📬 We’re moving to Substack!

We’re transferring the UNBOXING newsletter from Buttondown over to Substack. Not because we suddenly became Substack fans, but because discoverability on Buttondown has been… less than ideal. If you want to keep getting the newsletter, please subscribe here this week: https://unboxingpodcast.substack.com/

Next week onwards we’re saying goodbye to Buttondown!

This week on UNBOXING, Laine and Joost take a break from the industry news cycle to look at something a little closer to home: what do today’s college students actually do when they play games?

Every semester, the two professors survey their students about their gaming habits - and this time they’re comparing responses from nearly 80 students across their two classes. The results reveal a generation that is much more Nintendo-heavy than you might expect: the Switch is far and away the most popular recent console, while Xbox ownership trails behind PlayStation, Steam Deck, and even students who don’t own a dedicated console at all.

They also find that VR and blockchain gaming have almost completely disappeared from the picture, while YouTube has overtaken Twitch as the most popular place to watch livestreams. Minecraft emerges as the defining game of the students’ childhoods, while GTA VI dominates what they’re excited about now - and Cyberpunk 2077 appears to be enjoying a surprising second life among younger players.

The conversation goes beyond games, too. Laine and Joost look at how games are becoming increasingly important as music-discovery platforms; and how students participate in gaming culture through esports, fan fiction, cosplay, streaming, and content creation. They also compare notes on AI use, board games, sports betting, and just how many of their students want to work in the games industry.

And finally, they tackle a deceptively simple question: Could physical games ever become popular again? One of them says no. The other disagrees. You’ll have to wait until next week to find out why.

🎧 Tune in: YouTube