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

[winb83]

Absolutely wild

Embracer Group pulled this shyt because they had no real capital. Microsoft is a multi trillion dollar company and can't give Tango another shot?

It's really the end of Microsoft in the gaming space. They drove a decent gaming brand into the ground. Phil Spencer sucks and it's high time he face the music for this

This ain't charity. The people who run these companies have a responsibility to the shareholders to drive these companies to profitable stuff. This is the entertainment world and plenty of companies that do quality work get shuttered and plenty of quality works get cancelled. Point blank every quality work doesn't catch on with audiences.

Look at any other large publisher in gaming and they're laying off people and closing studios. Microsoft isn't unique here.

 

[Killer Instinct]

 

[ORDER_66]

This ain't charity. The people who run these companies have a responsibility to the shareholders to drive these companies to profitable stuff. This is the entertainment world and plenty of companies that do quality work get shuttered and plenty of quality works get cancelled. Point blank every quality work doesn't catch on with audiences.

Look at any other large publisher in gaming and they're laying off people and closing studios. Microsoft isn't unique here.

Why buy the company then if you cant pay the employees?!?! might as well fired them on day 1 since you can't support them...

 

[gtj1982]

Remember when games didn't need to sell because Gamepass makes so much money. The math ain't mathing

 

[Rice N Beans]

Can't fukking make this up. Redfall being poised for the massive turnaround only to get burned. Tango made an actual fun, well-received game with no major backing and instead of MS help pushing these dudes on the next one they close the studio.


Phil Spencer has to be dismissed. I'm not even trying to meme on it. Breh has to be a triple agent for Atari or something.

 

[The Mad Titan]

Ya dude really in here equating the success of hi fi rush with the closing of a studio.



Went from down playing the game and it's success to it being released on PS5 and then admitting it's great to the studio closed because this double A game didn't sell when it was released originally.


Absolutely no business sense at all.

 

[gurf]

This ain't charity. The people who run these companies have a responsibility to the shareholders to drive these companies to profitable stuff. This is the entertainment world and plenty of companies that do quality work get shuttered and plenty of quality works get cancelled. Point blank every quality work doesn't catch on with audiences.

Look at any other large publisher in gaming and they're laying off people and closing studios. Microsoft isn't unique here.

How many of these companies have a warchest the size of MS.

They buy all these companies then shut them down not even a year after. shyt just looks nasty.

 

[Canon]

Tango got did dirty

game was used as gamepass fodder with a surprise launch and then shut down by he same suits who made that decision.

 

[gurf]

Ya dude really in here equating the success of hi fi rush with the closing of a studio.



Went from down playing the game and it's success to it being released on PS5 and then admitting it's great to the studio closed because this double A game didn't sell when it was released originally.


Absolutely no business sense at all.

No one downplayed Hifi Rush. Everyone I've seen hailed it as the best game MS released last year outside of maybe Starfield.

 

[ORDER_66]

 

[Tetris v2.0]

This ain't charity. The people who run these companies have a responsibility to the shareholders to drive these companies to profitable stuff. This is the entertainment world and plenty of companies that do quality work get shuttered and plenty of quality works get cancelled. Point blank every quality work doesn't catch on with audiences.

Look at any other large publisher in gaming and they're laying off people and closing studios. Microsoft isn't unique here.

I agree with the sentiment but they also made their most successful (critically at least) former-exclusive. Closing them is hard to comprehend. At the end of the day, corporations will be corporations but are they actually trying to make this work? Or is it their own negligence behind why Microsoft Gaming is failing... It's time for them to look in the mirror

Hopefully the impacted employees got a nice severance and payout

 

[daze23]

Why buy the company then if you cant pay the employees?!?! might as well fired them on day 1 since you can't support them...

like someone said earlier, they're really buying the IP's, not the people that work there

 

[winb83]

Why buy the company then if you cant pay the employees?!?! might as well fired them on day 1 since you can't support them...

Was it that they couldn't pay the employees or was is that the last few games they put out didn't catch on and they didn't feel like there was value in keeping them around? I'm pretty sure they bought the company for the successful IPs and studios and some of the more fringe teams they could take or leave.

It's about return on capital. You don't see them closing Treyarch or Infinity Ward do you and I'm sure those studios cost way more.

 

[Rice N Beans]

like someone said earlier, they're really buying the IP's, not the people that work there

Won't end well with how the road's been for them. Collecting IPs and their rights is certainly long-game, but as Halo taught them you can't just ride the IP and drop garbage.

EDIT: Throwing this in, what if they eventually just license out for development and close XBS entirely, outside of publishing?

 

[ORDER_66]

Was it that they couldn't pay the employees or was is that the last few games they put out didn't catch on and they didn't feel like there was value in keeping them around? I'm pretty sure they bought the company for the successful IPs and studios and some of the more fringe teams they could take or leave.

It's about return on capital. You don't see them closing Treyarch or Infinity Ward do you and I'm sure those studios cost way more.

I understand fully I know that the corporate guys want a massive return on the investment but we told them from way back microsoft buying all these companies is not feasible... we warned them they are stretching itself too thin...