Support NeoGAF

[NickFire]

Microsoft can obviously publish all of their games on Blu-ray to sell to people that do actually buy their games, but no. They’ve started not bothering with that.

The actions of every méga-entreprise should be questioned. Is this to improve the quality of their game publishing, or more penny pinching?

Why should anyone who wasn't fired really care about the motivation at this point?

I do feel bad for people who lose their jobs because that sucks for those affected. But even if the economy was not in bad shape, people would still be getting let go from both Bethesda companies and Activision companies. Reducing redundancies after mergers go through is par for the course. No matter what anyone from their former parent company and its shareholders / employees said, no matter what the gaming unions, the political entities that approve these deals, and the gaming press all said, their fates were sealed when the deals were finalized. Possible it would have been someone else let go under different circumstances, but the reality that people would be getting let go solidified with the merger.

 

[Shin-Ra]

Why should anyone who wasn't fired really care about the motivation at this point?

I do feel bad for people who lose their jobs because that sucks for those affected. But even if the economy was not in bad shape, people would still be getting let go from both Bethesda companies and Activision companies. Reducing redundancies after mergers go through is par for the course. No matter what anyone from their former parent company and its shareholders / employees said, no matter what the gaming unions, the political entities that approve these deals, and the gaming press all said, their fates were sealed when the deals were finalized. Possible it would have been someone else let go under different circumstances, but the reality that people would be getting let go solidified with the merger.

I’ve never been a fan of Bethesda’s games but if I was and the quality of their new releases was dropping, I’d be looking at every change made and questioning if it’s to make better games.

 

[NickFire]

I’ve never been a fan of Bethesda’s games but if I was and the quality of their new releases was dropping, I’d be looking at every change made and questioning if it’s to make better games.

I'm not sure why anyone would question that. The answer is no. It's about costs and profit margins.

 

[M1chl]

Its shitty, but what Bethesda France even do?

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

Curious how this workflow will shift. I assume they maybe have a Xbox office already doing the same work for that region so they didn’t want to double up.

Pretty likely spot on!

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

Its shitty, but what Bethesda France even do?

Likely localization, marketing, sales & logistics, working with local retailers, local government regulations, region or country-specific ratings, etc. All of the boring stuff that's super duper important. It's a lot of work to release games simultaneously around the world for all of these smaller markets. Surprised to see so many people not know about this side of the industry. It's like literally what Nintendo of America and Nintendo of Europe do. It's all they do, essentially. All of the software development and strategic business decisions take place in Japan. Regional offices simply facilitate and sell things in overseas markets.

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

Don't the French only work 3 days a week anyways?

Not sure I see the relevance at all.

But, if the work is getting done, what's the problem? I'd love that option.

 

[JimmyRustler]

So the masterplan of MS was to aquire and then close all those studios.

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

So the masterplan of MS was to aquire and then close all those studios.

Oh dear Lord... this comment again.

It has absolutely nothing to do with game development.

 

[Hudo]

Its shitty, but what Bethesda France even do?

Baguettes

 

[Loomy]

Eliminating redundancy is, unfortunately, an important part of any merger. The big question for me is this seems like something that should have been eliminated a while ago, so why did it take so long?

Also, can't imagine knowing for 2 months your job was going to eliminated. On one hand, enough time to find a job, but on the other hand, good luck finding a non-developer job in this industry right now.

 

[Bernkastel]

So the masterplan of MS was to aquire and then close all those studios.

Which game development studio was closed?

 

[Griffon]

I didn't even know there was a Bethesda France. What a rollercoaster of emotions.

Bethesda forgot too. The closure is because they remembered.

 

[NickFire]

Eliminating redundancy is, unfortunately, an important part of any merger. The big question for me is this seems like something that should have been eliminated a while ago, so why did it take so long?

Also, can't imagine knowing for 2 months your job was going to eliminated. On one hand, enough time to find a job, but on the other hand, good luck finding a non-developer job in this industry right now.

I'm going out on a limb and assuming the ongoing development of Starfield and the optics of job eliminations during the Activision deal helped delay the inevitable.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Why do people keep spinning this? MS has a historic deficiency in localization and dubs. It's especially funny when MS's next game is only available in English

 

[Ozriel]

I heard Bethesda Germany / ZeniMax is next..

Meaning there will be nobody left responsible for good dubbing, localization and making sure that lips actually move to the non english voices

You imagine it was Bethesda France that was handling French localization for all XGS and Activision-Blizzard games?

 

[clarky]

What did they develop?

The French? Baguette's and that hilarious Dogtanian cartoon.

 

[Punished Miku]

Why do people keep spinning this? MS has a historic deficiency in localization and dubs. It's especially funny when MS's next game is only available in English

How is the Bethesda marketing in France? We need to compare and contrast here.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

How is the Bethesda marketing in France? We need to compare and contrast here.

MS can obviously publish anything anywhere in the world.

but can they do localization/dubbing?

 

[Punished Miku]

but can they do localization/dubbing?

Probably? You have to admit, MS literally has 3 publishing arms now with global reach. MS, Bethesda and Activision. They certainly don't need all 3. I don't know who does a good job in France, so I was just asking.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Probably? You have to admit, MS literally has 3 publishing arms now with global reach. MS, Bethesda and Activision. They certainly don't need all 3. I don't know who does a good job in France, so I was just asking.

that's the funny part. MS ain't doing a good job in the first place.

 

[N30RYU]

Bon voyage

You get what you F** deserve

 

[Punished Miku]

that's the funny part. MS ain't doing a good job in the first place.

Is Bethesda?

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

but can they do localization/dubbing?

They've done it for decades, dating back to the original Xbox 23 years ago . I dunno why people would think Xbox wouldn't have resources to handle this, all of the sudden. They're not new to the video game industry. Plus there's like hundreds of options to out-source things like this nowadays, as well. So, I'm sure it'll be fine. Just continue to enjoy the games, let the businesses handle the boring business stuff.

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

Which game development studio was closed?

There wasn't a developer closure. People on here are just surprisingly ignorant on things like this, apparently.

Like, you frequent a video game forum but you aren't aware that major publishers have regional offices for sales, marketing, localization, etc?

Who did people think put on E3 in Los Angeles every year and did the booths? Nintendo Japan, Capcom Japan, Playstation Japan? No, it was regional offices in the United States.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

They've done it for decades, dating back to the original Xbox 23 years ago . I dunno why people would think Xbox wouldn't have resources to handle this, all of the sudden. They're not new to the video game industry.

Hey, Microsoft, it's time to take Xbox localization seriously

Microsoft has been keen to mention in recent interviews its intent to reach "two billion gamers," looking eastward beyond its Anglocentric home markets. But Microsoft fails at even the most basic attempts at localization.

www.windowscentral.com

Starfield: Gamers in the Middle East and other regions rally for better Xbox and PC localization

Starfield is set in the future, but apparently has no universal translator.

www.windowscentral.com

Is Bethesda?

who is the parent company? Who is the triple trillion dollar A.I powerhouse company that can't figure out binaural recording, for example?

what I am saying is this: it's just bad optics.

it is weird because is not like a big deal (at a first glance) but actually kind of is. especially when you want this "global reach" and "leadership in gaming".

 

[JimmyRustler]

Which game development studio was closed?

Man, i was joking…

 

[SEGAvangelist]

 

[Chukhopops]

This thread really reaches a new low when it comes to extraordinarily dumb takes.

There are 15 people impacted and they don’t do development or even localization as far as I can tell - mostly moderators and community managers. One of them even explains he thinks the office was closed to move all moderation activities to Amsterdam.

It sucks for them though (at least France has a decent safety net system) and using it for warring is less than classy imo.

 

[Varteras]