I wonder how Spencer's going to explain and apologise himself out of this one.
I wouldn't even be surprised if Xbox instigated the whole account drama to distract from this news.
Let's not forget that they had this secret Discord (incl DF Bagliatella and certain Gaffers) where they came up with the whole FUD-campaign surrounding the "12Tflops vs 9Tflops" narrative.
It would certainly soften blow a bit.
Anyway, certain people not boycotting MS over this is quite hypocritical, because this is a major blow to a handfull of studios.
It is not even clear how extensive the whole deal is outside of the studios that got closed entirely.
Maybe, but AH and Sony were in talks to make it optional after all for regions outside of PSN territory.
Hey, don't let facts get in the way of a good ole Sonytoo shindig. Got to incorporate Sony somehow with Xbox bad news.Not even comparable. Japan studios didn't make a single game that was worth playing in years. Almost a decade in fact.
This studio literally released last year the game that MS considered their biggest success story of Gamepass. The subscription service they pushed for years. This was a huge surprise today.
Sony also didn't close the entire Japan studio. They still managed to salvage the two parts (teams) of the studio that was working properly, Team Asobi (Astro Bot) and xDev Japan.
To even be comparable, Sony would need to close the entirety of Japan studios (including Asobi) one year after they released a huge VR hit (Astro Bot Rescue Mission) which they didn't do.
in a certain way it sounds like disney, they bought so much just to burn it allTango?
OK, wtf MS......
No hi fi rush 2? This industry is a Joke and MS are one of the biggest
How can you buy up half the industry to then close studios.
obsidian:
The plan is there is no plan. They bought a bunch of small studios to bolster gamepass. "Sales don't matter, it's all about engagement." But once it became clear that gamepass stopped growing and they spent 100 billions they had to make back, the new plan is we need sales so whoever doesn't is axed no questions asked. I wonder what the new plan next week will be.Considering everything MS studios makes is Game Pass fodder now, how are they even measuring the success of these studios? The engagement numbers for Hi-Fi was supposedly very good and it scored highly. The whole point of MS buying up these studios was to develop content for the Game Pass service, which Tango did far more than others. I just don't understand the long term plan here of need content -> buy studio -> studio makes content -> close studio. It's going to cost them a massively inflated amount of money for content creation.
I wonder how Spencer's going to explain and apologise himself out of this one.
Isn't it maybe the other way around? The studio was closed because the major name was lost and took probably also some people with him? There was a functioning relationship between him and Bethesda and possibly also Sony, but once he was on his way even a critical success did not persuade anyone at MS that there is a future with the remaining people.Shinji Mikami got out just in time.
Weird. As though it is a knee jerk move, not even trying to do anything with them.But why couldn't Microsoft at least sell the studios?
“And we’re listening, although I’m not sure who it helps”"We hear you"
Titled - “Snapped”They'll get a Marvel IP after Hellblade 2.
Madame Moon Knight. Best I gotTitled - “Snapped”
There's a lot of infos about this in the closed next gen tech thread that I am too lazy to find right now.Need more info on that!
They should have a PS5 version ready for release. It’s where the audience for that game is. Putting it on gamepass has killed the game already.Might be next? It depends on hellblade 2 sales.
Supposedly, FO3R is going to be announced/shown soon.There was a leak a while ago that Fallout 3 and NV (as well as ESIV) are all being remastered, but I have no idea how true it is.
They should have had the remasters ready for the show.
Don't understand either. This is shitty as fuck. I understand some of the studios, but Tango???Tango?
OK, wtf MS......
No hi fi rush 2? This industry is a Joke and MS are one of the biggest
How can you buy up half the industry to then close studios.
There's a lot of infos about this in the closed next gen tech thread that I am too lazy to find right now.
But basically there was a discord full of Xbox fanboys coordinating fud campaign against ps5 battaglia was part of it but others too.
These are useless estimations which can vary wildly.BTW, as per VGinsights:
Revenue generated: 16.6 million
Units sold: 722k
This is on steam alone. Game definitely was profitable.
30-minute lunch breaks instead of 1 hourThe plan is there is no plan. They bought a bunch of small studios to bolster gamepass. "Sales don't matter, it's all about engagement." But once it became clear that gamepass stopped growing and they spent 100 billions they had to make back, the new plan is we need sales so whoever doesn't is axed no questions asked. I wonder what the new plan next week will be.
I remember reading here, VG insights had most accurate predictions that matched with Insomniac’s leak.These are useless estimations which can vary wildly.
All-time peak CCU on Steam was only 6,132. For comparison, Forspoken, which was released the same week and was a complete failure by all metrics, had 12,579 CCU.
I said it in one of the other threads, but gaming is an odd industry. Not only are the people often weird to begin with, but the way studios are amped up like gods or suddenly shut down isnt the kind of thing you get in other industries.
If a car company releases some meh models, I dont think the R&D team who worked on that car all get the axe. And then the company rehires a new R&D team for the next car.
How many industries are there where if a group/dept release meh products (sales, quality or both), the bosses nuke the whole building and rehire from scratch 100+ people?
Yeah let's not talk crazy here now. Japan Studios closing was Sony basically killing their old PlayStation identity and becoming a new one centered only on Western Marketing.This will go down as their worst decision ever. It's the MS version of Japan Studios closure, but even worse. Still don't understand it.
It can get worse. There’s still a high chance to turn Bluepoint and Housemarque into auxiliary studios for Marvel DLCs.Yeah let's not talk crazy here now. Japan Studios closing was Sony basically killing their old PlayStation identity and becoming a new one centered only on Western Marketing.
Probably just wear a Spyro t-shirtI wonder how Spencer's going to explain and apologise himself out of this one.
Well the question is, could they not have sold Tango rather than just shutting them down? (not sure if that is legally possible)in a certain way it sounds like disney, they bought so much just to burn it all
Today, May 7, Xbox announced it’s shutting down three studios and merging another. This includes Redfall developer Arkane Austin and Mobile Doom studio Alpha Dog Games, while Roundhouse Games is being absorbed into Elder Scrolls Online developer ZeniMax Online Studios. But perhaps most shocking of all is the closure of Tango Gameworks, the team behind The Evil Within series and, most recently, the rhythm action game Hi-Fi Rush.
On top of being one of Xbox’s most celebrated games of probably the last decade, Hi-Fi Rush was a remarkable pivot for Tango Gameworks, which made its name in the horror genre. It seemed like a genuine success story and a promising showcase for the studio under Microsoft’s first-party umbrella. Now, it’s been rewarded with a swift kick out the door and its developers are being forced to polish their resumes in an incredibly volatile job market.
Hi-Fi Rush was a delightful surprise on a few fronts. It was announced and then shadow-dropped all on the same day at the start of 2023, and it started out as a Game Pass offering, meaning millions of subscribers were able to play it immediately. Even if you weren’t a card-carrying Game Pass member, seeing Xbox invest in a new IP that wasn’t derivative of the studio’s old work was exciting. Hi-Fi Rush offered some hope that Xbox’s years of acquisitions, building a first-party stable to rival its competitors, could result in something original, electric, and memorable. Tango Gameworks’ pivot was based in the rhythm genre, but accommodated the rhythmically challenged. Its cast was colorful and won the hearts of many, alongside a soundtrack that was full of bangers, both original and licensed. Overall, I don’t have a ton of complaints about Hi-Fi Rush.
This kind of smaller-scale offering screams “passion project,” and seeing Microsoft let the team put out something like Hi-Fi Rush was heartening after years of anxiety about the video game industry’s continued consolidation. For a while, it seemed like it paid off. When the 2023 Game Awards came around, Hi-Fi Rush was nominated for five awards and took home the win for Best Audio Design. Then, it was one of the games Microsoft decided to bring to PlayStation 5 as part of its multi-platform push, and there are rumors that a Switch launch is imminent. Xbox Games Marketing Vice President Aaron Greenberg was on the record saying that Tango Gameworks reached “all key measurements and expectations” Xbox had for it. He literally said the company “couldn’t be happier” with how it all went down. Well, clearly, they could have been a little bit happier.
The shame of it all is that, even on top of how tragic this is for Tango Gameworks, it says a lot about Xbox’s own priorities after it devoured swaths of the industry like a gaping maw. Xbox doesn’t have a lot of beloved IP that it didn’t buy. The brand has become synonymous with paying for cultural cache without actually producing it and coasting on Game Pass and nostalgic memories of Halo. So, seeing something well-loved like Hi-Fi Rush bringing home trophies from award shows, and, according to Xbox’s own leadership, be financially successful, then be rewarded with a studio closure, is a succinct encapsulation of how well and truly fucked all of this is.
There’s a foolish, ignorant notion that supply and demand are the sole forces that run a capitalistic world. This belief is based on the idea that the things we get are what people want. People will pay money for these things; thus the market demands these are the products, ideas, and practices we should continue to produce. Anything else is not needed and can die out. Well, Hi-Fi Rush checked off that box, so what is the excuse this time? Xbox wants to focus on “high-impact” games, which sounds like making back your money, winning awards, and being loved isn’t enough.
We want all the money in the goddamn world, and a game that can be completed in a weekend doesn’t do that. Hi-Fi Rush was a bright spot in an industry that is eating itself alive. Now, it’s a warning that Xbox is just like every other company in this hellscape: pretending to want better for everyone in the short term, but unwilling to commit in the long term. Miss me with any of your claims that the brand cares about games. Thousands of people are out of jobs, and we’re gearing up for more live-service sludge.
Roger, roger.And don't call me Shirley.
This is probably like the Scalebound situation, where MS wasn't at fault at all and the studio was a complete mess.
You mean that situation where we still have zero facts?
https://www.videogameschronicle.com...es-to-microsoft-for-scalebounds-cancellation/
PlatinumGames‘ Hideki Kamiya has apologised to players and Microsoft for the events that led to the cancellation of Scalebound.
“We were working in an environment we weren’t used to. We were developing on the Unreal engine, we also lacked the necessary know-how to build a game based on online features.
“The hurdles we had to overcome were very big. We weren’t experienced enough and couldn’t get over that wall, leading to what happened in the end.
“I’m sorry to the players who looked forward to it, and moreover I’m sorry to Microsoft who had placed their trust in us as a business partner. I want to apologize both as a creator and as a member of PlatinumGames.”
https://www.videogameschronicle.com...es-to-microsoft-for-scalebounds-cancellation/
PlatinumGames‘ Hideki Kamiya has apologised to players and Microsoft for the events that led to the cancellation of Scalebound.
“We were working in an environment we weren’t used to. We were developing on the Unreal engine, we also lacked the necessary know-how to build a game based on online features.
“The hurdles we had to overcome were very big. We weren’t experienced enough and couldn’t get over that wall, leading to what happened in the end.
“I’m sorry to the players who looked forward to it, and moreover I’m sorry to Microsoft who had placed their trust in us as a business partner. I want to apologize both as a creator and as a member of PlatinumGames.”
A lot of handwringing and zero facts.
This is probably like the Scalebound situation, where MS wasn't at fault at all and the studio was a complete mess.
He couldn't make an online game with UE4 in 2017, that's not on MS. MS were gracious enough to keep their mouths shut and not point fingers.So Kamiya apologising on his side of the failure somehow gives you insight into Microsoft's role?