The Fallout of the Xbox Layoffs - Kinda Funny Games Daily 07.03.25

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0:51Or a few. Head to Sierra or Sierra.com for the brands you want at the prices that let you do it all. From athletic to athletic-ish, Sierra's got it. Brussels clean up nicely at Sweetgreen. Maple glazed, roasted, and edges perfectly caramelized. Sweetgreen's fall harvest is back on the menu, and the season's most overlooked little green vegetable is dressed to be devoured. You know what to do. Order on the Sweetgreen app.

1:22When you've got a job to do, Lowe's knows how to help you keep it moving. Milo's Pro Rewards members save more with member volume discounts on eligible orders through a quote of$2 ,000 or more. Plus, save time with job site delivery on select purchases. Not a member? Join for free today. Exclusions, more terms, and restrictions apply. Can't be combined with any other discount, including but not limited to contract and or special pricing. Loyalty programs subject to terms and conditions. Details at Lowe's.com slash terms. Subject to change. Today's stories include, I'm going to be real with you.

1:53It is one of those days. it's not going to be a fun one mostly bad news about the video game industry we got xbox bad news we have non-xbox bad news and we have non-xbox bad news that's actually bad news because of xbox but hell divers 2 is coming to xbox hey love all that and more because this is kind of funny games daily what's up and welcome to kind of funny games daily for thursday july 3rd 2025 25 i of course am your host tim gettys i'm joined today by the lovely andy cortez hello tim how are you doing good morning uh i'm all right yeah i'm recovering from jurassic world rebirth okay um covering from okay that's coming from yeah what else oh i saw the odyssey trailer for the first time oh please tell me um spider-man talking to punisher whoa he's like that could never happen Do you know about my brother Odysseus?

2:56And then Punisher's like, hey, here's the thing, kid, you know? Yeah, you want to look for your brother? Well, I'll tell you something, kid. You know, like it's just them going back and forth. I love it. Cool big shots, you know? And then it's like, you know, Christopher Nolan in the Odyssey. I was like, whoa. I mean, did it get you? Honestly, no. Okay. No, because it wasn't even really framed like a trailer. it was just framed as like an event hey you didn't even know that this trailer was going to happen we're teasing that probably new trailers are going to be coming out yeah like here's a little like glimpse at a weird kind of scene it was it wasn't this music and it was just it was very odd honestly yeah very odd it felt unofficial yeah like it felt like someone just snuck it in there you know and it was the first scene that they showed right before the movie started because it was a shitload of previews obviously of course then the lights go down and it's like sink and pee or whatever i'm like oh that's nolan's kind of thing right and then the thing starts like oh this is the odyssey and then it kind of ended and then jurassic world started i was like that was a weird thing to kind of throw in there they always do that remember when they did it with tenet and like i forgot what movie we were watching i think list star wars episode nine and we're just sitting in the theaters maybe you missed this one i we went to different screeners for this uh watching star wars episode nine they just showed like five minutes of tenant and like it was just right it was like the trailers played and then that just happened and it felt without like contextless but you know i ain't gonna complain i'm excited i'm excited to see this trailer i still haven't seen jurassic world rebirth that'll be a this weekend deal for me oh that's right you didn't go yeah i missed the screener so yeah i i i really don't like what i'm hearing it was a pretty packed theater yeah i'll say that i mean it's doing incredibly well yeah jurassic world so far jurassic park world all that stuff the one franchise that no matter how bad the movies are still bringing the money in 2025 right you know everything else kind of like all the old heavy hitters not necessarily swinging the same but right jurassic still got it uh you know who else still got it andy cortez the number one extreme sports related man named tony oh do you know who i'm referring to what type of animal i'm referring to antonio hawk no what tony the tiger oh shit everybody oh he is back teaming up with tony the hawk oh they are here together the tony cross tony limited edition frosted flakes all right you can get the tony the tiger deck in tony hawk's if you buy these frosted flakes they sent me this little care package here, Andy.

5:38They sent a nice little note for me. We got some Tony Hawk stickers. Beautiful. Definitely going to give these to Cool Greg. And then, how am I going to eat the Tony Hawk? Put one of those stickers on Greg's laptop without him knowing. I will. So you get on there. They gave me a bowl. Frosted Flakes. Tony the Tiger. That's a perfect bowl for Moose or Toretto. I know. Maybe. Also for me to eat my Frosted Flakes. I got a shirt. Look at my shirt. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater shirt What does it say on the front? Let me see it It says, the most important thing I'd rather be listening to any Tony Hawk's Pro Skater soundtrack Okay, I like that That's something I think about What does it say on the front side?

6:15Tony Hawk's Pro Skater Awesome Front side Are you allowed to say the story about Gia? I don't know what you're saying Calling Gia and being like Probably not Okay, okay Probably not, but also the Doom Slayer deck Whoa! Yeah Straight out of hell That's cool Yeah super cool I'm very excited Can we keep that for the studio? For the lab? Oh yeah Cool Greg might fight you for it Oh okay well then Cool Greg gets dibs obviously Either way I love it I'm just excited because getting this stuff Is you know It is what it is You're right But it's very exciting to me Because this means we are very close You're getting closer Very very close To Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 and 4 July 11th A week away I'll be grinding Wow Lying Grindin Grindin Anyway, this is Kind of Funny Games Daily Each and every weekday we run you through the video game news that you need to know about live on YouTube, Twitch, and podcast services around the globe If you love what we do, support us with the Kind of Funny membership on Patreon, YouTube, and now Spotify and Apple Podcasts to get all of our shows ad-free and a daily exclusive show.

7:26For a chance to be part of this show, please YouTube Super Chat your thoughts and opinions as Super Chats as we go. And we'll get to them. A little housekeeping for you. Sunburns be damned. Even though Barrett was viciously attacked by the sun, which made him miss the 10-year anniversary of Batman Arkham Knight, he still wants to celebrate the last game in the Rock City Batman Arkham trilogy with y 'all. So join him this Saturday. That's two days from now at noon Pacific on twitch.tv slash kindoffunnygames. It'll be uploaded later on YouTube for a belated Batman Arkham Knight 10-year anniversary stream.

7:57Well, he's going to play through the entire game in one sitting, just like he's done for the previous entries in the franchise. Come hang out and reminisce about this beloved series one final time with the biggest Batman Arkham dork at Kind of Funny. Remember, everyone, we are an 11-person small business all about live talk shows. And those talk shows are going to continue on today. We have Games Daily right now. After this is Gamescast. It's going to be Mike and Roger talking all about how they're barely alive after their Death Stranding marathon stream. I'm sure they're going to give their thoughts so far.

8:26They haven't completed the game yet, but they're kind of reviewing progress of their time with Death Stranding 2. And I'm sure they'll also talk a lot about Outback and Chili's. That's the type of guys that they are. Were you here when Ben Starr caught all the gummy bears in his mouth running on the treadmill? No. Five in a row. It was hilarious. I did see that clip. I was making the thumbnails from home. Yeah. Yeah. That was some funny stuff. Marky Adonis in the chat says, speaking of sunburned, Tim, you're looking red. Yeah, I got real sunburned during the parade. real sunburned and um it's starting to fade a little bit okay yeah it was uh it was rough i think you look fine yeah thank you i appreciate that andy uh the stream's gonna be mike and roger either continuing death stranding 2 or playing the gex trilogy i feel like this might be a thing of what do y 'all want to see those boys do uh and then next week a little housekeeping for you two in reviews we have jurassic world rebirth on monday and then superman tentatively planned for thursday uh kind of based on a couple things of screeners and all of that stuff but yeah the new dcu superman obviously it's going to be great greg miller is so damn excited he's vibrating when i look at him uh next thursday or also next week nick's game showdown season is going to be happening so to prepare head over to uh twitter or blue sky to fill out the new kind of beauty poll it's very serious and important um i misspoke there it's not airing next week we're just preparing for it so uh go now to blue sky or twitter on for kind of funny and uh submit all your kind of beauty things for whatever the fuck nick's doing you know who knows who knows i really don't want to know if you're a kind of funny member today's gregway is 30 minutes and is roger's most important gregway ever i don't know what that means but i want to find out and you will probably want to do that too you get the membership you'll be able to do that you can also be a patreon producer like carl jacobs omega buster and delaney the psalm twining today we're brought to you by cash app and mood but we'll tell you all about that later for now let's begin with what isn't forever will be the roper report it's time for some news we have eight stories today ah bakers does it like i was saying we got a lot of bad news this is kind of the fallout of all the xbox layoff news uh from yesterday it was hard coming up with a headline for this episode because i feel like there's a lot of big stories um but really just the overall tenor of it all is things are dark there's a lot of layoffs there's a lot of studio closures there's a lot of project cancelizations um and we're just kind of seeing the ramifications of that because some of them are surprising like some of these aren't necessarily layoffs it's funding being pulled from games and what that can mean for studios that aren't even necessarily part of xbox's direct ecosystem we'll get into all of that but story number one is Microsoft loses industry veterans following job cuts and cancellations this comes from Sean Carey at True Achievements yesterday over 9 ,000 workers across various divisions at Microsoft lost their jobs including staff in Microsoft's gaming division Xbox as a result Microsoft shut down the initiative and canceled Perfect Dark it also canceled Rares Everwilds an unannounced MMORPG from ZeniMax and an MMORPG from ZeniMax now ZeniMax online studios head matt fryer has announced he's leaving the studio later this month which is a huge bummer uh he was just recently here in the studio doing the elder scrolls online series with greg and mike quote after more than 18 years leading zenimax online studios i'll be stepping away later this month the studio and the elder scrolls online will be in great hands under the direction of new studio head joe burba along with executive producer susan kath and game director rich lambert together this leadership team has spearheaded many of eso's biggest ideas and expansions and will continue to make this game something we're proud of.

12:12While I won't be working on the game anymore, I will be cheering you on and adding to the thousands of hours I've already spent in game. There are many, many more stories to be told, adventures to be had. And I know this amazing community will carry that shared legacy and success forward. On top of Friar's departure, VGC reports that following the cancellation of Everwild, executive producer, Louis O 'Connor is leaving Rare. And so too is legendary designer, Greg Males. Males has spent more than 35 years at Rare, heading up games such as Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, Viva Pinata, and Banjo-Kazooie Nuts and Bolts.

12:43He also served as creative director for Sea of Thieves. Damn. Damn. Damn. I think the thing that stood out to me the most yesterday, aside from all the sadness, This unusual state of feelings that we get into whenever executives come out and say, this is not because of their lack of talent. This is not because of whatever. It's because the landscape is shifting and also because we're awful at planning. So that's why a lot of people are going to be without jobs and their families will hopefully survive. But I'm sure they got this. the uh the thing that really really stuck set out to me was um looking at something like xenomax online and this story can be repeated for you know you could find a story like this for the past decade 20 years 30 years throughout gaming history of they they had an mmo that started in development in 2018 and it's 2025 now and sure that could signal bad development that It could signal bad planning, bad production, bad leadership.

13:59But what it still mainly signals is seven years of wasted time for people to be working there. Sure, they may also be working on Elder Scrolls Online or something. But to have a massive gap in your resume like that, as if it's easy to get a job nowadays anyway, But to be working on something and dedicate nearly a decade of your life to something, to have it canceled, taken away from you, not even see the light of day, that was like one of the first things that stood out to me. And just how depressing and sad that is, that that is such a massive chunk. Like, this was two damn years before the pandemic hit.

14:50Yeah. Like, that is a lifetime ago. And to have all of that stripped away because of shifting gaming industry landscape, but bad planning and, you know, and now you're jobless. And now you hope to find another job along with the other several thousands of people that were laid off. I know it was 9 ,000 across Microsoft. Still. yeah it's it's that is such a a wild number considering that we had already seen massive layoffs last year uh with xbox as well so it's holy shit man like it's it it's hard to not be hyperbolic and get ultra worried about just the state of the industry period i do think that that is a fascinating aspect of this conversation because like at a certain point it's not hyperbolic right like when we're talking about 9 000 people and that's just another wednesday you know like it's not the end we know it's not the end i mean in fact later we have stories like that it's the further ramifications of today people getting laid off as a result of decisions made yesterday like it's not hyperbolic it is the reality that we're in and it is terrifying that it's not going to change and that it really does feel like there's nothing that can happen to solve this because we're just too far gone it's too too into this path of marching towards ai domination right you read phil's statement yesterday and so much of that is clearly a message to the shareholders and that's what that was and i feel like it accomplished its goal of telling them hey don't worry we're doing great you know through that too there is the message to the the people that are losing their jobs that were very talented and they're saying things that are true like hey this isn't because you're not talented enough it's because we're not making enough money from you you know and it just sucks that like these statements and facts need to be backed up by decisions that are at least giving a chance to allow that money to be made to allow it to be for expectations to be set accordingly and not astronomically high to a point of i mean that's where i think the hype hyperbolic um statements come is these shareholders needing the numbers to be so ridiculously high that we all sit here like this this isn't going to work how many times have we talked about ever wild on the show you know and questioned is it going to exist or not how many times have we questioned perfect dark there's so many different games that now here we are it's like Like we are just reading the tea leaves of this and like it is not a I was right because there's no joy in being right about this.

17:41But it sucks that it feels so obvious and they're not listening. And I think one thing that was really present yesterday online was the Xbox era podcast that I kept on referencing throughout Summer Game Fest. whenever anybody on our panel was worried about everwild i pointed to the same thing that everybody pointed to yesterday which was in february phil special was on the xbox era podcast and said that he's super stoked with the progress that rare is making on everwild and and my whole point of there was like i don't think he mentions that if he's not confident in this that's just a bold-faced lie is that just we gotta just you know what i gotta say something i'm not gonna i think silence is probably worse in that situation because in february there's no way you don't know about what's happening several months from now yeah but you know to have an impact that large this stuff gets planned way way earlier right i mean that there's certain things that we'll never know but the reality is no matter there's always a bigger fish right and it at some point gets the top of phil spencer himself the man could have enjoyed ever wild could have everything he said could have been true but if the people above him are like we need you to cut this much he has to cut this much they have to cut this much and like that fucking sucks and i'm not defending phil here right now of course i'm just saying it's just like Like, it's terrifying that we can get to a point that Everwild, sure, we didn't know much about it.

19:21It felt like potential vaporware. But then, to your point, he was saying, hey, there's a good game here, right? Perfect Dark to me is like an even bigger example. We saw it last year. I would have not been surprised at all that Perfect Dark was canceled. This isn't a Wonder Woman situation. Here's a quick teaser or something, right? Like this was, and part of me even wonders, was the gameplay shown off as a proof of life to, well, if we show off a snippet of something, they can't cancel it then. And, you know, like your mind starts to wonder and start to go through all these hypotheticals. But, you know, for the fact, you know, Perfect Dark being shown off as just a very simple.

20:10Here's this little teaser thing similar to how Wonder Woman was done. But then it's here's this little gameplay snippet. I mean, but we got that the little the Wonder Woman. We got even more than we got from Wonder Woman from the Perfect Dark debut. Was it at the same showcase? No, that's not right. That's not right. But then to not hear for Perfect Dark for years and then to last year get that big thing, it's like that was the moment I'm like, I am shocked that Perfect Dark was canceled. Unbelievable. It just shows that it's ruthless at this point. Like there is no consistency. Nothing is safe.

20:41Literally nothing is safe. Period. Right. I actually want to, like, because we're talking about this, change the orders of the story a little bit. I want to jump to story number four here. Talking about Perfect Dark. because yesterday in the storm of all this news coming out, and again, we are in the thick of this. I feel like these stories are going to have updates and more people's perspectives over the next coming week. So we're going to continue to update and go through how this all goes. But there was a report from Kotaku, I think, talking about how they heard that the Perfect Dark demo that we saw last year, the showcase, was pre-rendered.

21:17Okay. And that is terrifying to think about because of the world that we're in and how we expect game showcases to have a level of truth these days that back when Killzone was shown off on PlayStation 3, it was like clearly not real, you know, and that was such a big thing. We've moved on for that where it's like we see the running on a PS5, running on PS5 Pro. It's like that is an important part of this marketing that I feel like the publishers and developers owe us. And if it's just a CG trailer, it's a CG trailer. That's okay. but you need to really be honest right so if this was free rendered and like i feel like that's a slap in the fucking face um but today that was essentially debunked so uh a perfect dark level designer says that the demo shown was in engine this is uh adam mcdonald on blue sky this demo is actually in engine i was uh one of three level designers that worked on it it worked best if you played it the way the person playing in the video plays it but it still worked even if you didn't hit the marks perfectly.

22:19There's some fake stuff in it, and the real gameplay system shown off worked just enough to look good in this video. We were rapidly making real design decisions so as not to knowingly lie to players about what the game will be. The parkour is all real. The hacking and deception is mostly real. The combat is real in that someone had, sorry, the combat is quote, real in that somebody had to really do all that stuff in the video, but it's set up to be played exactly that way. It didn't play well if you played it a different way. I'm seeing big controversy over this whole thing was fake, and it's annoying to me, so I wanted to say something.

22:47I think this is very important to to point out right because i was getting really upset thinking about it being fake and then being canceled because it's like y 'all are just fucking manipulating and i know that it's a business and all that but fuck that you know um so so for this it's like now i'm angry in the other way so it was fucking real this was playable last year like this vertical slice at least and now perfect dark and the initiative are canceled andy do you remember what they called the initiative no quadruple a this was the quadruple a studio fuck me doesn't matter how many a's you got you'll take the l eventually yeah like it it's insane that we are in this place you know as you know i hate to get political here but especially with the big beautiful bill and all that stuff like everything awful is just happening all at the same time and now we're in a now we're in a spot where hundreds and thousands of talented developers are jobless now and there aren't hundreds of studios hiring and where do those people go there's it's it's for me it's the it's the the stunning lack of giving a shit about talented people that are put that are lining your pockets that's where you know it's it's a very easy thing to point at that you know the satya nadella made 79 million dollars last year and we always bring up andrew wilson from EA his bonus being 35 million and 35 million could have uh funded two years of like 100 employees or 150 employees and it's just it's so sad that we're in this place that the bad news never stops and you're right it's going to keep getting worse until until something drastic happens I don't know what even can happen drastically I mean what needs to happen what needs to happen is expectations need to be set that are realistic and sustainable that is it because if they do that everything works if they have goals that are going to be able to fund adequately and not just be astro fucking nomical and they're able to achieve that and at a cadence that they are putting out releases and that gamers are playing these games and wanting to continue to buy continue to support or continue to be monetized via live service, whatever it is.

25:25But if those expectations are realistic, that is it. That's how the equation of business has to go. But Andy, what if I told you that we are hearing that realistic expectations are an unrealistic thing to think about in the future? We're going to talk about that after a quick word from our sponsors. This episode is brought to you by Cash App. We've all had those moments getting meals out with people that always end in some kind of awkward experience of having to figure out the least complicated way to just get it done? Or even after figuring it out, have you used an app and ended up having to wait days for your money to finally show up?

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26:36Just download Cash App and sign up. Use our exclusive referral code, kind of funny, in your profile. Send$5 to a friend within 14 days, and you'll get$10 dropped right into your account. Terms apply. That's money. That's Cash App. This episode is brought to you by Mood. Let me tell you about the online cannabis company that's revolutionizing how we deal with life's challenges. From sleepless nights to stress-filled days. Mood.com has created an entire line of functional gummies that target specific health concerns with 100 % federally legal THC blends. They'll deliver them discreetly right to your doorstep.

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27:50And remember to use promo code kindoffunny at checkout to save 20 % on your first order. FX's American Horror Story returns for an unrivaled 13th installment with the iconic horrors you love to fear and an all-star cast reprising fan-favorite roles. Light your candles, draw your pentagrams, and prepare for a supreme surprise. Guys, FX's American Horror Story 13. Now streaming on Hulu. Sierra has all the best active and outdoor brands for the super athletic stuff, like running gear for cruising up the trail. Woo! And the super athletic-ish stuff, like fishing gear for chilling by the creek. Nice cast.

28:39Fitness apparel to push for higher reps. You got this. and golf balls priced so you can afford to lose one. Or a few. Head to Sierra or Sierra.com for the brands you want at the prices that let you do it all. From athletic to athletic, Sierra's got it. Fall has never looked or tasted this good. Sweet Greens Fall Harvest Menu is back with seasonal favorites dressed to impress and made to be devoured. Warm roasted sweet potatoes, crisp apples, maple glazed Brussels, and crave-worthy flavors in the autumn harvest bowl, maple glazed salmon plate, and roasted bacon Brussels side. The season's most desirable menu has returned to Sweetgreen, featuring fall's best dressed.

29:23Make your move. Order on the Sweetgreen app. When you've got a job to do, Lowe's knows how to help you keep it moving. Milo's Pro Rewards members save more with member volume discounts on eligible orders through a quote of$2 ,000 or more. Plus, save time with job site delivery on select purchases. Not a member? Join for free today. Exclusions, more terms, and restrictions apply. Can't be combined with any other discount, including but not limited to contract and or special pricing. Loyalty programs subject to terms and conditions. Details at lowes.com slash terms. Subject to change. Sandy, I was saying that the solution to this is reasonable expectations for success, and that will create a sustainable industry.

30:06But EA reportedly expects Battlefield 6 to have 100 million players. three times more than the series bestseller. This comes from Conan McCarr at Eurogamer. EA's executive leadership has reportedly set a goal of 100 million players for the upcoming Battlefield game, which, quote, very few developers believe is achievable. This comes from a tell-all report from Ars Technica, which explores the game's many ambitions and problems through information gathered from anonymous sources. In this article, Battle Royale modes and competitors like Call of Duty inspired this optimistic figure. Quote, obviously, Battlefield's never achieved those numbers before, stated one source, while another said it's important to understand that over about the same period, 2042 has only gotten 22 million.

30:50And they want 100 million. For reference, Call of Duty Warzone reached 100 million players back in April 2021 per an official blog post. Warzone originally came out in March 2020, so it took roughly a year for the biggest FPS IP out there to hit that figure. In 2018, a Fortnite interview in the Wall Street Journal revealed that game had over 200 million people download and play the industry-defining Battle Royale. According to the report, those who had worked at DICE for a while were, quote, particularly skeptical, with one source saying, nothing in the market research or our quality deliverables indicates that we would be anywhere near that.

31:27The article also states that Battlefield V's Battle Royale mode, Firestorm, failed to meet expectations, while the aforementioned competitors continued to retain vast player bases. Nonetheless, it seemed that a new attempt at this format is what EA leadership expects will attract much of that 100 million figure. This new Battlefield currently is undergoing a closed alpha test, though that hasn't stopped leaks from getting out. Rush mode's been leaked, some single-player campaign info, as well as a deluge of info on weapons and a battle royale mode. If this next Battlefield can hit the target set out by EA executives, it'll be the most popular Battlefield game by a wide margin.

32:01Whether it can actually do that is something else entirely. who's gonna like who's misleading these people with these numbers like it that it would be one thing if this was call of duty and people had unrealistic expectations about call of duty but this is this is battle i just this story i can't even pinpoint one of the you know many things that is just so off about all of this well what this all seems like to me is uh it's people that don't know anything about the industry and people that don't know anything about player bases it would be as if i put a i was building a city block with a bunch of restaurants and i put an in and out there and made it and made all the food free and then i was like y 'all we average this whole city block is averaging millions of people a month of people and people going oh shit i should put my restaurant there but they're eating in and out the free in blocks they're playing the free fortnight and they're playing the free war zone and just because you're seeing these insane inflated numbers the games industry is doing all of these numbers we're throwing all these statistics at you they think that every game is doing all of that but it's those select few things and even if that wasn't the case to expect those numbers without these free-to-play these free-to-play uh titans in the industry to still expect those numbers without that it would be ridiculous to expect that with it is just so fucking dumb like you are dumb it should it just shows you that like it doesn't matter it intelligence doesn't matter it's rich people that were born into money that have this money to throw around and play with it like toys and they don't understand really much of anything it's not real to them and look at it and it's like hey this this game where you shoot things that people play there's a hundred million we can we can do that too we have a game that people shoot it's like it lacks any understanding like it like you you're nailing it with the the comparison the in and out stuff like i think about another industry that is falling apart in a different way with hollywood and you look at movies and you look at how many movies have crossed the billion mark in the last 10 years 20 years let's even say 15 years is probably the more accurate thing of like it was insane it went from very few to almost an expectation for these big blockbusters.

34:44Then so many factors came into play, and that is not a fair expectation anymore. And even when it was an expectation, that was an expectation built on quality and pop culture relevance and all this stuff. So after Avengers Infinity War, if Marvel and Disney were to be like, I bet you that Endgame is going to do some astronomical thing, we'd all look at that and be like, I believe it. I believe it. But when we look at Black Adam, when we look at all these things, why would you fucking do that? Why would you think that? And that's what this is. This is Battlefield. Battle fucking field. When has Battlefield been, like, back in the day, there was the fight between Battlefield and Call of Duty.

35:21The war's been gone. The war's been fucking over. It's been over for a long time. It's insane. This is insane. I want to just hope that this is a, that there was just a really massive miscommunication issue. not even with the people that are being given info but by uh you know just the article itself like there's got to be an extra zero that was two or one or two extra zeros that were thrown in there one or two feels more reasonable and again the saddest thing is that the people throwing around money because it isn't real to them are not going to be affected because this is a drop in the bucket of them and the people that will be affected are the people making the product and And in eight months or whatever it is, we will hear about layoffs at EA.

36:14And there will be more people out of jobs. And there will be more statements from really, really dumb CEOs that don't understand what's happening with the industry. And saying, you know, hey, we're cutting costs because we want to be more agile. Or whatever the stupid terms that they're using nowadays. It's just, man, we've just been over this so many times. And it's, I don't want to act like I'm in a bad place because we have to talk about it. It's the people that are being affected by this. These aren't just people that go find another job immediately. These are families that are being affected and pulling away remote work is even worse because now they got to go somewhere else and pick up their whole life to go get another job.

37:04and then you're having industry veterans go, I'm kind of done with this. I'll go figure something else. I'll go teach somewhere. It just discourages, it encourages industry veterans to leave the industry before they should, and it discourages people trying to get into the industry to even enter it, period. And we talk about this all the time, but institutional knowledge. the video games industry relatively is in its infancy we are at a point now that it is not the very beginning you know we are decades old at this point and that's why i hope people are still really dumb yeah that's why my hope is it's it we're in such a at such a point in its infancy that people are still really dumb about expectations that maybe five ten years from now people will go no we we should not hire 400 people to make that game that we know is only going to move 2 million copies or 1 million copies or whatever because you know that even though that is going to be a lot of money how am i going to get my 80 million dollar bonus you know andy i keep wanting to go to a more positive story but you keep giving me great segues here so i'm going to go to story number six kev uh mine mine's eye devs uk workforce of around 300 receive at-risk emails as former GTA lead Leslie Benzies finally addresses staff.

38:34This comes from Wesley Inpool at IGN. Build-A-Rocket Boy, the Scotland-based developer of MindsEye, has issued at-risk of redundancy emails to its around 300-strong UK workforce following the disastrous launch of the game. Sources familiar with the goings-on at the inside of the embattled studio told IGN at-risk emails were also sent to staff at PlayFusion, which they acquired in late 2024. PlayFusion, whose CEO Mark Gerhard became co-CEO of Build a Rocket Boy as part of the buyout, is working on a different game, a fast-paced FBS called Ascendant, which was meant to come out this year. Last month, IGN reported that Barb, Build a Rocket Boy, had begun a redundancy process following the release of Mind's Eye.

39:13The standard 45-day consultation process kicked off on June 23rd, which according to a UK law is triggered when an employee proposes 100 or more redundancies within a 90-day period. IGN understands that they currently have around 300 UK employees. so over 100 are at risk for redundancy. We don't know how much more than 100. At the very least, we are talking about a third, a third of this entire team that just put out this game. Soon after Minds Eye launched, Barb said it was heartbroken over the issues players had faced with the game and promised to release a series of patches to fix the significant performance problems, glitches, and AI behavior bugs.

39:51Rollout of these patches has begun. On Steam, things aren't going well. The concurrent player count, 3 ,302 at launch. but its 24-hour peak was just 46 players. At the time of this article's publication, 26 people were playing on Steam, where Mind's Eye has a mostly negative user review rating. Story-driven action adventure games Mind's Eye was initially designed to be part of Everywhere, the Roblox for adults creation platform led by former Grand Theft Auto Design chief Leslie Benzies. They would eventually switch to focus on Mind's Eye, but it has so far failed to do the business for the company.

40:26So this is where the story somehow gets even more insane, Andy. Meanwhile, Barb sources told IGN that Benzies finally addressed staff following the release of Mind's Eye and dealing with all of these redundancy emails and all of that. In a brief video call yesterday, July 2nd, according to two people present who asked not to be named in order to protect their careers, Benzies insisted that Build-A-Rocket Boy would bounce back and relaunch Mind's Eye. Blaming the studio And the game's struggles On internal and external Saboteurs