing publishers. The next entry in the open world crime franchise, which has sold over 435 million lifetime units, is one of the industry's most anticipated releases of all time. The company said last month that the game is on track to hit its previously announced fall 2025 release window. And according to Bloomberg's sources, rival game publishers are waiting as long as possible to commit to their release dates for next fall. They want to see if GTA 6 will make its deadline or be delayed until 2026. With the goal being to put significant distance between the release of their own games and rockstars, it's claimed Take 2 has said itself that it's planning to avoid clashes for its biggest titles, which also include next year's Borderlands 4. I think it's safe to say that we wouldn't and no one would stack up huge releases unnecessarily, says CEO Strauss Zelnick. They told Variety last month it's safe to say we wouldn't and no one would. It's like we've seen it before and we'll see it again. Jason, were you the one?
- [17:54]
Jason Schreier
It is so funny that you had me on today and you chose in the Rupper Report to have a story aggregating my article.
- [18:01]
Tim Gettys
That's what we do. We like to spread the love. You know what I mean? Spread it around, all around.
- [18:06]
Jason Schreier
Gotta give some credit to the website that copy pasted.
- [18:08]
Tim Gettys
Copy pasted. Cause so that we can copy paste.
- [18:11]
Jason Schreier
So that you can read it.
- [18:13]
Tim Gettys
So at the end of the day it goes back to the source.
- [18:15]
Jason Schreier
So it's all good. Yeah, I mean, it's funny that this like got traction. So a little bit behind the scenes here is that Bloomberg Businessweek, which is our print magazine, asked me a few weeks ago to participate in this feature they're doing that is like the biggest things for 2025, like the biggest things that are happening next year. And I was like, well, duh, like the biggest video game possibly of all time is coming next year or on, like at least currently on track to come next year. GTA 6. And they're like, great, write up a few paragraphs about it. And I was like, sure. And the paragraphs I wrote were mostly other than this little tidbit, mostly like aggregating information that I had already reported or that was already public. And it was just kind of like meant to be like one of those magazine spreads that you see that is like looking ahead to 2025. But because it was put up as a standalone article yesterday, hilariously, while I was on an airplane yesterday, it was put up as a standalone article about GTA 6. All of the kind of GTA hungry people out there interpreted this as like breaking news on something when it was really just like a little feature in a magazine. So now it's been aggregated by all the gaming sites. This little tidbit. Yes, it's true. I mean, to me this seems really obvious. Like, of course they are. But it is interesting. I mean, there are definitely some publishers that I've talked to who are like, hey, if we have a game plan for next fall and we, we know that it could be like one of these possible dates, like it could be August, it could be September, it could be October, something like that. They are waiting until the absolute last minute to decide that because they want to see when GTA 6 is going to come.
- [19:52]
Tim Gettys
Absolutely makes sense.
- [19:53]
Jason Schreier
But yeah, that, that to me seems kind of obvious. But yes, it is. It is true. It is definitely happening. I can confirm my reporting that it's happening.
- [20:01]
Tim Gettys
Love that. Love that gut check. When do you think GTA 6 releases?
- [20:06]
Jason Schreier
Anything I say is going to be aggregated on Reddit.
- [20:10]
Tim Gettys
I'm not trying to get you, but.
- [20:11]
Jason Schreier
I will say no. I'll answer your question. I would be shocked if it like actually made it next year. I think that it will probably slip again because Rockstar Games always slip. Red Dead 2. I'll never forget. I was so I was in Warsaw, Poland, sitting in the offices of CD Projekt Red talking to them for my first book, Blood Sweat and Pixels In I believe it was like October of 2016. I was in there and I'll never forget the Red Dead 2 trailer hit. Or like they announced the screenshots or something. They announced some Red Dead 2 redemption thing and they were like coming fall 2017 is what they said at the time. And I remember turning to the CD Projekt people and being like, I hope you guys aren't planning Cyberpunk for fall 2017 and they were like, no, don't worry. Cyberpunk would of course come out three years. Red Dead 2 would slip to spring 2018 and then fall 2018. And that was six years ago. Games are even more complicated, even more moving pieces now slipping even further now. So I wouldn't be shocked if it slips to 2026 or sorry, I would would be shocked if it doesn't slip to 2026. Like I'd be shocked if it actually hits fall 2025. But as of right now, Take Two is saying that they're on track. We'll see if that's still the case in a few months.
- [21:29]
Tim Gettys
Jumping off that, like even without GTA, whether or not it makes 2025, I'm looking at 2025 as like a major year in video games. Do you think that it is going to be one of those like up there, Holy crap, some of the biggest things ever have happened.
- [21:44]
Jason Schreier
What, what is making you say that?
- [21:46]
Tim Gettys
GTA as a concept, whether it actually hits or not. I do feel like next year we will get those exciting kind of moments and like at least them talking about it and at some point planning on releasing it next year, switch to it being revealed, it getting its launch lineup, us knowing what its first year looks like, which I expect to be nothing but bangers.
- [22:03]
Jason Schreier
Yeah.
- [22:04]
Tim Gettys
And I mean that alone I think is enough. But on top of that I am expecting some other pretty major titles that people have been looking forward to.
- [22:11]
Jason Schreier
Yep, yeah, yeah, Borderlands maybe. I don't know, I mean guaranteed, right?
- [22:16]
Tim Gettys
Unless it's delayed. But I feel like it hits because they've said 2025 for Borderlands.
- [22:20]
Jason Schreier
Yeah, yeah. I can't imagine they would want that next to GTA, but who knows? We'll see. Yeah, the Switch 2 alone is going to make a huge impact on the gaming industry. Yeah, we're in an interesting place because it feels like a lot of the big AAA games are kind of failing to hit in a way they maybe would have a few years ago in the years before like Fortnite and Roblox took over everybody's friggin TV screens and phones. So yeah, I am very curious. I mean a lot of people have been saying survive to 25 has been like a mantra among video game developers being like look, we need, we need to fix things. We need to get like money back in the industry. We need people buying games again, yada yada yada. And so I think there's a hope. A lot of people are looking at GTA 6 as like something that all the rising tide that will lift all ships. Because the PlayStation 5 is not like selling on the same trajectory as the PS4. It is kind of either flatten or even slightly behind the PS4. And a large reason for that is that so many people are playing Fortnite, which you can play in your PS4, that you don't actually need to buy a PS5. So the hope among a lot of people is that GTA 6 will lead to a lot more PS5s getting sold and therefore bigger audience in general. Meanwhile, Steam is bigger than ever. So that's been interesting to watch. And yeah, I don't know, I'm very curious to see what happens. I mean, I think that something that I always consider is that a lot of the games that take off and become mega hits, you would have no idea the year before. Like, you would have absolutely no clue. If we were talking at this time last year, Balatro and like Helldivers 2 being massive hits. Palworld. Yeah, like you mentioned, like, are you kidding me? Like, who would have possibly guessed that? So, yeah, it'll be interesting to see. But yeah, switch to alone will make such a big impact that it is going to be, it is going to be fun to watch. I hope it, I hope it's announced soon.
- [24:10]
Tim Gettys
Yeah, me too. And then you look at the Xbox side of things and I feel like they had one of, if not their best showcase this summer. When they kind of feel like everybody.
- [24:19]
Jason Schreier
Says they have the best showcase every summer and then they never actually release anything.
- [24:22]
Tim Gettys
Well, I mean, look, that's. That, that there's truth there. But I do think that last year's like, was, I think, a standout compared to a lot of the other showcases that they've had. Even when at the end of the day, I think Xbox has good showcases.
- [24:35]
Jason Schreier
Yeah. And because they have the same games every year, there's that.
- [24:40]
Tim Gettys
And then they release the games and.
- [24:41]
Jason Schreier
Some of them don't show Fable and Perfect Dark every year.
- [24:43]
Tim Gettys
Sure, sure. But we actually saw Perfect Dark this year. We don't always actually see it.
- [24:48]
Jason Schreier
Actually. Actually that was like any game developer would look, look at that demo and be like, this is the most. The fakest shit I've ever seen in my life.
- [24:58]
Tim Gettys
Maybe this is Deja Vu, but I'm looking at it. I'm like, I think that in 2025 we were going to get the most Xbox game studios released that are actually coming out.
- [25:08]
Jason Schreier
I mean, I've been playing. I know you're not into it, but Indiana Jones is super good and people are loving it. Yeah, I really enjoy.
- [25:13]
Tim Gettys
We got to win. They got to win.
- [25:15]
Jason Schreier
I think I'm really excited about Avowed. I can't wait to play that game. Outer Worlds too. Maybe we'll see some of that soon. Fable. I'm excited for that. Yeah, there's a lot of stuff coming that I'm super stoked about. And what I love about Microsoft is that they put everything on PC day one, which I very much appreciate.
- [25:31]
Tim Gettys
Yeah. Great stuff out there. All right, we're going to keep going with more stories, but first we're going to take a quick break. Here's a word from our sponsors. This episode is brought to you by Imperial. Imperial is a complex, challenging, feature rich action RPG in a far flung corner of the galaxy. An expedition arrives on a hitherto unexplored planet to find a colossal monolith built by a lost civilization. There are no more ruins, the monolith filled with danger, and the expedition is ill equipped to unearth the secrets within. All eyes turn towards an elite mercenary who may succeed where all others have failed, venture inside the monolith and face the automatons that yet remain remnants of the impossibly ancient civilization that built this unknowable structure. Survive and uncover revelations that transform our understanding of humanity itself. Imperial features a memorable cast of characters with personal quest lines and multiple endings for each one. Of course, you can unlock new abilities to personalize your playstyle and upgrade and modify the loot that you find. Your only hope of victory lies in mastering a unique and complex combat system. So get on it. You can wishlist Imperial now on PlayStation, Xbox and Steam Wishlist Imperial Today. This episode's brought to you by Aura Frames. Isn't it funny how the people we love most are often the hardest to shop for? Luckily, there's one gift that everyone on your list is sure to enjoy an Aura Digital Picture Frame. Aura Frames make it incredibly easy to share unlimited photos and videos directly from your phone to the frame. And when you give an Aura frame as a gift, you can personalize and preload it with a thoughtful message and photos using the Aura app, making it an ideal present for long distance loved ones. Greg, Kevin, and a ton of people at Kinda Funny are obsessed with their aura frames. It takes about two minutes to set up a frame using the Aura app. That means you'll be able to easily add all the photos of the new memories that you will create this holiday season. Save on the perfect gift by visiting auraframes.com to get 35 off our best selling Carver Mat frames by using promo code Kinda Funny at checkout. That's a U R A frames.com promo code kinda Funny this deal is excluded, exclusive to listeners, so get yours now in time for the holidays. Terms and conditions apply. Horrorframes.com promo code kind of Funny we're back with story number three. BAFTA Game Awards Long list Released as DLC is deemed ineligible for top prize. This comes from Jordan Midler at bgc. BAFTA has released the long list of games it will consider for its 2025 award ceremony, and it's deemed that DLC won't be eligible for the top prize. Best Game Last month, Elden Ring Shadow the Erdtree was revealed to be one of the nominees for the Game of the Year at Thursday's Game Awards. But now British industry body bafta's released a list of games and it has clarified its rules on dlc. DLC is eligible for consideration for the Evolving Game award and in certain craft categories only, and will not be eligible for the top prize. Remasters of games originally released outside of eligibility period are not eligible for consideration and full remakes are only eligible in craft categories. BAFTA members will begin voting for the nominations in Best Game and British Game categories in January, with specialist BAFTA juries voting for the other categories and the nominations will be announced on March 4, 2025.
- [28:47]
Jason Schreier
Cool.
- [28:48]
Tim Gettys
Cool.
- [28:49]
Jason Schreier
The BAFTA Game Awards. I mean, that all sounds great, but are they going to have a new trailer for Death Stranding 2?
- [28:56]
Tim Gettys
Absolutely not.
- [28:57]
Jason Schreier
Are they going to have celebrities bantering on stage? I mean, come on, this is, who cares?
- [29:03]
Tim Gettys
After, are they going to have Twisted Metal Season two? I don't think so.
- [29:07]
Jason Schreier
I don't think Anthony Mackie at the.
- [29:09]
Tim Gettys
BAFTA game, Anthony Lackey is more like it. Jason that's what they say, everybody.
- [29:15]
Jason Schreier
I'm. I'm surprised how many people care about whether what's eligible, what is ineligible. I mean, I guess it's kind of fun to argue about, but that's the thing.
- [29:22]
Tim Gettys
These things are all just fun to argue about. And it's fun celebrating different games and talking about different developers and talking about the successes that we have enjoyed over the years. I just feel like you just need rules. And as long as the rules are clear and as long, long as people, the, the everybody contributing understands what those rules are and are playing by.
- [29:39]
Jason Schreier
Here's the rules.
- [29:40]
Tim Gettys
Here's to rules. Here's just to some understanding. Because at the end of the day, there's no right answer to this stuff. It's silly. It's so silly. Awards are Just a thing to just try to celebrate people. Let people celebrate people. So I, I think that it's good that bafta's taking the stance and are just like, hey, we are taking our game awards seriously in this very specific way. Um, but then you look at the game awards and I know that I, I don't know what your takes exactly are on the game of the year conversation.
- [30:07]
Jason Schreier
Jason.
- [30:08]
Tim Gettys
I firmly stand by. I think that that's how it should be. If people, if the people that are voting vote for these games to be game of the Year. It is what it is.
- [30:16]
Jason Schreier
It is what it is.
- [30:16]
Tim Gettys
But then you look at yesterday, the players choice awards for Game Wars. Have you seen this?
- [30:21]
Jason Schreier
No.
- [30:21]
Tim Gettys
So the, the, the five games that the players choice. The players. The gamers out there.
- [30:27]
Jason Schreier
Yeah.
- [30:27]
Tim Gettys
Voted in, where it's like purely on them to get these games in. Like, three of them are like mobile gotcha games. And the gotcha games had an incentive in the game to vote for that. To vote for that. So that's where we're at, everybody. That's where we're at. And that's how silly this all seems.
- [30:43]
Jason Schreier
Like smart game design.
- [30:44]
Tim Gettys
100%. 100%.
- [30:46]
Jason Schreier
I think my game of the year, every single year is threes. And it's just. That's just how it is. That's how it's been for 10 years and it will never change.
- [30:55]
Tim Gettys
And I totally get that.
- [30:56]
Jason Schreier
I have. I played so many hours of threes that, you know that Malcolm gladwell rule, like 10,000 hours to be an expert at something. I am more than an expert at threes. Let me, let me check. Let me see if it has my actual play time.
- [31:09]
Tim Gettys
Do you really think you've played more than 10,000 hours?
- [31:11]
Jason Schreier
Yes, 100%. The amount of threes that I've played is like, I think because I do it while, like to kill time while doing other stuff. Is there a way to see. I don't know if you can see the hours. Let me see if I can see the number of, like, total games that I've played or something like that. Because it's like, it's really twisted. Game center, would that be it? Sure. Let's see. You can keep going.
- [31:34]
Tim Gettys
Well, there's not much there. I mean, just again, I think it's good that in addition to the game awards, there are Things like the BAFTAs.
- [31:40]
Jason Schreier
And DICE Awards that other options.
- [31:42]
Tim Gettys
Other options that take things seriously in different ways and value other things and celebrate in different ways. It's important. It's good. People put a lot of effort into the stuff and they clearly care and I think it's good.
- [31:54]
Jason Schreier
And they're also. Well, so the thing about the Game Awards, and I think people should be aware of this, is that the Game Awards are voted on by press people, including a lot of people that like nobody has ever heard of, paid attention to. Like, yeah, like, like those guys are kind of funny, like whatever that means. Whereas the BAFTAs, I'm not sure about the BAFTAs, but the DICE awards certainly and GDC awards are voted on by other game developers, people who understand the craft a little bit more. And sometimes you see crossover like Baldur's Gate 3 won everything last year, all, every single one of these awards shows. But it's worth noting that like this is a little bit more lowest common denominator because it's a lot more like the games that are played by the most people have the biggest chances of winning at the Game Awards and there's.
- [32:43]
Tim Gettys
Value others, you know, I think that like it's worth celebrating the games played by the most people that those people enjoyed the most. Right? Yeah.
- [32:50]
Jason Schreier
I mean, yes. And it's like. But like at the end of the day, the only reason the Game Awards is talked about is because we're going to see the hot new game from whatever company at the game. Like the awards themselves I think are not the reasons that most people are watching other than maybe, which is kind of like, I think Game of the Year is interesting in what it says about that year and just kind of where the video game industry is at, where the culture is at, etc, etc. But, but it's, it's the new announcements that everyone cares about.
- [33:19]
Tim Gettys
Yeah. During that you asked, are we going to Top of the Game Awards? Do you have anything else you wanted to say about them?
- [33:24]
Jason Schreier
I don't know. What, are you excited? What do you think we're going to see there?
- [33:27]
Tim Gettys
Well, so that's my number one question to you. Is this going to be a big one?
- [33:32]
Jason Schreier
There's that conversation, all the rumors saying it's going to be a big one.
- [33:35]
Tim Gettys
That's the conversation. I mean, have you seen those rumors?
- [33:39]
Jason Schreier
God, what can I say without getting in trouble? So I know about a couple of announcements that will be there and they would definitely qualify as big announcements.
- [33:47]
Tim Gettys
Cool.
- [33:48]
Jason Schreier
That said, like, big announcements are games that won't be out for years. So like, I think there's a good chance that you'll see one or two teaser trailers for a game that is like 2026 or even later in many cases. And if you look Back. I mean one of the big announcements like a few years ago was Star Wars. God.
- [34:10]
Tim Gettys
No, no, no.
- [34:11]
Jason Schreier
Eclipse.
- [34:12]
Tim Gettys
Eclipse, yeah.
- [34:13]
Jason Schreier
Wonder Woman was announced a few years ago that when that was announced it was like literally nothing. It was like paper. Like there have been so many times when it's like this hype, big teaser trailer announcement and then you just, you know, you're not going to see that thing for a very long time. So I think that will be the case with a couple of things that I know about this year.
- [34:35]
Tim Gettys
Yeah, well, hey, I'm very excited for this year. I'm always excited though for the game. Woods I like. I think it's a good time. It's fun to hang out and you know, get hyped about the cool things, laugh at the stupid things, celebrate the games. Like I always have a great time with it. But yeah, I also, I would like when I would prefer the people that know something, the Jason's of the world to be like, oh yeah, there's, there's going to be some exciting stuff there. Than they'd be like, nah, there's not.
- [35:00]
Jason Schreier
You know what I mean?
- [35:01]
Tim Gettys
Like, so let's, let's, let's. Only if y'all are right, which I assume you guys are. So yeah, let's see how this goes.
- [35:07]
Jason Schreier
Yeah, I mean, yeah, there are at least two things that will make you guys reacting. Be like, holy shit, I can't believe. At least two things I'll say that.
- [35:18]
Tim Gettys
Dang. Story number four Witcher 3 modders data mine a quest where Draw would have teleported to Night city from Cyberpunk 2077. What? This comes from Ted Litchfield at PC Gamer as part of the insanely ambitious what Lies Unseen. Data Mine Development history of the Witcher 3 the project's creators made an amusing discovery. A script for an early version of the quest Through Time and space where he would teleport to Night city from Cyberpunk 2077. Through time and Space is one of my favorite quests in the Witcher 3. In order to reach the home world of the Wild Hunt, the Witcher and Sage have to skip from world to world in a dimension hopping chain of portals. They find themselves braving a desert planet that was once a bed of sentient ocean, a toxic swamp and an underwater cave among a whole bunch of other things. It's this bracing, exciting and surprising bit of high concept sci fi in the Witcher 3 that I just really dig. The draft script for Through Time and Space is markedly different from the final one with them finding Their first portal in a Redanian garrison instead of Novagrad. I haven't played the witcher. I don't know what the we're talking about here, Jason. These are a bunch of goddamn words. Anyway, the first jaunt, though, would have sent them to Night City with them exchanging the following dialogue. What. What is this place? Is this the afterlife? No, just another of the realities. I'm not doing this. But they say stuff back and forth, Jason.
- [36:39]
Jason Schreier
The really, really. The news. The news roundup, news of the day.
- [36:45]
Tim Gettys
How do you feel about this? That could have been cool, I guess.
- [36:47]
Jason Schreier
Cool. There is. There is some crossover stuff, like Siri winds up in Night City at some point. I believe there's some teasers between the two. So it's not like this is not shocking or anything. They. They see, that's like part of their thing is that they did some sort of, like, crossovers or whatever. By the way, I pulled up my total games of threes. You can see the number here. When it finishes finding them all, we can talk about the number.
- [37:12]
Tim Gettys
Can we. Kev, can you show. There's the camera up there up here. Can you cut to that? Oh, yeah, Jason.
- [37:17]
Jason Schreier
Well, wait for it to finish. Wait for it to.
- [37:19]
Tim Gettys
Well, no, I, like, see go up. Maybe it's not even working. This. The numbers just going.
- [37:26]
Jason Schreier
Wait till you. What number are we at right now?
- [37:28]
Tim Gettys
We. Oh, way out. We are. It's over 9,000, everybody. For sure. It is now.
- [37:33]
Jason Schreier
When it stops, I will tell.
- [37:34]
Tim Gettys
Okay, yeah.
- [37:36]
Jason Schreier
How many games of threes?
- [37:37]
Tim Gettys
There it is. There it is. Oh, my God. Okay, there we go. Oh, God, it's so blurry.
- [37:44]
Jason Schreier
Focus in.
- [37:46]
Tim Gettys
Oh, it's still going. 15,000, everybody.
- [37:53]
Jason Schreier
I'll wait for it to finish and then I'll tell you guys. How many games.
- [37:56]
Tim Gettys
Good lord. Good Lord. Well, that number, everyone. That number's big. That number's real, real big. But, Jason, if I wanted to know something small, where would I look?
- [38:07]
Jason Schreier
You would go to our last story, the WE News Channel, where we cover all the small news items you need to know about. Just hit 20,000 games of 3.
- [38:17]
Tim Gettys
How long does the take?
- [38:20]
Jason Schreier
It depends. Depends how good you're playing, but, like five to ten minutes.
- [38:24]
Tim Gettys
Oh, yeah, you definitely play over 10,000 hours. The latest major update for GTA Online has been released, and it's now available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, and PC. The update is called Agents of Sabotage. Monument Valley 3 is out today on Netflix. That's kind of wild.
- [38:44]
Jason Schreier
I didn't know that was being worked Nobody was talking about this one. Wow.
- [38:47]
Tim Gettys
Nintendo's.
- [38:48]
Jason Schreier
Remember when the first one was on House of Cards and everyone was like, oh, it's so cool.
- [38:52]
Tim Gettys
The game changer, man.
- [38:53]
Jason Schreier
Oh, here we are.
- [38:53]
Tim Gettys
Here.
- [38:54]
Jason Schreier
26,000 seven games of threes. And yeah, each one is like five minutes on average. Maybe 10 minutes if I have a good run.
- [39:02]
Tim Gettys
Damn. So you're like a multiplat expert.
- [39:05]
Jason Schreier
Yeah, I don't think. I think I might be like, you've prestiged. There's some. I'm not like, fantastic at games. There's some games I'm really, really good at. Starcraft 2. I'm good at threes. I'm probably top, like 0.001% in the world in threes. Like, nobody, nobody is as good as threes as I. When I show them my high score, people are shocked. When I show people my high score, 26,007 games of threes. And my high score, in case you're curious, is we all are.
- [39:32]
Tim Gettys
Need to know.
- [39:33]
Jason Schreier
748,329.
- [39:38]
Tim Gettys
Beat that.
- [39:39]
Jason Schreier
Yeah. There's some people who have beaten the game itself, which I have not done, which is like, when you hit, you get so many of the points that you hit. Like a crash scre screen. But that's awesome.
- [39:48]
Tim Gettys
Beating the game crashes it.
- [39:50]
Jason Schreier
Yeah, it doesn't crash. No, it does. Like a special screen. Awesome. But. But yeah, it's. It's. I'm up there.
- [39:57]
Tim Gettys
We got Nintendo adding Wave Race 64 soundtrack to Nintendo music. I love that. Every week they had one soundtrack. And there's very little rhyme or reason. Sometimes there is, but here we are. Wave Race, everybody. The Talos principle. We reawakened. Launches early 2025 on Xbox Series, PS5 and PC. And that's it for Wii News.
- [40:19]
Jason Schreier
That was the we est of we knew.
- [40:21]
Tim Gettys
Yes.
- [40:22]
Jason Schreier
You know that. I hate that Nintendo adds a random track because, like, that's why we don't have this, the music anymore, right?
- [40:30]
Tim Gettys
Yeah, yeah.
- [40:31]
Jason Schreier
I mean, this, it's cool, but it's not the same.
- [40:34]
Tim Gettys
It's very cool, though.
- [40:36]
Jason Schreier
It's not the same, though.
- [40:37]
Tim Gettys
It's not the same. You're right. You're right. We had to change the music because Nintendo got it.
- [40:42]
Jason Schreier
Wow.
- [40:42]
Tim Gettys
They didn't come after us, but it was definitely preemptive. The moment they launched Nintendo Music, I was like, we got to stop playing with fire. We got to stop playing with the fire.
- [40:50]
Jason Schreier
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [40:53]
Tim Gettys
Guitar Hero Arrow says I finished Play Nice today and was captivated the whole time. And I loved it. Despite never Playing a Blizzard game. 10 out of 10. Love your work, Jason.
- [41:02]
Jason Schreier
Very, very kind of you. Thank you.
- [41:04]
Tim Gettys
DJ Kento says my dad's about to cross 19,000 hours of Civ 5. If broken down to 40 hour weeks with no vacation, that's over nine years of playing. My dad is hardcore.
- [41:14]
Jason Schreier
That's awesome.
- [41:15]
Tim Gettys
What are some other games that you. You've sunk like ridiculous amounts.
- [41:18]
Jason Schreier
So Civ is other Colonization specifically was always my jam. That and Alpha Centauri were my kind of 4x games. Those are out there. Starcraft 2, I mentioned earlier is another game that I've sunk many hours into trying to think what else. Final Fantasy 14, I've spent a bunch, but not. That's like more 200 hour range than it is like thousands of hours. I don't know. What about you?
- [41:42]
Tim Gettys
Yeah.
- [41:43]
Jason Schreier
What's your answer?
- [41:43]
Tim Gettys
I mean I don't have any that are like thousands of hours. Like I feel like multiple Pokemon games for sure. Like definitely Gen 1, Gen 2, and even Scarlet and Violet. Gen 9. I think I'm at like 200 hours between it and the deal. That's impressive for a game that doesn't work. I know I'm a broken person. Final Fantasy 10, I've got all the legendary weapons. I did it all. And I was a dumb kid, so it took me a long time. So that was probably like 150 hours.
- [42:10]
Jason Schreier
Yeah, that tracks. Yeah. Although it wasn't. It wasn't a huge game, but yeah. 100 hour game, but yeah, barely weed, you know. Destiny 1, I spent hundreds of hours playing.
- [42:21]
Tim Gettys
Yeah. Yeah. And Mario 64, I feel I probably have hit 100 hours at that. Like, which is impressive because it's not 100 hour game, but I've played it.
- [42:30]
Jason Schreier
That's impressive. You've replayed it.
- [42:31]
Tim Gettys
I've definitely. That's the game that I've 100% beat the most. Like at least like impressive five, six.
- [42:38]
Jason Schreier
Times at this point in my life.
- [42:40]
Tim Gettys
Yeah. Yeah. Anything else there?
- [42:42]
Jason Schreier
I'm trying to think. Destiny 1 definitely many, many hours. Destiny 2, not quite as many, but still up there. I played through all of Persona 5 twice, so that's probably like a solid 150.
- [42:53]
Tim Gettys
That's like a thousand hours each.
- [42:54]
Jason Schreier
Yeah.
- [42:55]
Tim Gettys
Yeah. What do you think about metaphor? Have you played it yet?
- [42:58]
Jason Schreier
Phenomenal game.
- [42:58]
Tim Gettys
Yeah.
- [42:59]
Jason Schreier
That's. That's might be my game of the year. Certainly top, like top three.
- [43:03]
Tim Gettys
Give me, give me the Jason Schreier game of the year. Like what are yours? And then what are your predictions for the game awards? Game of the Year.
- [43:10]
Jason Schreier
My games of the year. I still. I have to figure out my final 10 because I played a lot of good games this year. But like, Metaphors up there, Animal, Balatro, Final Fantasy 7, Rebirth, Astrobot, which are all game of year candidates. So those kind of align with that or I guess Animal, well, isn't. And then there's some smaller games that I really enjoyed. Secrets of Grindia. Have you heard of that game?
- [43:33]
Tim Gettys
No.
- [43:33]
Jason Schreier
This is a game. It's kind of like a Zelda, like, action rpg. Really love it. It's a really cool game. It was in development for 13 years.
- [43:39]
Tim Gettys
Is it in the Secrets of Mana?
- [43:41]
Jason Schreier
No, no, no, no. It's kind of like it's super Nintendo styled. Like it looks like a Super Nintendo game, but it plays like a Zelda game. And then there's also like skill trees and lots of RPG quests and lots of good stuff. It's called Secrets of Grindy. It's really, really cool. I highly recommend it. Bunch of other games I really enjoyed. What else did I enjoy this year? I just. I published an article on Bloomberg a couple of weeks ago that was like some of the best indie games that I played this year. And there's a lot of cool stuff on there, so I recommend checking that out. As far as game awards predictions, I feel like Balatro is going to take it, but I also wouldn't be shocked if Metaphor took it.
- [44:19]
Tim Gettys
Yeah, those are my gut. I'm sticking with it. Astrobot. I feel like it's going to speak to the most people that are voting.
- [44:27]
Jason Schreier
Oh, yeah. Their secrets are going. Nice.
- [44:28]
Tim Gettys
Oh, awesome.
- [44:29]
Jason Schreier
Yeah, it's cool.
- [44:30]
Tim Gettys
But I've been wrong before about the winners. Like, even on the year one, I never would have expected it takes two to actually take it. I wouldn't even have expected Sekiro to take the year that it did.
- [44:40]
Jason Schreier
Yeah.
- [44:40]
Tim Gettys
Not talking about the quality of the games, just given how I would have predicted people voting on the category. So, yeah, I. I'm with Astro. It is that interesting thing of what's going to split. What. And I feel like that's where we. We predict the winners every single year of every single category. And I feel we get often caught up in the split and it ends up not ever actually happening.
- [45:01]
Jason Schreier
Right. Like, it's really consensus.
- [45:02]
Tim Gettys
It's just, boom, there's a consensus.
- [45:04]
Jason Schreier
Yeah. Interesting.
- [45:05]
Tim Gettys
The split between Final Fantasy Rebirth and Metaphor.
- [45:07]
Jason Schreier
Yeah.
- [45:08]
Tim Gettys
Is interesting. I feel like it's an easy win for Metaphor, though. I feel like the people that have played both, the majority of them would lean Metaphor. Yeah. Not only to kind of like, give props to that team and like, support them in a way that I feel like they haven't really seen that level of support before, but also it being the first non Persona, it being as good as it is.
- [45:28]
Jason Schreier
Yeah, totally. Original Rebirth. With Rebirth, I don't see Rebirth winning because for a few reasons, but one of them is, I think it's kind of like giving Best Picture to the Two Towers. You don't do that. You wait for Return of the King, you wait for part three of the Final Fantasy 7, and then if that lives up to Rebirth, then that's probably going to take. Take some awards.
- [45:46]
Tim Gettys
Yeah.
- [45:47]
Jason Schreier
Yeah. Metaphor, I think, is phenomenal. And it's a game that is, like, actually trying to say things in a really interesting way. And it feels like it's. It's kind of. It's. It's. It's gotten rid of a lot of the bullshit from previous games from that team. Like the Persona games. There's no. There isn't a single, like, throwaway gay joke. Which is nice. Which is nice. It's nice to be like, oh, I can totally love this game without going to be like, oh, this. Yeah, the translation is really good. I don't know if people remember this, but the original version of Persona 5 before Royal, the translation was totally busted. There were like, so many clunky lines and, like, things that seem like they're coming from non native English speakers, and it just is a little hard to get through. Metaphor is phenomenal. Like, amazing localization work and writing. And it's really. It's also like, so fitting for our current age, like, the themes of that game and the relevance to kind of wild, modern politics. Yeah, it's super wild. So, yeah, I think that game is phenomenal, and I think that probably deserves to win. But the thing is, Balatro is such a. Such a phenomenon. Balatro is like. I don't know. I've never played anything like it before. It's wild.
- [46:56]
Tim Gettys
I feel like Balatro winning would be a pretty big surprise. Yeah, Like, I. But I think it has the stuff like. You're right. Like I told you the story. I've said this before, but, like, I was on a plane a couple weeks ago and it really felt like the majority of people on that plane were playing Balatro. And it's not like we weren't like gamers flying E3. It's not like, oh, all the games journalists here. These are just normal.
- [47:18]
Jason Schreier
Yeah, yeah. The normies. The normies. Yeah. It's. It's Got the juice for sure.
- [47:22]
Tim Gettys
Yeah. So that's kind of interesting. But I do think that, like, we got. We have contenders, man, this year. And then there's Elden Ring. There is Elden Ring Child, the tree.
- [47:31]
Jason Schreier
It's not going to. No, they can't do that. People would riot.
- [47:33]
Tim Gettys
And that's my thing. I do think that Final Fantasy Rebirth and Elden Ring both have the most against them because I think that there's a lot of people that are against those games.
- [47:46]
Jason Schreier
Don't forget Black Myth Wukong.
- [47:47]
Tim Gettys
Then there's Black Myth Wukong, which Donna that was nominated.
- [47:51]
Jason Schreier
So how much of the game awards? It's like 90% press and 10% players. Is that the deal with it? Okay.
- [47:57]
Tim Gettys
Yeah.
- [47:58]
Jason Schreier
The fact that it got a nomination is a little bit shocking. And that makes me think, like, I wonder if there are enough people who are kind of like the Chinese contingent or people who just really like that game that. That could take it over the edge. I don't know. I doubt it.
- [48:10]
Tim Gettys
I think that it has the least chance to win, like, it even being here. I do think it's telling, though. I do think that it is a sign of where the audience is at and the audience including journalists. Including people that.
- [48:21]
Jason Schreier
Yeah, well, I mean, there are some Chinese journalists who are voting, too, and I'm sure a lot of those are big fans of there. It has such a humongous fan base in China who are just so proud of that, that, like a Chinese company made this triple A game that was really popular and successful that I think a lot of them are going to be voting for it in every category possible.
- [48:40]
Tim Gettys
Yeah. So, yeah, it's going to be very interesting to see how this all shakes out. Is there any other off the top of your head categories that you're interested in seeing how they shake out?
- [48:51]
Jason Schreier
I'm more interested in seeing the actual announcements and what they have to the show. Yeah, I don't know. I would love to see. I feel like Animal World deserved a little bit more. I feel like that deserved a Game of the Year nod. Yeah, I don't know. I don't.
- [49:08]
Tim Gettys
Again, answer this. Answer this however you feel comfortable answering. And if you don't feel comfortable, we can move on.
- [49:14]
Jason Schreier
Oh, God, here we go. I don't get the scoops.
- [49:17]
Tim Gettys
I know. I'm trying to get the opposite of a scoop.
- [49:19]
Jason Schreier
Tim's trying to get rid of the scoops.
- [49:21]
Tim Gettys
So I don't. If you know something, I don't want to know it. I don't want to. I don't want to ruin the fun. I have a lot of fun reacting to things. I want my fun. Don't take it from me.
- [49:30]
Jason Schreier
Okay.
- [49:31]
Tim Gettys
Is there something that you think could possibly be there that would get you really excited that you do not know if it's going to be there at all?
- [49:40]
Jason Schreier
Sure, yeah. I mean lots of stuff. But the stuff that has excited me recently is like stuff that indie games that come out of nowhere. So actually the most exciting announcement for me last year was the announcement of Rise of the Golden Idol which is a sequel to the Case of the Golden Idol which actually just came out a few weeks ago that got snubbed from the game awards. But it's an amazing game.
- [50:00]
Tim Gettys
Bless and Barrett have been loving.
- [50:02]
Jason Schreier
Yeah, it's phenomenal.
- [50:02]
Tim Gettys
Played both of them for the first time up there.
- [50:04]
Jason Schreier
Up there with my top games and that was announced like in the pre show of last year's and it was my most exciting announcement of that entire show. So for me, I mean like I'm not that excited about a teaser trailer for a game that we're going to be hearing about for three years because at every summer games fest because it's never actually going to come out that to me isn't all that interesting. Like I don't need another trailer of like Judas being like oh, and this game is four more years away or whatever. I love that.
- [50:34]
Tim Gettys
Put them in my veins.
- [50:35]
Jason Schreier
I mean, it's funny, I'm trying to think, is there anything that I would be really excited about that I don't know about? I don't know what's your answer to that? And then.
- [50:47]
Tim Gettys
And I'll think of one while you're talking my answer. I feel like we're at a point that there's just so much potential for like there's so many things that I'm hoping to eventually get an answer for. What I'm expecting to see any of these at game awards. I'm not crazy. But we have the Switch too. So like we don't know the majority of Nintendo teams of what they're working on. Like what has the Mario Kart team been working on since arms.
- [51:09]
Jason Schreier
Right.
- [51:09]
Tim Gettys
Besides the dlc, which was clearly like a less resources being put into that. Like so many questions from Nintendo that I have that again until the Switch to released, I don't think we're going to get any of that.
- [51:20]
Jason Schreier
Yeah.
- [51:21]
Tim Gettys
Or announced at least. And then PlayStation obviously is the other big one where all of their core PlayStation Studios teams, we just don't know.
- [51:28]
Jason Schreier
Yeah.
- [51:28]
Tim Gettys
And then there's Blue Point. I think blue points. My biggest question that we've been asking for years of what are they working on and where are they going to announce that?
- [51:36]
Jason Schreier
You know. Yeah. My answer of stuff that I would be really excited about, but don't know if it's going to be there, is mostly Square Enix stuff. So, like Kingdom Hearts 4.
- [51:47]
Tim Gettys
I know you're a big fan, Jason.
- [51:49]
Jason Schreier
Kingdom Hearts guy.
- [51:50]
Tim Gettys
I'm a Kingdom Hearts guy and like Kingdom Hearts 4 is Kingdom Hearts 4.
- [51:53]
Jason Schreier
No. Final Fantasy Tactics remaster Final Fantasy 9 Remake. Those are two games I'd love to see Final Fantasy. I would actually be really excited about a Rebirth PC port because I want to replay that game. That was one of my predictions. And then other stuff from just Square Enix in general. Just on the RPG front, I would be excited about that. I think they announced Visions of Mana at last year's Game Awards. So I'd be excited if they came out with another jrpg. That would. That would. That would excite me. What else? That's the big stuff.
- [52:24]
Tim Gettys
So we have a Dragon Quest. Dragon Warrior. Yeah.
- [52:28]
Jason Schreier
Dragon Quest 12. That still needs to be shown, but.
- [52:30]
Tim Gettys
Even the one through three or whatever.
- [52:34]
Jason Schreier
Yes.
- [52:35]
Tim Gettys
With Square's kind of new mantra of, hey, we're trying to go multi platform. We're trying to focus on the hits. Like, we need that money, baby. Like, are we going to get Chrono Trigger? Are we going to get final.
- [52:45]
Jason Schreier
That's a great question. I wonder if they're worried about tainting the legacy of Chrono Trigger if they remake it and it comes up. But I have no idea. Square is such a weird company. It's so weird that they make new Saga games every year that sell probably like 100,000 copies each, but they haven't done a Chrono Trigger sequel or something like that. Yeah, I don't know. Actually, I was interviewing Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of Final Fantasy the Gucci, a few months ago, and I asked him if he would want to see, like, if he would ever want to work on a new. Another Final Fantasy game or like a new Chrono Trigger or something. He was like, no, like, I let the past stuff be the past.
- [53:21]
Tim Gettys
Yeah.
- [53:22]
Jason Schreier
He wants to work on his own new things, which I respect that.
- [53:24]
Tim Gettys
Would you. Is there any Final Fantasy that you want a remake for or a sequel to?
- [53:29]
Jason Schreier
Mm, yeah. Nine. Nine. Well. Well, that is in development. That'll be exciting. Remake. Yeah. I would love to see them do all of the old ones in the HD2D style, I think that would be super cool. But really I want new stuff more so than remakes of those games. I want them to be exploring. I want them to take that kind of. So Octopath Traveler 2, you're not a big JRPG guy, right?
- [53:53]
Tim Gettys
I'm a big Final Fantasy guy.
- [53:54]
Jason Schreier
You're a big Final Fantasy guy.
- [53:55]
Tim Gettys
Not so much the RPG.
- [53:56]
Jason Schreier
Okay, so Octopath Traveler 2 kind of came out of nowhere for me as like this amazing. Probably my favorite game of last year. Especially shocking because the first game did not impress me and the second game just kind of fixed all the problems of the first game and was this incredible turn based game. I would love to see more games like that. Maybe a Final Fantasy spin off that kind of continues on those ideas. Or maybe a new game or another, a sequel to that or something like that. So those are the things that would get me really excited. A new Tactic style game, a new Octopath style game. Those would get me a lot more excited than like another remake of an old game. That said, I will play the hell out of Final Fantasy Tactics again. That's an all timer. I can't wait for like more people to discover that game when it's remastered. Because that is just an all time fantastic game.
- [54:42]
Tim Gettys
Tactics Remaster, remake, whatever it is. Final Fantasy 9 remaster, remake, whatever it is. What do you think it is? What do you know? What do you know about those games? Because we know the Nvidia leak and all that. They're one of the few things left.
- [54:53]
Jason Schreier
Yeah, I mean as long as they haven't been quietly canceled. Tactics. All I know is that Tactics is more of a remaster, whereas Nine is more of a remake.
- [55:03]
Tim Gettys
Okay.
- [55:03]
Jason Schreier
Yeah. So Tactics is more like. Do you remember there was a Tactics ogre reborn a couple of years ago? I think Final Fantasy Tactics remaster is more like that where it's like, that's cool. Taking the old game and just kind of sprucing up with some fresh paint. Maybe a couple of mechanical changes here or there. I think they should make Orlando who's like this overpowered, like God, like character. They got to got to tune him down a couple of notches if they do that. Whereas 9 I think will be more of a full on, not quite like Final Fantasy 7 level remake. It's not like a three parter, like massive HD worlds or anything, but I think it's a little bit more of like this is a full on, full on remake.
- [55:38]
Tim Gettys
I just, I struggle to envision what a remake of Nine looks like. That is too.
- [55:44]
Jason Schreier
Yeah, I Have no idea.
- [55:45]
Tim Gettys
Like, that's. That's interesting because it's like, it's a big game. It's as big as seven is. Right. So, like, how. How could they remake that without. I mean, I guess 7 does have a lot of. A lot of added stuff.
- [55:55]
Jason Schreier
Yeah. Well, seven, the scale is. Is much, much bigger. Like, if you imagine the kind of like the open world of seven, where it takes you maybe five seconds to walk from, like, Midgard, a calm. Blowing that up and turning it into a more realistic recreation with nine, I think they could. They don't have to blow up the scale quite as much. They can just kind of do a graphical. Excuse me, graphical overhaul, maybe change the combat a little bit, hopefully reduce the Random Encounter rate, but they won't turn it into an entirely new game the way they did with seven.
- [56:25]
Tim Gettys
I'm very fascinated that they're. That nine is the one they're choosing. I think it's cool. I think it's very representative, obviously, of a different way, more medieval fantasy style. And there was either rumors or confirmation of a Netflix show.
- [56:38]
Jason Schreier
No, there was a show. It happened already.
- [56:40]
Tim Gettys
Shut the fuck up. No way.
- [56:42]
Jason Schreier
No. Am I wrong?
- [56:43]
Tim Gettys
I don't think so.
- [56:43]
Jason Schreier
Maybe that was 14. There's a 14 show that happened.
- [56:45]
Tim Gettys
Interesting. Yeah.
- [56:46]
Jason Schreier
So, yes, then maybe there was. There was a nine show floating around. Yeah, I think they chose nine because. So seven obviously has its own project. Eight they did a remaster of a few years ago, but didn't they all.
- [56:56]
Tim Gettys
Remaster 9 as well?
- [56:57]
Jason Schreier
They didn't do a remaster of 9. 8 was, like, actually hdifying everything 9. They did, like a. A mobile version that was a little bit spruced up and a PC version that was a little bit spruced up, but wasn't quite the level of eight remastered. And I think they were probably just like, oh, what should we do to this? Let's remaster. And they also remastered 10 and 12.
- [57:17]
Tim Gettys
That was a long time ago.
- [57:17]
Jason Schreier
10 and 12, they remastered. The only ones they haven't remastered or remade in any way are 13 and 9.
- [57:24]
Tim Gettys
And, yeah, 13's trilogy, it's easy to see.
- [57:26]
Jason Schreier
Yeah, it's easy to see some sort of compilation trilogy that's a remastered trilogy of 13. But I don't know if that's happening. I do know that the nine remake is happening, or at least was happening. I don't know if it's been canceled since the last person. Last time I spoke to someone about it. I doubt it. But nine is definitely happening. And so, yeah, I don't know it's, it's. It's fun. Fun to watch them just kind of juggle this series and see what happens.
- [57:52]
Tim Gettys
I mean, I have you here. We're having this conversation. So I need to ask from a selfish perspective, what do you think about fallen fantastic 10. You think, you think we're ever seeing remake? You think we'll add a 10 3? Maybe it's a 10 negative one.
- [58:02]
Jason Schreier
It was. Wasn't there one hinted at? Like, were they hinting at a 103 at some point?
- [58:07]
Tim Gettys
They always are. They put out that weird, like, short story. Very bizarre. But Yeah, I want 10.
- [58:14]
Jason Schreier
I want.
- [58:14]
Tim Gettys
Let's go back to 10.
- [58:16]
Jason Schreier
But 10. I don't think it needs to be remade. Like, the remastered version looks awesome.
- [58:19]
Tim Gettys
Yeah, no, yeah, I don't know about that, but the original game looks awesome.
- [58:24]
Jason Schreier
I would love a version that is like, I don't remember which ones have of each features, like, I know some of them have Fast forward. Some of them you can turn off Random Encounters. I don't think 10 lets you turn off Random Encounters, does it? But it.
- [58:35]
Tim Gettys
I don't. I don't think so. But yeah, I'm with you there.
- [58:38]
Jason Schreier
I really enjoyed the remaster of 12. That's a great game that has Fast forward. Fast Forward is a nice, A nice.
- [58:44]
Tim Gettys
Feature for those games for sure.
- [58:45]
Jason Schreier
And it's nice and it makes things easier.
- [58:48]
Tim Gettys
Alex Frazier has a super chat saying, finished Blood, Sweat and Pixels yesterday and immediately moved on to play Nice. Your work is outstanding, Jason.
- [58:55]
Jason Schreier
Thanks, man.
- [58:56]
Tim Gettys
And then Charles writes in saying, tim, I'm finally playing Final Fantasy 7 Remake and I'm loving listening to Mega Rams, Black Material and Black Material remake albums as I go. Jason, I love your work. Love Fall Fantasy 7 Remake. Love up in Jason. So, yeah, a lot of great stuff going on here. Jason Schreier, thank you so much for joining me today. Congrats on the success of the book. Congrats on your talk that you're having tonight. That's a Go to the Game award.
- [59:21]
Jason Schreier
Congrats on how many games of threes that I've played.
- [59:23]
Tim Gettys
You're so cool. You're 26. Incredibly cool. I love it. Where do people find you?
- [59:30]
Jason Schreier
Thanks for having me.
- [59:31]
Tim Gettys
Where can people find you?
- [59:32]
Jason Schreier
People can find me on bloomberg.com on the triple Click podcast where on Thursday we'll be doing our own predictions for each category. We do. So Kirk, Maddie and I, my co host, we do prediction bets every year. We're like, at the beginning of every year we make predictions for what's gonna happen in the year, whoever gets the most right gets to pick a game that all three of us have to play throughout that year. And we're doing as we did last year, we're doing game awards predictions as a tiebreaker for that prediction. Whoever gets the most right wins the tiebreaker if there is a tie. And so here's some funny, funny political math here. So one of Kirk's predictions for the year, like in the bigger predictions bet, was an indie game will win a game of the year. And so I was like, well, I kind of think Balatra is going to win, but I don't want that to be my prediction for the tiebreaker because. Because if. If that happens, then Kirk will probably win anyway, so the tiebreaker will be moot, and so I should pick something else for the tiebreaker. So I picked metaphor for the tiebreaker predictions bet, even though my actual prediction is belacha. Am I confusing you yet?
- [60:36]
Tim Gettys
No, I get it. Don't worry. Yeah, I think this year's close.
- [60:39]
Jason Schreier
You got to do. My point is, when you're doing ridiculous bets with your podcast co host, you got to do skiing, you got to think. Think 40 chess, you got to. You gotta be thinking 10 moves ahead of your. Your competition.
- [60:52]
Tim Gettys
Absolutely. Well, thank you once again, Jason, for joining us. I'm sure we will have you back eventually. You're also. You're always welcome here.
- [61:00]
Jason Schreier
Yeah, well, I'm gonna sleep over in the studio and just come on every night.
- [61:03]
Tim Gettys
It's very cold, but you were welcome to after this. We're about to do a games cast. It's gonna be Andy and Jerrica reviewing Arcane Season 2. And then after that, it is going to be the gameplay stream. So hang out with us all day here. It's going to be a fun ride. But until next time, have a great one. Love you. Goodbye. Now we shake our hands.