Game Pass, Zombies, and Everything Else Worth Talking About 📢

Welcome back to Gamer Dad Energy! A newsletter that covers gaming news, tips, and nostalgia for busy gamers.

With our latest edition, we have a flaming hot take on Game Pass, great games that you should be aware of, and an amazing game that seemed like it was developed by an indie studio, but it wasn’t! I guess the big boys get it right sometimes.

We sent this to your email so you can take that break without your boss seeing you on some random gaming website!

I have a list of amazing games that should be on your radar right now! Some of them have released, and others have yet to be released.

Fable - I am excited for this game. There has definitely been controversy surrounding this game. The first trailer showed a non-attractive bar maiden as the protagonist. I am a red-blooded male, and that sure doesn't get the blood flowing as it used to, like an attractive one, but ok, I’m out. Then they released that you can design the character that you play, which is awesome! Back in again!

Then they dropped a demo of the game that looked amazing, but the lips were off-sync, the combat looked very mediocre, and the internet cried wolf once again! Back out again… Devs explained it was just to show what the game mechanics look like. It’s still Pre Alpha. Ok, whatever, just don't launch a massively half-baked game when you just pushed back the launch to skip GTA 6! All in all, if they can land this game, I do believe they could have a Game of the Year title! They have a lot of new game mechanics they are building for this game. You should check out this YouTube video! Just remember it is pre-alpha and you're late to the get mad over “dumb shit party” right now. By the way, the pig is telling you he has potential as pigs do!

The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu - This game just released! The trailer looks really creepy and awesome. It is a pirate-based co-op treasure-hunting/horror game. Man, that sentence was stupid. If you watch the trailer, you will probably want to get the gang together to play it. Be careful; the Steam reviews are pretty mixed due to bugs and user interface issues. If these devs can send some patches to this game before GTA lands and tell the gaming community, they have a great game on their hands. Check out the trailer and see for yourself!

Elder Scrolls 6 - Skyrim has sold over 65 million copies! This game was so freaking successful that it couldn’t get out of the way of its sequel! I know, I know. This is probably the definition of a pipe dream at this point. Almost as rare as finding that one damn LEGO my kid loses before finishing his build. With all the shake up at xbox and Asha stepping into a more micro management role over Bethesda (Who could blame her) we might have real hope of seeing a modern installment of the next Elder Scrolls series! It should be called Hammerfell. With the quality of games that are launching right now and the reality that this game is probably at zero, I expect this game to be a monster if Bethesda can get their damn act together!

Moss The Forgotten Relic - This is an amazing VR game! It is so good that they brought it from VR to flat screen! That never happens! Almost as rare as special time with the wife is now. 😢 But that’s what video games are for…. If you are in need of a great game to play with your kid. You have to check this game out! It’s about the heroic journey of a mouse and stepping into the footsteps of his ancestors! You run around meeting great characters and fighting as a mouse. One of the bosses is a big snake, which can be a little scary for some kids, so be forewarned, but honestly I want to play this game again with my kids. I beat this game in VR, and it was so good it was the only thing I played till I beat it! Don’t sleep on Moss The Forgotten Relic!

_-MadHad

Zombie survival games aren’t exactly rare these days. Between DayZ, Rust, Project Zomboid, and State of Decay, it can feel like the genre has already done everything imaginable. That’s why I wasn’t expecting much when I first heard about Zeverland.

The more I looked into it, though, the more interested I became.

At first glance, Zeverland almost looks like someone dropped Funko Pop-style characters into a zombie apocalypse. The bright, cartoon-inspired visuals make it seem lighthearted, but don’t let the art style fool you. Underneath is a surprisingly deep survival game built around scavenging, crafting, base building, exploration, and fighting off the infected. One of its more unique mechanics even allows players who die from infection to return as zombies (or, as they’re called in the game, zed), creating a different way to experience the world.

The biggest news surrounding the game isn’t its graphics, though. It’s the direction the developers chose after listening to player feedback.

Originally, Zeverland was planned as a free-to-play PvPvE MMO, mixing cooperative survival with player-versus-player combat. After closed testing, however, the developers said the overwhelming majority of players wanted a cooperative experience instead. Rather than sticking to their original vision, Quantum Quirks announced the game is now becoming a buy-to-play, co-op PvE survival crafting game with support for solo play and private servers.

Honestly, I think that’s the right move.

As much as I enjoy watching the occasional PvP survival highlight reel, I rarely have the time or patience to lose hours of progress because another player decided to raid my base while I was offline. It seems I’m not alone. Much of the community reaction has been positive, with many players saying they’d rather focus on surviving the world than constantly worrying about other people.

Zeverland still has plenty to prove before launch, but it’s already doing something that many developers struggle with: listening to its community and being willing to change course. If the gameplay lives up to the early previews, this could end up being one of the more pleasant surprises in the survival genre.

I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on this one even if the art style is a little unusual for a zombie game.

_-BensZ28

This game is freaking big for a Metroidvania game! It launched in 2024, and I was surprised by how freaking good this game truly is. Being a Gamer Dad, I love games that run great on my ROG Ally X or that I can pause and step away at any time.

Wow, the fighting mechanics are simple, but the game forces you to block and attack at very different times. It is so good that some of the fights you get into feel like an actual back-and-forth battle with yourself because of how well they have balanced the fighting style in this game!

Don’t worry, this game is no cakewalk. You take a couple of hits, and you're dead. Respawn points are far apart, so that gives you a consequence to not just button-mash your way out.

I am currently very angry at this game because it is also a complex puzzle to solve. I am currently stuck but after a couple of days break I will be able to clear my head and get back into my acrobatic ways!

As you can see, the graphics are pretty good for the type of game this is. Man, just writing about it currently makes me want to grab my handheld and get back into it! Very impressed with this game, and it takes a lot to impress me nowadays!

I picked this game up in a Steam sale. But for all you Xbox console players, I have found a good price on Loaded!

_-MadHad

Recently, though, the conversation around Game Pass has started to change.

Veteran games journalist Jason Schreier reported that several leaders within Xbox’s game studios believe Game Pass has devalued games and made it harder for individual titles to succeed financially. According to Schreier, there are “a lot of people internally” who are unhappy with the long-term impact the subscription service has had on game sales and the overall business. Those comments have sparked plenty of discussion throughout the gaming community.

Recent changes from Microsoft suggest the company may also be rethinking its strategy.

Late last year, Microsoft increased the price of Game Pass Ultimate from $19.99 to $29.99 per month, a 50% jump. The increase was met with heavy criticism, and reports later indicated Xbox lost millions of subscribers after the change. Earlier this year, Microsoft adjusted pricing again, lowering Ultimate to $22.99 per month while announcing that future Call of Duty games would no longer launch on Game Pass on day one. Industry analysts believe that keeping one of gaming’s biggest franchises out of the subscription service at launch could encourage more players to purchase it at full price.

That raises an interesting challenge for Xbox. If a $70 first-party game is immediately available through a subscription, fewer players have a reason to buy it outright. While subscription revenue helps offset some of those sales, several analysts have questioned whether blockbuster launches have generated enough new subscribers to make up the difference.

I can understand both sides of the argument. As a gamer, I love having access to hundreds of games for one monthly price, especially when the subscription feels reasonably priced. At the same time, developers spend years building these games, and they deserve the opportunity for those releases to succeed on their own.

I doubt Game Pass is going away anytime soon, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Microsoft continues shifting its focus. A service built around a strong catalog of games may prove to be a more sustainable model than making every major release available on day one. If that’s where Xbox is headed, it could be a sign that the company is trying to find a better balance between delivering value to players and protecting the value of the games themselves.

_-BensZ28

A. Ashford Manor

B. Spencer Mansion

C. Arklay House

D. Raccoon Estate

Do you like what you’ve read? If so, please share this newsletter with your friends! Tell them to be cool like you and subscribe! IT’S FREE! Click here or below to subscribe!

Catch the Live Stream on Twitch here: Backwards Compatibility

Answer: B. Spencer Mansion

Fun fact: Director Shinji Mikami originally designed Resident Evil 1 in first-person, but after playing Alone in the Dark, he switched to cinematic fixed camera angles, pioneering the suspenseful restricted viewpoints that defined the "survival horror" genre.