Sony's mishandling of its games-as-a-service initiative is well-worn territory here on Sacred Symbols, but that doesn't mean the fallout doesn't persist. This time around, Guerrilla's new multiplayer title Horizon: Hunters Gathering is the focal point. Based on recent reporting, it appears Sony is having the dev team rework the game to remove live service and other persistent elements, and its fate will be decided by December, with cancellation still very much on the table. Bungie and Marathon, Haven and Fairgames, Firewalk and Concord, Naughty Dog and The Last of Us Online, the Deviation-turned-Dark Outlaw project, Bluepoint and God of War Online, a cancelled multiplayer Spider-Man game at Insomniac, Twisted Metal never getting far off the ground at Lucid... Truly, it's enough already. Plus: Until Dawn star Hayden Panettiere sadly passes away at 37 years old, Grand Theft Auto VI suffers a catastrophic leak, Hiroko Totoki talks to the Wall Street Journal about Sony's move away from tech and towards entertainment, Square Enix swears Kingdom Hearts IV will launch in 2027, and more. Then: Listener inquiries! Is Naughty Dog's high-caliber approach ultimately unsustainable? Have we lost sight of the reality of how bad the experience of using physical media actually is? How can we both run Sacred Symbols effectively while ignoring the endless, persistent, and unrealistic negativity? Will Colin ultimately push Dustin over the line by insisting he's Japanese?

Timestamps:

Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement.

0:00 - Intro
39:18 - Shoutout to Chris and Porter
50:08 - "Dustin is Japanese"
52:26 - Drinking in the pool
1:03:09 - Digital ownership brother in arms
1:09:27 - RIP Hayden Panettiere
1:15:08 - GTAVI Leaks
1:44:20 - Horizon: Hunters Gathering is being reworked
2:28:31 - Hiroki Totoki Literature Club interview
2:42:15 - Sony's shovelware purge gone wrong?
2:55:21 - Kingdom Hearts IV releases late 2027
3:01:28 - Terranigma port
3:05:32 - Pulse Elevate speakers coming in November
3:07:53 - Call of Duty beta includes campaign level
3:09:44 - Simpsons Hit and Run returns?
3:14:25 - July US sales data
3:18:42 - What We're Playing (Beast of Reincarnation, Spider-Man 2, Mortal Shell 2)
3:40:39 - Toxic fandoms
3:56:42 - Enshittification across media
4:06:53 - Curbing your expectations
4:20:17 - Is Naughty Dog unsustainable?
4:24:14 - Is America AAA game dev dead?
4:30:34 - Was physical media a nightmare?

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