Shows / Some Patches Required
Some Patches Required
Hello everybody, and welcome to Some Patches Required. Every other Thursday, your hosts Aaron and Zak use their backgrounds in game development and analysis to discuss various facets of the ever-turbulent games industry. From interviews with AAA/indie devs to deep dives on timely topics, the duo hopes to entertain and educate you on this wild medium we all love.
Episodes
Some Patches RequiredFire Emblem: Is More Content Always Better?
This week, Zak and Aaron are back at it discussing something that (for once) doesn't directly link to the dire state of the modern games industry - Fire…
Some Patches RequiredWoW Forever: Everything Old Is New Again
This week, Zak and Aaron return to the burgeoning phenomena of old video games being resurrected and expanded through the lens of World of Warcraft: Forever…
Some Patches RequiredPhysint: PlayStation and Kojima's Unexpected Breakup
This week, Zak and Aaron are back to talk about Sony walking into a PR landmine... again. This time, they seem to have unexpectedly dumped legendary developer…
- Some Patches Required
The Games Industry: Growth is Gone, the Squeeze Begins
This week, Zak and Aaron draw a throughline connecting numerous recent episodes, and discuss the state of the games industry in general. Namely, the fact that…
Some Patches RequiredHorizon Hunter's Gathering: Sony Can't Make Live Service Work
This week, Zak and Aaron return to the ever-growing trash heap that is Sony's failed foray into live service gaming to talk about its latest addition…
Some Patches RequiredPlayStation: The Death of Discs and the End of Ownership
This week, Zak and Aaron take a moment to discuss Sony's recent decision to discontinue the release of physical games in 2028, and what it means for the future…
Some Patches RequiredBethesda: What Happens After Xbox's Layoffs?
This week, Zak and Aaron take a beat to address the thousands of layoffs that wracked many XBOX studios in recent weeks, and how that culling relates to…
Some Patches RequiredGTA VI: The Industry's Most Successful Failure?
This week, Zak and Aaron are back to talk about the biggest event in the history of the games industry, and why it could still be considered a failure in the…
Some Patches RequiredThe Witcher 3: The Unexpected Expansion
This week, Zak and Aaron are back at it with something potentially positive, for a change! Namely, that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is receiving a…
Some Patches RequiredDestiny 2: The End of an Era
This week, Zak and Aaron are back to talk about Bungie again, but not exclusively because of Marathon this time. It would seem that the bell has finally tolled…
Some Patches RequiredSlay The Spire 2: Why Is It Being Review Bombed?
This week, Zak and Aaron are back at it, talking about indie mega-hit Slay The Spire 2 and its evidently divided player base. You see, while the game has…
Some Patches RequiredStop Killing Games: A Movement Building Momentum
This week, Zak and Aaron revisit a topic from earlier this season: the Stop Killing Games Movement! It's been a big couple of months for Ross Scott and the…
Some Patches RequiredMario Galaxy Movie: Exploring the Fan/Critic Divide
This week, Zak and Aaron take a moment to discuss an online conflict that rears its ugly head with disappointing regularity — the divide between critic and…
Some Patches RequiredMarathon: Is "Good" Enough for Sony?
This week, Zak and Aaron are back to check in on Marathon, the latest title from Bungie and the latest shot by Sony to make a splash in the wildly…
Some Patches RequiredXbox: The End of the Phil Spencer Era
This week, Zak and Aaron sit down to discuss some pretty massive changes over at Xbox, namely the retirement of long-time CEO Phil Spencer and the quiet…
Some Patches RequiredAshley Ruhl Interview: Regarding Romance and Game Narrative
This week, Zak and Aaron sit down to chat with Ashley Ruhl, the Narrative Director at Broadsword Online Games, currently in charge of Star Wars: The Old…
Some Patches RequiredHighguard: A Golden Marketing Opportunity Turned Sour
This week, Zak and Aaron sit down to discuss yet another curious case of misguided marketing — this time with fewer questionable hats. Highguard, which secured…
Some Patches RequiredSplitgate: A PR Catastrophe
This week, Zak and Aaron sit down to discuss how a series of PR... er, let's call them "miscalculations," arguably torpedoed Splitgate: Arena Reloaded…
Some Patches RequiredNetflix: The Fate of Warner Bros.
This week, Zak and Aaron are back in hell to discuss the pending acquisition of Warner Bros. by Netflix. They touch on what the merger could mean for the…
Some Patches RequiredSteam Machine: Disruptive Force or Niche Hardware?
This week, Zak and Aaron sit down to discuss Valve's new, ambitious hardware plans, especially the announcement's headliner: the brand-new Steam Machine. With…
Some Patches RequiredDispatch: The Smash Hit Publishers Wouldn't Touch
This week, Zak and Aaron sit down to chat about another (increasingly rare) industry success story: the brand-new Telltale-style adventure Dispatch! How…
Some Patches RequiredEA Buyout: What Happens to Your Favorite IP Now?
This week, Zak and Aaron finally get around to discussing one of the most significant events in the recent history of the games industry — the $55 billion…
Some Patches RequiredChris Knight Interview: Crafting a Career in 2D Art
This week, Zak and Aaron are delighted to present a conversation with Chris Knight, a 2D artist based in Austin, TX. Chris was kind enough to share some…
Some Patches RequiredGame Pass: Higher Price, Lower Value
This week, Zak and Aaron sit down to talk about Xbox GamePass' recent price increase... again! That's right, the fabled "best value in gaming" just saw a 50%…
Some Patches RequiredSilksong: The Power of Lean Game Development
This week, Zak and Aaron... actually have something positive to talk about for once! Namely, the predictably smashing release of Hollow Knight: Silksong…
Some Patches RequiredSteam Censorship: Weaponizing Payment Processors
This week, Zak and Aaron kindly beg your attention to a very serious matter: the censorship of thousands of NSFW games across Steam and Itch.io at the behest…
Some Patches RequiredRoblox: The World's Worst Dating Service
This week, Zak and Aaron dig into a topic that's as absurd as it is concerning: the CEO of Roblox wants to officially incorporate dating into the platform…
Some Patches RequiredStop Killing Games: The Best Hope for a Better Industry?
This week, Zak and Aaron delve into the nitty-gritty of the Stop Killing Games movement — an initiative with the simple goal of persuading publishers to, well…
Some Patches RequiredPeak: The Rise of "FriendSlop" Games
This week, Zak and Aaron sit down, inexplicably inspired by a meme, to discuss the rise of so-called "FriendSlop" games. These are titles like Repo, Lethal…
Some Patches RequiredDisney vs. Midjourney: The Future of AI in Entertainment
It finally happened! A set of entertainment juggernauts — Disney and Universal — are taking the fight to AI in a big way. This week, Zak and Aaron sit down to…
Some Patches RequiredGame Movies Galore: An Adaptation Avalanche
This week, Zak and Aaron sit down to discuss the absolute onslaught of video game movie adaptations coming down the pike at breakneck speed. From questions of…
Some Patches RequiredExpedition 33: Success Can't "Save" Single-Player
This week, Zak and Aaron take a moment to celebrate the runaway critical and commercial success of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33... and then dig into why it…
Some Patches RequiredMarathon: Can Bungie Fulfill Sony's Live Service Ambitions?
This week, Zak and Aaron sit down to discuss Bungie's newest project, Marathon! The dig into everything from the upcoming extraction shooter's aesthetic to its…
Some Patches RequiredNintendo Switch 2 Prices: Changing the Industry $80 at a Time
This week, Zak and Aaron dive into a new controversy that may have long-lasting implications for the industry at large — Nintendo's decision to price some…
Some Patches RequiredUnited Videogame Workers: Is This the Moment Devs Have Been Waiting For?
This week, Zak and Aaron sit down to discuss the newly formed United Videogame Workers Union — a brand-new collective attempting to bring the power of…
Some Patches RequiredKevin Messenhimer Interview: A Developer's Journey to Founding Fiveamp
This week, Zak and Aaron sit down for a delightful conversation with Kevin Messenhimer, one of the co-founders of the indie game studio Fiveamp. The trio…
Some Patches RequiredMarvel Rivals Layoffs: Why Headlines Matter
This week, Zak and Aaron revisit the world of Marvel Rivals, albeit tangentially and under less than pleasant circumstances. In the wake of some unexpected and…
Some Patches RequiredSPR Reviews Bobby Kotick's Podcast Appearance
This week on Some Patches Required, Zak and Aaron sit down to do something they've never done before: review an episode of another podcast. Then again, they've…
Some Patches RequiredMarvel Rivals: Quality, Quantity, and Post-Launch Content Cadence
This week, Zak and Aaron return to the world of gaming topics not as friends, but as rivals... Marvel Rivals™! Inaccurate and misleading introductory…
Some Patches RequiredMeta's AI Bots: How to Ruin Society With Artificial Intelligence
As 2025 begins in earnest, we have some phenomenal news for you! Everybody's favorite dewy salamander, Mark Zuckerberg, is going FINALLY going to rebuild trust…
Some Patches RequiredHandheld Gaming: Xbox and Sony's Next Big Bet
Xbox and PlayStation, two brands locked in what may be an eternal conflict for market superiority, seem to have found yet another field on which to clash: the…
Some Patches RequiredSony Looks to Acquire Kadokawa: What Could it Mean for From Software?
Well, would you look at that? It's consolidation time again in the games industry! Who knew 15 minutes could pass so fast? Jokes aside, this is a big one: Sony…
Some Patches RequiredGTA 6: The Game to Save All Games?
This week, Zak and Aaron take some time to discuss Grand Theft Auto VI, but not in the "WHEN FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WILL IT FINALLY RELEASE" way to which you may…
Some Patches RequiredHalo Studios: A New Dawn?
This week, Zak and Aaron take some time to discuss the newly renamed Halo Studios (so long, 343! We're sure Xbox didn't rename you because of all that bad…
Some Patches RequiredUbisoft: A Desperate Situation
Brace yourselves for a shocking revelation: Ubisoft is in serious trouble again. Or still... or, maybe, both. This week, Zak and Aaron sit down to discuss the…
Some Patches RequiredJohn Henderson Interview: Insights From 16 Years in and Around Austin's Game Industry
This week, Zak and Aaron sit down with notable Austinite John Henderson, who has shipped numerous games and made a name for himself in the local development…
Some Patches RequiredConcord: An Unprecedented Failure
Alas, poor Concord, we hardly knew thee. That's right, Sony's next big foray into the wild world of live service shooters, is no more. And the real kicker? It…
Some Patches RequiredMonopoly Go!: The Obscene Cost of Games Marketing
When you look at a game like Monopoly Go!, your first thought is probably not that its marketing budget was nearly twice the annual GDP of the Marshall…
Some Patches RequiredGame Pass: Higher Prices, Higher Stakes
Xbox Game Pass has been called the best deal in gaming, and for a while that was hard to dispute. But the times are changing, and with it comes a new era for…
Some Patches RequiredElden Ring: Game Difficulty & Accessibility
Every few years, notoriously sadistic game studio From Software releases a new title, and with it comes a heated debate about game difficulty. Well, that time…
Some Patches RequiredDragon Age: Homogenizing Video Games
Among the bombastic trailers showcased in the Xbox showcase at Not E3™ — er, I mean Summer Game Fest™ — was one particular reveal that some fans have been…
Some Patches RequiredIGN: Corporate Consolidation's Impact on Games Media
Hello, everybody, and welcome to the latest episode of Consolidation Watch - a show where we puff out our proverbial chests and celebrate all of the excellent…
Some Patches RequiredJosh Bowlby Interview: UI/UX Design & Community Building
This week, Zak and Aaron chat with Josh Bowlby, a UI/UX designer (user interface and user experience, for the neophytes out there) who has experience at…
Some Patches RequiredFallout: A New Era of Multimedia Franchises?
War. War never changes... but the media landscape sure does. With Amazon's new Fallout show dominating headlines and streaming charts alike, Zak and Aaron…
Some Patches RequiredEpic vs. Apple Lawsuit: The Fate of Platform Monopolization
Ahh, Apple. Creators of the smartphone, pioneers of industry, the gold standard for excellence, the last bastion of inspiration in a world that's gone dull…
Some Patches RequiredDragon's Dogma 2: Does Review Bombing Work?
Rejoice, RPG fans, for Dragon's Dogma 2 is finally here! The reviews are in, and the consensus is... well, complicated as hell. While critics are stoked…
Some Patches RequiredSuicide Squad: The Desperate State of AAA Games
When you think of AAA games, does your mind fill with excitement imagining what spectacular worlds dedicated artists have crafted for you with the benefit of…
Some Patches RequiredAdam Powell Interview: Union Organizing and the Games Industry
At this point, trying to find a new or clever way to say that the games industry is in turmoil is a profound exercise in futility. There is no one way to "fix"…
Some Patches RequiredPalworld: Imitation, Inspiration, and Poké-Plagiarism
If you've spent any time on the internet as of late, odds are you've stumbled across something about a new game called Palworld - otherwise known as "Pokémon…
Some Patches RequiredChasing Pre-Orders: Early Access Monetization Madness
Hello, everybody, and welcome to season three of Some Patches Required! Our intrepid hosts have been away for a while, but the games industry certainly didn't…