Unlocked

We had some fun this week and talked about 10 dream Xbox games we'd love to see Microsoft's massive collection of studios make, from a Halo horror game to giving one particular underrated Activision studio a chance to crack the code on a big-budget Superman game. Plus: Xbox raises Game Pass prices and reshuffles some of its tiers in a frustrating and confusing way, and more! Presented by Wendy’s S...

This episode is all about the remakes we're cautiously optimistic about (Assassin's Creed...but which ones?), the remasters we're excited about (Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster), and the reboots we're left scratching our heads over (Crazy Taxi). Plus: what we expect from the just-confirmed Resident Evil 9, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Xbox says it's going big at this year's Gamescom event, so we discuss what we think to see and what we hope to see. Plus: why we're thrilled about Capcom's just-announced Dead Rising 1 remaster, why we doubt that Beyond Good & Evil 2 will ever be released despite Ubisoft's statements to the contrary, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Because the Xbox Showcase was SO GOOD this year, our 30-minute live reaction show from Sunday just wasn't enough. So we regrouped and talked for upwards of two more hours about all the big games, from Doom: The Dark Ages to Gears of War: E-Day to Fable to Perfect Dark to Black Ops 6 and so, so many more. Then we lay out how phenomenal the next year and a half of Xbox exclusives and Xbox Game Pass...

After directing two fantastic Star Wars Jedi games at Respawn, Stig Asmussen has embarked on a new adventure: Starting AAA studio Giant Skull. IGN's Ryan McCaffrey sits down with Stig to talk about why he left Respawn, what to expect from his next project, and his goals for creating a healthy work culture at Giant Skull amidst a turbulent time in the video game industry. Learn more about your ad c...

Join us for an exclusive live interview at IGN Live with Xbox's Phil Spencer and a panel of top game developers. In this deep-dive session, we explore the latest Xbox strategies, the impact of recent studio acquisitions, and what the future holds for Xbox and its fans. From discussing major titles like 'Halo Infinite' to addressing community concerns and revealing insights into upcoming Xbox proje...

In this very special IGN Live analysis of the summer Xbox Showcase, we break down each announcement, from blockbuster game releases to unexpected surprises, and discuss their impact on the gaming landscape. The Podcast Unlocked crew, including Ryan McCaffrey, Miranda Sanchez, Stella Chung, and Destin Legarie, discuss key moments from the showcase, offering insights and reactions that you won't fin...

Today we’re diving into the best of Unlock-Block trivia. Join us as we relive some of the most memorable moments from past shows. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The first officially announced Xbox Series game ever, Hellblade 2, has finally arrived, and we've played it! Join us for a spoiler-free discussion of Ninja Theory's stunning new Senua adventure. Plus: Activision opens a new AAA development studio with a narrative-driven focus, this year's Call of Duty looks set to drop straight onto Xbox Game Pass, Grand Theft Auto 6 gets a narrowed-in release win...

Today we’re diving into the best of Unlock-Block trivia. Join us as we relive some of the most memorable moments from past shows. EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/unlockd Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is much cheerier than the last one as the news is (for the most part) much better! For instance, a new statement from the president of Square Enix strongly suggests that Xbox players will no longer be left behind on future Final Fantasy game releases – or any other game Square Enix makes. Plus: rumors of a new Doom being revealed at the upcoming Xbox Showcase heat up as Ryan implores...

Another devastating wave of Xbox layoffs results in the closure of three Bethesda studios, including the makers of last year's shadow-dropped hit Hi-Fi Rush and the decorated developers of Prey. We do our best to make sense of the move from Microsoft, a company that has spent the better part of the past decade trying to add talent and get more exclusive games on its platforms. EXCLUSIVE NordVPN De...

Join us for our reactions to the most exciting and interesting games (of the many, MANY exciting and interesting games) to come out of IGN's ID@Xbox showcase. We gave our excited impressions of Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, Vampire Survivors' Contra DLC, Dungeons of Hinterberg, Jackbox: Naughty Pack, Stampede: Racing Royale, Palworld's new update, Commandos: Origins, 33 Immortals, and the bizarrely...

Destin and Ryan dive into the most pleasant surprise of the week: an announcement of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, plus a fantastic reveal trailer to accompany it! We talk a bit about the first game and why we're so hyped for this one – plus why this Fall is suddenly looking mighty good for fans of first-person fantasy RPGs. Plus: Halo Infinite gets another excellent update that leads us into a dis...

On this week's Podcast Unlocked, we're discussing the fallout of Fallout! Yes, the Prime Video TV show is a huge hit – and it's really fantastic to boot. We tell you (in spoiler-free terms) why we love it so much, and then talk about the positive effect it's having on the player counts in ALL of the other Fallout games, many of which are available on Xbox Game Pass right now. Plus: the next wave o...

A new Fallout Show is receiving rave reviews. Xbox is "Full-Speed Ahead" on Next-Gen hardware. And reports say that an Xbox game preservation team is being built to keep the games we love for years to come. There's been a lot of positivity in Xbox news this week and we bring on Brad Sams and Parris Lilly to discuss the latest. In addition to all of this, Gears 6 rumors are swirling alongside a rum...

Hollow Knight: Silksong has been the hot topic amongst its fans since its announcement back in 2019. This April Fools, a listing was made on the Microsoft store for Silksong with minimal details. We discuss whether or not this means there's hope on the near horizon for the sequel along with Microsoft's new chatbot AI testing, No Man's Sky updates, and the new gamepass games for April. EXCLUSIVE No...

Based on a recent interview, it seems like Phil Spencer has been thinking a lot about a possible Xbox handheld. We discuss what we'd want from it – noting that we would VERY MUCH want it – and wonder if it could end up being a Switch-like replacement for the Series S in the next console generation. Plus: Elder Scrolls 6 is already playable at Bethesda, but we're hoping the team is doing some serio...

We've got a variety of topics to discuss on Podcast Unlocked topics this week, from Xbox Game Pass's killer month of March to three fun Halo stories about three totally different Halo properties to our headline topic: BioWare. We talk about how EA's hiring of a decorated new executive to oversee BioWare will hopefully help steer the renowned studio back to its former glory. Enjoy the episode! Lear...

In today’s episode, we're diving into the intriguing world of the Fallout TV series, as hinted by Bethesda's Todd Howard. With a directive to the show's creators to avoid elements planned for Fallout 5, the series is setting up an intriguing narrative canvas, spanning the aftermath of Fallout 4 and touching on the lore of New Vegas, all within the backdrop of post-apocalyptic Los Angeles. As Fallo...

We recorded this week's episode live, immediately following the conclusion of Xbox's Partner Preview livestream. We reacted to the event as a whole and called out our favorites from the 14 games shown. Plus: we discussed the killer wave of Xbox Game Pass games hitting the service this month, Toys For Bob's new studio independence, WB's head-scratching doubling-down on live-service games, and more!...

It's a slow news week, so we spend the whole show discussing something that's been on the community's mind lately, and that is the question of whether or not this console generation has been a disappointment. And, on the back of that, we discuss what our Xbox Game of the Generation is so far after the first three years, noting that cross-gen games like Elden Ring don't count. Thanks to Gamertag Ra...

We open this week's podcast by discussing what first-party Xbox games might be next to get ported to the PlayStation or Switch as Microsoft officially announces the four games (Pentiment, Sea of Thieves, Grounded, and Hi-Fi Rush) heading to other consoles, and then we get into our main topic: a so-called Xbox Series X Pro. With rumors abound of a PS5 Pro, does Microsoft need to get a mid-gen upgra...

The Xbox leadership gave us its promised "business update" to tell us what changes were coming to how Microsoft handles its exclusives. It turns out that no, the big guns like Starfield and Indiana Jones won't be going anywhere, but older and/or smaller games like Hi-Fi Rush, Grounded, Pentiment, and Sea of Thieves will be. We discuss what this means for the future of Xbox, including the next-gen...

It's been a wild week in the world of Xbox. Community morale is as low as it's been since the Xbox One unveiling back in 2013, as rumor after report after rumor after report suggests that Microsoft is going to put some of its biggest games (like Starfield and Indiana Jones) on PS5. We spend the entire show discussing Microsoft's potentially earth-shaking new strategy, how poor their messaging has...