Unlocked
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These days, practically everything is an Xbox, and Xbox fans deserve to celebrate their passion for Xbox everywhere. Unlocked is the definitive Xbox podcast, hosted by Ryan McCaffrey alongside a panel of expert guests. Each week, they dive deep into breaking Xbox news, exclusive game reveals, and heated debates on the future of Xbox—covering everything from consoles and PC to Game Pass and cloud gaming. Whether you're a longtime Xbox fan or just jumping in, Unlocked is your go-to source for all things Xbox.
Unlocked is a part of Geek Media Podcast Network, an IGN Entertainment Brand.
Visit Geek.com for more information.
768 Episodes
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In a marathon two-hour episode, our friends from Outside Xbox join us to discuss the Top 20 games in our collaborative Top 100 Xbox Games of All Time list. We share stories, memories, and more from each of these 20 incredible Xbox games that have stood the test of time, from Halo(s) to Mass Effect(s) to GTA 5 and plenty more!
00:00:00 - Intro
00:05:24 - Halo Reach, Mass Effect, Fez
00:21:59 - Gears of War 2, Read Dead Redemption, Ninja Gaiden Black, Fable 2
00:43:46 - Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, Oblivion, COD 4, KOTOR
01:10:19 - Halo, Forza Horizon 5, Inside, Bioshock
01:30:32 - Halo 2, Gears of War 3
01:47:35 - Top 3 & Outro
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Part one of our Top 100 Xbox Games of All Time conversation is here! We're talking about the games that mean a lot to us from 100-26 on our list. There will be games you remember, games that make you go, "Oh yeah, that one!", and maybe some games that are new to you. Come back next week for part two when we dig into the top games on the list!
00:00:00 - Intro & Fallout 3
00:12:20 - The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
00:19:31 - Fusion Frenzy & 1 vs 100
00:28:17 - Rainbow Six: Vegas & Street Fighter IV
00:37:02 - Full Spectrum Warrior & Mirror's Edge
00:45:21 - Halo 4 & Lost Odyssey
00:56:15 - Rock Band 3 & Wolfenstein II
01:05:55 - Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Hitman (2016), & DOOM Eternal
01:13:32 - Favorite 7/10 Games & Outro
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In this episode, we react to everything shown at Xbox’s latest Developer Direct, with deep dives into Fable, Forza Horizon 6, a surprise reveal from Double Fine Productions, and a brand-new project from Game Freak. Big reactions, big speculation, and a whole lot of excitement.
00:00:00 - Intro & Fable Deep-Dive
00:37:50 - GameFreak + Beasts of Reincarnation
00:47:25 - Doublefine + Kiln
00:53:56 - Forza Horizon 6 & Outro
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1Xbox's now-annual early-year showcase returns next week! We know Fable and Forza Horizon 6 will be there, but what else will show up? We've got predictions. Plus: Hellblade and Wolfenstein are reportedly getting new sequels, Forza Horizon 5 is still selling huge all these years later, The Witcher 3 might drop a new expansion many years after the last one, Anthem shuts down, renowned Xbox 360-era developer Twisted Pixel is closed, and more!
00:00:00 - Xbox Developer Direct Predictions
00:20:06 - Ninja Theory is working on Hellblade 3
00:28:49 - Wolfenstein 3 may be on the way
00:39:38 - Forza Horizon 5 sells 5 million copies on PS5
00:49:17 - Witcher 3 DLC
00:59:55 - Anthem is officially dead
01:05:03 - Meta has shut down Twisted Pixel & Outro
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The Xbox world lost two wonderful people over the holidays: longtime Microsoft hardware team member Albert Penello and game industry legend Vince Zampella, whose credits include co-creating Call of Duty, Titanfall, Apex Legends, and many more. Xbox marketing boss Aaron Greenberg joins us to remember Albert, who was an absolute joy to everyone he met and who he knew extremely well both at and outside of work. And then we spend the rest of the episode talking about Vince and the great guy he was as well as the monumental impact he had on both the Xbox (Call of Duty 2, Titanfall) and the larger games industry. Thank you to Gamertag Radio's Parris Lilly for joining us this week as well.
00:00:00 - Did you guys play anything over the holiday break?
00:06:39 - Remembering Albert Penello
00:32:48 - Remembering Vince Zampella
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What to do during a quiet holiday week with no news? How about we argue amongst ourselves? Haha well sort of: we decided to rank the four Xbox console day-one launch lineups we've had so far, and let's just say we definitely did not all agree on how these rankings should go. Enjoy and happy holidays!
This weeks show is hosted by Ryan McCaffrey, Miranda Sanchez, Michael Higham, and is produced by Nick Maillet
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We didn't get any reveals from Xbox at this year's Game Awards, but there's some very good news: we're going to see a lot more from them very soon. We talk all about what Xbox's 2026 Developer Direct might look like, and then discuss our favorite Game Awards reveals.
This weeks show is hosted by Ryan McCaffrey, Miranda Sanchez, Michael Higham, and is produced by Nick Maillet
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Our Xbox crew kicks off by going over IGN's nominees for Best Xbox Game of 2025 before giving our individual picks, and then we get to the big topic this week: new comments by Xbox's VP of Next-Gen that seem to suggest we're getting SOMETHING next year. Whether that's just an announcement or an actual console as well remains to be seen, but we discuss it. Plus: the KOTOR remake isn't dead, the Assassin's Creed: Black Flag remake is very much alive, and more!
00:00:00 - Intro & Xbox's GOTY
00:08:03 - Xbox's 2026
00:31:23 - KOTOR Remake
00:46:46 - Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Remake
00:53:51 - Outro
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On this week's Xbox show, we've got good news on the long-dormant Splinter Cell Remake project that has us optimistic that a new Sam Fisher adventure might actually see the light of day. Plus: GTA 6 suffers a small but very weird leak, IO Interactive has a full plate that includes Hitman 4, CD Projekt Red has set a very ambitious schedule for its upcoming The Witcher trilogy, and more!
00:00:00 - Intro
00:13:30 - Splinter Cell Remake Update
00:29:50 - New GTA 6 Leaks
00:37:17 - Hitman 4 Update
00:53:05 - Witcher 4
01:03:43 - December GamePass Lineup
01:10:24 - Outro
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Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb, the longtime public face of Xbox at Microsoft, joins us for a special Xbox 360 episode as the most successful Xbox console ever celebrates its 20th anniversary. Larry shares a ton of great stories and even shows off a bunch of rare souvenirs from that era. You're not going to want to miss this episode!
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The Winners from Xbox’s Partner Showcase (Fall 2025) – Unlocked 716We recorded this week's episode live immediately following Xbox's Fall 2025 Partner Preview showcase, where we got updated looks at known quantities like Reanimal, Tides of Annihilation, and 007: First Light. But we also got a number of reveals from intriguing new games like Erosion, Echo Generation 2, Vampire Crawlers, and more. Enjoy our reactions!
00:03:17 - Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard
00:06:28 - Tides of Annihilation
00:09:37 - Erosion
00:14:02 - Echo Generation 2
00:18:55 - Armatus
00:24:23 - The Mound: Omen of Chthulu
00:27:01 - Dave the Diver - Official Xbox Launch
00:28:54 - Crowsworn
00:31:49 - 007 First Light & Roadside Research
00:40:37 - Total Chaos
00:44:24 - Reanimal, Cloverpit, Raji: Kaliyuga, & Outro
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In a jam-packed episode of our Xbox show, we discuss Grand Theft Auto 6's delay and how it hits Xbox harder than any other publisher. Plus: Valve's new Steam Machine will seemingly be competing directly with Xbox's next-gen console/PC hybrid efforts, Halo Infinite's support is in fact finite, why we think Mass Effect 5 is BioWare's last chance as a studio, our confidence level in The Elder Scrolls 6 despite it being many years away, and more!
This weeks show is Ryan McCaffrey, Michael Higham, Miranda Sanchez, and is produced by Nick Maillet
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Our special guest this week is Obsidian's Brandon Adler, the Game Director on The Outer Worlds 2. He tells us about how the team's new RPG has been received so far, what kind of stuff hit the cutting room floor, what got prototyped but never made it into the game, how other games influence them, getting advice from the RPG legends in the building, and more!
This weeks show is Ryan McCaffrey, Michael Higham, and is produced by Nick Maillet
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Old-school Xbox fans will get a little extra enjoyment out of this week's episode, which welcomes Ryan's old Official Xbox Magazine podcasting partner Dan Amrich, now a developer at Digital Eclipse, for a KOXM Radio reunion to discuss his team's comprehensive new release, Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection. Dan goes into great detail about how much meticulous care and effort went into the Legacy Kollection in order to make it into a "playable museum exhibit."
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We remember original Xbox Ninja Gaiden director Tomonobu Itagaki upon the unfortunate news of his passing before discussing the first new mainline Ninja Gaiden game in 13 years, NInja Gaiden 4. Plus: Ryan went on a field trip to Halo Studios and brought back hands-on impressions of Halo: Campaign Evolved, the just-announced remake of Halo: Combat Evolved done in Unreal Engine 5. Finally, Xbox President Sarah Bond gives us a cryptic but concerning update on Xbox's next-gen console plans, Miranda tells you why you need to play Ball x Pit on Xbox Game Pass, and more!
00:00:00 - Intro & Ball X Pit
00:10:18 - Ninja Gaiden 4 Review Discussion
00:42:11- Halo Coming to PS5
01:22:27 - Future of Xbox Consoles & Outro
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Game design legend and Double Fine Productions Studio Head Tim Schafer returns to Unlocked along with Keeper Project Director Lee Petty to talk about their new living-lighthouse game, Keeper! It's out now and it's awesome. In our spoiler-free conversation, Lee and Tim tell us about the project's origins, using Unreal Engine 5, the importance of making games artists want to make, and more! And afterwards we talk about the fantastic new ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X handheld gaming PC now that it's available and we have benchmarks. Enjoy!
00:00:00 - Keeper Interview
00:50:59 - ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X
01:04:54 - Outro & Humble Bundle Choice
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More fallout from last week's Xbox Game Pass Ultimate price hike as DLC discounts on Game Pass get eliminated in favor of Rewards points, as well as a possible cause of the 50% price increase. We discuss how we'd fix this pricing problem Microsoft's created. Plus: Microsoft squashes a rumor about its future hardware intentions, a free version of Xbox Cloud Gaming is reportedly on the way, and more!
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It's all about dollars and cents (sense?) on this week's episode of IGN's weekly Xbox show, as we're discussing Microsoft's massive price hike on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, along with the final tough-to-stomach price of the Xbox ROG Ally X, and EA's record-breaking $55 billion go-private deal.
00:00:00 - Intro
00:01:53 - Xbox ROG Ally X Price Revealed
00:12:58 - Game Pass Price Hike
00:54:08 - EA's record-breaking $55 billion go-private deal
01:17:58 - Outro
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Our main topic is one we'd rather not have to discuss, but unfortunately, here we go again with Xbox console price hikes. We talk about our thoughts on the bigger picture of these higher-than-ever prices five years into this console generation. Plus: we've got fun stuff to talk about too, such as Forza Horizon 6's reveal and Japan setting, plus Hideo Kojima's creepy Xbox exclusive OD, which appears to be a spiritual successor to the infamous PT.
00:00:00 - Intro & Xbox ROG Ally X Price Watch 2025
00:05:06 - Xbox Price Hikes in the USA
00:25:10 - Ex-Blizzard President Mike Ybarra criticizes the Xbox price Hike
00:41 :40 - Forza Horizon 6 Revealed
01:02:05 - O.D. Trailer Reaction
01:10:12 - Outro
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We begin IGN's Xbox show this week by discussing the alleged (but still unconfirmed as of recording) pricing of the Xbox ROG Ally X handheld gaming PC, including what the huge apparent gap in price between the base model and the top-end model means for each one. And then our main topic is around GTA 6: a new Rockstar job listing makes a big but fair claim, and we debate just how far and wide its pop-culture reach and impact will be when it finally drops.
00:00:00 - Intro
00:15:08 - LEGO Voyagers Review & Lost Skies
00:17:52 - BioShock Movie is 'Definitely' Based on the First Game
00:31:16 - GTA 6 'Will Be The Largest Game Launch in History
00:58:22 - IGN Fan Fest Returns!
01:01:21 - Outro
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usually I write good things about this podcast when I listen but today it's a downer, discussing how Sony makes anti Game pass deals while nearly every deal Xbox has done also keeps it off PlayStation totally ignoring the point that exclusives are a standard of the industry with platforms. very Hypocritical episode today, turned off half way through.
This is getting a bit too political about the CMA, Microsoft met the requirements for the level the EU wanted but they didn't meet the level the CMA wanted. note XMA is independent and made up of people from the private sector and civil servants.
I know you don't like the CMA but they've been reasonable and dropped just about all of Sony's points, CMA is also required to look at the potential scenarios that affect consumers. Side point, Microsoft is giving access to COD but they're also setting the price and the CMA does not want to regulate that.
I'm actually getting a bit unhappy with people comments on the activion deal, this is a completely different level of scale. Microsoft is buying their way to the top, not competing for it. it will damage Sony financially and anything Phill says is worthless because he's always construed everything he's said. Get it in writing as they say.
nice to hear you support Ukraine 🇺🇦
if you can't play destiny on it then it's not for me 🤣🤣
No amount of dying light is to much love that game😂😂
why no new ep.last week?
Constant power tools in the background are annoying. Come on guys how long have you been doing this now?????
does not work
episode isn't playing - broken source
Talking about Xbox exclusives without a single mention about The Gunk is a cardinal crime.
32:31 podcast goes silent.
Someone's first thought when thinking of Sega is Persona and don't know that Sega makes Phantasy Star?? My poor old Sega hardware lovin heart just died a little :(
I thought this was an XBOX podcast, if I want to know about the other systems I would listen to podcasts about the other systems. It’s good and all to have guests on the show I’m all for a different point of view but PLEASE have them at lest play on the XBOX.
OMG!! Did this new girl just ask if Sony is a Japanese company!?! No, rookie has to go! This is not the place for her. Long-winded and and a lot of sighing. No, get Dustin back!
OMG, can someone PLEASE edit out all the live stream ads from the audio version. At most, play them once. I would love to see them gone from the videos too (I'm already watching IGN. Who are you advertising to?), but .. you won't.
when do we get to see next gen games?
what's Three Red Lights? An old Xbox podcast before relaunching as Unlocked?