Unlocked

After we brought it up on last week's podcast, State of Decay 3 has awoken from its slumber and announced an upcoming community playtest! We talk all about what we want from the upcoming zombie survival/RPG. Plus: our hands-on impressions of the preview version of Forza Horizon 6, Xbox Achievements are getting some welcome improvements, Game Pass has a ton to offer in April, and more!

00:14:24 - Kiln Beta this weekend

00:16:02 - Starfield DLC + Free Lanes Update is out

00:20:58 - State of Decay 3 is alive

00:40:10 - Xbox Achievements are getting a nice update!

00:50:08 - April Game Pass, Wave 1

00:57:40 - Brian Raffel retires & Outro

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After talking about our favorite games from PAX East, we discuss Microsoft's Xbox Showcase announcement – which included news that Gears of War: E-Day will get the coveted "Direct" slot immediately following the event. We dig deep into what that means for the Gears prequel, why Fable might end up being the game that gets bumped to 2027 out of Xbox's stacked 2026 lineup, which studios we might and might not hear from at the Xbox Showcase, and more!

00:00:00 - Intro & What We Played At PAX (Kiln and 4 Penny Coffins

00:02:34 - Rain98

00:05:30 - Lunarium & Cat Secretary

00:10:07 - Xbox Games Showcase & Gears of War: E-Day

00:22:34 - Too Many Xbox Games?

00:24:19 - Will Fable be at the showcase?

00:36:44 - Double Fine: Kiln

00:38:51 - Halo Studios: Campaign Evolved

00:39:31 - inXile: Clockwork Revolution

00:42:27 - Mojang & Ninja Theory

00:46:49 - Playground Games & Rare

00:52:30 - Undead Labs & State of Decay 3

00:58:45 - Arkane, Marvel's Blade, & Blizzard

01:04:09 - This is An Xbox & Outro

#gaming #xbox #gearsofwar

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In episode 734 of Podcast Unlocked, the crew takes the stage to react to the incredibly packed Xbox Partner Showcase. We discuss the biggest reveals, including the new STALKER 2: Cost of Hope DLC, Hades 2 dropping next month, Wuthering Waves finally coming to Xbox, the Yakuza-inspired Stranger than Heaven, and the surprise drop of Super Meat Boy 3D!

Plus, we share our favorite hidden indie gems that we went hands-on with on the PAX East show floor, and wrap things up with a live audience AMA discussing what we all want to see from the next-generation Xbox console.

Terms & Conditions:

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https://www.Trolli.com/xbox

#Xbox #PAXEast2026 #XboxShowcase

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We all played cool games at the Game Developers' Conference last week, and we'd like to tell you about them! Plus: Michael gushes about all the fun he's been having with Marathon before talking to us about his trip to Bethesda to see Starfield's new expansion and interview Todd Howard, LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight gets a new release date, April and May are unbelievably jam-packed full of games we're excited about, and more!

#xbox #gaming #gdc2026

00:00:00 - Intro

00:02:49 - Delphinium

00:06:36 - Dosa Divas

00:10:34 - Nomori

00:15:17 - Mongil: Star Dive

00:18:16 - At Fate's End

00:31:25 - Marathon Update with Michael

00:39:35 - Starfield updates from Michael

00:44:14 - Project Helix thoughts from Miranda and Michael

00:59:23 - Lego Batman's release date changed again?

01:01:02 - April and May Games (Samson: A Tyndalston Story, Replaced, Mouse PI for Hire, Diablo 4 Lord of Hatred)

01:03:13 - Kiln, Mixtape, Saros, 007: First Light, Paralives, Crimson Desert, Yoshi and The Mysterious Book

01:06:32 - Where to Find Us & Outro

This episode of Unlocked is hosted by Ryan McCaffrey and produced by Tayo Oyekan. Technical production is by Marhyan Franzen and Amir Rakib. Technical direction and editing are handled by Nick Maillet. Graphic design is by Justin Vachon. Unlocked is an IGN production and part of the Geek Media network.

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Microsoft has confirmed the rumor that its next-gen console will play PC games. The machine is codenamed Project Helix, and we discuss potential names for the device, how Microsoft must get its messaging right, the advantages it might have over the competition, and much more!

00:00:00 - Intro & Welcome Nugg and MC Fixer

00:24:45 - Sony Returns to Console Exclusivity &

00:31:18 - Project Helix Potential Advantages over PlayStation

00:51:22- Microsoft's GDC 2026 Keynote

01:05:09 - Outro & Where to Find Us

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We've spent time with several big new games that we had a blast with this week, and we'd like to tell you all about them: Resident Evil Requiem, Marathon, Mouse: P.I. for Hire, and Control Resonant. A huge year of gaming continues – join us as we share our impressions of these four!

00:32:26 - Marathon

01:02:18 - Mouse P.I. For hire

01:06:51 - Control Resonant

01:13:24 - Game Pass March, Cyberpunk 2077, & Outro

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Longtime Xbox executive Greg Canessa, aka the Creator of Xbox Live Arcade, joins us to react to, analyze, and quite honestly just process this week's seismic news about Xbox boss Phil Spencer retiring, Xbox President Sarah Bond leaving, and the appointment of new Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma. We discuss Phil's legacy, give our unsolicited advice to Asha for what we'd like to see in her era of Xbox, and more in this extra-long episode!

00:00:00 - Intro & Phil Spencer's Legacy

00:31:56 - Game Pass & Xbox's studio acquisitions

00:47:09 - Asha Sharma

01:13:35 - Sarah Bond Leaves

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Just as we thought things might be lining up for a next-gen Xbox launch in 2027, a new story on hard drive availability has left us wondering if that option might be slipping away. Plus: we go over the new games coming to Xbox that were announced in last week's Sony State of Play, talk through the next wave of Xbox Game Pass additions, and more!

00:00 - Intro

01:06 - Ryan's Thoughts On Reanimal

05:16 - Are Hard Drives the Next-Gen Xbox’s Latest Roadblock?

19:05 - The Biggest Xbox Games From The Sony State of Play

47:27 - Whats Headed to Xbox Game Pass

54:58 - PokemonPlanet

This weeks show is hosted by Ryan McCaffrey, Miranda Sanchez, and Michael Higham. The episode is produced and edited by Nick Maillet

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Remember last week's comments from AMD's CEO about being ready to support a next-gen Xbox launch in 2027? It turns out there's more to the story, so we're discussing what launch timing might make sense for Microsoft, and how we think a BS-free version of Windows 11 is a big key to the whole launch. Plus: can Baldur's Gate 3 make a good HBO TV show? We're going to find out either way, so we talked about what we want to see from the co-showrunner of The Last of US show who's in charge of this project.

00:00:00 - Intro & Replaced Demo

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Two big topics dominate our Xbox show this week: first, Resident Evil Requiem. Our own Michael Higham got to play a few hours of a near-final build, and he came back super excited about what will probably be the biggest game in the first quarter of 2026. And then we discussed AMD's CEO publicly stating that they'd be ready to support a next-gen Xbox launch in 2027, including whether or not we think the next Xbox will beat the PlayStation 6 to market, whether that even matters, and what Microsoft could do to try and get core gamers excited about what promises to be a very different type of console.

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