Defining Duke, Episode 59: PlatinumGames Wants Xbox To Acquire Them + PlayStation Censorship (Patreon)

It's a jumbled mess of news this week. Xbox's messaging continues to puzzle the Dukes as Phil Spencer has claimed he wants games like Starfield to be the most played Todd Howard game yet it has the most walls surrounding it. We see "popular Activision Blizzard titles" are remaining multi-platform, so the situation for Bethesda is different. Will this energy be maintained in future deals? That will be most telling and it's possible that Microsoft has a potential candidate. PlatinumGames can't help but want to work with Xbox as it has been two weeks straight of them making headlines with their desires. Last week, it was a Scalebound revival. Now? It's the desire to be acquired. Furthermore, PlayStation is at the center of another "censorship" discussion. This time, the subject is Martha Is Dead which is modifying content and thus delaying the physical release of the indie developer LKA's game. How far can these platform holders be allowed to go and how often should it actually occur? There is much to discuss, so let's settle in and have a chat.

Timestamps:
0:00:00 - Intro

0:04:30 - Some smaller news items and follow-ups.

0:13:43 - What we’ve been playing.

0:20:37 - What’s up with the fashion choices?

0:25:21 - CrossfireX is… not good.

0:36:38 - Why did Cyberpunk’s next-gen update launch when it did?

0:42:30 - How often is leg day?

0:51:50 - Will we get a remake of Fallout 1 or 2?

0:56:59 - Phil Spencer has high hopes for the future of Xbox Game Studios.

1:05:45 - Martha Is Dead will not be censored on Xbox or PC.

1:15:59 - PlatinumGames has gone from asking to begging to be acquired.

1:32:42 - Marty O’Donnell’s lawsuit against Microsoft could delay the Halo TV series.

1:38:40 - The Lord of the Rings franchise is coming up for auction.

1:47:20 - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has been confirmed for release this year.

1:56:03 - Coming soon to and leaving from Game Pass.

2:01:48 - Game Pass pick of the week.

2:08:22 - How much time did we spend gaming in our younger years?

2:12:48 - When will we hear about Avowed?

2:24:17 - Do we have a backlog problem?

2:30:14 - How do we prefer to consume games?

2:33:01 - How do we rank Arkane’s library?