Unlocked

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 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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