The Gift of Gaming Podcast

Darren is joined by Chris and Daniel for the first ever time to look back on all the gaming news from February. From Xbox woes and new DLC for very old games, its all covered here on the Gift of Gaming podcast!Xbox Shakeuphttps://www.ign.com/articles/phil-spencer-retiring-sarah-bond-out-matt-booty-promoted-as-microsoft-ai-exec-asha-sharma-named-new-xbox-boss-exclusiveXbox Consolehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c875we893ggoDiablo 2 DLChttps://www.polygon.com/diablo-2-reign-of-the-warlock-review/Bluepoint Closedhttps://www.ign.com/articles/playstation-shuts-down-demons-souls-shadow-of-the-colossus-remake-studio-bluepoint-gamesHighguard Shutdownhttps://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/highguard-is-permanently-shutting-down-barely-a-month-after-debutMonster Hunter Wilds Expansionhttps://www.polygon.com/monster-hunter-wilds-expansion-title-update-4/Check out our Patreon over at patreon.com/thegiftofgaming

Darren sits down with Kev and Andy and with a combined playtime of over 600 hours, these guys are ready to give all of their thoughts just ahead of the games next "Expedition". So sit back relax and enjoy the show.This week's post show is all about Live Service games. Check it out on patreon.com/thegiftofgaming Check out Youtube.com/@thegiftofgaming for all of our podcasts!

Given the recent releases of the cast of the God of War TV series, here's an older post show where Darren gives his cast ideas to be rated by the panel. Enjoy!

Hello listeners! This will be our final drop of bonus content as we have fixed our tech issues and will be back to normal scheduling this Thursday with our Games Club of Arc Raiders coming out. Until then, please enjoy our post show content as our apology and if you like it, you can find loads more here: patreon.com/thegiftofgamingDarren, Andrew and Craig talk about what they would want from the Playstation 6 and if it would be enough for them to be a day 1 adopter of the next gen console!

Sorry guys! We're still fixing our equipment but fear not! We have a post show for you to enjoy this week.Check out more at Patreon.com/thegiftofgamingDarren is joined by Chris and Andrew and Darren has a big question. Does it release in 2026?! The guys look at GTA 6, Light No Fire, Duskbloods and even Kingdom Hearts 4 and discuss the chances of these games releasing over the next 11 months.

Due to our audio interface on the fritz, we've not been able to deliver an episode this week but instead, please enjoy one of our post shows! If you like the content, check out patreon.com/thegiftofgaming for more episodes just like this one:Darren and Craig workshop the FF7 Part 3 Title after news that Nomura has chosen one!

On this week's episode its the news! Darren Luke and Chris check out whats happening with Ubisoft's reset, Valve's lawsuit, the possibility of a Switch 2 price increase and much more! Looking for more news? On this week's post show, GTA goes full digital and Larian are making their stance on AI somewhat clear. Check it out on patreon.com/thegiftofgaming The News:ASUS price increase:https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/asus-is-now-implementing-strategic-price-adjustments-and-retailers-are-already-hiking-prices-for-laptops-from-other-brands/Nintendo price increases:https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/nintendo-switch-2-faces-a-price-increase-in-2026-research-firm-predicts/Gamestop closures:https://www.polygon.com/gamestop-retail-store-closures-2026/Fable NPCs:https://www.ign.com/articles/itll-be-a-bit-of-work-but-you-could-marry-them-all-fable-has-1000-handcrafted-npcs-for-you-to-play-around-withUbisoft reset:https://www.gamesradar.com/games/ubisoft-hits-major-reset-button-cancels-6-games-including-prince-of-persia-remake-delays-7-more-reportedly-including-assassins-creed-black-flag-remake-and-confirms-4-new-ip/Vavle lawsuit:https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/usd900-million-lawsuit-accusing-steam-of-overcharging-gamers-in-the-uk-and-abusing-a-dominant-market-position-will-proceed-after-valve-loses-appeal-against-it/

This week its just Darren and Craig and they've spent time playing some different games. Darren's on FF Tactics and Far: Changing Tides while Craig finally got to play the Horizon Forbidden West DLC and even put some serious time into Fantasy Life. Hear their thoughts right here, on the Gift of Gaming podcast!Interested in anything Final Fantasy 7? Check out today's post show where Darren and Craig look at how FF7 Part 3 might be announced and what we might see. patreon.com/thegiftofgamingWant to listen to our podcast on Youtube? Check out youtube.com/@thegiftofgaming for all our videos!

Darren is joined by Andy and Chris on this week's episode of the pod! Today the discussion is all about the games we'll play in 2026. The GoG pod team sees this year as a good year for our backlogs so its a nice blend of new and old! What do you plan on sinking your teeth into in 2026? Let us know at thegiftofgamingpodcast@gmail.com Want more content to listen to? Check out our Patreon over at patreon.com/thegiftofgaming where you'll find all our post shows including today's episode all about what games we will (or won't) see release in 2026!Watch your podcasts on Youtube? Check out youtube.com/@thegiftofgaming for all our podcasts!

The Gift of Gaming podcast is back in 2026 with a look back at some of gaming's headlines from December. Join Darren, Luke and Chris as they look at new possible takeovers, a fallen giant and mandatory overtime. All this news and more, on today's episode!Need more news? Check out our Patreon over at patreon.com/thegiftofgaming for more news and bonus episodes!Prefer to have your podcasts on Youtube? Why not check out our Youtube channel at youtube.com/@thegiftofgaming

Its Christmas! And the final episode of the GoG Pod in 2025. What better way to play out the year then a GoG tradition. Blue, Green, Red, Playstation, Xbox, Nintendo; Who came out on top? Who performed the worst? Join Darren, Luke and Craig as they rep their corners and have the conversation, who was the best of The Big 3?! Merry Christmas to all our listeners, thank you so much for all your support! If you're looking for more GoG content, head over to Patreon over at patreon.com/thegiftofgaming for loads more content! Why not give us the gift of Christmas and sign up to our post shows for so much more content.

Darren, Andrew and Craig are back on the mics! And don't worry, they won't fight this time. This episode is all about the games that define them, from Final Fantasy 7 and Kingdom Hearts (of course) to games like World of Warcraft, the guys delve into what makes them look at games the way they do.Check out patreon.com/thegiftofgaming for loads more content and to help the pod out!3

Darren, Andrew and Chris sat down to watch The Game of the Year Award show 2025 until 4 in the morning. Listen in for a breakdown of all the awards, announcements and whether or not we enjoyed video games biggest annual show in 2025.No post show today due to the extra long episode we have but post shows will be back next week!

This week's episode is all about news! Darren, Chris and Luke look at Rockstar's Union busting, Square Enix's use of gen AI and Valve's new lineup or hardware. Looking for more content? Check out patreon.com/thegiftofgaming for even more news content. This week its all about game delays and Horizon's MMO.Want to listen via Youtube? Head over to Youtube.com/@thegiftofgaming where all our episodes are now available!News:RockStar Union Bustinghttps://www.gamesindustry.biz/iwgb-accuses-rockstar-of-union-busting-following-reported-dismissal-of-over-30-employees PS5 Cross Buyhttps://www.ign.com/articles/playstation-5-cross-buy-graphic-spotted-sparking-hope-that-sony-will-finally-introduce-dual-ps5-and-pc-purchases Square Enix and AIhttps://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/square-enix-wants-to-use-gen-ai-to-automate-70-percent-of-qa-and-debugging-by-late-2027 The New Valve Hardwarehttps://www.polygon.com/valve-new-hardware-steam-machine-frame-controller/

Darren, Andrew and Craig get on the mics to discuss, what was meant to be an episode on the games that defined them, but it quickly turned into a fiery debate on remastered games in the gaming industry. Don't worry, we're all still friends! So if you're interested in what our strong opinions are on remastered games, listen in!FYI - Our debate was so fiery that the mics took a beating. We've done our best to manage the sound quality on this one but we're sorry its not up to the usual standard!Looking for more? Check out our Patreon at patreon.com/thegiftofgaming where we talk about what we want to see from the Playstation 6.Wanna let us know what you think? Message us at thegiftofgamingpodcast@gmail.comDo you want to listen to the episodes on Youtube? You're in luck! Check out youtube.com/@thegiftofgaming for all our episodes!

Darren and Chris talk GOTY nominees as they come fresh off the press from Geoff Keighley himself! Which 6 games from 2025 make it to the coveted spot to be in with a chance to win Game of the Year?Looking for more content? Darren and Chris give their own 6 nominations for GOTY over at patreon.com/thegiftofgaming

After months of nothing but negative news, Darren takes to the mic with Luke to discuss all the goings on at Xbox and what its future might look like, if there is a future at all!Check out the Patreon at patreon.com/thegiftofgaming for today's post show where Darren and Luke let us know what it is they would do to try to steady the Xbox ship.

Its news week once again and Darren is joined by Chris and Luke as they discuss the Arc Raiders launch, PS6 and the new Xbox due date and Gold Joystick nominations for the end of year competition. Check out patroen.com/thegiftofgaming for more news on Crash Bandicoot and a Manga based on the life of Smash Bros. creator Sakurai!Want to watch on Youtube? All our episodes are uploaded on Youtube.com/@thegiftofgaming

As Darren continues to be smoothered by a cold, please enjoy this Post Show instead! Last month, Nintendo dropped a direct showcasing some new Pokémon updates and needless to say, Darren and Craig aren't happy about it.

Darren was struck down by the winter bug and, unable to do any recording, some Post Show bonus episodes are here! On this Post Show episode, Darren, Andrew and Craig break down what they see as the absolute requirements a game should have to be a GOTY contender.