DriftingSpirit
Member
No, that is not what I was getting at. The point of my post was investing in studios and reaping the benefits over the long term. Naughty Dog was just an example of that point.
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Twisted Pixel is an independent studio once again
- Thread starter killercow
- Start date
barneystuta83
Member
I hope this works out for all parties involved. While they never had a consistent quality product out to warrant MS holding exclusivity, they made some decent games in their time.
Good luck to Twisted Pixel I say!
Good luck to Twisted Pixel I say!
Yes...looks at EA, Sony et al....
But yeah it's nice to see a publisher allow the studio flee on their own instead of getting shut down.
Don't you think Naughty Dog is an exception? An outlier?
I don't believe all it takes is time and money to build up a studio. The leadership and talent has to be there plus they need the right ideas that are agreeable with the overall portfolio strategy (MS has managed their portfolio to fill gaps or ensure there are no redundancies), and ultimately they need to produce commercial successes.
Microsoft has invested in their studios where they are seeing success. They built 343 from scratch, more than doubled BlackTusk/The Coalition in 2 years, have kept Rare on despite a handful of commercial failures, and are seemingly continuing to support Press Play and their open development concept. I haven't kept up with Lionhead or what they've done with Mojang, so no comment on their situations.
There are plenty of examples of other publishers, Sony included, that have a history of no longer investing in their own studios, or sometimes even choosing to no longer invest in projects within successful studios (Sony Santa Monica). Sometimes things just don't work out and there's no alternative.
Dude, yes!
Anyways, I'm glad to see them independent again I love all of their stuff.
Unique, quirky games is needed in this industry.
Twisted Pixel didn't need a boss(MS) they are boss.
And... Splosion Man > Ms. Splosion Man.
Messofanego
Banned
Interesting that Dan Teasdale left and made Roundabout with No Goblin, which was well received. I'm more interested in their next project than Twisted Pixel's.
Storm Chamber
Banned
Imagine being the dead husk of a person that couldn't enjoy Comic Jumper
Huh, what? The game's pretty bad.
It's a real shame to see Microsoft shed another studio, they don't really have a whole lot as it is.
But then again I've been wondering what Twisted Pixel's been working on for so long without anything to show for it. In any event I suppose this is in the best interest of both companies so at least the studio gets to stick around as it's own entity again. I'd like for Microsoft to maybe transition one of their Hololens studios into a gaming centric one to balance the loss of Twisted Pixel but I have a feeling MS is probably going to outsource more games.
But then again I've been wondering what Twisted Pixel's been working on for so long without anything to show for it. In any event I suppose this is in the best interest of both companies so at least the studio gets to stick around as it's own entity again. I'd like for Microsoft to maybe transition one of their Hololens studios into a gaming centric one to balance the loss of Twisted Pixel but I have a feeling MS is probably going to outsource more games.
DriftingSpirit
Member
In what sense?
Of course, I never said it was just about money and time. They are (significant) parts of the equation.
Absolutely. MS has shown they are willing to invest if they see the worth. However, I still think they should become more committed with the acquisitions that seem less valuable at the beginning. Go all in or leave it be. We will have to wait and see how studios like Press Play and what not turn out.
Agreed. MS has a first party focus and they are building their studios. If, let's say, 3 years from now their first party studios are looking the same or worse, we'll have more to work with.
daTRUballin
Member
Anybody remember the official "Microsoft buys Twisted Pixel" thread from 2011? It was so hilariously dramatic. Everybody was like: "R.I.P Twisted Pixel. Microsoft is going to ruin them. They're going to be a Kinect developer until the end of their days! Just like Rare."
Well, Twisted Pixel turned out fine, didn't they?
Here's the thread I'm talking about:
http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=448253
How times change.
Well, Twisted Pixel turned out fine, didn't they?
Here's the thread I'm talking about:
http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=448253
How times change.
I don't believe that some of these studios are exclusive to HoloLens. I mean, the technology seems quite far for a consumer release and it seems silly to not take advantage of ready manpower to develop some games for the platforms already avaible (Windows 10/Xbox One)
Microsoft has done sillier things in the past, though, so who knows.
You're asking in what sense is Naughty Dog an outlier? How many other studios can you name that you believe are of a similar ilk?
From my perspective it's mostly about the people. Not every team can grow to be the best team, just like every person isn't capable of becoming the best at just anything. It takes the right circumstances to come together and that doesn't always happen despite wealth, power, or persistence. Sometimes it's just not in the cards.
Other times teams are perfectly happy serving a particular niche. Let's be honest, the team that dreamt up and executed LocoCycle possesses a different set of skills and desired objectives than a team that built Uncharted. They have different ambitions and no amount of time or money can just change that. It's reasonable and likely MS and TP no longer were on the same page when it came to vision and execution, so they parted ways (and in the best way possible).
I don't think he means everyone can be like ND, but studios can thrive if there's investment in them even after one failure. It's quite clear that only now MS is trying to invest more in these studios (Knoxville seems much more ambitious than anything Press Play has done) and supposedly Twisted Pixel was working on a AAA-like game. MS could and should give these studios more chances, and maybe it is (like, maybe Sunset Overdrive 2 is happening?), but thanks to a lot of situations it seems like it doesn't do that and it's hard for a studio to grow that way.
Steverulez
Member
If you go onto their official website and click on studios you'll see LXP, Good Science, SOTA and Function Studios all listed with pictures showing Hololens stuff (SOTA did the Mars demo with NASA), given those studios have absolutely nothing else announced and Good Science haven't shipped anything since early Kinect 1.0 titles I think those studios are definitely only on Hololens stuff, theres no indication otherwise yet anyway.
They have some fun and interesting ideas, but are ultimately marred by mediocre or just plain bad execution.
Ms. Splosion Man is where it's at though.
But have you seen LocoCycle?
Oh, i see. That sucks.
Anyway, i saw something about Lift London being moved to that too and it's hard to believe MS would be so dumb, but yeah, they did something like this with Kinect after all.
Steverulez
Member
Some of their stuff (job listing, ex-staff member) mentioned Hololens at the one of the more recent events and LL helping with that, given its been 3.5 years and they were originally making mobile games it seems they have definitely been re-tasked.
Not to mention Soho Productions got folded into them too, who were previously making apps and Upload Studio (before that some interactive Kinect 1.0 stuff)
Comic Jumper is a game that desperately wishes it was a cartoon. It has a great premise and the cutscenes/dialogue are really funny, but the actual gameplay is just boring and repetitive.
Ah I see.
I think it's safe to assume MS has seen what Twisted Pixel has been working on since LocoCycle released in late 2013 (it's been almost 2 years) and it wasn't what they were looking for in the future of their first-party portfolio.
As mentioned before, MS does invest where they see promise. Remedy has grown while they've had pretty much an exclusive relationship with MS for years, despite the slow burn of Alan Wake. PlayGround got another crack at Forza Horizon 2 even after the first one was a commercial failure (but critical darling). Rare got to create what they wanted after Kinect Sports Rivals bombed. Something tells me PressPlay's Kalimba didn't set the sales charts on fire.
They're definitely examples of them investing in IP and/or talent even when commercial success is not entirely guaranteed.
The actual game part of Comic Jumper is trash.
grosvenor_92
Member
As a fan of Ms. Splosion Man and Splosion Man I hope this move works for them.
RazielCuts
Member
Barring The Maw and the 'Spolsion Man games I think thats a running theme for Twisted Pixel's work. They captured the FMV bug and then just leant real hard into it at the expense of good actual games to play.
Twin Tails
Member
Wavy Tube man is their only good game.
Become FMV company.
Become FMV company.
Steverulez
Member
Do you have a source for this?
Only that it didn't chart on NPD, it was on sale on Xbox Live for $15 during a black Friday sale for $15 less than a month after release, and I was able to buy a physical copy of it for $10 less than 6 months after release.
Microsoft doesn't drop the price that much on games that are selling well. They were trying hard to move units.
Steverulez
Member
Racing games often sell better in Europe and Microsoft don't generally disclose sales, I don't think thats exactly a given that it was a "commercial failure" although I think its safe to say it wasn't as big as the Motorsport titles