The Weekly Download

Sony Officially ENDS Single-Player PC Ports!

• Season 1 • Episode 31

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The Weekly Download by Big Games Machine is your essential weekly speedrun through the biggest stories in the global video games industry.


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Hosted by industry experts, Alex Beech and Yaz Brookes, we break down the most intriguing, complex, and vital developments of the week to keep you informed.

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SPEAKER_00

The weekly download, a podcast about interesting game, industry news, brought to you by Big Games Machine. Hi, and welcome to the weekly download from Big Games Machine. We are back again bringing you some of the biggest news from this week in video games. A little bit of a change today. I have been uh promoted to the host chair as Tom is off to go and watch his beloved Hull play uh play football. Honestly, I know so little about football I don't know where they're playing or why, but there they are. They're playing football and in London. Uh so instead I am joined by a new face to the show. Uh I'm gonna Yazbrooks. Yaz. I don't know if we're gonna use your full name or Yaz. Would you prefer for the sake of this? Yes, okay, there we go. Uh yeah, and we're gonna be taking you through, as I said, a lot of the week's biggest gaming news. If, as always, you prefer to read your news rather than listen to it. There is the daily download that you can subscribe to on biggamesmachine.com. Uh, also on LinkedIn, you can get your weekly news there or daily news. Um, so hop along to Big Games Machine on LinkedIn to find us there. This week, some of the bigger stories we're going to be uh going over are that Sony have announced they won't be bringing their single-player games to PC moving forward, marking a change from some of their recent decisions. Uh Nintendo have been denied a touchscreen patent uh in their fight with Pocket Pair, the creators of PowerWorld. And Wizards of the Coast is ending its partnership with Giant Skull. And we will then follow that up with a few tidbits of other things we're excited about, but perhaps not quite such big news. And without further ado, we're gonna jump straight into the show. So, yes, kicking off with today's first story, and I do have to highlight that uh the lovely Tom has put these together for us. So at some point he's put in flavor text that isn't necessarily my thought. So if I can end up sounding a little bit of split mind uh at the end of this, I'm gonna blame it on that. So if I seem even more two-brained than usual, that will be why. Uh but yes, sticking off, kicking off, the big first big news of the week is that uh Sony won't be bringing any more single-player games to PC. Uh PlayStation studio boss Hellman Hertz has uh confirmed that PlayStation's tempole narrative single player games will no longer come to PC. Internal reports point to disappointment overall in the overall sales and concerns that these ports devalue the PlayStation brand. Um, now one question that's kind of swirling around this in the same moment is will this be linked to Project Helix, the Xbox kind of strategy that's going to be bringing more PC games natively uh to Xbox in the next generation. Uh what do you think, Yes? Do you think that's kind of impacted any of their decisions to this point?

SPEAKER_02

Definitely. I think maybe they're feeling the pressure a bit on the industry. Um maybe they feel like they need to do something in response. Um, I think it's definitely going to cut off a big portion of players, though. I think I hear a lot of people playing PlayStation exclusives on PC, and I think people are going to be disappointed by this news for sure.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I I wonder, I mean, absolutely. I think PC players who for a moment there thought that they'd uh crack the code of all this, they could just escape the console wars, and yes, maybe buying the RAM and everything is extortionately priced. Uh, but you know, you could then seemingly get everything, especially with Xbox, you know, becoming more and more um free. Well, not free, not free as in for money, but free as in access to it, uh, open, I should perhaps say, on PC. Um but yeah, I I think it does form an interesting element of this, especially in light of the story we saw two weeks ago uh from the uh Sakana survey. Sokana, yes, uh survey results that showed around 41% of respondents felt that you know they they played on console for console exclusives, and that had dropped 8% from the previous year. So maybe PlayStations like actually that 8% is worth more to us in the next generation and hanging on to that than the than what it brings in in terms of um PC players. Uh, but obviously we can't see the money on that. But I wouldn't I'm certain that the one didn't impact the other directly, but I I suspect they were seeing the same data, which has kind of led to some of this. And Project Helix no doubt can't have helped because the risk of you know Xbox and Xbox having a PlayStation game on it because uh of that Project Helix giving them that capability probably quite neg uh probably hit them quite negatively while they're still very much the uh hardware manufacturer of the two companies. Um the the reverse of this news is that this isn't going to impact live service games or multiplayer games. So you know, games like Helldivers 2 are still gonna see day-and-date releases on PC, where appropriate, and and I suspect likely also still come to Xbox a little bit further down the line to keep that kind of player base active. Um where do you tend to play? Yeah, I mean, where where's this going to impact you?

SPEAKER_02

So I am a PC gamer. Um, so in essence, it does mean that there'll be less games available to me in the future. Um, I I haven't played things like God of War or Um Is Bloodborne like a PlayStation exclusive.

SPEAKER_00

Um I'm not sure that's made the jump to now I'm showing my. I don't think that's made the jump.

SPEAKER_02

No, maybe it hasn't. Um but I know that these games can be hugely popular on PC. I think it's really ramped up the player count. So yeah, you know, Spider-Man is another one as well. That's another massive hit, isn't it? So I don't know. But maybe just over.

SPEAKER_00

If you're not playing them, you're part of the problem, not the solution, yeah. So that's the true truth.

SPEAKER_02

True, true. Sorry. My bad.

SPEAKER_00

Maybe just one more game would have made the difference. Just one more PlayStation uh Spider-Man or PC Spider-Man sale, and they'd have been like, oh, you know what? Here we go. Um, but yes, this return to exclusivity um is certainly seeming to be the kind of end to this platform agnosticism that had been seen to be coming. And as I say, the PC owners were certainly seeing the benefits of that for the most part. Uh, but it does seem that PlayStation is very much going down this path of like, if you want to play these cinematic narrative games like like Wolverine, which is obviously going to be a big seller for them, then you know, you you need a PlayStation 5, PlayStation 6. And with prices continuing to only go up, like kind of get in now, which you know kind of might be driving some of that. And I do, you know, if you look at Wolverine, that's going to be huge. Spider-Man was huge. Obviously, Wolverine is really Marvel's other biggest legacy property. Yes, Iron Man since the Avengers came around is obviously big in there, but not really those games have never been great. Um I do wonder how much of this is then being like, well, we can go back on this, but you know, Wolverine's going to be a system seller in September. And if people think that it's going to be coming elsewhere in six months, maybe that's going to dilute the impact that could have. So I do ponder if that's kind of in that mix. Um now to embody Tom for a second and ask you a question from him. Uh, do you think this is a short-sighted move? Uh, PC ports like God of War and Spider-Man, as we've discussed, were massive hits, even if PlayStation's saying they didn't see the results they wanted. Uh, so do you think Sony is overacting to a number of underperformers? Uh, or is this exclusivity idea and everything we saw from Sakana and uh what's happening there? Is that exclusivity pull real?

SPEAKER_02

Uh I really I honestly think it could go either way. And I think it's not gonna be a middle of the fence result. Like I think it is actually gonna make people buy more consoles, or it's really gonna make people go off the brand a bit more, I think. And perhaps leaning towards the I think it might backfire when they do it.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I mean, it it's a difficult one. Um, I I think with hardware costs like memory and everything else continuing to increase, you end up in a strange place where, you know, if you it is driving people towards consoles, if you're not making as much money from each individual sale, then does is it cutting off your nose to spite your face? But at the same time, having that base there does mean that you're getting 100% of the money off each of those sales, whereas every sale on PC, you know, they they they've got Steam to pay and whatever else in that mix. Uh so yeah, it's an interesting uh decision to be making there. I mean, honestly, I'm it's not been long in my mind, it's probably longer than I believe since they kind of announced things would be coming uh to Steam. So, you know, pulling the plug on that and zigzagging back, and and I'm I'm sure they can reassess this if they feel the need is there in the future. Um but it it it it's an interesting move.

SPEAKER_02

Um and and I feel like this is one to watch the space on, right? Like I feel like let's see how everyone reacts following it rather than being able to tell what's gonna happen right now.

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely. I mean, uh yes. I wouldn't be surprised if we see this kind of shift again in the future, but perhaps not until you know into the PlayStation's six life cycle. Because they need if that's the play here, then they need people to believe it's the case going into PlayStation 6 and picking up those initial sales because it's just yeah, it it's a lot to make uh consoles, it's a lot to make games, and and they're obviously going to need to make sure that they're still making their profits at the end of the day. So on to our next story. Uh, and this one is the news that Nintendo has been denied a touchscreen-specific patent, uh, which you know has been linked primarily to its fight with Pocket Bear uh Pocket Pair, the developer of PowerWorld. Uh now Nintendo attempted to patent uh a touchscreen mechanic that basically allowed them to throw and capture things like in a poker ball uh using the touch screen. Uh the Japanese patent office, uh Patent, Patent, Patent, uh rejected it, uh, stating that there was no inventive step in the patent, uh, which is essentially telling Nintendo that throwing things on a touch screen is common sense and not an invention. And I think uh, you know, Angry Birds circa 20 uh 2009 is calling they agree. Um, this patent in particular was seen as a preemptive strike against uh rumored PowerWorld mobile uh and other clones that are out there like Roko Kingdom. Um, this rejection is a blow to Nintendo's legal strategy, and it's already tried to file similar patents in the US. Uh now, the extent that these patents, uh patent attempts by uh Nintendo point to a fear or uh about PowerWorld, or is it just the idea to kind of cede a bit more control and a bit more power in their arguments? Uh kind of as always, uh, remains to be seen. But do you think that Nintendo has anything to fear in these battles, Yaz?

SPEAKER_02

Without seeing the numbers, it's hard to say. But I know PowerWorld is huge, isn't it? It does have a huge following. So yeah, maybe Nintendo is feeling the pressure and wants to sort of gain that dominance back on the market, but I don't know. Is is this the way to go about it? I know they've been having a legal battle for ages now, haven't they? Trying to go back and forth with things. And I don't know if it paints a good look for them. I don't know. It's kind of it's a bit off.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that there is the idea of are they bullying smaller companies with this? I mean, you know, they they've they've sat on Pokemon since what was it, 1995? A long time.

SPEAKER_01

Uh born 30 years ago. Yeah, there you go.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it's around then. Uh, you know, that that's how long Pokemon's been running, and the idea that you know that those you you can't spin off or innovate around that is strange. Certainly, Power World's uh Pals, I think that's what they're called, uh do bear a striking resemblance uh to some uh Pokemon, but you know, the the the devil's in the details on that, and I don't know how much of a difference you have to kind of apply for it to be legally distinct. So I think going after something like this is strange, and and it's a very odd one to go after. Like I say, Angry Birds kind of sits in the place, but you know, throwing things on a touchscreen, I'm sure there's gonna be precedent before Nintendo introduced it.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, like it's such a simple motion and mechanic, like really.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah. And I don't even I mean, certainly as a chief mechanic, catching creatures, yeah, it has been like it is like perhaps belongs to Pokemon. But I bet you who go back before that, and there are games out there that have you capturing creatures, you get into a very dragged-out how minute can we chase things on this?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. I wonder if like fishing mobile games would come under this category then.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah. Or fishing games in general, like in terms of uh of catching things, absolutely. Um, yeah, it it's an interesting one. And I think Nintendo is, you know, obviously they dominate this market. I don't think that they've got anything to fear. In fact, I may argue that games like that ultimately pull people back to Pokemon Go. Like I imagine you'll you'll see Power World Mobile, if if if it comes out, will you know drive up some, and then if it's not amazing, people will default back to Pokemon or the advertising alone will remind people of Pokemon Go and bring them back to that as well. So I I doubt they're gonna see their market dominance scattered.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, you know, that's a fair point. Yeah, I I definitely see like if I'm gonna use Stargy Valley for an example, because we all know there's so many Stargy Valley copies out there, but if I see another game like that, I'm always like, oh, just let's start a new Starge Valley save. Like, let's go back to the original. So totally agree with your point there.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, no, that would be uh it would be interesting to see if that's how it goes. I mean, uh, have do you have you played Pokemon Go in the past?

SPEAKER_02

Or oh god, I used to be a huge Pokemon Go player, and I would literally walk home from work instead of taking the tram, so I could go and catch Pokemon on the way home and go past gym. So, yes, I used to be really wrapped up in it and really loved it, but I don't know, just fizzled out at some point. COVID is when it was massive, wasn't it? Everyone is.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, which feels, you know, uh kind of what's the word, counterintuitive. Because that's when suddenly I can't go out as much. I guess again, Pokemon Go. But I know that's when they kind of introduced the ability to jump between uh servers and things to kind of look like you're elsewhere to collect things, and they stopped that being an issue. I know that was also kind of an accessibility thing for people that might not be able to get out and play in the kind of as originally intended. I remember irritating my friend so much when it came out because I refused to capture them. I was like, no, I but I believe in allowing Pokemon to roll for roam free, just going around and looking at the three starters in different places around where I was living. Drove them absolutely spare. Uh but there you go. But I still see people playing it like in parks. There's obviously still big events. I saw somebody at my the local my local pub the other day sat there like far because it was a church in one place and the pub and something else nearby. They're like, oh, I can capture things here. I'm like so far removed from this now, but I it's absolutely still huge. So I can't imagine uh a PAL World mobile game dethroning that at all.

SPEAKER_02

No, I don't think so.

SPEAKER_00

Excellent. Okay, well, let's move on to our final story then. So I didn't realise, and Yaz has just uh let me know during our little break there that if you're picking up some uh interesting and new sounds on the mic, it's because my my uh my bulldog is feeling particularly um uh excited that I am presenting today. So he's come over and he's like sat here just panting at my uh from my thighs into the mic, which is here. Uh so apologies if you're picking up any strange background noises. Uh you can blame it on my boy Rocky. Uh pictures of whom are on the Big Games Machine website. You don't have to feel like you're missing out on the beauty of Rocky. He's up there. Anyway, on to our final story, uh, our final main story of the day, I should say. And that is that Wizard of the Coast has ended its partnership with Giant Skull, despite entering into an agreement to make a new DD uh game in in that universe last year. Uh now, this is less than a year after the game was announced. Uh, and at the time it was said to be a triple-A DD action adventure with Wizard with Wizards of the Coast now terminating that deal um with Giant Skull, a studio that's been led by uh Star Wars Jedi veterans, Digum and Asmuson. I do know how to say it, uh just stumbling over my own words. There's so many vowels, says I, with my name. There's a lot of vowels in there too. Uh Wizard of the Coasts claim uh that they assessed the concept at every stage and decided that this specific concept wouldn't fit despite respecting the team. Uh now this isn't the first cancellation that Hasbro and Wizard of the Cult Wizards of the Coasts have made, uh, and that's included the shutdown of Atomic Arcade, uh, which was the G.I. Joe game, and another DD project by Starbree. Uh, both notable studios, Starbree's especially. Uh now on Giant Skull side of things, Stig Asmondson has said that the studio is already shopping its tech around to add tech and talent around to other producers. Um now, Hasbro's kind of been in the news a lot, uh, mostly around like using AI, trying to monetize its properties and ensuring things kind of are successful. So the kind of thought here is how skittish have they become in part because of the previous success of Baldur's Gate? Are they hoping to reach those successes? Why do you think that they're kind of on this path of multiple cancellations?

SPEAKER_02

I don't know. And I've been trying to think about this, and I I genuinely don't know why this cancellation has suddenly come about. I mean, okay, they say the concept didn't fit, but is there something more to it than that than we don't know? And we won't ever know. You know, that's what I'm wondering.

SPEAKER_00

I I do love these stories because it's like always behind closed doors, like it's very difficult where that there'll be an NDA in place when they say they're shopping the tech around. That might mean that they were making a game engine from scratch, or it might just be the kind of conversation systems. There's obviously a lot of elements to a DD game or the combat systems that you know, if they've got those in place and and they have free reign and ownership of those, they could be in a very strong place to go to like the Pathfinder kind of board game people with that idea, or come up with an entirely new uh prospect on their own. I I do wonder, obviously, uh Baldur's Gate was huge, absolutely vast, but uh developed over a long period of time with a lot of community kind of input and support. And I know that there's a kind of desire from Wizard of the Coast one, probably to see money come back a bit faster, which i is unlikely with that kind of development cycle, and two, likely put in some hooks for greater monetization that would allow them to, if it was as successful as Baldur's Gates 3, to continue to collect on that. Um so I don't know how much of that plays into it. I don't know how much of the idea like inherently locked them out from these things they wanted, or if um uh giant skull was kind of creating things that that would lock them out on that. Um but yeah, uh where do you think I mean do you think this is something we can continue to see uh from Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro?

SPEAKER_02

I think so, yeah. I mean I don't know why they're being so skittish. I mean, maybe it's because they are afraid that I don't know. If I mean if you say a DD game, you're gonna think of Bouldersgate 3, right? So how can you create a new game that's more different than that and better? Like, are you just trying I don't know what the phrase is? Are you trying to beat a dead horse? Do you know what I mean? Like it's already been done.

SPEAKER_00

Well, I I get I I don't know with Baldur's Gate if if that um the IP uh stays with oh no, I'm blanking on the uh Baldur's Gate 3 developers now. I I don't know how much of the IP and elements sit with them. Oh no, that's awful. There's gonna be ev everyone listening, uh our beloved audience is probably screaming uh uh Larian Larian Right Mother Um I don't know how much of like they held by kind of control of that moving forward, but creating something else in that world or within that story arc is obviously high risk because if it's not as good, you're absolutely under fire if you're taking it away from Larry. And Larian didn't want to be involved on it again for whatever reasons are in there. But like they they've reportedly invested over a billion dollars in games, um, but they're also seemingly keeping this very tight control over what their teams are making, and and maybe that's crushing the creativity. Um kind of grand plan that we're not seeing that's gonna bubble up once you know some of this money that's been spent starts to actually come to fruition. Maybe maybe they've got a a grand plan that all makes a lot of sense, but it's hard to watch from the outside and see it as a cohesive strategy.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I agree. We're just never gonna know the answer, I'm afraid.

unknown

Nope.

SPEAKER_00

Sorry, if you came here for answers, we're not here for that. We're here to give you the news. Some broad opinions, but no actual answers. This isn't trivial pursuit, sadly. Uh, but here we go. Into the final three stories of the week. The the quick hits, as it were. And the first of these is that Lego Batman, uh, Legacy of the Dark Knight, has become the best-rated Lego game ever. Uh, knocking the Skywalker saga off its perch after four years at the top. Four years feels like not very long at all, really, in the world of games.

SPEAKER_02

No, I thought it would be longer than that, actually.

SPEAKER_00

Feels like longer ago, doesn't it? But I guess that was kind of an amalgam of previous titles. Um I have only played the Lego games when visiting children in my life, um, Godsons and what have you. Uh, so I don't know how to feel about this. Well, where where are you on the Lego train? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So uh my partner has been playing it. He bought the Deluxe Edition, so he actually got it like a couple of days early. Oh, because it doesn't come out to the public until tomorrow, Friday the 22nd. And it looks so good. Like the animations run really smoothly, the gameplay looks fun, and they've got some. Yeah, yeah, PC. And there's so many like little gags and jokes and throwbacks and Easter eggs in there. It's actually quite quite a funny game. Um, so I see the appeal, I I see the love that's gone behind the game as well. Like, there's so many little details in it. I I think it's gonna do really well when it comes out tomorrow for public release.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I I I think both the the the I want to say topic, that's not what I mean. Batman, I mean Batman. Batman and DC Universe, obviously, huge, hugely popular always. Um so yeah, uh I'm looking forward to seeing like all the different characters that are in there to be unlocked, exactly how much is in there uh people to enjoy. But it's great to see that you know they're they're continuing to smash it out of the park.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, and then each character has like so many different skins. Like I think Batman's got over a hundred skins alone.

SPEAKER_00

So but also the those they they bring different abilities, don't they? It's not like just like dressed up, it's like because there are ones that go in water and what have you.

SPEAKER_02

Not entirely oh yeah, maybe. Maybe.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I mean, I'm like I say, I'm going back on long ago memories for a lot of that. Uh but yeah, I I remember always really enjoying them. Uh are you not playing it with him? I always thought what part of the appeal was the multiplayer aspect.

SPEAKER_02

Um, I thought about it and then I saw the high price tag, and I was like, you think you can wait this time.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, I meant on the same screen, not r remotely. It hadn't even dawned on me.

SPEAKER_02

Well, we we don't live together, so um demand's a bit far to go to.

SPEAKER_00

Fair enough. Fair enough.

SPEAKER_01

But yeah, one day.

SPEAKER_00

Excellent. Okay. Next story then. Uh Capcom has we Capcom comes up every week. I feel like Tom puts it in here just to just to assuage my love of the company. Uh Capcom expands its workforce by over 200 has expanded its workforce by over 200 employees in the last year with further plans to upsize in the future. Now, I imagine a lot of this is off the back of the their recent successes and growth. Uh, but it's great to see in the industry that there is there is a good news story about jobs.

SPEAKER_02

Yes, I feel like every week we hear about a new studio, a new company, whoever laying off thousands, hundreds of people. It's so nice to finally see the flip side that you know, 200 people joining in the past year, more plans in the future. That's it's really refreshing and nice to hear.

SPEAKER_00

So yeah, Capcom has started to exist in this very strange place of like they're pumping out, I'm they do have free-to-play games, but you know, a lot of premium titles are driving everything, what would have been seen as the traditional gaming model, and and they're making it work with whatever expectations their board has, uh to the point that, yeah, uh continued growth, continued hopefully that means innovation. Um it could just be that they plan to make how how many would 200 employees allow them to make? How many more Resident Evil games can you make a year if you grow by 200 people? That's the question, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02

Is that your hope?

SPEAKER_00

Or no, I would actually oversaturate it. I'm happy with I I'd take one a year and a big DLC, um, one every two years with a big DLC in the off years. But you know, that they're also putting out a lot of other great games in there that I really enjoy. So Pragmata's still on my list of things to pick up soon.

SPEAKER_02

So should be good there.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, uh final story, and this is a a weird, uh, good news story for Crafton, obviously, who uh absorbed a lot of negativity over their subnautica debacle and uh everything that went on there. Um but uh PUBG uh publisher Crafton claims its internal birth rate, which is a weird way of putting uh employees at our company, have doubled after implementing a comprehensive support program for people who are people who are having children within the company. Uh, it offers approximately sixty thousand dollars per newborn. I'd love to know the specifics of this, along with non-cash benefits such as two-year parental leave, which is a lot. Uh also remote work options and automatic substitute hiring. Um, but I would love to know some of the full details on this, but uh I think it it kind of makes sense, it kind of feels obvious when you hear it, right?

SPEAKER_02

It's it's such an odd news story, and I think Crafton has had a lot of negative press lately. Um it kind of makes me wonder like who has pulled this out of the ether to make it a good news story? Like it is a good news story, it is a good news story, but what at the same time? Um yeah, I don't know. I don't know. And also my question is the 60 grand for every newborn, well, what if you have twins or triplets? Then do you get 120 and 180?

SPEAKER_00

Oh, oh, yeah, no, I mean it it's a weird incentive, and I don't know how that breaks down. I don't know, because it could be, you know, on each side, it might not be a lump sum, it might be on, it might be a way of incentivizing you to stay in, come back, all these elements. Also the two years parental leave, like uh is that because when it says internal birth rate, is that if both parts of the couple are internal to craft? It's very I I I I I think it's when I said earlier it was obvious. What I meant is like obviously if the stresses and strains of the financial burdens of uh having a child and um the the work implications having the the kind of career implic uh issues are alleviated, of course, people are gonna feel more empowered to go and make that choice for themselves. Um so it in that sense it it's really interesting. But yeah, I'm sat here going like, okay, so one child every two years, right? It's uh I don't know, I don't know. And equally, I don't know what the parental leave looks like in terms of is that with full pay?

SPEAKER_02

Is that what what else does that include adoption as well?

SPEAKER_00

Uh it does in the UK. I don't know if it does there, but it does say newborn. It does say each newborn, so it likely doesn't. Uh but yeah, it it I think it's a a really interesting story. I don't know what in set what where it came from in terms of incentivising it for them. Um but really great to hear that more people are getting the option to have children if that's what they want.

SPEAKER_02

It does feel a bit dystopian though. A little bit.

SPEAKER_00

Um it's I think it's dystopian in the sense that it needs to be done, assuming that the people now having the children are doing it because they'd always wanted to, rather than I'm gonna have a child because I want my 60 grand. Oh yeah, yeah, at least one. Well, at least two. Um Matt says. Um but yeah, I I think that's a really it's an interesting thing that I think a lot of people like a lot of the kind of feeling about birth rates in countries that are nervous about this is that people are choosing not to because it's so incredibly difficult to do it now with kind of a single either a single working parent or uh that's the time you have to take uh for it to be like financially viable. Uh so I I I yeah, it's dystopian that it needs to be done, but I think it's quite liberating that you can see the impact it has when those pressures are removed. Although, again, maybe only one person had a child last year and this double is two kids. Or maybe it was maybe the one kid they thought they were getting was twins. Uh so it's hard to know what the real impact is there. But it but it it's a very, very interesting move. And and a good news story, if dystopian. All over the place on that. Anyway, that's it for this week's daily download. Thank you to Tom, as always, uh, for delivering the stories that that I have thus regaled every you with initially, Yaz, but everybody beyond that. Uh Yaz, thank you for joining me.

SPEAKER_02

Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_00

Uh and as always, you know, like and subscribe to wherever you're listening and or watching this. Uh we'll be back next week with more. And if in the interim you want to get more kind of hourly uh up-to-date news, uh then or up to hourly, that was a massive promise. I'm sorry, Tom. Uh daily news. You can subscribe to the daily download uh or follow the weekly download on LinkedIn if you'd rather see all of this in written form. And until then, I look forward to seeing everybody. Uh not me next time, Tom and somebody else next week, because I'm gonna be at Nordic Game. Uh so looking forward to seeing everybody else in two weeks. Uh thank you again, Yaz.

SPEAKER_02

Thanks, cheers. Bye.