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Game Informer @gameinformer.com · 07/10/2026

Reposted by Neoplasmic

Salt is Exodus' octopus merc with a mech, equipped an arsenal of weapons and ready to tackle any problem in front of her, as long as the pay is good. But is there something more lurking underneath the surface? Meet Salt in our latest cover story video for Exodus: youtu.be/WmiASGyZHPk

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I just don't want battle royale modes and multiplayer map packs and character skins to be the entire future of one of my favorite gaming franchises. Just my opinion and two cents. Sorry for the rant. I'll go curl into a fetal position in the corner while everyone roasts the shit out of me.

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And obviously, I was generalizing about CoD and about 343's output. Not everything was bad or good about what they did, and recent CoD games did good things, too. And there is the caveat that I'm more narrative and singleplayer focused than most who play these franchises. Multiplayer is fun, too!

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And like a friend of mine said, if we get a Zombies-style mode with the Flood, I'm all for it and 75% of my issues will be gone right there, lol. Seriously, though, hire back some ex-Bungie and 343 devs. Give it the time and money and care that Halo deserves. That we as players deserve.

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Halo had and still has such a rich universe and history to explore. And more can be done with it. I hope whoever at Activision and Sledgehammer Games (among others) works on this can respect the past and forge a new and intriguing future with it. I want them to succeed. I want new experiences.

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But I just feel so mixed and murky about it. Because CoD has devolved into nothing but microtransactions and narrative campaigns that have little effort put into them. Storytelling is so pedestrian and contrived and shallow, and the gameplay is meager and homogenized. It's all multiplayer stuff now.

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I hope that Activision's era turns out to be great. I want the games to be the centerpiece of a new iteration of the franchise. I want them to be the apex of sci-fi FPSs. I want more characters to know, more stories to be told, more mysteries to be explored. More worlds and planets for us to see.

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Imagine if that had turned out to be greater than the sum of its campaign and marketing, rather than...whatever it was. I know the disappointment that a lot of players had with regard to that debacle and the TV show, which just... I wish I never watched that crap. They didn't do the games justice.

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I felt that Halo 5 was such a missed opportunity, narratively speaking. Especially considering the fact that it was marketed as a sort of Fugitive-esque story featuring Chief and a unique hook that we could have played both the pursuer and the man on the run. And I liked having Blue Team with me.

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Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it's not what we all wanted. And some of it wasn't great. Some of it was subpar and disappointing. But some was great on its own, divorced from what it was ultimately pointing toward. Case in point: Hunt the Truth, which I thought was magnificent. Stellar voice cast!

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And no, I do not mean the TV series. That can rot in the void. I'm talking about novels. Characters. Depth. Whatever we think of 343/Halo Studios' output, at least they took the time and care to add more to the series than just shooty shooty bang bang. Y'know what I mean? Can Activision do it, too?

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Something that makes me dread Halo Studios being gutted and the franchise moving to Activision is that I'm worried that all the lore and mystery and characters established in the previous eras of Halo will be wiped out entirely. And it'll just become Call of Duty in space, with annual content drops.

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Neoplasmic @neoplasmic.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

Apologies for not being around as much, but hello to the new followers out there! I'm also going to do something nutty and post my Halo rant in a sec. Which I also posted to the *other* place. Anyway, brb.

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Totally agree. I think people will do it for GTA just because it's so well known and mainstream and has the pedigree, for better or worse. But if it was a different/lesser known outside of gaming circles franchise, the result may be different and garner more backlash.

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Neoplasmic @neoplasmic.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

Why is this what I've needed all week?

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Neoplasmic @neoplasmic.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

This reads like a cosmic joke. The execs at Sony have no sense of irony or self-awareness.

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Neoplasmic @neoplasmic.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

But I wonder if they'd pay that much for other games and franchises that paywalled such features.

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This is a sad day. Mismanagement. Corporate avarice. Investor and shareholder greed. There are many reasons why this happened. But I don't want to vent my anger. Today, I want to think of the community managers, engineers, artists, and programmers who lost their jobs. My heart goes out to them.

Oof, that doesn't sound good at all. Not even rollback or crossplay???

In this current time and political climate, I shouldn't be surprised that there are people (who may actually be bots) who are willing to defend corporate malfeasance and sheer human avarice. And yet...

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What relevance could that have had in this man's obituary? WTF??? And yes, I know he was co-founder of Ubisoft. But it's not an article about his company's projects or the impact he may have had on them. It's just trash so-called "journalism."

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Would definitely not surprise me, sadly.

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It begins. I can only offer words of support for the impacted developers. I hope they find new jobs and creative endeavors.

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Twitter/X just serves as a constant reminder that humanity is a fascinating little shit show. But I'm glad one of my Destiny 2 tweets got a decent amount of views! Lol

Saw a post from dmg04 on the other platform talking about how Guardians have done all we can and it's unfortunately how things work out sometimes (paraphrasing, obviously). Then posts from the dev team about how certain bug fixes may not be done. Sony deserves all the pushback they get from this.

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Proud of the community for once again pulling off an amazing challenge (probably our last, *sniffle*) and proud of the devs for working so hard on creating it for us! The Destiny 2 team is legendary!!!

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Favorite episode title is definitely "Weapon X, Lies, and DVDs." LOL

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Oh, sure. It has nothing to do with taking jobs away from creatives and developers and using gen AI to increase the corporate bottom line by destroying jobs. Sure, it's all about "unlocking devs' creativity". That's what they're calling it now.

DaPanda @destiny-islanders @dapandabanda.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Reposted by Neoplasmic

STOP BUYING PHYSICAL EDITIONS THAT ARE JUST EMPTY BOXES WITH DOWNLOAD CODES INSIDE YOU ARE LETTING GAMING COMPANIES KNOW THEY CAN GET AWAY WITH IT

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ALT: Sending a Virtual Hug

Sending you virtual hugs! I know how you feel. This year has been nothing but existential depression.

static.klipy.com

Sending a Virtual Hug

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Yup. 100%. I think that was kind of the point.

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Problem is, those of us who are informed can raise all the seven hells about it, but it won't make a damn bit of difference. Rockstar will set numerous records and corporate greed will be rewarded and the industry will yet again learn the wrong lessons. Fucking hell.

This right here. Gaming shouldn't be a "luxury." It's a hobby. It's something that keeps us all from succumbing to the existential dread we all face waking up every morning. Or maybe that's just me. Lol Yep, end with a joke, self. That's how we do.

Gail and the artists be cookin'!!!

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I need to watch this movie! I never have, and it's an oversight I have to rectify.

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Corporate greed is running rampant. It's disgusting.