Destin Legarie Podcast | Save State Plus

A former Epic Games employee went on X and argued that players, media, and influencers helped create the current crisis in the video game industry by rejecting DLC, microtransactions, loot boxes, higher prices, and other monetization models.

Some of the cost structure argument is fair. Games are too expensive to make, studios overhired, and the business model clearly needs a reset. But blaming players for not accepting predatory monetization, bad live service games, and $70 or $80 price hikes is where this completely falls apart.

In this video, I walk through his argument, where I think he has a point, and why I vehemently disagree with most of it. The industry’s leadership decisions are not the fault of the people buying the games. Period

I sat down with the Obsidian team to talk about Grounded 2 coming to PlayStation 5, why the game made sense for Xbox’s multiplatform strategy, crossplay and cross-progression, the Into the Abyss update, and what the future of Grounded could look like.They also talked about what PlayStation players can expect on day one, why cooking might be one of the most slept-on systems in the game, and even floated ideas like a horror RPG from Obsidian.Grounded 2 comes to PS5 on August 11 alongside the Into the Abyss update.

I sat down with the Fallout 76 team to talk about the state of the game, the latest Infestations update, crossplay and cross-progression requests, the impact of the Fallout TV show, and what’s next for Appalachia.They also discussed native PS5, PS5 Pro, Xbox Series X|S builds, console optimizations, and a new pet companion system that will let camp pets follow you around the wasteland, fight alongside you, level up, and more.This interview was recorded during SGF week, before the latest Xbox news cycle.

Bungie may be facing another brutal round of layoffs, with one report claiming PlayStation could cut at least 50% of the studio this summer. After Destiny 2’s final major update, no active Destiny 3, Marathon pressure, and Sony’s huge Bungie impairment loss, this feels like more than just another layoff story. It feels like the next stage of PlayStation’s live-service fallout.

I sat down with members of The Elder Scrolls Online team to talk about the future of ESO, including cross-play, player feedback, harder overland difficulty, dynamic encounters, solo dungeons, and how the team is thinking about the game’s long-term future.They confirmed cross-play is actively being worked on, discussed why ESO is moving away from the old chapter model, and explained how player feedback is shaping the next era of the MMO.