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Greg Miller
Today in the nerdy news, you need to know about a rumored fourth game from the Xbox Direct. The Division 3 will have quote as big an impact as the Division 1. Let's fucking go, Mike. And Larian backtracks on their AI usage. We'll have all this and more because this, it's kind of Funny Games Daily. What's up everybody? Welcome to Kind of Funny Games daily for Friday, January 9, 2026. I'm one of your hosts, Greg Miller alongside the master of Hype, Snow bike Mike.
Mike
Good morning, Greg.
Greg Miller
Good morning, Mike.
Mike
Big congratulations to you. Congratulations on 11 years of kind of funny games and making it through the first week of work here for the new year.
Greg Miller
Been a big one.
Mike
No, it has been a big one for you and the rest of the team.
Greg Miller
You too.
Mike
Yeah, we're all tired.
Greg Miller
We're all feeling it. Yeah, yeah.
Mike
I, I mean to make it.
Greg Miller
I didn't think much of it until. Yeah, like I think it was in the weekly meeting. Yeah, you were like, it's only Wednesday. And then yesterday reading the comments on the first kind of feudi where the person. I'm so impressed. You guys kept making content after this. I'm like, you're right. Like I'm, I'm like last night I went to bed at like 9:15 and I'm like, why am I all right? Monday was an enormous day. And then we kept going. We kept going because everyone's kind of poop. But we're having fun for you.
Mike
We're having a blast. And today we have the Smileys after this for the games cast. It's going to be a really great day.
Greg Miller
Of course, the Smileys, our awards show that isn't game of the year. This is where Blessing and Andy came up with a bunch of categories. Trying to honor specific things from games, characters and so on. Excited to see what that's all about today. But more importantly, it's Friday. TGIF Snow B. Michael, what are you getting into this weekend?
Mike
What am I getting into this weekend? I am going to take to the skies in ACE Combat 7. Very excited about that. I'm going to take a walk because I need to walk more in my life. And I have some house. You know what? I have some repairs.
Greg Miller
Home improvement. Home improvement. You going to Home Depot?
Mike
Yeah, I'm probably going to have to. Taking a shower last night, there I am just rubbing down my body, having a good time, thinking about anything I like to do. I'm just like a seal. I'm so wet and slippy.
Greg Miller
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Mike
And then out of nowhere, water starts flying out of the top of the faucet. Like, oh, my gosh. And it was the connection piece between the actual hose and my shower head. I'm like, oh, now I got to fix that this morning. I'm getting a grip on it. I'm holding it while showering with one hand, right? Yeah. Whole journey. Yeah, journey. So, yeah, I'm about to get into some home improvement, Put on my car heart overalls, get to work.
Greg Miller
You got to. You got it. You got it.
Mike
What about you, Greg? What are you doing?
Greg Miller
There had been talk of a trip to Target. Oh, Ben needs a hot Wheel. Cause one car he got from the stocking was a bust. We busted out Jen. You know, Jen's family tradition is opening your stockings New Year's Day. So we opened these up. I know, right? Very.
Sponsor/Ad Reader
It's a long time.
Mike
Okay.
Greg Miller
But it's a nice end to the season. Put everything away. And like, one of the things she got from, like the dollar store was like, hey, build a little car. And it like, kind of looked like Legos, but it turned out to be very tiny screws and very tiny. And of course, pieces were missing. So it was just. I was like, you know what, Ben? This is broken. How about we just get a car this week? And he said, okay. And then Sunday. Oh, we're going to the Alameda Flea Market with one aunt, Lucy James.
Mike
Oh, nice.
Greg Miller
What's up over there?
Mike
What do you usually look for at the flea market?
Greg Miller
The exit. I can't wait to leave. But I try to entertain them. No, Ben will be on the lookout for more cars and Hot Wheels, of course. I'm always looking. I want to look for video games and comic books, but I am strictly a looker. Go to the two. I flip through.
Mike
I mean, looky look.
Greg Miller
I'm not trying. I don't want to collect comics again. I love reading comics. I don't want to collect them. Games old game is old. I like seeing what you have, but it's like.
Mike
Like what touched it. The memory and then putting it down.
Greg Miller
I mean, look at my fucking. Go in my house, go to my nice couch, and then you lift up the ottoman section or whatever. Just packed with, like, cartridges. I've like, no mercy. Mint condition. Why do I fucking have this what am I doing? I love. I bought it at Pax. I needed it at pax. Then I had it and I was like, cool. Now it goes here and it sits there and I never do anything with it.
Mike
Yeah, you have such a beautiful home. You have a family now. It's like, you can't just start putting that stuff up on the wall.
Greg Miller
I've been relegated to one corner, you.
Mike
Know what I mean? You get a lot of talk from.
Greg Miller
Jen about, oh, man, you know, downstairs will be your office. And then I got this office. She's like, well, now it's my office. My stuff keeps getting shrunk. Shrunk, shrunk. You know what I mean?
Mike
That's. What can I do? Got to make a sacrifice big.
Greg Miller
You have to for a family. Just like Xbox is making some sacrifices. Not really. And we're going to talk about that and so much more because this is kind of funny Games daily, each and every weekday. You know it we you through the nerdy video game news. You need to know about live. If you're watching live. Super chat with us. YouTube.com kindafunnygames just like sky just did. Getting hyped for sf sketch fest and currently planning my trip. What's the best way to traverse San Francisco? Car E bike, bus. Thanks for an awesome week of content. See you all soon. Of course, yes, you can go to kind of funny.com sketchfest. You can get your tickets for MCU in review live where we are doing Howard the Duck as part of the biggest comedy festival in San Francisco at the end of the month. But getting around.
Mike
What do you like, Greg? Because you're the man for this one. You've gotten around before.
Greg Miller
I have gotten around. I mean, it depends on where you're staying, Scott. Oh, activate my glasses. It's playing the country music. Depends on where you're staying. I mean, like, obviously there, the bus system, the muni system, the BART system, that's all great. That's just, you know, by a day pass a week past. You're all set there.
Mike
Oh, okay.
Greg Miller
If you're trying to get around faster, of course, you know, Ubers are aplenty.
Mike
Waymos.
Greg Miller
Waymos are a big deal. I took my first Waymo over Christmas break.
Mike
Pretty fun, right?
Greg Miller
It was pretty fun.
Mike
Pretty fun. I like the Waymo. I think it's pretty fun.
Greg Miller
There you go. Do that. One of those. Of course, you could be chatting like that. Super chats. Like I said, we couldn't do this show without our Patreon producers. So thank you from patreon.com kindafunny Carl Jacobs, Omega Buster and Delaney the Psalm Twining for now. Let's begin the show with what is and forever will be the ROPA report. Time for some news. Eight items on the Roper Report Baker's dozens We have a rock block of Xbox stories to kick off your day. The first, the Xbox developer Direct will feature a secret fourth game. It's almost like someone fucking called this yesterday on kind of Funny Games Daily. Almost like someone knows Xbox like the back of his hand. Oh wow.
Mike
Or like maybe you just backtrack to see that every year they've had four to five games.
Greg Miller
I knew it before then. I knew it before then. I said that and then Band I said that and then Bander SN came in with the facts on a super chat said developed developer directs always have four games and a secret fifth game. Hi Fi Rush, Visions of Mana, Ninja Gaiden 2. Don't try to take this away from me.
Mike
Greg knew the pattern before there was a pattern chat.
Greg Miller
I fucking knew it off top of the dome.
Mike
Yeah.
Greg Miller
Jordan Midler had to sit there. Fucking enormous. Just the tallest human being in the fucking. Just a giant melon head. He just sit there right now at vgc, this is Jordan Midler, our friend. We love him. Uncle Jordan.
Mike
Shout out to Jordan Midler. He rocks.
Greg Miller
The upcoming Xbox developer Direct will feature a currently unannounced fourth game. The digital event will stream on Thursday, January 22nd at 10:00am Pacific and include new looks at Forza Horizon 6, Fable and the new game from Pokemon developers Game freak Beast of Reincarnation. Now it's claimed that the show won't only feature those games. According I screwed it up. But that's what it was. According to the Shinobi602 who has a history of reporting confidential information about upcoming games, the show will feature a secret fourth game. VGC can corroborate this and understands that the fourth game is a smaller scale original game from one of Xbox Game Studio's first party developers. The fourth title will round off and even an event mainly focused on Xbox's big first party games for the planned 2026. Here's what I'll say. Take back some of the comments. You had more information there than I did, Midler. All right. I knew there'd be another game. You're coming out with the fact. I mean you're reading a Shinobi BS that's a blue sky Tim saying of course it'll be a secret game from an Xbox first party developer. Smaller Scale. I didn't know. I didn't have that.
Mike
Oh, okay. Okay.
Greg Miller
Mike, you of course hosted the kind of funny X cast before Tim killed it, which I'm sure means in about two kind of funny days it'll come back as a stream streaming segment. But I digress.
Mike
He's the best. Yeah.
Greg Miller
Yeah. What do you read from this?
Mike
Yeah, Greg. I mean, it's exciting. More Xbox games, more game announcements at these fun showcases are always great.
Greg Miller
Yeah.
Mike
It's already pretty stacked lineup. I mean, you got me at Forza Horizon going to Japan and Fable. Yeah, count me in. Okay. And then also game freak with this.
Greg Miller
Yeah, yeah, or whatever.
Mike
I'm all about that. This looks.
Greg Miller
I'm excited for this to direct. Forza gonna be a banger and I need a release date. Let's go, Fable. Prove it to me. I want Fable to be awesome. Prove it to me.
Mike
I keep telling Roger outside because he doesn't believe it. I'm like, Fable can be really, really great.
Greg Miller
Yeah.
Mike
And I have a good feeling like this team at playground games, they're going to make something special. And I know it's hard to believe sometimes with the way that the games industry is right now, but like I truly believe that Fable could be awesome.
Greg Miller
Great. So then when you beast reincarnation, we'll see fourth game. What are you predicting?
Mike
Yeah. So now we start to play the fun game, right, Greg? Because if you go back to the blue sky, okay, it's a secret fourth game that is on a smaller scale from one of the Xbox game studios. Right. And so now I got to go deep into my X cast knowledge to start pulling in there on some of those. Right? And so I'm gonna play around with you. I have a bunch of games written down.
Greg Miller
Yeah.
Mike
Like right. When I think of smaller scale Xbox, original games, you know who I turn to? Double Obsidian.
Greg Miller
Oh, yeah.
Mike
I go to Obsidian because they're always making a bunch.
Greg Miller
Come on.
Mike
Double finds on my list. Double finds on my.
Greg Miller
No, no, of course, double fine. We love you. And it's not that. But it's more the fact of number two is Xbox. And Obsidian's about is coming to PS5 with new modes and new content. We already know Obsidian. Calm the fuck down. We get it, all right? We get it that you want to be the MVP year after year after year for Xbox. All right? You want to be that insomniac that PlayStation has up their sleeve. But last year we put out three games.
Mike
Yeah.
Greg Miller
Vowed grounded two. And then of course, Outer Worlds 2. Now you're coming. We're putting out more about content, a smaller game and I'm sure some other fucking thing.
Mike
I don't know the brakes. Obsidian.
Greg Miller
What are you trying to prove over there? Obsidian.
Mike
But what if they've come out with the pentiment too?
Greg Miller
People love pentiment.
Mike
They like.
Greg Miller
When did pentiment come out? I feel like. Is that too soon? Pentiment came out on 20. 22. 22. Geez. Yeah, yeah, there you go. Four years. That's not too soon. We'll see.
Mike
We'll see. But pentamin would be on my list of smaller scale from Obsidian would be fun. I mean they're known. They could be anything at this point, right. They could come out with anything. You do bring up Double fine. Right. They just did release Keeper.
Greg Miller
Yeah, right.
Mike
But Tim Schaefer and the crew known to be working on a couple of different projects. Maybe smaller size. Right.
Greg Miller
Will we get it out of him when we go to dinner?
Mike
I'll ask him. I'll ask him right there. I'll ask him the hard hitting questions. So yeah, like could Double Fine be working on something, right? You go through a couple of their groups, right? I mean, what if it is a Fallout remaster, right? We've heard the rumors before. You like that's not smash. Not small, is it though? You know, it's a remaster.
Greg Miller
Obsidian. Obsidian. God damn it. Oblivion. Sold so well. Did so well. You. I still think like I want to believe you know how bad I want to play a Fallout remaster.
Mike
I know you do.
Greg Miller
You know it. I'm struggling through new Vegas old game. I would love it to look better. I would love it to have some improvements. But like, I just don't think you do it here. I think you if you're going to do that, you do it at the end. I love the theory that I've now drank the Kool Aid on if it's going to happen. I hope Fallout the show. Are you caught up? No, no spoilers.
Mike
God, what a show.
Greg Miller
What a show. I hope Fallout season two ends with them having to go to the capital wastelands and then you drop Fallout 3 Remastered.
Mike
Oh, that would be great. Yeah, that would be Chef's Kid. Yeah, that'd be great. So yeah, a remaster of some sort. I mean, what about a Halo multiplayer? Halo Campaign Evolved is coming out sometime this year, right. Probably towards the 25th anniversary of Halo and Xbox there. But like, yeah, we've talked about it. Just the campaign. 10 missions plus an additional three. That's weak 13 really is that enough. Halo is two things. Halo's multiplayer as well. It's a great single player sci fi adventure. Right. We love Chief. We love Cortana. We really love that original story. But you know what else we love? We love that OG first pistol. We love multiplayer. Could this be a small project?
Greg Miller
No.
Mike
That they could announce.
Greg Miller
That's too big.
Mike
It's.
Greg Miller
That's. That's something that can stand on its own. Okay, but my main question for you, a fourth game, smaller scale, original from Xbox first party. Is this going to be a Shadow drop? Is this going to be a hi Fi Rush style Shadow drop? Obsidian has been working on pentiment 2 and it's out today. The Double Fine did this. Here it is. Is out today.
Mike
So they did hi fi rush in 2023. Y they didn't have any shadow drops in 2024. And then in 2025 they had Ninja Gaiden 2 remaster come out.
Greg Miller
Yeah, that was the Shadow Drop.
Mike
Yes, the Shadow Drop. So like they are currently on a track record of 2 out of 3 right now doing that. So you're very. You very well could be right on this. Right. Some other games that I have pulled from. What if it's another smaller Minecraft game? We had Dungeons and legends in 2020 and 2023. We could have another smaller Minecraft project.
Greg Miller
Here's my counter to it on this thing. And where I my head goes is that not only are we talking a smaller scale game, I think you're talking smaller scale ip. Oh, Minecraft, okay. Fallout, Halo. These are things that could exist on any Monday, Wednesday, Tuesday, you put out a trailer, you give it its own headline. I think the small games like a hi Fi Rush and all the. Even a Pentiment, even though that's not exactly. We're talking about benefit so much from. Oh, I am tuning in for a game from the Pokemon people for Forza and I'm turning in for Fable and they are all coming out a few months from now. But today I could go get on Xbox game pass this game.
Mike
Let me give you two then. Let me give you two. Ninja Theory has been working on another project, just not being Hellblade. We had Project Mara out in the out in the wild a long time ago that the conversation was what if they give you a small PT like.
Greg Miller
Okay, yeah, that's smaller.
Mike
Yeah. Experience. You know, they've been working on stuff. They've been working on all their cool tech. It would be awesome to see what is. What else besides Hellblade is out there for them.
Greg Miller
I like that. I like that.
Mike
And then I know this is going to be a new story coming up. A reintroduction of Tower Born. Would you dare do that now? I think the people would roll their eyes. But like we are about to get to a story where Tower Born has taken in fan feedback. They have reset their game kind of re launching it. Is that something you do?
Greg Miller
I love you as a co host. Let's just go to story number part three of the Xbox Story number three. We're coming back to the avowed thing number Even though the headline was pretty much it, Number three on the rope report is Xbox's Tower Born is switching from a free to play game to a paid this is Jay Peters at the Verge. Tower Born, in a side scrolling action RPG published by Xbox Game Studios that has been available in early access, will officially launch on February 26th. But instead of launching as a free to play always online game as originally planned, Tower Born is instead going to be a paid game that you can play offline. Quote you will own the complete experience permanently with offline play with offline play and online co op Tricia Stouffer, CEO and President of Tower Born developer Stoic, says in an Xbox Wire blog post. This change required deep structural rebuilding over the past year, transforming systems originally designed around constant connectivity. The result is a stronger, more accessible and more player friendly version of Towerborn, one we're incredibly proud to bring to launch. Oh, I'm sorry. Actually, another quote. After listening to our community during early access and game preview, we learned players wanted a complete, polished experience without ongoing monetization mechanics. According to an faq, moving to a premium model lets us deliver the full game up front. No more live service grind, no pay to win systems. Just the best version of towerborn. With the 1.0 release of the game, Towerborn will have a complete story, new bosses, and a reworked difficulty system. You'll also be able to acquire all in game cosmetics for free through gameplay with no more cosmetic purchasing. Players who are already part of early access will still be able to play the game. Tower Born will launch on February 26th on Xbox.
Mike
All of them.
Greg Miller
Just say it. Game Pass PC, Steam PS5. The standard edition will cost 24.99 and the deluxe edition will cost 29.99. No, you can't. This can't be the fourth game. He just told me everything.
Mike
Mike, we'll circle back to that. I do agree, Greg. Right. We'll. We'll talk about that. I. I don't think it's the fourth game. But there is a reintroduction now for Tower that kind of is happening right now. That needs to happen on a larger scale. Right. I think if you asked a lot of gamers out there, hey, you ever played Tower Born or do you even know Tower Born is out? No, no, Mike, I've never heard of this game. Right. So like, I really have to give a lot of kudos to this team right here, right. For taking in all the fan feedback throughout this early access and saying, hey, the idea, the vision that we had, we're going to change that up. We want to really identify what the gamers want, what the players want, and going out there and get that right offline mode, switching from a live service type grind to a, hey, here's our full fledged product. We want you to go out there and play that. I got to give them big kudos for that because that is a big step that we've seen other games not able to handle that transition or fumble that and really not be able to put their product back out there and make it a fun experience for others. So kudos to them. Good.
Greg Miller
Yeah, I would be interested to see if that makes any waves, if that can get more people on with it, you know what I mean? There's one little boy I've never heard of in the chat named Paris who says, I've heard of Tower Born. I had a blast playing Tower Born and I assume he's 11 years old. Yeah, you don't hear a lot of people talk about Tower Born and it was one that people didn't talk about Tower Born, but we heard about Tower Non. Heard about a lot of it non stop. So the fact that it's coming out and they've made these dramatic changes, that is great. That is cool that they're taking all of these different feedback loops in there and putting it in. But I don't think this is part of the direct.
Mike
No. And so we'll circle back to the direct right after this. But like, yeah, you come off of a big year with Absolum, right? A four player co op experience similar to this. Right. But like, yeah, you want to have this game kind of hit on a larger scale than it did back to the fourth one. Right, Greg, the introduction, the reintroduction. Probably not it I did see in the chat, right. Someone wrote, well, they have forts and they have Fable. Right. Shouldn't it be really big to go along with that? And it's like, I think Forza and Fable are your two big.
Greg Miller
Do not insult Forza just so you know, Fable I think is big for old heads like me.
Mike
Yeah.
Greg Miller
I want to see. I want them to nail it. I want to love this game. I want to be lost, lost in this game. I don't know if they can do it. I want to. So I think that that has name recognition. Forza alone though, a game of the year follow up. Come on.
Mike
Forza and Fable are your two juggernauts of this.
Greg Miller
Yeah.
Mike
Xbox developer.
Greg Miller
Which leaves you in the chamber for whatever direct or whatever they're going to do for Halo and the 25th, what they're going to do for Gears. E day what they're going to do for the 25th period for Xbox.
Mike
And you kind of play the game. Right. Because we know that we will have the summer game showcase. Right. Where you're going to have the big blowout of this. You're not going to follow up with a Halo and a Gears and that's because you're probably going to show those later on. Right. What about A Clockwork Revolution? You've already seen it. You saw it this summer. Where is it? Is it coming out this year?
Greg Miller
No.
Mike
Could that be a game that comes out?
Greg Miller
Don't let me dream. I don't want to dream.
Mike
You excited?
Greg Miller
Don't want to dream. That that's the game and that's not. It's too big. They made a big deal about that. And I think when I think that's a 2027 game and I don't think I think it will be promoted as a big game for them.
Mike
And Blade would be too big as well.
Greg Miller
Yeah, exactly. Over here in the super chat, Bubby Jubby super chats and says if it's small then sadly no Blade, as I predicted yesterday because he super chatted this in. But this could be one of the side Ninja Theory projects or that Toys for BOB game. I don't know what the Toys for BOB game rumor is. Do you know off top of your.
Mike
Head, it's not Spyro?
Greg Miller
I don't know.
Mike
Yeah, I mean I don't know what Toys for BOB is working on, but it would be exciting to see something from that team. They are very. Yeah, it's fun to go through the list, Greg.
Greg Miller
Spyro would be good. Spyro 4 would be a good one for me.
Mike
It's like, hey, Ring Ring Blizzard, let's bring back. Let's bring back some old school games.
Greg Miller
What if we just bring that little game called World of Warcraft to the fucking Xbox?
Mike
What a small project that would be. Small project that would be I mean it's like Heroes of the Storm, an awesome moba. Let's get some lifeblood back into that. Or hey, what if I hook you up with the Age of Empires team who's doing so great with age and Age of Mythology? Let's bring back a Starcraft or Warcraft rts. Right? Like let's have some fun. Or hey, Halo. I know we want to have more people playing the sandbox. Let's get another Spartan Assault game. Right. The little top down there.
Greg Miller
From that I've seen chat go through it a few times and then if I can grab. Yeah, Mowgli says Jez Cordon heavily hinted at Kiln. I tossed in a kiln page from Double Fine. Kiln is a multiplayer.
Mike
Kiln is a team based brawler.
Greg Miller
Yeah, I'll say it. Thank you very much. Kiln is a multi multiplayer team based brawler by Derek Brand with a focus on creating unique player sculpted characters, creating physics crazy physics based animation and destruction. And kiln, you play as a mountain spirit, supernatural beings forever at war. At the summit, you'll use an ancient pottery wheel to create warrior golems called vessels, inhabiting them and enabling you to interact with the physical realm to do battle created during the match. Extremely diverse character shapes and sizes are possible for exhibiting unique attributes and controls that leverage the possibilities in procedural animation. And then according to this, it says published April 4, 2017. Not the game, but this little synopsis. So that would have been gestating for quite a while.
Mike
That's been cooking for a while.
Greg Miller
Okay, that'd be interesting.
Mike
Like it?
Greg Miller
As I read that, I go, that is a double fine game. And I go, that's when I wouldn't play. I would be upset. Not upset. I would be like, oh, that's what we put out. Okay. You know, I'd be let down by that one.
Mike
Mikey Super Angry Walrus comes out and you know this is from my main man, Big Phil, Xbox. Big Phil's my dude. You never know how much longer he has in the tank. But you know what game he loves. Hexen. What if they did do a hex and re release shout out to the walrus right there. That would be fun.
Greg Miller
Let's just, let's get to the. I get the number two. Of course. Before we get out of here. No, no, before we get out of here. It's not here. It's not here. It's not here. At summer. Do I see stated a K3Am I going to in the summer presentation?
Mike
I kept that in back pocket. I Do think? Yes, Greg, I think you see state of the K3 teas for 2027 or maybe 2028, but I think it will be that's the next phase of games, right? The Big Four we know about for this year or like maybe until a little bit next year with a delay possibly. But like you know about the big four. Then we get into Clockwork and it's like, okay, what else is complimenting that game? Those will be the follow ups, right? State of Decay will be a big four.
Greg Miller
Okay, great. 12 year old boy Paris says State of Decay 3 clockwork in June for 2027. Of course we love Make a wish. Children, we are flying the 12 year old Paris up here to be part of the coverage on January 22nd. And actually no, he's flying himself up, he's paying his own money but he's coming up here and Gary's going to come too. We have an X cast reunion on the 22nd.
Mike
I can't wait to see.
Greg Miller
Of course, I'll tell you some real facts. Okay. Anyways, number two on the Roper report, still in the Xbox block. Xbox and Obsidian's Avowed is coming to PS5 with new modes and content. This is andy Robinson at VGC News. Xbox. And Obsidian's action RPG Avowed is coming to PlayStation 5 next month, announced in the New Game plus showcase on Thursday. The PS5 version will release alongside Avowed Avows Avowed's anniversary update on January 17, along with a new game plus mode, new races, new weapon types and a photo mode and more. Avowed PS5. Avowed's PS5 release arrives one year after it debuted on Xbox consoles and PC and continues Microsoft's modern strategy of releasing its games across multiple platforms. Speaking during the new Game plus interview, Obsidian called the anniversary update, quote unquote, a more rounded experience compared to the original game. That's all they had. That's all they said there.
Mike
Okay. Very good stuff.
Greg Miller
I mean, are you coming back?
Mike
Will I jump in? I only played a little bit of avowed.
Greg Miller
Mr. Xbox.
Mike
The question is, is, you know, you and Andy were my Avowed boys. Are the PlayStation fans going to jump into this? Should they?
Greg Miller
Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah, definitely. I, I like Avowed so much that I'm, I'm coming for new Game Plus. Oh, I'll roll a new race. I want to see more rounded experiences again. As I look back at a vowed I thought I didn't like the overarching, what I was doing, whatever, blah, blah, blah. I think with lowered expectations coming Back in that combat was so much fun. Okay, so new weapons. I was sort and bored the whole time and I regret it. I saw so many people after the fact. They're using two magic guns. A magic one, this thing. I'm like, damn, I should have done something cool. So I'm gonna see what these weapons are.
Mike
Okay.
Greg Miller
And then make a character based around that, I think. And then also go into whatever the rounded experience is.
Mike
Yeah, you gotta appreciate, you know, the PlayStation fans getting kind of the game of the year edition. Right, right.
Greg Miller
Yeah.
Mike
Now you wait the year.
Greg Miller
I thought, of course, as we all know, sometimes, lots of times rightly so. Xbox, can't you get a win?
Mike
Yeah.
Greg Miller
Whatever they do, they're just fucking destroyed about. And don't get me wrong, the whole Microsoft and the Israel and the bd, the BDS boycott and everything else like totally makes sense. I'm. Yes, that fucking sucks. Stop supporting a genocide. But again, that's Microsoft and it's being taken on Xbox. Yeah. But as we jump around to all the actual Xbox decisions that are good, bad and otherwise, it's like I saw immediately somebody's comment being like, man, it sucks that I played this last year on Xbox. I should have waited. And I'm like, what are you talking about? This has been game of the year editions for the history of video games. No, you. I had a great time with Avowed last year. I think I gave it a good time, if I remember correctly, my score. But I had a great time with it. I am excited for a new game plus to see if it's different. To see if it'll grab me in a different way with the new class. I'm ha. I'm not. I should have just waited. And I know I'm not the consumer on the other side, but like announcements. You could have got it on Game Pass. You could have been playing it for whatever Game Pass was back then. Shut up everybody.
Mike
I do like that, Greg. I get that. But of course, PlayStation fans, if they were only consoles, right? Only on the PlayStation console now is there time to get to be able.
Greg Miller
Of course. And that's fine, right?
Mike
Like that's your excitement factor there. You get all the patches, you get all the little updates. So like it's a positive there for them.
Greg Miller
For me, it'll be exciting to see how much has changed. Like, did this fix some of my complaints? I didn't connect with my companions, maybe knowing that now I make different decisions with them. Will a new race, a new class, a new whatever the rounded experience.
Mike
What do you think the new race is because you only had humans and elves? I did a little look back of like, well, what were the races? Right. It was only humans and elves.
Greg Miller
Yeah.
Mike
What do you want to be added?
Greg Miller
I don't know.
Mike
Is it the blue fish guy?
Greg Miller
Minotaur man? No, I don't want to be that guy. You know, he's the first NPC you meet to be weird. Hey, I'm a fish guy. You're a fish guy. Cool. We're fish guys. Dab me up, Garrison. Okay.
Mike
Okay. And then I mean of course the positive here is I brought up a little sorkana from Matt Piscatella. Blue sky Matty P. Q2 of 2025. The top 10 best selling games on PlayStation platforms physical and full game digital downloads were as follows. Of course Microsoft having I believe six of the 10 in that from Forza Horizon, Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered, you have Doom, the Dark Ages, Indiana Jones, Minecraft of course just showing you that like hey, these games strategy works well on PlayStation. The strategy seems to be working and it'll be exciting to see like another game, especially one from Obsidian come out and hopefully get some good shine and some love over there.
Greg Miller
Yeah, hopefully as well. Yeah. I think, I think you know, Outer worlds too. I liked more because I like that setting more and I like my NPCs more. But another game that I think just didn't get the hubbub it deserved right necessarily. Maybe deserved isn't right. Didn't in a. In a year that was 2025 fucking game of the year's fallen on you every week. This really great RPG didn't make a lot of noise and I think that avowed getting another shot again. Great release window for it this beginning of the year where everything's slowly spinning up before you get lost in it. I'm excited to see what it is. I really do like Obsidian. A couple super chats before we get out of here and move into a much bigger news about oh the Division 3. Kate says could this be a quick look at Fable with the announcement that it's that it's a deep dive game after the summer game showcase. Let me try this again. Could this be a quick look at Fable with the announcement that it's the deep dive dive game after the summer.
Mike
Showcase now chat can help me but I would, I would. I'm looking back on my notes right now and from 2025 to 2023 none of the games listed were the deep dive after the summer game showcase.
Greg Miller
You cannot duty.
Mike
But something Else. Yeah, you can't do this. No, no.
Greg Miller
Developer Direct, I feel like. And you. You have a list in front of you. So keep me honest as you look at it. I feel like Developer Direct is for that. If we're using wrestling commentary here, the mid Carters, you could. You. You're. You. You're a great intercontinental champion. You're not the world champion yet. So we are using this to bring you all together it. Even Forza, which is a game of the year from ign, but it's a racing game. It's. It's immediately. People can turn off on that and not understand how cool it is. You bring them together so that their combined hype brings in a racing fan who then sees Fable and goes, that's cool. Or brings in a Fable fan who looks at force. That's cool. You're using it to hype each other up and you can't for Fable. That's been. I. I better get a release date for Fable in this direct and it better be before Summer Game Fest. Thank you. Whoa. I need Fable in the first five months of this year. And I don't think that's crazy because I think you do that, right? You do Fable in the first five months of this year. And honestly, first three, first four, maybe I'm playing in April because you need to get out of the way of sgf. You need to get out of the way of Halo, you need to get out of the way Gears, and of course, ding, ding, ding. You need to get out of the way of Grand Theft Auto. Yeah.
Mike
In the dream world in my mind, right. Is like this. Developer Direct is the first six months as the Xbox game summer showcases the next six months and the six months after. They kind of show you the big year. But like, that should be how the cycle should go. If Fables all of a sudden, like, I'll see you in November.
Greg Miller
No.
Mike
Well, it means I got to see them again in the summer.
Greg Miller
People already don't believe in Fable and it's because of course, there's a name and it's Playground and it's all. You know, it's like people don't even know what it is now. It's just nebulous video game talk for forever. We need to see this and people need to go, yes, I want to buy that. And I can buy it now. Fuck yeah.
Mike
Big moment. Because you saying, yeah, the first months, right. In my mind, I thought it was the second six months. I would be disappointed if it's like 2027.
Greg Miller
Oh, flip. 2020 but it can't be.
Mike
Oh, my God, it can't.
Greg Miller
Because they said yesterday in the description these are games coming in 2026.
Mike
I'm here.
Greg Miller
And we know Halo's coming in 2026, and we know Gears is coming in 2026. So let's start count. If we're getting four games there, you add two more. That's six months of games right there. They're not all imminent. Right on top of each other. Like, you got to start getting these out, especially to avoid GTA.
Mike
It's the 25th anniversary. You got to nail it.
Greg Miller
You got to nail.
Mike
Gotta go big.
Greg Miller
And then stakes says, how much long? How much longer do we have to wait for anything? Banjo Kazooie. Keep waiting. Nobody wants that guy.
Mike
Okay, Banjo.
Greg Miller
Yeah, he's dead. Bury him.
Mike
You can go play it in dreams right now.
Greg Miller
There you go. Exactly. You got a really good one over there now, talking about dreams. Let's get ready to talk about the Division 3 after I remind you we wouldn't be living our dream at Kind of Funny if it wasn't for your support on patreon.com kind of funny YouTube.com kind of funny games, Apple and Spotify where you can pick up a kind funny membership. Get all of our shows ad free. Get your daily dose of me, Greg Miller in a series we call Greg way. That's 15 to 20 minutes podcasting each and every day. And of course get good karma for supporting an 11 person small business in its 11th year. However, right now you're not using your benefits, so here's a word from our sponsors.
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Greg Miller
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Greg Miller
And we're back with number four, a big one on the rope report. The Division 3 will have, quote, as big an impact end quote as Division one says producer this is the big man from VGC News, Jordan Biddler, executive producer of the Division series and Star Wars Outlaws creative director Julian Garrity, has claimed that the Division 3 will have as big an impact as Division 1. Garrity, who returned to the division franchise in 2023 with the announcement of the third game in the series, has described the game as a monster. Speaking as part of the new Game plus showcase, Garrity said that while he can't share much on the project that is currently in development at Ubisoft's Massive Entertainment, he's excited about it. The Division 3 is in production, right? That's not a secret. It's been announced, shaping up to be a monster, he said. Within these walls at Massive, we are working extremely hard on something that I think will have as big an impact as the Division 1 was. Period, end quote. Mike.
Mike
Greg, you're the division mega fan.
Greg Miller
This is the most important news of the week. All right? Nothing more important happened this week.
Mike
News of the week.
Greg Miller
Week, week, week, week, week, week. Obviously this is fucking nonsense. Not news. We're making a game. It's going to be big. It's going to be great. I can't wait for the next developer, the first honest developer. We're making a game. It's going to be all right. It's about the same size. The last thing you know, not that we're working fun, it's not that exciting, but this is going to be a monster. Yeah, I adore the division, you know, 1 and 2. I have put so many hours into those games, it gets me so incredibly excited to talk about having the same impact and what the fuck that would mean.
Mike
What does that mean is right, Greg, what the fuck does that mean? That's kind of the eye roll moment. First off, you get excited at anything division, right? The idea that there's going to be the biggest and the baddest one yet, you're like, hell yeah, man. Like, I'm all on board for that. We're sorely missing that right now, especially on the decline of Destiny. We'll talk about that. But like we're missing that game right now. We want it. But this also is in 2016, when these games were new and fresh and different to console players and everyone out there with the division Destiny first starting up, right? It's like that was a big era, that was a big time. So it's kind of eye rolling when it's like this is going to make waves. You're like, okay, we got a lot of games out there, my man.
Greg Miller
Yeah.
Mike
And they're all making waves.
Greg Miller
So that's where I'm there with you. As somebody who watches you play all manner of multiplayer games. You know, Arc Raiders, a thing that brought me in and got so many hours out of me and so many of my friends because it was so much like the division, right? What could. What does the Division 1 or 3 need to do to have a bigger impact or as big an impact as Division one?
Mike
I mean, you still got to stick to your foundation in your core, right? Which is that really awesome games as a service, co op multiplayer experience with an awesome story, a great setting, a good loot grind that you'll go out and do with raids and dungeons and just that kind of PvE situation. But I do think there's a big area here to Capitalize. And I think that's what they're probably looking at in this new PvP VE situation that we're currently living in.
Greg Miller
They were big fans of that Dark Zone, right? That's what they put that Dark zone, right?
Mike
Like that Helldivers 2 momentum that we had with PvE on a large scale with your friends. That is the core of the division that it's sold. And then on top of that, you add in the Dark soul and you add in this competitive, thrilling. I go in and I. Whatever I get out, I take with me or I lose it and leave it in there. You're seeing such a. A big surge in the extraction shooter market right now. And this taste of. Well, me and my friends had a really good time with Arc Raiders. It wasn't punishing like Escape from Tarkov that everybody tells me I would be willing to try this. And if they really, I think, put a lot of effort into the Dark Zone, that would be another big win to keep it going. We know it's going to have legs, right? It's going to go. But I do think the multiplayer, that kind of, that thrilling competitive side of things, will really click for this.
Greg Miller
And that's the thing where you get into the chat. Then Spartan right there says, I played Division 1 and 2 solo. I can't stand co op. Right? You've got to be able to balance both those.
Mike
Like I said, you got to stick to your foundation, Big dog, right? And it's like you are bringing in so many players, right? As Spartan says, I'm a single player guy. Greg and I, we like to share that co op experience, right?
Greg Miller
And then I was always PvE. I did the Dark soon only for trophies.
Mike
I was gonna say that. There's other people who say, no, Mike, I don't want to go PvP. And I'm over here like, yeah, I want PvP, right? So, like, games like this have to cater to a very large audience, right? And like the piece of the pie definitely changes on what part you're talking about, but you do have to lay a foundation that attracts all of it. And in 2026, I'm sorry to tell you, Spartan, but like, there will be a large focus on a lot of multiplayer competitive probably in this, right? You're still going to have the single player piece of the pie. You'll have the CO op PvE. But like, right now we're seeing a market of like, people want to attract to this, they want to be in this, and they're going to focus on that.
Greg Miller
So outside of these big terminologies here, we're going to be a massive impact. Yada, yada, yada. Where do you want them to go, Mike? Of course we went to New York, we went to Washington dc.
Mike
I have four locations that I want top three and then a side one that I'm like, all right, I want him to come to the West Coast. I want to go to la. I think LA is my number one choice. Then I go back into the middle. I go Chicago, Dallas and then Seattle's my. I'd be fine. But like, I think you go la.
Greg Miller
Okay. Interesting, interesting.
Mike
What do you think?
Greg Miller
I've, I, I, of course, in my life. You probably don't remember it at all. Listeners chat. Got in an infamous fight with somebody about this once, okay. Where I was like, go to London. Have it be this, the English countryside, the lun. You have diverse maps. You can expand that map and go out. And then of course, like, Greg, you're an idiot. Have you played the games? The, the division is a US government organization. Why would they be in London? To which I said, oh, are you an idiot? You've never fucking talked to a fiction writer who can't. These writers can't come up with an idea. They can't have also had a sister agency that was in Her Majesty's Secret Service. I think I like that because completely different, completely different vibe. But another city of like, hey, London is iconic, right? In terms of what you're doing. And it would be a fun mashup of stuff like what is the giant building looks like a dildo. And then of course like Big Ben. And like, you know, here's our history, here's the modern, here's whatever. And again, be able to expand out for expansions and do cool shit. Chicago, obviously a place in my heart. What I like about London and Chicago is that you get weather in there. You know, I think that was the thing where D.C. summer that felt stagnant to me. The winter of Division 1 really was like, winter. This is Division. And So even the DLCs that took us back to New York and did that, I feel like, I think something really cool for it's going to have as big an impact. You're going to do it. You're going to put us in Chicago or London or somewhere that can be a snowy climate. And then also then have the summer event where it no longer is snow, it's the map removed of snow.
Mike
We get to go, I like Chicago with the river down the middle of it. I think that can really make some fun gameplay. The threat of crossing the river, shots across the river could be really.
Greg Miller
And it's the same thing, right, as you start to think about what to do next. Right. You could do a Detroit expansion where we have to go across Lake Michigan and go do stuff in Detroit.
Mike
Let's. Let's focus on outside the states because we always usually kind of focus here at home. But where else could you go? Could you go to a Tokyo? Could you go down to Brazil? Right. Like, we always talk kind of like London, we talk about Paris, but like, could we go to the East? Could we go over there? Would fans be down with that?
Greg Miller
I mean, we'll see what happens with Forza. I think they would be sleeping dogs.
Mike
Yeah, we love sleeping dogs. Like, yeah. Could we go to a Tokyo, could we go down to Brazil Would be interesting as well. Right. Seeing some different settings there, different culture would be fun.
Greg Miller
Yeah.
Mike
But, yeah, I, I see. I always like, I think of it as us here with those states.
Greg Miller
Yeah, yeah, yeah. For your, for your picks. LA, obviously, LA. Louisiana. I just feel is played out even though it's not there really aren't that. But you think about gta. I think about Dead island too. Like, it's like, yeah, how many times can you go. And I guess having the shootout in like the La Brea Tar Pits and having like, you think about that, because that was one of the big things of the division of like, you're in the National Air and Space Museum, you're doing this thing, right? So like, you need iconic buildings. And so again, for me, being a Chicago kid, like, I can. Oh, Chicago theater, Sears Tower or whatever it's called now, blah, blah. But like LA would have it, like being in a movie set would be cool. Being up on the Hollywood sign would be cool.
Mike
Yeah.
Greg Miller
The Griffin Observatory will be.
Mike
You gotta have really fun moments. Like you said of like, these are the set pieces, you know this, right. And like Seattle, that's why I put number four. You got the two kind of big ones with Pike's Mark or Pike's Mark in that. Yeah, the Space Needle. But then other than that, it's like it's not world known. Hey, here's the spot. Yeah, Seattle knows it, but like the world doesn't know it.
Greg Miller
We will wait and see. But exciting.
Mike
Bring it.
Greg Miller
Very exciting. Banderas and super chats and says, do the game in Paris and call it Division 33. That's funny. I like that a lot. Side of fry says the division should always be in the snow. Division one atmosphere Was so good. Put it in Chicago or Detroit next. Again, I think Chicago would be the one you anchor with because there's more visuals there than what people. You're playing a Wrigley Field. You're doing this thing. That'd be fun stuff.
Mike
I love that everyone goes back to Division and thinking of winter and the holidays in the snow because yeah, I was playing Splinter Cell last night and they have like a. A holiday themed mission where it's cold and it's like, man, the Division. Division nailed.
Greg Miller
Yeah, they did. They really did. Close the door. Yel Singh has the final super chat as of now for this one. I love Division 1 and 2, but I don't trust Ubisoft anymore. And that is a big question of what a modern Ubisoft is doing. It's still massive. It's still Julian, like massive. You're over there doing it, but yeah, I guess what was going on there. Sampson says the original division concept was in Vancouver. Thank God they stayed away from there. No one knows shit about that place. Mike, my question is, when do we not even play it? Not when do we see the Division 3? When do we actually see them reveal Division 3? Is it this SGF? Does UB come back and do a UB player, whatever the fuck they called it, summer 2027.
Mike
Give Ubisoft when we see it gives. Give Ubisoft another year to get all their ducks in a row, get their games ready. Right? And that either have them come back or team up with Jeff and showcase more than just one game. I think Splinter Cell is on the table, right? Far Cry is on the table. More Assassin's Creed. Right? Like, let's try to get a bigger punch up from Ubisoft than just a one game announcement. Right? I think. I think they need a. Hey, we're still around and we're making games that you love.
Greg Miller
Okay. Okay, I seen the chat. This would be my pick as well. Jay Dublin says Division 3 will be revealed the next Game Awards. I like that too. Reveal it at the Game Awards, then do some kind of event or just SGF and then put it out in the fall. So that'd be 2027.
Mike
I like that. Yeah, I like that.
Greg Miller
Let's go to number five. Larian backtracks on AI use for the Divinity concept art and writing, but says generative AI can help some areas of development. This again is the big man. Jordan Midler, VGC News Divinity and Baldur's Gate 3 developer Larian has said it won't use generative AI to create concept art or in the process of writing Divinity. But the developer is still interested in using the technology in other areas. Following Larian's reveal of a new Divinity game at the Game Awards, CEO Sven Vicky how do you say it? Vinci I say this every time. Sven Vincke I'm gonna find him at Dots.
Mike
I don't put E on. I don't put the end on it. Spend Vink yeah, that's what I go with.
Greg Miller
I confirmed to Bloomberg that the studio was using Generative AI to explore early game ideas. Now, Larry, now the Larian boss has said as part of a Reddit AMA that Generative AI won't be used as part of concept art creation, so that there can be no doubt over the origin of any assets. Quote. So first off, there is not going to be any Gen AI art in divinity, he said. I know there's been a lot of discussion about us using AI tools as part of the concept art exploration. We already said this doesn't mean the actual concept art is generated by AI, but we understand it created confusion. So to ensure there is no room for doubt, we've decided to refrain from using Gen AI tools during concept art development. That way there can be no discussion about the origin of the art. Sven went on to explain that while Gen AI won't be used for concept art, the studio isn't entirely abandoning the technology. Having said that, we continuously try to improve the speed with which we can try things out. The more iterations we can do, the better in general the gameplay is. We think Gen AI can help this and so we're trying things out across departments. Our hope is that it can aid us to refine ideas faster, leading to more focused development cycle, less waste and ultimately a higher quality game. The important bit to note is that we will not generate creative assets that end up in a game without being 100% sure. The origins of the training data and the consent of those who created the data. If we use Genai model to create in game assets, then it'll be trained on data we own, end quote. Elsewhere in the ama, writing director Adam Smith claimed that Larian doesn't, quote, have any text generation touching our dialogues, journal entries or other writing in divinity, end quote. Smith then said, no, I'm sorry, you know. Smith then said that while the studio had a limited group experimenting with the technology, the results were three out of ten at best. That's a quote. And that the tools are for research purposes. Michael Yikes.
Mike
A lot there, just messier and messier a lot there. You start off with the first half and you go, there we go, there we go. There was a big outcry. They heard you with Jason Schreier and they said, hold up, big dog, we don't want that in the Larian games. You got to roll this back, right? Come back and saying, hey, we heard you, we're not doing that. Right. But then we kind of get into that second half and you're like, but we're still gonna. Almost there. But yeah, that's kind of the way of the world right now. When we come to AI and usage in video games with development and the development tools as a process, right? Where are you using it? What do you find comfortable with? What do you as the consumer find comfortable, right? It's like both sides. It's developers, consumers, where do you fall? Where are they going with it? The writing side of things, right? That's when you start going, yeah, oh, I don't like that. But they said, hey, it's 3 out of 10. Also we're using Geni Gen AI, but it's only going to be trained on our art and you know, assets. And it's like, all right, that gets kind of sticky and scary. But okay, let's see where you go, you know. So this will be one of those of like, let's get to the end and show me what you got. Let's see your work and see how it goes.
Greg Miller
Well, speaking of the end, Kyle, Super Chat and says a lot of people complained about the AI tools used in Arc Raiders but still played the F out of it. I don't see developers moving away from it. They just won't talk about it ever again. I think yeah, it's the never ending cycle we're in right now with AI of obviously. And I know this isn't a popular opinion. There are going to be good uses for it that do save you time. Not in creating things right, but figuring out your development tool, your thing, whatever, blah, blah, blah. Some bullshit in a computer. I can't even make a video game to begin with. But this is helping you, right? And then it is the idea of like when you're talking about the scale at which it is where I don't think you can throw out AI can't be a blanket term of bad because we've used AI for years. Fucking talking about Genesis Football, I'd be like, oh, the AI sucks in it, you know what I mean? I can always run this route and beat him, whatever, blah blah. And that's why it's so hard to have this Conversation because you're really talking about what we're all hung up on hating is Gen AI scraping the Internet and Bungie using it. Any developer using it. And then somebody being like, yo, clearly that's my pattern from this thing I put on the Internet years ago. And you're scraping it, putting there. And then they. It's a mea culpa. We're taking it out, we're fixing that graphic. We're Call of Duty. Everything's fucked, yada, yada. We're like, at least as people are trying to figure out how to use this fucking nuclear bomb, you have somebody like Larry and being like, yo, we're going to train it on our stuff. Which you go, okay. Like, you know what I mean? Like I. Okay, okay. Like, somebody made the concept art that you're putting in there. So I guess you. You're not as mad as it's stealing Andy's drawings or what.
Mike
I don't.
Greg Miller
You know what I mean? But it's like, it's this nightmare we all live in now, trying to figure it out and separate what's good, what's bad. And again, like, to your point, you need to get to the end of this and have it be. Did you steal something for somebody and it got in the game, or is it. You did the whole thing. You did the whole thing and then. Yeah, I mean, Arc Raiders, right? That's a whole mess unto itself. Yes, that I believe. I'm. Are you up to date on all of it? It was that they chat. Keep me honest. They use. They hired voice actors. They had them do some lines, but when they did, they. The voice actors knowingly signed away that they could also use AI to generate more lines for them. Is that correct? Do I have my head wrapped around that one? Because that was another one that evolved a bit. Okay. All up says, yeah, okay. And again, we can all sit here and be like, that sucks. I don't know what the contract was. You know what I mean? So let's just take it as a concept. It sucks that. Oh, man, I'm in a video game. Cool. I want to take this thing, but I'm going to give you 300 lines of dialogue and then you're going to use me in perpetuity forever. I don't love the way that sounds, but at least it's better than. We hired no voice actors. And they were all this. And I'm. And I'm not saying ease up on your opinion or whatever. It's just, it's a complicated time, right? Now, because everyone figures out what the fuck this means.
Mike
Yeah.
Greg Miller
Mr. Hawk says if Larry and these are super chats. Sorry, I was trying to. Because there's a bunch of birthday taxes here too. I'll get to them. Don't worry. If Larry and trains their AI with the artwork of their artists, do those artists have the option to remove it if they leave Larian? Well, no, because you generated that art while you worked for Larian. It's the same thing. Anything Mike does on this computer, I fucking own.
Mike
He owns this, okay?
Greg Miller
I own him that computer. You know what I mean?
Mike
I signed the contract, sold myself.
Greg Miller
We have a team of monkey lawyers trying to figure out how to get his Twitch channel. And I will get it. I'll find out where he slipped up and got it. You know what I mean? J.D. elliott says every AI line is mealy mouthed and I just want them to be honest and clear exactly how it's used. Also, training on just their art isn't possible. I can't speak to what's possible AI because I don't know what the fuck's going on. And yeah, I don't know if they own their own AI bot. They're feeding shit too, or whatever. It's going nom nom, nom nom and shitting shit out. I don't know anything about that. I feel like, again, it's mealy mouthed. It starts strong. It is a reaction to what people said. People flipped out. Larry doesn't want to cycle away their goodwill. And then it gets into this weird, like, we're still using and stuff. But of course, who the fuck knows anymore? All right. Oh, here we go. This is an exciting one. We got good news for a change. Number six, the Witcher 3 expansion. Reports continue now with discussion of a possible Dune style location. This is Tom Phillips at IGN. Evidence of an under wraps third expansion for the Witcher 3 continues to mount, with one report now pointing to a possible Dune style location for the new adventure. Word of a fresh DLC for the beloved 2015 blockbuster RPG began bubbling up in earnest last month, fueled by a set of reports from insiders and apparent teases by developer CD Projekt that it had something secret in the works. Now a report by IG in Poland has said its local sources have been aware of potential plans for several years and that initially at least, its developers had expressed a keen interest in exploring Zerikania, an exotic desert. Zerikania, a desert region in the far east of the Witcher 3's current map. While IGN Poland cautions that this information dates back several years. It also goes on to list a string of reasons why Zerikania makes a lot of sense for the expansion, due to various hints at a Zerikania Manticore school in previous expansion, blood and wine, and references to the region made by other characters. The same school is also part of the Witcher 3 tabletop RPG. Separately, a Eurogamer report has given a more black and white reason why this expansion is likely real and expected to launch in 2026, because there's currently a gap in CD Projekt's employee incentive program target, indicative of the company launching something expected to earn significant money. As Eurogamer notes, CD Projekt doesn't really have anything else expected to fit the bill, with the Witcher 4 not set to launch until 2027 at the earliest in a Cyberpunk 2. After that, work on a new IP is also ongoing, but even further off, there's a possibility still that this could relate to some other smaller Witcher spinoff, but with all the smoke around a Witcher 3 expansion now rising, everything looks to be pointing in the same direction.
Mike
To the sand.
Greg Miller
To the sand.
Mike
I was going to oh they're going to space. But yeah, yeah, no, it's going to be Dune Desert Planet. Cool.
Greg Miller
Yeah.
Mike
I can't believe that we are getting Witcher content from a game that came out in 2020, 15, 11 years later. That's crazy. But the excitement builds, right? Which of the show was great? You know we can talk about the later seasons but like that first season we all loved it, right? Really brought the Witcher back onto the scene after the 2015 release. Then you get some next gen updates. You come in here now we have the known like we've seen Witcher 4. The excitement of that.
Greg Miller
One of the reports yesterday talked about this really kickstarting the hype cycle for the Witcher 4. You imagine this is giving you the end breadcrumb trail, whatever to really set you up for whatever series doing in Witcher 4.
Mike
It's fantastic. I mean this is like all the GTA online updates right? That will keep you excited and on the hook for all this. But like yeah the having a big expansion no matter what, small or big. But like any sort of expansion to bring you back to the Witcher universe is pretty wild.
Greg Miller
I'll be interested to see how it plays. You know what I mean? That was one of the big things for people. I remember jumping back into the Witcher 3 at the Witcher season one hype. It was like oh this game doesn't play like modern games. You'd expect it to anymore. Will they have updated this? I know. Will it be sold? I know. It's an expansion. Will it sell on its own so that hey, new fans can just buy this and jump right in?
Mike
That would be a smart move there. Like hey, here's our own self contained area and storyline. Just buy this and if you really like it.
Greg Miller
Yeah. Get out and do that.
Mike
Yeah, if you want to go crazy, go buy the big game. That's a great one.
Greg Miller
We'll find out soon enough, I'm sure. We move on to story number seven. GameStop starts 2026 by closing hundreds of stores as CEO gambles on a $35 billion payday. This is Patricia Hernandez at Polygon. In the first weekend of 2026, many surprise GameStop customers were notified that their local stores would soon be closing. But if GameStop is doing poorly right now, it's not evident from the headlines currently circulating about the gaming retailer. Instead, Gamestop's company board proudly announced that it would be offering CEO Ryan Cohen up to 35 $35 billion in performance based stock options. With one catch, the meme stock overlords need to raise GameStop's market cap by billions of dollars and ensure its earnings are similar. Similarly explosive. As some employees tell it, some of the closures came as a shock. Even well performing locations weren't safe from the shutdowns. Is the one over by us still open, do you know?
Mike
I think it's still open. I think it's still open. About your fingers.
Greg Miller
By some estimates, up to 296 stores closed this week or will soon shutter their doors, with dozens in the process of being confirmed for the total count. Employees say that they are being told in waves about closures, meaning that there could still be more to come. Some workers claim that they were only given a few days notice about their closures. As workers commiserate over the situations, GameStop corporate is aiming for growth. CEO Ryan Cohen was recently promised a $35 billion payout in stock options, but only if the retailer reaches a market cap of $100 billion and reaches cumulative earnings of at least $10 billion. These are ambitious numbers. Currently, GameStop's market cap is valued at $9.52 billion. The company would need to grow 10 times its current size for Cohen to land the bonus. But Cohen does have some incentive to reach those numbers. The CEO otherwise has no guaranteed pay, no salary, no cash bonuses, and no stock that vests simply over time. In SEC filing, Reeds quote, instead, this compensation, his compensation is entirely at risk, meaning he will only be paid if the company achieves significant market and operational goals. End quote, quote. GameStop doesn't deserve the rotten gum on my shoe, but I'm gonna miss my store. One employee wrote on a recent Reddit post, this location was my childhood GameStop. I actually found a list that I made as a kid where one of my favorite things I wrote was GameStop, end quote.
Mike
Tough. What?
Greg Miller
What?
Mike
So I had to look up our boy Ryan. He founded Chewy in 2011.
Greg Miller
Oh.
Mike
He's a super millionaire billionaire, so he.
Greg Miller
Doesn'T give a shit. I think this is worth the gamble.
Mike
Ryan looks like he's living his childhood dream, saying he runs GameStop.
Greg Miller
Okay.
Mike
Having one hell of a time. But yeah, of course, stores closing sucks. Greg. I will. The hard part about me and GameStop is I'm sure, like, the audience, right? I grew up with GameStop. GameStop is my thing. I love it. I have power. The players ties to it, right. EB Games as well. But, like, it was GameStop in those teenage years. And like, going there, that's where I got my Game Informer magazine, right. Because they had them right there. I was able to upgrade and buy that. Right? I would buy all my games. You'd look at games, you trade in games, right. It's just like, it hurts when we talk about the stores closing, the employees losing their jobs, and this business just going straight down the can. Because, man, it means so much to me. And I, I, it sucks because when I. We live here in San Francisco, right? You look at San Francisco, there are three total GameStop locations in our peninsula. One all the way in Foster City, one in Daly City, and one on the outside of San Francisco. None in the heart of the city.
Greg Miller
They used to be there. Yeah, they went away a long time.
Mike
Ago up in Tahoe. I'm like, similar to what the story had. I had to drive 30 minutes off of a mountain to go down into the valley to go to a game stop, drive 30 minutes back up, and it's like, man, I miss game shops and it's just not the same.
Greg Miller
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a, a weird, complicated thing for this thing we grew up on, of course, me being an electronics Boutique Kid. EB Games, GameStop. And then, yeah, like, you know, over here in the super chats, EJRPG says I swore off GameStop after they were retreating AI Trump and Halo art, saying he ended the console war. Yup. That C Barry says I Used to work at GameStop from 2011 to. He says 7017, but I mean he means 2017. And when I started there, I was probably. There were probably 20 stores in my county. And now after these closures, there will be none. Yeah, that's the same thing. I remember them opening up. They'd open up across the street. Remember over in the mall over there? They did that, did that in Ceremony. Yeah. At one point we had two in the mall. It was insane, crazy bad. And then bad business throughout. So this is. I. I can't believe that in the year of our Lord 2025, we're six. We're still having this thing.
Mike
It's still.
Greg Miller
This has been a story every generation of Games Daily of GameStop is about to die. And then fucking. It's a stock thing. And you could have made a million dollars if you put $1 in. I don't know.
Mike
The crazy one is he's tied to the market cap. Right. To get paid out that insane thing. And like they said, they're currently at like 9 billion. Their height that they've ever been at was in 2021 at 22 billion. Right.
Greg Miller
So even the best of times, I.
Mike
Don'T think you're ever making that, homie. And it seems like he doesn't care.
Greg Miller
Yeah, I mean if you have millions of billions of dollars already, I guess, yeah, it's worth the chance, it's worth the shot. And then if you even fail right then guess what? You're still the CEO who tried. I don't know. Who the fuck knows. Mike? This billionaire getting even richer would be big news. If I wanted to say smaller news, where would I go?
Mike
You'd go to our last story, the WE News channel where we cover all the small news items you need to know about.
Greg Miller
Number eight, Wii news from game developer Warner Brothers Games has seemingly laid off a number of employees at its San Francisco studio.
Mike
That sucks.
Greg Miller
But also I didn't know they had WB had an SF studio. Square Enix announced Nier Automata 9th anniversary casual celebration livestream for February 20th.
Mike
Okay.
Greg Miller
Dusk Fade is coming to PlayStation 5 this year. Fire Emblem Path of Radiance is now available on Nintendo Switch Online expansion pack.
Mike
That's the big news of the day. A lot of people, people are jumping in about just got done with three houses. I should check this out and I probably will. I don't know when but a lot of people were celebrating this cuz, you know, old games are old. But old games are also hard to find and play sometimes. And they were showing, like, ebay listings. This game is going for, like, $200 to go buy this. So, yeah. Nice that it's out on the console that we all can play and get a hold of it. Finally.
Greg Miller
Hey, Alex is coming to Street Fighter 6 this spring.
Mike
Shout out to Alex.
Greg Miller
And then Detroit Become human has sold 15 million copies.
Mike
Wow.
Greg Miller
Okay. That's your takeaway.
Mike
Wow. Crazy.
Greg Miller
Wow. I like that a lot too. That's it for WE News. We jump into our super chats as we hurtle towards the Smileys, the third annual Smileys. Dorian Lawson super Chats. And says Greg, on behalf of the chat over at Hang Time. Do you remember Matt White from ign? If so, do you. How do you feel about his of 10 Glover Review score? Thanks. No, if you're talking about Glover, I believe you are. Well, before my time at ig, Yeah, I was still in high school, so, no, I don't know Matt White. Arturo Tron, Robo bartender says, Howard Michael Howard, let me be your cocktail sensei. Let me teach you to bartend like James Bond.
Mike
Might have to take a class.
Greg Miller
Might have to apparently get into it. We did this one. Geraldo of Rivia says, early birthday tax. Happy birthday. My girlfriend got me a movie journal to fill out this year. I can't wait to use it for in review.
Mike
Nice.
Greg Miller
Just like your game journal.
Mike
Great. Yeah. Yeah. My gaming journal took one right from Greg. Are you still keeping up with yours?
Greg Miller
Oh, yeah, yeah. I started one yesterday. I started that Star Wars Genesis. Oh, and write down about the character I created in the adventure. I'm gonna go on.
Mike
That's sick.
Greg Miller
Joshy Frog says Greg, I'm. I'm sorry to do this. Could you let Madeline Stanley know it's her turn to make her fantasy critic name? No problem. Madeline Stanley, I assume you're watching right now it's your turn to make your fantasy critic name. Thank you.
Mike
Let's get this thing going. Madeline, they're ready.
Greg Miller
Cthu drew birthday tax for the boy Billy. If he's not watching live, I'm sure he'll hear this later.
Mike
That's my boy Billy. What a bad Billy.
Greg Miller
Lonnie says, with the weekly feudy change, could we now do a special crossover episode with Game Scoop 20 questions in Feudi where you appear on each other's shows? No, Damon and I have a blood feud. Okay, the next time we see each other, it's on. And I will take his Kansas head off. No, I'd love to do that. I think the fact that we're all so distant now you know what I mean? SF isn't the hub for IGN anymore, so they're everywhere else in the wind. Unless if you're gonna be winning an amazing prize that I'm giving out, you got to be in the room, you know, Be here in the room where it happens. The room where would happen. Bass Master says this is mainly for Tim and bless. Oh, well, why are you asking on a Mike and Greg show?
Mike
They're not here.
Greg Miller
The new Proto Men album. No, I haven't. I don't know who the Proto Men are.
Mike
Get the hell out of here.
Greg Miller
Who the hell are Proto Man? Justin says I've been catching up on content. Just wanted to say I got chills when Barrett changed team Rogers name. 2026. Barrett is evil. That's true. Yeah. You know how to get you where you were. Ultra Hyper JDUB says birthday tax for tomorrow. Happy birthday tomorrow.
Mike
Happy birthday.
Greg Miller
Hope everyone has a great weekend. We hope you have a great weekend too. Here's the Proto man, everybody. They make music. It probably sounds like bleeps and bloops. Do you have any guitars in this? No, we just have this nes a mega ran. You know what I mean? Get out of here. Christopher Burnett says Halo's official 25th anniversary is November 15th. If Halo remake is on track, it probably releases in early October to avoid being anywhere near gta. Very true.
Mike
Or GTA might get pushed.
Greg Miller
Yeah, but you can't. You can't risk it. Nick the Mage says cheers to 11 years of kind of funny. I missed the live show due to work. Been listening since my sophomore year of high school. And now I closed down a house this Christmas and I'm getting married in October. And yes, my kind of casual T shirt will be under my tux. Wow.
Mike
Wow. Congratulations. Big claps for that. That's awesome.
Greg Miller
Send photos of the shirt under your tux. The Portland Kevin says send division to Portland. The city can't function in the snow in real life.
Mike
That's why I thought Seattle you go down to.
Greg Miller
I think he was just making a joke. Yeah, I like that Statler Waldorf up in the Muppets balcony. Portland had to get in there. S Towner vacation says early birthday tax for my boy Gerald of Rivia. It's been a big year with a lot of change, but I'm so happy for you and Jenna.
Mike
Nice.
Greg Miller
Happy birthday again. Who?
Mike
I think the birthday's going on here. Kick off the year.
Greg Miller
Jacob Thompson says hi. Kind of funny Fam writing from Minneapolis. Check out Indivisible for an ice out for good protest near you this weekend. Stand up. Yes, you can go to. I googled indivisible. But I imagine indivisible.org where you can find out ice out for good weekend of action, January 10th and 11th. We're taking to the streets to mourn the lives taken and shattered by ICE and to demand justice and accountability. You can go there and find by zip code where to go. You should fuck Ice.
Mike
You see Blessing in the chat.
Greg Miller
No, I don't. No, no, he's not on the show. I don't want to hear what the fucking protomen. No love.
Mike
No love for bless.
Greg Miller
He should come in the room.
Mike
That's what he should hear.
Greg Miller
Why Roka says big love for my guy, Snowbike, Mike Rock, Chalk, Greggy. Fuck, he got me in the end. You know what I mean? Ariel Knight says my game Drop Shot. Drop shot went gold today. Kevin, I know it's late. I know we're out. Can you google Drop shot all one word video game trailer and try to get me a trailer for that? Because we love Ariel night here, you know. And then send Nuggies gets the final one. Greg, can I. Can I get you to check your email real quick? You were probably drunk, but the update for the little directory I wanted to start, intake form is live. I saw that. And you wrote so many words. So many words. You know what I mean? Like, it's just I'm busy and you wrote so many words and you just got dropped. So Nuggies besties. Directory of cool things by cool people not officially associated with. Kind of funny. I just want the homies to do awesome things. Hey, I'm reading from docs.google.com Forms D make a fucking short link.
Mike
This could. This could take everything a goddamn bitly.
Greg Miller
I can't find the drop shop.
Mike
Drop shot.
Greg Miller
Yeah, Mike's got it pulled up. Can you help him? Can you find that? Send that to send Nuggies is doing something cool. I'm sure there's a link that'll be up somewhere. I'm sure there's a link that'll be somewhere. There's a link somewhere. She says that is the short link. There's no short link in your email. There's just a link to the thing. There's just a thing. I don't. It's a thing for them to go. It's a Google form and you can fill it out if you're doing cool things and want to meet cool people and share cool things. A few example of partnerships, podcast hosts looking for Experts, streamers, content creators seeking for paid editing assistance, game developers requesting feedback from their forms. It's a way for kind of funny best friends to mobilize and get out there and do it. Send nuggies has got the link somewhere. It's shorter than what I have. Good job. Send nuggies. And then this is Ariel Knights drop shot.
Mike
Last time I saw aerial nights they said stomach Mike, this is going to be a game for you.
Greg Miller
Oh yeah.
Mike
And I saw it and I said this is gonna be a game for me. So if you like snow Mike, Mike games, I think Andy and Barrett are really gonna like this. Along with bless as well. Fast paced first person shooter jumping out of a plane, chasing down baddies to grab a parachute before you hit the ground. I think.
Greg Miller
Oh, oh.
Mike
Some kind of neon white vibes as well.
Greg Miller
Oh, okay. Was there a release date on this? I know when gold 2026 still Ariel Knight Give us. Give us the exclusive right now before we sign off. Everybody go shop. Go shop. Go wish list now. Ariel Knights drop shot. We we asked people watching live to keep us honest by going to kind of funny dot com. You're wrong. Jeppo says Greg, I am owed an answer. Yesterday on why Pirate Yakuza got nothing nominated for any of the DICE awards. Kevin, give me the one.
Mike
Okay, hit him.
Greg Miller
Pirate Yakuza wasn't a good game. As designated by the all the video game makers. Everybody who's part of DICE makes video games for a living. And they all looked at that and they said wow, what a piece of dog shit. But you are a Yakuza fan. So they give you the dog shit in a bowl and you go, I have no fucking taste. Now that's DICE talking, not me. Thank you. The next one is Lucid Dream. Heretic and Hexen were already remastered and rereleased as a package on modern platforms in August.
Mike
Thought about it just like that.
Greg Miller
And then kebab says missed we news. Crash team racing Nitro Fuels creative director and Beenox is co studio head Thomas Wilson passed away in November last year after a two year battle of cancer. The community only learned about it yesterday. As always, fuck cancer. Fuck cancer. And we're sorry to hear about that. Our condolences to Mr. Wilson's family out there. And that's it for right now. Did Ariel Knight come through with the when it's coming out?
Mike
I didn't see it.
Greg Miller
Did it see it? No, he didn't see nothing. Dates Ariel Knight blessing. If you're still watching, give me Ariel Knight's phone number. We gotta, we gotta get to the bottom of this. We gotta pin him down. All right, ladies, gentlemen and bees, that February 17th, they're saying February update the Steam page. Arielle.
Mike
Got it.
Greg Miller
That's another episode of Kinda Funny. Games Daily in the books. Like I said, huge day of content here. We are going into the Gamescast and the third annual Smileys, an awards show leading you up to Monday's extravaganza for game of the Year where we will be getting nuts and talking to you about all the games of the year. Of course you'll start with Games Daily, but then it'll be us running through and revealing. We don't even know what the top 10 games of kinda Funny were. One by one, a bear. And any production, they've been killing themselves.
Mike
Big deal. Big deal. I mean, Barrett and Annie production on Monday. A bear or a blessing. And Andy today. Yeah, these guys working hard, they're having fun.
Greg Miller
We're just chilling out.
Mike
I mean it's Friday.
Greg Miller
That's what I'm talking.
Mike
I made it through the week, everybody.
Greg Miller
This has been Games Daily. Like subscribe, share but pick up a Kind of funny membership patreon.com kind of funny YouTube.com kind of funny games, Apple, Spotify. So you can get everything ad free. Get your daily dose of a 15 to 20 minute podcast for me, Greg Miller. And of course get good karma for supporting an 11 person 11 year old small business. Until next time, it's been our pleasure to serve you.
Hosts: Greg “GameOverGreggy” Miller, Snowbike Mike
Date: January 9, 2026
This lively episode dives into rumors around the upcoming Xbox Developer Direct, including speculation about a secret fourth game reveal. The hosts analyze Xbox’s 2026 strategy, Obsidian’s multiplatform moves, Ubisoft’s ambitions with The Division 3, and Larian’s AI policy for Divinity. The cast also touches on GameStop’s financial saga and notable news bites across gaming.
[06:34]
[23:14]
[14:44]
[34:41]
[45:12]
[58:17]
If you missed this episode, you’d want to know Xbox’s upcoming showcase may hide an experimental surprise, while Forza and Fable are set as big 2026 tentpoles. Obsidian continues bringing exclusives to PlayStation, Ubisoft is hyping Division 3 in an already-crowded multiplayer market, and Larian is responding in real time to AI controversies. GameStop’s future remains rocky. Finally, legacy titles like Witcher 3 and Fire Emblem are unexpectedly back in the news, illustrating how old favorites continue to shape the gaming landscape.
End of summary.