As we wade through the mundanity of the turn-of-the-year -- when very few new games come to market and we work through our respective backlogs -- hope sits on the horizon. After all, the drab is about to turn into the delightful with the release or near-release of the likes of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, The Last of Us: Part II Remastered, Granblue Fantasy Relink, Persona 3 Remake, and Helldivers 2, among others. And as we look forward to all of that, we have news galore to cover, too. Square Enix's Splatoon-like Foamstars is coming to PlayStation+ day-and-date, but is its mild use of AI art egregious? (And what about its strange proximity to Helldivers 2?) Ubisoft+ is being reformed as a more value-rich proposition for consumers, so why did so many outlets blatantly take one of their executives out of context following a recent interview? PlayStation Productions is pursuing an Until Dawn film based on the cult-hit PS4-exclusive horror game, but are we starting to beat a dead horse? Plus: Listener inquiries! Are we getting too fast and loose with the term 'live service'? Why do some developers and publishers choose to hire diversity consultants? Should we expect an exorbitant number of Steamboat Willie games in the near-to-mid future? Will Chris continue to be bullied over his love of Julia Louis-Dreyfus?

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices