Gamers are reacting strongly to the recent inauguration of President Trump, sparking discussions about the portrayal of Nazism in video games. Brett dives into the latest developments in the gaming world, including Battlefield's efforts to improve after the lackluster reception of Battlefield 2042, ramping up playtests to enhance player experience. Key announcements from the Xbox Developer Direct, such as Ninja Gaiden Four and Doom: The Dark Ages, are also highlighted as exciting prospects for gamers. Meanwhile, EA faces challenges with Dragon Age underperforming by 50%, raising questions about the future of its franchises. As the gaming landscape shifts, 80% of developers are now focusing on PC gaming, and the impact of AI on game development is explored, alongside the impending closure of EA's Origin Launcher.
Takeaways:
- A group of gamers expressed anger over Trump's inauguration, drawing misguided comparisons to Nazism.
- Battlefield is ramping up playtests to improve on the disappointing launch of Battlefield 2042.
- Notable announcements from Xbox Developer Direct include exciting games like Ninja Gaiden Four.
- EA's Dragon Age underperformed significantly, leading to the departure of its game director.
- PC gaming development is on the rise, with 80% of developers focusing on this platform.
- The closure of EA's Origin Launcher highlights ongoing challenges in the gaming landscape.
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- EA
- Xbox
- Doom
- Battlefield
- Ninja Gaiden
- Steam
- Valve
- Epic Games
- Kingdom Come Deliverance
- [00:02:57] - Young People Are Turning to Nazi-Themed Games to Understand History
- [00:05:24] - Game Development Woes
- [00:06:27] - Return to Form?
- [00:17:36] - Rising Dominance of PC in Game Development
- [00:24:00] - Surprising AI Trends by Age Group
- [00:27:45] - Live Service Market Is Shrinking
- [00:28:23] - The Fall of AAA Games
- [00:32:16] - Controversial Game Changes
- [00:33:33] - Future of Double-A Game Studios
00:00:02 --> 00:00:04 And welcome to a new episode of Digital Coffee
00:00:04 --> 00:00:07 Gaming Brew, and I'm your host Brett Deister. If
00:00:07 --> 00:00:09 you could please subscribe to this podcast on
00:00:09 --> 00:00:11 all your favorite podcasting apps. We have a
00:00:11 --> 00:00:14 five -star review. It really does help with the
00:00:14 --> 00:00:17 rankings. Let me know how I am doing. But this
00:00:17 --> 00:00:23 week we've got a handful of gamers upset about
00:00:23 --> 00:00:26 the current president being inaugurated and wanting
00:00:26 --> 00:00:27 not to game. That's going to be fun to talk about.
00:00:28 --> 00:00:30 Battlefield game has reportedly ramped up play
00:00:30 --> 00:00:33 test so we could be seeing more movement in close
00:00:33 --> 00:00:38 to the release. The Xbox developer director,
00:00:38 --> 00:00:40 whatever it's called, will be talking about that
00:00:40 --> 00:00:44 and what all that entails. Only really two games
00:00:44 --> 00:00:46 actually really are and two or three games are
00:00:46 --> 00:00:48 important, which is obviously going to be Doom
00:00:48 --> 00:00:51 the Dark Ages, which is looking to be really
00:00:51 --> 00:00:52 fun. We're going to be talking about Dragon Age
00:00:52 --> 00:00:56 The Veiled Garden, how terrible it actually is
00:00:56 --> 00:01:00 for EA right now. Also going to be talking about
00:01:00 --> 00:01:03 PC development and how has it skyrocketed. There's
00:01:03 --> 00:01:08 some new data on that. And also who's using AI
00:01:08 --> 00:01:13 in game development, EA Origin, and then Kingdom
00:01:13 --> 00:01:19 Come Deliverance as well. I think that should
00:01:19 --> 00:01:22 be, that should be about it, but we might talk
00:01:22 --> 00:01:23 a little bit more about other things. But anyways,
00:01:24 --> 00:01:42 let's get on with the show. Mmm, that's good.
00:01:42 --> 00:01:46 Yes, the Biden is has left office and Trump is
00:01:46 --> 00:01:52 now currently in office as our 47th president.
00:01:52 --> 00:01:55 And well, some gamers aren't really too happy
00:01:55 --> 00:01:57 about that, which is saying that they're playing
00:01:57 --> 00:02:01 games that you can fight Nazis after because
00:02:01 --> 00:02:05 they're equating Nazism to Trump, which is well.
00:02:06 --> 00:02:08 If you're someone on the left or progressive,
00:02:08 --> 00:02:10 you listen to this show, you really don't understand
00:02:10 --> 00:02:12 what Nazism is at all. And you actually think
00:02:12 --> 00:02:14 it's on the right, but it actually isn't. It's
00:02:14 --> 00:02:16 actually more of a paradigm on the left because
00:02:16 --> 00:02:18 it is a offshoot of socialism and communism.
00:02:19 --> 00:02:23 So it's kind of ironic how much you associate
00:02:23 --> 00:02:25 it with the right, but the right is actually
00:02:25 --> 00:02:27 more, if we're talking about the far right, is
00:02:27 --> 00:02:30 more about anarchy than it is about socialism,
00:02:30 --> 00:02:33 Nazism, or anything about that. But they're upset
00:02:33 --> 00:02:36 because their president or their nominee lost
00:02:36 --> 00:02:42 terribly and so they're turning to games that
00:02:42 --> 00:02:44 have nazis in them so that includes Indiana Jones
00:02:44 --> 00:02:47 the latest of it includes Wolfenstein includes
00:02:47 --> 00:02:52 Sniper Elite and I guess Assassin's Creed because
00:02:52 --> 00:02:55 somewhere in the codex it says the Brotherhood
00:02:55 --> 00:02:59 killed Hitler so Apparently we need Hitler back
00:02:59 --> 00:03:02 in our lexicon because no one understands history,
00:03:02 --> 00:03:05 no one understands that there are other bad people
00:03:05 --> 00:03:10 that don't associate with Nazism or fascism and
00:03:10 --> 00:03:12 just because you don't like somebody does not
00:03:12 --> 00:03:15 equate to them to be a fascist or a Nazi. That
00:03:15 --> 00:03:20 is a complete, well, that's a stretch, but it's
00:03:20 --> 00:03:22 even a bigger stretch when these groups of people
00:03:22 --> 00:03:27 just cannot get over themselves and basically
00:03:27 --> 00:03:32 politics revolves around their identity and how
00:03:32 --> 00:03:34 they treat people and how they view people I
00:03:34 --> 00:03:37 don't care if you voted for Kamala Harris to
00:03:37 --> 00:03:39 be honest with you I would still converse with
00:03:39 --> 00:03:42 you I would still show you respect the problem
00:03:42 --> 00:03:44 is is that the other side doesn't do that and
00:03:44 --> 00:03:49 they deem us well evil because we didn't align
00:03:49 --> 00:03:53 perfectly with them that's the problem guys you
00:03:53 --> 00:03:58 lost it happens We lost last four years. It turned
00:03:58 --> 00:04:01 out pretty terribly for you too. So now you lost
00:04:01 --> 00:04:03 and guess what? A bunch of people were upset
00:04:03 --> 00:04:07 about the previous administration and that's
00:04:07 --> 00:04:08 what happens. But now you're taking out on games,
00:04:08 --> 00:04:10 which is fine. I'd rather you take it out with
00:04:10 --> 00:04:14 games anyways, but you cannot. We have this thing
00:04:14 --> 00:04:18 in gaming where we associate the worst with people.
00:04:19 --> 00:04:25 It really needs to stop. I mean, I get it you're
00:04:25 --> 00:04:27 upset fine take it out on gaming that's completely
00:04:27 --> 00:04:31 fine but stop associating people fascism with
00:04:31 --> 00:04:34 things I don't agree with so I'll just call it
00:04:34 --> 00:04:37 fascist because it's things I don't agree with
00:04:37 --> 00:04:41 it's a childish argument and you're being a child
00:04:41 --> 00:04:47 anyways moving on to battlefield reportedly is
00:04:47 --> 00:04:51 going to be ramping up play test so we all know
00:04:51 --> 00:04:55 battlefield 2042 well It wasn't received well
00:04:55 --> 00:04:58 and rightfully so. It wasn't received well because
00:04:58 --> 00:05:01 it just had a lot of problems with it. The 128
00:05:01 --> 00:05:04 player count wasn't great, not because it couldn't
00:05:04 --> 00:05:06 work. It's just because the map designs were
00:05:06 --> 00:05:10 bad. It just not good. There were a lot of times
00:05:10 --> 00:05:12 there were very long sight lines with very little
00:05:12 --> 00:05:15 cover, so it was a sniper haven. It just the
00:05:15 --> 00:05:19 flow didn't work very well. It just all around
00:05:19 --> 00:05:23 was just not a good experience because it just.
00:05:23 --> 00:05:26 A lot of it, Battlefield 2042 was a very half
00:05:26 --> 00:05:29 -baked game that was released. They probably
00:05:29 --> 00:05:31 should have waited a couple more years to actually
00:05:31 --> 00:05:34 be a fully fledged out experience, but they just
00:05:34 --> 00:05:36 didn't have enough time because I'm pretty sure
00:05:36 --> 00:05:39 the CEO just wanted to push it out for whatever
00:05:39 --> 00:05:42 reason. But this time around they have four different
00:05:42 --> 00:05:44 studios working on it and they actually have
00:05:44 --> 00:05:47 committed to actually community type of play
00:05:47 --> 00:05:50 tests so they can figure out What's working and
00:05:50 --> 00:05:53 what's not and fix it before it launches and
00:05:53 --> 00:05:56 they have a negative reaction to said game So
00:05:56 --> 00:05:59 in here we are and they're gonna get player feedback
00:05:59 --> 00:06:01 Hopefully it works out but at least this is not
00:06:01 --> 00:06:04 what previously Battlefield games had quote -unquote
00:06:04 --> 00:06:07 betas which was a month before launch and everybody's
00:06:07 --> 00:06:11 like you're not gonna fix all this stuff so It's
00:06:11 --> 00:06:12 good to see that. They're actually having traditional
00:06:12 --> 00:06:16 playtests and traditional betas that actually
00:06:16 --> 00:06:22 do Help with the development of it So we'll see
00:06:22 --> 00:06:24 how well this does we'll see where they're gonna
00:06:24 --> 00:06:27 go with this because it also been reported that
00:06:27 --> 00:06:31 98 % of the people developing this battlefield
00:06:31 --> 00:06:33 game have never developed other battlefield games,
00:06:33 --> 00:06:36 so I'm a little skeptical about What's going
00:06:36 --> 00:06:41 on with it, but I will be? Hopeful that it will
00:06:41 --> 00:06:46 be a good battlefield a return to form akin to
00:06:46 --> 00:06:49 the previous ones, one, three, I'm not saying
00:06:49 --> 00:06:52 four because four was awful at launch. I know
00:06:52 --> 00:06:56 it's good now, but people have short -term memories
00:06:56 --> 00:07:00 on just how terrible Battlefield 4 launch was.
00:07:00 --> 00:07:04 It was bad. Plus I think the gunplay's not as
00:07:04 --> 00:07:07 great because of the RNG and I think it's pretty
00:07:07 --> 00:07:11 terrible too. But let's hope it returns to form
00:07:11 --> 00:07:14 to how we... Look at battlefield 3 battlefield
00:07:14 --> 00:07:18 4 and battlefield 1 hopefully with extra features
00:07:18 --> 00:07:20 brought from all those including battlefield
00:07:20 --> 00:07:25 5 I still like the Encampment setup where you
00:07:25 --> 00:07:27 can build Sandbags and stuff. I think that should
00:07:27 --> 00:07:31 be brought back Delta force brought it into their
00:07:31 --> 00:07:33 game So they're smart enough to understand that
00:07:33 --> 00:07:35 gamers actually like that So I'm hoping that
00:07:35 --> 00:07:38 that stuff will be brought into it because if
00:07:38 --> 00:07:40 it just feels better when you can create your
00:07:40 --> 00:07:46 own fortifications as well so we'll see what
00:07:46 --> 00:07:51 happens with all that now Xbox just had yesterday
00:07:51 --> 00:07:57 or Thursday a just developer announcements and
00:07:57 --> 00:08:00 there were four games announced really one I
00:08:00 --> 00:08:02 think it's a Creel one I remember it Expedition
00:08:02 --> 00:08:08 33 Ninja Gaiden 4 and Doom the Dark Ages so Ninja
00:08:08 --> 00:08:11 Gaiden 4 I'm actually like really excited for
00:08:11 --> 00:08:14 I think it's gonna be cool now Ninja Gaiden 2
00:08:14 --> 00:08:18 Black is out now because it came out yesterday
00:08:18 --> 00:08:22 in Unreal Engine 5 so if you really want to get
00:08:22 --> 00:08:27 back into like the Ninja Gaiden form this would
00:08:27 --> 00:08:29 be the best way of doing it it's out right now
00:08:29 --> 00:08:32 you can get it on Steam I just checked but it
00:08:32 --> 00:08:36 looks really cool it looks like I guess souls
00:08:36 --> 00:08:39 like before souls Dark Souls was a thing, but
00:08:39 --> 00:08:41 it's kind of got that feel of it's very hard.
00:08:41 --> 00:08:43 It's very challenging type of gameplay on it.
00:08:43 --> 00:08:46 So it's back to form on that. And it's a good
00:08:46 --> 00:08:48 thing that it is because we need those types
00:08:48 --> 00:08:52 of challenging games. So we'll see how well the
00:08:52 --> 00:08:58 four is. I think right now Ninja Gaiden is mostly
00:08:58 --> 00:09:01 positive. So it's in a mostly positive. State
00:09:01 --> 00:09:04 right now. It's 50 bucks for it. So even though
00:09:04 --> 00:09:07 it's an old game It is updated with the current
00:09:07 --> 00:09:10 epic engine or unreal engine. I should say so
00:09:10 --> 00:09:18 we'll see how well it is, but It's at least returned
00:09:18 --> 00:09:21 to form for some developers and for some developers
00:09:21 --> 00:09:25 to understand what actually works That's the
00:09:25 --> 00:09:28 biggest thing We also had Doom the Dark Ages
00:09:28 --> 00:09:31 that was announced and it's coming out in May,
00:09:32 --> 00:09:36 which is pretty close. And it looks great to
00:09:36 --> 00:09:39 be honest with you. It's returning to form to
00:09:39 --> 00:09:41 the old Doom games because Doom Eternal was,
00:09:41 --> 00:09:44 I called it Mario or Doom Slayer because you
00:09:44 --> 00:09:46 just jumped a lot. And I was like, why is there
00:09:46 --> 00:09:50 all this jumping? But it's not a bad game. But
00:09:50 --> 00:09:52 this one just looks even more awesome. It's full
00:09:52 --> 00:09:55 of testosterone fill type of a game. You now
00:09:55 --> 00:10:00 have a shield a chain Saw shield as well so you
00:10:00 --> 00:10:02 can use it to block you can use it to throw at
00:10:02 --> 00:10:04 people You know a bunch of things you have also
00:10:04 --> 00:10:06 have three different types of weapons. You have
00:10:06 --> 00:10:10 a flail spike mace Electrified gauntlet, which
00:10:10 --> 00:10:13 is interesting. So finishers look more fleshed
00:10:13 --> 00:10:15 out and everything There's no multiplayer, but
00:10:15 --> 00:10:18 it's fine because to be honest with you The other
00:10:18 --> 00:10:19 Doom multiplayer's don't really play. They played
00:10:19 --> 00:10:21 it for a bit and then we all stopped playing
00:10:21 --> 00:10:25 them. So not that big of a deal, but this will
00:10:25 --> 00:10:27 not be also the last Doom. They'll maybe be making
00:10:27 --> 00:10:29 more Doom games, which is great because these
00:10:29 --> 00:10:33 games are really good. This ID understands Doom
00:10:33 --> 00:10:36 like nobody else. They understand their player
00:10:36 --> 00:10:39 base like nobody else. The soundtrack is awesome
00:10:39 --> 00:10:42 still, not by the same guy, unfortunately, because
00:10:42 --> 00:10:45 of their little tiff, but. With a company behind
00:10:45 --> 00:10:48 it that the other types of soundtrack the soundtrack
00:10:48 --> 00:10:52 is still heavy metal rock type of Flare to it.
00:10:52 --> 00:10:54 You can also ride dragons. You can also ride
00:10:54 --> 00:10:59 a huge I Guess mech is the best way of saying
00:10:59 --> 00:11:03 it. I mean there is so many things in this game
00:11:03 --> 00:11:06 Isn't saying it's gonna be a good game. This
00:11:06 --> 00:11:10 is like one of my top like highlights of 2025
00:11:10 --> 00:11:13 Maybe came to come deliverance to there's a few
00:11:13 --> 00:11:15 games But I'm skeptical about that one unfortunately
00:11:15 --> 00:11:17 because because of things that they're they've
00:11:17 --> 00:11:20 been doing But this game looks like it's gonna
00:11:20 --> 00:11:25 be a fun Not trying to push anything Just kill
00:11:25 --> 00:11:28 demons type of thing that all guys just want
00:11:28 --> 00:11:30 to play this game this is why it's popular because
00:11:30 --> 00:11:33 the guys want to play this game and developers
00:11:33 --> 00:11:37 is not insulting or making fun of guys They're
00:11:37 --> 00:11:39 just like, here's a game. We know you guys love
00:11:39 --> 00:11:41 this game. So here's more of it. Guys are like,
00:11:41 --> 00:11:44 I'm going to play this game. And just about every
00:11:44 --> 00:11:46 guy that's seen this is like, this game looks
00:11:46 --> 00:11:52 dope. I'm going to play this game. All right.
00:11:53 --> 00:11:56 So EA had their earning announcements recently
00:11:56 --> 00:12:05 and it did not look good. So unfortunately. Dragon
00:12:05 --> 00:12:10 Age underperformed sales expectations by 50%.
00:12:10 --> 00:12:13 It was bad. Like so bad that the game director
00:12:13 --> 00:12:17 who, it's a he, not a she, because I will never
00:12:17 --> 00:12:21 refer to people's disorders of they think they're
00:12:21 --> 00:12:24 a woman, but they're actually a man. He left
00:12:24 --> 00:12:27 three months later because he's an idiot that
00:12:27 --> 00:12:30 thought that lecturing gamers was a good thing
00:12:30 --> 00:12:34 to do. He ruined single -handedly ruined Dragon
00:12:34 --> 00:12:40 Age because Dragon Age was a dark fantasy and
00:12:40 --> 00:12:43 They went to this more heroic very dumbed -down
00:12:43 --> 00:12:48 very Mass Effect like combat is they just didn't
00:12:48 --> 00:12:50 understand the modern audience the modern gaming
00:12:50 --> 00:12:53 audience They always like to say like the modern
00:12:53 --> 00:12:58 gaming audience is what's been? Has what's been
00:12:58 --> 00:13:03 for like 20 years? or more. Like it hasn't changed
00:13:03 --> 00:13:09 that much. But here we are. So EA stock was in
00:13:09 --> 00:13:12 a freefall. I think it went down like 30%. It
00:13:12 --> 00:13:15 was bad. It was like, Oh yeah, by the way, Dragon
00:13:15 --> 00:13:18 Age did not do well. And one of the other games
00:13:18 --> 00:13:22 did not do well. And EA FC 25 also failed to
00:13:22 --> 00:13:27 meet its target projections. And so the stock
00:13:27 --> 00:13:30 market reacted accordingly and said, We're selling
00:13:30 --> 00:13:36 our stock But I'm hoping the publishers and developers
00:13:36 --> 00:13:40 are getting the message Stop making these types
00:13:40 --> 00:13:42 of games. We don't want them. I'm not saying
00:13:42 --> 00:13:45 stop making Dragon Age I'm saying stop making
00:13:45 --> 00:13:50 it in this particular Way of doing it where the
00:13:50 --> 00:13:53 writing was dumbed down where you were lectured
00:13:53 --> 00:13:58 for miss Pronoun or miss pronouncing or not doing
00:13:58 --> 00:14:00 their pronouns or whatever. I don't really care,
00:14:00 --> 00:14:04 but not, not clearly or like correctly identifying
00:14:04 --> 00:14:10 their pronouns for whatever. And just like it
00:14:10 --> 00:14:12 ran well. That was a funny thing. If this game
00:14:12 --> 00:14:15 actually had good writing and it ran well, it
00:14:15 --> 00:14:17 would have been game of the year, but unfortunately
00:14:17 --> 00:14:22 it ran well. Combat was dull and the writing
00:14:22 --> 00:14:26 was abysmal. you cannot have an RPG and have
00:14:26 --> 00:14:31 bad writing. That's just like 101, the basic
00:14:31 --> 00:14:34 understanding of it. The problem is that they
00:14:34 --> 00:14:37 did and they didn't try to actually make it a
00:14:37 --> 00:14:40 Dragon Age game. It was basically its own little
00:14:40 --> 00:14:44 weird converted version of it that didn't make
00:14:44 --> 00:14:47 any sense type of game. I didn't even play it.
00:14:47 --> 00:14:48 Will I play it? I'll probably play it if it's
00:14:48 --> 00:14:53 on a deep, deep like $10 discount. That's the
00:14:53 --> 00:14:56 only way I'll put this one in Star Wars Outlaws.
00:14:57 --> 00:15:01 $10 discounts, that has to be $10, and I may
00:15:01 --> 00:15:07 pick up them. But not at full price, nope. Nope,
00:15:08 --> 00:15:11 I would be wasting my money for a game. Also,
00:15:12 --> 00:15:15 it looks like Dragon Age of Elgar'd... has gotten
00:15:15 --> 00:15:19 its final big patch so there'll be no more updates
00:15:19 --> 00:15:21 for it. That's the funny part is that EA had
00:15:21 --> 00:15:24 no confidence in this game that they didn't even
00:15:24 --> 00:15:27 have DLC planned for it. That's bad when you
00:15:27 --> 00:15:29 know your game is not going to do very well so
00:15:29 --> 00:15:32 you say we're not having any extra content with
00:15:32 --> 00:15:35 this because we know we didn't really do the
00:15:35 --> 00:15:41 best game. Leadership had no faith in this. and
00:15:41 --> 00:15:44 I understand why you had a lunatic as the game
00:15:44 --> 00:15:48 director who just hired other lunatics and then
00:15:48 --> 00:15:51 if anybody disagreed well you were in trouble
00:15:51 --> 00:15:54 because you had to agree with the lunatic running
00:15:54 --> 00:16:00 the game never let lunatics and village idiots
00:16:00 --> 00:16:05 or fools run your studio run your company or
00:16:05 --> 00:16:10 anything like this because you get incompetence
00:16:10 --> 00:16:14 And that's what happened. It was pure incompetence
00:16:14 --> 00:16:17 of, we know the modern gaming audience and you
00:16:17 --> 00:16:20 didn't because your sales projection was off
00:16:20 --> 00:16:28 50%. Half. Who thought putting transition scars
00:16:28 --> 00:16:32 or top surgery scars on your character was a
00:16:32 --> 00:16:34 cool thing to add? It's a fantasy game. You could
00:16:34 --> 00:16:36 be a male or female anyway, so it doesn't matter.
00:16:36 --> 00:16:39 You don't have to... pretend to have scars that's
00:16:39 --> 00:16:44 the dumbest thing I've ever seen this is why
00:16:44 --> 00:16:47 I have content for Marxists which are basically
00:16:47 --> 00:16:50 progressive which is basically woke I've contempt
00:16:50 --> 00:16:57 for them because they're idiots all right moving
00:16:57 --> 00:17:02 on to some interesting basically data from GDC
00:17:02 --> 00:17:06 survey so finds that about 80 % of developers
00:17:06 --> 00:17:08 are making games for PC more than double the
00:17:08 --> 00:17:13 number of working on PS5 and Xbox games. So the
00:17:13 --> 00:17:15 PC development growth is that GDC states that
00:17:15 --> 00:17:18 the gaming industry reports highlights significant
00:17:18 --> 00:17:21 increase in gaming developments for PC. So this
00:17:21 --> 00:17:24 marks a rise from 2024, which is last year from
00:17:24 --> 00:17:31 66 % and 2023, which is 65%. So it raised about
00:17:31 --> 00:17:38 14 % from last year. to 80%. Now, the PC is the
00:17:38 --> 00:17:40 dominant platform for game development, far surpassing
00:17:40 --> 00:17:43 other platforms, which is the PS5 is 38 % and
00:17:43 --> 00:17:49 the Xbox Series X slash S, I hate these naming
00:17:49 --> 00:17:54 of these consoles, for 34%. Significant, but
00:17:54 --> 00:17:58 it is easier because there's different platforms,
00:17:58 --> 00:18:01 it's an open platform for the most part, and
00:18:01 --> 00:18:03 It's easier to get on Steam. It's easier to get
00:18:03 --> 00:18:06 on Epic. It's easier to get on the other platforms
00:18:06 --> 00:18:08 if you want to, but it's not very hard to do
00:18:08 --> 00:18:11 it. It's a lot easier. The only issue that you
00:18:11 --> 00:18:16 have is that you have to actually optimize for
00:18:16 --> 00:18:19 other machines. You have a ton of other configurations
00:18:19 --> 00:18:21 and stuff. That's probably the hardest part to
00:18:21 --> 00:18:23 do. And I think if we figure out a way of doing
00:18:23 --> 00:18:25 AI models, we could probably figure out a way
00:18:25 --> 00:18:28 of actually optimizing it better. But right now
00:18:28 --> 00:18:30 this is where we're at. Now long -term trends,
00:18:30 --> 00:18:33 there has been a steady growth in PC gaming development,
00:18:33 --> 00:18:38 like I said, 56 % in 2020, 63 % in 2022, and
00:18:38 --> 00:18:43 then 74 % interest expressed by developers in
00:18:43 --> 00:18:48 2025, up from 62 % in 2024. Now, one of the reasons
00:18:48 --> 00:18:54 why is the Steam Deck. The Steam Deck... has
00:18:54 --> 00:18:57 contributed to PC's popularity among developers,
00:18:57 --> 00:18:59 44 % of developers noted that the Steam Deck
00:18:59 --> 00:19:02 as a platform that interests them the most. Plus
00:19:02 --> 00:19:07 with Valve pushing out their Steam OS, I think
00:19:07 --> 00:19:09 this could be a new renaissance for PC gaming.
00:19:09 --> 00:19:11 Now I always say that PC gaming is a better one
00:19:11 --> 00:19:13 of it, because it's just an open platform, there's
00:19:13 --> 00:19:17 better things to do. Plus with Steam Deck kind
00:19:17 --> 00:19:20 of like looking at what... Nintendo Switch did
00:19:20 --> 00:19:24 but also make it more open to things than what
00:19:24 --> 00:19:26 Nintendo's doing Really only get Nintendo for
00:19:26 --> 00:19:28 their exclusives because Nintendo really doesn't
00:19:28 --> 00:19:31 have anything great beyond their own exclusives
00:19:31 --> 00:19:34 They're basically that's their bread and butter.
00:19:34 --> 00:19:37 That is what makes them the most money Zelda
00:19:37 --> 00:19:44 Mario Mario Kart Kirby Yoshi Like those things
00:19:44 --> 00:19:46 are the ones that made Pokemon are what makes
00:19:46 --> 00:19:50 them money and that's why they keep it a closed
00:19:50 --> 00:19:54 ecosystem as opposed to PC. PC is popular because
00:19:54 --> 00:19:57 it's an open ecosystem and just about anybody
00:19:57 --> 00:20:01 can attempt to make it on PC. That's why we see
00:20:01 --> 00:20:04 a lot of hits coming out of nowhere like Helldivers
00:20:04 --> 00:20:08 2, like Black Myth, that type of thing. And it's
00:20:08 --> 00:20:11 how Doom got so popular, it's how first person
00:20:11 --> 00:20:15 shooters got its start is through PC. We wouldn't
00:20:15 --> 00:20:18 have first person shooter without Wolfenstein,
00:20:18 --> 00:20:21 Doom, Doom 2, Marathon, which was on Mac weirdly
00:20:21 --> 00:20:27 enough, but it all started with PC. Without PC
00:20:27 --> 00:20:30 you really wouldn't have the popularity it is
00:20:30 --> 00:20:32 now. I know Nintendo saved the console gaming
00:20:32 --> 00:20:36 market because Atari killed it with ET, but still,
00:20:36 --> 00:20:39 I mean, you wouldn't have it without it. Now,
00:20:40 --> 00:20:43 they're talking about... Now there are biases
00:20:43 --> 00:20:46 in the surveys that are about 56 % response are
00:20:46 --> 00:20:49 from the US which okay and another 16 % from
00:20:49 --> 00:20:52 the UK Canada and Australia But I mean you have
00:20:52 --> 00:20:54 to look at where most of the gaming development
00:20:54 --> 00:20:58 coming from US mostly I'm not saying that any
00:20:58 --> 00:21:00 other no country has their gaming development,
00:21:00 --> 00:21:03 but most of them are resided in here We are seeing
00:21:03 --> 00:21:07 more in China, but and there's some of Japan
00:21:07 --> 00:21:10 to countries with significant mobile gaming markets
00:21:10 --> 00:21:13 EA China and Japan are underrepresented. Well,
00:21:13 --> 00:21:17 it's mobile gaming, so who cares. It was also
00:21:17 --> 00:21:20 challenging in the industry. Layoffs one in 10
00:21:20 --> 00:21:23 developers reported being laid off in 2024. Studio
00:21:23 --> 00:21:25 closures, 4 % of gaming developments to use were
00:21:25 --> 00:21:32 shut down. So it's interesting to see, like,
00:21:32 --> 00:21:36 for so long I heard PC gaming's dead. PC game
00:21:36 --> 00:21:37 is dying. And then all of a sudden it's like,
00:21:37 --> 00:21:40 no, it really isn't because it just has that
00:21:40 --> 00:21:43 longevity. I could build a PC game that could
00:21:43 --> 00:21:46 PC that could last for years and just update
00:21:46 --> 00:21:49 the parts to it without getting a whole new system.
00:21:49 --> 00:21:52 And then eventually every five years or so you
00:21:52 --> 00:21:55 could update the whole PC itself. You could still
00:21:55 --> 00:21:57 piecemeal it, but eventually you just kind of
00:21:57 --> 00:22:01 want to refresh. But with consoles. you just
00:22:01 --> 00:22:03 have to buy a whole new console you can't update
00:22:03 --> 00:22:07 the pieces inside of it so to each his own i
00:22:07 --> 00:22:09 mean this is the last time i'm getting like really
00:22:09 --> 00:22:11 besides the switch the last time i'm getting
00:22:11 --> 00:22:15 any console ones because i can just get the playstation
00:22:15 --> 00:22:20 games on pc now so i don't need a playstation
00:22:20 --> 00:22:24 console anymore which is fine with me we also
00:22:24 --> 00:22:27 have another one about ai and generative ai so
00:22:27 --> 00:22:33 this study was found through game GameSpot, and
00:22:33 --> 00:22:37 basically what it said is generative AI in gaming
00:22:37 --> 00:22:40 development. So usage in generative AI is that
00:22:40 --> 00:22:44 52 % of the surveyed game developers are working
00:22:44 --> 00:22:47 at companies using generative AI. 36 % of developers
00:22:47 --> 00:22:52 personally use generative AI tools for game development.
00:22:53 --> 00:22:57 Concerns, 30 % of respondents believe generative
00:22:57 --> 00:23:00 AI negatively impacts the video game business,
00:23:00 --> 00:23:05 a 12 % increase compared to 2023. Concerns include
00:23:05 --> 00:23:08 IP theft, energy consumption, and bias in AI
00:23:08 --> 00:23:13 programming programs. Okay, so yeah, there's
00:23:13 --> 00:23:17 gonna be bias in AI programs because guess who
00:23:17 --> 00:23:21 programs the AI? We do. Guess who has the biases?
00:23:21 --> 00:23:25 We do. Not hard to figure out where the biases
00:23:25 --> 00:23:30 come from AI adoption by role business and finance
00:23:30 --> 00:23:33 role 51 % are mostly are most likely to utilize
00:23:33 --> 00:23:37 AI tools community marketing and PR 49 % among
00:23:37 --> 00:23:41 with reduction and team leadership at 41 % also
00:23:41 --> 00:23:44 rank Highly in AI usage which makes a lot of
00:23:44 --> 00:23:47 sense because it's just a lot of daily tasks
00:23:47 --> 00:23:51 that can be utilized for AI and so I mean this
00:23:51 --> 00:23:55 is This is a yeah, I mean PR marketing is always
00:23:55 --> 00:23:57 using this type of thing and you kind of have
00:23:57 --> 00:24:02 to roll with it as well. AI usage by age, 28
00:24:02 --> 00:24:05 % of developers from 18 to 34 use AI technologies
00:24:05 --> 00:24:09 compared to 47 % among developers over 55, which
00:24:09 --> 00:24:12 is surprising given the fact that usually when
00:24:12 --> 00:24:14 new technology comes out, it's the younger generation
00:24:14 --> 00:24:17 that actually uses it, not the older one. We're
00:24:17 --> 00:24:20 seeing a flip here, which is interesting in itself.
00:24:21 --> 00:24:27 Job loss to AI. EA CEO believes AI will initially
00:24:27 --> 00:24:29 cause job losses, but ultimately create more
00:24:29 --> 00:24:33 jobs as seen in part of labor revolutions. Actor
00:24:33 --> 00:24:37 strikes reflect concerns over AI use in their
00:24:37 --> 00:24:42 field. And then it's because it had to do gender
00:24:42 --> 00:24:47 representation and LGBT representation and ethnic
00:24:47 --> 00:24:52 demographics. All right, here we go. So men made
00:24:52 --> 00:24:55 up of 66 % of the workforce down from 75 % in
00:24:55 --> 00:24:58 2020. I wonder why because quotas are terrible
00:24:58 --> 00:25:01 and you need to stop it. Women are non -binary,
00:25:01 --> 00:25:05 so non -people or people that don't exist represent
00:25:05 --> 00:25:09 32 % showing year over year increases. I wonder
00:25:09 --> 00:25:11 why. Maybe it's because you guys push this so
00:25:11 --> 00:25:14 much instead of meritocracy, which actually works
00:25:14 --> 00:25:16 and would actually make you money. You do this
00:25:16 --> 00:25:21 instead and you lose business. Ethnic demographics.
00:25:22 --> 00:25:25 White Caucasian developers account for 59 % of
00:25:25 --> 00:25:31 the workforce. Yes. So what? It's always like,
00:25:32 --> 00:25:33 these studies, they have to be like, ooh, look,
00:25:33 --> 00:25:37 the white man, bad. It's like, oh, I'm sorry.
00:25:39 --> 00:25:41 I'm sorry we're so bad because you're a racist.
00:25:43 --> 00:25:46 Seriously, all this stuff is stupid. Yes, people
00:25:46 --> 00:25:50 use AI from all walks of life. Yes, every business
00:25:50 --> 00:25:52 use AI all walks of life. The fact that we have
00:25:52 --> 00:25:55 these types of breakdowns is because it wants
00:25:55 --> 00:25:58 to show like, look, we're so progressive and
00:25:58 --> 00:26:01 you're losing business. And one in 10 developers
00:26:01 --> 00:26:04 have been laid off because your games are crappy.
00:26:05 --> 00:26:09 Congratulations on diversity of being very superficial.
00:26:10 --> 00:26:13 because if this is all you care about in diversity
00:26:13 --> 00:26:15 and not actual thought and how you think and
00:26:15 --> 00:26:19 how you work with problems, you have a narcissistic,
00:26:20 --> 00:26:24 superficial problem. Industry layoffs, like I
00:26:24 --> 00:26:26 said, only 30 % of respondents were concerned
00:26:26 --> 00:26:29 about potential layoffs, partially attributed
00:26:29 --> 00:26:34 to many already being laid off. Ouch. Usually
00:26:34 --> 00:26:37 have surge in 2024 and continuing to 2025 and
00:26:37 --> 00:26:39 it's gonna hurt unless they actually figure out
00:26:39 --> 00:26:43 and turn around PC development 80 % of developers
00:26:43 --> 00:26:45 are working on PC games making it the leading
00:26:45 --> 00:26:51 platform PS5 38 % and so on Android is 29 % and
00:26:51 --> 00:26:56 iOS is 28 % look at you play iOS mobile games
00:26:56 --> 00:26:58 specifically just because you're bored a lot
00:26:58 --> 00:27:03 of them are not good So that's where it is live
00:27:03 --> 00:27:08 service games developers Attitudes 42 % of developers
00:27:08 --> 00:27:10 expressed no desire to work on live service games
00:27:10 --> 00:27:12 in our next project because they don't work.
00:27:13 --> 00:27:16 They're highly risky and You really have to hit
00:27:16 --> 00:27:19 out of the park to make it work Like hell divers
00:27:19 --> 00:27:21 to do a great job in the beginning. They had
00:27:21 --> 00:27:24 some rough issues They did a great job problem
00:27:24 --> 00:27:27 is that Sony f'd it up then they came back and
00:27:27 --> 00:27:31 made it still really good then you have Doom
00:27:31 --> 00:27:34 4, which is okay. You have Path of Exile 2, which
00:27:34 --> 00:27:36 did a better job in Doom 4, even though I got
00:27:36 --> 00:27:38 to get back into it, but I can't get back into
00:27:38 --> 00:27:40 it because it's so laggy for me that I just couldn't
00:27:40 --> 00:27:42 deal with it and just was like, I'm going to
00:27:42 --> 00:27:44 wait until you guys figure out the whole situation.
00:27:45 --> 00:27:47 Market trends. Live service market is competitive,
00:27:47 --> 00:27:49 but shrinking as evidenced by cancellation like
00:27:49 --> 00:27:52 Sony's recent God of War live service game, which
00:27:52 --> 00:27:56 made no sense to me, but sure. Study study details
00:27:56 --> 00:28:00 compiled from over 3000 developer responses majority
00:28:00 --> 00:28:04 responses came from independent and AA studio
00:28:04 --> 00:28:08 developers with just 15 % from AAA developers
00:28:08 --> 00:28:13 down from 18 % previously. So a lot of it's been
00:28:13 --> 00:28:15 more of the smaller development market which
00:28:15 --> 00:28:19 makes more sense to look at it because that is
00:28:19 --> 00:28:22 actually what's gonna be the most important moving
00:28:22 --> 00:28:25 forward because I think AAA is dying because
00:28:25 --> 00:28:30 of the rise of budgets, just the terrible mismanagement
00:28:30 --> 00:28:32 of how to create games, not understanding what
00:28:32 --> 00:28:36 your audience is. And they're just awful a lot
00:28:36 --> 00:28:38 of times. They just aren't that fun and they're
00:28:38 --> 00:28:42 a chore a lot of times. So we'll see. We still
00:28:42 --> 00:28:45 got doomed dark ages, which... I feel like it
00:28:45 --> 00:28:47 does know how to make their games and who they're
00:28:47 --> 00:28:50 actually making games for only because it's the
00:28:50 --> 00:28:52 people within the studio that understand what
00:28:52 --> 00:28:54 they're making the games for. If it was anybody
00:28:54 --> 00:28:56 else, they would not understand and probably
00:28:56 --> 00:29:01 make it even worse. Anyways, moving on to EA
00:29:01 --> 00:29:04 Origin launcher. Oh, the launcher that everybody
00:29:04 --> 00:29:09 hated, but EA made you use it anyways is no more.
00:29:10 --> 00:29:15 It is going away. on April 17th, 2025. So if
00:29:15 --> 00:29:17 you still have it, which I don't understand why
00:29:17 --> 00:29:20 you have it, you might want to get rid of it.
00:29:20 --> 00:29:24 If you have a 32 -bit Windows key, well, you
00:29:24 --> 00:29:27 might want to upgrade to 64, just a thought.
00:29:28 --> 00:29:31 And you're going to have to go over to EA Desktop,
00:29:31 --> 00:29:33 which is no better, to be honest with you. It's
00:29:33 --> 00:29:36 still pretty crappy. I'm kind of tired of, well,
00:29:36 --> 00:29:37 I've been tired for these game launches for a
00:29:37 --> 00:29:41 while, but you know, here we at, I got... Battle
00:29:41 --> 00:29:45 net I got EA I got Ubisoft one you play or whatever.
00:29:45 --> 00:29:50 It's called I got got galaxy and I got unfortunately
00:29:50 --> 00:29:54 the EA games launcher and Rockstar launcher and
00:29:54 --> 00:30:01 That's really about it there a lot of them And
00:30:01 --> 00:30:04 frankly there should be like maybe two three
00:30:04 --> 00:30:08 but in that heyday of like look steam is making
00:30:08 --> 00:30:10 a lot of money. We should make our own game launcher."
00:30:10 --> 00:30:12 And then they do. And then they're like, this
00:30:12 --> 00:30:16 is harder than we thought. And well, the thing
00:30:16 --> 00:30:18 that Valve did very well is they're like, hey,
00:30:18 --> 00:30:20 let's make this experience great for the customer.
00:30:21 --> 00:30:22 Because if we make it great for the customer,
00:30:23 --> 00:30:25 they'll want to use it. The other companies are
00:30:25 --> 00:30:27 like, hey, let's make it great for us where we
00:30:27 --> 00:30:29 can make money and screw the customer. And everybody's
00:30:29 --> 00:30:32 like, yeah, we hate your product. Like, well,
00:30:32 --> 00:30:36 tough. Use it anyways. And it's like, that's
00:30:36 --> 00:30:41 how I feel about those. But all in all, from
00:30:41 --> 00:30:44 what I've been seeing from this year so far,
00:30:45 --> 00:30:47 there are some shining moments in it, but there
00:30:47 --> 00:30:50 are still some lingering problems with it. There
00:30:50 --> 00:30:52 are going to be some games that are just going
00:30:52 --> 00:30:55 to not work because gamers are either tired of
00:30:55 --> 00:30:58 the girl boss thing, they don't want to be lectured
00:30:58 --> 00:31:02 to, or this superficial representation is just
00:31:02 --> 00:31:07 outrageously dumb. and Intel developers actually
00:31:07 --> 00:31:13 get it that most of their target audience is
00:31:13 --> 00:31:15 male and a good portion of it's gonna be white
00:31:15 --> 00:31:22 males, they're not going to do very well. You
00:31:22 --> 00:31:25 can't keep on making fun of your customer and
00:31:25 --> 00:31:28 insulting your customer and expect him to buy
00:31:28 --> 00:31:30 your game. That's what happened with Dragon Age
00:31:30 --> 00:31:36 Veilguard. You hated the white male, then you
00:31:36 --> 00:31:39 lectured us on why you shouldn't mispronounce
00:31:39 --> 00:31:42 pronouns. And then you wonder why no one wants
00:31:42 --> 00:31:46 to buy your game. And that was in 2020, that
00:31:46 --> 00:31:50 was last year. Like I remember one episode, I
00:31:50 --> 00:31:51 was like, I can't remember what good game was
00:31:51 --> 00:31:53 on last year. And I think Black Myth was one
00:31:53 --> 00:31:57 of the few ones that was actually good. Am I
00:31:57 --> 00:32:01 skeptical about Warhorse Studios and King Kong
00:32:01 --> 00:32:03 Deliverance? Yeah, a little bit. which leads
00:32:03 --> 00:32:07 to it, which reveals that Kingdom Come Deliverance
00:32:07 --> 00:32:09 2 is going to get three expansions in a hardcore
00:32:09 --> 00:32:12 mode coming in 2025. So it comes out the beginning
00:32:12 --> 00:32:16 of next month, I think February 4th. The controversy
00:32:16 --> 00:32:23 is that originally Henry was a straight white
00:32:23 --> 00:32:26 Christian male, and now you can possibly be gay
00:32:26 --> 00:32:28 in it. So the communities in our opera are going,
00:32:29 --> 00:32:31 why are you changing it? And they're like, would
00:32:31 --> 00:32:33 you make it more interesting? I'm like, you could
00:32:33 --> 00:32:35 have just left it out and you could have just
00:32:35 --> 00:32:38 had other NPC characters be gay and try to hide
00:32:38 --> 00:32:40 it because back then it wasn't appropriate to
00:32:40 --> 00:32:45 be it. You're also going to have a little bit
00:32:45 --> 00:32:49 more diversity in the game which we'll see how
00:32:49 --> 00:32:52 it plays out. I like the original one. I think
00:32:52 --> 00:32:54 the original one's great. I'm hoping this one's
00:32:54 --> 00:33:00 just as good and it's not it's just what like
00:33:00 --> 00:33:02 the vibe is still what the original one was.
00:33:02 --> 00:33:05 But we will see what it's all about when it comes
00:33:05 --> 00:33:12 out February 4th. But I still am optimistic that
00:33:12 --> 00:33:17 it's going to be a great game. I'm very excited
00:33:17 --> 00:33:22 for Doom the Dark Ages when it comes out in May.
00:33:22 --> 00:33:24 Ninja Gaiden is probably going to be an amazing
00:33:24 --> 00:33:27 game as well. So we'll see. There are some, like
00:33:27 --> 00:33:30 I said, there are some bright shining moments.
00:33:31 --> 00:33:33 and games that we're going to see it, but I'm
00:33:33 --> 00:33:35 really interested to see what the AA studios
00:33:35 --> 00:33:38 are going to do because they're the ones that
00:33:38 --> 00:33:40 understand for the most part, the gamers, the
00:33:40 --> 00:33:42 best AAA studios have kind of lost it and they
00:33:42 --> 00:33:44 need to, they just need better markers and better
00:33:44 --> 00:33:48 people in place that don't want to insult the
00:33:48 --> 00:33:51 white males because there are white males, but
00:33:51 --> 00:33:53 we'll see. Anyways, thank you for listening to
00:33:53 --> 00:33:56 Digital Coffee Gaming Room. I really do appreciate
00:33:56 --> 00:33:58 it. Please subscribe to the... Podcasting all
00:33:58 --> 00:34:00 your favorite podcasting after the five -star
00:34:00 --> 00:34:02 review. Will this help with the rankings and
00:34:02 --> 00:34:04 you know how I'm doing? And join me next week
00:34:04 --> 00:34:07 as I talk about what's going on in the PC gaming
00:34:07 --> 00:34:09 industry. Alright guys stay safe. It's games
00:34:09 --> 00:34:14 that Well, you like to play? See you next week.
00:34:14 --> 00:34:14 Later.