Hands-on with Elden Ring’s Expansion: Shadow of the Erdtree | Official Xbox Podcast

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

- Hello, and welcome to the official Xbox Podcast, the only podcast that comes to you from inside Xbox. We are here on our new set. Well, if you had watched last week, we had a series of special episodes featuring games like Avowed, Metal Gear Solid Delta, Ara, History Untold, tons of stuff. It was really cool. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. We all sort of debuted this set, but now we're back with our first regular episode. And I'm very happy to be sitting here not on the cheese couch but on more appropriate for your posture chairs.

- RIP cheese couch, though.

- It's out there in the dumpster.

- May--

- No.

- --it rest

- It's one of those things like when a whale dies, it can feed the whole ecosystem for months, like the rats have colonized the area by the dumpster.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: I look forward to seeing bright couch cushions just going around downtown.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Yes.

- You ever live stream those raccoons going in there and getting them?

- No raccoons, please. I don't want to talk about that. Animal Kingdom's Jenn Panattoni, also known as the Head of Gaming Social Impact for Xbox. Thanks for joining us.

- Thanks for having me back. I love coming here. It's always so fun.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: It's always great to have you. You inevitably have some scary animal footage from people coming-- from animals coming through your home.

- It's true.

- Like multiple bears.

- At least six. Yeah, at least six bears.

- At least.

- Maybe eight.

- Great.

[LAUGHS]

I'm just glad you made it here safely.

- Yes.

- And also joining the show again, Annette Gonzalez-Porter You're the head of ID@Xbox DAP program. Remind us real quickly what that is.

- Yes, that is the Developer Acceleration Program. As part of ID@Xbox, we're supporting all kinds of awesome indie devs from around the globe from underrepresented communities in bringing their awesome content to the platform.

- And that's the best part is we get to play the results--

- That's right

- --of your labors--

- Yes.

- --and of theirs. Thank you both for joining us here. So this is our first new set environment. We had some great episodes last week. If you didn't see those episodes where we announced the release date for Ara, History Untold or got some really great insight on Metal Gear Solid Delta and saw new footage of Avowed with Carrie Patel.

Jenn, you actually joined for our super strategy spectacular. So thank you so much for that. You can go back and you can watch those on youtube.com/xbox or, of course, listen to them anywhere, Finer Podcasts or our podcast can be listened to. I'm a big fan of Spotify personally because we actually had the video on Spotify.

JENN PANATTONI: That's very cool.

- It is. It is.

- It's great.

- So there was some really great feedback on those episodes. I want to do more of those. So thanks to anyone who watched or listened to those. The numbers were really good.

- And watch them if you haven't.

- Yes. But the sentiment was really good. Especially I love reading the comments. We all do here. And everyone was really great about telling us what they loved and what they would have loved to have seen more of in those shows. We are taking those notes. And I want to do more of those. I was like, I want to do at least a half a dozen more for the rest of the year. So that's the goal.

- It was a lot of fun. And was some of the feedback more laser crux because that was on my list of things?

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: I mean, in the shot that you were there, there was at least more laser crux on screen than you have bears in--

- That's a fact.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: --your backyard.

- That's a fact. That's a fact.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: So--

- That was wonderful.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: It was good. It was pushing our hardware to the extreme, laser croc technology. We're, of course, talking about Age of Mythology, Retold--

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Yes.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: --which was one of the-- I don't want to say surprise, but I was really impressed like how many people were like, I am so into that game. We had a hands on at our showcase, which at this point is a couple of weeks ago at this point. So I don't want to spend too much time looking backwards because there's a lot of news this week, a lot of things to look forward to. But I will say, a lot of folks were like, I'm super into Age of Mythology. a coming relatively soon, I want to say, September 4th? So summer will go very fast. This is the first day of summer, by the way.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Woo, woo.

- Oh yeah. Happy summer.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Thanks for spending it cooped up inside with us.

- Happy to do it.

- I love me some AC.

- Yes, exactly.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: You and me both. All right, actually, I will start with you, Annette.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Sure.

- What are you staying inside playing instead of being out in this beautiful--

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Yes.

- --summer sun?

- Well, you mentioned the showcase. And I think I'm still, like a lot of folks, probably riding high from all of the good vibes that the Xbox showcase gave us all, and particularly the super awesome Gears announcement at--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Yes--

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: --the end of the show. So--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: --you did.

- --I don't know about your teams, but our teams have been watching all kinds of reaction videos across the internet and seeing just so much love and enthusiasm for the return of this franchise that's been so beloved for so long. I think the game first came out in 2006 if--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: I believe--

- That's right--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: --that's correct.

- --which is--

- Sounds right.

- --wild to think about at this point. So I decided to go back and just go back to basics and start playing the first Gears of War--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Are you playing the Ultimate Edition?

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: --Ultimate Edition.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Very good.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Nice little remaster there of the original title, which is very, very cool. So I did play it many, many, many, many years ago. But I'm trying to go through the entire franchise at this point. And thankfully, Game Pass will support me in doing that. So not a bad place to start. And honestly, it holds up extremely well. I'm having a really, really good time with the game. So definitely, I'm going to be on a nice long journey as I get through the next parts of the franchise.

- That's very good. I want to say, as you're going through your journey, make sure you do not forget to play Gears, Hive Busters. So that was, I guess, technically the most recent release. It was a standalone piece of content that came out after Gears 5.

JENN PANATTONI: Awesome.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Honestly, I think it's some of the finest work in the Gears universe, like from both a technical and a gameplay perspective. You're not using Delta Squad. You're using a different group of three Hive Busters playing co-op. I think that's the rule for any Gears game when you're playing. That's some of just the best parts of it.

But Hive Busters is awesome. And a number of folks I was talking to-- they were really hyped, and they're like, I want to get back into it. And I'm like, make sure you play Hive Busters and let me know once you do. And was talking to Jimmy Champagne who is a YouTuber. He runs a number of different YouTube sites, 10 out of 10.

JENN PANATTONI: Nice.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: --heard this before. So highly recommend it.

JENN PANATTONI: That's awesome.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: I will absolutely let you know when I get there. And part of the challenge is I tend to bounce around a lot of different games at once because just how I roll. So as part of this, I also recently rolled credits on Hellblade 2, and I was like still feeling that kind of narrative, third person, very moody experience. So shortly after that, I jumped into a game called Indika.

- I'm sorry, a game?

- A game called Indika, not to be confused--

- Just making sure we got this correct--

- --with any other types of substances.

- --for the teleprompter.

- This is a family show. So it's called Indika. It's a very, very cool game. I believe the developers name is Odd Meter. The game is interesting is the way I would put it best. And I mean that in a really good way. It's a third-person, story-driven game, lots of environmental puzzles.

And the narrative is largely driven by-- you basically play a young nun who is on her own journey of self-discovery and questioning the life that she's chosen and her day to day and the people around her. And part of this is being narrated by a companion on her side, which is the devil that she hears from on occasion. So if you just take a quick watch of the trailer, it is probably one of the most bonkers games I've played maybe--

JENN PANATTONI: Nice.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: --ever. And I don't even want to spoil it too much, but definitely give it a try. If you enjoyed Hellblade, you're into something a little different, unique, bizarre in a lot of ways. Within the first 15 minutes, you're like, I don't know what is going on, but I am here for this. And so, yeah, it's--

- I appreciate it.

- --strange.

- I didn't know what fully to expect on a game called Indika. I was maybe leaning a little bit more towards recent DLC from Call of Duty with Cheech and Chong. But I was--

JENN PANATTONI: Same--

- --completely--

JENN PANATTONI: Same.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: And maybe that experience could be elevated with things along those lines, considering how bonkers things are. But all to say that it is-- it is out there, but I love it. It's been very fun so--

JENN PANATTONI: That's awesome.

- --far.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: All right, anything else you've been playing?

JENN PANATTONI: That's about where my focus has been. Other than that, I think I also wrapped up a game called Duck Detective, the Secret Salami, which is-- My tastes are all over the place--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: I love this.

- --clearly. It's from a team called Happy Broccoli, which is also a great studio name.

JENN PANATTONI: Nice.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: And I definitely love those folks. So if you've played a mystery deduction-type game like Case of the Golden Idol, this is on par with that but with these really cute animals that are trying to just basically solve a mystery around a salami that--

JENN PANATTONI: I'm in.

- Yeah, exactly. And it's sort of a workplace environment with a lot of really fun humor. You're obviously the duck detective--

- Obviously.

- --Eugene McQuacklin.

- You're not the salami. That wouldn't--

- No.

- --make sense.

- Yeah. So you play as Eugene McQuacklin who is recently divorced- and--

JENN PANATTONI: Eugene McQuacklin.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: --fallen on hard times and has a bread addiction. It is also fully voice acted.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: You're going to need to give Jenn a moment. It's fully--

- I love this.

- --voice acted too. And when you hear Eugene talk for the first five seconds, like, yep, I'm in. So that is absolutely awesome. It's really well done. It's really funny, lots of puns, which is my jam. And I had a really just great time. There is a dedicated quack button as well, which is--

- Oh my god.

- --important.

- Untitled Goose Game had a honk button if I recall.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Yes, exactly.

JENN PANATTONI: That was part of the whole shtick. You had to scare them.

- Exactly.

- Exactly.

- This is amazing. I'm going to go play this. I'm doing that.

- Mine's all over the place. But, Jenn, I would love to hear what you have been up to in the gaming space these days.

- Speaking of games all over the place, I just reminded-- you reminded me with your funny game that you were playing. I did try Turnip Boy Robs a Bank.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Yes.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Amazing.

JENN PANATTONI: --which is hilarious. I did play Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion as well.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: I'm glad that you're following through Turnip Boy's journey.

JENN PANATTONI: I really want to see where Turnip Boy goes.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Federal prison at this--

[LAUGHTER]

- Repeatedly robbing banks as a turnip is an experience, I'll put it that way. But now, I really play games depending on my mood and depending what I'm into right at the moment. So because of our strategy podcast, I got back into XCOM 2, which is--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Such a good one.

JENN PANATTONI: It is such a good game. But it makes me think so hard sometimes I'll actually fall asleep because my brain just gets so exhausted.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Just shut down. You overheat and shutdown.

JENN PANATTONI: I overheat and shut down.

- My computer does that.

- Like a mech, just sit there and come back to life in a little bit. I recently just watched Black Flag on Netflix. And so I went back to play Assassin's--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Black Sails?

- Black Sails. So I went back to play Assassin's Creed Black Flag, which is probably my favorite Assassin's Creed.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: You and many people.

JENN PANATTONI: I was into sea shanties before everyone else, OK. I love sea shanties. They're great.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: It's a weird flex, but we're giving you full credit on it.

JENN PANATTONI: Thanks. I just want to make sure we got that out there. Rimworld obviously always in the rotation for me-- Diablo IV.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: And you're wearing the shirt.

- I am. Diablo. Yes, Diablo IV, I've played that all weekend this weekend because--

- So we're into season 4 now.

- We are into season 4, yes.

- Did you claim your pet?

JENN PANATTONI: I did. I claimed my three pets, actually.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: So if you--

JENN PANATTONI: I did.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: --pre-order Vessel of Hatred--

- Correct.

- --then you get more options. I think that--

- You do.

- --anybody that jumps in can claim some sort of pet.

- You do.

- But you get more.

- So I pre-ordered Vessel of Hatred and then with that, automatically you have access to either pick a baby tiger, a baby snow leopard, or an armored husky.

- Adorable.

- Where'd you go? I have a guess.

JENN PANATTONI: Do you want to guess? Go ahead and guess.

- I think you would go snow leopard.

- You're right. You're right.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: I know you.

- Crush it.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: I also want snow leopard.

- Because it looks like Freya, my little kitten, Freya.

- Not only that-- so it's not just a cosmetic thing. And I feel bad because I'm just smashing giant scorpions. There's just buckets of blood on the sand. And then my little--

JENN PANATTONI: --fuzzball.

- My little thing is going around picking up the loot, which is great. And so that's one of the more fun parts of the game. And so I let the little snow leopard pick it up. But I realize I'm not leaving things behind, which is good.

- Exactly. It's less work on me, and it's always fun to have that little fuzz ball of delight and joy on the screen in a world.

- Do you reroll? What's your season 4 character?

- So interestingly enough, I usually always go necromancer because why make friends when you can make friends.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Make friends. Very good, very good.

- But my necromancers are always glass cannons they get hit once, and they're dead. So I went with a druid.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: The druids are big.

JENN PANATTONI: And it was interesting. I could actually get hit a couple of times and not die. I'm not used to that. And there'd be just groups of enemies, and you're being attacked. And I'm like, oh my god, I'm not dying. This is amazing. And knowing me, you would think I'd go druid 24/7. I mean, when I play D&D always--

- But you're a druid in real life. You don't want to do--

- Exactly.

- You don't want to do it when you're playing.

- I would branch out. But, no, it was a lot of fun. I actually really enjoyed getting to know that class a little bit. And then, obviously, you can spawn more animal companions. So it's a lot of fun.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Very similar in that I'm usually using more of a range, either the rogue or--

JENN PANATTONI: Nice.

- --the wizard, warlock-- I can't remember. And then I used a necromancer in season three, glass cannon, constantly playing that, like how many potions do I have to recover? I rolled a barbarian, and I'm like, this is what it's like to just never die.

JENN PANATTONI: Nice.

- Not you never die but almost never have to heal because the way I built it up. And I'm just like, oh, I don't have to use the left bumper ever

JENN PANATTONI: Same.

- --to heal up because every attack is basically healing me.

- Same with the druid. I'm just like, I'm not drowning or trying to get potions just all the time. It's probably the first time I haven't had to manage that resource in forever.

- I know. It's more about just how efficiently can I ram a hammer through these disgusting minions of hell with my-- I just want to impress my cute little snow leopard, give them something to do.

- That's right.

- No disrespect to the tiger or the armored husky or the other dogs--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: I'm sure they're great.

- --in there. They're all great. They're all beautiful. We have no favorites but snow leopard.

- All right. Very good, very good. So I've been playing a bunch of that. But it's one of our biggest news stories, I think, of the year, and that is that Elden Ring, Shadow of the Erdtree is out now.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Woo.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Reviews hit a couple of days ago. In case you were wondering if this game is good--

JENN PANATTONI: Good.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: --spoiler alert, it's getting lots of 10s.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Surprise.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: And I would say-- so I've been playing it maybe 15 hours in.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Amazing.

JENN PANATTONI: Nice.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: For DLC, you're like--

JENN PANATTONI: How long is it?

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: --is that-- well, I don't know. But what I can tell you is-- from what I've read, some people were able to beat the final boss of this area in the neighborhood of 25 to 30 hours.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: That is meaty.

JENN PANATTONI: Where they speedrunning, though?

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: They were not seeing everything. There's no way you're--

JENN PANATTONI: Wow.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: --going to see everything in Shadow of the Erdtree in 30 hours, I can tell you, because, again, about 15 hours in, I've only unlocked like two parts of the map. And it's like the first time you play Elden Ring if you've played it. You see Limgrave, and you're like-- which is the first area-- you're like, whoa, this is so big. And then you unlock the next part of the map. And when you hit the view button to go to the map, all of a sudden it's zoomed out. And you're like, oh, I've just been doing this. And they've removed

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Holy cow.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: --these sort of blinders from my eyes. And I can see how wide this area is. Same thing happens in Shadow of the Erdtree. It is gigantic. You start off in a pretty big, wide, plain area. And I'm like, whoa. And you can just see way into the distance some of the best skyboxes in gaming when you look out there, and you see this tree with shadows sort of falling on from it. And it just looks so cool. And then you realize over time, oh, I'm actually going to go there, and that thing is far, and I'm going to see a million things in between.

I don't want to get into spoiler territory. That would also indicate that I understand the story, which for that Tamoor Hussain from Giant Bomb and Gamespot do that every time. He is the guy-- he was on "Kinda Funny" maybe three weeks ago and broke down the story beat by beat. And the man's a national treasure.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: That's impressive.

JENN PANATTONI: Nice. Wow.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Because I didn't know much-- I just was like, if it moves, it's probably trying to kill me. I should probably kill it first.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Amazing.

JENN PANATTONI: That's a pretty safe bet for Elden Ring.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Yeah, there were a few things where I'm like, I'm just going to give them a second. And if they don't swing, then maybe I'll leave them--

- Yes, sir.

- There's a couple turtles. You don't have to kill any of the turtles in these games, which is good.

- And these are all good tips because I've not played Elden Ring ever.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: All right.

- I don't know if you've played. Have you played?

- A little bit.

- So I'm one of the folks who were in just the shadows watching all of my friends in the industry at large have a really good time with the game. And I'm like, I'm going to get to it at some point. And I feel like this might be the moment.

- This is the time. So Jeff--

- So this is what I would say--

- --what do I do here?

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Yes.

- What's your advice for me or other folks like me?

- My advice is, one, play it.

- Yes.

- And start with the regular game. This is end-game content. To get to Shadow the Erdtree, you need to be pretty far into the game. I didn't reroll a character. I just took my character, like I reloaded. I hadn't played in a while. And I sort of just got a feel for it and went back in, and I'm glad I did because I still feel slightly under leveled. If we're being honest, maybe I'm just not that good.

[LAUGHS]

But I would say just be open to it. The game is hard. You're going to die, and just make peace with that. But when you start to find those sort of small wins, like, oh-- this is how I'd explain it is-- in this first area, I mentioned Limgrave in the first game. First time you're going through, there's this giant knight with a shield just stay away. You feel like a freshman in high school, and you're like, the seniors are so big, and the school is so big. That's such a great--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: But now--

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: --comparison.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: --I was going back through after having beat it. And I'm just reacquainting myself, and I'm going through. And I'm scared of this guy. Are you kidding me? I can one hit you, not that I was one hitting anybody in high school. I remained scared all four years and beyond. But the building felt smaller. You look back at high school, and you're like that was a big deal? I guess.

And that's it. Over time, you grow. You become more knowledgeable. You become stronger. And you understand how the world works, and it becomes familiar to you, and then it's no longer scary. You can also highly avail yourself of co-op players.

It is best to play, if you're a little worried about it, with someone who has played the game before. I find the community is very welcoming. In general, one of the things that you've always been able to do in these FromSoftware games is leave messages for people. And you can leave messages that can say jump off this thing and then, ha, ha, someone dies.

JENN PANATTONI: Yeah, that one was not helpful.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: And so you can be unhelpful. But I find the majority of the messages are helpful. And people are looking out for each other. And then I go back and I rate that message, and I thumbs up. You can also look and if people are thumbsing it up with few exceptions-- and there's even almost in-jokes because they have to select from certain words, and people put things together and make innuendos because that's what gamers do. But at the same time, it's a great community for a game that still keeps these things really esoteric.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: That's amazing.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: So there's a lot of folks I will say at work that will be more than happy to say, yeah, if there's a part you have a problem with, you can summon me, and I'd be happy to walk through with you and do these things.

JENN PANATTONI: That's so kind.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: I definitely got that vibe from the community, especially around launch, where folks are like, you know, I'm not sure if this is for me. And people are like, no, it's totally for you. And here's a million different tips on how to. And it felt like such a welcoming thing that I'm like, I'm going to try this at some point. I feel like this is the point. And so I guess for folks who have been awesome members of the community and are ready for this new content, like what can they expect in terms of--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: All right, so the biggest compliment I can give this game is it is more Elden Ring. So when you first get into it-- the thing that is different that is layered upon the game once you get into the shadow lands-- into the new area-- is that there's a couple of different things that level you up.

So there's the normal leveling where you cash in runes, and you can level up. That still happens. You're still going to want to keep doing that. But then you find in different places, sometimes when you beat a boss, sometimes just in an out of the way area, these things called scadu tree fragments.

And once you get those, you can cash those in at a bonfire. And those increase all of your stats while you're in that area. There's another similar one for your ash companion, your summonable ash of war that you can bring in. And you can make them stronger as well.

So you're just going to be on the lookout for those. And that rewards exploration. And that means sometimes you're going, and you find a boss, and you're hitting your head against that boss. The very first boss that you can really encounter in this game is this one-off optional thing called the Black Jail Knight. I have yet to be able to beat this thing. It's just relentless.

JENN PANATTONI: The first boss?

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: The very first one, and it's really technically a mini boss. That thing just keeps-- every couple hours, I go back, and I'm like, OK, I got you down a little bit further. I can't do it. The first major boss, which is this dancing lion, first time I somehow beat it. And so--

JENN PANATTONI: Wow.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: --that's just how the game is is some things click, and it depends on your build. I didn't rebuild my character. I stayed with what worked for me. There's so many ways to tackle these things. There's so many times where you can go, I'm running up against a wall here.

I'll come back to you, and I'll go over here. You're going to find more of those scattered tree fragments and more of these other things. You're going to level up more. Go ahead and do that. And then eventually, you might find I'm having more success here. Just go with what works.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: So it's not like a linear progression?

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Not at all.

JENN PANATTONI: Fascinating.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: So wide open. Now that's--

JENN PANATTONI: --fascinating.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: --Elder Ring in general, but I'm finding that really extends here in this DLC. So--

JENN PANATTONI: Fascinating.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: --go with what works for you. But if you enjoyed any element of Elden Ring, it is that good. And I'm just re-obsessed all over again. And I'm just having so much fun. It's all I'm thinking about. I had to play before-- I had the ability to play-- the privilege of playing ahead of time so that I could talk about it here. The thing that I was missing out on, no strategy guides. I don't know if this weapon's good.

- Yes.

- What does this thing do? Well, now I'm looking forward to going home and reading because actually good players will be like, oh, you should have been doing this. I'm like, now I'll be able to beat you, Black Jail Knight.

- You're like, someday, yes--

- Someday.

- --someday.

- Living rent free--

- Yes

- --for sure.

- That's what they wanted. That's what they wanted the whole time.

- Yes, all right. So do we want to talk about the news?

JENN PANATTONI: I like the news.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Always.

JENN PANATTONI: I want to talk about the news.

- Let's talk about the news. Also announced today, Xbox is talking about Gamescom.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Woo.

JENN PANATTONI: Woo.

- The devil works hard, but I think the gaming industry during the summer tends to work harder.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: That's right.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: So we are getting ready for games. Comments in August, late August in cologne, Germany. Beautiful cologne, Germany, currently the home of the Euros, Euro 2024 any-- OK, so moving on, going on all month. So I'm sure they'll have cleaned up and tidied everything up for Gamescom in late August. We are going to have our biggest booth ever.

JENN PANATTONI: Nice.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: How is that possible?

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: It's a great question because last year was our biggest--

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: It was ginormous.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: --booth

JENN PANATTONI: That was--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: --ever.

JENN PANATTONI: --the thing I remember Maxie saying.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: It's even bigger. So--

JENN PANATTONI: Nice.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: --I'm not sure exactly about hall number it is. I want to say hall 8 or something like that. And I remember we were about half or a third or half of hall eight, and we're even more this time.

JENN PANATTONI: Nice.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Wow.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: So that means if you're going to Germany, if you're going to be visiting Gamescom, you're going to have a lot to see and a lot to play. And that's what's always great about Gamescom. Our showcases is typically when we might announce things or give you big updates on those things. Gamescom has always really been about the fans, the players, and there's always just tons and tons of stations to go and actually play those games.

So some of what we're talking about, games that will be there, Avowed, Towerborne, Ara, History Untold, Age of Empire, Age of Mythology, Retold, World of Warcraft the War Within, Diablo IV, Vessel of Hatred, Diablo Immortal, the Elder Scrolls Online, and Fallout 76.

JENN PANATTONI: Solid lineup.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: The lineup.

- Yes. So stay tuned to Xbox Wire. I'm sure we'll have more details as we get closer to Gamescom 2024 in a couple of months. I'm very excited. Are you heading there?

- I don't know if I'll be going this year. I tend to go every other year, so I imagine some folks on my team will go. I can't drink all the kolsch myself. I got to share that.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Got to spread the love.

JENN PANATTONI: Spread love, yep.

- Also, my doctor insists that-- every time I go I'm like--

- Take a break, Jeff--

- You can't eat schnitzel for eight days in a row.

[LAUGHS]

- No schnitzel for you.

- It's not goood for me. I mean, it's good, but it's not. Anyway, moving on, this was a really interesting thing, a Call of Duty and Fallout collab. This is very chocolate and peanut butter here, the two great tastes that taste great together. The Fallout Vault Dwellers event, going live today.

- So much going on today.

- I know.

- I know.

- This was a good day to do a show.

- Summer, all this stuff, Gamescom, this.

- Yes. And yeah, Shadow of the Erdtree as well-- so June 20th, a day that will live in, well, the opposite of infamy-- it's a day--

- --of greatness.

- --of greatness.

- That's the one.

- A day of greatness.

- That's the one. so this collaboration, which is just too good to not have happened basically brings the post-apocalyptic Fallout vault dwellers into Call of Duty. So you can deploy as one of four task force 141 vault dwellers including price ghost, soap, and gas. There are Vault Tech enhanced weapon blueprints.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: That's so fun.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Other--

JENN PANATTONI: Nice.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: --Fallout themed items for use in Modern Warfare 3, Warzone, and Warzone Mobile. It's also this tracer pack, which has over 15 items. And that is available today. This thing's only going on for a week.

JENN PANATTONI: Got to get it now.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Limited time.

JENN PANATTONI: Got to get it.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Exactly

JENN PANATTONI: That's awesome. I love that collab.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: So while we were in LA a couple of weeks ago for showcase, this was just really going on. And I was really excited to learn that this is a thing.

- OK.

- The Candy Crush championships.

- Amazing.

- This is the fourth year in a row John Cena-- yes, that John Cena-- is the Candy Crush All Stars Coach. So it's a competition to find out who is the champion of Candy Crush? You think of Candy Crush as being like a game where you relaxing, you find some time, and you're swiping and matching three. And it's very chill.

But the idea that there was competitive Candy Crush is awesome. And so over 15 million players participated in this and narrowed down to 10 who were then flown out to LA to participate in a month-long competition. There was a prize pool of $1 million.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Wow.

JENN PANATTONI: Wow.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: And the winner, congratulations, Ben Chin, you are the Candy Crush All Stars 2024 Champion.

JENN PANATTONI: You crushed it.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: We need to talk to Ben. I want to know--

JENN PANATTONI: Nice.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: --what are the good tips because I'm just swiping away casually. And apparently there is-- it's like Rubik's cube. For me, it's amazing just to solve it. Meanwhile, there's people that can do it in like six seconds.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: 100%.

JENN PANATTONI: I've been stuck on the same level for a good week now because I'm just-- I want to prove that I'm better than it at this point.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: You are.

- Right.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Probably.

- Maybe.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Maybe.

- Solid maybe.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Yes.

- But then there are those levels-- it's like legendary, super difficult, and then somehow miraculously it works. And then there's an easy one, and I just can't get it. This game haunts my brain.

- Ben Chin, you are hereby invited up to Redmond, Washington.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Show us how it's done.

JENN PANATTONI: Ben, please, please.

- You're just going to hand your phone over, and in six seconds, it'll be like, done. And you'll be like, that's why you're the champion.

- Right, and then I'll be like, that was three weeks of my time. But you know what? Thank you, Ben. Thanks, Ben. All right.

- It's super cool. And it sounds like anyone could have participated in this, which is very, very neat. So just finding the top-tier players around the world is very cool and quite an accomplishment for sure. So it's also my understanding that custom levels are built as part of this.

- That's awesome.

- --which elevates the challenge and the, I guess, athleticism with your automobile device.

- Anything at a high enough skill is amazing to watch.

- It's very impressive.

- Yes.

- Well, you have to think at least 10 steps ahead. You have to literally think, if I make this worse, it's going to go. And then you keep going because obviously everything just keeps falling on one another. And that, I think, is one of the most exciting things just to be able to of play that 4 or 5D chess. Don't even know how many dimensions we're going into.

- I mean, even just 3D Candy Crush at that point, you're thinking next level. You're bring it there. So very good. So that's all of the imminent news. Actually, there is more to come. But since we were talking about all these June things, we're actually-- this is our first normal news review show that we've had this month.

But, Jenn, I know your team and quite a lot of folks across Microsoft-- June is a big month for pride, and there's always a ton of things going on. Do you want to let us know while we still have a third of the month left and all the things that have been going on and are continuing to go on here?

- Absolutely. And so as you mentioned, there's the social impact team proper, which is very lean and kind. Not a lot of us, but we work with people from across the entire business, I think actually 200 of people now across the business who are in their own. You are actually one of them who help us with social impact in their own respective businesses. And so, obviously, June is Pride Month. We have a lot going on for pride. I'm looking at my blog post to make sure I don't miss anything because there is so much.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: And that blog post is at news.xbox.com.

JENN PANATTONI: Correct, on the Xbox Wire. One of the things we wanted to really focus on this year is our partnership we have ongoing with the Trevor Project and the Gaming Safety Team. And so those two teams work together to promote a safer gaming environment. If you want to go check out that partnership, we've been keeping that going for a couple years at this point. We have a couple other non-profits that we do partner with and highlight and sponsor. They are great partners. They are great in the gaming space.

Tell Me Why is free again for the month of June. I can't remember if this is the third or fourth year in a row, but it's a great game. I encourage you to check it out. Really good storytelling, beautiful game. We also have collections of games that are either made by people from the LGBTQIA+ community or have that subject matter as the main focal point. And so you can go ahead and explore many different ways to learn about the LGBTQIA+ community and how that community impacts gaming. We have a lot of gear. I am wearing the Diablo shirt.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Very nice.

- It is awesome. They just wore this in the Pride parade down in California, but there's so much more gear, so much awesome stuff. A lot of the money I make from this company goes back to this company in the form of Xbox gear. So, John, friend, thank you. Overwatch 2, there's a whole new map, Calling All Heroes. So make sure to go check that out. I mean, there's just so much goodness happening. And it's all in one place on the Xbox Wire, and you can go check it out.

- Very good. And you're working on a number of other things that are going on right now as well, including Flight Sim.

- Yeah, social impact-- it's a busy month. It's a busy month. So for Flight Sim, I want to make sure I get this right, too. So the 80th anniversary of D-day was on June 6. And so to recognize that the Microsoft Flight Sim team put in the famous Flyer 9 Bundle, which is the Douglas C-479D SkyTrain and the Waco CG 4A. One of them is a cargo plane, and one of them is a glider. Are you familiar with what a glider is?

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: It has no engine, right?

JENN PANATTONI: Correct, it has no engine. These are real things that people fly. And so the cargo plane, the Douglas C-74D Skytrain, you put a little tether on that, and you put the glider attached to that, and you fly them up. And gliders, they're silent. They can fly, I believe, for about 20 miles in real life. One of one of the individuals I know at USO, he loves flying gliders, and it's his favorite thing. And for me, I'm like, you got to be real precise.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: You don't get a second take on that landing.

JENN PANATTONI: You don't. You don't. But they added these two planes to Flight Sim because of their importance in World War II. And so there's this really in-depth review of those two planes. They're important. It's actually old photos from--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: I had no idea that gliders were deployed in World War II.

- If you read the blog-- did you read--

- I should do that.

- Not to call you out. But the importance of them and why they became so prominent and how their prominence has grown in those scenarios. That's in there. The cool thing, though, is it is a fundraiser to support our partnership with the USO. And so--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: So United Service Organizations for people that don't know--

- Correct, United Service Organizations, originally six organizations, now one. They are an organization that support active-duty military and their families. And so we have been partnering with them for a couple of years now at this point for military appreciation month. Every year, obviously, we have the Call of Duty endowment now, but we have a very solid gaming partnership with the USO.

We've sponsored LAN parties in a box called Rapid Response Gaming kits. We have a couple of those on aircraft carriers right now. But 100% of the proceeds of these purchases in-game will go to support the USO in their mission.

- Very good, very good. One last thing, we did talk about our pets, our snow leopards in Diablo. But there's something else as well that it brings it into real life, right?

- It did. So the Diablo team, they wanted to find a way to do some good with the announce of Vessel of Hatred. And so they're like, hey, we're bringing-- you're bringing pets into the game. And so they're like, hey, what can we do to announce bringing pets into game? And they're like, we want to bring-- we want to do one of those little dev talks where you bring in actual pets.

And I was like, awesome, can we work with a non-profit? And they're like, yes, we already working on that. So if you go watch, there's an asset on social. They put little red glowing eyeballs over one of the puppies. But it's really funny because the devs are talking about how pets are coming to game. And they're like, I'm sorry, what was the question? And they're like, wait, no, I'm sorry. I'm not going to focus right now. There's a puppy.

- You unleash puppies into any room, and that'll happen to anyone, I'm sure.

- Yeah, it's gone.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: There's a puppy that walks around the studio here.

JENN PANATTONI: Yes.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Carl.

- Carl

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Yeah. And same result every time.

- Absolutely, Carl's a champion. So all the puppies in that video are adoptable. So if you go look at the--

- Where would you find this video?

- You go to X, Twitter, the assets are there, and then--

- It's on the Diablo channel?

- It's on the Diablo channel, yes.

- There you go.

- So you can find it there.

- I'm sure you'll be able to find it. Very good. Busy month for you, but, uh.

- One last one.

- Sorry.

- One last one. We announced it last week, but it is going live on the 25th. So do you remember in 2018--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: I don't remember what happened last night.

- I don't remember last week. Do you remember in 2018 when Overwatch did a partnership with the Breast Cancer Research Foundation with--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: I do actually.

- --Mercy?

- Yes, I bought this twice, one for me and one for my daughter to run this Mercy.

JENN PANATTONI: Well, she's coming back.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Very good.

JENN PANATTONI: So on the 25th, we are re-launching the partnership with Pink Mercy, and it is again supporting the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. So for those of you who did not purchase Pink Mercy back in the day, this is your opportunity now six years later. But wait, there's more. We introduced a rose gold Mercy bundle as well.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Very good, very good. I'm trying to think of all the different Mercy skins. And she has one that's more of a traditional gold, not a rose gold. So this will be-- you're going to want this, I guess, before-- I mean, when they put a skin in the vault, it's staying in the vault.

JENN PANATTONI: Exactly.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: At least for a good long time.

JENN PANATTONI: Yeah, and, again, this is a partnership with Breast Cancer Research Foundation. The previous partnership raised $12.7 million, which is the single biggest donation they had received at this time.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Wow, that's amazing.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: So indeed, a limited time offer to jump on it basically.

JENN PANATTONI: Two weeks.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: All right.

JENN PANATTONI: All you have are two weeks.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: OK.

JENN PANATTONI: Make sure you--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Make sure--

JENN PANATTONI: --mark your calendars.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: --and load up Overwatch 2 and get in there and get that skin.

JENN PANATTONI: It's going to be awesome.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: All right, very good, very good. All right, you've been busy. If you're a player, you're probably busy as well because there's a ton to play. I want to get into some of the games that are out now, some of which are in Game Pass, including Still Wakes the Deep. This is a horror game. We showed it off at, I want to say last--

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Showcased last--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: --fall.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: --year?

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: I think it was in our partner preview.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: It was definitely in a showcase last year.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Yes.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Which one? You tell us.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: I want to say-- I want to say it was in the partner preview last fall. It's available day one on Game Pass, which is now. This is a return to first-person narrative horror for the Chinese Room. That's the developer of games like Amnesia, a Machine for Pigs, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, which is probably their most famous one, Dear Esther as well.

So you're an offshore oil rig worker fighting for your life through a vicious storm, perilous surroundings and the dark, freezing North Sea waters. The thing you might remember from this trailer was a lot of Scottish cursing. And that alone--

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: That sold--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: I felt like it broke the tensions in there. And so I may require subtitles depending on how thick the accent is but very charming, all told. So anyway, all lines of communication are severed, all exits are gone. And there's a star-studded cast, actually, of voice actors, Alec Newman-- that would be the aforementioned cursing Scotsman-- Ned Macintosh, and more. There's also a great soundtrack by Jason Graves that's available now on Game Pass.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Very cool.

- First-person horror games definitely scare the heck out of me.

- This sounds like it is going to scare a whole lot of folks.

- Yes.

- The trailers have been very creepy, moody, atmospheric. That's just their wheelhouse. And so definitely looking forward to digging in and scaring myself at night.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Very good.

- That's a game I play with the lights on, 100%. I do that.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: You and me. I'm not afraid to admit it, drop the difficulty. I'm going to do that. It's fine.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Turn the gamma up.

- Yeah.

- You definitely do that.

- In horror games, I generally have a little bit more tolerance for third-person because I can swing the camera around quicker. But Ara Village, which was first person, which is horrifying. I'm still thinking about that second--

- So just cranking the brightness slider all the way up just to be safe.

- They're like, this should be barely visible. I'm like, no--

- Not today.

- You're not fooling me. I will see everything. If there's a mote of dust in the back corner, I'm going to see it if jumps out and it tries to--

- That creepy mannequin--

- --kill me through--

- --into my view.

- --allergies.

- No way.

- Leave that alone. All right, another game out now, Shin Megami Tensei V, Vengeance. So this is a remake of a game that came out, I want to say, about three years ago on Switch. It looks much better. It runs great. I've been playing this one. It actually has an entire second storyline, like a really long campaign that tells the story from a somewhat different perspective.

And so Shin Megami Tensei, the very first Persona had Shin Megami Tensei in it. So really Persona was a spin off of the SMT series. They're more hard core. They're less about relationships than SFD. You still are starting off as someone in a Japanese high school.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Yeah, you're still high school teens.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: --with the best uniforms ever if my high school had--

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Nice outfits.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: --these uniforms, I would have been like, yes.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: You wouldn't mind it?

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Would not have minded at all. I would have not been like I need to wear-- I need to express my individuality. No, I want to wear--

JENN PANATTONI: No, I want to wear--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: --this outfit because it looked amazing. You get whisked away very early on into the ruins of Tokyo. So you can still see, even though it's all filled with sand and clearly bad things have happened, and there's monsters and demons all throughout the land, you can still see the Tokyo Tower and other things that are in modern day Tokyo.

I haven't gotten far enough to really know exactly what's going on other than lots of things want to kill me, and this is a much more hardcore experience than the Persona games like where you go through the game. maybe you die like twice. I'm not amazing. They're more about the journey than they are about really challenging you. You're going to be challenged in a SMT V. So if you really want to take the battle system as far as it can go-- and there's a lot of other things that are a little bit different.

Actually, we should really talk about-- because I got to play their next game-- Metaphor, ReFantazio. At Summer Games Fest, I ended up dropping by. I was like-- they were like, do you want to come by and play. And I'm like, I have a flight.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: I'm canceling that flight.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: I was like, I might be late. So I got there, and I was able to play like 45 minutes on the way to flying home. So excited about this.

JENN PANATTONI: That's awesome.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: It is not some reskinned Persona game. It is a lot.

JENN PANATTONI: It looks so good.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: The thing that jumped out at me is the soundtrack. If you've played an RPG-- at the end of a Final Fantasy game or Persona or anything, like when you're playing like the final, final, final boss, when they end up revealing themselves, and they're inevitably some giant monster floating-- and then there's--

[VOCALIZING]

--the opera.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: The orchestra and the vocals are going off.

JENN PANATTONI: Big, big, big--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: You've got operatic--

JENN PANATTONI: --soundtrack. That is, every battle in this game.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: What?

JENN PANATTONI: Nice.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Soundtrack goes so hard. I'm fighting like a little slug. And it's like--

[VOCALIZING]

--the Champions League theme. And I'm like, whoa, I'm so hyped off-- I don't even know how they could possibly, top this. When you do get to the final boss--

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Oh my gosh.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: --of Metaphor, ReFantazio--

JENN PANATTONI: That's amazing.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: --there's a lot of really cool things that are going on, like the world seems to be like an inverted world of Rs where they're talking about-- in their fairy tales, people live in glass towers, effectively skyscrapers. It's just really interesting. And they call the monsters humans.

And there's a lot of stuff. It seems like there's a lot going on here. I think the story is going to be really cool. The mechanics are really leveled up, and you can do a lot of interesting things. So if you like the Persona games, I think you're going to be very into Metaphor, ReFantazio. It comes out in October. They announced that. So I'm just--

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: I don't think I realized it was this year.

- I know.

- That close?

- I will say Atlus and Sega RPGs have completely owned my time this.

- Nice.

- I think I've played through three 80-hour games so far. And you got one out today with SMT V Vengeance and then Metaphor ReFantazio coming out in October. You literally like play the entire year and play every day and only play a Sega or Atlus RPG and be perfectly content.

- And that's fine.

- --and be super happy. That sounds like it was worth almost missing your flight for.

- Without question.

- 100%.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Yes, I did make it, fortunately, but if I hadn't, I would have had-- I would have just been sitting there thinking about what I had played as I sat there in terminal whatever. So more games coming out to Game Pass-- first of all, this will be the next wave which was announced this week. My Time at Sandrock-- did you play My Time at Portia of which--

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: I'm not--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: --this is a sequel? So this is a really cozy game--

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: It looks cute.

- --but kind of open world. There's a lot going on. You're rebuilding a village. And so this takes place in another, wholesome, post-apocalyptic world, like you do, 300 years after the Day of Calamity destroyed most modern technology.

JENN PANATTONI: Warm and fuzzy.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: But it really does-- you're working with your hands.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: So it's joyful apocalypse I've ever seen.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: There's part of my time-- do you ever think about if you survived an apocalypse at which point our jobs become meaningless because nobody will need a podcast host?

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: They might.

- They might.

JENN PANATTONI: You're not stocking up on bottle caps already.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Do it in the town square live.

- What my bug-out kit looks like is none of your concern. But what I would say-- if you ever thought about what your role would be like in post apocalypse--

- That's a great question.

- I'll go first.

- I never thought about it.

- So I feel like people will miss the creature comforts of the previous life. I have a manual coffee grinder, and I feel like I would be part bard, part barista, a Bardrista.

JENN PANATTONI: Bardrista, I like it.

- Yeah, I'm still workshopping it.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: That works.

- --and would just go around. And I feel like this would get me an audience with the local warlord because I'd be able to, like, make them a cup of coffee and share the gossip from the next settlement over or whatever.

JENN PANATTONI: Right.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: I feel like that'll be my thing.

- Establish your importance and dominance early.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Exactly. You need caffeine. We're all going to be missing it. Now, where I'm going to find the coffee-- I'll have to work on my supply lines.

- It'll boost productivity across the town.

- Exactly.

- You're just going to be ahead of schedule and reconstruction.

- See? See?

- Sounds great. I'm going to help you. That's my role.

- So if there's a-- if they want to put me in DLC for My Time at Sandrock, it's Jeff with a J.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Bardrista.

- Yes.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Jeff the Bardrista.

- Exactly.

- Bardrista. I don't think you need workshop that. I think that's--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Pretty good?

- Got it.

- Ship it. Ship it.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: I just better not break my hand grinder. That's the one thing because without that--

JENN PANATTONI: You'll have to find--

- --I'm done.

JENN PANATTONI: --a mechanic friend who can help you. And then you--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: That's true.

- --go adventure--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: I'll be bartering.

- The blacksmith person--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: A lot of bartering.

- Exactly. You barter coffee. They barter their skills.

- I'll keep you in americanos for the rest of your days--

- That's right.

- Exactly.

- --which won't last long because we no longer have modern medicine and--

- Exactly.

- --die of a scrape or something.

- Right.

- What are we doing here? We're on the podcast.

- It's fun, though. I enjoyed that.

- Thank you. Appreciate it. This is what happens when no one's here to tell me to shut up. Keplerth, this is coming out on PC. Try to survive on a hostile alien planet in this 2D sandbox RPG, where you can choose to live alone or fight side by side with your friends in the online multiplayer mode. I like an RPG with multiplayer.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Very nice.

JENN PANATTONI: I like that.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: And you will survive, build, farm and fight. Really a lot of things you will also do in My Time at Sandrock but with a completely different.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Less wholesome.

JENN PANATTONI: Yeah, it's less warm and fuzzy.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Yes. So those are out on Game Pass now. Coming next week, EA Sports FC 24, just in time for Euro 2024.

JENN PANATTONI: Amazing.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Do we think England's going to bring it home?

JENN PANATTONI: I don't know, man.

JENN PANATTONI: They're doomed. They're doomed. They didn't look so great in the first match, if I'm going to be honest. But then again, neither did France. Anyway, I still think France will probably win it. But that's just me.

- We'll see.

- But forget what I think. You can play it on your own.

- You build your own--

- Create your own.

- --story here.

- Also Copa America is starting soon. The US is playing, I think Bolivia on Sunday. I'm a big soccer fan. I'm very excited. It's a very exciting month for-- lots of stuff to watch.

- I have a whole schedule for Munson that I need to pay attention to.

- Yes.

- He sent them over.

- He made it? He used Bing AI. And he was like, make me a full schedule of every major international soccer game for the next month. And it just spit it all out, what channel it's going to be on.

- --and looks were to watch it. He sent it to me, and I was like, that's great. I could have done it myself, but he did it for me. Or AI did it for him, and he shared it. Either way, you just play EFC. It's coming into the vault there. And if you're a Game Pass Ultimate member, well, guess what? You get to do it too.

Also coming next week, two games from the lovely group that make the Steamworld series. There's already Steamworld Build is currently in Game Pass, but Steamworld Dig is coming on June 26 on cloud and console. It's a platform mining adventure, very metroidvania.

And I've heard many good things about Steamworld Dig. I think that was maybe the first of the Steamworld games, of which there's now quite a few. There's also Steamworld Dig 2. So if you blow through that also on June 26, this one's available on cloud, console, and PC. This one's making a return to the Game Pass library. All of your Steamworld needs--

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: All the time.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: --covered by Game Pass.

JENN PANATTONI: All Steamworld, all day.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: We've got you covered. One last one-- and I'm not familiar with this game, Robin Hood Sherwood Builders.

- I'm intrigued.

- So you're going to join Robin Hood and his unwavering-- they do not waver-- band of outlaws in 12th century England on their mission for a free Nottingham as you travel across various regions and build up a secret hideout village, help the denizens of surrounding lands. You complete quests, construct various builds, craft a broad range of items, and freely explore locations inspired by both myth and history in this open-world RPG with base building features. It's saying a lot of things.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: And you're Robin--

JENN PANATTONI: I like that.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: --Hood.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: And your Robin Hood.

JENN PANATTONI: I like that.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: And it's in Game Pass. It's available on cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X and S only, and that is coming out on June 27.

- Big week.

- It is a big week.

- Busy. Busy, busy.

- And I was looking ahead at July. Let me tell you--

- Even busier?

- For Game Pass-- I mean, games that are already announced like-- Path of the Goddess and a number of other games are all coming out in July, and I'm really excited about those. But we'll talk about those in a future episode.

- Yes.

- Last thing, updates, DLC, Elder Scrolls Online, Gold Road-- so that is now available on console. It was previously available on PC. This is where you uncover the secrets of a forgotten daedric prince and create unique abilities with the new scribing system. It's good for adventurers.

The thing I love about Elder Scrolls Online is that you don't have to-- while there's literally a decade worth of content, you can do it in any order, and the game scales. So it's really cool. So if you just kind of want to jump right into the Gold Road, you'll be able to do that relatively soon just--

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Love that

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: --until the newest stuff. Also, in Minecraft, Tricky Trials. It is--

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Tricky, tricky--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: --available now.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: --tricky.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Very good. I think we just got DMCA'd on that one--

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Oops.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: But that's fine. So much like Run DMC that they took us down-- team up or go solo and discover new decorative blocks, hostile mobs, items, weapons, paintings, and the Trial Chambers, which is a sprawling structure stuffed with traps and treasures for every player. One last thing I want to make an announce-- Apple TV has a three-month extended trial offer for Xbox users now through July 7. Apple TV is offering Xbox players three months free of Apple TV. There's tons of good shows--

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Yes

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: --on Apple TV. They also have all the MLS stuff, although that may not be included here. This is your chance to check out movies and shows like Argylle. I need to watch Argylle, Napoleon, Sugar.

ANNETTE GONZALEZ-PORTER: Well, no--

JENN PANATTONI: You have a chance though if you haven't seen it.

- Ted Lasso obviously, yes, Severance, another great one-- Apple TV is quite good. So anyway, the trial is exclusive to new and qualified returning--

- That's great.

- --Apple TV subscribers through--

- Nice.

- --the Apple TV app on your Xbox. You just go in there into the store. You hit the y button from the dash. You bring up the search. You type in Apple TV. You'll find it pretty quickly. What a week. That about wraps us up. Thanks so much for joining us back here. You can follow the show on twitter.com/xboxwire, youtube.com/xboxwire, and once again, all of your favorite podcast apps. I want to thank Annette Gonzalez-Porter and Jenn Panattoni for joining us. Any final words of wisdom to leave us out on?

- No final words other than play some cool games. Have a good time Check out Indie Selects on the Xbox store for some awesome human-curated content from our team if you're looking for something new to play.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Very good. Stay out of the sun. It's too hot out.

- Yeah, stay cool.

- Yeah.

- What about you, Jenn?

- I would say if you want to check out any of those charitable partnerships that we're supporting different non-profits with, check them out. They're awesome. They're supporting good causes.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: And you can earn credits like money just by playing to donate. So you don't even have to open your wallet, which is great.

- Microsoft Rewards or Xbox Rewards now actually.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Xbox Rewards.

- Xbox Rewards.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Just play those Game Pass games that pop up. Do the thing. Thanks for all that you do, Jenn and Annette. And thank you for joining us.

- And thank you, Jeff.

- Yeah, thank you.

- So we will see you again next week. Thanks so much, everybody.