#241 | ANOTHER Canceled Game Hits Xbox... - What's Next?

Contraband was announced back in 2021. Since then, we've seen just about nothing from the game. No messaging beats, no trailers, and even the Xbox executives didn't yap about this one! After four years of development, this collaboration between Xbox and Avalanche has come to a close. Adding it to the list of canceled Xbox titles, this one feels different to Dependable Cog and Choco Matty. Part of it is apathy, but it's also a new angle from the previous shutdowns where we really don't know much about what was lost. It's a valuable lesson in why Xbox shouldn't announce things early. Beyond our headline, we get into Xbox's president offering her talents to Tyson Foods (?!), Halo coming to PlayStation, a legend leaving Xbox, and diving deep into Matty's recent interview with ex-BioWare vet, Mark Darrah. Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement. 0:00:00 - Intro 0:10:29 - Cog wears diapers & Matty goes viral for cleaning 0:40:34 - Health Is Wealth 0:48:38 - Mafia: The Old Country "Controversy" 0:58:16 - Are games giving what the fans want? 1:04:19 - Ex BioWare dev on Dragon Age remasters 1:25:35 - PlayStation is moving away from hardware? 1:43:25 - Rod Ferguson is leaving Blizzard 1:51:15 - Sarah Bond joins… Tyson Foods 2:00:50 - An update on the future of Forza 2:05:48 - The release date for the Xbox Ally has leaked 2:07:58 - Heretic + Hexen re-release shadowdropped 2:12:09 - A Halo game is coming to PlayStation 2:17:13 - Halo ODST is coming to Helldivers 2 2:21:52 - Bungie’s leash tightens with Marathon 2:28:48 - S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is getting a massive roadmap 2:34:14 - LEGO Batman is getting the Skywalker Saga treatment? 2:44:11 - Crimson Desert has been delayed to Q1 2026 2:45:40 - What We’re Playing 3:25:42 - Contraband has been canceled 3:33:39 - Game Pass Pick Of The Week Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices