George {GC} Fotopoulos

Passionate Gamer and RPG lover, co-host of the Gamelitical Correct podcast.

[George {GC} Fotopoulos @Zevr1on]

We can finally say it, our first episode of Gamelitical Correct podcast is out NOW! Feel free to join our new gaming community.

https://t.co/xrt0JgPUPi

#gaming

[George {GC} Fotopoulos @Zevr1on]

I feel you, man. I was the same with my friend group.

I played 150 hours in the first two weeks, did everything, and then started seeing all the huge problems the game had. So I uninstalled it and moved on to other games.

The $40 was absolutely WORTH it, but the issues still haven’t been fixed enough to bring me back.

One of their biggest mistakes, in my opinion, was the release date. If I remember correctly, they launched the game and then the whole studio went on holiday.

You can’t do that with a live-service game. Launch is when you need to be fully locked in: fixing game-breaking bugs, stabilizing the experience, and reacting quickly.

[George {GC} Fotopoulos @Zevr1on]

@NikeFerrari_ Βγάλε άλλη μια φορά την συλλογή ένα βίντεο να κάνουν κακά τους γιατι δεν έχουν ιδέα μάλλον, η βασικά έχουν ιδέα απλά κάνουν ragebait, κλασσικό Χ.

[George {GC} Fotopoulos @Zevr1on]

@Badman17212 @NikeFerrari_ Ragebait πολύ απλά.

[George {GC} Fotopoulos @Zevr1on]

@WarhorseStudios Huge congrats, team. If you keep this momentum and continue overdelivering with your next two games (especially the LOTR RPG) you’re definitely reaching GOAT status in this genre.

For real.

[George {GC} Fotopoulos @Zevr1on]

@wannabeintro @nuhre_ The games are kinda a sequel to the books tho

[George {GC} Fotopoulos @Zevr1on]

@mrpyo1 40fps will be a miracle, I highly doubt it will run 60fps on pro 😅

[George {GC} Fotopoulos @Zevr1on]

@isnikolaos @sakiskarpas Ζητάς πάρα πολλά 😂 αν τρέχει 40 θα είναι θαύμα. 😅

[thomasmahler @thomasmahler]

It’s heartbreaking to see what’s happening at Xbox right now.

A lot of great people are being affected, and I don’t want to minimize that. But if we’re being honest, this has felt like a long time coming and I’m not sure this is the end of it. It may just be the beginning of a much larger reset across the industry.

In the long run, I actually think that reset could be good for games and good for gamers.

Xbox has struggled for a long time to identify, empower, and protect the key creative people and teams who could have kept the brand at the top.

Even when we were making Ori with Xbox, it was clear that the main focus was still Halo, Gears, and Forza - even though gamer excitement around Halo and Gears had already cooled heavily after Bungie and Epic moved on from those franchises.

The newer installments simply didn’t reproduce the same cultural impact those series once had.

Meanwhile, Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps became two of the most critically acclaimed Xbox-published games after the 360 era. I always secretly hoped that Microsoft would see the value in what we delivered, that they'd selfishly turn Ori into their Mickey Mouse or a Mario'esque mascot.

I emailed Phil plenty of times making my argument that Xbox should have their eyes on delivering magical experiences for kids and families as well, like Disney and Nintendo always have.

Ori and Moon could've been the start of something new, but the powers to be were probably too focused on the past for that to happen.

We’re still incredibly proud of what we delivered during our Ori era. Our partnership with Xbox produced two games that many players still see as shining stars in the Xbox catalogue.

Microsoft still owns an absolutely insane catalogue of franchises. The potential is still enormous.

The problem is and has always been that great games are not made by IP. They’re made by people. People who have passion and love for this medium, that understand what gamers truly want.

If I were in charge of Xbox right now, I’d also radically slim down, refocus and try to bring back the passion for gaming that clearly existed in the Xbox halls during the 360 era.

Xbox should be one of the strongest publishers in the world. With the brands Microsoft owns, that should honestly be fairly straightforward.

But nostalgia alone is not enough. Nostalgia can get people to look into your direction, but after that, you still have to deliver the goods. You still have to make products that get players genuinely excited. Products that make gamers literally salivate.

And to do that, Xbox has to bet on the right people.

They need to find the Miyamotos, Tezukas, Sakurais, etc. within their own ecosystem - the people who actually speak the same language gamers do - and then support them, protect them, and trust them.

Bet on those people - Not just IP. We've clearly seen now what happens when you own all the best IP in the world, but don't have the right people in charge to actually service those titles.

The formula is really not that complicated:

Ship better games than your competition.

That’s it.

If you consistently do that, you win. And given the scale that Xbox is operating at, they could win HUGE.

Of course, pulling off a full reset inside a giant corporation is brutally difficult. But we’ve seen it done before. Apple in 97 was nearly dead and Steve Jobs turned it around by simplifying the company, focusing on beloved brands and shipping products people couldn’t wait to get their hands on.

The playbook is already written out for you.

From the outside, to people like me, it still looks like Xbox is sitting on an absolute goldmine.

They just need to put the right people in charge of mining that gold.

[Michael @LegacyKillaHD]

This week has proven that the Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond & Matt Booty era truly was a disaster for Xbox.

They put Xbox in this position.

The Gamepass gamble and having studios work on $100 million games with no wide market appeal is beyond dumb & now the consequences are here.

[George {GC} Fotopoulos @Zevr1on]

No article is needed for Arc Raiders. They sold 16 million copies, made serious money, and the game only cost around $75 million to make, not $200+ million like Marathon, which is still trying to break even.

These are not the same situations. Arc Raiders lost 90% of its player base because the devs messed up, but one huge update could easily turn things around.

Marathon is still struggling to maintain 20k concurrent players, and sadly, I don’t see much of a future there.

[George {GC} Fotopoulos @Zevr1on]

They also have many more things in common, but you’re not mentioning any of them. You’re either ignoring them, or you simply haven’t done your research( which I doubt, because you’re actually really good at it Michael).

And I don’t think the “big IP” studios are safe either. They will likely be hit with layoffs too.

[George {GC} Fotopoulos @Zevr1on]

Big changes or resets are always painful for the people who lose their jobs, but the reality is that some studios are way too bloated.

We’ve seen plenty of great games recently made by just a few dozen developers, without burning through insane amounts of money. So why can’t Xbox, PlayStation, and the rest do the same?

Big corporations care about profit, like every other business in the world. That’s not automatically bad or “evil.” They invest money, and they want to make it back. They’re not charities.

I completely agree with you on "great games are not made by IPs." It’s unbelievable that in 2026, these companies still don’t understand that.

Cut the overspending, cut the unnecessary bloat, put truly talented people in charge of your studios and start making great games again.

That’s all that matters. GREAT games get GAMERS interested again, and interested gamers mean more SALES.

It’s not that complicated.

[George {GC} Fotopoulos @Zevr1on]

@nuhre_ FACTS. It seems that people have way too low standards nowadays Nuhre.

[George {GC} Fotopoulos @Zevr1on]

@JDiamatti @animevisualls Totally agree, it is a little bit slow at the beginning of s1 like the first 2 episodes but the writing...Maaaan absolutely incredible.

[George {GC} Fotopoulos @Zevr1on]

@Pirat_Nation Considering that they acquired Warner bros recently, im hoping to see something with the beloved nemesis system COPIUM 🤣

[George {GC} Fotopoulos @Zevr1on]

@GoodGameKofi Just to clarify I put elden ring out of respect whether I'm a fan or not, you always have to give credits where it's due and Miyazaki is MASTERMIND.

[George {GC} Fotopoulos @Zevr1on]

@GoodGameKofi BG3 and KCD2 personally, but if I have to give the right answer... Even tho I'm not soulslike enjoyer, it's Elden ring and BG3 nothing comes close to them so far.

[George {GC} Fotopoulos @Zevr1on]

@thomasmahler @NikTek Thomas don't waste your precious time man cmon, you know very well what this "smartass" trying to do. Imagine how clueless he's to compare Moonstudios with Rockstar🤣

[George {GC} Fotopoulos @Zevr1on]

Bro you are a YouTuberfor a reason, stick to what you doing best YAPPING and let the actual professionals to call out Thomas if he's wrong or not.

It's not the first nor the last studio that delayed their games to Xbox because of series S and it's highly unlikely GTAVI to be able to run on series S (probably 480p with low settings 30fps 😅), I even doubt if it will run stable 30fps on basic ps5 bro.