Gamified

Game Modes + Topics for this episode:
0:37 Netflix Valued Warner Bros Games at Zero
13:55 Marathon's Massive Sentiment Reversal
26:44 NY AG Sues Valve Over CS2 Loot Boxes
43:33 Where Does Gaming UGC Go From Here?
59:30 Pokemon Gen 10 Revealed
1:22:09 Should Celebrities Be Making Games?

Red Flag or Green Flag — Paramount just acquired Warner Bros Discovery, including Mortal Kombat, Batman Arkham, and LEGO Games. Netflix walked away and said they attributed zero value to the game studios. Red flag or green flag for Warner Bros Games?

Sentiment Score — Marathon had plagiarism accusations, a boring alpha, and an indefinite delay. Then Bungie ran the Server Slam and 143,000 people showed up on day one. Score it before and after. Both numbers before you explain.

Big Deal, Little Deal, No Deal — The New York AG just sued Valve, calling CS2 loot boxes illegal gambling. The skins market is worth $4.3 billion. A single skin sold for over a million dollars. Big deal?

Finish the Sentence — Roblox has 88 million daily active users and represents 67% of all net growth in gaming. In 5 years, gaming UGC will be ___?

What's the Word — Pokemon Day just happened — the 30th anniversary. Generation 10 is officially Pokemon Winds and Waves. Switch 2 exclusive. Underwater exploration. What's the word?

Bullish or Bullshit — Last Flag is a free-to-play hero shooter that had 100K Steam wishlists before Imagine Dragons ever got involved. Then the band signed on, the trailer hit 280K YouTube views in a week, and Tyler1 joined the party. Should celebrities be in games?

Watch instead of listen on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdASe58sCAk

Follow our panelists:
Host - Sam Steffanina https://x.com/SamSteffanina
Kohji Nagata - https://x.com/ParallelTCGpod
Jerry Singer - https://x.com/JerrySinger
Oliver Maroney - https://x.com/OliverMaroney
Michael Christine - https://x.com/MichaelSatoshi
Gnoc (Matt Biamonte) - https://x.com/itsGnoc
Payton - https://x.com/paytkaleiwahea
Behind the scenes - Lemz https://x.com/Lemz_42

Gamified brings 6 game industry workers from founders to business developers to discuss what's going on each week in 60-second bursts. Every topic has a 'game mode' that makes the topics more entertaining and the takes a little hotter.

Game Modes + Topics for this episode:

1. What's the Word -- Sony quietly shut down Bluepoint Games, the studio behind some of the most beloved remakes in gaming history. 70 people out. No warning.
2. Devil's Advocate -- Xbox just appointed an AI executive with zero gaming experience as its new head. 5.6 million people are not happy. We argue the other side.
3. Sentiment Score -- Blizzard announced Overwatch Rush, a brand new top-down hero shooter built from the ground up for mobile. Zero to ten, what's your number?
4. Change My Mind -- Friend Slop is oversaturated. Unicycling sausages, airport security simulators, Super Battle Golf. The genre has hit the wall. Change our mind.
5. Explain like I'm a Shareholder -- A new report says gaming is losing your Friday nights to gambling, OnlyFans, and online casinos. Why buy gaming stocks?
6. Red Flag or Green Flag -- Nintendo is charging $20 for Pokemon games outside their subscription. Microsoft is stuffing more into Game Pass and raising the price. Both are getting roasted. Red flag or green flag for gaming subscriptions?

Watch instead of listen on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2IL2aKNgk0
Follow our panelists:
Host - Sam Steffanina https://x.com/SamSteffanina
Kevin Lambert - https://x.com/kevinlambert
Kohji Nagata - https://x.com/ParallelTCGpod
Wills Spangler - https://x.com/WillsSpangler
Michael O'connor - / mjoc9
Gnoc (Matt Biamonte) - https://x.com/itsGnoc
dub (Andrew Wian) - https://x.com/uhhdub
Behind the scenes - Lemz https://x.com/Lemz_42

Gamified brings 6 game industry workers from founders to business developers to discuss whats going on each week in 60-second bursts.

Every topic has a 'game mode' - that make the topics more entertaining and the takes a little hotter.

Game Modes + Topics for this episode:
1. What's the Word — Blizzard surprise-dropped a brand new class for a 25-year-old game, Diablo 2 Resurrected

2. Ship It or Rip It — Over half of game industry professionals think generative AI is hurting the industry. Is the backlash justified?

3. Sentiment Score - Overwatch 2 drops the 2 and becomes Overwatch... again?

4. Red Flag or Green Flag — Five, six, seven-year dev cycles are becoming the norm. Is that a sign of ambition or a broken industry?

5. Who's to Blame? — Highguard launched, got destroyed by the internet, and the devs hit back. We dig into who's actually responsible.

Watch instead of listen on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkd6RlMyJAw

Follow our panelists:
Host - Sam Steffanina https://x.com/SamSteffanina
Kevin Lambert - https://x.com/kevinlambert
Kohji Nagata - https://x.com/ParallelTCGpod
Wills Spangler - https://x.com/WillsSpangler
Jerry Singer - https://x.com/JerrySinger
Gnoc (Matt Biamonte) - https://x.com/itsGnoc
Michael Christine - https://x.com/MichaelSatoshi
Behind the scenes - Lemz https://x.com/Lemz_42

What’s the Word on Highguard trailer revealed at The Game Awards?
Off the Grid launches ranked mode 1 year after launch - is it too little too late?
Sentiment score for Steam’s new discovery system
Which side is winning in 5 years - indie or AAA?
2025 was the year of the ______?
MVP of the Year

Today’s Panelists:
- Dub @uhhdub
- Kohji @ParallelTCGpod
- Chris @chrisheatherly
- Jerry @TGIFresco
- Sinjin @SinjinMAYG
- Gnoc @itsGnoc
- Kevin @kevinlambert
- Wills @willsspangler
- Matthew @BuxtonMatthew

Doodles mint stalls

BEST AND WORST OF 2025

One thing to be excited about in 2026

Today’s Panelists:
- Dub @uhhdub
- Hantao @Hantao
- Jonah @JonahBlake
- Slayer @SlayerXgg
- Charlie @0xChuckstock
- Gorilla @CryptoGorilla
- Oliver @OliverMaroney