Spawn On Me with Kahlief Adams: A Video Game Podcast

It's Day 3 of Summer Game Fest 2026, and I sat down with content creator Cam Hawkins to break down the best games of the show. We get into Cam's game of the show — Phantom Blade Zero and its razor-sharp parry combat — a stunning hands-off Onimusha demo (and how the two release just a month apart), the absolutely stacked fall release calendar around GTA VI, the Resident Evil Code Veronica remake, a...

I got to sit down with Sean Krankel — GM of Narrative Games at Netflix and the co-founder of Night School Studio — to talk about *Unhinged*, the new immersive horror experience that drops June 30 and uses your actual phone as the controller. This one hit me hard as a horror fan, and after playing it, I had questions — and Sean had all the answers. We go deep on how Night School made the move to Ne...

On episode 585 of the Spawn On Me podcast, Kahlief Adams is joined by content creator Cam Hawkins for a full post-Summer Game Fest 2026 debrief — the games that flew under the radar, and a candid conversation about where the industry is heading. We dig into the overlooked games of the show — Erosion (an open-world roguelike with a wild mechanic where dyingages your kidnapped daughter), Valor Morti...

At Summer Game Fest 2026 I got a first look at Saw: Genesis — and it's Bloober Team's first-ever multiplayer game. It's a 3v1 asymmetrical horror game set just after World War I: one Judge (a brand-new villain, not Jigsaw) traps three Accused players in escape-room-style torture chambers. There's a constant co-op push-and-pull, brutal sacrifice mechanics — lose an eyeball, a hand,...

At Summer Game Fest 2026 I stopped by Saber Interactive's booth and went hands-on with a stacked lineup — and it might be the most fun I had on the floor. First up, Hellraiser — gory, gritty, and exactly what horror fans want. Then Stuntman, a genuinely fun revival of the classic arcade stunt-driving game with big set-piece energy(think Knight Rider and Back to the Future). And Turok is back,...

At Summer Game Fest 2026 I caught up with Fallout 76's John Rush (Creative Director) and Bill LaCoste (Production Director) to talk about where the game is now — and thelong-requested feature that's finally coming. We get into the boom the Fallout TV show created (bringing new and lapsed players back to a game that's had 68 ee updates), Fallout becoming a full-on cultural phenomenon, t...

Day 2 of Summer Game Fest 2026 was all about Xbox — and I got behind closed doors. In this recap I break down the Xbox showcase and the hands-off demos, including the game that stole the show for me: Fable. Playground Games' Fable looks staggering — 1,000 individually crafted NPCs with their own motivations, deep reputation and relationship systems, and a lived-in world unlike anything I'v...

At Summer Game Fest 2026 I went hands-on with Annapurna's lineup, and there's a lot to be excited about — starting with my most anticipated of the show, Silent Hill: Townfall. Townfall makes a bold move from third-person to first-person horror on Unreal Engine 5, with one-to-one scale, a CRT-style signal device, and a no-HUD design where your character's thoughts surface as on-screen t...

At Summer Game Fest 2026, I sat down with Véronique Lallier, Chief Development Officer at IO Interactive, to talk about the explosive launch of 007 First Light — 2.7 million copies sold in its first week — and what's next for both James Bond and Hitman. We get into the 7-year journey to build the new 007, why First Light plays nothing like Hitman, reimagining Bond for a new generation while st...

At Summer Game Fest 2026 I got about 90 minutes hands-on with Control: Resonant — Remedy's return to the Control universe —, and I'm hyped. The big shift: it moves from gunplay to fast, melee-focused combat with real weapon variety, DMC-style combos and combo-enders, and traversal that feels great as you move through Remedy's eerie, atmospheric spaces. The enemies are no pushovers, the...

At Summer Game Fest 2026, I sat down with IO Interactive's Matias (Principal Level Designer) and Hilde Sunde (Lead Environment Artist) to break down 007 First Light — the new James Bond game from the studio behind Hitman. We get into how IOI reimagined Bond for a new era, why First Light plays nothing like Hitman, the ammo-scarce combat that forces you to keep moving, the eavesdrop spy mechani...

This week on Spawn On Me, I land an exclusive sit-down with the team behind NBA The Run , the upcoming 3v3 arcade basketball game from Play by Play Studios. If you've been waiting for a true spiritual successor to NBA Street since EA Sports BIG went quiet, you're going to want to hear this one. I talk with the team about how a small, passionate studio went from building a fictional streetb...

I sit down with Casey Baron, Senior Programmer for the Tribeca Film Festival's Games Program, for an exciting conversation about the newly announced 2026 Tribeca Festival Games Program. Casey shares his vision for the festival's 25th anniversary edition, running June 3-14, 2026, and we discuss how the games program has become an early champion of titles that go on to critical acclaim and d...

This week, the internet did what it always does: took something good, something that clearly resonated with real people, and turned it into a battlefield. We're talking about Mixtape — the new game from Beethoven & Dinosaur and Annapurna — and why the so-called "controversy" surrounding it tells you more about gaming culture than it does about the actual game. Because let's b...

On this episode, we talk about Xbox's Matt Booty's appearance on the Xbox Wire podcast — his discussion on the current state of their June showcase, Project Helix, and how teams are working together. I share my thoughts on how the Rockstar hack gives new insight into microtransactions, and I give my Pragmata review. We close out the episode with an interview with the team from ballandgun.c...

The PS5 Pro just hit $900 and I've got a lot to say about it. This week I'm pulling the best clips from Kind of Funny's Xbox future breakdown and GamerTag Radio's conversation with industry analyst Mat Piscatella — then giving you my unfiltered take on what the industry is actually telling us right now about affordability, access, and who gaming is really being built for. Plus, I s...

I got to check out Sound System at GDC and immediately knew I had to get the team back on the show. This conversation with Echo Foundry's Lennon Lange, who worked on the original Guitar Hero, breaks down exactly why this could be the rhythm game revival we've been waiting for. We're talking about real innovation, not just nostalgia.• How Classic Mode and Pro Mode balance accessibility...

Finally got to sit down with George Krstic, the creative mind behind one of horror gaming's biggest hits right now. We're talking Poppy Playtime Chapter 5, the psychology of "weaponized nostalgia," and why this series has managed to stand out in the crowded mascot horror space when so many others fall flat. What we covered:• The origins of Poppy Playtime and what inspired the cre...

We're back from GDC and I've got A LOT to unpack. This week on Spawn On Me. I'm diving deep into everything that had the internet buzzing coming out of the Game Developers Conference. First up: Project Helix. Xbox finally confirmed the name, the hardware direction, and what their partnership with AMD really means for the future — FSR Next, machine learning integration, a custom AMD SOC...

In this episode of Spawn On Me, I sit down with IGDA Foundation Executive Director Alyssa Walles for a real conversation about what it actually takes to get more game developers the funding, mentorship, and access they deserve. We dig into the Foundation’s mission to break down barriers for underrepresented and marginalized creators around the world, and how their programs help devs find the resou...

What's good, y'all! Welcome back to episode 565 of Spawn On Me - we're officially back and kicking off 2026 right! I know it's been a minute since I've been in your ears consistently, but your boy has been in the trenches getting things together, and I'm excited to be back in Brookago with all of you beautiful people. This episode, we're diving deep into some real conve...

We just got back from Los Angeles after spending several hours hands-on with Highguard, the new free-to-play raid shooter from Wildlight Entertainment, a studio led by developers with deep roots in games like Apex Legends and Titanfall. On paper, it is easy to dismiss Highguard as “another shooter,” especially in a crowded 2026 lineup. But after playing multiple full matches, sitting down with the...

In our latest episode, we share some of my favorite gear from 2025 and much more!

We are closing out 2025 with a double-feature episode packed with fresh tech and big game energy. First, we sit down with Napoleon Smith (CMO, Cubios) to break down the WowCube, a modern twist on the classic Rubik’s Cube that turns nostalgia into a fully loaded, interactive device, complete with games, apps, customization, and a real push into STEM learning. Then we link up with Tom Eastman (Presi...

Hip-hop legend Big Daddy Kane joins Spawn On Me for an exclusive convo about legacy, tech, and his new interactive Viverse experience. Plus Andranik Aslanyan (HTC Viverse, Head of Growth) talks about the future of fan worlds. Then we break down The Game Awards 2025 and why Bungie’s Marathon has me extra excited. You can check out Big Daddy Kane's Viverse world here - https://worlds.viverse.com...