Sacred Symbols, Episode 111: Corporate Imperialism (Patreon)
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You may not have heard of The Embracer Group... but they've heard of you. Okay, maybe it's not that serious, but Embracer -- the holding company that owns THQ Nordic, Deep Silver, Koch Media, and others -- has been steadily acquiring dev talent for years. And now? Well, now they have a first party family of studios bigger than PlayStation's and Xbox's combined. It's not all AAA talent, of course, but such empire-building suggests that the future of publishing is in owning the entities that make games instead of just their projects. Plus: The Last of Us 2 gets some cool (and free!) updates, Rocksteady is preparing to discuss it's new project (finally), Yoshinori Ono is leaving Capcom after nearly 30 years, G.I. Joe is getting an all-new game, and more. Then: Does anyone actually care about Godfall? Is Overwatch 2 a bridge too far? Should Sony delay PS5 to avoid launching in a potentially devastating economy? Could there be more than one way to properly eat a pizza?
Timestamps:
0:00:17 - Intro.
0:05:55 - Apparently, no game currently exists called Assassin's Creed: Ragnarok.
0:07:34 - A correction on first party microtransactions.
0:08:36 - Chris sounds-off on Halo Infinite's delay.
0:18:35 - Chris also sounds-off on Sam Fisher heading to Rainbow Six: Siege.
0:27:03 - Old DualShock 4 colors are coming back; Horizon: Zero Dawn ain't doing great on PC.
0:28:38 - Chris is racist against invert-Y people.
0:33:11 - When someone tells you to "turn down the AC," what do you do?
0:35:59 - The worst possible way to eat pizza.
0:38:56 - A dispute over baths.
0:42:36 - How many people have died while listening to Sacred Symbols?
0:44:38 - What have we been playing?
0:51:43 - How do we feel about "fog of war" in games?
0:53:54 - Will Chris ever play Hyper Scape?
0:56:46 - Sacred Symbols remains the best video game podcast you listen to.
0:58:39 - The Embracer Group buys seven studios, including 4A Games.
1:05:32 - Naughty Dog adds Grounded Mode and Permadeath to The Last of Us: Part II.
1:10:11 - New, leaked pictures give us a fresh look at DualSense.
1:14:26 - Rocksteady finally admits it's making a Suicide Squad game.
1:17:01 - WB Interactive is likely no longer for sale.
1:19:24 - Strange things are going on with Aeon Must Die.
1:22:46 - Yoshinori Ono is leaving Capcom after nearly 30 years.
1:25:22 - A new G.I. Joe game is coming!
1:31:26 - Some new sales data from Capcom, Square Enix, and Bandai Namco.
1:33:54 - Minor game announcements and release date information.
1:38:55 - How do games go on sale on PSN?
1:39:50 - This week's new releases for PS4, PS Vita, and PSVR.
1:50:55 - Does anyone actually care about Godfall? Like... really care?
1:53:53 - Are there any bands we got into because of video games?
1:56:33 - How does one find enjoyment in games when they're no longer an escape?
1:59:34 - Is it too much to expect games-as-a-service to last for years?
2:04:55 - Is there a future in digital game rentals?