Mar 31, 2026
PlayStation Price Hikes, CoD Dominance, Spider-Man Trailer Madness & More on episode 687. Here’s what I talked about:
- PlayStation Price Hike Sony quietly raised prices on PS Plus subscriptions in several regions. It’s another sign that the old console business model is under pressure, and it stings when you’re already feeling the pinch from rising game prices.
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare continues to dominate on Steam. The current Modern Warfare title now has more players than the past few CoD games combined. It’s a reminder that when Call of Duty gets it right, it still prints players like almost nothing else in gaming.
- Death Stranding 2: On the Beach crossed a major milestone. The PC release helped push the sequel’s total sales past 2 million copies. Kojima’s weird, beautiful vision is clearly finding its audience.
- Spider-Man: Brand New Day just broke the internet. The first trailer pulled an insane 718.6 million views in 24 hours, beating GTA 6’s previous record. I broke down the psychology behind why it exploded so hard — nostalgia, FOMO, and emotional connection all stacking perfectly.
- Marathon and the live service struggle. Bungie says they’re “in it for the long haul” despite early concerns about performance. We discussed how brutal the live service space has become, with Battlefield 6, Fortnite, Destiny 2, The Division 2, and Helldivers 2 all fighting for the same attention and player time. It’s live service hell out there right now.
- Xbox Games Showcase + Gears of War: E-Day Direct Xbox dropped two big events back-to-back. We reacted to the lineup and what it means as they head toward Project Helix.
- Daredevil: Born Again Quick personal note — this show has easily become one of my favorite things on television right now. The writing and action are hitting hard.
Overall, it was a packed episode full of big numbers, tough industry truths, and a little bit of hope for what’s coming next.
If you want the full conversation, make sure to subscribe to TSR: Gaming x Entertainment on your favorite podcast platform. New episodes drop every week, and I’d love to have you join the conversation.
Recent Substack Articles
While you’re here, I also published two new pieces you might enjoy:
- Sony’s Price Hike Reality Check – My thoughts on what the recent PlayStation subscription increases really mean for players and the industry.
- Asha Sharma’s Xbox Reset – Taking a deeper look at the changes happening at Xbox and whether this is the reset the platform needs.
Let me know what you thought of Episode 687 — which topic stood out to you the most?