What Is PlayStation Doing?! - Kinda Funny Gamescast

Summary

Podcast Summary: What Is PlayStation Doing?! – Kinda Funny Gamescast

Episode Date: February 19, 2026
Hosts: Greg Miller, Blessing Adeoye Jr., Andy Cortez
Main Theme: An in-depth discussion of Sony's decision to shut down Bluepoint Games, the broader implications for PlayStation's strategy, studio culture, live-service game pivots, and what this all means for the future of Sony's first-party studios and the industry at large.

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on the bombshell news that PlayStation is shutting down Bluepoint Games, the acclaimed remake specialist responsible for titles like Demon's Souls (PS5) and Shadow of the Colossus (PS4). The hosts break down the causes, context, and broader impact of this closure, pulling on threads related to PlayStation’s recent live-service ambitions, corporate decision-making, the shifting identity of PlayStation, and the ongoing contraction across the video game industry.

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Key Discussion Points

1. Immediate Reactions to Bluepoint’s Closure

• Bluepoint’s Legacy: The hosts list the studio’s robust history, including high-profile remasters (God of War Collection, Metal Gear Solid HD, Uncharted: Nathan Drake Collection) and acclaimed remakes.
• Breaking News Context: Blessing reads excerpts from Jason Schreier’s Bloomberg article detailing the closure and its impact on roughly 70 employees.

“It’s another, another entry in the long list of ‘we made the wrong decisions up top, but you’re going to feel the consequences.’… The consequences are only ever felt by the people making the magic.”
— Andy Cortez [09:59]

2. Sony’s Live-Service Strategy and Missteps

• Pivot to Live Service: The hosts examine Sony’s now-infamous goal to create 10–12 live-service games by 2025–26. Studios like Bluepoint, previously celebrated for single-player mastery, were pushed into live-service projects (e.g., a cancelled God of War online game).
• Live-Service Bubble: They criticize the industry-wide gold rush toward live-service titles, noting that these pivots often led to lay-offs and cancellations when games failed to stick.

“Why would you take Bluepoint—your best remaster and remake studio—and make them do something nobody wants, like a God of War live service game?”
— Blessing Adeoye Jr. [13:01]

3. Wasted Potential & Cultural Drift

• Identity Erosion: The panel laments PlayStation’s loss of identity: once famous for prestige first-party, story-driven games, now muddled by profit chasing and corporate mandates.
• Remakes as Missed Opportunity: The group argues that Sony owning both a deep back-catalog and a studio like Bluepoint should have been a “recipe for printing money.”

“Having a studio expert at remakes, working for a publisher with an insanely cheap backlog of loved classics was always a recipe for printing money… Leave them alone and print money forever. Little or no opportunity cost—come the fuck on.”
— Quoted from Max Nichols via Blessing [17:55]

4. Human Costs & Industry-Wide Patterns

• Layoff Fatigue & Morale: There’s deep empathy for the developers affected, and concern that corporate priorities are increasingly detached from creative and personal realities for game makers.
• Grim Forecasts: Using a dark guessing-game approach, they list other PlayStation studios they think could be next (Bend, Media Molecule, Bungie, Haven, Firesprite), expressing that "this isn't the last closure."
• Shifting Production Expectations: Andy wonders if ballooning budgets (e.g., Spider-Man 2’s $300m budget) signal a reckoning for blockbuster game production.

“If you’re not selling 15 million plus, no later… there’s zero regard for the human element.”
— Andy Cortez [27:53]

5. Remakes vs. New Games

• Demand for Remakes: With new releases increasingly risky and crowding the marketplace, the hosts argue that remakes are not only wanted but can be a smart, safe play—especially when executed by the best.
• Profitability Questions: In closing, they debate the profitability of remakes versus original/AAA titles and why remakes are often dismissed, despite their consistent success.

“If you are the best at making remakes… do that. Make that. We’ll buy it.”
— Blessing Adeoye Jr. [20:42]

6. Corporate Communications & Employee Impact

• Herman Hulst’s Statement: Blessing reads the official internal PlayStation memo on Bluepoint’s closure, critiquing the corporate language and lack of responsibility or sentiment for creative talent lost.
• Employee Uncertainty and Anxiety: The team highlights the emotional toll on developers and the cruel nature of corporate “headwinds” messaging, likening it to “the Hunger Games” of job security in AAA gaming.

“Seventy people that are nobody, that… could be me.”
— Greg Miller [51:00]

7. Community and Audience Reaction

• Fan Questions/Super Chats: The hosts read out live chat and super chats, addressing fan concerns about the fates of studios like Media Molecule and Housemarque, and speculating on which teams might be next to be shuttered.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [02:59] Greg Miller: “We’ve seen a lot of studios getting closed… a lot of teams getting laid off… things like that.”
• [10:19] Greg Miller: “Would you ever have imagined us fast forwarding five years and it leading to the closure of Bluepoint?”
• [14:04] Greg Miller: “If Bluepoint wants to make original content? Hell yeah… but if they keep making remakes, nobody does it like them.”
• [18:16] Blessing: “Completely ignoring the fact that you’ve spent decades building an audience that loves that kind of game… just to spin the wheel on live service.”
• [22:33] Blessing: “I don’t understand people complaining about remakes as much.”
• [27:01] Blessing: “They stripped all the personality away from PlayStation… it’s just business now.”
• [45:01] Andy Cortez: “What a waste of time for these people’s lives… Four years where they don’t get to see anything they worked on go out into the world.”
• [55:10] Andy Cortez: “It’s so void of humanity, man.”

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Timestamps of Major Segments

• [03:06] Bluepoint’s track record and historical contributions
• [04:37] Reading the Bloomberg article on Bluepoint’s closure
• [13:01] Critique of PlayStation’s live service push
• [17:55] Why Bluepoint should have been PlayStation’s remake “money printer”
• [20:42] Audience polling: “Which PlayStation studio is next to close?”
• [27:01] Discussion on PlayStation’s loss of “personality” and human touch
• [32:10] How the failed service game initiative derailed studio output
• [45:01] Emotional/human toll of canceled years and job loss
• [49:41] Reading and reacting to Herman Hulst’s internal memo
• [56:21] Debate about Sony’s handling of multiplayer franchises and missed opportunities
• [57:09] Final question on remake profitability and Bluepoint’s business case

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Tone and Language

The episode is frank, passionate, and laced with frustration and dark humor. Hosts are critical of corporate decision-making but deeply empathetic towards developers and gaming communities. They use conversational, occasionally profane language to underscore their disappointment and disbelief, but balance cynicism with genuine nostalgia and affection for gaming’s creative legacy.

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Conclusion — Where’s PlayStation Going?

The closure of Bluepoint Games is framed not merely as an isolated tragedy, but emblematic of PlayStation’s—and the wider gaming industry’s—current identity crisis. The hosts stress that short-term corporate gambles, misguided live-service mandates, and a lack of creative leadership have left PlayStation’s legacy—and its people—in jeopardy.

“What is PlayStation doing? That’s the real question. We’ll continue to monitor what PlayStation is doing here…”
— Blessing Adeoye Jr. [59:27]

Final Thoughts:
The Gamescast crew closes with a collective sense that things will get worse before they get better, urging support for creators and reflective, more humane business models in gaming.

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For listeners who missed the show:

• Bluepoint Games—Sony’s acclaimed remake studio—has been shut down after a failed pivot to live service, seen as an unnecessary and avoidable casualty of corporate strategy.
• PlayStation, once a beacon for narrative-driven, prestige titles, is adrift in pursuit of trends and profits, losing both its identity and human capital.
• The closure is the latest in a string of industry lay-offs; more are likely to come as companies tighten budgets and rethink AAA game development.
• Remakes and remasters, once considered “low-hanging fruit” for profit, are being deprioritized in favor of riskier, unproven ventures.
• The conversation centers on both the business realities and the heartbreak for talented creators caught in the crossfire.

Key Message: The gaming industry is undergoing harsh change—and maybe losing the magic that made it special in the first place.

Transcript

[Greg Miller]

Ugh.

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[Greg Miller]

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[Blessing]

Go to boot.dev and use code kinda funny to get 25 off your entire first year on the annual plan, sign up for your $1 per month trial today at shopify.com kindafunny if you want to get our shows ad free and our exclusive shows go to patreon.com kindafunny. What's up everybody? Welcome to Another Kind of Funny Games cast for Thursday, February 19, 2026. I'm one of your hosts, Greg Miller alongside Forbes 30 under 30 aka New York Game Awards nominated aka Bicep Poppy Blessing. Adio. Yay, Jr. Hello.

[Andy Cortez]

Greg.

[Blessing]

Hello.

[Greg Miller]

Had to hide them today.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Blessing]

Do you want them to know?

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Blessing]

Can't let Reddit see it.

[Greg Miller]

Every time is the thing where I want there to be the.

[Blessing]

The mystique, you know, the mystique, you know, where I wear.

[Greg Miller]

I wear sleeves for a few weeks and I come back and then all of a sudden they're a lot bigger.

[Blessing]

Understandable. This is why Andy Cortez over there has been shirtless since that one KFA before they were in the shower.

[Andy Cortez]

That's the reason why I haven't like, I haven't been shirtless since then, you

[Blessing]

know, I just want to know what's going on over there. Stop making me, you know what I mean? What's happening?

[Andy Cortez]

Stop making me wait.

[Blessing]

He's a Hispanic car throughout like Texas street Latino. He clicking has the rhythm of shreds. Globetrotting, Headshot, three point shooting. Rootin Dudin Nitro rifle from Twitch tv. Andy Cortez.

[Andy Cortez]

Hello.

[Blessing]

How are you?

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, man, you know, what a day.

[Blessing]

Everyone in the live chat, we see you. Don't worry, Pokemon day is one week from tomorrow. We're moving our Pokemon predictions to Monday of next week so we can talk to you about that. But more importantly, address what the fuck is happening at PlayStation. Blessing. Greg, what the fuck?

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, I mean, I'm so curious to hear what you talk about it because me and Mike got to great games

[Blessing]

daily you guys just had take in

[Greg Miller]

this news as breaking news that PlayStation is shutting down. Bluepoint, something that we could not have foreseen, you know, coming out of nowhere, but also something that I think falls in line with both what we've been seeing out of the industry as far as, you know, things trending. I was going to say downwards, but that's not accurate. If I'm not. If I'm talking about money coming in, I guess things not looking great for the workforce.

[Blessing]

So you're talking about profit margins for overall corporations?

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, no, not trending down. But like, you know, we've seen a lot of studios getting closed. We've seen a lot of teams getting laid off, things like that.

[Andy Cortez]

Right.

[Greg Miller]

I think this one is surprising because of a lot of the context around it, especially it being a studio that we're looking forward to the next project. We like the things that they've done before. Right. You're talking about the studio that brought us the Demon's Souls remake in 2020. You're talking about Shadow Colossus in 2018 and even before that, giving us great remasters and ports of games.

[Blessing]

Right.

[Greg Miller]

I remember. Ooh, I'm gonna guess this. I'm probably gonna get it wrong, but I think they did like, God of War trilogy or not trilogy, the God

[Blessing]

of War, you know, Bluepoint themselves when they were working on stuff.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, Bluepoint, like during the PS3 era. Didn't they give us, like, remasters and shit during that time?

[Blessing]

I would love to run you through what they've done. Right. If we're looking off of the Wikipedia page, which I believe, because of course you can believe everything you read on the Internet. Blast factor 2009 God of War collection.

[Greg Miller]

There we go.

[Blessing]

2011 Eco and Shadow of the Colossus Collection. Metal Gear Solidge HD Collection 2015 Uncharted, the Nathan Drake Collection, Gravity Rush Remastered 2018, Shadow of the Colossus 2020 Demon's Souls. That's not counting the support work they did. As you can see here, PlayStation All Stars, Battle Royale, Flower Titanfall, God of War, Acheron.

[Greg Miller]

And real quick, I want to shout out, because I know. I think we mostly talk about the demon souls and Shadow Colossus remix.

[Blessing]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

I do want to shout out the God of War collection and the Eco and Shadow colossus collection on PS3, because that was the way I played God of War for the first time.

[Blessing]

Really?

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. The God of war collection on PS3 was my. My entryway into playing through the God of War games. And then that was my first way of playing Eco as well. I had already played Shadow Colossus, but I played it a second time through this collection and I played Eco for the first time through that collection. So Blue Point, very near and dear to my heart.

[Blessing]

You said it. I want to make sure we're presenting it. I saw people in the chat go oh man, crazy. They're just hearing about it here. Maybe you're an audio listener who only listens to the gamescast. I am going to steal some of the DNA of Kind of Funny Games Daily and read to you Jason Schreier's article from Bloomberg.com, okay. And of course we couldn't do this show without your support. Be super chatting as so many of you already are. YouTube.com kindafunnygames and thank you to our patreon.com kinda funny producers Carl Jacobs, Omega Buster and Delaney the som twining. Jason penned this article today, breaking the news just 30 minutes ago. Maybe a little bit more Sony Shuts down video game studio Bluepoint Sony Group Core is shutting down Bluepoint Games, the PlayStation subsidiary responsible for developing remakes of video games such as demon's souls. Roughly 70 employees will lose their jobs amid the studio closure, a PlayStation spokesperson said, writing in a statement that the decision was made following a recent business review. Blue Point will officially shutter next month. Bluepoint Games is an incredibly talented team and their technical expertise has delivered exceptional experiences for the PlayStation community, the spokesperson said. We thank them for their passion, creativity and craftsmanship. Founded in 2006, the Austin based studio was known for developing high end remakes of older games such as Uncharted and Shadow of the Colossus for modern platforms. Sony acquired Bluepoint in 2021 shortly after the successful release of Demon's Souls on PlayStation 5, tasked it with co developing 2022's God of War, Ragnarok. Following that game, Bluepoint began working on a live service God of War game, Bloomberg previously reported, but it was canceled in January 2025. PlayStation said at the time that it was working with Bluepoint to determine the studio's next project. A Stark reading to September 30, 2021 on the PlayStation Blog welcoming Bluepoint Games to the PlayStation Studios family today I'm very excited to announce that PlayStation Studios has with the addition of longtime partner Bluepoint Games. From the exceptional PlayStation 5 remake of Demon's Souls to the critically acclaimed PS4 remake of Shadow of the Colossus and remasters of fan favorites like the Nathan Drake Collection, bluepoint has built a name for itself by creating some of the highest quality remasters and remakes in the industry with each of its projects, bluepoint has raised the bar on console defining visuals and gameplay. And the studio's vast expertise in the world building and character creation will be a huge plus for the future PlayStation Studios property. That didn't really pan out. Andy.

[Andy Cortez]

No, man, I. This kind of goes back to a conversation we had during Games Daily the other day talking about, you know, the PlayStation 5 possibly getting a little bit longer of a life cycle because of, you know, RAM shortages and pricing and the PS6 likely getting delayed a couple years because of just pricing and things just not going super great in the world right now. And you know, we all sort of spoke about and also know that a lot of fans feel this way, man. We really haven't gotten a whole lot out of this console cycle because of a lot of reasons because of, you know, greed and games getting canceled and the pandemic. But also games just take a lot longer to get made. And I was really worried about Blue Point specifically when that, when the news releases that the God of War live service game, which again, you know, why the would you want that? Why would you think that's like a solid idea but that gets canned along with a lot of the other sort of live service things that their live service push. Right. And then they, you know, grew a brain and then realized there's aren't enough humans on the planet to play all of these live service games. So they canceled that. The only shed of hope that I had for Blue Point because when that game gets canceled, it's like you don't just pivot immediately to something else.

[Blessing]

Sure.

[Andy Cortez]

Can't just go cool. Next game gets started and it's, it's a five year, six year cycle in some cases, some four times, four years at best. Right. But I had a little bit of hope that Blue Point would be all right. You're going to be support on other stuff for now until we find the next thing. Until we, until we hear the next pitch, until we put you on something else. And because they're, you know, you look at, you just read off their Wikipedia. They obviously have worked on support for a lot of different games.

[Blessing]

Yeah, they know what they do.

[Andy Cortez]

They're a talented studio and they, yeah, super talented devs. Very, very, very great technical. Know how you boot up Demon Souls now on PS5 and it still looks better than so many other games out there and it's just, it's such a bummer that it's another, another you know entry in the long list of we made the wrong decisions up top. But you're going to feel the consequences. We thought another live service push was a great idea. We up we're shutting down studios now. You are kind of being let go. Sorry about that. Good luck. Everybody's getting laid off. It's just like, you know, the consequences are only ever felt by the people making the magic.

[Blessing]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

100 Greg could you imagine back on PS11 when we would talk about these live service games all the time? Especially at the beginning of them talking about, oh, we have 10 life service games, 12 life service games and us trying to do the string theory of all right, what are these games going to be? Yeah, like would you ever have imagined us fast forwarding five years and it leading to the closure of Blue Point?

[Blessing]

Yeah, I mean like Blue Point. No, I guess that's the interesting thing about we never knew that they were

[Andy Cortez]

working on a live wouldn't have assumed

[Greg Miller]

that it was them that was working on the live service game.

[Blessing]

Yeah, exactly. It's the fact that PlayStation put it this far and kicked this far wrong. They were so wide right on this Easy move. Right May 27, 2022 this is Jenny over at GameSpot. Sony projects I'm sorry, no. Sony projects launching 12 live service games by 2025 Jim Ryan doubled down on Sony's commitment to increasing its service offerings in the coming years during the games and network service portions of Sony's 2022 business strengths briefings. As you can see in the slideshow below, Sony wants to double the number of live service games it operates in 2023 as compared to this year, going from 3 to 6 by 2024. It wants the number to reach 10, increasing even further to 12 in 2025. Keep in mind that Sony's graph refers to fiscal years. Fiscal year 2025 runs from April 2024 through March 2025, so it expects to achieve a goal of 12 live service games by that March. This isn't completely new info. During a Q3 call in February 2022, Ryan also stated Sony's intention to launch 10 live service games by 2026. Now it appears Sony's target has shifted to a few more live service games than the ones mentioned in February. Sony's always been known for its first party single player titles that are prestigious parentheses a nebulous term in gaming industry that differs depending on who you ask. But recent acquisitions and announcements indicate PlayStation's desire to diversify its business model. You talk about would we have seen it being Blue Point and no, right? Because you would have thought, felt expected that you would have said, I'm buying you, Andy. You make great fucking guitar music. You do so good with that. I am hiring. You know, this is real life. And thank you. I am hiring you and bringing you into. Kind of funny to make piano music like, what the fuck are you doing? No. What? Why? Why? Why? And again, this goes back to what we've talked about so many times with this, of course, is like, you have heard, we've heard that at PlayStation it is, hey, come pitch us your games. You know, first party decides now Herman back then Jim Ryan, where, you know, there's a conversation about what you want to make. Make what you want to make. Yeah, but when this shit's being said, right? When they're talking about the financials, when they're all chasing, you know, when this is happening, this movement, can we be Fortnite. Can we mimic this success of Destiny, then that is the earworm in everybody's fucking studio. Heads left and right being like, guys, we got to do a multiplayer something. Like, we like multiplayer enough, right? Everybody, why don't we branch out? Why don't we try. Why don't we go from what we know how to make. You make fucking guitar music, as I always use about kind of funny. We make fucking carburetors. Like, let these people make what they make and not just assume games is. But again, to your point, shake the crystal ball. We open up the portal. We go back there like, we're February 2026. Who do you think closes about this? And I'm like, fucking Haven. Is it Haven?

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, right, right, right.

[Blessing]

Media Molecule. They can't be long for this world, right? Yeah. Blue Point. The people that you are, PlayStation, you're fucking PlayStation.

[Greg Miller]

It's killing Greg from the inside out.

[Blessing]

You are PlayStation. You have this fucking library of classic old amazing games. Have them remake them. Like, what are we talking about?

[Greg Miller]

That's my thing. That's your carburetor comparison, right? Like, you know, we. We have talked about the statement from I believe it was out of Blue Point, saying that they wanted to make original content.

[Blessing]

Yeah, yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Demon souls. And I'm always been on the mind of like, hey, if that's what they want to do, hell yeah. Like, let's go for it. I'm excited to see what that is. But I'm also. I've also been of the mind of yo. I'm down to see. To keep seeing bluepoint remake games because nobody does it as good as them. Like they have this skill. I want to see you exercise this skill. And I mean to the same comparison you're making, Greg. Like, if you came in one day and was like, yeah, we need it. We need somebody to specialize TikTok. If we can find. If we can find more people at the company to, like, do TikTok, we could double your salary. We could do whatever, right? Like, it's not like you're making me or India or whoever do it, but it is like, did you say you double our salary? I'll try TikTok or whatever. And all of a sudden our podcasts are suffering because not enough of us are available to do this thing right. And then all of a sudden, it makes a problem because none of us know how to do that. Like, the easier thing would be to find somebody to specialize and actually do this thing. And I. The tough thing about all this is I don't. The vision of we want to do live service games, we want to have this library of live service games, I don't think is a bad vision inherently. I think there is a version of this plan that could have worked out. I think the execution from top to bottom has just been bad.

[Blessing]

Yes.

[Greg Miller]

And that's how we end up here, which is like, okay, yeah, well, green light. You know, we'll have. I forget the Concord Studio. Either Firewalk or Fire Sprite.

[Blessing]

One of those Fire Walk. Fire Sprite's still kicking because Aloy drinks.

[Andy Cortez]

Aloy drinks Sprite.

[Greg Miller]

Thank you. But Aloy doesn't walk up the mountain she was climbing in that one game.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, man.

[Greg Miller]

Damn it. But, you know, oh, we'll have Fire Walk do Concord. Oh, we'll have Haven Studio do these games. And you see the games and it's like, well, okay, you're having outside studios do this, which is good, but the games just don't look good. All right, cool. Now we'll have. What was it? The Horizon. Forbidden West. We'll have Gorilla do these multiplayer things. It's like, all right, but this looks completely different from Horizon. Like, are you speaking to the same audience? Okay, we'll have Naughty Dog will make a Last of Us online game, and then halfway through realize that they don't have the bandwidth to do an online game. And it's like, hey, whoa.

[Blessing]

If we do this, we're going to have to keep doing this.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, like, no one thought about that.

[Blessing]

No one thought about that. Every PlayStation when they green lit it.

[Greg Miller]

It's like if Dr. Strange was looking through all the timelines and, like, misunderstood every Timeline and was like, okay, yeah, we got to do this, this, and this. Hey, guys, there's a million different timelines and where we win, so we're good. It's like, no, you misinterpreted and misinterpreted this. Like, every single decision we made here, like, every scenario we look at is just not well thought. Doesn't feel well thought out.

[Blessing]

There's so much to talk about on this episode and run through one I want to toss out with Pontan in the live chat because this is a short one and easy one. Get. All right? He said, do we really need more remakes? And that's in the eye of the beholder. But again, you bought the remake fucking company. You have a war chest of IP that could use. And more importantly, which I'm about to get for the larger point here, you clearly are just trying to make money. Yeah, PlayStation wants to make money, understandably so. They're a publicly traded company, yada, yada yada. They've got bosses on top boss on top bosses. But like the live service push was, we're trying to make money. We want to make money off this. We want you. We want to be one of the four games you play nonstop. I don't know what this is. Bear's throwing it up. Max Nichols over on Blue sky says Reblue Point. Having a studio that is expert at remakes, working for a publisher with an insanely cheap backlog backlog of loved classics was always a recipe for printing money at a steady cadence. Leave them alone and print money forever. Little or no opportunity costs come the fuck on. Which is exactly right. It goes back to. Not that I'm the prognosticator of prognosticators, but on the Hot Takes episode, I've had so many devs behind the scenes reach out to me and be like, yo, I really agree with you and I think you nailed it with what's going to happen in this industry where I talked about it, is going to get so bad here soon. And clearly, here's another canary in the coal mine if we didn't already have a fucking mountain of dead canaries over there. But it's this idea that, like, the idea at PlayStation was that the profit we can make off of Blue Point remastering bloodborne remaster or remaking bloodborne remaking other games that we love from the siphon filter, whatever, you know, throw out whatever PlayStation dormant IP, that profit is so small compared to this huge profit we could make off of 12 live service games.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Blessing]

Completely fucking ignoring the fact that you've spent decades building an audience that loves that kind of game. A single player, prestige, experience that is character driven, whatever, you know what I mean? They would pay for that. That's guaranteed money. They wanted to spin the fucking wheel. They wanted to walk into Vegas and throw it all down on black. And that's why we're at where we're at right now. Something to toss in here for the discussion. I run a very successful show called Kind of Feuding. Wholly original, made it up myself. Credit to Steve Harvey. He did a lot of work too.

[Andy Cortez]

When I did my remaster of a remake.

[Blessing]

That's good. When I did my initial. Hey, I'm putting out the call. Here's what I need. I want to know what's going on with these questions, these answers, blah, blah. Two questions I put out I saw in a subreddit thread. They're like, they didn't know it was me yet. And like, damn. These kind of seem like mean questions. Like, I don't like those. And I was like, you know what? That's good advice. And I won't use those. I didn't do it. But for this, I'll bring it out where I asked 3,000 people in the Confederate audience.

[Greg Miller]

Let it out.

[Blessing]

What's the next PlayStation studio to close do you want to do? Would you guys like to play a very dark version of this game?

[Greg Miller]

Meta Molecule Bend.

[Blessing]

Okay. Ben was our number one answer. Congratulations, Media Molecule number three.

[Greg Miller]

Oh, Bungee.

[Blessing]

Number two was Bungee.

[Greg Miller]

Interesting.

[Blessing]

Number four, which should have been way higher since nobody knows what it is.

[Greg Miller]

Mixes.

[Blessing]

No, I want to play Fair Game. Oh, Haven Haven Studios was number four. Number five was Fire Sprite, the one we're talking about. Or ever. And then you get to people bullshit around. They put number six, Naughty Dog. Number seven, Blue Point motherfuckers voted Naughty Dog, Naughty Dog ahead of Blue Point Games.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Blessing]

Because again, to normal human beings, and I shouldn't go that far, us gamers, we exist in this space. You person watching or listening exist in that. Matt Piscatella, 16% that you fund the entire fucking industry because you buy more than two games a year. We look at this and go, what a no brainer. You have the best of the best. You put it so eloquently on kind of funny games Daily. Bless of like, I want more remakes from them. They shouldn't be afraid of that. They should be proud to be. If you are the best at making remakes, you are the best. Admit you are the best at something.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Blessing]

Do that. Make that we all are normal and understand who will buy what and go, yes, do that. And fucking Jim Ryan and PlayStation as a whole C suite was like, well, or if one of these 12 work out, we've got it made in the shape. What if they all fucking flounder out? It'll never happen. Yeah, never going to happen.

[Greg Miller]

I wish there was a camera on me when they announced the Shadow Colossus remake. And like, I think it was E3 2017. That was one. I believe I was in the theater for it because that's when they did the E3 theater experiences. And the way that I hollered in the theater, like, I never do that. But I was like, let's fucking go. Like, I couldn't believe it. That's so exciting. And the same with that. I'm sure the Demon Souls fans were super excited when they announced the Demon Souls remakes. Like, that shit means something into Demon. Hacker has a super chat here that says, didn't bluepoint not want to be a remake slash remaster studio? And so that one, I don't remember them saying that verbatim, but I would counter that with, do they want to be the God of war live Live service?

[Blessing]

Do they want to be unemployed? Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Do they not want to be a studio?

[Blessing]

Like, that's.

[Greg Miller]

That's the. Yeah, that is the third question. Right? I. I think there's a lot of pride in that. And I. And one of the hot takes I was going to bring, not to, like, disconnect from the conversation we're having here too much, but to the hot takes episode, one of the ones I was going to bring is that I could use more remakes and more ports, even if that, like, means, like, less new games. Because I've never. I. There's not been once in the last five years where I'm like, man, there's nothing to play. It's not. There's no new games. Like, I mean, I need some new games. Like, why don't people. Why aren't people making more new games? There are so many new. There's so many new games that it scares me because I look at new games like reluded and I'm like, man, it's such a fun game. Why isn't nobody talking about this game? And I feel like half the indies, half the games I see come out and I'm like, man, this is good. Nobody's talking about this because there's so many new games. I'm not saying that new game should stop. I'm not saying that, Like, I just say that to say that.

[Blessing]

We were talking about this yesterday on our avowed stream of just like, stop getting new games for a year. Just catch up. There's so much great shit we've never been able to play.

[Greg Miller]

And I say that all, all to say that I don't understand people complaining about remakes as much.

[Sponsor Voice]

Right.

[Greg Miller]

Like, sure. Is it ridiculous when Last of Us One gets remade or whatever? Sure. But also, who is it hurting?

[Blessing]

Right?

[Greg Miller]

Like, does that. Do you really think Intergalactic is going to take longer because they're putting out the Last of Us One remake? Like, I don't know.

[Andy Cortez]

I always, I always thought that the Last of Us stuff was such a, that was such an isolated thing because of the TV show.

[Blessing]

Like, we have a new console, we have a hit TV show. Let's get it to the main street.

[Andy Cortez]

You could look through the veil and just know, like, see behind the curtain and go, oh, that. Of course it's because it's all marketing for the TV show. So like, we haven't really seen that happen. Aside from that, like, we had the,

[Greg Miller]

well, there's the Horizon remake, which was also kind of like wild. The Horizon Zero dawn one that I think they called a remaster. But it was basically like, we're taking Horizon Zero dawn and making it look like Horizon Forbidden West.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, right. It was like the PS5 where they made the baby now look horrifying. Yes, Baby aloy.

[Blessing]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Never forget.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, that was a real one. I'm just in this weird spot with it right now because I, I, we look at Sony's catalog and obviously there's a lot of things that could have been done. And it all comes from just bad decisions made from, from up on high. But like, right now it's just like, I hope somebody like Konami goes, we want all of you God remake, Metal Gears. You know what I mean? Like, there's such an opportunity there and I think there's just so much talent within Blue Point when it comes to the engineering side of things. I think, you know, based on a couple reports, it seems like most of these remakes that they've done, Shadow of the Colossus or Demon Souls, took around 3ish years, which is like kind of a godsend in today's industry. You, you would, you would sign up any studio that could finish something in three years, right?

[Blessing]

Yeah, yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Whenever you're talking massive cycles. And now I'm just kind of worried about, you know, looking big picture when we hear about, like, I Wonder if all this sort of comes from Spider Man 2 and the budget. And we hear those crazy stories about how it's like what was it almost three times. It was like 300 something million to develop. Yeah, I wonder if that was. If they look at that as kind of like that's our turning point. That's where we go, we cannot ever spend this much on a game ever again. Or we have to be a lot smarter about development or we have to have like the gold, the, the money printer that you know, can constantly fund these things. Because I, I look at Spider man as being like, I like any person in the public, when you look at those numbers go, Whoa. Spider Man 1 was that much. And then Spider Man 2 was 300 million.

[Blessing]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

How, why? And a lot of, you know, outside determining factors Covid and things of that nature. But I really worry about and think about the future of these large massive AAA titles. And I feel like maybe Intergalactic is maybe the last one getting that leeway of budget. And I wonder from here on out if it's going to be yo, tighten up if it's 200 plus. Absolutely not. We have to scale back.

[Blessing]

This is back to what I was talking about in that gamescast hot take, right? Where it's like you have all these corporations who have bought up all these other companies and done all these different things right where they are to the point where you just can't put the genie back in the bottle. You as PlayStation can't turn around to Sony parent company and be like, hey, we're still investing 200, $300 million into these games but you're only getting the 1% return on investment. Everything's got to be double digit return on investment. And that's where you're seeing like we just can't do that anymore. And so that system, that culture, that corporate structure is fucked. And that's, that's, that's PlayStation and that's Xbox. And I think it's, you know, on down the line here of people who are just like Ubisoft, fuck ea, fuck like we needed to. We can't have a little success. We need major success. And when you don't get the major successes, you start seeing this shit where they have to kill the babies in the crib and they're never gonna get back. And so, so many different places to take this. Yeah, rambling gamescast. But one of the things I bring up is like what you and I have talked about where it's like, man, it feels like PlayStation's lost their identity. And man, what an example of it here where it's like, yeah, you know, again, like they stripped all the personality away from PlayStation where you felt like Adam Boys and Shu and whoever, Scott, Rody, they're all like, scott, Rhodey's still there, but he's not. He's never been front facing, I guess technically.

[Andy Cortez]

But it was quirkiness.

[Blessing]

It was the shoulder to shoulder. It was, these are the people making your games. This is what we're doing. And now it is just the walled city silo of like, we are PlayStation putting these things out and we're doing this. And clearly they're chasing profit. And again, you go into this and it's like, I'm, I'm, I am upset by this news. Obviously I don't know the inner workings of PlayStation at all. I wish no ill will on any developer, but I see this today and I go, what are you waiting for? I'm Jennifer Love Hewitt out there screaming, what are you waiting for? In the streets, right? Like you're gonna kill Haven Studios, period. I don't believe you will ever let Media Molecule make another game. Just do it today. Just take them all out, bring them all out in a row. Bam, bam, bam, bam. Here are five studios that are dead. They were out where we need to batten down the hatches. We're committed only to the biggest IPs in the biggest studios. Like, what are we waiting for? Why are you going to. Why is this going to be death by a thousand? Because you see all these great studios and people.

[Andy Cortez]

Are you selling 15 million plus, no later? Like, that's really kind of just what it seems like there is. There's just zero regard for the human element and not that there ever has been and not, right? It's different now, but it's just. But it felt evil and disgusting, you

[Blessing]

know, it felt like there was a time where it was. And I know, again, I'm talking about capitalism, talking about corporate green. I'm talking about the difference of being the young upstart versus your PlayStation fucking 5, right? You're the biggest thing going. But when you hear those stories of Ken Kutaraga, you hear about what PS1 was like, right now I'm like on such a Nintendo tear coming off of Kelsey's Animal Crossing book. I'm reading Keza's Nintendo Super Nintendo book right now, right? Super Nintendo is the book. It's about Nintendo as a whole, right? But hearing the creators and the stories and how they did this and what it meant, I had a really beautiful moment in my life that I'll never forget. We all know Bill Trinen, right? Nintendo bigwig over there, right? I've known Bill for years now, ever since we started kind of funny because I never got to talk to Nintendo people at ign. And then of course, when I started, when I started kind of funny whenever we ran into Bill the first time, Tim is like, that's Blue Trinity. He's a big deal. And like we've just been close friends ever since. And I know nothing about Bill other than he works at Nintendo and it's a big deal. Sure, whatever. I'm reading Kelsey's book and find out that like he is like the reason Animal Crossing came to the United States, where they got the N64 cartridge from Japan and all of Treehouse, I guess every day fought over who got there first to buy the thing. And Bill like walked back in one day and he's like, you guys have to bring this to America. You have to bring. And so like Dice Awards, Mario Kart won racing. And so backstage he was walking by, I grabbed him, gave him a hug, said, what's up? I was like, by the way, I turns out I have to thank you. And I got to thank him for doing that and bring. And it's like that kind of video game thing happens every fucking day. Every fucking day where somebody's out there fighting for a game and making it work. But it's like this is what we're seeing now. We're not seeing the creators, we're not. It's just business now. It's just business. And it's always been business in video games have always been this struggle between making art but making a profit. I get that.

[Andy Cortez]

But it doesn't seem like there's the other side of it.

[Blessing]

The scales got fucked. We got fucked. The scales got completely fucked. Where it is no longer about. I like if you if Kind of Funny published a video game. If we were like, we are making video games now, we would be operating on the tiniest of profit margins and be happy. We would want the games to be profitable, period. That's it. There would be no. It needs to be three times as successful as what? Like, that's the power of being an 11 person company, a small company. You know, the three founders who'd be worried about this operation. Like, but you get to where you are in this corporate world now where it's just, it doesn't make sense anymore. It's sad to see this happen. And then it's super sad to look here and be like, there's no way. There's no way this is the last one. Like, this is gonna get so much worse.

[Greg Miller]

I. The thing that I think about is the situation that led us here with bluepoint as far as them working on a God of War live service game since Demon Souls and for the last year, seemingly like being in this place of pitching, trying to figure out what the next thing is. And now we're talking about not a new game since for what, six years, nearly six years. I guess maybe a little bit over five years is. I'm thinking fall 2020 or whatever. But, you know, us being here with it and then them probably pitching the PlayStation of like, hey, if we make this next project, this probably take us, what, three more years, four more years. I think that's the only thing that makes me think of the Media Molecule of it all or even like the. Some of the other studios that we're really worried about and going. I think for Media Molecule, I'm like, well, hopefully they have something coming out and this is me with the most copium, right? Yeah, yeah, hopefully they have something coming out in the next couple of years and they're not just sitting on their hands like just, you know, working on something that's not that we're not going to see forever. Because then I'm like, oh, they're going to get shut down. But for Blue Point, I feel like they're put in such a weird position of, yeah, the thing that we're working on for four years got canceled and now, like, if we're going to put out another game is going to take us this many more years. Like, you know, I blame more of the live service game on that more so than even just like the identity of PlayStation, even though I agree with you that the identity of PlayStation overall has shit eroded.

[Blessing]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

And it has eroded. Right?

[Blessing]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

But, yeah, I think the live. I was talking about this on KHD that I think the live service aspect of this generation has done like just an unspeakable amount of damage to PlayStation first party in a way where, like, I look at that other timeline where that didn't happen and I can see the cars flying and I can see the utopia, the beautiful vistas, like the beautiful fucking skyscrapers or whatever. Right. Like, yeah, I. If I, if we were to like, do an exercise which would require prep so we don't need to do it and go through these studios and be like, all right, if none of these life service things happened, what would be the games that we got this Generation. I feel like it looked pretty fucking crazy as far as like the Blue Point games that would, that would have came out the fucking, you know, Ben Studio probably would have had a game out by now. Like I feel like I'm missing another first part.

[Blessing]

Well, no, but I mean, well, you're missing a lot, but that's to be expected with, you know, coming off. You're not wrong. Right. Where I think Ben Studio would have gone and done Days Gone too.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Blessing]

And I fully believe as someone who did not like Days Gone, it would have been fucking awesome. Because Days Gone for me, was it so far off the mark where I was like, I have no idea how you make this a good game. I'm like, no, you trim a lot of hours off of it. You break this, you know, both of that. Change the care, give me a character I care about. Like Days Gone two would have been awesome. And you've seen that through nearly every other PlayStation generation.

[Greg Miller]

Oh yeah.

[Blessing]

Where it's like, guess what? You can make a game that isn't great, but then you can iterate on it and get better. Better.

[Greg Miller]

If Naughty Dog wasn't wasting time on Last of Us Online, what would that have looked like as far as us getting either Last of Us 3 or Uncharted 5 or something.

[Blessing]

Right.

[Greg Miller]

Even if it was another Uncharted Lost Legacy style, like not even a big game, but something that is more contained hours wise. Right. Like I think we would have gotten a lot more of those. And like again, I'm all for the exploration, I'm all for trying out and seeing like, you know, I'm curious to see what this Horizon Hunters Gathering game for sure is like. But when that's an initiative across all your studios and you're doing these things and we're now at this place where this very talented studio that is known for doing one thing, tried the other thing and now it's like, well, you tried and you failed and we don't have the space for you to try for four more years to get to get back to who you were. Like, you're done. It's like we're just wasting resources to waste resources now.

[Blessing]

Honestly, I feel so much to your point of I'm all for exploration, right?

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Blessing]

I'm all for organic exploration.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Blessing]

I feel like none of. And I shouldn't. I'm painting with a broad brush. So I don't mean to offend anybody who out there who knows more information on the inside or if you're working on these games or not. I just don't feel like this was organic. I don't feel this was Naughty Dog being like, people fucking loved factions. Guys, what if we did a fucking multiplayer? Oh, that'll be about. Oh, I didn't even think about Battle Pass. You know what I mean? Like, I didn't think about monetization.

[Andy Cortez]

And that's exactly where I was gonna take the conversation next is I, I want more information to come out. I, I hope that we start to get more.

[Blessing]

Oh, Jason's at work.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah. Because I feel in my heart of hearts that Blue Point that the God of War Live service game was never going to be bluepoint's next game. That just reeks of pivot. That reeks of. Oh, you're a year in development on pre production on this. Whatever project, this one original IP you're working on. Like they had mentioned at one point in time where bluepoint said we're working on an original ip. You're a year into that. Nope, sorry. All the other studios are moving over. You're working now on, I don't know, pick an IP and make a live service of it. Like pitch us some multiplayer ips. I just, I, I guarantee you that they were doing something else completely until the pivot started. You know, it hasn't been that God of War got canceled immediately because they went directly into development on God of War multiplayer. That was probably like based on, you know, the Jason Schreier article saying that the God of War Live service game gets canceled a couple years into development. This is in 2025. And you know, obviously after all the Concord Kerfuffle and Demon Souls was done in 2020 and then they put out some patches in 2021. They were working on other shit. They were doing something else most likely. And that sucks. That, that will like that's another thing that just gets sort of thrown away. The rest we need you to go to work on. We need you to work on this next thing that's also going to get canceled. Sucks.

[Blessing]

It does suck. But what doesn't suck is you supporting us with the Kinda Funny membership. You can pick it up on patreon.com kinda funny, YouTube.com kindafunnygames, Apple or Spotify. Of course you get all of our shows ad free. You'd get your daily dose of me, Greg Miller in a series I call Greg Way, which today is a one on one with me and Ben. Oh, I mic'd him up and everything. His report from the Nintendo Store. He got to go in an hour before opening today.

[Andy Cortez]

Wow.

[Blessing]

We'll tell you all about it. And of course you get good karma for supporting 11 persons 11 year old small business. But right now you're not using your benefits. So here's a word from our sponsors. This episode is brought to you by boot.dev. ready to learn a new skill and become a software developer? Kevin is and that's why he's been using boot.dev to learn to code.

[Greg Miller]

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

[Blessing]

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[Blessing]

Of course you can be part of this funeral procession by super chatting on YouTube.com kindafunnygames While we're live, I have a whole bunch in here that we can get through. Some most so far the top are just not just people venting, Not Calvin Perez says, throwing my PS5 in the trash to save Sony the trouble. I don't know if it's that bad, but all right, we'll see about that. One Peaceful Warhead says, not only am I disappointed, but I'm now worried for their other great studios like Media Molecule. Farewell Blue Point. I do want Wonder Man.

[Greg Miller]

I just need Media Molecule to put out something because that's like kind of. I know we talk about Xbox all the time with Double Fine and like, my saving grace with them is I'm like, all right, they put out a game last fall. They're putting out another game in the spring. Like, at least they're doing something.

[Blessing]

Yeah, they're doing.

[Greg Miller]

Media Molecule is just silent. I'm like, man, do something. Like, I'm poking it with a stick. I'm like, please move. I need a sign of life.

[Blessing]

Tundra Boy says, I fear this isn't the last PlayStation closure of the year. I agree 100%. Onimus prime says if PlayStation would have failed this hard back in 2013, maybe they'd be Xboxing it right now. But the sad truth is this shit won't matter and no fuck ups will negatively affect them in the public eye now. Well, that's an interesting one. The public eye. Sure, people are still buying consoles and doing the thing. And again, you use the doctor Strange analogy and you use it well, but for me it's the one of the Imagine if RAM wasn't fucking gone right now. Imagine if tariffs weren't fucking everything. Like, what if it was?

[Andy Cortez]

Like, aren't you talking about the memory loss?

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, memory loss is what we're calling it now. Memory loss. Yeah, the Ramageddon, it's called. That's good.

[Blessing]

I like that too. I like that too. You guys are on it. You do deserve pizza today.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. You hear that?

[Blessing]

You hear that, Pizza Hut?

[Andy Cortez]

Don't turn around.

[Greg Miller]

Wow you.

[Blessing]

I wonder what? What? Because yeah, it's like if we were coming up on another console generation in the normal way. What would that look like in terms of the general consumer if Valve was able to put out their fucking Steambox and be like, yo, this thing does all that, but also has all these other games, does that matter? Like, I don't think people are ready to abandon consoles. Don't get me wrong, obviously it's been incredibly successful generation twice now for consoles where this is happening. But like, I don't know, man. Like I. The public eye is one thing, it's. It is gamers pushing the other way though. Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Oh no. Nobody gives a.

[Blessing]

Like this freeze frame of an edge to edge cheese and toppings.

[Greg Miller]

I feel like if I'm watching a video from our channel with our channel's account, I shouldn't get the ad.

[Blessing]

I hate that YouTube, you know about.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, that said, that is looking pretty good though.

[Blessing]

I mean, come on.

[Andy Cortez]

That looks pretty good.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, yeah, they can show. Come on.

[Andy Cortez]

Damn. Let me get that.

[Blessing]

That does look good. Come on, come on.

[Andy Cortez]

Who's the ad for?

[Greg Miller]

Papa John's. I do like Papa John's.

[Andy Cortez]

Wait, Papa.

[Greg Miller]

I mean, not the man I don't like. Papa John's the guy.

[Andy Cortez]

Papa John Schnatter Reckoning is coming. I mean, kill me 31 days in a row. Remember when he said he was proud of himself for not saying the N word so much?

[Blessing]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Which is where turned it around.

[Greg Miller]

Which is where I come back around to the public hearing. Or not. Like we still eat Papa John's, right?

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah. Well, he's not a part of it.

[Blessing]

He's gone now. He's gone.

[Greg Miller]

Oh, he's gone.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Oh, well that ruins my point. No, Yeah, I say that to say that public doesn't care about shit. Yeah, public. The public perception doesn't even know that blue point.

[Blessing]

Yeah. And again though, that's like the thing about it where it's like so hard to be dealing with both a hardware company and then a software and then a game publisher because it is still like not to. I mean, it's the best console to play on, right. Like this is negligible and arguable. But what? Come on, Switch can't do a PlayStation 5 does. Even though Switch is great.

[Greg Miller]

I don't see Mario on PlayStation 5. Even though you're slander him.

[Blessing]

Overrated.

[Greg Miller]

You know, Damn.

[Blessing]

Xbox itself, as we talk about all the time, is lost in the woods, right? With this, everything's in Xbox. But then we're putting out a premium console. But then we're doing this thing like that message hasn't caught the way. It needs To. So again, I always drop to. If Poe and his son didn't already have PS5s and they were like, what should I buy to tell you to buy a PS5, right. In terms of not, oh, we'll go get this gaming PC over here, but be ready for this problem. And then you got it. Like that's not what they want. They want a plug and play solution that plays the best games.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Blessing]

And again, PlayStation, to my point, to a degree of losing its identity and becoming, I think more neutral than ever, is the idea that, that even when I recommend a PlayStation, I'm not even necessarily recommending the first party slate of games. No, it is the fact that it's got everything Xbox is publishing on it now. So what are we talking about?

[Greg Miller]

This goes back to the thing that I've said before where like I, I don't understand the idea of video games suck. Now if you're not somebody who doesn't like, pay super attention to video game news and things, right? Like that. If you're somebody who just happens to play video games, you're in the best time to play video games. Because 10 out of 10s are coming out left and right on any given year. Like look at the, the top 10 lists from last year. You cannot tell me that video games are bad. Now if you pay attention, you read the news and like you're like us, right? And you see the blue point, then I, then I get it. But to the average person, if they come to me and they're like, should I get a PlayStation? I'm like, hell yeah, dude, yeah. Like even if there are no exclusives, I'd be like, yo, get a PlayStation. Play these third party games. Yeah, they're just fantastic video games.

[Blessing]

Madar comes in and says, so Sony Bend is screwed, right? I again imagine a lot of these people are screwed. Sadly, sadly, most importantly, Dexter writes in and says infuriating news. My heart goes out to all the developers at blue point. Sony PlayStation didn't even give them the chance. Massive fuck up answers needed.

[Andy Cortez]

Like it's crazy just talking about and thinking about what a loss of output, what a waste of time for these people's lives. Yeah, this has been four years of nothing. Four years where they don't get to see anything that they've worked on and poured their heart and souls into go out into the world.

[Greg Miller]

Like you can't put that on your resume, dude.

[Andy Cortez]

It's just like, and not even just resume stuff, it's like, like personal accomplishment and pride. If you are a blue Point worker, please reach out to. To me or us. I would love to just hear, like, what? Like, how are you feeling right now? Because this is like something that you give such a about. You are so talented and this is like a massive part of your identity. You're damn good at making games. And then for the last four years, you have just essentially wasted life like that. What a tragedy, man. It's just at a point, you just got to wonder, okay, hey, executives, how much enough. Can we put a cap on something? Like, can we the constant strive for just more and more. It's just. It's so gross, dude.

[Blessing]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

And I feel like I've been saying, we've been saying this for the last five years or so, but it's just. It never gets less gross.

[Blessing]

Kobe has a question that I think is interesting that we haven't jumped into. What does this say for a studio like Housemark? They make critically acclaimed games, but they do not sell as well as other Sony IPs. Is everything doom and gloom now if Sorrows doesn't hit.

[Andy Cortez]

I think it all depends on the budget and how many resources. How many sunk resources are in there. Like, I think if, if, if Sorrows comes out and sells 5 million, but we hear reports that the budget was way higher than Returnal, then I'd get worried.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, I just don't think they're comparable. Like, I think the overall idea, right. Of like, nobody's safe. I. I'm with that is true. Like, I look at. In a post tango gameworks world, even if you put out a success outrageous. It doesn't say anything about you. I still, I do still think the key difference is that house market is putting out two games in the last concert generation where. Or in the last, like, let's say five years. Whereas Blue Point put out like one remake. Right. And like, I think it's a tough thing where I think this scenario that Blue Point landed in because of, you know, okay, well, our God of War thing got canceled. Okay, well, now we're pitching new things. And now like, how long is it before we release our next game? Probably plays a bigger portion as far as why PlayStation looks at them and goes, yeah, we can't do it.

[Andy Cortez]

I think it's all just a matter of luck because I think like you, I always love doing the Doctor Strange thing. And any old and any other multiverse. It was how smart getting the. All right, you're gonna work on a live service game. Oh, yeah, you're getting the live service game thing. Blue Point, you're gonna, you know, work on something else. And like I said earlier in the show, I would have thought that bluepoint still would have been safe. Much like, not that it's a good situation or whatever, but whenever we hear about all the studios under Xbox going, all right, well, now you're just a Call of Duty support thing. I was hoping they'd still be employed in some ways and still be putting to work. Hey, you're working on this section of the our game. You're working on maps for whatever. It's just like, no, you're just being cut off completely. And that's. That's so wild to me.

[Blessing]

I'm not sure if it's one of us or if it's Barrett, but on the doc now there's a Herman statement. Scroll down to see the official response. I can't find it. Can we. Can you direct link it or pop it on the screen? I'm scrolling, but I don't see it. It's not a Reset era thing. Okay, here we go. We're reading from Reset Era where they claim. I'm not trying to. I just don't know if it's verified. Herman Hulse, CEO Studio Business hello, everyone. So is this an email that we think that went out to everybody. I wanted to share an important update from the studio business. As I mentioned in the December Town Hall, 2025 had some strong highlights within PlayStation Studios. Ghost of Yotei launched a critical and commercial Success. Death Stranding 2 On the beach further showcased our commitment to narrative excellence. And Helldivers 2 and MLB the Show continue to drive ongoing player engagement and revenue. At the same time, we're operating in an increasingly challenging industry environment. Rising development costs slowed industry growth, changing player behavior and broader economic headwinds. God, I hate that fucking term. Are making it harder to build games sustainably to navigate this reality.

[Greg Miller]

No, that's not true. You're saying that to your video games team. Crazy.

[Blessing]

To navigate this reality, we need to continue adapting and evolving. We've taken a close look at our business to ensure we're delivering today

[Andy Cortez]

while

[Blessing]

we're still well positioned for the future. I see where he's going. Sorry. As a result, we'll be closing bluepoint Games in March. This decision was not made lightly. Bluepoint is an incredibly talented team, and their technical expertise has delivered exceptional experiences for the PlayStation community. I want to thank everyone at Bluepoint for their creativity, craftsmanship, and commitment to quality. Where possible, we will work to find opportunities for some impacted employees within our global network of studios. While I know this is hard news to hear, I'm confident in the direction we're headed. Creativity, innovation and building are unforgettable experiences for players. Remain at the heart of PlayStation Studios. We have a robust roadmap for fiscal year 26, with much to look forward to in the months ahead. Thank you for your hard work and continued support. Best Hermit Holst.

[Andy Cortez]

And by the way, if you can make Last of Us Part four really cheap, let us know. Like, man, it's just. That's a tough thing to read if you're an employee. Yeah, I don't give a fuck about your economic headwinds.

[Blessing]

It's not. And that's the thing about it too. Where back to my overall point. The genie's out of the bottle. You got to be a corporate. Is it your corporation now? Your corporate is. Fuck. Like that entire first paragraph. So insulting. Like, don't recap all of our wins when we're about to talk about losing 70 of our friends. Yeah, and not even that. Like, even if I don't know these people. 70 of our peers. Yeah, that. Then make me fear for my job.

[Greg Miller]

70 people that are nobody. That. That could be me.

[Blessing]

People are fucking reading that at Haven and they're not like, oh, this is great news. Yeah. They're like, okay, so it's February 19th. Now we just got to make it till March 31st when the corporate earnings in the fiscal year ends, and then we're safe, knock on wood, for another quarter. Another two quarters.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, that's. I mean, it's no different than the Xbox layoffs happening and then the very next games, you know, Showcase or whatever that Xbox is doing. Phil Spencer was up there going, game Pass is more popular than ever. It's like, fuck, man, it.

[Blessing]

It.

[Andy Cortez]

Everything is just so diametrically. You're telling us about our successes while also telling us, hey, 70 really talented people. And by the way, that could be. You are good. Just straight up.

[Greg Miller]

You're safe this time.

[Blessing]

Yeah, it's the Hunger Games.

[Greg Miller]

You're lucky you didn't get to fuck around.

[Blessing]

Yeah, around and find out you don't get a good skin in a game.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah. You asked for a raise. Absolutely not.

[Blessing]

Maximini says, how in the world does Blue Point get shut down before Haven PlayStation make record profits, but it couldn't give 70 person studio second chance again, I hate comparing apples to apples, studio to studio. We're not there. We don't know. The thought would be that, of course this God of War thing is what they were working on and Then canceled because they realized nobody wants that, that won't be good. And you figure they weren't as far along as where they are with Fair Games. Theoretically, it doesn't cost as much as Fair Games. Again, what we talk about, you know, is not me because I'm an idiot, but when you talk about business, you talk about sunk costs, you talk about point of no return. I think it's that idea. When you look at canceling God of War, spinning up another game at Bluepoint, I'm talking out my ass. I don't know for sure. But you look at how much more money it would cost before you start seeing a return on that investment and you go, not worth it. Kill it. Whereas theoretically with Haven Studio could be Fair Games. Man, I don't know if the market wants it. I don't know. But we are so close to the finish line on it. Yeah, maybe it is a fall game, a summer game or whatever. Maybe it's early next year. But it's like we've put so much money into it. We're. Our projections show that if we put it out, we will make a little bit of money off of it and then we will close that team, then we will close that studio. Unless it's a huge success. What do you got for me?

[Greg Miller]

No, I'm just trying to find the quote because somewhere it was said that they spent the last year just pitching or like working on whatever the next thing was going to be from Blue Point. But I was trying to find the exact wording for it. But I think that's. That's again where I sit on it, which is like you're starting from ground zero as Blue Point games here.

[Blessing]

Yeah. Bloomberg previously reported, but it was canceled in January 2025. PlayStation said at the time it was working with Bluepoint to determine the studio's next project.

[Greg Miller]

Gotcha.

[Blessing]

So theoretically, since January 2025, they've been trying to figure out where pitching Pre Pro, I don't know. And then you got 70 people going.

[Greg Miller]

So I think that's just the key difference.

[Blessing]

I was trying. I was. We were hoping we'd be helping out the Last of Us multiplayer project, but that's.

[Andy Cortez]

It cuts to the meeting room and its Blue Point being they're like, we don't want to make another fucking Horizon side project. Like, enough with Horizon man.

[Greg Miller]

We want a Horizon 2.

[Andy Cortez]

Metroidvania, please stop.

[Blessing]

This could be it. This could be the one. Yeah, let me get some more in here. Okay. Greasy Grover. Disgusting. Tells us a lot about PlayStation stewardship. Of studios. If they encourage risky strategies like games as a service, they should catch their

[Greg Miller]

talent when they fall 100%. 100%.

[Blessing]

Yeah. I understand that this was Jim Ryan's push to the board or whatever. He moved on. Herman came in that. You can't fucking do this to people. You can't give them marching orders and say live service games are the future. There's what. That's what we'd really like to see you guys do. And they go, oh, fuck. Okay, roll up your sleeves, everybody. We're going to pivot. We're going to do this. We're going to. And then when that rug gets pulled out, just let them all fucking fall away like this. But again, that would be having a responsibility to your employees rather than the shareholders. And that's not where we're at with corporate America slash corporate video games at this time.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, it's so just. It's so void of humanity, man.

[Blessing]

In that vein, El Captain says so many are complete assholes for this. I understand the live service lure and, and I don't hate every live service. They announce just for existing, but fuck them for this. Exactly. I am. Donovan says I am the opposite. I detest remakes. They do nothing. For Me personally, I'm 52 and probably only play at tops 15 games a year, but that's just me.

[Greg Miller]

I mean, I detest olives, but I don't go, yeah, we got to stop making the olives.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, just don't.

[Greg Miller]

I just don't eat olives.

[Blessing]

Yeah, sorry about that. Okay, zombies. A Keegan says this is some peepee poo poo poo poo kaka. Buying resident Evil on PC instead of PlayStation. PlayStation 5. Now, as my teeny tiny act of protest, don't forget it's on Switch as well. Blessing says it runs well.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, previewed it.

[Blessing]

Let me see if there's anything new in here. Let's end my final super chat because we could be at this all day. SG17 says baffling. Sony had a heritage of multiplayer games and the only well they drew from was Helldivers Kill Zone. No Warhawk? No socom. No Resistance. No.

[Andy Cortez]

No.

[Greg Miller]

And I still don't give them the Helldivers win.

[Blessing]

I don't.

[Greg Miller]

I think they. They accidentally tripped into that. I think the Helldivers, whether or not there was a live service push, I think Helldivers 2 would have came out and still have been exactly what it was, and it would have been fantastic. But like, I think when you look at the live service push, I think every Deliberate decision they made in the live service push has been a failure.

[Blessing]

Did I ever tell you my off the record story about Helldivers 2?

[Greg Miller]

I don't know.

[Blessing]

I'll tell you something. Okay, remind me after this.

[Andy Cortez]

I thought you were just going to do it now.

[Blessing]

Nah, I don't want to do it.

[Greg Miller]

Tell the streets.

[Blessing]

The streets don't even know that one just yet.

[Andy Cortez]

I mean if anything the PS, the PSN login thing for hel hours 2 like seems like they just, they only did stuff to maybe hurt it.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, honestly like the more PlayStation did things, the more they're like ah, we're this up.

[Blessing]

Gentlemen, final thoughts.

[Greg Miller]

I, I guess it's more of a final question, right? I know, sure. I love that because we started off talking a lot about like the remake aspect of it, but one of the things that I wanted to ask that we didn't get around to was like the profitability of remakes, you know, like, like I Will Hail Demon Souls and Shadow Colossus as like excellent, excellent projects that take BluePoint up to being the remake goats. Right. Like I put them that, that high up in regard. How much did those sell is what I'm curious about. Right. Like is this a thing where PlayStation looks at them and they're just like hey like we love what you do but like these are post working on this God of War thing. If you're going to do a remake next, like that might not be profitable for enough for us. Like I, I, I'm really curious on like what those numbers look like if we have them available. I don't know if you're googling them,

[Andy Cortez]

but I think that's also, I was

[Blessing]

listening, I think I was enjoying the podcast.

[Greg Miller]

I was just like I, I just,

[Andy Cortez]

I, I think that's an IP thing. I don't know like if, if bluepoint put out their own brand new IP and it came out and didn't sell great that but like that was them just making existing stuff that you know, I don't really know if you could look at Blue Point and say well these didn't sell too great.

[Blessing]

Well it's like well you can't make hits.

[Andy Cortez]

Those are our, those are just remakes. Like those are games that, you know, I think that comes down more to like dupe. Is there like is the temperature up right now for something like a Demon Souls game or whatever? Which I think that right now if you're doing anything attached to from software, there's probably the temperatures up. There's probably one game in your library that you could maybe get going.

[Greg Miller]

Bloodborne Remake would be such guaranteed sales and like Bloodborne would be. This feels like such a easy 15

[Andy Cortez]

to 20 million I guess shocks me.

[Greg Miller]

It shocks me that like you move to shutting down the studio before you're like, I feel like the final lever should be, all right, let's just give you Bloodborne Remake. Yeah, make us 10 million sales right now.

[Andy Cortez]

Let's. Let's maybe risk the possibility of pissing off relationship with Miyazaki and from software, you know, ask for permission later. You know, whatever that fucking saying is. Yeah, ask forgiveness later.

[Greg Miller]

Don't ask permission. Ask forgiveness.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, that whole thing. Yeah, it's just like, what are we doing, man?

[Greg Miller]

Let's do it.

[Blessing]

What's PlayStation doing? That's the real question. We will continue to monitor what PlayStation is doing here on the kind of funny Gamescast and of course on Kinda Funny Games daily, your daily video game podcast. The number one and number two daily video game podcast in the world. Of course, our programming day starts at 10am live on Twitch TV, kind of funnygames, YouTube.com, and then of course podcast services around the globe. We are all about live talk shows here at Kinda Funny. So the day's far from over. You're getting the kind of funny podcast next, followed by party mode. So a big day of content.

[Andy Cortez]

Andy, Super Battle Golf. I'm excited for that.

[Blessing]

Can't wait. Everybody hang in there. It's gonna get worse before it ever gets better. But as long as you keep supporting us with your kind of funny memberships. Patreon.com kinda funny YouTube.com kindafunnygames Apple Spotify, we'll be here for you. Until next time, it's been our pleasure to serve you.

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[Blessing]

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[Andy Cortez]

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[Greg Miller]

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[Blessing]

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