Microsoft has closed a number of Bethesda studios, Redfall maker Arkane Austin, HiFi Rush dev Tango Gameworks, and more... Update: More cuts coming

[Bathing Ape]

Even tho I don’t really care about those studios in particular if they not finna invest into elder scrolls/fallout studios then I don’t like it and I might finally switch

 

[Brandeezy]

Xbox trying to pull up on Japan for another partnership after they close their only studio

 

[winb83]

Somehow this is probably still Mattrick's fault in some people's eyes. Phil Spencer is a complete hack and the gaming press plus XBox fanboys giving him a pass for over a decade is pathetic. That bozo still having a job is beyond privilege but why would he change when nobody has ever held him accountable?

Phil Spencer got Xbox division to profitability. Hardware wise it's a catastrophe but software and services are profitable.

I guess you don't remember Xbox executives making bone headed decisions pre-Spencer. Are we really going to act like the RROD didn't happen? The billions the company spent on revamping the 360 warranty that prevented that system from ever having a real chance at profit.

If anything the actual business decisions he's made have worked out for the division as a whole and that's why he still has a job. It's clear that him and Nadella have differing opinions on where the division goes next. Nadella sees it as a software juggernaut and Spencer still wants them to do hardware.

Xbox has always had questions at leadership.

 

[gurf]

Sounds like the issues folks brought up with the Activision purchase.

 

[daze23]

The closures included Tokyo-based Tango Gameworks, which last year released the critically acclaimed action game Hi-Fi Rush. Tango was in the process of pitching a sequel, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing nonpublic information.

During a town hall with ZeniMax staff on Wednesday morning, Xbox president Matt Booty praised Hi-Fi Rush but did not specify why the company had shut down the development studio behind it, according to three people who were in attendance.

Speaking about the closures more broadly, Booty said that the company’s studios had been spread too thin — like “peanut butter on bread” — and that leaders across the division had felt understaffed. They decided to close these studios to free up resources elsewhere, he said.

Booty added that the shutdown of subsidiary Arkane Austin, the longtime developer of games such as Prey, was not connected to the performance of its new multiplayer game, Redfall, a critical and commercial flop.

Before its closure, Arkane had been looking to return to its roots by pitching a new single-player “immersive sim” game, such as a new entry in the Dishonored series, according to the people familiar.

Jill Braff, head of ZeniMax studios, said in the town hall that she hoped the reorganization would allow the division, which also develops Fallout and Doom, to put more focus on fewer projects. “It’s hard to support nine studios all across the world with a lean central team with an ever-growing plate of things to do,” she said, according to audio of the meeting reviewed by Bloomberg.

“I think we were about to topple over,” she added.

Both Tango and Arkane released games last year and were looking to hire additional staff as they pitched new projects, which Booty and Braff suggested was the main factor behind their closures.

 

[ALonelyDad]

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

Mark my words: Call of Duty will not go into gamepass day one

 

[Diunx]

If a business offers a service deliberately how do you come up with the idea that what they intend for you to subscribe to is bad for them? Netflix bypasses home video and theater releases and just puts stuff on their service so is you subbing to their service bad for them? No that's the business model.

Tango screwed up not announcing and building anticipation for that game just making it a shadow drop. Game been on Game Pass since day 1 and plenty of people, myself included, never played it and don't really care to. It didn't move the needle.

I guess you don't know what a publisher is.

 

[Animal House]

I mean how else do get a ROI for that massive purchase

But I’ll wait for the Coli Financial Group to come in here with a answer

 

[Methodical]

Not surprised. People don’t buy games anymore. Just the same old rehashed franchises. No point investing in studios like this, they are seen as a waste of money nowz


You can be sad about tango, you can think hifi rush was as dope as you want, at the end of the day…. No one bought the shyt.

As a collective, gamers have themselves to blame. We buy the same 8 franchises over and over again. Everything else is sent to die.

We are not as willing to try new things as we think.

Blame GamePass brehs

 

[Methodical]

Phillip is a Xbox Killer

 

[levitate]

“It was all good just a week ago…”:

 

[Umoja]

Who didn't see this happening.

The end game was getting a stranglehold on the market and then working at their own pace once they killed the competition off.

GamePass was never going to be this cheap service that churned out blockbuster game after blockbuster game.

The only thing that's surprised me is how quickly it all happened. It looks as though they're pulling the plug on the venture.

 

[Diondon]

Sitting back watching all their bullshyt narratives unravel one by one
Where Lulu cheng doe?

 

[Captain Crunch]

Even tho I don’t really care about those studios in particular if they not finna invest into elder scrolls/fallout studios then I don’t like it and I might finally switch

Come to PC