Dragon Ball Leaks and Industry Meltdowns [Nerfed.ai]

[00:00] Announcer: From Neural Newscast, this is Nerfed, where games, culture, and strategy intersect. [00:11] Vanessa Calderon: That's All Leaks and the Mid-Summer Meltdown. [00:15] Vanessa Calderon: I am Vanessa Caldrone, and we are back to sift through the wreckage of another chaotic week in gaming. [00:22] Vanessa Calderon: It is February 27th, 2026, and the industry news is coming at us faster than a frame-perfect [00:28] Vanessa Calderon: parry. [00:29] Vanessa Calderon: We have a lot of ground to cover today, from massive sequels finally surfacing to some [00:35] Vanessa Calderon: really heartbreaking studio news that shows just how volatile the market remains even two [00:40] Vanessa Calderon: years into this current cycle. [00:42] Marcus Shaw: And I'm Marcus Shaw. [00:43] Marcus Shaw: This week on Nerf.ai we are looking at some massive legacy patches. [00:47] Marcus Shaw: Arcade royalty finally returning to home consoles after years of licensing limbo, [00:53] Marcus Shaw: and some business moves that, frankly, have us scratching our heads about where the money's actually going. [00:59] Vanessa Calderon: It is a bit of a rollercoaster, Marcus. [01:01] Vanessa Calderon: We have high-profile leaks on one hand and insolvency filings on the other. [01:06] Vanessa Calderon: It really paints a picture of an industry in a massive state of transition. [01:11] Marcus Shaw: Um, honestly Marcus, at this point, the industry news cycle feels like a high-stakes roguelike [01:16] Marcus Shaw: where we just keep losing our progress every time we think we have found a rhythm. [01:21] Marcus Shaw: But let's start with a win, or at least a leak that is getting people genuinely hyped [01:25] Marcus Shaw: after years of waiting. [01:27] Marcus Shaw: We have been hearing whispers for months, but the dam has finally broken regarding the [01:31] Marcus Shaw: future of the Dragon Ball gaming franchise. [01:33] Vanessa Calderon: Right. The mystery is officially over. [01:37] Vanessa Calderon: Leaks from several reliable insiders have essentially confirmed that Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 is a real thing. [01:45] Vanessa Calderon: It was apparently hiding behind a series of internal code names for a while to keep the heat off, but the cat is out of the bag now. [01:52] Vanessa Calderon: We are looking at a full-scale sequel that is reportedly being built from the ground up for modern hardware, which is something fans have been begging for since the PS5 and Series X launched. [02:01] Marcus Shaw: It is about time. [02:03] Marcus Shaw: Xenoverse 2 has been on live support for what feels like a decade at this point. [02:08] Marcus Shaw: I think it actually came out back in 2016, which is an eternity in gaming years. [02:13] Marcus Shaw: If these leaks are as legitimate as they look, we are finally getting a proper sequel [02:18] Marcus Shaw: that isn't just another incremental DLC pack or a new version of Goku in a slightly different wig. [02:24] Marcus Shaw: People want new mechanics, better net code, and a world that actually feels alive. [02:29] Marcus Shaw: The community has been incredibly thirsty for this. [02:32] Marcus Shaw: The rumors suggest a massive overhaul to the custom character system [02:36] Marcus Shaw: and a story that actually branches based on your choices in the Time Patrol. [02:40] Marcus Shaw: It is the kind of ambition the series needs to move away from that feeling of just being a platform for microtransactions. [02:46] Marcus Shaw: Speaking of being thirsty for classics, [02:49] Marcus Shaw: Konami is finally playing ball with the Marvel license again, [02:53] Marcus Shaw: and the nostalgia is hitting hard. [02:56] Vanessa Calderon: Oh, this is absolutely huge for the retro community. [02:59] Vanessa Calderon: The iconic X-Man arcade game is finally coming to PS5 and other modern consoles, [03:06] Vanessa Calderon: along with a handful of other Marvel classics that have been trapped in legal hell for years. [03:11] Vanessa Calderon: I can already hear the welcome to die voice lines in my sleep. [03:16] Vanessa Calderon: This isn't just a basic port either. [03:18] Vanessa Calderon: They are looking at adding full online play with rollback netcode for these old brawlers. [03:24] Marcus Shaw: Yeah, those 90s brawlers are legendary. [03:27] Marcus Shaw: It is a massive get for preservation and for anyone who doesn't want to spend 3 grand [03:31] Marcus Shaw: on an original cabinet or deal with the gray area of emulation. [03:35] Marcus Shaw: Seeing games like the Punisher and the X-Men Arcade game being accessible again is a huge win. [03:41] Marcus Shaw: Vanessa, it feels like the publishers are finally realizing that there is a massive secondary market for these pixel-perfect experiences. [03:49] Vanessa Calderon: Exactly, but while we are celebrating the preservation of the past, the present is looking a little more insolvent for some. [03:57] Vanessa Calderon: Marcus, we have to talk about what is going on with NACON. [04:01] Vanessa Calderon: This news caught a lot of people off guard, especially given how aggressive they have been with acquisitions lately. [04:07] Vanessa Calderon: It is a strange situation where the Marvel vs. Capcom Origins collections are thriving while modern publishers are struggling to keep the lights on. [04:17] Marcus Shaw: It is looking pretty bad. [04:19] Marcus Shaw: Nacon, the publisher behind the upcoming Greed Fall 2, has filed for insolvency just weeks before the RPG sequel is set to launch. [04:28] Marcus Shaw: This is basically the corporate version of tripping at the finish line and falling flat on your face. [04:33] Marcus Shaw: They have cited high development costs and a tightening of the credit market, [04:37] Marcus Shaw: which is a story we are hearing more and more often these days from mid-sized publishers. [04:41] Vanessa Calderon: Brutal. That is an absolute masterclass and bad timing. [04:46] Vanessa Calderon: Imagine being a developer at Spiders right now. [04:48] Vanessa Calderon: You have been working on this ambitious sequel for years, [04:52] Vanessa Calderon: and just as you are getting ready to show it to the world, [04:55] Vanessa Calderon: your parent company says they are broke. [04:57] Vanessa Calderon: It really makes you wonder about the internal stability and whether or not the game will even get the post-launch support it needs to survive in a crowded RPG market. [05:07] Marcus Shaw: And they aren't the only ones sitting a wall this week. [05:10] Marcus Shaw: Jake Solomon, the designer who basically redefined the strategy genre with XCOM, just announced [05:16] Marcus Shaw: that his new studio, Mid-Summer Studios, is closing down before they could even get their [05:21] Marcus Shaw: first project out the door. [05:23] Marcus Shaw: This one is a real gut punch because people were expecting something revolutionary from [05:28] Marcus Shaw: that team given the pedigree involved. [05:30] Vanessa Calderon: This one really hurts because he finally revealed what they were actually working on right as the news broke. [05:37] Vanessa Calderon: It was a life sim inspired by the Truman Show, and then he immediately followed that up with the news that the studio is done. [05:44] Vanessa Calderon: Talk about emotional whiplash for the fans. [05:48] Vanessa Calderon: I mean, the concept itself sounded so fresh compared to the dozens of cozy farming simulators we see every single month. [05:55] Marcus Shaw: Wild. [05:57] Marcus Shaw: Solomon mentioned in his statement that the market for new studios is just incredibly hostile right now. [06:03] Marcus Shaw: Even with his name and a team of veterans, they couldn't secure the next round of funding needed to get to the finish line. [06:10] Marcus Shaw: It is a scary thought that even the industry's top-tier talent is finding it impossible to navigate the current venture capital landscape. [06:19] Marcus Shaw: It seems like if you aren't a guaranteed billion-dollar hit, [06:22] Marcus Shaw: Investors aren't interested. [06:24] Vanessa Calderon: It is basically the Truman Show, but the part where the set falls from the sky and crushes everything. [06:30] Vanessa Calderon: It is tragic because that concept sounded like a genuinely fresh take on the genre, [06:36] Vanessa Calderon: focusing on the social dynamics and the feeling of being watched rather than just picking turnips. [06:42] Vanessa Calderon: We need that kind of innovation, but the current financial climate is just [06:46] Vanessa Calderon: midsummer studios levels of freezing right now. [06:50] Marcus Shaw: Speaking of things that refuse to die, though, how about a 14-year-old game getting a surprise update? [06:57] Marcus Shaw: While new studios are closing, some of the absolute titans of the past are getting more love than ever. [07:04] Marcus Shaw: It is one of those rare moments where the community gets exactly what they wanted without even having to ask for it. [07:10] Marcus Shaw: It really highlights the difference between a project built on a budget and one built on a legacy. [07:17] Vanessa Calderon: Beamdog really? [07:18] Vanessa Calderon: really just walked into the room, said sorry I am late, and dropped a massive patch for the [07:24] Vanessa Calderon: Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 enhanced additions. It felt like a truly unexpected gift for the [07:29] Vanessa Calderon: Dungeons & Dragons community. They have added new features, fixed bugs that have been there [07:34] Vanessa Calderon: since the Obama administration, and generally polished up two of the [07:38] Vanessa Calderon: greatest RPGs ever made. It is wild to see this much effort put into games this old. [07:43] Marcus Shaw: It is genuinely impressive. We're talking over decades since the enhanced editions launched [07:48] Marcus Shaw: and over 25 years since the originals. They are still squashing bugs and refining the experience, [07:53] Marcus Shaw: which shows how much staying power those Infinity Engine games have. [07:57] Marcus Shaw: It makes you realize why people keep going back to them. They have a depth of writing and system [08:02] Marcus Shaw: complexity that a lot of modern games just can't match despite their fancy graphics. [08:06] Vanessa Calderon: The dedication at Beamedog is something I wish some of these modern AAA studios had. [08:13] Vanessa Calderon: Instead of a long-term vision, we see so many companies cutting staff. [08:17] Vanessa Calderon: The moment things get slightly uncomfortable or a quarterly report is a few cents short of expectations. [08:24] Vanessa Calderon: It makes the commitment to Baldur's Gate look even more heroic by comparison. [08:28] Vanessa Calderon: I just wish that energy was contagious across the rest of the industry. [08:31] Marcus Shaw: You are definitely talking about the skate team, aren't you? [08:35] Marcus Shaw: That was the other big news this week that felt like a punch to the gut for people waiting on that franchise to return. [08:41] Marcus Shaw: We have been waiting for a new skate game for what feels like forever. [08:45] Marcus Shaw: And every time we get close, something seems to pull the rug out from under the developers at Full Circle. [08:49] Vanessa Calderon: A. [08:49] Vanessa Calderon: Exactly, Marcus. [08:51] Vanessa Calderon: The skate developers suffered a significant round of layoffs this week. [08:55] Vanessa Calderon: The official line from EA is that this is to better support the game's long-term future. [09:00] Vanessa Calderon: Because nothing says future-proofing like firing the people who are currently making the game, right? [09:05] Vanessa Calderon: It is the same corporate double speak we have been hearing for the last three years, [09:08] Vanessa Calderon: and it is honestly getting exhausting for everyone involved. [09:12] Vanessa Calderon: It is like they have a script for these layoffs. [09:14] Marcus Shaw: Mm-hmm. The corporate speak is getting out of hand. [09:18] Marcus Shaw: It is a tough week for the people on the ground actually making these games, even if the fans are getting these high-profile leaks in retro ports. [09:25] Marcus Shaw: It creates this weird tension where the consumers are happy about the content, but the creators are in a constant state of anxiety about their job security. [09:33] Marcus Shaw: It is not a sustainable way to run an artistic industry. [09:36] Vanessa Calderon: For real, it is the duality of the gaming world in 2026. [09:41] Vanessa Calderon: We get the cool toys, but the toy factory is perpetually on fire. [09:45] Vanessa Calderon: Hopefully, the news of Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 and the Marvel Arcade Collection keeps the vibes up for people this weekend [09:52] Vanessa Calderon: while we wait to see who actually survives the next round of consolidation. [09:57] Vanessa Calderon: It is a lot to process, but that is why we are here to break it down. [10:02] Marcus Shaw: Definitely. [10:03] Marcus Shaw: It has been a heavy week of news, Vanessa, but at least we can go back and play the X-Men [10:08] Marcus Shaw: arcade game soon to vent some of that frustration. [10:10] Marcus Shaw: There's something cathartic about a good old-fashioned beat-em-up when the world feels a bit chaotic. [10:16] Marcus Shaw: I know I will be first in line to download that collection the second it hits the digital storefronts. [10:21] Vanessa Calderon: That is the spirit. We have to take the wins where we can get them. [10:25] Vanessa Calderon: That is all for this week's wrap-up on the industry's highs and lows. [10:29] Vanessa Calderon: We will keep an eye on those NACON filings and see if Greed Fall 2 actually makes it to its release date next month. [10:36] Vanessa Calderon: I am Vanessa Calderon, and I will be spending my weekend trying to figure out which version [10:41] Vanessa Calderon: of Goku I am going to main first in the new leaks. [10:45] Marcus Shaw: And I'm Marcus Shaw. [10:46] Marcus Shaw: For more deep dives and the latest updates on all these stories, you can head over to [10:51] Marcus Shaw: unnerfed.neuronewscast.com. [10:53] Marcus Shaw: We have all the technical breakdowns of the Bouders Gate Patch and the full list of leaked [10:58] Marcus Shaw: characters for Xenoverse. [11:00] Marcus Shaw: Thanks for listening to Nerf.ai and staying informed in this crazy landscape. [11:05] Vanessa Calderon: Keep your saves current and your favorite studio's solvent. [11:09] Vanessa Calderon: We'll be back next week to do it all over again. [11:12] Vanessa Calderon: Hopefully with a bit more good news and a few less insolvency filings, [11:16] Vanessa Calderon: but in this industry, you never really know what is around the corner. [11:20] Marcus Shaw: Until next time, keep playing and keep questioning the corporate speak. [11:24] Marcus Shaw: We will see you soon for another look at the world of gaming through the lens of nerfed.ai. [11:29] Vanessa Calderon: Neural Newscast is AI-assisted, human-reviewed. [11:34] Vanessa Calderon: View our AI transparency policy at neuralnewscast.com. [11:39] Announcer: This has been Nerfed on Neural Newscast, where games, culture, and strategy intersect. [11:45] Announcer: Neural Newscast uses artificial intelligence in content creation [11:48] Announcer: with human editorial review prior to publication. [11:51] Announcer: While we strive for factual, unbiased reporting, AI-assisted content may occasionally contain [11:57] Announcer: errors. Verify critical information with trusted sources. Learn more at neuralnewscast.com.