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[RetroGamingUK]

This is the real life version of the dog house on fire meme.

How much do Microsoft pay these guys?
There's no PlaySttaion or Nintendo equivalent, yet social media is riddled with these pricks.

 

[Gudji]

WTF BROOOO

 

[Sorcerer]

The only studio that I know must be safe is Obsidian. Avowed was pretty good and Grounded 2 has hype. The studio is already pretty small, so no big savings by laying off an efficiently ran(also woke) developer. Obsidian earned their keep. Everybody else, hold on to your butts.

Microsoft is certainly driving a stake in the heart of Obsidian with $80 dollar OuterWorlds 2 however. The game won't sell and Microsoft will take it out on the dev. Was Avowed considered a succes? I'm betting MS are not happy with the sales results.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

 

[StereoVsn]

A quick search shows that many companies are already replacing employees. You can't manage a company and be the last to adopt. Its absolutely gonna be a huge influence on hiring and already is in fact. From the search...
AI technology:
Klarna: Replaced roles with an AI assistant that handles the workload equivalent to 700 full-time employees.

UPS: Announced layoffs and indicated the use of new technologies, including machine learning, to automate tasks, suggesting a role for automation in reducing the need for certain positions.

Duolingo: Terminated contracts for 10% of its contractor workforce, citing a pivot to AI for content translation, signifying a shift towards AI-driven content creation.
Intuit: Laid off employees and stated the savings would be reinvested in AI technology to automate tasks like customer support and data analysis.

Cisco: Announced layoffs as part of a strategic pivot toward AI and cybersecurity, with AI tools handling tasks like network monitoring and troubleshooting.

IBM: Laid off employees, with some HR workers replaced by AI agents for repetitive tasks.

This is just the 1st stuff that came up but I heard of many more. Its just the tip of the iceberg.

Yep, Amazon, Salesforce, Google, Meta and a lot more are doing the same.

 

[m14]

How much do Microsoft pay these guys?
There's no PlaySttaion or Nintendo equivalent, yet social media is riddled with these pricks.

That's a NeoGaf narrative. Also on NeoGaf...

Post in thread 'Are Microsoft quitting the console hardware market?'

May 31, 2025

We have ALREADY seen how they've reacted. The mass market has abandoned Xbox consoles, look at the sales, it's dead.

All you do is clutch as straws and pull "what if" scenarios out of your backside.

I'm not desperate at all for Microsoft to do that.

Open your eyes, look at the actual SALES. Look at what people are DOING.

Xbox consoles are close to dead, that's the reality.

Microsoft as a third party is going to have some big success this year and beyond.

Xbox as a platform is near enough dead now though.

Xbox as in the publisher shows promise

Xbox as in...

• Orbital2060

• 
• 
• 
• 

 

[Jaguar Victory]

Oh no, not PlayStation's top publisher cutting, checks notes, "sales jobs". I feel terrible for the folks impacted but the pearl clutching is certainly interesting.

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

I won't gloat with I TOLD YA SO because this is just shitty for all the terminated workers involved.

But it is ironic how faithful really tried ot sell the deal as a way to avoid job cuts back then.

Consolidation is never a good thing.

 

[Badlucktroll]

ms is bad company

 

[Shmunter]

Ambassador Positive spin bingo starts now

 

[Topher]

Oh no, not PlayStation's top publisher cutting, checks notes, "sales jobs". I feel terrible for the folks impacted but the pearl clutching is certainly interesting.

You might be checking notes from the last time MS laid folks off. They didn't say what specific job roles were being cut here.

 

[Wastelander92]

Fell like Compulsion is on the chopping block and 343/Turn 10 could be gutted as well.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

That's a NeoGaf narrative. Also on NeoGaf...

Post in thread 'Are Microsoft quitting the console hardware market?'

May 31, 2025

We have ALREADY seen how they've reacted. The mass market has abandoned Xbox consoles, look at the sales, it's dead.

All you do is clutch as straws and pull "what if" scenarios out of your backside.

I'm not desperate at all for Microsoft to do that.

Open your eyes, look at the actual SALES. Look at what people are DOING.

Xbox consoles are close to dead, that's the reality.

Microsoft as a third party is going to have some big success this year and beyond.

Xbox as a platform is near enough dead now though.

Xbox as in the publisher shows promise

Xbox as in...

• Orbital2060

• 
• 
• 
• 

Gotten to

 

[StreetsofBeige]

First ones to go should be any employee goofing around doing dopey marketing. I get it that they trying to drum up interest from gamers having fun being quirky or meme-ish (ie. Xbox fridge etc...). But if they are wasting time doing stuff like this, all these marketing managers got too much time on their hands and should had been fired years ago.

 

[FIREKNIGHT2029]

GamePass and Xbox continue to overperform. Sony and Nintendo better follow in Microsoft's lead or they are dead in the water

 

[Sebastian1295]

For the love of everything holy. GET FUCKING RID OF GAMEPASS!!!!!!!! Why are they determined to stay on the sinking boat as it plummets into the abyss. Gamepass has failed so move TF on and pivot.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Gaming people are generally vulnerable most would agree, everyone thinks they should have their job forever.

 

[mckmas8808]

GamePass and Xbox continues to overperform. Sony and Nintendo better follow in Microsoft's lead or they are dead in the water

Funny how the #SonyToo stuff works sometimes. I never understood why gamers want Playstation and Nintendo to follow in Xbox's foot steps.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

For the love of everything holy. GET FUCKING RID OF GAMEPASS!!!!!!!! Why are they determined to stay on the sinking boat as it plummets into the abyss. Gamepass has failed so move TF on and pivot.

because is the only thing Phil Spencer and the Xbox community have.

i would bet that Phil managed to move the goal post: "once we port games to PS, the business will magically make sense"

But after the massive flop Doom the dark ages was... . i think Nadella is not firing Phil as a way to punish his egocentric ass. (still very well paid tho)

 

[Sebastian1295]

because is the only thing Phil Spencer and the Xbox community have.

i would bet that Phil managed to move the goal post: "once we port games to PS, the business will magically make sense"

But after the massive flop Doom the dark ages was... . i think Nadella is not firing Phil as a way to punish his egocentric ass. (still very well paid tho)

Everything flops on gamepass. Even call of duty couldn't bring in more subscribers to gamepass. Like the whole premise of gamepass has completely failed in every respect, but they just keep acting like it'll eventually grow to like 80 or 90 million subscribers. I feel awful for these developers under the xbox brand that have to put their games day one on that service knowing it fucks them hard.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

For the love of everything holy. GET FUCKING RID OF GAMEPASS!!!!!!!! Why are they determined to stay on the sinking boat as it plummets into the abyss. Gamepass has failed so move TF on and pivot.

Its too late at this point

They should have cleaned house years ago and brought in fresh people with fresh ideas

 

[IFireflyl]

I donn't know who this guy is but God I just want to punch him in the face repeatedly and his stupid "hairstyle" is stupid what is with the little bangs? Don't @ me yes I'm triggered.

Why does he not have eyebrows or eyelids for that matter?

Why did he botox his face and not his crows feet and forehead?

D Days like these...

 

[iHaunter]

Phil tanked the confidence of Xbox. I said it years ago, that imbecile needed to go a long time ago. He took Microsoft out of the console market and pushed them to be a software service. Poor hardware decisions like the XSS were one of the causes of that. Poor oversight over their acquisitions progress in game development and quality didn't help.

 

[Sebastian1295]

Its too late at this point

They should have cleaned house years ago and brought in fresh people with fresh ideas

The fact that phil spencer has been able to keep his job as the brand has crumbled beneath his feet is one of the biggest jokes in gaming history. He's the worst gaming CEO of all time, because he's the only gaming CEO that had the backing of microsoft for a decade plus and has shit himself every step of the way. Gamepass as a service has single handedly fucked every single one of their first party studios by devaluing every game they release. It's a disaster beyond recognition.

 

[bitbydeath]

I wouldn't be surprised if this is the beginning of a major downsize. Even as a third party publisher they were bloated.

 

[mayham2199]

I wouldn't be surprised if this is the beginning of a major downsize. Even as a third party publisher they were bloated.

I'm hoping the fact that a bunch of their studios just released games is not a sign of what's about to happen.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

The fact that phil spencer has been able to keep his job as the brand has crumbled beneath his feet is one of the biggest jokes in gaming history. He's the worst gaming CEO of all time, because he's the only gaming CEO that had the backing of microsoft for a decade plus and has shit himself every step of the way. Gamepass as a service has single handedly fucked every single one of their first party studios by devaluing every game they release. It's a disaster beyond recognition.

Its really sad to see what they have become.

This is just my own 2 cents as in my personal opinion but after Jimmie went after GAAS so hard Sony is lucky Phil stayed in charge and someone didn't take charge at Xbox and get studios straightened out, dropped Gamepass and made some actual banger exclusives for the Xbox console

Xbox MIGHT have been relevant as a console manufacturer but sadly they will soon just be a footnote on a Wiki page one day

 

[jm89]

How it started


How it's going

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

How it started


How it's going

In 6 days

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

. I feel awful for these developers under the xbox brand that have to put their games day one on that service knowing it fucks them hard.

Shawn layden said (in a Destin interview) that devs usually are trying to hit the jack pot; help create a big IP > big sucesss > you are set for life.

Game Pass can't enable that even for internal studios.....Game Pass is truly fucking cancer.

 

[bitbydeath]

How it started


How it's going

Didn't something similar happen last time he posted that?

Off to Google.

Edit: Too many hits, won't bother searching through it all, but a strong case of deja vu.

 

[Blood Borne]

Activision acquisition has accelerated the death of Xbox beyond anything I imagined .. oof

Maybe the decision to shut down Xbox was made long ago, and the Activision acquisition is actually part of that plan rather than the reason for it.

 

[Pop]

How Phil has managed to survive all this is remarkable

 

[PauloRoberto]

Its really sad to see what they have become.

This is just my own 2 cents as in my personal opinion but after Jimmie went after GAAS so hard Sony is lucky Phil stayed in charge and someone didn't take charge at Xbox and get studios straightened out, dropped Gamepass and made some actual banger exclusives for the Xbox console

Xbox MIGHT have been relevant as a console manufacturer but sadly they will soon just be a footnote on a Wiki page one day

Doubt... even when Sony was 'coasting' and doing minimal release effort (if that makes sense...), we had good hits* like with Sony help/money like Stellar Blade, Rise of the Ronin, FF VII Rebirth and specially Astro Bot. MS closed a studio (Tango), told the other studios to make games like Tango did (WHAT ?!) and released Redfall in state that can only be descrilbed as Beta... Worse... all the people that approved these things will continue to receibve their fat bonuses...

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

Doubt... even when Sony was 'coasting' and doing minimal release effort (if that makes sense...), we had good hits* like with Sony help/money like Stellar Blade, Rise of the Ronin, FF VII Rebirth and specially Astro Bot. MS closed a studio (Tango), told the other studios to make games like Tango did (WHAT ?!) and released Redfall in state that can only be descrilbed as Beta... Worse... all the people that approved these things will continue to receibve their fat bonuses...

That's why I said get their studios in order

For me personally outside of Atro all those you mentioned are not the games like the big boy IPs Xbox has under their belts

Games have just been a disaster like Halo Infinite, Forza and even Doom just didn't excite me

But I know thats subjective and just my tastes

 

[CLW]

UNLESS it's Phil (it won't be) the slow path to death marches on

 

[PauloRoberto]

That's why I said get their studios in order

For me personally outside of Atro all those you mentioned are not the games like the big boy IPs Xbox has under their belts

Games have just been a disaster like Halo Infinite, Forza and even Doom just didn't excite me

But I know thats subjective and just my tastes

That is the problem for Microsoft. You cannot get a gaming studio in order from day to night.... and until MS organizes itself... Sony would have its gaming pipeline active again. And even worse, MS is not a company that cultivates long term growth. It wants to win big and win now. Long story short: I give 5 years to see Xbox havin the same relevante for gaming market as Surface has for PC market (next to none).

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

That is the problem for Microsoft. You cannot get a gaming studio in order from day to night.... and until MS organizes itself... Sony would have its gaming pipeline active again. And even worse, MS is not a company that cultivates long term growth. It wants to win big and win now. Long story short: I give 5 years to see Xbox havin the same relevante for gaming market as Surface has for PC market (next to none).

Oh I know this should have been done long ago as Phil has never been able to look at a game and see a great game vs a mediocre/bad game

Never forget after all the money and time spent on Halo Infinite Phil is the one who greenlit the first trailer that gave us Craig and he thought that looked good

 

[Shmunter]

Phil tanked the confidence of Xbox. I said it years ago, that imbecile needed to go a long time ago. He took Microsoft out of the console market and pushed them to be a software service. Poor hardware decisions like the XSS were one of the causes of that. Poor oversight over their acquisitions progress in game development and quality didn't help.

I do believe the Series S eroded MS console share. Console gamers want to go in knowing they are getting a high spec that's good for a Gen. MS made the choice confusing leaving people conflicted in making the choice.

 

[LordCBH]

Oh I know this should have been done long ago as Phil has never been able to look at a game and see a great game vs a mediocre/bad game

Never forget after all the money and time spent on Halo Infinite Phil is the one who greenlit the first trailer that gave us Craig and he thought that looked good

And thought Redfall looked good enough to shove out the door.

 

[Jigsaah]

Across the board hmmm. Wonder if they'll shutter a full studio.

 

[iHaunter]

I do believe the Series S eroded MS console share. Console gamers want to go in knowing they are getting a high spec that's good for a Gen. MS made the choice confusing leaving people conflicted in making the choice.

Sony did the right move with a $100 cheaper digital only console. I have 0 idea why Microsoft didn't follow suit. Not to mention practically 0 upgrades to the controller.

 

[Daniel_Mallorca1985]

 

[nowhat]

¿Qué?

(it would be nice to have a translation)

 

[hououinkyouma00]

For the love of everything holy. GET FUCKING RID OF GAMEPASS!!!!!!!! Why are they determined to stay on the sinking boat as it plummets into the abyss. Gamepass has failed so move TF on and pivot.

They can't.

Microsoft bet everything on Game Pass. They are so deep that they can't really pivot their strategy without "severe consequences". It all really started with the launch of the XBO.

• They got cocky after the Xbox 360 very similar to how Sony got cocky after the PS2. They royally fuck up the unveiling of the Xbox One which causes them to start the 8th generation at a year disadvantage. This causes them to try to find ways to lessen the gap and/or "take back over" per say.
• They start the Play Anywhere initiative in 2016 in a bid to try to get some brownie points back as well as backwards compatibility, and then less then a year later unveil Game Pass in 2017 which really is a system seller or at least I would say it WAS a system seller.
• Despite great additions to their platform (BC really was an awesome thing to see/get back in 2015 and Play Anywhere was cool for people who owned a PC alongside their Xbox) by 2020 they had sold somewhere between 50 and 58 million consoles in comparison to the PS4 selling over 110 million units so they were still getting their ass kicked by the competition. Adding in the Switch only makes this worse overall as they were by far the end of the pack.
• The start to focus on GP more and more as they steer more in the direction they would eventually come to today. Then they buy Bethesda for $7.5B meaning they have to lean even harder as they have to try to make some of that money spent back. Then they buy Activision for $75B only making it worse.
• All this had them leaning more and more into GP because their console wasn't selling which is partially because they took away any reason for people to buy their console for a lot of people by mandating all their games would come out on PC day and date.
• Game Pass is extremely expensive for Microsoft to keep up.

tl;dr Microsoft is in a position where they spent over $80B to bolster their studios and therefore bolster the only thing they have versus their competition. Backing out of GP would have huge backlash and would essentially mean the actual end of the brand.

I think the only thing they could do is slowly wind down the amount of games on Game Pass in order to try to make it more profitable. I'm bored and I feel like I'm rambling so I'll stop there lol.

 

[ZehDon]

In 6 days

In all seriousness: a three trillion dollar company firing more people due to the fallout of manager's ineptitude? I hope Phil sleeps soundly at night.

 

[Field]

Is Phil getting replaced by AI?

 

[Jaybe]

Wonder if this is related… Is Sarah Bond being promoted or fired? Or was this just some Juneteenth thing?

 

[Reckheim]

Backing out of GP would have huge backlash and would essentially mean the actual end of the brand.

nah, they could literally drop gamepass and any hardware ambitions and still make an incredibly amount of money being the biggest 3rd party publisher in the world.

truth be told, I imagine majority of the investors want for that to happen.