Colette has finished "Clair Obscur: Expedition 33" (and on her second playthrough) and Matt has watched all of the game's cinematics. And one thing is certain:

We have been forever changed by this unbelievable work of art.

This week, we go full spoiler mode on the plot, lore, characters, theories, cultural impact, and existential meaning of this extraordinary game, and why a French surrealist fever dream about grief is the LEAST commercial idea imaginable, yet an undeniable smash hit for the games industry (and why the world needs it more than ever).

Obviously, this episode contains super duper SPOILERS for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. You have been warned.

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Gamescom and the Future Games show came out swinging this week, with roughly 4 billion trailers - most of them featuring dudes with guns wearing helmets.

We barely scratch the surface as we scramble to catch up, but a few items did catch our eye.

Plus, Colette digs in on a new isometric co-op extraction shooter with huge potential, and Matt goes hard on Cyberpunk 2077.

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If you've read a video game article on the Internet in the last two decades, chances are it was written by Luke Plunkett. His tenure at Kotaku spanned 17 years, and all the highs and lows of the digital media rollercoaster.

When the bottom eventually fell out, he and other games media refugees co-founded Aftermath, a worker-owned video game news and commentary site, whose business model eschews advertising, SEO, and clickbait in favor of — get this — reader subscriptions!

Luke joins us to discuss the evolution of games media, getting paid $10 to post pictures of cake on Kotaku in 2006, living on the opposite side of the world from his co-workers, and why we are entering a new and (hopefully) more sustainable era for online journalism.

Connect with Luke:

https://www.lukeplunkett.com/

https://aftermath.site/

Buy this awesome shirt: https://aftermath-shop.fourthwall.com/products/destroy-ai-t-shirt-natural

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Nintendo shared 25 minutes of 3rd party games in its first Direct since the launch of the Switch 2, and it was a fascinating mix of ports, sequels, demos, and new IP.

We run down everything that was announced and share our reactions to one of the worst video game titles in history.

Plus: A psychological horror game where you can't leave your house (aka real life) and building a town on the back of a dinosaur.

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Hundreds of NSFW games were removed from Steam last week after Valve quietly changed some policies around adult content. But journalists realized it was actually the payment processors — Visa and Mastercard — who refused to complete transactions around certain kinds of porn.

Digging deeper, it was revealed that a small Australian conservative activism group was taking a victory lap around Steam's porn purge, all in the name of "protecting children" from "harmful content." And they are targeting Itch.io next, which has already de-indexed many adult games.

So how did a tiny group of pearl-clutchers convince two multi-national banking conglomerates to censor the world's largest video game marketplace?

Games journalist Ana Valens attempted to answer this with two reported articles on Vice's gaming site Waypoint. But those articles were taken down by Vice's corporate owners, prompting Ana (and many of her colleagues) to immediately quit.

This week, Ana joins Matt to discuss this legally and ethically complex issue, why banks can now decide what art we're allowed to see on the Internet, the pressing threat for the LGBTQ+ community, and what we can (actually) do about it.

If this conversation inspired you to take action, please discuss it in our Discord, check out the links below, and follow Ana's work:

Both archived articles: https://archive.ph/USxe6 + https://archive.ph/x5cGQ

https://yellat.money/

Follow Ana on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net

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"Donkey Kong Bananza" lets you go anywhere and punch anything, with almost no limitations, cooldowns, or stamina meters. Everything about it is bad game design.

So what makes it such a perfect video game? Matt unpacks the joy in DK's ridiculous feel and physics.

Plus: The difficulty ramps up as Colette approaches the end of "Expedition 33," and we discuss what it feels like to be cremated (aka living in Atlanta in the summer).

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Nine years after its initial release, "Stardew Valley" has dethroned "Portal 2" as the highest-rated game on Steam. We discuss this huge achievement and the business of providing long-term value to players in a world of short-term thinking.

But it's impossible to kick off the pod without discussing Microsoft's latest round of layoffs, with 9,000 people out of the job, many in the Xbox division. This has led to the cancelation of many promising games. The looming specter of AI certainly plays a role here.

And speaking of people losing their jobs, the leaders of "Subnautica's" studio Unknown Worlds were recently told to kick rocks by their parent company Krafton, right before the release of one of the most-wishlisted video games of all time: "Subnautica 2." The community is livid, and new revelations hint at some unsavory details.

And Colette shares an update on her progress in "Expedition 33."

https://www.theverge.com/news/697125/microsoft-xbox-layoffs-2025

https://www.dexerto.com/stardew-valley/stardew-valley-dethrones-valve-classic-as-steams-top-rated-game-3224023/

https://www.wired.com/story/video-games-voice-actors-strike-over-artificial-intelligence/

https://gamerant.com/subnautica-2-founder-statement/

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-07-09/krafton-delays-subnautica-2-game-ahead-of-250-million-payout

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We're taking the week off, but hope you'll check out Matt's new improv comedy podcast for kids and families!

Listen to the first episode here, share it with the kids in your life, and subscribe wherever you get your favorite podcasts:

https://www.talesfromthecloudsea.com/

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