Episode 146: PlayStation Going Discless, Xbox Resetting

On the heels of Sony’s announcement that the PlayStation 6 won’t include a disc drive, Microsoft launched a program that allows you to convert your physical game discs into digital game licenses. However, we suspect this is merely softening the blow of the news that the next Xbox will also not include a disc drive. We discuss the bleak future of next-gen consoles along with the Grand Theft Auto VI leaks, Shift Up’s hiring of a DEI specialist, the horrible Halo demake, and plenty more!

After removing 500 digital movies from purchasers’ libraries, Sony announced PlayStation will stop the production of game discs in early 2028, meaning expensive digital titles will be the only way to game on future PS consoles. We discuss this news along with Xbox’s layoffs and announcement of “resetting,” the hilarious day-one issues with Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynched and Halo: Campaign Evolved, and Fortnite’s addition of bikini skins.

A trailer for Stellar Blade: Blood Rain released, and everyone who detests attractive women in games instantly accused the new protagonist, Evie, of looking like a child. We discuss the reaction along with Shift Up’s defense of her design along with news of Grand Theft Auto VI and the Steam Machine’s prices, Microsoft’s ridiculous “considerations” for developers and their shuttering of Xbox studios, Lara Croft’s classic look in the upcoming Tomb Raider game, Bungie layoffs, and more.

Another one of PlayStation’s exclusive franchises is following the trend of replacing its mainstay male protagonist with a woman. In God of War: Laufey, Kratos is out, and you instead will play as his dead wife, Faye. We discuss this trend and what it means for the series along with Halo’s dumb gay pride skins, Subnautica 2’s refusal to kill flora and fauna that can easily kill you, and Fortnite’s move toward a more mature audience.

The developers of Lords of the Fallen 2 claimed it would include attractive female characters, and they delivered: Concept art from the game shows its women will wear somewhat revealing fantasy outfits. The drew the ire of industry staples, including The Gamer. We discuss their reaction to the art along with Slay the Spire 2’s reviews tanking after it came to light Anita Sarkeesian was involved in the game’s development, Invincible’s creators crucifying themselves for the sin of being white men, and the wokeness behind Christopher Nolan’s upcoming The Odyssey.

God of War creator David Jaffe tweeted he thought the greedy, big-nosed goblins of Crimson Desert are antisemitic, hilariously showing what he thinks of real-world Jews. We discuss the irony of being so anti-racist that you end up sounding incredibly racist, along with news that the Mass Effect show is being rewritten to appeal to non-gamers, Ryan Gosling’s based take on Hollywood making movies worth seeing, the negative reception to the Harry Potter TV show trailer, and more!

Female gamers are frothing at the mouth over Resident Evil: Requiem’s attractive main character, Leon Kennedy. We discuss the hypocrisy of celebrating a male character’s attractiveness after years of insulting gamers for enjoying attractive female characters, along with Highguard’s shutdown, Nvidia’s depressing AI tech that alters games in real time, Alanah Pearce’s defense of the sex minigames in the upcoming God of War remakes, Marathon not being reviewed at Bungie’s request, and more.

Relooted, an African-developed game about black people heisting museums for artifacts to return them to the cultures from which they came, released to a resounding 57 players on Steam. Despite being an utter failure for “modern audiences,” Kotaku and PC Gamer are covering the game as if it’s actually popular. We discuss the situation along with TheGamer’s complaints about Overwatch’s new female hero design, RuneScape going woke, and the delay of the third Horizon game due to a spinoff no one asked for.

Despite assurances that Assassin’s Creed Shadows was nothing but a success, Ubisoft has canceled six projects, delayed others, and closed two studios, plummeting their stock. We discuss the company’s recent and future woes along with the diversity of the upcoming Fable game, the poor sales of Outer Worlds 2, Highguard’s mid reception, and plenty more!

Lords of the Fallen 2 developer and publisher Hexworks and CI Games are getting flak in the video game industry for a single tweet that confirmed the game will feature attractive characters and outfits. We discuss how far video games have fallen that this creative decision is worthy of ridicule, along with Sony’s AI patent that will censor games in real time, Ubisoft admitting Assassin’s Creed Shadows was controversial, how ugly Farah is in the new Prince of Persia remake, and more!