XBOX's continued investment in an avalanche of tentpole IP's came full circle at BlizzCon 2026! The Dukes enlist "The Reaper" of Overwatch and all things BLIZZARD to break down the latest ramifications! From World Of Warcraft's roadmap/controller future, Diablo 5, and StarCraft announcements to how far out some of these releases are! We also discuss a plethora of XBOX news, the Kojima and XBOX partnership aftermath, Asha Sharma handling your customer support tickets and more!
Timestamps:
Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement.
0:00:00 - Intro/Health is Wealth
0:12:09 - Warm Up Questions
0:27:14 - Inside report on Kojima and PlayStation’s split
0:54:02 - Are Day 1 Game Pass Games done in 2027?
1:13:32 - Apparently, Asha Sharma is helping Xbox support herself
1:22:02 -  The PlayStation Blackout failed
1:28:10 - Wonders Of O trademarked by Neowiz
1:33:34 - Major updates for Bungie & Marathon
1:46:07 - FF7 Remake team is handling Kingdom Hearts 4
1:57:05 - Injustice 3 inbound?
2:00:29 - SEGA is going all in on adaptations
2:10:04 - GenAI use is crushing Level 5
2:12:24 - Capcom Announcements from TGS 2026
2:16:36 - Sea of Thieves Signs Of Life
2:21:36 - What We’re Playing
2:49:05 - The Big Blizzcon Blowout

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In the wee hours of the night, an absolute stunner landed. Prolific and beloved game director, Hideo Kojima, has killed off his partnership with PlayStation for his upcoming action-espionage title, PHYSINT, and signed on with Xbox. According to the man himself, PlayStation was ready to cancel his game this June! After three months of searching, he found his partner in XBOX. It's a partnership where Kojima claims that they "share a common vision for the future" which says more than just about anything else within this next. Those who recall the PHYSINT announcement in 2024 will also remember that this was TV/movie deal as well. According to the XBOX Wire, they've got that too! So, what gives? Is this just a money play? Has Sony lost touch with optical wins when it was only last generation that they reaped the massive benefits of saving Kojima from Konami? What is XBOX's end goal in all of this? There is much to discuss! Beyond that, we talk about the Cloud Gaming snafu, the diabolical Steam achievement leak, and so much more!
Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement.
0:00:00 - Intro (Gamescom and Pax West Debriefing)
00:34:17 - Health Is Wealth
00:46:26 - Will Metaphor: ReFantazio get a definitive edition?
00:49:43 - Cog’s thoughts on GTA 6 gameplay
00:55:41 - Nintendo Direct recap
01:04:04 - Ocarina Of Time Remake impressions
01:30:30 - Developers opt out of Xbox’s disc to digital program?
01:37:55 - Every NPC in Fable is handcrafted
01:41:42 - Hideki Kamiya once again requests to make Scalebound
01:48:31 - Rumors suggest Forza Horizon 6 isn’t coming to PS5 in 2026
01:50:43 - Blood Of Dawnwalker sequel in the works
01:55:54 - More Final Fantasy 7 beyond the remakes
01:59:20 - Capcom is focusing on reactivating IP
02:02:31 - Witcher 1 Remake is on hold
02:05:45 - PlayStation is looking to bring back Killzone
02:12:05 - Venom game is still in development
02:13:38 - Game Releases for September 2026
02:21:55 - What We’re Playing
03:04:45 - Hideo Kojima jumps ship to Xbox
03:54:14 - The catastrophic Steam achievement leak
03:18:37 - Xbox’s Cloud Gaming Snafu

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Ladies and gentlemen, it is time for a rare one! Indeed, it is I, Matty, and I shall be tickling your ears across the airwaves in a solo venture here from Paris. Today, I dive into the post-Gamescom fallout in what has been an eventful trip for Xbox. For starters, BBC News briefly spoke with Asha Sharma and managed to snag a few answers from her on everything from Helix's "family of devices" to Halo getting some more focus over time. Most interestingly to me was her approach to physical games versus Sony's recent statement on how "reasonable consumers" know they don't own their digital games. Naturally as a game collector, I'm very interested to see where Xbox's disc-to-digital program goes. If this is the starting point, or "step one" as they've put it, then I can imagine great things arriving down the stretch. The question is: what does this mean for physical releases? Is it possible that Xbox pulls out limited runs of their games following the launch? I discuss that, plus Asha's thoughts on Xbox's approach to exclusivity which say more than I think most are considering! Beyond that, we dive into Fable's story length, Xbox's ambitious movie deal, my experience with State Of Decay 3, and (somehow) a whole lot more. Enjoy!

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Timestamps:
Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement.
0:00:00 - Intro
0:13:58 - State Of Decay 3 release plans
0:30:11 - Double Fine's Game Jam Kickstarter
0:41:00 - Xbox's Ambitious Movie Deal
0:51:59 - DOOM's DLC Crunch Story
0:59:11 - Thoughts on GTA 6's Gameplay Reveal
1:09:43 - Star Wars: Zero Company Devs Furloughed Ahead Of Launch
1:15:39 - A Motive's Iron Man Game Confirmed
1:54:05 - What I'm Playing
2:17:25 - Asha Sharma's comments on Helix, Physical Media, and Halo

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IN PERSON DUKE ALERT! The Dukes have united in Germany for Gamescom 2026. This marks a first for the duo! Join us as we recollect on our adventures across Europe from jetlag to McDonalds and, yes, even Fable! Much has been said about the game following its delays, but now we have a clear look at combat. What about it is strong and are the comments about the enemy reactivity overplayed? We dive in. Plus more on State Of Decay 3 from graphics to feel. How is this shaping up as it hails from a former Xbox First Party studio? Naturally, we dive into that, plus all the other things we've seen and played while out here. It's a bit of a structureless conversation, so we appreciate you bearing with us and enjoy what is a rare type of episode for all of us. Due to the episode being in person, there are no timestamps.

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It's the week before Gamescom! Around this time, the Dukes never expect much as Xbox has already fired out their reveals for the year thanks to June's annual showcase. A recent rumor changed all of that! Thanks to NateTheHate, we are officially aware of a sequel to an Xbox owned IP being developed by a third party team which would see a release this year. The Dukes crack open the archives of Xbox and sift through all the dreams of what this could be. One thing is for certain: It's not Banjo.

Timestamps:

Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement.

0:00 - Intro
2:47 - Health is wealth
18:26 - An Xbox first party game you’ve missed
27:38 - You can DoorDash games
30:22 - Harvey Smith is back
43:00 - Sledgehammer was prototyping a Halo game
56:05 - Xbox’s 25th Anniversary Controller details leak
57:46 - Fallout 4’s newest update has some serious lore
1:21:14 - Xbox is partnering with McDonalds
1:30:02 - Kingdom Hearts 4 news galore
1:45:04 - Shuhei Yoshida’s peculiar advice to Sandfall Interactive
1:50:18 - Trails In The Sky gets a unique localization patch
1:56:34 - PlayStation’s live service struggles continue
2:05:35 - Oxenfree studio Night School is shutdown by Netflix
2:11:57 - What We’re Playing
2:29:16 - Xbox has a secret game announcement coming to Gamescom
2:59:08 - Wrap Up

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How hungry are people for Elder Scrolls VI? Apparently, very! All it took was eight asterisks within the game's subtitle to send a flurry of fans into everything from lore wikis to decoding employee identification numbers in Starfield's Developer Direct. With such rampant curiosity, this led the Dukes down the rabbithole. What do these eight characters represent? Indeed, if the theories are true, they tell us more than you'd expect. Beyond that, we settle into a chat about the coming generation of consoles. Will Xbox weaponize Elder Scrolls VI as a lightning rod which can draw people into the ecosystem? Is it worth risking millions upon millions of dollars lost for this? Essentially, is this game going to find itself in a camp with Call Of Duty and Forza or Clockwork and Gears? There are compelling arguments for both sides, so join the very delirious Dukes as they settle into a lengthy conversation about Elder Scrolls!

Timestamps:

Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement.

0:00 - Intro
11:20 - Health Is Wealth
25:12 - Gears E Day beta sets records for series
38:32 - Currently hired ID Software dev blasts Xbox
1:02:12 - Xbox explains the big server outage
1:05:33 - Update on Halo Campaign Evolved sale’s estimates
1:20:34 - GTA 6 gets a gameplay reveal on Netflix
1:50:45 - Ghost Of Yotei Complete Edition announced
1:54:22 - Lord Of The Rings remasters inbound
2:00:15 - Atlus thinks they have to do Persona 1 & 2 Remakes
2:06:52 - Hog Leg 2 confirmed
2:09:56 - What We’re Playing
2:42:49 - The extremely desperate Elder Scrolls rabbithole
3:11:43 - Blizzard is Microsoft’s top performing studio
3:16:48 - Wrap up

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In a time where game preservation feels it matters the least, here comes some much needed news. Leaked via The Verge, we now know Xbox is accelerating a program dedicated to preserving your games dating back to the original Xbox generation. That much has been known thanks to a program greenlit by Sarah Bond during her time at Xbox. However, the new wrinkle is not only that Xbox 360 games are headed to PC, but also that the backwards compatible library stands a chance to expand beyond what we already know. Now, the catch is that other developers would have to play ball, but more from a greenlight standpoint rather than any additional engineering. The icing on the cake? Xbox is finally bringing its platinum trophy equivalent to the platform. After two generations of waiting, they'll finally be getting with the times and you won't have to wait much longer to hear about it thanks to Asha Sharma. Plus: Xbox's "platform" game focus, more absolutely dismal news for Halo, the unaffordability of console gaming, and so much more!

Timestamps:

Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement.

0:00 - Intro
5:42 - Health Is Wealth
21:54 - In person Duke soon?
23:45 - Shoutout to SS+
28:31 - A retro gaming solution?
30:00 - Asha Sharma confirms platinum trophy equivalent coming to Xbox later this year
44:18 - Asha Sharma’s leaked memo to staff
58:16 - Halo sales estimates are in
1:32:01 - Xbox console price increase confirmed for EU and UK
1:36:42 - ESO faces a content delay following layoffs
1:41:23 - A crazy Bethesda remaster candidate leaks
1:44:16 - Sony responds to shareholders about physical games
1:57:43 - Steam Machine reservations will be filled by end of year
1:59:18 - Mass layoffs expected at EA
2:02:19 - What We’re Playing
2:31:00 - Xbox’s Game Preservation Program Leaks
3:07:58 - Wrap Up

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Ah, like the good ol' days! It's time to talk a lot of Halo and Gears. Interestingly, one franchise has handled the baton pass much better than the other.

Timestamps:

Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement.
0:00 - Intro
13:03 - Most Anticipated Games for the year
20:52 - Why do people care about Bethesda?
30:25 - The great Xbox outage
1:00:32 - Rebs Gaming on future of Halo
1:27:51 - Xbox optimizing download speeds
1:30:58 - Xbox’s gamescom plans
1:33:40 - The layoffs have begun at Double Fine
1:42:33 - Avatar Legends suddenly delayed on Xbox
1:49:26 - Stalker 2’s first expansion has a date
1:51:25 - Dragon Age Remasters dream is dead
2:03:12 - A new Cyberpunk game has leaked
2:07:03 - Looking Ahead At Game Releases - August 2026
2:13:08 - What We’re Playing
2:32:11 - Gears Of War E-Day
3:04:12 - Xbox’s ad supported game streaming has arrived
3:22:21 - Fable’s release date snag
3:37:09 - Wrap up

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The latest release by Halo Studios is here! While the run up to this launch has been far from clean, how does this game fare when separated from the noise? The Dukes who have deep ties to this game unpack it from the ‘super fan’ angle before rolling into what this means for those who have never played a Halo game. It’s a strange one, but we’ll do our best as always!

Timestamps:

Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement.

0:00 - Intro
4:51 - Health Is Wealth
21:06 - Hits Only versus New IP
40:35 - Xbox Reveals Backward Compatibility for PC
53:20 - Xbox’s Messaging on Exclusivity Gets Messy Again
1:03:31 - Xbox Leadership Reportedly Detests Game Pass
1:20:14 - Halo Roadmap Leaks from Rebs Gaming
1:35:07 - Marathon’s Director Bows Out
1:48:29 - Circana’s Dooming News for Physical Game Lovers
2:13:07 - KOTOR Remake in 2028?
2:20:14 - What We’re Playing (Halo)
3:07:26 - Bethesda Lays Out the Roadmap for Their Future
3:56:54 - Wrap Up

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A lot can happen in a week's time! Now that the dust is settling and we have a rare quiet moment for Xbox, it's time to fully unpack the immediate results of Xbox's Reset. We've learned that multiple Zenimax owned studios have returned to their smaller sized around the mid 2010s. When you look across the industry at the various indie and AA success stories, one has to wonder if AAA is no longer just borrowing creative ideas from these parts and, instead, emulating their business structure. Is there a lesson to be learned in Expedition 33 reaching 8+ million copies sold with a team of around 30 people and their strategic form of outsourcing? What of the 10+ person team at Mega Crit that works on the indie hit Slay The Spire 2? Does the industry truly need its titanic teams across the board or should there be exceptions to that rule in cases such as Rockstar? The reality is that we won't know for years how any of this pans out, but it's a good thought exercise nonetheless!

Timestamps:

Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement.

0:00 - Intro
10:51 - Health Is Wealth
25:04 - The Future of Elder Scrolls
33:49 - Leadership Issues at Halo Studios Again
1:02:46 - The Black Ops 1 and 2 PS5 Ports
1:08:59 - Microsoft Deletes a 25 Year Old Account
1:29:51 - The Slow Adoption Rate of PS5 and Series Consoles
1:39:37 - Obsidian Responds to Claims That They're a Different Team Nowadays
1:54:33 - Ryse: Son of Rome Was Supposed to Be Xbox's Assassin's Creed
2:00:52 - Glen Schofield Officially Retires from Making Games
2:10:17 - People Are Truly Backlog Gaming Like Crazy
2:13:41 - What We're Playing
2:34:44 - The Fallout of the "Xbox Reset"
3:25:04 - Wrap Up

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