The Dropshot

The Dropshot, LLC

The Dropshot is a weekly gaming news and culture podcast hosted by Casey, AKA Razinon, and Jakedown. Casey and Jake are long-time gaming buddies who have strong opinions they are all too happy to share with the internet. The podcast is streamed live at youtube.com/thedropshotpodcast and is also available wherever you listen to podcasts. Visit TheDropshot.com for links to all of the podcast's varied content, including the vibrant Discord community, the Patreon for bonus content, and much more.

  1. 1 day ago

    Saudi Arabia Bought EA — And Gamers Are Mad About a Camera

    On Tuesday, Electronic Arts stops being a public company. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake and Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners are closing a $55 billion all-cash buyout — the largest leveraged buyout of a public company in history — and PIF walks away with 93.4% of Madden, FIFA, Apex, The Sims, Battlefield and BioWare. So we spent half the episode on what that actually means: what going private does to a publisher, the $20 billion in debt that lands on EA itself, whether sports betting is the obvious way to service it, and what happens to queer characters in BioWare games under this ownership. Plus the question nobody answers honestly — is boycotting Madden a real position, or does it just feel good? Then the other half. Tarkov's first post-launch wipe and the Kord Breach seasons drop August 3, so we get into the state of the game right before it resets. Overwatch Champions Series is live in Paris, and the jetpack cat strat does not translate to Silver. And Baldur's Gate 3's new true third-person camera mod set the internet on fire — someone told modders to be nuked off the face of the earth over an optional camera angle in a single-player game. Jake wants a normal third-person view in everything. Raz is a Larian hipster who was there before BG3. WARDOGS Alpha hits Friday. 0:00 - Intro 0:50 - Pop Quiz: Name That Tarkov AI 2:41 - Patreon Free Trials & August Hangouts 6:37 - WARDOGS Alpha Drops August 7 8:43 - Escape From Tarkov: Back In It 10:50 - Raz Gets Mogged All Wipe Long 16:36 - Jake's Week in Tarkov 22:49 - Tarkov Is the Dark Souls of FPS 24:19 - Overwatch: Bronze 5 to Silver 3 26:12 - Overwatch Champions Series in Paris 27:11 - The Jetpack Cat + Bastion A-10 Strat 31:50 - Saudi Arabia Is Buying EA for $55 Billion 44:23 - Going Private: Actually Good for Games? 50:47 - The $20 Billion Leveraged Buyout 52:15 - The Sports Betting Theory 55:55 - Nobody Here Bets on Anything 1:00:15 - Tangent: The Intel Bet That Paid 500% 1:02:49 - $166 Billion Wagered in 2025 1:04:08 - Why Do People Watch Gambling Streams? 1:05:10 - Gambling Ads and Kids 1:07:23 - There Is No Moral Panic Here 1:15:53 - "Creative Control" and What It's Worth 1:18:29 - Khashoggi, Non-Disparagement, Game-Washing 1:22:10 - Queer Characters, BioWare, and Veilguard 1:26:02 - Would You Still Buy It? (Yes) 1:28:37 - Is Boycotting Madden a Real Position? 1:31:30 - The BG3 Third-Person Camera Mod 1:32:11 - What the Mod Actually Does 1:36:25 - The Two Camps 1:37:52 - Raz Is a Larian Hipster 1:40:06 - Genre Purism: Is Isometric Load-Bearing? 1:42:20 - Jake Writes Off Every Top-Down Game 1:45:11 - The Elden Ring Summons Crowd 1:47:27 - Divinity's Camera, Confirmed 1:48:05 - Larian Shot Down WASD Movement 1:55:35 - That Divinity Trailer 1:57:37 - Why DOS2 Combat Beats BG3 2:01:44 - Outro _Note: timestamps may be slightly misaligned on podcast apps (but not on YouTube) due to dynamic ads._ The podcast is available wherever you listen to podcasts, and ad-free & early access versions - as well as bonus episodes - are available to all of our Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/thedropshot) supporters. We stream the podcast live on our YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/c/thedropshotpodcast) every Saturday morning at ~9 o'clock Pacific Time. We typically start the stream 30 minutes early to answer viewer questions, banter, and chat. Links for everything are below. Thanks for checking us out! 🔹Streaming schedule (Pacific time): 🔸Saturday ~9 AM: Gaming news and stories of the week 🔹The Dropshot: 🔸Website: https://www.thedropshot.com 🔸Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDropshotPod 🔸Discord: https://discord.gg/B4Nsarq 🔸YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/thedropshotpodcast 🔸Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedropshot 🔸Donate: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=YVR98VF4S945G 🔸Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedropshotpodcast/ 🔸TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thedropshotpodcast 🔹Razinon: 🔸Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/razinon 🔸Twitter: https://twitter.com/razinon 🔸Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/razinonttv 🔹Jakedown: 🔸Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/jakedown_ 🔸YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jakedown #TheDropshot #DropshotPodcast #GamingPodcast #Jakedown #Razinon #EscapeFromTarkov #Tarkov #KordBreach #Overwatch #OWCS #BaldursGate3 #BG3 #LarianStudios #Divinity #WARDOGS #EA #ElectronicArts #SaudiArabia #GamingNews #GamingIndustry #PodcastClips #HotTake #GamingClips Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  2. 27 Jul

    WARDOGS Looks Incredible... Then They Got Banned On Twitch

    WARDOGS ran its first ever gameplay livestream this week and it went about as well as you'd expect from a studio full of guys in their late twenties: the alpha codes were a QR-code disaster, the stream started two hours late, and it ended with a Twitch ban for throwing a sex toy across the room. And yet — the actual gameplay looked incredible. We break down everything we saw: the enormous map, the three-team control zone loop, the destructible environments, the buy menu, and why Bulkhead's 60 FPS performance floor and "gamers first, devs second" attitude has us more hyped for this game than anything else on the calendar. Plus: is a monthly subscription for better servers and anti-cheat a genuinely good idea or the start of a slippery slope? Then it's Hell Let Loose: Vietnam, which just opened its first free crossplay playtest on the new Đắk Tô Airfield map — the performance is fixed, the hit reg is fixed, and the map is a massive upgrade over that awful jungle one. And Battlefield 6 Season 4 finally brought naval warfare, Tsuru Reef, and a Top Gun crossover that people are somehow mad about. We close with what we've actually been playing — Overwatch ranked, Stellaris Nomads, a lot of Tarkov, and one MMO Raz will absolutely keep playing despite telling you not to touch it. Jake's out here getting one-tapped in Tarkov. Raz is defending a game he just called a pile of dog shit. Business as usual. 0:00 - Intro 1:40 - Patreon + Welcome To The New Gold Patrons 3:21 - Patreon Hangouts Are Back In August 4:40 - WARDOGS Ran Its First Gameplay Livestream 5:42 - QR Code Chaos, A Flying Dildo, And A Twitch Ban 6:52 - The Gameplay Though? Actually Incredible 10:56 - This Map Might Be Too Big 13:37 - Why A Huge Map Makes Your Life Matter 15:24 - The Buy Menu vs. Tarkov's Nightmare Menu 16:14 - WARDOGS Isn't Really A New Genre 18:38 - Flight Of The Valkyries In A Helicopter 19:35 - Three Teams, Base Building, And What We Didn't See 21:46 - The Devs Are Just A Bunch Of Bros (And That's Good) 23:58 - Shock Collars And Shots At Hasan 25:27 - The Performance Dev Vlog: 60 FPS Is The Floor 29:44 - Gamers First, Devs Second 30:39 - 650,000 Wishlists vs. 5,000 Expected Players 36:28 - Joe Brammer's Monthly Subscription Idea 41:39 - What Will WARDOGS Actually Cost? 46:55 - Reddit Hates The Subscription Idea 49:44 - BF6 Isn't Unpopular Because Of Microtransactions 53:17 - The Alpha Isn't Until August 7th And That's Annoying 56:50 - Hell Let Loose: Vietnam Got Pushed Back 58:08 - Dak To Airfield First Impressions 1:00:08 - Napalm Strikes And Viet Cong Tunnels 1:01:57 - Why The First Beta Was A Disaster 1:04:39 - If Every Map Is Jungle, This Game Is DOA 1:08:02 - Free Crossplay Weekend, Ends Monday 1:09:40 - Will WARDOGS Have Controller Support? 1:11:55 - Battlefield 6 Season 4: Naval Warfare Finally 1:13:00 - Tsuru Reef Is Big, Bright, And Actually Fun 1:14:57 - The Bloom In This Game Is Infuriating 1:16:41 - Driving The New Warship 1:17:21 - Wake Island And The Top Gun Crossover 1:20:39 - RedSec Added Bots. Obviously. 1:21:02 - Aircraft Carrier Facts Nobody Asked For 1:23:13 - WARDOGS Is The Only Thing That Matters 1:25:11 - What We've Been Playing: Climbing Out Of Bronze 1:26:30 - Stellaris Nomads 1:27:52 - Do NOT Play Star Wars: The Old Republic 1:29:14 - Jake's Tarkov Problem 1:30:57 - Seasonal Character, Wipes, And Cheaters 1:33:39 - Why It's Been A Slow Few Months For Games 1:36:17 - If You Play Shooters, You Have To Play Tarkov 1:37:20 - Star Wars Zero Company (No Co-Op, Sadly) 1:38:25 - Outro + Patreon Hangouts 1:39:30 - Oh, And Black Ops 7 SBMM News _Note: timestamps may be slightly misaligned on podcast apps (but not on YouTube) due to dynamic ads._ The podcast is available wherever you listen to podcasts, and ad-free & early access versions - as well as bonus episodes - are available to all of our Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/thedropshot) supporters. We stream the podcast live on our YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/c/thedropshotpodcast) every Saturday morning at ~9 o'clock Pacific Time. We typically start the stream 30 minutes early to answer viewer questions, banter, and chat. Links for everything are below. Thanks for checking us out! 🔹Streaming schedule (Pacific time): 🔸Saturday ~9 AM: Gaming news and stories of the week 🔹The Dropshot: 🔸Website: https://www.thedropshot.com 🔸Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDropshotPod 🔸Discord: https://discord.gg/B4Nsarq 🔸YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/thedropshotpodcast 🔸Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedropshot 🔸Donate: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=YVR98VF4S945G 🔸Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedropshotpodcast/ 🔸TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thedropshotpodcast 🔹Razinon: 🔸Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/razinon 🔸Twitter: https://twitter.com/razinon 🔸Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/razinonttv 🔹Jakedown: 🔸Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/jakedown_ 🔸YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jakedown #TheDropshot #GamingPodcast #PodcastClips Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  3. 20 Jul

    MW4 Gameplay Reveal: Kill Block, Recoil Backlash & the DMZ2 Problem

    Infinity Ward just had its biggest Modern Warfare 4 reveal week yet — and the community immediately found the flaws. We break down everything shown at the MW4 creator event and Fanatics Fest: the Kill Block modular map with 500+ configurations, the gunplay reveal and the instant visual recoil backlash, VFX masking, no-bloom hipfire, doors, takedowns, proximity chat, and the Aston Martin Dreadnought that quietly confirmed Warzone isn't dead yet. Then the real question: MW4 looks like MW19 2.0 — but is a well-executed return to form enough in 2026? We get into why the arcade shooter can't hold anyone's attention all year anymore, why the "third game mode" is the entire Call of Duty paradigm now, and why everything — the game, the year, maybe the franchise's momentum — is riding on DMZ2. Plus: why you should treat beta weekend two as the final verdict, because beta tests aren't beta tests anymore. Also announced: monthly Patreon hangouts are BACK starting in August — hot take open mics, trivia, and more. patreon.com/thedropshot One of us is buying in. One of us has seen this movie before. You know how this goes. 0:00 - Intro 1:18 - MW4 reveal week: how we got here 3:30 - Patreon hangouts are BACK (August) 8:31 - Topic of the week: the MW4 reveal 9:07 - Kill Block: the shapeshifting map 15:01 - Was Kill Block worth the dev time? 20:00 - Kill Block in a BR? The bigger idea 25:15 - The gunplay reveal & firing range video 27:56 - Realism vs. fun: the two camps 30:06 - The visual recoil backlash 34:08 - Jake: I'll take Infinity Ward's flaws 35:48 - Raz: "Wouldn't it be nice?" 42:22 - VFX masking & visual noise 43:51 - The feedback honeypot pattern 48:43 - Bullets punch holes through smoke 51:09 - Underhand grenade throws 53:15 - "MW2 with improvements?" debate 57:27 - Raz: it's just more CoD slop 1:01:10 - Is a return to form enough in 2026? 1:07:49 - The third-game-mode paradigm 1:15:23 - Did Aston Martin just confirm Warzone? 1:16:31 - The Warzone fan's dilemma 1:19:10 - Doors, takedowns & prox chat 1:21:39 - No-bloom hipfire & the Tarkov skill gap 1:27:44 - The Aston Martin Dreadnought 1:31:51 - Combined-arms big maps 1:34:25 - Raz's beta advice 1:36:17 - Where is CoD Next? 1:39:21 - Wrap-up & what we're playing _Note: timestamps may be slightly misaligned on podcast apps (but not on YouTube) due to dynamic ads._ The podcast is available wherever you listen to podcasts, and ad-free & early access versions - as well as bonus episodes - are available to all of our Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/thedropshot) supporters. We stream the podcast live on our YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/c/thedropshotpodcast) every Saturday morning at ~9 o'clock Pacific Time. We typically start the stream 30 minutes early to answer viewer questions, banter, and chat. Links for everything are below. Thanks for checking us out! 🔹Streaming schedule (Pacific time): 🔸Saturday ~9 AM: Gaming news and stories of the week 🔹The Dropshot: 🔸Website: https://www.thedropshot.com 🔸Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDropshotPod 🔸Discord: https://discord.gg/B4Nsarq 🔸YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/thedropshotpodcast 🔸Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedropshot 🔸Donate: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=YVR98VF4S945G 🔸Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedropshotpodcast/ 🔸TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thedropshotpodcast 🔹Razinon: 🔸Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/razinon 🔸Twitter: https://twitter.com/razinon 🔸Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/razinonttv 🔹Jakedown: 🔸Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/jakedown_ 🔸YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jakedown Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  4. 13 Jul

    Bethesda Layoffs, Black Flag Resynced & Tarkov Kord Breach

    Black Flag Resynced just became the biggest Assassin's Creed launch in history — and it's a remake of a 13-year-old game with mixed Steam reviews. The boys break down the day-one microtransaction backlash, whether the remake gold rush is good for gaming, and which classics deserve the full ground-up treatment next. Then it gets heavier: Microsoft's July layoff wave hit Bethesda and ZeniMax hard, and Raz makes the case that AI is a top-three reason why. Plus the office memorial HR forced down, 14 layers of management, and why Elder Scrolls 6 should have shipped a decade ago. Also on the docket: Doom: The Dark Ages – Revelations DLC and its Metroidvania-inspired level design, Stop Killing Games taking Ls in the EU and California (and the list of "dying" games nobody has ever heard of), the full corrected rundown of Tarkov's Kord Breach Season 1 modifiers, and the BO2 remaster shipping with bugs that were patched a decade ago. One host thinks the ownership question matters. The other thinks the market already answered it. You know how this goes. 0:00 - Intro 3:48 - Black Flag Resynced: biggest AC launch ever 12:35 - The day-one microtransaction backlash 24:29 - Remakes are the new meta 34:19 - Doom: The Dark Ages – Revelations DLC 42:29 - Bethesda layoffs 43:35 - Did AI cause the layoffs? 47:50 - The office memorial HR took down 53:43 - Where the hell is Elder Scrolls 6? 1:01:12 - AAA studios don't take risks anymore 1:07:45 - Stop Killing Games takes two Ls 1:10:01 - Roasting the "games being killed" list 1:16:47 - Our AI's $70 take gets destroyed 1:18:51 - Brazil is bigger than Australia?? 1:20:52 - Gold injections & ayahuasca (don't) 1:26:43 - Tarkov Kord Breach: what we got wrong 1:40:28 - BO2 remaster: same bugs, 12 years later 1:41:49 - Jake's Tarkov check-in 1:45:38 - Announcements & Patreon _Note: timestamps may be slightly misaligned on podcast apps (but not on YouTube) due to dynamic ads._ The podcast is available wherever you listen to podcasts, and ad-free & early access versions - as well as bonus episodes - are available to all of our Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/thedropshot) supporters. We stream the podcast live on our YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/c/thedropshotpodcast) every Saturday morning at ~9 o'clock Pacific Time. We typically start the stream 30 minutes early to answer viewer questions, banter, and chat. Links for everything are below. Thanks for checking us out! 🔹Streaming schedule (Pacific time): 🔸Saturday ~9 AM: Gaming news and stories of the week 🔹The Dropshot: 🔸Website: https://www.thedropshot.com 🔸Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDropshotPod 🔸Discord: https://discord.gg/B4Nsarq 🔸YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/thedropshotpodcast 🔸Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedropshot 🔸Donate: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=YVR98VF4S945G 🔸Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedropshotpodcast/ 🔸TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thedropshotpodcast 🔹Razinon: 🔸Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/razinon 🔸Twitter: https://twitter.com/razinon 🔸Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/razinonttv 🔹Jakedown: 🔸Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/jakedown_ 🔸YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jakedown #TheDropshot #GamingPodcast #PodcastClips #BlackFlagResynced #AssassinsCreed #Bethesda #ElderScrolls6 #DoomTheDarkAges #EscapeFromTarkov #KordBreach #Ubisoft Trending: #StopKillingGames #GamingLayoffs #AI #GamingNews Format: #GamingDebate #HotTake #Shorts #FYP Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  5. 6 Jul

    The Steam Machine Is Weaker Than a PS5 (And Costs 2x)

    Valve's Steam Machine reviews are in — and the verdict is brutal: by most measures it's slightly less powerful than a base PS5 while costing more than double. We break down the benchmarks, why Valve went semi-custom on the chips, and whether "access to the entire Steam library" is worth the price of admission. Before that, we go deep on Escape from Tarkov's first-ever season, Cord Breach — the new seasonal character system, the Path of Exile-style trait modifiers, the Kappa protocol, and whether this shakes up the Tarkov loop for good. Then it's War Dogs: the alpha impressions are rolling in, the hype is real, and the only "complaints" are people mad about camping in a large-scale warfare game. Plus: Sony is killing physical disc production for new PlayStation games in 2028 — do you even own your games anymore? And one last Call of Duty story from our CoD heritage: Warzone's cheater problem has never been worse, to the point streamers are teaming up mid-match just to survive. Jake sees the upside, Raz calls it like he sees it. 0:00 - Intro & Happy 4th of July 1:26 - This Week In Gaming (the rundown) 2:33 - Tarkov's First-Ever Season: Cord Breach 9:22 - Breaking Down The Seasonal Traits 21:28 - The Kappa Question & Big-Ticket Perks 26:46 - Neutral, Season-Wide Modifiers 29:44 - The Negative Traits 39:18 - Verdict: Is Cord Breach Worth It? 39:32 - Seasonal vs. Permanent Characters 47:03 - War Dogs Alpha: The Hype Builds 1:00:31 - Sony Kills The Disc (2028) 1:10:26 - Do You Even Own Your Games? 1:17:06 - Steam Machine: Impressive Hardware, Baffling Price 1:22:26 - Benchmarks: Weaker Than A PS5 For Double 1:33:24 - How Chips Are Made & The Silicon Lottery 1:34:16 - One Last CoD Story: Warzone's Cheater Hell 1:39:55 - Landing The Plane _Note: timestamps may be slightly misaligned on podcast apps (but not on YouTube) due to dynamic ads._ The podcast is available wherever you listen to podcasts, and ad-free & early access versions - as well as bonus episodes - are available to all of our Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/thedropshot) supporters. We stream the podcast live on our YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/c/thedropshotpodcast) every Saturday morning at ~9 o'clock Pacific Time. We typically start the stream 30 minutes early to answer viewer questions, banter, and chat. Links for everything are below. Thanks for checking us out! 🔹Streaming schedule (Pacific time): 🔸Saturday ~9 AM: Gaming news and stories of the week 🔹The Dropshot: 🔸Website: https://www.thedropshot.com 🔸Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDropshotPod 🔸Discord: https://discord.gg/B4Nsarq 🔸YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/thedropshotpodcast 🔸Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedropshot 🔸Donate: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=YVR98VF4S945G 🔸Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedropshotpodcast/ 🔸TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thedropshotpodcast 🔹Razinon: 🔸Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/razinon 🔸Twitter: https://twitter.com/razinon 🔸Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/razinonttv 🔹Jakedown: 🔸Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/jakedown_ 🔸YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jakedown #TheDropshot #GamingPodcast #Podcast · #EscapeFromTarkov #Tarkov #CordBreach #WarDogs #SteamMachine #Valve #PS5 #CallOfDuty #Warzone · #SteamMachineVsPS5 #GamePrices #PhysicalMedia · #GamingNews #HotTake #PodcastClips #GamingShorts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  6. 29 Jun

    GTA 6 Is $100 For a Code in a Box (And You'll Buy It)

    GTA 6 pre-orders are live, the price is confirmed, and the internet is melting down — so naturally that's the whole episode. Raz and Jake break down the $80 standard / $100 Ultimate pricing, the "physical copy" that's really just a download code in a box with no disc, and whether you're actually losing anything (spoiler: lending to your buddies, and not much else). Then it's the free-market case for why $80 is eminently fair, the cost-per-hour argument that makes GTA the cheapest entertainment on Earth, and the uncomfortable truth that the loudest complainers have already pre-ordered. Then, meanwhile: EMPULSE. The $15 Titanfall-like from the Splitgate devs launched into early access with no store, no battle pass, and no microtransactions — and the guys explain, with the utmost confidence and zero gameplay watched, exactly why it's dead on arrival. Paint bombs included. Plus: 50 million GTA 6 pre-orders, companies closing on launch day, and a $1,000 bet on EMPULSE failing inside three months. 0:00 — Intro & "we have no likes" cold open 1:34 — GTA 6 pre-orders are live: $80 standard, $100 Ultimate 2:58 — The "code in a box": a physical copy with no disc 4:47 — Is the disc even a loss? Lending, Blockbuster, PS2 days 9:00 — Servers, Stop Killing Games & whether discs matter anymore 12:17 — Onto pricing: is $80 fair? "That person does not exist" 15:31 — The $100 Ultimate Edition: scam or just a menu? 19:22 — Does $80 GTA give every other studio license to charge $80? 23:00 — Big Macs, Netflix & the "communists in our comments" tangent 31:00 — Cost-per-hour: video games are the cheapest entertainment on Earth 34:22 — The one scummy thing: PC release delayed behind console 39:59 — Back to physical ownership: resale, lending, longevity 43:13 — Did GTA kill the disc? No — it was already dead 1:00:30 — Why no disc, really: anti-leak vs. just cheaper (part 2) 1:05:20 — Ultimate Edition breakdown: tattoos, car finds, gang raid 1:06:30 — Day-one Ultimate content: cut from the base game? 1:06:40 — "We're going to pre-order anyway, aren't we?" 1:09:54 — Is GTA review-proof? Outrage-proof? The Kotaku prediction 1:11:06 — Vote with your wallet & why a boycott is inconceivable 1:18:40 — 50M pre-orders, $4B, companies closing on launch day 1:11:06 — MEANWHILE: EMPULSE, the $15 Splitgate-devs shooter 1:13:01 — "This game will fail" — the arena shooter genre is dead 1:18:10 — No store, no battle pass, no microtransactions = $60k revenue 1:23:31 — "60 grand, baby" & the $1,000 bet it fails in 3 months 1:30:20 — GTA vs EMPULSE juxtaposition & "consumer-friendly?" rebuttal 1:32:31 — Announcements: bonus eps, Patreon, shoutouts, sign-off _Note: timestamps may be slightly misaligned on podcast apps (but not on YouTube) due to dynamic ads._ The podcast is available wherever you listen to podcasts, and ad-free & early access versions - as well as bonus episodes - are available to all of our Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/thedropshot) supporters. We stream the podcast live on our YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/c/thedropshotpodcast) every Saturday morning at ~9 o'clock Pacific Time. We typically start the stream 30 minutes early to answer viewer questions, banter, and chat. Links for everything are below. Thanks for checking us out! 🔹Streaming schedule (Pacific time): 🔸Saturday ~9 AM: Gaming news and stories of the week 🔹The Dropshot: 🔸Website: https://www.thedropshot.com 🔸Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDropshotPod 🔸Discord: https://discord.gg/B4Nsarq 🔸YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/thedropshotpodcast 🔸Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedropshot 🔸Donate: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=YVR98VF4S945G 🔸Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedropshotpodcast/ 🔸TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thedropshotpodcast 🔹Razinon: 🔸Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/razinon 🔸Twitter: https://twitter.com/razinon 🔸Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/razinonttv 🔹Jakedown: 🔸Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/jakedown_ 🔸YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jakedown #TheDropshot #DropshotPodcast #GamingPodcast #PodcastClips #GTA6 #GTAVI #Rockstar #EMPULSE #Splitgate #Titanfall #ArenaShooter #FPS #GTA6PreOrder #GamePrices #GamingNews #1047Games #HotTake #PodcastMoments #GamingClips #Shorts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  7. 22 Jun

    Halo on PlayStation, GTA 6 Pre-Orders & WARDOGS Killcam Drama

    Halo is on PlayStation. Let that sink in. On this one we get into Halo: Campaign Evolved — the full Unreal Engine 5 remake landing on PS5, Xbox and PC on July 28 — and why cutting the multiplayer to protect the "next mainline Halo" might be the dumbest part of the whole thing. Plus the AI controversy Halo Studios can't stop being squirrely about. Then it's GTA 6: pre-orders go live June 25, November 19 release, no PC version, and the $100 price question nobody wants to answer honestly. Spoiler: if you'll pay $70, you'll pay $100, and we explain exactly why. But the one we're actually hyped about is WARDOGS — Bulkhead addressed the "too arcadey" killcam feedback head-on instead of going quiet like every AAA studio does. We break down the ghillie-suit compromise, the hardcore servers, and why devs who actually play their own game are so rare right now. Lightning round: CoD 2026 bringing DMZ back as the third mode, Black Ops 1 & 2 hitting PlayStation, and where the extraction-shooter graveyard leaves Marathon. Jake's optimistic. Raz sees the greed trap coming. Same as always. 0:00 Intro — back in the saddle 1:31 It's all about shooters 2:27 WARDOGS & the killcam controversy 7:07 Can't have it both ways: the killcam debate 7:49 The ghillie suit & hardcore server compromise 15:56 Devs who actually play their own game 19:59 The greed trap: how good shooters get ruined 29:50 Halo: Campaign Evolved comes to PlayStation 30:54 Cutting multiplayer to protect the next Halo 33:23 Are you a Halo or a Call of Duty guy? 45:52 The Halo AI controversy 1:05:09 GTA 6 pre-orders are live 1:05:40 No PC version — the PC wait 1:10:35 The $100 question & CEO spin 1:13:31 If you'll pay $70, you'll pay $100 1:15:56 Lightning round: CoD 2026 & DMZ returns 1:17:12 Black Ops 1 & 2 hit PlayStation 1:23:40 Marathon & the extraction graveyard 1:28:30 Patreon, wrap-up & goodbye _Note: timestamps may be slightly misaligned on podcast apps (but not on YouTube) due to dynamic ads._ The podcast is available wherever you listen to podcasts, and ad-free & early access versions - as well as bonus episodes - are available to all of our Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/thedropshot) supporters. We stream the podcast live on our YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/c/thedropshotpodcast) every Saturday morning at ~9 o'clock Pacific Time. We typically start the stream 30 minutes early to answer viewer questions, banter, and chat. Links for everything are below. Thanks for checking us out! 🔹Streaming schedule (Pacific time): 🔸Saturday ~9 AM: Gaming news and stories of the week 🔹The Dropshot: 🔸Website: https://www.thedropshot.com 🔸Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDropshotPod 🔸Discord: https://discord.gg/B4Nsarq 🔸YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/thedropshotpodcast 🔸Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedropshot 🔸Donate: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=YVR98VF4S945G 🔸Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedropshotpodcast/ 🔸TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thedropshotpodcast 🔹Razinon: 🔸Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/razinon 🔸Twitter: https://twitter.com/razinon 🔸Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/razinonttv 🔹Jakedown: 🔸Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/jakedown_ 🔸YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jakedown #TheDropshot #DropshotPodcast #GamingPodcast #Halo #HaloCampaignEvolved #GTA6 #Rockstar #WARDOGS #CallOfDuty #BlackOps2 #ExtractionShooter #PS5 #Xbox #GamingNews #FPS #HotTake #PodcastClips #Gaming Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  8. 15 Jun

    Warzone Is an Abusive Ex & Other Truths

    Jake's sick, Raz is recovered, and karma is real — so we kept it loose and answered your questions from the Discord this week. We get into whether Apex hitting all-time-high player counts means anything for a Warzone comeback (short version: Warzone is the abusive ex who shows up with roses), why Zelda is a children's game, the most overrated franchises in gaming, when a game stops being a game and becomes a simulator (Tarkov vs. Squad vs. Hell Let Loose), whether AI will let you build GTA 6 in one prompt, the hardest gaming achievements we've ever earned, and a pile of off-topic chaos — first jobs, childhood cereal, the one-hair-on-your-steak test, and which historical event we'd go witness. Plus: a new development on splitting donations, the DMZ deep-dive over on Patreon, and a behind-the-scenes look at how the show actually gets made now. Got a question for us? Join the Discord (linked everywhere) and drop it in the Q&A channel. We may or may not answer it. Jake's the optimist, Raz is the cynic — guess which one of us thinks Warzone could still be saved. 0:00 - Intro (Jake's sick, karma is real) 3:03 - New: splitting donations 50/50 with Jake 4:02 - Patreon + the DMZ deep-dive 9:17 - Best life advice you've gotten 9:43 - 'Tell the truth, or at least don't lie' 14:03 - Just start — stop making the perfect plan 15:49 - Our first jobs 21:29 - Does Apex's comeback mean hope for Warzone? 23:01 - Warzone is the abusive ex 23:52 - How the rebranded show is going + the AI workflow 26:42 - Selling your old CoD-era Dropshot merch 28:05 - When does a game become a simulator? 31:23 - Would you play a good new Call of Duty? 32:17 - It's all a tax write-off now 33:52 - How we approach open-world games 37:32 - Did you beat Radahn before the nerf? 41:14 - Our most interesting use of AI (this podcast) 44:05 - Claude's Fable 5 + the gov't shutting it down 45:47 - If AI could build any AAA game, what would it be? 49:17 - Most overrated game & movie franchises 51:16 - Zelda is a children's game (hot take) 56:01 - Most useless & most useful real-life skill 57:48 - Hardest gaming achievement (Hearthstone Legend) 1:06:28 - A food that reminds you of childhood 1:10:21 - One app you'd keep on your phone 1:12:16 - Worst restaurant experience + picky eaters 1:18:44 - The one-hair-on-your-steak test 1:24:51 - Weirdest thing you've ever Googled 1:29:15 - A historical event you'd witness 1:36:32 - Ranking awkward social situations 1:39:00 - A historical figure to have dinner with 1:44:17 - Followers you'd rather have 1:44:45 - Hardest game you've ever finished 1:47:18 - Outro + peripherals _Note: timestamps may be slightly misaligned on podcast apps (but not on YouTube) due to dynamic ads._ The podcast is available wherever you listen to podcasts, and ad-free & early access versions - as well as bonus episodes - are available to all of our Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/thedropshot) supporters. We stream the podcast live on our YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/c/thedropshotpodcast) every Saturday morning at ~9 o'clock Pacific Time. We typically start the stream 30 minutes early to answer viewer questions, banter, and chat. Links for everything are below. Thanks for checking us out! 🔹Streaming schedule (Pacific time): 🔸Saturday ~9 AM: Gaming news and stories of the week 🔹The Dropshot: 🔸Website: https://www.thedropshot.com 🔸Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDropshotPod 🔸Discord: https://discord.gg/B4Nsarq 🔸YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/thedropshotpodcast 🔸Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedropshot 🔸Donate: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=YVR98VF4S945G 🔸Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedropshotpodcast/ 🔸TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thedropshotpodcast 🔹Razinon: 🔸Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/razinon 🔸Twitter: https://twitter.com/razinon 🔸Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/razinonttv 🔹Jakedown: 🔸Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/jakedown_ 🔸YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jakedown Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

About

The Dropshot is a weekly gaming news and culture podcast hosted by Casey, AKA Razinon, and Jakedown. Casey and Jake are long-time gaming buddies who have strong opinions they are all too happy to share with the internet. The podcast is streamed live at youtube.com/thedropshotpodcast and is also available wherever you listen to podcasts. Visit TheDropshot.com for links to all of the podcast's varied content, including the vibrant Discord community, the Patreon for bonus content, and much more.

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