Defining Duke, Episode 289 | The Fallout From The 'Xbox Reset' (Patreon)

A lot can happen in a week's time! Now that the dust is settling and we have a rare quiet moment for Xbox, it's time to fully unpack the immediate results of Xbox's Reset. We've learned that multiple Zenimax owned studios have returned to their smaller sized around the mid 2010s. When you look across the industry at the various indie and AA success stories, one has to wonder if AAA is no longer just borrowing creative ideas from these parts and, instead, emulating their business structure. Is there a lesson to be learned in Expedition 33 reaching 8+ million copies sold with a team of around 30 people and their strategic form of outsourcing? What of the 10+ person team at Mega Crit that works on the indie hit Slay The Spire 2? Does the industry truly need its titanic teams across the board or should there be exceptions to that rule in cases such as Rockstar? The reality is that we won't know for years how any of this pans out, but it's a good thought exercise nonetheless!

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

10:51 - Health Is Wealth

25:04 - The Future of Elder Scrolls

33:49 - Leadership Issues at Halo Studios Again

1:02:46 - The Black Ops 1 and 2 PS5 Ports

1:08:59 - Microsoft Deletes a 25 Year Old Account

1:29:51 - The Slow Adoption Rate of PS5 and Series Consoles

1:39:37 - Obsidian Responds to Claims That They're a Different Team Nowadays

1:54:33 - Ryse: Son of Rome Was Supposed to Be Xbox's Assassin's Creed

2:00:52 - Glen Schofield Officially Retires from Making Games

2:10:17 - People Are Truly Backlog Gaming Like Crazy

2:13:41 - What We're Playing

2:34:44 - The Fallout of the "Xbox Reset"

3:25:04 - Wrap Up