David

Music is my therap. I do have a youtube channel that I will start uploading to soon. Channel name is Forbidden Gaming

[thomasmahler @thomasmahler]

I see a lot of people expressing shock and sadness over BioWare shutting down. And I get it.

But here's the uncomfortable truth:

The BioWare that made Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, KOTOR, Dragon Age: Origins and the original Mass Effect trilogy had largely ceased to exist long before yesterday's announcement.

BioWare's decline began around the time the doctors left and much like what happened at Blizzard, most of the original talent responsible for building those legendary franchises had moved on years ago.

What remained was the brand. The IP. Basically just the name on the building.

But a studio's name doesn't make great games. Insanely talented people do.

And that's the lesson our industry somehow keeps refusing to learn.

The people who built those studios, who poured their blood, sweat and tears into establishing their creative identities were the actual assets. Their experience, their taste, their leadership, their ability to recognize what made a game special in the first place was always the thing that mattered, not the brand.

You can't simply replace those people, keep the logo on the door and expect the magic to continue.

Yet, that's precisely what publishers have been doing for the past 10-20 years.

They've spent billions acquiring studios and IPs, seemingly under the assumption that the creative output would continue regardless of who was actually making the games.

And when the original talent inevitably left, the remaining teams were expected to fill shoes that were often impossibly large, without necessarily having the experience, leadership or creative vision required to do so.

And... the results speak for themselves.

I think we'll eventually look back at the COVID-era acquisition frenzy as one of the most destructive periods in the history of our industry.

Publishers were buying studios left and right, paying absurd valuations mostly just to secure IPs... and developers were often all too happy to cash out.

At Moon Studios, we got quite a bit of crap for refusing to sell when seemingly everyone else was getting acquired.

I remember telling our team back then that I'd seen this movie before.

The exact same thing happened in the 90s, when EA went on its acquisition spree.

Studios were bought, their founders and creative leaders gradually lost the freedom to make the games they believed in, the original talent became frustrated and left and eventually the studios all became a Ship of Theseus.

History doesn't repeat itself perfectly, but it sure as hell rhymes, and that's exactly why I never wanted Moon to end up in that position.

And I don't think we're even halfway through the ultimate fallout of the latest acquisition frenzy.

There's going to be a very rude awakening for quite a few publishers when they discover that the studios they acquired for billions are worth a fraction of what they paid. And that shoving ideology down peoples throats ultimately came at a cost that they didn't quite grasp.

They didn't actually buy the creative vision, the institutional knowledge or the culture responsible for making those studios successful.

They bought the names, the buildings, the IPs and whatever teams happened to be there at the time.

But those things don't matter at all.

You can buy a studio. You can buy its IP. You can even buy its entire back catalogue.

But you can't buy the magic that made those games special in the first place.

And the sooner our industry understands that, the better.

[Mystic🇲🇽 @TheMysticSSJ]

Its time to find the most popular WWC/GDC unit of all time!

I made a survey for the community to submit their Top 5 Favorite Worldwide Celebration/Global Dokkan Campaign units of all time.

It was a lot of fun with Anniversary units last time, please share so we can get as many responses as possible.

https://t.co/rchK0u5iGA

[Nico R’obin ♊️ @alleybenz]

The fact that they killed him and had his dead body all day while partying and enjoying themselves trying to figure out a way to cover their asses then dumped him in the water and stole his belongings…

[Rino🚀 @RinoTheBouncer]

They have all shown their true colors this generation🚀

✅PlayStation: wants to end physical media, and player ownership, 2nd hand market and create a monopoly, all that after wasting a whole generation on live service slop and cross gens, and shutting down studios.

✅Nintendo: creating slop with graphics from 3 generations ago for $80 on some games and thinks government tariff refunds are theirs while they’re happy to rob players.

✅Xbox: barely any games for a whole generation, decisions made on the fly without any real plan, creating a low end console that detailed this generation and glazing game pass which cost many studios their livelihood since they cultivated the mentality of not buying games.

All of that, and they’re all projecting their failure onto players, blaming them for their own shortcomings as if we owe them something.

Enough is enough!

We decide what’s worth our money.
No other industry is as entitled as the creative side of the gaming industry.

Just because it’s entertainment doesn’t mean we should accept the lowest standards, no respect, and an ever-shrinking value.

Speak loud
Fight for the value your see fit
You got the money, you got the power

NO DISC 💿 NO BUY

[Borderlands 4 Bulletin @borderlandshub]

🚨NEW SHiFT Code for Golden Keys‼️

🔹JHX3B-XKHH3-KXTT5-3JTJB-3K53S
🔹SHiFT Page: https://t.co/u6M5sibsO5
🔹SHiFT Codes Hub: https://t.co/F4Vnf91ZTI

[Rino🚀 @RinoTheBouncer]

PlayStation is reportedly making various studios furious as they pay them thousands of dollars to feature their games on social media, only for the posts to get flooded with angry comments and community notes over Sony’s plan to end physical game media by January 2028🚀

This may possibly derail promotional campaigns for other games, including GTA6

Don’t give up!
Keep up the pressure!
Our voices MUST be heard🫡💪🏼

NO DISC 💿 NO BUY
Source: @mooreslawisdead

[David @ForbiddenLord]

@bordeauxyt LSU and PS5

[Bordeaux @bordeauxyt]

I’m buying 16 copies of College Football 27 to give away to you all. Thanks for another amazing year of this being my job 🫡

just follow, retweet, and comment your favorite team + platform to enter

[Mightykeef @MightyKeef]

People have got to get out of this mindset that if something doesn't affect them, then it doesn't matter to them. Even if you are a person that has bought only digital or mostly digital, there are still millions of gamers that buy mostly physical, and this removes that option.

[Chris Webby @ChrisWebby]

If there’s any other reactors on YouTube yall wanna see do a reaction to #RawThoughtsVII, tag em here and let it be known !!

And also : mad love to all the reaction channels out there who already did.

I appreciate yall helping get the message out there to new eyes 👁️🙏🏻🕸

FULL VIDEO : https://t.co/GR9wXRxZRB

[C @styIysh]

I’ve played every gen of Pokemon and never cared to complete the Pokédex. Like what I look like catching a rattata.

[David @ForbiddenLord]

So glad to see BW2 getting the love it deserves.

[Stealth @Stealth40k]

IGN's Top 10 Best Pokemon Games:

10) Pokemon Legends Z-A
9) New Pokemon Snap
8) Pokémon Sword and Shield
7) Pokémon Puzzle League
6) Pokémon Go
5) Pokémon Emerald
4) Pokémon Conquest
3) Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen
2) Pokémon Black 2 and White 2
1) Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver

https://t.co/W5V9Ew1uNh

[David @ForbiddenLord]

Man this brought a tear to my eyes. My goat really gone after this Saturday

[FADE @FadeAwayMedia]

THE WHOLE WWE ROSTER GIVING JOHN CENA HIS FLOWERS 💐

THIS IS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL VIDEO MAN

#ThankYouCena

https://t.co/EwfDoY0DuT

[David @ForbiddenLord]

Me last week trying to remember Raw Danger off of the first cut scene alone

[🃏 @nevergosane]

Me searching the whole internet for a game I used to play when I was 7 yrs

[Mobalytics @Mobalytics]

VAULT HUNTER Playstyle Comparisons!⚔️

Which one are you going for?

Thanks to @RestAssuredTV for the assist 🤝

#Borderlands4 @Borderlands

[David @ForbiddenLord]

The mystery nano merch is here!! I've been watching you since 2015, and it's nice to finally have some merchandise from one of my fav creators @Nanogenix

[David @ForbiddenLord]

@AMomentToNotice Fred you got something you wanna say

[David @ForbiddenLord]

@mossy_dahlia Manye you ain't lying