Podcast Unlocked

By IGN

Games & Hobbies Video Games

What's Podcast Unlocked about?

Love Xbox? IGN's Podcast Unlocked is your source for everything Xbox One and Xbox 360. If you live and breathe Halo, Gears of War, Forza, and more, Podcast Unlocked has you covered. Tune in every week for the latest video game news for Xbox junkies around the globe.

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LAST EPISODE

xCloud's Apple Launch Is Ke...

04.20.2021

Another big week for Xbox! We talk about why we think xCloud's long-awaited Apple/iOS rollout is key for the future of the Xbox platform, Discord turning down Microsoft's $10 billion offer, Psychonauts 2 and Xbox's underrated 2021 lineup, Resident Evil ...

Podcast Unlocked episodes:

04.20.2021 xCloud's Apple Launch Is Key to Xbox's Master Plan Another big week for Xbox! We talk about why we think xCloud's long-awaited Apple/iOS rollout is key for the future of the Xbox platform, Discord turning down Microsoft's $10 billion offer, Psychonauts 2 and Xbox's underrated 2021 lineup, Resident Evil ...
04.13.2021 What if the Kojima-Xbox Rumor Is True? The gaming community is buzzing about a hot rumor that Microsoft is in talks with legendary game developer Hideo Kojima to develop his next game for Xbox. We humor the rumor and discuss what it would mean for Xbox, as ...
04.06.2021 Xbox Game Pass Is Getting Sony Exclusives Now Xbox Game Pass is on such a roll that it's landing first-party Sony games now! MLB The Show 21 is a huge get for Game Pass. We discuss MLB's smart, forward-thinking move as well as the incredibly momentum of the ...
03.30.2021 Should Call of Duty Go Back to WWII AGAIN? With Sledgehammer reportedly back in the Call of Duty business and prepping a World War II-set video game for this year's entry in the series, we discuss whether we even want another WWII-set CoD. Plus: It Takes Two is excellent, ...
03.23.2021 What Gotham Knights' Delay Might Mean for Rocksteady's Suicide Squad One of 2021's big releases, Gotham Knights, just got pushed to 2022. We discuss what it means not just for that game, but for Rocksteady's Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League as well. Plus: Xbox Live gets rebranded, Microsoft might ...
03.17.2021 Bethesda Makes it Rain on Xbox Game Pass Bethesda held a fantastic roundtable discussion with Phil Spencer and some of the Xbox leadership team, and we discussed our impressions of the first big post-acquisition event, from Phil's comments on exclusivity to his admiration of the id Tech engine ...
03.10.2021 Microsoft OFFICIALLY Acquires Bethesda. Now What? Big Xbox news this week as European and American regulators sign off on Microsoft's acquisition of Zenimax and Bethesda, making the acquisition official. What will Microsoft do next? Which games will be exclusive? We discuss that and much more on ...
03.03.2021 Anthem Died So That Mass Effect and Dragon Age Might Live Lots of BioWare news to discuss this week, from Anthem's cancellation to Henry Cavill (aka Superman aka Geralt)'s Mass Effect project to Dragon Age 4 no longer being a live-service game. Plus: Xbox's Aaron Greenberg downplays recent Elden Ring rumors, ...
02.23.2021 FPS Boost Continues Xbox's Back-Compat Mastery The Xbox backwards compatibility team flexes their muscles again with FPS Boost, an unexpected and awesome new improvement to back-catalog games. We celebrate the new feature. Plus: Diablo 2's long-rumored remaster has us super excited, we wonder what's next for ...
02.17.2021 Ex-Bungie Devs’ New (Old) FPS Is Controversial We discuss the return of Six Days in Fallujah, a resurrection of a canceled 2009 game based on real-world events, including its A-list team of ex-Bungie developers and what they've said about the controversial project so far. Plus: we're excited ...
02.10.2021 343's New Halo Project? We Want a Horror Game With a job posting suggesting that 343 Industries is spinning up a new Halo game besides Halo Infinite, we speculate on what it might be – and decide we want a Halo horror game. Plus: our impressions of Xbox exclusive ...
02.03.2021 What We Think After Seeing Mass Effect: Legendary Edition To quote a line from Halo 2 in describing Mass Effect: Legendary Edition: "There are those who said this day would never come. What are they to say now?" Yes, we're talking about the long-awaited remaster of BioWare's beloved sci-fi ...
01.27.2021 Making Sense of Microsoft's Averted Xbox Live Gold Disaster What a week! There's so much to discuss on this episode, from Microsoft shockingly doubling the price of Xbox Live Gold only to just-as-shockingly walk it back later that same day, to the insane new Star Wars: Knights of the ...
01.20.2021 Where Will Ubisoft Take Star Wars? The new Lucasfilm Games publishing umbrella once again dominates our conversation this week, as the first new non-EA Star Wars game in a decade gets announced. We discuss Ubisoft and Massive's upcoming open-world Star Wars adventure, including what it might ...
01.13.2021 Will Bethesda's Indiana Jones Game Be an Xbox Exclusive? Will the just-announced Indiana Jones game from Bethesda, Machinegames, and Todd Howard be an Xbox exclusive? We discuss this fascinating announcement. Plus: is Star Wars gearing up for life after EA? And we sort through the revelation that Microsoft tried ...
01.05.2021 Discussing 10 Xbox Exclusives for 2021 Happy New Year! On our first Unlocked episode of 2021, we look ahead to the (long) list of Xbox exclusives coming this year. Plus: Gears 5: Hivebusters rocks, Fortnite's developer moves into...a mall(?), Games With Gold for January includes an ...
12.22.2020 1-on-1 With Double Fine's Tim Schafer: Psychonauts 2, Being Acquired by Microsoft, and More! Our final episode of 2020 is a special one! Ryan welcomes Tim Schafer, the head of Double Fine (aka one of the newest Xbox Game Studios), for a 40-minute conversation about life since being acquired by Microsoft. But don't fret ...
12.16.2020 Cyberpunk 2077's Current-Gen Nightmare + Perfect Dark Reboot Is Finally Real Our penultimate show in 2020 is a big one! We spend the first half of the show discussing the nightmare scenario that is Cyberpunk 2077 on the current-gen consoles. After that, we dig into the big Xbox news from The ...
12.09.2020 Analyzing BioWare's Big Shakeup Digital Foundry's John Linneman and Gamertag Radio's Danny Peña join us to talk about all sorts of Xbox stuff this week! Topics include: the future of BioWare after their big studio leadership shakeup, next-gen sports games on Xbox Series X, ...
12.02.2020 What Will Cyberpunk 2077 Multiplayer Be Like? What will Cyberpunk 2077 multiplayer be like? Special guests Ray Apollo from Twitch and Cam Hawkins from DualShockers join Ryan and Brandin for an extra-fun episode that also discusses Microsoft's underrated next-gen efforts, more awesome stuff coming to Xbox Game ...
11.24.2020 Hitman Devs' James Bond Could Be the Best 007 Game Ever The developer of Hitman has a new James Bond game in the works. We discuss why it could be the best Bond ever. Plus: Phil Spencer says an Xbox smart TV app is closer than we think, some of us ...
11.18.2020 Analyzing the Xbox Series X\|S's Fast Start Next-gen is now officially current-gen! The Xbox Series X and S are out, and we talk about our first week of living with them. Plus: we analyze Microsoft's big first-week numbers, address shortages expected well into 2021, talk about another ...
11.11.2020 Mass Effect's Future Just Got Brighter It's the week you've been waiting for: the next-generation of Xbox has officially arrived with the Series X and Series S. We discuss the launches of Microsoft's two new consoles. Plus: EA and BioWare finally confirm Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, ...
11.06.2020 Xbox Series X Final Impressions and Audience AMA Welcome to a special two-hour episode of Unlocked that was recorded live with all of you, along with special guest panelist Parris Lilly from Gamertag Radio! We played the Series X for two hours now that the review embargo has ...
10.27.2020 The Winners and Losers of Cyberpunk 2077's New Delay Cyberpunk 2077's last-minute delay affects everyone, from developers to gamers to media outlets alike. We sort through the fallout of this major news. Plus: a surprise Gears 5 update, Phil Spencer teases a possible 1 vs. 100-like replacement on Xbox ...
10.21.2020 Xbox Series X Launch Lineup Reactions Another busy week of Xbox news to discuss, from the Xbox Series X's launch lineup (to the best Xbox launch lineup in history) to what Phil Spencer said about Bethesda game exclusivity in a recent interview to what The Initiative ...
10.13.2020 Our First Xbox Series X Game Impressions We finally got to play a couple of proper Xbox Series X games. We give our impressions of those titles on the Series X, plus discuss The Medium's release date, Microsoft's new plan to get xCloud game streaming onto iOS ...
10.06.2020 Xbox Series Should Totally Own Western RPGs As inXile announces yet another Xbox Series RPG, we run down the Xbox's exclusive RPG and discuss how Xbox Series is going to be THE home for Western RPGs. Plus: the games we've been hyped-beyond-hype for in our gaming lives ...
09.29.2020 Living With the Xbox Series X So Far The fantastic Pikachulita joins our Xbox crew this week to discuss yet another big week of Xbox news! Topics include Ryan's life with the Xbox Series X in his house so far, Phil Spencer saying that there will be future ...
09.21.2020 Xbox Buying Bethesda Is a MEGATON The Unlocked crew discusses the massive news of Microsoft buying ZeniMax Media (Bethesda Softworks, id Software, Arkane, and more!) the day before Xbox Series X and Series S consoles pre-orders go live plus the growth of Game Pass.
09.16.2020 No, Bungie and Microsoft Are NOT Getting Remarried We discuss the rumors of Microsoft trying to buy Bungie again (which Bungie quickly and sternly refuted), the leaked Xbox Series S presentation that never got to air, the backwards compatibility capabilities of the Xbox Series S, our disappointment about ...
09.09.2020 Reacting to Xbox Series X/S Price and Release Date Gamertag Radio's Parris Lilly rejoins Unlocked to talk through the long-awaited Xbox Series S reveal, price, and release date – plus the alleged price for the Series X as well. Plus: The Witcher 3 returns for Series X, September's Games ...
09.02.2020 Halo Infinite's Fixer Is from Bungie's Old Guard MC Fixer from the My Xbox and Me podcast joins us to discuss another big week of Xbox news, from longtime Bungie veteran Joseph Staten being brought in to help lead Halo Infinite's campaign to Call of Duty Black Ops ...
08.26.2020 Where Is The Batman in Gotham Knights and Rocksteady's Suicide Squad? Special guest "Lord Cognito" from the Iron Lords Podcast joins us to discuss our reactions to the DC FanDome reveals of Gotham Knights and Rocksteady's Suicide Squad. Plus: our Battletoads impressions, Black Myth: Wukong's amazing debut, 343's track record with ...
08.18.2020 Xbox's First-Party Masterpiece Is...Flight Simulator?? Microsoft's first 10/10-rated game from IGN in quite some time comes from the most unexpected place: Microsoft Flight Simulator! Reviewer Seth Macy joins us to discuss the next-gen brilliance of the first-party masterpiece. Plus: taking stock of Xbox Game Studios' ...
08.12.2020 Halo Infinite Is Delayed. Now What? Major Xbox news this week! Halo Infinite gets delayed, so what does it mean for the franchise and for the Xbox Series X launch? Plus: Apple blocks Microsoft on Project xCloud, the Xbox Series S gets confirmed via the strangest ...
08.06.2020 xCloud Might Be Xbox's Secret Weapon Project xCloud takes the next big step towards becoming a major part of the Xbox ecosystem, and we discuss how it's kind of like the "Xboy" handheld Xbox that we never got. Plus: the ramifications of Halo Infinite's multiplayer being ...
07.29.2020 More Thoughts on the Xbox Games Showcase Now that we've had time to sit with big Xbox Games Showcase, we reflect back on the big event and discuss how we thought Microsoft did and whether or not Microsoft has a "Halo problem" after how the Halo Infinite ...
07.23.2020 What We Thought of the Xbox Games Showcase IGN's Xbox crew (with special guest Parris Lilly) recaps and analyzes Microsoft's long-awaited Xbox Games Showcase. We talk Halo Infinite, Fable, and much, much more!
07.15.2020 More Series X Talk With Xbox's Jason Ronald Our Xbox crew reacts to the Ubisoft Forward event, including the Far Cry 6 reveal, Watch Dogs Legion and Assassin's Creed Valhalla contributing to an open-world bonanza this Fall, and what Valhalla's release date might say about the Xbox Series ...
07.08.2020 Xbox Series X Games Showcase Predictions Microsoft finally sets a date for their long-awaited Xbox Games Showcase, and we've got predictions for what we think we'll see. Plus: Microsoft is reportedly one of the companies interested in buying Warner Bros.'s game studios, and we discuss the ...
06.30.2020 Xbox Series S, Fable, and Perfect Dark Rumors Heat Up Lots to discuss in the world of Xbox this week, from the rumored timing of the Xbox Series S/Lockhart announcement (plus what else we think will happen when that does), Halo Infinite returns a familiar but long-dormant foe, Fable and ...
06.23.2020 EA's Disappointing Next-Gen Showing Special guest panelist and known Kinect superfan Cicero Holmes joins the show this week to discuss a busy stretch of Xbox news. We react to EA's not-very-next-gen-y EA Play press conference last week, what the Cyberpunk 2077 delay means for ...
06.16.2020 Talking Xbox Series X Smart Delivery With Microsoft's Jason Ronald Xbox Series X Director of Program Management Jason Ronald from Microsoft stops by halfway through the show to talk about the Series X's Smart Delivery feature. Plus: Xbox gamer and D&D podcaster Shareef Jackson joins us as a guest panelist ...
06.10.2020 Xbox Lockhart Seems Real, but Is It Out This Year? Parris Lilly from Gamertag Radio joins Ryan to discuss a busy week of Xbox news! Evidence of the Xbox Lockhart (aka Xbox Series S) surfaces, Bungie lays out the future of Destiny while job postings hint at its next game, ...
06.03.2020 Xbox Doubles Down on Compatibility, Sony Backs Off Spawn on Me host Kahlief Adams guest-hosts this week with Ryan, Miranda, and Destin as the Xbox crew discusses Xbox's and Sony's differing approaches to compatibility, EA's newly renewed exclusivity agreement with the NFL for Madden, the future of the ...
05.27.2020 Xbox Goes Unreal Engine 5 with inXile First-party Xbox studio inXile confirms they'll be using Unreal Engine 5 for their next-gen RPG. We dissect what this means for that game and other Xbox Series X games from other newly acquired Xbox game studios. Plus: Take-Two has a ...
05.19.2020 Xbox Series X's Second Wave of Games and COVID-19 IGN's Xbox team discusses Phil Spencer's recent comments about how COVID-19 might affect early 2021 games, the dates and details for Gamescom's all-digital event later this summer, the three classic games that Double Fine is bringing to Xbox this year, ...
05.13.2020 Is 30fps OK on Xbox Series X? Our Xbox crew debates whether or not 30fps is disappointing for Xbox Series X games in light of the Assassin's Creed Valhalla framerate revelation. Plus: more reactions to last week's Xbox event, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater returns, another publisher announces ...
05.07.2020 Xbox Series X Gameplay Showcase Analysis Xbox's first big salvo of next-gen games has been fired, and we've got reactions and analysis to all of the big third-party game reveals and showcases – from the good to the bad to the stomach-churning.

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