Sacred Symbols, Episode 357 | It's Magic, It's Tragic, It's A Loss, It's A Win (Patreon)

While the Xbox console brand continues to wane, Microsoft's wise pivot to third party publishing is already paying dividends. According to recent financial reports, Xbox is now PlayStation's single biggest publishing partner, dominating PSN's very own pre-order and pre-load charts on the backs of Forza Horizon 5, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and Doom: The Dark Ages, not to mention strong performance across its brands, from Activision Blizzard's Call of Duty to Mojang's Minecraft and beyond. It's weird, to be sure, but predictable, too: These one-time rivals are now intrinsically linked, with both sides benefiting mightily from this new normal. With Halo, Gears, Fable, and virtually everything else Xbox-related no doubt en route to PlayStation 5 as we move forward, how deep and fruitful can this new, unusual relationship become? Plus: Long-in-development China Hero Project darling Lost Soul Aside gets delayed, Borderlands 4 experiences the extremely rare move-up in release date, Electronic Arts lays off hundreds and cancels projects at Respawn, and more. Then: Listener inquiries! Is it high-time for Sony to explore asymmetrical sticks for its controllers? Does PC gaming represent an existential threat to the console space? Should Sony tap Chinese mega-studio Virtuos to revive its old IP? Are we willing to endorse the new term "remakester?"Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Intro  

0:22:22 - Girl crying in the bathroom Part 3?  

0:23:58 - Hi Jimi  

0:24:35 - Sacred Wives  

0:26:14 - Best man's speech gone wrong  

0:38:04 - nerd slop  

0:44:09 - Xbox is PlayStation's top publisher  

1:07:11 - Lost Soul Aside delayed  

1:13:25 - Borderlands 4 release date moved up  

1:21:17 - EA and Respawn layoffs  

1:35:38 - Video game sales numbers  

1:39:18 - New PS+ essential games  

1:49:36 - Split Fiction movie  

1:53:23 - Until Dawn original writers not credited in the movie  

1:59:07 - Polygon is done, Giant Bomb next likely  

2:05:26 - What We’ve Been Playing  

2:07:43 - Marathon  

2:34:20 - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33  

3:00:05 - Dualsense with asymmetric sticks  

3:07:50 - Virtuos remakes  

3:15:29 - Remakester  

3:20:24 - Goofy games we liked  

3:31:42 - PlayStation's future errors  

3:39:27 - The best case scenario for the big three going forward