Welcome back to Digital Coffee: Gaming Brew! In this week’s episode, host Brett Deister dives deep into the latest headlines shaking up the gaming world. From the much-anticipated Grand Theft Auto VI receiving a new release date—and sparking plenty of speculation—to big news from EA regarding layoffs at Codemaster and the evolving fate of the Battlefield series, there's a lot to unpack.
Brett also explores an intriguing story about the lost (and now found!) source code for the original Fallout games, sales milestones for Expeditions and Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, and discusses the ongoing evolution of beloved franchises like Gears of War and Payday. He doesn’t shy away from hot-button topics, either; get ready for some candid thoughts on game pricing schemes, the culture shifts at major studios, and the increasingly steep cost of cosmetics in Diablo IV.
So grab your favorite cup, sit back, and join us for a thoughtful, honest, and occasionally spicy look at what’s brewing in the world of gaming!
3 Fun Facts:- Players of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 have spent 387 million hours in-game while drunk, and over 4 million enemies were killed in that state!
- The creator of Fallout thought the source code for Fallout and Fallout 2 was lost, but it turns out Rebecca Heineman of Interplay had saved copies all along.
- The total cost to get all Berserk cosmetics in Diablo IV is around $150—more than the game's actual expansion!
- Grand Theft Auto VI delay and trailer impressions
- EA’s studio cuts, priorities, and layoffs
- The preservation of classic Fallout source code
- Sales success for Expeditions 33 and smaller studios
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance II’s content and controversy
- Payday 3’s struggles and publisher acquisition
- Rising game prices and future pricing schemes
- [00:01:46] - GTA 6 Delayed and Anticipated Impact
- [00:04:47] - EA Layoffs Signal Shift in Gaming Priorities
- [00:11:02] - Lost and Found
- [00:11:49] - Fallout Series Hiatus
- [00:18:22] - Payday Franchise's Future Secured
- [00:19:58] - Game Launch Perks
- [00:23:26] - Crowded Action RPG Market
- [00:25:14] - Helldivers War Bond Update
- [00:28:13] - Gaming Price Shake-Up
- [00:30:13] - Why Remakes Rarely Happen in Gaming
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. If
00:00:06 --> 00:00:08 you could please subscribe to this podcast and
00:00:08 --> 00:00:10 all your favorite podcasting apps. Leave a five
00:00:10 --> 00:00:12 star review. It really does help with the rankings.
00:00:12 --> 00:00:14 Let me know how I'm doing. But this week we're
00:00:14 --> 00:00:17 going to be talking about Grand Theft Auto 6
00:00:17 --> 00:00:21 being delayed and the new trailer. It was interesting,
00:00:22 --> 00:00:24 but I'm still not sold on it. We're also going
00:00:24 --> 00:00:29 to be talking about EA and Battlefield. Because
00:00:29 --> 00:00:31 there's news about that an interesting article
00:00:31 --> 00:00:35 about fallout and fallout to the originals And
00:00:35 --> 00:00:37 how someone found the actual source code for
00:00:37 --> 00:00:41 the original as well. We're talking about expedition
00:00:41 --> 00:00:46 Claire obscure Expedition 33 and the sales also
00:00:46 --> 00:00:48 gonna be talking about came to come deliverance
00:00:48 --> 00:00:52 to Can be talking about star breeze and payday
00:00:52 --> 00:01:00 3 we talking about gears of war reloaded Also
00:01:00 --> 00:01:04 held divers to new war bonds Diablo for berserker
00:01:04 --> 00:01:08 and why that's just a terrible waste of money
00:01:08 --> 00:01:11 also and the main thing I'm talking about is
00:01:11 --> 00:01:14 the new pricing scheme of gaming and I'm kind
00:01:14 --> 00:01:16 of gonna this is gonna be me theorizing what
00:01:16 --> 00:01:20 may actually happen not really quite sure about
00:01:20 --> 00:01:37 That one, but let's get on with the show Mmm,
00:01:37 --> 00:01:42 that's good All right. I hope you're having a
00:01:42 --> 00:01:46 wonderful Friday and a good weekend after that
00:01:46 --> 00:01:49 but this The first thing we'll be talking about
00:01:49 --> 00:01:52 is Grand Theft Auto 6 and it has been delayed
00:01:52 --> 00:01:58 until May 26 2026 we got about a month or not
00:01:58 --> 00:02:02 a month a year for the new game to come out and
00:02:02 --> 00:02:05 basically everybody rejoiced for this because
00:02:06 --> 00:02:08 All the other publishers and developers were
00:02:08 --> 00:02:11 like holding their breath figuring out when this
00:02:11 --> 00:02:13 game was gonna come out so they could move around
00:02:13 --> 00:02:17 their game release for this, but it looks like
00:02:17 --> 00:02:20 it's not going to be Coming out now rockstar
00:02:20 --> 00:02:22 games has reportedly made changes to its corporate
00:02:22 --> 00:02:25 Culture to avoid previous issues of employee
00:02:25 --> 00:02:28 burnout such as implementing a flex time policy
00:02:29 --> 00:02:33 GTA 6 took three days to reach 1 billion in sales
00:02:33 --> 00:02:37 and the research groups estimate that GTA 6 could
00:02:37 --> 00:02:41 make 1 billion from pre -orders alone and 3 .2
00:02:41 --> 00:02:47 billion in its first year So it could make a
00:02:47 --> 00:02:51 lot I mean there are issues with this maybe a
00:02:51 --> 00:02:55 more woke GTA 6 not really so set on that and
00:02:55 --> 00:02:57 not really so set on actually getting the game
00:02:57 --> 00:03:01 either Think out of all the Grand Theft Auto's
00:03:01 --> 00:03:04 I've beat none. I don't know why I just kind
00:03:04 --> 00:03:06 of stopped playing it I mean you're supposed
00:03:06 --> 00:03:08 to get it, but I just never finished the game
00:03:08 --> 00:03:10 for whatever reason I know there's an online
00:03:10 --> 00:03:12 component, but I just never really cared about
00:03:12 --> 00:03:17 it too much but Should be interesting. I mean
00:03:17 --> 00:03:19 they did release a new trailer a new trailer
00:03:19 --> 00:03:24 look interesting. It's back in Vice City It looks
00:03:24 --> 00:03:27 like it's not in the 80s vibe anymore. It's gonna
00:03:27 --> 00:03:31 be more towards current day and there's a guy
00:03:31 --> 00:03:35 and a chick Kind of the main characters in this
00:03:35 --> 00:03:38 game. I guess I Mean, there's a whole lot going
00:03:38 --> 00:03:42 on supposedly it was captured in the PlayStation
00:03:42 --> 00:03:46 5 not the pro but the PlayStation 5 so it looks
00:03:46 --> 00:03:50 good, but We'll see what they actually bring
00:03:50 --> 00:03:55 to the table when it finally comes out in a year.
00:03:55 --> 00:04:00 All right, EA has reportedly implemented layoffs
00:04:00 --> 00:04:02 at Codemaster shortly after announcing the end
00:04:02 --> 00:04:04 of the development of World Rally Championship.
00:04:05 --> 00:04:07 Codemaster has been in the fully owned property
00:04:07 --> 00:04:10 for over five years. The studio has worked on
00:04:10 --> 00:04:14 F1 franchise and also developed EA racing titles,
00:04:14 --> 00:04:17 including Grid and WRC. EA announced the cutting
00:04:17 --> 00:04:21 of hundreds of roles and the cancellation of
00:04:21 --> 00:04:25 unannounced projects on April 29th. The expo
00:04:25 --> 00:04:27 spokesperson stated the company is evolving and
00:04:27 --> 00:04:30 meeting players needs and is reducing roles while
00:04:30 --> 00:04:33 redeploying staff to align strategic priorities.
00:04:33 --> 00:04:35 He has history of reef traveling development
00:04:35 --> 00:04:39 staff after completing projects. There is uncertainty
00:04:39 --> 00:04:42 regarding the extent of changes to code master
00:04:42 --> 00:04:46 and internal setup. And I mean, just speaking
00:04:46 --> 00:04:49 from me, I think they're eventually just going
00:04:49 --> 00:04:53 to get rid of them. because it seems like the
00:04:53 --> 00:04:57 racing games aren't really their priority right
00:04:57 --> 00:05:00 now. The priority is Battlefield right now, Apex
00:05:00 --> 00:05:05 Legends, and really that's the only two that
00:05:05 --> 00:05:08 I see. I mean, Split Faction really made a lot
00:05:08 --> 00:05:10 of money for them, but they don't really care
00:05:10 --> 00:05:12 about that. Oh, Mass Effect is the third one.
00:05:13 --> 00:05:16 They don't care about Dragon Age anymore. Reportedly,
00:05:16 --> 00:05:18 they didn't really care about it because they
00:05:18 --> 00:05:24 just didn't understand it. three main games Actually,
00:05:24 --> 00:05:27 no four main games right now is the Star Wars
00:05:27 --> 00:05:30 Jedi series But that's probably going to end
00:05:30 --> 00:05:32 after the third game is released. So that's out
00:05:32 --> 00:05:36 after the third game is released the Star Wars
00:05:36 --> 00:05:39 zero company But that game is probably going
00:05:39 --> 00:05:41 to if it sells well, they'll make more but if
00:05:41 --> 00:05:45 it doesn't sell well that will be done Andrew
00:05:45 --> 00:05:47 Wilson does not really care about the Star Wars
00:05:47 --> 00:05:51 collaboration anymore. He just basically Once
00:05:51 --> 00:05:54 do its own its own IP, but battlefield and apex
00:05:54 --> 00:05:58 legends are certainly the two most important
00:05:58 --> 00:06:02 franchises right now for EA then you got the
00:06:02 --> 00:06:04 sports series which is in their own thing and
00:06:04 --> 00:06:07 then you have Mass Effect because it seems like
00:06:07 --> 00:06:09 Bioware is only gonna be working on Mass Effect
00:06:09 --> 00:06:12 No more Dragon Age. So regardless of battles
00:06:12 --> 00:06:14 gate 3 did really well no more Dragon Age, which
00:06:14 --> 00:06:19 is really stupid If you had a really good team
00:06:19 --> 00:06:22 that wasn't all about gender identity and gender
00:06:22 --> 00:06:24 dysphoria It actually would have been a really
00:06:24 --> 00:06:29 good game if you had competent writing I've played
00:06:29 --> 00:06:32 some of it PlayStation 5, but I still don't care
00:06:32 --> 00:06:36 to come back to it. That's the problem Is that
00:06:36 --> 00:06:40 I don't care before when new Dragon Age came
00:06:40 --> 00:06:43 out I'd come back to it because I actually care,
00:06:43 --> 00:06:45 but right now I do not care about it. It does
00:06:45 --> 00:06:50 nothing for me. It is horrendously written. It's
00:06:50 --> 00:06:54 just, it looks a little too cartoony. The more
00:06:54 --> 00:07:01 gothic, darker like feel to it is gone for more
00:07:01 --> 00:07:04 upbeat and that's just not Dragon Age. I mean,
00:07:04 --> 00:07:06 it does have some, but then your choices don't
00:07:06 --> 00:07:10 matter from the last three games. It just...
00:07:11 --> 00:07:14 They screwed up terribly and that's why it didn't
00:07:14 --> 00:07:20 sell well so Maybe when the new CEO if they ever
00:07:20 --> 00:07:22 get a new CEO he'll come back in and be like
00:07:22 --> 00:07:26 you're refocusing on these Technically they should
00:07:26 --> 00:07:27 work on command and conquer, but I don't think
00:07:27 --> 00:07:30 they ever will so that's out I mean they have
00:07:30 --> 00:07:33 a lot of good IPs and properties that they probably
00:07:33 --> 00:07:36 should look at again and work on but they won't
00:07:36 --> 00:07:38 because they're focused on very specific things.
00:07:39 --> 00:07:41 Luckily, they aren't going to raise prices like
00:07:41 --> 00:07:44 Microsoft did, but that's for now. Wait for a
00:07:44 --> 00:07:48 few years and they may raise prices too. If they
00:07:48 --> 00:07:50 see the other publishers are getting away with
00:07:50 --> 00:07:57 it. All right. So in the battlefield or battlefield
00:07:57 --> 00:08:00 news, EA will invite more players to battlefield
00:08:00 --> 00:08:04 labs play test throughout May. Players from select
00:08:04 --> 00:08:07 regions of Asia will now be included in invitations
00:08:07 --> 00:08:10 battlefield teams have completed inertial server
00:08:10 --> 00:08:13 performance and stability assessments the development
00:08:13 --> 00:08:16 update highlights accomplishments including establishing
00:08:16 --> 00:08:19 a solid foundation for smooth low latency and
00:08:19 --> 00:08:22 high performance gunplay finding the right balance
00:08:22 --> 00:08:26 and movement speed for functionalities like crouch
00:08:26 --> 00:08:33 sprint combat role on barrel and vaulting Using
00:08:33 --> 00:08:36 destruction to enhance tactical gameplay. So,
00:08:36 --> 00:08:39 I mean this is all about it I'm I you could consider
00:08:39 --> 00:08:42 me the old school battlefield player played since
00:08:42 --> 00:08:46 battlefield 1942 I've played Every single one
00:08:46 --> 00:08:50 of them even in 1943 and even modern combat but
00:08:50 --> 00:08:53 our comments not great But I played all of them
00:08:53 --> 00:08:57 even battlefield heroes They all had their interesting
00:08:57 --> 00:09:00 things battlefield heroes was by far the most
00:09:00 --> 00:09:04 unique one they made And then once Battlefield
00:09:04 --> 00:09:06 Bad Company and Bad Company 2 came out, destruction
00:09:06 --> 00:09:09 was a primary thing. It kind of got lost in the
00:09:09 --> 00:09:16 shuffle after Bad Company 2. But they're refocusing
00:09:16 --> 00:09:19 on it now and they're using it as tactical, but
00:09:19 --> 00:09:23 also allowing you to run up buildings and stuff
00:09:23 --> 00:09:26 through the destruction. So it should be interesting
00:09:26 --> 00:09:28 to see what they actually do, if it will be good,
00:09:28 --> 00:09:33 if it will be bad. Combat rules I don't really
00:09:33 --> 00:09:35 know about that. Please don't go towards battle
00:09:35 --> 00:09:40 black ops 4 and the Combat diving and the John
00:09:40 --> 00:09:43 wick stuff. It just I played it the beta wasn't
00:09:43 --> 00:09:47 that fun didn't really want to buy the game and
00:09:47 --> 00:09:52 rightfully so because Man those collaborations
00:09:52 --> 00:09:55 are just awful. I just don't understand all of
00:09:55 --> 00:10:00 that Now moving on to the original fallout and
00:10:00 --> 00:10:02 fallout 2. So the original fallout and fallout
00:10:02 --> 00:10:06 2 was more of a isometric or boulderskate 3 type
00:10:06 --> 00:10:10 of gameplay style because it was made in the
00:10:10 --> 00:10:13 early 90s. You didn't really have that fall 3
00:10:13 --> 00:10:16 type of ability to make it like a 3D world. So
00:10:16 --> 00:10:21 you had to do more of a top down. But the creator
00:10:21 --> 00:10:23 of fallout previously stated that the source
00:10:23 --> 00:10:25 code for fallout and fallout 2 was lost and thought
00:10:25 --> 00:10:28 to be destroyed. But Rebecca Hyman co -founder
00:10:28 --> 00:10:31 of interplay because I was the original publisher
00:10:31 --> 00:10:34 of the fallout series black aisles was the original
00:10:34 --> 00:10:38 developer which they basically became obsidian
00:10:38 --> 00:10:42 but Revealed that the source code for both games
00:10:42 --> 00:10:46 was actually saved Her and her team began archiving
00:10:46 --> 00:10:50 source codes for air interplays games in 1993
00:10:50 --> 00:10:55 after losing the code for wasteland Heimans recovered
00:10:55 --> 00:10:57 the code for Wasteland from a source at EA and
00:10:57 --> 00:11:01 took on the task of preserving Interplay's gaming
00:11:01 --> 00:11:05 heritage. She stated that when she left Interplay
00:11:05 --> 00:11:08 in 1995, she had copies of every game the company
00:11:08 --> 00:11:11 produced, including Fallout and Fallout 2, which
00:11:11 --> 00:11:13 is good because it's good to actually have the
00:11:13 --> 00:11:15 archives and the source codes for all this stuff
00:11:15 --> 00:11:18 to preserve the games because these games are
00:11:18 --> 00:11:20 really, really good. back when they were created.
00:11:21 --> 00:11:23 The story was really good and I'm pretty sure
00:11:23 --> 00:11:25 if you remade it and kind of like Bowers Gate
00:11:25 --> 00:11:30 3, but basically remade the game and just into
00:11:30 --> 00:11:33 the standards we have today, it still would be
00:11:33 --> 00:11:38 really good. They were fun games. It's just different
00:11:38 --> 00:11:40 way of playing than Fallout 3. And remember that
00:11:40 --> 00:11:44 Fallout 2 came out in the 90s and Fallout 3 didn't
00:11:44 --> 00:11:50 get made until way into the early 2000s. So there
00:11:50 --> 00:11:53 was like I would say over a decade span between
00:11:53 --> 00:11:56 there was fallout tactics Which is kind of good,
00:11:56 --> 00:12:00 but the actual the mainline fallout didn't happen
00:12:00 --> 00:12:02 until fall three and fallout two came out in
00:12:02 --> 00:12:07 the in the 90s so It was a long time and so I
00:12:07 --> 00:12:09 could see where that and plus interplay just
00:12:09 --> 00:12:12 had really bad Business and they just didn't
00:12:12 --> 00:12:15 really do it very well because they had a lot
00:12:15 --> 00:12:17 of great hits And they could have, they should
00:12:17 --> 00:12:19 have been a company that lasted for a while,
00:12:19 --> 00:12:21 but it just didn't do very good at managing their
00:12:21 --> 00:12:25 business. All right, so there is sales numbers,
00:12:25 --> 00:12:28 unlike Assassin's Creed Shadows, which we still
00:12:28 --> 00:12:31 don't have sales numbers. I always find that
00:12:31 --> 00:12:35 funny. But Expedition 33 has surpassed two million
00:12:35 --> 00:12:38 units just under two weeks after its release.
00:12:38 --> 00:12:42 The game has launched on April 24th for PlayStation
00:12:42 --> 00:12:45 5, Xbox Series, PC via Steam and Epic Game Store.
00:12:46 --> 00:12:48 It's also available through Game Pass. The game
00:12:48 --> 00:12:50 features a quest to destroy a character known
00:12:50 --> 00:12:53 as The Painteress who has the power to erase
00:12:53 --> 00:13:00 people by painting their cursed numbers. Which
00:13:00 --> 00:13:02 is funny because apparently the guy that created
00:13:02 --> 00:13:04 this basically was born at Ubisoft and created
00:13:04 --> 00:13:09 this thing. Squaresoft or Square Enix. Squaresoft
00:13:09 --> 00:13:11 is actually the original name. Square Enix has
00:13:11 --> 00:13:17 said that these types of games were old antiquated
00:13:17 --> 00:13:19 and gamers didn't want it. And then they did
00:13:19 --> 00:13:22 this and it looks like it's not the turn -based
00:13:22 --> 00:13:25 type style has room in the industry. It's weird
00:13:25 --> 00:13:27 that these big publishers go, there's no room
00:13:27 --> 00:13:29 for it. They don't want it. And then it's like
00:13:29 --> 00:13:33 some small publisher makes it and it gets really
00:13:33 --> 00:13:35 popular. And it's like, there is room for it.
00:13:35 --> 00:13:38 Just like boulders gate three showed that isometric
00:13:38 --> 00:13:41 type games like that. There's room for it. There's
00:13:41 --> 00:13:45 room for the old style Final Fantasy with the
00:13:45 --> 00:13:48 turn -based system. There's room for it. So Sony
00:13:48 --> 00:13:52 Dragons Legends of the Dragoon 2 could be actually
00:13:52 --> 00:13:55 made or the remake of the original could be made
00:13:55 --> 00:13:58 and successful It's just stop following trends
00:13:58 --> 00:14:02 all the time trends. Do not make you money It's
00:14:02 --> 00:14:04 doing something different or that hasn't been
00:14:04 --> 00:14:06 done in a while that will make you money because
00:14:06 --> 00:14:08 you're gonna have new players coming up and they're
00:14:08 --> 00:14:10 like Oh, wow, this is actually a fun strategic
00:14:10 --> 00:14:14 way of playing it but They just go, nope, nobody
00:14:14 --> 00:14:17 wants this anymore. This is old, doesn't work.
00:14:18 --> 00:14:21 And this is where we're at. So I'm happy that
00:14:21 --> 00:14:25 they actually made this. I'm excited that they
00:14:25 --> 00:14:28 sold it so well. And it wasn't made in a big
00:14:28 --> 00:14:29 budget, like 300 million or more. It was more
00:14:29 --> 00:14:33 like a $50 million budget, which goes to show
00:14:33 --> 00:14:37 big budgets don't make good games. It just makes
00:14:37 --> 00:14:41 big budgets. And that's it. You don't need a
00:14:41 --> 00:14:43 team of 3 to make a good game. You need
00:14:43 --> 00:14:47 a team of really good competent people, but less
00:14:47 --> 00:14:52 of them to make a really good game. All right,
00:14:52 --> 00:14:55 so King of Cone Deliverance 2, which launched
00:14:55 --> 00:14:58 in February 2025, has reached over 3 million
00:14:58 --> 00:15:02 players within three months. Players have collectively
00:15:02 --> 00:15:07 killed 500 million humans. And the most popular
00:15:07 --> 00:15:10 weapon is long sword accounting for 207 million
00:15:10 --> 00:15:13 kills followed by the normal sword 102 million
00:15:13 --> 00:15:16 and dagger 40 million range weapons have resulted
00:15:16 --> 00:15:21 in Just about over 55 million enemy kills with
00:15:21 --> 00:15:23 headshots accounting for one in seven of those
00:15:23 --> 00:15:25 kills the crossbow is the most popular range
00:15:25 --> 00:15:30 weapon with 29 .1 million kills players have
00:15:30 --> 00:15:38 sold 38 .51 billion items valued at $2 .4 trillion
00:15:38 --> 00:15:47 and picked up $131 .31 million, cubing over $107
00:15:47 --> 00:15:52 .94 billion. Players have spent $387 million
00:15:52 --> 00:15:57 hours in game while drunk, while $3 .12 million
00:15:57 --> 00:16:01 choosing wine and $2 .46 million choosing beer.
00:16:01 --> 00:16:04 over four million enemies were killed while the
00:16:04 --> 00:16:07 character was drunk. That's interesting. And
00:16:07 --> 00:16:12 the win rate for Farkel games is 67 % and paid
00:16:12 --> 00:16:14 expansion called Brushes with Death is planned
00:16:14 --> 00:16:21 for release later in May 2025. So yeah, we all
00:16:21 --> 00:16:24 love King of Condolence 2. I still have not picked
00:16:24 --> 00:16:26 it up because I'm actually quite mad with what
00:16:26 --> 00:16:29 they did because now there's been rumors that
00:16:29 --> 00:16:33 the actual Creative director of it. Yes did I
00:16:33 --> 00:16:37 guess? Allow this stuff to happen because you
00:16:37 --> 00:16:40 don't want to offend anybody and I'm like offend
00:16:40 --> 00:16:44 the gaming Journalists offend away. We don't
00:16:44 --> 00:16:48 care about them. They are useless to us offend
00:16:48 --> 00:16:51 away You should have taken out the gay scene
00:16:51 --> 00:16:53 and you should take it out the black guy Didn't
00:16:53 --> 00:16:55 need to be in the game. You would have act probably
00:16:55 --> 00:16:58 sold a lot more You probably would have been
00:16:58 --> 00:17:02 to like four or five million But I just don't
00:17:02 --> 00:17:06 understand why you did these weird things. It
00:17:06 --> 00:17:10 just didn't make any sense. And I'm still upset
00:17:10 --> 00:17:12 about that. Hopefully there's mods where I can
00:17:12 --> 00:17:17 just take it out. Unless Nexus Mod bans it. So
00:17:17 --> 00:17:23 dumb. All right, so Starbreeze has agreed to
00:17:23 --> 00:17:27 acquire the publishing rights for Payday 3. The
00:17:27 --> 00:17:29 acquisition aims to pursue broader strategic
00:17:29 --> 00:17:32 opportunities for the payday franchise. Payday
00:17:32 --> 00:17:38 sales fell from 44 .5 million in year of 2023
00:17:38 --> 00:17:42 to 7 .7 million in 2024. It's because it just,
00:17:42 --> 00:17:44 it wasn't ready to be launched. They launched
00:17:44 --> 00:17:47 it too early. Sarbiz acknowledged the payday
00:17:47 --> 00:17:50 three was underperforming shortly after its September,
00:17:50 --> 00:17:54 2023 launch and initiated a rehabilitation program.
00:17:54 --> 00:17:58 The company appointed That's unfortunate Adolf
00:17:58 --> 00:18:02 Christian Johnson as the new CEO in March after
00:18:02 --> 00:18:06 ousting former CEO Tobias I don't know say the
00:18:06 --> 00:18:11 last name Starbreeze agreement with The what?
00:18:12 --> 00:18:16 Well, it's it's basically It's basically the
00:18:16 --> 00:18:19 publisher allows it to take full publishing responsibilities
00:18:19 --> 00:18:22 for pay three investors updates that states that
00:18:22 --> 00:18:24 the deal was enabled Starbreeze to accelerate
00:18:24 --> 00:18:26 content development and pursue broader business
00:18:26 --> 00:18:28 opportunities for the franchise. The agreement
00:18:28 --> 00:18:31 concludes the current publishing agreement but
00:18:31 --> 00:18:33 establishes a foundation for long -term partnership
00:18:33 --> 00:18:36 between Starbreeze and the publisher for future
00:18:36 --> 00:18:39 payday projects. Starbreeze issued new shares
00:18:39 --> 00:18:42 representing 10 % of its outstanding share capital
00:18:42 --> 00:18:45 to finance the acquisition, tolling approximately
00:18:45 --> 00:18:52 3 .45 million before transaction costs. So this
00:18:52 --> 00:18:57 is This is actually pretty good because it, baby
00:18:57 --> 00:18:59 three wasn't great when I launched, it was okay,
00:18:59 --> 00:19:03 but it wasn't great. And then they should have
00:19:03 --> 00:19:05 waited probably a year or so and kind of like
00:19:05 --> 00:19:08 really gotten it into it. There really was no
00:19:08 --> 00:19:10 single player mode. You still had to be online,
00:19:10 --> 00:19:12 which I don't really understand why you always
00:19:12 --> 00:19:14 have to be online when you don't play single
00:19:14 --> 00:19:18 player. And so people went to other games that
00:19:18 --> 00:19:21 were similar to it. They just went back to payday
00:19:21 --> 00:19:22 two until they fixed the issue, which it seems
00:19:22 --> 00:19:25 like they fixed a lot of the issues, but I think
00:19:25 --> 00:19:28 it still has a way to go. But I'm, I'm hoping
00:19:28 --> 00:19:30 that they will continue to update this and make
00:19:30 --> 00:19:34 us a better game. Do what no man's sky did. And
00:19:34 --> 00:19:36 I mean, they turn their game around and it's
00:19:36 --> 00:19:38 probably one of the best games you can get right
00:19:38 --> 00:19:41 now because it's got so much content in there.
00:19:43 --> 00:19:46 Alright, so Microsoft has announced Gears of
00:19:46 --> 00:19:49 War Reloaded. This game will be available on
00:19:49 --> 00:19:53 Xbox Series X and S, PC, and PlayStation 5. It's
00:19:53 --> 00:19:56 one of the first times on August 26th for the
00:19:56 --> 00:20:00 price of $40. Subscribers to the Game Pass Ultimate
00:20:00 --> 00:20:03 and PC Pass will have access to this game on
00:20:03 --> 00:20:06 day one. The remaster includes all content from
00:20:06 --> 00:20:09 Gears of War Ultimate Edition and all post -launch
00:20:09 --> 00:20:11 downloadable content such as a bonus campaign
00:20:11 --> 00:20:13 act, multiplayer maps, modes, characters, and
00:20:13 --> 00:20:16 cosmetics. The game features two -player local
00:20:16 --> 00:20:19 and online co -op for the campaign and supports
00:20:19 --> 00:20:21 multiplayer matches with up to eight players.
00:20:21 --> 00:20:24 Owners of the original Gears of War Ultimate
00:20:24 --> 00:20:28 Edition purchased before May 5th. So it's already
00:20:28 --> 00:20:31 passed at 11 a .m. Eastern will receive a free
00:20:31 --> 00:20:34 upgrade to the remastered edition Gears of War
00:20:34 --> 00:20:38 was really launched by Microsoft in 2006 and
00:20:38 --> 00:20:41 since spawned sequel spin -off and books Microsoft
00:20:41 --> 00:20:44 has previously announced plans to bring other
00:20:44 --> 00:20:47 games to different platforms including Forza
00:20:47 --> 00:20:52 Horizon 5 to PlayStation and various titles to
00:20:52 --> 00:20:54 Nintendo Switch and more likely than Nintendo
00:20:54 --> 00:21:01 Switch 2. So this is great, I mean Can't hate
00:21:01 --> 00:21:04 him for that I mean Gears of War is a great title
00:21:04 --> 00:21:07 who's originally made by epic and kind of a partnership
00:21:07 --> 00:21:10 with Microsoft and then epic eventually after
00:21:10 --> 00:21:13 Gears of War 3 handed it off to Microsoft and
00:21:13 --> 00:21:17 coalition studios is now working on this Specifically,
00:21:17 --> 00:21:20 I really haven't cared since Gears of War 3 kind
00:21:20 --> 00:21:22 of ended. There's a new story and everything
00:21:22 --> 00:21:26 but It is I think this is gonna bring back a
00:21:26 --> 00:21:29 lot of nostalgia and new players the from the
00:21:29 --> 00:21:31 PlayStation side to see how well this actually
00:21:31 --> 00:21:34 will do and if it's any indicator what oblivion
00:21:34 --> 00:21:37 remastered did This is a good sign for it. Not
00:21:37 --> 00:21:40 bad price, but it's still an old games from 2006.
00:21:40 --> 00:21:47 So it's almost 10 years old But we'll see Alright
00:21:47 --> 00:21:51 so early access of Titan quest two has been delayed
00:21:51 --> 00:21:56 from winter 24 25 to summer 2025 which is weird
00:21:56 --> 00:22:02 because well it is almost the summer but anyways
00:22:02 --> 00:22:05 the decision delay was made by publisher thq
00:22:05 --> 00:22:09 nordic and developer grim lore games due to crowded
00:22:09 --> 00:22:13 action rbg release window yeah there's a lot
00:22:13 --> 00:22:16 the full release of titan quest 2 will follow
00:22:16 --> 00:22:20 for playstation 5 xbox series and ps and pc Thousands
00:22:20 --> 00:22:23 of players participated in a recent demo test
00:22:23 --> 00:22:25 with over a 92 % rating their experience positively,
00:22:27 --> 00:22:30 which is pretty good. Players praised the game
00:22:30 --> 00:22:32 for capturing the spirit of the original Titan
00:22:32 --> 00:22:34 Quest while incorporating modernized systems.
00:22:34 --> 00:22:37 The game features new masteries and includes
00:22:37 --> 00:22:43 a boss named Paulina the Terrible. Visuals and
00:22:43 --> 00:22:46 audio receive average scores of 5 .25 out of
00:22:46 --> 00:22:50 6 .5. 0 .16 out of 6 respectively. Developer
00:22:50 --> 00:22:52 acknowledged areas needing refinement including
00:22:52 --> 00:22:55 combat fluidity, ability aiming, and balance.
00:22:56 --> 00:22:58 Performance optimization and new improvements
00:22:58 --> 00:23:00 such as customizable controller schemes and enhanced
00:23:00 --> 00:23:03 UI indicators are in progress. Grimloor Games
00:23:03 --> 00:23:05 is committed to delivering a true successor to
00:23:05 --> 00:23:07 Titan Quest and it wasn't the original developer
00:23:07 --> 00:23:10 either. Ironside Games was the original developer
00:23:10 --> 00:23:13 of the original Titan Quest but I think they
00:23:13 --> 00:23:16 went under because they really didn't make anything
00:23:16 --> 00:23:20 after Titan Quest. And then THQ, when they went
00:23:20 --> 00:23:23 under and was bought out, decided to update the
00:23:23 --> 00:23:26 original Titan Quest and announce the new Titan
00:23:26 --> 00:23:28 Quest 2. And I'm glad that they decided to like,
00:23:28 --> 00:23:31 cause it is a very crowded. Action RPG, you got
00:23:31 --> 00:23:33 no rest for the wicked. You got Diablo four.
00:23:33 --> 00:23:37 You got path of exile too. I mean, it is very
00:23:37 --> 00:23:40 crowded right now in action RPGs and you don't
00:23:40 --> 00:23:42 need to actually add another one. So it's good
00:23:42 --> 00:23:46 delay. Plus they can actually implement more
00:23:46 --> 00:23:49 of these features and make early access smoother
00:23:49 --> 00:23:54 than what it was. So I'm excited to see what,
00:23:54 --> 00:23:57 what happens with it, but kudos to them to actually
00:23:57 --> 00:24:01 make a really positive ranking on there. Alright,
00:24:01 --> 00:24:04 so Helldivers 2 is coming with a new warbond
00:24:04 --> 00:24:07 on May 15th, which includes a sword, specifically
00:24:07 --> 00:24:12 a curved saber named the QCQ -2 saber, so original
00:24:12 --> 00:24:15 in the naming. This saber is the second melee
00:24:15 --> 00:24:17 weapon added to the game, following a previous
00:24:17 --> 00:24:20 melee weapon, a stun baton. The warbond also
00:24:20 --> 00:24:26 contains the following items. the RE -1861 Parade
00:24:26 --> 00:24:30 Commander and the RE -2310 Honorary Guard sets,
00:24:30 --> 00:24:34 the R -2 Amendment, a new bayonet rifle, the
00:24:34 --> 00:24:38 CQC -1, a true flag statogram which includes
00:24:38 --> 00:24:45 a spear, a sample scanner booster, a G -142 Pyrotech
00:24:45 --> 00:24:48 Grenade, new banners, capes, titles, and lockstep
00:24:48 --> 00:24:51 emote. The community has expressed mixed reaction
00:24:51 --> 00:24:56 to the expectation set by Airhead CEO James Jorhen,
00:24:56 --> 00:25:00 previously joking comment that players would
00:25:00 --> 00:25:04 crap their pants. The last Warbond prior to this
00:25:04 --> 00:25:07 one was released on March 20th, meaning players
00:25:07 --> 00:25:12 have been waiting 56 days for a new one. So it's
00:25:12 --> 00:25:14 good. I mean Helldivers is still a great game.
00:25:15 --> 00:25:19 It's still It's it's the closest we get to a
00:25:19 --> 00:25:21 Starship Troopers even I know there's a Starship
00:25:21 --> 00:25:24 Trooper one But normally plays that one Helldivers
00:25:24 --> 00:25:27 to really took it over because of how bombastic
00:25:27 --> 00:25:30 it was and It'd be great to see a collaboration
00:25:30 --> 00:25:34 with those two to get help Just make a Starship
00:25:34 --> 00:25:36 Trooper games out of what Helldivers to has done
00:25:36 --> 00:25:39 would be fun be fun to see other games into the
00:25:39 --> 00:25:44 into that type of like game mode, but Helldivers
00:25:44 --> 00:25:49 2 is still a great game. Alright, so Diablo 4
00:25:49 --> 00:25:53 has launched collaboration with Kento, Mura's,
00:25:53 --> 00:25:57 Berserk. The total cost to obtain all Berserk
00:25:57 --> 00:26:03 sets in Diablo 4 is about $150. Real money, because
00:26:03 --> 00:26:04 you have to have a certain amount of platinum.
00:26:04 --> 00:26:06 I'm going to go through all their stupid little
00:26:06 --> 00:26:09 currencies. but the Vessel of Hatred price was
00:26:09 --> 00:26:12 $70. So it's more expensive than getting the
00:26:12 --> 00:26:18 actual expansion for Diablo 4. Now, the cosmetic
00:26:18 --> 00:26:21 comes in Barbarian, Rogue, and Necromancer. Apparently
00:26:21 --> 00:26:25 the Barbarian is the best one of those set. It's
00:26:25 --> 00:26:29 just expensive. I mean... Don't think anybody's
00:26:29 --> 00:26:31 really gonna get the whole complete set because
00:26:31 --> 00:26:33 it's 150 bucks for the whole complete one and
00:26:33 --> 00:26:35 Seriously, it's a cosmetic. It doesn't take you
00:26:35 --> 00:26:38 guys that long to make this type of a thing It's
00:26:38 --> 00:26:41 all like making a game. So I understand how cosmetics
00:26:41 --> 00:26:46 cost more than the game is Ridiculous, it's it's
00:26:46 --> 00:26:50 stupid ridiculous and the problem is that Blizzard
00:26:50 --> 00:26:54 has been doing this since Mean mostly since acquired
00:26:54 --> 00:26:57 by Activision, but also since overwatch 2 I mean
00:26:57 --> 00:26:59 they over over inflate their prices to and our
00:26:59 --> 00:27:01 gamers were mad about that too because it's a
00:27:01 --> 00:27:04 joke saying that overwatch 2 was basically They
00:27:04 --> 00:27:06 just made it just so they could have a cosmetic
00:27:06 --> 00:27:10 shop and do overpriced cosmetics but they still
00:27:10 --> 00:27:14 make money because Some gamers are dumb enough
00:27:14 --> 00:27:18 to buy them anyways All right moving on to my
00:27:18 --> 00:27:21 main thing and so we've been hearing about the
00:27:21 --> 00:27:24 Like the raising of prices on games Nintendo
00:27:24 --> 00:27:27 basically said it's gonna be $89 take to CEO
00:27:27 --> 00:27:31 has said that You could see games up to $100
00:27:31 --> 00:27:35 Microsoft just basically announced that in winter
00:27:35 --> 00:27:37 of this year It's gonna be raising their games
00:27:37 --> 00:27:41 to $80 EA has said no for now I haven't really
00:27:41 --> 00:27:43 heard anybody else saying it Ubisoft probably
00:27:43 --> 00:27:45 could because that's all they care about and
00:27:45 --> 00:27:50 actually making good games and so I think there's
00:27:50 --> 00:27:52 going to be a new like pricing scheme and they're
00:27:52 --> 00:27:54 going to be making different types of games for
00:27:54 --> 00:27:58 the different types of prices because the issue
00:27:58 --> 00:28:01 with raising your price is that less and less
00:28:01 --> 00:28:03 gamers are going to be buying your games. They're
00:28:03 --> 00:28:06 going to be very discernible about which game
00:28:06 --> 00:28:09 they're going to buy. And so what really needs
00:28:09 --> 00:28:12 to happen if they're smart is that there's going
00:28:12 --> 00:28:15 to be new pricing schemes. So remasters are going
00:28:15 --> 00:28:19 to be 30 to $40. Remakes are gonna be 50 to 60
00:28:19 --> 00:28:22 dollars and the new games are gonna be 80 to
00:28:22 --> 00:28:24 90 dollars probably more towards the hundred
00:28:24 --> 00:28:28 because we live in a crazy world right now and
00:28:28 --> 00:28:31 so here's my thing is that the old games will
00:28:31 --> 00:28:33 be bought because it's nostalgia and if it's
00:28:33 --> 00:28:35 a really good game that we want to replay it
00:28:35 --> 00:28:37 and see what it's gonna be like if it's a remaster
00:28:37 --> 00:28:40 this it's not gonna take as much time because
00:28:40 --> 00:28:42 you're just updating the visuals but you're not
00:28:42 --> 00:28:46 redoing the whole game and then makes are going
00:28:46 --> 00:28:49 to basically be redoing the whole game like oblivion
00:28:49 --> 00:28:53 into a modern engine. And so that takes more
00:28:53 --> 00:28:56 time because you actually have to go in and kind
00:28:56 --> 00:29:00 of redo the assets and make it look good, look
00:29:00 --> 00:29:06 better than what it did 10, 20 years ago. So
00:29:06 --> 00:29:09 we're at this crossword right now where these
00:29:09 --> 00:29:12 big publishers are not really going to risk making
00:29:12 --> 00:29:17 new games. like new worlds, new franchises. It's
00:29:17 --> 00:29:20 not going to be that way. It's going to be basically
00:29:20 --> 00:29:23 Excel sheets and like, is this game going to
00:29:23 --> 00:29:27 sell? Yes, no. What is it targeted to? The quote
00:29:27 --> 00:29:30 unquote modern audience, which doesn't exist
00:29:30 --> 00:29:33 because it's just the old audience. Just, Hey,
00:29:33 --> 00:29:38 we're just going to alienate men. And so what
00:29:38 --> 00:29:41 really is going to happen is that one, one is
00:29:41 --> 00:29:46 going to be a marketing thing to basically nostalgia,
00:29:46 --> 00:29:49 oblivion, and then there's gonna be new stuff,
00:29:49 --> 00:29:51 but it's gonna be new stuff from the franchises
00:29:51 --> 00:29:55 that are already established. Halo, Gears of
00:29:55 --> 00:29:59 War, Battlefield, Mass Effect. I would say Dragon
00:29:59 --> 00:30:02 Age, but that's never gonna happen. Command and
00:30:02 --> 00:30:04 Conquer, never gonna happen. But you understand
00:30:04 --> 00:30:07 the rate and the name recognition of these games
00:30:07 --> 00:30:10 are going to be what is going to allow them to
00:30:10 --> 00:30:15 greenlight new ones. And then old ones may get
00:30:15 --> 00:30:18 a remaster, more likely not get a remake unless
00:30:18 --> 00:30:21 it sold really well in the first place. And so
00:30:21 --> 00:30:26 it's going to be up to AA Studios who have smaller
00:30:26 --> 00:30:28 budgets but will take more risks because they
00:30:28 --> 00:30:30 got to differentiate themselves from everybody
00:30:30 --> 00:30:37 else to show off what the actual industry and
00:30:37 --> 00:30:41 what gamers want because they have a better understanding
00:30:41 --> 00:30:43 of that and the big publishers because the big
00:30:43 --> 00:30:45 publishers have too many people working there
00:30:45 --> 00:30:48 and all they care about is making money which
00:30:48 --> 00:30:50 all of them do but all they really really care
00:30:50 --> 00:30:56 about is how to maximize the profit of it so
00:30:56 --> 00:30:59 maximizing it would be name recognition if it
00:30:59 --> 00:31:01 already has a name recognition if there's already
00:31:01 --> 00:31:03 successful more than likely is going to make
00:31:03 --> 00:31:07 a new game if it was successful 10 20 years ago
00:31:08 --> 00:31:10 remake it was moderately successful but doesn't
00:31:10 --> 00:31:16 really need a new remake remaster and then the
00:31:16 --> 00:31:19 pricing will be according and then you can decide
00:31:19 --> 00:31:24 but the new games are unless unless these big
00:31:24 --> 00:31:27 publishers figure out how to not do how to not
00:31:27 --> 00:31:30 make a budget of 300 to 500 million and hope
00:31:30 --> 00:31:35 that it's going to sell like bonkers you need
00:31:35 --> 00:31:38 to stop having four or five developer studios
00:31:38 --> 00:31:42 making one game. It needs to be one or two and
00:31:42 --> 00:31:44 that's about it. Is it going to happen? Probably
00:31:44 --> 00:31:47 not because look at EA they got four studios
00:31:47 --> 00:31:52 making Battlefield now instead of one. And so
00:31:52 --> 00:31:57 there needs to be a cultural shift in the developer
00:31:57 --> 00:32:00 studios and publishers. There needs to be more
00:32:00 --> 00:32:05 accountability with more people with less. I'm
00:32:05 --> 00:32:08 not saying overwork. I'm just saying, there needs
00:32:08 --> 00:32:10 to be more accountability, but you do this, this,
00:32:10 --> 00:32:13 and this, you do this, this, and this, and we'll
00:32:13 --> 00:32:15 figure out how to make this work. Because that's
00:32:15 --> 00:32:18 how the AA Studios are doing, and they're doing
00:32:18 --> 00:32:21 a really good job of being you out. So what do
00:32:21 --> 00:32:24 you think? Do you think I'm crazy about all this?
00:32:24 --> 00:32:27 Do you think there's something there with Larry
00:32:27 --> 00:32:29 Mastery and you think it's just too expensive
00:32:29 --> 00:32:31 to buy games now and the game is just way too
00:32:31 --> 00:32:33 expensive, which you're probably right. Let me
00:32:33 --> 00:32:36 know in the comments below, but... Thank you
00:32:36 --> 00:32:39 for listening to Digital Coffee Gaming. We really
00:32:39 --> 00:32:41 do appreciate it. Please subscribe to this podcast.
00:32:42 --> 00:32:43 And all your favorite podcasts, again, absolutely
00:32:43 --> 00:32:45 a five -star review. It will just help with the
00:32:45 --> 00:32:48 rankings and let me know how I'm doing. And join
00:32:48 --> 00:32:50 me next week as I talk about what's going on
00:32:50 --> 00:32:52 in the gaming industry. All right, guys, stay
00:32:52 --> 00:32:54 safe. Get to playing the games you want to play.
00:32:55 --> 00:32:58 Don't blow your budget on gaming, even if it's
00:32:58 --> 00:33:00 the new ones. And see you next week. Later.