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Microsoft mismanagement ofthird party partnerships leaving developers in a bad state?

Kill3r7

Member
Any company can turn out a shit product if they are given extremely limited resources.

I expect that contract to be extended if Destiny 2 is a big hit.

Sure but they don't have to sign it or can do so in terms that are favorable to them. Bungie might very well be the best compensated stidio in the AAA market today.
 
(emphasis added)

Your claim that Platinum is incompetent is based on at least two points you haven't substantiated:
-milestones clearly defined in contract
-deliverables were clearly defined in contract

However, the available sources note that the second was not the case.

But clearly everyone else is the fanboy when you're willing to assume the answers to the central questions.
So called insiders saying outright lies happens all the time.

I think right now the most reliable source would be the guy that leaked it first, and he never said anything like that.
 

jelly

Member
I find it funny bungie wanted out of making halo , only to lock themselves in to a 10 year game that basically looks and plays like halo .

Halo was probably boring by that point and obviously money, they will be minted, way more than they were at Microsoft and after that 10 years can do what they want freely.
 
I'm a huge P* fan, but them making original IP games that sell millions and millions isn't a thing they have a track record of.

I mean, if thats what MS wanted, they should have hired them to make a more action focussed Fable game.
I'd enjoy a Fable with Platinum combat. Wouldn't you?

I dont think Microsoft expected them to take 4+ years to make it either. Again, its all about those deadlines.

And not really personally. I was never a Fable fan. I thought Scalebound looked good, where as most people on Neogaf pissed all over it.
 

Nzyme32

Member
Actually, I am expecting a lot of VR. They will probably have Fallout VR, might even be exclusive, for what that counts.

It's already confirmed for Vive, where the brunt of development is happening. That isn't at all likely to change to being exclusive
 

nachum00

Member
Funny how in most peoples' minds, Microsoft is at fault.... little to no admission of a relationship and the related dynamics that could lead to conflict.... human nature my friends... I find it hard to take anyone's speculation, from a "credible" source as the truth.
I just love when people jump at the chance to defend a faceless multi-billion dollar company.
 
I'm a huge P* fan, but them making original IP games that sell millions and millions isn't a thing they have a track record of.

I mean, if thats what MS wanted, they should have hired them to make a more action focussed Fable game.
I'd enjoy a Fable with Platinum combat. Wouldn't you?

I never knew I wanted a fable action game from platinum until just now . Omg damn you ms you should have done that .
 

ethomaz

Banned
MS let them leave, in return MS kept the Halo franchise. Now Bungie make halo under a different skin, only they own it.
I mean Bungie worked a lot to MS after split... OSDS, Reach, etc... they were 3rd developing to MS and they have a lot of complain that ended in they wanted to set off.

Yes, but they didn't 'leave'. They were owned by Microsoft. Microsoft let them go.

They had a good relationship with them.
2000-2007 - MS owend Bungie
2007-2011 - Bungie worked like a 3rd party

I remember Bungie saying they left MS because MS wan't interested in giving Bungie the freedom or resources they desired that fits with the same situation of others 3rd complains talked in this thread.
 

oldergamer

Member
The piling on here is humorous but misguided imo. Theres two sides to every story.

Ive been on both developer and publisher sides and have been witness to shady tactics, complete mismanagement, and even embezzlement. Just because someone posts some shit on the internet, doesnt mean they had the real picture of how it went down. When its cancelled devs blame publishers and pubs blame devs. the true answer is somewhere in between.

For every game you hear is cancelled there are 10 others that you dont hear about. Game development isnt easy and theres many factors that lead to products being cancelled.
 

Kill3r7

Member
I mean Bungie worked a lot to MS after split... OSDS, Reach, etc... they were 3rd developing to MS and they have a lot of complain that ended in they wanted to set off.

That was part of the deal for them to earn their independence. They had to make 2 additional Halo games. ODST went from an expansion to a full price release and Reach was the last Halo title they were contractually obligated to work on. MS allegedly also got rights of first refusal on their next project.
 
I mean Bungie worked a lot to MS after split... OSDS, Reach, etc... they were 3rd developing to MS and they have a lot of complain that ended in they wanted to set off.

Complain? I have no idea what youre talking about. MS treated Bungie like kings. Only reason Bungie wanted to leave was because they wanted creative freedom.

When Halo2 was scrapped and had to be reworked, MS gave them the time. MS treated them really well, they just might not have realized it at the time.
 

FyreWulff

Member

"ugly divorce" (at the corporate level) is closer to what happened

That was part of the deal for them to earn their independence. They had to make 2 additional Halo games. ODST went from an expansion to a full price release and Reach was the last Halo title they were contractually obligated to work on. MS allegedly also got rights of first refusal on their next project.

To be more accurate, ODST was made 60$ because Microsoft refused to have any multi-disc title not be 60$.
 
It's already confirmed for Vive, where the brunt of development is happening. That isn't at all likely to change to being exclusive
Technically if it works on Vive and not PSVR, and Vive is supported on XB Scorpio, then it would be console exclusive. For whatever that's worth lol
 
I say this as an Xbox owner, but Microsoft's corporate culture is NOT conducive to the kind of game development and IP fostering that I'd like to see.

You only need to look at their history and the amount of interviews out there to realise that they are very unlikely to change.

- read any Ed Fries interview
"It was a very stressful time for me," Fries says candidly. "I got really used to being able in charge of my world... and all of a sudden there were a lot of opinions about where we should go and what we should do," he recalls. "There were people trying to dictate based on corporate goals, and not based on what's best for a game. It got very political and frustrating for me."
If anything I bet that is even worse today for Spencer & co

- Look at Bungie - even after Halo 1-3 they still had corporate MS trying to tell them how to do things! If that's how MS treated Bungie, their Golden Ticket, how do you think Platinum or Darkside or any other dev will fare?
- Any AAA MS published game will no doubt be focus-tested and design-by-comitte to death.
- RIP Ensemble, RIP Lionhead, RIP Press Play etc.
- GFW, UWP, etc etc

Games are not a huge cornerstone in the Microsoft Corporations plans and I don't think they even have a cohesive vision of how they fit in anymore.

I think Phil Spenser has done a decent job of trying to project a different picture, but i don't buy what Phil is selling - I think he is actually genuine, but i bet even he has been blindsided by other directives from higher up.

I think this is the biggest difference when you compare Microsoft to Sony and Nintendo; games are the lifeblood of the latter 2, whereas for Microsoft they are simply a means to an end - and I'm not even sure they know what that end is.
 

Syril

Member
This reminds me of what I had read about that MMO that Level 5 worked on for them, True Fantasy Live Online, where the downfall was partly Level 5's inexperience with network code but also Microsoft insisting that it have voice chat.
 

FyreWulff

Member

AFIAK the Scorpio is technically supposed to support any VR headset that can decode the signal being sent down the HDMI cable because Microsoft isn't making their own VR gear.

The controller part would be the more interesting question
 
I say this as an Xbox owner, but Microsoft's corporate culture is NOT conducive to the kind of game development and IP fostering that I'd like to see.

You only need to look at their history and the amount of interviews out there to realise that they are very unlikely to change.

- read any Ed Fries interview
If anything I bet that is even worse today for Spencer & co

- Look at Bungie - even after Halo 1-3 they still had corporate MS trying to tell them how to do things! If that's how MS treated Bungie, their Golden Ticket, how do you think Platinum or Darkside or any other dev will fare?
- Any AAA MS published game will no doubt be focus-tested and design-by-comitte to death.
- RIP Ensemble, RIP Lionhead, RIP Press Play etc.
- GFW, UWP, etc etc

Games are not a huge cornerstone in the Microsoft Corporations plans and I don't think they even have a cohesive vision of how they fit in anymore.

I think Phil Spenser has done a decent job of trying to project a different picture, but i don't buy what Phil is selling - I think he is actually genuine, but i bet even he has been blindsided by other directives from higher up.

I think this is the biggest difference when you compare Microsoft to Sony and Nintendo; games are the lifeblood of the latter 2, whereas for Microsoft they are simply a means to an end - and I'm not even sure they know what that end is.

That i kinda agree with, i feel like Xbox was at its best when it was "separated" from MS. They had their own building, working on their own stuff, and MS just let them.

Now that Xbox is in MS campus, i feel like this is worse for them. Xbox isnt windows, and it shouldnt be.
 
Because that's all there is to gaming anymore. Resolution Wars. RDR2 will looks on 4K and HDR no matter the console. It might sell Scopio but the marketing deal favors Sony. Scopio needs games that will really define the hardware and put emphasis on something that isn't resolution or IQ related. We want new and incredible experiences, not just the same FPS in 4K. Woo.

Anyway, MS has definitely stumbled with many of its exclusives routinely falling on Halo or Gears to save the day. This doesn't help them with the Japanese market neither, so this next year will be interesting for MS.

This is Rockstar you are talking about they might not even support Scorpio or Pro niether 1st party would have the power to make them, to be honest I expect it might but they do like making there games as close as possible between platforms and doubt adding pro/scorpio features would actually sell more games as well most people will buy it regardless, we will see, Rockstar march to the beat of their own drum.
 
That i kinda agree with, i feel like Xbox was at its best when it was "separated" from MS. They had their own building, working on their own stuff, and MS just let them.

Now that Xbox is in MS campus, i feel like this is worse for them. Xbox isnt windows, and it shouldnt be.
Bungie is a tough one to use as an example because for all their flaws Microsoft kept the beast happy and doing good things.

Bungie in recent years has become a toxic workplace thanks to the Activision model (see: Infinity Ward)
 

Nzyme32

Member
Well I give thanks to Microsoft for what lead to Obsidian's severe struggles that thankfully led to their hugely successful Kickstarter of Pillars of Eternity - which in turn kicked of a renaissance of CRPGs and a like on PC, and also led to the wonderful re-imagining and evolution of Stromlands that MS cancelled, into Tyranny.

I can only hope that Platinum can similarly find their footing in spite of MS
 
Rather than blame this entirely on Phil Spencer, I think it's more on the execs in the Xbox team to oversee games.

Phil Spencer is the big boss, but the problems regarding dev relations could have stemmed from the same group of people that were under Mattrick and him.

Like how Adam Boyes (well was) and Gio Corsi were under Shuhei Yoshida.
 

Mman235

Member
Lol at the "both sides" stuff here. Yeah I'm sure this publisher with multiple shady stories of their acts now and in the past (that are similar to those of several other asshole publishers) is the same as this developer reknowned for getting things done in tight deadlines.

Worse part is that, unlike Sony with early PS3, MS are so big I'm not sure it's possible for them to get a wake-up call, as they can just dump their console efforts and do other things if it goes wrong.
 

martino

Member
If they're shuffling through initiatives that a studio has t pivot around it would make sense.
Like - "Make it a Software As A Service title, built around consumable MTX"
next year "SaaS? No, we're not doing that now, we want it to be Azure oriented, you really need to push Cloud Services"
next year "Cloud? No, we're pushing DirectX 12. We really want a graphical showcase to show off the power of DirectX12"
next year "DX12? Pfft, who cares, listen, we really want you to focus on Play Anywhere. Get that W10 version ready to launch alongside that X1 version"

i can see this being true and if it is it means Microsoft need to learn the lesson sony learnt last gen (with blu ray etc....)
 
Bungie is a tough one to use as an example because for all their flaws Microsoft kept the beast happy and doing good things.

Bungie in recent years has become a toxic workplace thanks to the Activision model (see: Infinity Ward)

The fact that so many key people left/gotfired Bungie after the split tells me youre right. Bungie isnt the same anymore and its a shame.
 

Net

Member
The closest thing we're likely to get to an official statement.

I just noticed the slight edit on JP's Twitter profile :(

5kwuDK3.png


Hoping Platinum aren't hit too hard by this :/
 

UrbanRats

Member
When you add it all up it looks bad, but MS always came off as very confused in general with gaming.
Just look at their relationship with PC gaming.

Windows Store essentially repeats many of the mistakes of gfwl.
 

Outrun

Member
Rather than blame this entirely on Phil Spencer, I think it's more on the execs in the Xbox team to oversee games.

Phil Spencer is the big boss, but the problems regarding dev relations could have stemmed from the same group of people that were under Mattrick and him.

Like how Adam Boyes (well was) and Gio Corsi were under Shuhei Yoshida.

How about not blame anyone? The chap who decided to post a crytic tweet needs to commit to the story that he has started.
 

Papacheeks

Banned
When you add it all up it looks bad, but MS always came off as very confused in general with gaming.
Just look at their relationship with PC gaming.

Windows Store essentially repeats many of the mistakes of gfwl.

I have said this a lot on GAF, but I feel the xbox brand/ division needs a reboot to find it's soul of where it fits in the market. Right now I have this huge question mark above xbox. If you had asked me during early 360 days, i would say it was where you can play local/ or online co-op with friends, and play some unique PC style titles.

I would have said that during OG XBOX as well especially since they had Bioware at the time making games exclusively for them. The had ODD world spin off's, halo, Porject gotham, ralley, fusion frenzy, lucas gems like armed and dangerous. Port's of PC gems like Enclave.

It's crazy to see they dont see that they could have been the PC/Console. Where they had console games from third party's for sure, but contracted or owned PC developers making games only for their box. Like they could have been the haven for RTS games on consoles.

The brand needs a complete reboot and scorpio is just a bandaid, and even worse only enables more of the same crap that's killing their division and brand.
 

nynt9

Member
How about not blame anyone? The chap who decided to post a crytic tweet needs to commit to the story that he has started.

We do have a pretty extensive story in the case of Phantom Dust though.

Hopefully Schreier can get some info on what happened with Platinum as well, but Japanese developers are generally tight lipped and don't air dirty laundry.
 

Outrun

Member
We do have a pretty extensive story in the case of Phantom Dust though.

Hopefully Schreier can get some info on what happened with Platinum as well, but Japanese developers are generally tight lipped and don't air dirty laundry.

Fair point on Phantom Dust.
 
We do have a pretty extensive story in the case of Phantom Dust though.

Hopefully Schreier can get some info on what happened with Platinum as well, but Japanese developers are generally tight lipped and don't air dirty laundry.

You have an extensive one sided story in the case of Phantom Dust. Not saying the story is wrong, but we really have no details from Microsoft's side in order for a balanced report on the situation.
 
Leaving aside the she said, he said and whose fault it is. Matter of fact MS is hemorrhaging exclusives they propped up before and it makes them look bad moreso than the developer.

Doesn't help that Scalebound was the last exclusive on their list I was looking forward to and have a PC that can play current generation stuff well enough now.

Might be time to sell my day one edition, I still have the code for the achievement laying around somewhere.
 
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