MS should call this gen the last and start folding these studios under Activision as a 3rd party company rather than waste effort on more hardware people won't buy. Use what ever money they would be wasting on hardware on setting up studios to handle games like Tony Hawks 3/4 remakes or to get bigger ips such as Fallout out faster. Use this gen to get their devs in shape for the future as a 3rd party
Their hardware sells like shit, already had to start porting games to other consoles, they paid to much money for Activision to make them go 3rd party, Gamepass growth as stopped, number of ips are a mess and now got more bad press from killing these studios.
Weirdly, given their brands, MS would be smart to just close down the console market for Microsoft's PC store and then compete against Steam and PlayStation by bolstering their online store's lineup and Nintendo's.
They own Crash, Spyro, and Banjo, all of which are characters Nintendies would eat up if made exclusive between MS PC and Switch 2. Switch development also gives them an out where they can make these titles cheaper. Beyond Nintendo's platform being inherently better for their 5th gen icons (More old gamers), MS would have the easy win of something like Smash Bros to bolster their IPs some more - Crash, Spyro and Doom Slayer all being highly requested.
Weirdly, given their brands, MS would be smart to just close down the console market for Microsoft's PC store and then compete against Steam and PlayStation by bolstering their online store's lineup and Nintendo's.
They own Crash, Spyro, and Banjo, all of which are characters Nintendies would eat up if made exclusive between MS PC and Switch 2. Switch development also gives them an out where they can make these titles cheaper. Beyond Nintendo's platform being inherently better for their 5th gen icons (More old gamers), MS would have the easy win of something like Smash Bros to bolster their IPs some more - Crash, Spyro and Doom Slayer all being highly requested.
No one would follow them, they already tried that with the windows store and it didn't work, which is why they are now steam now. a 30% steam cut is worth better than their pc games not selling. Also makes no sense for them cut off ips like CoD from Sony where from my understand those games preform better on PlayStation than any other platform, the goal is to make money not to stick it to Sony.
No one would follow them, they already tried that with the windows store and it didn't work, which is why they are now steam now. a 30% steam cut is worth better than their pc games not selling. Also makes no sense for them cut off ips like CoD from Sony where from my understand those games preform better on PlayStation than any other platform, the goal is to make money not to stick it to Sony.
Makes sense. Microsoft is hard to follow as they don't really have IPs to throw around (I guess they have COD/Activison now) and are seemingly just trying to hitch themselves onto something. The past few years have had them seemingly try to get good with Nintendo over anyone else. It was either that or MS store.
Im gonna be honest. Did anyone actually play any of these games besides Hi-Fi Rush? Because I didn't play any of them including Hi-Fi Rush and I have fucking gamepass.
Im gonna be honest. Did anyone actually play any of these games besides Hi-Fi Rush? Because I didn't play any of them including Hi-Fi Rush and I have fucking gamepass.
redfall was a shitshow i never played and never will, i liked prey, ive still to finish the evil within, and i couldnt get into ghostwire tokyo. hifi rush was great though. best surprise game drop of that year
Activision owns a bunch of IPs. I doubt Microsoft will revive them based on their recent track record of firing smaller studios. Call of Duty will be MS's cash cow, even THEY wouldn't be safe from budget cuts.
Im gonna be honest. Did anyone actually play any of these games besides Hi-Fi Rush? Because I didn't play any of them including Hi-Fi Rush and I have fucking gamepass.
Prey is good. It has a couple rough parts and the "true" ending is really stupid but it's enjoyable enough that I've done three or four playthroughs over the years.
@Celebrate Nite was understating it, it was the worst Spyro game, by a country mile. Stewart Copeland phoned in the OST because even a non-gamer like him knew it was shit.
Does Fallout 76 tell you who bombs your settlement/camp? Because if that turns into a trend, I'd imagine they'd get banned for harassment. Doom and gloom I know, but given how restrictive gaming interactions are, it wouldn't surprise me.
Grummz tweeted out this explanation from a guy who used to work senior public relations for Microsoft (he was part of the last massive round of layoffs a few months ago). Here's the actual explanation, saved for posterity:
Basically, to sum it up, the closure of these studios can be chocked up to two reasons:
1. Game Pass: Its a massive failure. Every game that launches on it misses its sales goals by a not insignificant margin. Games on game pass only get a bump in revenue for being at the top of the charts for a month due to some funny accounting by Microsoft, then fail to recoup their costs when they inevitably drop off after a month. So even good games like Hi-Fi Rush lose out, and games like Redfall get hit even worse. Because Game Pass has stagnated in growth, the amount of revenue being attributed to games can't keep up with the budgets it takes to make them.
2. The Activision Blizzard Buyout (and all the other mergers): The $69 Billion boondoggle that was the AB buyout has become a noose around Microsoft Gaming's neck. The rest of the company had been content to ignore Microsoft Gaming and let it piss money away for years, but after the company spent billions acquiring Zenimax, AB, and various other studios, it put the whole division under a microscope. Now Microsoft needs to justify those purchases to shareholders. This means that they either need to make their money back, or cut costs to the bone while they try.
Game Pass was their big bet, but their new games (Redfall and Hi-Fi Rush) failed to generate any growth. COD could generate the growth needed, but that would mean pulling it off the platforms its already successful on and losing guaranteed sales. What this comes down to is that while the larger IPs and studios will be safe (for now), the smaller studios are paying the price. Xbox is in a $70 Billion plus hole that it dug itself, and smaller titles like Hi-Fi Rush won't cut it.
Redfall was a failure from conception to execution, the launch was bad because it was a bad game. Game pass made no difference. That being said, no shit why pay full price when the monthly fee is cheaper and most games if you go full try hard can be beaten within a couple of days. Bethesda games benefit from being sold once then re-sold for the same price on next gen with minor changes. Why get DLC is you're just paying a fee every month? In a funny way all games have a EULAs and/or TOS that change the definition of purchase to being nothing more than a revocable license that has an install limit has financially incentivize people to just pay a fee to access it rather than full price for the same privilege.
Honestly Game Pass is such a failure too because the PC side of it is so shit. For example got my new PC and still had game pass I could download Crusader Kings 3 or buy it for $12, guess what I did. The PC client is just pointless because Steam is so good in comparison and hey I own the games. The subscription model is stupid too because PC gamers either play lots or stick to a few games and that fine but creates a problem because Game Pass offers nothing to those groups. They have all these IPs yet are doing nothing with them but making black person sjw games is going to be a hit.
They have shit the bed because they cannot even make a Steam like client because it would just be Epic game store 2 and guess what fuckers that piece of shit thing does not even fucking grace my download files. They may as well sell up and count their losses. Square Enix honestly did the best thing last week and end projects that did not seem lucrative and concentrate on their big guns. These companies just scream growth growth growth but don't realize the basics if Mr X is spending 60-70% of his salary on rent/mortgage. Where the fuck is the other 30% going because its not Perfect Dark. For example for me this year I am playing FF14, Elden Ring and a few other games because the AAA goy slop is not good its shit.
Expect this from Sony too because they have been retarded with money too.
@Celebrate Nite was understating it, it was the worst Spyro game, by a country mile. Stewart Copeland phoned in the OST because even a non-gamer like him knew it was shit.
Game Pass was their big bet, but their new games (Redfall and Hi-Fi Rush) failed to generate any growth. COD could generate the growth needed, but that would mean pulling it off the platforms its already successful on and losing guaranteed sales. What this comes down to is that while the larger IPs and studios will be safe (for now), the smaller studios are paying the price. Xbox is in a $70 Billion plus hole that it dug itself, and smaller titles like Hi-Fi Rush won't cut it.
I'm far from an Xbox defender, but I can't help but think it's funny that reddit and click bait gaming YouTube are irrationally upset at the studio closings
Surprise surprise, studios that make bad to mid tier, unprofitable games get closed down.
Enter the Dragonfly doesn't count and we don't ever talk about it. Not even canon, at least to me. The original Spyro trilogy on the PS1 will always be canon. I know I'm sounding bias because it was the first time I ever got into the franchise on the GameCube, but even then as a kid I didn't care for it
I'm far from an Xbox defender, but I can't help but think it's funny that reddit and click bait gaming YouTube are irrationally upset at the studio closings
Surprise surprise, studios that make bad to mid tier, unprofitable games get closed down.
