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[bitbydeath]

Cuts are starting earlier than expected (if true).

Outer Worlds 2 team layoffs scheduled for release day: nearly the entire team has been individually informed that they will be laid off as of next Wednesday.

Noboby is openly discussing this at work for fear of retaliation / risking our severance packages, so the full scale of the cuts may not be known until next week...

... and it sure takes much of the joy out of our launch party.

--

Conjecture follows:
• ⁠timing is probably to avoid negative press prior to release and to lock in launch-day revenue
• ⁠this probably increases the likelihood of future closure of all of Obsidian, but upper management may consider it 'emergency triage' to try and save the studio instead
(especially considering recently announced 30% profit margin targets across all of Xbox at business-daddy

Edit: Mod note-

I want to mention that this user had initially reached out to us, but their account got shadowbanned before they could share further info/verification, so while I've approved this post for posterity + to bring it more attention so other leakers can corroborate/debunk this, **I'd advise taking this with healthy skepticism as should be natural with this sub.**

My personal feeling though is that this is probably real given their message in modmail felt genuine/heartfelt + whatever's currently happening with Microsoft and previous rumors of more upcoming layoffs.

Jason Schreier went in himself to debunk this:

Link

 

[kittoo]

Making me very sad to see the end of Xbox (and it's studios). Have wonderful memories of the 360.

 

[Bernkastel]

InXile should go the Toys for Bob or Tango route to save themselves.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

Sadly, not surprising. Ninja Theory, warm up, you are next.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Wouldn't suprise me but that just sounds absurd.

Like, what, they were told come to work for two days and then wednesday you're all sacked?

 

[winjer]

At this point, no one even knows if the game is a success of not, if it's profitable, and Microsoft is already destroying people's jobs.
What a piece of shit of a company, run by sociopaths.

 

[SJRB]

Doing this on launch day is unbelievably poor management and a sign they really don't give a fuck.

At this point, no one even knows if the game is a success of not, if it's profitable, and Microsoft is already destroying people's jobs.
What a piece of shit of a company, run by sociopaths.

I mean, they can take pre-orders and overall chatter / market interest into account. It's not extremely difficult to predict if a game like Outer Worlds is going to be a massive hit (it won't be).

 

[Crispy Gamer]

That sucks, damn I thought it was already released so we'll see Wednesday

 

[winjer]

I mean, they can take pre-orders and overall chatter / market interest into account. It's not extremely difficult to predict if a game like Outer Worlds is going to be a massive hit (it won't be).

That could give an idea, but it's not certain.
Microsoft could have waited a couple of weeks and confirm it.

 

[Crispy Gamer]

Even more props for putting out what appears to be a good product under that much pressure.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Making me very sad to see the end of Xbox (and it's studios). Have wonderful memories of the 360.

This isn't the end of Xbox Studios.

It is the end of smaller teams responsible for low selling franchises though

CoD
Halo
Gears
Forza Horizon
Elder Scrolls
Minecraft
Diablo

These are the only safe franchises (and studios).

 

[BosmerCulter]

Meh, I don't buy it. The source is rubbish; if it were real, I think we'd already have articles about it from Jason Schreier and the usual squad, just like before the other layoffs that we knew weeks before it happened.

The game still isn't officially out, and two expansions are already planned, promised to those who bought the Premium Edition. I know Microsoft are really deadass, but even that's too stupid for them to fire everyone before seeing how the game performs in the first few weeks (especially since the game seems to have received a positive reception so far. If they were targeting anyone, it would be the Avowed team, imo, which had a way more mid reception).

And Microsoft still has the option "put them in the Fallout mines," unlike other studios that have been closed or targeted for layoffs (like Tango, they didn't have a popular, easily profitable franchise to put them on so they closed them) + despite their flaws, Obsidian is probably the one of the most efficient and profitable of all studios they have . My point is, I believe quite a few studios are going to be closed or targeted for layoffs before Obsidian.

+ This doesn't really fit with Microsoft's layoff policy; they usually make big waves by eliminating multiple studios/projects simultaneously rather than targeting a single team.

I can't wait this post being quoted dozens of times with "well, this aged like milk" Wednesday

Edit: Jason Schreier just responded on the post saying it was not real.

 

[Bernkastel]

https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLeaksAndRumours/s/tazHftxBw9

Some redditor thinks Obsidian is like Insomniac.

 

[ValiantInstance]

Sucks for the people, but Obsidian are no great loss. They are the embodiment of the Ship of Theseus analogy. I know Josh Sawyer is still there but comparing New Vegas to the bland, design by committee Avowed and OW2 is almost upsetting.

I can't believe we went from this to the released product.

 

[cireza]

Sadly, not surprising. Team Ninja, warm up, you are next.

Team Ninja is Koei Tecmo (unless you are talking of another team ?), nobody will be fired, they are some of the best developers around.

Microsoft's new strategy is to have a studio release a game and then fire everyone. Incredibly bright (or is it dumb ?) strategy for short term benefits, but who will make the next game ? Thinking about this was probably too difficult for the people taking the decision.

 

[Astray]

bitbydeath Can you please add the GLAR moderator's comment in the OP?

I want to mention that this user had initially reached out to us, but their account got shadowbanned before they could share further info/verification, so while I've approved this post for posterity + to bring it more attention so other leakers can corroborate/debunk this, **I'd advise taking this with healthy skepticism as should be natural with this sub.**

My personal feeling though is that this is probably real given their message in modmail felt genuine/heartfelt + whatever's currently happening with Microsoft and previous rumors of more upcoming layoffs.

-------------------
My opinion: This feels kinda far-fetched when you consider that 2 DLCs were promised + the game is barely out and might need some patching, especially considering the bad PS5 performance.

With that said, it's very clear that Microsoft made some of the most boneheaded publishing decisions with this title.

First the game was announced as an Xbox exclusive game, and only later did the PS5 port get announced (almost certainly because of Project Latitude).

Second, we got the $80 price tag, which completely soured the mood around the title and fucked their preorder hype.

Later we got the GP tier and pricing changes that basically completely excluded any non-Ultimate subscriber from having day 1 access to this title. So they can't bank on getting as much GP users hype as Avowed got.

Finally, and this is just my opinion, the marketing for this game was just off, like most of it consisted of Jean-Ralphio riffing on camera for a few minutes followed by a few seconds of actual game footage, not a lot of effort was put to really explain what makes this game better than Outer Worlds 1 apart from it being bigger I guess?

https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLeaksAndRumours/s/tazHftxBw9

Some redditor thinks Obsidian is like Insomniac.

Productivity-wise they absolutely are Microsoft's version of Insomniac, they released like 5 games this gen.

 

[Kenneth Haight]

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Team Ninja is Koei Tecmo (unless you are talking of another team ?), nobody will be fired, they are some of the best developers around.

Microsoft's new strategy is to have a studio release a game and then fire everyone. Incredibly bright (or is it dumb ?) strategy for short term benefits, but who will make the next game ? Thinking about this was probably too difficult for the people taking the decision.

He's likely referring to Ninja Theory, and I'd agree.

 

[bitbydeath]

bitbydeath Can you please add the GLAR moderator's comment in the OP?


-------------------
My opinion: This feels kinda far-fetched when you consider that 2 DLCs were promised + the game is barely out and might need some patching, especially considering the bad PS5 performance.

With that said, it's very clear that Microsoft made some of the most boneheaded publishing decisions with this title.

First the game was announced as an Xbox exclusive game, and only later did the PS5 port get announced (almost certainly because of Project Latitude).

Second, we got the $80 price tag, which completely soured the mood around the title and fucked their preorder hype.

Later we got the GP tier and pricing changes that basically completely excluded any non-Ultimate subscriber from having day 1 access to this title. So they can't bank on getting as much GP users hype as Avowed got.

Finally, and this is just my opinion, the marketing for this game was just off, like most of it consisted of Jean-Ralphio riffing on camera for a few minutes followed by a few seconds of actual game footage, not a lot of effort was put to really explain what makes this game better than Outer Worlds 1 apart from it being bigger I guess?


Productivity-wise they absolutely are Microsoft's version of Insomniac, they released like 5 games this gen.

Added.

 

[Hookshot]

Xbox became EA, buy up studios, gut them, keep only the big franchises going with the certain people left over forced to join other parts of the company.

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

I can believe with MS, but consider that TOW2 has a season's pass and the fact that the source is shit.

The game is briliant so far tho.

 

[cireza]

He's likely referring to Ninja Theory, and I'd agree.

This would make sense. They did not make Ninja Gaiden 4 which is releasing right now, so maybe the confusion went from here.

Well, I suppose that Ninja Theory would have been closed sooner, right after Senua 2. Maybe they are safe until they release their next game.

 

[TVexperto]

Phil really is a deep covert sony operative trying to kill the xbox brand

 

[xrnzaaas]

Won't comment on the game since I'm not interested, but Microsoft's moves are difficult to predict these days. You get a game like Hellblade 2 and Ninja Theory survives (for the time being). Meanwhile Obsidian delivers 2 rpg's in the same year and they're getting slaughtered.

 

[Astray]

I can believe with MS, but consider that TOW2 has a season's pass and the fact that the source is shit.

The game is briliant so far tho.

The source is iffy for sure, but Microsoft refunded people for Redfall Biteback edition after they closed Arkane Austin. So they have previous for this kind of decision.

Added.

Thanks a lot

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

He's likely referring to Ninja Theory, and I'd agree.

Yes. I mentioned the wrong ninja.

 

[clappedcheeks]

Making me very sad to see the end of Xbox (and it's studios). Have wonderful memories of the 360.

The 360 era was a great time to be gaming. It was my first foray into online because it was made so easily accessible. Microsoft brought in some positive changes back then and it's a shame that the greed and hubris of MS is now slowly killing xbox off. They weren't happy with a piece of the pie, they craved the whole damn thing.

 

[xrnzaaas]

The source is iffy for sure, but Microsoft refunded people for Redfall Biteback edition after they closed Arkane Austin. So they have previous for this kind of decision.


Thanks a lot

They can also outsource the expansions if needed. Look at Paradox's Empire of Sin - the second expansion was delivered with a huge delay after it was promised in the season pass.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

This has inspired me to spring for deluxe edition of the game.

 

[Mr Moose]

Wouldn't suprise me but that just sounds absurd.

Like, what, they were told come to work for two days and then wednesday you're all sacked?

It's when Xbox announce they are SEGA.

 

[DenchDeckard]

This isn't the end of Xbox Studios.

It is the end of smaller teams responsible for low selling franchises though

CoD
Halo
Gears
Forza Horizon
Elder Scrolls

These are the only safe franchises (and studios).

So basically, we are back at square one. What a fucking joke.

The biggest complaints against Xbox were they just release those three tentpole games. Gears, halo and Forza. So big Phil goes out to buy loads of studios to broaden the portfolio and then they just close all the studios and go back to those tentpole games?

What an embarrassment.

 

[kpopSuperstar]

No way this is true, Obsidian? closing Obsidian? I don't buy it, not at the launch of a new game.

 

[Astray]

It's when Xbox announce they are SEGA.

At least Sega still publishes actually interesting stuff.

Microsoft is headed towards being Activision 2.0.

 

[kpopSuperstar]

This isn't the end of Xbox Studios.

It is the end of smaller teams responsible for low selling franchises though

CoD
Halo
Gears
Forza Horizon
Elder Scrolls

These are the only safe franchises (and studios).

Way more than that, Diablo, Minecraft, Fallout etc.. they got a massive library of franchises now.

 

[Insanemaelstrom]

It's fake

 

[falling into hell]

Sorry I didn't know it was fake news.

 

[calico]

Hmmm, not sure about this one. Obsidian is often held up as an example of a MS acquisition doing well in a sea of shit.

Edit: Shit I didn't see Schreier say it's fake, maybe it is real then after all

 

[Astray]

Jason Schreier went in himself to debunk this:

Link

It is not real.

(And imo you guys might wanna be more careful with what you allow to be spread to a huge audience on your platform. Rumors about the next resident evil are one thing; people's livelihoods are something else entirely.)

 

[Negotiator101]

This has to be complete nonsense, makes absolutely no sense and if it's true that's utter bullshit on the Xbox management side.

 

[Negotiator101]

Jason Schreier went in himself to debunk this:

Link

Yeah absolutely terrible to try to put more shit on Xbox after the last round of rubbish.

 

[Sticks]

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

Sorry I didn't know it was fake news.

The difference between fake news and real news usually is 2-3 months.

Jason's pontifying post is going to age very badly.

 

[Astray]

Jason Schreier went in himself to debunk this:

Link

Forgot to tag bitbydeath so he can add this to the OP.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Way more than that, Diablo, Minecraft, Fallout etc.. they got a massive library of franchises now.

Fair play, add those to the list

I don't see…

Obsidian
Ninja Theory
Double Fine
Compulsion
Rare
Undead Labs

…making it though.

 

[Mister Wolf]

Obsidian actually releases games unlike other developers milking money out of Microsoft.

 

[bitbydeath]

Jason Schreier went in himself to debunk this:

Link

Added to OP now.

 

[Darsxx82]

Yeah absolutely terrible to try to put more shit on Xbox after the last round of rubbish.

Sadly, it's a popular sport these days, and it goes viral instantly. But in the end, much of the blame for this lies in the accumulation of incomprehensible decisions, a lack of transparency and clarity in the strategy, and poor PR from MS.

Obsidian is possibly MS's most profitable and prolific studio, continuously releasing quality games with limited resources and developers. The timing was meaningless.

 

[SamuraiEdge]

Yeah, I believe Obsidian is fine given their scope and output. I see their future fine, especially if they work on big IP like Fallout.

 

[amigastar]

No way this is true, Obsidian? closing Obsidian? I don't buy it, not at the launch of a new game.

Yeah, it's baffeling to me i mean the game isn't even out fully and 8000 players on steam isn't that bad also for advanced access.
Edit: ok so it's not true thats good.

 

[geary]

Bruh...You are like the Twitch streamers....living on drama. If it was debunk, why is this thread still open to farm posts?