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Microsoft Closes Redfall Developer Arkane Austin, HiFi Rush Developer Tango Gameworks, and More in Devastating Cuts at Bethesda

The key difference is the insane amount of bullshit, lies and deceit coming from Xbox people on social media. Aaron Greenberg, Phil Spencer, they constantly spout utter garbage and I'm done with it.
Oh, please. Every corporation, (yes, including Playstation and Nintendo), all exist solely to increase shareholder value and increase profits YoY. They do not care about anything you care about, they just want you to buy their stuff, and to make money off of you.

Stop the gaslighting and cherry-picking. Micrsoft isn't any worse than any other giant international conglomerate run by a Board of Directors.
 
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Punished Miku

Human Rights Subscription Service
I don't think HiFi Rush not performing on PlayStation had anything to do with this
They literally said in their February emergency podcast thing that one of the main reasons they were doing it was to test it out and see if they could make another one. You don't think that had any bearing on this decision? I'm sure they noticed how it sold on PSN. Sounds like it sold about as well as it did on PC and Xbox. Not great.
 

Alebrije

Member
Meanwhile at Bungie


1804265_30c39.gif
 
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Mortisfacio

Member
Only one I'm actually bummed about is Tango. Arkane Austin was pushed by ZeniMax to make Redfall and it's one of the worst games I've played in the last decade (Forspoken is close, though). This was very much expected for Austin.
 

Mibu no ookami

Demoted Member® Pro™
Kind of interesting how almost nobody vilified Take2 for closing Roll7 just last week, but ms is Satan incarnate for closing Tango. Or when Sony shuttered Deviation games recently without even letting them finish thier project.

Those saying ms bought studios to just "close half of them" are nonsensical.

It's not about just closing studios. Studios get closed all the time.

It's about why this is happening. Microsoft created a model in GamePass that devalued games. People warned that it would lead to studio closures. Then they bought ABK, and again people were warned about what the result of this would be.

Redfall was a disaster, but it probably shouldn't have been released when it was. It was released because Microsoft needed it to be released. The same with Starfield. Both games were already delayed and Microsoft couldn't abide additional delays for games that aren't actually going to sell but just be added to GamePass.

The only way to make GamePass profitable is to increase subs or decrease costs... So if subscriptions aren't increasing, what do you think will happen?

Microsoft first started with doing away with big 3rd party exclusives and now the only thing left to do is to close studios that aren't performing or the talent has already left, but eventually it will cave in on itself.

They're about to release a number of games that are all going to disappoint: Hellblade, Avowed, Indiana Jones, Perfect Dark... a lot of these studios are going to get closed.

Turn10 is also on red alert...
 

DeaDPo0L84

Member
Microsoft when purchasing developers has the attention span of a child and a new toy. They love gloating about the purchase and posting the graphic with all the previously successful IP's under the Xbox umbrella but then if they don't produce an Uncharted or God of War success level game within 6 months they shut them down. Hellblade 2 will not be a monumental success so they will more than likely be trimmed down or shutdown a few months post release.
 

spons

Member
Oh, please. Every corporation, (yes, including Playstation and Nintendo), all exist solely to increase shareholder value and increase profits YoY. They do not care about anything you care about, they just want you to buy their stuff, and to make money off of you.

Stop the gaslighting and cherry-picking. Micrsoft isn't any worse than any other giant international conglomerate.
I just gave an example of why Microsoft is worse than Sony and Nintendo. Constant misinformation in their social media marketing. I'm done with it.
 

DJ12

Member
Why does Microsoft keep finding ways to make me hate owning an Xbox?

I have tried so long to be the person whose like "I just own all platforms, cuz they all got something to offer" but this entire generation has been nothing but shit news after shit news.
"Cannot have a monopoly in gaming, fine, we'll destroy gaming."

Luckily MS will fail at that too, but sucks for those involved in these and the inevitable ones that come in the future.

Almost as if MS just wanted the big sellers and are getting rid of everyone not involved in the likes of fallout and obvlion etc.
 

tmlDan

Member
Oh, fuck this. Like Playstation or any other huge publisher hasn't also done significant cuts of this size or larger, *and recently. I'm so tired of the cherry-picking and the gaslighting. Name one giant publisher this size who hasn't done lay-offs recently. Even Nintendo's done layoffs in the last 2 years.

If you really believed in your own self-imposed boycott, you'd have nothing to play, *and nothing to play on.
oh, here comes the defence force. The whataboutisms are strong with this one.
 
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Outlier

Member
Damn Microsoft Games is on a roll... down hill.

I think they need to fire a lot of "leadership" roles and get people who care about make games people WANT to pay for.
 
Kinda ugly to see someone from the industry immediately focusing this on himself and not losing a single word about fellow developers losing their jobs.
aw come on....get lost with your "thoughts and prayers via twitter"-crap, as if that would mean something.
Mahler is one of the few studio chefs who has so far not sold out and is doing what he thinks is right which is seriously rare nowadays.
 
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Mibu no ookami

Demoted Member® Pro™
They literally said in their February emergency podcast thing that one of the main reasons they were doing it was to test it out and see if they could make another one. You don't think that had any bearing on this decision? I'm sure they noticed how it sold on PSN. Sounds like it sold about as well as it did on PC and Xbox. Not great.

No, I think that was PR. Most of the employees have probably already jumped ship to Kamuy Inc. At best Microsoft could have contracted them to make a sequel, but Tango was already dead.
 

near

Gold Member
105 Tango Gameworks employees out of work. What's the staff count at the other studios I wonder?
 

nowhat

Gold Member
I wonder if Hi-Fi Rush bombed on PSN or something.
I'm pretty sure decisions like this are made well before considering sales from previously uncatered markets. If anything, making HiFi Rush non-exclusive may have been a sign of things to come, as sad as it is.
 
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graywolf323

Member
frankly this sorta thing is exactly why I wasn’t enthusiastic about Microsoft acquiring publishers, all their fanboys liked to point out they only had 5 studios before the acquisition spree but that was entirely because they had closed a bunch

well guess what? they’re starting to close them again, who could possibly have seen that coming? 🙄

fuck Phil Spencer, in my opinion he’s done the most damage to the Xbox brand in it’s entire existence
 

Punished Miku

Human Rights Subscription Service
No, I think that was PR. Most of the employees have probably already jumped ship to Kamuy Inc. At best Microsoft could have contracted them to make a sequel, but Tango was already dead.
Yeah, you might be right. Maybe they did die when Mikami left. Because it doesn't make much sense really.
 

Mr Moose

Member
Kind of interesting how almost nobody vilified Take2 for closing Roll7 just last week, but ms is Satan incarnate for closing Tango. Or when Sony shuttered Deviation games recently without even letting them finish thier project.

Those saying ms bought studios to just "close half of them" are nonsensical.
Except no one really gives a shit about Austin being closed, so your argument falls flat on its beak.
 

demigod

Member
Cant. Even Activision isnt this evil, incompetent, greedy and utterly fucking useless.

This is a self inflicted wound too. They put all their games on gamepass for a dollar and then blamed the studio for making flops. Phil shouldve been the one to get fired but he keeps getting promotions because thats how microsoft works.

Watch MS shut down Ninja Theory a few weeks after shipping the PS5 version. Unless Avowed sells millions, its also getting shut down.
Yep, Ninja Theory will get shitcanned.
 
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