When it comes to video games, we all know it's very serious business. And that's absolutely still the case this week, as we see the release of yet more cool video games to play, and some in-fighting among the remnants of what remain of video game media. We're here to talk about it all in the DayOne Show Episode 303!

Lots to talk about this week, but as always, we simply have to start with what really matters - video games! This week saw the release of what many are proclaiming to be one of the best in the series - Resident Evil Requiem is here, and Jesse loved it, and Nick is scared of it. We also saw the 1.0 release of Stoic's Towerborne, now available as a finished product across Steam, PlayStation 5 and of course, Xbox - including Game Pass Ultimate. We also spoke to Stoic about that journey, and just why they turned away from the original plan of a live-service, free-to-play side scrolling brawler.
Speaking of Game Pass, Jesse also took a look at Dice A Million, which is available on Game Pass PC. Gyozo has shared his impressions on Season 2 of Black Ops 7, and Genghis dived in everything Steam Next Fest. We had a ganders at the demo of Vampire Crawlers, there's a WWE 2K26 Preview to enjoy, a review of Pools on Nintendo Switch 2, Rayman: 30th Anniversary edition and games like Tales of Berseria and Super Bomberman Collection too. Phew! We've been busy!

But hey! Enough about all that cool fun stuff - there's been plenty of industry happenings this week. Our friend Jez Corden of Windows Central interviewed the new Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma, and it seems plenty of folks across the games media side of the industry had plenty to say about it, and some of it just wasn't very nice, nor particularly professional (Brace yourself for a few rants from the team and general commentary on discussion on this industry and what it's like being a small, independent outlet in this space).
In other news, we chat about the rumor-mill surrounding both Xbox's new strategy, and Jason Schrier's comments on PlayStation 'backing away' from PC ports of their biggest games. Insider Gaming announced a really cool showcase happening later this year, we got a first look at the God of War TV Show and Netflix backed away from acquiring Warner Bros, as Paramount emerges victorious.
All this and more, so enjoy the show!

While we're only two months into 2026, it's already been a crazy year, and this week brought with it some absolute bombshells that shook the video game industry. Join the crew as we break it all down in the The DayOne Show Episode 302!

This week, the news is nothing if not seismic! Before we get to all the industry happenings, we have to acknowledge all the lovely video games we've been playing this week!
On the review front, Jesse tackled the newly released God of War: Sons of Sparta before heading off to a WWE event. You can find this thoughts on this new PlayStation metroidvania right here.
Beyond indulging his usual obsession with both Fortnite and Rocket League, Nick's also been playing the new God of War, in addition to getting thoroughly stuck in with Mario Tennis Fever and BlazeBlue Entropy Effect X, the latter of which is available right now on Game Pass.
I am working on several reviews at the moment, so can't talk just yet about what I've been playing on that front, but I did release my hands-on preview for DON'T NOD's Aphelion, and have been thoroughly enjoying High on Life 2. I also released my review for Razer's Premium PlayStation controller, the Raiju V3 Pro.
Site wise, we're delighted to announce the new website design for playday.one is now live - we'd love your feedback, so give us a shout and let us know what you think on our forums in this thread. From the team, you can enjoy several pieces of new content, from hands on previews on Milestone's Screamer (alongside an interview) and NTE: Neverness to Everness.
On the news front, and certainly the big topics of discussion this week were some of the craziest occurences in the industry that we've seen in some time. The first was Sony's shocking announcement that saw the closure of beloved studio Bluepoint Games, known for their incredible work on remakes of Demon's Souls, and of course the minor miracle that was Titanfall on the Xbox 360.
Not to be outdone with being the continued focus of the gaming industry's scorn and general derision, Microsoft decided they just had to up the ante. On Friday, they dropped the bombshell - Phil Spencer, after 38 years at Microsoft is retiring, and his replacement is newcomer Asha Sharma, a Microsoft internal promotion from the CoreAI team. Perhaps more shockingly, the announcement saw Sarah Bond, Xbox President leave the business entirely, and Matt Booty getting a promotion to EVP and Chief Content Officer. Crazy times.
We break it all down, in addition to taking all of your community questions and thoughts live in The DayOne Show Episode 302!

It's a new look, and a new week to talk about video games - and there sure are a lot of them on the way! I'm aware we're cheating the count a little here, but this is the DayOne Podcast Episode 301!

This week, I've been at DICE in Las Vegas but we've still managed to play plenty and of course bring you all the latest reviews. I checked out REANIMAL, which is a mesmerizing experience, so much so that I had to reach out to the developers for a chat once I'd rolled credits. Jesse was hard at work on the review for High on Life 2, which we've all been playing once it launched into Xbox Game Pass.
Elsewhere in gaming news, we announced a big rebrand, which saw most folks take the news pretty well. Gyozo went to London to go hand on with Milestone's new racer Screamer, which had a big gameplay overview reveal. The biggest news was of course, Sony's new State of Play which saw a bevvy of cool game announcements and updates.
All of this, plus your community questions in the DayOne Podcast Episode 301! Jump in and say hello!

Well, we did it! 300 Episodes - which equates to over 45 days of listening time! To celebrate this milestone, we made some big announcements that saw The XboxEra Podcast Episode 300 change before your very eyes. Welcome to DayOne!

This week saw some big news, some great games and of course our own big announcement. XboxEra is rebranding, bringing a new name and a new website to our readers, alongside new features like memberships and additional platform coverage. You can read about all of that here - take it in! If you've got questions, we've got answers - hit us up on our Discord and the forums, and we'll do our best to help.
In the meantime, this week saw some cool games, and plenty of news to get stuck into. 34BigThings released Carmageddon Rogue Shift, and we sat down to chat with the game director to learn about how the game came to be. We also enjoyed a great conversation with the Narrative Director at Squanch Games and chatted about High on Life 2, which is heading our way next week alongside a great looking first drop of games for February.
In gaming news, Nintendo had a massive 3rd Party focused Direct with tons of announcements of ports and other releases that look great for Switch 2 owners. Sony announced a new Horizon game, 'Hunters Gathering', and Valve delayed the Steam Machine pricing reveal, with the units now coming at some point in the first half of this year. Epic games shared they want their store to be available on the new Xbox on 'Day One', and indeed AMD's Dr Lisa Su confirmed the chip maker is on target to support a new Xbox in 2027. Lots of this, and more in the XboxEra Podcast Episode 300!

One more episode to 300! Until that time however, we've got a weeks worth of news, a heap of games to chat about and a little time to overshare with our community. It's the XboxEra Podcast Episode 299!

With Nick returning this week, we just had to get his thoughts on the Developer_Direct, so we let him wax lyrical and get in-depth on his thoughts on Forza Horizon 6, Beast of Reincarnation, Kiln and of course, Fable. With February now upon on us, the team talk a little about some of the games we've been playing and that we're looking forward too - with quite a bit of discussion on MIO: Memories in Orbit, Carmageddon: Rogue Shift, Code Vein II and of course, a big discussion on Highguard.
On that, we get deep into whether the reveal at The Game Awards helped or hindered, before we dive into all the latest in video game news, from PlayStation patents for customisable touch screen controllers, a brief discussion on the horrific crimes of Jeffrey Epstein to the dire state of Xbox's financial results this quarter, and if Microsoft really considers fighting for the brand's appearance and reputation.
And of course, we dive into all the questions from our amazing community, be it cheesing boss fights in video games or a discussion about parenting and social media use in a digital age. Fun times!
As always, a big shout out to everyone that supports us here at XboxEra. We couldn't do it without you. If you'd like to support us directly, just head to patreon.com/xboxera and pledge your support.

After a fantastic developer direct showcase from Xbox tokick things off for 2026, the team return to chat through it all - and the news of the week in the XboxEra Podcast Episode 298!

There's plenty to talk about this week, and for the most part, it's all good news! MIO: Memories in Orbit hits Game Pass (and other consoles) and it's really great, according to Jesse. He also took some time to review a new expansion for Cult of the Lamb, which you can read all about in our review. Aarsal has been out adventuring on assignment - Yes, Highguard is real, and you'll hear more from us about it very soon. He also reviewed Final Fantasy 7 now that it's arrived on Xbox, and upset quite a few people in the process. Lastly, Jon has been making swords in Bladesong, and reliving some nostalgic memories with G-Police 'spiritual successor', G-Rebels.

The biggest headline of the week of course is the Xbox Developer_Direct, and you can watch our live reactions right here. Playground Games turned up with a double whammy for Forza Horizon 6 and Fable, Gamefreak showed off Beast of Reincarnation and Double Fine appeared to show pottery-based multiplayer brawler Kiln! It was a great showing overall, and 2026 continues to excite us all with so many great games coming our way.
We also cover plenty of news from the week, including the carnage at Ubisoft, which saw Sands of Time cancelled, and a complete 'reset' at the company. All of this and plenty more - including your community questions in the XboxEra Podcast Episode 298!

This week sees the return of a classic franchise, the closure of multiple studios that potentially spells the end of VR as we know it, and the upcoming Forza Horizon 6 having its release date potentially leaked! We chat about all this and more in the XboxEra Podcast Episode 297!

We're slowly ramping up as the year begins, and we've already got reviews scheduled for next week as we prepare for the sheer onslaught of awesome video games in the year ahead. Jesse dropped a review for the recent game pass addition of Quarantine Zone: The Last Check, and Jon has been playing God of War 2018 while things are quiet.
Things won't be quiet for long though! Next week sees the return of the Xbox Developer_Direct, and a little mistake occurred that ended up potentially revealing the release date and editions for Playground Games upcoming Forza Horizon 6. In other news, Ecco the Dolphin is set to make a comeback with new games coming, and Meta decided to signal the death of VR by closing 3 beloved studios responsible for some of the best VR games on Quest. In other news, Fallout continues to do well for Amazon, who have put out a casting call for a reality show where you're actually in a Fallout shelter. All this and more, including our wonderful community sharing their questions in the XboxEra Podcast Episode 297!

Microsoft are kicking 2026 off in just the right way with their annual developer direct, which sees Beast of Reincarnation and the double feature from Playground Games with Fable and Forza Horizon 6. Let's break it all down in the XboxEra Podcast Episode 296!

Jon, Nick and Jesse return to talk about all the latest in video games! We've been playing a few things this week, but for the most part, we're not actually allowed to talk about any of them - which is a bit of a bummer! (Don't worry, we'll share more very soon!) In the meantime though, there's plenty to talk about.
Xbox have announced the 2026 Developer_Direct, which is going to give us deep dives on Fable, Forza Horizon 6 and Gamefreak's Beast of Reincarnation. Jez Corden over at Windows Central shared his lengthy article all about Xbox in 2026, which dives into what's happening next with Fallout, Ninja Theory and Wolfenstein.
In news, Microsoft CCO pushes back on layoff rumours, and following the New Game+ showcase, Avowed and Towerborne are set to arrive on PlayStation 5. The first Game Pass drop of the year brings us some new games, from Star Wars: Outlaws, MIO: Memories in Orbit and Quarantine Zone: The Last Check - so plenty to look forward too!

The boys are back! It's a new year, and that means another 52 episodes are ahead of us to chat all things gaming. So let's dive into the first episode of the year - It's the XboxEra Podcast Episode 295 featuring special guest Jez Corden!
The show kicks off with New Year greetings from our panel as we catch-up post the holiday season. After discussing our Christmas gifts we dive into what the team has been playing, per tradition! There's some variety here, from Jez's rekindled addiction to Fallout 4, Jesse's return to Starfield and Necromunda: Hired Gun, and Jon has been playing Chorus, which runs fantastically on his ROG Xbox Ally X. Jez proudly stops the show so he can show off his Fallout 4 settlement.
Square Enix rumours are swirling ahead of a January Developer Direct, and we chat technical issues around Xbox performance quirks with the recent discussion that excessive friends lists and messages can cause performance issues. We take a moment of remembrance for Albert Penello, alongside the usual mix of tangents, complaints (including a detour into World of Warcraft thanks to Jez) and silly banter that you know and love us for....right?!

The bulk of the episode however is looking ahead to 2026, with plenty of discussion around the many fantastic looking games heading out way, Xbox’s future strategy, next-generation hardware and RAM considerations, the importance of Game Pass for Microsoft, and Nick's dream that industry would shift toward a more platform-agnostic or “one console” future, which echoes recent comments from Shawn Layden.
We speculate plenty on Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo’s respective 2026 line-ups, whether GTA VI lands this November or perhaps will see another delay. Beyond that, we talk Steam Machines, and throw some predictions for the industry and the year ahead. As always, Community questions from our wonderful Patrons drive further conversations - how did Nick start his journey in video game leaking? Did Flight Simulator play a significant role in Xbox’s multiplatform push? All this and more, so jump in!

It's that most wonderful time of the year! It's the XboxEra Podcast Episode 294 - "The 6th Annual Grubbsmas Shpeshaltacular" - featuring Giant Bomb's Jeff Grubb!

As per tradition, Nick is joined by the lovely Jeff Grubb for the last episode of the year. Nick tells the story of Grubbsmas, and how it came to be, and then it's all about the video games. From Metroid Prime 4, Fallout, new Halo books and the Analog 3D and of course the sad loss of the legendary Vince Zampella.
We also take your community questions, and there might even be a rumourmill - we haven't seen one of those in a while! If you love what we do, there's one way you can support us directly - and that's via Patreon - just head to Patreon.com/xboxera.