Unlocked

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One well-sourced rumor suggests that Xbox won't be backing away from physical media, in the name of backwards compatibility. We discuss what Xbox can and should do to continue offering gamers a choice in how they buy their games. Plus: Xbox's backwards compatibility push reportedly turns to Xbox 360 games on PC, and we revisit some of our favorite semi-obscure 360 games we'd love to see brought forward through this program. We also talk about Xbox's huge new price increase in Europe in the UK, Project...

It's all about Halo this week – save for our first hands-on impressions of Gears of War: E-Day's impressive Horde Siege multiplayer mode at the end of the episode – as we discuss not only our thoughts on the just-released Halo 1 remake, Campaign Evolved, but also the future of Steve Downes in the role of Master Chief, what we'd want (and in Halo 2's case, demand!) from potential remakes of Halo 2 and Halo 3, where the mainline series goes from here, and more!

00:00:00 - Halo: Campaign Evolved 01:06:32 - Gears of War: E-Day

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Fallout: New Vegas game director Josh Sawyer will lead a new Fallout game at Obsidian, giving RPG fans what they've wanted for a long time, even if it's under less-than-ideal industry circumstances. We talk all about this huge new development for Xbox, including what engine it might run on. Plus: id Software is still very much alive, but what will they do next? We debate that before we conclude by lamenting the reported cancellation of a Halo multiplayer project from the studio run by the multiplayer lead on Halo 2.

00:00:00 - Intro & -Obsidian Cancels Avowed 2 for Fallout

The axe has fallen at Xbox, and while the result is thousands more job losses, the silver lining is that no studios are being closed. We try to figure out who might've bought Undead Labs (State of Decay 3) and Ninja Theory (Senua), as well as what the now-independent Double Fine might be working on. Plus: Game Pass's failures and how it might evolve moving forward, and more!

00:00:00 - Intro & Xbox Layoffs

00:20:52 - Future of State of Decay 3

00:30:21 - Future of Ninja Theory

00:35:39 - Future of Double Fine

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Another dreadful week of Xbox news brings reports that State of Decay 3 may get canceled and developer Undead Labs might be shut down, with Arkane and its Marvel's Blade project potentially suffering the same fate. We give our reactions, and also discuss how we'd "reboot" Xbox around its biggest franchises, as it's reported that new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma wants to do.

00:00:00 - Intro

00:02:46 - State of Decay 3 Might be Cancelled

00:24:07 - Development on...

Money is the name of the game this week, from Xbox's third round of price cuts that see the Series S now start at $500 and the Series X start at $750 to GTA coming in at $80 for the base game and $100 for the Ultimate Edition to the Steam Machine pricing reveal and what it might mean for Project Helix. Plus: brutal Bungie layoffs, our "Game of the Year So Far" picks, and more.

This weeks show is hosted by Ryan McCaffrey, MIchael Higham, Miranda Sanchez, and is produced by Nick Maillet

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All of Xbox's good energy and community goodwill instantly evaporated as the honeymoon phase for new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma came to a quick end this week. Her new publicly released memo talked of a "resetting" of Xbox and narrowing profit margins, which has resulted in reports of multiple Xbox studios being either shut down or perhaps spun out independently. We discuss Xbox Game Pass's role in Xbox's problems, Xbox's mismanagement of its studios and franchises over the years, and so much more.

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We've got SO much more to talk about since the Xbox Showcase last weekend. Namely: we got behind-closed-doors looks at Gears of War: E-Day, Fable, and Halo: Campaign Evolved – the latter of which we got to play!

00:00:00 - Intro & Gears of War: E-Day
00:22:07 - Fable
00:42:21 - Halo: Campaign Evolved
00:58:55 - Bad Magpie & Outro

#halo #gearsofwar #xbox

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The Xbox Games Showcase 2026 was packed with major reveals, world premieres, release dates, and surprise announcements. In this complete recap, we cover everything shown, including Gears of War: E-Day launching October 6, Halo: Campaign Evolved and its prequel missions arriving July 28, Fable releasing February 23, 2027, Persona 4 Revival, Persona 6, State of Decay 3, Metro 2039, Wo Long 2, Minecraft Dungeons 2, Spyro: A Realm Beyond, Clockwork Revolution, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 DMZ, and much more. We also break down the biggest Xbox Game Pass news, new gameplay reveals, and every trailer shown during Microsoft's massive 2026 showcase.

Other highlights include Resonance...

New comments by Take-Two's CEO suggest that Grand Theft Auto 6 is looking like it's really going to be released on November 19. So what does that mean for Xbox and its packed Fall slate of games? We lay out two likely scenarios. Plus: what's next for Bungie now that Destiny support is ceasing, The Witcher 3 gets a surprise new expansion pack over a decade after its last one, the developer of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 making a Middle-earth game seems like a match made in RPG heaven, and more! 00:00:00 - 007 First Light

00:13:19 - Mina The Hollower 00:21:43 - Is Xbox...

While we’re together, and before it gets so close to the Xbox Showcase that things start leaking (hopefully not) – the event is just barely over two weeks away! – we thought we’d have fun this week and make our annual Xbox Showcase predictions. You can listen along at home, make your predictions in the Comments section below, and then we can all see how accurate (or not) we were when the Showcase airs on June 7 at 10am PT. 00:00:00 - Intro & Game Pass Friends & Family 00:11:26: - Persona 4 Revival & New Mistwalker Game 00:28:11 - Xbox Controller Leaks 00:38:53 - Blind Taste Testing the Spec...

Our friend Mark Medina makes his long-awaited return to Unlocked to join our discussion on Forza Horizon 6, the latest open-world driving game masterpiece from Playground Games. We give our thoughts on what we've played so far and where we think Horizon might go next. Plus: new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma is reportedly thinking carefully about exclusivity for Xbox moving forward, and big surprise: we've got thoughts! All that and more on this week's Podcast Unlocked!

00:00:00 - Intro & Forza Horizon 6 Impressions

00:26:30 - Where Does Forza Horizon Go Next?

00:35:17 - Xbox's Huge Exclusivity...

It's another busy week of Xbox news as new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma continues to make moves, shaking up the Xbox leadership team and killing Xbox's Copilot AI program in the process. Plus: we geek out over Yakuza developer RGG Studio's new showcase – presented by Microsoft – for its new game Stranger Than Heaven. Plus: Mixtape is a 10 out of 10 and on Game Pass right now, the rest of what's hitting Game Pass over the next week, and more!

00:00:00 - Intro & Stranger Than Heaven Showcase

00:16:17 - Mixtape Review Discussion

00:18:44 - New On Game Pass...

After Michael tells us about the fun time he had at this year's Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival, we spend the rest of the episode discussing Xbox's logo refresh and its new "We Are Xbox" mission statement. There's a LOT to get into here, from affordability to exclusivity to mergers and acquisitions and a whole lot more. Enjoy!

#xbox #gaming #unlocked

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Microsoft has walked back its wild 50% Xbox Game Pass Ultimate price increase from six months ago...mostly. We discuss the bold change and what it means moving forward. Plus: our favorite games from this week's ID@Xbox Showcase, and more!

00:00:00 - Intro & Game Pass Price Decrease 00:18:19 - PC Game Pass & The Future of Game Pass Exclusives 00:42:53 - ID@Xbox 2026 ( Tears of Metal & Crashout Crew) 00:46:56 - RV There Yet? & Escape Academy 2 00:49:49 - Vampire Crawlers & Echo Generations 2 00:52:15 - Deep Dish Dungeon & inKONBINI 00:57:12 - Beastro & LOFSONG & Outro

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Replaced game director Yura Zhdanovich joins us to discuss his just-released Xbox exclusive. He shares insights into the project's origin, getting offered an exclusivity deal from Microsoft, what's next for Sad Cat Studios, and much more! Plus: Pragmata impressions amidst a huge week of awesome new game releases!

00:00:00 - Intro & Replaced Director Interview

00:57:13 - Pragmata Review Discussion

#xbox #replaced #pragmata #gaming

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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! 00:00:00 - Intro & Forza Horizon 6 Talk

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...

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 - Lu...

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...

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...

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 00:04:24 - Project Helix Announcement Reactions & Potential Names

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

...

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! 00:00:00 - Resident Evil Requiem

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

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...

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...

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...

In a marathon two-hour episode, our friends from Outside Xbox join us to discuss the Top 20 games in our collaborative Top 100 Xbox Games of All Time list. We share stories, memories, and more from each of these 20 incredible Xbox games that have stood the test of time, from Halo(s) to Mass Effect(s) to GTA 5 and plenty more! 00:00:00 - Intro 00:05:24 - Halo Reach, Mass Effect, Fez 00:21:59 - Gears of War 2, Read Dead Redemption, Ninja Gaiden Black, Fable 2 00:43:46 - Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, Oblivion, COD 4, KOTOR 01:10:19 - Halo, Forza Horizon 5, Inside, Bioshock 01:30:32 - Halo 2, Gears of War 3 01:47:35 - Top 3...

Part one of our Top 100 Xbox Games of All Time conversation is here! We're talking about the games that mean a lot to us from 100-26 on our list. There will be games you remember, games that make you go, "Oh yeah, that one!", and maybe some games that are new to you. Come back next week for part two when we dig into the top games on the list! 00:00:00 - Intro & Fallout 3 00:12:20 - The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind 00:19:31 - Fusion Frenzy & 1 vs 100 00:28:17 - Rainbow Six: Vegas & Street Fighter IV 00:37:02 - Full Spectrum Warrior & Mirror's Edge 00:45:21 - Halo 4 & Lost...

In this episode, we react to everything shown at Xbox’s latest Developer Direct, with deep dives into Fable, Forza Horizon 6, a surprise reveal from Double Fine Productions, and a brand-new project from Game Freak. Big reactions, big speculation, and a whole lot of excitement. 00:00:00 - Intro & Fable Deep-Dive

00:37:50 - GameFreak + Beasts of Reincarnation

00:47:25 - Doublefine + Kiln

00:53:56 - Forza Horizon 6 & Outro

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Xbox's now-annual early-year showcase returns next week! We know Fable and Forza Horizon 6 will be there, but what else will show up? We've got predictions. Plus: Hellblade and Wolfenstein are reportedly getting new sequels, Forza Horizon 5 is still selling huge all these years later, The Witcher 3 might drop a new expansion many years after the last one, Anthem shuts down, renowned Xbox 360-era developer Twisted Pixel is closed, and more!

00:00:00 - Xbox Developer Direct Predictions

00:20:06 - Ninja Theory is working on Hellblade 3

00:28:49 - Wolfenstein 3 may be on the way

The Xbox world lost two wonderful people over the holidays: longtime Microsoft hardware team member Albert Penello and game industry legend Vince Zampella, whose credits include co-creating Call of Duty, Titanfall, Apex Legends, and many more. Xbox marketing boss Aaron Greenberg joins us to remember Albert, who was an absolute joy to everyone he met and who he knew extremely well both at and outside of work. And then we spend the rest of the episode talking about Vince and the great guy he was as well as the monumental impact he had on both the Xbox (Call of...

What to do during a quiet holiday week with no news? How about we argue amongst ourselves? Haha well sort of: we decided to rank the four Xbox console day-one launch lineups we've had so far, and let's just say we definitely did not all agree on how these rankings should go. Enjoy and happy holidays!

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

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We didn't get any reveals from Xbox at this year's Game Awards, but there's some very good news: we're going to see a lot more from them very soon. We talk all about what Xbox's 2026 Developer Direct might look like, and then discuss our favorite Game Awards reveals.

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

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Our Xbox crew kicks off by going over IGN's nominees for Best Xbox Game of 2025 before giving our individual picks, and then we get to the big topic this week: new comments by Xbox's VP of Next-Gen that seem to suggest we're getting SOMETHING next year. Whether that's just an announcement or an actual console as well remains to be seen, but we discuss it. Plus: the KOTOR remake isn't dead, the Assassin's Creed: Black Flag remake is very much alive, and more! 00:00:00 - Intro & Xbox's GOTY 00:08:03 - Xbox's 2026 00:31:23 - KOTOR Remake 00:46:46 - Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Remake 00:53:51...

On this week's Xbox show, we've got good news on the long-dormant Splinter Cell Remake project that has us optimistic that a new Sam Fisher adventure might actually see the light of day. Plus: GTA 6 suffers a small but very weird leak, IO Interactive has a full plate that includes Hitman 4, CD Projekt Red has set a very ambitious schedule for its upcoming The Witcher trilogy, and more!

00:00:00 - Intro

00:13:30 - Splinter Cell Remake Update

00:29:50 - New GTA 6 Leaks

00:37:17 - Hitman 4 Update

00:53:05 - Witcher 4

01:03:43 - December GamePass...

Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb, the longtime public face of Xbox at Microsoft, joins us for a special Xbox 360 episode as the most successful Xbox console ever celebrates its 20th anniversary. Larry shares a ton of great stories and even shows off a bunch of rare souvenirs from that era. You're not going to want to miss this episode!

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The Winners from Xbox’s Partner Showcase (Fall 2025) – Unlocked 716We recorded this week's episode live immediately following Xbox's Fall 2025 Partner Preview showcase, where we got updated looks at known quantities like Reanimal, Tides of Annihilation, and 007: First Light. But we also got a number of reveals from intriguing new games like Erosion, Echo Generation 2, Vampire Crawlers, and more. Enjoy our reactions!

00:03:17 - Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard

00:06:28 - Tides of Annihilation

00:09:37 - Erosion

00:14:02 - Echo Generation 2

00:18:55 - Armatus

00:24:23 - The Mound: Omen of Chthulu

In a jam-packed episode of our Xbox show, we discuss Grand Theft Auto 6's delay and how it hits Xbox harder than any other publisher. Plus: Valve's new Steam Machine will seemingly be competing directly with Xbox's next-gen console/PC hybrid efforts, Halo Infinite's support is in fact finite, why we think Mass Effect 5 is BioWare's last chance as a studio, our confidence level in The Elder Scrolls 6 despite it being many years away, and more!

This weeks show is Ryan McCaffrey, Michael Higham, Miranda Sanchez, and is produced by Nick Maillet

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Our special guest this week is Obsidian's Brandon Adler, the Game Director on The Outer Worlds 2. He tells us about how the team's new RPG has been received so far, what kind of stuff hit the cutting room floor, what got prototyped but never made it into the game, how other games influence them, getting advice from the RPG legends in the building, and more!

This weeks show is Ryan McCaffrey, Michael Higham, and is produced by Nick Maillet

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Old-school Xbox fans will get a little extra enjoyment out of this week's episode, which welcomes Ryan's old Official Xbox Magazine podcasting partner Dan Amrich, now a developer at Digital Eclipse, for a KOXM Radio reunion to discuss his team's comprehensive new release, Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection. Dan goes into great detail about how much meticulous care and effort went into the Legacy Kollection in order to make it into a "playable museum exhibit."

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