Xbox Series S Compatibility isn’t Going Away, Says Phil Spencer - Kinda Funny Games Daily 01.27.25

Summary

Kinda Funny Games Daily: Xbox Series S Compatibility Isn’t Going Away, Says Phil Spencer

Hosted by Greg “GameOverGreggy” Miller and Jerrica Hannah | Release Date: January 28, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of Kinda Funny Games Daily, hosts Greg Miller and Jerrica Hannah delve into the latest developments in the gaming industry, focusing primarily on Microsoft's stance on Xbox Series S compatibility. Alongside discussing industry news, the hosts announce an exciting new show, engage with listener super chats, and explore various other gaming topics.

Xbox Series S Compatibility and Phil Spencer's Stance

The episode kicks off with a deep dive into Phil Spencer's recent remarks regarding the Xbox Series S compatibility. Greg highlights that despite some developers' concerns, Microsoft remains steadfast in its commitment to ensuring games are compatible across both the Series X and Series S consoles.

Notable Quote:

Phil Spencer stated, "With the rise of handheld PCs and devices like the Switch 2, targeting the Series S offers us a real advantage. Our games are built to be portable across various specs," (12:45).

Jerrica concurs, acknowledging both the benefits and challenges of this approach. While the Series S provides a broader reach, developers sometimes find it restrictive, citing examples like the delayed release of Baldur's Gate 3 on the Series S and challenges faced by Black Myth: Wukong.

Greg shares his personal experience, expressing frustration with the Series S's performance:

"When I played Starfield on my Series S connected to a monitor, the graphics were so subpar that I switched to cloud gaming on my phone instead," (15:58).

Mike adds to the discussion, interpreting Spencer's comments as a strategic move to prepare for future handheld devices, suggesting that the Series S serves as a benchmark for upcoming hardware.

Announcing "Drop In Dropout"

Transitioning from Xbox news, Jerrica proudly announces the launch of her new show, Drop In Dropout. This conversational podcast brings together seven friends to discuss all things video games, aiming to create an inclusive environment where guest developers and gamers can join in the conversation.

Notable Quote:

"Drop In Dropout is where seven friends come together to talk about games without overshadowing anyone. We’re excited to bring fresh perspectives and invite others to join us," (04:57).

They emphasize the collaborative nature of the show, highlighting their dedication to producing quality content:

"We stayed up until 2 AM to ensure today's content was top-notch," (06:57).

Listeners are encouraged to follow the new podcast on various social media platforms and give it a listen to support independent content creation.

Helldivers 2 Director Takes a Break

The conversation shifts to Helldivers 2, where Greg reports that Johan Pilestad, the director and co-founder of Arrowhead Game Studios, is taking a sabbatical before embarking on the next project. Pilestad expressed the need to reconnect with family and friends after dedicating over a decade to the Helldivers series.

Notable Quote:

"Eleven years of working around the clock on the same IP has made me set aside family and friends. I’m taking time to redeem what was lost before starting the next Arrowhead game," (26:07).

Jerrica praises Pilestad’s commitment and reflects on the series' impact, noting the community's dedication despite the natural decline in active players over time.

Techland’s Unannounced Dying Light Projects

Greg covers news from Techland, unveiling multiple unannounced projects within the Dying Light franchise. Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Techland reported impressive milestones, including 45 million players and over 1 billion hours of gameplay.

Notable Quote:

"Techland has plans not just to continue the Dying Light series but to expand into board games, merchandise, and web comics," (24:31).

Despite these ambitious plans, Greg and Jerrica express skepticism about the long-term sustainability and developer intentions, especially considering compatibility challenges with the Series S.

WWE 2K25: Roman Reigns Headlines with Largest Wrestling Roster

Moving to sports gaming, the hosts discuss WWE 2K25, which features Roman Reigns as the cover athlete and boasts the largest wrestling roster to date, including legends like John Cena and The Rock. The game introduces a new island mode, allowing players to engage in themed quests and live events.

Notable Quote:

"Roman Reigns headlines WWE 2K25 alongside over 300 wrestlers, including legends and hall of famers. The new island mode promises themed areas for diverse gameplay experiences," (42:23).

Jerrica admits her limited interest in WWE games but acknowledges the comprehensive features that might attract fans.

Phoenix Labs Layoffs After Fort Labs Acquisition

A somber segment covers the recent layoffs at Phoenix Labs, two years post its acquisition by blockchain firm Fort Labs. Despite Dauntless’s success, an unfavorable update and cultural tensions led to the reduction of the majority of its workforce.

Notable Quote:

"Today's layoffs are part of necessary operational changes. We deeply appreciate every individual's contribution," (48:19).

Greg and Jerrica express their disappointment, reflecting on the precarious nature of working in game development, especially within smaller studios subject to corporate fluctuations.

Game Developers Choice Awards' Finalists Announced

Greg highlights the finalists for the 25th annual Game Developers Choice Awards, celebrating games like Astrobot: Balatro, Black Myth: Wukong, Helldivers 2, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and Metaphor: Refantazio.

Notable Quote:

"Congratulations to all the nominees. We look forward to seeing who takes home the awards in March," (53:15).

The hosts commend the diverse range of games nominated, emphasizing the industry's evolving landscape.

Listener Super Chats and Interactions

Throughout the episode, Greg and Jerrica engage with their listeners through super chats, addressing questions and comments about various topics such as game releases, collaborations, and personal gaming experiences.

Highlighted Interactions:

• Jeff Bull Jr. urges Greg to revisit the Silent Hill 2 Remake, prompting Greg to acknowledge his intention to dive back into the game.
• Econonic shares excitement about forming a Kinda Funny guild in Monster Hunter, with Greg affirming their plans.
• Tyler discusses the socio-economic implications of Series S compatibility, reflecting Greg’s own mixed feelings.

Conclusion

Greg and Jerrica wrap up the episode by encouraging listeners to support their shows and memberships, underscoring the importance of community in sustaining content creation. They tease upcoming segments and express gratitude towards their audience for their continuous support.

Final Quote:

"If you love what we do, please support us. It takes a village to keep these shows going," (63:42).

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Key Takeaways:

• Microsoft’s Commitment: Phil Spencer reaffirms that Xbox Series S compatibility remains crucial, despite developer challenges.
• New Beginnings: Jerrica announces her new podcast, Drop In Dropout, fostering more inclusive gaming discussions.
• Industry Movements: Significant developments include Techland’s expansion of the Dying Light franchise and Phoenix Labs’ unfortunate layoffs.
• Gaming Celebrations: WWE 2K25 and the Game Developers Choice Awards highlight ongoing trends and successes in the gaming world.
• Community Engagement: Listener interactions provide diverse perspectives, enriching the conversation around current gaming topics.

For those not listening to the podcast, this summary encapsulates the essential discussions and insights shared by Greg and Jerrica, offering a comprehensive overview of the episode's content.

Transcript

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[Greg Miller]

In the nerdy news you need to know about Xbox Series X compatibility isn't going away. The Helldivers 2 director says he's taking a break before his next game in Techland is planning multiple unannounced dying light projects. We'll have all this and more because this is kinda Funny Games Daily. What's up, everybody? Welcome to Kind of Funny Games daily for Tuesday, January 28, 2025. I'm one of your hosts, Greg Miller, alongside JK Games podcast's very own Jerrica Hannah.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Hello.

[Greg Miller]

Hello.

[Jerrica Hannah]

I'm so glad to be back.

[Greg Miller]

I'm glad you're back.

[Jerrica Hannah]

I left. Too much suspense. I told you, you left the thing.

[Greg Miller]

Should I say hi? Should I not say hi?

[Jerrica Hannah]

I just figured that out.

[Greg Miller]

There's the thing, there's the vibe. I don't know, Erica.

[Jerrica Hannah]

I don't know. I got my hat on.

[Greg Miller]

You fucked it up. You fucked it up.

[Jerrica Hannah]

I know. It's usually the part where I just don't know how to verbally handshake with people. That's really the thing. But yeah, I'm great. I'm here ready to talk about games with you. You were having me back.

[Greg Miller]

You were saying it beforehand. How sick are you?

[Jerrica Hannah]

You know, on a scale of 1 to 10, probably now like a 4. Okay, I feel fine. It's just like my voice is not. It's a little deeper. Yeah, some people have said they liked it.

[Greg Miller]

So you're keeping.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Maybe that's a win. I don't know.

[Greg Miller]

Do you like it? Do you like having the deeper, raspier voice?

[Jerrica Hannah]

It depends on what I'm doing.

[Greg Miller]

More importantly, how's your girlfriend feel about it?

[Jerrica Hannah]

She likes it.

[Greg Miller]

Okay, there you go then. That's all that matters. Jericho, I'm excited to be with you. I was talking about you and Greg way today. Of course, I'm the one who books you to come on Games Daily, but I'm usually booking you when so many people are out, and then I don't get to actually do the show with you. It's you It's Tim, it's you, it's blessing, it's whatever. I haven't actually sat down and done anything with you. How is independent content creation going? You quit your job, you're doing JK full time.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Yeah. Uh, it's so scary and stressful, but I'm having the time of my life and I can't stop working on stuff. So I. I would say it's pretty. It's worth it. And honestly, like, if I just want to go as long as I can, and to anyone else, that's like, man, she makes it look sort of easy. It's not. And you also need to get yourself set up for success and be prepared to. You just suck a lot.

[Greg Miller]

There you go. There you go.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Yeah, it takes a lot of practice. But, man, I'm having so much fun.

[Greg Miller]

I mean, we're having a lot of fun here, and we've been doing it for 10 years, but we still suck a lot all the time. Isn't that right, Kevin?

[Kevin]

Everything's breaking today.

[Greg Miller]

Do you want to run everybody? Run everybody through what's happened so far to you since you've turned on everything.

[Kevin]

The camera. So we have two camera capture cards. One of them has just stopped working, so that's cool. Our individual camera cameras no longer come in one screen here. Display 4 stopped working. I got it cut back, though. The LED wall needed to be reset. It was not turning on. So that's fun. And there's more. There's more.

[Greg Miller]

But then you spilled coffee.

[Kevin]

Oh, yeah. Then at the very end, I spilled coffee. I cleaned it all, though. I cleaned it all. Everything's fine.

[Greg Miller]

You're doing great. Jerky, you're doing great too. On top of just being out there on your own doing JK Games podcast, you have something new to announce today. You told me.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Yeah, it's pretty cool. We've been working on it for. I guess it's since August, really. And this all came to fruition because I would say the kind of funny community I have found six other best friends that I know. It seems wild to think that seven people can get together and talk with each other about games and not overshadow anyone. But we did it. We did it. And we have been working on this for a while. But Drop In, Drop out is our brand new show where we are combining Spotlight Games with Patrick and Kamen. Don't know if anyone here has heard of them. They're pretty freaking cool. Super talented. And then of course, JK Games will be joining this show as well. We have been. We Maybe stayed up until 2am last night just making sure this content was good for today. We are supposed to watch next week.

[Greg Miller]

So the way this goes, the way I understand it. Right. Is that I called or texted you yesterday, said, hey, you know, Tim Stick, can you fill in the show? You said, yes. And then you said, I was going to announce Drop In Dropout next week, but we could do it tomorrow if you really wanted to. And I was like, yeah, go for it. And so you guys stayed up all night making it work.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

That is independent content creation. That is independent content creation. Opportunity knocks you open it up.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Yeah, but it's. It. It's so exciting just because, like, I'm so proud of our first episode and it wasn't intended to be like the first episode. We were just recording it to get it done.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Jerrica Hannah]

And I'm like, this is so good. It needs to be episode zero. And, you know, we just give it a watch. You can find all of our content is now live. We did make sure everything works last night. Drop In Dropout Pod on all socials and on YouTube. You'll find us.

[Greg Miller]

But, Kevin, can we get volume on this? They explain what it is. I'd like to hear it.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Who did these graphics?

[Jerrica Hannah]

So the art's all done by the French Dip.

[Greg Miller]

Of course. It's by French Dip design. Of course. Come on now.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Super talented.

[Greg Miller]

Now let's hear what's in. Welcome to Drop In Dropout, the conversational podcast where seven friends come together to talk about all things video games. One of the things that we really want to do in the future is have some other people drop in. So if you're a game developer, if you are an avid podcast listener, if you're a gamer that can speak halfway decently, drop into those dms. If you're Greg Miller, if you're Tim Geddes, if you're anybody out there who.

[Jerrica Hannah]

We've made it so easy for you. All you need to do on any social media platform is search for Drop in Dropout Pod or just go to Drop in Dropout pod dot com. You'll find us there easy.

[Greg Miller]

So seven kind of funny best friends come together to create this show. I love it. You are copyright infringing on the conversational podcast. I don't love that as much, but I will let it slide for that.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Hey, listen, you don't need to worry about us, I promise. Or do you? I don't know. Probably. That's if you listen the first episode, you definitely don't need to worry about us.

[Greg Miller]

Got it. So drop in drop. Dropout is what you search for everywhere. You said drop in drop out pod on all social media.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Yes.

[Greg Miller]

Fantastic. And what's your. How much are you posting the episode.

[Jerrica Hannah]

That just launched today? Episode 0 is all about us recapping our game of the years.

[Greg Miller]

Oh yeah.

[Jerrica Hannah]

And then the next episode that we're going to do is 2520 or 2025 predictions. And we've created a really unique way of having that. Convers should check it out. It's just not us blabbing out things we think are going to happen. We have some rules in there. And then we'll do our fantasy picks on Sunday following that. So next Thursday will be our first official live show. On Thursday nights it will be our regular programming. And then that one off is Sunday doing our fantasy league picks, which we're ready to get in there and be a little hostile. I like to be hostile when I do my picks.

[Greg Miller]

That's what fantasy critic brings out in all of us. All right. We don't want to be this. We're just. You and I are born gamers, born competitors. And so that's how it's got to be.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Absolutely.

[Greg Miller]

Everybody support this new endeavor for Jerika and friends. Drop in dropoutpod.com you can go there and click onto YouTube, Spotify, Apple and of course every other social media under the sun, let alone a very nice little. I like how you did like gumballs for all the people so you could go and check on all the host stuff. Very smart what you're doing over there, Jerrica.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Hey, we got some talented folks. We're not just a bunch of idiots. I promise. We are pretty good with doing some things. Promise. Don't let the first episode fool you.

[Greg Miller]

Okay, Fair enough. For now, let me remind you that this is Kinda Funny Games. Daily, each and every weekday on a variety of platforms, we run you through the nerdy video game news you need to know about live on Twitch TV kindafunnygames, YouTube.com kindafunnygames and podcast services around the globe. If you want to be part of this show and you're watching live, it's super simple. Over on YouTube.com kindafunnygames you can super chat with your questions, thoughts and opinions about the day's news. Hopefully they get read. Of course, if you want to support us later, hey, pick up the kinda funny membership. $10 on patreon.com kinda funny or YouTube.com kindafunnygames gets you all of our. Wait, what? What? That's right. You can do it on Apple and Spotify as well. To get all of our content ad free, get the ability to watch the afternoon podcast Lives, we record them and get your daily dose of me in a series we call Greg Way Housekeeping for you. Remember, we're an 11 person business all about live talk shows and that means the cameras rarely ever turn off unless something breaks, right? Kevin oh God. Right after this episode of Kind of Funny Games Daily, you're gonna get the games cast. Mike is previewing Exoborn and we're talking that Tokyo Extreme racing game that I think I already butchered the name of. And then after that it's gonna be the stream where Mike does more Kingdom Hearts 2. If you're a Kinda Funny member, my Greg Way about the people we didn't hire Kinda Funny will be up momentarily because it's still trapped in my phone. Thank you to Pat producers Delaney Twining and Carl Jacobs. Today we're brought to you by Built Rewards and Better Help, but we'll tell you about that later. For now, let's begin the show with what is and forever will be the Roper Report. Time for some news. Six items on the Roper Report. You might have thought we got all the juice we could possibly get out of Phil Spencer yesterday. We milked him again today. Number one Xbox boss Phil Spencer says Series S Compatibility Requirement Isn't Going away This is Tom Ivan of egc. Xbox boss Phil Spencer has reiterated that the company doesn't have any plans to allow the release of Series X exclusive games. It's currently a mandatory requirement for developers to ensure that their games are compatible with both the Series X and the Series S in order to release them on both of Microsoft's consoles. But some developers have argued that having to cater to Microsoft's entry level console limits the potential of current gen games. In December 2023, Baldur's Gate 3 received a delayed release on Xbox Series X S after Microsoft allowed Larian Studios to launch the S version without split screen co op, a mode it had been struggling to get, working sufficiently on the lower powered console. And this month, Black Myth Wukong Developer GameScience blamed the series S console for the game's no show on Xbox platforms. However, in a new interview with Destin Legarie, Microsoft's gaming boss claimed that having you know, I want a full stop too. Remember? Of course Destin went independent from IGN. He has his own YouTube channel. You could put in Destin Legarie, but it's SaveState Plus. Is that right Kev Jerika I don't like that people aren't citing the thing. It'd be like Greg Miller interviewed. Yeah, but Greg Miller's got a website to go to. Chat. I'm right, right? Save State Plus I want to make sure I'm not screwing it up. Thank you everybody saying yes I am. Give Destin the click. Go over there. He interviewed me on the first one of his podcasts. Then he had some jabroni named Phil Spencer show up. I don't know. Anyways, in an interview with Destin Legarie on the show Save State Plus, Microsoft's gaming boss claimed that having to develop games for Series S could be advantageous for studios targeting a variety of platforms, including handheld gaming systems. Asked about the potential of dropping or relaxing Xbox Series S requirements, Spencer said, quote in a way I think about it in almost the. Exactly in a way, in a way I think about it in almost exactly the opposite way. Right now with the rise of handheld PCs and even the introduction so far of the Switch 2 as developers were building on more device specs from lower powered because they're battery powered devices all the way through things that plug into the wall, I actually think we have a real advantage because we've seen targeting S for quite a while. We've been targeting S for quite a while and our games have been built and they're portable across many different specs. So when we look at something like a Steam deck or Rog Ally or something, we've got this S version of the game of games, the games that are more tailored to the device specs of a lot of devices that frankly are getting introduced right now and I think that helps us, end quote. He added in the newly published interview quote and frankly the scalability of engines today allows them to scale from Ray Traced enabled multi thousand dollar graphic cards on desktop PCs all the way through to a handheld battery powered device. So for me S has been more helpful in our portfolio, end quote Jerrica, A mouthful from Destin's Safe State podcast uh yeah. Where do you come down in the S requirements?

[Jerrica Hannah]

Uh, I, I mean I sort of have to agree because like, I mean with the campaign everything's an Xbox. I need everything that definitely, definitely says Xbox needs to be an Xbox. I mean I will play my games on it but I can see like the, you know, the negative side of like that requires more resources to adapt that game to play on that said thing and thinking about more and more gains being on different platforms. Like I haven't really considered like the Weight that might have on developers now, like a whole other. But to him and to his point, it sounds like it's pretty easy to do, but I doubt it's that easy. I don't know.

[Greg Miller]

That's the thing, right? Where I feel like, well, first off, I wanted to call it Live to Die in the chat. Live chats, like, oh, man, Greg's having a hard time reading. It must be an off day. Try to read someone's direct quote out loud. What? People write in a far different way than they speak. So when Phil starts speaking and I'm trying to jump to what he's doing, he's using the wrong syntaxes. It's not on me, all right? It's not on me. I'm doing my best.

[Kevin]

It's okay.

[Greg Miller]

I agree reading is hard. I agree reading is hard. But I. Let me get to what the next article is. Chris Scullion. There's a lot of quotes in that, too. We'll see how it ends. You know, when I read the paragraph somebody wrote, it's much different. I shut up. I shut up. I'm with you. The problem I have is that we have these two very publicized cases of, no, no. The Series S is really hard to work with. So you have Larian delaying Baldur's Gate, which of course, sucks for the Xbox fan base. And then you have Black Myth, Wukong, game science being like, we didn't even come there because of it. And so for Phil to then be like, well, no, it's not that bad, actually. It's hard to really. I don't know. It's. That's like, well, what's the truth, Right? Where's the actual thing for me? You know, I've talked for a long, long time about how I am dumb and I love my consoles because I plug them in and I play them and they look. They do what they do, and I'm happy with them, right? And Series S is one of the few times in my life, I think, where I literally turn it on. I'm like, ooh. Like, when I put it onto a tv, when I put it onto a monitor, not the little game screen I use that I plug in, right? My X screen, which I adore and love, and it's great for traveling, but playing at my desk. The other day, I was doing something on Starfield I needed. Oh. When they put out the Doom stuff, jumping in to Starfield again on my Series S on the actual computer monitor, I was like, this is so ugly that I jumped out and instead booted it up on cloud on my phone to play, to actually go through and do it because it was just so jaggy and muddy and. And not looking great. Right. And so the fact that me, someone who is the lowest common denominator even I'm looking at like, oh, I can't do. I couldn't. I don't want to do this.

[Jerrica Hannah]

That's not good.

[Greg Miller]

No, exactly. The series S is really cool and really brilliant and obviously there's so many games that look fine on it. But when we are talking about bigger things, we are talking about what the Switch 2 is actually going to be in power. We're talking about what my Steam deck looks like when I play a game there. I don't know if the argument Phil's making holds water, but he would know better than me because he is talking to so many developers and I'm just having these two instances.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Yeah. I'd just be curious to see what is the split there. I haven't done the research but I'm curious has a series has been selling more than the X?

[Greg Miller]

It's been doing well in the super chats, which we have many coming in. Thank you so much. Lightning does point out Phil can't abandon the series S because it makes up about 50% of current Xbox users. But as you mentioned, multiple devs have had issues supporting us. And that is the thing that we talk all the time. We talked about it yesterday, talking about Phil and all these interview quotes of do you like Phil? Has he been good, has he been bad, blah, blah. And the fact that you say something and then you are held to it the rest of your life when you're in these positions of power and so force Xbox to have come out and been like, hey, this, this generation is split in two. We have the X, we have the S. Obviously now there's the play on any screen thing. But we are supporting these things so you can have an entry level Xbox and you can hang out. It would be such a. Hey, we said that at the beginning of the generation but things have changed so we're cutting that off. Like you need a clean break if you want to be able to do that. And I don't know where or how that works. My thought would be with Xbox being so, hey, we aren't about generations. Hey, we are about being everywhere, being the app, being this thing. My thought would be with that next Xbox launch, whatever that's going to be the next generation of hardware. You say, yes, obviously this is Xbox and this is how amazing it's going to be. These games will work on the past devices, but when you get to the S, I think you have to talk about that being now strictly cloud. You're getting. You're buying. Game Pass is giving you the latest and the greatest next Xbox game from whoever, right? You're Fable 2. I'm just throwing out there, which doesn't make sense. But the next. Next Fable, right? The next big game, it's going to be here and it's going to look gorgeous. But if you want to play that on the S, you can only play the cloud version. You wouldn't be able to install and run on it. And even there, I think you could make the argument right now if you needed to start switching that off and doing that and educating them. But even then, so many people were not to. Where, you know, Internet is and cloud is. We're still building momentum on that. I feel like that's the only way through the next way. If you want to still be like, we aren't about generations.

[Jerrica Hannah]

I agree. That's. I haven't really considered that that's a good concept. You know, I'm going to segue into another topic. This is totally different, but it might bleed into this. Okay, I might be just out of. Out of line here. I. This is totally. Again, it might be a totally different topic. Why can I not save? Since we're talking about Xbox and this might appeal to this conversation. I've been playing Doom Eternal on my Xbox and I cannot play my Save on the PC. I know it's not considered an Xbox anywhere situation.

[Greg Miller]

Oh, because it's strange. Are you doing Doom Eternal through Steam?

[Jerrica Hannah]

No, I'm on Doom Eternal, like Game Pass, like on my Xbox and PC. I just don't want to. You know, my girlfriend wants to watch stuff in the living room, so I'm trying to play here on this fancy screen.

[Greg Miller]

Oh, Jesus says, yeah. Cross progression. Yeah, yeah. There's two versions of Doom Eternal. Why are there two versions of Dooms Eternal?

[Jerrica Hannah]

I've been on a rant about this for like a couple of episodes and I'm like, anyone can find the answer. I will give them.

[Greg Miller]

No. Mr. Krause's Bethesda games are like. It's a Bethesda thing. It's the same with Fallout. Oh, that's fucking bizarre. I would have thought they would have fixed that out when they bought them. Well, Eternal was before the purchase. Is that right? Yeah, that's right. So maybe that's.

[Jerrica Hannah]

That's the thing that sucks.

[Greg Miller]

That sucks. And I hate it. But okay. Ladies and gentlemen, the master of hype, the Xbox master. No, Mike. Mike. Hi, Mike.

[Mike]

Hi, everybody. Hi, Jerrica. Great to see you as always. Welcome on to the show and of course, hello, chat. I'm here.

[Greg Miller]

We're talking Xbox.

[Mike]

We're talking about.

[Greg Miller]

We're talking about Big Daddy Phil saying he's keeping this S around this requirement that you got to have this. That they're not abandoning the S requirement.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

How do you feel about this?

[Mike]

You know what, Greg? I have a couple of feelings about that, but really my feeling is, and how I interpreted that was like, yeah, we're holding onto that because we sold so many S consoles, right? So we don't want to leave those people behind. I also took it as just like, well, clearly they're planning for a handheld, right? I know you spoke about the Steam Deck, but my thought was like, well, they're working that in to ensure that the handheld will match all those requirements as well. So they want to probably find a good baseline.

[Greg Miller]

Jeff Bull Jr. Of course, super chats devs who are already targeting Steam Deck slash handhelds won't have problems running on Series S. And this opens the door for running on the Xbox Handheld.

[Mike]

That's how I took this one, is like, they're looking at the future of this Xbox Handheld. Let's make sure we know the specs. Let's make sure the developers are ready for that. And I think the Series S is probably a pretty solid benchmark for what they probably want to put in that hardware.

[Greg Miller]

And to a degree.

[Mike]

Let me know.

[Greg Miller]

To a degree. Just a tiny degree. What a fucking heartbreaking sentence. I'm so jazzed for an Xbox, I can't fucking wait. I want it. I want it right now. Can you imagine if I was just playing a vow and everything was great and it ran, but just sit there and be like, yeah, it's going to be a little bit more powerful than the S. The thing I just shit on that looks like garbage. Playing Starfield, I'm like, well, me, God damn it. I mean, granted, screen smaller and yet a. Yeah, it'll be interesting.

[Mike]

Like, you know, eventually we'll have the conversation, hopefully with Jason Ronald. He'll have a good YouTube video of like, hey, this is the explanation of what the hardware is. This is what it matches up to. What do you think about your Steam deck, Greg? Yeah, I know you love that. Does that look like a better picture quality than what the S is really putting out there?

[Greg Miller]

I think so, yeah. Okay. But it's hard to say, you know, of course I'm. I'm not that guy.

[Mike]

Yeah. And also it's like a 6 inch screen in there. Yeah, yeah.

[Greg Miller]

That's why I got that Razer laptop out there now. Like, at least I can be pretty sweet with me now, you know.

[Mike]

But yeah, I mean that. I think that's the future is, hey, we're making sure everybody that bought this Xbox Series S is included. Right. We do not want to fumble at the end of the year or whatever time it is of, hey, sorry, these games don't run anymore. I think you'll get into that maybe in the second generation of. Eventually there will be a moment of like, you're going to play these on the cloud.

[Greg Miller]

Right.

[Mike]

Which they've already started.

[Greg Miller]

That was what I was. Right. I think the next generation of Xbox still is. You can play these games on all of your Xboxes, but I do think Series S is going to be. You can play them via the cloud.

[Mike]

Correct. We're going to leverage the cloud and we're going to leave this kind of architecture behind it.

[Jerrica Hannah]

What I'm going to do apparently to play finish Doom Eternal finally is going to be like just doing the cloud service on my computer. And so I don't. Because like I'm almost done with the game. Like, I don't want to lose my save.

[Mike]

Turn it on. I mean, with Xbox play anywhere.

[Greg Miller]

She can't because it's still an old Bethesda game where it's got the. It doesn't have the cross, it's got that Bethesda.net type. You know what I mean? Really?

[Mike]

They didn't figure that out. They let me play. Play my oblivion save from 2015 on it now. So that's crazy. They didn't figure out.

[Greg Miller]

But it was Xbox.

[Mike]

Yeah, yeah, it was Xbox.

[Greg Miller]

She's talking about going to Xbox.

[Jerrica Hannah]

I want to pick up where I left off on PC. Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Thank you, Michael.

[Mike]

Thank you, team. I'm very excited. It's an interesting time of the next generation coming.

[Greg Miller]

What is excited about Xbox's future?

[Mike]

I mean, should I just be buying a PS5, y'all?

[Greg Miller]

I don't know.

[Mike]

These are conversations we're gonna have a conversation about.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, we. We gotta get that on the document. The document is excited. Well, that's. You're talking about the future of it.

[Mike]

That's true.

[Greg Miller]

Is that what you're going to do?

[Mike]

Because we should have a real conversation about how I feel.

[Greg Miller]

Damn, that sounds like when you're about to break up with someone, they got to walk, go to work they're about to slam the door. I think we should have a real conversation about how I feel. Bam. I digress over in some of the super chats to close this one out and move on to our next story. Adotum says Larry and later said the S helped them optimize BG3 even better. Of course, if you're put into a box, you got to make it work. You got to make this happen. What was the other one? There was one other one here, yeah. Pod sir says Xbox just announced couch co op on series S for Baldur's Gate 3. Guess that parody is not only staying it's not an issue. Shock. Well, it was an issue. It took them a while to get here. Let's not act like this isn't hella delayed to get where you need to be, but I do appreciate that they committed to it. Larian what a developer. What a developer. Jerrica, are you. I don't know this about you. Where do you primarily play if you had to? Are you mainly PC? Xbox? PlayStation? Switch? Where? What are you doing?

[Jerrica Hannah]

PlayStation for sure.

[Greg Miller]

I knew you had taste.

[Jerrica Hannah]

It's just. It's just like I have the PC and I play on it and I love that. Like I could play Doom Eternal and have incredible frame rate. Like I love that technical side of it. Yeah, but there's so much maintenance. There's so much. It's just a commitment.

[Greg Miller]

You were talking about your bios a second ago.

[Jerrica Hannah]

My bios needed updating.

[Greg Miller]

Embarrassing.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Mess me up.

[Greg Miller]

Disgusting. Don't want that at all. Just want it all to work. Well, I'm glad you're a PlayStation fan, even though this would be a transition for a PC thing too. Number two, the Helldivers director says he's taking a break before starting on his next game. This is Chris Scullion at VGC. The director of Helldivers 2 says he needs to take a break before he can start work on the next studio game. In a statement posted to X Game, director and Arrowhead Game Studios co founder Johan Pilestad explained that he had been working on the game for around nine years in the entire Helldivers series, more than a decade, according to him. The lengthy development took a toll on him and forced him to limit his time with his family and friends, so he plans to make up for lost time before starting on Arrowhead's next project. I'm going to do a sabbatical for a while, he wrote, explaining, while you have been enjoying Helldivers 2 for almost a year, I have been living it since early 2016. And with Helldivers, it's since 2013. 11 years of working, quote unquote, around the clock on the same IP has made me set aside family, friends, and my lovely wife and myself. I am going to take some time now to redeem what was lost from all of those that supported me for over a decade. I am sure my friends at Arrowhead will do their utmost in the meantime to deliver amazing stuff to Helldivers 2. When I'm back, I will start working on the next Arrowhead game. End quote. Jerrica, shout out to Johan. You did it.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Yeah, I was gonna say good for him.

[Greg Miller]

Yes, Amazing work. You got it across the finish line. Now go take a break. Get out there and do it. Especially with the team that Arrowhead has assembled over there to work on Helldivers. Yeah, talk to me about what? What angle do you want to take? You want to take the Burnout angle? You want to take the Helldivers angle? You want to talk about what's next for Arrowhead? Jerrica, it's up to you.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Oh, this one's interesting to talk about. Like a maybe a combination of burnout, like, what's next for Helldivers to be such the rage, especially the beginning of last year. And it's like even dropping, you know, I haven't hopped back into the dlc, but the trailer got me hyped. It made me think about hopping on, which makes, you know, makes me pretty excited, you know, and eventually I'll get back to it. But, God, it's been. They've put out content for it and the just maintenance for it for the whole year. I couldn't imagine. So I don't know if they anticipated it being such a success as it was.

[Greg Miller]

I mean, Shuhei Yoshida talked openly on our interview, right. Of like, no PlayStation. And you would have tossed in Arrowhead There did not expect this by any stretch of the imagination.

[Jerrica Hannah]

So I couldn't imagine what this year's look like for that team.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, yeah, Proud. Oh, the pride for sure. And, you know, the glory to super Earth. But yeah, the ability and the pressure of that. And then, yeah, I mean, again, props to be able to say, like, oh, you know, I've done this and now I need to step away a year after launch. I don't expect Helldivers to stop being supported at any time. You know, when Gary and I went down to PlayStation right, before game awards to preview the content for the drop, you know, we got to talk to Johan a lot there and, you know, One of the things he was saying really was like the commitment Arrowhead has to this game, which for me is interesting. Then when he says to start working on the next Arrowhead game, I do wonder, talking to him, he made it sound like they're going to support Helldivers forever. And I don't know what that actually means obviously, but I mean years and years and years and years and years with content drops. So I wonder if the next Arrowhead game is something completely different because I would not expect a Helldivers 3. I would expect them to continue putting out battle passes expansions, all these big drops for Helldivers 2 to really keep or bring back this player base they have. Right. You look at Steam DB right now, right? Of course the all time peak on Steam was just shy of half a million at 4,458,000. Right. The 24 hour peak is 47,000. About 48,000. Right. So obviously a huge drop off there. We are just talking about a work week and yada yada yada, but still such a committed audience to this. And we saw that spike right when they did launch the DLC at Game Awards. So I jumped back in, I put my money down, I bought the Helldiver stuff. Like there's all this stuff, Killzone stuff. Like they do another great collaboration. I'm back in there. They do another not even giant expansion. It doesn't need to be that. I just need that kick in the ass to get back out there and save the Earth. Did you ever get bit by the Helldivers bug, Jerrica?

[Jerrica Hannah]

I did early in the year and then, you know, I think we might have talked about this before, but it just ended up being like a huge few months for Destiny involvement. I just couldn't bear any more time. But I definitely want to get back to it because I haven't actually touched on this other topic. I haven't touched Destiny in months. So it's done, it's over.

[Greg Miller]

Ghostbusters content in there. It was over.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Yeah, you know, I finished Dragon Age and after that I'm like, I'm sort of a free agent for any game now. So let me play it.

[Greg Miller]

You know, maybe I get into Something that isn't 50 hours.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Yeah, for sure. But Helldivers is one of those that's on my list. Just check back in. Because it was such a good time just to not even know what to expect and hop in and have a good time. Like I've never played Helldivers. I didn't know what to expect. But it was so much fun and easy to play like with just some friends here and there.

[Greg Miller]

Super Chats I want to know for you, what would you want next for Arrowhead? Do you want them to go and do Helldivers 3? Do you just want more Helldivers 2? Content why have you come back? Why haven't you come back? Super Chat all that on YouTube.com kindafunnygames while I remind everybody hey, how are you? It's Kind of Funny. Games Daily this is us talking about video games. We do it each and every day because we're all about live talk shows here. We're an 11 person small business that needs your support. If you love content like this, or the gamescast that's coming up next or the stream that's coming up after that, we need your help. Pick up a Kinda Funny membership over on patreon.com kindafunny or YouTube.com kinda funnygames or apple or Spotify where of course you can get all of our shows ad free, get the ability to watch the afternoon podcast Lives, record them, and of course get your daily dose of me, Greg Miller in a series we call Greg Way. But right now you aren't using your membership benefits. So here's a word from our sponsors.

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This episode is brought to you by bilt. If you're a renter, I'd start taking advantage of BILT if I were you. Here's the thing. We earn points on groceries, travel and practically everything else we buy. But we should also be earning points on rent, one of our biggest monthly expenses. Bilt changed the game by letting renters earn high value points on rents and around their neighborhood. There's no cost to join BILT and as a member you'll earn valuable points on rent and your everyday spending. BILT points can be transferred to your favorite hotels and airlines and even the ones you haven't heard of. There are over 500 airlines and 700,000 hotels and properties around the world. You can redeem your BILT points toward points can also be redeemed towards a future rent payment and unique experiences that only Built members can access. So if you're not earning points on rent, my question is, why not start earning points on rent you're already paying by going to joinbuilt.com kind of funny. That's J-O I N B I L T.com kinda funny. Make sure to use our URL so they know that we sent you there. Join Bilt.com Kinda funny to start earning points on your rent payments today. This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. What do you want your 2025 story to be? Every January brings you 365 blank pages waiting to be filled in in 2025. Maybe you're ready for a plot twist. Or maybe there's part of your story you've been wanting to revise. Life isn't about resolutions that fade by February. It's about picking up the pen and becoming the author of your own life. Think of therapy as your editorial partner, helping you write new chapters and create the meaning meaningful story you deserve to live. Some of my best friends use BetterHelp, and they love how helpful it can be for learning positive coping skills and how to set boundaries. It empowers you to be the best version of yourself. It isn't just for those who've experienced major trauma. If you're thinking of starting therapy, give better Help a try. It's entirely online, designed to be convenient, flexible, and suited to your schedule, and it serves over 5 million people worldwide. Write your story with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com kindafunny to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp. H E L P.com kindafunny betterhelp.com kindafunny and we're back.

[Greg Miller]

Over on YouTube.com kind of funny games, I put up a poll. Helldivers 3 helldivers 2 DLC or a new game? Right now, new game is winning with 40 50% of the vote, 48% of the vote. They're fighting 51% of the vote with Helldivers 2 DLC close behind. 34 36% depending on the moment. Helldivers 3 a pitiful 11% so don't worry about that. Get that hell out of here. In the chat of what people would want, I'm seeing a lot of different stuff. But Bender of String says what if a Master Chief skin came to Helldivers? That'd be cool. Somebody chimes in wanting a warthog, you know, since they can't get the game on Xbox, I wouldn't jump to the conclusion. Get Xbox content over there. Lucid Dream just wants a damn minigun, he says. So a lot of people still out there. Bender of strings I want Helldivers 3 and a better engine. Lots of stuff happening in terms of what people want. I like this one. Luke says arrowhead plus blizzard equals starcraft skin. Helldivers would get me back 1000%. Day two of vacation and washing live. Much love to Jerika Aw oh that's so Sweet. And then sort by first name says, I feel like Helldivers 2 is the epitome of a Helldivers game. Making a third could not go as well. I'd love to see Arrowhead apply the Helldivers 2 formula to a licensed IP of some kind, maybe dot dot dot. Interesting. I agree that it's the epitome of a Hell Divers. So if you can just keep supporting and putting out content and getting people to come by battle passes and whatever and that supports what PlayStation wants, I think that'd be the way to go. But to the formula to an ip, what are we talking about? We're just making. We're just making a Starship Troopers game. We're. We're the snake eating its own tail. We don't even know where the joke is anymore. And then final one comes from Lightning. Don't want a new game. Keep supporting Helldivers 2. Also for Helldivers 2, I want three things. Number one, Xbox release and Halo collaboration. Number two, Starship Troopers collaboration and number three, a Star wars collaboration. Starship Troopers obviously should be an easy slam dunk, but would it actually move units where people actually care?

[Jerrica Hannah]

Jerrica, would you get any kind of collabs? Oh, I'm sorry.

[Greg Miller]

No, no, you're fine. The only collab they've done so far is the Hell Ghast from Killzone.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Oh, okay. I was just curious. I didn't know you. You want to know what I want?

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, I want to know what you want. Is it Destiny? Is this gonna be boring? Destiny?

[Jerrica Hannah]

It's not. I promise. Okay. I. I do want them to do. I'd like them to do a new game. Like I'd like to. For them to try to do something brand new. They can keep a similar formula, but like it. I think they know, based on Helldivers too, that they can make fun, like not small, but just instances where I can play with a couple of friends and do something fun. I would like to see what they can innovate and do next. And I hope it's not tied to space at all. Like, I hope it's a whole other kind of scenario. I'd like to see that from them.

[Greg Miller]

Okay, that'd be interesting. Yeah, I'd like to see him get off space and see what's going on there. Okay, I like that. I like that.

[Jerrica Hannah]

I don't know how you escape space.

[Greg Miller]

But, you know, you just don't make a big deal about it. You know what I mean? We're on a planet, right? Cavities do that. That's fine. Alex J. Sandoval has the final word. Take Helldivers learnings and bring back Magica. I don't see it happening, but good luck for you, Alex. Number three on the Roper Report. Techland is planning multiple unannounced Dying Light projects. This is Tom Ivan at vgc. Techland has. Wait a second. VGC number three, Number two, VGC number one. Vgc. It's VGC Games Daily, everybody. We're just putting out there. Round of applause to VGC doing the work. Everybody go support the VGC podcast who just supported 100 episodes and then also go support their Patreon. Back to it. Sorry. Techland has teased plans to release a number of unannounced Dying Light projects. The Polish studio spoke about its plans for the zombie series in a press release marking its 10th anniversary. It claimed the franchise has reached 45 million players since the original game was released in January 2015. Dying Light players have racked up. This is one of these things, okay? 67 billion zombie kills and over 1 billion hours of playtime, according to Techland. The original game was followed by 2022's Dying Light 2. Stay human while Dying the Beast is scheduled for release this summer. Quote. And our plans to grow the franchise don't stop with Dying Light. The Beast, Techland said, will continue the series with multiple unannounced projects and will also go beyond games with new board games, exclusive merchandise, original web comic series and more on the horizon. The original Dying Light and its sequel will also receive free updates very soon. Jerika I played Dying Light and had a great time. If you're new around here, maybe you don't remember the original Dying Light was one of the first. Oh fuck. You can put out a game in January, February, that beginning of the year. And even if it's just a seven, it can do really well because people are so hungry for new experiences and they're waiting on the big triple A thing that they'll jump in. I remember Dying Late being really the champion of that where we were all playing it, we're like, it's fine, it's fun. But it's like we're way into it and everything. Dying Light to reviewed I enjoyed horrible ending, horrible boss fight. Kind of ruined the experience for me. Blah blah blah. I don't understand who the Dying Light Sickos are. There are people to ask. Super chats. Are you chat normal? Are you Dying Light sickos? It's the 10th anniversary. People are still they're putting out original updates for one Heroic headgear says in all caps, me. Okay, I'm not a. I mean, I love you, and I'm not saying don't, but it's just like, you're still playing Dying Light. That's fucking awesome. That's insane. That's rad. That's cool. I'd love that for you. But it's just like, wow, Techland is so good at supporting the original Dying Light. They were so good for Dying Light 2, saying what they were going to do in 10 years later, we talking about all this stuff. God damn, Jerrica. Do you care at all about Dying Light?

[Jerrica Hannah]

No, I don't. I played it. I played a little bit of it, and I could appreciate the parkour and this, the silliness of it.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Jerrica Hannah]

But, man, there's so much game there. I get like. I'm one of those gamers that, like, I will get overwhelmed if there's just, like, too much to do. I need to see some kind of path forward.

[Greg Miller]

Sure.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Like, for the games that I personally enjoy. And I love a good zombie survival game, and I played a good chunk of it, and it was always like, this is. This is good. It's not blowing my skirt up or butter in my roll, as I say, but it's a good game and I have time for it. But as soon as something else comes out, like, I just forget about it.

[Greg Miller]

And that's why this hotspot right now, January, right, where it's like, hey, I'll play whatever. I'll play whatever right now. But there's so many games I'm playing that I'll just drop as soon as where the is avowed comes out. You know what I mean? Like, that's what I'm doing.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Just hearing all these big plans for this ip, I'm like, is. Was that a thing? I don't see people talking about it. I'm not in the community.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, exactly. You know, and again, I'm not. I'm not knocking it. I'm not trying to say 45 million players. It's 45 million players for a game. I just. I don't hear them talk about. Yeah, Kevin dug up this Dying Light. Let's play From, I assume, 2015 in this, the original me and Colin's apartment is Colin and Nick playing Dying Light. Because again, we all play. Me and Colin were all about this game. We played when we did dying light 2. Me and bless were all about it. I had a lot of fun. I enjoyed it. Crazy good forum. But 45 million players. January 2015. God damn crazy. Anyways, good for you. I'm not a dying. Why? I'm not a dying light sicko. I enjoy dying light. I will play the next one. I'm excited about that. You all know that I am in fact a WWE sicko. We move to story number four. Roman Reigns headlines WWE 2K25 alongside largest ever wrestling roster. Which is what they say every year, but I digress. Ed Nightingale at Eurogamer has the story and we have the game covers. Roman Reigns will be the COVID star for WWE 2K25, the next in the long running wrestling series alongside its largest ever wrestling roster. It will also include the new island mode to complete challenges in a bid to impress the original tribal chief, Roman Reigns. The new game is set for release in March 7th or 14th, depending on the edition across PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S and PC via Steam. Though the island will only be available in the PS5 and Xbox series X S versions. The island will be a world consisting of areas based on different WWE themes where players can compete quests, take on challenges, compete in live events, and upgrade my Superstars characters through storyline chapters. The game's roster, meanwhile, will include 300 wrestlers, including superstars Legends and Hall of Famers, from John Cena to the Rock to Stone Cold Steve Austin to Trish Stratus and more. Other additions include a third party. I'm sorry, A third person camera. All right, you know what? I'll take it. Actually, now I'll take it. Now I'm having a hard time reading. That was just a paragraph. That's on me. That's on me. You're right. I take it back. Kevin spilled coffee threw me off. I apologize. Yeah, fuck you. Don't do that.

[Kevin]

Don't blame me.

[Greg Miller]

Kevin's coffee spillage. It got on my circuits too. Other additions include a third person camera for online matches. Parentheses controlled separately for each player. The 2K showcase, the Bloodlines Dynasty mode celebrating the iconic wrestling family dynasty. Intergender Wrestling makes its debut across all game modes and the return of promos in Universe mode. Hot. That's cool. Kev, can you go through the covers again? Just as B roll since I was talking all over him. I know we got Roman Reigns. I need to see it. Okay, we've got Roman there. Yeah, Doing his thing. Love that. Okay, yeah, go back, go back one more. We're talking about Roman, of course, but there's the Wiseman in the back. You got to have Paul Heyman out there if you're going to have Roman, I like that a lot. Going over. Show me the family tree here. Of course, the bloodline cover. They got Sammy in there, so how can you be mad if they're going to put Sammy in there? I'm going to be all about it. Don't worry about it. The Bloodline edition. And then over the weekend they introduced the Undertaker Deadman Edition. So lots of WWE editions out there for you to buy. Jerrica, have you ever cared about WWE, let alone the 2K games?

[Jerrica Hannah]

No. And I'm sort of feeling like I'm in the same place where I am right now. My girlfriend, she's gotten really obsessed with certain anime and watching all of them and I'm hearing all these names and I'm like, that sounds cool. That's how I just felt with this. So no, I am so out of the loop. I'm like, are they coming out of the tree? What does that mean? Is there an island? I mean.

[Greg Miller]

Well, there's an island.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Pretty interesting.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, yeah. The family tree is just the bloodline tree. It's the whole dynasty of everybody.

[Jerrica Hannah]

I see. Okay.

[Greg Miller]

All right then. Kevin, give me the one. We don't need Jericho for this segment. I'll tell.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Good.

[Greg Miller]

All right, everybody, so let's get into this. All right. It's me, Greg Miller, of course, reviewed dozens of wrestling games for ign. Thank you much. I reviewed the wrestling games here. You know, I hosted that show. This is awesome over on Peacock. You know, I do the damn thing and I'm excited for WWE 2K25. Let's talk about. And then we did a bit of this as a Greg way down the line, but now we know more about it. Let's talk about the island for a second. Okay. The island will be a world consisting of areas based on different WWE themes where players can complete quests, take on challenges, compete in live events, and upgrade my Superstars characters through storyline chapters. I love experimentation. I love something new in a video game. They're gonna obviously keep all the. I love about WWE games, the entrances, the pop and circumstances. I like my faction. I know a lot of people. You don't. It's fine. Whatever. They're going to have a universe mode in there. I know. Whatever. The island will either be meh. This is a half baked idea with weird quests we don't want to do or whatever, or it's going to be money grubbing microtransaction or it could be cool. Maybe it's cool. Maybe it's interesting. Three options. I'm terrified of it. Being the money grubby route. If you remember, we did the whole microtransaction gamescast where he brought in Mr. Money in the Pocket, Snowbike Mike, who just wastes all his money on NBA 2K. And what does he do in that? They got to the yard. I don't know what they fucking call it, but there's something where you make a character and you walk around and do stuff that sounds similar to this to get attribute points. But if you don't pay the 100 bucks or whatever, you're. You're a 16. Everybody else is a 99. And you just can't play the game, right? I'm terrified that's what this is going to be. I need to know the island. If it's like, is it pay to win? Can I not compete in live events? Can I not do anything? Because if it's just weird shit, walk around the island, go to the stone cold area. I don't fucking know. And catch beer cans, you know, like, okay, what. That sounds dumb and I don't think it'll be. It'll play that well. But is it fun? But is it like, is there a. Is there going to be a lot of. Is this. I'm not even the PvP guy. That's the big thing, I guess, because there's PvP obviously in WWE already. You can do that. Go play online. I never fucking do it. Even my faction would like, go play. I'm like, I'm fine. I'll do it for the one thing to get the lifetime check. But like, I don't know what this mode is going to be. I did a conference call the other day where they were talking about this stuff, a Q and A. And one of the developers said the way, wow, I don't wanna screw this up. The way the 2K games have always brought wrestling to video games. This is bringing video games to wrestling. And I don't know what the fuck that means. And so that doesn't sound like something I need to jump in and play immediately. But I want to see it. I want to see it and I want to know, is it fun? Because, like, the universe. Not universe, sorry. The My Rise storylines, right, are awkward as shit, but it's also because we're acting like wrestling's real there. So when I come back and Xavier woods sent me to the wrong arena and I'm fighting a luchador. That's. Whatever, that's funny, that's cool, whatever. But an island full of WWE themes where I don't. I don't know. I don't know about this, but I want to know. I'm not saying toss the baby out with the bathwater. I'm not saying take Mae Young's baby she had with Mark Henry that was just a hand and toss it out with the bathwater. It was just a hand, Kevin. She was a very old lady. She shouldn't have been able to have a child, especially with sexual chocolate Mark Henry. But then when they did, it turned out it was just a hand that had been left up there for years. It's a storyline. Look it up, everybody. It doesn't matter. For right now, I'm not saying toss the baby hand out with it was a man's hand. Don't toss the hand out with the bathwater. I'm just saying let's keep our eye on this. Okay? Thank you, everybody. Jack, thank you for letting me have the floor for a second.

[Jerrica Hannah]

I tried.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Good. Incredible.

[Greg Miller]

We'll see. I don't know. Number five on the Roper Report Phoenix Labs lays off, quote unquote, a majority of its studio Two years after Fort Labs acquisition Dauntless and Fae Farm developer Phoenix Labs has laid off a majority of its workers one month after releasing a poorly received update to their former title as part of its launch on Steam. The company announced the move in a post on LinkedIn, saying that today is another difficult day for the studio. It added that the decision was part of unfortunate but necessary changes to its operations. We recognize and deeply appreciate the contributions of every individual impacted, the statement continues. Their talent, dedication and creativity have left an indelible mark on our company and our games. It added that it would be sharing more details in the weeks ahead about what these departures mean for Fae Farm and Dauntless. It's two released games, Dauntless is a free to play live service game, while Fae Farm is a premium game with online multiplayer. Today's layoffs come a few months after game developer reported on turmoil at the studio after a 2023 acquisition by blockchain firm Fort Labs. Former Phoenix Labs employees told us that the then new parent company instituted a cultural. Okay, I'm sorry. Instituted a culture of strict secrecy, cutting off communications between the teams and going so far as to seemingly conceal its ownership of the developer from prospective employees. Boo.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Yeah, that's a cluster right there.

[Greg Miller]

That's a mess. You know what I mean? I remember when Dauntless launched, that was the one where everybody was like, oh, it's. It's a smaller. I don't want to say independent because it wasn't. I don't want to give you that. They were independent, but a smaller Monster Hunter. It got a lot of juice behind it. People really stoked about that. I had either forgotten or missed the purchase here by Fort Labs. And then definitely. Well, I vaguely remember the Phoenix Labs employees talking about there being trouble. But I missed the fact that they were cutting off communication, trying to conceal ownership. Who would have thought the blockchain guys were bad? God, I'm just shocked. You know, who would have said at any point in time that blockchain and NFTs and all that was bad? Jerrica. Who would have seen it coming?

[Jerrica Hannah]

Thunk it.

[Greg Miller]

Thought we were gonna take it to the moon. Thought we're gonna take it to the moon. Thought it was gonna go forever.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Yeah, that's where we're supposed to go.

[Greg Miller]

In all seriousness, this fucking sucks. That sucks that we've seen the majority of this studio close and get laid off that way. Especially for something that Dauntless had that juice. It had a bunch of people behind it. And then Fae Farm, I definitely. I played at SGF once. Wasn't my cup of tea. I think even Joey, who's even to into more of that kind of cozy game, might have played a little bit of it and didn't work for her. So boom.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Kayla played it a couple times. Yeah. But I didn't hear much about it after. But yeah, it got to the point like it still. It just sucks. Like any time like especially like working on it, I'm trying to put myself in their shoes. Like if I work for not like a necessarily smaller development studio, but like, you know, not a triple A studio. How scary is that? Just someone can just come by my. My situation and then like if the game don't do well, like we're all. Half of us are gone. Like just once again, like just how scary it is to want to work in games. Like it's. It's wild.

[Greg Miller]

One of the comments that went through in the public chat was, excuse me, Monster Hunter fans want to play Monster Hunter. They don't want to play Monster Hunter likes. I would disagree with that argument because again, Dauntless did very well. There were a lot of people playing Dauntless. It was a success story. I think what we're missing in terms of this conversation is what Jericho just talked about. We are a successful indie game. This is doing well above our expectations. Someone comes in and buys you because they see money in them their hills. And then guess what? Fae Farms doesn't deliver or does deliver but only that much profit when they wanted this much profit. And they say, ah, jiminy jillikers, we're the blockchain guys. And guess what? That's not doing as well as we thought it was going to do, period. And now we don't have the money for this or we don't want to worry about that. And they close you up and they're out of it. This is the problem.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Could have been probably incubated and like put in a different direction, but like, yeah, it just. The wrong people got a hold of it.

[Greg Miller]

Like that sucks 100%. That's. And that's a great way to put it, Jerrica. And that's what you see when you're seeing people sell to. And I don't know anything about these people other than the fact they sound like dirt bags from the last paragraph.

[Jerrica Hannah]

I don't know anything with block. Jaden. I'm like, that ain't great.

[Greg Miller]

When you're selling to people who aren't like, again, video games are art. And you're selling these things to people who just want to make money. And that's what. What you're seeing across the industry. When these games aren't making enough fucking money for their goddamn corporate and shareholders overlords, that's when everything goes to whatever. So I've been on this soapbox a few too many times already. You already know how I feel about it. And I'm sick of the big news. I'm sick of blockchain failures being such big news. Jerrica, if I wanted something smaller, say the tiniest news I needed to know about, where would I go?

[Jerrica Hannah]

The WE News Channel, where we cover all the small news you need to know about today.

[Greg Miller]

Number six, the we the 25th annual Game Developers Choice Awards has announced a list of finalists for each of the ceremony's prestigious Categories for the 25th annual Game Developers Choice Awards. The game of the year nominees are Astrobot Balatro, Black Myth, Wukong Helldivers 2, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and Metaphor Refantazio. Congratulations to all of those nominees. We look forward to seeing who wins in March from Mario 64. MLB the Show. 25 cover athletes have been revealed. Mike, I'm going to need you get over here. All right. MLB the Show. 25 cover athletes have been revealed. We got Paul Skeens really hot right now.

[Mike]

If he pays off as a pitcher in the future, people are going to be really pleased. Great story going on with his rookie debut card that has the patch logo. Little kid in LA pulled it. Pirates really wanted it. Livy Dunn is dating this guy. They all wanted it because he's. If it pays off, he's going to be big, right? They proceed to pitch the kid because they want the card. They said they'll give him 30 years of season tickets at the Pirates. A whole bunch of other stuff. Kids like, I live in Los Angeles. I'm 11. I'm not taking that. I'm going to take it to auction.

[Greg Miller]

God damn. I like how you dropped Livy Dunn. Like that isn't a made up fucking name I had to Google immediately.

[Mike]

You don't know living.

[Greg Miller]

No, I don't know Livy Dunn. Rizzed up Livy Dunn, Baby Grunk.

[Mike]

Ribbed up baby Gronk. My apologies.

[Greg Miller]

All right, hold on. So anyways, we got Paul Skeens. We got Ellie De La Cruz.

[Mike]

Yep, of course.

[Greg Miller]

And who's Ellie De La Cruz?

[Mike]

These are all players.

[Greg Miller]

I mean Gunner Henderson, Gunnar Gunner. I like Gunner.

[Mike]

I like Gunner is right. I mean, I mean good, good selection here. Does it take away my shine when we share the COVID with three athletes? I'm a one athlete type of man. I'm a one athlete.

[Greg Miller]

This is even the wwe, the three editions. Like I'm not a fan. Let's just. Can we have commit to somebody out there? Because I think it's like last year was insulting where it was like hey, big deal. First ever female superstars on the COVID It's Bianca and Ria sharing a cover. But then really Cody Rhodes is the real one. And then you got the 30 Years of WrestleMania edition. Come on. What are we doing here people? Just every day the universe just randomly generates names. I gotta know. I got Ellie De La Cruz and Libby Dunn. I gotta pay attention to. And she spells it with two V's. Everybody two ends too. That's actually kind of cool. I'm Livy done. Two V's, two ends. Mike, tell her that she should say that from now on. Pokemon Legends Arceus official soundtrack is now available on Nintendo Music and Merchant Merchant 64 launches March 2025 on PC. Before we get you out of here, let's check in on the super chats. We didn't get to and of course the your wrongs. If you're ever watching live and we get something wrong kind of funny dot com. Your wrong to tell us what we got wrong in the super chats cognitive clip says Jerrica Gregory Just excitement that we're here. So I like that.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Oh yes.

[Greg Miller]

Jessica became a member and said yay Jerika, Jerrica and Greg, love today. We love you. Jeff Bull Jr. Says, Greg, are you going to play The Silent Hill 2 remake? Of course. Roger had told me, greg, you gave up too early on Silent Hill. You need to go back to it. And I said, roger, you're an idiot. You're not in the office. I don't have to worry about you. But then Snow Mike, Mike, yesterday on Gamescast said, greg, you have to go back. And I will let you all know. I have redownloaded Silent Hill 2 to both the work PS5 and the PS5 at home. So the first step has been taken. Now, of course, it's a review season. When will I get back to it? Whobons.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Econonic. Econic just came in to drop a super chat and say hi while I'm at work. I was wondering, Greg, when Monster Hunter comes out, are you guys going to make a kind of funny guild and what weapons are you going to use? Love you. Love you too, Econonic. Yes, we'll make a guild for sure. And I'm a Dual Blade in Monster Hunter. I'll try some of the new stuff, but I'll be Dual Blade. Are you excited for Monster Hunter, Jerrick?

[Jerrica Hannah]

I played the demo and I was blown away. I'm. Yeah, I'm going to get into that. I don't think I'm going to be as deep into destiny this year, so I'm hoping I joined my buddies and let's go. I'm, I'm ready. I need to get. I need to get shown how to capture these monsters. So. Okay, let me see the, the trick.

[Greg Miller]

I'll show you all the nets and all things. Mike standing off set with his phone. I thought he was going to come in here and I was going to say, hey, Mike, and we're going to have a big stream for Monster Hunt, aren't we? And no, because Mike, fuck me, he promised me a big stream I got my wife excited for.

[Mike]

Yeah, yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Get out of here. Get out of here. I'm taking the day off just to play by myself now. Maybe I'll stream to my own goddamn channel. This place I see Wiener super chat says, tell Mike I started Kingdom Hearts 2 this weekend because of his streams and I'm 100% going to beat it because before him he's just. He's giving you a thumbs up over there. Then people are talking about the Xbox again. El Captain 22 Parity staying is great news for a generation that's already been a letdown. Actually feeling with actually feeling like a true next Gen for all parties. Tyler says every time Series S compatibility comes up, he always feels like the conversation devolves into, quote, stop being poor. Spend $500, you broke loser. See, I'll go the opposite. Tyler, where for me, when compatibility comes up, I say, toss the fucking thing out the window and play everything on cloud, because the cloud's great and I love the cloud. Do I have better Internet than you? Maybe, I don't know. But I like the cloud a lot, so I think it's even cheaper than the Series S. And I'm a cheapskate. I don't want to do that one sort by his first name. Has Greg gotten anyone sick yet? No, I'm. No, I'm not getting people sick. Don't worry about it. Look, how good do I sound today, comparatively? And then Jim Tasty says, don't forget that Baby Gronk rised up live. Dunny. Important. Live. Done.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Important.

[Greg Miller]

Part of the lore is it Baby Gronk.

[Mike]

Gronkowski Baby Gronk?

[Greg Miller]

Nah.

[Mike]

Baby Gronk is a kid down in Texas. His father put him on the social media. He's going to social media superstar. It's a whole story, Greg, but I'd like to take this in a different direction. Quick rant here for Snowbike Mike and all the sports fans out there. Cover athletes, cover athlete additions. Let me choose the game tile. I bought the Kobe Bryant edition a couple years back. Then they updated, they put D book on it. Let me choose the game tile. Let me choose the COVID of the athletes. Thank you, Aaron. Aaron Banks brought that up. That's just a quick rant. If you're going to have a sports game, you're going to have a bunch of different variations, different color athletes. At least let me choose the game tile and what cover athlete I want on that, because I bought it.

[Greg Miller]

Okay, so you're showing me this version of Baby Gronk, but then I did Baby Gronk and I just hit and it came up with a YouTube and it's him with abs. With a girl with abs. Like, what is going on on the Internet?

[Mike]

It could be an AI image. It could be AI.

[Greg Miller]

I don't know.

[Mike]

I don't know. I don't know. This kid is gonna go to high school out there. Livy Dunn. Yeah. LSU gymnastics superstar, mega famous. And yeah, the whole story was Baby Gronk rizzed up Livy Dunn. It was a whole story. It was this giant thing like how this middle schooler Riz up Livy Dunn. Who knows? Maybe it's his grill. Maybe it's his mullet. Maybe it's his dope football skills. I don't know. Maybe it's his chains. I don't know. How does he. How does he meet Livy Dunn? How does he meet Bronnie Junior? I want to meet Bronnie junior.

[Jerrica Hannah]

What?

[Greg Miller]

I thought I was in the know because I follow the Costco guys, and I saw them review Portillo's the other day. I was like, I got my finger on the pulse here, but I'm way behind. I don't know anything.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Same, huh?

[Greg Miller]

There he is. Baby Gronk. Everybody. But his handle isn't even Baby Gronk. Mad in San Miguel, Miguel. I got a whole bunch to catch up on. Oh, I should check. You're wrong. It's probably all about Livy Dunn now. Fuck. Mara says. Just followed Drop In Dropout on Twitter and wanted to make sure Jerrica and Co. Company know their handle is just Drop In Dropout. PO the letter D is missing.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Oh, shit. Thanks for letting me know. That's what this is for.

[Greg Miller]

That's what this is for. You can follow, though, drop in dropout pod.com to find all about that.

[Jerrica Hannah]

We're also Pope, so it works out, but it's actually pot.

[Mike]

He's known as Baby Gronk, but, like, he's got to go by his own name. Have you heard about the kid, the Nebraska quarterback that looks exactly like Patrick Mahomes and now he dresses like Patty Mahomes. He acts like Patty Mahomes. He was in the Chiefs locker room after the AFC win, and they're like, that's Patrick Mahomes. And then they. They go over to Dylan, and he looks just like Patty Mahomes. What's up with that? Can you be doing that? Are you supposed to be just looking like other people? We'll talk about it.

[Greg Miller]

Who is Libby done dating now? What? Okay, okay, I see. I see him. He's at the Pirates. All right, I'm catching up. Oh, he went to lsu, so that's how he knows Livy. They were college sweethearts. Jerrick. Do you. Is this all news to you, too?

[Kevin]

I think he's a little kid, Greg.

[Greg Miller]

No, that's the Baby Gronk.

[Jerrica Hannah]

Are we talking about the child?

[Greg Miller]

I thought we were talking about.

[Kevin]

When did we stop talking about Baby Gronk?

[Greg Miller]

I think we're just all talking about them all at once. You know what I mean? Jerrica, I got a lot to unpack here throughout the rest of my day. Where can people keep up with you.

[Jerrica Hannah]

You can find me everywhere at jerk at you like J E R k C H u and yeah also JK Games podcast. That is also where you can find us everywhere. Podcast, YouTube. I just dropped a pretty impressive unboxing video. The 30th anniversary PlayStation 5 Pro. It's a good time. Do I kiss the PlayStation? I don't know. You'll have to find out. That's also on JK Games podcast.

[Greg Miller]

Okay, okay, good.

[Jerrica Hannah]

It's good work.

[Greg Miller]

I'm getting to the bottom of this everybody. I'm gonna figure this all out for you. We got a games cast up next. Don't forget because we're kind of funny. We're all about live talk shows, usually about video games. You can catch them all live as we do YouTube.com kindafunnygames Twitch TV, kindafunnygames and of course podcast services around the globe. If you love what we do here, please support us. It takes a village. You can get your Kinda Funny membership over on YouTube.com kindafunnygames patreon.com kinda funny apple and Spotify. No matter where you get the podcast, please consider supporting it. You get everything ad free. The ability to watch the afternoon podcast lives, record them and of course your daily dose of me Greg Miller in a series I call Greg Wayne. No bucks, toss away. No big deal. Deal like subscribe, share, tell your friends about it, ring the bell, leave a review, leave a comment, do everything you can possibly do to help us out. For now. We got a lot more shows to do today. Jerrica has got to go get ready to do to get a new Twitter handle. Drop in, drop out.

[Jerrica Hannah]

We've already dropped the ball. Drop in. If we can't type the right things in so we want to fix it.

[Greg Miller]

I believe in you. Until next time. It's been our pleasure to serve.