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[Nightengale]

But since we're in a era of alternative facts we might as well ignore Ryse, Killer Instinct, LocoCycle, Sunset Overdrive, Kalimba, ScreamRide, Ori and the Blind Forest, Quantum Break and ReCore as games published by Microsoft Studios this generation, because we know they've only published Halo, Forza and Gears of War.

Despite having been highly critical of Xbox's post-2014 portfolio, I get what you're saying, but it also sweeps under the rug the crux of the issue. If I have to pivot a bulk of Xbox's more ambitious business decisions to early in the generation as opposed to now, that's not a good thing.

p.s. I forgot to highlight Fable Legends in red, but you get the idea.

Is MS only a Halo/Forza/Gears company? Of course not.

Do they have the appearance of a company shrinking their high-profile major new IP investments in favour of smaller investments or established franchises after several failures/coming out the gate super strong? I think that's a very valid position, and I for one say yes.

 

[Spyder_Monkey]

Buddy...that's how basically every corporation works. Stuff gets green-lit and canned all the time. We just hear about it more with Microsoft because people still have their hate-jerk going for them. That and they aren't half way across the world in Japan where a lot of that stuff isn't made public knowledge on a regular basis unless you're Konami.

Yes, Sony and Nintendo just have so many high-profile cancellations.

 

[Thebeardofknowledge]

constantly cancelling shit? really?

Just off the top of my head

Scalebound
Fable legends
North Carolina
Phantom dust
Storm lands
Black tusk new ip
Crackdown has a good chance of being cancelled

Despite having been highly critical of Xbox's post-2014 portfolio, I get what you're saying, but it also sweeps under the rug the crux of the issue. If I have to pivot a bulk of Xbox's more ambitious business decisions to early in the generation as opposed to now, that's not a good thing.

p.s. I forgot to highlight Fable Legends in red, but you get the idea.

Is MS only a Halo/Forza/Gears company? Of course not.

Do they have the appearance of a company shrinking their high-profile major new IP investments in favour of smaller investments or established franchises after several failures/coming out the gate super strong? I think that's a very valid position, and I for one say yes.

Great post

Basically what I was trying to ehco but you did it more elegantly

 

[Banjo-Kazooie]

Beard seems quite riled up about this plastic box

 

[TheUnsunghero26]

Despite having been highly critical of Xbox's post-2014 portfolio, I get what you're saying, but it also sweeps under the rug the crux of the issue. If I have to pivot a bulk of Xbox's more ambitious business decisions to early in the generation as opposed to now, that's not a good thing.

p.s. I forgot to highlight Fable Legends in red, but you get the idea.

Is MS only a Halo/Forza/Gears company? Of course not.

Do they have the appearance of a company shrinking their high-profile major new IP investments in favour of smaller investments or established franchises after several failures/coming out the gate super strong? I think that's a very valid position, and I for one say yes.

Always enjoy reading your posts. MS has published some of my favourite games this gen - many of which are new IPs - but it is disappointing to me that we'll likely never see a sequel to Sunset Overdrive or Quantum Break. I feel like they've had the most success with smaller games like Ori and KI. I think Ori is going to be the first new IP from them this gen to get a sequel.

Crackdown has a good chance of being cancelled

If you wish hard enough, sure.

 

[psyfi]

I hate when companies act like a business

I mean, yeah, it can really suck sometimes...? I don't get the dismissive sarcasm. Capitalism effects a lot of other art forms in similar ways.

 

[Rembrandt]

Just off the top of my head

Scalebound
Fable legends
North Carolina
Phantom dust
Storm lands
Black tusk new ip
Crackdown has a good chance of being cancelled



Great post

Basically what I was trying to ehco but you did it more elegantly

What's north carolina?

And tell me other things about the future.

 

[rokkerkory]

Just off the top of my head

Scalebound
Fable legends
North Carolina
Phantom dust
Storm lands
Black tusk new ip
Crackdown has a good chance of being cancelled



Great post

Basically what I was trying to ehco but you did it more elegantly

Crackdown good chance of cancelled? Haha

 

[JeremyEtcetera]

I hate when companies act like a business

Nearly every company, especially console manufacturers experience revenue loss in this industry, possibly more so than movie industries. If we are going by your sarcastic comment, then Microsoft's Xbox division should just invest in a movie studio with an acclaimed director and wrap it up when it comes to video games. The home console game market is a passionate and risky industry for a reason.

 

[blakep267]

Despite having been highly critical of Xbox's post-2014 portfolio, I get what you're saying, but it also sweeps under the rug the crux of the issue. If I have to pivot a bulk of Xbox's more ambitious business decisions to early in the generation as opposed to now, that's not a good thing.

p.s. I forgot to highlight Fable Legends in red, but you get the idea.

Is MS only a Halo/Forza/Gears company? Of course not.

Do they have the appearance of a company shrinking their high-profile major new IP investments in favour of smaller investments or established franchises after several failures/coming out the gate super strong? I think that's a very valid position, and I for one say yes.

While I agree with the overall focus of your chart, I do think that you are focusing only on game announcements and not the other quality of life announcements that make the system also viable. Stuff like EA access, Backwards compatibility, Game preview, tournaments, LFG etc. like I was able to play Ark for an entire year before it just a released on the PS4, and a massively popular fan like Roblox isn't even on competing consoles yet or Astroneer( which is seemingly at the top pof games list every week). I'm just saying that like the chart doesn't encompass what their e3 shows are fully about. Yes it's getting lighter on games but they've been having major ecosystem announcements

 

[Nightengale]

While I agree with the overall focus of your chart, I do think that you are focusing only on game announcements and not the other quality of life announcements that make the system also viable. Stuff like EA access, Backwards compatibility, Game preview, tournaments, LFG etc. like I was able to play Ark for an entire year before it just a released on the PS4, and a massively popular fan like Roblox isn't even on competing consoles yet

That is why I said it's a valid position, but FOR MYSELF personally, it's a problem because I value new AAA games and new AAA IP over features and ecosystem factors.

My personal value judgement puts games above all other factors.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Sony and Nintendo would be willing to support a game's development until it's released if it's worthwhile to gaming as an artistic medium. The most obvious example is the 10 years awaited The Last Guardian.

MS would never have bothered to keep TLG going as long as Sony did. They would have canceled it in a year.

Sony and Nintendo are respected in the industry. I can't imagine why that is.

 

[Chris1]

Beard seems quite riled up about this plastic box

He's the same dude who got upset over an XB1 fans post in the Scorpio thread and ended up digging up years old social media posts in an poor attempt to degrade him

I don't know why people are giving him the time of day lol

 

[Thebeardofknowledge]

And tell me other things about the future.

Crackdown good chance of cancelled? Haha

If you wish hard enough, sure.

This basically sums up crackdowns history

Announced in 2014

Nothing for 2 years

E3 2016 announcement coming sometime holiday 2017

They didn't even start working on the campaign portion of the game until late 2016.Does this really sound like a game that won't get cancelled ? at the vary least delayed until 1st quarter 2018 ?

He's the same dude who got upset over an XB1 fans post in the Scorpio thread and ended up digging up years old social media posts in an poor attempt to degrade him

I don't know why people are giving him the time of day lol

get your facts straight kid

all those twitter posts where within the last year

fake edit: and that's why he made his twitter private because it was filled with nothing but delusional console warrior ranting of "SONYPONY" and "FUCK GAF"

 

[JesseEwiak]

Sony and Nintendo would be willing to support a game's development until it's released if it's worthwhile to gaming as an artistic medium. The most obvious example is the 10 years awaited The Last Guardian.

MS would never have bothered to keep TLG going as long as Sony did. They would have canceled it in a year.

Sony and Nintendo are respected in the industry. I can't imagine why that is.

In other words, Microsoft would've had tens of millions of dollars to invest in projects that would've had wider appeal and actually made back some profit. The horror.

And I say that as somebody who has only a PC and PS4.

Right now, Sony's the kid going overlimit on all his credit cards, but so far, not getting all that much out of it but his buddies (third parties) are helping him out and making him look better than he is.

OTOH, Microsoft is the nerdy kid who's staying home some nights and getting made fun of, but is actually investing in the future of what's better for them long term.

Yes, in the short run (as in this generation), Sony is winning, but if say, Horizon, Detroit, Days Gone, and other 1st Party games not made by Naughty Dog aren't super successful, then questions have to be asked on the corporate level.

 

[Maximilian Kolbe]

Sony and Nintendo would be willing to support a game's development until it's released if it's worthwhile to gaming as an artistic medium. The most obvious example is the 10 years awaited The Last Guardian.

MS would never have bothered to keep TLG going as long as Sony did. They would have canceled it in a year.

Sony and Nintendo are respected in the industry. I can't imagine why that is.

You must aware game industry very well, tell us more.

 

[LordRaptor]

Sorry, I don't know why

Spoiler

I know exactly why

some of you are trying to paint a Good Guy Sony picture here.

Yes, MS absolutely deserve criticism for high profile cancellations.
But let's go ask Evolution Studios, Guerilla Cambridge, Studio Liverpool, or Zipper Interactive about "good guy Sony" and their "no cancellations"

 

[Rembrandt]

This basically sums up crackdowns history

Announced in 2014

Nothing for 2 years

E3 2016 announcement coming sometime holiday 2017

They didn't even start working on the campaign portion of the game until late 2016.Does this really sound like a game that won't get cancelled ? at the vary least delayed until 1st quarter 2018 ?

There was gameplay and press previews in 2015 and got delayed in 2016.

 

[Humdinger]

That really paints the picture, doesn't it? The incredible shrinking portfolio. They started off really well, but their catalog has just shrunken and contracted over time, like an old man's balls in cold water.

 

[Thebeardofknowledge]

There was gameplay and press previews in 2015 and got delayed in 2016.

Okay fair enough but my post still stands even with the inclusion of that small caveat

 

[Chris1]

get your facts straight kid

all those twitter posts where within the last year

You missed the entire point "kid".. But I'm not entirely surprised.

You do you, I'm not gonna stop you from console warring and clearly you don't see how pathetic you are so doesn't seem like there's much hope for you

 

[Rembrandt]

Okay fair enough but my post still stands even with the inclusion of that small caveat

That's not a small caveat. You were just wrong about what you're trying so hard to argue.

 

[Nightengale]

While I agree with the overall focus of your chart, I do think that you are focusing only on game announcements and not the other quality of life announcements that make the system also viable. Stuff like EA access, Backwards compatibility, Game preview, tournaments, LFG etc. like I was able to play Ark for an entire year before it just a released on the PS4, and a massively popular fan like Roblox isn't even on competing consoles yet or Astroneer( which is seemingly at the top pof games list every week). I'm just saying that like the chart doesn't encompass what their e3 shows are fully about. Yes it's getting lighter on games but they've been having major ecosystem announcements

I'm not undermining the other factors of the Xbox platform. From an ecosystem perspective, it's without question that Xbox is doing a lot of great things. 360 BC, EA Access, Early Access are all strong platform advantages.

But given my own personal biases in why I'm invested in following video games news and community outside of just playing games, to me, new AAA games and more importantly, new AAA IPs are huge factors for me to get invested in any platform.

It sounds reductive to an extent, but that's just me.

I'm the asshole in the room where if I see Sony announce a new Housemarque game, I'm excited for it because HM has never made a bad game and everything they've made has never been short of an 8/10, but at the same time I also am not all that excited because it's not a... AAA game. Not a AAA new IP.

It's the same reaction I have for games like ReCore and Ori. Whatever I feel about the quality of those games... I will judge them upon playing them. But from an announcement perspective or portfolio perspective, I want these publishers to highlight their AAA high-risk investments.

Also, it's easier for me to make these list by just focusing on games.

 

[Thebeardofknowledge]

That's not a small caveat. You were just wrong about what you're trying so hard to argue.

That's your opinion

Annonced 3 years ago and gameplay/previews shown 2 years and campaign development started late 2016 and you don't think another delay or cancel isn't possible ?

Lmao okay bruh

 

[Unknown Soldier]

You must aware game industry very well, tell us more.

Sure.

In 1990, a young would-be game designer graduated from a technical college. By this time, he had founded a small game development company. He was inspired by the idea of a cable connecting two Game Boys together and wanted to make a game which used this aspect of connecting and sharing information.

He approached Nintendo and pitched his idea for a game, and although Nintendo's executives didn't really understand what he was thinking about (and it's not clear today that he really did either), they were sufficiently interested to take him on and help him develop his game.

He ultimately received mentoring from Shigeru Miyamoto, and nearly went bankrupt during a long 6 years development process. At one point he wasn't even taking a salary, living off his father's income. Near the game's release, even he wasn't sure that what he had created would be successful, or that he had committed 6 years of his life and his life savings to something worthwhile.

The young game designer's name was Satoshi Tajiri.

Pokemon Red and Green were released in Japan in 1996, and the rest is history.

 

[Rembrandt]

That's your opinion

Annonced 3 years ago and gameplay/previews shown 2 years and campaign development started late 2016 and you don't think another delay or cancel isn't possible ?

Lmao okay bruh

Lmao okay bruh

 

[CouchMaster]

Between this and Scalebound, it seems Microsoft will only publish games that will be a guaranteed money maker.

You want MS to bet money on risky projects and gamble on new and exciting things and not just be a "me too" guy in the market? Why would you want them to do something completely out of character? lol

 

[statham]

Beard, if crackdown does get canceled, I'll wear your avatar for 6 months, if it doesn't you have no avatar for 6 months. Deal?

 

[JesseEwiak]

Sure.

In 1990, a young would-be game designer graduated from a technical college. By this time, he had founded a small game development company. He was inspired by the idea of a cable connecting two Game Boys together and wanted to make a game which used this aspect of connecting and sharing information.

He approached Nintendo and pitched his idea for a game, and although Nintendo's executives didn't really understand what he was thinking about (and it's not clear today that he really did either), they were sufficiently interested to take him on and help him develop his game.

He ultimately received mentoring from Shigeru Miyamoto, and nearly went bankrupt during a long 6 years development process. At one point he wasn't even taking a salary, living off his father's income. Near the game's release, even he wasn't sure that what he had created would be successful, or that he had committed 6 years of his life and his life savings to something worthwhile.

The young game designer's name was Satoshi Tajiri.

Pokemon Red and Green were released in Japan in 1996, and the rest is history.

Obviously, that means no game should be cancelled ever! Doesn't matter how much money it takes, if a publisher ever says 'yes' to an idea, they are honor bound to complete it, no matter what!

 

[tuna_love]

Sure.

In 1990, a young would-be game designer graduated from a technical college. By this time, he had founded a small game development company. He was inspired by the idea of a cable connecting two Game Boys together and wanted to make a game which used this aspect of connecting and sharing information.

He approached Nintendo and pitched his idea for a game, and although Nintendo's executives didn't really understand what he was thinking about (and it's not clear today that he really did either), they were sufficiently interested to take him on and help him develop his game.

He ultimately received mentoring from Shigeru Miyamoto, and nearly went bankrupt during a long 6 years development process. At one point he wasn't even taking a salary, living off his father's income. Near the game's release, even he wasn't sure that what he had created would be successful, or that he had committed 6 years of his life and his life savings to something worthwhile.

The young game designer's name was Satoshi Tajiri.

Pokemon Red and Green were released in Japan in 1996, and the rest is history.

lmao okay bruh

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Obviously, that means no game should be cancelled ever! Doesn't matter how much money it takes, if a publisher ever says 'yes' to an idea, they are honor bound to complete it, no matter what!

The Pokemon franchise alone has probably made more money for Nintendo than the entirety of Xbox has for MS, so you tell me?

 

[JesseEwiak]

The Pokemon franchise alone has probably made more money for Nintendo than the entirety of Xbox has for MS, so you tell me?

OK, anecdotal data is a hell of a thing. That's what you told me.

For every Pokemon, there's dozens of mediocre games that would've been better off killed in the crib. I'm sure the developers who made I don't know, Daylight, have a wonderful inspiring story of their life. Guess what, the game still sucked and should've been cancelled.

Also, I'd point out that the original Pokemon probably cost Nintendo a fraction of a fraction of what it would cost MS for a top tier WRPG in terms of advertising and such.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

The Pokemon franchise alone has probably made more money for Nintendo than the entirety of Xbox has for MS, so you tell me?

The probability of an Obsidian game being a commercial bomb is a lot higher than the probability of an Obsidian game becoming a multibillion dollar franchise. I say this to you as a fan of Obsidian's output. Nintendo and Sony have both cancelled projects before, including announced ones that may or may not have turned out to be good. Unannounced games in early dev presumably get cancelled far more often than the ones we know about. Stormlands is known primarily because of the impact it had on a third party studio with tight finances, which is tragic, but we'll never know anything this game beyond what Obsidian tells us, which is not much at all.

 

[Spyder_Monkey]

I don't know why people are defending this cancellation. Obsidian has a great track record for releasing product almost all of their projects have come out to wide acclaim. Cancellations happen but you have to look at the context. Sometimes things don't turn out well but in the case of Microsoft, Phantom Dust, Fable Legends, and possibly Scalebound have all been victims of mismanagement by a risk-averse company who only wants to chase the latest trends. Spending $75 million on an F2P game like with Fable Legends or completely lying about the genre of game like with Phantom Dust isn't "buisness as usual." In fact that's how you run a business to the ground.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

The probability of an Obsidian game being a commercial bomb is a lot higher than the probability of an Obsidian game becoming a multibillion dollar franchise. I say this to you as a fan of Obsidian's output. Nintendo and Sony have both cancelled projects before, including announced ones that may or may not have turned out to be good. Unannounced games in early dev presumably get cancelled far more often than the ones we know about. Stormlands is known primarily because of the impact it had on a third party studio with tight finances, which is tragic, but we'll never know anything this game beyond what Obsidian tells us, which is not much at all.

Well MS also canceled Scalebound, which is also made by a developer better known for commercial bombs than multibillion dollar franchises. I know there are plenty of fans of Platinum's output out there, though I don't count myself as one of them since many of Platinum's games never came out for platforms I personally owned. Scalebound also had a pretty significant negative effect on Platinum, although having NieR: Automata coming out this year will probably help them out a lot.

My point was that if you cancel everything not named Halo, Forza, and Gears of War as MS does, you will never have anything. You can't make games by canceling them. The two examples I pointed out are unique in the industry but if you never took any risks, you'll never hit upon a Pokemon or nurture something meaningful like The Last Guardian. That's the point I was making.

MS as a corporation doesn't care about video games as an art form or even as a self-sustainable business. They are in the industry because they believe that control of the living room is essential to whatever their long-term goals are, which seem to change every reorg that company has. This is why they hardly even care if Xbox is net profitable or not (and it's extremely likely that it is not), because their goal isn't even to make money much less contribute to creation of art. Their goal is simply to control the space underneath your TV, for reasons which are known only to them.

 

[Jaguar Victory]

Sure.

In 1990, a young would-be game designer graduated from a technical college. By this time, he had founded a small game development company. He was inspired by the idea of a cable connecting two Game Boys together and wanted to make a game which used this aspect of connecting and sharing information.

He approached Nintendo and pitched his idea for a game, and although Nintendo's executives didn't really understand what he was thinking about (and it's not clear today that he really did either), they were sufficiently interested to take him on and help him develop his game.

He ultimately received mentoring from Shigeru Miyamoto, and nearly went bankrupt during a long 6 years development process. At one point he wasn't even taking a salary, living off his father's income. Near the game's release, even he wasn't sure that what he had created would be successful, or that he had committed 6 years of his life and his life savings to something worthwhile.

The young game designer's name was Satoshi Tajiri.

Pokemon Red and Green were released in Japan in 1996, and the rest is history.

Man if devs would be willing to work for free I bet a lot less projects would be cancelled.

 

[Venom.]

The publisher, Microsoft, has to make some important decisions when funding the development of a game. Obsidian have a proven record of producing quality games. Microsoft pulling the plug on them (and the apparent disappointment of the Scalebound producer at his game being cancelled) makes me think that the decision maker here is getting it wrong.

 

[Dirk Benedict]

Well MS also canceled Scalebound, which is also made by a developer better known for commercial bombs than multibillion dollar franchises. I know there are plenty of fans of Platinum's output out there, though I don't count myself as one of them since many of Platinum's games never came out for platforms I personally owned. Scalebound also had a pretty significant negative effect on Platinum, although having NieR: Automata coming out this year will probably help them out a lot.

My point was that if you cancel everything not named Halo, Forza, and Gears of War as MS does, you will never have anything. You can't make games by canceling them. The two examples I pointed out are unique in the industry but if you never took any risks, you'll never hit upon a Pokemon or nurture something meaningful like The Last Guardian. That's the point I was making.

MS as a corporation doesn't care about video games as an art form or even as a self-sustainable business. They are in the industry because they believe that control of the living room is essential to whatever their long-term goals are, which seem to change every reorg that company has. This is why they hardly even care if Xbox is net profitable or not (and it's extremely likely that it is not), because their goal isn't even to make money much less contribute to creation of art. Their goal is simply to control the space underneath your TV, for reasons which are known only to them.

This has been long known. Build up the brand's public image to something more than just the "makers of windows" I think Xbox has been successful with that regard. But with Xbox One, I think some of that steam has been taken away by a clearer picture of things this generation.

Also, buying up middleware companies is a bastard move, but a smart one.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

My point was that if you cancel everything not named Halo, Forza, and Gears of War as MS does, you will never have anything. You can't make games by canceling them. The two examples I pointed out are unique in the industry but if you never took any risks, you'll never hit upon a Pokemon or nurture something meaningful like The Last Guardian. That's the point I was making.

They don't cancel everything not named Halo, Forza, and Gears, and you know it. They've successfully shipped several high budget third-party exclusives this gen, from Ryse to Sunset Overdrive to Quantum Break. I'm right there with you saying Microsoft needs to expand their portfolio, but at the same time, they've tried and the new franchises they've come out with haven't had commercial staying power despite some of them being well reviewed. I'm pretty annoyed that QB didn't review and sell better, I had a great time with it, and I'm also disappointed that we never got the followup to D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die.

I always want to see an Obsidian game come to market, but I don't know why it's important for us to need to reach some kind of final verdict on whether a project we know almost nothing about did or did not deserve cancellation. It's a historical curiosity, but not much more.

 

[Bgamer90]

They don't cancel everything not named Halo, Forza, and Gears, and you know it. They've successfully shipped several high budget third-party exclusives this gen, from Ryse to Sunset Overdrive to Quantum Break. I'm right there with you saying Microsoft needs to expand their portfolio, but at the same time, they've tried and the new franchises they've come out with haven't had commercial staying power despite some of them being well reviewed. I'm pretty annoyed that QB didn't review and sell better, I had a great time with it, and I'm also disappointed that we never got the followup to D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die.

I always want to see an Obsidian game come to market, but I don't know why it's important for us to need to reach some kind of final verdict on whether a project we know almost nothing about did or did not deserve cancellation. It's a historical curiosity, but not much more.

Comepletly agree and Microsoft isn't the only company to have "one and dones" either obviously.

Sony and Nintendo making games before the 2000s helped their portfolios. Pokémon (as the poster brought out) is a good example of that thanks to its years of build up.

I'm hoping Sea of Thieves is good. Original Xbox era had Halo. 360 had Gears. Still nothing yet for the current Xbox One era in terms of a new successful IP that turns into a large series.

 

[Jaguar Victory]

They don't cancel everything not named Halo, Forza, and Gears, and you know it. They've successfully shipped several high budget third-party exclusives this gen, from Ryse to Sunset Overdrive to Quantum Break. I'm right there with you saying Microsoft needs to expand their portfolio, but at the same time, they've tried and the new franchises they've come out with haven't had commercial staying power despite some of them being well reviewed. I'm pretty annoyed that QB didn't review and sell better, I had a great time with it, and I'm also disappointed that we never got the followup to D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die.

I always want to see an Obsidian game come to market, but I don't know why it's important for us to need to reach some kind of final verdict on whether a project we know almost nothing about did or did not deserve cancellation. It's a historical curiosity, but not much more.

D4 part 2 needs to happen. Swery - save us!

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

I'm hoping Sea of Thieves is good. Original Xbox era had Halo. 360 had Gears. Still nothing yet for the current Xbox One era in terms of a new successful IP that turns into a large series.

Coop online pirate game is about enticing to me as suicide is, but there's all sorts who will get a lot of enjoyment out of it. I'm an old crotchety man of 26 who mostly plays hardcore strategy games, so it's not super common for me to get legitimately hyped up about a console game.

 

[Herr Schwarz]

If Microsoft was pitched the witcher 1 they would of hard noped it.

It actually takes time to build an epic rpg franchise. It's not just release product and make millions in sales.

 

[Bgamer90]

Coop online pirate game is about enticing to me as suicide is, but there's all sorts who will get a lot of enjoyment out of it. I'm an old crotchety man of 26 who mostly plays hardcore strategy games, so it's not super common for me to get legitimately hyped up about a console game.

Yeah, I'm interested in Sea of Thieves but I'm not "hyped" for it either. Good feedback will make me want to try it out.

 

[Cranster]

It actually did really well, just not to the stratospheric extent that could stop MS from murdering another storied studio, as they and every other big publisher were doing every other week back then.

In Ensemble Studio's and Halo War's defence, Microsoft announced the shut down of Ensemble Studios before the original Halo Wars was even released.

 

[Humdinger]

My point was that if you cancel everything not named Halo, Forza, and Gears of War as MS does, you will never have anything. You can't make games by canceling them. The two examples I pointed out are unique in the industry but if you never took any risks, you'll never hit upon a Pokemon or nurture something meaningful like The Last Guardian. That's the point I was making.

Well, but that's obvious, isn't it? If you never take risks, you won't succeed. People keep saying this as if this is some kind of ancient secret of the pharaohs. Do you really think MS managers do not understand that success requires risk? I'm pretty sure they figured that one out.

MS has taken risks. They have not paid off. Those games were flops or under-performed. What you're seeing now is the natural response to failure, which is a decreased willingness to risk.

In addition to that, I think two other things are going on. One is that their budget has tightened, so there is less money to risk (I don't know this for a fact, but I think it's likely). So, you see money going towards the safer bets.

Second, MS is re-evaluating where it takes its risks. The old risks didn't pay off. They need new risks, new places to put their money. I think that is going in two directions: 1) hardware (Scorpio) and 2) the online multiplayer "games as services" model.