The Ramblepack Podcast

It's been a busy week with the FTC V Microsoft trial happening. Nintendo also had a direct with new game reveals, Niantic is laying off more than 200 employees, and the trials may have given us a little insight into some release windows.

Immortals of Aveum got their release date pushed a few weeks into August now, while McDonald's released an in-browser Gameboy Color styled game for Grimace's 12th birthday. Overwatch is taking the cancelled story mode and charging $15 for access to a new seasonal story mode, Embracer Group is going through layoffs throughout the rest of the year, and Microsoft signed a $30 million deal with People Can Fly to create a wholly new Xbox game.

We had our week of games showcases this week! Guerilla Games, Wholesome Games, Summer Games Fest, Xbox + Bethesda and more. We do our best to cover all that was shown and talk about our standouts and what we're most excited for from each one.

Sony had a full hour showcase with a 10-minute extended gameplay sequence for Spider-Man 2. The Romanian Competition Council believes Sony is "abusing" the games industry with their market position, SGDQ started this week raising money for Doctor's Without Borders, we'll get to see Cyberpunk's Phantom Liberty DLC soon, and Alan Wake 2 will be digital only to keep the price of the game at $60.

Devolver announced a showcase for June while Sony is preparing for their own this Wednesday (5/24). Tears of the Kingdom had a huge release with one "wet noodle" among reviewers, Mortal Kombat got a teaser trailer, and Overwatch is cutting back on game expectations.

We had Bryan back on this episode to talk all things Destiny! With Mike getting more and more into the game, we decided to sit down and discuss the lore and world of Destiny with him and try to make sense of it all.

The UK's regulatory board gave a no-go to the Activision-Blizzard acquisition, setting Microsoft to repeal the decision. Sony has a new studio acquisition itself, Sega has officially become a union, and Ubisoft+ joins Microsoft on the Xbox and PC.

E3 2023 has officially been cancelled! Final Fantasy XVI has gone gold, Vampire Survivors is getting a second DLC, there was some pretty funny and neat April Fools "announcements" this year, and Pokemon Go has upset the community with some announced changes coming to the game.

We lost a prolific actor and voice actor last week, new cheat codes uncovered for Gran Turismo after 20 years, and Ubisoft has now pulled out of E3. We also talk a little about AI use in games and cover some of the Nexon/IronMace allegations.