The VGBees Podcast

This week, John, Niki, and Lotus cover a busy week of games news, including Microsoft offering voluntary layoffs to 60,000, GameMaker going free for commercial use in 2027, and Anthropic's solemn vow not to allow Claude to simply plagiarize a video game idea. 00:00:00 Intros & voting time 00:10:55 Another few thoughts on BioWare's closure 00:18:25 Eric Bauza passes away at the age of 46 00:20:16 GameMaker going free for commercial use 00:25:32 WB Games begins shadow layoff procedures 00:36:10 Microsoft offering voluntary layoffs to 60,000 00:40:52 S ucker Punch lays off 24 after success of Ghost of Yotei 00:49:56 Dark Messiah of Might & Magic getting robust new fan-made edition 00:53:30 Discord now has Discoverable Servers; is bad 00:58:25 Celeste and Towerfall leaving Xbox over BDS concerns 00:59:43 Anthropic's odd, potentially meaningless guardrail for games plagiarists 01:04:30 Is John taking a portable games console on his trip? 01:07:22 When is the VGBees Cheesecake Factory episode coming? 01:09:00 What's the most interesting burger you've ever had? 01:10:49 Vegan dishes posing as non-vegan dishes 01:15:55 What's the worst burger you've ever had? 01:20:22 If all food cost the same, what would you eat more of? 01:21:22 Which has the better vertical slice: cake or lasagna? 01:23:37 What would your Star Wars Galactic Racer identity be? 01:28:00 Which food is worst for eventually leftovers? 01:29:32 What's the biggest audiences you've ever presented to? 01:32:37 What's the best game to play with a partner, both short and long-term? 01:37:56 Excluding AI, name a company that's cooked but doesn't know it yet? 01:39:18 What warning are you slapping on this episode of VGBees? 01:40:25 When is VGBees' Top 100 Games list coming? 01:41:34 Are there any good games based on horror films? 01:48:54 What's the next franchise to torpedo its goodwill with Roblox ? 01:51:17 What's the most "of X country's culture" a game has ever been? 01:52:31 VGBees Scary Media & Things Corner 02:00:08 What illegal items have you smuggled onto a plane? 02:01:48 Okay, what is John playing on his AYN Thor? 02:07:25 Outro Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot. VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.

This week, Lotus and John (complete with the worst sinus infection you've ever heard, sorry) dove right into the biggest news stories of the week, including the closure of BioWare, 350 additional layoffs across EA, and Steam Next Fest demos being removed out of fear of AI cloning (which we have questions about) 00:00:00 Intro & yes, he knows he sounds like Andre the Giant 00:04:32 Steam Next Fest demos removed citing fear of AI cloning 00:14:05 BioWare shut down among many other layoffs at EA 00:24:05 Lost & Found Co. gets new fun updates 00:26:58 Mon Laferte knows how to engage with the drama of stage performance 00:30:50 RADIOSOL creates an unforgettable sense of scale 00:37:20 Lotus went to Spooky Little Craft Fest! 00:46:09 Have you ever been successfully scammed? 00:48:48 Any advice for personal essay writing? 00:51:40 What's the ideal number of pillows on a bed? 00:52:40 Is a remix just music fanfiction? 00:54:18 What's the best thing about Halloween? 00:55:22 How do you pronounce "Whataburger?" 00:59:06 Review & Outro Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot. VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.

This week, John, Niki, and (for about an hour, at least) Lotus ponder what makes a good games outlet name. Also, perhaps more importantly, Epic's full-throttle commitment to AI game production, Grand Theft Auto VI's potential PC release in Q1 2027, and more Ubisoft studio closures. 00:00:00 Intro & The Pepsi Challenge 00:11:00 Chris Kerr's Vertical Slice launches (and a very, very silly detour about race) 00:25:30 Epic goes all-in on AI; delays Marvel/Star Wars game 00:34:46 Grand Theft Auto VI reported to get Q1 2027 PC release 00:46:43 ESA requests Anbernic to be listed as "superfake;" for some reason tells everyone about FitGirl 00:50:56 More Ubisoft layoff s and studio closures 00:58:22 Why Big Walk isn't on Xbox 01:00:22 Nidhogg , yes Nidhogg , got a big new update this week 01:02:44 How do you deal with feeling deeply responsible for your direct reports at work? 01:09:20 How Fortnite has finally become the parody of itself casual observers have long said it to be 01:36:14 Star Wars Galactic Racer is the perfect size in the perfect form 02:10:50 Why do discussions of systemic issues sometimes get in the way of laying clear individual blame on bad actors? 02:12:42 Why do basketball players seem to be happier than football players? 02:25:45 What would cause this podcast to balloon to four hours? 02:27:28 How would you deal with a sudden shift to the metric system? 02:29:10 Is Biddy Blas a breakout star or an overplayed meme? 02:31:43 How do we feel about little tomatoes? 02:33:35 New review & outro Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot. VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.

This week, Lotus, Niki, and John dove very deep into the surprisingly busy week of games news, including Kotaku's fascinating report about Double Fine's union misfire, Bobby Kotick joining the Skydance Board, and Star Wars Zero Company dev returning more than have their previously furloughed workers. 00:00:00 Intro & vaccine misinformation 00:12:30 Skydance's new games division 00:20:25 Skydance's new Board includes Bobby Kotick 00:26:59 Kotaku's explosive report about Double Fine's failed unionization attempt 00:58:05 NBA 2K25 to be delisted and servers shut down 01:18:38 Gamestop inflating price of pre-owned PlayStation 5 Pros 01:28:50 Wizards of the Coast union is expanding 01:30:07 Bit Reactor returns more than half of furloughed workers to company 01:33:15 Xbox creates new transmedia division XP 01:40:30 Lego Party is the best one of these around 01:43:40 Skate is even weirder than it was when it launched 01:51:50 Halloween costume plans or ideas this year? 01:53:55 Parking is $2 but validated parking is free...are you getting validated? 01:58:20 What would you change about your kitchen? 02:04:35 Gods With Badges is Strange Scaffold's latest...and it's got an interesting backstory 02:23:45 New AI-powered game demo is running $1000/day token bill 02:30:30 Capcom's new AI initiative deserves some clarification 02:51:37 Onimusha: Way of the Sword isn't that hard...yet 02:56:11 The Witcher 3 Remaster reminds us that being down bad for a beautiful woman is a great plot device 03:00:18 Doggy Don't Care puts you in the paws of a destructive pug 03:02:40 Highlights from Falling Block Jam 2026 03:06:37 Which Final Fantasy wardrobe are you copping? 03:12:10 Which fighting game archetype do you gravitate toward? 03:17:07 Crunchy Cheetos or Cheetos Puffs? 03:19:52 New five star review and Outro Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot. VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.

On this week's episode, the crew handle a slow news week by going very, very deep on Mike Tomlin's Minecraft city, 2XKO's missed concurrent player target, and impressions of cozy-yet-hardcore Dressmaker . 00:00:00 Intro, John's bad day, pallbearers for hire 00:26:45 2XKO's wild swing and miss for concurrent players 00:41:09 Mike Tomlin's Minecraft city inspired some big, big opinions from the crew 01:25:50 Control Resonant 's open world features frustrating barriers 01:29:47 Dressmaker might be "cozy," but it's for the sickos 01:37:50 Niki made a photo zine! 01:43:57 HIVE QUESTIONS BEGIN; which person of the VGBees Zord is the bee's knees? 01:47:18 What were you proud of this week? 01:49:00 Which day is worse for being online: April 1 or May 4? 01:52:34 How long do you have to play a game to say you have played it? 01:55:52 How clean are your floors? 02:00:42 Which bread makes the best toast? 02:08:00 What was the last thing you did that you would consider to be whimsical? 02:10:32 Would you eat a hot dog with nothing else on it?; How big is too big for a Metroidvania? 02:12:00 What's your favorite PAC match? 02:15:20 What's the most centrist RPG? 02:17:40 What switches games journalism to games eschatology? 02:23:57 Is taking a pill that was on the floor safe? 02:26:30 Asha Sharma gives you her personal cell number, what are you doing with it? 02:29:00 Why does VGBees not concern itself with playing every new major release? 02:34:11 Is there a button in your house that is satisfying to push? 02:36:25 Mario and Sonic split; how are they splitting the Olympics games? 02:38:38 What's the dumbest media you've enjoyed lately? 02:39:45 How can someone be redeemed and reenter a community after true harm is done?; HIVE QUESTIONS END 02:51:20 Show Reviews & Outro Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot. VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.

This week, Lotus, John, and Niki tackle a very busy week of games news, including a new round of Xbox layoffs, Xbox studio consolidation, Activision making the next Halo game, and Bungie's unvaulting of Destiny 2 content. 00:00:00 Intro & Niki's big trip 00:14:30 Xbox's latest layoffs and consolidations 00:50:42 Undead Labs goes independent; State of Decay 3 still aiming for 2027 release 00:56:55 World's Edge loses half staff and one upcoming project 00:58:34 King union wins their collective bargaining agreement; will avoid strike 01:01:11 A sudden discussion about cigarettes and food waste 01:09:25 The People Make Games Bobby Kotick story 01:17:30 Tim Schafer opens up a bit about Microsoft turmoil 01:21:35 Bungie isn't done with Desinty after all 01:41:40 Lotus finished Roman Sands RE:Build 01:47:47 How Niki made their Annie's Mac n Cheese 01:50:32 Niki played Control Resonant and loves that it is divisive 02:05:45 The Travis Scott track on the GTA6 soundtrack is pretty good 02:07:00 HIVE QUESTIONS 02:46:30 Outro Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot. VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.

This week, Niki, John, and Lotus discussed the biggest news stories of the week, including a look at Zach Cregger's Resident Evil , numerous head-scratching announcements from BlizzCon, and the news that Roblox is working toward a future providing standalone games to multiple platforms. 00:00:00 Intro & sorting through John's will 00:11:30 BlizzCon 2026: games that might not come out and what will we do with three World of Warcraft SKUs? 00:25:30 King's unionized workers are about to strike, which prompted a very deep conversation about the nature of monetized free to play mobile games 01:00:00 Roblox is going to release standalone games among other worrisome updates 01:04:40 Hyper Light Drifter 's Heart Machine is facing closure after publishing pull 01:08:55 Game Developer dot com facing staff shakeup; IGN lays off many long-tenured staff 01:12:25 Resident Evil solidifies Zach Cregger as one of horror's best active directors 01:26:42 Niki bought a PlayStation Portal 01:37:40 Lotus' time so far with Roman Sands RE:Build 01:50:35 Carly Rae Jepsen's new double album is out; John watches the Barenaked Ladies rendition of "O Canada" 02:00:00 HIVE QUESTIONS 02:42:42 Outro Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot. VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.

This week, John, Niki, and Lotus dove into both Nintendo Directs, the stunning news that Sony is dropping Hideo Kojima's next projects, and Blizzard's new union formation just ahead of Blizzcon. 00:00:00 Intro & our new tagline 00:10:03 Ocarina of Time is changing for modern audiences 00:34:54 Samus is hungry in Metroid Ravenous 00:37:00 Kirby and the World Beyond is perhaps the biggest adventure yet in the franchise 00:43:50 Powerwash Simulator dev lays off staff in extremely strange way 00:49:09 Big game-spoiling achievements were leaked from Steam 00:53:55 Blizzard employees form union protecting 1,900 staff 00:59:35 Sony drops Kojima projects, Xbox takes over, big conversation about game direction ensues 01:31:10 Nintendo's tariff sale 01:36:08 Grand Theft Auto VI preview apparently drives 100,000 Netflix sign-ups 01:43:43 Tony is a slice of a biopic that manages to tell a lot of Anthony Bourdain's story 01:48:20 The gang is split on the success of Coyote vs Acme 02:07:45 Niki is very much enjoying the reboot of The Grand Tour 02:18:55 iPhone Duo is weird but might just work 02:27:20 HIVE QUESTIONS 02:42:59 Outro Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot. VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.

This week, Lotus, Niki, and John discuss the Star Wars Zero Company furloughs, the new limits on Xbox Cloud for Game Pass, and the explosive Pablo Torre stories have the hosts asking, "why don't we have this kind of investigative journalism in games?" 00:00:00 Intro & John's extremely beautiful voice 00:07:18 Star Wars Zero Company devs furloughed ahead of game's release 00:15:30 SteamDB is now under Nexus Mods' parent ownership 00:21:10 Xbox introducing harsh limits on cloud gaming on Game Pass 00:31:20 PlayStation says users know they don't own digital games and how common gamers are unequipped to fight this 00:47:50 Pablo Torre exposed the Los Angeles Clippers and now we're wondering where all the investigative gaming journalism is 01:16:20 Niki wants to know why they can't lock into games they want to be excited about 01:22:30 HIVE QUESTIONS 01:36:45 Outro Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot. VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.

This week, Niki, John, and Lotus did their homework on the bizarrely-edited Grand Theft Auto VI reveal on Netflix and also dove into Gamescom announcements, like The Witcher 3 Remastered . 00:00:00 Intro & A Condensed History of How We Know Each Other 00:14:30 Grand Theft Auto VI is every verb 00:44:09 Star Citizen's Squadron 42 delayed again 00:48:25 The Witcher 3 Songs of the Past unearths an ancient evil for Geralt to fight 00:49:48 The Witcher 3 Remastered is a free update with tons of improvements 00:51:42 Final Fantasy 7 Revelation is not pumping the brakes 00:56:25 Blood Dungeon is a survivors-like with platforming finesse 00:59:42 Lotus got rid of her car (finally) 01:16:40 John might have to get litigious over a wheelchair peripheral 01:22:00 Jeff Grubb sent Niki a package 01:23:50 HIVE QUESTIONS 01:51:48 Outro Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot. VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.

This week, Lotus, Niki, and John tackled a jam-packed week of surprising news, including Riot ending 2XKO's development, Twitch's surprise auto-opt-in for GenAI training, and the ongoing and expansive Grand Theft Auto VI leaks. 00:00:00 Intro & fun drug side effects 00:08:00 Twitch's GenAI training program 00:15:15 Roblox being investigated by US Senate for over 65,000 reported incidents of child abuse 00:30:35 New Horizon live service game being rebooted by Sony 00:37:42 Compulsion games now fully independent from Xbox 00:41:02 2XKO ending development in December 00:55:47 Grand Theft Auto VI build appears to be in the hands of a leaker ...could it be an inside job??? (it is reportedly not but we recorded this a day early lol) 01:15:28 Saber CEO apologizes to writer/narrative designer Stella Sacco 01:17:56 Agent 64 Spies Never Die is a competent nod to games that have not aged well 01:20:32 Esoteric Ebb might be a little too esoteric, frankly 01:24:10 We haven't played The Duskbloods , but we talked about it anyway 01:25:45 Entropy is a new RPG from the folks who made Dread Delusion and it is quite good so far 01:32:45 HIVE QUESTIONS 02:07:15 Outro Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot. VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.

This week, John and Niki are joined by Jesse Vitelli , fresh off a five day subathon on his Twitch channel after being laid off at Restart.Run. Together, they take a hard look at Matt Karch's history of odd behavior, Netflix's most recent studio closures, and Star Wars Zero Company . 00:00:00 Intro & Raising Cane's talk 00:11:25 Saber Interactive CEO Matt Karch did something very weird and has done many weird things previously to this new weird thing 00:34:14 Netflix closes Night School, Moonloot, and lays off others 00:41:35 Restart.Run's remaining leadership releases a bizarre statement 00:48:23 Pokémon Pokopia sold five million copies 00:54:00 Take-Two looks to be getting deeper into simulation sports 00:56:00 Wolverine & Fire Emblem Fortune's Weave previews dropped 01:11:20 South of Midnight now listed as self-published, but is that the whole story? 01:12:55 Esoteric Ebb serves the best of Disco Elysium without some of the baggage 01:20:30 Knytt Classic is a faithful update of a 2006 freeware standout 01:23:27 Niki's in the Splatoon Raiders endgame now 01:26:55 Star Wars Zero Company is a lot more than a new XCOM 01:47:00 HIVE QUESTIONS 02:20:55 Outro Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot.

This week, Lotus, Niki, and John discuss their very enjoyable time together with Big Walk , Devolver Digital's move off of the London Stock Exchange, and Netflix's incredibly bizarre six hour rental of Grand Theft Auto VI's deeper dive trailer later this month. 00:00:00 Intro & laundry hamper talk 00:14:30 Netflix's Grand Theft Auto VI "exclusive" look 00:47:26 EA's big deal with the Saudis and Jared Kushner closed 01:12:30 Halo Studios parts ways with contractors 01:20:32 Devolver Digital moves to unlist from London Stock Exchange to go private 01:33:30 Square Enix is collaborating with Google Gemini for AI-based QA 01:40:43 PlayStation by far the most played console in the US 01:41:53 Restart Run staff laid off 01:44:43 Spider-Man: Brand New Day is the best the MCU has been in a very long time 01:51:40 Splatoon Raiders continues to delight us 01:57:37 AYN Thor is probably the best one of these emulation handhelds 02:02:10 The VGBees Crew is having a blast with Big Walk 02:37:25 HIVE QUESTIONS 03:10:57 Reviews & outro Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot. VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.

This week, Lotus, Niki, and John discuss Xbox's 7% revenue decrease year over year, Tencent's alleged "Grand Theft Auto killer" Last Sentinel facing major problems, and impressions of one of 2026's most pleasant surprises, Splatoon Raiders . 00:00:00 Intro & drug testing 00:08:35 Double Fine lays off 23 after going independent 00:13:07 Xbox reports $1.7b loss due to critical business failures 00:17:07 Tencent's Last Sentinel quietly lays off staff, possibly canceled 00:32:50 Super Mario Sunshine coming to Nintendo Switch Online 00:38:55 Splatoon Raiders is what Splatoon probably should've always been 00:54:25 Endacopia is a surrealist point-and-click jaunt 00:58:18 Midnight Moments is a pleasant, but perhaps shallow, cyberpunk diorama-builder 01:01:52 Niki's Apple TV came! 01:08:53 VGBees Baseball Talk 01:20:35 HIVE QUESTIONS 02:40:35 Outro Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot. VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.

This week, John, Lotus, and Niki discuss the Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls open beta, Unity 7's announcement and features, EA's approved sale to the PIF, and Deltarune Chapter 5 . 00:00:00 Intro & some strong Splatoon opinions 00:21:35 Hasbro cancels projects slated for 2028 and beyond 00:26:58 EU approves EA sale to the PIF 00:33:30 Unity 7 announced with some interesting new features in tow 00:42:35 Poinpy is free now and is still great 00:45:08 Hey, Left 4 Dead 2 is still really great, too 00:52:20 Paragnosia is like Five Nights at Freddy's but in a house with demons 00:55:45 Deltarune is stretching its welcome with Niki 00:58:50 Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls balances simplified inputs with nuanced complexity undearneath 01:04:30 Niki tearfully admits they're excited about Wolverine 01:12:06 A detour to Love Island and Ariana Madix's whole deal 01:16:10 HIVE QUESTIONS 02:11:05 Outro Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot. VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.

This week, Niki, Lotus, and John discuss the extremely convenient news dump regarding beloved games in the Fallout franchise, other Xbox teams facing decimation in the initial layoffs, and the God of War show's choice to recast its Kratos. 00:00:00 Intro, new dog, blood stuff, & kidneys 00:22:53 Latin America ID@Xbox teams decimated by layoffs 00:32:48 Inside look at Xbox layoffs from people experiencing it 00:33:48 Fallout deluge of information to distract people from the layoffs 00:46:18 CWA files lawsuits alleging Xbox mishandling of layoffs 00:49:50 College Football 27 removes microtransactions from single player mode 01:03:40 ZA/UM to lay off 32 after slow sales of ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies 01:05:00 God of War show to recast Kratos after injury to Ryan Hurst 01:15:15 Update on Niki's NAS 01:30:40 Update on Niki & NBA 2K26 1:40:40 HIVE QUESTIONS 02:32:30 Outro & Interview Shows! Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot. VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.

Last year, we chatted with Joe from hit YouTube channel Joe Is Hungry . Now that we have this fun new interview format show officially on the feed, I decided it was time to have him back on! 00:00:00 Intro 00:01:33 Joe's wife still plays games 00:02:50 Why do gaming communities seem to gravitate toward Joe? 00:08:10 Does Joe keep tabs on other food reviewers? 00:11:50 What does attention from other channels do for Joe? 00:13:18 How does Joe keep up with the algorithm and how does he engage with AI? 00:17:20 TikTok monetization 00:22:00 How does Joe deal with criticism online? 00:25:00 A quick Georgia geography lesson & lamenting Whataburger going corporate 00:28:35 Detour to talk about Cook Out & crowd control 00:32:25 Joe's car setup and new technology 00:35:10 Joe developing his stop motion animation skills 00:41:15 Adopting new elements to avoid stagnation 00:45:30 Joe's relationship with Shadow Joe 00:47:20 Joe's spicy food tolerance 00:50:10 Joe's relationship to aging and existing online 00:51:20 Back to the TikTok algorithm & pricing 00:54:18 Balancing creativity and growth metrics 00:57:15 The brief shelf life of food reviews 01:00:18 Is YouTube Joe's most physically taxing job yet? 01:00:25 How Joe's local celebrity has impacted the work 01:04:15 What is Joe eating when he's not eating fast food? 01:06:25 Joe rails against Amazon; an ode to Micro Center 01:13:10 Where does Joe see the channel in one year? 01:18:05 Outro Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot. VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.

This week, Niki, Lotus, and John address the sweeping, disastrous layoffs and closures stemming from the "reset" Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has started. 00:00:00 Intro & Cup Talk 00:11:40 Xbox layoffs by the numbers 00:14:55 Id Software decimated by the moves 00:18:52 Obsidian loses staff and shifts focus to Fallout (a previous report that Avowed 2 has been canceled has been refuted by the developer since this recording ) 00:25:32 Zenimax loses over 350 employees 00:29:11 350 others are left without jobs from divested and sold studios 00:32:47 IOI closes Istanbul studio after Xbox divestment 00:41:18 Hardship fund created for laid off developers 00:47:35 Bethesda union holding protests at different cities July 15 00:55:00 Niki proposes an analogy to the US Men's Soccer Team 01:02:08 Do average gamers know or care that this is all happening? 01:14:45 Niki has returned to NBA 2K26 and is having fun now 01:24:55 HIVE QUESTIONS 02:05:00 Outro & Interview Shows Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot. VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.

Hey! It's a brand new show here on The VGBees Podcast feed. We'll be taking the time every once in a while to sit down and go deep with interesting figures around the games industry and beyond. Our very first guest is Phil Salvador, Library Director of the Video Game History Foundation. 00:00:00 Intro 00:02:05 What is the Video Game History Foundation? 00:03:45 What has surprised Phil the most about the work of games preservation since joining? 00:05:37 What in Phil's life created this fascination with historical preservation? 00:08:11 What's the last thing Phil pulled out of the archive that surprised or delighted him? 00:11:20 How does Phil feel about the end of physical game discs? 00:20:32 Do major games corporations show signs of meeting preservationists halfway? 00:23:04 Notes about the 2023 study Phil wrote about pre-2010 game availability 00:28:50 Is there a notable distinction between preservation and accessibility? 00:32:27 What is piracy's role in game preservation? 00:39:44 What kind of legal team does VGHF engage? 00:42:53 Phil digs into one of his favorite collections added since the 2025 launch of the digital archive 00:49:55 Does the VGHF and its digital archive care about growing its audience? 00:54:58 What is the path from collection acquisition to availability online in the digital archive? 00:59:45 What kind of backend does the digital archive use to organize the collection? 01:02:15 What's the most technically harrowing preservation project VGHF has taken on? 01:09:00 How does the archive decide what is worthy of inclusion? 01:13:15 How is the archive's magazine collection shaping up? 01:17:24 Where does Phil see the foundation and the archive in five years? 01:20:10 John looks up Shenmue in the digital archive 01:22:14 How can you help the Video Game History Foundation and its mission? 01:25:10 Outro Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot. VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.

This week, Lotus, Niki, and John dive deep into the end of physical discs for Sony (and likely Xbox), the impending closures of the PS3/Vita digital stores, and the potential for Arkane to be on the Xbox reset chopping block. 00:00:00 Intro & everything you need to know about donuts 00:18:50 Sony stopping disc support in 2028 ; the gang goes long on the loss of physical games media 01:06:30 Sony is also closing the PS3/Vita stores 01:15:05 IOI to lay off staff on Project Fantasy, which was backed by Xbox 01:21:07 Arkane may be part of the upcoming closures at Xbox 01:25:55 Memory manufacturers the target of a class action lawsuit alleging price fixing 01:29:55 Summer Games Done Quick 2026 Preview 01:31:35 Star Wars Galactic Racer is the VGBees Game of Show at Summer Game Fest 2026 01:40:20 Anode Heart: Layer Null strips away the mess from card battling RPGs 01:51:54 A very quick note about the AYN THOR 01:56:20 Niki is dipping back into Slay the Spire 2 01:58:07 Virtua Fighter 5 REVO World Stage adds a welcome single player mode to the game 02:02:30 HIVE QUESTIONS 02:50:12 Outro Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot. VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.