Why Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds’ Massive PC Sales Don’t Guarantee Xbox One X Success

Sci-fi shared world shooter Destiny 2 is out now. And while the first game was promising, it ultimately fell short of what developer Bungie was aiming for. Does the second game fare any better? We discuss.

Also up for debate is Middle-earth: Shadow of War - sequel to the surprise hit of 2014 set in the Lord of the Rings universe , it’s been looking worse and worse with each subsequent announcement. Be it the decision to turn monstrous spider Shelob into a stereotypical video game vixen, the need to add microtransactions to a single-player campaign, or publisher Warner Bros.’ reveal that it will charge for an in-game character based on Mike Fogey - one of the game’s producers who passed away, Shadow of War could end up being a blight on the franchise.

On the topic of blights, we talk about the Xbox One X’s launch line-up and lack of exclusives following Xbox boss Mike Ybarra’s statements that Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds could be a game changer for the Xbox One fanbase. The battle royale-themed shooter hit another milestone with 10 million copies sold on Steam despite still being in early access. We talk about if that success could translate to the console audience.

Speaking of gaming audiences, GTA publisher 2K comes under the scanner for releasing and abandoning games on iOS and Android including BioShock and more recently XCOM and WWE, possibly revealing how established game companies view the smartphone market, which could be cause for concern for many a mobile gamer.

Furthermore, September sees FIFA 18 and PES 18 hit the shelves. Will EA’s gambit of bringing FIFA 18 to the Nintendo Switch pay off and  is Konami’s conservative approach to platform choice and lower PC price the smart move? Find out about all of this and more in this episode of Transition - the Gadgets 360 pop culture and gaming podcast.

You can subscribe to Transition via Apple Podcasts or RSS or just listen to this episode by hitting the play button below. The music for this episode comes via Magnus Souleye Pålsson's album PPPPPP, which is the soundtrack for the game, VVVVVV.