238: Always Be Gaming
The Nextlander Podcast
The Nextlander Podcast
4.7 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 26 February 2026
⏱️ 152 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
There's a lot going on: Phil Spencer's time at Xbox is coming to an end, Microsoft is appointing former AI exec Asha Sharma to replace him, Sony is shuttering Bluepoint Games, and more. We dig into all that, plus Alex and Brad nerd out over the new Star Trek: Voyager game, Vinny names his FMV Mount Rushmore, and other stuff on this week's show!
CHAPTERS
(00:00:00) NOTE: Some timecodes may be inaccurate for versions other than the ad-free Patreon version due to dynamic ad insertions. Please use caution if skipping around to avoid spoilers. Thanks for listening.
(00:00:10) Intro
(00:01:16) The Next Era of Xbox
(00:46:17) First Break
(00:46:22) More about the future of Xbox
(01:26:04) Sony shutters Bluepoint Games
(01:35:43) Bungie to institute permanent bans for Marathon cheaters
(01:38:00) Nacon files for insolvency
(01:40:49) Everything changes, all at once
(01:44:46) Second Break
(01:44:51) Some video games we played
(01:45:01) Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown | [Nintendo Switch 2, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S] | Feb 18, 2026
(02:02:56) God of War Sons of Sparta | [PlayStation 5] | Feb 12, 2026
(02:04:38) Heart of the Forest | [Android, iOS, Mac, Nintendo Switch, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One] | Feb 12, 2026
(02:05:19) Emails
(02:25:38) Wrapping up and thanks
(02:29:04) Mysterious Benefactor Shoutouts
(02:30:48) Nextlander schedule updates
(02:31:54) See ya!
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello everybody and welcome back to another Nextlander podcast. |
| 0:14.5 | Hoo! |
| 0:16.0 | They didn't want to hold back for the end of February. |
| 0:19.6 | I'll tell you what. |
| 0:20.7 | I'll tell you what. Here we are at the end of February. Tell you what. I'll tell you what. |
| 0:22.1 | Here we are at the end of a quarter, Alex Navarum. |
| 0:25.8 | Yes. |
| 0:26.4 | And we all know the end of a quarter not only means, you know, end of March. |
| 0:33.4 | I heard you, hmm, Brad. |
| 0:34.5 | Yes, we're about a month away from the end of the quarter. |
| 0:36.3 | End of a quarter. |
| 0:37.3 | We're nearing the end of a quarter, |
| 0:38.6 | but doesn't mean announcements aren't, fiscal announcements, let's say, aren't going to be made towards the end of a quarter. I know, man, fiscal announcement feels like it is greatly underselling what we are talking about here. If you're going to be, if you're, let's say, maybe a public company, |
| 0:55.5 | or you trade on shareholders, and you're getting your books together, we got some announcements |
| 1:01.9 | for you, both from Microsoft and Sony. Uh-huh. All good news, definitely. And, uh, hey, look, |
| 1:10.7 | people are allowed to retire. |
| 1:12.0 | You could, uh, you could, it's a little more complicated than that. |
| 1:16.3 | Um, so we're going to probably jump in here. |
| 1:18.2 | We're just going to start with the news that Phil Spencer is leaving Xbox games, Microsoft, a career, how many, how many years? |
| 1:32.4 | 40-ish, close to 40. |
| 1:34.1 | 38, wasn't it? |
| 1:35.4 | I think. |
... |
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