Unlocked

Our Xbox crew reacts to all of the new and cool games we got to see at the latest ID@Xbox Showcase, from Jump Ship to Herding to Outbound to 33 Immortals and more! And joining us to shed a bit more light on the ID@Xbox program and all of these games is ID@Xbox Director Guy Richards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Avowed officially launches this week, its Game Director, Carrie Patel, and the studio head at developer Obsidian Entertainment, Feargus Urquhart, join us for a conversation about their big new first-person fantasy RPG. They discuss how the project evolved since its original unveiling, what they did with the extra development time when its release date moved to February, and much more! Plus: Fea...

We've been waiting for this moment: to be swimming in new first-party Xbox games. We have all been playing both Avowed and South of Midnight, and we discuss our thoughts on each of them. We also spend time talking about our experiences with Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 so far and why we love its grounded medieval RPG world. Finally, we discuss Bloomberg's new report about WB Games and what's next f...

The OG Xbox podcaster Danny Peña from Gamertag Radio joins us to discuss one of Xbox's "core four" franchises, Forza, heading to PlayStation 5 in the form of Forza Horizon 5. What does it mean for Xbox? And is any franchise "safe"? Plus: Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is out and awesome (and successful), we show some love to one of the newest games on Xbox Game Pass that you might not be familiar wit...

As Xbox boss Phil Spencer visits two of our friends' podcasts, we discuss his clarifying comments on the future (not to mention present!) of Xbox. Plus: why we love Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, we talk about BioWare getting restructured and what it means for Mass Effect 5, and more! 00:00:00 - LA Fires Support & Intro 00:02:51 - Poll Results from last week's Xbox Direct 00:09:04 - Ninja Gaiden 2 Black Im...

We recorded live immediately following this week's fantastic Xbox Developer Direct, so our reactions are very real, highlighted by the stunning announcement of not just the LONG-awaited Ninja Gaiden 4, but also the surprise shadow drop of Ninja Gaiden 2 Black. We've also got plenty of thoughts on Doom: The Dark Ages, South of Midnight, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33! Learn more about your ad choi...

With the corroborated rumors that Microsoft is bringing Halo: The Master Chief Collection to PS5 and Nintendo Switch 2, is Xbox now officially a Sega-like third-party publisher? We discuss the complicated (and weird) idea of Halo heading to other platforms. Leading up to that, though, we discuss the rumored details of the Unreal Engine 5 remake of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, what the mystery g...

Happy New Year! We begin our first episode of 2025 by discussing some changes happening on the podcast before getting into what you really care about: Xbox games! We talk about what we played over the holidays and then talk about two sequels that are likely still pretty far away: The Elder Scrolls 6 and Mass Effect 5. When will we see TES6 next when it's already been over six years since its offic...

In our final show of 2024, we look ahead to 2025 and give Microsoft some advice in the form of do's and dont's for Xbox in the new year. Thanks so much for listening all year long, and we'll see you next week for the start of a new and exciting year of Xbox! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

IGN has announced its Xbox Game of the Year, so now it's our turn to talk about our individual picks for best Xbox game of the year. And then we look ahead and discuss our personal most anticipated Xbox games for 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We react to this week's big event, The Game Awards, and the many reveals it brought with it, including The Witcher 4, Elden Ring Nightreign, gameplay for The Outer Worlds 2, and so, so much more! #GOTYWatch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is here, and we discuss in great (spoiler-free) detail why we think it's the best Xbox exclusive in years. Plus: our predictions for reveals we'll get at next week's Game Awards, Xbox Game Pass's December lineup, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Thanksgiving to our USA listeners! In the spirit of the holiday this week, we're discussing the Xbox games we're most thankful for. Not necessarily the very best ones, but the ones that mean a lot to us that we're thankful for. Special guest: David "Fame2K" Whitaker from LV1 Gaming. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our STALKER 2 reviewer Michael Higham joins us to discuss his thoughts so far as he's neck-deep in Xbox's big new exclusive first-person shooter. Plus: we discuss the Game of the Year nominees announced for this year's Game Awards, including whether or not an expansion pack should be included. We also talk about what we want from Amazon's live-action Mass Effect TV show, lament how Splinter Cell r...

Take-Two's CEO keeps insisting that Grand Theft Auto 6 will be released in 2025. Do we believe him? We discuss why (spoiler) we don't. Plus: a new Phil Spencer interview sees the Xbox boss being quite candid about both an Xbox handheld and the future of exclusives on Xbox hardware, and we have a LOT of thoughts. And we kick things off with a report from IGN contributor Travis Northup, who just got...

November 9 marks the 20th anniversary of Halo 2's release. We celebrate one of the greatest Xbox games ever by welcoming fellow veteran Xbox gamer Danny Peña from Gamertag Radio to share memories of playing it for the first time, ranking the original dozen multiplayer maps, plus a little surprise from a special guest. This week’s show is Ryan McCaffrey, Destin Legarie, Danny Peña from Gamertag Rad...

We celebrate our perfectly-timed-for-Halloween episode 666 with Rod Fergusson, the super-nice franchise head of one of gaming's most evil franchises, Diablo. Rod talks about the new Diablo 4 expansion pack, Vessel of Hatred, the new Spiritborn character class, his reaction to Gears of War: E-Day as the former studio head at The Coalition, and even what his Gears 6 would've looked like. Learn more...

With STALKER 2, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle all releasing one right after another later this Fall, Xbox is set to seriously cook at the end of 2024. Destin gives his glowing hands-on impressions of his recent STALKER 2 preview session, Seth Macy joins us to gush about Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, and Ryan will give his hands-on impressions of Indy......

We went on the air live, immediately following the latest Xbox Partner Preview livestream. We gave our in-the-moment reactions to Xbox's fantastic presentation that included several reveals, including Remedy's Left 4 Dead-style session-based 3-player co-op multiplayer FPS, FBC Firebreak. We also discussed the adorable dog factor powering The Legend of Baboo along with Wuchang Fallen Feathers, Like...

Our resident Xbox crew (including Miranda!) reacts to and analyzes the huge Halo news of all future projects being moved to Unreal Engine 5 as well as the studio rebranding from 343 Industries to Halo Studios. We predict what the next mainline Halo game is, what we might get before that, how it ties into a possible PlayStation debut for the franchise, and much more! Download the Opera GX: IGN Edit...

Our Xbox crew discusses the new STALKER 2 making-of documentary, and how it's a must-watch even if you aren't interested in the game. Plus: Ubisoft admits that Star Wars Outlaws has underperformed its sales expectations, leading us to suggest where the company should go from here in the bigger picture. We also talk about Tango Gameworks's new owner Krafton's plans for Hi-Fi Rush 2, Obsidian's poss...

Bloomberg video game industry reporter Jason Schreier joins us to discuss his new book, Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment (out October 8) sharing crazy stories about the prestigious developer that Microsoft just bought as part of their $69 billion acquisition. Plus: Ubisoft delays Assassin's Creed Shadows, Splinter Cell is back...albeit on Netflix, and more! Learn mor...

We open this week's Xbox podcast at IGN by giving our hands-on impressions of Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Then we discuss another EA game, Battlefield. We've got new details about the next game in the venerable first-person shooter series, and we talk about what we want out of it and what we think it needs to do in order to get back on top. Plus: more Microsoft layoffs, some good news on the Skate...

We open this week's Xbox podcast by marking Destiny's 10th anniversary and then discussing the present and future for both the long-running shooter and Bungie itself, as well as what's riding on Bungie's next big project in Marathon. Then we give our thoughts on the Minecraft movie teaser before moving into our main topic: the PS5 Pro's widely panned unveiling and what it means for Xbox in both th...

This week's Xbox show delves into two notable games that Xbox boss Phil Spencer discussed having the chance to sign but didn't – plus one crucial one he did. Plus: Black Myth Wukong's Xbox absence is explained, Enotria: The Last Song's developers publicly call out Team Xbox for a lack of support, Stellas impressions of Call of Duty Black Ops 6, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit meg...