Johnny Awesome
Veteran
Too many axes to grind in here. Very sad.
That was one part of it, however there were lots of article and pushes on forums about it spying on you
Could the NSA use Microsoft's Xbox One to spy on you?
Skype swore wiretaps weren't possible before recent reports. Is Kinect next?www.theverge.com
here is an article from that time
Its quite surprising he said this just after shutting down a studio that delivered a well made AA studio. Super tone deaf bordering humiliation. Him and Phil did all this tbh.I don’t understand how executives can be this tone deaf. There’s no way the employees see this as leadership. Morale has to be off the charts low.
It's easier to imagine convenient scenarios when reality strikes hard.I don't think MS was lying about being happy with HiFi Rush at the time, but maybe Tango had other problems. We don't know.
My guess is that if Tango and Arkane were fine they wouldn't have closed them. They knew the PR hit they would take and did it anyway.
This one is actually a strong consideration. GP is about a big library to attract lots of gamers. MS's large number of studios is all about filling it with content. Yet these closures are anathema to that; MS seems to be reigning in their broad, diverse output for GP to focus on bigger franchises that'll sell cross plat. Or they feel GP doesn't benefit from a broad, diverse library and just needs blockbusters, but the economics of blockbusters on GP is more questionable."But Microsoft's reasoning for closing Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin - to focus on bigger bets - suggests Game Pass is no longer a place where creativity can reign without fear of being too niche, and where fun-if-a-bit-mid multiplayer games can't be supported long enough to receive updates just days from completion."
Putting a bigger emphasis on fewer, larger blockbusters is riskier than anything, though. Any failure there will be even more damaging. It's literally what every major publisher should be trying to get away from, especially ones like Microsoft who dont know how to spend money efficiently. It's not sustainable, because games will inevitably fail on occasion, and yet the publishers cannot afford for them to do so(or at least cannot justify it to shareholders...).Lots of ongoing conversation on this...
Hi-Fi Rush 2, potential new Dishonored game were reportedly being pitched by now-closed Xbox studios
Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks were reportedly in the process of pitching sequels to two much-loved titles - namely …www.eurogamer.net
Newscast: Is the closure of Hi-Fi Rush and Redfall's studios a sign the Xbox Game Pass publishing model is failing?
This week on the Eurogamer Newscast, we discuss the future of Xbox after the announcement Microsoft is shutting a swath…www.eurogamer.net
This one is actually a strong consideration. GP is about a big library to attract lots of gamers. MS's large number of studios is all about filling it with content. Yet these closures are anathema to that; MS seems to be reigning in their broad, diverse output for GP to focus on bigger franchises that'll sell cross plat. Or they feel GP doesn't benefit from a broad, diverse library and just needs blockbusters, but the economics of blockbusters on GP is more questionable.
I dont see anybody here trying to grind any axe. I see a bunch of people deeply frustrated with Xbox's actions and very worried for where things might be headed. Even if you're not a big Xbox fan, being one of the big platform owners in the business, and having bought up large portions of the gaming industry, they are quite important to the health of the industry as a whole, so it's all very relevant to gamers in general.Too many axes to grind in here. Very sad.
I wonder what formula they are following, what the data actually suggests? How robust is the 'mathematical model' they are using to determine the best way to invest on game development?Not to mention that just throwing ever more money and people at these bigger games isn't really gonna increase chances of success. Large AAA games that 'miss' nowadays generally aren't doing so because they didn't have enough people or money. Management and vision is key. Which makes it hard to feel confident in such a strategy given Xbox's lacking in these departments.
Not just MS's actions but publishers in general. Small, capable studios are being terminated left, right and centre.I dont see anybody here trying to grind any axe. I see a bunch of people deeply frustrated with Xbox's actions and very worried for where things might be headed.
true, the model is failing, I commented on a thread started by @Johnny AwesomePutting a bigger emphasis on fewer, larger blockbusters is riskier than anything, though. Any failure there will be even more damaging. It's literally what every major publisher should be trying to get away from, especially ones like Microsoft who dont know how to spend money efficiently. It's not sustainable, because games will inevitably fail on occasion, and yet the publishers cannot afford for them to do so(or at least cannot justify it to shareholders...).
This quote sums it up...Article in Eurogamer: What is the point of Xbox?
But be it through exasperation or exhaustion - or the wider industry's sheer, pent-up rage - this feels like something of a nadir. Xbox has spun its wheels for more than a decade, lurching from U-turn to U-turn, strategic reboot to strategic reboot, acquisition to acquisition, closure to closure. The good times have always felt just over the horizon. Project Scorpio will set the tone; Game Pass is the future; the Series X will have the games; Starfield will jump-start Game Pass now it's stalled. The growing sentiment today is that they'll probably never come.
Also i feel a lot of the complaints and anecdotes are mirroring modern-day Sony - they too are heading the same way.Fable was profitable - "highly profitable", Lionhead's Simon Carter told Eurogamer - but in a now too-familiar story, it and its genre was seen by Microsoft as just not profitable enough.
Just buying studios and getting larger doesn't actually work?Booty reportedly told Xbox employees that the company's studios had been "spread too thin - like 'peanut butter on bread'". Jill Braff, head of Zenimax Studios, reportedly added, "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… I think we're about to topple over."
Also i feel a lot of the complaints and anecdotes are mirroring modern-day Sony - they too are heading the same way.
He just wanted to be a going concern, a studio that could sustain itself on creativity with the safety net that when a title or two fail, they keep going. Think of Insomniac with Fuse, or even Sunset Overdrive. Had they been owned by one of these megapublishers, they'd probably have been axed by now.At the BAFTAs last month, Johanas told Eurogamer the game was "an intense labour of love" and there was a "good situation" at the studio due to the ability to take risks and own creative freedom.
"We have a good situation in our studio, where we were granted a lot of creative freedom and were able to take risks," said Johanas. "... You should be able to take creative risks but have the means to say if something doesn't work.
"...that you can try something new, you can be risky, and it may not be a 30m seller game but you can find your audience and it's still sustainable. We want to find that balance.
"Now the stakes are so much higher. You don't want to feel like you have to make something specific just to survive. You want to be able to create it and I don't want to lose that and that's the scariest thing."
I don’t understand how executives can be this tone deaf. There’s no way the employees see this as leadership. Morale has to be off the charts low.
Back then I didn't pre order the X1 before MS dropped the "mandatory Kinect" condition and Kinect is still laying in some cupboard *never* used for that specific reason. They pissed off a *lot* of people in that May 2013 release completely unnecessary. Price or the performance difference to PS4 was even secondary at that moment.Just to clarify I don't mean there was no sentiments regarding that but I'm referring to how it might have affected Xbox One adoption and just from parties (primarily unaffected) looking to gripe.
Yes I'm sure like always people might just look for confirmation bias but the real problem ultimately was the XB1 was more expensive while not just offering nothing to the core audience but less then the alternative. At the same time I suspect the high price itself (unlike the Wii) also made it not attractive to the new audiences that they were looking for either.
This one is actually a strong consideration. GP is about a big library to attract lots of gamers. MS's large number of studios is all about filling it with content. Yet these closures are anathema to that; MS seems to be reigning in their broad, diverse output for GP to focus on bigger franchises that'll sell cross plat. Or they feel GP doesn't benefit from a broad, diverse library and just needs blockbusters, but the economics of blockbusters on GP is more questionable.