The funniest part is that Phones, TVs and Tablets are in fact NOT available here. They haven't made Cloud streaming happen here yet.
Does Xbox controller counts as an Xbox device?
With WindowsPhone there were only few months between giving up selling hardware in certain territories and giving up WindowsPhone completely.
I just looked and found this link on Reddit about it that was from 10 months ago.
No, Bo Hazem works from the shadows. He organized the entire downfall of Microsoft in the MENA region.
usa is the goat country and saudi arabia is amazing.
If you're a dissenting journalist, and visiting a consulate in Instanbul, then certainly, Saudi Arabia is amazing!
When your company does acquire in quick succession 2 big publishers, your number of employees jump drastically, in feb this year Xbox had over 20k employees (compared to Sonys approx. 8k) making it "Microsoft Gaming is one of the largest video game companies in the world, and the largest by employment".
This dude is stuck in peak delusion. The amazing Microsoft, who funded and then both shut down Tango Gameworks and sold the HiFi Rush IP to NetEase after the both of them got critical acclaim. The amazing Microsoft, who funded Stray (they didn't), Kena (they didn't), Astro Bot (they didn't), Palworld (they didn't), Stellar Blade (they didn't), Rise of the Ronin (they didn't), Death Stranding 2 (they didn't), Fall Guys (they didn't), Baltaros (they didn't), Silent Hill 2 (they didn't), Fast Food Simulator (they didn't), Grunn (they didn't), Alan Wake 2 (they didn't)...and I could go on and on.
Yes all those games would suddenly not get made if Microsoft, who cancelled Crash 5 and Bioware's survival game after acquiring ABK, who cancelled Scalebound, who cancelled Phantom Dust reboot, who have let Everwild go into development hell, who let the inferior sequel Hellblade 2 release...if Xbox stopped making consoles. Oh yes, sure. Like just stop lying to yourself dude. Just say YOU don't want Xbox consoles to go away, just say that. We can respect that, versus you making it sound like a company that's fired 2,500+ people across their gaming division in the past two years is a bastion of funding all these amazing and awesome games from 3P and indies.
Because they aren't. We know that and you know that. But you're the one stuck in a lie.
www.bbc.co.uk
www.forbes.com
www.bloomberg.com
It's kinda sad how the Xbox name is not for the console anymore. What's more, the consoles are actually the ones being pushed away.
None of that pivoting negates anythingWhen your company does acquire in quick succession 2 big publishers, your number of employees jump drastically, in feb this year Xbox had over 20k employees (compared to Sonys approx. 8k) making it "Microsoft Gaming is one of the largest video game companies in the world, and the largest by employment".
Lots of roles at these new acquired companies overlap with already existing roles at Xbox. With the scale of things that MS is doing, that 2500 people is not that much.
That 2.5k of people that were let go were making approx 12% of Xbox employees.
PlayStation to axe 900 jobs and close London studio
The layoffs are the latest to hit the tech sector, which has seen big cutbacks worldwide since 2023.
In addition, look what they did with Bungie - laid off 220 people (17% of work force), then moved another 155 people (12% of Bungie workforce) to another projects. So it cannibalised company it acquired and stripped it from 29% of employees, most of these were people getting fired.
Mass Bungie Layoffs Draw Fury From ‘Destiny 2’ Fans, Past And Present Employees
Bungie announced yesterday it would lay off 220 employees, 17% of the company, move 155 to roles within Sony Interactive Entertainment and take ~40 or so and create a new sub-studio under Sony
On a another note, just to show you how real world works; Company that I work for was acquired 2 years ago and over last 24 months approx 5k people were made redundant, lots lots their jobs early after acquisition, those roles that were overlapping with already existing roles, and now there was a massive "cleanup" over summer, that everyone was surprised about - all, we were told to increase effectiveness. Mind you - this is company that makes billions in profit each year. So everyone with any experience in M&A's knows that layoffs are something natural after what MS did.
On indies;
And yes, MS have long history of working and supporting smaller/indie devs (it might be in return for some exclusivity or gamepass release).
So yeah, MS should be prized for how they support indie devs.
On the other hand only recent thing about Sony approach I found is this;
Why Indie Publishers Are Fed Up With PlayStation - IGN
Multiple indie publishers are speaking out about Sony's lack of communication, sale restrictions, and the struggles of indie games to get noticed on its platforms.www.ign.com
Sony Draws the Ire of Indie Video Game Makers
Hi everyone, it’s Jason.The video-game industry has a new villain of the week: Sony Corp.’s PlayStation platform.
Sony obviously is chasing easy money with all of the remakes/remasters. They will probably continue this strategy after fiasco that Concord was. They have spent 400M on concord which easily could get them multiple indie games, some might even became hits.
thicc_girls_are_teh_best
said.
None of that pivoting negates anything
He has a go at MS for cancelling couple projects, he lists some that Sony founded, then he writes in bigger font about lay offs (MS cut 12% while Sony cut 8% of theirs gaming divisions, Sony shut down their London Studio and Japan Studio, and now are slowly draining Bungie via layoffs and stuff being moved to other studios). Just shared some facts, MS spent over 4bn usd that allowed over 3000 indie games to ship.None of that pivoting negates anything
Falsified? Sales Pitch? WTF? What is falsified in my post? Show what data that I have shared I am is falsified.It's literally a falsified sales pitch using outdated information against playstation while ignoring all the recent reference points we have on Xbox regarding the experience for indie devs:
The shill programs have ended but these guys have made it a way of life so they are still unable to let go. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
:Image-open-graph){kind=logo}
www.gamespot.com
This dude is stuck in peak delusion. The amazing Microsoft, who funded and then both shut down Tango Gameworks and sold the HiFi Rush IP to NetEase after the both of them got critical acclaim. The amazing Microsoft, who funded Stray (they didn't), Kena (they didn't), Astro Bot (they didn't), Palworld (they didn't), Stellar Blade (they didn't), Rise of the Ronin (they didn't), Death Stranding 2 (they didn't), Fall Guys (they didn't), Baltaros (they didn't), Silent Hill 2 (they didn't), Fast Food Simulator (they didn't), Grunn (they didn't), Alan Wake 2 (they didn't)...and I could go on and on.
Yes all those games would suddenly not get made if Microsoft, who cancelled Crash 5 and Bioware's survival game after acquiring ABK, who cancelled Scalebound, who cancelled Phantom Dust reboot, who have let Everwild go into development hell, who let the inferior sequel Hellblade 2 release...if Xbox stopped making consoles. Oh yes, sure. Like just stop lying to yourself dude. Just say YOU don't want Xbox consoles to go away, just say that. We can respect that, versus you making it sound like a company that's fired 2,500+ people across their gaming division in the past two years is a bastion of funding all these amazing and awesome games from 3P and indies.
Because they aren't. We know that and you know that. But you're the one stuck in a lie.
You shared info that is irrelevant and/or false and Sony's console business isn't struggling nor the topic of discussion.He has a go at MS for cancelling couple projects, he lists some that Sony founded, then he writes in bigger font about lay offs (MS cut 12% while Sony cut 8% of theirs gaming divisions, Sony shut down their London Studio and Japan Studio, and now are slowly draining Bungie via layoffs and stuff being moved to other studios). Just shared some facts, MS spent over 4bn usd that allowed over 3000 indie games to ship.
Falsified? Sales Pitch? WTF? What is falsified in my post? Show what data that I have shared I am is falsified.
I love that your counter to the fact that MS spent over 4bn usd that allowed over 3000 games to ship is single complaining developer. While Sony shits on indies as shown in the links from IGN and Bloomberg I have shared.
Want some more recent feedback from indie devs on ID@Xbox? Here you go, published 2 days ago
Developer Acceleration Program Spotlight: Rocket Adrift
This week, we’re highlighting Rocket Adrift, creators of the Developer Acceleration Program title Psychroma.developer.microsoft.com
This issue is are they gonna restock in those countries.
It was Krafton, but good post nonetheless.
You got the Freegunners botheredWhen your company does acquire in quick succession 2 big publishers, your number of employees jump drastically, in feb this year Xbox had over 20k employees (compared to Sonys approx. 8k) making it "Microsoft Gaming is one of the largest video game companies in the world, and the largest by employment".
Lots of roles at these new acquired companies overlap with already existing roles at Xbox. With the scale of things that MS is doing, that 2500 people is not that much.
That 2.5k of people that were let go were making approx 12% of Xbox employees.
PlayStation to axe 900 jobs and close London studio
The layoffs are the latest to hit the tech sector, which has seen big cutbacks worldwide since 2023.
In addition, look what they did with Bungie - laid off 220 people (17% of work force), then moved another 155 people (12% of Bungie workforce) to another projects. So it cannibalised company it acquired and stripped it from 29% of employees, most of these were people getting fired.
Mass Bungie Layoffs Draw Fury From ‘Destiny 2’ Fans, Past And Present Employees
Bungie announced yesterday it would lay off 220 employees, 17% of the company, move 155 to roles within Sony Interactive Entertainment and take ~40 or so and create a new sub-studio under Sony
On a another note, just to show you how real world works; Company that I work for was acquired 2 years ago and over last 24 months approx 5k people were made redundant, lots lots their jobs early after acquisition, those roles that were overlapping with already existing roles, and now there was a massive "cleanup" over summer, that everyone was surprised about - all, we were told to increase effectiveness. Mind you - this is company that makes billions in profit each year. So everyone with any experience in M&A's knows that layoffs are something natural after what MS did.
On indies;
And yes, MS have long history of working and supporting smaller/indie devs (it might be in return for some exclusivity or gamepass release).
So yeah, MS should be prized for how they support indie devs.
On the other hand only recent thing about Sony approach I found is this;
Why Indie Publishers Are Fed Up With PlayStation - IGN
Multiple indie publishers are speaking out about Sony's lack of communication, sale restrictions, and the struggles of indie games to get noticed on its platforms.
Sony Draws the Ire of Indie Video Game Makers
Hi everyone, it’s Jason.The video-game industry has a new villain of the week: Sony Corp.’s PlayStation platform.
Sony obviously is chasing easy money with all of the remakes/remasters. They will probably continue this strategy after fiasco that Concord was. They have spent 400M on concord which easily could get them multiple indie games, some might even became hits.
Or truthers addressing fallacies and irrelevance.You got the Freegunners bothered
Certain folks will only focus on games, data, etc that fits their narrative.Or truthers addressing fallacies and irrelevance.
Always interesting when the same folks who bring up Concord become a bunch of Caspers when Redfall and Starfield (two games that were supposed to be game changers) are brought to light. Concord also came out in a year with Astrobot and Helldivers II. Don't want to talk about those though, do we?
Bottom line, the Xbox console business is in trouble. You can hide behind your feathers as they're ruffled, but that's the state of you and his favorite brand. Either call the company who owns it or watch it happen, but either way, PlayStation and Nintendo will remain when it is long gone.
GHG already explained it to you.
When your company does acquire in quick succession 2 big publishers, your number of employees jump drastically, in feb this year Xbox had over 20k employees (compared to Sonys approx. 8k) making it "Microsoft Gaming is one of the largest video game companies in the world, and the largest by employment".
Lots of roles at these new acquired companies overlap with already existing roles at Xbox. With the scale of things that MS is doing, that 2500 people is not that much.
That 2.5k of people that were let go were making approx 12% of Xbox employees.
PlayStation to axe 900 jobs and close London studio
The layoffs are the latest to hit the tech sector, which has seen big cutbacks worldwide since 2023.
ShaiKhulud1989
for the correction).In addition, look what they did with Bungie - laid off 220 people (17% of work force), then moved another 155 people (12% of Bungie workforce) to another projects. So it cannibalised company it acquired and stripped it from 29% of employees, most of these were people getting fired.
Mass Bungie Layoffs Draw Fury From ‘Destiny 2’ Fans, Past And Present Employees
Bungie announced yesterday it would lay off 220 employees, 17% of the company, move 155 to roles within Sony Interactive Entertainment and take ~40 or so and create a new sub-studio under Sony
GHG
pointed out.On the other hand only recent thing about Sony approach I found is this;
Why Indie Publishers Are Fed Up With PlayStation - IGN
Multiple indie publishers are speaking out about Sony's lack of communication, sale restrictions, and the struggles of indie games to get noticed on its platforms.
Sony Draws the Ire of Indie Video Game Makers
Hi everyone, it’s Jason.The video-game industry has a new villain of the week: Sony Corp.’s PlayStation platform.
My man, this is a forum. You didn't have to murder that guy in cold blood2500 is a larger number than 900. Then there's the context; MS's 2500 were from rushing to buy two big 3P publishers, something they chose to do to prop up a failing console division. Arguably, if they never bought Zenimax & ABK, the people from those fired post-acquisition would still have their jobs.
For certain, Tango Gameworks would still be as it was, not closed down, most fired and then bought by Krafton (thanks
You mean the same Bungie ran by Pete Parsons, a guy who was looking out for his own pockets above the well-being of his employees, with a BoD that were making bad decision after bad decision? The same Bungie that was arguably overstaffed and had to be culled after a Destiny 2 DLC underperformed? You think that's comparable to what Microsoft did with Tango Gameworks?
Look I'm not saying it was nice to see Bungie lose staff, and there's a reason I didn't use Arkane Austin when listing MS's faults because that one is probably most comparable with Bungie situation (although Destiny 2 is a far better game than RedFall ever was). But now that you've brought up Bungie...let's talk about Arkane Austin. Why did Microsoft shut them down completely? Why didn't they just reorganize the studio? Let go of some people but kept others? Why not let them finish the RedFall content update?
Even in two instances that seem comparable, you can immediately see SIE/Sony handle the situation with a lot more grace than Microsoft. There are reasons for that.
Was the company you worked at a gaming company?
Even aside that...do you think eliminating redundant jobs suddenly makes mass consolidation okay? Because those eliminated jobs, would've been kept if there wasn't consolidation in the first place. No one forced Microsoft to buy two major 3P publishers back-to-back; they chose to do that and did so knowing they'd cut thousands of jobs to save costs and improve margins.
To improve their bottom line...to hell with the livelihoods of those fired.
Not recently, as
"supported", as in past tense. Because the support now definitely ain't what it was a few years ago. Why would they? They have Zenimax & ABK now.
The ironic part is, some of the same indies who were praising MS and pushing them to buy ABK, are now the ones saying they can't get Game Pass deals anymore. When we were telling them that this would happen way in advance. But they didn't listen.
Now this is cherry-picking. Also, IGN and Bloomberg....really?
Look I don't like the focus on barely-needed remasters & remakes like HZD and Until Dawn either, and it's very "interesting" (aka potentially insane) they might be relaunching Concord (hopefully at least with some big character design changes). But it's disingenuous to boil down their output, even internal, to just remasters & remakes.
It's funny, because this was the year a lot of people and media said would be a weak year for PlayStation 1P and Xbox would dominate. Instead the complete opposite has happened. Not even counting 3P exclusives, SIE delivered Helldivers 2, Rise of the Ronin (Koei-Tecmo but SIE own the IP rights and helped with development so it's a 2P deal IMO), and this little adorable smash hit called Astro Bot just recently. Including 3P they've delivered FFVII Rebirth, Stellar Blade, ZZZ (console exclusive), Granblue Fantasy ReLink and Silent Hill 2 (console exclusive). Also there's LEGO Horizon in November (multiplatform).
Meanwhile what big releases have Microsoft delivered for Xbox this year? Hellblade 2, which was a wet fart (a pretty one, but a fart nonethless), and just recently Flight Sim 2024, which will be a great simulator...but not a "game" as much and niche as hell. And that's been it. That's the entirety of Xbox's 2024 in terms of exclusives--wait...console exclusives. Because all of those are on Steam Day 1. Oh and there's the Starfield DLC I guess, which appears to have been a disappointment all around. And they have Indiana Jones coming in December which could be okay or could be a disappointment as well, it's 50/50.
Quite embarrassing IMHO that the supposed strongest years for Microsoft (2023 & 2024) have ended up weaker than two of Sony's softer ones for 1P content & 3P exclusives. But this was supposed to be the time Xbox destroyed PlayStation in exclusives once and for all. Well that didn't happen. Now if people want to turn this into a "Publisher war" or platform war to try giving Microsoft a leg up, they can. But what's World of Warcraft doing for Xbox consoles? Not a damn thing. What's COD doing for Xbox or Game Pass? Likely nothing, since it's still multiplatform. Towerborne isn't even coming to Xbox Day 1; console owners have to wait....again. They already did this for Flight Sim, Halo Wars and Gears Tactics, but that wasn't enough times it seems. Candy Crush means nothing to Xbox consoles and everyone knows this.
And yeah, I can criticize SIE/Sony's multiplatform strategy (I certainly have to the point of getting into drawn-out debates with certain folks about it and what it means for PlayStation), but at least I can say they aren't releasing timed exclusives on PC. They aren't telling people they "don't need a PlayStation" in adverts at the VGAs seen by 100 million people. They aren't limiting the new PS5 models or PS5 Pro to select regions. They don't have Herman Hulst going on podcasts crying about how hard it is for PlayStation to be PlayStation after Concord bombed. They don't have dozens (and growing) devs big and small skipping their platform for "reasons". They didn't save LEGO Horizon releasing on Switch as their end-of-show "one more thing" hype moment.
At least SIE/Sony still seem to understand the basics of what it takes to run a successful console. Microsoft don't. And that's why things like this thread even exist.
Lmfao he's even trying to move goalposts, the report wasn't that Xbox is leaving MENA entirely, literally no one claimed that, it's that they're stopping console shipments.So he's now walking it all back after being cooked by Saudi journalists for 2 days straight?
And 80m for Sony.
Idk, xcloud maybe, cause they don't think owning a console is a factor for consumers loyalty.
I can't recall any successful "third party" consoles...
Didn't he recently tweet he estimated Xbox have sold the full compliment of Series X/S for this gen to its potential customers and they want to go to a new gen to sell more consoles?
epacflexibles.com
