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[Killjoy-NL]

I don't think there can be any doubt of the direction this is all heading in now.

It didn't have to be like this, they had over a decade to sort things out.

I mean, the writing has been on the wall since E3 2013 when Sony killed Xbox by saying "no DRM".

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Regardless of whether these positions were redundant or not, it's staggering the lack of vision on all the parties that cheered for the acquisition, devs included.

The CMA should be roasted for this too. You should not approve any merger when the company of interest is laying off people and shutting down studios left and right.

Embracer and MS are getting exposed badly. Sony will follow suit soon, they will cut off 2-3 studios within the next two years.

Sony only slightly overextended themselves. You've seen minimal layoffs and hiring freezes as a result. If studios do get closed it will be because of their lack of production like Media Molecule.

Sony doesn't have too many studios to support, if anything the general drought of games suggests they probably still need a couple more studios.

 

[Heisenberg007]

While you play with your pal King Thrash, Linus and the rest of the PS shills, but at least he's getting paid for it lol.

He makes fun of Phil, a C-suite executive at a $3 trillion company. So you come at him with a personal attack.

Why?

 

[NickFire]

When he hears they are getting rid of community managers, I wonder if he thinks of a certain scene in Episode III.

 

[FIREKNIGHT2029]

When Trillion dollar corporations make massive acquisitions and consolidations we all win, right guys?


Anyone who didn’t see this coming or who championed the acquisition as being good for the workers at ABK is a gullible fool or a corporate shill. This is what many people tried to warn these Microsoft cheerleaders about when they were championing Microsoft’s acquisition of ABK.


MS are a cancer to gaming. Their only work is to absorb everything and leave a wave of mediocrity and destruction in their wake. They haven’t been real competition to Sony or Nintendo in many years. They are just here to disrupt the market and mold it into something that will benefit only them and not gamers or the industry. MS is the only company around that can buy a company for $70 Billion and then literally months later fire 1900 people from that company without batting an eye.


They knew all along they were gonna do this as soon as they acquired ABK. They sent lying ass Phil, the corporate shill gaming media, and their astroturfers to lube everyone up and get people to think them buying Activision was for the employees and good of gamers and idiots ate it all up.

 

[cormack12]

Derek returning to the office tomorrow oblivious to the drama

 

[solidus12]

Phil Spencer is no longer heralded as the savior of the gaming industry

 

[DaGwaphics]

This is a real stinker to be honest. Would the folk at Activision Blizzard had lost their job if ABK weren’t acquired?

You can't really answer that for sure, especially without knowing exactly who was let go. In some cases these individuals probably wouldn't be out of work, but in others they likely would have as part of cutbacks that ABK would have done themselves (like most of the industry is doing at the moment).

Some of the usual suspects are trying to spin it like it wouldn't have been possible for ABK to have layoffs on their own, that doesn't seem realistic to me.

 

[Stooky]

I have several talented artist friends now out of work. this shit sucks. They are cutting entire projects.

 

[Solidus_T]

"You guys all did a great job, now get out of here and don't talk to the press!"

 

[RedC]

Perhaps not to this degree, however, this should've been expected after the merger was fully complete.

 

[Elbereth]

Embrace
Extend
Extinguish

 

[Heisenberg007]

This is a real stinker to be honest. Would the folk at Activision Blizzard had lost their job if ABK weren’t acquired?

And Jez about retail, Xbox games going away from retail is more or less pulling the plug on Xbox as a traditional console. I knew it would happen but not this soon and not without a new generation launch. I guess they think the rumored slim is enough but that’s really not the box to do this transition on. Lots of strange moves here.

Of course they wouldn't - at least not in such massive capacity.

ABK was a highly profitable company before the acquisition. There was no need to let go of people. Xbox, on the other hand, is a failing division and has been firing people on a regular basis.

 

[H From Steps]

Looks like they're all-in for the digital push.

It seems like my prediction is coming true a hybrid approach is likely. While I prefer physical games over digital, the prospect of great games might influence my decision to purchase. Will see what they come up
With.

 

[Heisenberg007]

"You guys all did a great job, now get out of here and don't talk to the press!"

"sustainable cost structure" and "we are all aligned on the best opportunities for growth" tell you everything you need to know.

"I am committed to navigating this process as thoughtfully as possible." >> deactivates employees Slack, leaving them in dark, with 0 communication that they have been fired.

 

[TheBomb]

And Phill still there?

 

[GHG]

Phil Spencer is no longer heralded as the savior of the gaming industry

Imagine believing in Phil Spencer.

 

[RedC]

Of course they wouldn't - at least not in such massive capacity.

ABK was a highly profitable company before the acquisition. There was no need to let go of people. Xbox, on the other hand, is a failing division and has been firing people on a regular basis.

Every company, especially in the tech sector, has had a wave of layoffs since the fall of 2022, which in Microsoft's case, is amplified by a $70 billion acquisition that has finally completed and fully reviewed.

Context matters.

 

[DeadOblivion78]

The mods on Era have gone off the goop now. Banning people for reasonable responses like this now.

 

[graywolf323]

He makes fun of Phil, a C-suite executive at a $3 trillion company. So you come at him with a personal attack.

Why?

might be trying to earn a tag like Adamsapple has?

 

[H From Steps]

lol I had totally forgot about the "unions". What a farce that was.

Depends who opted in the union and who didn’t idk if you familiar with unions since I’m in one It's generally more challenging to terminate unionized workers compared to non-unionized ones. we have more bargaining power.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Every company, especially in the tech sector, has had a wave of layoffs since the fall of 2022, which in Microsoft's case, is amplified by a $70 billion acquisition that has finally competed and fully reviewed.

Context matters.

Were all those companies also $3 trillion rich, though? Microsoft made $77 billion in profit last year!

 

[AtomicStarving]

Crazy, Even more crazy when MS (the most valuable company on earth rn) got AB and now is laying off a lot of people. WTF. Poor those who lost their jobs.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Imagine believing in Phil Spencer.

Phil Spencer:

 

[H From Steps]

Phil Spencer is no longer heralded as the savior of the gaming industry

He never was only delusional people ever thought of that he’s a corpo and should be treated as such .

 

[Kenneth Haight]

Microsoft have no business being in the games industry anymore. Devoid of any fresh ideas or creativity. Buy up publishers and then fuck the average employees trying to make a living. They really are a joke at this stage. Stick to operating systems, cloud and office applications cause you clearly don’t have a clue what you’re doing in this arena.

 

[Horseganador]

 

[Chuck Berry]

"You guys all did a great job, now get out of here and don't talk to the press!"

Lol @ "Phil" being in quotes wtf

Is anything fucking real with that bag of shit?

 

[GHG]

I wonder what's happening with those Activision devs that were quick to badmouth Kotick the moment the deal closed.

 

[H From Steps]

Microsoft have no business being in the games industry anymore. Devoid of any fresh ideas or creativity. Buy up publishers and then fuck the average employees trying to make a living. They really are a joke at this stage. Stick to operating systems, cloud and office applications cause you clearly don’t have a clue what you’re doing in this arena.

no business you say? But who will the masses make fun of if they leave? lol jokes aside this is a crazy take let’s calm down your hurt I get it but dumb takes aren’t needed if they leave those 20000 employee would be out the job. You want that?

 

[Nydius]

He never was only delusional people ever thought of that he’s a corpo and should be treated as such .

Someone around here -- I can't remember who, so apologies for the lack of credit -- said that Spencer has done more damage to the Xbox brand than Mattrick ever did. I think that's a completely accurate statement.

These two screenshots completely obliterate all the Xbox shills currently on Twitter/X spouting "It was only back of house consolidation jobs, no big deal" rhetoric. That's the loss of an entire senior QA team for Sledgehammer games. Clearly the axe is falling on a lot of development teams in addition to 'structural' position.

 

[RedC]

Were all those companies also $3 trillion rich, though? Microsoft made $77 billion in profit last year!

 

[Bojanglez]

Every aspect*

*excludes employment

 

[Heisenberg007]

Damn, now Call of Duty games are also gonna launch without QA ,like Forza Motorsport, Redfall, State of Decay 2, etc, aren't they?

 

[GHG]

Damn, now Call of Duty games are also gonna launch without QA ,like Forza Motorsport, Redfall, State of Decay 2, etc, aren't they?

Internal mock reviews say 10/10, it will be fine.

 

[Insane Metal]

Even with the huge engagement? Weird.

 

[AyraSutoraifu]

Someone around here -- I can't remember who, so apologies for the lack of credit -- said that Spencer has done more damage to the Xbox brand than Mattrick ever did. I think that's a completely accurate statement.



These two screenshots completely obliterate all the Xbox shills currently on Twitter/X spouting "It was only back of house consolidation jobs, no big deal" rhetoric. That's the loss of an entire senior QA team for Sledgehammer games. Clearly the axe is falling on a lot of development teams in addition to 'structural' position.

People seriously defending it?

 

[graywolf323]

Someone around here -- I can't remember who, so apologies for the lack of credit -- said that Spencer has done more damage to the Xbox brand than Mattrick ever did. I think that's a completely accurate statement.

that might of been me, or at least a week ago I said Mattrick had more success than Phil has (but I’ve shared my thoughts on Phil’s failures and the fact people keep excusing him by blaming Mattrick a few times so I very well might have phrased it like that at some point over the years)

eh I wouldn’t say that, Kinect ended up being a stumble for sure in the long run (though in the short run it‘s why the 360 managed to even outsell the Wii in North America IIRC), the problem was more that they didn’t recognize it was a very successful fad instead of the future of gaming

once they finally realized that it was too late and since then they haven’t managed to do much right, quite frankly Mattrick had more success as the head of Xbox than Phil has (even if Mattrick was the one that failed to recognize the Kinect was a fad)

 

[H From Steps]

Someone around here -- I can't remember who, so apologies for the lack of credit -- said that Spencer has done more damage to the Xbox brand than Mattrick ever did. I think that's a completely accurate statement.



These two screenshots completely obliterate all the Xbox shills currently on Twitter/X spouting "It was only back of house consolidation jobs, no big deal" rhetoric. That's the loss of an entire senior QA team for Sledgehammer games. Clearly the axe is falling on a lot of development teams in addition to 'structural' position.

While he may have faced challenges, has he achieved improvements? No, he hasn't. In my view, Xbox as a brand should have been on par or close to Sony by now. I don't harbor hatred for the Xbox brand it's the individuals in charge I dislike. I hold fond memories from the OG Xbox and 360 days, so it's challenging to resent the brand itsel just the individuals in leadership I find trash.

 

[ADiTAR]

It makes sense they are consolidating their QA teams into a giant one like Nintendo's Treehouse, but unlike Nintendo's Treehouse, that QA team OK'ed Redfall.

 

[RedC]

I believe A.I. and Microsoft's heavy investment in it likely played a part in the quantity of some of the positions no longer being of necessity.

 

[GHG]

 

[ADiTAR]

I believe A.I. and Microsoft's heavy investment in it likely played a part in the quantity of some of the positions no longer being of necessity.

Like what? AI is a tool that can help, not replace anything so far, maybe storyboarders at best.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Always love reading the Reddit comments over stuff like this. Filled with people who think a business is a charity. Swear none of them actually ever took even just an entry level economics class.

I too, was taught that economics is all about chasing all time highs so your stock chart looks pretty

 

[kruis]

 

[RedC]

Like what? AI is a tool that can help, not replace anything so far, maybe storyboarders at best.

As an example, A.I. being used as a tool in expansive and efficient QA testing would exponentially decrease the amount of QA testers needed.

 

[Nydius]

People seriously defending it?

Some are. The usual Xbox suspects on Twitter like Peter Ovo and others. Not all, but enough.
Jez seems to be the only one taking a nuanced or longer view.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

No sympathy for these clowns

 

[SF Kosmo]

Dysfunction and baggage?

Look at the sales charts. Pick any year.

I'm not talking about their games.

 

[BoxFresh123]