Is Xbox Speedrunning an Exit With Project Helix?

Halo and Destiny hitmaker Bungie released Marathon earlier this month. It’s the legendary studio’s first game following Sony splurging $3.6 billion to acquire it. While there’s a lot of things in this extraction shooter that make it compelling to play, there’s also a lot of friction that make it impenetrable for some. And while certain sections of the internet might croon that it’s Concord 2.0 (probably the same lot fetishising Nvidia’s DLSS 5), Marathon’s actually a pretty solid game. We explain why in the first half of the Day Zero Podcast. Oh, and if you want to win a limited edition Marathon DualSense controller, subscribe to us on Substack if you haven’t already. Winner to be announced in two weeks.After that we talk about Microsoft’s new Xbox moves or lack thereof. At GDC 2026 Xbox revealed more details on Project Helix, the next iteration of its consoles. While a slew of technical information was made public, there was little in the way of innovation spoken and even less in terms of Xbox Game Pass, likely lending credence to the deprioritisation of a service some have referred to as ‘Welfare Pass’.Furthermore, the way forward seems to indicate lip service in terms of video games preservation rather than an earnest attempt at it.Finally we discuss Xbox’s duality in terms of keeping AI away from game development but still shoehorning it into Xbox Series X|S with Copilot coming in an update to the consoles.This is Day Zero. It is a podcast about video games breaking down the bytes and bits behind the decisions that make and break the world’s greatest entertainment industry. Have a request? Hot take? Insider tip? Reach us at the handles mentioned below:* Twitter/X - @RishiAlwani* Threads - @rishi.alwani* Instagram - @rishi.alwani* Twitter/X - @darthrahul* Threads - @darthrahul* Instagram - @darthrahul This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dayzeromedia.substack.com