#226 | Xbox’s MASSIVE Price Hikes Are Here…

Well, we were ready to have a very positive episode, but here we are! Xbox has gone all the way ahead of most of the competition and confirmed the following. Console and accessories prices are jumping immediately. Xbox game prices will reach $80 by the end of the year. In a world where the first party is mostly producing divisive titles sitting in the ~80 open critic range, you have to imagine Xbox’s financial situation can’t be in a brilliant stop to step on a rake ahead of its competition. Yet, that’s where things get even more interesting. Xbox’s Q3 2025 results saw them at the industry’s top publisher while also being the leader in games sold on PlayStation with at least four of their titles in the top 10. Xbox wants their money and the Dukes have plenty of thoughts on this. Is this going to push even more people into Game Pass? Will this give birth to a free tier of Game Pass? What of Cloud Streaming’s growth when consoles are becoming extremely pricey. Meanwhile, it's already May and it feels as if we have enough fantastic games to begin our voting on Game Of The Year! Expedition 33 is the talk of the town alongside Oblivion and rightfully so, but it's fascinating just how many incredible experiences surround them. Unlikely heroes in Last Defense Academy, sleeper indie hits in Towerborne, and much more are around every corner. Who has time for all of this? Hell if we know, but we're just happy to be on the ride 2025 is taking us on.Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement.0:00:00 - Intro
0:06:28 - Health Is Wealth
0:36:44 - Oblivion reaches 4 million players
0:41:49 - Expedition 33 has sold 1 million copies
0:56:38 - People Can Fly’s Project Maverick revealed
1:02:58 - Borderlands 4 gets new release date
1:08:47 - Wuchang Fallen Feather launches on July 24th, 2025
1:10:56 - Robocop: Rogue City - Unfinished Business launches on July 17th, 2025
1:12:37 - FBC: Firebreak launches on June 17th, 2025
1:16:41 - Tainted Grail: Fall Of Avalon leaves early access on May 23rd
1:19:53 - Baldur’s Gate 3 director on AI
1:29:16 - TMNT Splintered Fate is coming to Xbox and PlayStation
1:37:31 - Kevin Eastman on the TMNT Last Ronin video game
1:41:19 - Capcom teases Resident Evil 9
1:44:18 - Splinter Cell: Blacklist randomly gets Steam achievements
1:47:50 - Elden Ring passes 30 million sales
1:50:11 - Microsoft Q3 Results
1:57:06 - Expedition 33
2:34:24 - Marathon
2:54:19 - Oblivion Remaster
3:16:26 - Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy
3:22:29 - Xbox price increase
4:04:00 - Respawn suffers more layoffs and cancellations
4:19:08 - Game Pass Pick Of The Week

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