Defining Duke: An Xbox Podcast

• #238 | Xbox Backs Down - The Outer Worlds 2 PRICE DROP!

  Hell has frozen over! Xbox has moved the price of The Outer Worlds 2 down to $70 after fan backlash. What does this mean for the future of Xbox's lineup and the games industry as a whole? Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement. 0:00:00 - Intro0:21:27 - Health Is Wealth0:35:02 - Clarifying the Fable rumor0:39:57 - MachineGames has multiple projects in development0:42:09 - Contraband lives on0:47:26 - Xbox is working on next gen cloud gaming0:49:54 - Starfield ACTUALLY gets an update1:02:37 - Xbox is adding a play history tab1:05:18 - Oblivion Remaster's Virtuous Studio sees layoffs1:17:08 - From Software has ANOTHER game on the way1:21:14 - Ubisoft on why Star Wars Outlaws failed1:31:53 - Saber Interactive reveals Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival1:35:17 - Battlefield 6 reveal happening this week1:37:39 - Splitgate 2 unlaunches1:42:50 - What We’re Playing2:23:39 - The Outer Worlds is $702:51:39 - No Rest For The Wicked is skipping Xbox3:05:24 - Game Pass Pick Of The Week Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• #237 | We're FINALLY Getting Fallout 5... But There's A Catch...

  Xbox saw Matty was slipping, so in a bold strategy to reel the Dukes back in, they have opted to greenlight Fallout 5. Despite what many will try and say to downplay this, there is a strong chance that Fallout 5 goes beyond the borders of Bethesda for the first time since 2010. Considering it's a mainline entry, this is a massive shakeup. It gets even more dicey when Obsidian Entertainment gets taken off the board. So, who makes a new Fallout game? The 76 team? InXile? Larian? Dare we say, a new studio? Oh, boy. Each choice outside of the obvious like Larian or InXile has their caveats. So, let's get into the thick of the future of the Bethesda's valuable post-apocalyptic IP. Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement. 0:00:00 - Intro/ Health Is Wealth1:08:15 - Arkane Lyon is safe for now1:10:18 - Zenimax hasn't seen layoffs yet1:13:52 - Rare has commented on the layoffs for the first time1:18:24 - Guitar Hero easter egg in Tony Hawk1:22:10 - Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 + 4 is fully on the disc1:23:51 - Forza Horizon 5 sold 2 million copies on PlayStation 51:25:52 - Fallout 76 is getting TV show content1:28:16 - Oblivion Remastered gets a crucial patch… and a physical edition?!1:32:24 - Jez Corden on Starfield’s next DLC1:37:00 - The Alters has sold 280K copies1:38:49 - Ken Levine on Judas1:40:35 - Xbox is paying how much for Game Pass deals?!1:43:49 - Halo 1 Remake rumors1:54:05 - What We’re Playing2:20:40 - Fallout 5 has been greenlit2:52:08 - The Xbox Ally will be $1,000?3:01:19 - King is replacing workers with AI3:12:49 - Coming soon to Xbox Game Pass3:18:01 - Game Pass Pick Of The Week Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• #236 | Goodbye Xbox, Hello Microsoft Gaming!

  A conversation involving such dramatic shifts in the brand requires as much nuance as we can gather! Summoned to the realm of the Dukes are none other than Last Stand Media's own Gene Park and Rick Hoeg to help us sift through the fallout of last week's Xbox layoffs. Any single one of these stories could be our lead for the week, but let's get it started with Microsoft's $80 billion investment in their AI infrastructure. Sadly, it has been reported that this is the root cause of the layoffs. Naturally, an investment to the tune of almost $12 billion more than Activision doesn't sneak up on you. The question we're left asking in wake of these claims is how leadership was able to blindside staff within Xbox despite likely knowing about these impending changes for months. Why meet with teams like Zenimax Online Studios and Romero Games, prepare hardware investments, create long term production plans only to axe them by the following weekend? A fired up Rick Hoeg will certainly let us know how he feels on the matter (IYKYK). Speaking of Zenimax Online Studios, we now have details on the canceled Project Blackbird to parse through thanks to multiple insider reports. Blackbird was an online, open world RPG focusing on shooting and traversal mechanics with a planned release window of 2028. With the pedigree of this studio being clear and the risk being low compared to most live service initiatives out there, why shut down something with such great potential? Well, perhaps that's because in a "hits only" business, you need to go with the guarantee. There's no greater guarantee for money than the Fallout IP and, finally, it appears Xbox has come to their senses. Multiple Fallout games are in production! Reason for celebration, no? We'll get to that. Plus, our thoughts on Helldivers 2 coming to Xbox, a Halo project potentially in trouble, and returning once more to the "Great Game Pass Profitability Debate." Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement. 0:00:00 - Intro0:07:15 - Write Ins1:02:59 - What We’re Playing1:46:33 - Microsoft's $80 billion investment led to last week's layoffs2:40:54 - Details on Project Blackbird3:21:40 - Multiple Fallout games in development3:39:53 - The next Halo game is in trouble?3:50:59 - Helldivers 2 is coming to Xbox on August 26th4:11:14 - The great Game Pass profitability debate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• #235 | Xbox Is A Disaster... - Multiple Games Canceled & The Initiative CLOSED!

  To be apathetic to something is to experience a lack of feeling or emotion in response to an event. For the Dukes, it's the word of the show. Xbox has been mismanaged for an entire generation and it has come at the cost of losing world class talents alongside studios. It was just in 2024 that we lost Tango Gameworks, Arkane Austin, Roundhouse Studios, and Alpha Dog Games. There was also the formidable Toys For Bob that went independent. That alone was more than enough to last us a generation, but today we learned that Xbox has closed down the studio they started back in 2018: The Initiative. Alongside that, Rare's Everwild has been canceled on top of a new IP from Zenimax Online Studios. There's no other way to slice it. For Xbox to improve, leadership must be held accountable. The question is if they ever will and given how situations at teams like Bungie have gone down, we expect a meek, weak willed level of accountability to the bloodbath at Microsoft this week. Indeed, much of the frustration is built off the back of constant, mind-numbing, inconsistent messaging. It was only in February that CEO of Microsoft Gaming, Phil Spencer, said Everwild was really shaping up. It was canceled today. With such wishy-washy messaging to their fans, the brand is at a point where no one can believe anything they say. Sure, a partnership with AMD to do next-generation consoles was announced within the last month. How can we trust that? It's the lowest level of trust asked of a consumer that you can believe an announcement when you see it. Instead, the only message we're left with is that if you're not a mega-hit in the making, Xbox wants to have no part of you. What does this say to teams like Compulsion and Ninja Theory or larger developers like Obsidian that like to split off in pursuit of smaller titles? It's amusing that Xbox has done this in the name of creating a sustainable business yet their methods and approach to making games is arguably the least sustainable thing we've seen. They're all in on a subscription service while putting tens of millions of dollars into making games. How it'll all shake up will be interesting to watch, but many of us know how this story will end. Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement. 0:00:00 - Intro0:02:40 - Health is Wealth
 0:20:27 - Xbox layoffs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• #234 | It's Happening AGAIN - More Xbox Layoffs Inbound...

  It was supposed to be a slow news week, so naturally we talked for almost four hours on the latest in gaming. Heading up our show is a recurrent subject: layoffs at Xbox. Despite Phil's claims about a sustainable business, the cuts keep coming. Of course, that leaves us in a bit of a pickle. What parts of Xbox business are faltering? We're about a year removed from last year where Xbox began shutting down multiple teams, so it's not a far cry to say we may be approaching that point. We haven't seen Game Pass numbers in a hot minute, titles like South Of Midnight and Hellblade 2 have questionable sales at best, and the green team is all but officially confirmed to be out on physical games. So, which is it, if any? We gab quite a bit before leaving it to next week where we'll get official confirmation. Plus, Xbox integrating other PC storefronts into their app, righting the record on Final Fantasy XVI, diving into Lies Of P sales figures, and so much more in what was an unexpectedly meaty (oh!) episode of Defining Duke. Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement. 0:00:00 - Intro0:16:24 - Health Is Wealth0:32:22 - Correcting FF16 information from last week0:41:52 - A new Halo game is releasing… kinda0:54:16 - Meta Quest 3S Xbox Edition announced1:01:46 - SEGA sales data leaks1:14:08 - Persona 4 Revival & Stranger Than Heaven release info1:17:35 - Blood Of Dawnwalker Gameplay deep dive1:22:58 - Cyberpunk 2077 update 2.3 has been delayed1:27:54 - Layoffs headed for Mindseye developer1:40:01 - Blood Message reveal reaction1:43:03 - Rematch devs respond to crossplay issues1:48:34 - Third party Switch 2 sales below estimates1:59:03 - Splitgate 2 devs face layoffs2:12:25 - Lies Of P difficulty settings2:23:24 - What We’re Playing3:08:15 - Major Xbox layoffs inbound3:33:13 - Steam library comes to Xbox PC App3:45:03 - Game Pass Pick Of The Week Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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