Join the Professors as we deliver an in-depth analysis of Ken Levine’s upcoming project, Judas, where we break down the unique Narrative system and the five-year R&D journey behind its reactive NPCs. We also circle back to Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella’s warnings about AI losing "social permission" due to its massive environmental footprint. Following its younger brother DDR4 RAM moves into the "unobtanium" status and why the GPU MSRP is officially dead before diving into the federal lawsuit against Hasbro for overprinting Magic cards. We discuss Ubisoft’s "Major Reset" into specialized “Creative Houses” and Game Freak’s mature shift with Beast of Reincarnation. The discussion continues with the £656 million class-action lawsuit against Valve in the UK and concludes with a full post-mortem on the “Highguard” controversial launch week.

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!

00:00 Introduction to Gaming News and Trends

05:14 The Risks of Fan Obsession and Spoilers

31:15 Business and Economics in Gaming: Hasbro's Controversy

41:15 Legal Battles and Shareholder Concerns

42:40 Ubisoft's Stock Plummet and Company Struggles

44:01 The Downfall of Ubisoft's Game Quality

45:32 Ubisoft's Reorganization and Future Plans

49:51 Tencent's Role in the Gaming Industry

51:17 Microtransactions in Single-Player Games

54:45 Creative Houses and Game Development Challenges

01:06:12 Free Period: New Game Announcements and Expectations

01:19:54 Civics and Community Issues

01:20:02 Valve's Class Action Lawsuit

01:29:26 Highguard Conundrum: Launch and Reception

01:50:11 Dr. Disrespect's Controversy and Industry Impact

Join the Professors for Course #17, as Bezos wants our PC’s, and his "Grid Compute" vision to replace your hardware. There was a massive GPU "end-of-life" scare, and a report on multiple instances of new Ryzen chips experiencing some burn out. The free game Blood West sees a Steam spike, and why Cory in the House is the king of Metacritic memes. We also break down the Monster Hunter Wilds pay for frames drama and look back at the legacies of Doug Bowser and one of the fathers of nerd culture David Rosen. Rockstar HQ blows up, and we follow up the Highguard discussion from last week. 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!

27:31 Civics and Sociology

The End of Local PC Ownership?

Amazon's "Grid Compute" Vision

GeForce Now 100-Hour Monthly Playtime Limit

Blizzard’s failure to enforce their Addon TOS

1:22:13 Business and Econ

End of Life GPU’s

1:33:39 Shop Class

AMD Cpu’s burning out

1:39:30 Lab Work

Monster Hunter: Wilds Pay to Win panic

1:50:37 Gaming History

Gaming Legend Doug Bowser steps down from Nintendo

RIP David Rosen, Thank you for all you did

Join the Professors as we discuss potential DRAM supply from the $100 billion Micron "mega-fab" project, the bizarre rise of targeted RAM theft, and the rumored StarCraft shooter from Blizzard. We also breakdown the final shutdown of Anthem and Mark Darrah's revelation about local server code that could have saved it. We head to the Lab to dissect the Code Violet PC controversy and Marathon’s polarizing visual pivot. We also examine the latest Steam hardware survey and Highguard's "dead on arrival" concerns. Finally, we break down Steam’s record-breaking $1.6B December and the platform "monopoly" debate, while addressing Kotick’s wild legal claims about a 60% Call of Duty sales crash.

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!

Join the Professors as we dive deep into two massive gaming industry stories that are reshaping the landscape! We're covering the PlayStation 5 ROM key leak that could accelerate emulation and modification for this generation, Razer's new desktop holographic AI waifu, and celebrating a 92-year-old Japanese grandmother dominating Tekken 8. Plus, we're tackling Discord's confidential IPO filing and a nuclear-powered AI data center boom? We are forced into exploring the AM4 and DDR4 resurgence as skyrocketing memory prices push builders back to older, more affordable hardware. Then we break down Riot's embarrassing certificate mishap that took League of Legends offline globally—and how Logitech followed in their footsteps. Heru does a dive in the LoL season one (2026) update and the changes it brings. Then we finish with Faker's historic Blue Dragon Medal—South Korea's highest sports honor. 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:

27:36 - Business and Econ

44:40 - Shop Class

1:02:27 - Civics and Sociology

1:20:31 - Gym Class

Join the Professors for the FINAL course of the year! We start by honoring the legacy of industry titan Vince Zampella and addressing the reality behind those Asus DRAM rumors. In Shop Class, security is nonexistent as we analyze the $339T Rainbow Six Siege hack, PSN social engineering vulnerabilities, and the Escape From Tarkov account wipes.

Next, Civics covers the collapse of FaZe Clan as the talent walks out over equity disputes. Finally, we tackle the AI controversy at the Indie Game Awards before delivering our definitive Game of the Year picks for 2025, including deep dives into Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Battlefield 6, and Blue Prince, Arc Raiders, and a few indy titles.

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.

13:20 - Shop Class

34:47 - Civics & Sociology

47:16 - Free Period GOTY Discussion

Join the Professors as we dive deep into the wild world of PC hardware economics, from Nvidia GPU production cuts to the bizarre reality of older Ryzen CPU’s chips selling for more than their newer 9800X3D successors, all against sliding console and hardware sales across the industry. From there, we break down Steam’s looming end of 32-bit Windows support, plus Nintendo’s Switch 2 getting hammered by RAM shortages and soaring memory costs. The class then heads into the Shop with a heated look at Zotac’s controversial RTX 5070 Ti RMA denial, before circling up for Civics & Sociology to talk Neil Newbon’s “fuck AI in performance” stance, Bungie’s big art and copyright settlements, and Xbox cancelling Xbox Wrapped to chase 2026 anniversary hype instead. Finally, Lab Work covers Monster Hunter Wilds’ disastrous Title Update 4 performance issues and why Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade on Switch 2 might actually look better than PS4 thanks to DLSS and next-gen visual features. 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:

09:38 - Business & Econ

33:28 - Shop Class

47:18 - Civics & Sociology

01:19:18 - Lab Work

01:36:36 - Independent Study

Join the Professors as Heru and Plague dive deep into Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's incredible Game of the Year victory—uncovering how a $10 million French indie studio with small team of developers beat the AAA titans, the inspiring story of self-taught composer Lorien Testard's soundtrack, and the free "Thank You Update" that drove sales to 6+ million copies. We break down The Game Awards 2025's shocking moments, including some snubs and the ongoing gacha bribery debate around Wuthering Waves' Players' Choice win. Then we tackle the messy copyright strike drama: Supercell's retaliatory takedowns against beloved Clash of Clans creator EricOneHive, plus Microsoft's desperate bid to compete with SteamOS's gaming dominance in 2026. We also cover Discord's being a RAM hog, the indefinitely delayed Deus Ex Remaster, and big announcements for Star Wars, Tomb Raider, and Hollow Knight's "Sea of Sorrow" expansion. Plus, Australia's historic under-16 social media ban and why Roblox got a free pass. 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:

• Lab Work - 36:46 (The Game Awards Overview)

• Business & Econ - 1:11:51 (Clair Obscur's budget comparison)

• Civics & Sociology - 1:34:05 (Game Awards responses from companies and players)

• Shop Class - 1:52:21 (Microsoft's response to SteamOS)

Join the Professors as we look at the The Game Awards 2025 nominees, with the event happening tomorrow! Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 sets the bar with 13 nominations! We break down the major contenders, standout performances, and who’s the most nominated publisher.

Next, we continue to explore the hardware crisis hitting gaming PCs hard—AI demand is hoarding memory chips, causing DDR5 and PC prices to spike. We discuss how this may force developers to rely on better design and optimization.

We also cover Netflix's massive $82.7 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, including gaming powerhouses like NetherRealm Studios and the Hogwarts Legacy empire. Plus, we tackle Japan's new AI anti-piracy system (and its Cyberpunk vibes), Activision's “major” Call of Duty strategy shift away from back-to-back releases, the Left 4 Dead creator's new co-op shooter on PlayStation, and how the NEX Playground motion-controlled console unexpectedly outsold Xbox during Black Friday.

If that wasn't enough, we check out Razer's nostalgic Boomslang 20th Anniversary Edition gaming mouse and touch upon some GPU competition coming out of China.

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!