Words About Games

Amy & Moody chat about the lack of communication and general disinterest of Ubisoft and Activision Blizzard towards actually changing for the better, death threats towards an indie game developer and more. Amy also reviews indie metroidvania game Unsighted.

Come hang out with us while we stream games: twitch.tv/wordsaboutgames  

Follow Amy on Twitter @jerobolod

Time Stamps:

0:00 - Intro

05:40 - Words About Games updates & new things

15:04 - Ubisoft employees upset with lack of communication on misconduct reports 

23:44 - Activision Blizzard Is Still "Uninterested" In How Employees Feel 

38:43 - Abandoned Developers Beg People to Please Stop Sending Death Threats 

47:27 - Phil Spencer says Xbox is not done acquiring game studios

54:45 - Xbox Game Pass subscriber growth falls short of Microsoft target 

1:04:23 - NPD September Breakdown

1:19:45 - God of War coming to PC

1:26:14 - Let’s talk about the Uncharted trailer

1:34:01 - Let’s talk about Austin Powers in Mass Effect

1:36:02 - Unsighted Review

1:57:58 - Games Out This Week

2:01:53 - OpenCritic Head-To-Head

Amy & Moody sit down to discuss allegations of a toxic workplace culture at Paradox Interactive, more tweets from A Better Ubisoft, complaints from staff who weren't credited for Metroid Dread and more. Amy also reviews indie horror game In Sound Mind.

Time Stamps:

0:00 - Intro

11:21 - Paradox staff allege "culture of silence" in new reports of toxic workplace 

21:31 - A Better Ubisoft

25:43 - MercurySteam responds to complaints over staff missing from credits

37:07 - Ex-Aeon Must Die Developers Accuse Bosses Of IP Theft And "Endless Crunch" 

43:34 - Netflix boss claims violent videogames prove Dave Chappelle's latest standup special is harmless

1:01:02 - Nintendo Switch Online’s N64 and Sega Genesis ‘expansion pack’ launches October 25th for $49.99 per year

1:09:40 - Gotham Knights’ latest trailer focuses on the Penguin and the Court of Owls 

1:20:02 - Here’s the first in-game look at Arkham dev’s Suicide Squad game

1:29:24 - Epic and Innersloth appear to be mending relations after Fortnite Impostors kerfuffle 

1:33:01 - Xbox General Manager Uses TikTok To Show Off Xbox Mini-Fridge, Can Fit A Series X Inside Of It

1:36:40 - In Sound Mind Review

1:52:38 - Games Out This Week

2:01:06 - OpenCritic Head-To-Head - The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes

Amy & Moody discuss the Twitch data leak, more Activision Blizzard lawsuit stuff and more.

Time Stamps:

0:00 - Intro

13:00 - Twitch source code and creator payouts part of massive leak 

33:48 - California files objection to recent Activision Blizzard settlement, says will cause "irreparable harm" to its legal proceedings

40:54 - A Better Ubisoft Tweets

48:45 - Square Enix backtracks on cosmetics-only pledge for Avengers microtransactions

1:12:42 - MechWarrior Online maker renames 'Trans Rights' team, then reverses decision

1:24:36 - Saints Row Players Will Be Able To “Create A Character Anywhere On The Gender Spectrum"

1:31:15 - Elden Ring Creators Hope It Will "Broaden The Fanbase" Of The Dark Souls Series 

1:41:34 - Resident Evil 7 ships over 10m units (

1:48:03 - Games Out This Week

1:51:47 - OpenCritic Head-To-Head - NHL 22

Amy & Moody sit down to discuss the rumours that Konami are finally looking to revive it's classic IP, the disastrous launch of eFootball, Capcom making PC it's primary platform and more.

Time Stamps:

0:00 - Intro

13:19 - Konami is set to revive Metal Gear, Castlevania and Silent Hill 

27:02 - Konami vows to fix eFootball following disastrous launch 

34:18 - Capcom intends to make PC its main platform 

41:18 - Why The Initiative hired Crystal Dynamics to help with Perfect Dark

53:34 - Activision Blizzard settles with EEOC, creating $18m fund to compensate staff 

1:04:47 - A Better Ubisoft Tweets

1:10:49 - Twitch adds new account verification options to help crack down on hate raids 

1:21:49 - Xbox is making it easier to find accessible games in its stores 

1:31:57 - Sony Acquires Port Studio Bluepoint Games, For Real this Time / PlayStation says it’s open to further acquisitions following Bluepoint purchase 

1:42:04 - God of War: Ragnarok Delay May Have Been Due To Actor's Surgery

1:45:53 - Nintendo denies existence of 4K Switch

1:55:59 - Games Out This Week

2:01:07 - OpenCritic Head-To-Head - Metroid Dread

This week Amy and Moody talk about their reactions to the Nintendo Direct, including the cast list for 2022's Super Mario movie, Bayonetta 3 & N64 games and Sega Genesis/Mega Drive games coming to Switch Online.

Time Stamps:

0:00 - Intro

12:03 - Nintendo Direct thoughts and reactions

49:10 - The Intitiative Teams Up With Crystal Dynamics For Perfect Dark

58:45 - Fall Guys has a Guinness World Record for being the most downloaded PlayStation Plus game ever

1:01:41 - Activision Blizzard Now Under SEC Investigation According To A Wall Street Journal Report

1:06:14 - As lawsuits pile up, Blizzard loses its chief legal officer 

1:13:48 - A Better Ubisoft Tweets

1:17:41 - Quantic Dream wins one libel case, loses another - Report  

1:24:35 - Jennifer Scheurle steps down as IGDA group chair amid abuse allegations

1:31:57 - Titanfall Developer Respawn Calls Out Titanfall Developer Respawn Over Titanfall Development Possibilities

1:37:46 - Deathloop's Colt Vahn Is Being Sent A PS5 By Microsoft So He Can Play The Game He Stars In

1:41:13 - Games Out This Week

1:49:45 - OpenCritic Head-To-Head - Lemnis Gate

On this week's episode Amy and Moody discuss Activision Blizzard getting sued again, whether you should buy the upcoming Diablo 2 remaster, the latest tweets from the A Better Ubisoft twitter account and more.

Time Stamps:

0:00 - Intro

12:05 - Activision Blizzard Workers Accuse Company of 'Union Busting' and 'Intimidation' 

19:57 - Diablo 2: Resurrected dev says players should "do what they feel is right" when it comes to buying the game 

28:14 - A Better Ubisoft Tweets

33:59 - Returning Paradox CEO Apologizes For "Incident" With Female Employee 

44:41 - Anti-women, anti-Black, anti-Asian harassment growing in online games

54:00 - God Of War Dev Says Writing Is "Always Political"

1:05:32 - NPD Breakdown for August 2021

1:16:34 - Arkane is 'actively investigating' Deathloop stuttering on PC 

1:21:20 - Tales Of Arise Continues To Soar, Surpasses One Million Copies Sold

1:24:20 - Nintendo Switch Price Cuts Confirmed Across The UK And Europe 

1:30:35 - Windows 10 PCs can now stream console games on the Xbox App

1:34:22 - Life Is Strange: True Colors Replaces Licensed Music With Awkward Silence In Streamer Mode 

1:38:34 - Hayley Atwell Cast As Lara Croft In Netflix’s Tomb Raider Anime

1:43:08 - Ikea’s gaming range launches globally next month 

1:46:12 - Games Out Next Week

1:51:42 - OpenCritic Head-To-Head - Kena: Bridge of Spirits

Time Stamps:  

0:00:00 - Intro 

0:02:49 - Hispanic Heritage Month starts this week in the US 

0:08:16 - PlayStation Showcase thoughts (w/Joseph Moran & Kyle Stephenson from The Trophy Room: A PlayStation Podcast) 

1:11:41 - Tripwire CEO out after tweeting support for Texas abortion ban  

1:21:55 - Crusader Kings developer Paradox accused of "bullying and gender discrimination" 

1:28:25 - Twitch sues users over hate raids 

1:35:02 - Ubisoft Activist Group Hopes To See "Meaningful Response" From Newly Appointed CCO 

1:43:31 - Riot Games diversity figures slowly inching up  

1:49:37 - Bugsnax developer permanently shifts to four day weeks 

1:59:54 - Games Out This Week 

2:05:37 - OpenCritic Head-To-Head - Deathloop  

Follow Amy on Twitter @jerobolod

Check out The Trophy Room at the links below! 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/PSTrophyroom

Amy and Moody sit down to talk about the awesome indie games they saw during the latter half of Gamescom.

Time Stamps:  

0:00 - Intro 

10:00 - Gamescom Round-Up Part Two (Future Games Show, Awesome Indies) 

43:28 - DokeV developers explain what that weird GTA: Babies game is actually about  

49:02 - Steam’s Two-Hour Refund Policy Continues to Hurt Developers of Small Games 

59:44 - Xbox Says Get Vaccinated  

1:03:49 - Xbox is now ‘the official gaming partner’ of the England football teams 

1:11:16 - Naughty Dog co-presidents on crunch, unionization 

1:26:13 - #ADayOffTwitch protest makes a deep cut into Twitch viewership  

1:40:19 - Tweets from the A Better Ubisoft Twitter Account 

1:45:02 - Sources: WWE, 2K Relationship “Seriously Strained” 

1:56:21 - Games Out Next Week 

2:04:14 - OpenCritic Head-To-Head - Life Is Strange: True Colors

This week Amy, Moody and Foxes have a long chat about Opening Night Live and the Xbox Showcase from Gamescom, before the podcast devolves into a whirlwind of nonsense. 

Time Stamps:

0:00 - Intro 

8:41 - Gamescom Round-Up Part One (Opening Night Live, Xbox Showcase) 

1:16:48 - An argument that spiralled out of control (State of Decay 2 is good actually) 

1:24:40 - EA is opening the patents for some of its accessibility tech 

1:30:54 - Activision Blizzard lawsuit expanded to include contractors, claims publisher shredded documents 

1:39:20 - Tweets from the A Better Ubisoft Twitter Account 

1:44:34 - Twitch streamers organise #ADayOffTwitch in protest of hate raids 

1:52:24 - Games Out Next Week 

1:57:56 - OpenCritic Head-To-Head - Lake

Amy, Moody and Foxes discuss Ubisoft Singapore being under investigation for labour violations, terrible working conditions for QA testers at Activision, Riot Games allegedly not letting its employees know they can talk to the government about unfair & toxic work conditions, and more.

Time Stamps:

0:00 - Intro 

13:02 - Singapore labor rights agency investigating Ubisoft 

25:02 - Transgender Activision QA Testers Were Allegedly Deadnamed At Work  

41:24 - Riot must inform workers they can talk to ‘unlawful workplace’ investigators, California says 

55:40 - Aeon Must Die Resurfaces Without Answers to Workplace Culture Allegations  

1:03:46 - Among Us devs speak out about Fortnite's controversial Impostors mode 

1:13:27 - Indie dev turning down half a million dollars sparks conversation about hostile publisher contracts 

1:21:48 - Outriders Devs Are Yet To Receive Any Royalties Or Be Told How Many Copies Have Been Sold 

1:33:06 - Boyfriend Dungeon content warning updated following concerns over triggering topics 

1:40:49 -  Steven Spohn raises $1m for AbleGamers 

1:42:26 - Everything announced during Pokémon Presents 

1:53:25 - A Bee Almost Ruined The Beginning Of Skyrim 

1:59:21 - Games Out Next Week 

2:03:36 - OpenCritic Head-To-Head - Psychonauts 2