Aftermath Hours

To celebrate the return of Inside Baseball Week – during which we publish a barrage of stories about the lesser-known parts of game dev, the ins and outs of games journalism, and other topics so specific no other website would ever touch them – we put together a roundtable about worker-owned media featuring Aftermath’s Nathan Grayson and Riley MacLeod, Defector’s David Roth, 404 Media’s Emanuel Maiberg, and Hell Gate’s Max Rivlin-Nader. We go deep on all sorts of topics: What was the hardest part of starting a publication in this mold? How did you know when you’d found your site’s voice? How do you collectively make decisions when everyone’s an owner? Who handles business stuff when everyone’s a writer (and, in Aftermath’s case, definitely NOT a businessperson)? How do you promote the written word to a video-obsessed internet? And at what point do you, somebody who got into this business to be a journalist, have to transform yourself into at least a bit of an influencer? And perhaps most importantly, how can sites like ours work together to create a scene that provides opportunities to new voices as opposed to just cashing in on preexisting clout? Finally, we get to the topic everyone’s really listening for: the awkward truth underlying podcast ad reads about people’s guts not working right. Credits- Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Riley MacLeod, & special guests David Roth, Emanuel Maiberg, and Max Rivlin-Nader- Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude- Subscribe to Aftermath!About The ShowAftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week Nathan and Chris are joined by special guest Mike Drucker, comedian and writer on shows like Adam Ruins Everything, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and  Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, to talk about his new book, Good Game, No Rematch: A Life Made of Video Games. We discuss how games and people’s relationship to them have changed over the years – and also the time Mike got shot in the dick with a paintball gun while working for Nintendo. Speaking of Nintendo, we then move on to the Switch 2, which the company finally revealed in earnest this week with a handful of intriguing games (Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza, a new FromSoftware game) and a price tag that’s giving would-be buyers serious sticker shock as a result of, well, everything else going on in the world right now. We also put out into the universe the idea of a new DK Rap – but this time they hire a legit rapper and play it totally straight. Please, Nintendo, fulfill our dreams.Credits- Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, & special guest Mike Drucker- Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude- Subscribe to Aftermath!About The ShowAftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week Nathan, Gita, and Riley briefly talk about their true passion, shirts, before elegantly segueing into a conversation about Ubisoft’s extremely eventful week: The embattled publisher announced that it’s spinning off its most successful series, including Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six, into a separate subsidiary thanks to a $1.25 billion investment from Chinese conglomerate Tencent. What does this mean for those remaining aboard the Ubisoft mothership? And will this lead to even more heads rolling following layoffs and studio closures in December? Then we move on to the AI abomination of the week: an image filter based on the works of Studio Ghibli, whose most famous creative, Hayao Miyazaki, once called AI “an insult to life itself.” After that, we give our final appraisal of Severance season two, which was not perfect, but which managed to hit some impressive high notes and benefited from largely focusing on characters over mystery box shenanigans. Gita doesn’t love Ben Stiller’s directorial style, and Riley doesn’t think Severance is necessarily a Smart Show, but those things don’t prevent it from being good, if that makes sense. If it doesn’t, listen to the episode! Finally, we come up with a simple solution to the problem of mass media illiteracy: change all of society. Seems like something we can knock out in a day or two, so let’s get cracking.Credits- Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Gita Jackson, & Riley MacLeod- Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude- Subscribe to Aftermath!About The ShowAftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week Chris is holding down the fort with Luke and is joined by writer Yussef Cole (@youmeyou.bsky.social) who reviewed Assassin’s Creed Shadows for The New York Times. We get into Assassin’s Creed generally and Shadows specifically, what we like and dislike about the game and if it makes good its narrative promise. Is it simply enough for a game to be the ultimate Japan simulator, particularly when it works so well with the series?Credits- Hosts: Chris Person,  Luke Plunkett & special guest Yussef Cole- Yussef also edits Bullet Points Monthly, you can read it here: bulletpointsmonthly.com/- Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude- Subscribe to Aftermath!About The ShowAftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week Nathan and Chris are joined by freelance writer Aidan Moher to discuss his upcoming book about Suikoden I and II, a pair of sneakily influential JRPGs from the PS1 era that, yes, are very much worth writing an entire book about. Then we discuss news from the eye of the pre-GDC storm: Next week thousands of game developers will convene in San Francisco to network and exchange knowledge, but a growing number of non-US-based devs are dropping out due to Trump’s hostile policies and erratic governance. After that we talk about Sony and Microsoft both introducing new unwanted AI features in the same week. Whose is worse? We’ll let you decide. Lastly, we design the one product that should include generative AI: a fucked-up private jet for rich people that definitely works just fine.Credits- Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, & special guest Aidan Moher- Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude- Subscribe to Aftermath!About The ShowAftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week Nathan, Chris, and Riley overcome a slew of technical issues to bring you the latest news about guys who suck. First we discuss two Twitch dramas that broke containment and produced consequences that reverberated into the wider world: Several female streamers, Valkyrae, Cinna, Emiru, and Amouranth, found themselves in severe mortal peril during the same night and Hasan “HasanAbi” Piker was briefly banned for suggesting that if Republican lawmakers really wanted to act on their principles, they’d “kill Rick Scott,” a current senator and former healthcare CEO who oversaw what the Department of Justice called “the largest health care fraud case in US history.” In more ways than one, how is Twitch meeting our current moment? And what are the real-world consequences of the culture surrounding Twitch? Then we get a Chris Person twofer in characteristically detailed breakdowns of Monster Hunter Wilds, a game so insanely popular that it nearly doubled Street Fighter 6’s lifetime sales in a few days, and a fancy headphone convention during which he learned that the real optimal picks are the budget pairs you find along the way. Finally, we discuss what gamers should give up for lent (gacha games, at which point maybe they’ll just leave them behind forever, like Dry January for waifus).   Credits - Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, & Riley MacLeod - Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude - Subscribe to Aftermath! About The Show Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week Nathan and Gita accidentally burst the dam on another wellspring of Riley Lore – perhaps the wildest yet – before we all move on to a discussion of more sobering matters: WB recently closed three video game studios, including Monolith, the makers of quietly revolutionary games like No One Lives Forever, F.E.A.R., and Shadow of Mordor, as well as the upcoming (now-canceled) Wonder Woman game. WB, of course, has proven especially eager to dumpster promising projects beyond the world of games in recent years, but what portion of this sickness is specific to the company and where does it overlap with the gaming industry’s own mismanagement epidemic? Then we talk about Jeff Bezos’ mask-off decision to transform The Washington Post into the propaganda arm of his already-unimaginably-profitable business empire, the latest in a line of tech billionaires bending the knee to tired old king Donald Trump and cackling vizier Elon Musk. Speaking of workplaces that suck, we also discuss Severance, a show that definitely does not suck. It has the trappings of a mystery box, but so far, it has successfully maintained a focus on characters above all else. Fantastic! Keep it up! Please do not become another Lost or Westworld! Finally, we suggest games that would be improved by the addition of a Nemesis System (basically all of them; fuck WB for patenting it).     Credits - Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Gita Jackson, & Riley MacLeod - Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude - Subscribe to Aftermath! About The Show Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week Nathan, Chris, and Luke find themselves champing at the bit to talk about Avowed, which they can’t stop playing, but first, The News: NetEase shocked the game-playing public by laying off members of the team behind Marvel Rivals, the biggest breakout success story to come out of the live service sector in years. What happened? Well, decaying relations between the United States and China, for one, but also a seismic shift in how Chinese companies are developing games. Then we discuss Microsoft’s new “Muse” AI, which it intends on shoehorning into game development projects – a plan you will not be surprised to learn that nobody likes! Game developers least of all! This is especially pertinent considering that Microsoft just published Avowed, a fantasy role-playing game that’s so good because it was meticulously crafted by human hands in a way that feels tangible for every second of the experience. Lastly, we decide which game console would work best as a house (Gamecube for humans, PlayStation 4 or 5 for roaches).   Credits - Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, & Luke Plunkett - Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude - Subscribe to Aftermath! About The Show Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week Nathan, Chris, and Luke find themselves champing at the bit to talk about Avowed, which they can’t stop playing, but first, The News: NetEase shocked the game-playing public by laying off members of the team behind Marvel Rivals, the biggest breakout success story to come out of the live service sector in years. What happened? Well, decaying relations between the United States and China, for one, but also a seismic shift in how Chinese companies are developing games. Then we discuss Microsoft’s new “Muse” AI, which it intends on shoehorning into game development projects – a plan you will not be surprised to learn that nobody likes! Game developers least of all! This is especially pertinent considering that Microsoft just published Avowed, a fantasy role-playing game that’s so good because it was meticulously crafted by human hands in a way that feels tangible for every second of the experience. Lastly, we decide which game console would work best as a house (Gamecube for humans, PlayStation 4 or 5 for roaches).Credits- Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, & Luke Plunkett- Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude- Subscribe to Aftermath!About The ShowAftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week Nathan, Chris, and Luke convene on the eve – if we’re measuring in podcast time – of Nathan’s book release (Stream Big, available wherever books are sold) to talk mostly about other stuff. First up, Activision and former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick both got into dustups with CWA, the union that represents over 1,000 workers across Microsoft and Activision, with Kotick claiming that harassment suits against Activision Blizzard were “fake,” engineered to juice CWA membership, while – over here in the real world – CWA is working to get an Activision employee his job back after he was fired (allegedly) for talking about guns… at the company that makes Call of Duty. Hmmmm. Then we move on to Civilization VII, which Luke has many, many thoughts about, none of them positive. The game feels distinctly unfinished, he says – a sign of the times when even such a ubiquitous series no longer commands the time and resources necessary to emerge from the oven fully baked. After that, Chris tells us about a thing that rules: Lies of P, the Pinocchio-themed Bloodborne-like that’s receiving DLC in the near future. Then we wrap it up by talking about our favorite interview moments, some of which might tie into Nathan’s book (what are the odds?).    Credits - Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, & Luke Plunkett - Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude - Subscribe to Aftermath! About The Show Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.