The Ramblepack Podcast

It has been a rough week for the games industry as a whole. Multiple studios facing layoffs, Pokemon Company running out of Van Gogh collab merch, and Sony's president is stepping down.

The Activision-Blizzard & Microsoft merger was approved by the UK's CMA and looks to close some time in October. Call of Duty seems like it's making its way to Game Pass already as well. Capcom wants to be seen as equals in the gaming markets and Destiny has been fending off a weeks-long DDoS attack it seems.

What a week (or two since we missed last week) huh? Gearbox studios may be up for sale, Tears of the Kingdom isn't getting any DLC, unfortunately, but we're getting a Sora amiibo. Xbox also had some documents leak and Unity creators proposed changes to their fees, upsetting many devs in the process.

Adam is in love with Starfield. That's it.

PS plus subscribers will be seeing a price increase on all tiers of the services, Volition is being shuttered due to Embracer Group's restructuring. There was a new Super Mario Wonder showcase and Stray is also getting its own animated movie!

Starfield's specs released, as well as a prolific Starfield leaker is facing up to 12 years in jail. September's PS Plus Essential game leaked, Xbox & Larian Studios worked out an agreement to bring Baldur's Gate 3 to Xbox this year, and we're getting a Nintendo Direct covering Super Mario Bros. Wonder soon!

It's the end of an era; Charles Martinet will no longer be the voice of Mario. Ubisoft is getting an interesting addition thanks to the Microsoft and Activision Blizzard merger, Sony's "Project Q" $200 price point, and Gamescom is on!

We finally found out who Embracer Group's partner was, Mike's excited about Final Fantasy Ever Crisis releasing soon, and Lollipop Chainsaw got delayed. Xbox implemented a new strike system for community standard violators, and we spend a while discussing the Baldur's Gate 3 video article from IGN and responses to it.

Devolver Digital had a mini delayed game showcase highlighting some games that were delayed until 2024 and a refresher on games that will be coming out in 2023. Wrestlequest was also delayed, Keith David will be taking over as Commander Zavala, and 2 Pokemon games are coming to the Switch Online.

Xbox and Sony have reached a deal regarding Call of Duty in the wake of the FTC ruling, while Activision Blizzard and Microsoft extended the deadline for the acquisition. We also say goodbye to Xbox Live Gold and learn about the newest option.

After some technical issues, we're back for more this week! After a week of of trials in the FTC and Microsoft merger, we have the judgement. Some of The Boy's characters are finding their way into Call of Duty, Yuji Naka's sentencing was announced recently, and Naughty Dog's co-president is retiring.