Already Back to Their Old Trash

[00:00] We have been schmeckledorfed. It's only

[00:03] been two months since they played the

[00:06] big prank on us. Since we were all

[00:09] deceived like Sauron giving us the

[00:12] rings. I foolishly bought into the idea

[00:15] that Xbox's new CEO, Asha Chararma, was

[00:19] on the right path after she made that

[00:21] statement about the shortcomings and

[00:23] what Xbox needs to return to its former

[00:25] glory and even dropping the absurd Game

[00:28] Pass prices down, which I know isn't

[00:31] some move of an angel. Like, it's not

[00:33] some benevolent gift she bestowed upon

[00:35] us out of the goodness of her heart. It

[00:37] is a standard business tactic called

[00:39] price anchoring because where they ended

[00:41] up with the new price for Game Pass is

[00:43] still higher than where the price was

[00:45] initially before they had the absolute

[00:48] lunacy that was the 50% price increase

[00:51] which is just [ __ ] sinful. Trust me,

[00:53] just like when the peanut butter's on

[00:55] the top shelf, I know it's there and

[00:56] it's painful. I get it. I really do. But

[01:00] what you have to understand when it

[01:01] comes to Xbox, we are just emaciated

[01:04] when it comes to anything positive in

[01:06] that [ __ ] cess poolool. You have to

[01:09] dumpster dive into the very bottom, get

[01:11] into get into the dumpster juice, the

[01:13] sludge water there to find W's when

[01:16] there's even a morsel of one there. And

[01:18] in this case, her reverting that price

[01:21] even a little bit, like taking foot off

[01:23] of everyone's nutsack, I believed was at

[01:26] least a step in the right direction. and

[01:28] the things she was was saying was

[01:31] accurate about like why Xbox is no

[01:34] longer the juggernaut that it was. So, I

[01:37] really did think that she was starting

[01:38] to course correct the ship here. But

[01:41] now, sports fans, I got to tell you, it

[01:43] really seems like anyone who takes up

[01:46] the mantle at Xbox is cursed to ride the

[01:48] orb of confusion crazy style. Like,

[01:51] that's the only explanation here. They

[01:54] are once again back on their barnacles,

[01:56] bro. And to be fair, it's not even

[01:57] accurate to say that cuz they just never

[02:00] stopped with the horseradish. I just

[02:02] assumed and I think a lot of us assumed

[02:05] that with Asha correctly identifying the

[02:07] shortcomings of the Xbox brand for so

[02:10] long, they would also have that come to

[02:13] Jesus moment that Eureka, the light bulb

[02:14] that goes off in their head that the

[02:18] relentless, ruthless, cutthroat shutting

[02:22] down of studios was also not helping

[02:25] them at all in most cases. There were a

[02:27] few that I understood where they just

[02:29] literally had nothing to show for years

[02:31] upon years of work, like just couldn't

[02:34] release a game. So, I get it because it

[02:35] was just hemorrhaging money. Just these

[02:37] huge uh payments and still not a single

[02:41] game that they were able to fart out.

[02:43] Like, I get those. But that's not all of

[02:45] their shutdowns. and their most recent

[02:47] ones actually have me at my chin

[02:50] scratching the [ __ ] out of it cuz I

[02:51] can't understand because some of the

[02:52] studios they shut down are actively far

[02:54] along in development on titles people

[02:56] are excited for or they have also just

[02:58] recently released titles as well. Like

[03:01] it just makes no sense to be constantly

[03:03] looking for ways of shutting down these

[03:05] studios when the biggest problem, the

[03:08] one that's plagued Xbox the most above

[03:10] all others and one that Asha herself has

[03:12] even tinkered around with and slapped

[03:14] around is that Xbox has no games. There

[03:18] is nothing to justify spending the

[03:19] hundreds of dollars required to get the

[03:21] Xbox when there's just [ __ ] nothing

[03:23] on it except dust and broken dreams.

[03:25] Like there is no reason for you nor I

[03:28] nor your mom, your mom's boyfriend, your

[03:30] dad, whoever to go out and get an Xbox.

[03:32] There's just no [ __ ] games for it.

[03:34] And you know what doesn't help there is

[03:35] shutting down all the studios that are

[03:37] working on games. And that's what's just

[03:38] happened here. And you know what else

[03:40] just happened here? Me dropping the

[03:42] truth about the best damn beverage on

[03:43] the planet, Gamerade from Gamers. This

[03:46] is my new flavor here. Motion Potion.

[03:48] Can't get the camera to focus on it.

[03:50] There it is. It was glistening too

[03:52] brightly with a heavenly glow. it.

[03:54] Gamerade is a no caffeine, no sugar,

[03:58] hydration formula with creatine. And I

[04:01] think you all know by now I'm a big

[04:02] proponent of creatine. The quantity in

[04:04] here isn't for like weightlifting or

[04:06] anything. It's just for general brain

[04:08] health, just to keep you sharp. So, if

[04:10] you're interested in trying it, you can

[04:12] click the link in the description below.

[04:13] And like I was saying, it is happening

[04:15] again here with Xbox. They have just

[04:17] shut down Ninja Theory and they put the

[04:20] Fear of God in other studios under their

[04:22] umbrella. It's not even really an

[04:24] umbrella. They got them in like [ __ ]

[04:26] pit of like barb wire basically. They're

[04:29] walking on eggshells down there. But

[04:31] they have also uh apparently been

[04:33] tinkering around with the idea of, you

[04:36] know, double fine maybe closing the door

[04:39] there. Compulsion games and arcane. Now,

[04:44] I think this is crazy because at the

[04:47] most recent Xbox showcase, which was

[04:49] like eight days ago, they prominently

[04:51] featured Ninja Theory's upcoming game,

[04:53] the new Hellblade game, uh, Sinoa. And I

[04:57] understand the Hell Hellblade franchise

[05:00] has historically flopped. It It's been

[05:02] kind of weak in terms of sales, and I

[05:03] personally am not a huge fan of them. I

[05:05] find them to be more like tech demos

[05:06] than actual games. But they were

[05:09] actively far along with Sinoa and they

[05:11] had even showcased it at Xbox's own

[05:13] event to pretty big success because it

[05:16] looks like they were prioritizing making

[05:18] it a game for the first time in this

[05:20] franchise's history. So it was pretty

[05:22] exciting to a lot of people and now they

[05:24] announced that the studios banished to

[05:26] the Shadow Realm after they just

[05:28] unveiled it and it comes out early 2027.

[05:30] So they are presumably like at the

[05:32] finish line of this game.

[05:35] If you were going to shut down Ninja

[05:36] Theory, why wouldn't you do it after

[05:37] Hellblade 2's flop? Why wait until this

[05:40] is already like almost done to shut it

[05:42] down instead of like let them release

[05:45] the game? Because at least you'd still

[05:47] have a game coming from them. Now you

[05:49] just have nothing to show for it. Again,

[05:50] the biggest problem is they don't have

[05:51] games and now they've just shut down a

[05:53] studio that does have a big game on the

[05:55] horizon. It just seems very silly. And

[05:58] Double Fine, they just released a game

[06:00] not long ago. Compulsion just released a

[06:02] game not long ago. Like it's just there

[06:05] are studios Microsoft could shut down

[06:07] that I would understand again because

[06:08] they have so many studios that just

[06:10] aren't making anything. Literally not

[06:12] making anything. And they did overextend

[06:14] when they started gluttonously gobbling

[06:16] up every game development studio on the

[06:19] planet and putting them under Microsoft.

[06:21] Tons of them just coasted and haven't

[06:24] made anything. Why not target some of

[06:26] those that still have nothing to show?

[06:29] Why go after some of these that are

[06:30] actively making games? Even if the games

[06:33] aren't performing up to like the

[06:34] standards you would like to see, it's

[06:36] still better than nothing. And they have

[06:38] a lot of nothing under their umbrella. I

[06:40] just don't get why the crosshair

[06:41] wouldn't be over there. RIP Ninja

[06:44] Theory. What?

[06:47] They Wait, what? They just unveiled the

[06:51] new Hellblade

[06:53] and now they're shutting them down.

[06:56] Compulsion games, Double Fine, and

[06:58] Arcane are also at risk of getting shut

[07:00] down. Yeah, I see Compulsion and Double

[07:02] Fine here. Arcane, too.

[07:04] They had they were told on a call on

[07:06] Monday, and they've got several other

[07:08] active negotiations about spinning off

[07:10] Compulsion Games and Double Fine.

[07:14] Asha Chararma and Chief Content Officer

[07:16] Matt Booty warning last week of a reset

[07:19] at Xbox, laying out several challenges

[07:21] facing Xbox business, including that it

[07:23] had overextended with its studio system

[07:26] and the hardware component crisis is

[07:28] significantly driving up prices. It's an

[07:30] actual dumpster fire at Xbox right now.

[07:32] Head of Xbox game studio left and

[07:34] Treyarch Studios head left as well. What

[07:36] What

[07:39] is going on? Really, I I truly am

[07:42] confused by this because I didn't play

[07:44] Compulsion's last game, which was South

[07:46] of Midnight, and I recognize that

[07:47] they've only released like three games

[07:49] in 17 [ __ ] years. So, they're

[07:51] extremely slow, but they've still done

[07:53] more than like a bunch of other studios

[07:55] that Xbox still has. So, like they did

[07:58] release a game. I don't know how it did

[08:00] like financially, but like the fact they

[08:03] even released a game is infinitely more

[08:05] than you could say for so many of their

[08:07] [ __ ] studios that they haven't axed.

[08:09] and Double Fine. They released a game

[08:11] this year and they released a game last

[08:14] year as well. And they had Psychonauts

[08:16] 2, which was a super banger in uh 2021.

[08:20] So like what they're they are cranking

[08:22] games. And I'm pretty sure the two games

[08:24] Double Fine have released over the last

[08:26] two years. Keeper and Kiln have been

[08:28] very wellreceived. I don't know how

[08:30] they've done financially, but even

[08:31] still, they are making games. Like that

[08:33] is what you want from these studios.

[08:35] Like they are making games. And those

[08:36] were, from what I can tell, pretty

[08:38] wellreceived. Now, I know they haven't

[08:40] like officially, you know, put belt to

[08:42] ass on Double Fine and the others, but

[08:45] the fact that it's even on the table

[08:47] just shows that they are really out of

[08:50] touch. They need games. That is the only

[08:53] thing that saves this brand is games.

[08:57] And you are now going after developers

[08:59] that are providing you games. Again,

[09:01] even if they're not Grand Salami, you

[09:04] know, super touchdowns, you're still

[09:06] getting games. And in the case of like

[09:08] Double Fine or Ninja Theory, like Ninja

[09:10] Theory games, even though I don't like

[09:11] Hellblade, they are wellreceived. So

[09:14] like you're still getting like

[09:16] highquality games that come out. Why

[09:19] would those be the ones that you would

[09:21] look at here to just get rid of,

[09:23] especially coming in as a new CEO, when

[09:25] you want like hype, like you want things

[09:27] that'll get people excited? And what

[09:29] gets people excited is more games that

[09:31] are good and high quality, not the

[09:34] opposite of taking even more games away

[09:36] from an already barren wasteland of a

[09:39] platform. Can't believe you got tricked

[09:41] into thinking Xbox was back. I never

[09:44] said that. I never said Xbox was back.

[09:46] Just that Asha was at the very least not

[09:50] driving it more actively into the

[09:51] ground.

[09:54] It was it was taking steps to steer it

[09:57] in the right direction and now it's

[09:59] 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.