The VGBees Podcast

Ep 103: Embracer Restructures Again, Destiny 2 Development Ending, PS Plus Price Hikes

John [https://bsky.app/profile/floppyadult.com], Lotus [https://bsky.app/profile/lotusloveslotus.bsky.social], and Niki [https://bsky.app/profile/nikigrayson.com] discuss the biggest news of the week, including Embracer's head-scratching restructure, Destiny 2's final update, and PlayStation Plus price hikes. 00:00:00 Intro & Niki Buys a Porsche 00:09:50 Terraria [https://forums.terraria.org/index.php?threads/celebrating-15-years-of-terraria.149950/] celebrates 15 years of absolutely bonkers player counts [https://forums.terraria.org/index.php?threads/celebrating-15-years-of-terraria.149950/] 00:25:15 Tom Kane passes away at 64 [https://www.gamedeveloper.com/audio/obituary-veteran-voice-actor-tom-kane-passes-away-at-64] 00:26:41 PlayStation Plus gets price hikes [https://www.gamesindustry.biz/sony-announces-playstation-plus-price-rises-due-to-ongoing-market-conditions] 00:35:47 US National Recording Registry adds [https://www.gamesindustry.biz/original-doom-soundtrack-to-be-inducted-into-us-national-recording-registry]DOOM [https://www.gamesindustry.biz/original-doom-soundtrack-to-be-inducted-into-us-national-recording-registry] soundtrack to its library [https://www.gamesindustry.biz/original-doom-soundtrack-to-be-inducted-into-us-national-recording-registry] 00:44:28 Stig Asmussen [https://www.gamesindustry.biz/wizards-of-the-coast-ends-partnership-with-giant-skull]Dungeons & Dragons [https://www.gamesindustry.biz/wizards-of-the-coast-ends-partnership-with-giant-skull] game canceled by Wizards of the Coast [https://www.gamesindustry.biz/wizards-of-the-coast-ends-partnership-with-giant-skull] 00:55:20 Embracer restructures [https://www.gamesindustry.biz/embracer-group-announces-plans-to-spin-off-fellowship-entertainment] their game [https://embracer.com/releases/open-letter-by-chair-of-the-board-on-the-fellowship-entertainment-spin-off/] organizations again [https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/opinion-lars-wingefors-is-out-of-his-mind] 01:04:20 Quantic Dream's MOBA is shutting down [https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/quantic-dream-cutting-jobs-after-scrapping-spellcasters-chronicles] 01:06:14 Bungie [https://www.bungie.net/7/en/News/Article/d2_may_21_2026] ending Destiny 2 development and facing layoffs [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-21/bungie-plans-layoffs-after-ending-destiny-2-development?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc3OTQwNTI3OSwiZXhwIjoxNzgwMDEwMDc5LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJURkVUVjJLSUpIOTIwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJCMUVBQkI5NjQ2QUM0REZFQTJBRkI4MjI1MzgyQTJFQSJ9.atbS1PFknTC7XBSdrUHEMV1jz4pw1lfmIX0rGjUFbRs] 01:27:30 Everyone roasts John for buying a PS5 Pro 01:39:00 Niki continues to build a NAS for their home 01:51:28 The crew answers your burning HIVE QUESTIONS [vgbees.com/join] from Discord [vgbees.com/discord] 03:04:15 Outro & SGF Plans Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot. VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.

The Pittcast Season Two w/ Danielle Riendeau

Content Warning for graphic medical procedures, assault, sexual assault, suicide, and death in this episode. The Pitt is a show with a lot of tough ingredients thrown into a stew--we try to navigate these with tact and care but be forewarned the entire episode has a lot of potentially triggering discussion. GameDeveloper.com Editor-in-Chief (and Polygon, Waypoint, and Fanbyte alum) Danielle Riendeau joins John Warren for a recap of season two of The Pitt, one of VGBees' favorite television shows. Danielle lends her experience as a volunteer EMT in New York City to the duo's analysis and critique of the HBO Max medical drama. Included topics: * The role of AI in healthcare * The role of compassion in emergency medicine * Using the show to demystify difficult subjects regarding sexual assault and death * ICE and their miserable role in American healthcare in 2026 * and much, much more! Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot. VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.

Ep 102: Subnautica 2 Smashes Sales Expectations, Leaked Xbox Controllers, More Game Unions

Lotus [https://bsky.app/profile/lotusloveslotus.bsky.social] and John [https://bsky.app/profile/floppyadult.com] discuss the biggest games news of the week, including Subnautica 2 creating a big bonus problem for KRAFTON's CEO, leaked Xbox controllers, and Marathon's interesting PVE-focused roadmap. 00:00:00 Intro & Buc-ees Fare 00:10:05 Subnautica 2 [https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/subnautica-2-has-sold-2-million-copies-in-12-hours-with-9x-the-players-as-the-first-and-at-this-point-i-figure-that-krafton-ceo-is-already-on-his-second-bottle/]'s massive sales creates an interesting problem for KRAFTON's CEO [https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/subnautica-2-has-sold-2-million-copies-in-12-hours-with-9x-the-players-as-the-first-and-at-this-point-i-figure-that-krafton-ceo-is-already-on-his-second-bottle/] 00:13:15 Steam Controllers look bad, feel good, and scream when you drop them [https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/game-pads/steam-controllers-to-come-back-in-stock-with-reprise-of-steam-deck-reservation-system/] 00:21:43 Sony takes huge loss on Bungie acquisition [https://kotaku.com/sony-records-new-560-million-loss-on-bungie-acquisition-as-marathon-struggles-and-destiny-2-nosedives-2000694100]; Marathon [https://kotaku.com/marathon-reveals-an-ambitious-blueprint-for-making-it-a-game-more-people-want-to-play-2000696161]gets new PVE-heavy roadmap [https://kotaku.com/marathon-reveals-an-ambitious-blueprint-for-making-it-a-game-more-people-want-to-play-2000696161] 00:30:20 Wizards and Hasbro fail to recognize the new [https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/wizards-of-the-coast-declines-to-voluntarily-recognize-game-worker-union]MTG: Arena [https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/wizards-of-the-coast-declines-to-voluntarily-recognize-game-worker-union] union [https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/wizards-of-the-coast-declines-to-voluntarily-recognize-game-worker-union] 00:33:25 Double Fine is also unionzing [https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/double-fine-petitions-to-unionize] 00:35:35 New Xbox controllers were leaked [https://kotaku.com/two-new-very-different-xbox-controllers-have-leaked-online-2000696180] 00:38:45 Microsoft fires executive for ties with Israel Ministry of Defense [https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-microsoft-israel-chief-leaves-amid-ethical-controversy-1001542602] 00:41:35 Sony says studios are using AI, but we have questions [https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/playstation-sees-ai-as-a-powerful-tool-teams-including-naughty-dog-san-diego-studio-already-using-it] 00:49:10 Tekken [https://www.gamesindustry.biz/snk-announces-new-studio-lead-by-tekken-veteran-katsuhiro-harada]producer Harada leads new SNK studio [https://www.gamesindustry.biz/snk-announces-new-studio-lead-by-tekken-veteran-katsuhiro-harada] 00:53:05 Niki joins the show on locations to run down news so far 00:54:45 Sega backs off of live services games [https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/sega-is-lowering-the-priority-of-games-as-a-service-titles] 00:58:38 GameStop's offer to buy eBay thoroughly, hilariously, decisively rebuffed [https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/-your-proposal-is-neither-credible-nor-attractive-ebay-rejects-gamestop-takeover-bid] 01:04:12 Nintendo's fiscal report reveals reasons for Switch 2 price hike [https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2026/260511e.pdf] 01:07:40 House Hunters is the best hotel television show 01:09:10 The story in Digimon Story: Time Stranger is pretty bad 01:18:10 The crew answers your burning HIVE QUESTIONS [vgbees.com/join] from our Discord [vgbees.com/discord] 02:21:50 Reviews & Outro Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot. VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.

Ep 101: Star Fox 64 Remake, LEGO Batman, Mina the Hollower Release Date

Niki, Lotus, and John embark on a "no bummers" episode of the show, complete with discussions about the new Star Fox game, LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight's endless charm, and Mina the Hollower's long-awaited release date. 00:00:00 Intro & John's parking lot predicament 00:12:15 Star Fox 64 [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1b7ooGb-0tuqkmqdJjhanazb2mCPFFoIHaIg9qoly3uQ/edit?usp=sharing]Remake [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1b7ooGb-0tuqkmqdJjhanazb2mCPFFoIHaIg9qoly3uQ/edit?usp=sharing] 00:17:15 Mina the Hollower [https://gameinformer.com/2026/05/06/mina-the-hollower-finally-launches-later-this-month] gets a release date at long last [https://gameinformer.com/2026/05/06/mina-the-hollower-finally-launches-later-this-month] 00:19:16 Copilot removed from Xbox plans [https://gameinformer.com/2026/05/05/microsoft-copilot-will-no-longer-come-to-consoles-says-xbox-ceo] (please go to nogamesforgenocide.com [https://nogamesforgenocide.com] to learn about the ongoing boycott of Microsoft and Xbox products) 00:23:53 LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight [https://kotaku.com/new-lego-batman-trailer-uses-kiss-from-a-rose-seal-perfect-song-launch-ps5-xbox-2000694000] looks great [https://kotaku.com/new-lego-batman-trailer-uses-kiss-from-a-rose-seal-perfect-song-launch-ps5-xbox-2000694000] 00:28:27 More "no bummers" news round-up 00:31:42 Niki's new Logitech MX Master 4 mouse 00:43:37 Niki continues loving Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream 00:46:07 Echo Chaser is a slick PICO-8 free game 00:47:28 Family is a great music-centric game you can play for free right now 00:50:20 mini pharma is a charming PICO-8 puzzler 00:57:59 We answer your burning Hive Questions [vgbees.com/join] straight from our Discord [vgbees.com/discord] 02:07:58 Outro Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot. VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.

The Pittcast Season One w/ Danielle Riendeau

NOTE: This bonus episode contains discussions of medical trauma, sexual assault, addiction, child abuse, mass shootings, and generally some sad stories about real life emergencies. It’s hard to avoid those topics when discussing this television show, so if you need to duck out and catch the next regular bonus, we totally get it. Additional note! This is a bonus episode of the show from 2025--we're freeing it from the confines of the bonus feed to prepare you for The Pittcast Season 2, which will be available for the public and not just in the bonus feed. The Pitt is one of this year’s best TV shows and such a delightful surprise for folks who might have been missing a truly great medical drama in their lives. John treated himself to over an hour chatting about the show with full-time games media legend (Polygon, Waypoint, Fanbyte, and current EIC at Game Developer) and part-time volunteer EMS Danielle Riendeau [https://bsky.app/profile/danielleri.bsky.social]. They cover a lot of ground in a relatively short time, including: * Michael Crighton’s estate and the battle for the ER revival * Noah Wylie aging like fine wine * This wonderful cast (even the nepo babies are great) * Advanced medical procedures and practical effects * How Covid changed things for many medical professionals * Managing PTSD & addiction in the medical field If you liked this bonus episode, consider telling a friend to JOIN THE HIVE [https://vgbees.com/join]. You get bonuses like these and access to special areas of our Discord [vgbees.com/discord].