WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.240 from vacation. I don't really know what's going 00:00:02.240 --> 00:00:04.820 on in the world. Because I was pretty much out 00:00:04.820 --> 00:00:07.980 in the middle of nowhere to give you an idea. 00:00:08.820 --> 00:00:10.919 I was an hour and a half away from the closest 00:00:10.919 --> 00:00:13.839 AMC, so I could not go see the new F1 movie. 00:00:13.859 --> 00:00:18.620 And I was pretty sad about that here. But anyway, 00:00:18.640 --> 00:00:22.239 so I thought we would start off with a happy. 00:00:23.379 --> 00:00:25.699 Topic, you know, just getting back into the groove 00:00:25.699 --> 00:00:27.980 of things. It's been three weeks. You know, the 00:00:27.980 --> 00:00:31.960 world's on fire, I guess. So let's yeah, something 00:00:31.960 --> 00:00:34.579 that's not going to like make us all super depressed. 00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:39.960 So anyways, large scale layoffs have been happening 00:00:39.960 --> 00:00:42.700 across like the gaming division of Microsoft. 00:00:44.060 --> 00:00:47.640 In total, Microsoft has laid off recently about 00:00:47.640 --> 00:00:52.289 9000 employees. This also means the cancellation 00:00:52.289 --> 00:00:55.450 into high profile games that have been in development 00:00:55.450 --> 00:01:00.149 for a very long time. Rare's Everwind and the 00:01:00.149 --> 00:01:04.409 initiatives reboot of Perfect Dark. Alex, have 00:01:04.409 --> 00:01:06.969 you heard of these games? Were you waiting for 00:01:06.969 --> 00:01:08.890 these games? I was not particularly waiting for 00:01:08.890 --> 00:01:13.709 these games. Perfect Dark is a classic. series 00:01:13.709 --> 00:01:15.310 that they used to have. I was kind of looking 00:01:15.310 --> 00:01:17.430 forward to a reboot of it. I'd heard of it, but 00:01:17.430 --> 00:01:19.430 I wasn't like jumping over the world about it. 00:01:19.430 --> 00:01:22.689 I don't know. Rare is dead. Like, I hate to say 00:01:22.689 --> 00:01:28.650 it, but rare rare as a studio is is toast. Well, 00:01:29.409 --> 00:01:33.209 also, the initiative studio was shut down and 00:01:33.209 --> 00:01:36.790 this this studio was formed back in 2018 and 00:01:36.790 --> 00:01:40.439 they actually never released a video game. Other 00:01:40.439 --> 00:01:42.659 companies hit hard with the playoffs recently. 00:01:42.680 --> 00:01:47.620 Blizzard, Call of Duty's developer Raven Software. 00:01:48.459 --> 00:01:52.140 They're currently working on Black Ops 7. Forza 00:01:52.140 --> 00:01:55.939 Motorsport developer Turn 10 laid off close to 00:01:55.939 --> 00:02:00.000 50 % of their employees. Elder Scrolls online 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:06.500 developer Xenomax with a Z. Online Studios canceled 00:02:06.500 --> 00:02:11.490 and unannounced massively. Exciting multiplayer 00:02:11.490 --> 00:02:14.069 game supposedly. I don't know. They didn't announce 00:02:14.069 --> 00:02:19.729 it but Doom creator John Romero was working on 00:02:19.729 --> 00:02:22.509 a new first -person shooter game apparently for 00:02:22.509 --> 00:02:26.430 Microsoft which is lost funding Meaning we will 00:02:26.430 --> 00:02:29.650 probably never see it But yeah, everything that 00:02:29.650 --> 00:02:34.610 I just listed Has has been owned and operated 00:02:34.610 --> 00:02:39.150 by Microsoft so I asked this question to you 00:02:39.699 --> 00:02:42.659 Why is Microsoft buying like half of the gaming 00:02:42.659 --> 00:02:47.400 market just to kill anything or Are they even 00:02:47.400 --> 00:02:49.800 good at running gaming studios? What are your 00:02:49.800 --> 00:02:51.800 thoughts? I'm gonna start with your second question 00:02:51.800 --> 00:02:53.419 first and the answer is are they good at running 00:02:53.419 --> 00:03:00.300 game studios? No Case in point was bungee. Yeah 00:03:00.300 --> 00:03:02.900 Yeah, bungee three four three. I don't know how 00:03:02.900 --> 00:03:06.099 that whole back and forth with all those mother 00:03:06.330 --> 00:03:08.590 Anyway, no, they're not going to run in gaming 00:03:08.590 --> 00:03:12.289 studios. They're just not. And I don't know what's 00:03:12.289 --> 00:03:15.930 happening over at Xbox. I saw some of the strategy 00:03:15.930 --> 00:03:17.009 when they were like, again, they were buying 00:03:17.009 --> 00:03:18.650 up Bethesda. They're buying up all this stuff 00:03:18.650 --> 00:03:21.069 like, OK, we're going to do this with Xbox and 00:03:21.069 --> 00:03:23.969 we're going on this live journey. And I, for 00:03:23.969 --> 00:03:29.530 a long time, was a proponent of Xbox Game Pass. 00:03:29.909 --> 00:03:32.750 OK, for a long time, I was a proponent of it. 00:03:32.789 --> 00:03:37.479 I thought it was a great deal. Um, I don't anymore. 00:03:38.259 --> 00:03:41.680 Um, I don't know what they're doing over at the 00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:46.620 Xbox division. Um, it, it, it boggles the mind. 00:03:46.639 --> 00:03:48.759 I don't know what the strategy is. There seems 00:03:48.759 --> 00:03:53.840 to me no rhyme or reason for it. Um, I, I, I 00:03:53.840 --> 00:03:57.520 really can't, I can't put it all together. Now 00:03:57.520 --> 00:03:59.759 it may have something to do with this. And I 00:03:59.759 --> 00:04:02.560 brought this article up on IGN and I thought 00:04:02.560 --> 00:04:03.599 about what we were going to do as a separate 00:04:03.599 --> 00:04:04.860 segment, but you know what? Now I think we're 00:04:04.860 --> 00:04:08.969 just Loop it in here. IGN. Oops. Hang on. Let 00:04:08.969 --> 00:04:13.069 me fix one thing real quick. IGN has basically 00:04:13.069 --> 00:04:20.550 said that Gen Z wants a. It's an article, basically, 00:04:20.769 --> 00:04:22.670 younger Americans are spending way less money 00:04:22.670 --> 00:04:25.509 on video games, 25 percent less on video games 00:04:25.509 --> 00:04:30.870 than this year than last year. Now. Without without. 00:04:31.960 --> 00:04:34.279 I'm sorry Wall Street Journal, you don't understand 00:04:34.279 --> 00:04:36.180 why these kids are buying less games. You don't. 00:04:36.199 --> 00:04:39.899 It's not just economic woes, okay? Honestly, 00:04:40.139 --> 00:04:42.040 video games are one of the cheapest forms of 00:04:42.040 --> 00:04:44.639 entertainment, dollar to hour of entertainment, 00:04:44.839 --> 00:04:49.060 out there, right? You buy a $60 game, you can 00:04:49.060 --> 00:04:51.720 milk that mother for a lot of entertainment. 00:04:52.079 --> 00:04:55.920 That's not why. I'll tell you why. There's just 00:04:55.920 --> 00:04:57.860 not a lot of good stuff out there right now. 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:03.720 The gaming industry is in kind of a drought Right 00:05:03.720 --> 00:05:08.120 like I what was the last game Jay that you were 00:05:08.120 --> 00:05:13.240 really and I mean super hype about Super hyped 00:05:13.240 --> 00:05:18.879 about or like super obsessed with Hyped about 00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:21.060 you're like man. I'm buying that day one. I want 00:05:21.060 --> 00:05:25.300 to take a day off work. I Let's go. I'm not waiting 00:05:25.300 --> 00:05:28.019 for it to go on steam sale I'm not waiting till 00:05:28.019 --> 00:05:29.819 somebody recommends it to me before I become 00:05:29.819 --> 00:05:32.199 obsessed with it after I start playing. No, this 00:05:32.199 --> 00:05:36.560 is this game is coming and I want to jump over 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:43.839 the moon to play it right now. Cyberpunk. And 00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:49.639 let's see here, what year did Cyberpunk I I legit. 00:05:51.160 --> 00:05:55.819 Built a gaming PC. Yeah, and and when did that 00:05:55.819 --> 00:06:01.500 game come out? I could tell you five years ago. 00:06:01.740 --> 00:06:06.839 Five years ago. Five fucking years ago. Some 00:06:06.839 --> 00:06:09.459 of the YouTube chats ask if there's if IGN other 00:06:09.459 --> 00:06:12.300 periodicals still relevant. Somewhat. I would 00:06:12.300 --> 00:06:13.720 say they're still somewhat relevant. I still 00:06:13.720 --> 00:06:15.620 get a lot of good rundown stuff from them, so 00:06:15.620 --> 00:06:23.899 I'll give IGN credit. I'll be honest. The hype's 00:06:23.899 --> 00:06:27.740 just not there right now. We occasionally get 00:06:27.740 --> 00:06:30.019 like a brief cultural moment like with Helldivers 00:06:30.019 --> 00:06:33.220 Yeah, right where everybody kind of jumps in 00:06:33.220 --> 00:06:35.759 Helldivers for a little while and then it goes 00:06:35.759 --> 00:06:42.560 away right, but honestly What's everybody excited 00:06:42.560 --> 00:06:47.579 about? See, I'm not I'm not entirely sure if 00:06:47.579 --> 00:06:53.040 that's it I think We are just like massively 00:06:53.040 --> 00:06:57.519 over stimulated Could be and I say that because 00:06:57.519 --> 00:07:00.519 I remember when I was younger playing console 00:07:00.519 --> 00:07:06.360 games. I mean, I would sit there and put in probably 00:07:06.360 --> 00:07:10.740 100 hours for fucking games that. I might not 00:07:10.740 --> 00:07:13.819 even buy today, and I think there's just so much 00:07:13.819 --> 00:07:18.480 content 24 seven of new game, new game, new game. 00:07:18.519 --> 00:07:20.360 This is on sale. This is on sale. This is on 00:07:20.360 --> 00:07:23.579 sale. Like I legit have like, you know, a steam 00:07:23.579 --> 00:07:28.720 library of games. 200 games, probably 50%. I've 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:33.860 never played, um, completing a game is like impossible 00:07:33.860 --> 00:07:36.439 now. And I could say like, well, I'm a, I'm an 00:07:36.439 --> 00:07:38.680 adult now, right? Like I have a job, like I have 00:07:38.680 --> 00:07:40.819 responsibilities, but I don't think that's it. 00:07:40.819 --> 00:07:44.779 I think I go to work and I look at the thousand 00:07:44.779 --> 00:07:48.480 unread emails I have, and I'm in like five or 00:07:48.480 --> 00:07:51.839 six, like family group chats on social media. 00:07:51.959 --> 00:07:57.769 No offense, guys. um text chats insert whatever 00:07:57.769 --> 00:08:01.230 other social media bs by the time i get home 00:08:01.230 --> 00:08:05.050 like i kind of want to like unplug from the matrix 00:08:05.050 --> 00:08:08.209 for a little bit like it's just too much like 00:08:08.209 --> 00:08:11.910 everything is always new all the time right yeah 00:08:11.910 --> 00:08:14.750 absolutely and again i i think it's younger people 00:08:14.750 --> 00:08:18.350 are playing less games people our age are more 00:08:18.350 --> 00:08:19.949 picky about the games they play and the ones 00:08:19.949 --> 00:08:23.279 they invest time into I can tell you in the last 00:08:23.279 --> 00:08:25.800 year and a half, there's probably four games 00:08:25.800 --> 00:08:29.779 I've invested more than a few hours into. Right. 00:08:32.399 --> 00:08:35.399 And it's it's it's hard to grab me these days 00:08:35.399 --> 00:08:38.200 again. So the sales numbers, I mean, again, 25 00:08:38.200 --> 00:08:41.399 percent year over year drop in 18 to 29 year 00:08:41.399 --> 00:08:44.519 olds. Right. Which is a big part of their market. 00:08:46.120 --> 00:08:50.820 Right. Means I would not be shocked if. Microsoft 00:08:50.820 --> 00:08:52.980 and other gaming companies are having some really 00:08:52.980 --> 00:08:56.200 hard financial times right now. Right. So these 00:08:56.200 --> 00:08:59.759 kind of layoffs again, very, very sad, but not 00:08:59.759 --> 00:09:03.220 surprising to me at all. And again, I think that 00:09:03.220 --> 00:09:05.620 Microsoft specifically, when it comes to Xbox, 00:09:06.080 --> 00:09:09.539 they kind of lost their way. Right. Like they 00:09:09.539 --> 00:09:13.820 had some clear direction in the Xbox, the 360. 00:09:14.700 --> 00:09:19.409 The Xbox one was a. Absolute misstep. It was 00:09:19.409 --> 00:09:22.090 an absolute misfire during that console generation. 00:09:22.169 --> 00:09:25.029 They knew it. They did it from the jump. They 00:09:25.029 --> 00:09:27.750 screwed it up at the gate. And honestly, I don't 00:09:27.750 --> 00:09:30.509 know if Xbox ever recovered from the absolute 00:09:30.509 --> 00:09:37.750 debacle that was the Xbox One's launch. Right? 00:09:38.629 --> 00:09:40.789 That thing went down in gaming history as one 00:09:40.789 --> 00:09:43.809 of the absolute worst console launches you could 00:09:43.809 --> 00:09:48.120 do. Right? Connect is necessary. You have to 00:09:48.120 --> 00:09:50.539 have it for the full experience for Xbox One. 00:09:50.659 --> 00:09:53.000 You can't sell Xbox One without Connect. A year 00:09:53.000 --> 00:09:55.659 later, yeah, we'll start selling Xbox One without 00:09:55.659 --> 00:09:59.960 Connect. We're sorry, right? You can't lend games 00:09:59.960 --> 00:10:02.679 anymore. Everything's DRM locked. And then PlayStation 00:10:02.679 --> 00:10:05.279 comes out with a commercial the next day. The 00:10:05.279 --> 00:10:09.480 next day at E3 showing full frickin' loanability 00:10:09.480 --> 00:10:12.690 of their games, right? Like they... They bungled 00:10:12.690 --> 00:10:14.950 that launch so much and again, I don't think 00:10:14.950 --> 00:10:20.029 they've ever really recovered not fully. You 00:10:20.029 --> 00:10:27.370 know. It sucks that all these people are losing 00:10:27.370 --> 00:10:32.549 their jobs, you know, 9000 people, but they've 00:10:32.549 --> 00:10:36.330 got to. They've got to find a way out of this. 00:10:38.529 --> 00:10:47.460 Yeah. Jay's just over here, silent, shaking his 00:10:47.460 --> 00:10:51.139 head like I just I don't know. I think I think 00:10:51.139 --> 00:10:53.779 the whole system is broken. I think back in the 00:10:53.779 --> 00:10:58.980 day you had game developers that like legit were 00:10:58.980 --> 00:11:03.419 nerds that loved playing video games, that loved 00:11:03.419 --> 00:11:07.639 making video games that and I'm not saying that 00:11:07.639 --> 00:11:10.620 nowadays like, oh, nowadays the kids don't care. 00:11:10.659 --> 00:11:14.639 I'm not saying that. But now I've seen this like 00:11:14.669 --> 00:11:19.289 mindset of when you have a startup, your number 00:11:19.289 --> 00:11:22.710 one goal is to get big enough to be bought out. 00:11:22.730 --> 00:11:27.450 Period. And that's well, we won't go down that 00:11:27.450 --> 00:11:29.389 road. Let's let's take I'm going to put a pin 00:11:29.389 --> 00:11:32.110 in that particular topic for just a second, because 00:11:32.110 --> 00:11:35.750 I may start a new topic on this. The crappy thing 00:11:35.750 --> 00:11:37.690 is, is that the system used to work really, really 00:11:37.690 --> 00:11:40.580 well. Right. Is that game developers would make 00:11:40.580 --> 00:11:43.039 games and then game publishers and gaming companies 00:11:43.039 --> 00:11:45.139 would pay them for the games that they made and 00:11:45.139 --> 00:11:48.919 then start over again. Right. And I think we 00:11:48.919 --> 00:11:51.340 see this again where corporate consolidation 00:11:51.340 --> 00:11:55.539 is just bad. Corporate consolidation is not a 00:11:55.539 --> 00:12:07.720 good thing. Right. And every time. Every time. 00:12:07.850 --> 00:12:14.370 it happens everybody loses um somebody in the 00:12:14.370 --> 00:12:16.570 youtube chat is making a joke and it's a classic 00:12:16.570 --> 00:12:19.230 seattle joke and i'm gonna i'm gonna talk about 00:12:19.230 --> 00:12:28.809 this right so so back in the day seattle has 00:12:28.809 --> 00:12:32.250 always been a company town right it's always 00:12:32.250 --> 00:12:35.190 been a company town and back in the day there 00:12:35.190 --> 00:12:38.450 was a billboard when we thought boeing was going 00:12:38.450 --> 00:12:46.029 to blow up right and and lose uh leave town for 00:12:46.029 --> 00:12:49.230 good right and so consequently somebody put up 00:12:49.230 --> 00:12:50.970 this billboard with the last person leaving Seattle 00:12:50.970 --> 00:12:53.090 please turn out the lights so he's not always 00:12:53.090 --> 00:12:55.950 going to leave and Seattle was going to die right 00:12:55.950 --> 00:12:57.649 uh so somebody in the YouTube chat said well 00:12:57.649 --> 00:12:59.210 the last person leaving Redmond shut the server 00:12:59.210 --> 00:13:03.169 down um I don't think it's to that point Microsoft 00:13:03.169 --> 00:13:10.259 as a company is doing fine Okay. Microsoft's 00:13:10.259 --> 00:13:15.519 doing great. $245 billion in revenue last year, 00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:20.759 $109 billion in operating income, up 24%. Microsoft 00:13:20.759 --> 00:13:24.659 is doing fine. Corporate consolidation is bad 00:13:24.659 --> 00:13:26.720 because when people are managing individual department 00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:29.539 P &Ls, they're going to cut to make their bonus. 00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:34.340 Right? That's how this shit works. Okay. Corporate 00:13:34.340 --> 00:13:39.539 consolidation is bad. Right? It just is. It always 00:13:39.539 --> 00:13:46.340 has been. Okay? It sucks. It really, really sucks. 00:13:47.500 --> 00:13:52.360 And what happens is people lose their jobs. It's 00:13:52.360 --> 00:14:00.419 bullshit. Anyway, that was a fun topic to open 00:14:00.419 --> 00:14:03.139 the evening with Jay. Yeah, I wanted something 00:14:03.139 --> 00:14:05.360 light, you know, something fun. Something like, 00:14:05.379 --> 00:14:10.320 you know, a fun topic. Yeah, just kind of bring 00:14:10.320 --> 00:14:12.480 everyone out of depression.