Defining Duke, Episode 73: Is It Time to Cancel Xbox Game Pass? (Patreon)

As Cog would say, "the Twitter streets are getting hot!" We have seen the conversation surrounding Xbox turn up to 11 as cooler heads refuse to prevail. Now, many are announcing their exit of Xbox's crown jewel: Game Pass. To make matters more interesting, Xbox Game Pass fanned the flames with a "dunk" on Kotaku bringing to light a potential weakness in their offering. So, joining the zeitgeist, is it truly time to cancel your subscription? The Duke have some thoughts on the matter. To make matters worse for some, it has been confirmed that Xbox turned down an exclusive deal with Marvel to work on their IP. As we know, PlayStation took that ball, ran with it, and now it is a major piece of the pie they offer fans. Is this a decision that Phil and his team regret? Matty and Cog parse through the timeline and get into what transpired here.

Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Intro

0:02:21 - Keighley says to expect fewer third-party showcases.

0:05:07 - Temtem is coming to Xbox in September.

0:06:53 - Destroy All Humans! - Clone Carnage has been leaked by Xbox.

0:08:38 - Modern Warfare 2 arrives October 28th. 

0:13:09 - Norman Reedus has leaked Death Stranding 2.

0:15:18 - Lord of the Rings: Gollum will release September 1st.

0:16:13 - The Witcher 3’s next gen version will release Q4 2022.

0:18:11 - Replaced has been delayed until 2023.

0:18:53 - Game Pass got a lot of support on Twitter last week.

0:22:16 - Limited Run is making a physical edition of TMNT Shredder's Revenge for Xbox.

0:25:44 - Does Cog’s laugh sound like Mr. Krab?

0:26:42 - The Duke’s will teach you French.

0:28:50 - Grunts are affecting the mail/male.

0:30:14 - What we’ve been playing.

0:44:18 - Should Xbox bring achievements to original Xbox titles??

0:54:18 - Has Xbox lowered the Game Pass goal posts?

1:12:10 - Why don’t PlayStation and Xbox copy Nintendo’s genres more?

1:18:00 - Why does everyone want to be bought?

1:22:01 - Reports say that EA and NBC nearly merged.

1:27:22 - Xbox turned down an offer to make Marvel games as exclusives.

1:40:32 The Activision acquisition is moving along nicely.

1:44:19 - Capcom is contemplating revivals for dormant IP.

1:47:54 - Dragon’s Dogma is celebrating its 10th anniversary.

1:55:24 - A Raven QA union has voted to become recognized by Activision Blizzard.

2:00:10 - A TCL press conference reveals Xbox has plans for a mid-generation console update.

2:03:55 - Game Pass pick of the week.

2:11:10 - Has a game ever made us cry with laughter?

2:14:22 - What do we listen to while working out?

2:23:01 - Why are timed exclusives frowned upon while buying studios for exclusives is not?

2:34:45 - Should Xbox put pressure on Japanese publishers?

2:41:03 - Game Trials - detrimental or helpful to quality?