Unlocked

We analyze everything from Xbox's E3, from Project Scorpio to the Xbox One S to Sea of Thieves and much more. Plus: an interview with Undead Labs founder Jeff Strain – the studio's first since announcing State of Decay 2! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our 250th episode aired live at E3 2016 with special guest and Xbox creator Seamus Blackley, so here it is in case you missed it. This was our live reactions to everything that had just happened at the Xbox press conference. Hope you enjoy it! And by the way, look for episode 251 at its regular time this Wednesday evening! And we've got our own YouTube channel too! Subscribe here: youtube.com/ignunlocked Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Finally, it's the E3 predictions episode you've been waiting for. Listen for our predictions about Dead Rising 4, Xbox Live Arcade/Summer of Arcade, Oculus Rift on Xbox, and much more. Plus: So many E3 leaks! We discuss them all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's Xbox show, we celebrate the unexpected return of Fable, guess what the rumored VR game for Xbox is, share our Overwatch impressions, wonder what Remedy might do now that Quantum Break is out, argue about the viability of a Mirror's Edge TV series, and look at what the latest Xbox One "temporary price cut" really means. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We analyze the very credible new Xbox Slim and Xbox Next rumors. Will Oculus come along for the ride? What will it be called? How much will it cost? We discuss. Plus: how Doom's excellence may have saved id Software, what's next for that studio, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What we think of Doom so far, including our theories on why Bethesda didn't send out advance copies for review. Plus: Rockstar's next game approaches, Batman gets a more exciting remaster than we expected, Yarny gets another adventure (YARNYYYYYYY!), how you can (maybe) get your dream Gamertag, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ryan's out, but the crew holds down the fort and chats about Battlefield 1, Battlefront 2, probably something with a 3, and Fable 4. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We fondly remember everything Lionhead gave Xbox fans as the studio closes its doors for good. Plus: Respawn's third-person Star Wars game, our reactions to Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and the not-sold-separately Modern Warfare remaster, our Xbox E3 hopes, whether or not Microsoft will showcase upgraded hardware at the big show, our favorite Xbox 360 games ever, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gears of War 4 unleashes a pricey season pass and an even pricier collector's edition. We evaluate the pluses and minuses of both. We also lament the latest Mirror's Edge Catalyst delay, debate where Call of Duty is heading after its title has apparently leaked. Oh, and, uh...rugby. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Xbox 1.5 rumors won't go away – particularly in light of the hot-and-heavy PlayStation Neo rumors, so we discuss what a mid-cycle upgrade could look like for Microsoft. But should it even happen? Plus: Quantum Break's last boss frustrates us (no spoilers though!), Batman joins the remaster party that we don't want to be invited to, Red Dead might be returning, and more! Link to IGN PAX East meet-and-greet #1: https://ignpresentsbattleborncommunity.splashthat.com Link to IGN PAX East meet-and-greet #2: https://ignmeetngreetpresentedby2k.splashthat.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gears of War 4 boss Rod Fergusson joins us for a 30-minute interview about the new game as well as taking over the franchise. Plus: our thoughts on Quantum Break so far, the ex-GTA developer's lawsuit against Rockstar, Titanfall 2, the rumored effort to save Fable Legends, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We discuss Gears of War 4's just-announced release date and what it means for the rest of the holiday 2016 Xbox lineup. Plus: Xbox 1.5, Mass Effect 4, Doom beta thoughts, Bethesda's public E3 presence, Final Fantasy XV demo reactions, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mitch's last show is weird, wonderful, and chaotic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's Xbox show, Shadow Complex creator Donald Mustard sits in for a lengthy interview about his history on Xbox (Advent Rising, Undertow, Shadow Complex, the newly released Shadow Complex Remastered, and...maybe...Shadow Complex 2?)! And then we have Halo 1 designer Jaime Griesemer on to talk old Halo war stories with him. You won't want to miss either interview. We kick off with just Ryan and Mitch, as Ryan says goodbye to his longtime partner-in-crime. Don't miss this episode! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Microsoft opens the door to cross-network play across Xbox One, PC, and maybe PS4 too. Plus: Gears of War 4's campaign will be 30fps and its multiplayer will be 60fps. Opinions vary on that! We also detail Xbox Indie Showcase highlights of what we played, Tacoma's delay, a new ARK game, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We analyze the cancellation of Fable Legends and the apparent closure of Lionhead Studios. Could either have been saved? Can and will Fable continue on, or is it dead? Plus: our first impressions of The Division, Gears of War 4 continues to divide us, Doom multiplayer inches closer, Overwatch and Battleborn have a silly (albeit one-sided) feud, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Head of Xbox Phil Spencer joins us for a quick interview about the future of Xbox (hint: you probably won't lose access to your Xbox One games on the next-gen Xbox console years from now). Plus: our reactions to the Xbox Showcase event from last week – and to Quantum Break in particular, analyzing the Mass Effect Andromeda delay, how cool a World War I-set Battlefield 5 could be, and we tell Capcom how we feel about their creative output so far in this console generation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's Xbox show, it's all good news. First, it took four years, but Xbox's own Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb sits in with us for the entire show. Together, we talk about this week's awesome Halo 5 news, including the return of a beloved multiplayer mode and an even more beloved old weapon. Plus: Fallout and Elder Scrolls boss Todd Howard speaks about game PR cycles and their next projects. We analyze his comments, and much more! Oh, and of course we also send Larry back to Microsoft with a clear message: #BringBackXBLA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We analyze last week's Internet meltdown over Quantum Break's PC version, detail the first wave of Fallout 4 DLC, discuss what the departure of Mass Effect: Andromeda's lead writer means for both that game and Destiny 2, and much more! P.S. We apologize for the problem with Mitch's mic this week. We're tracking down the problem and we'll have it squashed ASAP. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's Xbox show, we discuss the now-confirmed Titanfall 2 solo campaign, DOOM's release date, Red Dead's imminent backwards compatibility, 2015's most tweeted-about games, continued love for Yarny, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bethesda announces that they'll put on another E3 press conference. We speculate about what will – and won't – be there. Plus: a 40-minute interview with Unravel creative director Martin Sahlin, The Division beta reactions, how we'd kill Spartan Locke in the first scene of Halo 6, and much more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We celebrate the very Burnout-y new golf game (yes, golf game!) from the original creators of Burnout. Plus: praise for the word-of-mouth hit ARK: Survival Evolved and the awesome adventure that is Oxenfree. We also discuss the potential awesomeness of PlatinumGames's just-announced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game, share what you're getting for your $50 season pass in Star Wars Battlefront, lament Mighty No. 9's latest delay, and tell you how you can attend E3 with EA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We speculate on what this year's Infinity Ward-developed Call of Duty might be like given all of the big-studio talent Activision's been hiring for it. Also, Microsoft files a couple of new game software trademarks we are hesitant to get excited about, the top 10-selling games of December are revealed, and much more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We discuss our Game of the Year votes, lament the end of an era with one of the key creators of Grand Theft Auto, recount the insane development history of Homefront: The Revolution as it gets dated, weep at the lack of Psychonauts on Xbox, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy New Year! We kick things off with our longest episode ever! Gone Home creator Steve Gaynor (who you may also know as the creator of BioShock 2's highly acclaimed DLC Minerva's Den) sits in for the whole show to talk about next week's Xbox One release of Gone Home. We also ask him about his time on BioShock 2 as well as his next game, the Xbox One-exclusive Tacoma. Plus: we make our Xbox predictions for 2016 and review how we did with our 2015 predictions. And we discuss the Scalebound delay, the Assassin's Creed leak, and much more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

[WARNING: Unlike regular episodes of Unlocked, this episode contains explicit language!] Continuing the tradition started last year, we're giving you an episode full of 2015's Unlocked outtakes while the Xbox world rests for the holidays. These outtakes span the entire year, will in some cases make absolutely no sense without any context, and you might think this episode is pointless and/or totally dumb. But you might also think it's hilarious. Let us know, and Happy Holidays! We'll be back with regular episodes of Unlocked starting January 6! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We discuss Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima's decision to sign with Sony for his next game, and whether or not Microsoft pursued the big-name free agent. Plus: we debate what Gearbox's new Quebec studio might be working on, what EA's commitment to eSports means for the industry, and more. Also, don't miss the end of the show this week, as an Unlock Block Trivia champion for 2015 is crowned in a shocking finale. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We review the Xbox-related announcements at last week's Game Awards. Plus: we attended PSX, and we discuss what Microsoft can learn from Sony's fan-service event. Also: we predict what Bethesda's new Montreal office might get up to, Gone Home is finally about to arrive home on Xbox, the Unlock Block Trivia challenge's quest for the Duke-y trophy gets super tense this week. Can Mitch clinch the trophy? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We discuss our thoughts on Rainbow Six Siege, our Xbox expectations for The Game Awards, what we'd like to see from PlatinumGames's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Game, what DC Comics superhero games Batman: Arkham Origins developer WB Games Montreal might be making, and more. Plus: we attempt to design a good Superman game. As you might expect, it doesn't go well. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Xbox 360's 10th anniversary has us reflecting back on our favorite memories of Microsoft's second console, including the first time we played it, the legendary holiday 2007 season, the faceplates, and much more. Plus: Take-Two confirms more BioShock will be on the way, so we give our picks for who we think should develop it. Happy Thanksgiving! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Star Wars Battlefront is here, and we've got a lot to say about its present and future. Plus: the NXOE dashboard, Deus Ex's totally OK delay, we're in love with Rise of the Tomb Raider, Ronda Rousey gets EA cover cursed, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new Dashboard, backwards compatibility, and more are all here, meaning the Xbox One is now Phil Spencer's machine, full-stop. We discuss how the Xbox One has practically been relaunched, and when it might ACTUALLY relaunch. Plus: our thoughts on Fallout 4, are you and Elder Scrolls person or a Fallout person? Is Battleborn screwed? And how about that Mass Effect Andromeda teaser?! All of this and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Halo 5 gets off to a big start, Activision paid HOW MUCH for the Candy Crush creator, the first big game delay of 2016 happens, Skyrim gets ported to Xbox One but you won't get to play it, Konami gears up another Metal Gear, and more. Plus: a 45-minute interview with Jon St. John, the legendary voice actor best known as the voice of Duke Nukem. He explains his radio origins, coming up with the Duke Nukem voice, his career as a video game voice actor, and much more. NOTE: The Jon St. John interview starts at the 45:19 mark. Oh, and Unlocked now has its own snazzy new homepage! Bookmark this: go.ign.com/unlocked Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

**WARNING: HALO 5 SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE! IF YOU DON'T WANT TO HEAR HALO 5 SPOILERS, SKIP AHEAD TO THE 1:11:00 MARK.** Halo 5: Guardians is finally here, and we have very strong – and in some cases unexpected – reactions to it. We spend the first 1:11:00 of the show in full spoiler mode, discussing the good, the bad, and the ugly of Halo 5. So if you haven't finished the Halo 5 campaign yet or otherwise don't want to hear Halo 5 spoilers, skip ahead to 1:11:00. In other news, we discuss the just-announced release date for the New Xbox One Experience Dashboard and Xbox 360 backwards compatibility, some good news for Rock Band fans, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's Xbox show, Capybara Games co-founder Nathan Vella (creator of Super Time Force and Below, among others) sits in on the whole show. He updates us on the Xbox One-exclusive below, shares Xbox development insights, talks Back to the Future Day with us, September NPD sales numbers, EA vs. Square Enix on remasters, and more. Plus: your chance to win a Halo 5 prize pack including a copy of the game and an Astro A40 Halo headset! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We wonder what, if anything, Microsoft will do to counter Sony's PS4 price drop. Also, our thoughts on Star Wars Battlefront and how it will sell this holiday. Plus: more Season Passes that tick us off, Halo 5 news, miscellaneous (bad) news, and your chance to win a Forza Motorsport 6 Xbox One console bundle! Oh, and Unlocked now has its own snazzy new homepage! Bookmark this: go.ign.com/unlocked Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We celebrate news that the creators of Burnout are bringing the series back (albeit under a new name), rejoice at the Stone Age setting of the just-announced Far Cry Primal, calculate the crazy value proposition of the Fallout 4 Xbox One bundle, take credit (not really) for making the icky Deus Ex: Mankind Divided pre-order campaign go away, check Destin into a rehab facility for his Destiny problem (also not really), and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Discussed this week: Splosion Man developer Twisted Pixel pulls a Bungie and spins back out from Microsoft, single-player campaigns in first-person shooters seem to be an endangered species, Xbox One holiday bundles are in full bloom, Hitman course-corrects its unsettling pricing model, Telltale's Back to the Future heads to Xbox One, U2 heads to Rock Band 4, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Head of Xbox Phil Spencer joins our show this week for a conversation about all kinds of happenings in the world of Xbox, from Final Fantasy XIV's absence on Xbox One to whether or not existing Xbox One owners should upgrade to the upcoming Elite console to whether or not he thinks the "killer app" is dead, and much more! Plus: we discuss the Hitman delay, among other timely topics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's Xbox show, Rainbow Six Siege's map count leads us to wonder how it'll be received. Plus: Fallout 4's season pass annoys us, Star Wars Battlefront gets a mini-fridge, we're excited for the imminent New Xbox One Experience Dashboard, Xbox One gets two new games in a genre it sorely needs them in, and more! Also: after we recorded, Ubisoft issued a correction to their developer who was quoted as saying Rainbow Six Siege will ship with 10 maps. It will actually be 11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We make an otherwise slow Xbox news week interesting by discussing notable 9/9 gaming birthdays, discuss former Xbox boss Robbie Bach's comments on how an 'Xboy' handheld almost came to exist, analyze what we learned about Destiny thanks to a court decision involving a former longtime Bungie employee, and give our ideas for what rides we think should be at Ubisoft's planned real-life theme park in Malaysia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Microsoft's newest Xbox One console bundle is extra special because it includes the hot new Elite gamepad as well as a 1TB SSHD hard drive. We break down the benefits you can expect as well as whether or not it might be worth upgrading to. Plus: we analyze Halo 5's newly released opening cinematic, take a guess at the real reason DICE is doing a Star Wars Battlefront beta, dry heave at Square Enix's pre-order incentives for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, and...oh yeah, we give away a custom Gears of War-painted Xbox One console too. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mitch and Ryan shake and bake their way through this week's Xbox show, tackling, among other questions: Will we ever see Master Chief's face? What are the odds of Xbox One actually getting original Xbox backwards compatibility functionality? Should you take Just Cause 3's $50,000 cash prize, or the mysterious actual real-life island they're offering? And much more! Polite College Duke Nukem stops by as well! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week's Xbox show analyzes Rainbow Six Siege's daring delay and what it means for the franchise this year and in the longer term. Plus: we express sadness (but not anger) regarding the absence of Big Team Battle from Halo 5's launch, theorize what Gearbox might do with Duke Nukem now that their IP ownership lawsuit is settled, discuss Forza 6's new "mods," and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week's Xbox show recaps Gamescom from the IGN guys who were there, explains why the Halo 5 console bundle might not be such a good deal, details how the Halo TV show isn't dead, laments Capcom's remakes/remasters-or-bust strategy, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After Xbox's killer Gamescom, we just couldn't wait until Wednesday to do our next show. So here we are, talking about everything from Gamescom, including Halo Wars 2, Crackdown 3, Scalebound, Quantum Break, Homefront: The Revolution, the Halo 5 Xbox One console, new ID@Xbox games, strange Destiny news, Xbox One TV DVR functionality, and Xbox One's downright ridiculous 2016 lineup! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Microsoft is set to have a big presence at Gamescom. So, we play our ol' predictions game, making 12 Xbox predictions for what we think might happen. Plus: Tomb Raider's exclusivity is dated, 343 explains the lack of any split-screen multiplayer support in Halo 5, Windows 10 begins rolling out to change the Xbox ecosystem forever, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As news of a new Brothers in Arms game starting development surfaces, we revisit the smart, stellar, historically-based first-person shooter/strategy series and why we'd be excited for it to return – as well as if it could help bring WWII shooters back in general. Plus: all of Sony's marketing dollars still won't let you play Star Wars Battlefront on PS4 first, Xbox One gets another clever bundle, and much more! Special guest star Jared Petty joins the Unlocked crew this week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the year half over, it's time to give our picks for our Xbox Games of the Year...so far. Plus: the latest chapter in the Hideo Kojima/Konami divorce is as wacky as ever. We wonder if there will even be another AAA Metal Gear game, and who might do it. Also, Dead Island 2 has lost its developer, so we debate who might pick up the ball on that and run it into the end zone. Furthermore, two $200 special editions of upcoming big games generate wildly different reactions from us, and finally, don't miss the debut of the real-life Dukey trophy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's impossible to follow the once-in-a-lifetime episode 201, but we do our best by dissecting a rumor that suggests Microsoft may be looking to buy Xbox One and PS4 chipmaker AMD. What would it mean for the current consoles? How about the Xbox 4 and PlayStation 5? We discuss it in detail. Plus: we lament some of the E3 Game Critics Award winners and give our take on the first trailer for Telltale's Minecraft: Story Mode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices