Episode 606: Halo Is a Call of Duty Studio Now + GTA 6's $400 Collector's Edition

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._ The podcast is available wherever you listen to podcasts, and ad-free & early access versions - as well as bonus episodes - are available to all of our Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/thedropshot) supporters. We stream the podcast live on our YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/c/thedropshotpodcast) every Saturday morning at ~9 o'clock Pacific Time. We typically start the stream 30 minutes early to answer viewer questions, banter, and chat. Links for everything are below. Thanks for checking us out! 🔹Streaming schedule (Pacific time): 🔸Saturday ~9 AM: Gaming news and stories of the week 🔹The Dropshot: 🔸Website: https://www.thedropshot.com 🔸Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDropshotPod 🔸Discord: https://discord.gg/B4Nsarq 🔸YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/thedropshotpodcast 🔸Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedropshot 🔸Donate: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=YVR98VF4S945G 🔸Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedropshotpodcast/ 🔸TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thedropshotpodcast 🔹Razinon: 🔸Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/razinon 🔸Twitter: https://twitter.com/razinon 🔸Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/razinonttv 🔹Jakedown: 🔸Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/jakedown_ 🔸YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jakedown #TheDropshot #GamingPodcast #PodcastClips #GamingTalk #Halo #Activision #Xbox #Warzone #MW4 #CallOfDuty #Overwatch #ArcRaiders #WARDOGS #GTA6 #GTAVI #GTA6CollectorsEdition #GamePass #GamingNews #HotTake Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices