Try Factor at FACTORMEALS.com/fps50off and get 50% off your first box plus free shipping. Thanks to Factor for sponsoring FPS!

--

This week we react to the Sony State of Play, take a deep-dive look at Avowed and chat with Jakub Szamałek, formerly a lead writer from CDPR who work on The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, and now the Narrative Director at Rebel Wolves, the studio comprised of former CDPR talent who just revealed their first game: Blood of the Dawnwalker. Great to have Alanah Pearce along for the ride, too.

Note: This episode was recorded Wed 12th of Feb, 2025.

--

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro with Guest Host Alanah Pearce

08:37 Sony State of Play Recap

46:55 Factor (ad)

50:24 User Question 1

01:06:22 Interview with Rebel Wolves Narrative Director Jakub Szamałek

01:42:26 User Question 2

01:48:03 What We've Been Playing

02:17:16 Avowed Discussion

02:56:27 Show And Tell

03:08:33 Wrap Up

--

If you wanna check out our brand new newsletter, you can do so here: https://friendspersecond.substack.com/

Listen to the Friends Per Second Podcast on your favourite podcast platform: https://linktr.ee/friendspersecond

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date: https://friendspersecond.substack.com/

Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/friendspersecond

--

Let's meet our hosts!

- Jake Baldino (aka the Before You Buy Guy) is pretty much the most watched reviewer on YouTube across both Gameranx and his personal channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/JakeBaldino). If you're obsessed with Delorians, The Mummy and Pizza you can discuss that stuff with him directly over on Twitter: @JakeBaldino

- Lucy James is a Senior Producer at Gamespot and a Creative Producer at Giant Bomb. She's actually, like, experienced and credentialed and has real life skills and stuff, while the rest of the gang would be funemployed if the YT algorithm didn't kiss them for random, inexplicable reasons.

- Skill Up used to work at McDonalds but he got fired for skimming too many chicken nuggets. He says he regrets it since he hasn't had a better job since.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Head to https://buyraycon.com/friends to get up to 20% off sitewide for the perfect gift. Thanks to Raycon for sponsoring FPS!

--

Subscribe to the FPS Podcast Highlights channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@UC82taKHHS0vOY-b8r311Ijg

--

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

08:37 Xbox Developer Direct Recap

31:31 Sony News

42:26 Assassin's Creed Shadows Thoughts

01:05:20 Raycon (ad)

01:08:13 User Question 1

01:16:17 User Question 2

01:23:17 Bigmode Discussion with Leah

01:44:22 What We've Been Playing

02:11:08 Show and Tell

--

If you wanna check out our brand new newsletter, you can do so here: https://friendspersecond.substack.com/

Listen to the Friends Per Second Podcast on your favourite podcast platform: https://linktr.ee/friendspersecond

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date: https://friendspersecond.substack.com/

Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/friendspersecond

--

Let's meet our hosts!

- Jake Baldino (aka the Before You Buy Guy) is pretty much the most watched reviewer on YouTube across both Gameranx and his personal channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/JakeBaldino). If you're obsessed with Delorians, The Mummy and Pizza you can discuss that stuff with him directly over on Twitter: @JakeBaldino

- Lucy James is a Senior Producer at Gamespot and a Creative Producer at Giant Bomb. She's actually, like, experienced and credentialed and has real life skills and stuff, while the rest of the gang would be funemployed if the YT algorithm didn't kiss them for random, inexplicable reasons.

- Skill Up used to work at McDonalds but he got fired for skimming too many chicken nuggets. He says he regrets it since he hasn't had a better job since.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Use our Displate code FRIENDS at checkout for exclusive discounts on your order at https://displate.com/@friendspersecond - Thanks to Displate for sponsoring FPS!

--

Try AG1 here http://drinkag1.com/FRIENDS and if you’re a new subscriber you’ll get a FREE Welcome Kit, a bottle of D3K2 AND 5 travel packs in your first box. Thanks to AG1 for sponsoring FPS!

--

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro / Welcome Back!

13:18 Displate (ad)

16:46 What We've Been Playing / Doing Over Break

01:07:25 AG1 (ad)

01:10:30 User Question Bonanza!

01:43:52 Show and Tell

01:55:22 Wrap Up

--

If you wanna check out our brand new newsletter, you can do so here: https://friendspersecond.substack.com/

Listen to the Friends Per Second Podcast on your favourite podcast platform: https://linktr.ee/friendspersecond

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date: https://friendspersecond.substack.com/

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheFPSPodcast

Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/friendspersecond

--

Let's meet our hosts!

- Jake Baldino (aka the Before You Buy Guy) is pretty much the most watched reviewer on YouTube across both Gameranx and his personal channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/JakeBaldino). If you're obsessed with Delorians, The Mummy and Pizza you can discuss that stuff with him directly over on Twitter: @JakeBaldino

- Lucy James is a Senior Producer at Gamespot and a Creative Producer at Giant Bomb. She's actually, like, experienced and credentialed and has real life skills and stuff, while the rest of the gang would be funemployed if the YT algorithm didn't kiss them for random, inexplicable reasons.

- Skill Up used to work at McDonalds but he got fired for skimming too many chicken nuggets. He says he regrets it since he hasn't had a better job since.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you wanna check out our brand new newsletter, you can do so here: https://friendspersecond.substack.com/

--

Let's meet our hosts!

- Jake Baldino (aka the Before You Buy Guy) is pretty much the most watched reviewer on YouTube across both Gameranx and his personal channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/JakeBaldino). If you're obsessed with Delorians, The Mummy and Pizza you can discuss that stuff with him directly over on Twitter: @JakeBaldino

- Lucy James is a Senior Producer at Gamespot and a Creative Producer at Giant Bomb. She's actually, like, experienced and credentialed and has real life skills and stuff, while the rest of the gang would be funemployed if the YT algorithm didn't kiss them for random, inexplicable reasons. 

- Skill Up used to work at McDonalds but he got fired for skimming too many chicken nuggets. He says he regrets it since he hasn't had a better job since. 

--

Listen to the Friends Per Second Podcast on your favourite podcast platform: https://linktr.ee/friendspersecond

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date: https://friendspersecond.substack.com/

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheFPSPodcast

Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/friendspersecond

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Head to https://buyraycon.com/friends to get up to 25% off everything for the ultimate holiday gift. Thanks to Raycon for sponsoring FPS!

--

This week we're joined by a number of special guests. Michael Higham from IGN joins us to talk through STALKER 2. We've all played it and all have wildly different takes on it (for both technical and non-technical reasons). After that we're joined by Frederick Thylander and Drew Rechner of Ubisoft Massive, who right now are leading up efforts fix some of the core issues that plagued Star Wars Outlaws at launch. Finally, Alanah Pearce joins us to chat about PlayStation and Xbox handhelds, as well as what we've all been playing this past two weeks. 

--

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

05:02 STALKER 2

43:15 Ad - Raycon

45:47 User Question

53:34 Star Wars Outlaws Interview

01:22:44 PlayStation and Xbox handhelds

01:38:58 User Question

01:47:54 What we've played

02:15:50 Show and Tell

02:31:20 Wrap up

--

If you wanna check out our brand new newsletter, you can do so here: https://friendspersecond.substack.com/

--

Let's meet our hosts!

- Jake Baldino (aka the Before You Buy Guy) is pretty much the most watched reviewer on YouTube across both Gameranx and his personal channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/JakeBaldino). If you're obsessed with Delorians, The Mummy and Pizza you can discuss that stuff with him directly over on Twitter: @JakeBaldino

- Lucy James is a Senior Producer at Gamespot and a Creative Producer at Giant Bomb. She's actually, like, experienced and credentialed and has real life skills and stuff, while the rest of the gang would be funemployed if the YT algorithm didn't kiss them for random, inexplicable reasons. 

- Skill Up used to work at McDonalds but he got fired for skimming too many chicken nuggets. He says he regrets it since he hasn't had a better job since. 

--

Listen to the Friends Per Second Podcast on your favourite podcast platform: https://linktr.ee/friendspersecond

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date: https://friendspersecond.substack.com/

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheFPSPodcast

Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/friendspersecond

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Try AG1 here http://drinkag1.com/FRIENDS and get a FREE 1-year supply of Vitamin D3+K2 AND 5 free AG1 Travel Packs with your first subscription. Thanks to AG1 for sponsoring FPS!

--

This week we're joined by John Linneman of Digital Foundry to discuss the PS5 Pro. It's been out for a few weeks now so we wanted to check in on how it's been doing post launch, how the library of games is performing and guess what the future holds. Plus we're lucky enough to be joined by Yevhenii Kulyk of GSC Game World, who right now is putting the finishing touches on STALKER 2. We talk through the challenging road to launch, what players should expect on day one and what the future holds for both STALKER 2 and the studio. 

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

05:15 PS5 Pro Discussion with John Linneman of Digital Foundry

45:48 AG1 (ad)

47:57 User Question 1

56:13 S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 Chat with Technical Producer Yevhenii Kulyk 

01:12:20 User Question 2

01:20:55 What We've Been Playing

01:59:01 Show and Tell

02:12:09 Wrap Up

--

If you wanna check out our brand new newsletter, you can do so here: https://friendspersecond.substack.com/

--

Let's meet our hosts!

- Jake Baldino (aka the Before You Buy Guy) is pretty much the most watched reviewer on YouTube across both Gameranx and his personal channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/JakeBaldino). If you're obsessed with Delorians, The Mummy and Pizza you can discuss that stuff with him directly over on Twitter: @JakeBaldino

- Lucy James is a Senior Producer at Gamespot and a Creative Producer at Giant Bomb. She's actually, like, experienced and credentialed and has real life skills and stuff, while the rest of the gang would be funemployed if the YT algorithm didn't kiss them for random, inexplicable reasons. 

- Skill Up used to work at McDonalds but he got fired for skimming too many chicken nuggets. He says he regrets it since he hasn't had a better job since. 

--

Listen to the Friends Per Second Podcast on your favourite podcast platform: https://linktr.ee/friendspersecond

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date: https://friendspersecond.substack.com/

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheFPSPodcast

Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/friendspersecond

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Visit http://buyraycon.com/friends to get at least 15% of your purchase of the all new Everyday Earbuds. 

--

This week we're joined by Paul Tassi of Forbes for a deep dive, spoiler free discussion on Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Paul liked it, Skill Up didn't, Lucy's kinda in the middle and Jake hasn't played it, so we cover a lot of ground from a lot of different perspectives. We're also joined by Ryan Payton, head of the studio that just put out the truly excellent Batman Arkham Shadow. He chats with us about his career, his thoughts on the VR industry and what it was like to follow in Rocksteady's footsteps. 

--

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

03:29 Dragon Age Discussion with Paul Tassi

49:18 Raycon (ad)

52:10 User Question

58:38 Batman Arkham Shadow with Ryan Payton

01:31:16 What We've Been Playing

02:01:25 Show and Tell

02:13:16 Wrap Up

--

If you wanna check out our brand new newsletter, you can do so here: https://friendspersecond.substack.com/

--

Let's meet our hosts!

- Jake Baldino (aka the Before You Buy Guy) is pretty much the most watched reviewer on YouTube across both Gameranx and his personal channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/JakeBaldino). If you're obsessed with Delorians, The Mummy and Pizza you can discuss that stuff with him directly over on Twitter: @JakeBaldino

- Lucy James is a Senior Producer at Gamespot and a Creative Producer at Giant Bomb. She's actually, like, experienced and credentialed and has real life skills and stuff, while the rest of the gang would be funemployed if the YT algorithm didn't kiss them for random, inexplicable reasons. 

- Skill Up used to work at McDonalds but he got fired for skimming too many chicken nuggets. He says he regrets it since he hasn't had a better job since. 

--

Listen to the Friends Per Second Podcast on your favourite podcast platform: https://linktr.ee/friendspersecond

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date: https://friendspersecond.substack.com/

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheFPSPodcast

Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/friendspersecond

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Try AG1 here http://drinkag1.com/FRIENDS and get a FREE 1-year supply of Vitamin D3+K2 AND 5 free AG1 Travel Packs with your first subscription. Thanks to AG1 for sponsoring FPS!

--

This week we do a spoiler free deep dive into Metaphor: Fantazio, and we're lucky enough to by joined by Jess Cogswell who reviewed the game for Gamespot (scoring it a perfect 10, no less). We're also joined by the one and only Shawn Layden, former President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment. Shawn is in Singapore for Gamescom Asia and shares his thoughts on not only the rapidly evolving South East Asian gaming market, but also the broader gaming industry as it confronts things like rising development costs, declining console sales and the chase for the next live service white whale. 

--

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

05:29 Ralph's TGS Wrap Up

17:27 State of the Industry Chat with Shawn Layden 

38:36 AG1 (ad)

41:31 User Question

51:13 Metaphor ReFantazio Chat with Jess Cogswell of Gamespot

01:31:33 What We've Been Playing

02:12:41 Show and Tell

02:28:08 Wrap Up

--

If you wanna check out our brand new newsletter, you can do so here: https://friendspersecond.substack.com/

--

Let's meet our hosts!

- Jake Baldino (aka the Before You Buy Guy) is pretty much the most watched reviewer on YouTube across both Gameranx and his personal channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/JakeBaldino). If you're obsessed with Delorians, The Mummy and Pizza you can discuss that stuff with him directly over on Twitter: @JakeBaldino

- Lucy James is a Senior Producer at Gamespot and a Creative Producer at Giant Bomb. She's actually, like, experienced and credentialed and has real life skills and stuff, while the rest of the gang would be funemployed if the YT algorithm didn't kiss them for random, inexplicable reasons. 

- Skill Up used to work at McDonalds but he got fired for skimming too many chicken nuggets. He says he regrets it since he hasn't had a better job since. 

--

Listen to the Friends Per Second Podcast on your favourite podcast platform: https://linktr.ee/friendspersecond

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date: https://friendspersecond.substack.com/

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheFPSPodcast

Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/friendspersecond

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Go to BUY RAYCON dot com slash friends TODAY to get twenty-to-FIFTY percent off, sitewide! That’s right, you’ll get up to FIFTY percent off everything on Raycon’s website when you go to BUY RAYCON dot com slash friends. BUY RAYCON dot com slash friends.

--

This week we're joined by the charming Ben Hanson from @minnmax (a truly top tier gaming podcast, we don't mind telling you), plus Jason Schreier joins to discuss his recently released book: 'Play Nice: The Rise, Fall and Future of Blizzard Entertainment'

--

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro / Catch Up with Guest Host Ben Hanson of MinnMax

15:19 User Question

43:21 Raycon (ad) 

45:29 Interview with Jason Schreier About His Book, "Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment"

01:26:54 What We've Been Playing

01:56:08 Show and Tell

02:02:44 Wrap Up

--

If you wanna check out our brand new newsletter, you can do so here: https://friendspersecond.substack.com/

--

Let's meet our hosts!

- Jake Baldino (aka the Before You Buy Guy) is pretty much the most watched reviewer on YouTube across both Gameranx and his personal channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/JakeBaldino). If you're obsessed with Delorians, The Mummy and Pizza you can discuss that stuff with him directly over on Twitter: @JakeBaldino

- Lucy James is a Senior Producer at Gamespot and a Creative Producer at Giant Bomb. She's actually, like, experienced and credentialed and has real life skills and stuff, while the rest of the gang would be funemployed if the YT algorithm didn't kiss them for random, inexplicable reasons. 

- Skill Up used to work at McDonalds but he got fired for skimming too many chicken nuggets. He says he regrets it since he hasn't had a better job since. 

--

Listen to the Friends Per Second Podcast on your favourite podcast platform: https://linktr.ee/friendspersecond

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date: https://friendspersecond.substack.com/

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheFPSPodcast

Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/friendspersecond

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Try AG1 here http://drinkag1.com/FRIENDS and get a FREE 1-year supply of Vitamin D3+K2 AND 5 free AG1 Travel Packs with your first subscription. Thanks to AG1 for sponsoring FPS!

--

Use code FRIENDSPERSECOND at the link here to get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan: https://incogni.com/friendspersecond. Thanks to our friends Incogni for sponsoring this episode! 

--

A big thanks to Austin and @MrMattyPlays for joining us this week, as well as members of the Ara History Untold dev team: Matt Turner and Gabriela Leskur. 

--

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

05:35 User Question 1

29:02 Dragon Age: The Veilguard Impressions with Austin and MrMattyPlays

58:37 AG1 (ad)

01:00:36 Dragon Age Wrap Up

01:04:55 User Question 2

01:14:46 Interview with ARA: History Untold team: Executive Producer Matt Turnbull and Narrative and Experience Lead Gabriela Leskur

01:39:27 Incogni (ad)

01:41:49 What We've Been Playing

02:11:24 Show and Tell

02:20:38 Wrap Up

--

If you wanna check out our brand new newsletter, you can do so here: https://friendspersecond.substack.com/

--

Let's meet our hosts!

- Jake Baldino (aka the Before You Buy Guy) is pretty much the most watched reviewer on YouTube across both Gameranx and his personal channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/JakeBaldino). If you're obsessed with Delorians, The Mummy and Pizza you can discuss that stuff with him directly over on Twitter: @JakeBaldino

- Lucy James is a Senior Producer at Gamespot and a Creative Producer at Giant Bomb. She's actually, like, experienced and credentialed and has real life skills and stuff, while the rest of the gang would be funemployed if the YT algorithm didn't kiss them for random, inexplicable reasons. 

- Skill Up used to work at McDonalds but he got fired for skimming too many chicken nuggets. He says he regrets it since he hasn't had a better job since. 

--

Listen to the Friends Per Second Podcast on your favourite podcast platform: https://linktr.ee/friendspersecond

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date: https://friendspersecond.substack.com/

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheFPSPodcast

Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/friendspersecond

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices