GameHounds

So much news, but really... it's all about that Battlefield 6 reveal, right?

Good lord. Where do we start? Microsoft? Ubisoft? Nintendo? Subnautica? King Games? You can't throw a laid off developer without hitting a new sh*tshow.

Nick wanted to call this show "Slow News Week." Yeah, we wish. Microsoft slashes XBox division, closes studios, and sh*tcans dozens of games. What the hell is going on?????

There's just not a lot of good news this week. Maybe it's because it's a week after all the glitzy announcements, but yeah... bad week for gaming.

We're back. And the title? Edie asked Nick what to name the show. This is what he said. We round up what happened at the various live stream events this week (that are absolutely not E3), plus we argue about more things than two friends ought to.

Good lord, will someone just slap the president of EA. Better yet, just slap the whole board of directors. Black Panther scuttled, studio shuttered. Do these people even know what they're doing? Oh that's right: Nestling up to the teat of shareholders. That tracks. Also, Nightreign doing well despite mixed reviews, GeoGuessr dev revolt does the trick, and Atlas learns the hard way to not piss off...

Well, we can now officially retire the banner. The Microsoft-Activision Shitshow has finally ended, and Microsoft can now officially rake in all that sweet, sweet cash with no chance of retribution. Also, Lego officially get the "Asshole of the Year" award.

For the fourth... yes, FOURTH... time now, Bungie has been caught red-handed stealing art for their games. Why does this keep happening? Well, apparently, it's an ex-employee, or so we're supposed to believe. Meanwhile, Fortnight's Darth Vadar chatbot is going about as well as you might expect, Warner Bros' gaming revenue is going EXACTLY as badly as we expected, and Kojima announces a world start...

Beyond the fact that every publisher is now scrambling to fill the September date Rockstar just abandoned, investors are losing their shit, and the GTA subreddit gets locked down. Everybody, kiss your children and your spouses and pray we all survive!

SPECIAL GUEST: HOLY GOALIE with a review of the Oblivion Remake -- from a self-admitted Skyrim fanboy who HATED Oblivion the first time around. Good lord. The only thing as UNsurprising as the Oblivion Remake becoming a total juggernaut for gaming this month is how badly Blizzard's former chief is so INCREDIBLY out of touch with gaming! Oblivion Remake wasn't going to be a BIG DEAL?!?! WHAAAATTT??...

Edie goes away for a couple of weeks and the whole gaming world loses its damn mind! Nintendo delays the Switch 2 preorders in the USA because... tariffs. Then it cancels some preorders because... tariffs. And then they change prices on peripherals because of... you guessed it! Tariffs! This whole world-trade chaos is wrecking havoc on the game industry, and it looks to not be stopping anytime soo...

Yes, Edie's beau was one of the unlucky 17. She has no insight, and she doesn't want to, but we will talk about those layoffs, what it's like to be part of a video game layoff (from the inside), and of course all the other news, including how, after their former c-suite buddies (literally) screwed their young, female employees, the Guilmonster family is now screwing over all their stockholders.

Is this really a thing about to happen? And do you really want their shitty Copilot AI in your game? Well, buckle up, buttercup, because it seems like you're getting em. Also... Edie gets walked in on.

There's quite the story about why we were unceremoniously dark last week. Edie shares it. Also, we talk more developers without jobs and WB cancelling games, closing studios, and locking the best new game mechanic in decades in a safe so no one can use it.

Thanks Corey Wallace for the title name. Because it's sad, it's bullshit, and it's MS's Nutella or whatever his name is.

We're back from a week off, and while we were gone so much fell apart, turned off, had service interruptions, and generally fell apart. We talk about it.

The only thing bleaker about Bioware's future is Bioware's present. Layoffs, "repurposings," departures... it's all leading up to nothing good for the legendary RPG studios. Also, we're preparing for Kingdom Come Deliverance 2.

Good advice for everyone. This week, Edie and Nick get very deep in the weeds about the future of gaming and how the United States is on the precipice of irrelevancy. Agree? Disagree? Tell us in the comments!

We've been away for two weeks and we have a LOT to catch up on. Assassin's Creed is delayed (again), Activision Blizzard is being sued (again), and a bunch of screen adaptations are delayed or cancelled, some due to the terrible, horrible fires in LA. We have lots more to talk about! We missed you!

It's the last show of 2024 (probably) and it's Edie's birthday, so we're reviewing our predictions (both right and wrong) and the biggest news items of 2024. What surprised us? What did we see coming? How is the video game industry different in December than it was in January? And what do we think will happen in 2025 and beyond? Let's get fast and loose with the facts and shoot the breeze together...

Wow. I mean. I'm not sure if they are TRYING to go out of business, but Ubisoft continues to flail, and it seems Tencent is very much noticing. How the mighty have fallen. Oh, and Nick's back from Spain and Edie's been playing Diablo 4. We review both.

It's our last show of the month! Nick is off to sunbathe nekkid on a beach in Spain, drunk on dubstep and sangria. Or something like that. We fill you in on the latest before he goes, including Zenimax workers on strike!

Nick is about to bug out for sunny Spain. And we have news to talk about before he goes. TakeTwo officially announces a release window for GTA6, the PS5 Pro is NOT a mistake (really!), and if you're pissed off about that PSN account requirement to play that game you love, well... suck it up, buttercup.

So, we have something to say about this Xbox "streaming" bundle. Also, big name jumps from the Wolverine ship and lands on Perfect Dark island.

Call of Duty Black Ops 6 launched this week, and for the first time, it's available day one on GamePass. This is a huge, all-in bet for Phil Spencer and Friends. Will it pay off? Let's discuss. Also... BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL 2 IS NOT DEAD!