Xbox Developer Direct Secret 4th Game?! - Kinda Funny Games Daily 01.09.25

28:13What do you think the new race is? Because you only had humans and elves. I did a little look back of like, well, what were the races, right? It was only humans and elves. Yeah, it was. What do you want to be added? I don't know. Is it the blue fish guy? Minotaur, man. No, I don't want to be that guy. He's the first NPC you meet. It'd be weird. Hey, I'm a fish guy. You're a fish guy. Cool. We're fish guys. Dab me up, Garris. Okay. Okay. And then, I mean, of course, the positive here is I brought up a little Sorkana from Matt Piscitella, Blue Sky. Matty P. Q2 of 2025, the top 10 best-selling games on PlayStation platforms, physical and full game digital downloads were as follows of course Microsoft having I believe 6 of the 10 in that from Forza Horizon Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered you have Doom the Dark Ages Indiana Jones, Minecraft of course just showing you that like hey these games are selling well on Playstation the strategy seems to be working and it will be exciting to see like another game especially one from Obsidian come out and hopefully get some good shine and some love over there.

29:10Yeah hopefully as well yeah i think i think you know outer worlds 2 i liked more because i like that setting more and i like my npcs more but another game that i think i just didn't get the hubbub it deserved right necessarily maybe deserved isn't right didn't in a in a year that was 2025 fucking game of the year falling on you every week this really great rpg didn't make a lot of noise and i think that avowed getting another shot again great release window for it this beginning of the year where everything slowly spinning up before you get lost in it. I'm excited to see what it is. I really do like Obsidian.

29:43A couple Super Chats before we get out of here and move into a much bigger news about the Division 3. Cade says, could this be a quick look at Fable with the announcement that it's a deep dive game after the Summer Game Showcase? Let me try this again. Could this be a quick look at Fable with the announcement that it's the deep dive game after the Summer Showcase? Now, chat can help me, but I'm looking back on my notes right now, and from 2025 to 2023 none of the games listed were the deep dive after the summer game showcase you cannot duty fucking or do this but something else yeah i can't do this no no developer direct i feel like and you you have a list in front of you so keep me honest as you look at it i feel like developer direct is for that if we're using wrestling commentary here the mid carters you could you you're you you're a great intercontinental champion you're not the world champion yet so we are using this to bring you all together and even Forza, which is a game of the year from IGN, but it's a racing game.

30:42It's immediately people can turn off on that and not understand how cool it is. Of course. You bring them together so that their combined hype brings in a racing fan who then sees a fable and goes, that's cool, or brings in a fable fan who looks at Forza and goes, that's cool. You're using it to hype each other up and you can't for fable. That's when I better get a release date for fable in this direct and it better be before Summer Game Fest. Thank you. I need fable in the first five months of this year and i don't think that's crazy because i think you do that right you do fable in the first five months of this year and honestly first three first four maybe i'm playing in april because you need to get out of the way of sgf you need to get out of the way halo you need to get out of the way gears and of course ding ding ding you need to get out of the way grand theft auto yeah and the dream world in my mind right is like this developer direct is the first six months as the xbox game summer showcases the next six months and the six months after they kind of show you the big year but like that should be how the cycle should go if fables all of a sudden like i don't see you in november no oh that means i got to see him again in the people already don't believe in fable and it's because of course there's a name and it's playground and it's all you know it's like people don't even know what it is now it's just nebulous video game talk for forever we need to see this and people need to go yes i want to buy that and i can buy it now fuck yeah big moment because you're saying yeah the first six months right in my mind i thought it was the second six months i would be disappointed if it's like 2027 oh flip the table if it's 2020 but it can't be oh my god it can't because they said yesterday in the description these are games coming in 2026 i'm here and we know halo is coming in 2026 and we know gears is coming in 2026 so let's start counting if we're getting four games there you add two more that's six months of games right there they're not all imminent right on top of each other like you got to start getting these out especially to avoid gta it's the 25th anniversary you got to nail it you got Gotta go big.

32:28And then stakes says, how much longer do we have to wait for anything Banjo-Kazooie? Keep waiting. Nobody wants that guy. Banjo? Yeah, he's dead. You can go play it in Dreams right now. There you go. Exactly. You got a really good one over there. Now, talking about Dreams, let's get ready to talk about The Division 3 after I remind you we wouldn't be living our dream at Kind of Funny if it wasn't for your support on Patreon.com slash kind of funny, youtube.com slash kind of funny games, Apple and Spotify, where you can pick up a kind of funny membership, get all of our shows ad free, get your daily dose of me, Greg Miller, in a series we call Gregway.

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34:23Nick Scarpino:Zootopia 2 has come home to Disney+. Let's go! Get ready for a new case. We're the greatest partners of all time! New friends. Gary the Snake. And your last name? The Snake. Dream Team. The new habitats. Zootopia has a secret reptile population. You can watch the record-breaking phenomenon at home. Zootopia 2, now available on Disney Plus Rated PG. And right now you can get Disney Plus and Hulu for just$4.99 a month for three months with a special limited time offer ends March 24th. After three months, plan auto renews at$12.99 a month. Terms apply. This episode is brought to you by Palmolive.

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36:09Nick Scarpino:With Sam's Club, you have the freedom to shop your own way. Curbside pickup? Deliver to your doorstep? Come in and grab it yourself? Yes, yes, yes. They've got plenty of options. Your call. Say yes to shopping the way you want. Join now at samsclub.com slash yes and. You must be 18 years or older to purchase a membership, and membership is subject to qualifications. Visit samsclub.com slash yes and for details. And we're back with number four. A big one on the Ripper Report. The Division 3 will have, quote, as big an impact, end quote, as Division 1, says producer. This is the big man from VGC.news, Jordan Midler.

36:54Executive producer of the Division series and Star Wars Outlaws creative director, Julian Garrity, has claimed that the Division 3 will have as big an impact as Division 1. Garrity, who returned to the Division franchise in 2023 with the announcement of the third game in the series, has described the game as a quote-unquote monster. Speaking as part of the New Game Plus showcase, Garrity said that while he can't share much on the project that is currently in development at Ubisoft's Massive Entertainment, he's excited about it. Quote, the Division 3 is in production, right? That's not a secret.

37:26It's been announced. Shaping up to be a monster, he said. within these walls at massive we are working extremely hard on something that I think will have as big an impact as the division one was period end quote Mike Greg you're the division mega fan this is the most important news of the week nothing more important happened this week news of the week week week week week week obviously this is fucking nonsense This is not news. We're making a game. It's going to be big. It's going to be great. I can't wait for the next developer. The first honest developer. We're making a game. It's going to be all right.

38:06It's about the same size as the last thing. You know, not that exciting. We're working hard. We're having fun. It's not that exciting, but this is going to be a monster. Yeah. I adore The Division, you know, one and two. I have put so many hours into those games. It gets me so incredibly excited to talk about having the same impact and what the fuck that would mean. What does that mean is right, Greg. What the fuck does that mean? That's kind of the eye roll moment. First off, you get excited at anything Division, right? The idea that there's going to be the biggest and the baddest one yet. You're like, hell yeah, man.

38:35Like, I'm all on board for that. We're sorely missing that right now. We are. On the decline of Destiny, we'll talk about that. But, like, we're missing that game right now and we want it. But this also is in 2016 when these games were new and fresh and different to console players and everyone out there with the Division. Yep, yep, yep, yep. And Destiny first starting up, right? It's like, that was a big era. that was a big time. So it's kind of eye-rolling when it's like, this is going to make waves. You're like, okay. We've got a lot of games out there, my man. Yeah. And they're all making waves.

39:05So that's where I turn. We're there with you. As somebody who watches you play all manner of multiplayer games, you know, Arc Raiders, a thing that brought me in and got so many hours out of me and so many of my friends. Yeah, that little paper. Because it was so much like the division, right? What does the division one or three need to do to have a bigger impact or as big an impact as the division one? I mean, you still got to stick to your foundation and your core, right? Which is that really awesome games as a service, co-op multiplayer experience with an awesome story, a great setting, a good loot grind that you'll go out and do with raids and dungeons and just that kind of PvE situation.

39:43But I do think there's a big area here to capitalize. And I think that's what they're probably looking at in this new PvP, PvE situation that we're currently living in. They were big fans of that dark zone, right? That's what they put. That Dark Zone, right? Like that Helldivers 2 momentum that we had with PVE on a large scale with your friends. That is the core of the division that it sold. And then on top of that, you add in the Dark Zone and you add in this competitive, thrilling, I go in and whatever I get out, I take with me or I lose it and leave it in there. You're seeing such a big surge in the extraction shooter market right now.

40:17And this taste of, well, me and my friends had a really good time with Ark Raiders. it wasn't punishing like Escape from Tarkov that everybody tells me. I would be willing to try this. And if they really, I think, put a lot of effort into the dark zone, that would be another big win to keep it going. We know it's going to have legs. It's going to go. But I do think the multiplayer, kind of that thrilling competitive side of things will really click for this. And that's the thing where you get into the chat then. Spartan right there says, I played Division 1 and 2 solo. I can't stay in co-op. You've got to be able to balance both those players.

40:50Like I said, you've got to stick to your foundation, big dog, right? And it's like you are bringing in so many players, right? As Spartan says, I'm a single-player guy. Greg and I, we like to share that co-op experience, right? And then maybe— Yeah, I was always PvE. I did the Darksuit only for trophies. I was going to say, then there's other people who say, no, Mike, I don't want to go PvP. And I'm over here like, yeah, I want PvP, right? So, like, games like this have to cater to a very large audience, right? And, like, the piece of the pie definitely changes on what part you're talking about.

41:18But you do have to lay a foundation that attracts all of it. And in 2026, I'm sorry to tell you, Spartan, but like there will be a large focus on a lot of multiplayer competitive, probably in this, right? You're still going to have the single player piece of the pie. You'll have the co-op PVE, but like right now we're seeing a market of like, people want to attract to this. They want to be in this and they're going to focus on that. So outside of these big terminologies here, we're going to be a massive impact, yada, yada, yada. where do you want them to go Mike of course we went to New York we went to Washington D.C.

41:52I have four locations that I want top three and then a side one that I'm like alright I want them to come to the West Coast I want to go to L.A. I think L.A. is my number one choice then I go back into the middle I go Chicago Dallas and then Seattle is my I'd be fine but like I think you go L.A. Okay interesting interesting what do you think I've I I, of course, in my life, you probably don't remember it at all. Listeners chat got in an infamous fight with somebody about this once where I was like, go to London, have it be this, uh, the English countryside, the Lund, you have diverse maps. You can expand that map and go out.

42:30And then of course, like Greg, you're an idiot. Have you played the games? The division is a, a U S government, uh, organization. Why would they be in London? To which I said, Oh, are you an idiot? You've never fucking talked to a fiction writer who can't, these writers can't come up with an idea. They can't have also had a sister agency that was in her majesty secret service. I think I like that because completely different, completely different vibe, but another city of like, Hey, London is iconic, right? In terms of what you're doing. And it would be a fun mashup of stuff like, uh, what is the giant building?

43:02It looks like a dildo. And then of course, like big band and like, you know, here's our history. Here's the modern, here's whatever. And again, be able to expand out for expansions and do cool shit. Chicago obviously a place in my heart what I like about London and Chicago is that you get weather in there you know I think that was the thing where DC's summer that felt stagnant to me the winter of division one really was like winter this is division and so even the the DLCs that took us back to New York and did that I feel like I think something really cool for it's gonna have as big an impact you're gonna do it you're gonna put us in Chicago or London or somewhere that can be a snowy climate and then also then have the summer event where it no longer is snow it's the map removed of snow we get to go i like chicago with the river down the middle of it i think that can really make some fun gameplay the threat of crossing the river shots across the river could be really cool and it's the same thing right as you start to think about what to do next right you could do a detroit expansion where we have to go across lake michigan and go do stuff in detroit let's let's focus on outside the states because we always usually kind of focus here at home but where else could you go could you go to a tokyo could you go down to brazil right like we always talk kind of like London we we talk about Paris but like could we go to the east could we go over there would fans be down with that I mean we'll see what happens with Forza I think they would be sleeping dogs yeah we love sleeping dogs of course but like yeah could we go to a Tokyo could we go down to Brazil would be interesting as well right seeing some different settings there different culture would be fun yeah but yeah I see I always like I think of it as U.S.

44:30here with those states yeah yeah yeah for your for your picks la obviously la la i just feel is played out even though it's not there really aren't that but you think about gta i think about dead island too like it's like yeah how many times can you go and i guess having the shootout in like the la brea tar pits and having like if you think about that because that was one of the big things of the division of like you're in the national air and space museum you're doing this thing right so like you need iconic buildings and so again for me being a Chicago kid like I can oh Chicago Theater Sears Tower or whatever it's called now blah blah but like LA would have it like being in a movie set would be cool being up on the Hollywood sign would be cool the Griffin Observatory would be cool you gotta have really fun moments like you said of like these are the set pieces you know this right and like Seattle that's why I put number four you got the two kind of big ones with Pike's Market but other than that It's like, it's not world known.

45:26Hey, here's the spot. Seattle knows it, but like the world doesn't know it. We will wait and see. But exciting. Bring it. Very exciting. Bandarist and Super Chaston says, do the game in Paris and call it Division 33. That's funny. I like that a lot. Side of Fry says, the division should always be in the snow. Division one atmosphere was so good. Put it in Chicago or Detroit next. Again, I think Chicago would be the one you anchor with because there's more visuals there than what people, you're playing the Wrigley Field. you're doing this thing. That'd be fun stuff. I love that everyone goes back to Division and thinking of winter and the holidays and the snow because yeah, I was playing Splinter Cell last night and they have like a holiday themed mission where it's cold and it's like, man the Division.

46:06Division nailed it. Yeah, they really did. Close the door. Yel Sing has the final Super Chat as of now for this one. I love Division 1 and 2, but I don't trust Ubisoft anymore. And that is a big question of what a modern Ubisoft is doing. It's still massive. It's still Julian. Massive. You're over there doing it but yeah I guess what was going on there Samson says the original division concept was in Vancouver thank God they stayed away from there no one knows shit about that place Mike my question is when do we not even play it when do we see the division three when do we actually see them reveal division three is it this SGF does UB come back and do a UB play or whatever the fuck they called it summer 2027 give UB that's when we see it Give Ubisoft another year to get all their ducks in a row, get their games ready, right?

46:57And either have them come back or team up with Jeff and showcase more than just one game. I think Splinter Cell is on the table, right? Far Cry is on the table. More Assassin's Creed, right? Like, let's try to get a bigger punch-up from Ubisoft than just a one-game announcement, right? I think they need a, hey, we're still around, and we're making games that you love. Okay, okay. I see in the chat this would be my pick as well Jay Dublin says Division 3 will be revealed the next game awards I like that to reveal it at the game awards then do some kind of event or just SGF and then put it out in the fall so that'd be 2027 I like that I like that let's go to number five Larian backtracks on AI use for the divinity concept art and writing but says generative AI can help some areas of development this again is the big man Jordan Midler VGC dot news divinity and Baldur's Gate 3 developer Larian has said it won't use generative AI to create concept art or in the process of writing Divinity, but the developer is still interested in using the technology in other areas.

48:00Following Larian's reveal of a new Divinity game at the Game Awards, CEO Sven Vinky... How do you say it? Vinky? I say this every time. Sven Vinky? I'm gonna find him at Dice. I don't put E on. I don't put the N on it. Sven Vink. Vink? Yeah, that's what I go with. I confirmed to Bloomberg that the studio was using generative AI to explore early game ideas. Now the Larian boss has said As part of a Reddit AMA That generative AI won't be used as part of concept art creation So that there can be no doubt Over the origin of any assets Quote, so first off There is not going to be any gen AI art In Divinity, he said I know there's been a lot of discussion about Us using AI tools as part of the concept art exploration We already said This doesn't mean the actual concept art is generated by AI But we understand it created confusion So to ensure there is no room for doubt we've decided to refrain from using gen AI tools during concept art development.

48:53That way there can be no discussion about the origin of the art. Sven went on to explain that while gen AI won't be used for concept art, the studio isn't entirely abandoning the technology. Quote, Having said that, we continuously try to improve the speed with which we can try things out. The more iterations we can do, the better in general the gameplay is. We think Gen AI can help this, and so we're trying things out across departments. Our hope is that it can aid us to refine ideas faster, leading to more focused development cycle, less waste, and ultimately a higher quality game. The important bit to note is that we will not generate creative assets that end up in a game without being 100 % sure the origins of the training data and the consent of those who created the data.

49:39if we use gen ai model to create in-game assets then it'll be trained on data we own and quote elsewhere in the ama writing uh director adam smith claimed that larian doesn't quote have any text generation touching our dialogues journal entries or other writing in divinity end quote smith then said no i'm sorry you know no smith then said that while the studio had a limited group experimenting with the technology the results were three out of ten at best that's a quote and that the tools are for research purposes michael yikes a lot there just messier and messier a lot there you start off with the first half and you go there we go there we go there was a big outcry they heard you with jason schreier and they said hold up big dog we don't want that in the larian games you got to roll this back right come back and saying hey we heard you we're not doing that right but then we kind of get into that second half and you're like but we're still Almost there.

50:35But yeah, that's kind of the way of the world right now when we come to AI and usage in video games with development and the development tools as a process, right? Where are you using it? What do you find comfortable with? What do you as the consumer find comfortable, right? It's like both sides. It's developers, consumers. Where do you fall? Where are they going with it? The writing side of things, right? That's when you start going, oh, I don't like that. But they said, hey, it's three out of 10. also we're using gen i gen ai but it's only going to be trained on our art and you know assets it's like all right that gets kind of sticky and scary but okay let's see where you go you know so this will be one of those of like let's get to the end and show me what you got let's see your work and see how it goes well speaking of the end kyle labeuf super chat and says a lot of people complained about the ai tools used in arc raiders but still played the f out of it i don't see developers moving away from it they just won't talk about it ever again i think yeah it's the never-ending cycle we're in right now with AI of obviously, and I know this isn't a popular opinion, there are going to be good uses for it that do save you time, not in creating things, right?

51:43But figuring out your development tool, your thing, whatever, blah, blah, blah, some bullshit in a computer. I can't even make a video game to begin with, but this is helping you, right? And then it is the idea of like, when you're talking about the scale at which it is, where I don't think you can throw out AI can't be a blank term of bad. Because we've used AI for years. I fucking talking about Genesis football. I'd be like, oh, the AI sucks in it. You know what I mean? I can always run this route and beat them, whatever, blah, blah, blah. And that's why it's so hard to have this conversation.

52:11Because you're really talking about what we're all hung up on hating is Gen AI scraping the internet and Bungie using it, any developer using it. And then somebody being like, yo, clearly that's my pattern from this thing I put on the internet years ago. And you're scraping it and putting it there. And then they, it's a mea culpa. We're taking it out. We're fixing that graphic. We're Call of Duty. everything's fucked yeah yeah we're like at least as people are trying to figure out how to use this fucking nuclear bomb you have somebody like larry being like yo we're gonna train it on our stuff which you go okay like you know what i mean like i i okay okay like somebody made the concept that you're putting in there so i guess you you're not as mad as it's stealing andy's drawings or what i don't you know what i mean but it's like it's this nightmare we all live in now trying to figure it out and separate what's good what's bad and again like to your point you need to get to the end of this and have it be did you steal something for somebody and it got in the game or is it you did the whole thing you did the whole thing and then yeah I mean arc raiders right that's a whole mess unto itself yes that I believe I'm are you up to date on all of it it was that they chat keep me honest they use they hired voice actors they had them do some lines but when they did they the voice actors knowingly signed away then they could also use AI to generate more lines for them.

53:28Is that correct? Do I have my head wrapped around that one? Because that was another one that evolved a bit. Okay, all up says yeah. And again, we can all sit here and be like, that sucks. I don't know what the contract was. You know what I mean? So let's just take it as a concept. It sucks that, oh man, I'm in a video game. Cool, I want to take this thing, but I'm going to give you 300 lines of dialogue and then you're going to use me in perpetuity forever. I don't love the way that sounds, but at least it's better than we hired no voice actors and they were all this. And I'm not saying ease up on your opinion or whatever.

54:02It's just, it's a complicated time right now. Cause everyone figured out what the fuck this means. Yeah. Mr. Hawk says if Larry and these are super chats, sorry, I was trying to do it because there's a bunch of birthday taxes here too. I'll get to him. Don't worry. If Larry and trains their AI with the artwork of their artists, do those artists have the option to remove it if they leave Larian? Well, no, because you generated that art while you worked for Larry. it's the same thing anything Mike does on this computer I fucking own he owns this right okay I own him that computer you know what I mean I signed the contract sold myself we have a team of monkey lawyers trying to figure out how to get his twitch channel and I will get it I'll find out where he slipped up and got it you know what I mean JD Elliot says every AI line is mealy mouth and I just want them to be honest and clear exactly how it's used also training on just their art isn't possible uh I can't speak to what's possible AI because I don't know the fuck's going on.

54:56And I, yeah, I don't know if they own their own AI about their feeding shit too, or whatever. It's going nom, nom, nom, nom and shit and shit. I don't know anything about that. I feel like again, it's mealy mouth. It starts strong. It is a reaction to what people said. People flipped out. Larry doesn't want to cycle away their goodwill. And then it gets into this weird, like we're still using and stuff, but of course who the fuck knows anymore. All right. Oh, here we go. This is an exciting one. We got good news for a change. Number six, the Witcher three expansion reports continue. now with discussion of a possible Dune-style location.

55:27This is Tom Phillips at IGN. Evidence of an underwrapped third expansion for The Witcher 3 continues to mount, with one report now pointing to a possible Dune-style location for the new adventure. Word of a fresh DLC for the beloved 2015 blockbuster RPG began bubbling up in earnest last month. Fueled by a set of reports from insiders and apparent teases by developer CD Projekt that it had something secret in the works. Now, a report by IGN Poland has said its local sources have been aware of potential plans for several years and that M-Dash, initially at least M-Dash its developers had expressed a keen interest in exploring Zerikania, an exotic desert region a desert region in the far east of the Witcher 3's current map.

56:11While IGN Poland cautions that this information dates back several years it also goes on to list a string of reasons why Zerikania makes a lot of sense for the expansion due to various hints at a Zerigani and Manticore school in previous expansion Blood and Wine in references to the region made by other characters. The same school is also part of the Witcher 3 tabletop RPG. Separately, a Eurogamer report has given a more black and white reason why this expansion is likely real and expected to launch in 2026 because there's currently a gap in CD Projekt's employee incentive program target of the company launching something expected to earn significant money.

56:51As Eurogamer notes, CD Projekt doesn't really have anything else expected to fit the bill, with The Witcher 4 not set to launch until 2027 at the earliest in a Cyberpunk 2 after that. Work on a new IP is also ongoing, but even further off. There's a possibility still that this could relate to some other smaller Witcher spinoff, but with all the smoke around a Witcher 3 expansion now rising, everything looks to be pointing in the same direction. To the sand. to the sand. I was going to make it go oh they're going to space but yeah yeah it's going to be Dune Desert Planet cool. I can't believe that we are getting Witcher content from a game that came out in 2015.

57:2911 years later. That's crazy but the excitement builds right Witcher the show was great you know we can talk about the later seasons but like that first season we all loved it right really brought the Witcher back onto the scene after the 2015 release then you get some next gen updates you come in here now we have the known like we've seen Witcher 4, the excitement of that. One of the reports yesterday talked about this really kick-starting the hype cycle for The Witcher 4. You imagine this is giving you the end breadcrumb trail, whatever, to really set you up for whatever series doing in Witcher 4.

58:01It's fantastic. I mean, this is like all the GTA online updates, right, that will keep you excited and on the hook for all this, but like, yeah, having a big expansion, no matter what's small or big, but like any sort of expansion to bring you back to The Witcher universe is pretty wild. I'll be interested to see how it plays. You know what I mean? That was one of the big things for people. I remember jumping back into The Witcher 3 at The Witcher Season 1 hype. It was like, oh, this game doesn't play like modern games you'd expect it to anymore. Will they have updated this? I know. Will it be sold?

58:30I know it's an expansion. Will it sell on its own so that, hey, new fans can just buy this and jump right in? That would be a smart move there. It's like, hey, here's our own self-contained area and storyline. Just buy this. And if you really like it, yeah, get out and do that. Yeah, if you want to go crazy, go buy the big game. That's a great one. We'll find out soon enough, I'm sure. We move on to story number seven. GameStop starts 2026 by closing hundreds of stores as CEO gambles on a$35 billion payday. This is Patricia Hernandez at Polygon. In the first weekend of 2026, many surprise GameStop customers were notified that their local stores would soon be closing.

59:06But if GameStop is doing poorly right now, it's not evident from the headlines currently circulating about the gaming retailer. Instead, GameStop's company board proudly announced that it would be offering CEO Ryan Cohen up to$35 billion in performance-based stock options with one catch. The meme stock overlords need to raise GameStop's market cap by billions of dollars and ensure its earnings are similarly explosive. As some employees tell it, some of the closures came as a shock. Even well-performing locations weren't safe from the shutdowns. Is the one over by us still open? I think it's still open.

59:44I think it's still open. Cloth your fingers. By some estimates, up to 296 stores closed this week or will soon shutter their doors, with dozens more still in the process of being confirmed for the total count. Employees say that they are being told in waves about closures, meaning that there could still be more to come. Some workers claim that they were only given a few days' notice about their closures. As workers commiserate over the situations, GameStop corporate is aiming for growth. CEO Ryan Cohen was recently promised a$35 billion payout in stock options, but only if the retailer reaches a market cap of$100 billion and reaches cumulative earnings of at least$10 billion.

1:00:24These are ambitious numbers. Currently, GameStop's market cap is valued at$9.52 billion. The company would need to grow 10 times its current size for Cohen to land the bonus. But Cohen does have some incentive to reach those numbers. The CEO otherwise has no guaranteed pay, no salary, no cash bonuses, and no stock that vests simply over time in SEC filing reads. Quote, instead, his compensation is entirely at risk, meaning he will only be paid if the company achieves significant market and operational goals. End quote. Quote, GameStop doesn't deserve the rotten gum on my shoe, but I'm going to miss my store, one employee wrote on a recent Reddit post.

1:01:05This location was my childhood GameStop. I actually found a list that I made as a kid where one of my favorite things I wrote was GameStop, end quote. Tough. What? What? So I had to look up our boy Ryan. He founded Chewy in 2011. Oh. He's a super millionaire, billionaire. So he doesn't give a shit. He doesn't give a shit. This is worth the gamble. Ryan looks like he's living his childhood dream saying he runs GameStops. Okay. Happened to one hell of a time. But yeah, of course, stores closing sucks, Greg. Like I will, the hard part about me and GameStop is, I'm sure like the audience, right? I grew up with GameStop.

1:01:43GameStop is my thing, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love it. I have some ties to it, right? EB Games as well. But like it was GameStop in those teenage years. And like going there, that's where I got my GameInform magazine, right? Because they had them right there. I was able to upgrade and buy that, right? I would buy all my games. You'd look at games. You'd trade in games, right? It's just like it hurts when we talk about the stores closing, the employees losing their jobs and this business just going straight down the can because man it means so much to me and i i it sucks because when i we live here in san francisco right you look at san francisco there are three total game stop locations in our peninsula one all the way in foster city one in daily city and one on the outside of san francisco none in the heart of the city they used to be there yeah they went away a long time ago up in tahoe i'm like similar to what the story had i had to drive 30 minutes off of a mountain to go down into the valley to go to a game stop drive 30 minutes back up and it's like man i miss game shops and it's just not the same yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah it's a a weird complicated thing for this thing we grew up on of course me being an electronics boutique kid eb games game stop and then yeah like you know over here uh in the super chats ejrpg says i swore off game stop after they were retreating ai trump and halo art saying he ended the console war.

1:03:02Yep. Fuck that. C Barry says, I used to work at GameStop from 2011. He says 7 ,017, but he means 2017. And when I started there, I was probably, there were probably 20 stores in my county. And now after these closures, there will be none. Yeah. That's the same thing. I remember them opening up. They'd open up across the street. Remember over in the mall over there. They did that, did that in ceremony. Yeah. At one point we had two in the mall. It was fucking insane. Crazy. It's bad. And then bad business throughout. So this is, I can't believe that in the year of our Lord, 2025, we're six, we're still having this thing.

1:03:36This has been a story every generation of Games Daily, of GameStop is about to die, and then fucking it's a stock thing, and you could have made a million dollars if you put$1 in. I don't know. The crazy one is he's tied to the market cap, right, to get paid out that insane thing. And like they said, they're currently at like$9 billion. Their height that they've ever been at was in 2021 at$22 billion, right? So even the best of fucking times. I don't think you're ever making that, homie. And it seems like he doesn't care. Yeah, I mean, if you have millions of billions of dollars already, I guess, yeah, it's worth the chance.

1:04:06It's worth the shot. And then if you even fail, right, then guess what? You're still the CEO who tried. I don't know. Who the fuck knows? Mike, this billionaire getting even richer would be big news. If I wanted to say smaller news, where would I go? You'd go to our last story, the We News channel, where we cover all the small news items you need to know about. number eight we news from game developer Warner Brothers games has seemingly laid off a number of employees at a San Francisco studio that sucks but also I didn't know they had WB had an SF studio Square Enix announced Nier Automata 9th anniversary casual celebration live stream for February 20th okay Dusk Fade is coming to PlayStation 5 this year Fire Emblem Path of Radiance is now available on Nintendo Switch online expansion pack that's the big news of the day.

1:04:54A lot of people are very excited about that. I just got done with Three Houses. I should check this out and I probably will. I don't know when, but a lot of people were celebrating this because old games are old, but old games are also hard to find and play sometimes. They were showing eBay listings. This game was going for like$200 to go buy this. Nice that it's out on the console that we all can play and get a hold of it finally.

1:05:20Alex is coming to Street Fighter 6 this spring. Shout out to Alex. And then Detroit Become Human has sold 15 million copies. Wow. Wow.

1:05:29Nick Scarpino:Okay. That's your takeaway. Wow. That's crazy. Wow. I like that a lot, too. That's it for We News. We jump into our super chats as we hurdle towards the Smilies, the third annual Smilies.

1:05:46Dorian Lawson's super chat says, Greg, on behalf of the chat over at Hangtime, do you remember Matt White from IGN? if so do you how do you feel about his 2 out of 10 Glover review score thanks no if you're talking about Glover I believe you are well before my time at IGN yeah I was still in high school so no I don't know Matt White Arturo Tron Robo bartender says Howard Michael Howard let me be your cocktail sensei let me teach you to bartend like James Bond might have to take class might have to apparently get into it we did this one Geraldo of Rivia says early birthday tax. Happy birthday. My girlfriend got me a movie journal to fill out this year.

1:06:27I can't wait to use it for in review. Nice. Just like your gaming journal. That's great. Yeah, yeah. My gaming journal. Took one right from Greg. Are you still keeping up with yours? Oh, yeah, yeah. I started one yesterday. I started that Star Wars Genesis. Had to write down about the character I created and the adventure I'm going to go on. That's sick. Joshy Frog says, Greg, I'm sorry to do this. Could you let Madeline Stanley know it's her turn to make her fantasy critic name? No problem. Madeline Stanley, I assume you're watching right now it's your turn to make your fantasy critic name thank you let's get this thing going Madeline they're ready Kuthu Drew birthday tax for the boy Billy if he's not watching live I'm sure he'll hear this later that's my boy Billy what a bad Billy Lonnie says with the weekly Feudy change can we now do a special crossover episode with Game Scoop 20 questions in Feudy where you appear on each other's shows no Damon and I have a blood feud the next time we see each other it's on and I will take his Kansas head off.

1:07:20I'd love to do that. I think the fact that we're all so distant now, you know what I mean? SF isn't the hub for IGN anymore, so they're everywhere else in the wind. Unless if you're going to be winning an amazing prize that I'm giving out, you got to be in the room. You got to be here in the room where it happens, the room where it would happen. Bass Master says this is mainly for Tim and Bless. Well, why are you asking on a Mike and Greg show? They're not here. The new Proto Men album. No, I don't even know who the Proto Men are. Get the fuck out of here. Who the hell Proto man. Justin says I've been catching up on content.

1:07:51Just wanted to say I got chills when Barrett changed team Rogers name 2026 Barrett is evil. They hurt. That's true. Yeah, you know, had to get you where you were ultra hyper J dub says birthday tax for tomorrow. Happy birthday tomorrow. Hope everyone has a great weekend. We hope you have a great weekend too. He's the Proto man everybody. They make music. It probably sounds like bleeps and bloops. Do you have any guitars in this? No, we just have this NES Yes, Omega Rand. You know what I mean? Get out of here. Christopher Burnett says, Halo's official 25th anniversary is November 15th. If Halo remake is on track, it probably releases in early October to avoid being anywhere near GTA.

1:08:30Very true. Or GTA might get pushed. Yeah, but you can't risk it. Nick the Mage says, Cheers to 11 years of kind of funny. I missed the live show due to work. Been listening since my sophomore year of high school, and now I closed down a house this Christmas, and I'm getting married in October, and yes, my kind of casual T-shirt will be under my tux. Wow. Wow. Congratulations. Big claps for that. That's awesome. Send photos of the shirt under your tux. The Portland Kevin says, send division to Portland. The city can't function in the snow in real life. That's why I thought Seattle you go down to Portland as well.

1:09:01I think he was just making a joke. Yeah, like that. Statler and Waldorf up in the Muppets balcony about Portland. Had to get in there. S. Townerification says, early birthday tax for my boy Gerald of Rivia. It's been a big year with a lot of change, but I'm so happy for you and Jenna. Nice. Happy birthday again. We've got some good birthdays going on here. Kick off the year. Jacob Thompson says, Hi, Kind of Funny fam writing from Minneapolis. Check out Indivisible for an ice out for good protest near you this weekend. Stand up. Yes, you can go to I googled Indivisible, but I imagine Indivisible.org where you can find out ice out for good weekend of action.

1:09:39January 10th and 11th were taken to the streets to mourn the lives taken and shattered by ice and to demand justice and accountability. You can go there and find by zip code where to go. You should fuck ice. You see blessing in the chat. No, I don't know. No, he's not on the show. I don't want to hear about the fucking protoman. No love. No love for bless. He should come in the room. That's what he should do. Why Rokas says big love for my guy Snowbike Mike. Rock Chalk Greggy. Fuck, he got me in the end. You know what I mean? Got him. Ariel Knight says my game drop shot drop shot went gold today.

1:10:13Kevin, I know it's late. I know we're out. Can you Google drop shot all one word video game trailer and try to get me a trailer for that because we love Ariel Knight here you know and then send nuggies gets the final one Greg can I can I get you to check your email real quick you were probably drunk but the update for the little directory I wanted to start intake form is live I saw that and you wrote so many words so many words I can't read that you know what I mean like it's just I'm busy and you wrote so many words and you just dropped so nuggies besties directory of cool things by cool people not officially associated with kind of funny I just want the homies to do awesome things I'm reading from docs.google.com slash forums slash d make a fucking short link this could take everything a goddamn bitly I can't find the drop shop drop shot Mike's got it pulled up can you help him can you find that send that to access send nuggies is doing something cool I'm sure there's a link that'll be up somewhere I'm sure there's a link that'll be somewhere there's a link somewhere she says that is the short link there's no short link in your email there's just a link to the thing it's just a thing it's a thing for them to go it's a google form and you can fill it out if you're doing cool things and want to meet cool people and share cool things a few example partnerships podcast hosts looking for experts streamers content creators seeking for paid editing assistance game developers requesting feedback from their forums it's a way for kind of funny best friends to mobilize and get out there and do it send nuggies has got the link somewhere it's shorter than what I have good job send nuggies and then this is Ariel Knight's drop shot Last time I saw Ariel Knights, they said, Snow Mike Mike, this is going to be a game for you.

1:11:48And I saw it and I said, this is going to be a game for me. So if you like Snow Mike Mike games, I think Andy and Barrett are really going to like this, along with Bless as well. Fast-paced first-person shooter, jumping out of a plane, chasing down baddies to grab a parachute before you hit the ground. Oh! Oh! Some kind of neon white vibes as well. Oh, okay. Was there a release date on this? I know it went gold. 2026 still. Ariel Knight, give us the exclusive. Ariel Knight, give us the exclusive right now before we sign off. Everybody go shop. Go wish list now. Ariel Knight's drop shot. We ask people watching live to keep us honest by going to kind of funny.com slash you're wrong.

1:12:28Jeppo says, Greg, I am owed an answer yesterday on why pirate Yakuza got nothing nominated for any of the Dice Awards. Kevin, give me the one. Okay, hit him. Pirate Yakuza wasn't a good game as designated by all the video game makers. Everybody who's part of Dice makes video games for a living And they all looked at that and they said, wow, what a piece of dog shit. But you are a Yakuza fan. So they give you the dog shit in a bowl and you go, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum. I have no fucking taste. Now that's dice talking, not me. Thank you. The next one is lucid dream. Heretic and Hexen were already remastered and re-released as a package on modern platforms in August.

1:13:04Got about it. Just like that. And then Kabob says missed. we news crash team racing nitro fuels creative director and b nox's co-studio head thomas wilson passed away in november last year after a two-year battle of cancer the community only learned about it yesterday as always fuck cancer fuck cancer we're sorry to hear about that our condolences to mr wilson's family out there and that's it for right now did ariel knight come through with the when it's coming i didn't see it did i see it no you didn't see nothing dates ariel knight blessing if you're still watching give me ariel knight's phone number we gotta we gotta get to the bottom of this.

1:13:37We got to pin them down. All right. Ladies, gentlemen, and bees that February 17th, February 17th, February's update the page. That's another episode of kind of funny games daily in the books. Like I said, huge day of content here. We are going into the games cast and the third annual smileys, an award show leading you up to Monday's extravaganza for game of the year, where we will be getting nuts and talking to you about all the games of the year. Of course, You'll start with Games Daily, but then it'll be us running through and revealing. We don't even know what the top 10 games at Kind of Funny were one by one.

1:14:12A Barrett and Andy production. They've been killing themselves. Big deal. Big deal. I mean, Barrett and Andy production on Monday. A Barrett or a Blessing and Andy today. Yeah. These guys working hard. They're having fun. We're just chilling out. I mean, come on. It's Friday. That's what I'm talking about. I made it through the week. Everybody, this has been Games Daily. Like, subscribe, share, pick up a Kind of Funny membership. Patreon.com slash Kind of Funny. YouTube.com slash Kind of Funny. Apple. Spotify. So you can get everything ad-free. you get your daily dose of a 15 to 20 minute podcast from me, Greg Miller.

1:14:38And of course, get good karma for supporting an 11 person, 11 year old small business until next time. It's been a pleasure to serve you.

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