Our Sponsor Went Bankrupt... - WAN Show March 12, 2021

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: The episode covers major tech and gaming news: Shadow’s bankruptcy and likely restructuring, Microsoft’s completed Bethesda acquisition and its implications for exclusives and Xbox’s future, GPU driver overhead differences between AMD and NVIDIA, ADATA SSD component revisions, OVH’s catastrophic data-center fire and backup resilience, a Russian internet throttling mishap, NFTs as speculative/facilitating money movement, and AMD possibly joining mining-focused GPU production. The hosts also discuss LTT operational updates, sponsorships, and upcoming content.

Main Topics: Shadow bankruptcy and cloud gaming resilience (Priority: 5/5): Shadow’s parent company Blade files for bankruptcy, but the hosts argue the service may continue through reorganization. They explain Shadow’s unique model as a remote gaming PC rather than a traditional locked-down game library, and discuss how hardware creditors, GPU shortages, and restructuring could affect the platform. Microsoft completes Bethesda acquisition (Priority: 5/5): The Bethesda deal is framed as a major strategic move for Microsoft, increasing first-party studio count and strengthening Xbox/Game Pass exclusives. The hosts debate whether this is a silver bullet for Microsoft, what it means for PC gamers, and whether Xbox is evolving from a console into a platform ecosystem. AMD vs NVIDIA CPU overhead in games (Priority: 4/5): Hardware Unboxed findings suggest Radeon GPUs can outperform NVIDIA cards on slower CPUs due to lower driver overhead, especially in CPU-limited scenarios. The hosts note this challenges assumptions about AMD drivers and raises questions about benchmarking methodology and real-world pairing choices. ADATA SX8200 SSD component swapping (Priority: 4/5): The discussion highlights multiple internal variants of the ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro with changing controllers and NAND over time, potentially altering performance without clear consumer disclosure. LMG offers to buy the first verified unique variant for benchmarking. OVH data center fire and backup strategy (Priority: 5/5): A massive fire destroyed OVH’s SBG2 data center and damaged nearby buildings, raising concerns about irrecoverable data for unmanaged server users. The hosts stress redundancy, off-site backups, and containerized/cloud architectures as key mitigations. NFTs, speculation, and meme monetization (Priority: 3/5): The conversation turns skeptical and speculative about NFTs, with Linus saying any sale of his meme face NFT would be for quick profit rather than belief in the technology. They compare NFTs to high-value art used to move money and note the market’s meme-driven pricing. AMD potentially producing mining-oriented GPUs (Priority: 3/5): A Linux driver reference to a Navi 12 SKU without video output suggests AMD may release mining-specific GPUs. The hosts criticize mining-only cards as e-waste and argue any hash-rate limits or exclusions should not worsen supply for gamers.

Key Arguments: Shadow’s bankruptcy does not necessarily mean the service is dead; it may survive via restructuring because the product remains technically strong and valuable. Microsoft’s Bethesda acquisition is a deliberate exclusivity play aimed at Game Pass and the Xbox ecosystem, not just content ownership. Xbox appears to be shifting from a fixed console generation model into a broader platform strategy with longer device support and more frequent hardware tiers. NVIDIA’s driver stack may impose noticeably more CPU overhead than AMD’s in CPU-limited scenarios, especially at lower resolutions and on older CPUs. GPU benchmarking should still be done in best-case conditions for flagship reviews, but special-case testing with weaker CPUs can reveal meaningful bottlenecks. ADATA appears to have changed SX8200 internals multiple times, which may materially affect performance despite the same product name. The OVH fire demonstrates why off-site backups and resilient architectures matter even when infrastructure has fire suppression and data-center-level protections. Mining-only GPUs are undesirable because they become e-waste after profitability cycles and do not serve general consumers. NFTs are viewed less as a revolutionary consumer technology and more as a mechanism well-suited to speculative trading and opaque transfer of value.

Data Points: Shadow bankruptcy filing date: March 2 (France), following day in California - Blade, Shadow’s parent company, filed for bankruptcy and sought reorganization. Server hardware claim: 30.2 million euros - A server provider claimed the right to take back hardware owed by Blade. Shadow GPU tiers: GTX 1080-equivalent; Titan RTX / RTX 2080-equivalent - The hosts referenced Shadow’s service tiers to explain the hardware involved. First-party studios after Bethesda deal: 23 - The hosts said Microsoft rises to 23 first-party studios after the acquisition. Sony first-party studios: 13 - Used as a comparison to Microsoft’s post-acquisition studio count. Nintendo production groups: 11 - Used as a comparison for platform-holder content strategies. Game Pass Ultimate price: 17 CAD/month - Shown while discussing Microsoft’s subscription strategy and long-term revenue model. Game Pass PC price: 12 CAD/month - Used to illustrate Microsoft’s recurring revenue incentives. Estimated long-term subscriber value: $600 over 5 years at $10/month - Hosts argued Microsoft prefers long-lived hardware users and recurring Game Pass payments over one-time hardware margin. CPU overhead delta: 10% to 20% higher on NVIDIA in some cases - Hardware Unboxed findings discussed for CPU-limited games. CPU benchmark example: Core i3-10100 - Measured as having roughly 10–20% higher utilization with RTX 3070 versus RX 6800. Benchmark CPUs mentioned: Ryzen 5 1600X, 2600X, 3600X, 5600X - Used in the GPU overhead discussion. SSD drive price: $120 USD retail - Current retail price for the ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro cited by LMG. Buyer incentive for SSD sample: $360 USD - LMG offered triple retail for the first verifiable unique SSD variant. OVH fire response: 100 firefighters and 43 trucks - Scale of response to the Strasbourg data-center fire. Affected websites: 3.6 million websites - Reported downtime resulting from the OVH fire. Affected domains: 464,000 domains - Reported as impacted by the OVH outage. Recovery estimate: At least 2 weeks - OVH stated infrastructure recovery would likely take this long. LTTStore desk mat order: 40,000 units - Linus said they had ordered a very large run of desk mats. GME purchase amount: $49,455.12 USD - Linus disclosed his original meme-stock purchase total. GME position change: Down about $500 - He said he was modestly down at the time of recording, after previously being down much more. Other stock position value: $11,637 - Linus noted one non-GME position had risen significantly. NFT sale example: $69 million - Beeple NFT sale cited as an example of market extremes.

Pivotal Quotes: "this is about delivering great exclusive games for you" — Phil Spencer: Quoted while discussing Microsoft’s motivation for acquiring Bethesda and the exclusivity implications. "The launch of Fallout 76 couldn't have gone any worse" — Todd Howard (referenced by Linus): Used to underscore how badly Bethesda’s recent launch history had gone before Microsoft’s acquisition. "If I did it, it would be because I'm trying to make a quick buck on a stupid fad" — Linus: Linus’s candid explanation of why he might sell his meme face as an NFT.

Implications: Listeners should expect more consolidation in gaming, more scrutiny of hardware supply chains and component changes, and increased importance of backup/resilience planning. The episode frames platform power, recurring subscriptions, and supply constraints as defining forces in tech’s near future.