Destin Legarie Podcast | Save State Plus

A major leadership change has happened at Arkane Lyon, the Xbox studio behind Marvel’s Blade. According to VGC, MachineGames co-founder and studio director Jerk Gustafsson has taken over leadership of Arkane, while former president Leonard Bendel has resigned. This comes amid ongoing reports about Xbox layoffs, possible studio closures, and uncertainty around the future of Blade.

Xbox is reportedly testing a disc-to-digital feature that could let players convert parts of their physical Xbox game collections into digital entitlements.

Xbox layoffs are still looming and though The Game Business reported Obsidian is on that list, that has been refuted
After reports that Microsoft was preparing more layoffs and that multiple Xbox studios could be affected, new details and clarifications are starting to come in. The Game Business reported that Xbox is divided internally over its future, with pressure around costs, Game Pass, hardware, and the company’s shift toward bigger franchises.

PlayStation just announced that physical disc production for new games releasing on PlayStation consoles will end starting January 2028. Sony says new games after that point will be available through PlayStation Store and retailers in digital formats only, while games already released or planned before January 2028 in disc format are not impacted.Sony also announced major PlayStation Store changes for PS3 and PS Vita, with PS3 store closures beginning in select markets this year and global PS3 and PS Vita closures planned for July 2027. Previously purchased content will still be downloadable “for the foreseeable future.”So today we’re talking about what PlayStation actually announced, what it means for collectors, preservation, ownership, retailers, and the future of console gaming.

Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron have reportedly been hit with a class-action lawsuit accusing them of restricting DRAM supply and fixing prices. DRAM is used across PCs, phones, servers, and game consoles, which makes this a bigger gaming story than it may sound at first. The allegation is that consumer memory supply was reduced while companies focused more heavily on expensive HBM memory for AI data centers, contributing to rising RAM costs. These are still allegations, but if memory prices remain high, that could put even more pressure on console hardware pricing heading into PS6, the next Xbox, and future Nintendo hardware.

Important note: this is a lawsuit and the claims are allegations. But RAM is a major cost in consoles, so if memory prices keep climbing, that could make future hardware even harder to price.