We cast the Elden Ring movie + our trip to Remedy studios for FBC Firebreak | Friends Per Second #70

PLUS: Game over screens, video game popcorn buckets, and more

Hey Users,

Hope everyone’s been keeping well, and apologies for the late edition. It’s been a pretty hectic time so the newsletter had to take a brief pause, but we’re back now.

A lot’s happened!

We hit the 69th episode of the podcast which was very nice, spoke to Andy Serkis about Expedition 33, Lucy and Jake went to Finland, Ralph went to Kojima Productions, and new games have been coming out at rapid pace. It’s been full on, and we’re thankful you’re here for the ride.

We’re getting ready to head to LA for Summer Geoff Fest and Play Days, where we will, of course, record our yearly in-person special. Will the ironing board make a reappearance? You’ll have to tune in to find out.

On this episode, we talk about our dream Elden Ring movie cast, Randy Pitchford’s latest comments, Marathon, and we talk to the FBC: Firebreak team all about the upcoming co-op Remedyverse shooter. We genuinely thought this was going to be a shorter episode than usual, but here we are.

• Official Expedition 33 merch - IGN Store

Games mentioned: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Max Payne, Getaway, Gears of War,

Misc. mentions: Maximo Park, Nine Inch Nails

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Video Game Movie Adaptation Discussion

• Clash of Clans Series Brings the Legendary Video Game Franchise to Life - Netflix

• ‘Riders Republic’ Sets Movie Adaptation With ‘Bad Boys’ Duo Adil & Bilall Directing For Gaumont & Ubisoft – Cannes Market - Deadline

• Alex Garland Confirmed to Direct Live-Action ‘Elden Ring’ Movie From A24 and Bandai Namco - Variety

We recorded this shortly after the news broke that Alex Garland will be directing an Elden Ring movie for A24, but that’s not the only game that’s getting the big screen treatment. We did an impromptu fan cast of the movie and sincerely apologise if we accidentally manifested Jared Leto playing Patches.

Games mentioned: Clash of Clans, Riders Republic, Need For Speed, Gran Turismo, Halo, Minecraft, FBC: Firebreak

Misc mentions: Civil War, Ex Machina, Annihilation, 28 Days Later, Sunshine, Devs, Vaati Vidya, Chernobyl, Andor, Eastenders, The Sixth Sense, Avatar

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Randy Pitchford and the Price of Games

Sometimes I think about posting but then I think about this motivational picture of Idris Elba and then I simply do not post.

Shoutout to Ben Pack on Bluesky

Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford probably could have used a link to this before he crashed headfirst into the $80 game discourse with “If you’re a real fan, you’ll find a way to make it happen.” Needless to say, it didn’t exactly go down well.

(Fun fact, I wrote this intro before listening back to the episode to grab links, etc., and forgot that I made this Idris Elba joke verbally, but now you get to enjoy it in visual form too)

• Randy Pitchford Tweet

• The Game Informer tweet

• Borderlands 4 Boss Randy Pitchford Addresses ‘Real Fans’ Tweet Controversy: ‘Nobody Likes Being Taken for Granted and It Was Not My Intent’ - IGN

• Tom Cruise eating popcorn

Games mentioned: Borderlands, Metal Gear Solid, Clash of Clans

Misc. mentions: McDonald’s, Grainger Games, GameStop, Sinners, Tom Cruise, Mission Impossible

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Marathon Discussion

Maybe chat should have been turned off for this one.

Another tough week for Bungie as the studio was accused of plagiarism by an artist named Antireal. The receipts were pretty damning, and the studio rapidly addressed the situation on a livestream, saying that they would begin a review of the game’s art, blaming the plagiarism on a former employee. Friend of the pod Paul Tassi reported that morale at the studio ‘is in freefall’ as the hits just keep coming for the team.

• Antireal’s posts about the art

• Bungie confirms it stole art once again, will undertake a 'thorough review' of Marathon assets - PC Gamer

• New ‘Marathon’ Info: Bungie Morale, Launch Worries And Changing Plans - Forbes

• PlayStation Executive Jade Raymond Leaves Studio She Founded - Bloomberg

Games mentioned: Marathon, Arc Raiders, Destiny, Concord, Fairgame$, The Last of Us, Spider-Man

Misc. mentions: Moomins

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FBC Firebreak Interview with Mike Kayatta (Game Director) and Anssi Hyytiäinen (Lead Designer) and Impressions

Jake and Lucy took a quick jaunt to Finland to visit Remedy, makers of Max Payne, Alan Wake, and Control. Its latest game, FBC: Firebreak, is a cooperative shooter set in its connected universe, and is overall a pretty fun time! They chatted to the team and shared their impressions on the game with Ralph, who sadly couldn’t make it because he’d just been visiting some guy called Hideo Kojima? Never heard of him.

Just happy to be here, honestly

Games mentioned: Max Payne, FBC Firebreak, Helldivers 2, Back For Blood, Left 4 Dead, Warhammer, Powerwash Simulator, Overcooked, Deep Rock Galactic, Control, Aliens Fire Team Elite

Misc. mentions: Mythic Quest

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User Questions

Big thanks to Izy from Texas and Samurxai for their user questions this week! We loved reminiscing about our favourite Game Over screens and thinking about which games we’d like to live in as NPCs. If you’ve got a burning question for us, hit the button below to email it over or drop it in the comments section.

Games mentioned: Gollum, Batman Arkham, Prince of Persia, Yoshi’s Story, Metal Gear Solid, Max Payne, Mass Effect, Alan Wake 2, Outer Wilds, Dark Souls, Resident Evil, The Last of Us, Hotline Miami, Bloodborne, Skyrim, Expedition 33, Cyberpunk 2077, GTAV, Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, Dishonored, City of Heroes, Spyro the Dragon, Super Mario Sunshine, The Sims

Misc. mentions: Better Man

If you’ve got burning questions you’d like us to answer on the show, email us or drop them in the comments below!

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What we’ve been playing

• Ralph finished Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and loved it

• Jake previewed Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 and replayed MGS 3

• Lucy quacked the case in Duck Detective 2 and replayed Lies of P

Games mentioned: Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, Nier Automata, Metal Gear Solid 3: Delta, Proverbs, Dead As Disco, Balatro, Marathon, Lies of P Overture, Bloodborne, DOOM The Dark Ages, Elden Ring

Misc. mentions: Great British Bake Off, LilAggy and Parkenharbor, Bingo Brawlers, Second Wind video about DOOM, North of the Border’s DOOM video, Nerd Forge,

Show and tell

• Ralph watched Mission Impossible 2 (positive) and Gladiator 2 (negative)

• Jake has also been enjoying the works of Ethan Hunt, rewatching Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning

• Lucy loved Better Man

Games mentioned: COD Warzone

Movies mentioned: Mission Impossible, Ballerina

Misc. mentions: The Liver King Doc on Netflix

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And that about does it! As a reminder, the next episode will be a little delayed as we’ll be at Summer Game Fest, but it’ll be a packed one as we’ll have all our impressions on the games we’ve played as well as the showcase.

Thanks for reading xoxo L