Backlog: The Embiggening – September, 2025
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 08/24/25 at 05:49 PM CT
Welcome back to another look into the near future! Fall will be upon us before we know it, and with it will come the Autumnal rush by the Games Industry to push out as much pre-holiday slop as they can in order to flood the market and hope desperately that something in their grapeshot barrage of trash actually connects with the hearts and minds of the Gamer audience. Judging by September’s release slate, the Industry has their cannons fully loaded… let’s see if any of it is worth the powder to blow it up!
After going through ALL the releases and tossing out the plethora of ports that aren’t worth the keystrokes to mention, we’ve STILL got a TON of Shovelware titles coming in September, with every major category represented. In fact, the Shovelware is so prolific, it EQUALS the number of new game releases in the same time span (Just imagine how bad it would be if I didn’t cull out all the gratuitous portage beforehand!).
In the Licensed Swill category, we’ve got an …
Ubisoft is Breaking Up
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 08/17/25 at 04:46 PM CT
After the last few years of rampant buyouts, mergers, and corporate acquisitions, it seems that Ubisoft – surprisingly – is the one Evil Publisher to buck the trend. The French mega-corporation announced this Summer that they would be splitting into two companies, with the new, currently-unnamed subsidiary – receiving an infusion of cash from none other than Chinese Communist Party Propaganda Arm, Tencent. The new subsidiary will be taking with it the IP ownership rights for some of Ubisoft’s biggest modern franchises: Specifically, ‘Assassin’s Creed,’ ‘Far Cry,’ and ‘Tom Clancy.’
It seems that Ubisoft’s hand may have been forced, after years of failed Live Service flops like “Skull & Bones” and Woke flops like “Assassin’s Creed Shadows,” the French megapublisher was on the brink, and strolling the metaphorical Corporate Red Light District wearing its birthday suit. Unfortunately for them, neither Microsoft’s Xbox Division – that paragon of …
No New Square-Enix Games for THREE YEARS!?
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 08/10/25 at 04:40 PM CT
Square-Enix, the company that single-handedly boosted both the SNES and Original PlayStation to the heights of gaming godhood, has been in dire straits lately. It seems like all I ever get to write about regarding my two one-time favorite developer/publishers involves them doing something incredibly stupid or half-assed.
Unfortunately, this long-term pursuit of half-assedness has caught up with the former RPG powerhouse, to the point where the company has decided to pivot from a focus on ‘quantity to quality.’ That’s a hoary old chestnut in and of itself, but within the very same business presentation, made earlier this year, the company laid it out in black and white that they will be focused solely on re-releasing and re-making old games until after the third quarter of 2028.
So, if you ever thought what you needed in your life as an RPG fan is a chance to re-purchase slightly-prettied-up versions of games you probably already own on multiple vintage consoles (or …
View Archive
