Splash Damage

Despite assurances that Assassin’s Creed Shadows was nothing but a success, Ubisoft has canceled six projects, delayed others, and closed two studios, plummeting their stock. We discuss the company’s recent and future woes along with the diversity of the upcoming Fable game, the poor sales of Outer Worlds 2, Highguard’s mid reception, and plenty more!

Lords of the Fallen 2 developer and publisher Hexworks and CI Games are getting flak in the video game industry for a single tweet that confirmed the game will feature attractive characters and outfits. We discuss how far video games have fallen that this creative decision is worthy of ridicule, along with Sony’s AI patent that will censor games in real time, Ubisoft admitting Assassin’s Creed Shadows was controversial, how ugly Farah is in the new Prince of Persia remake, and more!

By all accounts, this should have been a big year for gaming, but recent releases such as Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Ghost of Yotei, and Outer Worlds 2 are not selling as well as developers (and shareholders) perhaps hoped. We discuss why they might be underperforming along with Ubisoft’s potential pending destruction, a Eurogamer reviewer who admitted to regretting giving Dragon Age: The Veilguard such a high score, the Steam Machine and what that means for Xbox, and more!

CNN wrote a lengthy piece illustrating how the male gaze is returning, bringing with it the things human beings actually find attractive in media. We talk about this welcomed return to sanity along with Microsoft continuing to kill the Xbox brand by increasing console and Game Pass subscription costs, EA being sold to Saudis, and the weird social justice games indoctrinating children in Roblox.

Several game developers, including a prominent one behind Ghost of Yotei, mocked Charlie Kirk’s assassination. We discuss the irony of “anti”-fascists celebrating a political opponent being killed for his free speech along with Sweet Baby Inc.’s hilarious take on colonialism in cozy games, Metal Gear Solid Delta’s trigger warning, the failure of Relooted, and more.