Join the Professors as we dive deep into gaming's business shakeups and market madness! Heru and Plague dissect Microsoft's aggressive 30% profit margin mandate for Xbox—exploring studio closures, massive layoffs, and the shift to multi-platform releases including Halo: Campaign Evolved coming to PlayStation. We unpack Amazon's devastating 14,000-person layoff with New World entering maintenance mode and the uncertain fate of their Lord of the Rings MMO. Then it's on to Counter-Strike 2's explosive skins market crash that wiped out $2 billion in value overnight when Valve's trade-up update democratized knife access. Plus, the next-gen Xbox's Windows-based hybrid philosophy and Wolfe Glick stepping away from Pokémon tournaments after harassment. Heru and Plague would love your feedback! Let us know what we can improve on and other topics you'd like to hear us discuss by reaching out to feedback@thegameprofessors.com . Come in and grab a seat as we profess our love and hate for all things video games!
Timestamps:
00:40 - Lecture Lowdown
01:16 - WolfeyVGC
07:55 - Emiru’s Response to Twitch X Statement
17:03 - Elden Ring on Switch 2 delayed and 3rd-party title viability
24:40 - Outer Worlds 2
28:05 - Arc Raiders Release
30:48 - Halo: Campaign Evolved and other Microsoft Titles coming to PlayStation
38:22 - Business and Econ
38:36 - Xbox Profit Margin requirements
55:41 - Microsoft Layoffs
1:02:04 - Amazon layoffs
1:03:59 - Heru gets very passionate about New World numbers
1:17:49 - Amazon shifting focus to casual and AI games
1:19:38 - Shop Class
1:19:52 - Next Gen Xbox info from Windows Central
1:22:04 - Heru’s thoughts on World of Warcraft on Next Gen Xbox console
1:27:34 - Revenue difference between between Xbox and Steam
1:30:20 - Free Period
1:30:42 - Counter Strike skin economy crash
1:54:03 - Brief Battlefield 6 Update
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.