The winds of change are blowing through Xbox! Two of their three leaders that have guided the entire Series generation in Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond are out. Staying is Matt Booty, who was also promoted (!), and joining as the new CEO of Microsoft Gaming is Asha Sharma. Despite Sarah Bond seemingly being groomed as Phil's successor, Asha steps in with a background that touts her as President of Microsoft's CoreAI alongside time spent at Instacart and Meta as an executive leader. Similarly to when Phil inherited the mess from Don Mattrick, Asha has her work cut out for her. Joining the Dukes is none other than the man to blame for all this nonsense, Brad Ellis. Together, the trio comb through the initial Microsoft blog post that broke the news. From there, we dig into an article by Tom Warren of The Verge who lays the blame of many of Xbox's shortcomings at the feet of Sarah Bond. Like many in our audience asked, we discuss if this is a hit piece, the truth, or somewhere in between. Lastly, Asha Sharma and Matt Booty sat down to chat with Jez Corden about the new lay of the land for Xbox. There are some answers and many questionable non-answers that lead to conversations of their own. Together, let's unpack what is a seismic change for Xbox as the brand continues to feel like it's hanging on by a thread.

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

0:00:00 - Intro

0:06:36 - What We’re Playing
0:35:06  Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond depart from Xbox

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It's the Todd Howard show this week! In a mega interview, we have plenty of juicy information to pick through. How are things going with Elder Scrolls VI and what's the direction for that game? What's going on with Creation Engine 3? Are there any new Fallout games enroute? How are things hanging after the TV show? The questions are many, but the answers are far more tantalizing!

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

0:00:00 - Intro
0:14:22 - A reminder to play Lies Of P
0:21:44 - Defining Books
0:27:54 - Checking on Matty’s wardrobe
0:38:19 - What old game would we give DLC to?
0:42:42 - Gabbing about the latest State Of Play
1:07:24 - Steam reviews include PC specs now
1:09:52 - Highguard was “secretly funded” by Tencent
1:20:13 - Do PlayStation exclusives still matter?
1:37:00 - PS6 delayed to 2028 and beyond
1:51:32 - No MTX in Crimson Desert
1:58:22 - Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 dev speaks on multiplatform push
2:04:07 - A new .Hack game was announced
2:06:14 - What We’re Playing
2:36:16 - Todd Howard interview

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As Grand Theft Auto VI begins to lock in its November 19th release date, we're already started to see publishers scramble with their release plans. A recent report out of The Verge firms up that Xbox, like much of this industry, will be attempting to evade the blast zone. As such, they are moving some games up and there's a chance others fall out of the year. Joining Matty this week is Last Stand's own Brad Ellis to talk about everything from Halo Campaign Evolved to Gears Of War: E-Day as we debate and discuss the respective windows of these games. The main question that lingers in our head is if Xbox is avoiding Grand Theft Auto, does that leave December as an option? If not, can all of their 2026 calendar make it out in the anniversary year or would it be best to delay some games into early 2027 for additional polish and breathing room?

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

0:00:00 - Intro
0:02:33 - Health is wealth
0:04:58 - Lies Of P reminder
0:08:39 - A write in section
0:10:40 - Checking in on Brad’s Trails progress
0:17:55 - Book check
0:21:57 - Greedfall vibe check
0:30:17 - Have we played Resident Evil Outbreak?
0:36:27 - Valve breaks silence on the Steam Machine
0:50:31 - Is it safe to lock in GTA 6 for this fall?
0:58:48 - Diablo 2 DLC in 2026
1:05:48 - The absolutely insane Mindseye drama
1:13:59 - Obsidian says it took over 5 years for people to like New Vegas
1:23:29 - Yakuza Kiwami 3 is the final Kiwami game
1:28:31 - Resident Evil Requiem’s game length
1:35:46 - Highguard team suffers layoffs
1:42:59 - 2XKO layoffs
1:51:57 - What We’re Playing
2:21:23 - Xbox’s 2026 release schedule leaked
2:45:28 - Next gen Xbox details leaked

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Xbox's marketing beat for 2025 was "The Year Of Obsidian Entertainment." Frankly, it made sense. No matter how you feel about the quality of these games, the fact that this team shipped Avowed, Outer Worlds 2, and Grounded 2 all within a calendar year (while many other teams within the first party fold continue to stumble around) was worthy of all the praise. Well, Obsidian has some thoughts on that marketing tagline. Indeed of it being a rallying cry, Obsidian's own Josh Sawyer defined as a "sign that something went wrong." Both Avowed and Outer Worlds 2 were in development for over six years and the result is that both these games failed to meet financial expectations. What lessons can they learn after shipping so many games? What can they do to cut development costs? What games should they make to meet Xbox's new profit margins? Part of the solution to the team at Obsidian is Avowed 2, but it's anyone's guess what lies beyond that. Thanks to a transparent conversation with Obsidian, the Dukes now dig into the company with this new perspective.

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

0:00:00 - Intro
0:06:36 - Reading Recs
0:14:58 - Ashes Of Creation is the latest scam in gaming
0:28:31 - The suspicious Dispatch censorship situation
0:36:02 - Is Nioh finally coming to Xbox?
0:45:17 - Tekken Season 3 revealed
0:51:03 - Forza Horizon 6 supports cross save
0:54:24 - Highguard moves up to Mixed on Steam as it gets 5v5 mode
0:57:26 - Ex Bethesda dev talks Morrowind Remaster
1:14:06 - The Amazon Fallout countdown ends
1:21:29 - Epic Games plans to take on Steam
1:26:59 - AI surveys conducted at GDC
1:34:33 - Ubisoft says volunteer to get fired or get fired
1:39:39 - The Division: Definitive Edition isn’t what we expected
1:42:10 - Beyond Good & Evil 2 officially has a pulse
1:43:58 - RIP Comcept
1:48:04 - Cairn passes 200K copies sold
1:50:49 - Nintendo sales update
1:56:53 - What We’re Playing
2:22:05 - The Year Of Obsidian isn’t quite what we made it out to be
2:55:22 - AMD hints at next gen launch plans
3:04:39 - Xbox is the least desired console to develop for

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Well, we've seen our fair share of Xbox earnings reports. As expected, there's a lot of negative discourse around it, but this time there are some more troubling facts resting within these underlying numbers. As we've seen Xbox's hardware has been down for almost two years now. That continues in this quarter, so it is not much of a shocker by this point. That is if you only consider the console and not the recently released Xbox Ally. When it comes to gaming revenue as well as content and services, they're down. This is significant because this is all based on the holiday window where we usually see spending go up. In a window where they had the likes of Call Of Duty, which became the number one selling game of the month in December, they still ended up with losses. The likes of Outer Worlds 2, Keeper, or Ninja Gaiden 4 couldn't do enough, nor should they be fully expected to make up that sort of difference. The sum of it all is despite this being one of Xbox's busier holidays, they couldn't escape a loss and that comes shortly after a Game Pass price hike.

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

0:00:00 - Intro
0:05:04 - Snowy Dukes
0:11:48 - Our workflow
0:19:03 - A second Xbox Developer Direct in 2026?
0:26:37 - Forza Horizon 6’s pricey premium upgrade
0:31:33 - State Of Decay 3 has a pulse
0:39:00 - The Coalition opens up on Gears Of War: E-Day
0:45:14 - Achievement overhaul inbound?
0:50:53 - Xbox Q2 earnings are in
1:04:48 - PS6 after 2028?
1:18:45 - State Of Play and Nintendo Direct in February?
1:22:57 - Beyond Good & Evil 2 has survived the Ubisoft purge
1:30:26 - Indie publishers should be avoided
1:42:37 - Emberville gets a release window
1:45:16 - BioWare is quietly hiring for Mass Effect
1:46:34 - Dragon Ball Age 1000 Announced
1:56:13 - Resident Evil Requiem will not be open world
2:01:17 - Code Veronica Remake is targeting H1 2027
2:03:31 - What We’re Playing
2:50:50 - Xbox realizes the most obvious thing ever
3:05:22 - Brian Fargo opens up on Clockwork Revolution

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Everything from Forza Horizon 6 and Kiln to Beast Of Reincarnation and Fable was shown off here! While the other games made their own noise, the Dukes (including Gene Park) were most captured by Fable. Judging by the noise online, so were many, many other people. For the first time in a long time, it feels like Xbox has a broadly appealing hit on their hands. Playground Games showed off everything from combat and choices to the economic and social simulation elements that always made Fable such a joy to play. With this comes the new introduction of "Living Population" where 1,000 NPCs all have their own hobbies, schedules, voice actors, and conversations. This is all designed to bring to life the replacement for Fable's famous morality system in the form of a reputation system that is similar to what is seen in Fable 3. Are there any snags for the Dukes with these changes? What has us most hyped? It's time to dive into what is now one of the most anticipated games of 2026.

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

0:00:00 - Intro
0:12:57 - Forza Horizon 6
0:20:04 - Beast Of Reincarnation
0:29:07 - Kiln
0:39:05 - Fable
1:30:56 - Ubisoft undergoes massive shakeup
1:43:10 - Fallout TV show thoughts so far
2:22:05 - What We're Playing

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After years of secrecy and many delays, Xbox is set to pull the lid off one of its most anticipated RPGs at the upcoming Developer Direct. First rumored in 2017 and announced in 2020, Fable has been baking at Playground Games, the prolific racing game studio, for a long, long time. Now, Xbox promises a deep dive on everything from combat and choice to British humor and chickens. Is it do or die time for Fable? How does its early year showing shake up the already packed summer showcase? Will we finally get a release date? Perhaps just a release year? Indeed, there are so many questions, but most of these will be announced very shortly!

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

0:00:00 - Intro
0:06:26 - A time games did play for us
0:12:04 - The Rook speaks
0:14:41 - Baby Dukes on the way
0:18:04 - Motivating ourselves after work
0:24:22 - Would Matty interview Todd Howard again?
0:36:29 - Avowed is headed to PS5 with its biggest update yet
0:50:54 - Forza Bros collect their biggest win yet
0:59:50 - Hellblade 3 is the focus
1:10:16 - Towerborne releases February 26 for $25
1:16:55 - Masters Of Albion releases on April 22nd, 2026
1:21:39 - Crimson Desert’s map size debate
1:26:07 - Is ATLUS finally revealing Persona 6 this year?
1:32:43 - Division 3 will have as big an impact as Division 1
1:38:19 - Details on the secret Witcher 3 expansion
1:42:54 - Stellar Blade Boss speaks out on AI use case
1:47:59 - Meta closes several VR studios
1:58:44 - Everything we learned about Divinity in Larian AMA
2:19:46 - What We’re Playing
2:42:16 - Developer Direct confirmed for January 22nd

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Xbox didn't miss a beat to kick off the new year. In a scratch pad by Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, he spoke to how we need to accept AI as slop versus sophistication. As one would imagine, this had the adverse effect as "Microslop" began trending all over social media. The timing could be better as the rise of AI datacenters have caused a massive spikes in hardware prices. So much so that there are now reports that both Xbox and PlayStation may delay their upcoming hardware as a result. The question now becomes if a delayed Xbox system ever sees the light of day since it feels like 2027's new hardware was to be an offramp and the benefit of plans already being in motion. Time would tell, but for now, let's eat some "slop."

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

0:00:00 - Intro
00:05:37 - Holiday break updates
00:17:29 - Fallout season 2 thoughts
00:28:03 - The state of the Health Is Wealth grind
00:33:16 - Vince Zampella passes away at 55
00:49:02 - Bethesda wants to make a 600 hour Fallout game
00:58:11 - Xbox console sales are downright terrible
01:04:04 - A New Witcher 3 expansion in 2025?
01:11:44 - Clair Obscur dev on what’s next
01:18:39 - Sony patents AI playing games for you
01:26:32 - The Ubisoft Holiday Hack
01:29:41 - Update on Exodus leadership changes
01:39:46 - What We’re Playing
02:17:49 - What to expect from Xbox in 2026
02:43:21 - Next gen consoles are delayed?
02:55:51 - Satya Nadella says to stop calling AI “slop”
03:17:58 - Zenimax Lead Departs After Xbox Cancellation

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After 2025, it's safe to say the years of saying "next year is their year" are over for Xbox. When it comes to the prior 24 months, it has not gone according to the Duke's plans whatsoever. With that in mind, we have dared to look ahead in spite of all of that. The games, the unimaginable business decisions, and yes, even hardware. What is in store for this brand next year? Tons of surprises, no doubt, but just how many?

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Xbox has seen a lot of changes in the last two years and that's putting it lightly. Everything from a disconnect with their own base to price hikes galore has led to a near complete disenfranchisement with the brand. Today, the Dukes gather and do their best to scrounge up the positives in a relatively down year. What shined so brightly in 2025 for Xbox? Well, I'm glad you asked...

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As Lord Cognito long predicted, the AI conversation reached a breaking point online when people saw one of the industry's golden children announced that they'll be using generative AI for their game's development. That team is Larian Studios who is responsible for the Divinity franchise alongside the incredible Baldur's Gate 3. The CEO of Larian, Swen Vincke, said that it will be used for mostly pre-production stuff along the lines of whiteboxing or even company e-mails. However, he also let it slip that concept art ideation will be part of that process as an optional tool. Well, social media did not like this at all. It has turned into one of the most split topics to round out 2025. So, where do the Dukes stand? Matty, a longtime critic of AI's usage in development beyond a tool, happens to be a massive Larian fan. Does he bend the knee? What of Lord Cognito who always expected this? Does he blink at such a revelation? Perhaps, it's all overblown. There is a reality where we're years down the line and Larian is on a long list of developers who are all doing the same thing. Time shall tell, but let's chat about what we know for now.

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

0:00:00 - Intro
0:06:25 - Health Is Wealth
0:26:41 - The Xbox Bowl
0:30:12 - Backlog games we want to play in 2026
0:35:09 - Games we missed during The Game Awards
0:38:23 - It’s actually Mega Man 12
0:43:23 - Clearing up some Warhammer nonsense
0:47:26 - Katsuhiro Harada leaves Bandai
0:55:58 - Elder Scrolls VI update
1:12:30 - John Romero’s Xbox game survived cancellation
1:14:55 - New Call Of Duty sub series inbound?
1:23:30 - Exodus gets new leadership
1:33:34 - Expedition 33 gets a new update
1:35:37 - Marathon gets a March 2026 release window
1:44:30 - Phantom Blade 0 is a timed PS5 exclusive
1:45:16 - Dead Island 3 is a long, long ways away
1:46:00 - Star Wars: Fate Of The Old Republic arrives before 2030
1:59:58 - Mega Man Star Force Collections arrives early 2026
2:00:41 - Resident Evil is about to be stacked for a few years
2:01:47 - Updates on Persona 6
2:06:24 - What We’re Playing
2:27:04 - Larian Studios is using generative AI
3:19:35 - Forza Motorsport is done
3:23:10 - Xbox teases Developer Direct

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