Our Xbox crew discusses a significant management shake-up at the top of 343 Industries, Sony boss Jim Ryan's public airing of Call of Duty-related grievances against Phil Spencer and Microsoft, the biggest news from the weekend's Disney/Marvel and Ubisoft showcases, the new Xbox Elite controller, and more!

IGN's Kat Bailey joins Destin and Ryan to discuss the latest leak surrounding Microsoft's seemingly imminent Xbox Game Pass Friends & Family subscription plan. We speculate what it might cost, and how it further adds to Game Pass's already-amazing value proposition. Plus: we talk Madden NFL 23 and sports video games, debate what we want out of the just-announced new Mafia game (including when we want it to be set), and more!

Xbox brought plenty of content to Gamescom, and now we've got a clear picture of what the holiday lineup looks like for Xbox gamers. Plus: Xbox commits to maintaining Xbox prices after Sony raised the price of PS5 in many major territories, Phil Spencer hints at his next acquisition priorities, and more!

This week, Ryan’s back from a long-needed vacation! We catch up on a new Lord of the Rings game coming from Weta Workshop and Private Division as well as talk about games we’re looking forward to hearing about at Gamescom next week! We also anticipate Marvel and Disney rolling out a brand new Games Showcase next month! Tons of fun stuff today, so join us in the comments!

TIMECODES:

00:00:00 - Intro
00:04:50 - Private Division Working on a LOTR Game. Here's what we want.
00:18:39 - Xbox’s gamescom Showcase News
00:37:10 - Disney & Marvel’s Games Showcase Coming Sept. 9th
00:46:30 - Even More Game Delays!
00:50:16 - Outro

With the news that the Xbox Series S Performance Boost benefiting developers after direct feedback, the Podcast Unlocked crew discusses the success of the Series S console and why they like it. In addition Activision Blizzard not only covered off on an upcoming Modern Warfare stream in the coming months, but there were also a few news bits about the merger with Microsoft that we missed last week. There was a hefty bit of news to discuss this week so join us as we discuss each story together this week on IGN's Podcast Unlocked.

As two more big games get pushed into 2023 (Lord of the Rings: Gollum and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora), we take a look at the crush of major releases coming to Xbox next year and discuss what we're most looking forward to. Plus: a discussion on Ubisoft's latest Ghost Recon and Splinter Cell project cancellations and why we've been a bit disappointed in the major publisher in recent times.

TIMECODES:

00:00:00 - Intro
00:01:08 - Our Thoughts on Ask Dusk Falls & FH5 Hot Wheels DLC 00:08:45 - More Games Delayed to 2023!
00:31:25 - What’s Up with Ubisoft?
00:50:53 - Unlocked Block Trivia & Outro

Lots of Halo Infinite talk this week! First we discuss our hands-on impressions of the just-released online co-op beta, then we dive into the wave of key staff departures from the Infinite development team and wonder if it’s a bad sign for a game that’s supposed to be a long-term platform for the future of Halo. Plus: Grounded gets a TV show adaptation, and more!

TIMECODES:

00:00:00 - Intro & SDCC Info!
00:02:18 - Halo Infinite Co-op Campaign Beta is great!
00:13:15 - Halo Veteran Devs Start a New AAA Studio
00:39:56 - Grounded Gets a TV Adaptation
00:47:58 - As Dusk Falls & New Game Pass Games
00:55:00 - Unlocked Block Trivia & Outro

The Halo caretakers and developers at 343 Industries are making a major piece of lost Halo history playable: the infamous Halo 2 E3 2003 campaign demo that never made it into the final game. We react to this fantastic surprise and recall the Halo 2 hype from that time. Plus: a plea for proper, native Xbox Game Pass support on the Steam Deck, our thoughts on the potential Apex Legends Universe single-player game that Respawn might be making (aka Titanfall 3?), our reaction to the long-awaited gameplay reveal of Skull & Bones, and more!

TIMECODES:

00:00:00 - Intro 00:08:56 - Halo 2 Earthcity Demo Returning? 00:27:00 - Respawn Hiring for an Unannounced Single Player Game 00:36:03 - Skull and Bones Finally Gets a Release Date 00:45:55 - Games with Gold Removing Xbox 360 Games Soon 00:50:25 - Unlocked Block Trivia & Outro

As a talented and decorated game developer joins BioWare to work on the next Mass Effect game, we discuss what the nature of her role means for when we can reasonably expect Mass Effect 5 to get done. Spoiler: it's probably going to be quite a while! Plus: predictions for Ubisoft's just-announced September showcase, your chance to try out Halo Infinite's campaign co-op mode, and more!

TIMECODES:
00:00:00 - Intro & GotG writer Mary DeMarle joins BioWare
00:24:01 - Ubisoft 'Multi-Game' Showcase Coming in September
00:34:04 - GTA IV and Red Dead Redemption remasters scrapped?
00:41:56 - New Co-op mode for Halo Infinite
00:49:12 - Game Pass Games for July
00:54:40 - Unlocked Block Trivia & Outro

Yes, you're reading that right: Xbox Series X and S outsold the PS5 in Japan, of all places, both individually and combined. We discuss this small victory for Xbox in Japan as well as the bigger picture. Plus: we debate the proposed inclusion of microtransactions in Halo: The Master Chief Collection and their effect on the industry at large (including the upcoming Diablo 4), our reaction to Overwatch 2 overwriting the original game, and more!

TIMECODES
0:00 - Intro
1:25 - Xbox Outsells PlayStation in Japan
22:57 - Halo Master Chief Collection Gets Microtransactions
43:39 - Will Microsoft Change Blizzard's Microtransaction Tactics?
51:38 - Overwatch 2 Replacing Original Game
59:10 - July Xbox Games With Gold
1:00:11 - DICE Doubling Down on Battlefield
1:06:54 - Tony Hawk 3 and 4 Remasters Cancelled
1:11:31 - Trivia and Outro