[0:00] We have been schmeckledorfed. It's only
[0:03] been two months since they played the
[0:06] big prank on us. Since we were all
[0:09] deceived like Sauron giving us the
[0:12] rings. I foolishly bought into the idea
[0:15] that Xbox's new CEO, Asha Chararma, was
[0:19] on the right path after she made that
[0:21] statement about the shortcomings and
[0:23] what Xbox needs to return to its former
[0:25] glory and even dropping the absurd Game
[0:28] Pass prices down, which I know isn't
[0:31] some move of an angel. Like, it's not
[0:33] some benevolent gift she bestowed upon
[0:35] us out of the goodness of her heart. It
[0:37] is a standard business tactic called
[0:39] price anchoring because where they ended
[0:41] up with the new price for Game Pass is
[0:43] still higher than where the price was
[0:45] initially before they had the absolute
[0:48] lunacy that was the 50% price increase
[0:51] which is just [ __ ] sinful. Trust me,
[0:53] just like when the peanut butter's on
[0:55] the top shelf, I know it's there and
[0:56] it's painful. I get it. I really do. But
[1:00] what you have to understand when it
[1:01] comes to Xbox, we are just emaciated
[1:04] when it comes to anything positive in
[1:06] that [ __ ] cess poolool. You have to
[1:09] dumpster dive into the very bottom, get
[1:11] into get into the dumpster juice, the
[1:13] sludge water there to find W's when
[1:16] there's even a morsel of one there. And
[1:18] in this case, her reverting that price
[1:21] even a little bit, like taking foot off
[1:23] of everyone's nutsack, I believed was at
[1:26] least a step in the right direction. and
[1:28] the things she was was saying was
[1:31] accurate about like why Xbox is no
[1:34] longer the juggernaut that it was. So, I
[1:37] really did think that she was starting
[1:38] to course correct the ship here. But
[1:41] now, sports fans, I got to tell you, it
[1:43] really seems like anyone who takes up
[1:46] the mantle at Xbox is cursed to ride the
[1:48] orb of confusion crazy style. Like,
[1:51] that's the only explanation here. They
[1:54] are once again back on their barnacles,
[1:56] bro. And to be fair, it's not even
[1:57] accurate to say that cuz they just never
[2:00] stopped with the horseradish. I just
[2:02] assumed and I think a lot of us assumed
[2:05] that with Asha correctly identifying the
[2:07] shortcomings of the Xbox brand for so
[2:10] long, they would also have that come to
[2:13] Jesus moment that Eureka, the light bulb
[2:14] that goes off in their head that the
[2:18] relentless, ruthless, cutthroat shutting
[2:22] down of studios was also not helping
[2:25] them at all in most cases. There were a
[2:27] few that I understood where they just
[2:29] literally had nothing to show for years
[2:31] upon years of work, like just couldn't
[2:34] release a game. So, I get it because it
[2:35] was just hemorrhaging money. Just these
[2:37] huge uh payments and still not a single
[2:41] game that they were able to fart out.
[2:43] Like, I get those. But that's not all of
[2:45] their shutdowns. and their most recent
[2:47] ones actually have me at my chin
[2:50] scratching the [ __ ] out of it cuz I
[2:51] can't understand because some of the
[2:52] studios they shut down are actively far
[2:54] along in development on titles people
[2:56] are excited for or they have also just
[2:58] recently released titles as well. Like
[3:01] it just makes no sense to be constantly
[3:03] looking for ways of shutting down these
[3:05] studios when the biggest problem, the
[3:08] one that's plagued Xbox the most above
[3:10] all others and one that Asha herself has
[3:12] even tinkered around with and slapped
[3:14] around is that Xbox has no games. There
[3:18] is nothing to justify spending the
[3:19] hundreds of dollars required to get the
[3:21] Xbox when there's just [ __ ] nothing
[3:23] on it except dust and broken dreams.
[3:25] Like there is no reason for you nor I
[3:28] nor your mom, your mom's boyfriend, your
[3:30] dad, whoever to go out and get an Xbox.
[3:32] There's just no [ __ ] games for it.
[3:34] And you know what doesn't help there is
[3:35] shutting down all the studios that are
[3:37] working on games. And that's what's just
[3:38] happened here. And you know what else
[3:40] just happened here? Me dropping the
[3:42] truth about the best damn beverage on
[3:43] the planet, Gamerade from Gamers. This
[3:46] is my new flavor here. Motion Potion.
[3:48] Can't get the camera to focus on it.
[3:50] There it is. It was glistening too
[3:52] brightly with a heavenly glow. it.
[3:54] Gamerade is a no caffeine, no sugar,
[3:58] hydration formula with creatine. And I
[4:01] think you all know by now I'm a big
[4:02] proponent of creatine. The quantity in
[4:04] here isn't for like weightlifting or
[4:06] anything. It's just for general brain
[4:08] health, just to keep you sharp. So, if
[4:10] you're interested in trying it, you can
[4:12] click the link in the description below.
[4:13] And like I was saying, it is happening
[4:15] again here with Xbox. They have just
[4:17] shut down Ninja Theory and they put the
[4:20] Fear of God in other studios under their
[4:22] umbrella. It's not even really an
[4:24] umbrella. They got them in like [ __ ]
[4:26] pit of like barb wire basically. They're
[4:29] walking on eggshells down there. But
[4:31] they have also uh apparently been
[4:33] tinkering around with the idea of, you
[4:36] know, double fine maybe closing the door
[4:39] there. Compulsion games and arcane. Now,
[4:44] I think this is crazy because at the
[4:47] most recent Xbox showcase, which was
[4:49] like eight days ago, they prominently
[4:51] featured Ninja Theory's upcoming game,
[4:53] the new Hellblade game, uh, Sinoa. And I
[4:57] understand the Hell Hellblade franchise
[5:00] has historically flopped. It It's been
[5:02] kind of weak in terms of sales, and I
[5:03] personally am not a huge fan of them. I
[5:05] find them to be more like tech demos
[5:06] than actual games. But they were
[5:09] actively far along with Sinoa and they
[5:11] had even showcased it at Xbox's own
[5:13] event to pretty big success because it
[5:16] looks like they were prioritizing making
[5:18] it a game for the first time in this
[5:20] franchise's history. So it was pretty
[5:22] exciting to a lot of people and now they
[5:24] announced that the studios banished to
[5:26] the Shadow Realm after they just
[5:28] unveiled it and it comes out early 2027.
[5:30] So they are presumably like at the
[5:32] finish line of this game.
[5:35] If you were going to shut down Ninja
[5:36] Theory, why wouldn't you do it after
[5:37] Hellblade 2's flop? Why wait until this
[5:40] is already like almost done to shut it
[5:42] down instead of like let them release
[5:45] the game? Because at least you'd still
[5:47] have a game coming from them. Now you
[5:49] just have nothing to show for it. Again,
[5:50] the biggest problem is they don't have
[5:51] games and now they've just shut down a
[5:53] studio that does have a big game on the
[5:55] horizon. It just seems very silly. And
[5:58] Double Fine, they just released a game
[6:00] not long ago. Compulsion just released a
[6:02] game not long ago. Like it's just there
[6:05] are studios Microsoft could shut down
[6:07] that I would understand again because
[6:08] they have so many studios that just
[6:10] aren't making anything. Literally not
[6:12] making anything. And they did overextend
[6:14] when they started gluttonously gobbling
[6:16] up every game development studio on the
[6:19] planet and putting them under Microsoft.
[6:21] Tons of them just coasted and haven't
[6:24] made anything. Why not target some of
[6:26] those that still have nothing to show?
[6:29] Why go after some of these that are
[6:30] actively making games? Even if the games
[6:33] aren't performing up to like the
[6:34] standards you would like to see, it's
[6:36] still better than nothing. And they have
[6:38] a lot of nothing under their umbrella. I
[6:40] just don't get why the crosshair
[6:41] wouldn't be over there. RIP Ninja
[6:44] Theory. What?
[6:47] They Wait, what? They just unveiled the
[6:51] new Hellblade
[6:53] and now they're shutting them down.
[6:56] Compulsion games, Double Fine, and
[6:58] Arcane are also at risk of getting shut
[7:00] down. Yeah, I see Compulsion and Double
[7:02] Fine here. Arcane, too.
[7:04] They had they were told on a call on
[7:06] Monday, and they've got several other
[7:08] active negotiations about spinning off
[7:10] Compulsion Games and Double Fine.
[7:14] Asha Chararma and Chief Content Officer
[7:16] Matt Booty warning last week of a reset
[7:19] at Xbox, laying out several challenges
[7:21] facing Xbox business, including that it
[7:23] had overextended with its studio system
[7:26] and the hardware component crisis is
[7:28] significantly driving up prices. It's an
[7:30] actual dumpster fire at Xbox right now.
[7:32] Head of Xbox game studio left and
[7:34] Treyarch Studios head left as well. What
[7:36] What
[7:39] is going on? Really, I I truly am
[7:42] confused by this because I didn't play
[7:44] Compulsion's last game, which was South
[7:46] of Midnight, and I recognize that
[7:47] they've only released like three games
[7:49] in 17 [ __ ] years. So, they're
[7:51] extremely slow, but they've still done
[7:53] more than like a bunch of other studios
[7:55] that Xbox still has. So, like they did
[7:58] release a game. I don't know how it did
[8:00] like financially, but like the fact they
[8:03] even released a game is infinitely more
[8:05] than you could say for so many of their
[8:07] [ __ ] studios that they haven't axed.
[8:09] and Double Fine. They released a game
[8:11] this year and they released a game last
[8:14] year as well. And they had Psychonauts
[8:16] 2, which was a super banger in uh 2021.
[8:20] So like what they're they are cranking
[8:22] games. And I'm pretty sure the two games
[8:24] Double Fine have released over the last
[8:26] two years. Keeper and Kiln have been
[8:28] very wellreceived. I don't know how
[8:30] they've done financially, but even
[8:31] still, they are making games. Like that
[8:33] is what you want from these studios.
[8:35] Like they are making games. And those
[8:36] were, from what I can tell, pretty
[8:38] wellreceived. Now, I know they haven't
[8:40] like officially, you know, put belt to
[8:42] ass on Double Fine and the others, but
[8:45] the fact that it's even on the table
[8:47] just shows that they are really out of
[8:50] touch. They need games. That is the only
[8:53] thing that saves this brand is games.
[8:57] And you are now going after developers
[8:59] that are providing you games. Again,
[9:01] even if they're not Grand Salami, you
[9:04] know, super touchdowns, you're still
[9:06] getting games. And in the case of like
[9:08] Double Fine or Ninja Theory, like Ninja
[9:10] Theory games, even though I don't like
[9:11] Hellblade, they are wellreceived. So
[9:14] like you're still getting like
[9:16] highquality games that come out. Why
[9:19] would those be the ones that you would
[9:21] look at here to just get rid of,
[9:23] especially coming in as a new CEO, when
[9:25] you want like hype, like you want things
[9:27] that'll get people excited? And what
[9:29] gets people excited is more games that
[9:31] are good and high quality, not the
[9:34] opposite of taking even more games away
[9:36] from an already barren wasteland of a
[9:39] platform. Can't believe you got tricked
[9:41] into thinking Xbox was back. I never
[9:44] said that. I never said Xbox was back.
[9:46] Just that Asha was at the very least not
[9:50] driving it more actively into the
[9:51] ground.
[9:54] It was it was taking steps to steer it
[9:57] in the right direction and now it's
[9:59] right back to standard Xbox behavior. Is
[10:02] there a way back for Xbox? Games. Games.
[10:07] Make games.
[10:10] The way back is through games that
[10:12] aren't $400 million like Gears Day
[10:15] apparently is.
[10:17] People are theorizing that Sinoa trailer
[10:20] was more of a teaser if some other
[10:21] company wants to buy Ninja Theory off of
[10:23] Microsoft. I don't see that happening
[10:25] though, man. I really don't
[10:29] like you might be right. Maybe that
[10:30] theory is accurate, but who would step
[10:32] in and buy them in the current climate
[10:34] of AAA gaming,
[10:37] especially given how Hellblade 1 and 2
[10:40] performed, right? Like it just feels
[10:42] like that's cooked. Like that's just
[10:43] kind of curtains. I don't know if
[10:45] there's maybe a path forward for Ninja
[10:47] Theory to independently release it.
[10:50] Oh man, I don't know if that mic picked
[10:52] that up, but that was a juicer, but
[10:54] maybe there is.
[10:57] Don't nod and Quantic Dream also getting
[11:00] layoffs, reduced funding. Even reports
[11:01] that Bethesda, Boware, and ID are all in
[11:04] trouble.
[11:06] Looks like it's starting to collapse,
[11:08] man.
[11:11] The crazy crazy budgets could only last
[11:14] so long.
[11:16] You think this will happen with Gears as
[11:17] well? If Gears Eday doesn't do [ __ ]
[11:22] record numbers, I bet Coalition gets
[11:24] shut down. Yeah, I think it's already
[11:26] set up for failure now that it's
[11:28] completely exclusive and apparently 400
[11:31] million in the can. So, yeah, I think
[11:33] Coalition's definitely next.
[11:36] Why do they shut down studios instead of
[11:38] selling them? Well, I think they'd
[11:39] prefer to sell them if they could, but
[11:40] there's not a lot of buyers. There's
[11:43] only so many buyers.
[11:45] Hasn't Bethesda only made like two games
[11:47] in 15 years? Yeah, but Bethesda's like a
[11:49] powerhouse, so when their games release,
[11:51] it's like a safe bet. Even their
[11:53] stinkers like Starfield.
[11:56] I love Kazan and they fired the whole
[11:58] team after. Yeah, we already lamented
[12:00] that talking about Kazan.
[12:03] [ __ ] shame, man. Changing gears real
[12:05] quick to the Kazan topic. That one
[12:07] actually hurts my feelings. That is so
[12:09] [ __ ] sad. They made an incredible
[12:10] game, an extraordinary game. Everyone
[12:12] liked it and they still got taken out
[12:14] behind the barn and put down just
[12:15] curtains. Even though they made a game
[12:17] that was universally appreciated,
[12:21] it just straight up feels like there is
[12:23] no winning. Like Battlefield,
[12:25] Battlefield is another great example.
[12:26] The new Battlefield, the most recent
[12:28] Battlefield did really well. Very
[12:30] wellreceived. Huge layoffs. Like make a
[12:33] good game, get fired. Make a bad game,
[12:36] get fired. Make a game, get fired. Don't
[12:39] make a game, get fired. You don't win in
[12:42] the AAA space in its current iteration.
[12:44] It is not sustainable. It's a [ __ ]
[12:46] bloodbath, and it's filled with like
[12:48] just so many sterile, boring ass
[12:51] products that, you know, are doomed for
[12:53] failure, yet they still just put so much
[12:55] money into them for seemingly no reason
[12:58] and then are surprised when it doesn't
[13:00] work out. I I hate to just keep harping
[13:03] on this, but let's look at Marathon.
[13:04] Marathon is a game that today had a
[13:07] thousand players. A thousand players in
[13:09] Marathon. A Bungie flagship game. 1,000
[13:13] players. They just pulled support from
[13:15] Destiny 2. Like, you can still play it,
[13:16] but like no more updates are coming to
[13:18] Destiny 2. It's all in on Marathon. It
[13:19] has a thousand players. Everyone was
[13:22] saying, and anyone could tell you that
[13:24] this game never stood a chance to be
[13:26] like a huge staple in gaming as like a
[13:28] live service extraction shooter. They
[13:31] keep chasing these white whales that are
[13:33] just unreasonable and they're pouring
[13:35] endless clams in it and just suffocating
[13:38] themselves for it and then end up
[13:40] closing other studios as a result. Like
[13:43] it's just it's such a disaster. It is
[13:45] such a disaster. These bloated budgets,
[13:48] this mismanagement, it sucks so much,
[13:52] bro. It is so terrible. And it just
[13:54] keeps happening. Like no lessons are
[13:56] being learned by these higherups on the
[13:58] food chain at these massive
[14:00] corporations. They keep making the same
[14:02] mistakes over and over and over again. I
[14:05] don't know how many times we need to
[14:07] watch a lower budget title pop off, blow
[14:10] up, and take the world by storm for them
[14:11] to realize that the future is by having
[14:14] lower budget games that don't take eight
[14:16] years to develop and $400 million. It's
[14:20] smaller games from a passionate team
[14:22] that do try and do unique things, not
[14:25] the same standard generic formulaic [ __ ]
[14:27] that they keep regurgitating every
[14:29] single time they go around. People are
[14:32] tired of it and it shows. Like, I just
[14:34] don't know how else to get it through
[14:37] because they're not picking up the right
[14:39] lessons here. It's such a shame. But
[14:41] anyway, I just wanted to yap about this.
[14:43] That's really about it. Tip.