#203 | This Is An Xbox Podcast

Contrary to their usual behavior, Xbox's communication has left no room for guessing as of late. In a recent marketing campaign titled "This Is An Xbox," the team showed a plethora of devices that you can access the Xbox ecosystem from. Following our conversation about Phil Spencer's interview with Bloomberg, the message already seemed clear that multi-platform is the future. Now, that message is crystal clear and there is no going back. The Dukes dive into the meaning behind this ad and, of course, what caveats may lie within their messaging as Phil was quick to assure console users that there would be more hardware. With plummeting hardware sales, why would Xbox seemingly abandon an install base of over 30 million users and risk damaging the start of their next generation? This becomes an even bigger question when their push on mobile is in its early beginnings and its PC app desperately needs work. The Xbox experience is best on the console, so what gives? Naturally, we have a lot to say on that, but we also have much to say on GAMES! The Dukes had a chance to go hands-on with Avowed in a digital preview event and things are shaping up quite nicely for Obsidian's next RPG. We get into the thick of our builds, choices, exploration, and even some bugs. We also dive into the hotly anticipated S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 which has faced much adversity in its lead up to launch. Now it's here and Matty has some thoughts after over 15 hours with the game so far. Plus more on Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024's disastrous launch, The Game Awards GOTY nominee kerfuffle, Starfield's November update, and plenty more in an episode with seemingly endless subjects to dive into! Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement. 0:00:00 - Intro 0:11:51 - Game Awards GOTY nominees 0:29:02 - Starfield's November Update 0:30:42 - Todd Howard’s takeaway on Shattered Space 0:42:48 - Microsoft Flight Sim 2024's chaotic launch 0:50:55 - Atomfall gets a release date 0:53:52 - Assassin's Creed Syndicate gets a next generation patch 0:59:48 - Kunitsu-Gami: Path Of The Goddess failed to hit its sales targets 1:03:52 - Remedy's shocking sales and budget transparency 1:07:55 - Embracer Group continues to plummet 01:13:21 - Dynasty Warriors Origins gets demo on November 22 1:13:52 - What We’re Playing 2:10:24 - This is an Xbox advertisements 2:33:56 - Sony is looking into purchasing the Kadokawa Corporation 2:56:22 - Avowed is coming to Battle Net and has 5 days of early access 3:11:19 - Coming soon to Xbox Game Pass 3:14:20 - Game Pass Pick Of The Week Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices