In this episode of Digital Coffee Gaming Brew, host Brett discusses the upcoming open beta for Split Gate 2, EA's implementation of kernel-level anti-cheat software, Microsoft's price increases for Xbox consoles, and the suspension of shipments from China by 8-Bit Do due to new tariffs. The episode also covers significant layoffs in the gaming industry, with a focus on EA, Polygon, and Codemasters, and delves into the broader issues facing game developers and publishers today.
3 Fun Facts:- Splitgate 2’s open beta will be available on both old and new consoles—with full cross-play—and will feature a custom map editor, potentially offering an infinite number of maps.
- EA’s kernel-level anti-cheat software, EA Javelin, claims a 99% accuracy rate and has prevented 33 million cheating attempts since 2022.
- The creator of the popular indie game “Skelegun” is just one person, yet their game has outperformed many AAA titles in polish and fun.
- Splitgate 2 open beta and features
- EA’s new kernel-level anti-cheat software
- Microsoft and 8BitDo price hikes, tariffs
- Polygon layoffs and media consolidation
- EA layoffs and troubled Respawn projects
- AAA studios chasing trends, losing identity
- Gaming industry struggles, rising consumer dissatisfaction
- [00:04:59] - The Evolution of Cheater Detection in Online Gaming
- [00:05:23] - The Escalation of Cheating in Online Games
- [00:10:55] - US Tariffs Disrupt Gaming Gear Imports
- [00:11:51] - How to Check If Eight BitDo Products Are Available in the US Warehouse
- [00:13:13] - The Impact of Chinese Investment on the Gaming Industry
- [00:14:19] - Mass Layoffs at Polygon After Acquisition
- [00:17:29] - EA Layoffs Shake Gaming Industry
- [00:18:28] - Marketing Mistakes
- [00:24:49] - The Frankenstein Effect in Modern Game Development
- [00:29:33] - The Changing Face of Game Development
00:00:01 --> 00:00:04 And welcome to a new episode of Digital Coffee
00:00:04 --> 00:00:06 Gaming Brew. And I'm your host, Brett Deister.
00:00:06 --> 00:00:08 Please subscribe to this podcast and all your
00:00:08 --> 00:00:10 favorite podcasting apps. Leave a five star review,
00:00:10 --> 00:00:12 really does help with the rankings and let me
00:00:12 --> 00:00:17 know how I am doing. But this week we're gonna
00:00:17 --> 00:00:22 be talking about Splitgate 2, EA's anti -cheat
00:00:22 --> 00:00:24 software, because apparently they do have one,
00:00:25 --> 00:00:31 Microsoft and 8BitDo and their... Raising prices
00:00:31 --> 00:00:34 and or stopping shipment from China, which is
00:00:34 --> 00:00:39 interesting We also are going to be talking about
00:00:39 --> 00:00:42 polygon layoffs and the layoffs from EA and in
00:00:42 --> 00:00:46 just in general Why the gaming industry is just
00:00:46 --> 00:00:49 so bad right now. It's just It's just everywhere.
00:00:49 --> 00:00:52 We also have Codemasters as well, which is that
00:00:52 --> 00:00:58 is pausing development on WRC racing game that
00:00:58 --> 00:01:01 they've been doing for at least two decades or
00:01:01 --> 00:01:06 more. So yeah, it's, we'll be talking about it
00:01:06 --> 00:01:09 and why EA and their marketers are useless basically.
00:01:10 --> 00:01:29 But anyways, let's get on with the show. That's
00:01:29 --> 00:01:35 good. All right, so first off we have is Splitgate
00:01:35 --> 00:01:40 2 will have an open beta starting on May 22nd,
00:01:40 --> 00:01:44 2025, available on PS5, Xbox Series X, PC, PS4
00:01:44 --> 00:01:49 and Xbox One. Man, they're going all for it.
00:01:50 --> 00:01:56 They're like, if you have a console, that is
00:01:56 --> 00:01:59 old and or new, you will be able to play this
00:01:59 --> 00:02:02 game. This game might be massive. And with full
00:02:02 --> 00:02:04 cross -play support as well, the beta will introduce
00:02:04 --> 00:02:08 new weapons, increasing the total to over 25.
00:02:08 --> 00:02:10 New game modes include takedown will be part
00:02:10 --> 00:02:12 of the beta. The game will feature more than
00:02:12 --> 00:02:16 15 traditional maps, but the promotional material
00:02:16 --> 00:02:18 suggests the possibility of an infinite number
00:02:18 --> 00:02:23 of maps due to custom map editor. The game is
00:02:23 --> 00:02:26 set to officially launch later in 2025 and will
00:02:26 --> 00:02:28 be free to play with potential battle pass and
00:02:28 --> 00:02:32 cosmetic purchases look I Played the alpha beta.
00:02:32 --> 00:02:35 I played one of the one of the ones it was it
00:02:35 --> 00:02:37 was a solid game I will give them that it's a
00:02:37 --> 00:02:40 solid game. It's Got kind of like a portal slash.
00:02:40 --> 00:02:45 Halo type of feeling to it. It is a pretty solid
00:02:45 --> 00:02:48 game free to play. That's good 25 weapons even
00:02:48 --> 00:02:51 better a map editor so you can make your own
00:02:51 --> 00:02:54 maps and then that basically gives you infinite
00:02:54 --> 00:02:58 infinite amount of maps is Game -changer plus
00:02:58 --> 00:03:03 it's available on Xbox one and the ps4 Nowhere
00:03:03 --> 00:03:07 on the switch to yet could could be I mean that
00:03:07 --> 00:03:09 would probably be the best one out of the switch
00:03:09 --> 00:03:13 one and two Plus PC don't know if there's any
00:03:13 --> 00:03:17 steam deck Compatibility with it yet. But like
00:03:17 --> 00:03:22 I said So many options for this game and this
00:03:22 --> 00:03:25 game is going to just blow up because it's a
00:03:25 --> 00:03:28 fun game. It's free to play Cheaters. Yes. We
00:03:28 --> 00:03:30 got to figure out how to deal with that issue,
00:03:30 --> 00:03:35 but Just be it's a fun game Like it is quite
00:03:35 --> 00:03:37 fun people really don't how to play it but give
00:03:37 --> 00:03:39 it time and people there will be really good
00:03:39 --> 00:03:42 people on this game so I'm actually quite excited
00:03:42 --> 00:03:44 for this game and you should to check it out
00:03:44 --> 00:03:47 is I mean it's free to play it's got yeah, it's
00:03:47 --> 00:03:50 got micro transactions, but If it's free to play,
00:03:50 --> 00:03:51 you don't have to spend it if you don't want
00:03:51 --> 00:03:54 to. Hopefully there'll be no formal marketing
00:03:54 --> 00:04:07 cause that does get old after a while. All right.
00:04:07 --> 00:04:10 So EA has introduced kernel level PC anti -cheat
00:04:10 --> 00:04:14 software named EA Javelin. EA Javelin is currently
00:04:14 --> 00:04:18 used in 14. EA games including Battlefield 2042
00:04:18 --> 00:04:22 and Madden NFL 25. Since its launch in 2022,
00:04:23 --> 00:04:25 EA Gevel has prevented 33 million cheating attempts
00:04:25 --> 00:04:29 across 2 .2 billion PC gaming sessions. Recent
00:04:29 --> 00:04:31 updates have reportedly cut the number of cheaters
00:04:31 --> 00:04:36 and counters in Battlefield 2042 by half. The
00:04:36 --> 00:04:40 software has claimed an accuracy rate of 99 %
00:04:40 --> 00:04:45 in identifying and banning cheaters. EA has stated
00:04:45 --> 00:04:48 that the They overturn bans in cases where individuals
00:04:48 --> 00:04:50 are unjustly banned. So at least you get an option
00:04:50 --> 00:04:55 if it was incorrect That you can get on ban.
00:04:55 --> 00:04:58 I don't think it's highly likely but Here's the
00:04:58 --> 00:05:01 issue back in the day you had you could rent
00:05:01 --> 00:05:04 servers through battlefield and then you had
00:05:04 --> 00:05:07 mods Basically looking over the game and if they
00:05:07 --> 00:05:09 found someone cheating a lot of times is very
00:05:09 --> 00:05:11 blatant They would kick them out ban them and
00:05:11 --> 00:05:14 they couldn't do anything. The problem is as
00:05:14 --> 00:05:16 battlefield has progressed they have gotten rid
00:05:16 --> 00:05:22 of renting servers in favor of Well for a long
00:05:22 --> 00:05:25 time not doing anything So if you found a cheater
00:05:25 --> 00:05:27 you just left because there was no point in playing
00:05:27 --> 00:05:28 in the game anymore because it just ruined your
00:05:28 --> 00:05:32 fun So this is the situation where we are today
00:05:32 --> 00:05:34 where everybody's trying to cheat because everybody's
00:05:34 --> 00:05:37 trying to to tell you how good they are in the
00:05:37 --> 00:05:39 game, quote unquote, but really they're just
00:05:39 --> 00:05:42 cheating. Because a lot of times that's what
00:05:42 --> 00:05:45 it is. I'm not saying that everybody that is
00:05:45 --> 00:05:48 quote unquote good is cheating, but a lot of
00:05:48 --> 00:05:50 them are. We've seen this time and time again
00:05:50 --> 00:05:53 through Call of Duty and a bunch of other games
00:05:53 --> 00:05:55 where it's actually found out that they are cheating
00:05:55 --> 00:05:59 and not actually good. So when the stakes are
00:05:59 --> 00:06:01 high, you have to figure out a way to mitigate
00:06:01 --> 00:06:07 a lot of that. enter in kernel level anti cheat
00:06:07 --> 00:06:10 software because the cheating is getting so hard
00:06:10 --> 00:06:13 to detect without doing kernel level that this
00:06:13 --> 00:06:17 is how the escalation is going to happen. I foresee
00:06:17 --> 00:06:21 more of AI running this a lot better than what
00:06:21 --> 00:06:23 humans can do once they figure out how to do
00:06:23 --> 00:06:26 this. But this is where we're at a state of gaming
00:06:26 --> 00:06:28 today. Piece of gamers we kind of brought on
00:06:28 --> 00:06:31 the self probably should stop cheating. Probably.
00:06:32 --> 00:06:35 But since either you do it to own people or do
00:06:35 --> 00:06:39 it for the laws, this isn't really going to change.
00:06:40 --> 00:06:43 It's unfortunate, but this is where we're at.
00:06:45 --> 00:06:50 All right. So the state of gaming with the tariffs
00:06:50 --> 00:06:55 is interesting. So Microsoft, as of yesterday,
00:06:56 --> 00:06:59 has increased the prices of Xbox Series X by
00:06:59 --> 00:07:03 a hundred dollars. Constituting a 20 % increase
00:07:03 --> 00:07:06 since its launch in 2020 other prices include
00:07:06 --> 00:07:14 the Xbox series X 512 gig now 379 was 299 Xbox
00:07:14 --> 00:07:22 series s 1 terabyte now for 2999 was 349 99 Xbox
00:07:22 --> 00:07:28 series X digital is now 549 89 was for 49 99
00:07:30 --> 00:07:37 The Xbox Series X is now $599 was $499 The Xbox
00:07:37 --> 00:07:40 Series X two terabyte Galaxy special edition
00:07:40 --> 00:07:46 now $729 .99 was $599 .99 Xbox wires controller
00:07:46 --> 00:07:50 now $6 $64 .99 the Xbox controller in color
00:07:50 --> 00:07:53 is now $69 .99 the Xbox Series controller special
00:07:53 --> 00:07:58 edition variant is now $79 .99 Xbox Wireless
00:07:58 --> 00:08:01 Controller Limited Edition variant is now $89
00:08:01 --> 00:08:06 .99 was $79 .99 Xbox Series Xbox Elite Wireless
00:08:06 --> 00:08:10 Controller Series 2 Core Set is now $140 .99
00:08:10 --> 00:08:15 was $139 .99 Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series
00:08:15 --> 00:08:23 2 Complete Set is now $199 .99 was $179 .99 The
00:08:23 --> 00:08:27 headset is $65. The wireless headset, the stereo
00:08:27 --> 00:08:30 headset is $65. The wireless headset is $120.
00:08:30 --> 00:08:37 It was $110. And like I said, this happened yesterday.
00:08:37 --> 00:08:40 The first party games will increase to $79 .99
00:08:40 --> 00:08:47 starting this holiday season because apparently
00:08:47 --> 00:08:51 the tariffs affect digital products, which they
00:08:51 --> 00:08:54 don't. So you can't blame it on tariffs. I know
00:08:54 --> 00:08:58 they're going to try they can't Microsoft reported
00:08:58 --> 00:09:01 a six percent decline in hardware sales in the
00:09:01 --> 00:09:03 previous quarter The video game industry is facing
00:09:03 --> 00:09:06 challenges including game cancellation layoffs
00:09:06 --> 00:09:10 over the past three years US tariffs on imported
00:09:10 --> 00:09:12 goods including video game consoles are impacting
00:09:12 --> 00:09:15 market video game consoles Not the price of games.
00:09:16 --> 00:09:19 You cannot blame that. You just decided that
00:09:19 --> 00:09:22 since Nintendo's doing it I'm going to do it
00:09:22 --> 00:09:23 and guess what's going to happen. People are
00:09:23 --> 00:09:26 going to buy less of your games. They're going
00:09:26 --> 00:09:28 to find out if it's a good game because if it's
00:09:28 --> 00:09:33 now $80 for it, which is stupid, then I can do
00:09:33 --> 00:09:36 it. Look at cut the fat. If your developers are
00:09:36 --> 00:09:41 ballooning to absorb an amount of people cut
00:09:41 --> 00:09:46 the fat, you can, you can do well with 69 99
00:09:46 --> 00:09:51 and still cut the fat. but you don't want to
00:09:51 --> 00:09:54 because diversity or something or you got a lot
00:09:54 --> 00:09:57 of women apparently in the gaming development
00:09:57 --> 00:09:59 which basically makes the games worse for whatever
00:09:59 --> 00:10:05 reason I mean yeah go check out that the check
00:10:05 --> 00:10:07 out a lot of developers that have made games
00:10:07 --> 00:10:10 in recent times and seems like a women have overwhelmingly
00:10:10 --> 00:10:13 become more a part of the game development and
00:10:13 --> 00:10:22 see which ones do better or worse So I Don't
00:10:22 --> 00:10:23 talk about this later, but I mean this is getting
00:10:23 --> 00:10:27 frustrating tariffs I get it the products and
00:10:27 --> 00:10:30 stuff Everything's made in China. It's gonna
00:10:30 --> 00:10:32 have to be decoupled from China So we're gonna
00:10:32 --> 00:10:34 have to figure out which country's gonna play
00:10:34 --> 00:10:36 ball with the United States and which countries
00:10:36 --> 00:10:38 are not gonna be hit so hard with tariffs However,
00:10:38 --> 00:10:42 the digital products didn't need a price increase
00:10:42 --> 00:10:44 You're just doing it because you can just lump
00:10:44 --> 00:10:47 it in with everything really good job Microsoft
00:10:48 --> 00:10:51 Triple a quality on your reasoning and logic
00:10:51 --> 00:10:56 Now I go to 8 -bit do so it's suspending shipments
00:10:56 --> 00:10:59 from its Chinese warehouse to customers in the
00:10:59 --> 00:11:02 United States This decision is due to the Trump
00:11:02 --> 00:11:06 administration's new 145 percent tariffs on imports
00:11:06 --> 00:11:11 from China and the end of the Diminished Exemption
00:11:11 --> 00:11:15 for shipments from China under $800. This was
00:11:15 --> 00:11:18 basically a way for Chinese companies to Get
00:11:18 --> 00:11:20 around a lot of the regulations and just ship
00:11:20 --> 00:11:23 cheap stuff and they were part of it Timo was
00:11:23 --> 00:11:25 a part of it And now they're kind of like oh
00:11:25 --> 00:11:28 crap. What are we gonna do now? So basically
00:11:28 --> 00:11:30 their their prices were raised significantly
00:11:30 --> 00:11:34 probably on par with Crusader and razor on their
00:11:34 --> 00:11:36 Keyboards because their keyboards a bit do keyboards
00:11:36 --> 00:11:40 were cheap their controllers were cheap Not bad
00:11:40 --> 00:11:43 quality guys a few things but good to know I
00:11:43 --> 00:11:44 don't need to buy anything more from this company
00:11:46 --> 00:11:48 US customers can still order products that are
00:11:48 --> 00:11:52 already in 8BitDo's US warehouse. The availability
00:11:52 --> 00:11:55 of products at the warehouse is not clearly indicated
00:11:55 --> 00:11:58 on the website, but customers can see which items
00:11:58 --> 00:12:00 cannot be shipped after entering an address at
00:12:00 --> 00:12:03 checkout. 8BitDo produces various gaming controllers
00:12:03 --> 00:12:06 compatible with multiple consoles, including
00:12:06 --> 00:12:10 Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X, and PlayStation
00:12:10 --> 00:12:15 5, and PC as well. They do also make mice and
00:12:15 --> 00:12:18 keyboards as well for PC. Some popular items
00:12:18 --> 00:12:22 from Avidu is the Ultimate 2 Bluetooth controller.
00:12:22 --> 00:12:25 The retro mechanical keyboard are not available
00:12:25 --> 00:12:27 at the US warehouse while the microcontroller
00:12:27 --> 00:12:31 used for Anki is still available. That's not
00:12:31 --> 00:12:34 good. Video game consoles and accessories are
00:12:34 --> 00:12:37 classified as toys by the US International Trade
00:12:37 --> 00:12:41 Commission. which affects their tariff exemptions.
00:12:41 --> 00:12:43 Increased costs due to tariffs are causing difficulties
00:12:43 --> 00:12:45 in the video game and tabletop industry, leading
00:12:45 --> 00:12:49 to some companies ceasing operations and laying
00:12:49 --> 00:12:52 off staff. Many companies like Nintendo are also
00:12:52 --> 00:12:55 impacted, having delayed pre -orders for the
00:12:55 --> 00:12:57 Nintendo Switch 2, increased prices for several
00:12:57 --> 00:13:01 accessories. Look, it's a Chinese company that
00:13:01 --> 00:13:07 tried to skirt around Way to make cheap products
00:13:07 --> 00:13:11 for us and then try to basically Get other companies
00:13:11 --> 00:13:14 in us to go under I mean that's really the playbook
00:13:14 --> 00:13:17 of China right now regardless of what industry
00:13:17 --> 00:13:19 is in look at the gaming industry Look at where
00:13:19 --> 00:13:24 Tencent is it? actively Investing and how these
00:13:24 --> 00:13:26 game companies have becoming worse and then they
00:13:26 --> 00:13:29 buy them up and they become Chinese companies
00:13:29 --> 00:13:33 It's a playbook they use we need to be aware
00:13:33 --> 00:13:38 of this you may not like it or not, but it is
00:13:38 --> 00:13:41 a very serious thing that's happening. It's happening
00:13:41 --> 00:13:44 probably in all the sectors where it's using
00:13:44 --> 00:13:51 DEI and EGS, the sustainability thing, ESG, I
00:13:51 --> 00:13:54 think it's ESG, but they're using it to kind
00:13:54 --> 00:13:56 of like hurt the American companies and then
00:13:56 --> 00:13:58 come up and buy them cheap because they've lost
00:13:58 --> 00:14:02 so much money. It's just not good. All right.
00:14:03 --> 00:14:06 So kind of funny. But polygon has been sold by
00:14:06 --> 00:14:10 Vox media to Valnet which owns brands such as
00:14:10 --> 00:14:13 screen rent gamer rent and Android police some
00:14:13 --> 00:14:16 staff members of polygon will continue with the
00:14:16 --> 00:14:19 publication under Valnet while others have been
00:14:19 --> 00:14:21 laid off majority of it has been laid off down
00:14:21 --> 00:14:26 that owns over 27 different brands covering entertainment
00:14:26 --> 00:14:29 gaming sports and travel report from the rapid
00:14:29 --> 00:14:32 Includes a former contributor describing work
00:14:32 --> 00:14:35 conditions at Velonet sites is almost what shot
00:14:35 --> 00:14:38 level Valnet stated that the acquisition of polygon
00:14:38 --> 00:14:41 lines with its long -term growth strategy will
00:14:41 --> 00:14:47 integrate it into Valnet's gaming portfolio Vox
00:14:47 --> 00:14:50 media CEO Jim Bank off Mentioned that the sale
00:14:50 --> 00:14:54 allows Vox Media to focus on growth areas inside
00:14:54 --> 00:14:56 of the uncertain economic outlook and changes
00:14:56 --> 00:14:59 in the gaming industry are reasons for the sale.
00:15:00 --> 00:15:04 Former editor -in -chief Chris Plant confirmed
00:15:04 --> 00:15:08 he is no longer with Polygon and encouraged hiring
00:15:08 --> 00:15:12 of effective talented staff. So here's the thing.
00:15:13 --> 00:15:15 Nobody in the gaming industry or very few people
00:15:15 --> 00:15:18 in the gaming industry like to polygon polygon
00:15:18 --> 00:15:20 was probably one of the worst gaming rags ever
00:15:20 --> 00:15:25 and it routinely Basically insulted their main
00:15:25 --> 00:15:29 gaming audience men specifically white men because
00:15:29 --> 00:15:31 we were the we are always the favorite target
00:15:31 --> 00:15:35 of everything So guess what happens? Nobody listens
00:15:35 --> 00:15:37 to you. Everybody makes fun of you and you keep
00:15:37 --> 00:15:40 on this trend where everybody's like, I don't
00:15:40 --> 00:15:43 really I mean, I'll look at the expose, but I
00:15:43 --> 00:15:46 don't really need to like read stuff from you.
00:15:46 --> 00:15:48 I don't need to go to your website. I already
00:15:48 --> 00:15:50 know what you're going to be talking about. And
00:15:50 --> 00:15:55 eventually it goes up. Plus with the gaming industry
00:15:55 --> 00:15:59 layoffs and it's just, it's just in a death spiral
00:15:59 --> 00:16:03 right now. Yes, there are a few shining like
00:16:03 --> 00:16:05 bright spots. I think tempest rising, which is
00:16:05 --> 00:16:08 a Basically an RTS strategy game that is very
00:16:08 --> 00:16:11 similar to Command and Conquer. Good shining
00:16:11 --> 00:16:16 spot. Expedition 33, good shining spot. I'm pretty
00:16:16 --> 00:16:20 sure Doom the Dark Ages will be a good thing
00:16:20 --> 00:16:23 for the gaming industry, but a lot has not been
00:16:23 --> 00:16:25 going well. Ubisoft in general has not been going
00:16:25 --> 00:16:28 well. I mean, I know they keep on saying it's
00:16:28 --> 00:16:31 Chastain's Creed Shadows was this sold well,
00:16:31 --> 00:16:33 but I don't believe it because there's still
00:16:33 --> 00:16:36 no numbers on it. Want the numbers don't do the
00:16:36 --> 00:16:43 trust me bro. It doesn't work so Gaming media
00:16:43 --> 00:16:46 hated its own customers and guess what's happening
00:16:46 --> 00:16:50 to especially gaming journalists Nobody listens
00:16:50 --> 00:16:52 to them anymore. Why would you listen to them?
00:16:52 --> 00:16:54 We can go on YouTube. You can listen to podcasts
00:16:54 --> 00:16:59 that isn't a part of this gatekeeping mafia that
00:16:59 --> 00:17:04 just Hated the people they were supposed to speak
00:17:04 --> 00:17:09 for and also just Help along the way in gaming.
00:17:09 --> 00:17:12 They just didn't do it. So this is what happens.
00:17:13 --> 00:17:16 Well Well, it's it's still thrive not really
00:17:16 --> 00:17:18 I mean people kind of already like written off
00:17:18 --> 00:17:22 like polygon is polygon for a reason but We will
00:17:22 --> 00:17:24 see if anything changes. Nothing's really gonna
00:17:24 --> 00:17:28 change All right, speaking of terrible things
00:17:28 --> 00:17:31 happening in the gaming industry EA Confirmed
00:17:31 --> 00:17:34 layoffs at respawn the developer of a pack legends
00:17:34 --> 00:17:38 It's basically the total amount of layoffs is
00:17:38 --> 00:17:41 300 to 400 jobs But it's approximately about
00:17:41 --> 00:17:43 a hundred employees that respawn were affected
00:17:43 --> 00:17:46 by these layoffs EIA is implementing broader
00:17:46 --> 00:17:49 cuts that impact many employees across the company
00:17:49 --> 00:17:53 the underperformance of EA sports FC and apex
00:17:53 --> 00:17:56 legend increment contributed to the layoffs because
00:17:56 --> 00:17:58 less and less people are playing apex legends
00:17:58 --> 00:18:02 the The game dragon age, the veil guard did not
00:18:02 --> 00:18:05 meet is sales up to expectation, but it's performance
00:18:05 --> 00:18:07 is not related to the overall cuts. Yay. Cause
00:18:07 --> 00:18:10 they already eliminated mostly, if not all the
00:18:10 --> 00:18:11 people that worked on dragon age, dragon age
00:18:11 --> 00:18:15 is dead. A project led by Titan fall veterans.
00:18:16 --> 00:18:19 Steven for Duca has been canceled and there will
00:18:19 --> 00:18:23 be no Titan fall three, which I still don't understand.
00:18:23 --> 00:18:26 I know I heard the people acts and they were
00:18:26 --> 00:18:28 like, well, it underperformed. I, yeah, it underperformed
00:18:28 --> 00:18:32 because The stupidity of the marketers at that
00:18:32 --> 00:18:34 time were like, Hey, let's put Titanfall two
00:18:34 --> 00:18:37 right between battlefield and call of duty. That
00:18:37 --> 00:18:40 will sell. That will sell our game. It was a
00:18:40 --> 00:18:44 relatively new IP at the time. And Titanfall
00:18:44 --> 00:18:47 original was great. I think the smart pistol
00:18:47 --> 00:18:49 was a little P once people figure out how to
00:18:49 --> 00:18:51 use it effectively. But beyond that, it was a
00:18:51 --> 00:18:54 fun game. They changed things around, changed
00:18:54 --> 00:18:57 things around in Titanfall too, but kept a lot
00:18:57 --> 00:19:02 of the core mechanics and modes intact attrition
00:19:02 --> 00:19:05 was still one of the best game modes for Titanfall
00:19:05 --> 00:19:09 2 where you had a small number of players playing
00:19:09 --> 00:19:11 against each other, but you also had like a bunch
00:19:11 --> 00:19:16 of like random AI NPCs Soldiers you could shoot
00:19:16 --> 00:19:20 as well. It was a great mode. It was fun and
00:19:20 --> 00:19:25 then they just went to apex and then didn't really
00:19:25 --> 00:19:27 care about it because it didn't quote -unquote
00:19:27 --> 00:19:30 sell well because quote -unquote you don't sell
00:19:30 --> 00:19:33 well when you put yourself in between the two
00:19:33 --> 00:19:37 largest FPS games on the That were currently
00:19:37 --> 00:19:41 on the market battlefield and call of duty now
00:19:41 --> 00:19:43 They probably did it now. It probably wouldn't
00:19:43 --> 00:19:45 be as bad because people are mad at battlefield
00:19:45 --> 00:19:49 and people well call of duty is just horrendous
00:19:49 --> 00:19:52 now, I mean All these skins that is basically
00:19:52 --> 00:19:53 fortnight. They're trying to chase fortnight,
00:19:53 --> 00:19:59 which is weird But anyways It's just not looking
00:19:59 --> 00:20:01 good right now for the law of the big publishers
00:20:01 --> 00:20:03 because they don't understand their customer
00:20:03 --> 00:20:07 anymore Like they said we're gonna focus on apex.
00:20:07 --> 00:20:09 Well, no one likes apex that much anymore. Yeah,
00:20:09 --> 00:20:12 I know right now it makes a lot of money, but
00:20:12 --> 00:20:18 it's been a descending Order of how much it's
00:20:18 --> 00:20:20 actually made. I'm pretty sure in its heyday,
00:20:20 --> 00:20:22 it was making twice as much as it was making
00:20:22 --> 00:20:26 now. Yes, it's still making millions of dollars.
00:20:27 --> 00:20:30 Fine. But if you keep on shedding your player
00:20:30 --> 00:20:36 base, that's not a good sign either. So do I
00:20:36 --> 00:20:38 agree that Titanfall 3 should have been an extraction
00:20:38 --> 00:20:41 shooter? Oh, heck no. That's dumb. That was the
00:20:41 --> 00:20:43 dumbest thing I've ever heard of. You don't do
00:20:43 --> 00:20:46 that. You're chasing trends again. The problem
00:20:46 --> 00:20:49 with EA and Ubisoft and all them is they chase
00:20:49 --> 00:20:52 trends and then they don't sell as well because
00:20:52 --> 00:20:55 they are chasing trends. You chase trends. You
00:20:55 --> 00:20:58 don't sell as well. The reason why Titanfall
00:20:58 --> 00:21:02 was so and to this day is still so good. Titanfall
00:21:02 --> 00:21:04 one and two is because it wasn't chasing trends.
00:21:04 --> 00:21:07 It was trying to be its own thing. Apex was chasing
00:21:07 --> 00:21:10 trends. I get that it had some interesting things
00:21:10 --> 00:21:13 going on, but it was still a battle royale when
00:21:13 --> 00:21:19 Fortnite. and when Pudge was already out, it
00:21:19 --> 00:21:21 took from Overwatch with the hero shooter type
00:21:21 --> 00:21:25 of thing. And then they had pronouns in it, which
00:21:25 --> 00:21:26 I still don't understand to this day why that
00:21:26 --> 00:21:30 mattered. And that's what you have. You just
00:21:30 --> 00:21:37 have a trend chasing company, which really means
00:21:37 --> 00:21:40 that it's the death of the company. Because if
00:21:40 --> 00:21:42 you cannot make the trends and you're chasing
00:21:42 --> 00:21:45 the trends you will not be very profitable for
00:21:45 --> 00:21:48 very long for a lot longer I get that battlefield
00:21:48 --> 00:21:51 six is coming out whatever it's gonna call and
00:21:51 --> 00:21:56 looks promising Let's be honest with you we've
00:21:56 --> 00:22:00 we've seen the promising of the last few battlefield
00:22:00 --> 00:22:05 games and Belleville one was probably the most
00:22:05 --> 00:22:07 promising battlefield for was a train wreck when
00:22:07 --> 00:22:10 it launched Took about a year and a half to fix.
00:22:11 --> 00:22:13 Battlefield one was better at it. Still great
00:22:13 --> 00:22:16 game. Battlefield five train wreck. I'll feel
00:22:16 --> 00:22:22 2042 bigger train wreck. So this is battlefields
00:22:22 --> 00:22:28 probably last chance to actually do well because
00:22:28 --> 00:22:30 the law players are like, I'll go play Delta
00:22:30 --> 00:22:33 force. I'll go play ready or not. I'll go play
00:22:33 --> 00:22:37 anything else but battlefield. If he cannot do
00:22:37 --> 00:22:43 well. Because you have a plethora of extraction
00:22:43 --> 00:22:46 shooters now Which is annoying because it was
00:22:46 --> 00:22:48 cool when the extraction shooters were just few
00:22:48 --> 00:22:50 and far between but now it's just every other
00:22:50 --> 00:22:55 ones like extraction shooter. I'm like Yay What
00:22:55 --> 00:22:57 makes you different from the other ones? usually
00:22:57 --> 00:23:01 nothing Which another leads to another bad thing
00:23:01 --> 00:23:03 is that Codemasters is pausing development of
00:23:03 --> 00:23:06 World Rally Championship games ending to develop
00:23:06 --> 00:23:11 updates for EA Sports WRC the hard Chargers content
00:23:11 --> 00:23:16 for EA Sports RC is wrapping up Codemasters has
00:23:16 --> 00:23:19 provided VR support for the tiles including EA
00:23:19 --> 00:23:23 Sports WRC dirt rally and dirt rally 2 .0 the
00:23:23 --> 00:23:26 announcement states that EA Sports WRC will remain
00:23:26 --> 00:23:28 available for existing new players Codemaster
00:23:28 --> 00:23:31 has a history of over 40 years in rally games
00:23:31 --> 00:23:34 So I was even I was 20 years off. I said 20 years,
00:23:34 --> 00:23:45 but 40 years So This is probably because of Lily
00:23:45 --> 00:23:48 asked from EA I wouldn't be surprised it probably
00:23:48 --> 00:23:52 for them wasn't a moneymaker like apex is right
00:23:52 --> 00:23:55 now Remember anything that doesn't have micro
00:23:55 --> 00:23:58 transaction or somehow has an ad inside their
00:23:58 --> 00:24:04 game for EA is not worth of Well continuing support
00:24:04 --> 00:24:07 because it's a money drain for whatever reason
00:24:07 --> 00:24:10 Mind you about that, boulders gate three didn't
00:24:10 --> 00:24:12 even have DLC and it's still one of the top played
00:24:12 --> 00:24:17 games. Mind you that Marvel rivals is a free
00:24:17 --> 00:24:20 to play game and has done better than Overwatch
00:24:20 --> 00:24:23 two did. Overwatch two is coming back with its
00:24:23 --> 00:24:25 new stadium and everything. And it's just getting
00:24:25 --> 00:24:28 a lot of excitement, but we're not in a good
00:24:28 --> 00:24:33 state where premium games are lacking Polish.
00:24:34 --> 00:24:37 but any games are more polished than the ones
00:24:37 --> 00:24:40 with the three thousand to four thousand headcount
00:24:40 --> 00:24:43 of Developers that have four or five different
00:24:43 --> 00:24:46 studios working on the same game which to me
00:24:46 --> 00:24:49 sounds like an absolute nightmare to work at
00:24:49 --> 00:24:52 because if you have Four or five studios working
00:24:52 --> 00:24:54 on the same game. That means you have four or
00:24:54 --> 00:24:56 five different cultures of studio working on
00:24:56 --> 00:24:59 the same game which makes it more like a Frankenstein
00:24:59 --> 00:25:02 game than actual coherent game. And that's why
00:25:02 --> 00:25:06 you have this weird mesh up of unpolished game
00:25:06 --> 00:25:13 stuff. It has to be one developer and it needs
00:25:13 --> 00:25:18 to be like maybe a thousand people working. I
00:25:18 --> 00:25:21 cut it. I would say 500 is probably the better
00:25:21 --> 00:25:24 one, but cut it to a point where you can do it.
00:25:26 --> 00:25:30 and not have such an overhead because that huge
00:25:30 --> 00:25:31 overhead, you're not going to be able to keep
00:25:31 --> 00:25:34 track of who's working on what. And then you're
00:25:34 --> 00:25:38 going to be so, you know, people like being like,
00:25:38 --> 00:25:40 it's not my job. That's not my job. That's not
00:25:40 --> 00:25:42 my job because that's, that's the easier way
00:25:42 --> 00:25:45 to work. But then you have less quality games.
00:25:45 --> 00:25:48 Heck. I mean, schedule one is doing really well
00:25:48 --> 00:25:54 as made by one guy, one guy doing better. most
00:25:54 --> 00:26:00 triple -a games And it's a fun game But it's
00:26:00 --> 00:26:04 made by one guy Lethal company made by a few
00:26:04 --> 00:26:07 developers great game battle bit when it came
00:26:07 --> 00:26:09 out great game Don't really know much about it
00:26:09 --> 00:26:11 now But I haven't played it for a while because
00:26:11 --> 00:26:13 it really hasn't been anything new but still
00:26:13 --> 00:26:16 I mean it taught battlefield like how to do it
00:26:16 --> 00:26:21 right for a time Then show why the why I went
00:26:21 --> 00:26:27 so wrong no updates just bugs But the state of
00:26:27 --> 00:26:30 gaming is just bad we got tarot we got price
00:26:30 --> 00:26:33 increases For digital products that shouldn't
00:26:33 --> 00:26:35 really be priced increase just because they want
00:26:35 --> 00:26:38 the sweet sweet money But you're not proving
00:26:38 --> 00:26:41 to the customers that you should get that pay
00:26:41 --> 00:26:44 and raise You're just saying oh we need it because
00:26:44 --> 00:26:46 we have too many people working at our developers
00:26:46 --> 00:26:50 and publishers We don't want to get rid of them,
00:26:50 --> 00:26:52 but we probably should get rid of them But we're
00:26:52 --> 00:26:53 gonna get rid of them eventually three or four
00:26:53 --> 00:26:57 months down the road as EA has routinely shown
00:26:57 --> 00:27:02 I The past like three years they're like one
00:27:02 --> 00:27:06 of the top ones have cut so much Which is not
00:27:06 --> 00:27:11 good. I mean from a PR perspective it's pretty
00:27:11 --> 00:27:12 bad because people were like do I want to work
00:27:12 --> 00:27:16 here because I work here I could be laid off
00:27:16 --> 00:27:20 because What happens when they decide that the
00:27:20 --> 00:27:23 game's not worth it anymore? I mean, Titanfall
00:27:23 --> 00:27:26 3, if you just created the next -gen Titanfall,
00:27:26 --> 00:27:28 hell, remaster Titanfall 2. I don't even care
00:27:28 --> 00:27:35 now. Remaster it. All this time, you'll get a
00:27:35 --> 00:27:38 bunch of money, put it on Unreal 5 if you want
00:27:38 --> 00:27:48 to, or the Valve engine. But, I mean... Where
00:27:48 --> 00:27:53 is this all going? I mean The only thing respond
00:27:53 --> 00:27:57 is doing is the Star Wars game to Star Wars games
00:27:57 --> 00:28:02 and apex That's really about it an apex. Yes
00:28:02 --> 00:28:06 is its moneymaker for now But unless it does
00:28:06 --> 00:28:10 something to change it around it won't not be
00:28:10 --> 00:28:15 a moneymaker anymore We got battlefield six which
00:28:15 --> 00:28:19 Is under respawn now dice and all them are under
00:28:19 --> 00:28:24 Vince and that looks promising But we've all
00:28:24 --> 00:28:27 seen promising in battlefield games Look doesn't
00:28:27 --> 00:28:30 look better than battlefield 2042 and when we
00:28:30 --> 00:28:36 first started seeing stuff, absolutely But we'll
00:28:36 --> 00:28:38 see when it actually comes out I mean still in
00:28:38 --> 00:28:41 its alpha phase so things are subject to change
00:28:41 --> 00:28:48 as always It's just not looking good. I mean,
00:28:48 --> 00:28:50 the gaming journalists has hated us for at least
00:28:50 --> 00:28:56 a decade or more now. The devs don't like us.
00:28:57 --> 00:29:01 It's mostly now either run or most of the employees
00:29:01 --> 00:29:03 are starting to look like women, which really
00:29:03 --> 00:29:06 don't know how to market two men or make games
00:29:06 --> 00:29:09 for men, which is fine if you're trying to market
00:29:09 --> 00:29:12 your game for women. But if you have a game like
00:29:12 --> 00:29:14 doom or something like that, and you only marketed
00:29:14 --> 00:29:18 towards women or you feminize the character that
00:29:18 --> 00:29:21 has been very masculine before, you're not going
00:29:21 --> 00:29:25 to get anywhere except losing money, losing staff,
00:29:25 --> 00:29:29 and eventually bankruptcy or being bought out,
00:29:29 --> 00:29:34 which could happen. The gaming industry is getting
00:29:34 --> 00:29:38 smaller and the vibrancy is only going to be
00:29:38 --> 00:29:42 in the indie scene right now. because These triple
00:29:42 --> 00:29:45 -a studios just don't know what to do We got
00:29:45 --> 00:29:51 Call of Duty making More 420 BS content than
00:29:51 --> 00:29:53 anything else and that's not Call of Duty. That's
00:29:53 --> 00:29:55 not Call of Duty I played I was like I don't
00:29:55 --> 00:29:57 need to play this game anymore. This game is
00:29:57 --> 00:30:00 weird Like it has the weirdest finishers. It's
00:30:00 --> 00:30:04 it's so just bonkers nuts and they just went
00:30:04 --> 00:30:07 oh man fortnight's doing so many of these different
00:30:07 --> 00:30:12 things let's dial up to 20 and to have 420 guns
00:30:12 --> 00:30:19 that you can smoke and yeah, unicorn fart finishers.
00:30:19 --> 00:30:22 And I'm just like, what is this game? Like I
00:30:22 --> 00:30:24 don't even understand what this game is because
00:30:24 --> 00:30:26 they don't understand what this game is. That's
00:30:26 --> 00:30:30 why they had to redo the original war zone because
00:30:30 --> 00:30:33 nobody liked the current war zone. Like they
00:30:33 --> 00:30:36 don't understand what made the game fun. That's
00:30:36 --> 00:30:39 all you need to figure out. What makes the game
00:30:39 --> 00:30:43 fun for your core and target audience? The reason
00:30:43 --> 00:30:45 why I talk about this so much is because they
00:30:45 --> 00:30:50 don't know what their target audience is. You
00:30:50 --> 00:30:53 target the audience. That's going to be the majority
00:30:53 --> 00:30:56 of it. If it's male or female, if it's male,
00:30:56 --> 00:30:58 you target the male audience. You do not insult
00:30:58 --> 00:31:02 the target audience. You're not bemoaned because
00:31:02 --> 00:31:04 the target audience didn't buy your game because
00:31:04 --> 00:31:08 your game didn't really attract them. You target
00:31:08 --> 00:31:15 it to them. This is basic marketing basic If
00:31:15 --> 00:31:18 you know your target audience you target to them
00:31:18 --> 00:31:24 if you don't then you figure it out But they
00:31:24 --> 00:31:27 don't they go we we don't want this group of
00:31:27 --> 00:31:33 people This is misogyny. This is toxic and it's
00:31:33 --> 00:31:40 like alright We don't have to buy your game.
00:31:41 --> 00:31:44 Racism, misogyny. And it's like, all right, so
00:31:44 --> 00:31:46 if I don't buy your game, I'm a misogynist. If
00:31:46 --> 00:31:51 I do buy your game, I'm a misogynist. Okay, well
00:31:51 --> 00:31:54 I'm just not going to buy your game. Because
00:31:54 --> 00:31:56 damn if I do, damn if I don't. And that has been
00:31:56 --> 00:32:01 the gaming industry for probably at least five
00:32:01 --> 00:32:04 years, probably more. And it's finally showing
00:32:04 --> 00:32:07 its ugly head. The customers are going. You want
00:32:07 --> 00:32:09 your games are getting more expensive and I have
00:32:09 --> 00:32:11 a limited amount of time. I'm going to play the
00:32:11 --> 00:32:14 games that treat me with respect. Mainly just
00:32:14 --> 00:32:19 don't insult you with saying isms and games that
00:32:19 --> 00:32:24 appeal to me. And if you can't do that, well,
00:32:24 --> 00:32:26 this is what happens. EA is still firing more
00:32:26 --> 00:32:29 people. Microsoft went through a bunch of rounds
00:32:29 --> 00:32:32 of layoffs. They're now increasing their game
00:32:32 --> 00:32:36 prices to $80. Good call, Microsoft. Don't think
00:32:36 --> 00:32:39 it's gonna work for you. I know you're gonna
00:32:39 --> 00:32:41 have some PR stuff, because you're gonna ask
00:32:41 --> 00:32:44 PR people to spin this somehow. You're probably
00:32:44 --> 00:32:46 gonna tack it on with tariffs or whatever, but
00:32:46 --> 00:32:48 it's a digital product, so that doesn't really
00:32:48 --> 00:32:55 work. So gaming is right now at this, I would
00:32:55 --> 00:32:58 call it a mini crisis right now, an issue that
00:32:58 --> 00:33:01 can easily be fixed, but unless it's fixed, it's
00:33:01 --> 00:33:05 gonna become a bigger issue. Because again, you
00:33:05 --> 00:33:07 need the people that understand the target audience.
00:33:07 --> 00:33:10 If the people that work for you don't understand
00:33:10 --> 00:33:15 that and they don't want to target the main audience,
00:33:17 --> 00:33:21 you fire them. You're like, well, clearly you
00:33:21 --> 00:33:23 don't want to make money for this business. So
00:33:23 --> 00:33:26 go find the business that you really want to
00:33:26 --> 00:33:29 work at that you'll be comfortable with. Because
00:33:29 --> 00:33:35 this is, gaming is mostly male. You have to get
00:33:35 --> 00:33:38 that through your head. It is mostly male. So
00:33:38 --> 00:33:43 if you do not like the male population, go do
00:33:43 --> 00:33:49 something else. It's a at -work country in the
00:33:49 --> 00:33:53 United States. Go find something else. It's that
00:33:53 --> 00:34:00 simple. Anyways, thank you for listening. To
00:34:00 --> 00:34:02 digital coffee gaming really appreciate it as
00:34:02 --> 00:34:05 always please subscribe to this podcast on your
00:34:05 --> 00:34:07 favorite podcasting apps You have five star really
00:34:07 --> 00:34:10 will just help with the rankings. Let me know
00:34:10 --> 00:34:12 how I am doing But join me next week as I talk
00:34:12 --> 00:34:16 about what's going on in the game industry All
00:34:16 --> 00:34:19 right guys stay safe get to Get to play the games
00:34:19 --> 00:34:22 that you want to play that don't break your bank
00:34:22 --> 00:34:25 or your wallet or any of those And see you next
00:34:25 --> 00:34:26 week later