The VGBees Podcast

VGBees
  • 4.7 (66)
  • 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. 4d ago

    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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. Jul 19

    Ep 111: Xbox Jingles Fallout Keys, LATAM ID@Xbox Team Dismantled, God of War Recasts Kratos

    This week, Niki, Lotus, and John discuss the extremely convenient news dump regarding beloved games in the Fallout franchise, other Xbox teams facing decimation in the initial layoffs, and the God of War show's choice to recast its Kratos. 00:00:00 Intro, new dog, blood stuff, & kidneys 00:22:53 Latin America ID@Xbox teams decimated by layoffs 00:32:48 Inside look at Xbox layoffs from people experiencing it 00:33:48 Fallout deluge of information to distract people from the layoffs 00:46:18 CWA files lawsuits alleging Xbox mishandling of layoffs 00:49:50 College Football 27 removes microtransactions from single player mode 01:03:40 ZA/UM to lay off 32 after slow sales of ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies 01:05:00 God of War show to recast Kratos after injury to Ryan Hurst 01:15:15 Update on Niki's NAS 01:30:40 Update on Niki & NBA 2K26 1:40:40 HIVE QUESTIONS 02:32:30 Outro & Interview Shows! 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. Jul 16 ·  Bonus

    The VGBees Interview: Joe Is Hungry

    Last year, we chatted with Joe from hit YouTube channel Joe Is Hungry. Now that we have this fun new interview format show officially on the feed, I decided it was time to have him back on! 00:00:00 Intro 00:01:33 Joe's wife still plays games 00:02:50 Why do gaming communities seem to gravitate toward Joe? 00:08:10 Does Joe keep tabs on other food reviewers? 00:11:50 What does attention from other channels do for Joe? 00:13:18 How does Joe keep up with the algorithm and how does he engage with AI? 00:17:20 TikTok monetization 00:22:00 How does Joe deal with criticism online? 00:25:00 A quick Georgia geography lesson & lamenting Whataburger going corporate 00:28:35 Detour to talk about Cook Out & crowd control 00:32:25 Joe's car setup and new technology 00:35:10 Joe developing his stop motion animation skills 00:41:15 Adopting new elements to avoid stagnation 00:45:30 Joe's relationship with Shadow Joe 00:47:20 Joe's spicy food tolerance 00:50:10 Joe's relationship to aging and existing online 00:51:20 Back to the TikTok algorithm & pricing 00:54:18 Balancing creativity and growth metrics 00:57:15 The brief shelf life of food reviews 01:00:18 Is YouTube Joe's most physically taxing job yet? 01:00:25 How Joe's local celebrity has impacted the work 01:04:15 What is Joe eating when he's not eating fast food? 01:06:25 Joe rails against Amazon; an ode to Micro Center 01:13:10 Where does Joe see the channel in one year? 01:18:05 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.

  8. Jul 12

    Ep 110: Mass Xbox Layoffs Begin, Id Software Decimated, Obsidian Focusing on Fallout

    This week, Niki, Lotus, and John address the sweeping, disastrous layoffs and closures stemming from the "reset" Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has started. 00:00:00 Intro & Cup Talk 00:11:40 Xbox layoffs by the numbers 00:14:55 Id Software decimated by the moves 00:18:52 Obsidian loses staff and shifts focus to Fallout (a previous report that Avowed 2 has been canceled has been refuted by the developer since this recording) 00:25:32 Zenimax loses over 350 employees 00:29:11 350 others are left without jobs from divested and sold studios 00:32:47 IOI closes Istanbul studio after Xbox divestment 00:41:18 Hardship fund created for laid off developers 00:47:35 Bethesda union holding protests at different cities July 15 00:55:00 Niki proposes an analogy to the US Men's Soccer Team 01:02:08 Do average gamers know or care that this is all happening? 01:14:45 Niki has returned to NBA 2K26 and is having fun now 01:24:55 HIVE QUESTIONS 02:05:00 Outro & Interview Shows 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
    128
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 VGBees
  • Show Website
    The VGBees Podcast

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