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This week, Zak and Aaron sit down to discuss yet another curious case of misguided marketing — this time with fewer questionable hats. Highguard, which secured the headlining spot at The Game Awards 2025 thanks to Geoff Keighley's personal fondness for the title, launched last week to overwhelmingly negative reviews on Steam and a rapidly dwindling player count.  How did this happen? Who's to blame? Does the game deserve all of this hate, and will it ever be able to overcome it?  Please, enjoy. Listen to Beach Girl on Spotify Check Out MosscatMarket on Instagram

This week, Zak and Aaron sit down to discuss how a series of PR... er, let's call them "miscalculations," arguably torpedoed Splitgate: Arena Reloaded (formerly Splitgate 2) before it even had a chance. This story has it all: politically-charged headware choices, petty Twitter arguments, $100 million investments, off-putting apology videos, and much, much more! Please, enjoy. Sources: Splitgate 2 Live Service Relaunches, Immediately Dies A Second Time… Splitgate Dev Insists Steam Charts Aren't Important As Player Numbers Plummet… This CEO Burned $500k To Humiliate His Own Game I’ve Never Seen A Studio Fumble $100m This Hard Listen to Beach Girl on Spotify Check Out MosscatMarket on Instagram

This week, Zak and Aaron are back in hell to discuss the pending acquisition of Warner Bros. by Netflix. They touch on what the merger could mean for the future of movie theaters before diving into the main topic at hand: the fate of WB Games and its treasure trove of IP. Spoiler alert: things are looking bleak. Please, enjoy. P.S. Aaron recorded a portion of this episode while holding a sick pupper, so if you hear any coughing, please be kind to Louie. Sources: The Battle for Control of Warner Bros.: A Timeline of Key Developments What Happens to Warner Bros. Games Under Netflix? Netflix Considers Warner Bros. Games To Be Worthless Netflix Closes Its All-Star AAA Video Game Studio, Which Made Zero Games Netflix acquires games avatar firm Ready Player Me The Netflix Gaming Deal Is A Match Made In Hell Listen to Beach Girl on Spotify Check Out MosscatMarket on Instagram

This week, Zak and Aaron sit down to discuss Valve's new, ambitious hardware plans, especially the announcement's headliner: the brand-new Steam Machine. With the form-factor and convenience of a console and the hardware heft of a gaming PC, the cutely nicknamed "Gabe Cube" seems poised to disrupt the market as we know it... but will it? A better question may be, is it even meant to? Please, enjoy. Episode References: Linus Tech Tips - The STEAM Machine Won't Cost What You Think YongYea: Valve Drop Moe Hints On Machine Price, And... Bellular News: Valve's on the Warpath GameSpot: The Steam Machine Doesn't Even Have To Try Listen to Beach Girl on Spotify Check Out MosscatMarket on Instagram

This week, Zak and Aaron sit down to chat about another (increasingly rare) industry success story: the brand-new Telltale-style adventure Dispatch! How, despite facing doubt from publishers over the game's fairly niche genre and episodic release structure, did AdHoc Studio's debut title release to rousing numbers and enviable review scores? Only one way to find out... Please, enjoy. Listen to Beach Girl on Spotify Check Out MosscatMarket on Instagram

This week, Zak and Aaron finally get around to discussing one of the most significant events in the recent history of the games industry — the $55 billion purchase of Electronic Arts by a consortium of private investors, including the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund and Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners, among others. In addition to running through the myriad issues tied to such politically troubling hands meddling with one of the world's largest publishers, there is one significant question at hand: what happens to the veritable mountain of IP under EA's control? Please, enjoy. Listen to Beach Girl on Spotify Check Out MosscatMarket on Instagram

This week, Zak and Aaron are delighted to present a conversation with Chris Knight, a 2D artist based in Austin, TX. Chris was kind enough to share some insights from his career, some funny (and not-so-funny) stories, and his frank opinion on what it takes to succeed in the games industry – especially in an incredibly crowded field. Please, enjoy. Check Out Chris' ArtStation! Take a Look at PolyCarp! Have a Gander at Good Knight Art! Listen to Beach Girl on Spotify Check Out MosscatMarket on Instagram

This week, Zak and Aaron sit down to talk about Xbox GamePass' recent price increase... again! That's right, the fabled "best value in gaming" just saw a 50% jump in cost, barely a year after the last jump. What's more, there's a compelling argument to be made that the subscription service is actually removing value for players rather than adding it to compensate for the increased asking price. Please, enjoy. Listen to Beach Girl on Spotify Check Out MosscatMarket on Instagram

This week, Zak and Aaron... actually have something positive to talk about for once! Namely, the predictably smashing release of Hollow Knight: Silksong, which, after nearly a decade in development, launched to platform-crashing numbers and fairly rapturous praise. On top of celebrating an indie success story, they discuss the game's refreshingly reasonable $20 price point and highlight the many benefits of keeping development costs and team sizes lean. In short, this is almost certainly the most uplifting episode of SPR in quite some time. Listen to Beach Girl on Spotify Check Out MosscatMarket on Instagram

This week, Zak and Aaron kindly beg your attention to a very serious matter: the censorship of thousands of NSFW games across Steam and Itch.io at the behest of payment processors like Mastercard.  Prompted by a grassroots organization with far-right connections called Collective Shout, this incident could have far-reaching implications for free speech, result in LGBTQ+ erasure, and mean that corporations become the arbiters of what does and does not constitute art in the future. Please, enjoy. Missed what's happened? Check out the links below.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlEHovdeKZw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUMwQ1euK8Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTDhsqN2NB4 Intro: 00:00:00 21,000 Points for Censorship: 00:04:02 Collective Shout Pt. 1: 00:15:39 Morality and Context: 00:25:58 Collective Shout Pt. 2 - Erasure: 00:35:32 What About Age Ratings?: 00:42:30 Applying the Same Logic to Books: 00:51:03 Conclusions: 00:55:30 Outro: 01:03:10 Listen to Beach Girl on Spotify Check Out MosscatMarket on Instagram

This week, Zak and Aaron dig into a topic that's as absurd as it is concerning: the CEO of Roblox wants to officially incorporate dating into the platform. Completely ignoring the fact that the game's core audience is mostly children, David Baszucki seems to believe that bringing horny adults into the fold will act as a balm to soothe the "loneliness epidemic" plaguing the modern world. What could possibly go wrong? Please, enjoy. Listen to Beach Girl on Spotify Check Out MosscatMarket on Instagram

This week, Zak and Aaron delve into the nitty-gritty of the Stop Killing Games movement — an initiative with the simple goal of persuading publishers to, well, stop killing games. From preservation to protecting consumer interests, Stop Killing Games aims to solve a lot of high-level problems, and your hosts have many thoughts to share. Oh, and feel free to jump ahead to Chapter 3 (or the 29-minute mark) if you don't want to hear two goobers explain what the initiative is in exhausting detail.  Please, enjoy. Listen to Beach Girl on Spotify Check Out MosscatMarket on Instagram

This week, Zak and Aaron sit down, inexplicably inspired by a meme, to discuss the rise of so-called "FriendSlop" games. These are titles like Repo, Lethal Company, and the recently released Peak, all of which are currently laying waste to the Steam charts as we speak.  Why are these games so successful at the moment? What differentiates them from others on the market? What could this be saying about the industry at large? Your intrepid hosts are ready with, if not answers to these questions, at least a bunch more to match. Please, enjoy. Listen to Beach Girl on Spotify Check Out MosscatMarket on Instagram

It finally happened! A set of entertainment juggernauts — Disney and Universal — are taking the fight to AI in a big way. This week, Zak and Aaron sit down to discuss the new lawsuit against image generator Midjourney, why it's happening, and what it could mean for the future. They also spend some quality time complaining about generative AI in general, because, well, there's a lot to complain about. Please, enjoy. Listen to Beach Girl on Spotify Check Out MosscatMarket on Instagram

 This week, Zak and Aaron sit down to discuss the absolute onslaught of video game movie adaptations coming down the pike at breakneck speed. From questions of quantity over quality to musings on which projects have the most potential, your intrepid hosts dig into what may be the next Hollywood craze - or an unsustainable bubble building towards an inevitable burst. Please, enjoy. Listen to Beach Girl on Spotify Check Out MosscatMarket on Instagram