0:00
Perfect Dark is dead. Honestly, good. I
0:04
wasn't exactly lining up to play Woke
0:06
Chin the reboot anyway. But here's the
0:08
kicker. Xbox has also laid off 9,000
0:12
people, canned multiple games on top of
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that, and somehow still can't finish a
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title that they announced four years
0:20
ago. It's like watching a $3 trillion
0:23
tech company speedrun failure. Look, I
0:26
love Xbox, but right now they are
0:29
fumbling so hard it's embarrassing. Are
0:31
they part of the Dallas Cowboys? Cuz it
0:33
seems like it. This week in gaming, it
0:35
feels like a funeral procession, guys.
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Perfect Dark is reportedly cancelled.
0:41
And Rar's Ever Wild is also cancelled.
0:44
And Microsoft is also swinging the axe
0:46
left and right, laying people off. And
0:49
before anyone even says, "But layoffs
0:51
happen. This is part of the business."
0:53
Well, yeah, but when when you're
0:54
actually releasing games is part of it,
0:57
but Xbox has turned into a vaporware
1:00
company somehow, almost like an art
1:03
form. So, let's start with Perfect Dark.
1:05
Okay, remember when Xbox showed it off
1:07
like last year and it was the second
1:10
coming. It was like, oh my god, they
1:11
gave us a flashy trailer and then we had
1:14
the new Joanna Dark design that looked
1:16
like she was styled by a Tumblr mod and
1:19
said, oh look, it's almost done, guys.
1:21
Well, apparently almost done meant not
1:23
even close by. Now, fast forward to now.
1:26
Layoffs are hitting and the game's
1:28
canceled again. And yes, I'm going to
1:31
say it. This is what happens when you
1:33
design games for social media clout
1:36
and you have that big old chin. Instead
1:39
of actually making the game for fans,
1:41
nobody asked for woke chin Joanna. We
1:44
wanted the badass from the N64 and 360
1:47
era days, not a glorified tech demo or
1:51
some kind of like trailer that basically
1:53
doesn't show actual gameplay. Uh, and no
1:56
corporate approved diversity vibes. All
1:58
right, this is what happens. You f
2:01
around, you find out. I had a feeling
2:03
that this game eventually was not going
2:05
to come out. And even though it sucks,
2:07
trust me, I'm with you guys. If you
2:09
played Perfect Dark and you're a retro
2:10
gamer, I'm with you. I get it. It sucks.
2:14
It sucks, man. It sucks. What movie is
2:16
that from? Leave the comment in the
2:18
description down below if you know
2:20
exactly what movie that's from. But
2:22
wait, there's more of this. Remember
2:24
Ever Wild? That game from Rare? It's
2:26
canled. What a shame. Rare can't even
2:29
get its games out. What's the last game
2:31
that Rare made? I remember they made
2:33
that Battle Toads remake and that was
2:35
like it. This thing's been missing in
2:37
action since 2019. They announced Ever
2:40
Wild in 2019, guys. We're going into the
2:43
middle of 2025 now. You couldn't get
2:46
hyped for it even if you wanted to
2:48
because it's literally vaporware. And
2:50
that's that's what it seems like all
2:51
Xbox does now. I'll be amazed if Fable
2:54
even comes out at this point. Zenamax,
2:57
this new MMO that's been in development
2:59
since 2018 that they have coming out,
3:01
that's gone, too. And didn't they spend
3:04
billions on Zenamax? Are we noticing a
3:07
trend here, guys? Xbox announces a game,
3:10
shows us a logo, a coming soon or a year
3:13
date. Everyone claps, and then it
3:15
vanishes for 5 years, and then it
3:17
quietly gets axed while Phil Spencer
3:19
gives us another apology to her on kind
3:21
of funny. I facts again. I wouldn't be
3:25
surprised if Fable doesn't come out, if
3:27
Elder Scrolls 6 doesn't come out, cuz
3:29
literally it's been radio silent for any
3:32
of those games as well. We saw a brief
3:34
trailer, uh, an ugly character or two
3:36
here, and then absolutely nothing.
3:40
And here's the thing, guys. Microsoft
3:43
keeps hiring armies of developers,
3:45
buying up studios to make three trailers
3:48
a year. I swear to God, they've turned
3:51
Xbox Game Studios into a PowerPoint
3:53
factory, cuz that's all we see now is
3:55
trailer, trailer, trailer, trailer.
3:57
That's it. Nothing. No substance. No, no
4:00
games ever coming out. 9,000 people.
4:03
9,000 people, that's a small town, just
4:07
lost their just lost their livelihoods,
4:09
their jobs, and most of them were
4:12
probably working on games that will
4:15
never even see that will never ever come
4:17
out never see the light of day. And
4:19
that's sad. Okay, I am picking fun of it
4:21
and laughing and making jokes, but it is
4:23
sad to see everything that's been
4:25
announced that we'll never see. And and
4:28
don't even get me started on Embracer
4:29
Group, okay? Everybody's favorite
4:31
company. Those guys treat game studios
4:35
like expired yogurt. Okay, Volition got
4:39
nuked after one flop. Crystal Dynamics
4:42
is on thin ice. This isn't the last game
4:44
that's getting cancelled. Perfect Dark
4:46
is probably the first domino out of many
4:48
going on. So, right now, if you look on
4:51
on Twitter, if you look on social media,
4:54
YouTube, fans are melting down. Okay,
4:57
RGT85 made his video talking about it,
4:59
giving his take. He ain't too happy.
5:01
We've also seen Vera Dark, Dreamcast
5:03
guy, you name it. Several people were
5:04
making their videos talking about this.
5:06
I wanted to give my take on it. I think
5:08
I even saw a post about one guy saying
5:10
if Perfect Dark is canceled, he's
5:12
selling every Xbox console that he owns.
5:15
Like, that's the point that we've
5:17
reached where fans are annoyed. And then
5:20
apparently there's other people that are
5:21
saying they've been waiting since 2005
5:23
for this game and they're absolutely
5:25
done. And I'm sorry, guys. Don't hold
5:27
your breath anymore when it comes to
5:29
these companies, especially Microsoft
5:31
and Xbox, okay? They're a corporation.
5:34
They see money. They only care about
5:36
profits. If there's too many losses, if
5:39
they're not making enough uh money in
5:41
return, they're going to cancel and lay
5:43
off people. It's a given. I believe
5:45
their fiscal year just ended. Actually,
5:47
I think Microsoft's fiscal year uh
5:50
starts July 1st. So, they just did the
5:52
report for that. I think their fiscal
5:53
year's different or something. I don't
5:55
know. I heard some kind of rumor or
5:57
speculation on that, which is why
5:59
layoffs are happening. But yeah, Xbox
6:01
has been putting games that are just
6:03
entirely forgettable. Okay, remember
6:06
Redfall, right? Xbox promised the world
6:09
and gave us Redfall, a game that just
6:12
totally flopped. That one was like
6:14
levels of like floppiness that we've
6:17
haven't seen in quite some time. And
6:19
people are asking, how is a trillion
6:21
dollar company like Microsoft, like Xbox
6:25
still not able to make games? You're
6:27
buying all the talent, all the studios
6:28
in the world, and you can't make games.
6:32
And honestly, I don't have a good answer
6:33
for it. If you figure it out, call Phil
6:35
Spencer because there's a problem. If
6:37
you're spending this much money on video
6:39
game studios, you own this many
6:41
properties, this many IPs like Perfect
6:43
Dark, Battle Toads, you name it. all the
6:47
things that they have underneath the
6:48
Zenamax Activision banner and you're
6:50
having trouble making video games,
6:54
there's something wrong. There's a
6:56
leadership issue. There's many probably
6:59
many too many corpos getting involved. I
7:01
don't know at this point. Is it money
7:03
laundering? You tell me guys cuz this
7:06
doesn't make sense at all right here.
7:08
And the problem isn't just delays with
7:11
Xbox, it's trust. Xbox has lost a lot of
7:15
benefit of the doubt with gamers.
7:17
Announcements do not mean anything
7:18
anymore. You could literally just slap a
7:20
logo, make a trailer, and say, "Oh,
7:22
here's an announcement." That Perfect
7:24
Dark trailer last year, guys, was just
7:26
another fake out to keep stockholders
7:28
happy. That's ultimately it. This is how
7:31
you burn your community out, though. You
7:33
got to remember the consumer. Uh
7:34
remember the Knights of the Old Republic
7:36
remake that got nuked into Oblivion the
7:39
second people found out that Sam Mags
7:41
was involved, that activist. Uh, when
7:43
you build your game around a press
7:44
release, like, "Oh, here's a trailer.
7:46
Here's a press release. Here's
7:47
something." Instead of actual gameplay,
7:50
don't be shocked when no one shows up to
7:52
the funeral for it. When nobody cares
7:54
anymore, which is the point that it
7:55
seems like we're getting to right now,
7:57
and embracer, let's not pretend they
8:00
care about us, guys. They invest in
8:01
everything, then they dump it the second
8:04
that it doesn't make five times the
8:05
money. Restructuring is their favorite
8:08
word, but translation is you're fired.
8:11
Right. Zenamax was making a fantasy MMO
8:15
uh code named Blackbird since like 2018.
8:18
And that's gone now, too. Since 2018,
8:21
almost a decade in development. Just
8:23
just gone just like that. And yeah,
8:26
maybe that one would have been cool. Uh
8:28
MMOs can be fun. I know they have big
8:31
followings, but if you spend seven years
8:33
plus almost to a decade making nothing
8:36
anyone can play, anyone can see, I can't
8:39
feel bad when that project gets
8:41
scrapped. Okay, we never had it to begin
8:43
with. It was all vapor wear. And look,
8:46
I'm not trying to dance on the grave of
8:51
but this is getting a bit much. The
8:52
industry is on fire in my opinion.
8:55
People are losing their jobs and that
8:57
sucks. But Xbox needs to stop
8:59
overpromising and underdelivering.
9:02
That's the problem here. They have no
9:04
structure. Stop hyping up titles 5 years
9:07
early. Okay? If it's not coming out
9:08
anytime soon, don't make a trailer about
9:11
it. Stop turning trailers into lies.
9:13
Don't announce your stuff if it's not
9:15
coming out within the next year or two.
9:17
Okay? Nintendo does a good job not over
9:19
announcing stuff, give or take a Metroid
9:20
Prime 4 or there, but for the most part,
9:23
it's stuff that's coming out that year.
9:25
and Perfect Dark honestly deserve
9:27
better, guys. But if Woke Chin was what
9:30
the final product was gonna be, maybe
9:32
it's for the best. Maybe it's for the
9:34
best, guys. But if you're tired of this
9:37
same cycle where we get trailers, we get
9:39
cancellations after silence, then stick
9:42
around. Hit that subscription button
9:44
right here, guys. I'm going to keep
9:45
calling this stuff out until Xbox or
9:47
Nintendo, Sony, whoever gets it
9:49
together, cuz I I'm I'm equal
9:51
opportunity with calling these companies
9:53
out. Somebody has to. All right, so hit
9:55
that sub button. I'll see you on the
9:56
next video. Thank you so much for
9:58
watching. I'll see you on the next one.