The XboxEra Podcast

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.

It's almost Christmas, and it's the penultimate show of the year! Join Jon, Nick and Jesse for the XboxEra Podcast Episode 293!
We're finally winding down for the holidays, and both news and reviews are pretty thin on the ground - but that hasn't stopped us from giving it a go! On the reviews front, Gyozo checked out Dora: Rainforest Rescue, and Genghis checked out both Atomic Owl and in VR land, had a play through of Syberia. In Entertainment, Jesse dropped his spoiler filled recap of Fallout Season 2 Episode 1, which is something you can expect right through until the end of Season 2.
Most excitingly though, Aarsal finally released his long-awaited review of Hollow Knight Silksong, to much rejoicing. Lastly, our Community Game of the Year vote poll is now live and open until December 24th - this is your chance to have your say, so please do take a couple of minutes to vote on your favourite games of 2025.
In news, crunch discussion reared it's head thanks to a new report from Jason Schrier about Naughty Dog and their in-progress development of Intergalactic. AI debate also reared its head once again, as beloved developer Larian shared their thoughts on AI use as part of their toolset. Everyone is really mad, but we just love games and quite like to have them to play.
Lastly, we tackle all the latest in community questions from our incredible patrons, and wish all our community a very merry Christmas!