Hello! This week, John and Niki discuss the most explosive game release of the year, Hollow Knight: Silksong. 500,000 concurrents? Broken shops? Unfathomable discourse? You got it, baby.

That, and:

• The downfall of games crit
• The value of asking piracy forum dwellers to weigh in on the most popular game of the year
• 007 First Light gameplay
• Football Manager 26
• College basketball coming to NBA 2K
• Firaxis layoffs
• Kirby and the Forgotten Land for Switch 2

Also, we answer your HIVE QUESTIONS from our lovely Discord.

This week, John is back at full strength and here to discuss all the games Niki has played! Among the discussion points:

• Layoffs at Giant Squid & Rec Room
• Conversation boundaries and etiquette
• Sword of the Sea
• We Are OFK
• Circuits Royale
• Pokemon Red Rescue Team
• Pokemon Rescue Team DX
• Metal Gear Solid 3 Delta
• and more!

Also, we answer your BURNING HIVE QUESTIONS from our lovely Discord.

With John on the International Space Station, Niki and Lotus talk all things Gamescom 2025, including:

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
• Black Myth: Zhong Kui
• Resident Evil Requiem
• World of Tanks: Heat
• Ghost of Yotei
• World of Warcraft Midnight
• UNBEATABLE
• John Carpenter's Toxic Commando
• Hollow Knight: Silksong
• LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight

Plus, a big, big dive into why Lotus is DONE with Marvel Rivals.

Also, we answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS directly from our Discord.

This week, Niki and John are joined by Lotus, who has a lot of smart ideas about how messy the "reporting" around itch.io has gotten, frozen alcohol, and whole word comprehension. Also:

• the breakdown of "games journalist" as an idea
• Hardspace Shipbreaker goes to Blackbird 100%
• common core math
• drinking in parking lots
• Frankenstein shoes
• adult braces
• getting addicted to going to the hospital

We also answer your BURNING HIVE QUESTIONS from our Discord.

Niki and John had a great time talking about the Nintendo Indie World Showcase this week on the show right after they spent twelve minutes talking about a thing that's embargoed! When will you hear about it? Next week!

What remains is still a rip-roaring two hours of video game bliss, including:

• Mage Arena
• Merge Maestro
• Primal Planet
• Fortnite's new Power Rangers/Halo season
• Puzzmo
• and more!

Also, we answer ALL your HIVE QUESTIONS from our Discord.

This week, John and Niki discuss the latter's big media day with Battlefield 6, the game that's aiming for 100,000,000 players! Do they think it can happen? You'll have to listen to find out. Also:

• The stranger side of big PR gaming events
• Terri Schiavo (really)
• Ray Romano's net worth
• Nintendo Partner Showcase
• Donkey Kong Bananza
• Which eight Capcom games outsold Monster Hunter Wilds this quarter
• and much more!

We also answer your BURNING HIVE QUESTIONS straight from our Discord.

Hi there! This week, Niki and John went super long and recorded three solid hours of discussion, including:

• College Football 26
• Donkey Kong Bananza
• What if the Switch 2 Lite has an OLED?
• The simple brilliance of Tennocon
• What other PR teams miss about the process of making games

They also go very deep on this week's payments processor crackdown on adult Itch.io games and the government's continued assault on sex work, queerness, disability, etc. We offer a whole lot of unfiltered thoughts with very little by way of a solution. :-)

Anyway, we also had a blast cracking a cold one and answering ALL of your BURNING HIVE QUESTIONS this week from our Discord.

Niki's live from London, Ontario this week at Tennocon while John's getting up at the crack to podcast. What a show, too! We're absolutely loving Donkey Kong Bananza and John might be obsessed with the Horse Girl Game????

Also, we discuss the rise of fascism as expressed via:

• Roblox verifying the identities of children via AI
• Financial transaction companies cracking down on Steam's adult content
• The 24/7 amateur surveillance state

Also, books! Ever heard of them? We answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS directly from our Discord.

Niki is IN JOHN'S HOUSE this weekend. Wild stuff. They grabbed lunch at Hurtado BBQ and ate a truly irresponsible amount and then decided to podcast! Smart? Not really. But here we are! Discussion points:

• AEW All In Texas
• The Steam Summer Sale
• Peak
• Rematch
• Songs/games of the summer
• Seasonal/weather-specific games

We also answer your HIVE QUESTIONS from Discord.

On a very special public bonus of the show, John is joined by fellow disabled games media person Grant Stoner (IGN, Polygon, VGBees) to celebrate Disability Pride Month! How do they celebrate? By regaling each other with tales of crippledom from yesterday and today! Also:

• The importance of sources in investigative journalism
• Advice for disabled writers working in the field
• The most out of pocket interactions we've had as disabled people (oops, all Christian mysticism!)
• The joy of breaking outside of accessibility coverage (to some extent)
• The excitement of community reporting
• How layoffs disproportionately affect disabled workers
• And much more!

We also answer some of your HIVE QUESTIONS from our Discord. We also compare head and torso sizes/shapes. You're welcome!