GTA 6 Fallout Forces February's First-Party Face Off - Next-Gen Console Watch

[00:09] hardware. I'm Damon Hatfield. This week I'm joined by Max Scoville from Podcast McCaffrey. Now, last week at San Diego Comic-Con, for God of War Laufey. It's February 16th, 2027. And yes, that is just 1 week

[00:25] before Fable, a first-party Xbox game that is being released on PS5 the same This is kind of an extraordinary scenario. We looked we couldn't find PlayStation and Xbox games landing in the same week. Certainly not an example

[00:39] PlayStation. I think it's entirely possible that both of these games ended up where they are because of a certain GTA being released so early in 2027. It's easy to imagine they were both intended to be fall 2026 releases at

[00:52] some point. And if that's the case, Grand Theft Auto 6 has proven to be the great disruptor once again. It's caused every other game to scatter out of overly crowded September and now a February early next year. And it's

[01:05] caused a particularly interesting console war showdown, God of War Laufey versus Fable, two fantasy franchises both running for two decades. Now, Max, I can't help but think this God of War release date, just 1 week

[01:17] finger to Xbox. Because when Fable arrives, the PlayStation faithful will what you think. >> Uh I don't know if it's a middle finger. It's I It made me think of that sort of that Don Draper bit where someone's like

[01:31] think about you. Yeah, exactly. Uh I mean, it's personally, I'm I'm more interested in Fable. Um everything. I don't have anything particularly against it, but uh the

[01:45] know, enticing to me at this point. I feel like the the sense of humor is much uh panopticon underworld, what have but yeah, it's it's a interesting spot. It really doesn't feel

[01:59] like this was plan A for anyone. I think you're absolutely right that this is you know, falling back and getting out of GTA's way. And the funny thing is I think that there's going to be plenty of people who are still fully invested in

[02:12] GTA in February. Uh we have no idea when online's going that's going to shove a bunch of stuff out of the way as well. So it's I mean, it's really a monolithic release. And in this case, yeah, I mean, it's

[02:25] Microsoft is kind of in a similar situation kind of venturing into putting first-party stuff on PC, and then they sort of abruptly pulled back from that. And I have the sneaking suspicion that

[02:39] "No, we're not going to put our games on PlayStation. Are you crazy?" But Fable's be doing that, and it's kind of hard to to pull back back on that now. And it an awkward week. >> Yeah, I agree with you, Max. I I'm

[02:53] >> I'm a little more excited for the openness and the freedom that I think Fable will provide, whereas uh God of War Ragnarök will be very, you know, very scripted, hand-holdy, very cinematic. That's fine, but uh it

[03:06] Fable. But Ryan, I want to get your thoughts both on this situation, these I'd also love to hear what you think about what Max is saying about maybe we're going to be seeing fewer uh exclusives coming day one to PS5 after

[03:20] >> Well, I definitely agree with Max that if Microsoft could magically unannounce, if they could if they could do the, you know, the the Spider-Man, the Doctor Strange spell and make everybody forget that they announced Fable for PS5 on day

[03:36] given the change in leadership and the new strategy. Because this is uh a this new strategy. Because this is uh a this is a a relaunch, you know, reboot of one of their four biggest franchises. I mean, Halo, Forza, Gears, Fable. Uh

[03:51] pillars. I mean, obviously Fable's been out of the game for quite some time. And the thing is though, this one it's checked every box so far. I mean, it's it's I'm a big Fable fan and Playground Games seems to very very clearly

[04:06] understand the assignment here. And Playground is I've said this I think I've said this before on this show and if I haven't, I've said it on Unlocked. I'm of the opinion that Playground Games is the single most talented studio that

[04:19] Xbox owns. They their output is unassailable at this point so far. And that gives me so such high hope for Fable. There's by the way, there's another

[04:32] silly little twist to this is if they're not actually a week apart, they're actually a day apart because if you buy the premium edition Fable, it is out one day after God of War. It's February 18th

[04:48] for the premium edition of Fable. So, there there really are going head-to-head and like you said at the top Damon, in our planning meeting, we were going back. We couldn't find an example of of a Sony of a you know,

[05:01] PlayStation first-party exclusive and an Xbox first-party exclusive even though Fable's not actually an exclusive going head-to-head like this. But yeah, I mean, it's it seems like it's one of those things where even when

[05:14] Microsoft wins, they lose. Like they just it seems to be part of the the curse, the black cloud that that hangs over them. Although, you know, much of they couldn't have known that that Sony was going to set the release date for

[05:27] But I think the solution here for Microsoft is and I would want to see this anyway regardless of God of War's release date.

[05:39] I hope Microsoft markets the heck out of this game because they at this point as this game because they at this point as we sit here in July, they know how good or not Fable is. Like they they've had all their internal play tests. Like

[05:52] they've they're they might not quite be to the mock review stage where they they they bring people in to give it a a review and that's obviously only seen internally. But they probably know what they have at

[06:05] this point. And if it's a if it lives up to Playground's reputation, I just hope that they put serious money behind this game to to make it as widely known and and big a deal as possible because

[06:19] you know, you guys both said you're more excited for for this than than for Fable I'm with you. And it's nothing against God of War. I've just played that game twice already. Granted, both times have been amazing, but Fable is well and

[06:34] truly something new. I mean, it's Yes, it's a revival of a game we haven't seen in 15 years, but it's new from the ground up from a from a wildly talented team. And everything I've seen from it so far, I just it just seems to

[06:49] scratch an itch that no other RPG really has in terms of its and all that. So, though because, you know, for people who aren't as, you know, clued into this, I

[07:04] feel like you see a God of War game and a Fable game on the shelf. Which Which >> Absolutely. >> Yeah, so it's >> uh no no shade to what is it? Fable >> journey the connect game? Was that the

[07:16] >> you can shade it. It's fine. I reviewed that for IGN in my early IGN years, but uh no, that's exactly Max's my point about I want to see Microsoft market this. They've They've got to get the word out on this thing.

[07:30] Maybe they need to plan for like a second beat like a month or two after uh when people are finished with God of War. playing God God on PlayStation. >> That's true. Uh

[07:43] be some extra story content, maybe they'll have DLC drops that come along that give them an opportunity. Of course, the the other possibility, Damon, that you already mentioned is or maybe Max did, I apologize, but

[07:57] if GTA Online ships in mid-February, both of these games are are going to be uh to get people to pay attention to them. So, the the story is not yet completely

[08:13] >> And what do you think about the future prospect of of Xbox games coming to PlayStation after Fable? >> [sighs] >> the they've already said for 2027,

[08:27] it's going to be Clockwork Revolution will be the console exclusive game. And that does make sense because they've they've got this pipeline of games that are already in various stages of development. Uh and it if they've

[08:41] into PS5 versions of of some of these games, then uh then it makes sense, you know, probably to not throw all that away and go ahead and try and make that money on on the PlayStation platform.

[08:55] But yeah, further out, like 2028 like 28 is when we can start to maybe seriously think about The Elder Scrolls 6 being a real thing. Uh whether it ends up being 2029, but it

[09:10] that's that's going to be the ultimate test for Microsoft of their of their new test for Microsoft of their of their new found exclusive resolve is are you found exclusive resolve is are you willing to withhold The Elder Scrolls 6

[09:24] from PlayStation? And I there's a case to be made either way. I've We're obviously we're not privy to Microsoft's numbers, like they they probably would have a good idea of how much money they'd make on

[09:36] PlayStation versus how many hardware units, how many Xboxes they if they just keep it exclusive, but yeah, it's I I do think that the current the new regime seems to want to pivot away from the multi-platform

[09:52] to pivot away from the multi-platform strategy, and so yeah, I do think that this could very well be the only Fable that ever finds its way onto a PlayStation platform. >> And we're talking about God of War

[10:04] only two big games coming in February. We've also got Tomb Raider, Legacy of Atlantis with Truth Be Told is probably the game I'm most looking forward to in February. There's also Persona 4 Revival, and I believe Metro: 2039 has

[10:17] just said February in 2027, so that's a really crowded month. Max, it's I also noticed that all of a sudden Sony is in this position where it big games coming out within 6 months. Marvel Tokoun on August 6th, Wolverine

[10:31] February 18th. >> Yep, it's it's a it's cool. It's weird. I'm forgot what this felt like. It's a lineup like this, and I really think

[10:43] it just comes down to the the kind of ebb and flow of game development and how swinging with a great launch lineup for the PS5, and here we are about 6 years later, and yeah, I mean it takes about that long to make a AAA video game these

[10:57] days, and I'm sure you know, some of these were probably in the works longer, some were you know, maybe had not that much time in development, but >> That's also not everything that Sony could be dropping in the next 6 months.

[11:10] There's also Kena: Bridge of Spirits of Cosmorra, which is TBD 2026. the sort of co-op version of that, which is of when that's coming out. And then Until Dawn 2 is slated for 2027 at some

[11:24] expected to launch, but that could very easily drop in the first quarter. So, it's it's cool. I like when Sony makes video games. It's fun for me. It's It's more exciting to when they just cancel things and don't announce stuff, you

[11:38] They're making video games and they're making a lot of God of War games. also the remake of the original trilogy that's still coming. They had the 2D pixel art game that was earlier this year. And then at Comic-Con they also

[11:51] sort of soft announced another God of War game that will star Kratos. Um I'd It's kind of a strange place to announce that. Do you think that's they're doing little bit of a uh some backlash a bit against Laufey,

[12:04] not that I think that they're for necessarily uh good reasons. very much it. It was a pretty unceremonious announcement of a thing. There It's not enough that there's three Kratos games on the way. You got to be

[12:17] >> Uh Yeah, I mean the thing that made me realize about this is is I'm unclear if God of Laufey is going to be of the same scale as Ragnarok. I kind of hope it's a little bit leaner because that was such a massive game, but you know, we haven't

[12:31] seen a God of War version of like the, you know, Uncharted The Lost Legacy or the sort of the naming convention there I could I could see it being like this literally a side story to the first God of War. And I always assumed it was

[12:45] games, but announcing this before this even has a you know, before this is even out there. It feels kind of Brian Altano put it very uh very succinctly on on Beyond this week. He said that it's uh sort of

[12:57] if you went up to the dudes who are sitting on the bench outside uh Sephora on their phones and you just said, "Hey, we can watch football after this." Like >> That's great. >> Yeah. Uh

[13:09] so, I mean, cool. More Kratos. But also, you know, come on. Let Let's >> Yeah. I I think I think God of War Laufey looks very cool. I think it'll has released its latest game this week, Halo Campaign Evolved. It's being well

[13:23] received and very notably it's it's Halo on PlayStation. >> We had a huge discussion about this on Unlocked this week. This is There's a good chance this is the one and only Halo that PlayStation will ever see.

[13:37] And yeah, this is a really well-executed remake. We we talked God, we talked about a lot of different angles to this thing on Unlocked, but for me, it's

[13:49] it again, it's really well done. I'm just not super excited about it, and the lack of multiplayer is a big part of that. And I I genuinely feel bad for for PlayStation gamers, not in the sense of

[14:04] like they did anything wrong, just in the sense of I wish I want them to have the Halo multiplayer experience. Like that's that's such a big piece of Halo. So, that's that's where I kind of landed with it is what they did, they did

[14:17] It's just unfortunate there's no multiplayer. if you if you finish the campaign on legendary, you get the legendary ending, which is a little different than the regular ending. And so, that

[14:33] seems to suggest that there is going to be a Halo 2 remake as well. And was very very clear. Go go watch it. Go join

[14:45] us on Unlocked if you get a chance. We were explicitly clear that if there's no multiplayer in a Halo 2 remake, arguably the greatest multiplayer experience Xbox has ever seen was Halo 2, then

[15:00] I will personally lead the pitchfork and torch mob to the front door of Halo Studios. So, it's it's it's you you can kind of get away with it with Halo 1, especially when you're saying, "Well, it's for the

[15:13] 25th anniversary here." But, there will be no such thing to to worry about with a Halo 2 remake possibility. And we got to get the multiplayer going on in that one.

[15:26] >> Well viewers, to our viewers who are PlayStation fans that are playing Halo time, we want to know what do you think of Halo campaign evolved? Do you love PlayStation or maybe you're disappointed it doesn't have multiplayer or maybe

[15:40] resistances and your Killzones. Make sure you vote at ign.com and on Spotify we'll share the results with you next episode just like we did in our last games, you know, in the in the all digital future which seems to be

[15:54] beginning in 2028. We asked what will you miss most about physical games? The the number one result was how they look on my shelf. That beat out used games, sharing games with friends or even their

[16:07] trade-in value. That was coming at the bottom. So people not so concerned about like how they look on their shelf. >> But but that's cuz you look at it and it you instantly get a great memory, right? Which you you don't really get that on

[16:21] get those votes. >> Yeah. Yeah. That makes perfect sense. you to both Max and Ryan. Thank you to everyone working behind the scenes to make this show possible. My name is Damon. We'll be back next week with more

[16:35] of the latest gaming hardware. We'll see you then.

[16:47] was produced by Damon Hatfield, Jobert Atienza and Sam Clayborn. Damon is also the host and Max Scoville and Ryan McCaffrey serve as regular panelists. Technical direction is by Jobert Atienza with technical production by Marian

[16:59] engineering is handled by Amir Rakib. Post-production editing is by Jobert Vachon. Next Gen Console Watch is an IGN production and part of the Geek Media Network.