Indie Games are Showing Up this Summer

ANNOUNCER: Games in this podcast range from E to M.

- What is going on, everybody? Welcome back to the official Xbox podcast, the only podcast coming to you from inside Xbox. And this week, inside Xbox means we're coming to you from our homes. It's so great to have you joining us.

If this is your first time watching, apologies that I have to be the host for your first time. But it's OK. Be sure to hit the Like button, Follow button, Subscribe button, basically whatever button lets when we put out a new episode.

We've got a great show for you today. We've got a few interviews. We're going to talk about the ID@Xbox Digital Showcase. We're going to talk about Elder Scrolls online, Little Kitty, Big City. That rhymes. Bars. And we have so much more.

But before I get into all of that, I want to introduce to you my two amazing, illustrious co-hosts. I'm going to start with Lex Lim. Lex, how's it going? Good to see you back on the show.

- It's going super well. I'm super excited to be on the show, and I'm so glad you thought of me, even though it was a remote show. Because I know I moved from Washington. And I was like, oh, no, I'll never get asked again. So I'm so excited to be here.

- No, we're excited to have you. And I actually went back and I watched your last episode before this. It was January 24. It was you, Jeff. It was Brittney Brombacher from What's Good Games, and it was Joe Neate from Rare. I mean, that is an amazing lineup. But this week, unfortunately, you have to deal with myself and Josh Stein.

It's been a while since you and I have hosted. I think it was even like, on a show together, probably even the mixer days, not going to lie. Like, maybe one of the level up podcasts.

- E3 2019.

- Yeah.

- At the mixer domes, actually might be the last time you and I have been on camera together. Man, it's been a while.

- Yeah. It's been a while. I miss your friendship. I miss your cackle. Stein, before the end of the show, we need to hear the cackle, the signature Stein cackle.

- I didn't know I had a signature cackle.

- No, no, no.

- I don't know. This is news to me.

- Lex, here's the deal. Lex, when we're playing games-- which it's been too long now, we got to play some games-- and Stein just goes rogue. And he just starts pushing a team. You're just hearing Stein and his battle cry, which sounds a cackle in a good way, by the way. I love it, by the way. So your friends--

- I want to hear this now. I need to hear it.

- Yeah. Hopefully we get one out of Stein before the end of the show. But we say it, obviously, with love. So thank you all so much for joining us. I'm excited to talk a little bit about to video games. And of course, because this is a video game podcast, we're going to start with what we're playing. Lex, as our guest, I'm going to start with you. Lex, what have you been playing?

- Yes. I've been very late to the game but I'm obsessed with Baldur's Gate 3 right now. I'm rocking a Drow druid mix. And so far, I'm starting to think I actually picked the best lineup for my character. Not multi-classing or anything. I'm focusing straight on this lineage here. But it's really helped me through act one.

Being a Drow apparently is like super badass, and you can just get through all these different camps. But yeah, it's been awesome. I'm playing it with my husband, and we're just like totally obsessed. Like, 30 hours in a few days obsessed. So that's what I'm playing right now, and probably going to be playing for the next few months, I imagine. We'll do a couple more runs. This isn't the last time.

- Yeah. I mean, it's one of the most awarded games of last year. And we were talking a little bit before the show about how you're jumping in late to the game. I mean, I'm so late that I haven't even started the game. But I just know so many people have said amazing things about this game. Jumping in late, have you kind of discovered like, oh, I get why people were talking about this game so much?

- It's everything. The music. I've even added the playlist on my Spotify. Like all these little--

- You're all in.

- Yeah. I didn't even realize were part of what made this game so good. But it's just-- even though like, I'm writing a book right now. And so I'm hyper focused on storylines and how they set things up, and relationship building and everything, and they're just-- it's a master craft. Like, this whole game really keeps you involved in every single aspect. It's hard to even explain in a sentence, but they're just-- everything is just like chef's kiss, immaculate.

MALIK: I love that. I love to hear that. And so we're excited to-- we're excited to hear your thoughts once you finish the game, but also to read your book, which you just casually threw in there, which is amazing. You're actually doing things with your life, as opposed to me, who takes a nap right after I log off of work. I love it.

- Take naps, for one tip.

- OK. OK, so take naps. OK, love that.

- So you nap, you play Baldur's Gate 3, and you're an author. Wow.

- Where do you find the time?

- What are we doing with our life, Malik?

- Not an author yet.

- Nothing.

- And it's a casual book. I'm not looking to make money on it. It's more for just like--

- Look into your--

- --a creative outlet. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

- Don't sell yourself short, for sure. And then anything else you're playing?

- I'm also playing Phasmophobia, which I mentioned on the last time I was on the podcast. Still obsessed. It's very much my evergreen game that I'm always playing. All the streams I watch are streamers who play Phasmophobia. I just love the investigation factor to it. Like, I like that you have to put some clues out, figure out what's going on. Like, is this an EMF? Is this like voice box? What is this?

So yeah, and I like spooky games. I'm obsessed with anything that gets my heart racing a little bit. So that's definitely a game that's always going to be on my plate, I think, until the next big ghost investigation game comes out. We'll see.

MALIK: Yeah. And it's funny because I've said this on the show before, that I think that I can't play scary games because I just don't think that I can get scared by the scary games. And so maybe Phasmophobia is that for me. I don't know. We'll see.

- You need to try it. Try it for yourself because I thought I was like, far beyond getting scared I've seen all the scary movies, everything. Like, there's nothing that can break this. But let me tell you, that game, when you're in it, and it gets all of a sudden gets dark, the door slams shut, and then you're like, great, I'm getting hunted, I have nowhere to hide, it does something to you it. Like, it like brings you to life a little bit. So try it out and then report back to me.

- OK. I'll take your word for it. We're going to give it a shot and I'll report back. Now, Stein, what have you been playing? I know Fallout 76. Every time I log on, I feel like I see you playing Fallout 76. And so we know about that one. Anything else?

- You should come join me sometime.

- Maybe.

- I'm definitely not playing scary games. I am a screamer-- spoilers. So I just, I get too focused in the ambiance of it, and then yeah, that thing pops up or the doors slam, and then my wife's complaining like three stories away, literally, just screaming. And she's like, I'm at the grocery store and I can hear you.

Anyways, other than Fallout 76, I actually am almost done with Harold Halibut, which is a recent indie game that came out. It's got a very unique art style. It kind of reminds me of like Shaun the Sheep meets like the Fantastic Mr. Fox. It's a little bit of a hybrid of that. It's a slower pace, but it's got a nice story. It's got some eerie. It's basically like this spaceship that we sent off and humanity ended up crashing on this water planet. So it's like underwater but they're all still alive. And then it's generations later.

And so it's got a really unique story. I really enjoyed it. For me, it was a pick up and put down throughout the week. So it ended up breaking up my Fallout 76 playthroughs. So when I wasn't out in Appalasha? Appalachia? I always pronounce it wrong. Yeah. When I'm not out there trying to slay some ghouls or some of the super mutants, it's kind of been a nice like palate cleanser of like booting up Harold Halibut and just having fun. Not scary.

MALIK: I get it, man.

JOSH: At all.

- Not scary at all. Well, I get it. I feel like we all have our main games. Apex for me, Phasmaphobia for you, Lex. And then Fallout 76 now for you, Stein. But it's always good to go in and dive into something brand new, which I have been doing.

Of course, in addition to Apex, your boy has played Open Roads, and if anyone knows me, like, they know I love my first person shooters. But I also do love these narrative driven. People call them walking simulators, which is kind of a little bit not a great way to describe them because I think they tell stories great.

But Open Roads is done by the team that I believe did Tacoma, and they did Gone Home, which are massive games in that storytelling vein. And it's about this girl-- her name is Tess, right? And the game opens up, you're in her room and she's packing things up. And you find out that her grandmother passed away. That's not really a spoiler. They use it to set it up.

But, as you're going through your grandmother's house and packing things up, you start to discover certain things about your grandmother alongside your mom. I think her name is Opal. And you start to uncover a few secrets which leads you into the attic, where you find a very special thing-- I can't say, I don't want to spoil the game because I want people to play it-- that sends you on a road trip. So I just got to the road trip piece. So I'm looking forward to jumping in and finding out where this story goes.

But I really want to talk about it because it's just funny. The whole premise is like they're talking about-- She's talking about how her grandmother was a great writer. And you find these clippings and these letters from people who found inspiration from her grandmother's writing. And then you find out that your grandmother may not have been the greatest.

- The grandma Laura kind of--

- I don't want to say it. Yeah. Yeah. I don't want to say it. So I won't go any further than that. Be sure to check it out. It's actually a pretty short game. It is on Game Pass. So check that out if you want to uncover why Tess' grandmother may not be as good as it appears. So there you go. Open Roads by the Open Roads Team is how they're going right now.

But a few different games. I feel like we went through a few different games for a few different types of people. So be sure to check those out and give them a shot. I went ahead into-- because we have a lot of great interviews coming up. So I want to head into the biggest news of the week. Earlier this week we talked--

Speak. There you go. There's a Stein transition. It's the Xbox Game Showcase, which was announced-- which is going to be followed by the redacted direct. Who knows what that might be? That's going to be on June 9th airing at 10:00 AM Pacific, which is 6:00 PM EST, and immediately following the showcase.

And this showcase is really awesome because it's going to be the first showcase where all of the studios-- whether it's Xbox Game Studios, Bethesda, Activision Blizzard-- are coming together to put on one super showcase. I cannot wait. And I feel like this is going to be probably one of the best showcases of all time. I don't know anything about it, but I just feel like that's going to be the case.

And then on top of that, just like we saw-- go ahead.

- One of the longest show hashtags of all time. We had a debate of hashtags. Should we-- it's just hashtag Xbox showcase. But we were talking about, should it be hashtag Xbox, Bethesda, Activision Blizzard showcase? And just lean into it and own it.

- Hey, why not? You know? Just got to get that spelling right. But other than that, I think it's great because the redacted showcase is just like last year, we had our amazing Starfield Derek direct. And so lots of fun times happening.

And I want to go to the FanFest moment because there is a FanFest sweepstakes as a part of that. Shout out to Brina, who is the lead of FanFest, who has been killing it these past few years bringing awesome fan experiences to our amazing players out there.

But there will be a premium viewing event in Los Angeles for Xbox FanFest. And if you'd like to go, guess what? There is a sweepstakes for you. So be sure to check out news.xbox.com, not only for the news on the showcase, but also on how you can enter to potentially even win a trip to LA to be able to watch the Xbox Game Showcase and the redacted direct right after that.

Lex, Stein any amazing moments from showcases past or fan events past?

LEX: It's funny you bring up the Starfield one. I thought that one was so cool. Because I like to-- I like to understand that what goes on in the background, right? We don't get a lot of visibility into how games are made, what the thought process was behind it. Like, how certain dialog options are thought through. And maybe that, again, might just be the author in me or whatever. See like good words I'm using with myself now.

There you go. There you go.

- Yeah. See? I get so interested in understanding the inner workings, especially because I'm so far removed from the creation of a game. So it is, for me, as a consumer as well, I thought it was just a really neat thing to explore a little bit further into.

- Absolutely. So well done.

- I feel like when I watch that, I was like ooh, shiny, that's cool. And Lex is like, very intricate details in your character depth.

MALIK: Like the sandwich also.

LEX: Pretty notes.

- And I'm like sandwiches, ha ha.

MALIK: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There you go. With extra cheese even, Stein. I know you're a cheese influencer in the making. So we have a author in the making and a cheese influencer in the making. I got to figure out what my thing is, but again-- [LAUGHS] again, the Xbox Game showcase is coming to you June 9th starting at 10:00 AM Pacific.

Now, we have some news and new releases coming out in just a second. But we're going to hop into some interviews. So coming up in a few minutes, we're going to talk about the Elder Scrolls online and how they're celebrating their 10th anniversary this year. And Stein, you got a chance to chat with the game director Matt Firor.

Then Jeff jumped in with an interview with the brains behind Little Kitty, Big City. And yes, you can tell by the name it is a cat in a city. We even put out a playlist a while ago with all the games you could play as a cat on Xbox, and so this is probably going to go into that. And then first of all, by the way, before we jump into any of that, the long awaited return Jeff teases at the end of last week, the return of Tina Amini.

Which I read the comments. Everyone's like, where's Tina? We want more Tina. Well, guess what? We got her here for you today to talk about the ID@Xbox and IGN Digital Showcase, and all of the amazing indie games that came out, which you can check out at news.xbox.com. She's going to be joining Daemon Hatfield to discuss the show's highlight, the showcases highlight. So we'll be back with news and free code Friday on the other side of these interviews.

- Hello, everyone. Or should I say, what's up, everybody? I'm Tina Amini. And I'm here with a very special interview guest. And I feel like we've got to be in a parallel universe over here because it's Daemon Hatfield, executive producer and host of IGN's game scoop here with me, and not hosting me on his podcast. So I don't really what's going on with that. But hello, Deamon, welcome. Say hello to the Xbox fans out there.

- Hello. What's up, Every Tina.

- Thank you.

- So proud of you. So I feel I cultivated, helped you grow your hosting talents at Game Scoop. And now you're out there hosting for the Xbox podcast doing awesome things. It's very, very cool to see you. Also, just great to see you in person, friend.

- Thank you. Yes. Likewise to you as well. And yeah, absolutely. One of my first few hosting gigs was to sub in for Daemon for Game Scoop. So here I am, out there on the wild, missing you all terribly. But I'm so happy to have you here.

And you are on a very special set right now, which I'm very happy about, because we're here to talk about the second edition ever of the ID@Xbox showcase, presented by IGN. Very cool. My worlds collide. The show was stacked. There was over 20 games. Tons of variety. Some world premieres. Some gameplay. Some announcements. All games coming to Xbox Series XS, Xbox One, or Windows PC.

We have precious few minutes to get through all of our favorite selects in the show. So I'm going to just dive right in. And I want to start with a game that I know we have played simultaneously. There's a big group of people at IGN who always play the same games, especially at Game Scoop. We always like to share our favorites.

And it's Vampire Survivors. That game has been out for over a year now. But there was some DLC announced. And it's kind of two-tier fold on the surface. It seemed like there's this laboratory update, and there'd be some new characters stages weapons. There's holiday-themed characters. There's Santa Claus. There's a killer train that comes in and demolishes enemies. There's kart racing. There's a whole bunch of stuff.

But then there's a little bit of a record scratch. And I know this is one of your favorites, Daemon, so why don't you tell us what the record scratch moment was?

DAEMON: No. I'm excited for the operation guns for Vampire Survivors, which is just throwing Contra in there. It's just one of the classic run and gun series. Kenan knows I'm a huge retro gaming fan. Love Contra. Love Vampire Survivors. And Xbox is where I play Vampire Survivors, by the way. So yeah, they're adding Contra to it. Konami seems to be being very generous with their classic licenses these days.

They had great success letting Dead Cells use Castlevania. That was amazing last year. And so yeah, Vampire Survivors is going to add in Contra characters and weapons and enemies as well. So it seems like it's going to be a great fit for Vampire Survivors. I can't wait. I know that's coming May 9th. So it's not too far away now.

TINA: Yeah, not too far away, the contra DLC. And yes, this was definitely a presumed Damie pick. It felt like catnip for Daemon Hatfield. So I was definitely trying to guess in advance which ones are Daemon going to pick. And there some crossover for us as well. This was one of mine, too. I'm a massive Vampire Survivors fan.

For those of you that don't know, it's very frenetic kind of like survive against waves of endless enemies. It becomes very overwhelming, kind of like organized chaos. And then you stack your weapon builds. You've got perks that you can add on to them. Very kind of minimalist horror style, which is both Daemy and Tina-y. I don't know how we convert my name into a cute teeny, teeny select. Yes, exactly.

But I'd love an excuse to jump back in. And it seems like there's a little bit of maybe new weaponry did I catch in there, that that's very Contra-themed as well. So that's exciting.

- There's several like iconic Contra weapons, like the spread shot and--

- Yes.

- --the laser blast and that sort of thing. I think we expect that.

Also, if you don't know, Vampire Survivors is dead simple to play. It's a no-button game. One hand to play. All you do is move your character around. All the attacking is done automatically. But it works so well. And it's super, super addictive

- Yes, very addictive. Tons of rounds to play, achievements to get. There's new achievements with the laboratory update as well. So that's fun stuff, too. And yes, you're just shooting automatically. You pick your weapons. You stack your weapons. And you're just shooting automatically. And you just turn and look and your enemies are defeated. How wonderful. If only every game worked that way.

So another game on the list that you picked was Commandos Origins. Why was this on your list? And why did I predict that one as well?

DAEMON: Yeah. I know that Commandos is a long running series that I've never played. But I know I know it's a Daemon game, for sure. It's a turn based, isometric, strategy, stealth game series. And it looks a lot like Shadow Tactics, which is a turn based stealth ninja game from a few years ago. And then those developers did Desperados 3, which is the term-based isometric cowboy game.

And it looks like that. So it just-- it's hitting-- checking off all the boxes for me. I like that you can-- any game that lets me take my time and think and assess the situation and call in a sniper shot on enemies, that sort of thing.

TINA: Yes.

DAEMON: And this is supposedly a prequel to the whole Commando series, which began on computers in the late '90s.

- Yeah. So it's been a long running series. It's essentially a reboot, kind of an origin story right around when the elite unit was being formed contextually within the storyline. And yes, lots of stealth, kind of top down tactical World War II setting. And that has a closed beta coming out in summer 2024. So that's also another thing that's right around the corner. Love that about the showcase. Tons of summer activity.

Not a summer activity, but want to move over to another one of your favorites. This one is kind of an anime-inspired game called Keylocker. And I love the soundtrack. Well, not the soundtrack, the singular song, but I'm sure the soundtrack as well because it's very much based both in story and in gameplay around music. But the trailer song was just incredible. I loved it. Why don't you tell us what stood out for you on this turn-based, tactical, kind of rhythm JRPG game?

DAEMON: Yeah. This is a cyberpunk turn-based rhythm JRPG, as the developers describe it. Inspired by Mario and Luigi RPG Series and Chrono Trigger. And very cool pixel art. So that's always going to win points with me.

Yeah, and the whole premise is that it's on Saturn, the planet Saturn, and music has been outlawed, but you are a singer, and you got to let the music out. So you get in trouble for that. And then it's very pretty typical what you would expect running around an isometric playfield, getting into battles.

And then I think the Mario and Luigi inspiration comes from some of rhythm-based real time activities during the combat. But yeah, it's very cool. There are several different classes that you can choose from. And I think there's some-- maybe some like dating mechanics in there as well between the characters. It's got a very cool look to it.

TINA: Very cool look. Yes, I love the kind of like animated pixel art. Very beautiful. I'm excited to see what the rest of the soundtrack is since it's obviously so embedded with the gameplay and some of the drama of the background setting, too. Seem like you would play within the tactical turn-based combat. You're doing some rhythm moves, but also some maybe like branch out puzzles, too. So seems like it's quite diverse and there's a lot of exploration in there, too. So it looks a fun one to explore. So I've got that on my list as well.

Next up in the Daemy picks is Tales of Iron 2 Whiskers of Winter. Did you play the first one?

DAEMON: I did not, but I went and looked it up after this, and it looks awesome. And it was very well received. It was very critically acclaimed. So should definitely check it out. So at first glance, the art reminds me of Darkest Dungeon if it were just an action game instead of a turn-based dungeon crawler.

But it's actually-- it's a 2D soulslike, where you are a rat who's very handy with swords and other weapons. You need to hunt down all the evil monsters that are terrorizing your countryside. And also the game's narrated by Doug Cockle, who we all know as Geralt of Rivia in the Witcher Trilogy. He's also a bunch of other games. He was in Baldur's Gate 3 and Alan Wake 2 last year.

So 2D soulslike with awesome Darkest Dungeon ish visuals. You can also construct and upgrade your settlement in between all the battling. So that looks very cool.

TINA: Yeah, very cool. I did not realize that it was Doug Cockle initially. And I was like, this feels familiar. And then you look it up, and yes, the connection is really, really cool. He narrates the whole game, apparently, which is very cool. And I suppose there's this-- you play as a rat, as you said. And you had, previously, in the first game, gone up against the frog kingdom.

And I guess now it's-- now you're going and having new kingdom drama and going through combat in kind of a soulslike way, just in the sense of it requires a lot of precision. There's parrying and dodging at the exact right times. Yes. So I think you're up against the dark winged group of bats. And just love the way-- and I assume this has also struck you-- I love the way that the enemies look.

Like, there's this one scene in-- I assume it's a boss battle. But there's this one scene in the trailer where a skeleton boss is kind of just like rebuilding itself out from the ground, and it's just a very cool dark kind of Gothic setting, which we both enjoy, don't we?

- Yeah, very cool creature design in this game.

- Very cool creature design in this game. Yes, it's an action RPG. And love this about ID@Xbox and these kinds of showcases in general. I wasn't aware of Tales of Iron 1. So it's very cool that we get to be introduced to something that you never knew you would have liked. Because there's so many games out there. So this kind of discovery is very fun. Yes.

But moving on to the next one, this game was actually revealed at-- I want to say last year's Xbox Game showcase. Time is a circle. I don't understand it very well. It might have been the previous year. But we had more of this game at the first ever Xbox partner preview, which is my baby show. So I'm very proud of her.

It is Dungeons of Hinterberg. So we'd previously seen this is another Daemy pick, which I was actually kind of surprised by. Although I think the Zelda dungeon kind of elements I'm guessing is what drew you in. But this time, we saw much more-- they called it the marsh puzzle showcase. So there's obviously combat in this game. There's dungeon raiding in this game. It's an action adventure RPG set in the Austrian Alps, with some social Sim elements as well.

So we've seen those features before, and now we saw a little bit more on the puzzle stuff. So tell me what makes this a Daemy game, Daemon?

- Yeah. So an action adventure RPG where you go down into a dungeon, explore, fight monsters, solve puzzles, and then go back up to the surface with your loot, and then meet people in town and interact and build social relationships. So yeah, just, I love a good dungeon crawler. But this has very bright visuals. It's a very brightly colored dungeon here. It's not dark and dingy and lit by torches.

So it does kind of give off a little bit of a Breath of the Wild sort of vibe to it. But I love exploring. I love fighting monsters and solving puzzles. So it's checking off a lot of boxes for me as well.

- I love that.

- And also, it looks like there's can use-- manipulate slime cubes to solve the puzzles in there. So that's really all I needed to hear.

- It's a cute touch. They definitely have their own style on this kind of like exploration dungeon ready sort of thing that we've seen before, but they have their own spin on it, which I really like. And Micro Bird Games, they seem to always choose a great track as well. This felt like another one of the trailers that I really enjoyed the music around. So I'm excited to see what the rest of the game sounds and plays like. That one's actually coming out July 18, 2024. That's this year, another summer game. That's really exciting.

And I have one more on the Daemy pick list, and I'm going to try to rattle through possibly a game or two after that because there's just too many things to talk about, too many fun ones. But I want to get through the Daemy games at the very least.

This one is Centum. This was actually a world premiere, so first time we were seeing this game. At first blush, it seems kind of like a point and click. Also has some horror elements. There may be a bit of a thread to our taste here, Daemon. But what else is going on with Centum?

DAEMON: It's an unreliable narrative-driven adventure. Point and click adventure with cool pixel art, very creepy pixel art. And presumably, you're in a prison and need to escape. But there's going to be obviously a lot more to it than that. You have a hundreds days to escape. And I looked it up. Centum means 100 in Latin. So that's where that comes from.

But also, I'm sure you could not help but notice, there are a lot of cats in this trailer.

TINA: Yes, I was going to say.

DAEMON: Both of the cute and monstrous variety.

TINA: Yes. I'm assuming-- so it's interesting. By the way, this is another summer 2024 title, which is fun. But yes, I literally wrote down the note, "there's a cat, but I don't think you want to pet it." Because most of the time we want to know. Yes. So I love the unreliable narrative-driven adventure game. Like, it really just sold me there, and also with the aesthetics and the kind of background context.

But it seems like you're jumping through worlds or possibly-- There's a surrealist element. So you're either jumping through different parallel kind of worlds, or just being misled by something, something's going on in the world that is very confusing and you're jumping between different realities. And I think that's where the cat comes into play.

So my guess is that the kick is good in the end, and maybe we will be able to have a peaceful cuddle session with the cat at the end. That's my hope for this one.

DAEMON: That would be a happy ending. Because there's definitely-- some of the scenes are Gothic and medieval and some of them look very modern. And then there's even a behind kind of like an outrun scene where you're driving a car down a freeway. So yeah, there's going to be a lot of mysteries to be discovered in this game.

- Yes, I was actually thinking of outrun as well. And I love that it just jumps around and keeps you on your toes. In that sense, the unreliable narrative part is really exciting. I feel like they can do fun things and confuse you. And there's been some games of that nature out there, but not a lot that have dabbled. So I'm looking forward to yet another one.

And I want to throw out there-- something that stood out to me was Fera the Sundered Tribes, just because first off, just as two people who work on shows, I just love the VO that they did for the gameplay because it was very descriptive, very helpful.

They did a great job on the asset itself. This is just a little bit of insider baseball nerding out. But the way that the game is described is essentially a co-op monster hunting open world survival craft game, with a huge focus on aerial mechanics, as well as a tribal colony Sim.

So there's a couple of the games that we mentioned today that are a handful of genres, which I love, because that just means you can kind of play it whatever way you want. But in particular, this is a magical kind of fairy tale world. And some stuff has gone down. And you are one of the people that have actually managed to survive against a behemoth, one of the creatures that's kind of a disrupter in this world. And so you've been selected as that leader to go out and deal with these issues. And you can go out and play with friends.

But they also described the world as an aerial jungle gym. And it truly looks that way. So you're just gliding and tethering, and you can see all your other friends kind of gliding and tethering around you. And it just seemed really fun and airy, if you will, to play. So I just like the mechanics itself around that.

Do you remember this one from the show as well? There were so many titles.

DAEMON: Yeah. Yeah. And there's a lot of games with gliding mechanics. But I think adding in that tether or that sort of grappling mechanic so you can attach yourself to a point and then swing yourself around and launch yourself in a different direction, that looks like it'd be a lot of fun.

TINA: Yeah, I love that element. This is another 2024 game that's coming out later this year. And we have-- there's so many other games. There's dozens of games. There's a bunch of other feature sets in the show as well. Make sure if-- there's a lot more that we didn't cover, so those of you listening, and watching, please check out news.xbox.com and/or IGN for a full recap of what was showcased.

But before I let you go, Daemon, you work on so many shows at Xbox-- at Xbox? No, I work on so many shows at Xbox. You work on so many shows at IGN, and of which we have participated in many together. You work on the entertainment side with San Diego Comic-Con. Obviously, your own weekly Game Scoop podcast. But also all of the June festivities. There's a lot that you have done at IGN for many, many years. So I'm curious, what made this showcase special for you to work on?

- Well, it's not very often we get to do a show that's just all dedicated to indie games. So that's really nice, you know? Like, I'll play games, everything from triple-A down to weird indie stuff. And you never know-- like, any of these games could be the next breakout, the next Vampire Survivors. We literally have vampire survivors here. Or the next Darkest Dungeon, or the next Dead Cells.

You never know which of these indie is going to be like breakout hit. There's always just-- there's so much like creativity and excitement that comes along with these games. So it's cool to have a show that's just dedicated, that really gives them their time to shine.

TINA: I do love that. And it's-- we have pal world in the show as well. That was another breakout success of this year. It's just incredible how these things sometimes come out of the left field, and being at the forefront of being able to showcase them and share them with the community at wide is really exciting.

I imagine there's something for everyone in that showcase. And if there wasn't, don't worry. Daemon and I will personally go forward and work on more of these shows at IGN and Xbox so that we do nail it. We'll find one for you. It will happen.

Well, thank you so much, Daemon. This was so fun, to have a role reversal here. How did I do? How did I do?

- Excellent. 11 out of 10. Off the charts.

- Thank you so much. How the turns have tabled, Daemon. It was great to have you here and--

- Nicely job, Tina.

- --again. Exactly, I knew you would get it. Just you know. All right. Well, Daemon, it was so good to see you. Thank you again. Come back soon. Hope to see you soon. Miss you all. Bye bye.

- Hey, everyone. My name is Josh Stein, and I'm joined today by studio director Matt Firor. Matt, how's it going today?

- It's good. It's good. It's on the East Coast, and there's a ton of pollen in the air right now. So if I look like I'm crying and I sound, it's not because I'm emotional. It's because there's some apocalyptic pollen going on out there.

- Yeah. Very Fallout 76. Who knew? It wasn't the super mutants that was going to get us all. It was the mutant pollen that was going to get us.

- Exactly.

- Nice. But we're here to talk about, speaking of big, big things and big moments, we're here to talk about ESL. Elder Scrolls Online turn 10 years old this year, which is pretty impressive for a game that's always online these days, keeping its community going strong, and of course, the studio supporting it.

So I want to just take a minute sit down with you and kind of talk about the last decade. The game has over 40 updates. It's got multiple content launches based on community feedback, as well as your guys' like just crazy minds coming up with where you want to take it, the storytelling and the journeys.

Not to mention you guys have to announcement, the gold road chapter coming up. So guess kind of to start is like, how's your team managed to keep storytelling fresh in a game like this, and engaging players over 10 years?

- Yeah. I think, in these live service games, it's keep giving your community what they want. And that's what we do here, is us, you know, Elder Scrolls Online. So basically a poster child for you give players great stories in a virtual world that they can quest through those stories, but they can also do lots of other things, like housing, and PVP, and fishing, and crafting. And it's kind of all those systems coming together that makes ESO the game that it is.

So yes, we do add story content every year and pretty much every quarter. And those stories are great. And we have a fantastic writing team. And probably our questing is what the game is most known for. But we certainly have all kinds of virtual world activities as well. And I think the way those act together is what makes the customers and our communities so happy. Because they can do lots of different things.

So they can do some quests one day. They can decorate their house, right? So we're not just telling them to go on quests. It's more, What do you want to do in Tamriel today? and then give them the ability to do that.

- Yeah. Love the imagination of it of, like you just said. What do you want to do today? Do you want to go fishing today? Do you want to go questing? Maybe get lost in some side adventure with you and your friends? Or do you just want to just hang back and maybe decorate a little bit, do a little interior design, depending on how the mood catches you?

I kind of-- real life's a little bit like that. I wish work was a little bit like that. Decide, do I want to interior design my inbox today or not? Probably, not so much. But over 10 years, it's a long time. Could you maybe share a little bit, even some of your knowledge here, as you've worked on this game with a lot of really talented people at the studio? Of like, some of the trials and tribulations it takes in creating and maintaining-- it's probably a whole nother hurdle of massive online service, like Elder Scrolls Online.

- Yeah. I mean, it's been 10 years since we launched, but it's been 17 years since we started the studio. And the studio was started literally to make ESO. So I've been working on this game for a long time. And I think the answer to that question is wrapped up in that statement, which is you treat it a marathon.

It's not a sprint. You always have a chance in live service games within reason to fix problems that you yourself have introduced. And I think if you look at the history of ESO, going back to kind of the impact that Skyrim had before we launched, which was basically the greatest-- pretty much the greatest game of all time based on the IP your game is on, launches and you have to follow it up, right? So we had to make a lot of changes

- No pressure.

- No pressure there. And then of, course, we launched and we got a lot of feedback that the game wasn't MMO enough for the MMO people, and it wasn't Skyrim enough for the Skyrim people. And we had a lot of work to do to kind of sift through the feedback, see what the players really wanted, figuring out the best way for us to solve that problem, and coming up with a roadmap that would address all that.

And I think that was the time that we really pulled together and made ESO what it is. And to the community, we're kind of seen as the dev team that listens to them and makes changes based on what the community is thinking. And that stems mostly from this time around launch when players said, we don't have enough. It's too quest-based. It's too on rails. It doesn't feel like Skyrim.

And so we did things like we added a whole bunch of those systems that I already talked about, like housing and things that you don't need a quest to go on. For example, we added the whole outlaw system where you can pick pocket NPCs and straight up murder people and break into houses and steal their stuff and fence them.

All those systems came about because we wanted to make the game more of a fantasy virtual world and less of an on rails RPG. And so that was the time-- 2014 through 2016-- when we were kind of going back and reevaluating all of the systems and making sure we were doing what the players wanted to kind of hit that vision of, this can't feel like an older MMO. It has to feel a more modern RPG and more modern open world RPG. And all of our changes pretty much came from that.

But I think the developer summary of that, for any game developers listening to this, is listen to your community, right? Keep the game that you want to make in your mind. Listen to community feedback. And then triangulate the changes you want to make based on that.

- Yeah, and no easy task. I mean, massive credit to the studio. I know y'all have bled, sweat, cried, rejoiced, had all the different waves of emotions as you go through that. Because the community, it's a very long time to listen to the community go through it. You have people that go out the back door. You have new people coming in the front door. You have old classics and favorites returning and joining in.

But while keeping everyone happy, while keeping your core game and the value of that beautiful thing, basically, that you've planted, wanted to see that seed grow. But then you also want the community to rally around it. So it's--

- Yeah, we have-- we have a saying. And I have to say this every interview, but it's true. It's that exactly what you're saying. If you ask five ESO players to describe the game that they're playing, they're going to describe five different games. And it's because they found the niche in the game that they like to do.

And the corollary to that is we can't do everything for every player, right? So we always make sure we try to hit content for co-op game players, for solo players, for more high end group players. And we try to do that over the course of the year. But we hit as much of that as we can, but you can't have everything for everyone. So we really have to pick and choose. And that is the hardest part of the job.

JOSH: That's threading the needle, finding that value for that player, or that community, or even that clan that's going to rally around. We are going to do this one thing and it's going to be our identity in this game. And we're going to explore it. And almost creating that open sandbox so that way they can find their niche, find their community, maybe find their like-minded people. So man, it's-- 17 years definitely sounds like about the right amount of time to really hone that craft and really kind of zone in on that.

I know it's been a great journey, and I know you all have been working really hard on it. But there's always-- your players are so excited to see what's coming next. I do appreciate you're one of the developers who has a roadmap actually website. We'll put the link in the description of this podcast. But you guys actually have a roadmap.

So could you share a little bit about what you have announced coming up? Maybe a little bit about the gold road expansion that people have been buzzing about? Amazing trailer, too, that you guys dropped for that thing.

- Yeah. Yeah. We really went all out on this one. It's visually just absolutely stunning. But yeah. Like you're saying, we have a roadmap. We're in our 10th anniversary period we call it, because really, we launched on PC in 2014 in spring, and then in summer 2015 we launched on console, which gives us conveniently a kind of a 15-month period that we can call our--

- One hell of a birthday.

- Yeah. Extended birthday. So we're doing a whole lot of different fun things. We're having in-person events-- we had one in Amsterdam, there's one in Germany coming up-- to get the community together in real life. But also, the roadmap includes lots of events that happen in game. But also, yes, our chapter that's coming up called Gold Road launches in June.

And it's kind of the next story in ESO. We launched what we call a chapter every year. It's about 30 hours of content. New story. Takes you to a different part of the world that we haven't had in ESO before. Gold Road takes place in a chunk of Cyrodiil. And you might remember Cyrodiil from Elder Scrolls 4 Oblivion.

So this is the part of Cyrodiil around Skingrad and the Southwest, right near Valenwood, where the Bosmer, the wood elves are. And the story revolves around-- there are a couple of different layers to the story. The meta story takes last year's chapter Necrom and kind of continues that story arc of the lost daedric prince, which is great.

But on the political level-- Elder Scrolls game always got to have some politics-- really, it's about the Bosmer versus the Imperials, and a little bit more history in the Bosmer. Because we haven't done a lot of Bosmer content since launch. So we wanted to go back and investigate that.

And the chapter also has a couple new systems players are super excited about. Scribing, which lets you create new skills for your character based on a system that we've introduced that lets you mix and match different ability types. And then also another system that lets you actually change the color of your effects and different parts of your abilities and appearance. So you can make yourself visually distinct however you want.

So there's a ton of other stuff in there too. And of course, we're not stopping with Gold Road. The road map goes on and there'll be more content the rest of this year and then next year. And so this is a giant train, and it keeps running. And there's a lot of people that are playing it right now. And we definitely want to keep them happy.

- That's awesome to hear. I mean, all the success is well deserved. It's great to hear about Gold Road coming. A little bit more depth on story. A little bit more customization with some of your character and the effects. And then, of course, as you said, like, there's even more details when it comes to fall, winter 2024 and beyond.

So excited to see where you guys take this train. I love that it just-- it's never ending. Just circling the globe almost with the community and with you guys at the helm, really looking into what the community wants, and then building your own stories and narratives over there.

- I want to add one other thing, just so the listeners know. I often make the mistake of assuming everybody knows everything about ESO, but of course they don't. So just a reminder that ESO is level-scaled, which means that you can start the game and do the new content immediately, which is why we don't call Gold Road an expansion. We call it a chapter because expansion kind of has a lot of 2008 MMO kind of connotation.

And so no, you can jump in and play the new stuff as a new player. You can go anywhere in the world and the game scales the level to you. So it really makes ESO different from most other games of its type out there. Is that really just can drop into the middle of the world from day one and go do whatever you want. And it's a very free and open and players love it.

- That's a great call out. And a big game like that, I know it can be daunting, and where do I jump in? How do I jump in? So kudos to the team for giving people just a nice easy on ramp if they want to jump in when Gold Road chapter comes out, June 3 to PC, and June 18 to console.

Thank you so much, Matt. I know you're a busy man. I know you got to get back to making sure this thing hits launch here in a couple months. And so thank you for your time and have a great day.

- Thank you.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

- Little Kitty, Big City was one of the standouts of the recent Nintendo Direct. But I am very pleased to confirm that it is also coming to Xbox Series X and S, Xbox One, and PC day one with Game Pass. And that day is coming up pretty soon. May 9th, next week, is the debut release from Double Dagger Studios. And we've got the director of Little Kitty, Big City with us today. Warm welcome here from Matt Wood. How are you, sir?

- I'm doing all right. Yeah. I'm excited about the game coming out. But yeah, I'm doing good. Doing good.

- There's a great reception. I saw a lot of people really excited to just see this game when so many people got to see it last week. And I think coming to Game Pass means that everyone who's watching this is in the target market. Like, everyone's going to have a good chance to play this game and enjoy it. I've been playing the game and enjoying it.

But first, why don't you tell us a little bit more about the game? Little Kitty, Big City isn't the first game that puts you behind the whiskers, if you will, of a cat. Stray came to mind. Cat Quest comes to mind. Little Kitty, Big City is quite a bit different. So why you tell us a little bit more about it?

- Yeah, sure. So Little Kitty, Big City is a game where you play as a cat, just like those other games. The biggest difference here is that this is more about exploration. This is more about playing around at a neighborhood. It's a playground. It's an adventure and exploration game. And it's all about finding little nooks and crannies, and things to explore and discover.

We've got some really great cute characters that you meet and you can help, and they're really funny. I'm really proud of the writing that we did with the characters. They're just-- they're so entertaining. And there's a lot of hats to collect. We've got over 40 hats.

And it's really a game about being a cat made by people who just love cats. So we're really excited for people who know cats and love cats and have cats, and even if they don't have cats, if they're aware that cats exist, hopefully they'll really like the game as well. But yeah, it's about being a cat. That's first and foremost. Being a cat.

- Being a cat. And if you're a cat, I would say, like, we've played-- I've played tons of games, as we all have, where maybe you're in a city. And a city looks very different when you're about yay tall. So things like-- things that are easily surmountable when you're playing a human character, like, I could just hop over that fence, is impossible.

But at the same time, other things, like, oh, this little crevice underneath the fence, which in a game where you're playing a human, that would not do anything for you, that's an open door for a cat. So can you just talk about reimagining a city from a cat's perspective?

MATT: Yeah. Exactly. I mean, you're exactly right, is that we had to think about the environments from the cat's perspective. We tend to-- I like to tell this story because we watched a lot of cat videos. We worked really hard on the game watching cat videos, and I get to write that on my taxes and everything. But there's--

JOSH: I can't believe it's tax deductible. That's--

MATT: Yeah, I hope so. I hope so. But there's a lot of really great videos of cats who-- what they have cameras on them, you know? And they explore neighborhoods. There's some great documentaries just observing what cats do on their own time. And it's so fascinating. It's so interesting. And seeing everything from the cat's perspective down low is-- I find it amazing. I find it super fascinating.

And realizing what cats can get into and where they can go. And I mean, it's a whole new perspective. It's a whole-- it's a way-- you have to kind of rethink it. I mean, rethink how to approach an environment as a cat. Because you're right, the camera is down low. You get a completely different perspective.

And you travel underneath walls. You have to find a way to get up on top of a wall, and you walk along a wall. And you spend some time climbing on the sides of buildings, both through ivy, which you can actually climb. You get that ability in the game, but also hopping from AC unit to AC unit, or pipe to pipe, and you know.

And we give you full control over all of the cat's abilities to platform from place to place. So you're in full control of the jump, and you can aim your jumps. And we wanted to give the players as much control over everything they could do as possible, including pawing at things and wish we could talk more about it, too.

- Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, yeah. It's funny. Like, certain things, like a puddle. Puddle might as well be a spiked pit. Cats don't like to get wet. Obviously, if you see a dog, that's going to be an issue. But there are ways. There are ways where you can outsmart the dog, which is, you know-- or dogs, plural, I guess, in the game as well.

But let's talk about some of the other controls and stuff like that. I noticed, like, the triggers, is right triggers the right paw. By the way, cats love to make a mess, love to break things. So what else do you get up to besides exploring the town?

MATT: It was really important to me so that players could express themselves through the game being a cat. So for example, like you mentioned, the right trigger and the left trigger control your left and right paw. And implemented that in the way so that, when you hold down the trigger, your kitty holds their paw out, right? And so you can sit there and do that really pause of like, I'm about to hit it. But it's like, I'm going to knock it off. And you can knock it off. And you can choose which paw to use.

And it's such a simple thing, but that control, it gives-- I mean, it gives me such joy, deciding how I want to hit it and when I want to hit it and how I knock it off. And it's amazing how much excitement I get out of little play moments like that, and our players get out of play moments like that.

JOSH: It's long been said that cat videos power the internet. I think for a long time that was absolutely the case. Did they-- is that how this game came about? You all just bonded over cat videos and decided to make it? Or was there some other like lightning bolt moment where you're like, wait, we can make this into a game?

MATT: Yeah. It was a little bit different. So I have three kids. And a few years back, I had left my other job to start working on my own games. And right around that time, I was working with the kids figuring out how-- I wanted to teach them the program, and I wanted to make little games with them and teach them game development.

And so we were doing just little projects, coming up with ideas, and figuring out how to teach them different aspects of different things. And one of the ideas from them was just, hey, what would it be like if you played as a cat? And it was just an idea in a group of other ideas we were throwing around.

And I was like, that's kind of cool. And this was about four years ago, I think, right? So at the time, I mean, we knew there were some cat games that existed. But there was nothing that we were aware of where it was a full 3D game where you could control a cat in an environment.

So I was like, this is cool. Let's mock this up. And so I did a quick little mock up with my kids. And it was just walking around the city as a cat. And I put it on Twitter, and it got a lot of attention at the time. And so I kind of stopped and went, OK, maybe we could build a bit further with this.

And so then it was just figuring out what the game was. Because, as a concept, I thought it was really cool, and apparently other people thought it was cool as well. So then it was just figuring out, OK, well, what do you do? And so then we watched cat videos.

- Definitely. And dot dot.

- So that's where it comes into play.

- Yeah. Exactly. So we're actually coming towards the end of our interview here, with Little Kitty, Big City coming out soon. And because, as we mentioned, it's coming to Game Pass, so many people will get to try it. What is something that you want to make sure people might miss, but they-- because there's lots of optional things. I'm really enjoying the Untitled Goose game-esque mischief you can get up to that doesn't necessarily mandatory, but I want to do it anyway.

Like, I see a ball and I see a soccer goal, I'm going to bat the ball in there. And then I realized, the game is keeping track of that, and there's probably some other goals out here for me to get my golazo. OK, I didn't say that. This is why we do it live, right? So what are some things people should definitely watch out for, even if they're not handheld directly into it?

- Well, I mean, the thing that I'm-- there's so much to do, and you know, messing with the humans I think is a really big part of the game as well, just because it's fun. And as a cat, you're-- that's the thing that cats do. But I mean, one of the things that I'm really proud of with the game is that the game is, at its core, something that I think everyone can play, right?

And it's a game that doesn't have conflict. It doesn't have dangers. It doesn't have any hurting or damaging for the cat. The kitty never gets hurt. And I'm really proud of the fact that this is a game that I think is really fun, and other people so far think is really fun, that doesn't rely on any of those elements.

So I can play it. It was important for me to play with my kids in general. And I think other people should feel comfortable and happy to play with their kids as well. Because it's just a fun wholesome playful game that you can be a cat.

It's-- basically--

- Hopefully, other people do, too. Yeah.

- You will when you see the name of the game, Little Kitty, Big City, there's chemistry, right?

We are in a golden age of cozy games. And I think Little Kitty, Big City fits right in there. Matt Wood, thank you so much for joining us. Best of luck to launch. Again, launching on Xbox Series X and S and Xbox One with Game Pass, also for PC. That is next week. Day 1, May 9th, Little Kitty, Big City. Give it a shot.

- All right. Thanks to Matt Firor, Daemon Hatfield, and Matt Wood for those amazing interviews. A little info for you all. And if you're looking for new games, we've got that for you. Do you like to go fast? Do you like to go fast on two wheels? Well, MotoGP 24-- Stein's like, yes, of course. Well, MotoGP is coming out I believe today, May 2nd. So you can check out.

If you like racing on motorcycles and going fast, like I said, this is the game for you this is a franchise that's been around for quite some time. And so excited to jump into that. And now we have some Game Pass titles, of course.

Have a Nice Death is a game that is out now on death-- Game Pass. Death Pass? I was about to say Death Pass.

- You get that in the afterlife.

- Yeah, exactly, the path straight to death. No, here's the deal. Have a Nice Death, it came out about a year ago and it's now on Game Pass. It's a 2D action roguelike game. So if you're into games that are very difficult, this one is for you. I promise you. I saw a gameplay and it is going to be a tough one.

And then we move on to another game coming to Game Pass starring the legend, the icon Lara Croft. It is Tomb Raider Definitive Edition coming to Cloud Console and PC and Game Pass. So be sure to check that out if you want a little bit of nostalgia in your life, you know? And then, coming soon to Game Pass, do you like Canada? Do you guys like Canada? Like, Canada is pretty.

JOSH: Love Canadian.

MALIK: You like to feel cold.

LEX: Canadian bacon.

MALIK: There you go.

LEX: I mean.

MALIK: Oh, that's a whole debate that I wanted to have in the comments, actually, bacon versus Canadian bacon. We'll see what people say. But Kona Brume II is out on Game Pass on May 7th. I took a look at this trailer. Very spooky. It made me feel very cold. And so I think that it's going to be an immersive game, and it's first person narrative experience. So you might like this, Lex, from a future author's perspective. Love that.

And then Little Kitty, Big City, we talked about it a little bit before. It's going to be out--

JOSH: Please say it just one more time.

- Little Kitty, Big City. Little Kitty, Big City.

- Bounce your shoulders and say Little Kitty, Big City.

- Little swag with it.

- Yeah, it's like-- yeah, it's a good title. They knew what they were doing with that one. It's available on day one with Game Pass. You play cat in the city, and shenanigans ensue. And so this is going to be one very much like Goat Simulator, where I know people are going to jump into this and live out their true cat lives, if you will.

- It's in Hats, OK? So that's--

- Exactly.

- That's the selling point right there.

- Exactly. Exactly. And also coming soon, the Xbox Game Pass on May 14, it's Brothers a Tale of Two Sons, a game that is just, again, another narrative-based game, made by Joseph Ferris, who funny, this is the second week in a row we've mentioned his name. But just an amazing game maker with an amazing team over there.

And bringing back this game in a remake form. So players of a new generation, even though it only came out I think about 10 years ago, they can experience it again and again. It's a story that you are going to want to check out.

So that's what's coming to Game Pass. Releasing soon, we have Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle, Chomp Champs, which is basically a Pac-Man game with PVP. That's coming out on May 9. And then we have a few patches, DLC and events. Starting with Sea of Thieves. Season 12 is upcoming, and it's coming to PlayStation, which is very exciting. New players should jump into it.

I know, Stein, we've played quite a bit of Sea of Thieves. And there are so many amazing additions coming to this game that are almost going to change completely how you play the game and your strategy as you sail the seas.

JOSH: Yeah, we have-- we've definitely had our fair share of Sea of Thieves times. It's great. They kind of lean into it. They're like, ride ziplines, play with harpoon tightropes. Wield the horn of fair winds. And as social media would tell me, the biggest thing about this update, owls. You now can have pet owls. This has been a big thing that the community has talked about.

They really rally around their pets. I love the love they give it, from the monkeys to the dogs to the different kind of variations of them they have. And so owls are the big thing. And then, of course, it's really cool to see rare welcome our friends over at PlayStation. So the Sea is just getting bigger and bigger. Friends are getting bigger. Communities are getting bigger. And that's really great for Rare Studios.

MALIK: 100%. Come on over, PlayStation players. The water is just fine. Which is a pun because that game has some of the best water-- best looking water in any game ever created. 100%.

- It's also got some of the best thalassophobia fears.

LEX: Yes.

JOSH: I stay in-- so anytime like the megalodon attacks, fun fact, I hide in the bottom and I patch things.

MALIK: Then we have another patch for Total War Warhammer 3, the Thrones of Decay DLC launch, and a Disney Dreamlight Valley, a Rift in Time, which is a game that I have watched people play from afar, and it just looks so adorable. So I need to find a time to at least jump in for a little bit if I can't make it to Disney World because I don't have quite that much money to make it there.

But I'm excited to play those patches DLC events. New releases on Game Pass. There's so much going on. And in addition to that, this is the beginning of May. And so we have Asian Pacific Islander Heritage month. And this is something that the Xbox social impact team focuses on every single year.

And in honor of this month we are spotlighting two nonprofits who are focused on sharing the joy of gaming, which is Game 10 in New Zealand, which works to empower students to pursue a career in technology and gaming, and the Nevada Esports Education League in the US that hosts esports tournaments for college scholarships and new opportunities to grow, which is always great to see. And as always, be sure to check out news.xbox.com to see how you can donate through your Microsoft Rewards Points to help these two nonprofits out.

All right. And that is a lot of the show. But before we go, bars. We have free code Friday. And we have a number of codes for Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle Chomp Champs, as we talked about a little bit earlier. You know what to do. Every single Friday, head on over to @XboxWire on Twitter or X at noon-- between noon and 2:00 PM Pacific.

And you're going to want to reply to the tweet, which is going to ask you the question, if you had to participate in a food eating competition, which food would you choose? I want to hear those comments below. But be sure to also go over to Xbox Wire if you want a chance to win Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle Chomp Champs Deluxe Edition.

Well, there you have it. We raced through the show. We had so much to pack into such a small amount of time. Lex, Stein, thank you so much for joining us. It's good to see you. Any parting words for our amazing audience?

- Thank you for so much for having us. It's been great to see you again, brother. It's been too long since we've shared a camera together. And Lex, it was great to meet you as well. Hopefully, we get you on and maybe we'll do a few more podcasts together. Other than that, Showcase has been announced plus redacted. It's going to be exciting. Please jump into our replies and let us know what you're excited to see, where are you going to hear from the community. So I'd be I'd be remiss if I didn't say give us a follow on the Xbox channels across all your favorite social media platforms. If you're there, we're there also.

- Love that. Lex. Love that.

- Thank you so much for having me again. I really hope I can come back. I mean, hopefully, my gaming prowess is enough to get me back in here. But no, you guys are great. It was great to see you again, Malik, and then great to meet you as well, Josh. So I'm super excited to be here.

- There you have it another amazing show with my amazing two co-hosts. And now, the easy part. We get to head into the weekend and play a bunch of video games. Again, thank you so much for joining us. If you haven't done so already, be sure to follow us, subscribe, like, do all of the things. And we'll see you next time.

For a very special show, by the way, you're not going to want to miss this. This is probably going to be one of the most unique Xbox podcasts in two weeks that you've ever seen. That's a little bit of a tease. Thanks so much for listening and watching. We'll catch you next time.

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