In-Game Chat

Just as a reminder we won’t have a new show next weekend. As for this show we spend it mostly talking about two things. Gamescom and GTA6. To start with GTA6 was a pretty successful showcase. It left me coming away with more positives than negatives, but I still hope that mini-map gets some attention. All in all, it’s more GTA, and there’s not much else you could ask for except maybe a bigger map and we’re getting that. I’m still probably there on day one but we’ll see. It’s a heavy asking price so it’s really gonna depend on if I can throw that kind of money at a game at that time or not. Gamescom’s big showcase, by comparison, felt like a dud. It suffers the same problem as all the other big game shows (organized and hosted by the same guy no less) – they’re just too long and overstuffed. By the time you get to the end of the show you’ve forgotten nearly everything that came before the last reveal save for a game or two that struck you personally. For me it was the Lego Skylines game. A city builder in the Lego world. Otherwise I don’t remember much from that presentation. But cutting it down to an hour and cutting back on how many you show in that hour might actually be helpful. Not only to us but to the people whose games are being shown. But if any of these big shows ever got another Splinter Cell to show off – that I’d remember. Ubisoft…it’s been 4,759 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released. Also, there’s been 10,618 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2026.

At the beginning of this episode we have a wonderful interview with Katie & Micah. They’re a husband and wife team working on their first game together. The pull of which is styled on Roller Coaster Tycoon but for national parks. It’s a very indie title due to release sometime before the end of the year and you can currently wish list it now on Steam. After that we talk about some updates from previous stories from last weekend and dive into those leaks of GTA6 and Microsoft decided not to disclose sales numbers anymore. To expand upon both of those it’s really just two companies who want to keep information from the general public. The GTA leak is a result of that, apparently, and the Microsoft thing – well, that’s kind of a mystery as to why they want to do that. Because now you’ve removed yourself from representation at the table, so to speak. Either way, it doesn’t matter much on both ends. GTA will eventually get released and we’ll enjoy it for ourselves and Microsoft will just keep doing what they’re doing without us knowing how successful or unsuccessful they were at doing it. There are plenty of other metrics to go on that can tell you if something was successful or not. It won’t be near as official but you can easily “read the room” of the internet for the most part. Someone else who clearly has not read the room is Ubisoft. Because there are at least a dozen of us waiting for a new Splinter Cell. Ubisoft…it’s been 4,752 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released. Also, there’s been 10,618 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2026.

At the start of this episode I mentioned that AI and RAM prices and all that doom and gloom is still out there but that hopefully we could talk about other things. And we did. But I could NOT pass up talking about the week that was for Saber and their situation with AI use. They got called out for it. Not from gamers by the way, no. This call came from inside the house. Or, at least, someone who used to be inside the house. The head writer for one of their games brought up the fact that she was fired and replaced by ChatGPT. What follows seems an almost text book lesson in how NOT to respond to something like this. We cover the whole situation, but you can easily look it all up yourself. And, maybe, try to avoid buying anything Saber in the future. Outside of that is a discussion as to what could, so far, be on this year’s game of the year contender list. Going on vibes alone, there’s not much. Going on sales, there’s also not much but you’d see games like Mecha Chameleon or Big Walk on that list and other games of the sort – not something I disagree with but the triple A games are lacking so far this year. There’s still a lot of year left to go, however. One game that won’t make that list is, you guessed it, Splinter Cell. Ubisoft…it’s been 4,745 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released. Also, there’s been 10,608 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2026.

We’re back and in the two weeks away…nothing has changed. In fact, it’s only gotten worse but what do you expect from an AI world taking in all the ram (and water). PlayStation tells us it has enough ram for systems through the end of the year and more so during the release of GTA6 but Samsung has said we’re gonna be in the funk for the foreseeable future. Also, both Nvidia and AMD are raising their GPU prices this month. With Microsoft increasing the Xbox price in the UK and Europe. Speaking of GTA6, the boss of Take-Two Interactive says we’re getting the game at a STEAL for $80/$100. He’s kinda right, if I’m honest. We’ve said before but that’s a game you could put an outrageous price on (kinda is already) and it wouldn’t surprise anyone to see the kind of numbers it would generate. Still, the way he put it came off like some over the top movie villain. Then again, he’s a CEO, so… EA would really like the cut of that guy’s jib, given what their CEO walked away with from the success of Battlefield 6. I mean, AFTER they laid off a good number of people first. Given the way these companies are handled it’s no wonder we’re still waiting on another Splinter Cell game. At this rate it’ll release for a console no one can really afford. Ubisoft, it’s been 4,738 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released. Also, there’s been 9,128 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2026.

Not the busiest of weeks for news, especially compared to previous weeks, but I guess it isn’t all bad. On my end, we might be getting another shot at someone making a Burnout game. However they’ve tried before and missed the mark so we’ll have to wait and see how this next attempt shakes out. We don’t have detailed pre-order data for GTA6, but we do know it’s been number one on PlayStation for a while now. Given that, I could probably bet money there will be server issues on one or both of the consoles it’s releasing for on that day. That many people trying to download and play that one game is bound to clog some pipes. It sure would be nice to get some news on Splinter Cell, but I’ll take that Ghost Recon news next month so long as it’s better than what they previously released. Wildlands was great, I’m talking about the game that came after that. Ubisoft, it’s been 4,724 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released. Also, there’s been 8,701 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2026.

So we finally have a week that isn’t dominated by bad news. But don’t get me wrong, it’s still there. From more layoffs to more physical media options being lost to the expectations that our RAM pricing issues will only get worse. But let’s focus on the good for a bit at least. Summer Games Done Quick raised over TWO MILLION dollars for charity and that’s just an absolutely wonderful thing to share. I’m not sure where it stands among previous efforts but it doesn’t matter. Anything raised when there was none before is always a good thing. In the “captain obvious” segment of the news we heard that analysts predict a slump in console sales on the horizon. Given the fact console prices keep increasing this didn’t really take a particularly strong set of mind powers to foresee. We again state, as we have for a while now, the best time to buy was yesterday. The second best time is today. This advice will now continue to be the case until sometime in 2028 or further. And Ubisoft made the news but not for good reason as there have been more layoffs after the VERY successful launch of the Black Flag remake. They still have not yet released Splinter Cell. Ubisoft, it’s been 4,717 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released. Also, there’s been 8,527 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2026.

I don’t know how many more times I can start these things by saying we have more bad news but… We have more bad news. Likely by now you know most of it. The gaming world has been dominated by the news from both Sony and Microsoft. On the Microsoft side, it’s the layoffs. The big “reset”. We’d known cuts were coming and we expected it to be bad. We didn’t know how bad but it didn’t matter. Whatever we thought wasn’t near what actually happened. In 2025 there were about 5500 jobs lost in the gaming industry. Just two weeks ago the number for 2026 was over 4500 jobs lost but after the Microsoft cuts, we’re at over 8000 jobs lost this year. And it’s not over. On the Sony side of things it’s the decision to stop producing physical discs for first and third party PlayStation titles beginning in 2028. This will likely spread across other gaming platforms as well. Sony took the hit for making the announcement but it’s almost a given that Microsoft and Nintendo will follow. The future for physical media is bleak. The future for video gaming is bleak. The future for PC gaming/building is bleak. And it’s not over. Ubisoft, Splinter Cell will not save you, even though it’s been 4,710 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released. Also, there’s been 8,312 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2026.

Before we get to the (bad) news this week, a reminder that we’ll be off next weekend due to the holiday. Also, a massive thank you to all of you who helped us reach our goal covering our server costs for the year. We appreciate that more than you know and we can’t begin to express what it means to us. Seriously, thank you. Now for the bad news. This was a week packed full of what normally would be pretty amazing news but it’s just all bad because of…everything. In any other reality the Steam Machines release would have been a pretty big deal of good news but the prices threw water on that fire pretty quick. And it only made people look even closer into it to find more limitations than anything else – specifically because of how much you’re paying for the thing. The higher the price the more you need to know what you’re buying. Staying in alternate realities, the pre-order for GTA6 would be massive! But we have no numbers yet on what that is and the price, ultimate edition, along with the whole “no physical” editions has turned the whole thing a bit sour to some folks. While also being in the dark timeline, Xbox console prices are increasing a THIRD time. Six whole years into this generation this SHOULD NOT be happening, but it is. And it’s only going to get worse. Then there’s the job losses. Which, as you’ll see below, has now increased and will increase again. Last year, in total, we had about 5,300 job losses and we’re very close to hitting that mark THIS year. It’s bleak. And hope does not seem to be on the horizon. But at least that new Star Wars racer plays like Burnout. Ubisoft…it’s been 4,696 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released. Also, there’s been 4,658 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2026.

And the bad news just keeps rolling on. To start with, after the wonderful help and generosity with the help of our hosting costs – our host decided to increase our costs. If you are able to help, and I get that we’re living in times right now where helping, financially, is difficult, we appreciate even the least little bit. It’s all laid out in the post just below this one on our website. So, again, thank you. As for the other bad news, Microsoft is currently in the reaping part of that whole phrase/verse/proverb. And it really sucks. We keep a running tally of job losses at the end of each of these posts and that number is about to go WAY up. Nothing has happened yet but it’s likely to in the weeks to come. And it’s happening with Bungie & Sony as well. I’m not sure what the good news could be or any kind of silver lining in all of this is, but I don’t think it’s going to stop or slow down any time soon. There’s a whole ripple effect that’s going on with a near perfect storm of economic issues, RAM issues because of AI (and the economy), and game/console development issues because of the RAM and the economy. As much as I harp on Ubisoft for never releasing another Splinter Cell – it won’t save them. I get now why they are just, seemingly, going with a remake. It’s been…it’s been 4,689 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released. Also, there’s been 3,895 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2026.

To start this off I need to thank all of you for listening over the years and being as supportive as you’ve always been. And to specifically thank Dave, Sarah, & Bryan. We have hosting costs coming up next month and their generosity has gone further than I ever expected to make that possible. This is what was talked about at the beginning of the show and before the first hour was done, we’d already made our goal – thank you each from the bottom of our heart and thank you all for your continued support of this show. As for the news, that’s about the only happy news we have. I mean, yeah, we cover some more of all the games shown off last week, but then we talk about more closings and people losing their jobs – at both Ubisoft and Microsoft. That and what’s to come for PC and console players alike – which is more price increases. And the outlook for how they’ll go about selling you a brand new Xbox or PS6. While no one has announced prices yet, I think it’s mainly because, right now, at this point in time with the way things are price wise, you’d be asking A LOT from your consumers. We’re likely talking 4-digit prices or the whole 999 thing. I miss building PCs. That fun little hobby done every several years or so has evidently faded away as well given the prices of components. Oh, I completely forgot about the “no shows” of our big games reveal week – and at the top of that list you have ONE guess as to what I’m talking about. Ubisoft…it’s been 4,682 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released. Also, there’s been 3,300 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2026.