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[TheCrowsReaper]

Sickening. Just sickening. This company, rich as it is, is just sickening. Not just them, of course, but they have less excuses than most.

 

[Mownoc]

But ain't double fine a pretty small studio with low dev costs ( relatively)? I would hope that counts for something but who knows. Let's not put any bad juju on it until we hear something. They might actually be ok.

Could even be a studio u der the ABK umbrella. We just have to wait and see. But maybe it's just a ruin our and all the studio are safe. I guess we find out soon enough.

They have over 100 employees and are releasing stuff like Keeper and Kiln both of which peaked at under 200 players on steam. They haven't released anything even mildly successful since Psychonauts 2.

 

[memoryman3]

Sickening. Just sickening. This company, rich as it is, is just sickening. Not just them, of course, but they have less excuses than most.

Xbox is basically flat broke with those 3% margins. Cuts have to happen somewhere.

 

[mitch1971]

XBOX is one of the few places where people come not just to play, but to connect with others to create memories. With console at the center of how our showcase experiences are defined, Windows as one of the largest gaming platforms in the world, and incredible games under our roof as one of the largest publishers in the world, we have the foundation in place.

Let's reset for a stronger XBOX and build the #1 gaming and entertainment company.

Asha and Matt

P.S. You're fired.

 

[LordOcidax]

Xbox is a division of Microsoft and has been functionally bankrupt for years.

And are releasing more games than everyone else, Sony fans should thanks Microsoft for supplying games to the PS5 owners. Amazing for a division that is on bankrupt…

 

[Orbital2060]

I hope they fire all the paid shills first. Every one on that board with shills they put on X

I dont want to see any of their smug faces post layoffs and studio closure.

Get rid of them before anything else goes.

 

[mayham2199]

The way they communicate everything I feel like Matt is being setup to take over once Asha is done here. Maybe Asha is going to do all the dirty work catch all the hate then MS will move her out and let Matt take over as the good guy.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

Gears looks great. Fable looks great. Let's fuck it up somehow

 

[digoutyoursoul]

Sickening. Just sickening. This company, rich as it is, is just sickening. Not just them, of course, but they have less excuses than most.

True. The "we are learning " stuff over the years got ridiculous , Xbox should be in a much better position than it has been.

 

[Mr Moose]

But ain't double fine a pretty small studio with low dev costs ( relatively)? I would hope that counts for something but who knows. Let's not put any bad juju on it until we hear something. They might actually be ok.

Could even be a studio u der the ABK umbrella. We just have to wait and see. But maybe it's just a ruin our and all the studio are safe. I guess we find out soon enough.

Their studio is in one of the most expensive places in the US.

One Of America's Most Expensive Neighborhoods Is A Luxurious Tech Hub Thriving In An Iconic California City - Islands

Just outside San Francisco, South of Market boasts the allure of a tech-driven metropolis with a sprinkling of neighborhood delights like pockets of greenery.

www.islands.com

 

[Moridianae]

I just got in from work, so I haven't had time to jump in read this, but my initial statement is..

I *really* don't think making Gears of War a last-minute exclusive on a system that is *clearly* not selling in the way you hope is going to help you.

Being on the system you *literally* had to pull videos down for, even though it "wasn't last minute", when TWO of your major names(Fable and Halo) are still there, Forza performed fantastic, ..keeping it probably would have helped the bottom line which is all Microsoft cares about.

Show off some great games but then layoff an asston of people, shut down studios, get mollywopped by double-speak, etc.

Best of luck to them. I've never seen anybody step on more rakes in my life in the gaming world than Microsoft, honestly.

 

[Kilau]

And are releasing more games than everyone else, Sony fans should thanks Microsoft for supplying games to the PS5 owners. Amazing for a division that is on bankrupt…

That has nothing to do with your point. Xbox wouldn't be a thing without Microsoft funding, just like Playstation would have died years ago without Sony. Nintendo is just Nintendo. If you want to compare Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo that's fine but Xbox compared to them isn't accurate. Xbox division didn't have 70 billion to buy Activision.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

 

[Kagoshima_Luke]

Translation: "We fucked up. Because of this, we have to fire some of you."

 

[TheLikou]

Sony or Nintendo have way more chances than going bankrupt than Xbox, especially Nintendo… By far.

Xbox is an division, and it's really small compared to the titan that Microsoft is. Compared to Sony where their big money maker is the Playstation or Nintendo that have their entire business focused on gaming and have money to burn for 30 years, yeah, bigger chances for Xbox to be killed. But I don't think it will happen, Xbox would've been killed already with Phil at this point if they didn't have any consideration for what this division can bring to the table. Maybe it's just for them to experiment with things like cloud services, but they still see some value there.

 

[consoul]

Feels spicy, but to be fair I think Shu is just enjoying watching someone on a very steep learning curve.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

This after all the Asha glazing in the last few weeks.People was acting like she saved Xbox,when she's no different to Phil

Years of bad decisions and so many sub par games wont get turned around in 3 months

I think she is in over her head but will wait and see what ideas she has

 

[Orbital2060]

The way they communicate everything I feel like Matt is being setup to take over once Asha is done here. Maybe Asha is going to do all the dirty work catch all the hate then MS will move her out and let Matt take over as the good guy.

Matt is probably one of the few left at XBOX that knows how to run a videogame company.

 

[Knucklepux]

I mean the this is a hard truth but a necessary one. You gotta shrink shit down, blow it up and start over.

Profitability only becomes harder and harder when you have your hands in so much

This is the way

Although I'd argue marketing is like the one area you should invest in, not cut

 

[playbignbox]

 

[mckmas8808]

Go woke, go broke.

Oh shut up.

So they decided to make Gears last minute exclusive, ignoring a playbase of 100 millions of PS5, while KNOWING that they're about to fire people cause the business isn't businessing?

It literally makes no sense at all. It's almost as if she has no idea what Phil and Sarah Bond did over the last five years. She's only going to find herself in the same place two or three years from now that they were in.

Fucking AI bullshit.

It's legitimately unbelievable how much these hardware component prices have increased over the last two years. Reading Asha saying this only means that the price of the Xbox Series consoles will more than likely go up again in 2027.

3% margin is an ooooof. And that's without selling loss leading hardware.

That's an order of magnatude less than what Phil was asked to achieve. Someone should ask why isn't Asha being asked to generate real profits for the Xbox business?

Microsoft never should've acquired Activision.

SOME OF US SAID THAT ON DAY ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But noooooooo.......they didn't listen.

 

[jm89]

Unless asha can perform a miracle, I'm convinced satya will sell xbox off. That shit is headed towards life support.

 

[PauloRoberto]

Years of bad decisions and so many sub par games wont get turned around in 3 months

I think she is in over her head but will wait and see what ideas she has

IMHO, she did not help either...

- The first thing she did was going on Twitter, you dont see Sony or Nintendo execs doing that
- The second was trying to pose herself as a gamer, which is is not (not being a gamer is not a defect, trying to be something you are not, YES)
- The third was to lie about how she is not the gamer she pretended to be
- The fourth was 'hear' the MOST TOXIC group of users possible


I dont understand why Xbox division headrs think they NEED to be some sort of celebrity (unless this is one of the bonus metrics :-D)

 

[digoutyoursoul]

IMHO, she did not help either...

- The first thing she did was going on Twitter, you dont see Sony or Nintendo execs doing that
- The second was trying to pose herself as a gamer, which is is not (not being a gamer is not a defect, trying to be something you are not, YES)
- The third was to lie about how she is not the gamer she pretended to be
- The fourth was 'hear' the MOST TOXIC group of users possible


I dont understand why Xbox division headrs think they NEED to be some sort of celebrity (unless this is one of the bonus metrics :-D)

Yes it's very annoying to me as a fan, I was hoping they would move on from this shit and the phoney social media cretins.

And let's be honest here, it's not worked has it? For all the talk, all boasts about community, for all the damage control by the shills and frauds, it's done fuck all to help the platform.

The one thing I will say about Sony and Nintendo is that more often than not, their products do the talking for them and that's how it should be .

 

[Moridianae]

Didn't she basically roll in on the wrong foot anyway, being that I think she was an AI person and the gaming community, predominantly, seems to vehemently despise that.

 

[PauloRoberto]

Yes it's very annoying to me as a fan, I was hoping they would move on from this shit and the phoney social media cretins.

And let's be honest here, it's not worked has it? For all the talk, all boasts about community, for all the damage control by the shills and frauds, it's done fuck all to help the platform.

The one thing I will say about Sony and Nintendo is that more often than not, their products do the talking for them and that's how it should be .

Xbox is not a fu**ing religion, it does not need any zealot, like some retards (excuse me for the term, but it is what it is) that only praise anything and everything they do.

 

[bitbydeath]

I'm curious how profitable Activision actually is. They're a huge studio that effectively produces one game per year (COD) which has been seeing a huge decline in sales since MS purchased them.

I see a lot of Ubisoft parallels in them.

 

[mckmas8808]

Feels spicy, but to be fair I think Shu is just enjoying watching someone on a very steep learning curve.

OH NO! He was being spicey! I bet seeing her get all this praise and being called Queen Asha is slightly annoying to a person like him who's been in the game for over 30 years, with HIGH levels of success.

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

At least now we can face the reality. Asha will need to fix a lot.

 

[Steve Holt]

She should scrap GamePass. Can't condition your users to not buy games, it's too damaging.

 

[MayauMiao]

I don't know why Asha gets the blame, same goes with Sarah Bond. Both were given the short end of the stick and barely had a year to do anything to make any significant impact.

If I have to blame someone, it will be Phil Spencer given that he served as head if Xbox for 12 years.

 

[Sephimoth]

I'd guess at least 75% of them are more activist than developer/creative anyway. Those are the ones that will stay


Another thing, it feels like some studios love to coast along when they get picked up by a megacorp- DoubleFine being a possible example. If a studio hasnt made a hit in say 10 years then either change management or cull them.

 

[mckmas8808]

I'm curious how profitable Activision actually is. They're a huge studio that effectively produces one game per year (COD) which has been seeing a huge decline in sales since MS purchased them.

I see a lot of Ubisoft parallels in them.

Especially when you consider their previous year's games will now be in Game Pass, people who have that subscription don't have to actually buy those games the year after they come out. All of us on here know that the previous year's Call of Duty games used to always sell very, very, very well. Now not really.

 

[Geometric-Crusher]

23:59

We are the Xbox

00:00

I am Xbox and you will be fired

 

[FalsettoVibe]

Can we fire the XBOX influencers instead.

 

[VAVA Mk2]

Hardware subsidies have to be the first to go. Just make 3 Console SKUs at various power levels and price points, let people choose what they can afford.

That's part of why they are in this mess in the first place.

 

[PauloRoberto]

I don't know why Asha gets the blame, same goes with Sarah Bond. Both were given the short end of the stick and barely had a year to do anything to make any significant impact.

If I have to blame someone, it will be Phil Spencer given that he served as head if Xbox for 12 years.

No, i take issue with that. Sarah aboslutely should not be fired the way she did... but the 'what is a xbox' stupidity was her 'child' inside Microsoft. It's not rocket science that when something goes BADLY wrong, the responsible for that is booted.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

Xbox is not a fu**ing religion, it does not need any zealot, like some retards (excuse me for the term, but it is what it is) that only praise anything and everything they do.

Well Asha said in her letter

"We won't succeed by hiding hard truths"

If only that was applied a long time ago.

The worst thing I don't think some of who we speak of are that stupid, they are sly, in it for themselves and willing to make twats of themselves in the process due to high levels of arrogance.

This twat for example, said this a few days ago, Hes one of the worst culprits, why didn't he question leadership previously?

 

[DForce]

And are releasing more games than everyone else, Sony fans should thanks Microsoft for supplying games to the PS5 owners. Amazing for a division that is on bankrupt…

And how are those games performing?

Hellblade 2, Avowed, The Outer Wilds, Redfall, Halo Infinite, Forza Motorsports, Doom: The Dark Ages, Indiana Jones, and South of Midnight.

They spent nearly $ 100 billion on two major publishers, and the results are subpar.

Console sales are well below projections.

They lost billions on Call of Duty ever since it dropped on Game Pass, and they're probably going to take another hit when they release one of their biggest multiplayer games right before Grand Theft Auto 5.

Sony is recording record profits this entire generation despite the entire fumble of their live service push. They have a strong first-party lineup going forward, and their console is going to be the number 1 choice for GTA6.



Microsoft has an uphill task. They're attempting to regain market share while most of the biggest games are still releasing on other platforms, including the PS5.

 

[Geometric-Crusher]

 

[LiquidMetal14]

It's so amazing to let a company go ham and buy up big big companies then see them constantly laying off. It's ot exclusive to them but they've made the most prolific and high profile spending so the scrutiny isn't coming from left field.

 

[Sephimoth]

 

[PauloRoberto]

Well Asha said in her letter

"We won't succeed by hiding hard truths"

If only that was applied a long time ago.

The worst thing I don't think some of who we speak of are that stupid, they are sly, in it for themselves and willing to make twats of themselves in the process due to high levels of arrogance.

This twat for example, said this a few days ago, Hes one of the worst culprits, why didn't he question leadership previously?

Two things...
- first: she is still lying/hiding, because, at this day and age, MS still using Acti as a separate entity is assinine.
- second: destin is one of the retarted zealots, so what he thinks is less important than a used toilet paper

 

[tr1p1ex]

Jez Corden is being let go?

50lbs of him so far I read.

 

[Js562]

That's what happens with a new ceo for a company. If profit is down time to clear house and move differently than before. Layoffs happen and yes it sucks but they'll find new jobs if they got good resumes. A refresh is probably what they needed anyway

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

Xbox is also planning to significantly slash budgets for marketing and some other areas of the business, the people said.

It's funny how when you remove the CEOs PR training and you actually check what they do...it all shows how Microsoft has no idea how to run a gaming business. Imagine believe this department needs to have less budget when you are trying to make a brand bigger again lmao.

 

[Geometric-Crusher]

Honest question: How do you save Xbox if Microsoft is laying off its workforce? The Xbox is dead, and this time it's for good. Someone above Asha decided to pull the plug.

Xbox will become Microsoft Gaming, there's no going back.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Go woke, go broke.

This is a factor for sure

 

[Bojanglez]

I bet Xbox employees are feeling pretty energised inside the hallways right now.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

Honest question: How do you save Xbox if Microsoft is laying off its workforce? The Xbox is dead, and this time it's for good. Someone above Asha decided to pull the plug.

Xbox will become Microsoft Gaming, there's no going back.

Call Sega and hope they take it off their hands by Wednesday