#318 | Hey Man, Wake Up and Smell the Concrete

While Sony may have purchased Bungie with specific end-goals in mind, it's clear -- some two years later -- that the deal hasn't improved PlayStation whatsoever. In fact, it's becoming increasingly nebulous why the acquisition was made at all, with Bungie hemorrhaging money, laying off hundreds, shedding high-end talent, and churning through funds that could be better spent by Sony's actually reliable stable of teams. With further layoffs, the creation of a new spin-off first party squad, and drama galore, there's plenty for us to get into on this topic alone. But there are other things to discuss, too: Firesprite is seemingly making a PlayStation 6 game, Until Dawn Remake got an ESRB rating, Activision's compelling white paper makes a great case for skill-based matchmaking, and more. Then: Listener inquiries! Do we have any nostalgia for pandemic-era gaming? Would Sony have been wise to rely more heavily on established IP for their games-as-a-service push? With studio failures aplenty, is it even worth getting into game dev at this point? How has Colin been dealing with Boar's Head's darkest days ever? Tickets to Sacred Vs Dukes live show: https://bit.ly/sacreddukes Get a free gift with your Journey Pack at https://www.tryfum.com with code SACRED Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement. 0:00:00 - Intro 0:28:15 - San Diego Live show! 0:29:55 - where baby? 0:36:39 - Will CCDF work at LSM? 0:45:46 - Boar's Head listeria outbreak 0:53:52 - Stolen pet waste basket 0:59:22 - Mega Man figure jar 1:03:51 - Cleaning in the shower 1:07:50 - New PSVR2 and PS5 pricing 1:14:33 - Astro Bot Dualsense 1:16:44 - Until Dawn Remake gets rated 1:20:43 - Voice actors strike 1:23:12 - Skill Based match making works 1:32:51 - Legacy of Kain returns? 1:42:57 - Alien Hominid 1 and 2 remastered 1:46:20 - Armored Core and Silent Hill sales and downloads 1:47:37 - What are we playing? 2:08:23 - Bungie Layoffs 2:52:06 - Firesprite's future game 2:59:00 - New PS Plus games 3:03:31 - Gaming with Biden and Trump 3:06:23 - PlayStation's creativity 3:12:34 - Pandemic gaming 3:19:58 - New vs old IP for live service 3:26:43 - Why pursue a career in games? 3:38:06 - Requirement to keep games going Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices