Defining Duke, Episode 101 | Xbox's WORST Week? - Game Awards No Show, $70 Games, & FTC Sues... (Patreon)

Xbox's conclusion to 2022 is rather thematic as it matches the vibe of the overall year: Disappointing. While we began on the high of the Activision Blizzard deal, swift delays of Starfield and Redfall as well as a vacant first half of the year painted an all too familiar picture. With the windows closing for Starfield, Redfall, and Forza Motorsport respectively to be dated for the first half of 2023, it was stunning to see Xbox not only skip out on showing anything from those games, but not show up in any form. To make matters worse for them, this all happened on the same day that the FTC had announced they will be suing Microsoft to block the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. With the deal now in jeopardy despite announced deals with both Nintendo and Steam, Xbox's one saving grace in 2022 may be dashed away into nothing more than an extensive headache. If that wasn't enough, this is also the week we learned that all first party games would be $70 moving forward. After all that has transpired, it undoubtedly places more pressure on these three games to perform exceedingly well for Xbox or we may reach another low for them in this generation.

Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Intro

0:05:59 - Shoutout to Gene Park!

0:06:53 - Newer games will play on the Xbox VCR (via cloud)

0:08:28 - Some small corrections

0:09:38 - Indiana Jones gets a new director

0:12:59 - Halo Infinite’s multiplayer director has left 343

0:17:44 - Diablo 4 previews are on the way

0:22:16 - A Dragon Ball Super card game has been announced

0:26:15 - Bethesda has begun to unionize their QA workers

0:29:59 - Spongebob and The Cosmic Shake drops on January 31

0:32:50 - The Skywalker Saga and Hello Neighbor 2 have come to Game Pass

0:34:32 - An Uncharted reboot is on the table

0:36:24 - Yuji Naka has been arrested again

0:39:26 - Phil Spencer is making more Call of Duty deals

1:05:24 - What we’ve been playing

1:26:11 - What are our thoughts on the Xbox price hike?

1:34:56 - Why is everyone throwing a fit over review scores?

1:44:40 - The Game Awards - Overview

2:01:41 - The Game Awards - Pre-show

2:04:31 - The Game Awards - Christopher Judge

2:05:59 - The Game Awards - HADES 2

2:07:22 - The Game Awards - JUDAS

2:10:22 - The Game Awards - Bayonetta Origins: Cereza

2:10:49 - The Game Awards - Destiny 2 Lightfall

2:13:30 - The Game Awards - Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League

2:15:41 - The Game Awards - Star Wars Jedi Survivor

2:18:43 - The Game Awards - Earthblade

2:19:38 - The Game Awards - Dune Awakening

2:20:14 - The Game Awards - Forspoken

2:21:17 - The Game Awards - Death Stranding 2

2:25:29 - The Game Awards - Immortals Of Aveum

2:26:02 - The Game Awards - Tekken 8

2:29:41 - The Game Awards - Baldur’s Gate 3

2:32:45 - The Game Awards - Wayfinder

2:33:11 - The Game Awards - Diablo 4

2:34:56 - The Game Awards - Horizon Burning Shores

2:35:37 - The Game Awards - Blue Protocol

2:36:50 - The Game Awards - Remnant 2

2:38:13 - The Game Awards - Transformers Reactivate

2:39:40 - The Game Awards - Banisters: Ghosts Of New Eden

2:42:01 - The Game Awards - Warhammer 40K Space Marine II

2:43:41 - The Game Awards - Meet Your Maker

2:44:14 - The Game Awards - Crash Team Rumble

2:46:43 - The Game Awards - The Lords Of The Fallen

2:47:33 - The Game Awards - Crime Boss Rockay City

2:49:31 - The Game Awards - Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty

2:50:58 - The Game Awards - Armored Core VI: Fires Of Rubicon

2:52:40 - The Game Awards - Final Fantasy XVI

2:56:30 - The Game Awards - Bill Clinton kid

2:58:38 - The FTC is officially suing Microsoft to block the Activision acquisition