Show Notes
Microsoft just handed the next mainline Halo to Activision, and two guys who ran a Call of Duty show for years have thoughts. Raz has been saying for five years that Halo should have made a battle royale, and he explains why it might already be too late. Jake makes the case that Halo is in such a bad spot that new developers can't make it worse, and asks what Call of Duty's monetization playbook will do to it.
Then Warzone's new operator skin toggle: MW4 lets you swap every Nicki Minaj and Squid Game skin for a grounded military operator, but only on your screen. Is that the best of both worlds, or a way to please nobody? Plus Call of Duty getting Community Noted, MW4's locked carry-forward guns, and the rumored Game Pass tier with ads.
GTA 6's $400 collector's edition doesn't come with GTA 6. We go through every item in the box, and it turns out to be a cocaine bundle. Rockstar's Miami takeover, the city council vote on GTA 6 beach umbrellas, and whether this is the first video game that could actually move crime numbers.
Also: the WARDOGS price increase drama, Sombra moving to support in Overwatch, and Arc Raiders adding a PvE-only mode.
0:00 Intro
3:11 Patreon news and the hangout recap
8:51 Raz on Twitch and Pathfinder
10:30 Why Raz always plays evil
15:05 The BG3 dog dilemma
16:36 Remember Craigslist?
17:42 Halo is a Call of Duty studio now
20:07 Halo should have made a battle royale
22:46 Can Activision save Halo?
26:55 Bring back Forge mode
33:35 First CoD thing in the next Halo
35:57 The Halo show and video game movies
41:10 Obsidian, Rare and the Xbox shuffle
42:24 Is Xbox still a console company?
43:40 Game Pass with ads
48:27 Warzone's operator skin toggle
50:16 MW4's locked carry-forward guns
54:43 Call of Duty gets Community Noted
1:00:35 Would we turn the toggle on?
1:03:16 GTA 6's $400 collector's edition
1:05:40 It's a cocaine bundle
1:12:43 Rockstar's Miami takeover
1:16:01 Miami Beach votes on GTA 6 ads
1:20:37 Spotify x GTA 6
1:23:56 The biggest entertainment launch ever?
1:25:11 Why everyone plays evil in GTA
1:26:04 Does GTA 6 marketing even matter?
1:28:46 WARDOGS price hike drama
1:31:47 Sombra moves to support
1:37:18 Arc Raiders adds a PvE mode
1:41:00 Abandon hope, Arc Raiders fans
1:46:51 Wrap-up: Halo of Duty
_Note: timestamps may be slightly misaligned on podcast apps (but not on YouTube) due to dynamic ads._
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