Treyarch Removing Skill-Based Matchmaking From Call of Duty

<v Speaker 1>Hey, everybody, Welcome to Games Mornings with Me Jeff Grub,
<v Speaker 1>your host from giant bomb dot com. Thank you for
<v Speaker 1>tuning in. In this episode, we're going to be talking
<v Speaker 1>about the next Xbox and PlayStation.
<v Speaker 2>Really some rumors out there.
<v Speaker 1>But we'll just use this as an excuse to riff and competition,
<v Speaker 1>leading to some surprising moves from Call of Duty. It's
<v Speaker 1>going to be a good one because we have John
<v Speaker 1>Martin on the show. John, how are you doing?
<v Speaker 3>I'm doing really well, Jess. It has been a pretty
<v Speaker 3>eventful week. I feel like I feel like there's been
<v Speaker 3>a lot of games. I've beaten like three games at
<v Speaker 3>this point. I finally rolled to acts three credits on
<v Speaker 3>Silk Song, so I'm officially done there, and then beat
<v Speaker 3>I beat the Boss of Hades two for the first
<v Speaker 3>time non USA file I made. I made a new
<v Speaker 3>one when I got this new version because I had
<v Speaker 3>already been in them a couple times in early access.
<v Speaker 3>But that is been fun. And then yeah, just a
<v Speaker 3>couple other games, but we're going into it. I personally
<v Speaker 3>going into a three day weekend, so there's gonna be
<v Speaker 3>a lot of like playing, how's it how's it going
<v Speaker 3>for you.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, yeah, we'll have that three day weekend as well.
<v Speaker 1>We're off for Indigenous People's Day everybody on Monday. Uh
<v Speaker 1>and so yeah, I look out for that. We'll be
<v Speaker 1>back with BombCast on Tuesday. I'm doing good. I'm uh
<v Speaker 1>not having like still not having a ton of time
<v Speaker 1>to play a lot of games, but then uh, I
<v Speaker 1>keep picking up Final Fantasy tactics and enjoying that nice
<v Speaker 1>in short verse ten minute sessions here or there. But
<v Speaker 1>it's uh yeah, it's also just like okay, yeah, we
<v Speaker 1>got a lot going on at work, a lot of
<v Speaker 1>stuff to plan for, and that's been fun and uh yeah,
<v Speaker 1>I really enjoying it over here.
<v Speaker 2>I'm going on a trip this weekend though.
<v Speaker 1>I think we're gonna go see a red panda at
<v Speaker 1>the Toledo Zoo. Oh yeah, one of those like hey,
<v Speaker 1>it's so it's Steph's birthday, so we're like, hey, let's
<v Speaker 1>go ahead and uh do something special.
<v Speaker 2>And it's like this is one of those ones where
<v Speaker 2>you can.
<v Speaker 1>Like go in the cage with them or going to
<v Speaker 1>like a special meet and greet with the with the
<v Speaker 1>zoo animal. I don't think I don't think they're gonna
<v Speaker 1>let me pet it, but I just want to be
<v Speaker 1>near it.
<v Speaker 2>That's fun.
<v Speaker 1>So that's that's the big thing for this weekend. It'll
<v Speaker 1>be a good time. So, yeah, you've been you've been
<v Speaker 1>keeping up with games. It sounds like you said you're
<v Speaker 1>going to play more this week. And what is like
<v Speaker 1>on the docket, Like what do you have as like
<v Speaker 1>the checklist of Oh I want to get into that croub.
<v Speaker 3>I opened a game I have not touched since twenty seventeen,
<v Speaker 3>just in honor of this week. So I picked up
<v Speaker 3>Golf Story for the.
<v Speaker 2>First time a long time.
<v Speaker 3>Yes, I personally really love it. It was that indie
<v Speaker 3>game of the moment I feel like, and oh yeah, yeah,
<v Speaker 3>just working my way through there. That is going to
<v Speaker 3>be a good time. I haven't played Sports Story. I
<v Speaker 3>know that's not as well received, but I think probably Yeah,
<v Speaker 3>I think I'll still give it a shot, just to
<v Speaker 3>check out go for Variety pack. But yeah, and then
<v Speaker 3>just been I've been streaming Final Fantasies, having remake going
<v Speaker 3>for one hundred percent there on Steam for the first time,
<v Speaker 3>and yeah, that eighties two. I need to wrap up
<v Speaker 3>Shanobi and then yeah, I'm also thinking of picking up
<v Speaker 3>Final Fantasy Tactics. It's just there's so many long games
<v Speaker 3>I have right now that's kind of hard to justify
<v Speaker 3>putting it on on the switch to right now.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I'm gonna I'm definitely gonna spend some time with Battlefield.
<v Speaker 1>You know, not necessarily my shooter very often, but I
<v Speaker 1>have enjoyed what I've played of this one, so I'll
<v Speaker 1>spend some time with Battlefield. And I'm kind of like,
<v Speaker 1>let me get like maybe one or two of these
<v Speaker 1>games off my plate right now. And they went Outer
<v Speaker 1>Worlds too is here. I'm like, I might throw myself
<v Speaker 1>into that. That feels like one where like, oh yeah,
<v Speaker 1>I bet they have made a lot of cool improvements
<v Speaker 1>to that series now that they've had a lot of
<v Speaker 1>time to cook on a sequel, and I bet they're
<v Speaker 1>going to deliver, so looking forward to that, but it's like,
<v Speaker 1>oh yeah, there are still more games coming out at
<v Speaker 1>all times.
<v Speaker 2>Trying to stay on top of that.
<v Speaker 1>We should explain what we do here though. For Giant
<v Speaker 1>bum we're video game defaces. We are independent games media
<v Speaker 1>out here on our own, but with your I hope
<v Speaker 1>we can keep doing our thing. You go to giant
<v Speaker 1>bomb dot com slash join become a premium member. That
<v Speaker 1>support is super crucial and we're super thankful for it,
<v Speaker 1>and a lot of people have come through. We've seen
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<v Speaker 1>premium member to get ad F pre versions of the shows.
<v Speaker 1>You get stuff like the bonus of voicemail. There's you know,
<v Speaker 1>other stuff in the works, and we are always going
<v Speaker 1>to be doing more because of that support. So thank
<v Speaker 1>you everybody once again. As far as this show goes,
<v Speaker 1>most weekdays, I Jeff Greb will help peace your gaming
<v Speaker 1>life back together. That includes breaking news and maybe even
<v Speaker 1>some of our own original reporting. For all these topics,
<v Speaker 1>I'll get the input of a bona fide expert who
<v Speaker 1>will make me look smart. If you are watching live
<v Speaker 1>on twitch welcome, you can always listen to the show
<v Speaker 1>and listen to the podcast. Listen to the show later
<v Speaker 1>on podcast feeds by searching for Game Best Mornings, or
<v Speaker 1>find the RSS feed on giant bomb dot com. You
<v Speaker 1>can also catch the show later with chapters in times
<v Speaker 1>on YouTube. Hello YouTube, Dyslexia got me there a little bit.
<v Speaker 1>We have a lot to get into So let's start
<v Speaker 1>the morning mess with Next. Xbox is stronger than PlayStation six,
<v Speaker 1>but also more expensive.
<v Speaker 2>This is according to rumor.
<v Speaker 1>And let's just you know, a lot of times these
<v Speaker 1>things will pop off, John and I just like to
<v Speaker 1>use them as a launching off point. I don't know
<v Speaker 1>how true any of this is, kind of don't care.
<v Speaker 1>We'll find out about these things. When we find out
<v Speaker 1>about these things, they just are a talking point and
<v Speaker 1>if they turn out to be true, great, If not,
<v Speaker 1>well we probably could still have a decent conversation about it.
<v Speaker 1>Jonas Macki, a game reactor, wraps up these rumors for
<v Speaker 1>us and says we are hearing more and more talk
<v Speaker 1>about both PlayStation six and Xbox and Next, both of
<v Speaker 1>which have been confirmed to be on the way without
<v Speaker 1>any actual details at all. When it comes to the latter,
<v Speaker 1>many believe that Microsoft wants to try to harmonize PC
<v Speaker 1>and Xbox more in order to also be able to
<v Speaker 1>offer games via, for example, Epic Game Store and Steams,
<v Speaker 1>something that would mean a com sold with basically all
<v Speaker 1>games except for Nintendos. Now, the well respected YouTube channel
<v Speaker 1>Moore's Law is Dead, which you know, sometimes respected, sometimes
<v Speaker 1>gets these things wrong. That's why I'm being a little
<v Speaker 1>bit cagy about who knows if this is going to
<v Speaker 1>actually all pan out, But they do seem to have
<v Speaker 1>a bead on some AMD stuff, which is where I
<v Speaker 1>bet a lot of these rumors are coming from.
<v Speaker 2>So Moore's Law is Dead.
<v Speaker 1>Has presented a new leak regarding the next generation Xbox,
<v Speaker 1>and as usual, they go into depth with the technical specification.
<v Speaker 1>Zoobi Tech has compiled the information via social media, which reveals,
<v Speaker 1>among other things, that the AMD APU that is claimed
<v Speaker 1>to be used is significantly larger than in the PlayStation six,
<v Speaker 1>So that would be the one in the next Xbox
<v Speaker 1>is going to be like forty six percent the size
<v Speaker 1>of the one in the PlayStation six apparently, and if
<v Speaker 1>they're of the same generation, that would obviously.
<v Speaker 2>Just give Xbox a lot more power to work with.
<v Speaker 1>Now then that would be like, okay, well, it's also
<v Speaker 1>going to be much more expensive. And I think this
<v Speaker 1>is what we've been expecting.
<v Speaker 2>For a long time. John. That's why it's like, Okay,
<v Speaker 2>we'll talk about this, because.
<v Speaker 1>I think when we heard first from Microsoft about hey,
<v Speaker 1>they are confirming publicly that they are going to do
<v Speaker 1>another Xbox it was Sarah Bond at the Game Awards
<v Speaker 1>or something like that. I don't remember exactly, but she
<v Speaker 1>came on stage and was like, Hey, we are work,
<v Speaker 1>we're doing some stuff with handhelds, and now we're getting
<v Speaker 1>the Asus Roger Ally x here very soon, and we're
<v Speaker 1>going to have a full next gen Xbox. And they
<v Speaker 1>said it's going to be the biggest technological leap that
<v Speaker 1>we've ever seen, or something to that effect. So it's like,
<v Speaker 1>in that moment, my opinion was, Okay, they are probably
<v Speaker 1>going to put out a box that is a little
<v Speaker 1>bit more niche, a little bit more boutique, maybe does
<v Speaker 1>go this route of being a PC console hybrid, where
<v Speaker 1>they'll focus is mostly on creating a version of Windows
<v Speaker 1>that has a really strong game mode and solves a
<v Speaker 1>lot of the problems of using Windows on a TV
<v Speaker 1>consoleizes the experience, and then is much more expensive and
<v Speaker 1>meant to kind of appeal to people who do not
<v Speaker 1>want to leave the Xbox ecosystem. No matter what, this
<v Speaker 1>sort of all does line up with that, and I
<v Speaker 1>guess my question to you would be like, how are
<v Speaker 1>you still feeling about that strategy if that continues to
<v Speaker 1>be what they are thinking they might do this next round.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, well, I mean, I think even just the pivot
<v Speaker 3>to handhelds is showing that the pure Xbox ecosystem as
<v Speaker 3>it has existed doesn't really work for what Microsoft wants
<v Speaker 3>in the long term. We've been hearing this like hybrid
<v Speaker 3>PC console for talk for a long time, and I
<v Speaker 3>think it's definitely evident by these rumors that it is
<v Speaker 3>going to be a lot more Windows than even the handhelds.
<v Speaker 3>I feel like would be like if they're working on
<v Speaker 3>like Xbox OS versions of like the office suite, like
<v Speaker 3>if they are going to try to move in and
<v Speaker 3>like charge like Xbox Diehard's service fees for applications they
<v Speaker 3>might not even use. Like it does feel like the
<v Speaker 3>ser game is the grand play with this, and I
<v Speaker 3>think that's okay. I think there is that niche of like, hey,
<v Speaker 3>I have my Steam deck, I don't really want to
<v Speaker 3>mess around with making building a PC or even buying
<v Speaker 3>a PC. Xbox as a brand that I know I
<v Speaker 3>will be able to rely on their different help desk
<v Speaker 3>tech office lines to like kind of suit your purposes.
<v Speaker 3>And it's weird, Like I think it's a smart move
<v Speaker 3>for them, but it's not what I'm necessarily excited for.
<v Speaker 3>It just kind of strips the personality out of the
<v Speaker 3>brand that has existed for so long and is kind
<v Speaker 3>of just, hey, we're a tech product. You can put
<v Speaker 3>us on Best Buy shelves in between pre built PCs
<v Speaker 3>and will fit perfectly there for you.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.
<v Speaker 1>I think my perspective on this is more looking at
<v Speaker 1>it like, I'm not really playing my Xbox a lot
<v Speaker 1>lot as it is, I do play PC games quite frequently,
<v Speaker 1>So for me, this sounds like, Okay, we're actually going
<v Speaker 1>to take the PC experience and improve it through the
<v Speaker 1>inclusion of some Xbox stuff and so that when you
<v Speaker 1>plug your PC into a TV, it's gonna work a
<v Speaker 1>lot better and you won't have to like manage a
<v Speaker 1>million things with updating drivers, Like the whole game mode
<v Speaker 1>will just kind of handle all that stuff for you,
<v Speaker 1>and that will be pretty common across you know, the
<v Speaker 1>console and the handheld devices, which is or has been
<v Speaker 1>my criticism of the handheld devices for quite some times
<v Speaker 1>when they're running Windows. So it's like, and it sounds like,
<v Speaker 1>you know, the early previews of the Alix made it
<v Speaker 1>sound like, Okay, they've figured a lot of those things out,
<v Speaker 1>So for me, it's like, Okay, we're improving the side
<v Speaker 1>of gaming that I'm still engaged with. When it comes
<v Speaker 1>to Microsoft, as far as like, if you are on
<v Speaker 1>the Xbox console, how should you feel about all this,
<v Speaker 1>It's probably mostly going to be a wash and maybe
<v Speaker 1>slightly more annoying if you do have to interact with
<v Speaker 1>Windows in any real way, even if that's something that
<v Speaker 1>only happened is like once a month where it's like, oh,
<v Speaker 1>I got to go into properties here and find the
<v Speaker 1>old properties menu or something that could potentially.
<v Speaker 2>Be a real issue.
<v Speaker 1>But as it stands like, it does seem that the
<v Speaker 1>pitch would be from Microsoft that hey, we are going
<v Speaker 1>to handle this experience for you, solve all these problems
<v Speaker 1>for you so that you won't encounter a situation where
<v Speaker 1>it's like just really annoying just to get a game running,
<v Speaker 1>or the controller.
<v Speaker 2>Wasn't recognized for some reason. Do we have faith that
<v Speaker 2>they'll be able to see that through.
<v Speaker 1>Look, Windows is still very important to Microsoft, and Windows
<v Speaker 1>gaming is actually pretty central to that in a lot
<v Speaker 1>of ways, and Linux is coming up on their heels
<v Speaker 1>now with you know, with steam Os and a lot
<v Speaker 1>of the things that kept Linux off to the side
<v Speaker 1>and not as a viable option. Those have been being
<v Speaker 1>solved for years now thanks to Valve, and Valve is
<v Speaker 1>massive and does have the sort of a power to
<v Speaker 1>kind of keep Linux in that conversation. Now Steaming or
<v Speaker 1>Valve in microstuft good relationships. So I don't think Valve's
<v Speaker 1>like trying to push Windows out, just trying to create
<v Speaker 1>Linux as an alternative. But I think Microsoft's like, actually,
<v Speaker 1>maybe we could we want to stamp this out or
<v Speaker 1>at least be ready to go head to head with
<v Speaker 1>anything that's happening with stem Os. So I'm like, Okay,
<v Speaker 1>that competition is working. We're getting something out of that.
<v Speaker 1>But as far as the hardware itself goes, I just
<v Speaker 1>I can't see how they would be able to present
<v Speaker 1>the Xbox Console, you know, that's really a PC in
<v Speaker 1>such a way that I would be curious about getting it,
<v Speaker 1>And I don't know, I guess unless it was just
<v Speaker 1>really compelling on the price front, which I don't believe
<v Speaker 1>it will will be based on Microsoft's recent behavior when
<v Speaker 1>it comes to pricing.
<v Speaker 3>Right, Yeah, it definitely seems like they are going to
<v Speaker 3>it's going to cost like a pretty penny to actually
<v Speaker 3>be able to afford these kinds of things, And I
<v Speaker 3>feel like the marketing is just going to be like,
<v Speaker 3>here's how much it costs to build a gaming PC,
<v Speaker 3>something along those lines, and then comparing that. But yeah,
<v Speaker 3>for me, like the flexibility of the platform is going
<v Speaker 3>to be the most important thing. Like if I can
<v Speaker 3>just load all of my Steam games, if I can
<v Speaker 3>load all of my Xbox games, I think that would
<v Speaker 3>be good for Xbox. But I I don't know, I've
<v Speaker 3>been kind of dooming gloom on Xbox lately ever since,
<v Speaker 3>like the huge layoffs earlier. So I'm like almost always
<v Speaker 3>just assuming the worst out of every given situation with
<v Speaker 3>Microsoft at this point.
<v Speaker 1>I mean that's like the safe position, right because it
<v Speaker 1>kind of always we kind of always end up back
<v Speaker 1>here where it's like, oh Microsoft dominating the news cycle
<v Speaker 1>for a week or two at a time, and it's
<v Speaker 1>all the terrible things that have happened, whether it's you know,
<v Speaker 1>Redfall being miserable or anything else. Yeah, it's it's it's
<v Speaker 1>safe to assume the worst, I think when it comes
<v Speaker 1>to this company. Sean points out that gab gab Gabe
<v Speaker 1>actively hates Microsoft in Windows. He might I just I
<v Speaker 1>remember him popping off when it was when the acquisition
<v Speaker 1>of Activision was happening, and Gabe like himself came out
<v Speaker 1>and was like, hey, no, we trust Microsoft. We don't
<v Speaker 1>think that they would do anything that would make things worse.
<v Speaker 4>It.
<v Speaker 2>Man, why is Gabe going to bat for Microsoft?
<v Speaker 1>And I think it's because Microsoft and them probably have
<v Speaker 1>been having conversations like over and over again.
<v Speaker 2>They want to stay on friendly terms.
<v Speaker 1>But I will say, like, anytime I think of Gabe
<v Speaker 1>right now, I do think, like, listen, he's not like,
<v Speaker 1>We're not at risk of losing this man anytime soon.
<v Speaker 2>But Valve is a private corporation.
<v Speaker 1>We gotta we gotta figure something out here for what
<v Speaker 1>happens when we do one day lose Gabe Noule and uh, like.
<v Speaker 2>We have to.
<v Speaker 1>I just don't want Saudi Arabia or Tencent to come
<v Speaker 1>in and buy Steam. I just we gotta we have
<v Speaker 1>we have to protect it, maybe make it a public good.
<v Speaker 2>We can we just make can the state by it?
<v Speaker 1>Can we collect our money together everybody and do something here? Gabe, please,
<v Speaker 1>can we figure this out? Like just I would really
<v Speaker 1>appreciate that. I get worried John, I don't know.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, we should definitely set up like a cofi to
<v Speaker 3>like actually be able to afford this in the future.
<v Speaker 3>He's Gabe's literally living in like the kun Tree equivalent
<v Speaker 3>of a ranch. So it's yeah, it looked it definitely
<v Speaker 3>looks like he is in his later years. But I mean,
<v Speaker 3>like what a run I yeah, yeah, everything being gobbled
<v Speaker 3>up has been a lot. It's been very stressful looking
<v Speaker 3>at game news all the time and seeing what happens
<v Speaker 3>like to just every company that is victim to one
<v Speaker 3>of those big mergers or acquisitions.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I mean.
<v Speaker 3>Steam has kind of been that safe haven in the
<v Speaker 3>dark as prices have been rising. Steam has been that
<v Speaker 3>constant and has been that way to cheaply game.
<v Speaker 1>Like that have a chance to like release a game,
<v Speaker 1>and like, yeah, most games do fail, but it still
<v Speaker 1>feels like you have a better shot of like making
<v Speaker 1>a traditional style indie game and having it find some
<v Speaker 1>audience on Steam as opposed to anywhere else where. I
<v Speaker 1>guess maybe there's some exceptions, like the first year of
<v Speaker 1>the Nintendo Switch and your your golf story and you
<v Speaker 1>pop off there, but that's like the one other platform
<v Speaker 1>where indie games really have a chance to sort of
<v Speaker 1>just make things work. I don't know, we'll see I think,
<v Speaker 1>you know, I guess we talked about the Xbox side
<v Speaker 1>of this. Another way of looking at this is the
<v Speaker 1>PlayStation six won't be as powerful as its main competitor.
<v Speaker 1>I do not think that that is a concern at all, John,
<v Speaker 1>now about.
<v Speaker 3>You, No, definitely not. I mean PlayStation is that like
<v Speaker 3>like like in the like the eighties, like how Nintendo
<v Speaker 3>was the like euphemism for just all video games as
<v Speaker 3>a whole, Like PlayStation is kind of synonymous with that
<v Speaker 3>hardcore gaming audience. People have grown up with that, and
<v Speaker 3>people will pay whatever it is. We've seen that kind
<v Speaker 3>of time and time again. But I think I don't
<v Speaker 3>think they should be going for that highest end market
<v Speaker 3>as much as they want to see themselves as a
<v Speaker 3>premium I think the flexibility and the you know, creativity
<v Speaker 3>behind those big budget games they make, they want to
<v Speaker 3>make sure like as many people can play them as
<v Speaker 3>humanly possible. And like games. Granted, we've had a bad
<v Speaker 3>string of unreal engine games, but games have been more
<v Speaker 3>and more scalable. It's not like we're gonna see games
<v Speaker 3>get locked out of the PS six hell, that's probably
<v Speaker 3>going to be the target platform as PlayStation has kind
<v Speaker 3>of been for the past few generations anyway.
<v Speaker 2>Yep, that's right.
<v Speaker 1>It's I think that they will still come out with
<v Speaker 1>a device that does feel premium, even if it's like
<v Speaker 1>it will look maybe a little bit shaggy in comparison
<v Speaker 1>to some other box from Xbox. But it's not gonna
<v Speaker 1>be like every game is gonna look phenomenal on this
<v Speaker 1>because games have looked phenomenal since the PS four and
<v Speaker 1>now they're able to run a little bit better, and yeah,
<v Speaker 1>I just think that this is not going to be
<v Speaker 1>the way for PlayStation to like to like try to
<v Speaker 1>compete headhead on the most powerful box. I would try
<v Speaker 1>to do something between like PS four and PS five.
<v Speaker 1>In terms of PS four was let's just make the
<v Speaker 1>cheapest shit we can possibly make and uh, and then
<v Speaker 1>the PS five was like, let's, you know, kind of
<v Speaker 1>go out there and make sure that we have some
<v Speaker 1>pretty good cutting edge tech. People were really invested in
<v Speaker 1>consoles still, and I think, you know, do something that
<v Speaker 1>is just incredibly well engineered so that when you need
<v Speaker 1>to like save money on the production, you have some
<v Speaker 1>options available to you. Basically you't off the raise prices
<v Speaker 1>four or five times during a generation.
<v Speaker 2>Again, hopefully we can avoid that here.
<v Speaker 1>All right, let's keep going here. Trey Arch finally answers
<v Speaker 1>the prayers of i'll say some Call of Duty players
<v Speaker 1>by removing skill based matchmaking. This is from Ben Lyons
<v Speaker 1>at Game Reactor. For years, one of the main vices
<v Speaker 1>that Call of Duty players have harped on about has
<v Speaker 1>been the incredibly aggressive usage of skill based matchmaking or
<v Speaker 1>sb MM in the various shooter titles. The premise for
<v Speaker 1>the feature is a rather sound one, namely in that
<v Speaker 1>it matches you up with players of equivalent skill, but
<v Speaker 1>in practice it has been a horror story as it
<v Speaker 1>has led to every single multiplayer game feeling like a
<v Speaker 1>competitive final in front of a live audience, or at
<v Speaker 1>least that's what has been claimed by people. I generally
<v Speaker 1>think like this seems like it's working the way it should.
<v Speaker 1>This has led to a lot of frustration as fans
<v Speaker 1>struggle to enjoy the game, rather feeling as though they
<v Speaker 1>need to be insanely focused to have a chance.
<v Speaker 2>It's competitive online shooter. I think that's probably is the
<v Speaker 2>way you're supposed to feel, But.
<v Speaker 1>Despite years of asking for a change, Activision and the
<v Speaker 1>various Call of Duty developers have remained steadfast. There have
<v Speaker 1>been adjustments to the formula, but ultimately it has been
<v Speaker 1>used time and time again, including in the first beta
<v Speaker 1>for Call of Duty Black Ops seven, leading to even
<v Speaker 1>more frustration. Now, finally a change is happening. In a
<v Speaker 1>social media post, it confirmed that for the launch of
<v Speaker 1>Black Ops seven, skill based matchmaking will not be used,
<v Speaker 1>or it will at least be.
<v Speaker 2>Turned off by default.
<v Speaker 1>I think they're saying, so there might be a way
<v Speaker 1>to like activate it for yourself, although.
<v Speaker 2>I don't know what that looks like necessarily.
<v Speaker 1>Either way, this is happening because Battlefront or Battlefield I
<v Speaker 1>should say, Battlefield six is gaining a lot of momentum,
<v Speaker 1>So Activision, it's like, hey, let's make Call of Duty
<v Speaker 1>Black Ops six free for a week starting the day
<v Speaker 1>before Battlefield six lunches. That is something that is happening,
<v Speaker 1>and let's like throw a bone to the lot of
<v Speaker 1>people among us. So the thing with skill based match making, John,
<v Speaker 1>is that whenever we see the data where we when
<v Speaker 1>we don't see it a lot, but whenever we do,
<v Speaker 1>then developers who have to defend their position of using
<v Speaker 1>sb MM before they are like, here's the data everyone
<v Speaker 1>like in skill based match making, people play longer, and
<v Speaker 1>they seem generally happier with the game, and you know,
<v Speaker 1>they can tell talk themselves out of that, but here's
<v Speaker 1>the reality of like how they're actually playing the game.
<v Speaker 2>And then I think the.
<v Speaker 1>The idea was, actually, it doesn't make the game any
<v Speaker 1>harder for anyone except for the top ten percent of
<v Speaker 1>best players, and those are the ones we always hear
<v Speaker 1>like leading the charge against this, you know, Tim the tatman,
<v Speaker 1>being like, I don't want to have to sweat in
<v Speaker 1>every match. I just want to go in there and
<v Speaker 1>kill nubes. And it's like, well, that's you know, that's
<v Speaker 1>not It doesn't sound great for people who are new
<v Speaker 1>to the game, but that's you know, not it's good
<v Speaker 1>content for him. So this it feels like they're kind
<v Speaker 1>of going against what they've said before just to kind
<v Speaker 1>of get a cheap pop, is how I would describe this.
<v Speaker 2>Do you feel like this is.
<v Speaker 1>A little bit of flailing from Activision and Trey Arc
<v Speaker 1>as they seem overly concerned about Battlefield six, or does
<v Speaker 1>Battlefield six pose enough of a threat that this is
<v Speaker 1>maybe a smart move.
<v Speaker 3>I think it is a smart move, and it is
<v Speaker 3>because Battlefield six is looking to be super big and
<v Speaker 3>it is going to be doubling down on that like
<v Speaker 3>pure kind of hardcore shooter mentality and structure. Skill based
<v Speaker 3>matchmaking is, in my experience, a really good thing for
<v Speaker 3>people who do want to continuously improve. It is like
<v Speaker 3>that ranked ladder system of you are playing against more
<v Speaker 3>difficult opponents time and time again. I do face that
<v Speaker 3>all the time in fighting games and other kind of
<v Speaker 3>games like that. But at the same time, it kind
<v Speaker 3>of hurts approachability for people who are just like, hey,
<v Speaker 3>I'm at a friend's house, I want to try playing this.
<v Speaker 3>We're wapping the controller around, and then my friend is
<v Speaker 3>just not having any fun because they are not fully
<v Speaker 3>adjusted to it. But at the end of the day,
<v Speaker 3>it is trying to get people to be the best
<v Speaker 3>that they can be at the game. So it is
<v Speaker 3>kind of that double edged sword. It is kind of
<v Speaker 3>like like an accessibility option in a sense, like they
<v Speaker 3>are putting it behind a menu. I don't even know
<v Speaker 3>if they want to do this long term, because as
<v Speaker 3>Battlefield is looking to be that like kind of hardcore
<v Speaker 3>with like full destruction, a lot of crazy stuff happening.
<v Speaker 3>Call of Duty is that approachable, mainstream kind of game.
<v Speaker 3>So for the in this situation definitely makes sense. They
<v Speaker 3>want to keep the Call of Duty fans happy, they
<v Speaker 3>want to keep them long term. But like, yeah, Battlefield
<v Speaker 3>is definitely making a mark and that's I mean, just
<v Speaker 3>this is something that people have been wanting and this
<v Speaker 3>is why competition is good. Like they only did this
<v Speaker 3>because Battlefield is looking pretty scary this year for them.
<v Speaker 2>Yep. Yeah.
<v Speaker 1>From I think where I settled with, like just the
<v Speaker 1>debate is where Samue nice is at and chat where
<v Speaker 1>for public games, for casual games, just turn it off.
<v Speaker 1>For anything ranked turn it on. I think that's just duh,
<v Speaker 1>Like why wouldn't it just work that way? Or I
<v Speaker 1>guess have an optional now I think maybe even in casuals,
<v Speaker 1>I would probably actually have sort of a hybrid algorithm
<v Speaker 1>sort of where it's like there is some skill based matchmaking.
<v Speaker 1>Maybe it's not the most aggressive or it's much less aggressive.
<v Speaker 2>Than the rank mode.
<v Speaker 1>To me, just the idea of a bunching new players
<v Speaker 1>together is a It makes a lot of sense, And
<v Speaker 1>I understand the problem with smurf accounts and all that.
<v Speaker 1>And I understand the argument, like shot pointed out and
<v Speaker 1>Call of Duty, if there's kill streaks and longtime players
<v Speaker 1>want to feel like they can that's part of the game,
<v Speaker 1>and they want to be able to occasionally get kill streaks.
<v Speaker 1>And if you are always dying, like cause you get
<v Speaker 1>one kill and then you die every single time and
<v Speaker 1>you got that one point zh kdr, that could be
<v Speaker 1>more difficult to get and makes the game feel less dynamic.
<v Speaker 1>But I actually don't buy the one thing that people
<v Speaker 1>do say where it's like they skew the numbers in
<v Speaker 1>their favor I'm like, what to what end? Like, why
<v Speaker 1>wouldn't they want to make the game that is as
<v Speaker 1>fun as possible.
<v Speaker 2>So if the data says.
<v Speaker 1>Without skill bigs matchmaking, people will like the game more
<v Speaker 1>and spend more time playing the game, why would they
<v Speaker 1>not do that? Of course they would do that. They're
<v Speaker 1>doing the thing that they have been that has probably
<v Speaker 1>been proven to increase play time and keep people engaged.
<v Speaker 1>But I don't know, maybe there's some other conspiracy I'm
<v Speaker 1>missing there. Either way, I do think Battlefield six is
<v Speaker 1>going to light a fire. I don't know if it's
<v Speaker 1>really going to steal anyone's lunch here. But I think,
<v Speaker 1>you know, at least for now, it'll offer a real
<v Speaker 1>strong alternative where people can feel good about, Hey, let's
<v Speaker 1>go over here, try this out, and maybe that could
<v Speaker 1>be something where it's like, it hurts this next Black
<v Speaker 1>Ops seven game quite a bit, and then you know,
<v Speaker 1>a year from now, is it's still a problem for
<v Speaker 1>the next call of duty? Probably not, but every call
<v Speaker 1>of duty has got to be the biggest call of duty.
<v Speaker 1>So I get why they're like panicking a little bit. Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>all right, let's take a break. When we come back,
<v Speaker 1>play more headlines to get into. We also have the
<v Speaker 1>Bomb twelve that end the week. We'll get there eventually.
<v Speaker 1>For now, if you want to skip this ad, there's
<v Speaker 1>a premium audio version of the show. There's a premium
<v Speaker 1>video version of the show that does not have ads.
<v Speaker 1>You can go get that by going to Giant bomb
<v Speaker 1>dot com, slash join, become a premium member.
<v Speaker 2>We'll be right back.
<v Speaker 4>Grub. I love podcasts and I would like to listen
<v Speaker 4>to more of them.
<v Speaker 1>Oh boy, I've got the podcast for you, then, bud
<v Speaker 1>Stage select a Grub.
<v Speaker 4>I have trust issues, especially with podcasters.
<v Speaker 1>Look, it's always important to be careful and safe about podcasters,
<v Speaker 1>But don't worry. Host Julian Titus and Justin Hamm have
<v Speaker 1>over sixteen years a combined podcasting experience, and The Stage
<v Speaker 1>Select is finishing up its second season at the end
<v Speaker 1>of the year.
<v Speaker 4>Holy smokes, what a pedigree? Tell me more, Grub?
<v Speaker 1>Oh what about a video game variety show where the
<v Speaker 1>hosts act as if they're performing for a live studio audience.
<v Speaker 4>Kind of like The Muppet Show? Do they have reoccurring
<v Speaker 4>characters Shenanigans, bits and skits?
<v Speaker 2>Oh, baby, we got bits, we got skits?
<v Speaker 4>I love bits and skits.
<v Speaker 2>Is there more?
<v Speaker 1>The show is designed to be unexpected, jan they'll go
<v Speaker 1>to space sometimes a surprise game show.
<v Speaker 2>Expect the unexpected space.
<v Speaker 4>Grub Grub, I'm hearing that episodes forty one and fifty
<v Speaker 4>nine are fantastic points to get a vibe of the show.
<v Speaker 4>Julian and Justin are fiercely independent and do this for
<v Speaker 4>the love of video games and podcasts.
<v Speaker 1>Oh yeah, they draw from the best, like the Giant BombCast,
<v Speaker 1>next Lander, Rebel FM. And no one can know about this.
<v Speaker 4>Well, Grub, I'm glad I know about this podcast.
<v Speaker 2>That's stage select, give it a.
<v Speaker 4>Listen, bits and skits.
<v Speaker 1>All right, we're back. I'm Jeff Grubb. That's John Martin.
<v Speaker 1>It's Game Mess Mornings. We're going to continue on here in.
<v Speaker 1>Nintendo's sterious Switch Online playtest program gets another patent. It's
<v Speaker 1>so mysterious, John, No one's ever seen it, and certainly
<v Speaker 1>if they had, they couldn't talk about the contents there within.
<v Speaker 1>But it's got a patent that's public, so we could
<v Speaker 1>talk about that.
<v Speaker 2>This is from Liam Doolan, a Nintendo Life.
<v Speaker 1>Another patent has been published for the Switch Online playtest program,
<v Speaker 1>which has extended to Switch to, which was extended to
<v Speaker 1>Switch to users in July. According to Nintendo Patent's Watch
<v Speaker 1>on Blue Sky. The patent was originally filed in Japan
<v Speaker 1>in April last year and in the US in April
<v Speaker 1>twenty twenty five. The latest one was published in the
<v Speaker 1>US this week and reportedly describes a system in which
<v Speaker 1>the player can intuitively select multiple objects in a virtual
<v Speaker 1>space by walking around them. That is what it sounds like.
<v Speaker 1>You know, maybe there's some unique way that the game
<v Speaker 1>handles that. Almost certainly that there is, or as far
<v Speaker 1>as Nintendo's concerned, whatever sucks that they're patenting stuff once again.
<v Speaker 1>Mostly John, I just want to talk about, Hey, when
<v Speaker 1>do you think we get this thing?
<v Speaker 2>And Nintendo's obviously continue to do more with it.
<v Speaker 1>I guess you could say that, well, Paton isn't a
<v Speaker 1>sign that they are going to release it.
<v Speaker 2>It's a sign that they have some gameplay stuff that
<v Speaker 2>they like.
<v Speaker 1>But they have a full soundtrack with this game as
<v Speaker 1>far as that we've been told like forty plus tracks.
<v Speaker 2>Or something like that.
<v Speaker 1>It's got to come at some point, but I guess
<v Speaker 1>there's no guarantee it could come anytime soon.
<v Speaker 2>What do you think?
<v Speaker 3>It's very weird because I feel like we only get
<v Speaker 3>these kinds of stories, like when they're about to open
<v Speaker 3>the floodgates again to it. And still it's like the
<v Speaker 3>caginess is like kind of unnerving because I've been having
<v Speaker 3>fun with it allegedly, like anytime that I'm playing it allegedly,
<v Speaker 3>and like, I do want to talk about it, but
<v Speaker 3>it's very bizarre that they have been so cagy on it. Yes,
<v Speaker 3>like it we were talking about this before the show started,
<v Speaker 3>but like, is it going to be just like a
<v Speaker 3>random drop or is it going to fill a hole.
<v Speaker 3>I if it's very difficult if you have not played
<v Speaker 3>it allegedly like to place it in any genre other
<v Speaker 3>than something that is open, something that will give players
<v Speaker 3>a lot of freedom. So it's like you could really
<v Speaker 3>launch this at any point. It could just be like
<v Speaker 3>a break glass in case of emergency game that they
<v Speaker 3>will drop. But yeah, like and there there is a
<v Speaker 3>lot to this game. There's a lot of things to
<v Speaker 3>love about this game. So I'm not sure why they've
<v Speaker 3>been so cagy about this if this is going to
<v Speaker 3>be some like weird expanded os thing for the switch to.
<v Speaker 3>I really don't understand.
<v Speaker 1>When this game is Nintendo's PlayStation's home. Yeah, it feels
<v Speaker 1>like there's just some stuff that they can hear this
<v Speaker 1>thing and just kind of give it to everyone and
<v Speaker 1>then and then what like there's a lot of potential
<v Speaker 1>for cosmetics in this thing, allegedly, and some of that
<v Speaker 1>stuff just happens naturally, And there's a lot of IP
<v Speaker 1>stuff in there that was like, oh, I'm surprised to
<v Speaker 1>see this in here. But community, there's community crazy creations,
<v Speaker 1>so this could turn into their UGC game.
<v Speaker 2>I don't know. It's it is interesting.
<v Speaker 1>I think it has the chance, it's got a lot
<v Speaker 1>of cool mechanics. It feels like Nintendo goings and like
<v Speaker 1>looking at Minecraft and like being like we could do
<v Speaker 1>this in a different way than Nintendo way and once
<v Speaker 1>again figuring something out there. I do wonder like what
<v Speaker 1>the hang up is? And you know, not that there
<v Speaker 1>is necessarily some problem, but I wonder like what were
<v Speaker 1>they trying to suss out with those playtests? Were they
<v Speaker 1>trying to see like, oh, what's fun? Or were they
<v Speaker 1>like were they just trying to be like, hey, how
<v Speaker 1>do the online interactions work? It's probably a combination of
<v Speaker 1>all of those factors, but it's like, okay, yeah, did
<v Speaker 1>you get your answers? And if you did, what was
<v Speaker 1>the next step there? Like, we don't have a name
<v Speaker 1>for this thing. It's just online play test, and we
<v Speaker 1>don't have really an idea again to go back to it,
<v Speaker 1>how they will release it.
<v Speaker 2>Is this going to be a free to play game?
<v Speaker 1>Is it going to be just something that does pop
<v Speaker 1>in the pop up in the OS or a sixty
<v Speaker 1>seventy dollars game. So it's so many question marks and
<v Speaker 1>Nintendo could very well put this on the shelf and
<v Speaker 1>we never hear about it. Again as well, which wouldn't
<v Speaker 1>be that strange for them.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, Like looking at what they were talking about when
<v Speaker 3>they were talking about like I forget exactly what it was,
<v Speaker 3>but on Doctor com Bananza they did something with like
<v Speaker 3>a goomba that was able to like destroy terrain or
<v Speaker 3>something along the lines. Just things we will never see
<v Speaker 3>outside of like the rare GDC talk. It is just
<v Speaker 3>weird because like I feel like they do have core
<v Speaker 3>concept and they are maybe trying to flesh out their own,
<v Speaker 3>like we made a hundred worlds for you to explore
<v Speaker 3>and now make your own. I don't know if they're
<v Speaker 3>just waiting to kind of get that balance of just
<v Speaker 3>like intrigue but also just like showing through gameplay that
<v Speaker 3>and touches us really well. I don't know, man, it's bizarre.
<v Speaker 3>It kind of feels like they don't know what skin
<v Speaker 3>they should put over it, because like you could do
<v Speaker 3>a Western It could be like a lasso like we
<v Speaker 3>see in the patent, or you could be in a
<v Speaker 3>construction building or something.
<v Speaker 2>It is.
<v Speaker 3>It is very different. It could be an astral chain
<v Speaker 3>spin off for all we know, Like we have no
<v Speaker 3>idea what's actually Yeah, of course you could see that
<v Speaker 3>the character designs allegedly, but yeah, it's kind of crazy.
<v Speaker 3>They did rip the models from Astro Chain but actually
<v Speaker 3>we shouldn't talk about that. But yeah, it's it's an enigma, man.
<v Speaker 3>I really don't know what to think about it. I
<v Speaker 3>enjoy it, but while other people get to enjoy it,
<v Speaker 3>I have no idea.
<v Speaker 1>Yep, absolutely, and it's I don't know. It just seems
<v Speaker 1>like a pretty polished thing overall. I I allegedly enjoyed
<v Speaker 1>moving around in that game quite a bit and then
<v Speaker 1>figuring out how to build a big, tall, weird home
<v Speaker 1>home base, I guess, and then like falling down from
<v Speaker 1>there and getting back up in some fun ways. It's oh, man,
<v Speaker 1>I wish I could play this game some more. That'd
<v Speaker 1>be good, all right, So let's keep going here. Mind's
<v Speaker 1>idevs Speak out. Build a Rocket Boy leadership slammed open letter.
<v Speaker 1>This is some Darren bonth use at GameSpot. Dozens of
<v Speaker 1>employees and former workers at Mind's Eye developer Build a
<v Speaker 1>Rocket Boy have signed an open letter to the studio's
<v Speaker 1>leadership demanding a response to allegations of the staff being mistreated.
<v Speaker 1>Together with the Game Workers branch of the Independent Workers
<v Speaker 1>of Great Britain. The ninety three Build a Rocket Boy
<v Speaker 1>employees and ex employees have singled out studio leadership Mark
<v Speaker 1>Gerhard and former GTA lead developer Leslie Benzay's basically John,
<v Speaker 1>They're just.
<v Speaker 2>Like, hey, excuse they overworked us.
<v Speaker 1>They and it was and there was no leadership, no communication,
<v Speaker 1>and then we all got fired while they still got paid.
<v Speaker 1>And it's like, yeah, that's if you can go back
<v Speaker 1>and like and say that out loud about the studio,
<v Speaker 1>you can demand change and maybe demand some compensation, which
<v Speaker 1>I think they are doing. But also I could see
<v Speaker 1>like Leslie Binsay's just shutting down Build a Rocket Boy, Like,
<v Speaker 1>I don't know if it's going to be around for
<v Speaker 1>very long.
<v Speaker 2>What do you think?
<v Speaker 3>I one hundred percent agree with that it is. I
<v Speaker 3>think a big part of it that makes me really
<v Speaker 3>upset and sad about like the state of the industry
<v Speaker 3>how we got here, is that there are there's examples
<v Speaker 3>of people using their name to build these awesome, incredible
<v Speaker 3>studios being able to make incredible games like like Tango
<v Speaker 3>game works, like Shinji Mukami's like X they like made
<v Speaker 3>Evil Within, made freaking Hi Fi Rush, like you can
<v Speaker 3>get some good examples of studios being built like this,
<v Speaker 3>but it does seem like on the West or the
<v Speaker 3>Western hemisphere, it's just like that doesn't really happen as much.
<v Speaker 3>I feel like it is you're kind of making derivative
<v Speaker 3>worth work, and like I respect everything they were going
<v Speaker 3>for in that game like that is definitely developers had
<v Speaker 3>a vision for that. It just wasn't executed particularly well.
<v Speaker 3>But yeah, I mean it's when we were talking earlier
<v Speaker 3>about Microsoft and me just having zero faith kind of
<v Speaker 3>like in anything they're really saying it is because of
<v Speaker 3>stories like like them closing the initiative like st like this.
<v Speaker 3>It's just I don't know. It just makes me really sad,
<v Speaker 3>Like I don't want don't I don't understand how this
<v Speaker 3>has been happening for so long, and like it doesn't
<v Speaker 3>seem like there's a real way we can fundamentally change
<v Speaker 3>this part of gaming. And it's annoying and.
<v Speaker 1>It is worth wointing out someone to champointed this out.
<v Speaker 1>That the culture over at Rockstar did change recently in
<v Speaker 1>recent time. In fact, after Leslie Benzy's left of they
<v Speaker 1>did address eventually, you know, there was still crunch believe
<v Speaker 1>I believe on Red Dead Redemption two or quite a
<v Speaker 1>bit of it. Maybe not as much as in the past,
<v Speaker 1>but still some, but that culture did change. And you know,
<v Speaker 1>here it is for Build a Rocket Boy, the staff
<v Speaker 1>saying that there was like unconscionable crunch to get that
<v Speaker 1>game out and all that was seemingly to me, I
<v Speaker 1>guess I should say my read on the situation was
<v Speaker 1>that was done out of spite of Leslie Binsay's wanting
<v Speaker 1>to get his game out before GTA six launched. And yeah,
<v Speaker 1>that's not a way to run a studio. And of
<v Speaker 1>course we can go back to various people from the
<v Speaker 1>leadership team there talking about being sabotaged by some dark forces,
<v Speaker 1>clearly suggesting that it was rock Star that made their
<v Speaker 1>game bad or whatever. It is a delusional sort of
<v Speaker 1>thing that is happening over there, and I have to
<v Speaker 1>be one of those staffers that had to pay for
<v Speaker 1>that delusion.
<v Speaker 2>Had to be very frustrating. I hope, I hope.
<v Speaker 1>This leads to something for the people that worked at
<v Speaker 1>the studio, because you know, it doesn't sound like it
<v Speaker 1>was any of their faults, all right, Next up Skate story. Finally,
<v Speaker 1>gets December release date in new trailer. This is from
<v Speaker 1>Alex Hopley at Game Reactor. Finally a game that isn't
<v Speaker 1>getting pushed into twenty twenty six. Devolver Digital and Sam
<v Speaker 1>Ing's Skate Story has given us a release date, and
<v Speaker 1>rather than throw itself into next year, it'll be grinding
<v Speaker 1>to its release on the eighth of December this year.
<v Speaker 1>That's right, everybody, Mike Minatti's birthday there it is. Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>of course, finally win something, finally won for Mikey Yes,
<v Speaker 1>skates store. He follows a demon made of glass and
<v Speaker 1>pain who skates around hell after making a deal with
<v Speaker 1>the devil.
<v Speaker 2>That sounds stylish.
<v Speaker 1>It also looks incredibly stylish, has a really cool soundtrack
<v Speaker 1>to it. You'll roam across the world, devouring the moons
<v Speaker 1>so you can pay off your debt. However, it looks
<v Speaker 1>like over the course of the game, we'll see that
<v Speaker 1>devouring excuse me, devouring a moon, which will, yeah, can
<v Speaker 1>have quite the negative consequences. I imagine it would be
<v Speaker 1>probably sort of a gain and take with devouring moons.
<v Speaker 1>I always thought this game looked awesome, John, and then
<v Speaker 1>I kind of got up. I put it into a
<v Speaker 1>bucket of Oh it feels like it's never going to
<v Speaker 1>come out. So now that we have a release date
<v Speaker 1>and it's like, oh okay, I can go back to
<v Speaker 1>being pretty excited about this thing. And I don't need
<v Speaker 1>it to be Tony Hawk. I don't need it to
<v Speaker 1>be Skate. I just needed to have cool sh movement
<v Speaker 1>and all the style that we already saw in the trailer,
<v Speaker 1>and I'll be pretty happy. And you know, it's Devolver,
<v Speaker 1>so I can rely on both those things probably being
<v Speaker 1>very likely.
<v Speaker 2>What do you think, I don't I don't know.
<v Speaker 3>I remember less time Devolvers delivered anything under it and
<v Speaker 3>out of then in like a long time. So yeah,
<v Speaker 3>this kind of seems like a slam dunk. Yeah, this
<v Speaker 3>is a game that I have known out for a
<v Speaker 3>long time, just seeing it years ago, and then it
<v Speaker 3>has been kind of that story in the background. I
<v Speaker 3>do think I also got like confused with sports story
<v Speaker 3>for a long time, like there was just a couple
<v Speaker 3>of story games. But I think this sounds really cool.
<v Speaker 3>I think, like, correct me if I'm wrong, but like
<v Speaker 3>I don't think Tony Hawk really had a lot of
<v Speaker 3>story outside like the Underground games. Is that right?
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, They're like they started introducing like characters that you
<v Speaker 1>could go up to and talk to in like Tony
<v Speaker 1>Owk's Pro Skater four and stuff like that. But yes,
<v Speaker 1>the Underground games introduced like more of a story, but
<v Speaker 1>nothing nothing like those were all like you're gonna get
<v Speaker 1>revenge or join the skate team or whatever. You're gonna
<v Speaker 1>be part of Tony Hawk's Project eight or whatever it was.
<v Speaker 1>This feels like using the act of skating to tell
<v Speaker 1>something more poetic, which I'm all for.
<v Speaker 3>This seems delightful, honestly, Like, I just think the premise
<v Speaker 3>of a skater of all people is just like made
<v Speaker 3>of like glass bones and paper skin. Just sounds like
<v Speaker 3>so much fun. I gotta check out a trailer for this.
<v Speaker 3>This is the one thing I didn't get my eyes
<v Speaker 3>on before we started today.
<v Speaker 1>But yeah, it's definitely it looks awesome. Yeah, it's got
<v Speaker 1>a great style. A Minecraft movie sequel has been green
<v Speaker 1>lighted for July twenty third, twenty twenty seven. This is
<v Speaker 1>from Sophie McAvoy at Games Industry Dot Viz. Warner Brothers
<v Speaker 1>has green lighted a sequel to a Minecraft movie, which
<v Speaker 1>is set to premiere on July twenty third, twenty twenty seven,
<v Speaker 1>its variety of reports, Jared Hess will return to direct,
<v Speaker 1>as well as co write the screenplay with Chris Galletta.
<v Speaker 1>The film's plot and cast has not been disclosed yet,
<v Speaker 1>but Jason Momoa will produce the film alongside Mary parent
<v Speaker 1>kil Boyder, Roy Lee, Eric McLean and m McLeod McLeod,
<v Speaker 1>Kaylen Walters, and a bunch of other producers doesn't matter.
<v Speaker 1>The first Minecraft Movie, which which premiered earlier this year,
<v Speaker 1>earned one hundred and fifty seven million dollars domestically and
<v Speaker 1>three hundred and one million dollars globally during its opening weekend.
<v Speaker 1>It surpassed expectations, with Warner Brothers estimating the film to
<v Speaker 1>earn between seventy million and eighty million with a budget
<v Speaker 1>of one hundred and fifty million.
<v Speaker 2>By the end of its premiere.
<v Speaker 1>Month, it has generated five hundred and fifty million dollars globally.
<v Speaker 1>Right it had done that, it ended its box office
<v Speaker 1>run with nine hundred and fifty seven million dollars. So, yep,
<v Speaker 1>that's uh, it's impressive stuff.
<v Speaker 2>They are.
<v Speaker 1>It's pretty obvious they were going to do a sequel,
<v Speaker 1>but I was wondering like, Okay, well they just get
<v Speaker 1>the director back and kind of just keep that creative
<v Speaker 1>team together and they will, which hey, that movie is
<v Speaker 1>super duper just fine, Like it's just it's just kind
<v Speaker 1>of forgettable. But I don't know, now that they have
<v Speaker 1>seen the success, maybe they can spend a little bit
<v Speaker 1>more time on the script or do a little bit
<v Speaker 1>more there, or maybe it's just not for me, and
<v Speaker 1>that would be fine as well. But yeah, this is
<v Speaker 1>like exactly what these companies want. They want their Sonic
<v Speaker 1>the Hedgehog, right, the movie, the franchise that comes out
<v Speaker 1>is successful, and in the case of Sonic.
<v Speaker 2>Each movie I think is getting more and more successful.
<v Speaker 1>And I think it's what these movie studios see could
<v Speaker 1>happen with these video game properties, and Minecraft definitely has
<v Speaker 1>the potential to do that.
<v Speaker 3>Right, Yeah, absolutely, And it's it could not happen to
<v Speaker 3>a studio that was more hungry for hits. Like this
<v Speaker 3>is the first year in a long time that Warner
<v Speaker 3>brother actually made a significant profit and they released like
<v Speaker 3>eight to nine of the best movies of the year.
<v Speaker 3>It has been kind of insane for them. And yeah,
<v Speaker 3>I don't think they want to let go of a
<v Speaker 3>cash co anytime soon.
<v Speaker 2>They are.
<v Speaker 3>Definitely hedging their bets on Minecraft, and I think that's
<v Speaker 3>a strong idea. I think it definitely pleased a majority
<v Speaker 3>of the fan base, and it kind of had enough
<v Speaker 3>rye humor for me to, you know, go see it
<v Speaker 3>in the theater with friends.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, for sure.
<v Speaker 3>And that's like one of the best things you probably
<v Speaker 3>could say for this, Like it is watchable. I had
<v Speaker 3>no expectation. I didn't know if it was going to
<v Speaker 3>be another border Lands, but it definitely seems like it
<v Speaker 3>is a little bit above that. Yeah, and I'd be
<v Speaker 3>done to see a s equal. A lot of my
<v Speaker 3>friends got back into Minecraft just because of this movie,
<v Speaker 3>so they're definitely in the mood, so I'll probably end
<v Speaker 3>up seeing it.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, fantastic, All right, let's keep going here.
<v Speaker 1>Halo art director leaves after seventeen years with cryptic message
<v Speaker 1>suggesting it was on bad terms.
<v Speaker 2>This is from Chris Scully and fbgc as.
<v Speaker 1>An art director who worked on the Halo series for
<v Speaker 1>seventeen years, has as he has left Halo Studios, posting
<v Speaker 1>a curious message suggesting there was more to his departure
<v Speaker 1>than meets the eye. Glynn Israel joined Bungie when it
<v Speaker 1>was still working on Halo in two thousand and eight,
<v Speaker 1>then moved over to three four three Industries in twenty
<v Speaker 1>ten to continue working on the series. He's since served
<v Speaker 1>as a concept artist and senior concept artist on the
<v Speaker 1>series for seventeen years. His first credit in being on
<v Speaker 1>Halo three odst. However, in a statement on his LinkedIn pages,
<v Speaker 1>Reel announced that he was leaving the developer not now
<v Speaker 1>known as Halo Studios, stating that he would shed more
<v Speaker 1>light on the situation in the future. As of today
<v Speaker 1>and after seventeen long years, I am officially no longer
<v Speaker 1>contributing to the Halo universe. Israel's message reads, there's little
<v Speaker 1>more I could stand for the moment, though, I intend
<v Speaker 1>to share this particular story in its entirety when it
<v Speaker 1>is absolutely safe to do so next year. In the meantime,
<v Speaker 1>I have a message for anyone and everyone who needs
<v Speaker 1>to hear it. I note that the state of our
<v Speaker 1>industry seems dire, but never forget that you are free
<v Speaker 1>to choose no illusion of security, nor promise of wealth
<v Speaker 1>or fame or power. It's worth trading away your health,
<v Speaker 1>your dignity, your ethics, or your values and no one
<v Speaker 1>can force you to force you to do those things.
<v Speaker 1>Stay strong, take evidence when necessary, and find where you belong.
<v Speaker 1>Israel didn't give any further details on what happened to
<v Speaker 1>cause his departure, but his messages suggests that he will
<v Speaker 1>be free to do so sometime in twenty twenty six,
<v Speaker 1>probably when the NBA he signed when he joined the
<v Speaker 1>company or re upped his contract expires. Look, there's to
<v Speaker 1>me this sounds like a situation where it probably has
<v Speaker 1>more to do with his specific situation, his employment and
<v Speaker 1>his relationship with that studio a bad breakup, but it, boy,
<v Speaker 1>does it just feel like the emblematic of where things
<v Speaker 1>are at for Microsoft and Xbox overall, where everywhere you
<v Speaker 1>turn there's something stinking and wrong and something that just
<v Speaker 1>feels like, oh man, so there's problems over there still
<v Speaker 1>as well. And it's like it's been that way at
<v Speaker 1>Halo Studios and before that three four three industries for
<v Speaker 1>a very long time, where it's like, you know, there's
<v Speaker 1>a lot of word that came out about tough leadership
<v Speaker 1>and leadership like not really having a good vision for
<v Speaker 1>Halo Infinite and being able to figure that out and
<v Speaker 1>not knowing what it would require to support that game,
<v Speaker 1>and putting that game in a really tough position where
<v Speaker 1>it was basically impossible for it to make a bounce back,
<v Speaker 1>and a lot of those that a lot of that
<v Speaker 1>leadership getting cleaned out, though they definitely positioned it as
<v Speaker 1>they were just retiring. But nope, a lot of people
<v Speaker 1>are kind of getting kicked out and that continues. It
<v Speaker 1>doesn't like the good news, does It has not come
<v Speaker 1>from the Halo franchise for quite some time, but we
<v Speaker 1>are continuing to get this bad news right.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, it's been a rough to go for Halo ever
<v Speaker 3>since I think three four three really took over. I
<v Speaker 3>they really haven't had like a like a break from
<v Speaker 3>it in a long time. I personally loved a lot
<v Speaker 3>of Infinite when that came out. Say it's my first
<v Speaker 3>time playing a new Halo game launched since like three
<v Speaker 3>or Reach. I want to say it was like last time,
<v Speaker 3>I like same here, engaging, But yeah, it's it is.
<v Speaker 3>It is a rough time for the Halo studio, but
<v Speaker 3>I think it's also a rough time for people who
<v Speaker 3>have been with a lot of these Microsoft companies for
<v Speaker 3>who knows how long, Like we had the creator of
<v Speaker 3>Banjo leaving rare and we've had like Pete Hines even
<v Speaker 3>left besays it before it was like super super fully
<v Speaker 3>like in there, And there could be other reasons why
<v Speaker 3>those people left, but it does seem like there's kind
<v Speaker 3>of a clamp down on we want this kind of
<v Speaker 3>product from you, And yeah, Halo needs to be done, right.
<v Speaker 3>I think they've said as much, and there's a lot
<v Speaker 3>of pressure. But I'm interested to see if they go
<v Speaker 3>in a different direction, I guess. I just you know,
<v Speaker 3>I'm interested to see when that when in that timer
<v Speaker 3>finally clicks, like what the heck actually was going on here?
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, we hear rumors of a Halo remake for the
<v Speaker 1>first game, Combat Evolved getting like full livermade and Unreal
<v Speaker 1>Engine with the with the help of maybe Virtuos. Obviously
<v Speaker 1>they're gonna want to do a new Halo at some point.
<v Speaker 1>We don't know what that could look like in this moment,
<v Speaker 1>but apparently that would also run on Unreal Engine. They've
<v Speaker 1>they've made the shift there, Okay, Yeah, that's fine. In
<v Speaker 1>the meantime, you know, can you build up a studio,
<v Speaker 1>can you build a studio back up that so they
<v Speaker 1>it can get to a point where it could put
<v Speaker 1>out a new Halo. Like there's one thing to be
<v Speaker 1>said for partnering up with Virtue Us to remake a
<v Speaker 1>Halo game that already exists and already has all of
<v Speaker 1>the loans there. It's another thing to be like, Okay,
<v Speaker 1>now we're going to take another crack at Halo. Is
<v Speaker 1>something that three or four three has not been able
<v Speaker 1>to perfect and really get out in the way that
<v Speaker 1>everyone felt good about ever.
<v Speaker 2>And now they're Halo Studios.
<v Speaker 1>But you know that the would imagine the culture's got
<v Speaker 1>to have to prove it's gonna have to prove that
<v Speaker 1>it has changed with a new game in the meantime.
<v Speaker 2>For for Israel.
<v Speaker 1>Here he he says, it's you shouldn't, you know, sacrifice
<v Speaker 1>your dignity, your ethics or values.
<v Speaker 2>And he was an art director.
<v Speaker 1>They they a million percent were asking him to like
<v Speaker 1>build AI tools to make this game, right, a million
<v Speaker 1>percent that's what this was. I mean, we're guessing, but
<v Speaker 1>it's gotta be no.
<v Speaker 3>But yeah, the silver lining is there, like I can
<v Speaker 3>I can see the lines there and it is. It
<v Speaker 3>was such a good final response to what is happening,
<v Speaker 3>like kind of building new studios that are focused on, yeah,
<v Speaker 3>creating holistic games, creating games that are purely from a
<v Speaker 3>human's mind and like shares those values. But yeah, yeah,
<v Speaker 3>now that you're saying that, yeah, that that definitely has
<v Speaker 3>to happen, especially if they are remaking Halo for like
<v Speaker 3>the second time. And I I don't know, for a
<v Speaker 3>game series that had such a big storyline about an
<v Speaker 3>AI companion, maybe not like reading into certain situations in
<v Speaker 3>a certain way and choosing the like nuclear option, uh,
<v Speaker 3>kind of just a wild position to be in. And yeah,
<v Speaker 3>it's it's just depressing. I love yeah, pretty big amount.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, it's the kind of thing where it's like, really,
<v Speaker 1>for a while, there a new uh a new remaster
<v Speaker 1>or a new remake at a studio like this, it
<v Speaker 1>would be like, this is an excuse to keep people employed.
<v Speaker 1>It's an excuse to train up a new generation of
<v Speaker 1>developers to come into our way of doing things and
<v Speaker 1>get everyone on the same page.
<v Speaker 2>Maybe develop some new tools that we can then use.
<v Speaker 1>For our next real, new, big project. And it's like,
<v Speaker 1>oh it is Microsoft. Actually just go in there and
<v Speaker 1>be like, let's do that with the purpose of building
<v Speaker 1>the AI tool that we can then use to replace
<v Speaker 1>all of you. And I could easily see that being
<v Speaker 1>the case, which would be very, very disheartening to see
<v Speaker 1>from someone who has been at a studio like that
<v Speaker 1>for seventeen years. And I wouldn't blame him for forgetting
<v Speaker 1>out there. Maybe there's something more to it. But I
<v Speaker 1>bet when he comes out and talks about this in
<v Speaker 1>a year or so, unless they pay him a bunch
<v Speaker 1>of money to be quiet, which it sounds like he's
<v Speaker 1>not going to take, we'll probably find out that it
<v Speaker 1>was something along these lines.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, it's maybe they were even like pushing this announcement
<v Speaker 3>because there's been too many Like they were just reinforcing
<v Speaker 3>the NDA because there have been so many negative stories
<v Speaker 3>about Microsoft and they they need a win or something.
<v Speaker 3>I don't know. And when the story comes out, we're
<v Speaker 3>going to be even deeper into the AI apocalypse, Like
<v Speaker 3>it is gonna be even deeper, and then this will
<v Speaker 3>be kind of just another drop in the bucket. Definitely
<v Speaker 3>just pushing the message.
<v Speaker 2>I want to trustity after another for sure.
<v Speaker 1>All Right, that does it for the headlines, everybody, Let's
<v Speaker 1>go ahead and go to the bomb twelve. Actually, you
<v Speaker 1>know what we gotta do we got to wrap up
<v Speaker 1>yesterday's poll. Let's do that first and then we'll get
<v Speaker 1>to the bomb twelve. So here we go, let me
<v Speaker 1>refresh that, get all the results here.
<v Speaker 2>All right?
<v Speaker 1>Who is your favorite video game golfer? That's right, everybody,
<v Speaker 1>it's time to wrap up Golf Week with some big respect.
<v Speaker 1>Your options were Warrior, Craig Stadler, Tiger Woods, or the
<v Speaker 1>Golf story Boy. I'm gonna vote for Golf story Boy.
<v Speaker 1>I love him, and he was last place twelve percent.
<v Speaker 1>Third place was fourteen percent for Tiger Woods, second place
<v Speaker 1>nineteen percent for Craig Stadler, and in the lead, the
<v Speaker 1>King of Golf. We've always said it. Fifty five percent
<v Speaker 1>of the votes went to Warrio. Or Warrio I should say,
<v Speaker 1>this is how he says his name. All right, there
<v Speaker 1>we go, So now we know who's the number one
<v Speaker 1>golfer of all time, and as expected, it was Warrio.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, just overall?
<v Speaker 2>Yeah? Yeah?
<v Speaker 1>Do you have a favorite video game golf game in general?
<v Speaker 3>John, I mean, the easiest one for me is Toatstal
<v Speaker 3>Tour or Mario Mario Golf Coastal Tour on GameCube. That
<v Speaker 3>was what I grew up playing before we even had
<v Speaker 3>any of the PGA games. That was just something we
<v Speaker 3>got immediately and just fell in love with that. I
<v Speaker 3>don't think there's been as good of a golf Mario
<v Speaker 3>golf game or just Arkadie golf game since then.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.
<v Speaker 1>I think the three DS one was kind of like
<v Speaker 1>the spiritual spiritual successor to that game, and then had
<v Speaker 1>that excellent online tournament mode. So I really liked the
<v Speaker 1>three vs.
<v Speaker 2>One. All right, yep, that's out of the way.
<v Speaker 1>We should probably give John a chance here to tell
<v Speaker 1>people where they could find you on the internet and
<v Speaker 1>what you have going on and all that good stuff.
<v Speaker 3>Man, Yeah, appreciate it. Yeah, you can find me on
<v Speaker 3>Blue Sky John Martin kind of just there. Yeah YouTube,
<v Speaker 3>I haven't changed my username yet, so that's jam An
<v Speaker 3>Zeria sixty five or if you search John Martin, that's
<v Speaker 3>going to be the header.
<v Speaker 2>Anyway.
<v Speaker 3>Been streaming for the last couple of months now. I've
<v Speaker 3>been really enjoying it. It's been very fun. Probably going
<v Speaker 3>to stream at least two times this weekend just because
<v Speaker 3>it is a long weekend, so that's going to be great.
<v Speaker 3>Other than that, yeah, I hope here in the future again,
<v Speaker 3>it's always a great time to do this with you.
<v Speaker 2>Jeff Yep.
<v Speaker 1>Absolutely, we love having you on, really appreciate you showing
<v Speaker 1>up today. Let's see here bomb twelve time. Everybody, let's
<v Speaker 1>go ahead and make it happen. We have the results
<v Speaker 1>from a week of people submitting their games to tell
<v Speaker 1>us what really matters to people who are really playing games,
<v Speaker 1>to get the exact results right here in front of me.
<v Speaker 2>All right, let's go through it.
<v Speaker 1>Number twelve is Baby Steps, number eleven, Trails in the
<v Speaker 1>Sky First Chapter, number ten, Super Mario Galaxy one plus
<v Speaker 1>two number nine, Baby Steps number eight, Apsolute number seven,
<v Speaker 1>Megabunk number six, Did Youmond? Story Time Stranger number five,
<v Speaker 1>Final Fantasy Tactics, The Eviles Chronicles number four, Hollow Nights,
<v Speaker 1>Silk Song. Number three is Silent Hill f number two
<v Speaker 1>is Ghost of Yota, and number one still Hades two Dominant.
<v Speaker 1>Up there just kind of always get like once again,
<v Speaker 1>it was like far ahead from of everything else. Although
<v Speaker 1>Ghost of You they had a really strong showing. It
<v Speaker 1>was on last week's chart, but it was like one
<v Speaker 1>day of people being able to vote for that game
<v Speaker 1>because it.
<v Speaker 2>Had only just become available.
<v Speaker 1>So yeah, I think that uh oh, Baby Steps is
<v Speaker 1>nine and twelve. Oh I didn't fix that. Look at
<v Speaker 1>that and I just said it. You know what, I
<v Speaker 1>stand by it, everybody. Yeah, if you add it together,
<v Speaker 1>maybe that's even better than number one in a lot
<v Speaker 1>of ways. Maybe we'll get that fixed and take a
<v Speaker 1>look care that's the Bomb twelve is always a work
<v Speaker 1>in progress everyone, and maybe we just caught it between
<v Speaker 1>steps here. Ghost Yota, I think also will just kind
<v Speaker 1>of continue to thrive. It just seems like it is
<v Speaker 1>very popular with a slightly more casual audience of like, Hey,
<v Speaker 1>I just want a big video game that feels well
<v Speaker 1>made and it's a big adventure and I can get
<v Speaker 1>lost in and it delivers on that for sure. Is
<v Speaker 1>any chance you're gonna play Ghostyota anytime soon?
<v Speaker 2>Yeah?
<v Speaker 3>I mean I'm kind of in the same boat as
<v Speaker 3>you and the other GB people where it is going
<v Speaker 3>to be like a holiday break kind of thing. It is,
<v Speaker 3>and the reason why I'll probably be on the Bomb
<v Speaker 3>twelve and is just going to be adopted by a
<v Speaker 3>lot more casual people. Like you said, it's just a
<v Speaker 3>big game, so you get a lot of bang for
<v Speaker 3>your buck. It's just going to be kind of like
<v Speaker 3>a passive game for me love the first one, and yeah,
<v Speaker 3>I think it is going to do quite well in
<v Speaker 3>the future. Also, forget to mention Silent Hill f that's
<v Speaker 3>something I'm doing this weekend too, completely forgot about that.
<v Speaker 3>My girlfriend and I we've been passing the controller through
<v Speaker 3>that game and it has been a very fire, very
<v Speaker 3>very fun time.
<v Speaker 1>All right, I am updating the list. I think it
<v Speaker 1>might update live so people might see a jan if
<v Speaker 1>you're still on that screen. The new number twelve, the
<v Speaker 1>corrected number twelve, umamusame pretty derby. There you go, the Horseoy,
<v Speaker 1>the horse Girl. People have come through once again and
<v Speaker 1>saved it. I don't think it made the chart last week.
<v Speaker 1>In fact, I got a text message from a source
<v Speaker 1>being like, where's Umamusame. I'm like, look, man, relaxed. I'm
<v Speaker 1>sure we'll be back at some point.
<v Speaker 2>And here you go. I hope you're happy. All right,
<v Speaker 2>that's the Bomb twelve.
<v Speaker 1>You can submit your game each week on giant bomb
<v Speaker 1>dot com. I post a blog post that wraps up
<v Speaker 1>what happened on the Bomb twelve, most recently. At the
<v Speaker 1>bottom of that blog post, there's a link to a
<v Speaker 1>form submit your game there. We will streamline this process
<v Speaker 1>once we get our new website up and running, but
<v Speaker 1>for now, this is the way it's working. I'll also
<v Speaker 1>post it on Blue Sky. You can find it on
<v Speaker 1>the Giant Bomb Blue Sky things like that. We'll get
<v Speaker 1>the results of that next week on next Friday's the
<v Speaker 1>Bomb twelve. For now, if you're hanging out with us today,
<v Speaker 1>we're wrapping up golf week. We're gonna go out with
<v Speaker 1>a bang Mario Golf here in a little bit. And
<v Speaker 1>then for UPF, it's golf with your friends.
<v Speaker 2>That's right. It's four words that one.
<v Speaker 1>Has the ability to like support very large online rooms everyone,
<v Speaker 1>So we might open that up.
<v Speaker 2>We'll go in there and kind of see how it works.
<v Speaker 1>But it might be fun to see if we can
<v Speaker 1>get as many people in there as possible. So if
<v Speaker 1>you want to get ready for that for UPF, maybe
<v Speaker 1>come hang out with us. You're more welcome, more than
<v Speaker 1>welcome to although don't go buy it because I said that,
<v Speaker 1>because of course it could always fall apart. Yeah, mount
<v Speaker 1>your golf friends, everybody. That's what we're going to be
<v Speaker 1>doing here pretty soon. No, all right, John, thank you
<v Speaker 1>so much for hanging out with me today and talking
<v Speaker 1>about video games.
<v Speaker 2>Man I really appreciate it.
<v Speaker 3>It's an absolute pleasure. Jeff, thank you so much for having.
<v Speaker 1>Me, and thank you all for watching and listening. You
<v Speaker 1>are the best audience in gaming. Until next time, have
<v Speaker 1>a good one, take care of yourself, and goodbye.