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It turns out our big 40th episode was a two-parter! Steve and I did a poor job of checking the clock as we discussed the AAA games industry, turning our look into 2019 into a far, far longer affair than anticipated. Fortunately that means there’s another two straight weeks of podcasting available for the audience! We had a lot of theories and predictions between the two of us, and I look forward to seeing how right and wrong we were.

Currently EA is “committed” to creating new Star Wars games, but what that means is anyone’s guess. I personally have little interest in the vast majority of Star Wars related properties (as listeners of the podcast will know well), but I do think a good game is a good game and EA has failed to produce truly good games with their contract. I think even executives that know very little about the games industry can see that EA has little to show for their efforts, and if fewer corporations are willing to do business with them then the faster heads will start rolling over there.

The game whose name I had forgotten was Lost Soul Aside, a Chinese developed indie that has gotten some funding and assistance from Sony. The developer is no longer working on the game alone, but that does not diminish the accomplishment in what has been produced. Granted, while smaller teams are capable of making some extraordinary products, we’re also seeing a lot of great games developed in ten years, which is a long time to devote to a single product. Iconoclasts, OwlBoy, and Stardew Valley were all solitary projects developed by individuals that took a full decade. Smaller teams can accomplish a lot, but everyone still has their limits.

Want to help speculate on the big boys of 2019? Please comment on the Facebook page or e-mail ramblepak64 at gmail dot com with your thoughts, and maybe we’ll read them on the show.

Opening theme music by my buddy Brandon, a.k.a. Fallen Prophecy.