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[CentralScrutinizer]

If you take 6 years to make a bad game, you kinda deserve it tbh.

This industry ain't a charity. They had a near unlimited budget and development time and they proved they're just not good devs.

 

[Puscifer]

Blade is cursed

Wesley Snipes meant this shit

 

[samoilaaa]

Dishonored are such great games.
Sad if true

if im not mistaken most of the talent behind dishonored already left and started a new studio called wolfeye , they are now working on a first person rpg

 

[R6Rider]

if im not mistaken most of the talent behind dishonored already left and started a new studio called wolfeye , they are now working on a first person rpg

Arkane Co-Founder Announces First Person Action RPG: 'Fans of Dishonored and Prey Will Feel at Home' - IGN

Arkane Studios co-founder Raphaël Colantonio has announced his next game, being developed at WolfEye Studios, is a first person action role-playing game which will make fans of Dishonored and Prey "feel at home."

www.ign.com

Arkane Co-Founder Announces First Person Action RPG: 'Fans of Dishonored and Prey Will Feel at Home'

 

[diffusionx]

You both have a valid point and in isolation, I would agree. However, if we look at the whole of Microsoft, there are studios that "deserve" being closed more than Arkane. Take 343 Industries. They might have a denser release schedule but most of their games were mid at best. Look at Bethesda Game Studios. Their last well-reviewed game was Fallout 4, which released in 2015. Starfield was a big failure. And their next game is nowhere close to release. What about Obsidian? Their last two projects were duds.

I just don't get why Arkane are at risk here.

If you're saying that they have huge problems I agree. The only thing I'll say is that they know how blade looks internally - like if it was ready to go in six months I doubt they would be doing this. So I guess they aren't feeling good about it. Also I guess they would evaluate on how it would do in the market and they don't feel good about that either, and compared to what BGS and 343 could do.

 

[Bojji]

Arkane? Deathloop was pretty good, they should get at least one last chance to do some amazing game.

 

[Hypereides]

Some pretty dark times in the western gaming industry. This might be Arkane's chance to negotiate themselves out and become independent again, if that's the case.

Seems like the only ones that manage to persevere with little worry are spare time hobbyists who aren't bound by big money expenditure or publisher backing.

 

[jshackles]

You both have a valid point and in isolation, I would agree. However, if we look at the whole of Microsoft, there are studios that "deserve" being closed more than Arkane. Take 343 Industries. They might have a denser release schedule but most of their games were mid at best. Look at Bethesda Game Studios. Their last well-reviewed game was Fallout 4, which released in 2015. Starfield was a big failure. And their next game is nowhere close to release. What about Obsidian? Their last two projects were duds.

I just don't get why Arkane are at risk here.

Absolutely agree that there are studios with worse track records that are probably collectively doing the Scooby-Doo "gulp" at this very moment.

What I hinted at earlier in this thread is that I feel like the studios themselves are probably salvageable, but Microsoft's policies in general are holding these companies back from commercial success. We have enough measurable data now to know that putting their first party games on Game Pass day one is disastrous for actual sales. Whether or not the subscription revenue makes up for the difference or not, we don't really know. Making games exclusive (or timed exclusive) on their Xbox consoles has also proven to be pretty disastrous, I think Starfield, Hi-Fi Rush, South of Midnight, Hellblade II, Indiana Jones, etc. could have all gotten a lot more sales with the wider PS5 / Switch audience getting these games day one. Now that they're all multiplatform, I'm curious what the splits are on those. I suspect that even the years-late ports sold better on the non-Xbox platforms.

You could probably make the argument that Microsoft would be justified in shutting down every studio it owns that isn't Activision. Even then I just don't think they've had enough time to properly drag them through the mud just yet.

 

[cireza]

How can this be ? They won the Peabody award !

 

[Elfstar]

Only good thing Microsoft has done in a while.

 

[iamvin22]

One thing for sure going forward is no dev studio should sell themselves to MS EVER.

This really got out of control and I highly doubt it's onky going to be 2 studios this year.

 

[samoilaaa]

You both have a valid point and in isolation, I would agree. However, if we look at the whole of Microsoft, there are studios that "deserve" being closed more than Arkane. Take 343 Industries. They might have a denser release schedule but most of their games were mid at best. Look at Bethesda Game Studios. Their last well-reviewed game was Fallout 4, which released in 2015. Starfield was a big failure. And their next game is nowhere close to release. What about Obsidian? Their last two projects were duds.

I just don't get why Arkane are at risk here.

I agree with Obsidian but 343 and bethesda are big studios that many people still have hope for , even if starfield was a disaster many people will still blindly buy Elder scrolls 6 if it ever releases

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

I'll just leave this here:

News  Post in thread 'Bloomberg: Xbox is planning major layoffs next month, as new CEO Asha Sharma confronts a bleak picture and plans what she calls a "reset"'

Jun 11, 2026

I'm guessing Compulsion Games and Double Fine might be on the chopping block. Maybe even Arkane.

• Braag

Way to Braag

 

[PeteBull]

Meanwhile, Naughty Dog just chillin.

Just wait till they finally are done with blasian baldie and it performs well below expectactions, they will not get closed obviously but definitely nasty way of layoffs is just around the corner, be it 2027 or 2028 whenever game launches xD

 

[Hudo]

Well, I guess that's why I won't ever be in a management position. I would've shut down 343 years ago and fired Todd Howard's ass after Starfield.

 

[samoilaaa]

Just wait till they finally are done with blasian baldie and it performs well below expectactions, they will not get closed obviously but definitely nasty way of layoffs is just around the corner, be it 2027 or 2028 whenever game launches xD

you are naive if you think that the next naughty dog game wont sell above 10 million copies

 

[LavitzSlambert]

End of days

I could have sworn there was reporting late last week about Xbox layoffs being huge, and people dogpiled on the French guy who initially reported it (without details) right before Schreier reported it and now we have Nate corroborating. Same class of people who keep doubting DuskGolem's RE info. Almost like it takes a little time for these things to play out, if we don't hear the anarchy happening within a few hours everyone loses their mind.

 

[LavitzSlambert]

If you're saying that they have huge problems I agree. The only thing I'll say is that they know how blade looks internally - like if it was ready to go in six months I doubt they would be doing this. So I guess they aren't feeling good about it. Also I guess they would evaluate on how it would do in the market and they don't feel good about that either, and compared to what BGS and 343 could do.

I don't trust Xbox management's assessment of their first party games. Shortly after he was born, Matt Booty fell out of the stupid tree and hit his head on every branch on the way down.

 

[PeteBull]

you are naive if you think that the next naughty dog game wont sell above 10 million copies

10m ltd heavily discounted/bundled or 10m launchwindow fullprice? Coz those are 2 very different 10m's
Their last game(lets not count remasters) came almost 6 year ago, we didnt even get gameplay trailer yet from intergalactic so we can safely assume it launches earliest holidays 2027, if delayed then likely in 2028.

Now how much budget they gonna use up on 7 or maybe even 8 years of devtime, lets add to that solid 100-200m of marketting budget for good measure and we looking at 500m+ usd total cost.
Suddenly those 10m ltd doesnt look that impressive at all, 10m launchwindow fullprice defo does tho, so lets wait and see which one its gonna be

Quick dirty math, even if we assume game is xgen and 80$ pricetag, it wont be easy to make it succesful.
10m launchwindow would mean 5m digital so full 80$ goes to sony, 5m physical so retail will eat 30% of that one, so 400m+0,7x 400m aka total 680m usd, that would defo make sure game is succesfull and if game reaches that milestone in sales first few months(fullprice sales) i will defo admit it was very succesful

 

[Moses85]

 

[Kydd BlaZe]

Nobody asked for South of Midnight.

This is a business not an art project.

How long did the average player on gamepass play South of Midnight.

I bet it's like 5 minutes.

Why would they waste 7 years on a game nobody wanted and they knew nobody was going to play.

I mean...I played it to completion. Thought the game was...functional. One of the most MID experiences I've had this generation. Can't say I'm sad about Compulsion shutting down, other than a lot of folks will be without jobs. But I was honestly surprised that Micsosoft wanted to acquire them in the first place. Never saw anything special about this studio.

I will be DEVASTATED if Arkane is shut down though. They're one of the last developers left that make great immersive sim games and I really want to see what they do with the Blade IP.

 

[StueyDuck]

Why do people hate immersive sims, support Arkane you bastards, prey 2017 or whenever it was. was a top tier game, 10/10 in game design.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

Can't they lay off all the shills and influencers instead?

 

[StoopKidz]

Why do people hate immersive sims, support Arkane you bastards, prey 2017 or whenever it was was top tier game design.

All or Nothing mentality by leadership.

 

[calico]

Microsoft & Compulsion were both well aware South of Profit was totally unviable commercially. It could not be anything else. 100% someone at Microsoft said not to worry about $$, that pushing diversity was what mattered and that the studio would be supported no matter how it did.

That just makes their being dropped like a hot turd by the Dalai Sharma all the sweeter to me.

 

[wolffy66]

And then?

 

[DForce]

10m ltd heavily discounted/bundled or 10m launchwindow fullprice? Coz those are 2 very different 10m's
Their last game(lets not count remasters) came almost 6 year ago, we didnt even get gameplay trailer yet from intergalactic so we can safely assume it launches earliest holidays 2027, if delayed then likely in 2028.

Now how much budget they gonna use up on 7 or maybe even 8 years of devtime, lets add to that solid 100-200m of marketting budget for good measure and we looking at 500m+ usd total cost.
Suddenly those 10m ltd doesnt look that impressive at all, 10m launchwindow fullprice defo does tho, so lets wait and see which one its gonna be

Quick dirty math, even if we assume game is xgen and 80$ pricetag, it wont be easy to make it succesful.
10m launchwindow would mean 5m digital so full 80$ goes to sony, 5m physical so retail will eat 30% of that one, so 400m+0,7x 400m aka total 680m usd, that would defo make sure game is succesfull and if game reaches that milestone in sales first few months(fullprice sales) i will defo admit it was very succesful

Spider-Man 2's marketing cost 35 million, and you think Intergalactic is going to cost 100-200 million.

It's simple.

The Last of Us Part II was profitable after launch, with 4.1 million copies sold, and the budget was around $220 million

Spider-Man 2's budget was just over 300m, and they needed 7.2m to break even.

The budget of around 300-400, including marketing, is more believable.

If the game sells 3-5 million in the first month, then it should be easy for Intergalactic to break even.

 

[No Banana]

Obsidian in the recent past has refused to develop games with more than 100 people. They like working on smaller projects. But that is why both Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2 are super average. Obsidian could actually make a good game if they dedicated the full resources of the studio

Microsoft needs to put a gun to their head and tell them to develop a proper AAA Fallout game or else mass layoffs. Microsoft can't wait until 2035 for the next Fallout. It would be malpractice

Obsidian used to be able to make good games with less than a 100 people. You don't need a ton of people for good art, good writing (which was Obsidian's only former claim to fame), or at least pushing the RPG genre envelope.

It's the staff that's left and their whole "A B- is good enough for me" attitude that is really eye-rolling. As soon as they set that bar of mediocrity, only the mediocre employees who don't really care about making a great game remain - they probably only stuck around for a stable paycheck anyway, but if that's the reason, more fools they, since it's hard to collect a paycheck when you or your studio gets the axe due to MS bullshit.

 

[Badlucktroll]

why the f did ms buy all this shit then shut it all down

 

[Kacho]

why the f did ms buy all this shit then shut it all down

Game Pass growth stalled, then decreased

 

[Zacfoldor]

Wesley Snipes meant this shit

lol <3 WS

 

[No Banana]

InXile right now:

Considering inXile recently released a trailer and release date for Clockwork Revolution, I doubt inXile has a ton to worry about until it ships.

After that, they definitely should be worried about the axe falling, though.

inXile is like Obsidian except rather than settling for a B- product as a goal, inXile is usually lucky if they can achieve a B-. I don't have much faith that Clockwork is going to be any good based on their track record.

 

[coachmcguirk91]

Obsidian used to be able to make good games with less than a 100 people. You don't need a ton of people for good art, good writing (which was Obsidian's only former claim to fame), or at least pushing the RPG genre envelope.

It's the staff that's left and their whole "A B- is good enough for me" attitude that is really eye-rolling. As soon as they set that bar of mediocrity, only the mediocre employees who don't really care about making a great game remain - they probably only stuck around for a stable paycheck anyway, but if that's the reason, more fools they, since it's hard to collect a paycheck when you or your studio gets the axe due to MS bullshit.

You can't develop a big AAA RPG with 100 people anymore. I don't doubt talent has left, especially in the writing department, but you can't tell me Obsidian wouldn't have been way better off putting all their eggs in either Avowed or The Outer Worlds 2. Instead, we get two incredibly mediocre games

 

[Thief1987]

 

[PeteBull]

Spider-Man 2's marketing cost 35 million, and you think Intergalactic is going to cost 100-200 million.

It's simple.

The Last of Us Part II was profitable after launch, with 4.1 million copies sold, and the budget was around $220 million

Spider-Man 2's budget was just over 300m, and they needed 7.2m to break even.

The budget of around 300-400, including marketing, is more believable.

If the game sells 3-5 million in the first month, then it should be easy for Intergalactic to break even.

Believe in what u believe, bro, 5m first month can be 10m launchwindow (lets say first 3-4 months, before discounts happen) so u dont even argue against my point here.
Remember i didnt say studio gonna get closed after 1 game underperforming(and we cant assume that yet), just that there will be serious wave of layoffs.

I mean, we know Crimson Desert just sold 6m copies in less than 3 months(official data) so its not like such a veteran well renoved studio like ND cant do 50% better in same timeframe unless their product is of much worse quality, by the time game is out ps5 gonna have 110-120m units of instalbase so lets wait and see

It will be up to ND themselfs to make it happen, they either deliver or fall on their DEI infested faces, only time will tell, i personally genuinely am not sure and wouldnt bet either way, simply coz we didnt see enough of the game yet.

 

[Ronin_7]

Really quick before hitting bed.

Studios to be closed or go independent:

Compulsion
Ninja Theory
Double Fine
Arkane

So far.

 

[Zacfoldor]

Microsoft & Compulsion were both well aware South of Profit was totally unviable commercially. It could not be anything else. 100% someone at Microsoft said not to worry about $$, that pushing diversity was what mattered and that the studio would be supported no matter how it did.

That just makes their being dropped like a hot turd by the Dalai Sharma all the sweeter to me.

I'll be honest here, you've read my mind.

 

[Zacfoldor]

Really quick before hitting bed.

Studios to be closed or go independent:

Compulsion
Ninja Theory
Double Fine
Arkane

So far.

Wow this is brutal. Asha's cleaning house for real.

It wouldn't surprise me if the studios on the line(Id) were given a come to Jesus meeting as well. Sorry for double post.

 

[No Banana]

You can't develop a big AAA RPG with 100 people anymore. I don't doubt talent has left, especially in the writing department, but you can't tell me Obsidian wouldn't have been way better off putting all their eggs in either Avowed or The Outer Worlds 2. Instead, we get two incredibly mediocre games

1. I can't recall Obsidian ever making an AAA RPG. Even New Vegas wasn't. In fact, they seemed to prefer "AA" games (which is another bullshit designation, but whatever).

2. If Obsidian had put all their employees on Avowed or Boring Worlds, then all we'd have is just one large mediocre game, so I'm not sure the math works there - at least they had two crap games to put on Game Pass, just like MS wanted. Avowed and Boring Worlds' flaws aren't that they didn't have enough people, it's the design direction, writing (what else is Obsidian known for?), and the slow erosion of their former RPG mechanics.

Obsidian's only real "money maker" isn't even an RPG. Grounded seems like it's doing fine, which is bizarre from an RPG-first studio - and even Grounded 2 seems to be heavily outsourced.

 

[calico]

Has Double Fine been deliberately making incredibly retarded game ideas this whole time so they can become independent again?

 

[PeteBull]

Has Double Fine been deliberately making incredibly retarded game ideas this whole time so they can become independent again?

They dont give a damn, bro, its microsoft money they are burning tru anyways

 

[Durin]

Arkane would make me sad, just because their decline was marked by pushing that studio to suddenly do live-service multiplayer crap, instead of im-sims that made people like them in the first place.

At least WolfEye Studios exists with Raphael Colantonio I guess, maybe some of those people can shift over if Arkane gets axed.

 

[Nydius]

I enjoyed South of Midnight but the game always struck me as one of those "art house projects" that you studios only get to do when you have a big blockbuster making bank, to use a Hollywood analogy. The fact that it took so long and cost so much to make, for a game that was inevitably niche, I can't say this news surprises me terribly.

It stinks because we need the "art house" style of these games, but they also need to be managed realistically, financially.

 

[TheAtomicPile]

I liked South of Midnight through the lense of a PS2 style platformer (another recent example being Pumpkin Jack). But it should not have taken 6+ years to make something like that.

Not that I want the studio to close but you would think there has to be some accountability at some point.

 

[DForce]

Believe in what u believe, bro, 5m first month can be 10m launchwindow (lets say first 3-4 months, before discounts happen) so u dont even argue against my point here.
Remember i didnt say studio gonna get closed after 1 game underperforming(and we cant assume that yet), just that there will be serious wave of layoffs.

I mean, we know Crimson Desert just sold 6m copies in less than 3 months(official data) so its not like such a veteran well renoved studio like ND cant do 50% better in same timeframe unless their product is of much worse quality, by the time game is out ps5 gonna have 110-120m units of instalbase so lets wait and see

It will be up to ND themselfs to make it happen, they either deliver or fall on their DEI infested faces, only time will tell, i personally genuinely am not sure and wouldnt bet either way, simply coz we didnt see enough of the game yet.

Selling 10 million copies within a launch window is a completely unrealistic projection. That would mean it's going to sell faster than Helldivers 2, and that game sold 12 million in 12 weeks.

The problem is that you guys tend to post unrealistic and unbelievable projections that make no sense at all.

 

[Hero of Spielberg]

But they won a Peabody award! A PEABODY!!

Edit: I see someone has already pointed out this travesty lol

 

[Viruz]

French tv journalist

 

[Hawkeye2890]

Every time a woke studio closes an angel gets his wings.

 

[PeteBull]

Selling 10 million copies within a launch window is a completely unrealistic projection. That would mean it's going to sell faster than Helldivers 2, and that game sold 12 million in 12 weeks.

The problem is that you guys tend to post unrealistic and unbelievable projections that make no sense at all.

12 weeks= 3 months, im saying if it sells 10m durning that time so 2m less, it will be massive success, u quoting me yet u keep lieing here, not cool, bro.
And again, crimson desert from unknown korean studio sold 6m copies in under 3 months, u are ND defender as ur tag (and tens if not hundreds of posts) suggest yet u got so lil faith in the devstudio urself?
Hell as a comparision im hyped for ES6 here and even tho we didnt even see anthing from that game(lets not mention that laughable title reveal trailer from e3 2017 ) im hopefull it will at least sell 10m copies in 3 months/launch window.
U think ND is worse studio from current day bethesda even?

 

[DForce]

12 weeks= 3 months, im saying if it sells 10m durning that time so 2m less, it will be massive success, u quoting me yet u keep lieing here, not cool, bro.
And again, crimson desert from unknown korean studio sold 6m copies in under 3 months, u are ND defender as ur tag (and tens if not hundreds of posts) suggest yet u got so lil faith in the devstudio urself?
Hell as a comparision im hyped for ES6 here and even tho we didnt even see anthing from that game(lets not mention that laughable title reveal trailer from e3 2017 ) im hopefull it will at least sell 10m copies in 3 months/launch window.
U think ND is worse studio from current day bethesda even?

I replied to you because your sales estimates were unrealistic, and I'm telling you how unrealistic it would be to sell 10 million within that time frame.

Using data is not being a ND defender. According to you and several other people on this forum, all of Sony's first-party single-player titles outside of Ghost of Tsushima have underperformed this generation, so you guys are clearly not the best when it comes to analyzing the market.