episode

‘Death Stranding 2' and the First Half of 2025 in Games

Ben and Justin Charity have a spoiler-free discussion about Hideo Kojima&#8217;s acclaimed PlayStation 5 sequel to 2019&#8217;s Death Stranding, Death Standing 2: On the Beach. Then, after their brief reaction to casting news about the upcoming Street Fighter film, Matt James joins to reflect on the year in gaming. The two construct joint top-10 lists of his and Ben&#8217;s favorite games of the year so far, as well as their most anticipated games for the rest of 2025.
Host: Ben Lindbergh 
Guests: Justin Charity and Matt James 
Producer: Devon Renaldo 
Additional Production Support: Arjuna Ramgopowell

Ben is a writer, podcaster, and editor who covers culture and sports. He hosts ‘Effectively Wild’ at FanGraphs and previously wrote for FiveThirtyEight and Grantland, served as editor-in-chief of Baseball Prospectus, and authored ‘The MVP Machine’ and ‘The Only Rule Is It Has to Work.’

Ben Lindbergh

Justin Charity is a senior staff writer at The Ringer covering music and other pop culture. After years of living in D.C. and NYC, and a brief stint in Wisconsin, he’s now based in Cleveland, Ohio.

Justin Charity

Matt has been creating original art for The Ringer since 2017. In addition to his design responsibilities, he is a regular guest on the Button Mash podcast and a writer on the topic of video games.

Matt James

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach Spoiler-Free Impressions

Reactions to Street Fighter Casting News

Game of the Year So Far + 2025 Hype List

’Death Stranding 2′ and the First Half of 2025 in Games

Hosts

About the episode

Summary