The boys are back! It’s a new year, and that means another 52 episodes are ahead of us to chat all things gaming. So let’s dive into the first episode of the year – It’s the XboxEra Podcast Episode 295 featuring special guest Jez Corden!
The show kicks off with New Year greetings from our panel as we catch-up post the holiday season. After discussing our Christmas gifts we dive into what the team has been playing, per tradition! There’s some variety here, from Jez’s rekindled addiction to Fallout 4, Jesse’s return to Starfield and Necromunda: Hired Gun, and Jon has been playing Chorus, which runs fantastically on his ROG Xbox Ally X. Jez proudly stops the show so he can show off his Fallout 4 settlement.
Square Enix rumours are swirling ahead of a January Developer Direct, and we chat technical issues around Xbox performance quirks with the recent discussion that excessive friends lists and messages can cause performance issues. We take a moment of remembrance for Albert Penello, alongside the usual mix of tangents, complaints (including a detour into World of Warcraft thanks to Jez) and silly banter that you know and love us for….right?!
The bulk of the episode however is looking ahead to 2026, with plenty of discussion around the many fantastic looking games heading out way, Xbox’s future strategy, next-generation hardware and RAM considerations, the importance of Game Pass for Microsoft, and Nick’s dream that industry would shift toward a more platform-agnostic or “one console” future, which echoes recent comments from Shawn Layden.
We speculate plenty on Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo’s respective 2026 line-ups, whether GTA VI lands this November or perhaps will see another delay. Beyond that, we talk Steam Machines, and throw some predictions for the industry and the year ahead. As always, Community questions from our wonderful Patrons drive further conversations – how did Nick start his journey in video game leaking? Did Flight Simulator play a significant role in Xbox’s multiplatform push? All this and more, so jump in!
Timestamps:
00:00:00 – Going live for the XboxEra Podcast Episode 295
00:06:31 – Intro
00:09:25 – Hi everyone! Happy New Year!
00:11:25 – Jon was playing Chorvs
00:13:20 – How was Grubbsmas?
00:14:15 – We discuss the possibility of Square Enix being at the January Direct
00:18:41 – What did we get for Christmas?
00:23:10 – What have we been playing? Fallout 4
00:26:30 – Starfield
00:27:03 – Necromunda: Hired Gun
00:29:30 – Jez wants to show his Fallout 4 Shelter
00:33:30 – Let’s talk about 2026 but we wind up hearing Jez complain about WoW
00:38:00 – Now we talk about 2026 most anticipated
00:46:00 – What about Xbox in 2026?
01:01:55 – The 2026 Xbox January Developer Direct
01:21:00 – Superchats about Fallout and the New Game Plsu Show
01:27:00 – What will happen with the next-gen Xbox with all this RAM stuff?
01:49:46 – Shawn Layden and Nick agree on the one console future
01:56:37 – Superchat about Halo on PS5
01:58:50 – The Xbox OS runs better if you wipe your friends and messages?
02:00:51 – Superchat about mainstream gaming trends (Friendslop)
02:06:50 – Will Game Pass become more important to the new future for Xbox?
02:11:33 – PlayStation in 2026
02:15:38 – Nintendo in 2026
02:23:50 – Will GTA VI release in 2026?
02:25:53 – Crazy Predictions for 2026
02:30:45 – Will prices go up again?
02:32:30 – What about the Steam Machine?
02:26:13 – RIP Albert Penello
02:38:23 – Patron Shout
02:40:45 – Community Question #1: kidmmxv – How did Nick become a leaker?
02:48:45 – Community Question #2: J F0LEY – When do we hear from Valve?
02:52:57 – PlayStation’s child account system sucks shit
02:55:37 – Community Question #3: Poderick Payne – Your favourite song from 2025?
03:01:52 – Community Question #4: Hytham G – Xbox positivity and MCC going multiplat?
03:05:01 – Superchat
03:06:22 – Community Question #5: 99ruken – Could Xbox buy Square-Enix?
03:10:25 – Community Question #6: DidactBRHU3 – Can Xbox get goodwill in 2026?
03:13:17 – Microsoft tried to acquire Square-Enix?
03:14:25 – Community Question #7: Good Old Collingwood – Did Flight Sim kick off the multi-plat strategy?
03:24:53 – Superchat about Mike Ybarra
03:29:48 – Community Question #8: Skedaddle – What’s up with Ninja Theory?
03:37:15 – Battlefield 6 vs CoD tangent
03:41:20 – Wrapping up
03:46:15 – Ciao for now!
