Episode 136: No Country for Game Dev

The Save Room proper is out of hibernation and back with our longest news episode to date. It’s two months into the year so naturally we had to catch you all up on our thoughts on news and what we’ve been playing. (Consider this the infinite wealth of podcasts for those who like our show). Our big news topic is around the sweeping gaming industry layoffs. It’s a long winding conversation that we come at at every angle. Two full months into the year we’ve already seen well over 8,100 game dev layoffs across Sony, Microsoft, EA, Embracer, Remedy, and many other studios. There is no one theme as studios are letting talented devs go in their name of “right-sizing” due to Covid over-hiring, merges, consolidations, forced RTO mandates, and studio closures. It’s a dire time for those in the industry and even for those wanting to break into it with no clear end in sight. We also talk the new Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC trailer, Borderlands the movie, and Switch 2 rumors. At the back half, we talk what we’ve been playing: from spreading democracy in Helldivers 2 to charting eldritch horrors in Pacific Drive with two massive JRPGs at the end, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Both titles have been long anticipated for your Save Room boys. We’ve logged over 100 hours respectively in Infinite Wealth and have a lot to say. Our FF7 Rebirth conversation covers up through chapter 4 and is impressions-only (don’t worry, we’ll have a massive spoiler cast coming soon), but the TLDR is that we’re loving it so far. Time codes below for the uninitiated. Thanks for listening! —————————————— Time codes: -Intro - 0:00 -Kevin saying “time code” - 11:04 -Main topic: Games industry hit with over 8,100 layoffs - 14:40 -Xbox business update conversation - 1:30:24 -Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC - 1:46:23 -Borderlands movie trailer - 1:54:04 -Pokémon Direct - 2:00:43 -Switch 2 Rumors - 2:06:00 -Remedy buys rights to Control - 2:10:55 -Rockstar RTO - 2:14:04 -Helldivers 2 - 2:16:15 -Pacific Drive - 2:42:11 -Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - 2:55:54 -Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth - 3:27:31