Sacred Symbols, Episode 323 | Losing the Northstar

The situation with Concord couldn't be any more dire. By the time this podcast is published, Sony's beleaguered hero shooter would have already been pulled offline, with every purchaser refunded. It marks the tragic end of a project that barely got off the ground at all, and certainly represents the biggest black eye PlayStation first party has ever experienced in its near-30 year history. We spend a lot of time going over everything that went wrong, and all such a failure implies: Poor vision, lacking leadership, and utter directionlessness. It's as if Sony execs completely lost sight of what's important, and no: It has nothing to do with Concord being multiplayer. Other news this week includes Hideaki Itsuno's exit from Capcom after three decades, layoffs plaguing a bunch of studios (including a PlayStation second party that hasn't even released its game yet), and more. Listener inquiries round things out, as always. What's the deal with this Wukong exclusivity drama? Should we be happy or concerned about Annapurna investment in Remedy's future projects? Are we suffering from a glut of "ugly characters" in video games? Is Chris prepared to hear a fact about the cast of Foamstars from which he may never be able to recover?

Timestamps:
0:00:00 - Introduction
0:19:30 - Black Eyed Peas vs Outkast

0:34:40 - French monkey spies

0:37:36 - What's our favorite PB&J combination?

0:42:41 - Which NFL teams will win their division?

0:45:27 - Foamstars bodily fluids

0:48:12 - Wrong Sacred logo

0:52:34 - Star Wars Outlaws progression bug

0:55:39 - Happy Birthday Matthew

0:57:30 - Tripple layoffs

1:07:23 - You're a collection, Harry

1:09:21 - What are we playing?

1:47:32 - Sony shuts down Concord

2:49:51 - Hideaki Itsuno leaves Capcom

2:56:13 - The British cost of living

3:03:16 - Farm Simulator 22

3:07:17 - Halo Infinite lives

3:10:47 - Black Myth Wukong's "exclusivity"

3:15:48 - Are American characters unattractive?

3:26:52 - The Remedy-verse