The XboxCast

It's time to play the music It's time to light the lights It's time to reveal our game awards tonight It's time to put on makeup It's time to dress up right It's time to raise the curtain On the most sensational, inspirational, celebrational, XboxCastational Game Awards tonight! ----more----   Our final show of 2025, and as is custom, we bow out with our version of The Game Awards. But we do things differently. See, we don't judge games we've never played, we don't get paid to declare winners (but if you would like to try change our minds - get in contact!), and we don't award games just because they sold well.    NO! Not us! We nominate games that we've played this year only. Our hands on experience is what sets us apart from every other game award show. And not just because we're awarding games that came in 4 years ago either.    By now you know the order of awards, but those that are new, our awards are:  The Biggest Surprise of 2025 Something that made you audibly gasp. The Make This into a Movie Award Awarded for best story. The Time Sink / Can't Stop Won't Stop Award Awarded for that game that sucked up all your time and was worth every minute. The Eye Meltingly Best-Looking Award Awarded for gorgeous graphics, good looking characters and other things that showcase 4K. The Together-At-Last Multiplayer Award Awarded for that game best played with friends, near and far.  The Music to My Ears Award From soundtracks to soundscapes, this awards games that showcase the best audio. The Edge of Your Seat Award What we're most looking forward to seeing in 2026. Hopefully it involves a future with Xbox in it.  The Ones That Didn't Quite Make It Award Honourable mentions and games that didn't quite make the cut, but were so close, it hurts.  The One Leaves Anti-Game Award Awarded for the game that almost you give up on gaming entirely. Consider this your Do-Not-Play list.  and the big one - Our Personal Game of the Year Award! Any game we've played this year that was exceptional in all regards, our very own GotY! -- On a more serious note, The XboxCast does this because of you. Whether you tune in every week on our live stream, or listen when you can, you guys make it all worth it. We hope you enjoyed the laughs, the rants and just the general nonsense we get up on the podcast.  Thank you for hanging out with us - on the podcast, in our Discord, near or far. 💚   From the whole XboxCast - Kyle, Lee, Simone and Producer Paul - have a Merry Christmas, and a blessed New Years.    See you all in 2026 as we celebrate 10 years (!!!) of The XboxCast! Will that be out last season? Will there even be Xbox to talk about? Tune in next year to find out...    -- For previous episodes, our socials, community events, and more, visit ⭐THE XBOXCAST OFFICIAL WEBSITE ⭐

The Game Awards for 2025, have come and gone.  And... Yeah...  ----more----   SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT It's that time of year - The XboxCast Game Awards for 2025! And voting is now live. Get voting now!   And now on with The Regular Show!   📢 The Game Awards 2025 Wrap Up   Ok, so we had the game awards! And what did we expect? Claire Obscur obviously cleaned up - winning almost every single category it was in. PlayStation was a flop with the games it put forward not coming away with anything, and as per normal - Xbox was a no show (thanks Geoff).    But we did get some cool trailers. But at some point, we have to ask ourselves - why is our Christmas E3 interrupted with an award show? Just give us the trailers and get out of here.   Divinity, Warlock, and two new Star Wars games? Oh my! But as is the norm in this industry, a CGI trailer of a game coming in 2030 can only do so much to generate hype. Or keep the hype going. Any ways, we are promised some games, most of which will probably launch on the Asus Xbox Series X-2 With Copilot Living Room Entertainment Centre with Copilot 365. Or the Dell Alienware Xbox X TV Game System with Copilot 365. Or what about the Razer Blade Xbox Laptop 15 Advanced with Xbox Game Pass on Copilot+ PC 365?    Either way, games were celebrated. Kyle was quizzed and Lee had fun...   -- For previous episodes, our socials, community events, and more, visit ⭐THE XBOXCAST OFFICIAL WEBSITE ⭐   

Kyle and Lee talk Linux.  Yes, Microsoft is that bad, that the biggest Microsoft fans are now actively using Linux.  (And hating it... But less than Windows 11!) ----more----   SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT It's that time of year - The XboxCast Game Awards for 2025! And voting is now live. Get voting now!   And now on with The Regular Show!   🕰️ Phil Spencer's 2019 'Unusual Strategy' Bombshell Still Haunts Xbox Six years later, Phil Spencer's Kotaku chat calling Xbox's player-first, device-agnostic vibe - "Play anywhere, with anyone" hits harder than ever. Profits from software/services, not console slumps? Cross-play dreams? Check and check, as multiplat Game Pass and Play Anywhere prove he's been preaching the gospel while hardware gathers dust. Visionary or excuse-maker? Still relevant AF.   🤠 Red Dead Redemption Next-Gen Upgrade Rockstar's free current-gen patch for RDR1 finally drops - 4K/60fps native on Series X (huge leap from 30fps back-compat hell), 1440p on S- but Xbox 360 digital owners? Stuck paying full price thanks to a botched upgrade glitch. Rockstar's "working with Microsoft" (yeah, sure), while PS5/Switch owners upgrade smooth. Classic Rockstar-Xbox drama - John Marston deserves better. Oh, and when you upgrade, you lose multiplayer...    🔄 Xbox November 2025 Console Update Gaming Copilot beta for real-time tips (who asked for this?), Full Screen Experience (or FSE as Microsoft calls it) on more PCs/handhelds, cloud resolutions on up to 1440p (if you're on Game Pass Ultimate), plus Cloud Gaming blitz to India/Brazil/Argentina on LG/Fire TV. So many asterixis...    ⛏️ Minecraft Swaps Version Numbers to Yearly Mess Starting 2026 Mojang's ditching 1.21 limbo for year-based tags like 25.3 (Copper Age) or 26.1... Thanks to Apple for paving the way. And Thanks to Microsoft for taking something that should be simple and making it even more confusing....    🚪 Xbox Game Pass Axes 6 Games in December Mortal Kombat 11, Paw Patrol World, Still Wakes the Deep, Wildfrost - goodbye games. We hardly knew ye...   🎁 Game Pass December Wave 1: 13 Fresh Drops, 4 Day-Ones Games are coming! Woo. We have... Medieval Dynasty, Stellaris, WWZ Aftermath, Monster Train 2, Spray Paint Sim, 33 Immortals (Preview), Routine, Indiana Jones, Dome Keeper, Digging a Hole, Death Howl, MK1 and Bratz. Thats quite a few... Are you playing any?    -- For previous episodes, our socials, community events, and more, visit ⭐THE XBOXCAST OFFICIAL WEBSITE ⭐   

Want a bundle? Have a bundle! In fact, have a bundle of bundles!  ----more----   SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT It's that time of year - The XboxCast Game Awards for 2025! And voting is now live. Get voting now!   And now on with The Regular Show!   📢 Xbox Partner Preview November 2025: 16 Reveals, 9 Game Pass Day-Ones The November 20 Partner Preview blitz dropped world premieres like Armatus (action-roguelike), Raji: Kaliyuga (sequel surprise), Vampire Crawlers (Poncle's chaotic FPS deckbuilder roguelike), plus trailers for 007 First Light, Reanimal, Tides of Annihilation. Nine day-one Game Pass bangers announced, shadow drops like Total Chaos and CloverPit horror hits, Dave the Diver finally on Xbox. Bonus: Every featured game is Xbox Play Anywhere - buy once, play console/PC/cloud. Microsoft flexing that cross-play muscle hard.   🏆 The Game Awards 2025 Snubs: No Xbox First-Party in GOTY As Normal The Game Awards nominees dropped, and ouch - no Xbox Game Studios title in Game of the Year. Avowed, Doom: The Dark Ages, South of Midnight got nods elsewhere, but GOTY lineup heavy on indies and PlayStation exclusives like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 sweeping noms. Xbox's big 2025 swings missed the jury's radar - blame delays, flops, or just tough competition? Either way, Phil's probably side-eyeing the trophy case.   🔮 Next-Gen Xbox "Magnus" Rumors Leakers claim Microsoft's stockpiling 50 million AMD chips for codename Magnus next-gen console, aiming for 50M sales with a hybrid model running full Windows, Steam support, PC peripherals, and a traditional version. Game Pass integration obvious. Sounds like the ultimate PC-console mashup to end ecosystem wars - but sourced from shady YouTube whispers, so grain of salt bigger than Satya's bonus.   🛠️ Xbox Preps Next-Gen GDK Microsoft's rolling out a pile of new Xbox Game Development Kit goodies for devs gearing up next-gen—faster tools, better debugging, who knows what magic. After all the layoffs and chaos, at least they're pretending hardware's not dead yet.   ⚔️ Solo Self-Found Mode Coming to Diablo 4 Blizzard's adding Solo Self-Found to Diablo 4, letting masochists grind everything alone without trading or partying. Perfect for purists who hate the auction house ghosts - now you can suffer in true isolation. About time, or just admitting multiplayer loot's broken?   🐧 Linux Gaming Hits Major Milestone Linux gaming just smashed some big record (probably Proton compatibility or Steam Deck sales milestone), with distros eating into Windows handheld dominance. ROG Ally owners sideloading Bazzite- is Microsoft's Windows grip slipping, or just niche nerds flexing?   🎮 PlayStation Allegedly Gunning for Xbox's Cloud and Play Anywhere Opinion rants claim Sony "forced" multiplat exclusives, now plotting to wreck Xbox cloud gaming and steal Play Anywhere cross-buy ideas. Classic console war paranoia - PlayStation winning hardware while Xbox pivots services. If true, Microsoft's ecosystem dreams could crumble faster than a bad live service launch.   -- For previous episodes, our socials, community events, and more, visit ⭐THE XBOXCAST OFFICIAL WEBSITE ⭐   

In what seems to be a big yolk, we now have a game where you're an egg.  Has the game industry finally cracked? Or is this new genre ready to come out its shell?  ----more----   SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT The XboxCast is now doing merch! You heard that right. We have launched our very own merch that you can totally buy. Its 100% legit. We're now offering "Xbox on Cup" mugs, with our very own logo. Keen to get yours? The shop is live now on our site. Order yours today before Kyle changes the design...    And now on with The Regular Show!   💰 Microsoft Execs Demanding 30% Xbox Profit Margins—Double the Industry Norm Leaked Bloomberg bombshell shows who's really ruining Xbox. And the answer wont surprise you. We've spoken a lot about Amy Hood (Microsoft's CFO) recently, and with good reason. Seems like shes slapped a 30% "accountability margins" target on gaming in fall 2023, which is nearly double the 17% industry average. Cue 10k+ layoffs, studio shutdowns, and endless cancellations. Seems like Xbox is losing its soul just to please the bean counters...   📱 Xbox Blames TikTok For Everything, Not PlayStation Xbox boss Matt Booty claims Xbox's "biggest competition isn't another console... it's TikTok..." Yeah right... The fact that Xbox has tanked all good will, decided exclusives don't matter, doesn't have an answer to the PS Pro, and also put out the disastrous "This is an Xbox" ad campaign has done nothing but help the brand, of course.   🪟 Next-Gen Xbox Rumors: Full Windows, Back Compt, Free Multiplayer Leaks whisper next Xbox runs full Windows, beefy backward compat, and free online MP forever. But also comes with a steep price tag. Is this enough to sway people towards Xbox? Only time will tell, but we can't help but feel that Microsoft is not listening to any customers (with anything really)... So we wait and see, but we're not holding our breath.    ⚔️ Ubisoft Begs Division Studio Staff to Self-Layoff Ubisoft's nudging Massive Entertainment (The Division devs) to volunteer for cuts amid Tencent drama and flops. After AC boss ousting, now this, it looks like staff are grabbing parachutes before the axe falls. Ubisoft's imploding faster than a failed raid...    What is going on in the gaming indutry?  We wish we had the answers.    -- For previous episodes, our socials, community events, and more, visit ⭐THE XBOXCAST OFFICIAL WEBSITE ⭐