Defining Duke: An Xbox Podcast

Well, we've seen our fair share of Xbox earnings reports. As expected, there's a lot of negative discourse around it, but this time there are some more troubling facts resting within these underlying numbers. As we've seen Xbox's hardware has been down for almost two years now. That continues in this quarter, so it is not much of a shocker by this point. That is if you only consider the console and not the recently released Xbox Ally. When it comes to gaming revenue as well as content and services, they're down. This is significant because this is all based on the holiday window where we usually see spending go up. In a window where they had the likes of Call Of Duty, which became the number one selling game of the month in December, they still ended up with losses. The likes of Outer Worlds 2, Keeper, or Ninja Gaiden 4 couldn't do enough, nor should they be fully expected to make up that sort of difference. The sum of it all is despite this being one of Xbox's busier holidays, they couldn't escape a loss and that comes shortly after a Game Pass price hike.

Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement.

0:00:00 - Intro0:05:04 - Snowy Dukes0:11:48 - Our workflow0:19:03 - A second Xbox Developer Direct in 2026?0:26:37 - Forza Horizon 6’s pricey premium upgrade0:31:33 - State Of Decay 3 has a pulse0:39:00 - The Coalition opens up on Gears Of War: E-Day0:45:14 - Achievement overhaul inbound?0:50:53 - Xbox Q2 earnings are in1:04:48 - PS6 after 2028?1:18:45 - State Of Play and Nintendo Direct in February?1:22:57 - Beyond Good & Evil 2 has survived the Ubisoft purge1:30:26 - Indie publishers should be avoided1:42:37 - Emberville gets a release window1:45:16 - BioWare is quietly hiring for Mass Effect1:46:34 - Dragon Ball Age 1000 Announced1:56:13 - Resident Evil Requiem will not be open world2:01:17 - Code Veronica Remake is targeting H1 20272:03:31 - What We’re Playing2:50:50 - Xbox realizes the most obvious thing ever3:05:22 - Brian Fargo opens up on Clockwork Revolution
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Everything from Forza Horizon 6 and Kiln to Beast Of Reincarnation and Fable was shown off here! While the other games made their own noise, the Dukes (including Gene Park) were most captured by Fable. Judging by the noise online, so were many, many other people. For the first time in a long time, it feels like Xbox has a broadly appealing hit on their hands. Playground Games showed off everything from combat and choices to the economic and social simulation elements that always made Fable such a joy to play. With this comes the new introduction of "Living Population" where 1,000 NPCs all have their own hobbies, schedules, voice actors, and conversations. This is all designed to bring to life the replacement for Fable's famous morality system in the form of a reputation system that is similar to what is seen in Fable 3. Are there any snags for the Dukes with these changes? What has us most hyped? It's time to dive into what is now one of the most anticipated games of 2026.

Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement.

0:00:00 - Intro0:12:57 - Forza Horizon 60:20:04 - Beast Of Reincarnation0:29:07 - Kiln0:39:05 - Fable1:30:56 - Ubisoft undergoes massive shakeup1:43:10 - Fallout TV show thoughts so far2:22:05 - What We're Playing
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After years of secrecy and many delays, Xbox is set to pull the lid off one of its most anticipated RPGs at the upcoming Developer Direct. First rumored in 2017 and announced in 2020, Fable has been baking at Playground Games, the prolific racing game studio, for a long, long time. Now, Xbox promises a deep dive on everything from combat and choice to British humor and chickens. Is it do or die time for Fable? How does its early year showing shake up the already packed summer showcase? Will we finally get a release date? Perhaps just a release year? Indeed, there are so many questions, but most of these will be announced very shortly!

Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement.

0:00:00 - Intro0:06:26 - A time games did play for us0:12:04 - The Rook speaks0:14:41 - Baby Dukes on the way0:18:04 - Motivating ourselves after work0:24:22 - Would Matty interview Todd Howard again?0:36:29 - Avowed is headed to PS5 with its biggest update yet0:50:54 - Forza Bros collect their biggest win yet0:59:50 - Hellblade 3 is the focus1:10:16 - Towerborne releases February 26 for $251:16:55 - Masters Of Albion releases on April 22nd, 20261:21:39 - Crimson Desert’s map size debate1:26:07 - Is ATLUS finally revealing Persona 6 this year?1:32:43 - Division 3 will have as big an impact as Division 11:38:19 - Details on the secret Witcher 3 expansion1:42:54 - Stellar Blade Boss speaks out on AI use case1:47:59 - Meta closes several VR studios1:58:44 - Everything we learned about Divinity in Larian AMA2:19:46 - What We’re Playing2:42:16 - Developer Direct confirmed for January 22nd
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Xbox didn't miss a beat to kick off the new year. In a scratch pad by Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, he spoke to how we need to accept AI as slop versus sophistication. As one would imagine, this had the adverse effect as "Microslop" began trending all over social media. The timing could be better as the rise of AI datacenters have caused a massive spikes in hardware prices. So much so that there are now reports that both Xbox and PlayStation may delay their upcoming hardware as a result. The question now becomes if a delayed Xbox system ever sees the light of day since it feels like 2027's new hardware was to be an offramp and the benefit of plans already being in motion. Time would tell, but for now, let's eat some "slop."

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Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement.

0:00:00 - Intro00:05:37 - Holiday break updates00:17:29 - Fallout season 2 thoughts00:28:03 - The state of the Health Is Wealth grind00:33:16 - Vince Zampella passes away at 5500:49:02 - Bethesda wants to make a 600 hour Fallout game00:58:11 - Xbox console sales are downright terrible01:04:04 - A New Witcher 3 expansion in 2025?01:11:44 - Clair Obscur dev on what’s next01:18:39 - Sony patents AI playing games for you01:26:32 - The Ubisoft Holiday Hack01:29:41 - Update on Exodus leadership changes01:39:46 - What We’re Playing02:17:49 - What to expect from Xbox in 202602:43:21 - Next gen consoles are delayed?02:55:51 - Satya Nadella says to stop calling AI “slop”03:17:58 - Zenimax Lead Departs After Xbox Cancellation
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After 2025, it's safe to say the years of saying "next year is their year" are over for Xbox. When it comes to the prior 24 months, it has not gone according to the Duke's plans whatsoever. With that in mind, we have dared to look ahead in spite of all of that. The games, the unimaginable business decisions, and yes, even hardware. What is in store for this brand next year? Tons of surprises, no doubt, but just how many?
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