Significant Layoffs at Amazon Games - Kinda Funny Games Daily 10.28.25

Summary

Kinda Funny Games Daily — October 28, 2025

Significant Layoffs at Amazon Games, Crash Bandicoot Animated Series, and More

Main Theme & Episode Purpose

This episode, hosted by Roger and Michael, focuses on major news in the video game industry—most notably, the significant layoffs at Amazon’s games division. The hosts break down what this means for Amazon’s strategy, the future of their projects like Tomb Raider and Lord of the Rings, and broader industry implications. Lighter fare includes the newly rumored Crash Bandicoot Netflix series, reflections on other game adaptations, and whether Hideo Kojima almost made a Matrix game. The show also covers trending industry stories like EA’s push for AI workplace integration and wraps up with a quick-fire roundup of smaller news.

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Major Discussion Points and Insights

[09:45] Amazon Games Layoffs: What Happened and What’s Next?

• Background:
  Amazon has announced major cuts in its video game division as part of a broader move eliminating 14,000+ corporate jobs. The focus is on Irvine, San Diego, and the central publishing division.
• Strategic Refocusing:
  Amazon is reducing investment in big-budget (especially MMO) titles, focusing instead on Luna (cloud gaming), lighter, casual, and AI-powered games.
• Ongoing and Unaffected Projects:
  • Montreal studio continues March of Giants.
  • Crystal Dynamics working on a new Tomb Raider.
  • Maverick Games working on a racing title.
• Amazon's Track Record:
  While Amazon had some publishing hits (e.g., Lost Ark), they struggled to sustain momentum or break new ground.
• Recent Amazon Game Releases:
  • Courtroom Chaos (Luna, AI-powered, Snoop Dogg involvement) failed to make an impact.
  • King of Meats (party game, peaked at just 253 Steam players).

"That's a big. Unfortunate. That sucks to hear about layoffs, especially in a space with Amazon who felt like they were trying to throw their weight around just a couple years ago." — Michael [14:18]

• Why Is Amazon Doubling Down on Luna?
  Roger suspects Amazon is chasing Netflix’s model for casual, living room-based gaming bundled with existing subscriptions.

  "They see Netflix trying to get into the sphere of party games... get casual gaming into the hands of the millions already subscribing to Amazon." — Roger [15:05]

• The Risk for Premium IP:
  Michael is cautiously optimistic Tomb Raider and Lord of the Rings can survive the cull as “bread and butter” IP but Roger worries about Amazon’s fickle commitment.

  "What happens to Amazon and their commitment to video games when Tomb Raider... is just kind of like middle of the road?" — Roger [20:48]

• Cloud Gaming Comparison:
  Luna is positioned against Xbox Cloud, GeForce Now, and (the defunct) Stadia, but neither host knows a real gamer using Luna. Integration with Prime could make it accessible, but the lack of buzz means it may be a vehicle for casuals/families, not dedicated gamers.

Notable Quotes

"It's just unfortunate to start." — Michael [14:38]
"I don't believe in Amazon's commitment to gaming." — Roger [28:39]
"It seems like this pulling back of the Triple A…realizing this is not a space they're going to make a f*** ton of money." — Roger [17:03]

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[31:27] Netflix Developing Crash Bandicoot Animated Series?

• Polygon reports Netflix is “quietly developing” an animated Crash Bandicoot show, produced by Wild Brain (Sonic Prime, Carmen Sandiego, upcoming Minecraft).
• Both hosts consider this a natural fit:

  "This seems like a slam dunk—a layup, some would call this." — Michael [33:36]

• They reminisce and hype up Crash Bandicoot’s return, referencing Crash 4 and the multiplayer party game.
• Roger appreciates more game adaptations:

  "I always think it's so important to have these now adaptations and these other pieces of media with these franchises, especially ones that are not being actively, you know, continued." [34:04]

Notable/Funny Moments

• Discussion of Netflix's appetite for adapting "every IP", suggesting Banjo-Kazooie, Bad Fur Day, Blinx the Time Sweeper as future candidates.
• Carmen Sandiego shoutouts and mockery of "brute force" adaptation ideas.

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[39:34] Did Kojima Almost Make a Matrix Game?

• Wachowskis reportedly approached Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear creator) to design a Matrix game, but Konami didn't want Kojima diverted from Metal Gear. There’s some dispute about how serious the talks got.
• Hosts agree it was the right call for both sides, considering the success of Metal Gear and notable Matrix games that eventually released.

"I'd love Hideo Kojima working on a Matrix game... but on the flip side... We got a hit here. We're not stopping that and we're not getting distracted." — Michael [39:38]

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[41:05] EA's Internal AI Push and Employee Concerns

• Business Insider reports internal unrest as EA executives push AI integration for code, art, and even sensitive HR communication (e.g., using AI to tell staff they didn’t get a raise).
• These changes lead to layoffs and concern about quality.
• Hosts are disturbed, especially by dystopian use of AI for human interaction and reviews.

  "If I'm going to AI to be like, 'How do I tell this guy he's fired?' Give me a good sentence, homie. You're not the guy. You're not the human being for that role." — Michael [44:42]

• Roger maintains some hope:

  "A small part of me...hopes that they see this and see it’s not making them any money so then they pull back." — Roger [46:56]

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[49:13] “We News” Quick Hits

Roundup of smaller or breaking stories:

• Dontnod signs with Netflix to make a narrative game based on a major IP (potentially Stranger Things or Squid Game).
• GOG's preservation program expands (classics like Hitman, OG Tomb Raider, Spore).
• Monument Valley 3 gets free DLC (“The Garden of Life”).
• Antonblast coming to PlayStation (2026), Sayonara Wild Hearts/Lorelei and The Laser Eyes coming to Switch 2.
• Escape from Duck Off hits 2M sales—discussion about the term “friend slop”.
• Battlefield 6 Red Sack’s (F2P battle royale) Season 1 launches.

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Memorable Quotes & Lighthearted Moments

(with timestamps)

• "Can you believe Luna still exists? ...That is one that I think we saw coming. And we're like, oof, that's not going to. That's not going to last too long." — Roger [15:05]
• "It seems like Netflix just has infinite money and they don't give a f***. Like, they're just like, we will take any garbage IP you have and we will make it into something." — Roger [36:56]
• "[On EA’s AI policy] You're not the human being for that role." — Michael [44:42]
• "If I'm looking for something smaller...let's take you to 'we news.'" — Roger [48:59]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Time | Topic | |---------|-----------------------------------------------------| | 09:45 | Breaking down Amazon's games layoffs & strategy | | 20:48 | Risks for Tomb Raider & AAA commitments | | 31:27 | Crash Bandicoot animated Netflix series rumor | | 39:34 | Kojima & The Matrix "what if" scenario | | 41:05 | EA's AI-driven workplace: ethical concerns | | 49:13 | “We News” lightning round: headlines & preservation | | 54:44 | Audience Q&A, Super Chats, funny tangents |

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Conclusion & Tone Summary

Roger and Michael tackle tough industry news with empathy for laid-off workers and skepticism for mega-corporate video game ambitions (especially Amazon’s). Their tone is casual, irreverent, and friendly, balancing deep dives about business models with riffs, nostalgia, and fun tangents about cartoons and multiplayer “friend slop.” The show embodies Kinda Funny’s trademark style: knowledgeable, opinionated, and always ready to make video game news entertaining.

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For New Listeners

• If you want a smart, honest roundup of today's biggest video game news (presented with a healthy dose of humor and skepticism), this episode is for you.
• The most important takeaway: The video games industry is changing fast, with huge companies pivoting strategies, experimenting with AI, and the streaming wars extending into games and adaptations. But the Kinda Funny crew is here to break it all down, keep it real, and remind us that—through layoffs, metaverse aspirations, and all—the games and the fun endure.

Transcript

[Unknown Prisoner]

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[Unknown Prisoner]

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[Mariana Van Zeller]

I'm Mariana Van Zeller, and after reporting on black markets for my Emmy winning National Geographic show, trafficked, I'm launching a podcast. You're getting emotional on me. Intimate conversations with those operating in the shadows. The Hidden Third is out now with new episodes every Wednesday. [e-mail] marianavanzeller Follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[Sponsor Voice]

This episode is brought to you by Arc Raiders, a multiplayer extraction adventure video game set in a lethal yet vibrant future earth. It's coming October 30, 2025 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S and PC. ARC Raiders.com.

[Roger]

Today'S stories include Amazon Games experiences, substantial layoffs, Crash Bandicoot is getting an animated show, and did Kojima almost make a Matrix game? We'll have all this and more because this is kinda Funny Games Daily. It's almost time. It's almost October 31st. It's almost spooky time, everybody. Welcome to Kind of Funny Games daily for Tuesday, October 28th. I'm Roger. Today I'm joined by my second half, my beautiful bestie. No.

[Michael]

Michael.

[Roger]

Michael. Fucking go, man.

[Michael]

Welcome in. Happy Tuesday, Roger. Yeah, and you know what? You say spooky season is almost here with October 31st, but you and I already delivered. Yes, we did Spooky Season to the Kind of funny office and to our audience on Friday night.

[Roger]

I love that. Yeah, we did. Mike and I, we ripped it. We ripped it so fast. And we finished this entire game. That is Silent Hill left. Of course, no replays. We only played it once to the point where people woke up the next day after watching us all night and said, hey, where are the boys? Why aren't they live right now? We fudgeing did it.

[Michael]

They were confused.

[Roger]

We actually gamed.

[Michael]

We rip.

[Roger]

We split a controller and we actually did it.

[Michael]

That was okay. There's a lot to talk about, of course. First off, thank you to the kind of funny audience, all the best friends around the globe for tuning in to Twitch TV Kind of funny games for our big monthly marathon stream where we help fundraise to keep the lights and mics on. And this month we wanted to bring the spooky vibes. Yes, because, honestly, the team here at kind of funny, not big spooky gamers, which is totally all right. But me and Roger, we took that mantle and we said, you know what? We'll play a scary game for you.

[Roger]

Absolutely.

[Michael]

And we're jazzed up for Silent Hill F. And so we teamed up and we put on one hell of a show. I had a great time with you, Roger.

[Roger]

Yes. Mike and I, you know, we dressed up. We dressed up. You know, is it demoralizing? Will I be looking back at this in 20 years from now and say, hey, Roger, maybe you shouldn't have done that? Now you can't become the mayor of New York City. You know, that. That.

[Michael]

I feel like I could still become the mayor of Tahoe. I think. I think I'm all right. I think I'm all right, actually.

[Roger]

Honestly, with the way that things are, I think this is actually helpful.

[Michael]

I think I'm okay. They're going to be like that.

[Roger]

You want to be.

[Michael]

Yeah, that. That's a dude right there.

[Roger]

That's a man. That's a man. No. We dressed up, we were handcuffed. We split a controller, and we finished the entirety of Silent Hill F. That VOD will hopefully be. Be out by the end of this week.

[Michael]

And we played it together. That was the crazy part. Like, we kind of like, it hasn't set in for me because I've been like, roger, beat that game. But, like, we beat that together. We split the controller in half. I was the move and focus. You were the action and attack and interact. It was.

[Roger]

I was doing a lot of the work. I was doing a lot of the work.

[Michael]

I don't know about that, man. I was moving.

[Roger]

I was doing a lot of the work. I was doing a lot of the work.

[Michael]

Okay, you get 60, I get 40.

[Roger]

Okay. Deal. I'll say. Okay.

[Michael]

Okay.

[Roger]

But, yeah. Mikey. Mikey, how was your weekend? You doing well?

[Michael]

Yeah, Roger, I'm feeling really good. I got some good rest after our big marathon stream. I actually went out to the DeYoung Museum and I saw the art of Manga exhibits. I loved it. I went on stream last night talking about it and showed off all the cool prints that I bought for one piece. But, man, I learned so much about manga, its history. A lot of the artists, they highlight. There's about seven rooms you can go through. And then, of course, most importantly for me, being a One Piece Mega fan, there is a whole room dedicated to one piece. They also actually, they have a fantastic JoJo's Bizarre Adventure room.

[Roger]

I love that. Art.

[Michael]

JoJo has style. JoJo that man. And get, get this. I'm behind this elderly woman and her grandchild, right? And this little boy knows every single JoJo character and all the backstory. And I got to experience just the whimsy of him telling her every character while she's looking at the most outrageous art. I mean, we're posing left and right. You can tell she's getting hit by a lot. And she's just smiling because her grandson is going, I love this character because X, Y and Z, they did this in this episode. And I'm just sitting there going, this is the coolest. She's looking at me, I'm smiling at her going, I'm here for the tour too. Let's go.

[Roger]

You know, you're like, I should have brought my kids. I should have made that happen.

[Michael]

Yeah, you know what? Little Billy and Susie, they're not big anime fans yet, but we'll get them. We'll get them.

[Roger]

We'll get them one.

[Michael]

We'll get them soon enough. But go out and check it out. If you're here in sf, for sure.

[Roger]

Check that out. I'm excited to do that as well.

[Michael]

And shout out to Danny, thanks, Danny, for the tickets.

[Roger]

Danny, funny best friend, but I've been playing a game, Mike. I just want to talk about it really quick because I had. I was getting that itch in my stomach, in my chest, just everywhere. I was getting itchy, where I was like, I really want a jrpg. Oh, this is a turn based JRPG specifically. Which is insane to me because a year ago, over a year ago, if you told me that, that Roger would want a turn based rpg, I'd be like, you're insane. But, but metaphor refantagio changed my entire life. Last year had an amazing moment. So I was like, oh, what do I play? I don't really know what to play. I don't know. I've already played Expedition. What am I looking for?

[Michael]

Final Fantasy 10.

[Roger]

Final Fantasy 10 is up there. But I was like, I want to play games that have come out this year. And it's not. It's a jrp. It's not the traditional JRPG that I was thinking of, but I was like, you know what? I already have a code for this. Let me boot up Final Fantasy Tactics. I've never played this game. I've never played the original one. I drafted it, of course. Famously. Something say infamously I say famously. Okay, we fucking. I, we, you and I, we killed it.

[Michael]

Can. I got another. I got another scheme for us. So why don't you tell your story? I need you. Okay. I need to get into the Discord.

[Roger]

So I booted up for the first time Final Fantasy Tactics on a whim. And I am about halfway through this video game. I am in love with it.

[Michael]

Am I jealous of this? Yes.

[Roger]

It is a game that I am going to be screaming out loud to everybody at this office to please try. It is so good. And I can already tell that it's going to be super high on my Game of the Year list. It is something special. The voice acting is incredible. I love the art style of it. I think we gave it a lot of shit because it's not HD2D.2D specifically, but the way that it looks if you compare it to the original game, it's such a great art style. The way they've uprised this and made this something special. So, yeah, everyone check out Final Fantasy Tax.

[Michael]

Close. I got a lot going on. But if you.

[Roger]

If you get.

[Michael]

Because you know I love tactics.

[Roger]

I've never played tactics. Oh, like that?

[Michael]

Never play xcom?

[Roger]

No. For like five seconds.

[Michael]

You ever play Fire Emblem? Three houses?

[Roger]

No. Maybe I go there. Maybe I stop playing this. I go there. Tell me the scheme really quick before.

[Michael]

Okay, the scheme. Here's the deal, Rog. So as many of you know, Fantasy Critic is coming to an end here. We have about a month and a half left until the end of the year. And your boy, I guess two months. But your boy still, like Mike, is scheming. Okay, I have one pick left.

[Roger]

We will be cheating.

[Michael]

I have missed the October games and now I move to the November games. And there's two. There's a couple on my list. Football Manager 26 p. Anno Pax 117. Romana is over there as well. You know what I mean? There's a couple games.

[Roger]

Yeah.

[Michael]

But then I thought to myself, you know what I mean? Here Snowbike Mike is pandering to the audience. Just loving Kingdom Come Deliverance too. They have a deal. Oh, what if I ride the back of this video game and get this dlc? Can this DLC carry me to victory? So I went to the thing, I went over there. Try to type it in. They don't have it popping up. What is it that we need to go? We need to go into the. We need to get into the Discord and mind freak them. Okay, let me know.

[Roger]

We gotta go mind freak them in the Discord. I feel bad. I don't want to annoy them. But what Is the dlc, Is it something special?

[Michael]

I'm gonna bring it up.

[Roger]

Is it just like some like skins or something crazy?

[Michael]

No, no, no, no. I don't know. Let me get a little bit.

[Roger]

I think the DLC is.

[Michael]

Roger, just so you know, I'm deep in the video game. I haven. I'm not ready to accept the DLC of my heart right now because I'm deep in this right now.

[Roger]

Okay, let me, let us chat. Let me know, let me know if this is, if this is good DLC because I see a review from May 15, 2025 on IGN.

[Michael]

Yeah, that.

[Roger]

There's an expansion called that already came out that was called Brushes with Death.

[Michael]

Yeah.

[Roger]

And that has a. On IGN, a 6 out of 10. Oh my. Wanna.

[Michael]

Okay, but like what if you know what I mean? This one's got Henry in it.

[Roger]

Just a guy named Henry.

[Michael]

Well, he's the main character. He's my guy.

[Roger]

Okay, we got the main character of this DLC that's exciting for you. Well, Mike, I'm excited to hear more about your scheming and everything revolving that. But we can't talk about that right now because this is kind of Funny Games Daily where each and every weekday we run you through the nerdy news you need to know about live on YouTube, Twitch and on podcast services around the globe. If you love what we do, support us with the kind of funny membership on Patreon, YouTube and now Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube Music to get all of your shows ad free. Watch us record them live and get a daily exclusive show For a chance to be a part of the show, submit your thoughts and opinions as YouTube super chats as we go. We want to hear all your thoughts about Amazon, about what Mike should be drafting and also Crash Bandicoot, an animated series.

[Michael]

Come on, come on.

[Roger]

We'll talk about that in a second. For a chance to be of Carter show. Of course. As I said, head us up with some YouTube super chats. A little housekeeping for you. We're an 11 person business all about live talk shows. If you. You just got Gamescast. So don't be waiting around for Gamescast because that already happened. That was our ID at Xbox Live reaction and review. Hence us starting a little bit later. After kfgd you will get a kind of funny podcast episode. And then. Mikey, what are we doing?

[Michael]

Big day today, Roger. It has happened. Battlefield 6 and EA have dropped a brand new Battle Royale. Battlefield Red Sec. We're going to play it. What do we think about the name Squads. I don't love the name. But like, you know what? I like it. I mean we're just going to call it the Battlefield 6 battle royale.

[Roger]

Yeah.

[Michael]

No one's going to be like Red Sack, you know what I mean? It's Battle Royale, but Force and Duos Squads, Squads of four or twos. So I had to recruit my boy, Blast Master Blessing, you know what I mean? Had to come up with something with B Ballistics. Bless.

[Roger]

So blastmaster BL is insane.

[Michael]

You know, you got to put a B on it somewhere. And so I'm very excited about this. I have not watched any Twitch streams of it. It dropped at 8am this morning. You think I'd be all over this, but I'm ready just to go into it completely unaware and excited. So I love that. I'm so pumped.

[Roger]

Did you think about waking up at launch and just playing it a little bit, Raj.

[Michael]

A little bit of it, Raj. But I did stay up way too late playing Kingdom Come. Deliverance too. That game has taken over my entire life and it's a big problem.

[Roger]

So I feel about Final Fantasy. It's all I want to do. I love it if you're a kind of funny member. Today's Greg White is about ethics and grandkids. An interesting topic right there. I love that. Thank you to our Patreon producers, Carl Jacob, Omega, Buster and Delaney the Somm Twining. Today we're brought to you by Arc Raiders, but we'll tell you more about that later. For now, let's begin with what is and forever will be the Rubber Report. It's time for something five stories today. Oh, Baker's dozen. Story number one and one that I will say is currently being updated and from the coming out and also now the story has been updated from Jason Schreier over at Bloomberg. So chat. If things are changing, if things are being updated, I will try to bring that into the story as we go. But story number one, Amazon makes, quote, significant cuts in video game division is from Jason Schreier over at Bloomberg. Amazon is gutting its video game division as part of a sweeping layoff that will eliminate more than 14,000 corporate jobs. The company didn't say how many roles it will cut in the video game unit, but noted in a memo to staff on Tuesday that the cuts would largely fall on its offices in Irvine and San Diego, as well as its central publishing division. The company will reduce the amount of work it does on big budget titles, particularly surrounding massively multiplayer online games or MMOs. Steve Boom, Vice president of Audio, Twitch and Games said in the memo reviewed by Bloomberg that the company is, quote, leaning into the things that Amazon does best. In recent months, the company has doubled down on Luna, the cloud gaming service. The company's Montreal studio will continue to develop continued development of the strategy game March of Giants. Amazon will continue to release, quote, casual and AI focused games for the cloud service, according to the memo. The San Francisco based external studio Crystal Dynamics is still working on a new Tomb Raider game and UK based Maverick Games continues to work on a racing title. Amazon has been trying to crack the video game industry for more than a decade, but has struggled to make a dent despite a few hits such as Lost Ark, a Korean game the company published in Western markets. With the cutbacks, the company is moving away from online games such as New World, which reached more than 900,000 concurrent players on the PC platform Steam following its release in 2021. Amazon had also been working on an MMO based on the Lord of the Rings. Last week, Amazon released Courtroom Chaos, a Luna party game featuring an AI driven digital version of the rapper Snoop Dogg. Earlier this month, the company also put out a party game called King of Meats that didn't receive much attention, peaking at, oof, 253 concurrent players on Steam. Woof.

[Michael]

Okay, Rog, that is a big. Yikes. That's a big. Unfortunate. That sucks to hear about layoffs, especially in a space with Amazon who felt like they were trying to throw their weight around just a couple years ago where it's like, oh, they're trying to make a splash and they did with a couple of those titles that you brought up from New World Throne and Liberty Lost Art. These were a couple of games. We're like, oh wow, Amazon, okay, you kind of.

[Roger]

There was a moment you have some.

[Michael]

Quality here, you have some fun gameplay, like what's going on. And then you fast forward to now and it shows you how tough this market is, especially to jump into a couple of these different genres that they have. So yeah, this is very unfortunate to hear about the big layoffs. It is the way of the world that we're seeing with these mega corporations and how fast and fickle this, you know, genre and video game space can be. So yeah, it's just unfortunate to start.

[Roger]

Yeah. And of course that 14,000 number of layoffs is for the entirety of Amazon. Right. So we're trying to figure out how many of those that number is related to the video game space. But this is a larger purging of jobs that's happening throughout Amazon. But Yeah, it is. It is interesting to see the direction that they're taking when it comes to Luna. Right. I actually literally had the moment, I think it was two days ago in the office where I looked at Andy and I was just like, can you believe that Luna still exists? Right? Like, that is one that I think we saw coming. And we're like, oof, that's not going to. That's not going to last too long. And the fact that they're still promoting it, they're trying different things with it, and it's kind of the. Not their bread and butter, but it's the thing that they're focusing a lot of their resources on to try and compete. And I had the epiphany today of what this all is, of what they're trying to do. It is that they see Netflix, they see what Netflix is doing. They see kind of Netflix trying to get into the sphere of party games, trying to push gaming down people's throats in the living room, trying to bring new releases, hot new indie games, but also a lot of party games into people's living rooms. Like Jackbox. I saw people were excited about Boggle on some random podcast I was listening to. Like, some old boomers were like, man, Boggles coming to. To Netflix. Like, that's actually a legitimately big deal for me and my family. So, like, they see that that is probably the way forward for them is to maybe integrate their Luna subscription service potentially with their prime service and kind of have that be the way forward in order to kind of get casual gaming into the hands of the millions of people that are already subscribing to Amazon. But, man, this is. This is definitely the moment of, like, I'm scared of the future of Tomb Raider. I'm scared of the future of this racing title, of whatever this Lord of the Rings MMO is, if that actually is happening or not. It seems like this pulling back of the Triple A of them realizing that this is not a space that they're going to make a fuck ton of money in and they're just going to be able to come in and dominate. Because that's what all these big. These big corporations come in as, right? Especially these, these tech people. They come in and they're like, man, we have infinite money glitch. We can just come in and just spend all the money and we can make a banger. It's like, no, you just spent a lot of money and sure, you had your big enough hits with Lost Ark, you have these games that are doing well. Enough, but isn't enough for you guys? Is that the thing that you're going to be able to kind of create the next 15 years of your business in? No, these are fleeting situations, especially if you're not able to capitalize it on it. And you have like King of Meat right where it's like that game came and went. Like we literally in this office, we had people, we had somebody come go and like do a preview of it and then we talked about it months later and then like everyone forgot that that was a thing. Like it's that forgettable of a video game and clearly only 200 people playing it. That's tough.

[Michael]

Yeah. Unfortunately was not the hit party game that I think they wanted it to become. You bring up your feelings towards Tomb Raider and Lord of the Rings and I think I feel the opposite way of that. I definitely get the scared nature of it all. But like, I think Amazon has shown over the past six months that they are starting to slowly kind of cut things out. So they can only focus on the bread and butter which is these giant established IPs. And how do we play on that? Right. You look at a game like Hogwarts Legacy and I think they point to that of like, well, we have Lord of the Rings, let's go. Right, we have Tomb Raider, a beloved IP that is within the video game space. I do agree with you on that head nod of like, maybe it's not as big, but they have, I think they have like two to four large, well known ips. And I think the goal that they're having here is like, hey, everything else isn't working. We're only going to double down on this and that's what we're seeing out of this team. You bring up Luna is a fun one because yeah, when you talk about cloud, Luna was celebrated because of the Luna controller was so well done. But also the integration with Twitch. The big sell was Amazon owns Twitch. The goal was to watch Roger stream some awesome game and then me go, oh wow, now I want to play that game. And by a couple of clicks I should be able to access that game via my Amazon prime subscription, my Luna subscription, and play that game immediately. Right? You go to Luna and you think like you brought up, right? You think of xCloud with Xbox and Microsoft, you think of Stadia that we had before. And Luna have been kind of the big cloud competitors along with GeForce. Now that's getting a whole lot of love and attention right here. But with Luna, you bring up their top new games Right. You have Snoop Dogg's Courtroom Chaos, Angry Boar, Angry Birds Flock Party, Hogwarts Legacy, Sonic Mania, Jackpox, Jackbox, Party Pack, Kingdom come, Deliverance 2, Indiana Jones, like, oh, wow. They have a number of, you know, kind of larger scale games under this umbrella. But like you said, Roger, I don't know anyone that's using this service. But having it as a vehicle from Amazon prime, just like Netflix where I could be watching a show hit with an ad or you know, my children one day when they want to play games, it's like, hey, it's already bundled in this Amazon subscription that I can't get off for two day free shipping. All of the Amazon prime movies and tv. Hey, just play any game that's on this, hand them a controller and go.

[Roger]

Yeah, I just. A lot of things to break down, right? Like let's, let's go back to the Lara Croft Tomb Raider of it. I am genuinely the fear that I come from that is that sure, maybe that is in their mind like the bread and butter. They're producing a movie or show with I believe Sophie Turner playing Lara Croft, which by the way, she posted that image of her with her abs. She's fucking ready to play Lara Croft. She's fire. That's awesome. But either way, they think that that is a big deal. And then when that show comes out and it's probably going to, you know, do just fine and then the game comes out and it does about what you expect for a Tomb Raider thing and it's not this major uncharted moments, then what happens?

[Michael]

Right?

[Roger]

Like what happens to Amazon and their commitment to video games when they see that Tomb Raider, which they think in their head is this big fucking franchise is just kind of like middle of the road, doing just about fine.

[Michael]

I think that's what we all expect. But I mean the pushback would be, it's like, I'll give you Tomb Raider or New World, I'll give you Throne in Liberty or Tomb Raider. I'll give you Lost Ark or Tomb Raider. These are just names that you've never heard of, you don't connect with. And if you're not gaming and getting into it, you wouldn't know how good some of these games are. But like the, the moment is, is like when you're in the boardroom and you're in this office, I say those three names and I give you Tomb Raider. Yeah, all of you would point the Tomb Raider over any of those three because we don't know it.

[Roger]

And that's. And that's when everything falls apart, right? Is when we, we have a hit when it comes to a Lost Ark, right? We're able to capitalize on that. I don't know what the numbers are right now. I don't know how many people are playing on it. Clearly not enough to, you know, have them lost.

[Michael]

Our currently has 10,000 in game right now. Steam DB, that's Steam.

[Roger]

Not the end of the world, but like a small indie team can make that continue for the next 10 years. But Amazon's not going to look at that and be excited about that number. Right? But either way you have these, the, these big, these hits that they weren't able to capitalize on or continue the momentum on. And then you have, you know, Tomb Raider, which again, when inevitably, when that doesn't hit the numbers that they're looking for, what are we doing here? We're just pulling out of everything. I think in my mind what is going to happen sadly is that we're going to probably, we're going to get this crystal dynamic Tomb Raider game. It's going to be probably good. I'm excited for it. I'm excited for another Tomb Raider game. I mean, I need that in my life. It's not going to hit the numbers they're looking for. So then they just pull back, they pull back from aaa, they go straight into more. We get Chris Pratt and he's doing AI generated, you know, courtrooms or something weird like that. And we just do weird little mobile games and hopefully they figure out a way that, that keeps people in the ecosystem just enough so then they can have the bottom, the number go up every year of hey, in Amazon products we have 50 million combined hours per year of everybody playing on our products and watching videos and scrolling on Amazon shorts or whatever it is. And if that, that is what they see Luna as is just a little thing that they can add on to continuously stretch out the number of hours and to have that number go up every single year and they see video.

[Michael]

Games as that, I would also push back. What about Lord of the Rings though? A large scale mmo, right? Like these are the things you've learned from Lost Ark, New World, you know, Throne in Liberty, these larger scale RPGs that have the MMO elements to it. Right. And it's like, now you're putting that into a beloved ip. We just saw Dune with a survival crafting game. Absolutely blow up the sales charts. And that was a survival crafting game. Sure. A Lord of the Rings, well done MMO could really Hit right? And so like that is that live service subscription model that keeps you coming back. I do agree with you of like you do have to start to flood Luna the product with a bunch of experiences and titles that people can play. But I also don't know what the average Netflix owner is clicking on when they go to the game section. Right. We saw Netflix double down and try to get the auction free team to make games for them. We've seen them double down and try to get these well known games to come over there. And it's like is it the giant games that are pushing this or is it the hey, I'm playing angry birds for 15 minutes while I wait for my best friend to make popcorn?

[Roger]

I think, I think it's that and this is me sort of talking about out of my ass. But also not like it is, it is the definite, like the thing that is continuing the growth of these platforms is the mobile games is the easy pick up and play. My mom is going to accidentally press it and then be hooked on, you know, Candy Crush or whatever it is. Right. That is what continues it. What then gets the buy in from the companies is them going out there and making deals with indie teams, making deals with bigger companies in order to get these IPs and to continue kind of this, this, this nice buffet of video games. Right. But the thing that's actually holding it up is clearly the number one game on Luna, which is Snoop Dogg's AI Court. Right. Like that is that is the thing that's holding up when it comes down.

[Michael]

Well, Hogwarts Legacy is. And Sonic Mania is number four.

[Roger]

Yeah.

[Michael]

Jackbox Party Pack which kind of fits in those experience is number five. Right. So like you do have a very large scale triple A game with a well known IP at number three right here. Right.

[Roger]

I would love.

[Michael]

But users are actually.

[Roger]

And also that's, I would love to see the number of hours, right. Like is that the amount of people that are booting it up because they see, they see Harry Potter and then they realize it's an actual like RPG and it's like you have to have a controller and it's like a big deal to play that. And then how many people are playing, how many hours of of time are people playing the Snoop Dogg thing, which is just your phone you booted up and you could play that for hours and hang out with your friends and people can actually go back.

[Michael]

I mean maybe similar to Microsoft right now they are seeing something in the water 5 years, 10 years, 15 years from now where it is a very similar situation to Netflix where we all kind of were like, well, we'd get DVDs or I go to Blockbuster and like I get, I get this. I'm not accustomed to just pressing a button right now. It is of like we're very much moving towards the, hey, I just boot up an app and I click on whatever game I want, right? And like Amazon wants to be in that market, especially with what they already sell and the subscription service. They have the idea of like me now sitting on my couch controller is going to be somewhere, right. Like we're. These controllers are being made easier and easier to make. On top of that, they're finding ways to put it on your phone, probably even a TV remote one day. Right. Like with these experiences. So they are looking for like, hey, how do I add this on? Because other groups are still in this. Microsoft is still in this. So showing you like Microsoft probably wants to be in that too.

[Roger]

Absolutely. I, it's interesting, right, because like Microsoft has that inherent commitment with Xbox, right. We talk about them kind of walking it back and changing that brand. But they're, they're committed. Like they're in, they're in bed with video games no matter what. Like Xbox and Microsoft is.

[Michael]

But they don't have to be sure.

[Roger]

But like that is a huge amount of things to walk back. Especially when they purchase, you know, one of the largest sales in corporate history with Activision. Right. Like that's a huge deal. Lot of money and commitment that they are built into. Amazon could pull the trigger. Amazon could, Amazon could walk away from this at pretty much any time. And it's not, it's truly no sweat off their back in the grand scheme of things. Like this is not the thing that Amazon is almost known for in a lot of places. It's a small little like, oh, fun fact. Did you know Amazon has a streaming service? What? I didn't know that. Same thing with Netflix.

[Michael]

But how much are they really in if they're only producing four games?

[Roger]

Right?

[Michael]

Like if their IPs are only Lord of the Rings, Tomb Raider and a racing game and one other thing, how deep are they really in really? Now it just comes down to, hey, how do we make deals to get your game on this?

[Roger]

Yeah.

[Michael]

Which we're seeing so many third party games everywhere, right.

[Roger]

Which is good for the marketplace. It's nice for the developers to get more money and to have more opportunities to do this stuff. But I look at the future, we talk about that Lord of the Rings thing, right? Like you Say that could be a hit. It could.

[Michael]

I mean, that's going to be a hit.

[Roger]

It could. But then also I'll push back and say you mentioned Dune Awakening, right. Which is a smaller ip, right? That game does really well. But right now we checked this morning actually with Nick because we're seeing how many people were playing this game. 10,000 people concurrent right now are playing that game. I think a 14,000 person week high was where it's at. That's about where Lost Ark was. Right. Is that number, let's say this Lord.

[Michael]

Of the Ring game, but Dune Awakening sold 1 million copies.

[Roger]

Totally.

[Michael]

Right. So we start with that. Yeah. Now with Lord of the Rings, is it going to be a subscription service where you have to pay 15amonth like World of Warcraft? Is it going to be a straight up sale? Like there's money to be made in that. If Dune Awakening can come out at 40 to $60, whatever that price tag was, and sell 1 million units, you got to look at a Lord of the Rings MMO and go, that's got some gas to it.

[Roger]

Shout out Gollum. It has gas. But again, what is, what is Amazon looking from this? What do they want from this? Do they want it to be as big as World of Warcraft and that is their number internally? And then if that doesn't hit and if it's about it's doing better than most other MMOs in the market and then they're just going to pull the plug or are they going to be happy with that? I don't know what they also what. When it comes to an IP situation which they don't rightfully outright own, like there's costs involved there. Like there's a lot of elements here that I just don't believe in Amazon's commitment to gaming. And I think that their future is what they're showing us and they're saying in this article is they are committed to small casual experiences. You see the Snoop Dogg thing, that is what they're committed to. I think everything else is kind of, hey, if Tomb Raider hits fuck yeah. If this Lord of the Ring MMO actually comes out and hits fuck yeah. But we're not going to be doing this anymore. To me, this is what this reads as, but I would be very surprised if we see. I think they're going to have a lot of also third party deals where they're going to work with like IO Interactive, making a James Bond thing, which they own now. Right. They're going to do more of those things which are less internal development and more. Hey, we're just gonna partner with this cool team as we'll talk about a story of Netflix doing later on. But yeah, this is. This sucks and sucks for everybody. Laid off and our hearts go out to everybody. This fucking sucks. But everybody. We'll talk more about other things that suck and also some other cool stuff like Crash is back everybody. After a quick word from our sponsors.

[Michael]

This episode's brought to you by Arc.

[Sponsor Voice]

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[Unknown Prisoner]

When I was there, you had to have a knife. One of you's gotta take turns carrying it up your rectum.

[Mariana Van Zeller]

Wait, it's up your butt.

[Unknown Prisoner]

That's the prison wallet. You never leave home alone.

[Mariana Van Zeller]

You have something protected around it, I'm assuming.

[Unknown Prisoner]

Yeah, or else you'll be bleeding out your coolo.

[Mariana Van Zeller]

I'm Ariana Van Zeller and after reporting on black markets for my Emmy winning National Geographic show Trafficked, I'm launching a podcast. You're getting emotional on me. Intimate conversations with those operating in the shadows. The Hidden Third is out now with new episodes every Wednesday. [e-mail] marianavanzeller Follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[Roger]

Everybody. We're back with some lighter news. Netflix reportedly developing a Crash Bandicoot animated series. This is from Austin, Manchester. Over at Polygon. Tim is not here. Sadly everybody. But we will have to bring the hype for Crash Bandicoot.

[Michael]

And I can do that. You're a Crash Crash kid.

[Roger]

No, you're not.

[Michael]

Put some respect on crash bandicoot4. Are you putting respect on it?

[Roger]

I'm not doing.

[Michael]

Because the game is really good. The game is really fun and Crash is back. And Crash had a fun party game for your multiplayer enjoyment. That was actually pretty fun.

[Roger]

How much you play of it?

[Michael]

We played it for three nights. That's a win.

[Roger]

That's actually Huge.

[Michael]

That's. That's a big win.

[Roger]

Did you buy for your entire team? Like, definitely did.

[Michael]

Definitely did.

[Roger]

From Tomb Raider to Splinter Cell, Netflix has been steadily churning out animated series based on video game franchises. Next on the docket, reportedly, is Activision's Crash Bandicoot. What's on Netflix reported Monday. The streamer is, quote, quietly developing an animated series starring everyone's favorite mutated marsupial. Animated studio. Wild Brain is said to be working on the series. It's previously partnered with Netflix for series like Sonic Prime, Ninjago Dragons Rising, and Carmen San Diego. Whoa.

[Michael]

No shit.

[Roger]

No my.

[Michael]

They're bringing back Carmen.

[Roger]

Oh, that's been back. That's like four seasons.

[Michael]

That's lit.

[Roger]

Shout out.

[Michael]

Shout out.

[Roger]

Big Carmen.

[Michael]

I'm never watching that, but I love it.

[Roger]

That's sick. Wild Brain is also developing a Minecraft animated series for Netflix. Whoa. I don't think I knew that. That's sick. Details are scant, including whether the Crash Bandicoot series would directly adapt any of the games or it would be an original series stories, rather story. Crash Bandicoot made his debut in the 1996 platformer of the same name from the Last of Us studio, Naughty Dog. The franchise started as a PlayStation exclusive before eventually going multi platform. 2008's Crash Mind over Mutant was the last console game for the Jortstone Jortsid Bandicoot before the franchise went on ice for some time, eventually coming back for a Crash Bandicoot Insane trilogy and of course crash bandicoot 4. It's about time in 2020, Mikey.

[Michael]

This seems like a slam dunk. A layup some would call this. This is surprising that we haven't done this in my mind. Maybe we've had a Crash animated series that I don't know about, but like this is a Ratchet and Clank level. Like this could be something that I would get behind for a movie, for a series. This just gives animated TV animated kid show vibes through and through. And I feel like with the right writing, maybe a good idea story wise. This seems like a layup.

[Roger]

Yeah, absolutely. I, I love Sonic Prime. I still haven't finished the second season. Really enjoyed it. Love what they're able to do with those characters. I thought it was a. It was a fun twist on the Sonic formula, bringing in some multiverse type deal. And of course Sonic 4. It's about time. Isn't there a little bit of that? It was time travel. There's all that good stuff there. So there's some, there's some Good stuff there. I'm excited. I like this team again. They did great stuff with Sonic Prime. I'm not a Crash Bandicoot person, but I'm always down to turn on this stuff. I always think it's so important to have these now adaptations and these other pieces of media with these franchises, especially ones that are not being actively, you know, continued. That's all we're going to get from Splinter Cell. Guys, let me just say really quick, let me look at the camera I saw. I, I, I get personally angry when I see anybody in the chat, Reddit, wherever, talk about Splinter Cell Death Watch as an L. I feel like, I feel like, I feel like you talking about. What was it? What's that game? What's the Xbox game? That was like four hours. That was like the, the super realistic one. It was the sequel. It's like a story based game. Came out recently. Somewhat recently. Whatever.

[Michael]

It'll come, Whatever.

[Roger]

You can't call this an L. There's no way that you could call this an L when it comes to Splinter Cell Splitt a Dead franchise. We haven't had a game in, in 13 years going on. What? This is awesome. This is great. We have Liev Schreiber playing fucking Sam Fisher. We got a new Splinter Cell agent. It's incredible. It's exactly what you want. What'd you want? Did you want him to just be in a corner, be like, oh, I'm in the darkness. Oh. And then that, that be the episode. Of course he's gonna do John Wick fighting. Of course he's gonna beat up people. Of course he's gonna be old. It's good. Grow up. Hellblade. I was talking about Hellblade.

[Michael]

Oh, Hellblade was great. Fuck yeah, dude. Hellblade was fantastic.

[Roger]

It was that episode where like you were like, man, you can't call this a now. You can't call this a next.

[Michael]

You can't call that now. That's crazy. If we're running around calling Hellblade to an L, that would be nuts.

[Roger]

You're talking about fucking Splinter Cell Death Watch. An awesome animated show that feels like John Wick, but espionage everybody.

[Michael]

What are you talking about? That's the fun. So you get passionate about it. And they've done such a good job these past five years of like adapting these video games into TV and movie that we all can rally around and enjoy. And there's been some really good wins. There's been some that you absolutely skip. And not all are going to be for you. Not all are going to be winners, but we've seen a lot of good and it is something as gamers, I think we all rally around, right? And we'll just get excited, right? I still represent Master Cheeks to the fullest when he banged that alien, you know what I mean? Like, I loved that, but I hated that. But like, I'm into this. Crash Bandicoot seems like a layup. There's like 20 other family friendly 3D mascot platformers that could easily be made into this. Banjo, Banjo.

[Roger]

That's how you do it.

[Michael]

Bad Fur Day. Mature on that. We just watch out there.

[Roger]

It seems like Netflix just has infinite money and they don't give a fuck. Like, they're just like, we will take any garbage IP you have and we will make it into something. So yes, please. You took Splinter Cell. You can take everybody. Just take all of Xbox's take. Blink, blink. The Timecat Blinks, blinks.

[Michael]

Thank you. I'm so voodoo.

[Roger]

Vince. I don't know about that one.

[Michael]

Okay. Brute force.

[Roger]

You're just making shit up.

[Michael]

Brute force could get us sick.

[Roger]

I thought you're gonna be like, brute force can get it. I might give it a brute force.

[Michael]

Brute force can get it.

[Roger]

Story number three. The Wachowskis asked Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima to make a Matrix video game, but Konami reportedly turned them down. This is from Vicky Blake over at ign. The Wachowskis writer directors behind the Matrix movies once asked Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima to design a Matrix video game, but publisher Konami reportedly turned it down. That's according to Time Extension, which said that while a December 1999 edition of next Gen magazine stated Kojima has was apparently in the develop in the running to develop a game based on the blockbuster movie. Konami exec Kasumi Katayou shot down discussions in favor of keeping Kojima focused on the Metal Gear series instead of quote, the Wachowskis were big fans of Kojima. Konami Digital Entertainment VP of Licensing Christopher Bergstier told the Time told Time Extension quote, so Kazumi Kojima, Aki Saito who still works at Kojima and I were at the. We're at the Konami HQ and we got a call from the Wachowskis who wanted to come in and meet with Kojima. So they did. The two of them came in with their concept artists and effectively they said to Kojima, we really want to do the Matrix game. Can you do that? Aki translated this into Japanese for Mr. Kitayu and Kitayu just looked at them and told them plainly, no. We did still get to enjoy the Matrix Japanese premiere and after party, though. That's pretty sick. Interestingly, that's quite. That's not quite how everyone recalls events. Another former Konami employee, this one unwilling to go on the record, claimed Konami had actually shown, quote, strong interest in the game and there were immense disappointment when the project didn't go ahead. That's hilarious news from 20 years ago, everybody. I. This was hot. Take the right call. Oh, I don't. I literally. Did you want Kojima to move away from the Metal Gear franchise?

[Michael]

Let's just say this hot take. It was the right call from both parties.

[Roger]

Yes.

[Michael]

Because, yeah, I would love Hideo Kojima working on a Matrix game. Yes. We're going to fly across the globe to pitch him and his team on possibly taking over that ip. On the flip side. Yes. We got a hit here. We're not stopping that and we're not getting distracted. We have.

[Roger]

And we got some pretty good Matrix games. Like, it's not like they were like, you know, Metal Gear Solid levels, but, like, in the crop of like, adaptations. Like, we had Enter the Matrix into.

[Michael]

The Matrix was cool back in the day.

[Roger]

An original story that they recorded with during the. The filming of the second Matrix movie. Like, that's a sick idea. It was fun. It was kind of revolutionary for the time. Like, that was dope. And then they had Matrix Path of Neo, which is kind of a vignette story where you go through all of Neo's history throughout all of the movies that came out. After the movies came out. I believe that was also pretty solid too. So, like, it's not like we never got a good Matrix thing, but, like.

[Michael]

What if we had more?

[Roger]

Sure. What if we had a Kojima one. Yeah, what if, what if? But also, also. And the Matrix mmo, which was pretty solid. So, like, yeah, I don't feel bad that Kojima said no to that one. That's not. That's not. Keep me up at night of like a what if. What are you looking up?

[Michael]

No, I'm just looking at Matrix video games.

[Roger]

Right.

[Michael]

I have to look back on the catalog of games we were playing.

[Roger]

Yeah, we had some good ones.

[Michael]

It's a. It was the right decision for both parties, is right.

[Roger]

Yes. But also, it might not have happened like that. Apparently. Apparently one can only be persons like that didn't happen.

[Michael]

That's not how it.

[Roger]

Story number four. EA staff are struggling with management urging them to use AI for, quote, just about everything. Report claims this is from Chris Scullion over at vgc. Business Insider spoke to a number of current EA staff speaking under anonymity, who say the company's leadership has spent this past year urging its roughly 15,000 employees to use AI for a wide range of tasks, from making code and concept art to advising managers how to speak to staff about sensitive subjects like pay or promote promotions. According to the report, some staff say the AI tools they're encouraged to use produce, quote, flawed code that has to be manually corrected. Others on creative teams worry that they're being expected to train AI software by feeding it their own work. The demand for character artists and level designers will drastically fail. One former Respawn employee who worked in a senior AQ role says he believes one of the reasons he was among 100 colleagues laid off in the past this past spring is because AI was reviewing and summarizing feedback from playtesters, a job he usually did. Business Insider also received internal documents that show EA employees are expected to complete AI training courses, use AI tools daily to speed up their work rate, and treat generative AI like a quote Thought Partner, asking it for advice on things like how to phrase questions when a promotion is denied. Holy. Okay, there's more. As the article notes, EA stated in May, as part of its annual 10K securities and Exchange Commission's filing, that while it was making more use of AI tools, it had to acknowledge the dangers of these tools being used incorrectly. Quote we are integrating artificial intelligence tools and technologies into our business and development processes. EA's filing ready quote the use of artificial intelligence might present social and ethical issues that, if not managed appropriately, may result in legal and reputational harm, cause consumers to lose confidence in our business and brands, and negatively impact our financial and operating results. That's nice. I wish they listened to that.

[Michael]

That's crazy. They're thinking about that now. Yeah, I've been thinking about that the past five or ten years after just destroying the brand. After just doing what they've done.

[Roger]

Yeah, exactly.

[Michael]

That's cool.

[Roger]

One lone person at EA is thinking about what about the brand? What about me? Oh, maybe we should have thought about this for a second. Yeah. Mike, what do you have to say about.

[Michael]

I mean, this is a big oof, right? This is. This is tough to read, tough to listen to, and tough to experience on the outside. I'm sure inside it is even worse, right? Like, this is just insane. I mean, we are at this weird moment of AI, right? Of like it's getting there, but it's not there. But then people want It. They're pushing it. They're saying, use, use, use. I don't want to use. I don't want to train this to take my job. And I'm clearly making better code, I'm making better art. And you're disrupting the workflow. And then we're just seeing dollar bills and yelling, cut, cut, cut. AI, AI, AI. We're just in a weird moment and it just sucks to hear. Well, clearly it's not the right move.

[Roger]

Yeah, we are. We are in this weird moment where I think there are tools of AI that can be ethically and helpful implemented into these workflows.

[Michael]

I mean, really quick. If you use an AI to talk to staff about sensitive stuff, that's fucking insane.

[Roger]

That's dystopian.

[Michael]

Maybe you shouldn't be a leader. Maybe you're not ready for the role. If I'm going to AI to be like, how do I tell this guy he's fired? Give me a good sentence, homie. You're not the guy. You're not the human being for that role.

[Roger]

Right. Using AI to then figure out what to say next after someone is denied a promotion is fucking dystopia. That is absolutely insane. But going back to what I was saying, I think that there is a world where we are able to thoughtfully and consciously add on AI integration to some forms of generative AI, specifically not trained on other people's art without their consent. Specifically trained on other people, like consenting artists throughout the studio that actually want to create things and use that in order to create ideas or whatever it is, there's ways to make that happen. The way that they're doing it right now is completely unethical. It is breaking the workflow and in general, in general is just adding on to more and more issues that we have with ea In a space where they're fucking selling to Saudi Arabia. It's like, this is not. This is not going to end well. This is clearly not helping out with the morale over on the side of ea. And this is very much them focusing in on, hey, we got to put AI. Because this is the thing that they see in stock markets, in these markets of people trying to give and invest into ea. Oh, they want to see AI. AI is the new buzzword. We're just going to throw AI into everything. We're not going to. We're just going to say AI needs to be part of every single task. We're not going to think about it, and we're just going to think that it's going to make us more efficient, because that's what it should do. But clearly when you're creating something and you're building something, you're coding something from the ground up and you have people that are intimately familiar about the ways that they need to build these things. Adding on a third party, which is a fucking generative AI is going to break everything. And then now people have to fix it. It makes it harder. I. We talk about the doom and gloom of it all. Right. Everything's fucking doom and gloom for sure right now. I think there's a small part of me, a small part of me, a hopium if it were that all this shit is going to break. There is. We are not in the place right now where generative AI and AI, the way that they're implementing it into these workflows is working out in a way that is actually helping out these companies in the bottom line. If anything is probably losing. Losing them morale in the company. And also they're probably paying into a lot of these services. Right? I. There's a small part of me that hopes that they see this and they see that it's not making them any money. So then they pull back. There's this pulling back of AI to a certain degree because I think it's bursting a little bit.

[Michael]

Yeah.

[Roger]

You're starting to see the limits of what AI can do and what it should do.

[Michael]

I think Greg brought it up once, the storming and norming, right. He used that term before of like there's the storming where you are weathering the storm. You're going through all that and then you kind of get into the eye of the storm and we kind of to settle back in. And right now we are very much at the forefront of the storming with AI right. Of like this is being pushed in at the completely wrong way. It is not being implemented well. And there is a. There's a moment, there's a happy medium that will be used, but both sides have to understand the other sides, right. And we have to hear from the people who are going to be using it day to day. And if they're telling you that it's disrupting it, it's not working right. So you need to then listen to that feedback and pull back and you have to find this area right here, right? There's way to use AI that is beneficial. And clearly what you're doing right now is not beneficial. It's not the right way. So you better pull back and figure it out.

[Roger]

And especially I think the biggest fear of AI for me personally is the idea that we're not going to think critically anymore. And we're already seeing that clearly here of like, this is not them using AI to try to solve a coding issue that no one in the team can figure out. And they need some type of machine learning to kind of help them through this. It is like, hey, how do I respond to not getting a promotion? What the fuck? You can think your brain can figure that one out. You can talk to people. You can kind of work through that thing. Like, you have the. You have the thought process in your brain to make that work. And if we're just relying on AI, everybody gets dumber. No one learns. We're not able to grow and we're not able to fucking be better people. Yeah, but, Mike, it would be big if we can become better people. But if I'm looking for something smaller.

[Michael]

We can try every day. Just try a little bit every day. That's why I'm gonna take you to small. We take you to our last news story, the WE News channel, where we cover all the small news items you need to know about.

[Roger]

Dur in the chat says this is the same argument Roger used for the calculator. I wanted a calculator. We need.

[Michael]

And you know what? Use that calculator. But I am doing a lot of mental math. I'm crushing it with the mental math.

[Roger]

You're killing it.

[Michael]

Thank you.

[Roger]

This was breaking earlier, but I'm sure it's going to be brought up tomorrow. But this is kind of like the top level. Dontnod announces the signing of a development agreement with Netflix for the creation of a new narrative video game based on a major ip. Through this agreement. Don't nod. Will develop a new narrative experience that builds on the studio's recognized expertise in the genre. What is that IP you think, Mikey?

[Michael]

Yeah, I mean, of course we're riding the high right now in Blessing said it well, like Stranger Things. We are right at the moment where Stranger Things is going to. To take over everyone in the general audience here from November through January. So you would jump to Stranger Things being one of its leading. You know, kind of IPS and names in there.

[Roger]

Yeah.

[Michael]

I don't know many others that would take my mind from Netflix here, Rod.

[Roger]

Squid Game was mine.

[Michael]

Ah, Squid game.

[Roger]

Squid Game is good. I mean, Squid game or that. Or, you know, we bring back House of Cards.

[Michael]

The cards. Okay, okay.

[Roger]

I don't know. Yeah.

[Michael]

Chess. What was the chess one?

[Roger]

Queen's Gambit. They already have a game like that. Yeah. I don't know.

[Michael]

I think it's K Pop Demon Hunters.

[Roger]

Oh, but that's. This a narrative experience. I think Squid game. I could see that of like them. Of them trying to do a thing where you play as you. You do that. You do all the. All the things you try to get to the ending or whatever. But stranger things. Yeah.

[Michael]

Would be stranger things.

[Roger]

GOG preservation program grows to include a few new games. This is actually really cool. I don't know if you're aware of the GOG preservation program. What they do is they take PC games that have kind of been left in the bygone era that haven't been updated, and they themselves try to add fixes and kind of make these games be preserved in a way that you can play on most computers. So they added a bunch of games here. I'm not going to read them all, but Splinter Cell, the first one. The First Hitman. Hitman codename 47. Tomb Raider game of the year. And also big one for the nerds out there. Spore. Spore is a big one that is finally being preserved. So shout out to goggles.

[Michael]

Okay.

[Roger]

And their preservation program over there, Monument Valley 3 gets free DLC. The Garden of Life. Launching on December 3rd. Super Mario 64. Anton Blast is coming to PlayStation in 2026. This is from Noble Jobs and Noble. Sayonara Wild Hearts. And Lorelei. And the laser eyes are coming to switch to.

[Michael]

I love that game. Great soundtrack. Made me cry. Right in the moment. Yeah. Yeah.

[Roger]

Oh, yeah.

[Michael]

I was going through a breakup.

[Roger]

Oh, yeah.

[Michael]

So I really resonated with the character. And then Queen Latifah came in.

[Roger]

O, dude, hit me. Don't stop that. Biggest pop of the year. I think I played it this year for the first time and I could not believe it was Queen Latifah.

[Michael]

That's one of my favorites.

[Roger]

Shout out to the goat. She's the equalizer.

[Michael]

Noble. Noble again. My guy.

[Roger]

Escape from duck off has sold 2 million.

[Michael]

Now this is. Is this friend slop we putting this as friend slop. I don't like the Congratulations 2 million. I love that.

[Roger]

I hate the terms for.

[Michael]

I don't like it either. Why would you say it so mean? Have fun with your friends. Friends. Why slo all of a sudden?

[Roger]

Video game. Oh, God forbid people have fun.

[Michael]

All of a sudden it became a bad thing to have fun with your friends playing video games. I don't know what world.

[Roger]

Yeah, exactly.

[Michael]

Oh, we.

[Roger]

Let's all play single player games alone and be depressed and let the AI chat all Day. Oh, it is.

[Michael]

That's crazy. Never would have guessed that. Get the out of town single slop single slot.

[Roger]

And of course, Battlefield 6 Season 1 and Battlefield Red sack, the free to play battle royale launched today. That's. It's for. It's for. It's with single player. There's no way.

[Michael]

You know what? Might have to try this now.

[Roger]

And that is it for we news, everybody. Yep, we got some super chats. Only two for us today. Maka over here gives a super chat, says fantasy critic collusion. Gibroni boys at it again.

[Michael]

Can we get, you know, the vibes dlc? Let's get in the discord. Let's just kind of put a little bug in the air to say, I mean, make it biddable, that's all.

[Roger]

Oh, of course they will.

[Michael]

No, it's. Well, it's not.

[Roger]

Well, no, they will. It's just an oversight. It's very easy to do that. That's the issue, Roger.

[Michael]

Make it happen. The issue.

[Roger]

No, I don't want to make it happen. The issue.

[Michael]

No, you're not done with that.

[Roger]

You're done when I say you're done. Now. The issue with it is when you try to go in there and say, hey, maybe Galaxy 1 and 2 should be a partial remake because they had to lose.

[Michael]

We collude to the fullest, Roger. Okay, don't you back out of the collusion now. We got two more funds to win.

[Roger]

You're so right.

[Michael]

I need to secure this.

[Roger]

And if you win, I win. If you.

[Michael]

Roger, we have big, big plans. We have plans that have been done in this studio.

[Roger]

Drums, you know, I mean. Oh, my God.

[Michael]

Oh, do you hear that? Is that someone singing like, we have big plans.

[Roger]

We might do it either way. We might do it either way. Companies paying for it, though. Kebabs. The final super chat. Fun fact. This is the third attempt at a crash show. The original game was also to have an animated intro in the style of Looney Tunes.

[Michael]

100%.

[Roger]

That's fun. That's fun. And that is it for our super chats. Let's go to. You're wrong. See if anyone wants to say that we got anything wrong. We didn't get anything wrong. You know the vibes. You know the vibes. Oh, shit. A lot of people saying that missed out today. This is from Adam Blaine, who says that Guild Wars 2's sixth expansion, Visions of Eternity, is out today.

[Michael]

Always wanted to play Guild wars as a, you know, World of Warcraft kid. City of Heroes, City of Villains. I always looked At Guild Wars, I was like, man, Guild wars looks cool as hell.

[Roger]

Jeppo. This is not a super chat, but I will let you. Sorry, not a. You're wrong. But I'll let you get this one off. He's trying to tell you to go to get Tales of Zillow remastered. You can't do that because we only do partial remix.

[Michael]

Oh, he wants me to pick it.

[Roger]

Yeah.

[Michael]

Okay, okay, okay, okay. Can I get that?

[Roger]

No, I don't think you can because it's remastered.

[Michael]

Good try, though.

[Roger]

Kebabs writes in regarding the Crash show, a spokesperson for Wild Brain has stated that they're not working on the Crash show. Whether this means the show is made by another studio or is not happening at all is unclear. And that is it for super chats. And you're wrong. And the entire show. Mikey, I think we had a good one.

[Michael]

Thanks for a great little afternoon. Talking with you, a little bit of the news. Yeah, fantastic.

[Roger]

Think, Mike. Of course. This has been kind of funny. Games Daily, where each and every weekday we run you through the nerdy news you need to know about live on YouTube, Twitch and podcast services around the globe. If you love, we do support us with the kind of funny membership on Patreon or YouTube to get all of our shows ad free. Watch, record them live and get a daily exclusive show.

[Michael]

What a great one. Mucka just wrote in about how we'll be held responsible for our crimes by punishment of AI. We should somehow get Snoop Dogg to weigh in on what we've been doing.

[Roger]

There's a Chris Pratt movie about this very subject. Well, it's like the AI tells you if you're right or wrong. It's like it's come out in January, so you know it's gonna be garbage. Enjoy. Of course, the kind of funny podcast right after that.

[Michael]

And of course, Mikey, let's get to it. Let's get this.

[Roger]

We're gonna get it. But until next time, it's been our pleasure to serve you.

[Unknown Prisoner]

When I was there, you had to have a knife. One of you's gotta take turns carrying it up your rectum.

[Mariana Van Zeller]

Wait, it's up your butt.

[Unknown Prisoner]

That's the prison wallet. You never leave home alone.

[Mariana Van Zeller]

You have something protected around it, I'm assuming.

[Unknown Prisoner]

Yeah, or else you'd be bleeding out your coolo.

[Mariana Van Zeller]

I'm Mariana Van Zeller, and after reporting on black markets for my Emmy winning National Geographic show, Trafficked, I'm launching a podcast. You're getting emotional on me. Intimate conversations with those operating in the shadows. The hidden third is out now, with new episodes every Wednesday. [e-mail] marianavanzeller Follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.