The VGBees Podcast

VGBees
  • 4.7 (68)
  • Video Games
  • Updated Weekly

Host and founder of VGBees, John Warren, is joined every week by cohosts Niki Grayson and Lotus for candid, funny, and enlightening conversations about the video games industry and video games medium (two very different things). Every week, The VGBees Podcast will explore trends and touchpoints you need to know in order to have the most well-rounded idea of what's going on in games. Explore vgbees.com after each episode for notes on each episode as well as written pieces by our collaborators and guests. We all have to work together to build a brighter future for games, so Join The Honey Hive today! The VGBees Podcast is produced by Jordan Mallory with thumbnail art by LB Hunktears.

  1. 2d ago

    Ep 119: Ocarina of Time Remake, Sony Drops Kojima, Blizzard's Massive Union Contract

    This week, John, Niki, and Lotus dove into both Nintendo Directs, the stunning news that Sony is dropping Hideo Kojima's next projects, and Blizzard's new union formation just ahead of Blizzcon. 00:00:00 Intro & our new tagline 00:10:03 Ocarina of Time is changing for modern audiences 00:34:54 Samus is hungry in Metroid Ravenous 00:37:00 Kirby and the World Beyond is perhaps the biggest adventure yet in the franchise 00:43:50 Powerwash Simulator dev lays off staff in extremely strange way 00:49:09 Big game-spoiling achievements were leaked from Steam 00:53:55 Blizzard employees form union protecting 1,900 staff 00:59:35 Sony drops Kojima projects, Xbox takes over, big conversation about game direction ensues 01:31:10 Nintendo's tariff sale 01:36:08 Grand Theft Auto VI preview apparently drives 100,000 Netflix sign-ups 01:43:43 Tony is a slice of a biopic that manages to tell a lot of Anthony Bourdain's story 01:48:20 The gang is split on the success of Coyote vs Acme 02:07:45 Niki is very much enjoying the reboot of The Grand Tour 02:18:55 iPhone Duo is weird but might just work 02:27:20 HIVE QUESTIONS 02:42:59 Outro Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot. VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.

  2. Sep 6

    Ep 118: Star Wars Zero Company Furloughs, Xbox Cloud Limits, Pablo Torre & Games Journalism

    This week, Lotus, Niki, and John discuss the Star Wars Zero Company furloughs, the new limits on Xbox Cloud for Game Pass, and the explosive Pablo Torre stories have the hosts asking, "why don't we have this kind of investigative journalism in games?" 00:00:00 Intro & John's extremely beautiful voice 00:07:18 Star Wars Zero Company devs furloughed ahead of game's release 00:15:30 SteamDB is now under Nexus Mods' parent ownership 00:21:10 Xbox introducing harsh limits on cloud gaming on Game Pass 00:31:20 PlayStation says users know they don't own digital games and how common gamers are unequipped to fight this 00:47:50 Pablo Torre exposed the Los Angeles Clippers and now we're wondering where all the investigative gaming journalism is 01:16:20 Niki wants to know why they can't lock into games they want to be excited about 01:22:30 HIVE QUESTIONS 01:36:45 Outro Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot. VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.

  3. Aug 30

    Ep 117: GTA6 Revealed, Witcher 3 Remastered, Star Citizen's Squadron 42 Delayed Again

    This week, Niki, John, and Lotus did their homework on the bizarrely-edited Grand Theft Auto VI reveal on Netflix and also dove into Gamescom announcements, like The Witcher 3 Remastered. 00:00:00 Intro & A Condensed History of How We Know Each Other 00:14:30 Grand Theft Auto VI is every verb 00:44:09 Star Citizen's Squadron 42 delayed again 00:48:25 The Witcher 3 Songs of the Past unearths an ancient evil for Geralt to fight 00:49:48 The Witcher 3 Remastered is a free update with tons of improvements 00:51:42 Final Fantasy 7 Revelation is not pumping the brakes 00:56:25 Blood Dungeon is a survivors-like with platforming finesse 00:59:42 Lotus got rid of her car (finally) 01:16:40 John might have to get litigious over a wheelchair peripheral 01:22:00 Jeff Grubb sent Niki a package 01:23:50 HIVE QUESTIONS 01:51:48 Outro Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot. VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.

  4. Aug 23

    Ep 116: GTA6 Leaks, 2XKO Ending Development, Twitch's GenAI Training

    This week, Lotus, Niki, and John tackled a jam-packed week of surprising news, including Riot ending 2XKO's development, Twitch's surprise auto-opt-in for GenAI training, and the ongoing and expansive Grand Theft Auto VI leaks. 00:00:00 Intro & fun drug side effects 00:08:00 Twitch's GenAI training program 00:15:15 Roblox being investigated by US Senate for over 65,000 reported incidents of child abuse 00:30:35 New Horizon live service game being rebooted by Sony 00:37:42 Compulsion games now fully independent from Xbox 00:41:02 2XKO ending development in December 00:55:47 Grand Theft Auto VI build appears to be in the hands of a leaker...could it be an inside job??? (it is reportedly not but we recorded this a day early lol) 01:15:28 Saber CEO apologizes to writer/narrative designer Stella Sacco 01:17:56 Agent 64 Spies Never Die is a competent nod to games that have not aged well 01:20:32 Esoteric Ebb might be a little too esoteric, frankly 01:24:10 We haven't played The Duskbloods, but we talked about it anyway 01:25:45 Entropy is a new RPG from the folks who made Dread Delusion and it is quite good so far 01:32:45 HIVE QUESTIONS 02:07:15 Outro Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot. VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.

  5. Aug 16

    Ep 115: Saber CEO's Outburst, Netflix Closes Studios, Star Wars Zero Company Impressions

    This week, John and Niki are joined by Jesse Vitelli, fresh off a five day subathon on his Twitch channel after being laid off at Restart.Run. Together, they take a hard look at Matt Karch's history of odd behavior, Netflix's most recent studio closures, and Star Wars Zero Company. 00:00:00 Intro & Raising Cane's talk 00:11:25 Saber Interactive CEO Matt Karch did something very weird and has done many weird things previously to this new weird thing 00:34:14 Netflix closes Night School, Moonloot, and lays off others 00:41:35 Restart.Run's remaining leadership releases a bizarre statement 00:48:23 Pokémon Pokopia sold five million copies 00:54:00 Take-Two looks to be getting deeper into simulation sports 00:56:00 Wolverine & Fire Emblem Fortune's Weave previews dropped 01:11:20 South of Midnight now listed as self-published, but is that the whole story? 01:12:55 Esoteric Ebb serves the best of Disco Elysium without some of the baggage 01:20:30 Knytt Classic is a faithful update of a 2006 freeware standout 01:23:27 Niki's in the Splatoon Raiders endgame now 01:26:55 Star Wars Zero Company is a lot more than a new XCOM 01:47:00 HIVE QUESTIONS 02:20:55 Outro Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot.

  6. Aug 9

    Ep 114: Big Walk Impressions, Devolver Digital Going Private, GTA6 Exclusive Look at Netflix

    This week, Lotus, Niki, and John discuss their very enjoyable time together with Big Walk, Devolver Digital's move off of the London Stock Exchange, and Netflix's incredibly bizarre six hour rental of Grand Theft Auto VI's deeper dive trailer later this month. 00:00:00 Intro & laundry hamper talk 00:14:30 Netflix's Grand Theft Auto VI "exclusive" look 00:47:26 EA's big deal with the Saudis and Jared Kushner closed 01:12:30 Halo Studios parts ways with contractors 01:20:32 Devolver Digital moves to unlist from London Stock Exchange to go private 01:33:30 Square Enix is collaborating with Google Gemini for AI-based QA 01:40:43 PlayStation by far the most played console in the US 01:41:53 Restart Run staff laid off 01:44:43 Spider-Man: Brand New Day is the best the MCU has been in a very long time 01:51:40 Splatoon Raiders continues to delight us 01:57:37 AYN Thor is probably the best one of these emulation handhelds 02:02:10 The VGBees Crew is having a blast with Big Walk 02:37:25 HIVE QUESTIONS 03:10:57 Reviews & outro Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot. VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.

  7. Aug 2

    Ep 113: Xbox Down $1.7b, Tencent's Latest Misfire, Splatoon Raiders Impressions

    This week, Lotus, Niki, and John discuss Xbox's 7% revenue decrease year over year, Tencent's alleged "Grand Theft Auto killer" Last Sentinel facing major problems, and impressions of one of 2026's most pleasant surprises, Splatoon Raiders. 00:00:00 Intro & drug testing 00:08:35 Double Fine lays off 23 after going independent 00:13:07 Xbox reports $1.7b loss due to critical business failures 00:17:07 Tencent's Last Sentinel quietly lays off staff, possibly canceled 00:32:50 Super Mario Sunshine coming to Nintendo Switch Online 00:38:55 Splatoon Raiders is what Splatoon probably should've always been 00:54:25 Endacopia is a surrealist point-and-click jaunt 00:58:18 Midnight Moments is a pleasant, but perhaps shallow, cyberpunk diorama-builder 01:01:52 Niki's Apple TV came! 01:08:53 VGBees Baseball Talk 01:20:35 HIVE QUESTIONS 02:40:35 Outro Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot. VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.

  8. Jul 26

    Ep 112: Marvel Tokon Open Beta Impressions, Unity 7 Announced, EU Approves EA Sale

    This week, John, Lotus, and Niki discuss the Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls open beta, Unity 7's announcement and features, EA's approved sale to the PIF, and Deltarune Chapter 5. 00:00:00 Intro & some strong Splatoon opinions 00:21:35 Hasbro cancels projects slated for 2028 and beyond 00:26:58 EU approves EA sale to the PIF 00:33:30 Unity 7 announced with some interesting new features in tow 00:42:35 Poinpy is free now and is still great 00:45:08 Hey, Left 4 Dead 2 is still really great, too 00:52:20 Paragnosia is like Five Nights at Freddy's but in a house with demons 00:55:45 Deltarune is stretching its welcome with Niki 00:58:50 Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls balances simplified inputs with nuanced complexity undearneath 01:04:30 Niki tearfully admits they're excited about Wolverine 01:12:06 A detour to Love Island and Ariana Madix's whole deal 01:16:10 HIVE QUESTIONS 02:11:05 Outro Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot. VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.

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About

Host and founder of VGBees, John Warren, is joined every week by cohosts Niki Grayson and Lotus for candid, funny, and enlightening conversations about the video games industry and video games medium (two very different things). Every week, The VGBees Podcast will explore trends and touchpoints you need to know in order to have the most well-rounded idea of what's going on in games. Explore vgbees.com after each episode for notes on each episode as well as written pieces by our collaborators and guests. We all have to work together to build a brighter future for games, so Join The Honey Hive today! The VGBees Podcast is produced by Jordan Mallory with thumbnail art by LB Hunktears.

Information

  • Creator
    VGBees
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    131
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 VGBees
  • Show Website
    The VGBees Podcast

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