Xbox CEO Wants To Lower Game Pass Prices?! - Kinda Funny Games Daily 04.14.26

Summary

Kinda Funny Games Daily – Episode Summary

Episode Title: Xbox CEO Wants To Lower Game Pass Prices?!
Date: April 14, 2026
Hosts: Tim Gettys & Blessing Adeoye Jr.

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Overview

This episode tackles some of the most significant current stories in the gaming world, with an extended, in-depth discussion about the reported internal shakeup at Xbox: new CEO Asha Sharma has leaked intentions to lower Xbox Game Pass prices, and both hosts break down what this could mean for the industry, for consumers, and for Xbox’s future strategy. They also discuss the big news of a Bloodborne animated movie, analyze Rockstar Games' hacked data, touch on upcoming projects at Bloober Team, and review new indie releases.

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Key Topics & Discussion Points

1. Xbox Game Pass Pricing & Strategy

(Starts ~03:21)

• News Recap (03:21):

  • Source: Tom Warren, The Verge: Internal Microsoft memo leaks reveal Asha Sharma (new Xbox CEO) believes Game Pass is currently "too expensive," and Xbox will experiment with new, more flexible models.
  • Game Pass Ultimate price had increased to $30/month due to the addition of big titles like Call of Duty.
  • Rumors suggest Microsoft may pull Call of Duty from the service to enable price cuts; Windows Central's Jez Corden thinks this could expose bigger strategic flaws.
  • “It's also clear that the current model isn’t the final one,” Sharma wrote. “Short term, Game Pass has become too expensive for players, so we need a better value equation. Long term, we will evolve Game Pass into a more flexible system.” – Asha Sharma, internal memo (03:53)

• Hosts’ Analysis:

  • Both Tim & Bless see this as a moment where Xbox must commit to a single vision: either double down on a Game Pass-driven ecosystem or pivot back to console sales and exclusives.
  • Bless (06:01): “If we’re going to make Xbox great—if that’s the dream—you have to commit all the way. If you want to make selling the box and exclusives your focus, you gotta do the whole thing. Take Call of Duty out of Game Pass, get back to exclusives.”
  • Tim notes that Xbox has suffered from “a lack of commitment to a vision” and numerous distractions, especially through acquisitions and internal restructuring.
  • Tim (07:04): “There has to be a commitment to the vision, full force all the way through—but it also needs to be backed up by amazing games, and that’s where Xbox has really stumbled.”
  • Bless discusses the value mismatch at $30/month: “You almost have to play games as a full-time job to get that value back.” (11:17)
  • Both speculate lowering Game Pass to $20, coupled with removing Call of Duty, could be popular, but wonder if it's sustainable for Xbox’s bottom line. Bless (15:42): “If you couple the idea of, hey, Call of Duty is not coming to Game Pass, but we’re lowering the price down… I think that goes smoothly.”

• Impact on Xbox’s Identity and the Industry:

  • Tim reiterates his stance that Game Pass has “devalued video games,” pointing to unsustainability in subscription models across entertainment.
  • Audience members (via Super Chat and chat) debate whether removing first-party titles would make Game Pass too similar to PlayStation Plus, and what actually constitutes unique value for the platform.
  • Bless speculates that 2026 may be a transition point: after the big releases of this year, Xbox could shift policy for next-gen, e.g., with “Project Helix.”

Memorable Quotes

• “Game Pass devalues video games. There’s no putting the genie back in the bottle.” — Tim Gettys (10:14)
• “If you want to get back to what Xbox was… you have to commit all the way... You gotta balance what the value is of this service with what you’re able to do, and I just don’t think you can have both.” — Blessing Adeoye Jr. (14:16)

Timestamps

• 03:21-16:23 — Game Pass pricing, internal memo details, and future of Xbox
• 16:23-19:20 — Breakdown of Xbox’s upcoming lineup and possible strategic pivots
• 19:20-23:24 — Audience Q&A on Xbox’s value proposition, sustainability, and comparisons to PlayStation Plus

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2. Bloodborne Animated Movie Announcement

(23:24–29:28)

• News Recap:

  • Sony officially announces an R-rated animated Bloodborne movie, aiming to stay true to the game’s horror atmosphere and violence.
  • Jacksepticeye (“Sean McLaughlin”) is co-producing.
  • Sony Pictures’ Sanford Panitch claims it will “embrace the carnage that made the game so popular.”
  • Bless (25:18): “If you’re going to make a Bloodborne movie, THIS is the way. Animated, feature-length is what we want. If you did a live-action Bloodborne, I’d be like… let’s see what this is.”

• Hosts’ Take:

  • Animation is a “safer” and more faithful medium for Bloodborne’s cosmic horror and monster design; better than a risky live-action attempt.
  • Both speculate that opening the Bloodborne “door” with a movie may foreshadow renewed interest in a remaster or remake.
  • Tim (29:43): “I guarantee that a Bloodborne, some form of remake, remaster, 60fps version, that’s what it’ll be… the same year as this movie.”

Memorable Quotes

• “Sony Animation right now—killing it… Leaning into that, I think, is much wiser than the Uncharted live action movie.” — Tim Gettys (26:08)

Timestamps

• 23:24-29:40 — Bloodborne movie details, connection to potential game remake, why animation is the right call

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3. Rockstar Hack: GTA/Red Dead Online Revenue Leak

(33:59–38:32)

• News Recap:

  • Hackers leaked internal Rockstar data showing GTA Online makes ~$5 million per week—dwarfing Red Dead Online—(“not a surprise”) per IGN and Kotaku.
  • PS5 is the top platform for both players and revenue; PC lags behind.
  • Bless (34:48): “GTA V makes $5 million a week... not the most surprising, but still staggering.”
  • Both hosts joke about Rockstar’s wealth and why PC isn’t the top focus.

• Key Insights:

  • The leaked data helps explain Rockstar's cautious approach to PC launches.
  • Audience and hosts reflect on how old GTA V is and its continuous revenue stream.

Timestamps

• 33:59-38:32 — GTA/Red Dead revenue breakdown, platform splits

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4. Bloober Team’s Expansion: 7 Games In Development

(38:32–44:47)

• News Recap:

  • Bloober Team (devs of Silent Hill 2 Remake, Layers of Fear, etc.) is moving to a multi-project structure; two first-party games, five co-developed projects, including a Nintendo exclusive.
  • The company expands its leadership and admits this strategy is for “survivability” in today’s volatile market.
  • Bless (41:31): Expresses concern, referencing telltale studios’ over-ambition leading to its collapse.

• Hosts’ Analysis:

  • Tim finds Bloober’s approach is more strategic (diversified risk), not just a “growth for growth’s sake.”
  • Both hosts agree having a mix of own-IP, contract remakes, and new projects is smart, but success will depend on execution.
  • Layers of Fear, Kronos, and new Nintendo exclusives reflect their flexibility.

Timestamps

• 38:32-44:47 — Bloober Team’s projects, business strategy, and prospects

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5. Indie Review Roundup: Replaced & Mouse PI For Hire

(45:10–46:55)

• Replaced:
  • Metacritic 81, OpenCritic 79. Praised for “stunning visuals and cultural commentary.”
• Mouse PI For Hire:
  • Metacritic 80, OpenCritic 83. IGNs Will Borger: “an amusing FPS... but the marriage of noir and boomer shooter action are at odds.”
• Both titles are highlighted for their visual appeal and as part of Xbox’s indie partnerships.

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6. Audience Q&A, Follow-ups, & Game Industry Chatter

(46:55–61:21)

• The hosts address rumors about the lack of a Bloodborne remake being tied to Miyazaki’s (FromSoftware) wishes, reading a detailed audience correction that casts doubt on this narrative.
• There’s a relaxed back-and-forth about how calendar weeks and weekends are defined, demonstrating the show’s personality and rapport.
• Light updates on news like a new Legend of Zelda movie wrapping production, Stone Cold Steve Austin in Fortnite, and more.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• “Game Pass devalues video games. There’s no putting the genie back in the bottle…” — Tim Gettys (10:14)
• “If you want to get back to what Xbox was… you have to commit all the way.” — Blessing Adeoye Jr. (14:16)
• “Sony Animation right now—killing it… Much wiser than a live action Uncharted.” — Tim Gettys (26:08)
• “GTA V makes $5 million a week… not the most surprising, but still staggering.” — Blessing Adeoye Jr. (34:48)
• “There's power and flexibility as a studio… If you can remake something for Konami you can go to PlayStation, Square, anyone.” — Blessing (44:37)
• “We are now five years into this console cycle… surprising that it’s that much more than the PS4.” — Tim on GTA platform splits (36:25)
• “This is the time—if you’re going to make these calls, it has to be now with these games.” — Tim on Xbox’s inflection point

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Segment Timestamps

• 03:21–16:23: Xbox Game Pass price/strategy deep dive
• 16:23–23:24: Discussion of Xbox's 2026 lineup and industry vision
• 23:24–29:28: Bloodborne movie, implications, and animation vs. live-action
• 33:59–38:32: GTA/Red Dead Online revenue leak and platform analysis
• 38:32–44:47: Bloober Team's expansion and risk strategy
• 45:10–46:55: Indie review roundup: Replaced & Mouse PI For Hire
• 46:55–61:21: Audience Q&A, philosophical tangents, and closing thoughts

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Tone & Style Notes

• Conversational, analytical, playful – The hosts maintain their trademark mix of expertise and humor, frequently riffing off each other, referencing gaming history, and interacting with live comments/chats.
• Mix of seriousness (about strategy, sustainability, and value) and levity (pop-culture references, inside jokes, calendar debates).

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For Listeners Who Missed the Episode:

This episode is a must-listen if you care about the seismic shifts happening at Xbox as a platform, how Game Pass might look in the near future, the return of Bloodborne in a new medium, Rockstar’s money-printing machine, and the continued evolution of mid-size game studios like Bloober. The hosts’ passion, skepticism, and humor bring dense news to life.

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(End of summary)

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

you want to get our shows ad free and our exclusive shows go to patreon.com kinda funny today's gaming news stories include Xbox's new CEO thinks Game Pass is too expensive, Sony has announced a bloodborne movie and Rockstar's hack data has been released. We'll have all this and more because this is kind of funny. Games Daily. I just realized I lost the bet.

[A]

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[B]

What's up everybody? Welcome to Kind of Funny Games daily for Tuesday, April 14, 2026. Of course. I'm your host, Tim Gadis. I'm joined today by blessing Adio Ye junior.

[A]

It's good to have you back, Tim.

[B]

Good to have you here with me. Very excited. My first games daily with you and

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in many, many moons in in at least three months.

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Oh yeah.

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So much of you. You specifically. I feel like, I don't know, I guess Games Daily is kind of like a luck of the draw. You're also on a lot of. I'm on Games Daily, especially if I'm not here, right?

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Yes.

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That's the thing too. Yeah. I guess a lot of the movies that I've been interested in watching, people's thoughts on are ones you haven't seen.

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Yeah.

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So it's like, so you're there too. And then I feel like a lot of the gamescast topics, we have a lot of overlapping interests, so I'm end up being there. But you've been doing a great job. But excited to create with you today. So let's get into this.

[A]

Get into it.

[B]

All right, everybody. If you're watching live, you can get into it as well. Be part of the show by super chatting on YouTube.com kind of funny games. We couldn't do this without our Patreon producers, Carl Jacobs, Omega Buster and Delaney the Psalm Twining for now, let's begin with what is and forever will be the Roper Report. It's time for some news. We have five stories today. Oh, that was good.

[A]

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[B]

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He's been on a new level.

[B]

Good job, Kevin. Story number one Xbox Game Pass quote has become too expensive. So Microsoft's new gaming chief in leaked memo this comes from Tom Warren at the Verge. Microsoft's new Xbox chief, Asha Sharma, has signaled that Xbox Game Pass pricing is about to change. In an internal memo to Xbox employees obtained by the Verge, Sharma admits that Game Pass has become too expensive for players and that Microsoft needs a better value equation. Game Pass is central to gaming value on Xbox. It's also clear that the current model isn't the final one, says Sharma. Short term, Game Pass has become too expensive for players, so we need a better value equation. Long term, we will evolve Game Pass into a more flexible system, which will take time to test and learn around. Microsoft hiked the price of Xbox Game Pass ultimate to $30 per month last year, a massive 50% hike. The company tried to justify the price hike with a variety of upgrades across all of its Xbox Game Pass tiers, but the cost increase has clearly taken its toll on Game Pass. I understand that part of the cost increase for Game Pass was down to Microsoft's decision to add Call of Duty into the subscri service. I reported nearly two years ago that Microsoft had been debating whether to put new releases of COD into Game Pass, with concerns from some at the company at the time that the revenue generated from typical COD sales would be undermined by Game Pass. Microsoft went on to add Call of Duty to Game Pass in the summer of 2024. Over the weekend, Windows Central's Jez Cordon hinted that Microsoft might be about to take Call of Duty out of Game Pass if they take Call of Duty out of Game Pass this year, which is a possibility from what I've heard. I think it will kind of reveal some of the cracks in the strategy, possibly, gordon said. On the XP2 Plus One podcast, Sharma references the online chatter about rumors of Microsoft changing Game Pass pricing and says she'll go deeper with Xbox employees next week.

[A]

Interesting. Yeah, going deeper with the Xbox employees next week, man.

[B]

A lot of talking.

[A]

I mean, from all the talking we've heard from Asha in the last couple months, I think we're due for a lot of change, like it sounds. I think change is coming, I think, to the quote from Cordon. Right. Like I think Call of Duty is going to be taken out of Game Pass. I think that's going to be one of the key ways they lower the price of Game Pass, because I think they have to lower the price of Game Pass. I saw within the last day or so too, there are rumors of them considering going back to exclusive as well. I think all that stuff is probably going to happen. I think we're very doubtful when this first happened. As far as Asha Sharma coming in as CEO, coming from the AI team, all this stuff. If you're really, I think one of the bigger problems of Xbox both this generation, but even going back to the beginning of Xbox One, it has been just a lack of commitment to a vision.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

When we're, when we've been talking about the whole play anywhere Xbox, Game Pass is a more about the ecosystem than it is about the box. I was a believer in that because if you go all the way, if you commit to that vision, I think there's a way to make it work because you're looking at the numbers of the player base as opposed to the numbers of boxes sold. Obviously we're in a place where that didn't work out for them. Right. And I think part of that just comes to a lack of commitment and a lack of execution from the Game side and how that coincides with the Xbox game pass side. If you're going to revert, if you're going to go, hey, we want to quote, unquote, get back to what Xbox was. Get back to the greatness of Xbox. Not to invoke another make something great type slogan, but if we're going to give back to making Xbox great, you have to commit all the way. And so if that is, we want it to be about selling the box. We want the box to be the central place you go to play Xbox and all this shit. All right, like, take, take Call of Duty out of game pass. Let's get back to exclusives. You got to do the whole thing.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, absolutely. And like, you're. You're the point about the vision. That is the thing, right? It's like there has to be a commitment to the vision, full force all the way through. But the commitment to the vision can't just be the vision. It also needs to be backed up by amazing games. And I think that that is the big. The biggest problem that Xbox had over the last 10 years is there was never a point that they had both. They didn't have the games and the vision firing on all cylinders because the moment they started getting the games, I feel like the vision started getting a lot of holes poked in it. Because of Microsoft above, Because of not even necessarily the bad decision. Well, this in some ways is a bad decision for Microsoft, but it's not so much. Even the, like, hey, we're focusing on AI or, hey, we're focusing on this. Like, every merger that, every acquisition that they had meant that when they got Bethesda, when they got Activision, there was distractions, there was literal lawsuits. They were. Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond had to be in court instead of working on the vision of the games that they had, right? With all the Activision stuff, when it came to Bethesda, having to figure out how are we going to spend our time reorganizing the team structure, right? What does it look like when we have this many studios under us? Can one person kind of oversee the games or does Bethesda do their own thing and do we do our own thing and all that. All of that stuff is distracting from actually producing the product and committing to the vision, right? And it's like, I. You can always see it at companies when it's like, you know, a company's in a bad place, when they just waste time, like reorganizing seating charts every year. You know what I mean? It's like that means there are people there that are wasting time not doing what they should be doing, justifying their jobs and all of that stuff. You add that to the massive level that Microsoft and Xbox had to do all that stuff because they didn't have a choice. When you require thousands of new employees, you need structure for that. And when you're putting out some great games while also having to deal with all that, you can't commit to this vision you have. So what where we're at now, we have this potential lineup and God damn it, I'm not even joking about this. The dominoes hot fall down. But like real talk, we have so much potential here. Forza Horizon 6, Fable, Gears E Day, Halo. To some extent it's like there are, there's potential for awesome stuff in addition to all the smaller titles, all these, the partner showcases that they're doing. Like we're about to get a new Metro game where about to get this mouse PI for hire. Like these partnerships that are very smart on the smaller level all the way up to big, big third party stuff. Like there's a lot of good juice going on with Xbox but and the 25 year anniversary and a new leader that is clearly listening, clearly talking at what point is that going to turn into like something we care about? It's scary.

[A]

It's kind of, it's a, it's, it's a really weird place because Asha Sharma again, when this whole thing happens of Phil's retiring, Sarah Bond is leaving. Ash is coming in. She came from this whatever, whatever and we're filled with so much skepticism about it. She's in a weird way has said so many of the right things and I'm kind of waiting for her. I'm kind of waiting for the other shoe of like, all right, but where's all the bad shit that we know is.

[B]

I mean it honestly feels like she's listening to podcasts. It honestly feels like she's listening to the people that are talking and pointing out the criticism and she's trying to address it. Will she have the power to. Will she have the support to. That is still to be seen. When we're talking about this story though, we're talking about the Game Pass and the pricing and her realizing or pointing out that the value is not there. The clear answer is just get rid of Call of Duty from Game Pass. Yeah, that is the biggest pain point. I think that forces the price of Game Pass to be that much higher because of the amount of money that they're clearly Losing from selling Call of Duty. Yeah. Having said that, I've said this since day one. Game Pass devalues video games. And I think that there's no putting the genie back in the bottle with a lot of this stuff. Like, I don't know that we're going to get to a point that this ever fully makes sense. And people disagree with me on this and I understand that to the consumer it's an amazing value. I do think that it's detrimental to the industry overall. And I've been saying that for years. I'm going to continue to say it because look where we're at.

[A]

Yeah, Game Pass feels like it's been an experiment of, hey, we have an idea of what we can do with video games because we see other media, we see how movies work, we see how music works, and we see how expensive video games are becoming to make, how expensive they are, they're going to be to buy. And we want to be ahead of the curve as far as giving people the accessibility to be able to play games, play new games and be in the ecosystem. When we see everything else going up in price and in a way they were able to make it happen for a while, but when game pass becomes $30 a month, then it starts to be a thing of, all right, what is this for anymore? You know what I mean? Like, I think it was me and Greg or me and somebody else is going, we're going back and forth on this of like the value of I'm paying $30 a month for this thing. And even you can say, you can say all day, every day, hey, when you look at the value of what you get out of Game Pass, that's more than worth it, right? I'm paying $30, I'm getting all these games, I'm getting new games. And I'm like, that's very valid and that's very true. Are people playing those games? Are people, do people care about ownership of those games as well? When I'm paying $30 for something, like, I almost had to play games as a full time job to get that value back. You know what I mean? I'm committing to playing games, playing those new games every single month to get that value back. And people have to ask themselves, am I willing to spend that? And I think the arithmetic doesn't map out in that way, especially with Call of Duty in the equation and the money that you're talking about losing there you. I think we're in the place in the experiment where we have to go, all right, we went all the way with it. Now how do we moderate and how do we get back to the middle with it where it is Call. Maybe we take Call of Duty out of Game Pass. Honestly, maybe we take some of our first party games out of Game Pass, but still keep some other ones. Right. Like, I think Kiln works for a Game Pass. Do you put. And I think they'll put Gears, of course, this year on Game Pass. But do you continue to put a gears on Game Pass going forward?

[B]

Or you say that, you say of course, yeah. But like, I think that's going back to our initial conversation here about the vision and the games where this is the time if you're going to make these calls, if you're going to make these changes, it kind of has to be now with the games. Because once these games come out, what's the next game like? There's going to be games, but it's like this is the Xbox year for like the big brand ip, like the titles. And I mean, again, I understand it's probably too late to make these games all exclusive Xbox.

[A]

Well, yeah, for sure. Too late for that. I think it's too late for Game Pass because you've already, I imagine you've already announced all these games is coming to Game Pass. I think you get so much blowback from the audience then go, hey, these aren't coming to Game Pass anymore. You have to buy them.

[B]

But having said that, they also announced that every first party game is going to be day and date on Game Pass.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And Call of Duty is one. So if they were to change that, like they're going back on what they've said, I don't say they should do this. Sure. Like, I think that we're already in this messy spot of. It's, I think, impossible to commit to the vision with the games right now. And maybe, maybe you're committing the vision for the next generation. We're starting with Project Helix.

[A]

I think that's the thing. I think this year is the Xbox anniversary year. Don't have unnecessary bad press. I think you can get away with saying Call of Duty is not coming to Game Pass because I think to some extent the audience probably understands. Even though you are going back on your word on that, I think this would be the last hurrah of every single first party Xbox game is coming out to Game Pass. I think this year is the year to commit to that. And then afterwards and maybe transitioning into Helix, you go, hey, not every single one. Like we are. We're going to have some, like, maybe some of those if you're going to tear it up. Right. The tier two games are coming to Game Pass. The tier one games, the. The. Even the Forza Horizons, the Gears, the Fables, if Fable is what I imagine it to be. Right. Like, those games, you got to buy them because we believe in these games so much. And these are the games that are going to drive revenue for us, are going to, like, be the bangers. We need those bangers to make you go, damn, Xbox is killing it. But you also got to. You got to balance what the value is of this service that you have with the things that you're able to do it. And I just don't think you can have both.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. Going to be really interesting. And again, the fact that there is so much talk happening and the fact that we are now seeing this, the next week, they're going to go deeper with Xbox employees. Like, this is an active conversation. There will be some change. What will it be? How hard will they commit? I don't know. But with the summer showcase coming up in June.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I imagine we're going to start getting answers there. Right.

[A]

One more thing. I think if you couple the idea of, hey, Call of Duty is not coming to Game Pass, but we're lowering the price down to, let's say, $20. I think that goes smoothly. I think you can get away with that.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I think the audience would actually be pretty excited about that.

[B]

Yeah. But that's the thing is, like, get away with it. Definitely.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Audience being excited about it. Sure. Will that result in enough revenue to make this all worth it? I don't think so. No, I don't think so. And that's the biggest problem with all of this. But again, I am the most hopeful for this lineup of Xbox content for a year. Maybe ever. Like, maybe ever.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I mean, and it's riding off of Forza Horizon 6, but that's a guarantee.

[A]

Sure. And I guess, like, when I'm thinking of. Of like Xbox's lineup, I. It's the last 10 years. Haven't had the most consistent years. And so I'm trying to think of, like, another year that's been as exciting for me as lineup. And maybe did Helldivers and Starfield come out the same year? Or did. Was. Was Helldivers the year after Starfield? Because if you would ask me at the beginning of that year, I would have been like, oh, this is gonna be a banger year. And then I didn't really like either of those Games.

[B]

See that? Yeah, that. That is true.

[A]

But I guess last year was also. Here's the thing, like, pretty sick.

[B]

We don't know if the games are good, but there's never been a year that we got all of the big Xbox IPs in one year. Yeah. So, like, that alone is like, wow.

[A]

For sure. I guess maybe I'm. You know what, you're right. Maybe I'm thinking of Halo being what I consider the tentpole number one Xbox ip. Even though I don't know if that's true anymore. But me looking at Halo as that it being Halo campaign evolved and not like the next step in Halo kind of brings that down for me.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And even with Gears, I'm excited because this will be my first for full Gears game. Right. Like, I'm hyped to get into this. I think it being a prequel almost has me like, is this as exciting as if it were like, the next entry?

[B]

I think it is, actually.

[A]

You think so?

[B]

Like, I think, yeah. Like, I'm not the biggest Gears fan of the world, but I really do love the Gears games and the. They're going back to the characters people love. Right. Like, that's the thing. And also I think it being a prequel, it's a good jump on point for. For new people or you're not going to be super lost on. Oh, man. I don't know all the connections of all the characters and everything. But yeah, I'm hopeful for the year. We'll see. I'm very excited about what this summer showcase looks like for Xbox and whatever they end up doing for the 25th anniversary, if there is an event that they do or.

[A]

Oh, yeah, they're doing the fan fest.

[B]

Yeah. But I wonder if there's like. Isn't that a bunch of fan fest, though?

[A]

There's a bunch of fan.

[B]

Yes. But I wonder if there's going to be like, you don't need to go anywhere. We can just watch it from home type.

[A]

Ah, yeah.

[B]

State of the Union thing of like, we are Xbox. Here we are. Here's the rock.

[A]

I'm surprised they. Here's the. I'm surprised they don't do the XOS anymore because they brought that back for one or two years with like EXO. I want to say, XO19.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That seemed like it's what you're talking about there.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But maybe that's just. We don't want to go that level when we have our other showcases and stuff.

[B]

Yeah. I think they also have 10 million dev teams now.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So there's a lot to talk about. But again, they've been, I think, really kind of killing it with their different formats of the showcases, the inside Xbox things that they've been doing. Like the quality of them is up

[A]

or down, but it's like they found a flow. They found a very good Xbox developer directs at the beginning of the year are usually a banger. The Xbox showcases have been fantastic. Them doing a additional. Here's focusing in on one game afterwards. That's going to be our big fall game. Those have been killer. I think between those things, of course, the Xbox. Was it the indie Xbox or the third party Xbox? There was an Xbox thing recently where I don't know if we liked it as much if I. Or maybe maybe we did like it. Chat. What was the recent Xbox thing that we watched?

[B]

Because I remember we all didn't like.

[A]

We didn't like.

[B]

Y' all hated it.

[A]

Okay, cool.

[B]

And I thought y' all were like, like I couldn't believe how much y'.

[C]

All.

[A]

Oh, how down we were on it. Yeah.

[B]

I think it was that amazing.

[A]

You know, that's right. Because I remember being. I was high on the Xbox developer direct. And then. Yes. This latest.

[B]

Whatever the thing was, I forget what it was, but we got a couple super chats I want to get to here. Saul says as long as PC doesn't get shafted from exclusives, I don't care. But if both PlayStation and Xbox choose to say no to PC ports, that's trash. Xbox will not pull off a PC.

[A]

No, they're not.

[B]

That's the whole. We know that they're turning into a PC. Yeah. So that I wouldn't worry there.

[A]

Also, Kevin, if you see this Twitch is down.

[B]

He's on it. I saw him running out there. Let's see. Clawmaster says. I agree that Game pass is bad for the industry, but in this economy right now, it's what's keeping gamers in the Xbox ecosystem to play their games. I. I don't know. I, I understand. Yes, that makes sense, like when you say it, but it's just like I just don't believe a lot of this. And I, I just, I, more than anything, I stand by when you devalue your product that significantly and it. The costs of making it are going up and up and up. That's not sustainable. That's not how this works.

[A]

Yeah. I think it'll only do a good job of keeping people who can't afford those games in is if they lower the price of game pass. Like at $30 a month, it's just crazy. If you bring that down to an affordable price, I think that's good for everybody. And you got to make the choices to do that in order to make that sustainable.

[B]

And it's just tough though, because like all the arguments being made here, it's just like you look at subscription services across any media, they're all going up, it seems monthly. It's like we just. YouTube Premium just went up $2. Spotify just went up, what, $3. Netflix just went up again. Plus just went up again.

[A]

I stopped looking at the emails because they scare me.

[B]

Now there's. It's terrifying.

[A]

Like I am playing. I'm playing like a. A, like root. Like streaming service roulette, basically. Where for Lord of the Rings, I realized what. For doing that. That interview, I realized that I didn't have hbo. And so I went and was like, all right, what am I subscribed to? And I canceled. I forget which ones. I think I still had Paramount plus. And I was like, what am I doing? And then I canceled Apple because I'm like, well, severance is off season. Pluribus is off season. Let me cancel Apple. And then reallocate that.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

To the other. To hbo. That's how I got to live now.

[B]

Yeah. It is amazing. Spider man says, agree. If you eliminate Game Pass to add value to games and make people play games they buy, then you risk major blowback and boycotts from gamers who have used it for a decade now. Xbox equals Game Pass to many. Yeah. This is the problem that they've created because they didn't fully commit. Yeah. Yel Singh says if they remove first party games, what makes them any better than PlayStation Plus Extra, which is the equivalent of $15 ish a month. Yeah, it's not. That is.

[A]

No. I think you just have to have a better catalog is what it is. Right.

[B]

Totally. And we also need to remember that Game Pass came out, was invented at a time when the big Xbox games coming up were Crackdown three.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

It's not. You know what I mean? Exactly. It was a different space for things. So now that they have all that stuff, hey, no more first party games. Like it makes sense. It will. People will be upset. But it's the move.

[A]

I think there's a marketing way to do it. People will be upset. You're right about everything. I think there's a way. You might almost have to add a new, new type of showcase, the Game Pass showcase, and be like, yo, this is why Game Pass is still and you have some first party games in there and like, you got to make it a banger showcase.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

If you really want to like continue to push game pass the way that it is. But I just think I. I think you might have to deemphasize it if you really care about the boxes and if you really want to get back to what Xbox was.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. Competing in the console space. If they want to do that. If you want to do that, do that. And you got to play that game. Or I have another idea.

[A]

What's up?

[B]

What if we just add more tears? Oh God, more tears.

[A]

Oh God, I can't do more tears.

[B]

Let's get to story number two. Bloodborne video game getting an R rated animated movie adaptation from Sony. This comes from Brent lang at Variety PlayStation's Bloodborne video games being developed into an R rated animated feature for Sony Pictures that the studio says will embrace the carnage that made the game so popular. Sanford Panitch, president of Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, promised during the Studio CinemaCon presentation that the long rumored film will be very true to the gory spirit of Bloodborne, which follows a traveler who journeys into a gothic city full of nightmarish creatures. Bloodborne was developed from by FromSoftware and published. You guys fucking know that stuff. The film's co produced by PlayStation Productions lyrical animation and creator and gamer Sean McLaughlin, better known by his pseudonym Jack Septiceye. For the uninitiated, he's a gamer who spent years in the world of Bloodborne, where his digital adventures are tracked by 48 million online fans. Whoa.

[A]

Wild.

[B]

That's crazy. And what's also crazy is Alana Pierce.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

A couple weeks ago announced her production company that seems to like help creators produce, like YouTube creators.

[A]

Creators, yeah.

[B]

Produce video game adaptations. He's one of the people, right? Like I think he's one of the people that we're working on something.

[A]

Oh, interesting.

[B]

But now for this to happen, obviously crazy scale.

[A]

It's so funny because I, when I read this, the first thing I thought of was Alana's production company and I was like, man, that's crazy that PlayStation or Sony is doing the same thing over here. But also cool. Like you want people that are passionate about these IP and these projects to be the ones that have the involvement and are able to produce these things because they're able to speak to the fan base. Hopefully if you get the right people. Right. Like, I didn't know much about Jack. Jacksepticeye's connection to Bloodborne, but this is announced I saw people posting. Oh yeah, no, he's, he fucking loves bloodborne.

[B]

And on top of that, you know what else? He has a lot of money.

[A]

Yeah. The means.

[B]

And, and when you have the means to create and you want to and you have a desire to do that, you put your money where your mouth is. You know what I mean? And I say that sitting here in front of a giant video wall, it's like we, we know that it's like when you love something and care about it, you can create something crazy and it could pay off. Like high risk, high reward. But it's like that is what's happening here. And he's co producing this movie.

[A]

I want to shout out two things. One, the fact that if you're going to make a bloodborne movie, this is the way to do it. I think make it an animated feature length movie is. So that's what we want. Like if you did a live action bloodborne, I'd kind of be like, all right, let's see what this is.

[B]

I mean, I'm very interested in that. I mean first off, let's just say Sony Animation right now, killing it.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

K Pop, Demon Hunters, the Spider Verse movies. By the way, did you see the images from beyond the Spider Verse? I dropped them last night.

[A]

Oh, you know what? I did see those.

[B]

Yeah. Fucking stunning. The whole movie is going to be an imax. It's going to be like full. Oh my God, this is going to be good. But yeah, that right now they're on a hot streak. So it's like leaning into that I think is much wiser than the uncharted live action movie.

[A]

Right.

[B]

But you are a bloodborne guy.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

My question to you is if, if we assumed that the movie was actually going to be good, is animation the call over live action? Because bloodborne animation to me doesn't necessarily be like, yes, that's, that's. I feel like it's the safer move.

[A]

That's the thing is I think it's safer, which gives me more comfort with it. I think if you did made a great bloodborne live action thing, I think that could be the coolest shit in the world. But it being animated first gives me the thing of like, okay, cool. At least Bloodborne is a game filled with fucked up looking creatures and oh, what's his name? Hands. No, that's eldering. Oh yeah, Hands.

[B]

Bloodborne.

[A]

No, they don't really have. No, Eldering is all about hands.

[B]

Lied to.

[A]

Eldering is a game that is about hands. It's in a Crazy way it has a ring in the title. No, Bloodborne. What's the word I'm looking for? The cosmic. Who's the old author kind of racist, like Lovecraftian. Lovecraftian, yes. There's so much Lovecraftian, like, I mean lore, but then also visuals and like tentacles and weird and stuff comes from the moon. Eldritch horror. Eldritch horror going on in Bloodborne that I think is easier translated through animation in a way that I feel like could be true to what the source material is. So I'd want to see that version first. And then like if we get a little bit more steam for Bloodborne and if we seem do it right that way, then I think maybe we take the step to something live action. But I'm not craving a live action Bloodborne thing. I think Elden Ring is probably more appropriate for the live action thing, which they're doing.

[B]

Yeah, interesting. But yeah, this is fucking cool. Everything about this is awesome. Like R rated animated from this team with producers that care. Bloodborne has a new project coming out. Like I think that's. And that's a good thing to talk about.

[A]

That's the second thing is that first of all, I said kind of racist for. For Lovecraft. Sure, very racist. I don't know that much about Lovecraft, so I heard you. Racist. But the second thing is the fact that they're doing work with Bloodborne feels like the door is creaking open because the conversation we were having before is that PlayStation, they don't really want to touch Bloodborne because they don't want to upset Fromsoft and Miyazaki because they don't want to alter his vision. Because the rumor has been that when Demon souls from Blood from Bluepoint came out, there was a bit of energy of like, all right, Miyazaki doesn't really like this because of how it kind of alters that creative vision and how like maybe they do it differently or whatever the conversation was. It seems like they didn't like it on their side. And so PlayStation maybe has been scared to do some of Bloodborne because they don't want to piss off from software because they value from software. If you're creaking open that door for Bloodborne with an animated movie. Can you create? Can you create open more? Yeah, for a remaster.

[B]

Oh yeah. Oh yeah.

[A]

That's what I want.

[B]

I mean, dude, it's happening like now that this it. I guarantee that a Bloodborne, some form of remake, remaster, whatever the hell. 60 frames per second. Bloodborne that's what it'll be. Okay.

[A]

I mean, that's all I want.

[B]

But it'll be the same year as this movie.

[A]

The same year? You think they're putting it out the

[B]

same time, same year? Okay, yeah.

[A]

Who makes it though?

[B]

I mean, because let me tell you this. Do you know how many copies of Super Mario Galaxy are going to be sold this year?

[A]

Probably a lot. Fuck ton. Yeah, probably a fuck ton.

[B]

That's what they want.

[A]

But do you think a bloodborne animated movie is going to do gangbusters like that? That's the one thing is this almost feels like it would be more of a niche thing.

[B]

It doesn't matter. That niche will buy Bloodborne the game.

[A]

Honestly. I mean, yeah, that means you'll buy it. And then also the amount of people that have played Elden Ring and learned about fromsoft through Elden Ring will buy it.

[B]

Yeah, absolutely.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

All right, let's get to story number three. After a word from our sponsors.

[C]

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

[A]

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

[C]

With a curriculum designed for builders with gamer sensibilities in mind, boot.dev welcomes you to the most captivating way to learn to code. You can learn backend weapons development from start to finish in Python, SQL and go. That's why you'll learn by doing the things you'll be actually doing at a job building real project. So go to boot.dev and use code kinda funny to get 25% off your entire first year on the annual plan. There's no better time to give your coding dreams a chance. Just like Kevin's doing. Again, go to boot.dev and use code kinda funny to get 25% off your entire plan. First year on the annual plan. This episode is brought to you by nocd. You finally sit down to game. Just you, your controller and zero responsibilities. When your brain decides that's the perfect time to ask did I say something offensive earlier? And not realize it, and suddenly relaxing and enjoying yourself is impossible. Instead, your brain grabs onto the thought and will not let it go. That kind of relentless thought spiral isn't just anxiety. It could actually be ocd, a condition that's way too misunderstood and way more common than most people people realize. But it doesn't have to be that way because OCD is highly treatable with the right kind of specialized therapy. OCD needs erp or Exposure and response Prevention, which is proven to be the most effective treatment. And that's where NOCD comes in. NOCD is the world's leading provider of OCD treatment and it's covered by insurance for over 138 million Americans. All their licensed therapists specialize in ERP therapy and will help you learn to take the power away from intrusive thoughts in live face to face virtual sessions. If unwanted thoughts are taking over, don't wait to get help. Visit nocd.com to book a free call with their team. That's nocd.com this episode is brought to you by Shopify. Picture this. It's late at night, you're scrolling through your feeds when all of a sudden you see it. That one product that you've been looking for. You click on the link add to cart before finally hitting checkouts. As you're filling in your address, you realize you don't have your card anywhere near you. Then you see it. That purple pay button that has all your information saved, making checking out as simple as a tap on your screen. Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world and 10% of all e commerce in the the US from household names like Mattel and Heinz to brands just getting started. And what if I get stuck? Well, Shopify is always around to share advice with their award winning 24. 7 customer support. See less carts go abandoned and more sales go with Shopify and their Shop Pay button. Sign up for $1 per month trial today at shopify.com kindafunning go to shopify.com kind of funny. That's shopify.com kinda funny

[B]

story number one in my heart. Rockstar Games Hack Update this comes from Wesley Yinpool at IGN Rockstar Games. Hackers Shiny Hunters released the stolen data early, revealing revenue for GTA Online and Red Dead Online. But crucially, no GTA 6 information appears to have leaked online. The stolen data was viewed by GTA forums, user Lexiture and reported on by Kotaku. It shows GTA Online allegedly generates much more money than Red Dead Online.

[A]

Shocking. Whoa.

[B]

And which doesn't come as a big surprise given the difference in support Rockstar gives each live service. It also shows that PS5 is the platform with the most GTA online players and revenue.

[A]

Shocking.

[B]

PC lagging behind even the last generation of consoles on both counts. Yes. We have this chart here. Is there anything interesting here?

[A]

The fact that GTA 5 makes $5 million a week. Yeah, I mean like not the most surprising, but still. Stagn.

[B]

No, that is actually. Yeah. We just gotta take that for granted.

[A]

Yeah. But like when you think about it, making $5 million a week off of your how 13 year old live service still.

[B]

Yeah, man, that's, that's, that's nuts. No one man should have all that.

[A]

Honestly, if I'm Rockstar and they. And like I realize that that's the information that they hacked, I'm like, please release that. We want to let everybody know that we got it like that.

[B]

No. Damn.

[A]

This shit's crazy.

[B]

That. That is.

[A]

This helps us.

[B]

Crazy. Kev, can you bring it up one more time? Because to me the, the besides that insane number, the PC side of it is interesting and like I guess not that surprising just in the sense of, you know, I think the PC GTA community, you know, the game came out later on PC and there's a big modding community there as well. So I feel like there's a, A lot of ways to allegedly do things with the game that I feel like might might result in this. But I am a bit surprised about the disparity here. Right. Of even comparing it on the Xbox One to the PC is like that's significantly more.

[A]

Yeah. I mean, yeah. For Xbox One and PS4. Like think about how many people are still on previous gen consoles and how like popular the last gen was. I'm shocked that PS5 actually is. So is the biggest piece of the pie here, like actually over 50%.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, damn. PS5 just has that market penetration though. Right. Like I feel like we are now five years into this console cycle and like it is, it is surprising though that like it's that much more than the PS4.

[A]

And I mean hack data. So like take it for with a grain of salt. But PS4 being the same exact amount as Xbox One is interesting when you think about how many people own a PS4 versus the amount of people that own an Xbox One, which I wonder what that says as far as maybe the transition of people that like went from Xbox One to Xbox Series X versus the amount of people we saw go from PS4 to PS5. Like there's interesting things to take here, I think just in terms of player base and what that does. But also when you look at that small PC amount. Yeah, like I'm sure that's mods and weird shit that are probably messing up those numbers, but God, where was I going with this? Oh, but you look at that and go, oh damn. Of course you're not releasing on PC day and date. Like you look at those console numbers and it is. Yeah, no, we are prioritizing PlayStation and Xbox.

[B]

A good point. That's a very good point. And like, look, I'm gonna say this. Don't hack people.

[A]

Don't hack people.

[B]

Don't do any of this. It's all, it's all very, very bad. But I kind of get it. When you look at these numbers like you're making 5 million. Just like, hey, just give me some.

[A]

Okay, just give me one, give me one million. You're gonna make it back in a week. Yeah, that's hilarious. But also, yeah, there's such like almost a non story one of those ones where it's like, I know for hacks before we've like been like, do we even talk about this? Do we not talk about this? This is such like whatever information that like I felt fine bringing it up because I'm sure people would like closure on the story. But don't be a piece of and hack people and, and do all that. Especially with people's personal information. Shame on you.

[B]

It is really sad though that this was all that they had. It's like you little.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Oh yeah. I shouldn't talk about them because I don't, I don't want to be the next target.

[A]

I mean I am like, listen, my bank account like you see me, what you gonna get? Yeah, like I'm out here. Min Max. HBO Max. Like, good luck. Please don't hack me though. I'm just a guy. I'm just a guy though. I'm just a guy.

[B]

Story number four Silent Hill 2 Remake Studio Blooper Team announces leadership expansion and teases seven games in development. This comes from Fran Ruiz at Eurogamer. After some critical ups and downs, Silent Hill 2 and Kronos the new dawn solidified Blooper team as a horror focused developer to watch out for as new projects pile up. The company's announced it's growing in size via games industry biz. We've learned the developers expanding its leadership as it transitions to a multi project structure which which currently has the studio working on two first party single player horror games, plus five more in co development following the Switch 2 version of Layers of Fear and the reveal of a third entry in the series. A Nintendo exclusive title should be coming this year. Beyond that, we know Bloober has been teasing a very busy year ahead. Plus a remake of the original Silent Hill in collaboration with Konami. Considering it's decent enough success, we also wouldn't rule out a sequel to Kronos being on the cards for now. The developers announced three new appointments. Dan Lyman, an Activision and wargaming veteran as head of studio, Katya Brockova Techland and CD Projekt Red alum as director of business development and Michael Gambicki from Clubheader SA and CD Projekt as well as head of publishing. The CEO says Bloober team will continue to operate with two first party production teams working on the studio's major releases. According to him, it's just a strategic expansion to ensure blooper survivability because relying on a single title creates too much risk in today's market. At the same time, he underlines the studios trying not to bite too much too fast. We're not interested in growth for the sake of numbers. We believe players don't need a constant flood of releases. The trick here might be its focus on only two first party games while co developing five more titles through the Broken Mirror Games label. Layers of Fear 3 is part of that effort with Anshar Studios rumored to be the other half of the development team.

[A]

That's while that they're working on that many things, I should actually double check and see like how many people even work at Bloober team because that's that must be a big old team over there. But also I we've seen it before where a studio will take on so many projects and that ends up being the thing that that spells doom for them. And I hope that's not the same thing here. But I think of like a telltale where it is we're gonna work on everything and then you see the quality kind of dim down and then you see issues with that when you're taking all these projects. Bloober team, they've had some good hits recently, especially when we talk about Silent Hill 2. I think it's a fascinating thing of like yeah, we want to work on. They're working on allegedly the next Silent Hill remake and then also Layers of Fear. And like they also did the medium. Well they did the medium but there was one that came Out, I think last year or the year before that was a Resident Evil, like spacey type thing. Chat remind me the name of it. It's not Fort Solace, is it? Fort Solace? No, it's not. Fortune sounds familiar, but they're a very interesting team and I, I want to see them thrive. But I get scared when I read

[B]

a story like absolutely. And Kronos.

[A]

That's what it was.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

Oh, they said it.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. But that's, that's the thing is like, yeah, you hear this. And because of the nature of this industry and us on this show covering stories where things like this normally don't end well.

[A]

Right? Yeah.

[B]

Normally ends in layoffs, closures, all of that stuff. Having said that, the headline makes me feel that way. Reading what he said, it's like, oh, there's a plan here.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And it sounds like the focus being surviv ability in this market shows a level of understanding that we don't often see from. From a lot of the leadership. And to talk about it this way and on top of that, diversifying the risks, I think is very smart. And you bringing up Telltale, I think is a very apt thing as well because they did do too much. But what they do the same thing using IP over and over and over and over. Like that's the one trick that they had. And when that wore thin, when that was just too much for people, pretty quickly we saw what happened here. I think it's pretty interesting that they kind of have what we look at some of the more successful teams out there, like a Nintendo or a PlayStation when it comes to like, what is a Mario game? Well, there's different scales. There's the big 3D ones, there's the 2D ones, there's the remakes, there's a Legend of Zelda. I could say the same thing. And like, you know, you look at the PlayStation Studio titles and it's like they have this kind of from small to large type thing going on here. It's interesting that they can now they've proven that they can put out the smaller in or not indie, but smaller horror games. Like the Layers of Fear that they Double A ish. Yeah, exactly. That they've built into a franchise at this point. Right. And they might not be the best games ever, but they're good and they sell well. Right. So you have that kind of lower end. But on top of that, they've now proven that they can do big remakes.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Right. And they are also proving that they could do bigger titles. And out of all of those so far, the remakes are the best product that they've put out. Kronos wasn't that well received, but it was received okay. Right? It wasn't a flop. It. It hit. They kind of got something here.

[A]

Yeah, I think, I think there's power and flexibility as a studio. So when you're. And there's a. There's power in making yourself available. Right. Like the idea that, hey, we can approach companies and go look at what we did with Silent Hill 2 Remake. We can remake something for you. Like if. If for some reason Konami didn't want to partner with them anymore. Like, not that PlayStation would say yes, but like you have the opportunity to go to a PlayStation, be like, yo, what's in your old catalog? Let us help you. Right? Or you go to a Square Enix or whatever other publisher and go, go to Xbox. Hey, you have a gigantic catalog. We are available. We did Silent Hill 2 remake. Let us work with you. And when all that doesn't work, like, you also have the ability to make your own games. You have your own IP that you own in Layers of Fear. It's kind of a great place to be as a studio to be so versatile in your skills.

[B]

And they're making a Nintendo exclusive title this year. Yeah, like, that's another example of like diversifying, of just like trying to find potential wins, you know? Yep. I fingers crossed for these guys.

[A]

100%.

[B]

Kev, do you know your mic's on?

[A]

Yeah, we heard you yawn. Yeah, I'm sorry.

[B]

The best. I'm tired of all the big news just getting bigger and bigger and bigger. If I want to know about something very small, bless where an outlook you'd

[A]

go to our last news story, the WE news channel where we cover all the small news items you need to know about.

[B]

We got a replaced review roundup here for you on Metacritic. It has an 81 open critic, a 79. Tech Raptor gave it a 6.5 out of 10. Day one gave it a 9 out of 10. Jack Coleman gave it 4 out of 5 stars at the Gamer, saying the defining strength of replacement besides the stunning visuals, lies in its cultural commentary. Sadcat elegantly depicts these themes and I believe anyone who plays replace replaced is going to have an enlightening experience, which I imagine is exactly what the studio was going for. Mouse PI for higher review roundup. It's at an 80 on Metacritic and 83 on Open Critic. PC Gamer gave it an 86 out of 100. Giant Bomb gave it a 3 out of 5. Will Borger at IGN gave it a 6 out of 10 saying Mouse PI for hire is an amusing enough FPS if you just want to blast some cartoon mice and not think about it too hard. But it's haphazard marriage of noir storytelling and boomer shooter action are at odds in uncomfortable ways that weaken both aspects.

[A]

I believe the games cast after this is a review of both games.

[B]

Both Replace and Mouse PI for Hire. Mouse PI will be a full review. Replace will just be a review so far because Mike and I haven't finished the game yet. Unless Mike didn't. Didn't tell me but can't wait to talk about both of these games. I think it's kind of cool. Cool that these are both very eye catching artistic games that Xbox has been showing off for the last couple years and they're both finally here. So it's going to be fun to to talk about it.

[A]

It's the review seasons in the air. Cuz like we did. I. I didn't get to play either of these games for review because I was reviewing Pragmata alongside you and alongside Roger.

[B]

Roger.

[A]

I was going to say Andy. I was like, no, Andy's hosting. But it's been a fun like divide and conquer.

[B]

It has been.

[A]

Yeah. I had to kind of choose and I was like, well, I think I'm more into the idea or I think I'm more excited about Prigmata and what that is.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Mouse Bi for Hire did the preview and went, this is cool. Not the thing I'm most excited for. Replaced I am excited for. But I think now I'm just excited to hear people talk about it and decide whether or not I'm going to play it.

[B]

Yeah, I don't want to get ahead of myself.

[A]

Sure, sure.

[B]

I can't wait to talk about this game. And I think the discussion around Replace is going to be very, very interesting. But okay, just a little hint. Boy, a little tease. Yeah, I love it. Oh but okay, moving on.

[A]

Wait, have you played inside?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Would you compare them?

[B]

Love it. Yes. Listen to the games. Listen to the games.

[A]

Guys.

[B]

Are you on the Gamescast? No. You're not on either. You just said that. From ign. Sony Pictures has announced at Cinemacon that Legend of Zelda has officially wrapped filming.

[A]

See, that's. That's what I'm scared for. Like going back to the animated versus live action conversation. A live action Zelda movie. I'm not sold all the way, but I'm open.

[B]

Here's the thing.

[A]

I just Got to see that trailer.

[B]

I. I will say this it. Whereas bloodborne. Like, I'm not. I don't know enough to, like, really have a stance. I will say I would prefer an animated Zelda movie over a live action Zelda movie.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Fact. If there's gonna be a live action Zelda movie, I want the director that's directing it to direct it. I'm feeling very confident in this.

[A]

Planet of the Apes.

[B]

Yeah. The most recent plan of the Apes, which was killer. And why that gives me so much faith is he made those goddamn monkeys look real. He could do great capture cg. Like, it looks incredible.

[A]

How real do you think the Goblins are gonna look?

[B]

I think they're gonna look dope as, like, that's the way. And also, they were shooting in the same places Lord of the Rings was shot. Like, I have hopes for Zelda.

[A]

I've been watching the first Lord of the Rings movie. I am kind of like, man, the Shire looks so impressive to me. When we come to the Shire, I'm like, damn. Like, this is a garden.

[B]

I can't believe how into it you are.

[A]

Oh, I love it.

[B]

I actually can't believe I love Lord of the Rings. I. Jim.

[A]

They're apes, by the way.

[B]

I. Oh, I know.

[A]

What do you call it?

[B]

Tell me that every time.

[A]

Hey, what's the primates is what I'm looking for. Because primates is, like, the category. I'm sure there's definitely the more sciency term for it that I learned elementary school that I already forgot. But then. Yeah. What's the difference between nape and a monkey, Kevin? Like, what are the keys? I mean, there's a lot of difference, but those are the. The main ways to these things. Gotcha. If you see a little monkey without a tail, probably an ape, we got a. This is gonna be a game showdown game. So don't study.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Like, I'm gonna go through a bunch of Donkey Kong characters, and you guys will have to tell me exactly what it is.

[B]

That's awesome. So, you know, I really like that. This one's for you. Stone Cold is coming to Fortnite.

[A]

One beer.

[B]

Two beers.

[A]

I love this.

[B]

I've started doing that at home with G, when I'm just, like, grabbing LaCroix and I'll just be like, one beer. She has no idea what I'm doing,

[A]

and that's the bottom line. Stone Cold. Why is he coming to Fortnite? Kids don't care about Stone Cold.

[B]

I think everyone cares about stone.

[A]

Kids do not care. I can Guarantee you there is no child under the age of 15. Under the age of 20. I'll even give you that cares about Stone Cold Steve Austin.

[B]

Here's the thing. Wrestlemania is next week.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And it's Wrestlemania season. Which means we need to be like, well, Stone Cold be there. This. Why is he going to face you

[A]

think they think they talk to Epic and we're like, put him in the game so we can have people wondering if he's going to be at WrestleMania.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

How excited are you for WrestleMania?

[B]

Zero.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I have never been this not excited for Wrestlemania.

[A]

It's such a weird time.

[B]

Fucking sucks.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

It breaks my God damn heart.

[A]

I knew it was bad when I was looking at the Santi's app Instagram reels and like skipped most of them because I'm like, I don't care about this storyline. I don't care about that storyline. I just care about Obafemi.

[B]

Oh, it's this weekend.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And he know. But better way story for another time. IGN says a new experimental mode's coming to marathon next week and it hopes to make the experience a little easier for new players by forcing all participants to load up with only the basic free sponsored kits. The experimental mode, called Dire Marsh sponsored goes live tomorrow and runs for around two weeks.

[A]

I've been very marathon pillow while you've been gone.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It's a good game.

[B]

Hell yeah.

[A]

It's a really, really good game. I'm excited for this. This is cool.

[B]

Nike SB is now available in skate. There's also a limited time Nike SB pop up event starting today until May 5th. That wasn't already there. And Greg and Mike had this on their game of the year list last year. Egregious.

[A]

We gotta have, we have, we gotta have more conversations about that. They had skate on their game of the year list and it ended up on our top 10. And people are mad at me because I called Pragmato. Okay. Like they had. They had skate on our top 10 game of the year.

[B]

That's it for WE News. Let's go to. You're wrong. See what's going on. Ah, there's a lot. No, there's not. One just is really long. Oh, this is from yesterday. But I like it. Kebab says palette swap is the new hard drive. It's made by the hard drive crew who were fired. I like that. Okay. After I got into trouble for using Jenna AI Gen AI articles. Okay, cool. I was talking about this yesterday. Have you seen palette swap?

[A]

I've seen them pop up on my timeline.

[B]

Yeah, they're fucking hilarious. Yeah, it's. It's real good.

[A]

I'll hit follow right now.

[B]

Real good stuff.

[A]

Are the on bs. That's a blue sky.

[B]

I don't know. I follow them on Instagram. Palette swap the Gram Anna G has a important thing here. GTA Online was given to PS5 players for free when it first launched and gave monthly cash to PS5 players while they waited for it, which could explain why it has that market share.

[A]

That's. I remember that. Yeah.

[B]

Remember that reveal when the PlayStation event, the PS5 event started with the Rockstar logo. We were like, what the fuck.

[A]

I remember predicting that. I remember being like, guys, they will have GTA 5. They're coming to PS5. That was like year one of B being at the company. I already had my finger on the pulse. I followed pilot swap.

[B]

I'm going to read this because I agree with it. If I didn't agree with it, I wouldn't read it.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Born of the Blood says Bloodborne Superfan here. Feel free to trash this as it's kind of long, but I think it's valuable. There's no actual sourcing for the rumor that Miyazaki san disliked the Demon Souls remake beyond the vague industry chatter cited by Nate the Hate too. This idea has been repeated so often it shifted from a possible explanation for the lack of Bloodborne remake to feeling like it's real in reality. The only only record only record of Miyazaki san commenting on the Demon Souls remake is positive. In Edge magazine in 2022, he said, as you say, I was not directly invol involved in it and I haven't actually played the Demons remake. But this is just because I don't enjoy playing the games I've made in the past. It brings up a lot of old emotions, a lot of old memories and this gets a little bit overwhelming. He also described it as really fun and exciting to see Bluepoint introduce ideas from software hadn't considered so and then later he repeatedly emphasized how important bloodborne is to him. Sony's continued to release merchandise for years. It's now developing movie from all indications, if any bloodborne game project's going to happen, Miyazaki san likely won't to be at the helm. That's where I lean to. This does seem like the type of like rumors for rumors sake.

[A]

Yeah, I I will say cuz like I I think I felt more confident talking about it once r the rumors got out there. But like I've also heard the same thing from people that would know of, like, yeah, they don't want to make it because they don't want to, like, mess with this thing. But it could. I mean, it could come down more to, like, if Miyazaki. If they're making a bloodborne thing, Miyazaki would prefer to be at the helm, which I think is just always the truth. And so maybe they don't want to get in the way of that in a way to do anything. But really what it comes down to is that PlayStation has not wanted to remake or remaster Bloodborne for some reason, specifically because they don't. They want to be nice to Miyazaki. Yeah, I can say that for sure.

[B]

Yeah. Wow. Very interesting. Let's get to some super chats. Hope that they're good. Thundering sun says birthday tax. I turned 35 today. I have to attend my adult responsibilities, but I'm glad I have the kind of funny crew in my ear to listen to while I work towards. Towards my degree in forestry at osu. Thanks for all that you guys do. Happy birthday. Happy birthday, son. Thanks for listening. Mike Hurley says. Need to say welcome back, Tim. Can't wait for the dad cast. Congratulations again to the Gettys family. I'm very excited. Me, Kev, Greg, good time. I'll be in Dads today on the KF podcast. She's crazy, man.

[A]

I can imagine.

[B]

Crazy. Last night I saw some you've never seen in your life, man. Oh, literally. Oh, it was bad. Oh, no, it's real bad.

[A]

Oh, no.

[B]

Like, how to get on the front.

[A]

Babies, man.

[B]

Man, they're crazy. Dexter says, Tim, it's time for you to play Bloodborne with the movie announcement. You love Silk Song. Bless. And I think you'll enjoy Bloodborne. It's just a 3D metroidvania. I love you. I just don't know, man.

[A]

I think you. Here's the thing. It's. You just need a gateway drug is all you need. Because knowing everything I know about you in video games, you would actually. With souls.

[B]

Likes, I. I get that. I know why you say that.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I just. Just don't think it's true. Because the thing is, it's like there's something about it. It's like, I don't like. I don't like hard 3D games.

[A]

Interesting.

[B]

Like, I think that's the thing is, like, hollow. And I'm like, that's my. But like, translating that to the 3D action stuff. It's like, I. I like the chill, stylish action. I just want to be Dante, and I'm not playing on Dante Must Die mode. You know what I mean?

[A]

Sure. Okay. Okay.

[B]

Yeah. Because I've tried, you know, but also

[A]

I've tried, like, bloodborne. It took me five years to finally get into bloodborne after trying and trying and being like, I don't know if I like this. And then finally something clicked.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Where I was kind of just like, hold on, I can get to that next checkpoint.

[B]

And then on top of that, like, the Lovecraftian stuff. I don't like it. Not my show.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

At all.

[A]

I mentioned this during the break, but I did look up the name of H.P. lovecraft's cat. That man was really racist. I undersold his racism by a lot.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I was like, oh, man, that's crazy. For the 1800s. No, no, no. That man died in the 1900s. I mean, died last century. My grandpa was alive. When he was alive, he was calling his cat. What? Oh, the 20th century. Sorry, 20. What did I say? 19th. 19th. Sorry. 20th century. I don't like the way those work, by the way. Centuries.

[B]

I know. Figure it out.

[A]

We need to talk to someone about it. We need to sit down and be like, that's not how that would work.

[B]

Works. Yeah.

[A]

It's because the first century is, like year 10 or whatever. Right. So what do we call the first? We can't call it the zero century.

[B]

But you should figure they should have solved that. You know what I mean?

[A]

They didn't know everything should. They didn't know we might still be here by now. There was a negative century, wasn't there? How does that work? Before Christ? This is bc. We don't call those centuries.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

I don't know where I was going. I don't know where I was going with that one.

[B]

Yeah. Because, like, here's another thing that's. Today is Samira's 12 week. It's 12 weeks.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

That's not three months. Isn't that.

[A]

Wait, what do you mean 12 weeks is not three months?

[B]

Because a month is, like, almost four weeks. But it's not always.

[A]

Oh, so you have to call it 12 weeks.

[B]

So you can't just assume close to it. But it's not.

[A]

Didn't Kevin have the pitch for the perfect calendar?

[B]

And I'm with Kevin, man.

[A]

It's too late, though.

[B]

You know what really pisses me off?

[A]

We could do it, guys.

[B]

People that believe that the week starts on Sundays, the week does.

[A]

Okay. Don't get me started. The week starts on Sunday. The week starts on Sunday. Sunday's. The first day of the week.

[B]

It's the weekend. There are two days in the weekend. So you tell me that there's only one day in the weekend and it's Saturday.

[A]

No, we just call it the weekend. But like we just call it. Because the two days are at the ends of the week. They're at the two ends of the week. Yeah. So it's the week start of the.

[B]

That logic makes too much sense. But that's fucking bullshit.

[A]

Always how I thought about it. No, that's always been how I thought about it. I've never thought weekend. It'd be like, it's the end of the week. I've always been like, one's at the end and one's at the other end. 13 equal size months.

[B]

That's fucking hilarious. And people like. Tim, have you ever looked at a calendar? I know calendars are stupid. Why'd they do that?

[A]

Dumb, dumb science. I watched the entire science. I watched a video from this dude named, I believe his name is Yuval and he broke down the fact that like leap years are kind of a lie because like we're doing. We have a leap year every four years to account at the fact that like, you know, the way the earth's spinning around the sun. I don't know the. But like we had to offset is basically the idea of it. It's a quarter. There's a quarter extra day, but it's not a quarter. Well, it's a little bit off. And so every. So every 800 years, I think. No, no, every. What is it, it, 400? No, it's every like 100 years. We skip a leap year. Okay. Yeah, we skip less than that. We skip. I think it's every 400 years. No, we've done it. We've done it recently.

[B]

I just need everybody to understand what I'm about to say to you. Okay?

[A]

Oh, no.

[B]

Ejrpg4595 writes in and says bless is right. It's the weekends. Sunday and Saturday at the ends, beginning and end. Have you ever. Give me the one, Kev.

[A]

Give him the one.

[B]

Have you ever in your life called them the weekends? Have you ever done that? Think about yourself if you did. Okay, Think long and freaking hard about yourself. It's the weekend. Two days.

[A]

I like it better when it's the first and the last day of the week that we get off because like, if you, if I contextualize it as like we get the last two days of the week off, I don't. Something about that doesn't feel as relaxing to me.

[B]

No.

[A]

I want to start my week being like, here's the thing, sleeping in, reset day. I want to start my week off with good vibes. I'm not trying to start my week off with a Monday. This is capitalism winning. Yeah, dude, we need to take. There need to be three. A weekend has to be three days. Let's do it. We all. We don't come in on Mondays. How. Yep. Who are they? We're take back Friday. Who do we take back Friday. Take back Friday. So we have three days. Three free days at the end of the week. Yeah, I want to start my week off with good vibes. No, it's not.

[B]

The week starts with the weekend.

[A]

You got to go to work. I'm just saying I want to call Sunday the the beginning of the week.

[B]

It's been kind of funny Games Daily. 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 and get a daily exclusive show. Enjoy the games Cast next. And after that, the KF podcast the dad cast. But until next time, it's been our

[A]

pleasure to serve you

[B]

weekend ever since I started serving cut water canned cocktails to my guests. Hey. Hi. How are you? Yeah, going through. I've gone from host to hero. Thanks to cut water, I can make real perfectly mixed cocktails in seconds. It's as simple as garnishing a glass, cracking my can of cut water open and pour, pouring it over ice. Cut water real cocktails, perfectly mixed. Copyright 2025 Cut Water Spirits, San Diego, CA Enjoy responsibly.