Defining Duke: An Xbox Podcast

The latest release by Halo Studios is here! While the run up to this launch has been far from clean, how does this game fare when separated from the noise? The Dukes who have deep ties to this game unpack it from the ‘super fan’ angle before rolling into what this means for those who have never played a Halo game. It’s a strange one, but we’ll do our best as always! Timestamps: Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement. 0:00 - Intro4:51 - Health Is Wealth21:06 - Hits Only versus New IP40:35 - Xbox Reveals Backward Compatibility for PC53:20 - Xbox’s Messaging on Exclusivity Gets Messy Again1:03:31 - Xbox Leadership Reportedly Detests Game Pass1:20:14 - Halo Roadmap Leaks from Rebs Gaming1:35:07 - Marathon’s Director Bows Out1:48:29 - Circana’s Dooming News for Physical Game Lovers2:13:07 - KOTOR Remake in 2028?2:20:14 - What We’re Playing (Halo)3:07:26 - Bethesda Lays Out the Roadmap for Their Future3:56:54 - Wrap Up Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Sign up for your $1 per month trial period at https://www.shopify.com/duke Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement. 0:00:00 - Intro0:06:36 - Reading Recs0:14:58 - Ashes Of Creation is the latest scam in gaming0:28:31 - The suspicious Dispatch censorship situation0:36:02 - Is Nioh finally coming to Xbox?0:45:17 - Tekken Season 3 revealed0:51:03 - Forza Horizon 6 supports cross save0:54:24 - Highguard moves up to Mixed on Steam as it gets 5v5 mode0:57:26 - Ex Bethesda dev talks Morrowind Remaster1:14:06 - The Amazon Fallout countdown ends1:21:29 - Epic Games plans to take on Steam1:26:59 - AI surveys conducted at GDC1:34:33 - Ubisoft says volunteer to get fired or get fired1:39:39 - The Division: Definitive Edition isn’t what we expected1:42:10 - Beyond Good & Evil 2 officially has a pulse1:43:58 - RIP Comcept1:48:04 - Cairn passes 200K copies sold1:50:49 - Nintendo sales update1:56:53 - What We’re Playing2:22:05 - The Year Of Obsidian isn’t quite what we made it out to be2:55:22 - AMD hints at next gen launch plans3:04:39 - Xbox is the least desired console to develop for Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices