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[Ronin_7]

I knew something was up when they were slow to put ABK games on Game Pass.

Diablo took months and now there's no Call of Duty?

Call of Duty is still charting high on the Circana charts on Xbox. They don't want to lose that revenue.

Xbox is doing some heavy losses for sure, losing those revenues would just add salt to the injury.

Studios that might be gone:

Turn 10
The Initiative
Undead Labs

Not sure about any others.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

I think there were plenty of people that were dubious about Microsoft making COD exclusive, even before all the Jim Ryan wrangling and before the 10-year agreement came to be and even more people were concerned about consolidation leading to cuts in staff and studios.

That 10-year deal truly was Jim Ryan's mic-drop moment.

No wonder he retired shortly after.

 

[WoJ]

To me this reads like you are blaming the consumers for MS poor performance. What exactly do you think the consumer should have done differently and why? Market decides what a good product is.

It's like a double whammy too. The market evaluated two things. Gamepass, which failed. And smaller games which on paper seems like being on GamePass could be good for them, but actually wasn't, because GamePass was a failure.

 

[mayham2199]

I knew something was up when they were slow to put ABK games on Game Pass.

Diablo took months and now there's no Call of Duty?

Call of Duty is still charting high on the Circana charts on Xbox. They don't want to lose that revenue.

Yea taking so long to release games from the ABK deal on Gamepass has been very strange. With all the issues you'd think they'd want to try and help boost GP but maybe that isn't the priority anymore.

 

[Dacvak]

I can sleep well knowing that at least I did my part: I keep paying for Game Pass despite not turning my Xbox on literally once this year.

You’re welcome, Phil.

 

[Badlucktroll]

omg its joever

 

[LordCBH]

Wrong forum. There hasn't been much of that here at all.

Don’t worry, I’m sure that weirdo duck guy will be along soon.

 

[TGO]

Who called that buying Activision would lead to MS exiting the console business, going third party, and closing many studios? I really only recall people saying it was going to be a horrible monopoly and threaten PS.

A few people said it was too much for one company to take on all at once especially when they can't even run the ones they got and closures were inevitable, nothing good will come from it, I believe even you believe it wasn't a good idea in some capacity.
Yes the most vocal was concern was with the monopoly aspect of it all but some knew it wasn't gonna end well.
And got the whole MS has the money crap.
We believed it didn't work that way and was told we're was wrong MS could buy the whole industry with pocket change, this will secure those studios future with access to MS's warchest for future games.
Yeah that wasn't gonna happen.
I knew you, you knew it and the majority of Gaffers who have been here for over a decade knew it.
The MS going third party is just the cherry on top that I admit I didn't see coming.
I ain't happy about this, I very disappointed as we've lost some good studios that didn't need to go.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

We have heard more about Rare making honey in their backyard than we have Everwild . Is that still in development or what??

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

Do you know something about Obsidian? God I wish SneakersSO posted some info

I haven't heard anything regarding specific studios. I would be shocked if Obsidian got axed given that it's one of the very, very few bright spots they have in their suite of developers and they have more cachet than say... Tango did. But at this point? I don't know anymore. In any case, the cuts they announced yesterday suggest to me that the severity of what's coming up probably wasn't exaggerated.

 

[BadBurger]

I truly feel bad for everyone at these studios that thought being bought by Microsoft with their endless money meant long term, possibly even eternal job security - only for Microsoft to decide maybe buying a bajillion studios that seem to all struggle with shipping games was a bad idea.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

We have heard more about Rare making honey in their backyard than we have Everwild . Is that still in development or what??

Depends on if they finally figured out what kind of game they actually want to make.

It's probably dead though.

 

[Flabagast]

Sell your Series consoles before it's worth no more than 10 bucks

 

[Jesb]

They should just gtfo of the industry. All they do is cause damage.

 

[Punished Miku]

A few people said it was too much for one company to take on all at once especially when they can't even run the ones they got and closures were inevitable, nothing good will come from it, I believe even you believe it wasn't a good idea in some capacity.
Yes the most vocal was concern was with the monopoly aspect of it all but some knew it wasn't gonna end well.
And got the whole MS has the money crap.
We believed it didn't work that way and was told we're was wrong MS could buy the whole industry with pocket change, this will secure those studios future with access to MS's warchest for future games.
Yeah that wasn't gonna happen.
I knew you, you knew it and the majority of Gaffers who have been here for over a decade knew it.
The MS going third party is just the cherry on top that I admit I didn't see coming.
I ain't happy about this, I very disappointed as we've lost some good studios that didn't need to go.

Well what I believed is that having more consoles is a good thing, and that no one else is ever jumping into this business again as a platform holder. I knew MS was on the ropes and nearly toast if something didn't change radically. I knew Call of Duty was always going to stay multiplatform. I figured that with MS pushing more niche stuff, having some of that mainstream Call of Duty money going to them is not a bad thing. The alternative is they're done. As for the Bethesda acquisition, I think they were on their last legs already - pushing studios to make stuff like Fallout 76 and Redfall GAAS. I think pretty much everyone MS bought was almost out of business (Double Fine, Obsidian, Bethesda, Ninja Theory). I didn't really see a lot too bad with that either.

Most of what I saw was people claiming this will destroy PS, which seemed way more off than what I was saying. I was saying MS is nearly done, and I guess if I did anything wrong it was undersell how close they were to exiting. I still think that added scrutiny from the large merger wouldn't change much if the console wasn't already tanking and the sub stalling. If it was doing better, the scrutiny wouldn't see so much in the red. But everything has fully collapsed in terms of hardware, and all the rest follows that. I only recall one other person saying MS was about dead during the merger talks (instead of an invincible monopoly), which is what I was saying. Heisenberg007

 

[Panajev2001a]

“It’s hard to support nine studios all across the world with a lean central team with an ever-growing plate of things to do,” she said, according to audio of the meeting reviewed by Bloomberg.
“I think we were about to topple over,” she added."

Try going back to the fucking office and putting in 8 hours of work. JFC...sorry that running 9 studios from your platies class has proven "difficult" for you. Your job is to make your TEAMS jobs easier to do, that is the ENTIRE purpose of production and management. Either these positions were placed based on levels of incompetency (clearly this is the case) or they were just out for the content all along.

Just own up to the fact you are buying a product and not a process.

Yes, but do not buy in the WFH is the root of all evil BS. Just notice that nothing that employees hate and is a productivity loss in tech companies is touched unless something comes up employees actually like… it becomes enemy #1 and the root of all evil. It is not. Them at the office 24/7 would have produced similar results.

 

[DForce]

Xbox is doing some heavy losses for sure, losing those revenues would just add salt to the injury.

Studios that might be gone:

Turn 10
The Initiative
Undead Labs

Not sure about any others.

I think Ninja Theory might be on the list too.

The development for HB2 seems rather long and it doesn't seem like Microsoft has a lot of confidence in this game at all.

 

[Gaelyon]

So after buying $70 billions of 3rd party publishers, MS now feel "understaffed" at a management level and decide to close down some talented studios (even Arkane Austin was talented, it just was miscast) to make room, because you know, they "spread the peanut butter on the sandwich" too thin...

It's so unbelievable stupid it must be true. It's not the peanut butter that's too thin here, more like the brain matter.

 

[Dutchy]

To be honest I just want them to let go of 343i.

It would be the perfect send off before the Xbox brand inevitably fades into nothingness. And I say that as the biggest Halo fan on this forum.

Daily reminder:

The latest, greatest, 500 million dollar video game with on-going dev support. ''most classic halo to date''

VS

20 year old (actual classic) halo games dumped on a shitty collection format that didn't work at all for the first 4-5 years after release and has no on-going dev support.

 

[Dr. Samuel Hayden]

To be honest I just want them to let go of 343i.

It would be the perfect send off before the Xbox brand inevitably fades into nothingness. And I say that as the biggest Halo fan on this forum.

Daily reminder:

The latest, greatest, 500 million dollar video game with on-going dev support. ''most classic halo to date''

VS

20 year old (actual classic) halo games dumped on a shitty collection format that didn't work at all for the first 4-5 years after release and has no on-going dev support.

343 should have been closed down a fucking decade ago

 

[fart town usa]

What a bunch of incompetent assholes

Failing in the market so they buy up publishers to be competitive but they clearly didn't take into account everything it would entail. So then they close studios to "free up resources."

Pure incompetence all around.

 

[Dutchy]

343 should have been closed down a fucking decade ago

Word.

They were allowed to completely fumble four times (mcc included).

Now compare that with the people behind Hi-Fi rush who got closed down after a big surprise hit that was appearantly even good enough to release on a competitors platform.

 

[TGO]

Well what I believed is that having more consoles is a good thing, and that no one else is ever jumping into this business again as a platform holder. I knew MS was on the ropes and nearly toast if something didn't change radically. I knew Call of Duty was always going to stay multiplatform. I figured that with MS pushing more niche stuff, having some of that mainstream Call of Duty money going to them is not a bad thing. The alternative is they're done. As for the Bethesda acquisition, I think they were on their last legs already - pushing studios to make stuff like Fallout 76 and Redfall GAAS. I think pretty much everyone MS bought was almost out of business (Double Fine, Obsidian, Bethesda, Ninja Theory). I didn't really see a lot too bad with that either.

Most of what I saw was people claiming this will destroy PS, which seemed way more off than what I was saying. I was saying MS is nearly done, and I guess if I did anything wrong it was undersell how close they were to exiting. I still think that added scrutiny from the large merger wouldn't change much if the console wasn't already tanking and the sub stalling. If it was doing better, the scrutiny wouldn't see so much in the red. But everything has fully collapsed in terms of hardware, and all the rest follows that. I only recall one other person saying MS was about dead during the merger talks (instead of an invincible monopoly), which is what I was saying. Heisenberg007

Yeah I didn't think MS was this close to exiting either, because I didn't think they would let it get that far which is why I didn't think it was a good idea.

And Ninja Theory...
They're next

 

[semiconscious]

Speaking about the closures more broadly, Booty said that the company’s studios had been spread too thin — like “peanut butter on bread” — and that leaders across the division had felt understaffed. They decided to close these studios to free up resources elsewhere, he said...

okay, I gotta ask: why not, y'know, regular butter, or jam or jelly, or even tuna/chicken salad? why 'peanut butter'?...

 

[thismeinteil]

I think MS is transitioning to full on 3rd party. They are also going to focus on their bigger IPs that are more guaranteed to be hits. So, we're going to see these smaller studios being cut. My guess is the higher ups were happy with the sales on PS and Nintendo, but at the same time aren't going to risk money on smaller AA titles.

 

[Lions Gate]

 

[Dane]

To be honest I just want them to let go of 343i.

It would be the perfect send off before the Xbox brand inevitably fades into nothingness. And I say that as the biggest Halo fan on this forum.

Daily reminder:

The latest, greatest, 500 million dollar video game with on-going dev support. ''most classic halo to date''

VS

20 year old (actual classic) halo games dumped on a shitty collection format that didn't work at all for the first 4-5 years after release and has no on-going dev support.

Honestly, I think the harsh truth is that ABK is so efficient that now MS is making these harsh cuts because many studios are lacking in ROI, where only Tango is the one that should deserve a second chance after making a critical darling, had it been Ghostwire their final game it would have really gone without much fanfare.

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

It's quite incredible that the thing Xbox fanboys thought would be a dream come true - buying Acti-Blizz - is turning into their worst nightmare less than 12 months later. Because it's the thing that started the beginning of the end for Xbox consoles. Mad times.

 

[Stooky]

Microsoft doing what it do. Like many others I've been saying this was going to happen. they are only going to keep top earners unfortunately...... everything else ......

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

“Before its closure, Arkane had been looking to return to its roots by pitching a new single-player “immersive sim” game, such as a new entry in the Dishonored series, according to the people familiar.“

 

[Dutchy]

Honestly, I think the harsh truth is that ABK is so efficient that now MS is making these harsh cuts because many studios are lacking in ROI, where only Tango is the one that should deserve a second chance after making a critical darling, had it been Ghostwire their final game it would have really gone without much fanfare.

I hope you're wrong. It could mean that Xbox will be the main system to get roughly 4~ blockbusters on, and not much else.

It they're really looking to be the next codbox then that would be pretty fucking sad for everyone involved in the industry.

 

[Dane]

I hope you're wrong. It could mean that Xbox will be the main system to get roughly 4~ blockbusters on, and not much else.

It they're really looking to be the next codbox then that would be pretty fucking sad for everyone involved in the industry.

Its sad, but the harsh reality? Activison became Cod factory because their other successful franchises started to get mixed reception and sell worse and worse, then the whole cultural market that helped them got worse too (like Tony Hawk on Skate Culture and Guitar Hero on Rock Music), what gave you heaps of money in the past is now a writeoff.

 

[proandrad]

Activision Blizzard

 

[Fret Runner]

Phil: Midnightttt with the stars and youuuu

 

[LordCBH]

“Before its closure, Arkane had been looking to return to its roots by pitching a new single-player “immersive sim” game, such as a new entry in the Dishonored series, according to the people familiar.“

You’re telling me we could’ve gotten something along the lines of their previous works (like Prey or Disohonored) and Matthew Bootylicious said NO?! My rage is infinite.

 

[squarealex]

Gamepass was a mistake

It Always be... same for PS+ Extra, pretty sure Sony will remove this one for only Essential / Premium

 

[Pelta88]

To think Call of Duty of all things would ended up killing Xbox...

This. Exactly this.

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

Yes, but do not buy in the WFH is the root of all evil BS. Just notice that nothing that employees hate and is a productivity loss in tech companies is touched unless something comes up employees actually like… it becomes enemy #1 and the root of all evil. It is not. Them at the office 24/7 would have produced similar results.

i don’t agree with that statement as it implies that the same quantity and quality of work can be achieved in a WFH scenario, but this is incorrect.

There are some jobs that can be effective in this manner but I would say based of my experience a large majority of creative roles that require collaborative work suffer in a WFH envoronment.

 

[Klayzer]

Nothing brings out the best GIFs and memes, like new console specs or studio closures.

 

[Klayzer]

But thats not people's fault, no one can honestly blame the consumer for any of this

For Gamespass

 

[SidViscous]

We have heard more about Rare making honey in their backyard than we have Everwild . Is that still in development or what??

It's being shown very soon, word going around is that it's actually looking really positive after the first couple of reboots. It's also worth noting Rare get a lot of random odd-jobs that nobody hears about, like the xbox dashboard, avatars etc. So they are pretty busy

 

[Topher]

 

[DenchDeckard]

Spends 7.5 billion on Zenimax.

"running these studios is hard"

 

[Unknown Soldier]

It's quite incredible that the thing Xbox fanboys thought would be a dream come true - buying Acti-Blizz - is turning into their worst nightmare less than 12 months later. Because it's the thing that started the beginning of the end for Xbox consoles. Mad times.

The acquisition of Nokia is what spelled the beginning of the end for Windows Phone

I'm just saying

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Nadella:

 

[DrFigs]

 

[Klayzer]

Don’t worry, I’m sure that weirdo duck guy will be along soon.

With a box full of dvds.

 

[Pedro Motta]

 

[Atrus]

With Phil being interviewed after their June showcase, will the people masquerading as journalists toss him softball questions or ask hard questions about their decisions and where Microsoft is going in gaming as a business?

Apparently this is something even video game developers who work for Microsoft have no clue about so this would be informative from customer to developer.

 

[Plague Doctor]

Ofcourse they are laying off more after blowing enough money to keep all of these people employed for years for Activision. But true Xbox fans are all for it so long as daddy Microsoft stock value is a-okay. Funny that they only time they mention xbox games aren't selling well or are popular is to defend Phil's decision to axe jobs for 'underperforming studios'. I fucking hate the distorted, simpering mind of fanboys, regardless of the hardware they bow at.

Seriously, for what they paid for that deal, I wonder how many salaries that could have covered and allowed them to create new games?

AAA is fucking bullshit with the current heads in charge. I really hope those devs find more fulfilling work in the AA or Indies space or a less shitty AAA.