Home
Creators
Search Recent Random
Posts
Search DMs Popular Hash Lookup Tags Random
Importer
Import FAQ
Register Favorites Keys Review DMs Logout
Community
Telegram ThePornDude
Home Creators Posts Import Register Favorites Logout

Sacred Symbols+, Episode 520 | Sacred x Duke: Can Xbox Really Turn Things Around? (Patreon)

Published:
2026-06-13 16:00:29
Edited:
2026-06-16 14:53:26
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Downloads

Content

It's me, Colin. Please welcome the hosts of Last Stand's Xbox podcast Defining Duke -- Matty and Cog -- back to Sacred+. Today, I invited the boys to the show with intent. After all, Xbox recently had a successful showcase, the brand is returning to some level of exclusivity, and the fanbase is feeling good about the vertical's new leadership under Asha Sharma. Yet, there are questions abound, and frankly, Microsoft's win condition in the modern gaming industry seems as elusive as ever. Do the guys agree with me? There's only one way to find out. To delve into the many parts of the conversation, I presented them with a series of axioms about Xbox that I deem true, but they may not. From there, the chatter sprouts. This is a long and winding episode; chances are, you're gonna love it.

Files

Comments

Johnny Lamotte

I’ll start off by saying awesome episode guys! Love it and I’m excited for gears and to see what Xbox will be up to. That being said.. How is this podcast still claiming live service is where the industry is going…. Every company doing live service has been struggling… apex legends (EA), Sony’s live service has been a disaster, Xbox redfall- halo infinite.., there’s Ubisoft, etc. Capcom, Nintendo, etc all doing well without live service and the games are selling well!! 007 as well! I am so sick of this talk. Live service is not some magical money maker… Fortnite was.. but that’s ONE GAME!!! One fricken game man. I really don’t understand this. Live service is hard! very hard! and it’s a risky move that could pay off, but To act like it’s the only way these companies can go now is crazy talk. I hear it on this podcast constantly. Why do you think so many games are now coming out? Because live service was a mistake and most companies are finding that out. Again, you can get lucky though, but it’s not worth the risk unless you got something really good. Keep up the awesome work tho guys! I love the podcasts and I’m not trying to be super negative I just really don’t like live service and these companies do not need them to exist.

Chris Yont

It’s been a while 🎶

Big Man

Interesting take. Save this for Sacred next week

TheWubbz

Asha Sharma…sacred cow… hmmm interesting choice of words 🤨 lol jk

Shadi Haddad

I just want to say, I unsubscribed a month ago, felt like the shows were just going through the motions. This past 2 weeks has made me so much more enthusiastic about the future of games coming and this episode here was what made resub this morning. Thank you

BamAHamYum

With all due respect to Cog, idk how you can look at all the disasters wrought by Xbox leadership constantly running their mouths for no reason and still see it as a productive communication strategy.

Dante B

I love Cog, but when Colin talks about MS talking too much he’s right. Cog’s response is “I like that” - well sure. We all like it, it’s entertaining as hell! And it’s fun for you as a YouTuber super fan. But what I personally like and what is good business are very different.

Publix Chicken tender sub

I disagree with Collin. PlayStation exclusive (first party )is super important. The PC (steam) market is growing every year. They need to give players a reason to stick around. And games like Saros ( which I freaking loved) is not going to do that. PlayStation needs to go back to the PS4 cadence.

KYisLife

Colin, are you not feeling Mina the Hollower because of its Souls influences?

John Coyle

Loved this And it’s beyond clear: Colin is right

thejjuan1

I 100% agree. I think the gold rush is over.

zepplinmike

I find it interesting that Colin says Sony has fucked up big time, but he believes they are correct in not making smaller games anymore, as evidenced by their overall success with PS5. He agrees later that their success is mostly due to inertia from success in past console generations and less about them making the right calls now. At least in the past, a large reason for having a good number of console exclusives with a good variety of types of games was to enhance the perceived value of your ecosystem. That perceived value is simply not there this generation. PlayStation fans are not happy with the lack of first party games and no one wants a PS6 because it feels like the generation is only halfway done (again, because of the lack of generation-defining first party games). As a multiplat gamer who only has a PS5 for exclusives, I for one am highly questioning whether I will buy a PS6 for probably $700+ so I can play maybe 6-8 third person over-the-shoulder cinematic quippy action games. The game I would actually miss out on the most is the next Astrobot, a smaller game that by Colin’s theory, Sony doesn’t care about. It’s definitely true that sales matter, especially at these high budgets. But if massive game sales matter more than care and feeding of your ecosystem, there’s no argument for why they shouldn’t be releasing the games day and date everywhere. I also contend that letting go of what made Sony first party great and unique in past gens will bite them big time in the future when cloud gaming is the main thing, hardware cost barriers aren’t an issue, and having the most compelling ecosystem will be the name of the game.

Subagels (edited)

Comment edits

2026-09-05 18:00 Unfortunately for Colin’s sake, I think ghost 3 in Kyoto with an emphasis on hand to hand combat is next on the menu for sucker punch.
2026-06-14 05:39

Michael Cook

Whilst I don't always agree with what Cog argues for, he is always good at arguing his point in a respectful way. You can tell the people who've worked more corporate 'proper' jobs and it always adds depth to the conversations

Big Booty Latinas Can Stay

I’m so glad we finally have an opportunity to hear Colin’s thoughts on Xbox’s strategies.

Vladimir Grabbinmikov

Guys, if you actually played multiplayer games (WHICH WERE ALWAYS THE REASON THE MAJORITY OF PLAYERS BUY AN XBOX GOING ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE OG), you would understand why CoD is the last game shown. They showed an extraction mode of an arcade milsim with Controller Support(!) because it DOES NOT EXIST (yet) and also doesn’t look like Bungies game where most players aren’t interested in its aesthetic. Calculated. This mode…with controller support…people have been pleading for….for over 5 years. Here I am, playing the same live service game from 10 years ago (Siege) because Warzone, Apex, Fortnite, delta farce(SUCKS), Battlefield 6 do not capture that feeling. That trailer showed exactly what (controller) players were hoping for and they are finally getting it.

Xenomorph Moriarty

My friend was locked out of his Xbox account last month and hasn’t been able to speak to a human about getting back into and he has tried everyday. Not sure why cog thought that was something Microsoft had over Sony. They both ignore their customers in that regard.

Izzy Smalls

Cog seems like a nice dude, but hes completely delusional . Xbox being "transparent" doesnt mean shit if you lie, flip flop and/or contradict what you say every six months lol

Paul Knickerbocker

I partially agree with this. The market is so saturated with live service and all these corporate CEOs are pushing their companies to do live service after seeing how much money it can bring in. Only problem is that the these studios end up doing half hearted imitations of already successful games. However, I don't think we should underplay how successfull these games are when they do make it and just how much money they bring in. Fortnite, Call of Duty, Valorant, Roblox, Marvel Rivals, League of Legends, GTA online, and there are so many more. These games bring in so much more than a single player game could earn and that is why it's so enticing for these executives. They just don't know how to execute on actually bringing a good live service game.

Izzy Smalls

As someone who hasnt even played Uncharted, GoWR, Ghost of Yotei etc, no one should gaf what Matty has to say about Sonys 1st party output. Respectfully. Enjoy those janky ass Bethesda games lol

Dante B

Is this based on anything at all or

Crispy Rice

Agree with all this. And while I generally agree with Colin’s takes, I feel like his thoughts on Sonys exclusivity is off base. Sony is just lucky that they don’t have a truly competitive Xbox anymore and can absorb this many delays, cancellations, duds, etc throughout the generation. You need to give people a reason to own the box. Yes there is inertia right now and while it may seem unlikely, a new participant isn’t unheard of that could dethrone the king: see Sony vs Nintendo back in the day. I’ve been with the brand since ‘96 and I was also just whelmed with their recent showing. I’m sure they will be good games, but it does feel like the Marvelfication of entertainment properties is taking its toll.

Omar Rosa

Great episode fellas!

Envydiel

Cog is on some weapons grade hopium man.

Yet

They haven’t fixed it I just got a refund

JustOkJeremy

What do you mean? Dude makes comments on Xbox constantly lol

Russell Robinson

This is what I think whenever he's on a Sony games rant. At least play the damn games to have a well thought out and informed opinion. Trailers and using your knowledge of the games you did play isn't enough sometimes. Also yeah those Bethesda games (Fallouts/Starfield) aren't exactly pushing boundaries. I think everyone figured that out once Witcher 3 made Fallout 4 look even MORE beyond the times than they usually do.

Captain Falcon

Great conversation! But realistically xbox is never going to win

Jacob Lesperance

I have no interest in a PS6 and I've had every one of their consoles at launch. But a PS6 handheld.... I'm day one

Shuhei Yoshida's Constant Clicking

I haven't even had a chance to listen to this episode yet and it's already wildly out of date because of how quickly Xbox is imploding. Might as well do another episode this week. And probably next week too 😂

GlasgowRaider

Love Cog but he's been hanging aout Parris lilly too much with this level of Green tinted specs.

Yet

Yep The entire reason you can refund gamepass is because they have no real customer support

Evan Westendorf

Matty lamenting Sony making sequels and the "same kind of games" while also calling Asha "his girl" for saying theyre gonna pump out Halo, Gears, and Fallout more often, and closing the experimental smaller studios they own, is peak copium hilarity

Evan Westendorf

Yeah its very strange for him to cite their community engagement as what got him into covering Xbox as a professional as some sort of positive more broadly. Nah, thats just for you. For almost every other Xbox fan its just annoying as shit corpo speak that is disingenuous and makes no sense year to year most of the time

Screwed Mcfucked

He's got a point though. There are aspects of each of those games presentations that seem more and more similar as the years go on. At this point it's going to have to be a fresh setting (Like Intergalactic) or something like another Ratchet game to get me to dust off my PS5 imo. Nothing wrong with these games inherently. They just make it easy to not feel like I'm missing out.

Izzy Smalls

Cool story bro. You said their games "seem" similar. If you actually PLAY THE GAME you would realize Ghosts, TLOU, GOW etc play nothing alike. The fact they are all 3rd person and cinematic is such a goofy, service level, basic criticism. Matty is like many others, they CLAIM they want "weird" Sony back but didnt buy Concrete Genie, Gravity Rush etc.

Save The Game Media

Listening after Xbox just decided to nuke their first party

Patrick Pratt

Just started the episode, fuck yeah!

Save The Game Media

Matty just an FYI - they have not fixed the Game Pass refund trick

Lemur

I think Matty is absolutely correct

Asher

This is always a treat to listen to. I really liked Colin's focused topics / axioms. Great job everyone!

Cole Phelps Sends Babies To Jail

If Xbox didn’t keep talking every day they wouldn’t keep contradicting themselves when they 180 the following week. Nintendo and PS rarely look like they don’t know what they’re doing because we don’t find out their plans until they’ve got something to show. Even with cancellations, most the games Sony cancels weren’t officially announced, especially with their new route of only showing games ~12 months out. Xbox showed us games 6 years ago that still haven’t been released. It’s too much talk, they’d excite me so much more as a brand if they just went silent and surprised me with a big 1 2 punch of releases and incredible hardware but on a daily basis I get to know their plans and they’re not very smart ones

James Tyler

I know that Xbox has some hard decisions to make but getting rid of day one games on game pass would be catastrophic. I have always been a playstation gamer but since having children 6 years ago I've slowly moved over to Xbox, this is purely for game pass, the day one releases and random other games you get keeps me going with the time I have to play, if they changed game pass to not get day and date games I would go back to playstation without a doubt, and I can't be the only one, day one games on game pass is THE ONLY THING Xbox has going for it, lose that and you lose what little people still game on Xbox.

Stanley Stoopish

Oh no way! We get to finally hear Colin talk about Xbox and Xbox strategy!

Daddy T

Halo, Gears & Fallout are three very different games instead of the over the shoulder cinematic shtick Sony is going for

Evan Westendorf

I mean, TLOU plays differently than Ghost, which plays differently than Spiderman, which plays differently than GoW...unless youre disingenuous enough to boil them down to "hurr durr, third person action" without any nuance whatsoever. And it rings hollow to say that Sony makes "the same games" while being stoked on like, the 8th Halo and Gears game, and literally the 6th Forza, and Fallout and Elder Scrolls which are the same kind of jank as always. Theres some switching it up, but theres a reason people talk about these series as having a "formula" that works. And theres nothing wrong w that. Both of these companies are spending billions. Theyre both going after what works and what is safe. What is "safe" is so because people keep buying. Xbox is doubling down on "safe" now, so youre gonna get a lot more Halo and Gears and Forza etc etc etc. I await 10 years down the line where people complain about Xbox only giving us those things after they were jumping for joy that theyre doubling down now. We were already at the "Xbox only makes Gears Halo and Forza" discourse like 10 years ago. Its laughable to think that wont happen again

Zealander

Yeah fair. I’ve played a bunch of them. I (and many others) can say honestly that Rift Apart, Spider-Man 1/2, Tsushima, GOW/R and HZD are hardly copy pastes. There are superficial elements of them being narrative-driven third party games, but in playing each of them you’re hardly reminded of the others. It wouldn’t even make sense for them to be copy pasted as they’ve come from different studios with very different histories. But beyond that, those games I listed were some of the best I’ve played in the past five years.

Zealander

They’re a distinguisher for sure. They’re the selling points you use to entice people to choose your platform over another. And once they’re there, they’ll buy the third party games where the platform holder makes most of their money through splits. You need to avoid losing too much money on them as that’s not sustainable, but they serve a purpose beyond making money through sales, they exist to bring people into your platform, and if they manage to do that then it’s mission accomplished. I had an Xbox One and I can tell you I was annoyed I didn’t have access to the first Insomniac Spider-Man. If I had the money, I would’ve considered buying a PS4 for it.

Zealander

Microsoft is rereleasing Halo 1, again. I don’t understand how this critique applies to Sony and not Microsoft, as they are far more guilty of relying on the same franchises for 20+ years, and to such an extreme they are releasing the same game over and over. Also the idea that BGS is going to become more efficient and quickly pump out Fallout is laughable. You’ll be lucky if you get it before 2034 given they’re tied up with the early stages of TES6 still.

Mr. Scott If You're Nasty

What he says really resonates with me. Sony first party feels and looks the exact same with less quality narratives. They feel factory, checklist made.

NeO JD

Fable selling more than Gears? If it weren’t for exclusivity, I don’t think that’d be the case.

Mr. Scott If You're Nasty

Awesome listen. Good on you Matty for calling out the factory feel. One thing I don't understand is thinking Xbox can do exactly the same strategy as Sony. They have way different operating variables. There needs to be a different strategy

Gooch Gobbler

Hasn't gears always sold soft? I know a lot more people excited for Fable, lots of non hardcore gamers too

NeO JD

Hard to say considering Game Pass ate up a lot of sales after 3, but a quick search popped up Fable 2 sold best in series at over 5 mil, while Gears 1 OG did over 6, and Gears 2 did over 5 as well, with Gears 3 selling 3 mil in its first week alone. Think Colin read it as XBOX holding Gears because of weak sales of 1R on PS5 but I read it as they’re holding it because it’s the bigger test. If Fable were exclusive, I think it’d take a bigger hit than Gears. I’m curious if Asha will be more transparent with numbers going forward. I feel like she even has the balls to kill Game Pass if it comes down to it.

Gooch Gobbler

I really hope not tbh, whole reason I got an Xbox was gamepass (that and my ps5 got stolen and then recovered a year later)