Strauss Zelnick, the CEO of 2K, was asked about the future of Borderlands 4, and he says it’s not going anywhere. I discuss the angst around why it would be a problem if BL4 were to go anywhere.

Gears of War E-Day’s open beta is happening and there’s a Tweet going around with a pro players’ moves. It brings up a problem with competitive games, but I think it might be one area where AI could actually be helpful.

Leave a voice message with your thoughts, and I’ll feature the best ones in the next episode: https://www.speakpipe.com/replayvalue

Sources

‘We’re Totally Supporting It’ — Take-Two Boss Says Borderlands 4 Performance ‘Has Not Affected Our Plans at All’ as Fans Await Year 2 Roadmap

It's 2026 and People Are Arguing Over Sweaty Gears of War Movement Again

Blizzard president, Johanna Faries, mentioned in a company email that leaked that Blizzard is the top-performing company at Xbox. I don’t think it’s a surprise, and other live-services should follow Blizzard instead of Fortnite and Epic.

Blizzard is now the "top performing" Xbox studio, says internal emails — as the Overwatch-maker ends FY26 over-delivering on Microsoft's projections

Capcom told investors that they wouldn't be impacted much by the death of physical games. It's an unfortunate truth, but that's I think it's important to fight for a digital future that includes ownership.

Share your thoughts: https://www.speakpipe.com/replayvalueDeath of Physical Games Will Not Have a 'Significant Impact' On Sales, Resident Evil Publisher Capcom Says

Death of Physical Games Will Not Have a 'Significant Impact' On Sales, Resident Evil Publisher Capcom Says

EA is officially owned by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, private equity company Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners, run by Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. Now what's going to happen to EA? I think EA will become irrelevant.

What do you think will happen with EA? Feel free to share your thoughts with a voice message and have a chance to be featured in the next episode: https://www.speakpipe.com/replayvalue

Reads

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/05/saudi-wealth-fund-jared-kushner-ea-sports-deal.html

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/electronic-arts-completes-55bn-acquisition-ceo-announces-senior-leadership-changes

Rumors are swirling about Xbox's disc-to-digital future. The specifics are up in the air, but Xbox is certainly doing something. I think it could pave the way for a digital secondhand market.

Do you think a digital secondhand market is possible? Share your thoughts with a quick voicemail: https://www.speakpipe.com/replayvalue

Leak concerning Xbox One and 360 games: https://x.com/eXtas1stv/status/2084103712796975121

The Verge's reporting on Xbox's disc-to-digital initiative:

https://www.theverge.com/report/960173/microsoft-xbox-disc-to-digital-feature-physical-game-collection

https://www.theverge.com/games/974544/microsoft-xbox-360-games-pc-disc-digital-program

In a memo to shareholders, Asha Sharma subtly laid out her strategy to reach 1 billion daily active users on Xbox and 500 million by 2030. I think it's crazy, but could actually be possible. Welcome to the first episode of the Replay Value podcast!

Leave a voice message to share your thoughts and potentially be featured in the next episode: https://www.speakpipe.com/replayvalue

CNBC article: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/30/microsoft-xbox-asha-sharma-2030-plans.html

I suppose you could consider this a proper podcast. I ask three questions today:

1. Would Destiny 3 have saved Bungie?

2. What is Asha Sharma's plans again?

3. Are Steam's AI disclosures irresponsible?

You can read the stories related to each topic below.

Bungie Is Laying Off 'Most Of' The Destiny 2 Development Team - Game Informer

Updated Xbox Console Prices - Xbox Wire

Epic Games CEO says it’s ‘really irresponsible’ of Steam to make studios disclose AI use - VGC

Tim Sweeney on the future of games, AI, and whether Valve will ever join forces with Epic: 'It's now clear that nobody's going to end up with an absolute monopoly' - PC Gamer

It's reported that Microsoft may spin off Xbox. Should they?

Also, a lot of layoffs are happening and potentially will happen. I wrote a story where I talked with developers about if there is a light at the end of the tunnel. They had a lot of interesting things to say. I learned a lot, and I think it would be good to read.

It requires a free sign-up to read, FYI.

Asha Sharma, the CEO of Xbox, executed Order 66 on Compulsion Games, Double Fine, and Ninja Theory as part of her "reset." Is she making smart moves?