Hottest Mess 2025: Part 2 (July Check-In)

Back on the final day of April, I wrote the first 2025 entry in this Hottest Mess series. This would not be notable if not for the fact that at the time, it felt like it would be the last one I would ever write. Fortunately, things have changed with this website, mostly for the better. The, ahem, presumptive winner of Hottest Mess 2025 is therefore no longer on the table, based mostly on their role in facilitating Giant Bomb's independence. This sea change led to widespread brand unsafety, as you will soon witness. Since I have several months before I lay these out in a more evenhanded fashion (assuming we can run polls or anything similar on the new version of this website), I thought I would shake up my usual formula and group these Down Goes Brown style:

Group 1: The Elephants in the Room

This group consists of the heavy hitters that have sparked the most furious conversations in 2025. Their overall impact varies, but there is no doubt that they burned brightly.

• The United States Government - Here's what I wrote back in April: "In order to list the ways this entity is a shitshow without hitting the character limit, I'm restricting it to more direct impacts on video games. As quaint as it seems now, the USA got off to a rollicking start by banning TikTok in the country. This ban temporarily restricted access to Marvel SNAP, which is published by a subsidiary of ByteDance. After it came back online, the developer announced it wanted to find a new publisher for the game (which it eventually did). Then we got to the all-on clusterfuck of tariffs. Tariffs have already raised the price of video games, delayed the Nintendo Switch 2 preorder in the US and Canada, and the ESA denounced them as having a "real and detrimental impact" on the video game industry as a whole. Companies such as Razer and RetroTINK halted orders based in the US due to uncertainty on whether they could deliver the items at anything less than an exorbitant loss. The global impact of the tariffs even raised the price of the PS5, a system that is nearly 5 years old. And this is before tariffs truly fuck with the supply chain!" Since then, I'm not sure there have been any new impacts, other than some additional subscription prices going up (such as PS Plus in Canada). Some dumb piece of shit in Congress claimed the give-all-your-money-to-the-Gestapo-and-billionaires bill would force 35 year-olds to leave their mom's basement, which is a cutting insult to anyone older than the age of "legally dead". So while this particular fire has receded lately, there's no denying it adversely impacted the games industry so far, and it will likely continue to do so.
• Microsoft - Oh look, I already had much of this entry prepared last time too: "The company that can't ship games prioritized an idea "generating" AI that's trained on their own games, which they feel have underperformed. Meanwhile, Activision fishes for game survey responses via fake ads with AI-generated art. According to the Zenimax union, Microsoft has also not bargained in good faith on a labor contract. Microsoft proudly unveiled a suckass AI-powered Quake preview. Finally, the company continues to enthusiastically support the ongoing genocide in Palestine with its cloud services, prompting a boycott and at least one self-delisting." Let's start with the good: the Zenimax union did at least reach an agreement. Unfortunately, this was before another massive round of layoffs at the company, with Perfect Dark and an unannounced Zenimax MMO the most notable casualties. Rare was also hit hard, and Everwild was finally put out to pasture (despite Phil Spencer claiming work was progressing on it less than a month prior). Worse yet, the Seattle Times reported that these cuts served even more investment in Microsoft's AI projects, which are stupid and shitty. People are very unhappy with Microsoft and Xbox, and it further fuels speculation about how serious Microsoft is in the future of gaming.
• Nintendo - This is one that feels a little out of place with the other two, but there does seem to be a large amount of ongoing backlash to Nintendo in general these days. My original entry: "Charged $80 USD / 90 Euro for its upcoming new games and Switch 2 upgrade versions of old Switch games, while (some) physical carts appear to only contain authentication keys for digital download. They're also charging $10 for their new demo. It was difficult parsing their mess from the tariff mess, so I imagine their role and the backlash will be a further topic of discussion." I don't have much to add to this, other than the Switch 2 is out and people are still upset about it.
• Bungie - Finally, an entirely new entry! First, the developer stole assets from artists for in-game posters in the Marathon alpha. Bungie tried to blame a single former employee for the theft, culminating in a disastrous apology livestream. And about those stolen assets, one way the public found out was because an artist had hidden a "Loss" reference in their work. The company delayed Marathon indefinitely after a lackluster reception to their alpha, which employees found out about the same time as the public.

Group 2: The Entries Almost Too Large to Fit in a Single Notes App Screenshot

As someone who keeps a running tab of these issues based on my podcast and internet perusal diet, this common thread may only be exciting to me. Nevertheless...

• Electronic Arts - There was a time where I considered these chuckleheads the favorites for 2025. As I wrote in April: "(deep breath) The concept art for the next Battlefield game used a real-life photo of an explosion in Gaza. The company blamed its underperformance last year on Dragon Age: The Veilguard and EA FC not meeting expectations; it later added Apex Legends to that list when it laid a bunch of people off this week. It gutted Bioware and made them all-in on Mass Effect 5 for their survival, while simultaneously misleading reassigned staff about what they would be working on. Back to Veilguard for a sec - the CEO also claimed it would have done better as a live service game, which is certainly a unique sentiment. Finally, it launched its Sims 1+2 Remaster in an extremely rough shape." Mere goddamn hours after I submitted my Hottest Mess blog, another round of layoffs hit EA. The company also pushed a full return to office and froze remote hiring. Then, in what had been the highest profile cancellation until recently, the Black Panther game and developer Cliffhanger Games were shut down. Codemasters still looks in a precarious position, unless I missed a story about them recently.
• MindsEye - (Even deeper breath) The game launched with multiplayer maps, but multiplayer is months away according to the pre-release roadmap (so uh, take that one with a grain of salt now). Mark Gerhard, one of the most This Fuckin' Guys in a year full of This Fuckin' Guys, suggested the negative reception to a trailer was paid for in a "concerted effort to trash the game and the studio". Meanwhile, developer Build A Rocket Boy accumulated an abysmal 2.1 rating on Glassdoor, citing tons of overtime and mismanagement with no clear identity. Two senior executives at BARB departed the company a week before the game released. The Steam page briefly listed $60 USD and $80 USD editions, with no description provided to explain the difference. User reviews were mostly negative due to myriad issues, including terrifying graphical glitches. BARB started the consultation process after launch to lay off more than 100 people, per United Kingdom law. Gerhard (this fuckin' guy again!) also blamed workers at the studio for being "lazy and incompetent", while Leslie Benzies later alleged that the issues facing the game and BARB were due to "internal and external saboteurs". Hopefully none of these saboteurs mess with the sacred Hottest Mess vote in the fall!

Group 3 - Recency Bias

These entries all happened within the last month or so, where not included in either of the groups above already.

• Splitgate 2 - The studio lead wore a stupid hat to Summer Game Fest, then said he wouldn't apologize for the hat. Later, he apologized for the hat.
• Riot Games - Opened up League of Legends and Valorant to sports gambling, with the faintest veneer of responsibility for the financial ruin it enables.
• The Alters - The developer failed to disclose the use of generative AI for images and text, then lied (allegedly) about the genAI items being placeholders.
• Krafton - The publisher dismissed the leadership team of Unknown Worlds, which is developing the hotly anticipated Subnautica 2. Jason Schreier reported that pushing the game to 2026 potentially costs the studio a $250 million USD bonus owed to them by Krafton. The publisher denied this claim, and this is a developing story, but it has enormous mess potential given the fandom and the sheer dollars potentially being stolen from workers.

Group 4 - The Shut The Fuck Up Division

All of these messes could have been avoided if a This Fuckin' Guy had simply shut the fuck up.

• God Is A Geek - From April: "The entire editorial staff resigned after the site's owner performed a Nazi salute at a right-wing rally. Good on the staff for that; the owner can eat a rake sideways." Nothing to add here, and I certainly don't rescind my rake-related offer.
• GameStop - Also from April: "The company closed stores in France and Canada, blaming "liberalism, socialism, progressivism, wokeness, and DEI". It announced a pivot to bitcoin as its primary business, with retail stores a stated second priority." I haven't bothered to keep up with the rest of this company's dumbassery, so let me know if I missed something worth adding.
• Christopher Barrett - Well, while I keep copy-pasting my old work: "The former Bungie developer sued his ex-employer in a payment dispute, only for him to be exposed as a serial sexual harasser in discovery. Oops!" Remember when Bungie looked like the good guys on something?
• Moon Studios - Head of the studio Thomas Mahler claimed that "review bombing" No Rest for the Wicked may lead to the closure of the studio, then he backtracked while blaming the media for misrepresenting his words. The studio never appeared to have actually been review bombed, so it's unclear why this whole situation arose in the first place. It probably did remind people of how toxic the developer's work environment is, though.
• AbleGamers - Founder Mark Barlet is allegedly a huge misogynist creep who mocked individuals with physical disabilities. He also allegedly wasted massive amounts of donation money on personal spending. Steven Spohn, COO of AbleGamers, allegedly discouraged former employees from speaking to IGN by using "manipulative language". You can read all of these details in the IGN article, but be warned that it's severely depressing.
• Gearbox - Randy Pitchford responded to concerns about a potential $80 USD price tag for Borderlands 4 by saying "if you're a real fan, you'll find a way to make it happen".

Group 5 - Our New Digitial Hellscape

This is the section where I collect all the stray AI-related stories, which sure seemed to be this year's theme early on.

• Steam - From April: "February NextFest was full of AI slop, further muddying the waters for growing small developers." I don't think this situation has improved, and given the generative AI snuck into higher profile games like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and The Alters, it feels like it will only get worse.
• Discord - Also from April: "The app used begrudgingly by most of its base required some users to scan their faces for "age verification"." I have also not kept up with this story and would like to see if they canned this feature, or if it's just another way the app has been enshittified.
• Gamurs - More copy-paste: "Quiet layoffs conducted over multiple months led to the mothballing of entire websites, such as Attack of the Fanboy and PC Invasion. It also siloed The Escapist into basically just publishing Roblox guides." This one escapes being a mere layoff based on just how dirty this change has done The Escapist, which has added pro-gambling articles to its repertoire.
• Fortnite - The game introduced an AI Darth Vader, using James Earl Jones' voice, which was quickly tricked into saying curse words and slurs.

Group 6 - All The Stars Are Here

As the title suggests, I couldn't cleanly fit these entries elsewhere. But they definitely belong among the other hot messes!

• Sony - Seems quaint now, but: "Cancelled Bend and Bluepoint live-service games, with the employees finding out through news reports. It raised the price of PS Plus in Canada as well. I can't really put the PS5 price increase on them, but here's a reminder that happened if you feel differently."
• Marvel Rivals - From April: "NetEase fired its gameplay director and their team despite the game being a massive success. Also, Emma Frost's thighs may have killed this website." Good news came from this one, at least: Emma Frost's thighs actually saved this website.
• WB Games - My earlier entry read: "Shut down three studios (Monolith, Player First, and WB San Diego) and cancelled the Wonder Woman game after years of mismanagement. This guarantees the Nemesis System stays behind closed doors for an indefinite period of time as well." The only recent development is that they announced a restructure around four principal IPs (Game of Thrones, Mortal Kombat, Harry Potter, and the DC Universe), prompting concern about everything else.
• Ubisoft - The reigning champion had a relatively small entry: "Created a new subsidiary with Tencent that houses their top 3 IPs (Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six), raising a lot of questions about every single one of their other properties. At least AC Shadows sold well?" Amazingly, this is still the extent of my entry on them, but there's still plenty of time to pull off a repeat victory.
• Niantic - Previously: "Sold its business to Scopely (Saudi Arabia) and laid off employees. Hey, a short entry!" I don't know if this one will appear in Part 3.
• Apple - Finally, the tech giant was found in contempt of court after failing to implement orders from the Epic vs. Apple case from several years back. They blocked or slow-rolled the addition of Fortnite back into iOS, and it's unclear how large a hit the ruling will end up being to Apple's profit margins.

That's all the mess that's fit to smear. Let me know if there are any hot messes I missed, and I'll pick them up next time in my October(?) check-in. I don't know how blogs will look in the future, but I promise at least a fresh forum post for Part 3.